Research shows that less than 50 percent and up to 90 percent of people who make New Yearís resolutions do not keep them. Ninety-five percent of the people who go on a diet gain the weight back.Ninety percent of Canadians purchased pain pills in the last year, and Americans consume 80 percent of the worldís pain pills. Is it time for a healthy new you?How long have you known you need to make these changes? These problems will not go away until you make them. Not making changes can cause unnecessary suffering. There is only one thing worse than suffering today, and that is suffering for the next 60, 70, 80 years!The largest growing segment of our population is those individuals living into their 100s. Like it or not, you will probably live longer than you had thought. Experts say this increased life span is presenting new challenges for society. îLiving to 100 may be seen like a long life now, but it may be the norm for babies born today. More than half of all babies born since 2000 can expect to live into the triple digits.î (The Lancet, British medical journal)What will the quality of your lifestyle be as you age? What about your childrenís lifestyle?The intelligence within you is amazing! It allows your body to make more than 600 billion new blood cells each day; your nerves relay more than three million messages every second between your brain and your spinal cord, and it contains the blueprints that will allow you to live healthy to 80, 90, 100 years old. Only 30 percent of aging is based on genetic heritage, the other 70 percent can be attributed to lifestyle choices. If you knew youíd live to 100, how would you change your life?Healthy nutrition is important. You are what you eat, you are what you buy. Buy organic when possible, avoid processed foods, white flour and sugar, eat more veggies and lean protein and supplement your diet.Maintain your ideal weight and body composition. Achieve a balance of endurance, strength and structure:Endurance: Do 20 to 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three to four times a week. Wear a heart monitor and get active: walk, run, bike, swim, play tennis or soccer. Record your frequency, intensity and duration of your workouts. Vary your intensity to improve performance and prevent plateaus. Beginners can start with walking and increase to short bursts of sprints. As your workout gets easier, increase the duration and intensity.Strength: Strengthen your major muscle groups, including chest, back, arms and legs. Strength can mean independence as you age. It can lead to a healthy spine, healthy core, increased flexibility and increased mobility. Strength training can include resistance training and weights. Start with the amount of weight that allows you to complete each set doing 12 to 15 reps, with the last three reps taking some extra effort to complete. There are 29 core muscles located in your back, abdomen and pelvis. They are all controlled by nerves! Strong core muscles protect your spine and help make your body less prone to injury.Structure: Chiropractic care will help keep your structure ñ spine and nervous system ñ healthy. Exercise your core to strengthen your spine and improve athletic performance. No part of your body will work the way it should unless there is a clear neurological connection between it and your brain. Your spinal cord runs inside of and is attached to your spine in many places; plus the spinal nerves that feed the rest of the body exit the spine between each pair of vertebrae. If you lose alignment or function anywhere in your spine, it will affect the integrity of your brain/body connection to some degree. It will most likely affect it wherever the specific loss of function is in the spine, but because the entire nerve system is connected, it also affects every part of your nerve system in some way as well. You can lose alignment and have restriction in your spine for many reasons: the birth process, learning to walk, childhood play, growth spurts, body weight changes, physical chemical and emotional stresses, auto accidents, work injuries, sports injuries or intensive training, hormonal changes, poor posture, excessive sitting, trips or falls, sickness and disease.We all have the ability to be healthy from our first breath to our last. It is up to us to provide our bodies with the best resources so we can utilize the intelligence within us to keep us healthy.
