One Life Chiropractic January 2010
Make 2010 Your Best Year Yet!
You've heard it everywhere: New Year, New You! We seem to start each new year with the best of intentions. We inspect the year gone by by taking note of both accomplishments and shortcomings. Many of us will even make a New Year's Resolution or two. With all of this excitement and mental energy for starting the year out on the right foot, why then do most of our Resolutions never make it past the 2nd week of January? Any study in human behavior will tell you that it takes a minimum of 21 days to make a new idea or activity a habit. This includes exercise, making dietary changes, or quitting a bad habit like smoking.
 
This month, we are coaching you to commit to practices that are proven to have lasting results. Our newsletter is filled with tried and true exercises that will lead to long-term lifestyle changes that stick. We are sharing our own secrets with you! Included you will find a worksheet to walk you through writing out goals for exactly what you want to create this year.
 
Once you have created your own road map towards success in the new year, bring it to your next appointment or schedule a consult. We can help you optimize your goals based on your current exercise level, medical history, diet, and other factors.
 
Wishing you health and happiness throughout the entire year,
 
Drs. Kristy Allen and Patricia DeJoy
 Replacing Resolutions with Life Goals

Instead of making resolutions this year, make lifestyle changes!  Consider setting health goals that you can carry with you through the year.  All of us at One Life know that you do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle and congratulate you on your efforts.  We have some suggestions to help bring you to the next level.  There is no better time than the present to engage fully in your life!

 

Here are simple suggestions to help keep you on track in 2010:

*      Write down your goals.  Keep them simple - things that will fit into your current lifestyle (you can always add more later!). Place the list in places where you'll see it every day: bathroom mirror, refrigerator, desk, planner.

*      Be specific with your goals.  Write down exactly what you need to do to achieve your goals. Maybe it's three 30 minute power walks a week and adding an extra vegetable to one meal a day.  Whatever your choice, let it be something quantifiable and do-able.

*      Schedule it into your day.  Block out specific times for activities. Write your exercise times and food commitments into your weekly planner along with your other daily and weekly commitments. Write in pen.

*      Include family and friends.  Grab your spouse, your friend, your co-worker and get moving together.  Think of it as your accountability buddy. 


As you look for ways to gather more inspiration to work out, eat healthier, and take care of yourself, feel free to ask us at One Life for more tips. Remember that you deserve to feel good every day and to live a long, healthy life. Take each day as an opportunity to be your best. And don't forget to share your success stories with us!

 
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Here is a Goal Worksheet to help get you started!  Please note that this is only a sample of the worksheet.  For the complete version, please download from www.onelifechiropractic.com under Patient Forms or get a copy at our office. 
 
                 GOALS 2010 WORKSHEET

Use the following worksheet to layout exactly what you would like for yourself throughout the following year. If you can't spell out what it is that you want, it is not likely that you will ever stumble across it. When you begin making your list, just jot down anything that comes to mind. Pay no attention to any judgment that comes up during the process. You don't have to listen to fears about failure because your goals simply serve as a yardstick to measure how far you have come and how far you have left to go. Remember, a goal is only a wish list unless you write it down. Writing it in ink crystallizes the thought.

 
Personal GOALS:
include goals related to health, exercise, diet, habits, personal improvement.
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Professional GOALS: include accomplishments, recognition, development, income, training ideas.
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Goal Writing Suggestions: 

·       Write these down and post in a place where you will see them every day like your bathroom mirror.

·       Read your goals every morning before starting your day as if to start with a positive intention.

Working Towards Healthier Eating Habits:
                                       Better Life Through Better Eating

One of the lifestyle habits we have the most control over is what we eat. It is your own hand that brings food to your mouth! But eating habits remain one of the hardest to change; even the healthiest of eaters can find it a challenge to eat properly all of the time. Now, when we're all trying to get over our holiday binges, is a great time to start changing these habits. Be your own food advocate!

Incorporating healthy choices into your diet is a lot easier than you think. Use these tried and true ways to get started:

Start with small and easy changes.  Replace one food that you shouldn't be eating with one healthy one. Start doing this a couple days a week and don't start with your favorite food! For example, replace that second cup of coffee or glass of wine with green tea or water. Substitute a whole grain for that piece of bread with dinner. Be creative - there are lots of possibilities!

Shop smarter.  Food you put in your shopping cart will eventually find its way into your mouth. If it's not in the house, you won't eat it! Choose whole foods over processed foods whenever possible. Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Stop and think before you eat.  Are you really hungry, or bored, sad or stressed out? Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference! Be mindful of the types of food you put in your mouth and have healthy alternatives to sweets available. Food journaling bring awareness to your eating habits. Try it for a week - write down everything you eat and drink (everything) and how you feel during the day. You'll be surprised how motivating your own words are!

Sit down at the table to eat.  It is important to slow down and sit for a meal. Taking the time to savor the meal that has been prepared is just as nourishing as the components within the foods eaten. Rushing through a meal, makes your body work harder to digest food.

Easy Ways to Fit Exercise Into Your Day!

For optimal long-term health and fitness it is recommended that you exercise for at least thirty minutes a day, four to five days a week. How are you supposed to exercise for thirty minutes a day when your life is already overbooked? Here are some easy ways to become more active, so you can relieve stress without getting stressed!

1. It is usually easiest to fit exercise into the transition times of your day:  first thing in the morning, right after work, over your lunch hour, after dropping the kids off or before picking them up.

2. Add extra walking into your day a few steps at a time. Park further away from the store, choose the stairs over the elevator, visit a restroom further from your office, or take the long way around the store to make your purchase. Take a short 5-10 minute "walk break" whenever you can find the time during the day.

3. Any activity is more exercise than sitting on the couch: housework, playing with your kids, snow shoveling, and gardening are good examples. Decreasing your couch-time by just 30 minutes a night adds 3 1/2 hours of activity time to your week!

4. Walk, jog, or stretch when you are waiting for dinner to cook, the laundry to finish up, or for your child to be finished with an activity.

5. It is perfectly acceptable to break up your intense workouts. You want to have at least 30 minutes of cardio every day - but if you split that 30 minutes into three, ten minute sessions you will still be able to meet this goal on your busy days.
In This Issue
Replacing Resolutions with Life Goals
Working Towards Healthier Eating Habits
Easy Ways to Fit Exercise Into Your Day!
Concerned with slipping and sliding in the snow? 

If you're concerned with slipping on all the snow and ice a great solution are Yaktrax.  You can buy them online at amazon.com for about $25.00 or get them at your local Target, Walmart or Dick's.  A great investment even for shoveling, you place the Yacktrax over your boots or athletic shoes and they act like tire chains for your feet.  No slipping.  No sliding. 

 

Feeling the Effects of the Season?

A few months ago we put out an entire newsletter on Vitamin D and all of it's benefits.  One of the best known being it's mood boosting qualities.  Helping increase dopamine levels in the brain and lower inflammation throughout the body, Vitamin D is a great supplement for your whole family this winter to boost your immune system and keep your mood elevated. 
 
To read the entire newsletter, click here: archives.
$25 
Don't forget about this month's Gift To Give promotional offer. For only $25, a friend, relative or co-worker can receive a complete consultation, examination, chiropractic treatment and ionic footbath.
 
This offer expires January 31, 2010.