How to Have Your Best Year Ever

If you're leaving the holiday feeling sluggish and low on energy, you're not alone! The changes to your regular sleep and exercise routine can drain your energy levels and leave your body struggling to keep up without a quick caffeine fix. But, as we head into the new year, there are some simple steps you can take to have a healthier, happier, and more energized 2022. 

If you're exhausted, you may notice things like achy muscles. But did you know it can also affect your brain and immune system function? Taking proactive steps to boost your energy is important to your overall health and wellness. Here are three quick strategies to help you go from exhausted to energized.

Strive for Daily Exercise: While exercising, if you feel exhausted, might seem like the quickest route to being more tired, the opposite is true. Exercise can increase your energy levels and brain activity and may help support your immune system function.

Set Your Sleep Schedule: Your body runs on daily cycles called circadian rhythms. They are 24-hour cycles that are part of your internal clock. Prioritize your sleep and work towards going to bed and getting up around the same time each day. 



Eat Right: Keeping your blood sugar balance supports overall energy levels. Sugary foods can provide a quick spike in energy but very quickly leave you feeling wiped out. Eating more whole foods and reducing sugar intake can help your energy levels stay consistent and balanced throughout the day. 

Following these steps to boost your energy levels will help your body and positively impact your mood. If you can't tackle all of them at once, start today by getting some exercise and moving your body. Then, tomorrow, take the next step. And if you cannot exercise or sleep because of any pain or discomfort, schedule a visit with us today! Before you know it, you'll be healthier and happier due to your new wellness routine. 

It's a new year, so it's time to set your goal for better health. There is no better time to evaluate your health and wellness and set smart goals for healthy changes. Changing your health isn't easy, but setting smart goals can set you up for long-term success. Keep reading to learn how. 

Smart goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Trackable. Using smart goals can help increase your motivation and make you much more likely to reach your target. Setting these health goals shouldn't be stressful. Each action you take towards better health is a positive step in the right direction, so don't become overwhelmed with the process. Take a few minutes today and write down your health goals for this year using the smart framework below:

• Specific - Exercising more or eating better are good ideas but nearly impossible to quantify. Aim for specific goals such as exercising daily or eating less than 25 grams of sugar per day instead. 
• Measurable - Set a measurable goal, such as exercising 5x per week for 20 minutes. 
• Attainable - Try to avoid aiming too high or low. Your health goals should be attainable based on your current commitments and habits. 
• Realistic - Take a look at your current health habits and set your goals to be realistic. 
• Trackable - Goals that are trackable help you monitor your progress throughout the year and celebrate success! 

New Year's resolutions are great, but often they go unfulfilled. We're here to help support your desire for better health this year! By setting smart goals, you'll quickly be on your way to better health this year. Schedule a visit with us today if you're struggling to get started with your daily exercise goals based on chronic pain or a new injury.

"Your body's ability to heal is greater than anyone has permitted you to believe." Not only is that quote inspiring and thought-provoking, but we see it in action every day in our practice. Your body has an incredible natural ability to adapt, change, and heal. Whether you're bouncing back after an acute injury or looking for the best way to overcome chronic pain, in many cases, your body just needs to have the opportunity to heal, and nature will take care of the rest. 

Understanding your body's natural healing power isn't some woo-woo thought. Health entails much more than just not having pain. The World Health Organization defines health as complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease. This statement shows us that true health is multi-dimensional and emphasizes the critical connection between your brain and body.

You were born with an unbelievable ability to heal through complex interactions between your brain and body.

Your habits and choices can enhance or reduce your body's ability to reach its health potential.

Your brain and body are directly connected and coordinate all of your body systems (including your immune system) by communicating through your nervous system.

The function of your nervous system is a key part of your overall health and wellness. Chiropractors are focused on the spine for exactly this reason. Since your spine protects your spinal cord, proper spinal motion is important. Pain is just one of your body's indications that something is wrong. So, if you're experiencing pain in or around your spine, schedule a visit with us today. We'll help you move in the right direction by working with your body's natural healing ability! 

A year of abundant health starts with setting smart goals and taking proactive daily steps to support your body being its best. Movement and exercise are both essential foundations to living your best life. Movement and exercise help you feel better physically, but emerging research shows they may also help your brain stay sharp and focused. 

Before you can begin a daily exercise routine, you'll need your spine and joints to move well. If you have fixations or limitations with how your spinal joints move, it will be difficult to safely and painlessly move through your entire range of motion. With a limited range of motion, you may increase your risk for injury as other joints compensate and become overloaded. Here are the three types of movement that are key to optimizing your health.

Segmental: As the foundation of your spinal motion, segmental movement describes the motion between each set of bones in your spine.

Regional: Your spine is divided into four primary regions: cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), lumbar (low back), and sacral (tailbone).

Whole Body: When you combine your spine's segmental and regional movements with your extremities, you have whole-body motion. 

Next Steps:

Each of these movement types builds upon the other. To have optimal whole-body movement, you must ensure that your regional and segmental motion is tip-top. Problems with segmental motion can cause problems with your regional and whole-body movement. We know that abundant health starts with moving well and feeling great. So, if you notice pain or limitations in your movement patterns, schedule a visit with us today by calling (630)530-4744.

Science Sources:

How Simply Moving Benefits Your Mental Health. Harvard Health. 2016

7 Steps to Boosting Energy. Mayo Clinic. 2017

Setting Smart Goals for Success. Mayo Clinic Health System. 2020

Constitution. World Health Organization. 2021