It goes without saying that 2020 has been a particularly intense year. Recently, the holidays felt isolating, as gatherings of family and friends weren’t able to bring the usual cheer. For others, the holiday season was a comforting respite after a challenging year. No matter what 2020 looked like for you, you might feel the need to reset your body in 2021.

Instead of dwelling on the challenges of last year, let’s use this desire for change as motivation to start fresh and reach new goals. Here are some actionable tips and strategies to do just that.

Prep for Sustainable Habits to Help Reset Your Body

It’s tempting to set lofty New Year’s resolutions, but it’s essential to consider what it takes to form sustainable habits. For example, if you’d like to begin exercising, start with just five or ten minutes per day instead of jumping into exhausting workouts. This more achievable goal will set you up for long-term success.

Start the year with one or two realistic, measurable goals, and build a routine alongside someone who can help keep you accountable. This might be one of us here at Wolfe Family Chiropractic, a coworker, a friend, or a family member. For example, if you would like to lose twenty pounds by July, break that down to a weekly and monthly weight loss goal, and plan the new habits you’ll need in order to get there. Check-in regularly with your accountability partner about how things are going, celebrate your successes and talk about those occasional bumps in the road.

Be sure you have the resources to reach your goals. This includes time, affordability, support, accessibility, and enjoyment. If your goal isn’t realistic, think about how you can shift and shape it to fit your current lifestyle and circumstances.

Reset Your Body With Care

You guessed it, chiropractic care is a great place to start. With new goals to be a better and fitter version of yourself, come physical challenges and the realization that your body isn’t always ready to move along as quickly as your goals on your calendar. This means being very aware of the big and little changes you’ll notice. Changes in levels of comfort, quality of sleep, amount of flexibility, and even irritability. Committing to visiting your chiropractor helps keep your body in sync with your goals and allows you to continue to make progress in a safer, healthier, and more productive way. Think of all those professional athletes and Olympians who rely on chiropractic to help them achieve those lofty goals. Chiropractic helps you in the same ways.

One of the most common questions we get at Wolfe Family Chiropractic is, “How can I keep those pesky misalignments away”? It’s a great question and there are three things anyone can do after they get an adjustment to ensure they maximize its effect:

1. Maintain proper posture, ergonomics, and healthy movement. This means being mindful about work movements like bending, carrying, or even sitting. You have to also be sure to keep up with stretches we recommend.

2. Keep a close eye on the things you eat and drink. In addition to adding the healthy amounts of clean water, fruits, and vegetables, be sure to limit the naughty things like alcohol, sweets, and processed foods. More on this as you keep reading…

3. Identify and keep your stress levels in check. The three biggest areas of stress are emotions finances, and time management. It never hurts to look at these three things and take steps to just reduce the stress load a little.

Reset Your Body with a Healthy Eating Philosophy

The culture around diet mentality has done far more harm than good in helping people lose weight. The idea of “bad” and “good” foods, deprivation, white-knuckling hunger and cravings, feelings of shame for ditching restrictive eating plans, and yo-yo dieting has become par for the course—and none of these approaches lead to healthy relationships with food.

Instead of starting yet another diet, think of 2021 as a chance to overhaul your food philosophy—a shift from “dieting” to “healthy eating”. This means nourishing your body with foods that heal, support overall health and vitality, and building feasible habits that you can stick to in the long run. Always start with small changes. Look at your current plate and consider how you can make it more balanced and nutritious. Begin with food journaling, using paper and pen or one of many free apps (like MyFitness Pal) as a short-term educational tool to observe what you eat.

Once you have a consistent balance in your diet, you can start with food replacements. For example, you can swap white potatoes for sweet potatoes or yams, white rice for cauliflower rice, pasta for zucchini noodles (zoodles), and bread for lettuce wraps. Perhaps you start with these alternatives for one meal per day, slowly but surely incorporating more changes as the year progresses.

Introduce or Switch-Up Movement and Exercise to Reset Your Health

If you’re currently sedentary, incorporating movement is key for physical, mental, and emotional health. If you’re already active, now’s the time to raise the bar.

Whatever your current fitness level, always choose activities that you enjoy. If you’re not a gym person, there are countless alternatives. Consider a new sport or hobby, work in the garden, find a home improvement project, join a walking or biking group, or simply take the stairs instead of the elevator.

It’s also helpful to think in terms of opportunistic exercise or extra activity that naturally works into the flow of your day. Do squats while you brush your teeth, lunges while talking on the phone, take a walk on your lunch break. The options are endless and only require a little creativity.

Putting It All Together

This year, create actionable steps to reach realistic goals that you can stick to. Use Wolfe Family Chiropractic as a resource or accountability partner, set time-based, measurable and attainable goals that make sense for your current lifestyle and circumstances, and check in regularly to see how you’re progressing. To address the body on all levels, start with one or two goals that encompass chiropractic care, eating philosophy makeover, and additional healthy movement.

The five of us at Wolfe Family Chiropractic are committing to these changes to not only lead by example, but to be able to care for you as the best version of ourselves.

Watch out 2021, here we come!!