The benefits of keeping healthy resolutions.
As January comes to a close, it might seem harder and harder to keep resolutions and adopt healthy habits into an everyday lifestyle. However, it is important to keep your eyes on the endgame. The journey to leading a healthier lifestyle is not a sprint; it is about the changes made along the way to improve and maintain quality of life.
Keeping resolutions that have to do with increasing physical activity and a nutritious diet can yield satisfying and surprising results. Increasing physical activity and stretching can have positive results on an every day scale. For example, a person who increases their physical activity and stretches before and after exercising can experience a decrease in low back pain, an increase in quality of sleep, and a boost in their ability to concentrate. Similarly, changing your daily diet to include healthier options and moderate sweets and eliminate unhealthy fast food intake can lead to an increase of blood flow to the brain; help to maintain a healthy weight, which has the added benefits of relieving hip and knee pain(link to extremity pain); and boosting energy levels.
Strategies for keeping healthy resolutions.
While easing into a healthy lifestyle may seem overwhelming, there are strategies to help maintain your motivation and morale. One strategy is to make resolutions more manageable by breaking them up into small groups of accomplishments. If your resolution is to participate in a big race such as a half marathon, create a realistic schedule of smaller goals that lead up to the larger one. An example of this is going out and running a set number of miles or minutes per week, starting with smaller races such a 5k and work your way up to that marathon. Breaking down your goals into tactical planning will make large changes less overwhelming and also provide you a look at your progress in increments. It can also be very helpful to write down your goals as a well to keep track of your progress.
Keeping sight of your motivation and reassessing how you feel about your goals is also a good way to make sure that your motivation doesn’t dissipate. If your overall goal with your resolutions this year is to be healthier, start associating the path to health with the path to a happier lifestyle too. If increasing physical fitness is your goal, pick an activity that you will enjoy; for example, if you do not like running or going to the gym on your own, consider getting together to work out with a group of friends or taking a dance class that interests you.
Don’t feel inhibited by your starting point. It is impossible to completely remake a set of healthy habits overnight from a previous lifestyle. Instead, be proud of yourself when you reach smaller landmark achievements, such as adding more weight to your bicep curl, running for five minutes longer without giving up, and learning a new dance step. It is important to acknowledge goal directed progress and to reward yourself with things that will not set back your goals.
Staying committed to your health.
It is important to maintain your health when becoming physically active. Chiropractic care can help you to keep a balanced perspective on physical health. Making sure that your physical activity is executed in a functional and balanced manner will help you to achieve your ultimate goals. Functional Movement Screening (FMS) is a service offered as SF Custom Chiropractic where the chiropractor will evaluate your performance during a set of physical tasks, such as squats, to monitor your body for any biomechanical dysfunction or muscular asymmetry. The chiropractor can then make recommendations for strengthening the weaker areas so that you can work out effectively, with less risk of future injuries. Proper stretching of all of the muscle groups is also an important component of increasing physical fitness. Personalized exercise plans can be made up by Dr. Jacobs, Dr. Gustin, and Dr. Bailey in order to focus on areas of discomfort and strengthen your muscles.
Contact our office at (415) 788-8700 with any questions or to make an appointment today to stay on track and keep your body at its full functional level while improving your healthy lifestyle. Participate in the last week of 2014 Health Discussions by commenting on our Facebook page with your strategies for keeping resolutions this week.
