**Change is a law of life. If you do not change your direction, you might end up where you’re heading.**

The good news is, you are ever only one decision away from a totally different path. Where are you headed this New Year?

(6 minute read)

At the start of the New Year, many of us think about how to be healthier. We ask ourselves, “What changes can I make this year to move closer to my goals?”

Often what happens next is - we get discouraged. Instead of thinking excitedly about the many possibilities, we end up counting the ways we’ve previously failed. We look over the vast horizon of the next 365 days and, while we want change, we really don’t want to have to change what has been comfortable.

This is so NORMAL, but I don’t think “normal” means we have to be complacent and settle! Here’s why.

We are wired for safety and efficiency. There’s a part of our brain that is closely associated with motivation and fear. It’s called the amygdala. Our amygdala’s job it to keep us safe. It is always on the lookout for potential or even perceived danger. Making healthy choices is certainly nothing for us to fear, but the amygdala often translates “same as safe and different as danger”.

Additionally, our busy brains process some 70,000 thoughts, using 100 billion neurons, that connect to 500 trillion synapses traveling roughly 300 miles per hour AND they control all aspects of our bodily functions, as well as interpret the world through our senses. Let’s just summarize and say - our brains are really busy! They really are not looking for extra jobs to do. So any thoughts of change, get translated into work, which equals hard. Then hard gets translated into bad. And so what started out as a “good idea” gets translated into a “bad plan, Stan”.

Do you know what I mean? I think this happens to most everybody. Change creates something like a “painful experience” in the brain, much like a gut-punch. It encourages us to conserve energy and reduce uncertainty by creating patterns and habits.

HOW TO MAKE “HEALTHY” EASY

So to make changes easier and to apply a little mastery over your brain, it helps to turn negative beliefs around. Instead of thinking that change or making healthy improvements for yourself is going to be hard, try thinking, “How could I make this easy?”

When things change inside of you, things begin to change around you.

Something shifts inside of us when we start looking for opportunities instead of at the obstacles. Then things begin to change around us. We begin to see glimmers of possibility. We start connecting dots. We try. We take a small step forward. Or we might fail, but we try again. Then reward centers start lighting up, the brain is happy, and new habits are already forming.

HABIT STACKING

Habit-stacking is one of the techniques I recommend to make “healthy” easy. This means aiming for multiple benefits by combining a few things into one activity. Not only do I want that activity to be easy, but I also like for it to be enjoyable. Because why not do something easier and that also makes you happy? One thing I really enjoy, which is part of a larger habit-stacked morning routine, is my morning walk.

After I roll out of bed, I savor a cup of green tea with fresh squeezed lemon and a dash of sea salt. Then the next thing I do is, I do NOT check my phone! No, I choose instead to give my brain some quite time, time to reflect on what I am grateful for. Soon I feel settled and begin making or reheating an already prepared nutritious breakfast. I tidy up the kitchen, while the sun comes up, then head out for a walk with my dogs.

I might do a loop around our neighborhood or in the woods. It could be as little as 10 minutes or, when I have more time, I’ll walk longer - for about 30-45 minutes. If I’m really lucky, a friend will join me, and their company is like sunshine on a cloudy day.

This is “easy and enjoyable” for me because it covers several things. First, my dogs really need and like it. They are border collies (think, sheep-drivers with tons of energy). So it's good for them and, when I fill their hearts happy, it also feels good to me.

Having quality time either alone or with a friend recharges my system. Alone it helps me become more self-aware and to learn to listen to what I need. And the social connection with others, continuing conversations and sharing life together provides a felt-sense of safety, community, and two people genuinely caring for each other. Who doesn’t need more of this?

Starting my day in nature is another benefit. My brain registers this as a “gift”. I spend a lot of time studying, emoting, and thinking all day every day. So recognizing my small place in the big, wide world is very soothing to my nervous system. I am reminded that I have a part to play in the big picture, but I do not need to carry the world on my shoulders.

Then, because I believe so strongly in the power of balanced blood sugar, there are the health benefits. Just to name a few:

Exposure to morning light has been clinically proven to help your sleep wake cycle. Your circadian rhythm tells your brain/your body, “Hey, this is morning!” Then after a certain number of daytime hours, it prepares you for nighttime and for sleep. Better sleep makes for better blood sugar control. Just 10 minutes of morning light in your eyes helps regulate your cortisol (stress hormone), which has a cascading impact on all your other hormones. So having your circadian wave flowing “like clockwork,” starting with morning light, is a huge plus!
Another gift is not only getting exercise, but exercise earlier in the day has shown to improve glucose (blood sugar) tolerance for the rest of the day! This means you can eat per usual and maintain a lower blood sugar wave. You will avoid the blood sugar roller coaster’s highs and lows that stimulate anxiety, insomnia, carb cravings, mood swings, and more unwanted things. This works because your body will actually dispose of glucose more rapidly just because you added in a little exercise.
To piggyback off the previous two benefits, stable blood sugar is what helps us to keep our focus. With our circadian clock getting us moving in the morning and sleeping in the evening, which helps to keep our cortisol in check, and then exercising and stabilizing our blood sugar - our body and brain have the energy to do what we need and want to do for the rest of the day, which makes making and keeping healthy habits so much easier!

Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and glorious at the end.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & OPPORTUNITY

I hope you can see the cycle here. It all works together for so much good! 🌟

Think about all the good things lumped into a routine like this: waking up refreshed with a surplus of energy from the previous day’s investment, hydrating, nourishing, pushing pause on distractions and finding my own rhythm first, sunlight, pets and sometimes real face-to-face social engagement, and outdoor activity.

Now think about all the bad things that used to happen, but didn’t happen: waking up groggy, dehydrating and creating a dependence on caffeine, skipping breakfast and stimulating high cortisol, letting my phone/texts dictate my day, plunking down at my desk because the pressure of work awaits, and then trying to find some level of comfort to ease a stressful day - usually snacking on carbs and/or false-fueling with coffee. All of which perpetuates anxiety, cravings, fatigue, brain fog, hormonal chaos, and a sinister spiral of unwanted dis-ease - leading to metabolic chaos and, likely, eventually diabetes.

You might be discouraged and thinking, “That’s nice for you, but I can’t do that!” Maybe you don’t have a dog, or a place to walk, or you work early or have kids that demand your attention first thing in the morning. Okay. What can YOU do? What CAN you do? Think possibilities. There are always opportunities, we just have start with a desire and then really look for them. There are benefits to be had at any part of the day. The key is finding something that works for you.

This is what I offer to my clients, personalized guidance. I help them find what works for them in several areas that are often out of balance: diet, sleep, stress, exercise, nutritional deficiencies, food sensitivities, haywire hormones, disrupted digestion, detoxification problems, abnormally low energy, and stressed out nervous systems. There’s so much going on in your body! Few people are able to assess all this alone. Dr. Google creates even more confusion. Seek the support of a certified Functional Nutrition Counselor and you’ll find you’ve saved yourself precious time in getting on, and staying on, a path of better health!

If starting your health journey over again this New Year feels hard, ask yourself, “How could this be easy?” Think of one thing and make it easy; it doesn't even need to take a lot of time. Remember the benefits of habit stacking and layer the benefits for you. Start the year off well - making conscious choices to boost and bless your health. Make it easy, and by all means, make it enjoyable!

Change IS hard, at first.

It’s messy in the middle.

But it has so much potential for good when we persist! 💚

HOW TO MAKE “HEALTHY” EASY

When things change inside of you, things begin to change around you.

Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and glorious at the end.

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