New Year’s Resolution: Creating a Health Plan for 2012

Jan 7, 2012 by HHNSTAFF

By: Dr. Marianna Fisher, ND

Here we are, welcoming the new year again. How quickly time flies. We’ve made it through another busy, perhaps stressful, holiday season, and after several weeks of over-indulging ourselves during family festivities, gatherings with friends and office parties, we may now be looking in the mirror and seriously considering our options for a New Year’s resolution. In fact, year after year, millions of Americans take advantage of the New Year to vow to lose weight, increase regular exercise or otherwise find ways to improve their health. After all, health is considered by most of us to be our number one asset. So why wouldn’t we all want to take appropriate steps to protect our most valuable asset, our health?

Creating and committing yourself to a personal “health plan” may seem daunting or confusing, particularly when there’s an over-abundance of contradictory information available at the push of a button. So much access to information can feel overwhelming and often people just don’t know how or where to start. But it’s simpler than you think. If you understand and stay focused on a few fundamental principles and let those principles guide your choices every day, you’ll be well on your way to success, because those principles will help you create a solid, long-term foundation for health and well being. Here are a few of those fundamental principles:

1. Your body has an innate ability to heal itself. It’s true. We witness it every day as scrapes and bruises or bones heal. Simply put, we’re designed to heal.

2. But there’s an important caveat: Health and healing cannot happen in a vacuum – meaning, the body requires some basic “tools” in order to mend and maintain itself.

3. Those “tools” are vitamins, minerals, and a variety of other essential nutrients and they are derived primarily from what we eat. That’s the way it works, folks, like it or not! The various foods we eat every day supply the necessary nutrients, or “tools” the body uses to heal and regenerate or even reverse aging.

4. It’s the quality of the foods we eat every day that determines both the quality and quantity of the nutrients available to heal. So, yes, we are what we eat! If you consume large quantities of highly processed fast or junk foods every day, most of the nutritional tools have been destroyed and as a result, your health will eventually deteriorate. Junk in, junk out.

5. So, your health becomes a choice you make every time you eat. Plain and simple: The quality of your food choices will directly impact the quality of your health.

6. Therefore, the quickest and easiest way to improve your health is to improve the quality of the foods you are choosing to eat every day. It’s your choice and yours alone.

So, with those principles in mind, we can formulate a plan or approach. We know that when it comes to other valued assets, like creating and sustaining wealth or developing a career, it’s important to create and implement a plan. Here are a few simple, yet essential steps to creating a plan that will improve your health regardless of the health challenges you may be facing right now:

1. Take charge. Sounds so simple, right? But creating health requires not only a plan. The plan has to be implemented and then you have to commit yourself to it. There are no magic bullets or potions or a way to simply snap your fingers, count to three and expect it to happen! You have to understand the connection between what you do every day and the consequences of those choices you make.

2. Set realistic goals. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your plan should set simple, reachable goals that reflect your overall lifestyle. For example, when you are creating a plan to purchase a car or home or take a vacation, you consider your budget based on income and other factors. The same principles apply when you are creating a health plan. Consider the amount of time and effort and resources you can commit to the plan, then set realistic goals based on those factors. As you reach your goals over a reasonable amount of time, you will continue to be motivated. Otherwise, if you set your goals too high and fail to reach them, you could get discouraged, feel like you’ve failed, and then you may stop altogether. So be realistic.

3. Do the best you can every day. Congratulate yourself on your commitment and progress. And don’t beat yourself up or feel guilty or think in terms of “failure”. Every effort you make will make a difference, regardless of the occasional slip.

4. Manage your stress. Being stressed out all the time is very detrimental to your overall health, even when other lifestyle factors are conducive to health. Stress is considered by many experts to be perhaps the primary factor in deteriorating health. Life in general can be stressful for all of us, since we are constantly bombarded by potential stressors at work, at home, in traffic, at the grocery store, or even when we’re walking the dog. It’s not the event that creates the stress; it’s our reaction to the event that causes the physiologic stress response in our bodies. Your body’s response will follow your emotional response. So figure out ways to reduce your negative reactions to stress. You and your body will be very grateful.

5. Drink more water. Our bodies are composed of at least 70% water, so if you are not making an effort to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water every day, you are probably dehydrated. But dehydration is so easy to correct. Remember, if you are exercising regularly or tend to sweat a lot, you may need more water. So make a commitment to drinking more water every day. And, by the way, caffeinated beverages contribute to dehydration. So coffee, colas, black or even green teas do NOT count toward your daily intake of water. If fact, if you are a big caffeine consumer, you need to drink more water!

6. Increase fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes, and other plant-based foods. Research shows that eating a diet of primarily plants increases longevity and decreases degenerative diseases. So make sure you are eating several servings of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables every day. They are a great source of all those “tools” your body needs to mend and restore itself.

7. Reduce the ratio of animal products in relationship to plant foods. If you are eating meat three times a day, try to decrease either the portion size or the number of times you are eating it on a daily basis. And gradually increase the ratio of plant foods to animal foods over time. Even though animal foods taste great, research shows that there is a direct link between the amount of animal products ingested and degenerative diseases. The more you consume, the more likely you are to develop and die of a chronic degenerative disease, particularly heart disease which is the #1 cause of death in the US. So do yourself a favor and simple eat less animal-based foods. Your body will thank you for it and you will feel so much better.

8. Cut way down on your consumption of highly processed junk and fast foods. They are full of calories but devoid of nutrients. So they add weight but little else. Your body cannot function long-term on junk. (It’s called junk food for a reason!)

9. Get more sleep. Our bodies repair and regenerate during sleep. We’re designed to sleep. So make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of restful sleep every night.

10. Get off the sofa and move more. If you haven’t been exercising regularly, then start slowly. And if you have any chronic health problems, are on medications or if you are under the care of a physician, ask for advice first. The important thing to remember is that movement is essential to good health. As muscles contract, they “massage” the lymph system and move fluid in the body which in turn improves the body’s natural detoxification process as well as stimulates the immune system. So get out and take a walk or do some stretching movements. Get a little mini-trampoline /rebounder. In fact, 20 minutes a day on a rebounder is a very efficient way to exercise, move lymph, tone and improve oxygen intake.

11. Have some fun! Make sure you participate in hobbies, sports and other activities that you enjoy. Spend time with friends and family, or do some volunteering in your local community. We are social creatures and we often feel happier when we are involved in social activities. Happy people are generally not sick people. And laughter stimulates specific hormones that increase a sense of well being. So have fun every day!

12. Stick with it. Our bodies are very adaptable, resilient and resourceful. With just a little effort on your part, your body will respond and heal. But you must participate and do your share to make those proper choices every day. It’s really up to you.

Yes, it’s the New Year and as always, it’s a time for new beginnings, a fresh start. Creating a New Year’s resolution is a wonderful tradition. If you have health concerns, use this New Year to invest in yourself and your most important asset: your health. What better commitment could you make?

If you’d like some professional guidance in creating a personalized Health Plan to kick start your efforts, contact Dr. Fisher. She’s available for telephone consultations and follow-ups. Each consultation includes an e-copy health plan designed and personalized for your particular concerns and needs as well as e-mail follow-up.

About Dr. Fisher:

Dr. Marianna Fisher, ND, Mac is a naturopathic physician and nutrition expert, specializing in juice fasting and the therapeutic application of raw foods. She has been studying the therapeutic application of food for nearly 40 years. www.luxuryjuicefast.com She is developing a holistic healing center in Sedona, AZ where she supervises clients through juice fasts. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact her at 928-284-4030 or through her website.