I believe that food, exercise, sunlight, fresh air, relationships, and stress affect our health more than we will ever know. It is these things that we need to be spending our time, money, and effort on in order to live a healthy life. It is our daily habits that will determine the overall quality of our health.
So being the new year once again, what can we do differently to stick to our healthy habits in 2016 and beyond?
I think you need to start with knowing yourself better. That is why I have started to give this questionnaire to every new patient that I see.
According to happiness expert, Gretchen Rubin, we each fall into 1 of 4 tendencies: Questioner, Obliger, Upholder, and Rebel. Knowing your tendency can point you in the direction of the tools you need to best succeed in sticking to good habits. Here is a small summary of what I see that works best for the two most common tendencies.
Questioner: You need to know the reason why you are following a certain food plan. Understanding some of the nutritional science of why you are eating what you are eating is really important.
Tip: Read about the history of the food pyramid in order to understand why the Canada Food Guide and general mainstream nutrition advice is not the best diet, and will likely cause you to be fat, sick, and tired.
Obliger: You need to have someone to keep you accountable. You can have all the knowledge you want but it won’t translate into action. You need someone keeping you on track, so as soon as you stray away from that regular contact, you also stray away from making progress on your goals.
Tip: Have regular bioimpedance analysis checkups with your ND or get a personal trainer. Being accountable to someone other than yourself will go 100X further than reading more books, gathering more recipes, or buying another piece of exercise equipment.
Download the PDF and give it a try. I would love to hear what your tendency is. Tell me one way you can use knowing your tendency to your advantage this year in the comments below.
Dr. Michelle Durkin is a Naturopathic Doctor at the Quinte Naturopathic Centre and resident health expert for the Eat Real Food Academy. You can sign up for her newsletter, Doctor as Teacher Tuesdays, at her website.
If you want to delve deeper into this information or take the quiz online go to www.gretchenrubin.com. I also highly recommend her best-selling book, “Better Than Before.”
Just a reminder that registration for our online course is currently open –but only until January 25th at 8pm –where we have the information and accountability pieces covered for any Questioners and Obligers out there! For a glimpse into some key concepts we teach in the course, check out our free training videos.
Question/Inquiry: I have just turned 90 years of age. I have had at least two
diagnosed strokes, two or three uncertain loss-of-conciousness things. A recent one about two months ago, gave me a broken back!
I have a good chiropractor,a good massage therapist, and a good physio, who I am not seeing till my back is much safer.
I live just south of Bloomfield,so that going to these people is doable but
difficult, (my wife is still driving but possibly more worn-out than I am!).
I am sure it would be good for me to talk with both of you. Should I attempt
to get an appointment with Dr Durkin first, (it is possible for me to get a
ride certain days of the week); or should I perhaps try to go to your store/office?
I have been inclined toward a Med.-type diet for at least four years, but there are difficulties. Perhaps I need somebody to hold my hand!?
yours, Gord
Hi Gordon,
Your situation would work best if you came to see me as a patient. You can call the office at your earliest convenience, 613-966-9660. I look forward to your initial appointment.