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Are you ready for the new year

The Next Best Thing

New Years is upon us. It’s the time of year when most people make some sort of resolution and most of the time, they are health related. We all know how that goes, by February you’ll probably forget what the resolution even was. Let’s be honest, we all suck at new years resolutions. I want to present you with another idea. I call it the next best thing.

Take 5-10 minutes and sit in silence. No phones, computers, kids or other distractions and ask yourself this question: “What is the next best thing I can do for my health?” I bet you won’t even need 5-10 minutes. Most people can answer this question within a minute or so.

Intuitively, we already know the answer to this question. The answer will be different for everyone, and it should be. We are all at a different point in our lives and health journey. Don’t get your answers from social media, or your spouse, or TV, or even from this blog post. Get if from within you. You already have the answer.

What is the next best thing you can do to improve your health in 2023. Focus on one thing. Instead of saying I want to lose weight, what is the one singular change you can make that will lead to losing weight? Something like, I will stop snacking after dinner is much easier to focus on and will lead to significant weight loss. I will stop drinking pop, I will eliminate desserts, I will give up french fries. Pick one small thing that will lead to the big thing.

Most people give up on their resolutions because they are too big and lofty. Start small.

What Next best Thing Should I Pick

Don’t be afraid to pick a next best thing that deals with mental, emotional or spiritual health. All of these are important and connected to physical health. Next best things like, starting marriage counseling, joining a men’s/women’s group, praying, meditating, reading one book a month are all great health goals too.

Physical health goals are also a great choice too. So many people say they want to exercise more. That is very vague. I will walk 3 mornings a week, I will go to the gym 3 times a week, I will do 50 pushups everyday. Remember, small things lead to big things. Chunk it down to bite size pieces and start chewing on those!

The list is endless. There are so many small, next best things you can choose from. Go within yourself and see what your inuition is telling you.

Write it down, commit to it, and maybe even tell a close friend to help keep you accountable.

I get excited at this time of the year. I love a new chapter, a fresh start. Let’s work together to make this our best year yet! I’m on your team and would love to help you in any way I can. The next best thing will bring you so much closer to a better you. Good luck!!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Steven Bourdage DC

Chicago Lincolnwood Chiropractor | Bourdage Chiropractic

Movement For Health

How much movement do you have in your day? Do you get your 10,000 steps a day? Do you workout or exercise? These are questions I like to ask of my patients because movement is so important, and most of us do not get enough of it. Movement for health is imperative. You cannot reach your full potential without movement.

The human body is a perfectly designed machine. And this machine is designed to move. Never has there been a time in evolution where we have been as inactive as we are currently. We used to walk miles per day just to get to our food or water sources. We used to have to carry things. We used to have to squat (to poop). Our jobs used to be phsically demanding. Now we go from our beds to the kitchen table to our car and then to our desk. Because of the comforts of modern society our health is suffering! We are softer, more sick and less happy than ever before. It is my opinion that this is because of our lack of movement in our day.

There is a great book called “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter that I highly recommend that dives into this on a deeper level. BOOK – Michael Easter (eastermichael.com)

What to Do?

If you spend one hour a day exercising, that is still 23 hours of your day that you are sedentary. In my opinion that is still considered a sedentary lifestyle! I’m not saying you should not workout, but what I am saying is you have to find ways to incorporate movement into your day throughout the day. The only way to do this is to be intentional about it.

Some examples of things you can do are:

Park further away

If it’s a mile or less away find another way to get there besides your car.

Take the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator. (only 2% of the population take the stairs if there is an escalator nearby) Be a 2%er!

Do some pushups while you wait for your coffee to brew or your shower to warm-up.

Walk around the block while you wait for your oil change or yours kids activities to finish.

Play at the park with your kids.

Learn a new physical skill like a cartwheel, handstand, archery, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, salsa dancing etc… the list and possibilities are endless.

Movement is Not OnlyExercise

When I ask my patients about their movement they often answer me with the status of how often they go to the gym. Like we talked about above, movement doesn’t only happen in the gym. As a matter of fact, the movement that is happening outside of the gym is more important! Depending on what you do in the gym it may not even be that functional. Functional movement is movement that occurs that is useful in everyday life. Many exercises at the gym are very unnatural and not a pattern of movement that even happen in everyday life.

Let’s take a look at the bench press exercise. How often in real life do we have to lay on a flat surface and push a weight or object away from us? Pretty much never! But many people do this exercise in search of becoming stronger or having a better-looking chest. I find for many people that excessive bench pressing causes more problems than creating a benefit. Shoulder pain, poor posture and neck pain can result from excessive bench pressing. It doesn’t jive with our modern lifestyles which already create excessively rounded shoulders and tight chest muscles.

If you need help finding ways to add more movement into your daily routine, let’s talk. When you are in the office for your next adjustment I can help. I love assisting people in finding ways to better their health. Better movement for health is the goal, I can help you achieve it.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Steven Bourdage DC

Lincolnwood Chiropractor