Your Self-Improvement Guide for the New Year

These 10 steps will help you wind back your biological clock to feel fabulous, look vibrant, and think clearly. The keys to anti-aging and regaining your youthful vigor are good nutrition, good digestion, and good circulation. These keys enhance our ability to continually clean, refresh, and renew ourselves physically, emotionally, and mentally. An alkaline condition increases our ability to absorb and utilize nutrients, eliminate toxins, and helps hemoglobin bind better with oxygen for transport throughout the body. The following practices help us to maintain a naturally alkaline condition.

Good Nutrition (Variety)

1) Have a variety of whole grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fruits in your overall diet.

2) Include a variety of naturally pickled and fermented foods.

• • This includes sauerkraut, kimchi, misos, vinegars, brine pickles, olives, micro-brewed beers, etc.

3) Use a variety of preparation methods as well as food combinations and ingredients within meals and dishes.

• • Dishes can be prepared raw, lightly-cooked, or well-cooked. Lightly-cooked dishes maintain their crunchy texture.

4) Choose a variety of naturally refreshing foods (Chinese cabbage, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, etc.)

• • Chinese cabbage, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, watermelons, etc. are all naturally refreshing and have a watery, sweet freshness to them.
  • Avoid choosing artificially sweetened and iced beverages when you need refreshment.

Good digestion (regularity)

5) Maintain regular times for your meals.

• • Start breakfast between 5-8:30 a.m., lunch between 11a.m.-1p.m., dinner between 5-7:30 p.m.
  • Do not skip meals.

6) Sit down to eat without doing other things.

• • Reading, watching tv, working, driving, etc. all break your connection with your food.
  • Quiet conversation aids digestion and improves our connections with each other.

7) Eat slowly, and chew well.

• • To maintain health, chew 20-30 times per mouthful; to improve health, chew 50 times or more.

Good Circulation

8) Engage in outdoor activities including walking and gardening.

• • Walk outside thirty minutes or more, at least four or five times a week.
  • Spend more time outdoors all year round.

9) Gently rub your skin for 10-15 minutes a day with a warm-hot, damp, cloth.

• • Do the body rub at the sink, as opposed to in the bath or during showers.

10) Adopt practices that encourage natural, deep, and rhythmic breathing.

• • Practicing yoga, tai chi, qi gong, and meditation are all refreshing, renewing practices.

This list is not all-or nothing. You can choose from different categories to focus on and implement the recommendations at your own pace. We encourage you to try these practical steps to get a healthy start in the new year.

For more details about maintaining natural youthfulness, consider reading “The Complete Macrobiotic Diet.” You can also call 1-215-271-1858 to find out how Denny can help you maintain your youthful vigor, or to request an appointment. Happy New Year!