ELEMENT 21 – YOUR LIFEBOOK – OPTIMIZING YOUR PATH TO WELLNESS; UNLOCKING THE POWER OF NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Healthy Habits
As you continue on your path towards achieving and maintaining optimal health and wellbeing, we have additional tools to help you stay in the best condition possible, regardless of your age. Supplementing with vital nutrients as needed can help make sure you are optimizing your nutrition, which plays a crucial role in enhancing your body’s efficiency and overall wellness.

It’s important to note that nutrients are not akin to medications; they are naturally occurring substances already present within your body. By supplementing them in the right quantities, you empower your body to reach its peak performance.

However, before embarking on any new supplement regimen, consult with your healthcare provider to ensure that your current medications or health conditions will not be adversely affected by nutritional intervention.

Here are some essential supplement guidelines recommended by Co-Founder and independent OPTAVIA Coach, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen, in Your LifeBook: Element 21*:

  • Incorporate Fish Oil: Consider adding fish oil to your routine. You can achieve this by either consuming 4 ounces of fatty fish three times a week, incorporating 3-6 walnuts daily or taking 1 to 3 grams of omega-3 derived from cold-water arctic fish, with EPA and DHA, 30 minutes before a meal.
  • Daily Multivitamin: Start your day with a daily multivitamin specifically designed for your gender and age group.
  • Benefit from B Complex Vitamins: B complex vitamins work synergistically. Unless you have specific individual needs, it’s generally advisable to take them in the form of a high-potency B complex formula.
  • Supplement with Other Key Vitamins: Consider incorporating any other essential vitamins and minerals that may not be part of your multivitamin and B complex.
  • Embrace Key Minerals: Ensure you’re receiving an adequate supply of key minerals such as calcium, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
  • Combat Inflammation: Inflammation is an often-overlooked aspect of health, but it plays a significant role in our overall wellbeing. Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen’s comprehensive approach includes strategies to reduce inflammation as a core component of optimizing your health.

Use these guidelines as a roadmap for the nutritional support that may be needed to address deficiencies while also helping you thrive at your absolute best. Combine these strategies with the anti-inflammatory practices you learned in Element 20 of Your LifeBook to take on the world with renewed vitality and wellness.
*Before starting a weight-loss program, talk with your healthcare provider about the program, and about any medications or dietary supplements you are using, including especially Coumadin (Warfarin), lithium, diuretics, or medications for diabetes, high blood pressure or thyroid conditions.

ELEMENT 20 – YOUR LIFEBOOK – MAXIMIZING YOUR ANTI-INFLAMMATION PROTECTION

Healthy Habits

 

 

 

Inflammation is how your body reacts when it’s hurt or has an infection. It signals your immune system to defend the body and protect against germs.

Sometimes, inflammation sticks around longer than needed, causing ongoing problems. But eating healthy and living well can help reduce inflammation.

Here are some simple things to do to help your body heal naturally:

  • Eat Greens. Consuming vegetables like spinach and kale offers your body vitamins that fight inflammation. Darker greens are even better. Preparing Lean & Green meals like the Crustless Spinach Quiche or the Yogurt Dill Salmon with Kale Salad is a great way to include more greens into your diet.
  • Get enough sleep. Try to sleep for 7 – 9 hours each night. Sleep helps your body recover and lowers inflammation.
  • Handle stress. Stress can make inflammation worse. Try meditation, exercise or writing in a journal to stay calm.
  • Get Vitamin D. Low Vitamin D can cause inflammation. Spend 15 – 20 minutes in the sun or eat fatty fish like salmon. You can also find Vitamin D in OPTAVIA Fuelings.

To learn more about inflammation, co-founder and independent OPTAVIA Coach, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen suggests reading Part 2.14 in Dr. A’s Habits of Health Transformational System, Inflammation: Dousing the Flame.

The time is now for better health! Let’s talk soon to discuss your year-end goals and your plan for the upcoming holiday season.

ELEMENT 19 – YOUR LIFEBOOK – HOW DO YOU CREATE HEALTHY SLEEP AND UNLIMITED ENERGY?

Healthy Habits

 

 

 

In Element 19 of Your LifeBook we will focus on optimizing your sleep and energy management. Just like a healthy diet and exercise, sleep plays a vital role in physical health, brain function, and emotional wellbeing. Therefore, it’s essential to be optimally charged every morning to have the drive to power through your day.

Here are some ways you can optimize your sleep and manage your energy throughout the day:

  • Determine your bedtime. Decide what time you need to wake up and then count back eight (or more!) hours. This is the time you should be in bed and ready to go to sleep. Sticking to the same sleep schedule will help your body find its natural rhythm and settle into a regular cycle, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up.
  • Have an evening ritual. You should begin your evening ritual about one hour prior to bedtime. This time is called the “twilight hour.” Ensure that all chores or work are wrapped up and all family matters are resolved before your twilight hour. Once everything is settled focus on winding down with relaxing activities such as taking a hot bath or journaling about your day.
  • Create an optimal sleep environment. Your bedroom should be dark, quiet, and at a comfortable temperature. Try blackout curtains to block out light or even try a white noise machine to mask ambient noises and other external sounds.
  • Have a morning ritual. Like your evening ritual, having a morning routine can start your morning off right. After eight solid hours of sleep, your body and mind will be prepared for an optimal day. Some things you may include in your morning ritual are a healthy breakfast, a morning walk, or a meditation session.
  • Restore your energy during the day. There are several methods to help restore your energy levels if you’re feeling tired during the day. For example, try deep breathing, stretching, listening to music, or engaging in a lively conversation with a colleague or friend to boost your alertness.

Ask me, your independent OPTAVIA Coach, about other ways to create healthy sleep and improve your energy on your journey to Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time.

ELEMENT 18 – YOUR LIFEBOOK – EXERCISE IS YOUR GIFT TO YOURSELF

Healthy Habits
In Element 17, we explored how NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) helps you burn an additional 200 – 300 calories per day without making drastic changes to your daily routine. The NEAT system already contributes to most of your daily energy expenditure, or the number of calories you burn. Element 18 explores EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) and how it can enhance your healthy motion routine to help sustain your healthy weight during Phase II. By adding NEAT, you’ll be equipped to achieve the three core goals of the Habits of Motion System:

  1. Create a consistent balance between energy in and energy out.
  2. Optimize cardiovascular health to keep your cells functioning properly.
  3. Build strong, healthy bones and muscles to help you stay active and maintain a healthy weight.

The EAT system is divided into three progressive levels that you can accomplish at your own pace—Walking and Fitness Program, Resistance Program, and Boosting Your Workouts (High Intensity Interval Training). Remember, it’s important to talk to your healthcare provider prior to beginning any workout routine.

  • Level One—Walking and Fitness Program: Begin by walking 20 minutes a day, including five minutes to warm up and five minutes to cool down. Increase your walk by five minutes each week. Once you’ve reached 20,000 steps per week (in addition to the steps you’re taking with NEAT) and have been walking five days every week for at least one month, you’re ready to progress to Level Two.
  • Level Two—Resistance Program: Each Resistance Program session focuses on your upper body or lower body along with core muscles. Choose two days a week for these workouts, but remember to rest at least two days in-between sessions to allow your body time to recover. A 30-minute session should consist of a five-minute warm-up, five repetitions of five selected movements, five different exercises that work the same muscle groups, and a five-minute cool-down stretch.
  • Level Three—Boosting Your Workouts: As your muscles strengthen and you become more fit, the easiest way to advance your workout is to increase intensity, frequency, and total amount of time. Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen provides some examples of how to do this on page 369 of Your LifeBook. You can also incorporate HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), which will increase your exertion. For recommended HIIT workouts, refer to page 371 of Your LifeBook.

To maintain optimal health, you need to be active every day through NEAT and/or EAT. By utilizing this program, you’ll acquire enough activity to help keep your weight under control while progressing toward optimal health.

Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter featuring Element 19—steps to optimize your sleep and increase energy management!

As we get closer to the New Year, if you still need to order your NEW Habits of Health® Transformational System, it’s time to reward yourself with this optimal gift of health and wellbeing! Let’s connect today to discuss more!

ELEMENT 17 – YOUR LIFEBOOK – HOW DO YOU BECOME A PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE?

Healthy Habits
In this Element, you will learn the importance of increasing your activity level and NEW ways to increase that level based on the NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) System.

NEAT is the energy expended from everything we do when we’re not sleeping or exercising. Just by making NEAT motions throughout the day, you’ll burn extra calories. Best of all, there’s no intense workout involved—you’re actually setting the stage for exercise at your own pace.

Here are the six NEAT categories along with a MicroHabit tip to help increase your daily healthy motion:

  • Stance. You can practice NEAT while you’re sitting. While sitting in an upright chair that supports your posture, flex your stomach muscles, and take deep breaths.

    MicroHabit: Add two additional minutes of focus on the core position per day.

  • Standing. Get out of your chair as much as possible. Instead of sitting, stand while you’re talking on the phone or working on your laptop.

    MicroHabit: Add 10 additional minutes of standing per day.

  • Strolling (Walking). Take standing one step further, and walk when you can. Park your car farther away from the store so that you can get some extra steps in.
    MicroHabit: Add 100 additional steps per week.
  • Stairs. Climbing one flight of stairs is equivalent to walking 100 steps. Instead of taking the elevator, use the stairs to burn some quick calories!

    MicroHabit: Add one additional flight of stairs per week.

  • Samba (Dance). Turn on the music and get moving! Music helps boost physical and mental performance. Tapping your foot, nodding to the beat, or even singing will get you moving.
    MicroHabit: Add 10 additional minutes of music per day; work up to an hour or more of dance per week.
  • Switch. To switch means to do things by hand instead of using a machine. Instead of loading all the dishes in the dishwasher after dinner, take the time to wash them by hand.
    MicroHabit: Add one or two substituted manual tasks per day.

These six categories cover the full range of muscle energy expenditure in your everyday life. By making these small daily choices, you can reach your physical goals and set the stage for exercising at your own pace!

We also invite you to watch our transformative video series, featuring Your LifeBook – Elements 01-26, published recently on CLIENT ANSWERS. These videos, Your LifeBook, and me, your Coach, give you the tools to empower yourself and move forward in creating optimal health and wellbeing. Check them out!