1. Take Responsibility for Your Health – You are the master of your life, including your health. Only YOU have the power to decide your habits. Your future health is in your hands. You will decide the quality of your lifestyle habits, and those habits will decide the quality of your health – both now and in the future. If excellent health is what you desire, then now is the time to make a solid, life-long commitment to take full responsibility for it and to block out specific times in your daily schedule to learn, to apply what you have learned, and to self-monitor your progress.

2. Cultivate Your Soul – The health of your soul (mind, will, and emotions) will impact your your life and physical health more than anything you can touch or see in the physical realm-including your diet. What you believe and think directly affects and determines who you become and are. One of the best things you can do to cultivate your soul is to get into the practice of speaking your desires and goals into existence through verbally declaring them as if they have already been achieved using daily affirmations first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. Another excellent way to cultivate your soul is to regularly take 10-second mental inventories at specific, scheduled times of the day to carefully analyze your mental processes, and then use effective mind-management techniques to replace all negative, self- limiting thoughts with positive, self-empowering thoughts. Last, but not least, your soul will also be empowered to thrive if you commit to scheduling time every single day to nurture your relationships – with God, with family, with friends, and with nature. Take some time daily to connect with the people you love and to nurture the important relationships in your life, even if it is a 5-minute walk or phone call. Likewise, commit to spending at least five minutes every day outside in nature, preferably barefoot, to receive the benefits of grounding. The sunshine and fresh air, and connection to the earth will do wonders for your soul, your sleep, and your mental function. All three of these practices will cultivate your soul and enable it to produce a plentiful and beautiful harvest of health!

3. Maintain Hydration – Second only to oxygen, water is the most essential element that we need in our bodies for optimal health. It is the chief transport media in the body, continually delivering nutrients to the cells, diluting and carrying toxins out of the body, aiding in the digestion and elimination processes, and much more. Most health experts suggest drinking half of your body weight in ounces, up to one gallon. We recommend drinking at least 2 quarts and enhancing the water’s ability to enter the cells through adding some sort of electrical charge, like a dash of high mineral sea salt or organic herbal teas like licorice or mint. According to Dr. Zach Bush, you will also improve your cellular hydration by increasing your consumption of high fiber and high water content vegetables like organic beets, turnips, daikon radish, and cucumbers. These vegetables are 10 times more effective at getting water into your cells than drinking it alone.

4. Diligently Detoxify – It is absolutely essential to regularly address toxins on a daily, habitual basis. Even the most hopeless, baffling diseases can be reversed when you are able to get rid of the stored, accumulated, health-destroying toxins in your body. According to Dr. Sherry Rogers, environmental toxins are everywhere. They stockpile in your body over time, and they cause all kinds of human disease. Most of the toxins are primarily coming from man-made, synthetic chemicals or environmental toxins in your foods, personal care products, household cleaners, cookware, food storage, and lawn/garden care products. To combat this onslaught of toxins, first it’s important to reduce all incoming toxins – in food, water, air, personal care products, household cleaners, and toxic cookware. Secondly, it’s important to eliminate them from your body by supporting the function of your detoxification organs – colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin, and by assisting the elimination of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and pathogenic organisms with fiber, super foods, supplements, herbs, and other detoxification practices and therapies.

5. Optimize Nutrition – When it comes to root causes of sickness and disease, lack of balanced nutrition is near the top of the list. In a nutshell, disease usually begins to take place when toxins increase and nutrients decrease. This is an area of our lives that we must take control of and get well-versed in, if optimal health is our goal. When it comes to optimizing our nutrition, we must consider three main things – the QUALITY of the food we eat, the TIMING that we choose to eat it, and the BALANCE in which it is eaten. The quality of your food really does matter and is essential to achieving optimal health. Getting high quality nutrition consists of eating nutrient-dense, REAL foods that have been organically and traditionally grown and prepared. It also consists of consuming high-quality food supplements for nutritional insurance. The best TIMING for eating is always within a 4-12 hour eating window. We call this Timed Eating, and it is one of the quickest ways to control your appetite and weight. With Timed Eating, it is also important to eat a maximum of 2-3 meals at set times and to have at least 3 hours between meals. This enhances digestion, blood sugar regulation, and weight control. Lastly, learn how to balance your carbs, fats and proteins for maximum blood-sugar and fat regulation. Your carbs should primarily come from low-starch vegetables and fruits, and your aim should be to eat all the colors of the rainbow.

6. Maximize Movement – BE ACTIVE! Make the most of every opportunity to move your body. Exercising your body will increase your resistance to disease, help control your stress levels, blood sugar and weight, improve your circulation, your resting metabolic rate, your blood pressure, your sleep quality, the removal of toxic wastes, and much more. Sitting on the couch or at a desk for long periods of time will shorten your lifespan and can age you quicker than smoking. Get up and walk or stretch for a couple of minutes throughout the day, especially during long periods of sitting. Schedule at least 5 minutes of every day, at a specific, pre-determined time to perform some weight bearing exercises that will increase muscle mass and strengthen your body. A little bit of exercise goes a long way. The most important thing to remember is that ANY exercise is better than NO exercise. Commit to moving, stretching and strengthening your body for at least 5 minutes daily, no matter what. A well-balanced exercise routine should addresses cardiovascular health, strength training, and flexibility. Some ideas are a brisk walk, Body weight exercises, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Nitric Oxide Dump (NOD), rebounding, and isolated stretching.