Make Your New Year Great (And Keep Doing What You Love) With These 5 Tips
My patients are often active folks who are determined to live life to the fullest. Here in the mountains, if you aren’t able to enjoy the world-class ski terrain, mountain biking trails, and gorgeous hikes, you are truly missing out. That’s why I spend so much time helping people make sure they can keep doing what they love.
And while I fix major injuries every day, I’m also working with athletes who want to perform their best, which means implementing the techniques that will keep them doing so.
If you take a look at the top skiers on social media, you’ll notice that they put tons of work into their overall health, not just on race days, but every day.
Today I’m going to share 3 easy steps to do so yourself. These might sound rudimentary, but I want to remind you how crucial they can be when it comes to overall health.
Practice these three health tips, and you just might have your best year yet!
1. Stretch Every Day
Keeping your body limber can help you avoid the nagging little injuries that affect all of us.
It has long been recognized that stretching before an activity can help you to perform better and to keep from getting injured while doing the activities you love.
But you don’t even have to be a particularly active person to enjoy the benefits of stretching. Even if you spend most of your day tethered to a desk or sitting at work, you can still enjoy the benefits of stretching.
Taking little breaks during the day to stand and stretch your body can get the blood flowing and contribute to a healthy mind and body.
2. Try A New Activity
Spice up your life with a little variety this year! As we age, we sometimes fall into patterns of activity that can become ruts if we don’t mix it up a little bit. That’s why it’s good to try new activities once in a while to keep things fresh (and also to work different muscles in your body).
What do I mean? If you are an avid runner, give those leg muscles a break and try swimming. If you are a skier, mix it up with a little snowshoeing here and there. If you are a golfer, throw in a session at the local racquetball court, or go play some ultimate frisbee.
Trying new activities keeps the mind and body fresh. So give it a shot!
3. Give Your Diet a Healthy Boost
Speaking of getting into ruts, we can often fall into this trap with our diets. But luckily, there are ways we can add a healthy boost to our minds and bodies when it comes to the type of food we eat.
Everybody is different, and our lifestyle, body type, and other factors should determine what we exactly eat and what feels right to us. The key here: listen to your own body and give it what it needs to perform optimally.
That said, there are some surefire ways to add a little nutrition to our diet, such as:
Healthy Juicing
Eating foods that are high in protein
Maintaining consistent amount of healthy fruits and vegetables.
On the flip side, there are some things that you can decrease consumption of, to help your body and mind perform at full strength. Examples:
Sugary drinks and soda
Excess carbohydrates
Excess dairy products
Excess caffeine
Excess alchohol
Eating right is the foundation of healthy living, and you will see the impacts of maintaining a healthy diet throughout your life. There’s no time like now to implement it.
Put those three tips into action, and I guarantee you will see good results in terms of mind and body health.
Good luck! And happy new year from Team Sterett!
