Building a LIFESTYLE

Building a LIFESTYLE

It’s the last part of my 3-part series on a more in-depth look into what the key words on my website mean.

Balance

Health

And finally LIFESTYLE.

As I’ve mentioned before, these words appear on my website for a reason.  And honestly, it’s been really neat for me personally to dig a little deeper into what these words mean to me, what they mean for my office, and what they mean for my patients.

It’s important that we look over the first 2 concepts before moving onto the 3rd because our lifestyle is going to be based on what our definition of health is and ultimately making sure that we are using the correct parameters and the correct balance to understand what lifestyle we should build.

Quick refresher:

Balance: when I first started talking about this word, it wasn’t my favorite, but looking a little deeper, it grew on me.  My ah-ha moment was the concept that balance doesn’t have to mean 50/50, an even split.  A lot of times comparison is the thief of joy and can make you feel unbalanced.  And not only is there a balance and flow to work/life/play, but also a balance and a flow within the nervous system.

Health: my mom has lots of great insight and wonderful tidbits about life she shares with me, but one of my favorites has been the concept of investing in your health.  If you don’t invest in your health or the health of your family, no one else will.  I also shared my 5 pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, positive mindset, and chiropractic adjustments. 

So ultimately, by honing in on balance and defining health we can begin to build a lifestyle that honors how we define those words.  What exactly does building a lifestyle look like or mean?

I’ll be honest, when I hear the word lifestyle I immediately think of the saying, “don’t call it a diet.  Call it a lifestyle change”.  While I do think there’s some truth to that statement, the word diet can have some negative connotations to it.  It’s ultimately a giant list of things you can’t have.   And when you are building a lifestyle, it’s more than just watching the foods you eat. 

In January of this year, my husband and I did Whole 30.  This is a program where you cut out some of the top inflammatory foods for a period of time, and then you can continue the program or add in some of the excluded foods to see how you feel.  It’s what you would call an elimination diet, and they aren’t necessarily easy.  Part of the excitement of this adventure for me was to see if I could actually do it (and then of course, being graceful with myself if it didn’t go exactly as planned!).  I think a big part of the struggle with trying to eliminate foods or start new routines is breaking and forming new habits.  Not only did we do Whole 30 in January, I also read the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.  It was so eye opening.  Do you struggle with eating certain foods late at night, do you always have sweets after dinner…….this book really looks at the habits we have, why we have them, and what are some ways people have overcome them.  A lot of our lifestyle choices can come from habits, and so with building a lifestyle, looking into why we do what we do can be a learning experience……a little painful, but extremely informative. 

When we take the concept of balance within our lives and apply our definition of health to it, we can begin to see where somethings maybe don’t align.  If we define health as a zest for life and abundant energy and things of that nature, but yet our lifestyle doesn’t fit that, then we’re really not living in balance (and remember I don’t mean 50/50)  We did Whole 30 for just a month, but there are certain aspects of it that we have built into our lifestyle. 

If you remember, my pillars of health didn’t include just nutrition and exercise.  The word lifestyle to me means how I am living inwardly and outwardly.  Are the things that are important to me reflected in how I live?  Am I being authentic?  Now what does authenticity have to do with lifestyle?  It’s going to be hard to maintain a particular lifestyle if it is not true to you.  I love to run.  I’ve been running for 30 years now, and it is so true to me and my soul that when I don’t run, I become crabby and I begin to feel unathentic.  When I’m not true to myself and honoring those things that bring me joy, then I do feel out of sorts and out of balance.  But you know what, running may not be your thing.  Building your lifestyle includes finding your thing, finding what helps you have a zest for life and brings you joy. 

What brings you balance and makes you feel aligned?  What does health mean to you and how do you and your family define health?  And how would you build a lifestyle based on those definitions?

Of course, I’m going to take this one step further and talk about building a chiropractic lifestyle 😊 Going back to my definition of health, it doesn’t include just dietary items.  Health really is more than what we eat and drink and how we feel about our body.  It’s also about how we sleep and rest and regenerate, and it’s also about our internal dialogue and the health of our nervous system. 

Lifestyle is defining those things that fill you up, and making sure those fit your definition of health (this is important because my lifestyle may want me to eat a lot of oreos but does that fit with my definition of health and what makes me feel balanced and aligned 😊 )

Why is lifestyle on my website?  Because as a chiropractor, I think that regular chiropractic care is important for the health of our nervous system.  My family and I experienced the benefits of regular care first-hand, and it was life changing.  I began to question what my definition of health was and make sure I was doing things to promote my definition. 

Just as there is an ebb and flow to our daily lives and how we define balance and what it means to be healthy, there is an ebb and flow to our lifestyle.  When we take up new sports, learn new recipes, experience the difference that chiropractic care can have in our life, shift our internal dialogue from negative to positive our lifestyle and how we build that lifestyle shifts and changes too. 

Next time you’re in the office, let me know, what kind of lifestyle do you want to build?