Many of you have set health goals this January, and if you want to accomplish something with your health it’s mostly up to you. That’s why habits are so important.
I see people like myself as coaches in this process.
Habits are top of mind right now for me not only because it’s late January, but also because I’ve recently taken up the guitar again with a changed outlook.
I’ve always wanted to get good at the guitar, but for some reason I wasn’t getting better. I would stop practicing. I’d get frustrated.
What I learned is that I was just playing bits of songs that I knew. For me, I was actually missing the rhythm part. My goal is to be able to play with other people, and I need to learn how to play with rhythm and keep a beat.
How does this relate to health?
There’s also a rhythm to health. Biorhythms change as we age. It gets harder to keep weight off. You can’t be the athlete you once were. You can’t run as fast or lift as much weight. And if you don’t do the right things you won’t be as mentally sharp.
Listen to your body.
If you have pain, then something is going on. You need to listen to that.
If you’re feeling tired, then something is going on. It might be a nutritional deficiency. It might be hormonal. You might be getting poor sleep, which gets mores difficult as we age.
Listen to your body’s rhythms.
A few rhythms that I think are important for your health
Exercise. When are you going to exercise? The common excuse is that there’s not enough time. All it takes is 30 minutes, sometimes less than that a day. Find this biorhythm in your life.
Eating routine. What times are you going to eat? What are you going to eat and how much? The timing of eating is so important (building in intermittent fasting for example).
There’s certain healthy eating habits that you might want to consider. Not drinking sodas. Not eating late at night. Staying away from sugars for the most part. Learning what foods make you feel good and what foods make you feel bad.
My Health Habits (How I build health into my routines)
The first thing I do each morning is get up, meditate using my Muse Headband for 5-10 minutes, and then have a warm glass of water that has Himalayan sea salt and lemon juice in it.
Then I make Bulletproof Coffee. While waiting on the coffee, I’ll get a teaspoon of coconut oil and put it in my mouth and do this thing called “Pulling”. I pull the coconut oil through my teeth and swish around for about 5 minutes, then spit and rinse. It helps with mouth flora.
After having my cup of coffee I’ll go upstairs and get on my rebounder for about 10-15 minutes. Rebounding is great for lymphatic flow.
Then I’ll stretch and do some planks. I’ll do a mini workout of push ups and pull ups. No more than 30 minutes.
After my workout I’ll shower and go to work.
When I get home from work I’ll stretch and watch the news. I like to watch Netflix every once in while as a way of just relaxing.
At night I like to practice my guitar for about 45 minutes to an hour. Not just playing riffs, actually working on my skills. This is important I’ve come to realize.
As I’m getting ready for bed I’ll sometimes take an Epson salt bath. This has really helped me relax.
I’ll take my Melatonin. Sometimes CBD and Relora as well.
Then go to bed in a dark, quiet and cold room.
This routine gets me in a good biorhythm. Yours might look different, and that’s okay! Listen to your own biorhythms.
A Few More Ideas
Measure your habits. This is an easy way to stick to something. Keep track of it!
This is why I love using the Muse Headband for meditating, and why I wear an Oura Ring. The Oura Ring lets me know how much time I spent in each of the 4 stages of sleep, as well as many other things such as heart rate variability and time spent exercising that’s so important to overall health.
Be grateful. As a Physician for over 35 years, I’ve seen the power of gratitude. I’ve seen patients in very difficult circumstances who had gratitude and positivity in their life. And it matters.
You can’t control everything. Life will throw you curve balls. I read a devotional every morning and pray every evening.
As a doctor, prayer works. I’ve seen this too. Don’t ignore your spiritual life, however that looks for you