Put Spring in Your Step; 5 Tips to Feel Great!

Put Spring in Your Step; 5 Tips to Feel Great!

The days are getting longer, outdoor sports have begun, flowers are budding and you may be wondering how to feel your best to enjoy all these moments. While you’re spring cleaning your home, you can also take the time to make sure your body is ready for a change of season as well. Here are some tips to help you feel great in the transition!

  1. Try a detox or cleanse – Give your body a rest from sugar, grains, alcohol, and caffeine for added energy and better sleep at night. This can be as simple as a 24-hour juice cleanse , a little more intentional with our 7-Day Health Reset or as intense as 14 to 21 days full detox/cleanse. Your body will appreciate the opportunity to rid itself of some toxins and stored fat.
  2. Move – Walking in the fresh air is beneficial for your emotional and physical health. Lace up your shoes after dinner and walk around your neighborhood or check out a local nature trail. Grab a family member or friend and build relational connection or use the time alone to pray and meditate.
  3. Eat your veggies – For the freshest and most economical choices, select what is in season. Spring in Michigan is a great time for asparagus, various green lettuces such as arugula and spinach, beets, and carrots. Incorporate them into lunches and dinners, as snacks, or throw spinach in to breakfast smoothies!
  4. Try something new – Spring brings the feeling of excitement and new beginnings. Find something you haven’t done before and see how it works for you! Challenge yourself with a Couch to 5K program, discover new sights through hiking, discuss the latest reads at a book club, go fishing with your kids, or relax at the end of the day with a gentle yoga routine.
  5. Allergies – Often with the beauty of spring comes the runny nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing. To ease the discomfort of spring allergies, make sure you drink plenty of water, consume a low-inflammatory diet, try a Neti-pot, and schedule regular chiropractic adjustments to help with circulation and drainage.

Bonus tip: Get adjusted to improve alignment, mobility and circulation!

Chiropractor in Spring Lake Michigan, Dr. Levi Pulver

New Year’s Mobility Test and Three Indicators of Early Death

New Year’s Mobility Test and Three Indicators of Early Death. 

This year, I’m (Dr. Levi) starting a New Year’s tradition by taking a mobility test. Sounds exciting, right? Well, working in health care and struggling with my own health recently, I feel the need to check in with myself and identify what changes I need to make. After all, if we’re supposed to do an annual physical looking at blood pressure, blood sugars (and everything else on a blood panel) and body fat shouldn’t we also look at mobility indicators that affect our longevity?

My favorite test for mobility is the Sitting Rising Test (SRT) and guess what? I FAILED it, miserably. I used to be able to do it and score an 8 or sometimes even a 9 on a 10-point scale. But, with holiday weight gain, emotional stress and lack of simple walking and yoga, my old injuries reared their ugly head resulting in diminished pelvic/lower back and core function. Other than being uncomfortable and being limited in my daily functions, why should I worry about this? Simply put, if you can’t move well, you’re not healthy. Immobility leads to injuries, weight gain, susceptibility to illness and metabolic stress. Ultimately, this leads to premature death. There are a couple other indicators as well, so keep reading. The SRT is just the one that I’m struggling with.

Here is a summary of three major indicators that can predict premature death and what you can do about it.

  1. Frequent Falls. Falling a lot suggests that your body awareness is hindered (Being Mortal, Atul Gawande) and leads to significant injuries. Often times this starts with dysfunction in your feet. Try stretching your feet (additional video), reading this book to minimizing foot stress and improving your balance. Additionally, spinal imbalances contribute to falls at any age and are easily improved with regular chiropractic care. If you haven’t been to your chiropractor in a while, now’s a good time to get in for a tune-up!
  2. Poor Mobility. Try the Sitting Rising Test (SRT). Your performance, or lack thereof, can predict your longevity. Did you score less than eight points? Start moving in ways your body isn’t accustomed to. Use these videos as a starting point for adding new movements to improve mobility and perform the SRT once a week.
  3. Grip Strength. A 2015 study found that poor grip strength can be a stronger indicator of morbidity than blood pressure. The reason is simply that people with stronger hands tend to move their bodies more. But don’t go out and buy grip strengtheners. Rather, start raking your own lawn, shovel snow with a shovel (when possible), practice hanging (or even repetitions of pull-ups) for long periods of time, plant a garden and care for it daily or carry your small children on a walk rather than use a baby-carrier. Basically, try to add as much variable activity to everything you do! (Movement Matters)

Want to learn more about how to improve your mobility? Try Chiropractic! If your spine is not functioning optimally, all three of the previously mentioned categories will be hindered. Call us today to improve alignment and well-being to live longer, happier and healthier!

5 Tips for a Healthy Holiday Season.

5 Tips for a Healthy Holiday Season.
Holiday festivities can derail even the healthiest of eaters. For many people this leads to weight gain, sick days and leaves them more susceptible to injury. Try these simple tips to stay healthy over the holidays and start the New Year on the right track!
1. Watch your liquid calories. A 12-ounce flavored latte can have anywhere from 250 to 350 calories, hot chocolate has 250 calories, a glass of wine has 150 calories, a micro beer has 150 calories and a vodka/club soda with lime has 100 calories. But, did you know that 8oz of kombucha has only 25 calories !?!?! At your next gathering, try serving GT’s Trilogy Kombucha mixed half and half with lime LaCroix. Trust me, your guests will love it! And, don’t forget to drink half your body weight in ounces of pure water per day.
2. Look for veggies and nuts. When snacking or eating appetizers, stick to veggies and nuts. Put them on a plate/bowl and pre-determine how much you’re going to eat. Don’t graze!
3. Stick to your routine. Go for walks, stretch, read, go to bed at the same time, don’t skip or add meals, exercise and take time for yourself each day. This will cut down on emotional eating, stress and help you not completely let yourself go.
4. Do something fun! Go for a winter hike, put together a puzzle, or watch a favorite Christmas movie with family and friends. Relaxation and laughter are good for your emotional health, which in turn benefits your physical health.
5. Bring healthy options to gatherings. Make up your favorite salad, soup or veggie platter to share with friends and family. Or, order this holiday themed cookbook for new, dairy free/gluten free options that are sure to be a hit!
Bonus Tip: Get adjusted to minimize one more stress on your body and to prevent illness and injury!

5 Tips to Stay Healthy This Fall

5 Tips to Stay Healthy this Fall

Don’t let the cooler temperatures and diminishing sunlight hinder your health. Try our top 5 tips to stay healthy this fall so you can enjoy all that the season has to offer!

Breathe: In through the nose until the lungs are full and hold for 5 seconds. Exhale completely and repeat for 3 full breaths. Do this 3 times a day to minimize stress, clear the airways and free your mind.

Walk Outside Daily: There is nothing more healing than connecting with nature and breathing in clean, cool air. Commit to walking 10-15 minutes (or more) at the same time every day.

Eat In-Season Foods: Fall foods are heartier and nourishing while also supporting the immune system. Make your favorite soups & stews and save leftovers for quick meals & easy lunches!

Reorganize, Clean & Donate: Autumn is the perfect time to take stock of things in your life, organize and let go of the old to make room for the new. Clean your closets, cupboards, computers and even your mind of unused, unnecessary items.

Create a Fitness Routine: If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that we need to stay fit and active. Whether it’s online yoga, virtual high intensity interval training, or regular use of a local gym, start your routine now and commit to staying fit this fall and into the winter.

***Bonus Tip: Get adjusted! Regular adjustments improve mobility, circulation, drainage & physical well-being. Don’t let a nagging injury linger into the holiday season!

Learn more about “Living with the seasons.”

5 Tips to Keep You Healthy This Summer

Summer Health Tips

When you live in the Midwest, you live for summer. And dealing with a nagging health issue is the last thing you want to worry about. Follow our top five tips to stay happy and healthy this summer!

  1. Don’t let your sunscreen drag you down. Many commercial sunscreens contain harmful neurotoxins and block healthy vitamin D absorption. Go sunscreen free for limited amounts of time and use non-toxic sunscreens when necessary.
  2. Watch your sugar intake. Cookouts, graduations, weddings, boats, beaches, pools, sports drinks and happy hours are a recipe for excess sugar (and alcohol) intake. Make a plan for what you’re going to eat at social gatherings and outings just as you would at home. Ask a friend or family member to hold you accountable if needed.
  3. Stay Hydrated. Your body needs more water during warmer temperatures so give your body what it needs! Take a full water bottle with you every time you leave the house. If you suspect dehydration in yourself or a child, mix up some honey, sea salt and lemon juice in a class of water to replace minerals and electrolytes more effectively than sports drinks. Also, coconut water and (unflavored) Pedialyte can be effective when needed.
  4. Fats are essential. Healthy fats from coconut oil, avocado, nuts and fish help heal your skin from any sun damage as well as lower inflammation in your joints. Consume as much as you can from food and supplement when necessary with capsules, lemon flavored liquid formula or Rosita’s for those who want the best despite it’s taste ?
  5. Let music boost your mood. Create a mix for the boat, beach or pool and save it for a rainy day or next winter. Music, and associated memories, are a great way to boost your mood when you’re down.

Bonus tip: Get adjusted to improve alignment and mobility!

What I learned from my 10-day reset.

What I learned from my 10-day reset.

Recently I focused on adding three new healthy habits to my daily routine. One task per health category: movement, nutrition and emotional well-being. It was tough but sharing my plan online helped hold me accountable and motivated me to see it through. Here’s how I did!

Nutrition-No Sugar: You might not know this about me, but I can eat a plate of cookies if they are dairy and gluten free, won’t get out of the car for ice cream unless it’s at least medium-sized, love to eat (dairy free) chocolate after dinner and put a quarter cup of honey in my tea. Baking something with the kids? I always lick the spoon and bowl clean. Well, that needed to stop. My wake-up call has been stomach issues that are related to a systemic candida infection. Ever heard of that? Let’s just say it gets worse with sugar intake. Therefore, I decided to go without sugar for 10 days. I wasn’t looking at ketchup bottle labels for sugar content, but I did cut out all the things I mentioned above. I still put dates or bananas in my smoothies and did have a sugary mocktail at a birthday party but nothing else. After 10 days my stomach improved significantly, even started sleeping better, but after talking to my doctor about my candida issue I decided to cut the dates and bananas from my smoothies and prolong the no sugar plan indefinitely.

Movement- Yoga: Years ago I went to a yoga workshop at a Buddhist retreat center in Northern Colorado. We did yoga two to three times a day along with going for runs in the mountains and spending time in meditation. I felt amazing coming home but have never been able to be consistent with regular yoga, which my body needs along with regular adjustments (adjusting others all day long is hard on my own spine!). I don’t hate yoga, I just don’t love it and enjoy several other forms of exercise more. But I know it’s something I need to get back to with consistency, so I downloaded an app and got started a couple months ago. After starting and re-starting multiple times so far this year, I re-committed with this 10-day plan and completed 20-minute sessions on nine out of ten days. I easily saw benefit after the fourth or fifth day and am starting to look forward to it! If I don’t do it first thing in the morning, it usually doesn’t happen. My goal going forward is to commit to five morning sessions a week.

Emotional-Media Fast: This was probably the hardest task for me to complete as I decided to avoid all social media, news, sports blogs and television. I still used my computer for work & email and my phone for calls & text. I still posted a few times on social media but didn’t scroll my feeds or even look to see how our posts were doing. Tv’s were on at the gym and my kids watch their shows while I’m nearby but no intentional watching on my part. The first couple days were tough as I was constantly picking up my phone only to catch myself and then put it down. Or start typing in a website on the computer before stopping. The funny thing is that it only took a couple days before those habits started to break. I thought I would just check my email more but after cleaning out my inboxes, I actually started checking them less. Even went an entire day without checking them at all. And I didn’t miss a thing! Same goes for bank accounts. What did I do instead? I finished a book, I started and finished another, listened to a couple podcasts, listened to half of an audio book, played games with my kids, worked in the yard, wrote some blog posts, finished a new addition to our website, made some stretching videos AND did some work for our favorite charity. Needless to say, I probably benefited the most from this aspect of my reset and will minimize my media intake going forward.

Overall, this was a good challenge for me and hopefully some of you will try a version that suits your own personal needs. I’ll likely do it again with different goals soon and try to recruit more of you to join me. So, stay tuned!

Chiropractor in Spring Lake Michigan, Dr. Levi Pulver

Join me for a 10-day health reset!

What is a health reset? An opportunity to get back on track with healthy habits. Focus on just one change in each of the three health categories: physical, emotional and nutritional. The best part is you decide what to do! Anything goes as long as it promotes health and is not something you already do daily.

For example, a beginner plan could be to walk 20+ minutes, cut out all liquid calories and read for 20-minutes each day for the ten-day period. A more moderate plan would be to do a yoga class (online or in person), refrain from all sugar (including artificial sweeteners) and pray or meditate each day. An aggressive plan could entail a high intensity interval workout, a cleanse-type diet consisting of no sugars, grains or dairy and going on a “media fast” (no news or social media).

Interested? Look at your calendar and map out a time frame for when you are most likely to succeed. Tell a friend (including us!) and think of a reward for yourself if you complete it. Not a sweet treat, something health & wellness related like a massage, new pair of tennis shoes or even a fit bit.

How to have a healthy vacation

How to have a healthy vacation

 

We’ve all been there before, you go on a wonderful vacation and come back heavier, sore and sometimes even sick. I get it, we all want to have fun and enjoy ourselves. And yes, I (Dr. Levi) have been there before. Through personal experience and insight from others, here are a few tips to help you not only enjoy your next vacation but to come home in one piece and still be able to fit in your clothes.

Water-Drink water on the plane, in the car, when you first wake up, throughout the day, etc. Dehydration is very common on vacation and can easily lead to overeating, sore joints and illness.

Veggies-have some veggies on hand to eat with every meal. Order veggies on the side with every artichoke dip, queso sauce or guacamole. You’ll consume fewer tortilla chips and pita bread if you use vegetables with the dips.

Walk/Exercise-Many people do great with extra walking on vacation but be intentional about getting some regular exercise. Whether it be a walk on the beach, climb up & down a hotel stairwell for 20-30 minutes (my favorite!), or even find a gym to use daily, there should be plenty of options wherever you are.

Mobility Props (Pictured)-got any resistance bands, lacrosse balls or foam rollers? Bring them! Whatever is lightweight and fits in your bag will be worth bringing.

Intravenous Vitamin therapy-elective IV’s are a newer way to boost your immune system and recover from traveling (and also athletic events, pregnancy & illness). A simple web search should locate a clinic that does this therapy for you. It can get pricey but so is being sick after already being off work from vacation. Schedule one ahead of time for when you return home to help optimize your immune system.

Resolutions, Goals and Action Steps

How are your resolutions going? Did you even make any? Most resolutions fail because they are too aggressive, focus on the wrong things or are often “negative based.” For example, I’m not going to eat sugar or I’m going to work out every day are difficult to sustain. Once the first birthday party or big football game comes up, it’s easy to relapse on the diet. Same with the next big snowstorm preventing you from going to the gym. Also, we often try to do too much in January when we’re still recovering from the holidays. That’s why I waited until now to share this post because we’re in a better headspace to commit to forming new habits.

So, where to start? Throw the resolutions out the window and start with a goal. One thing that would make your life better. From that goal, think of three action steps you need to do to hit that goal.  For example, say your goal is to have more energy. Three action steps could be to get up at the same time, drink the correct amount of water and move (walk, yoga, jump on a mini trampoline) for 15 minutes each day. Or a bigger goal could be to run a 10K race six months from now. Three action steps would be to commit to a training plan, find an appropriate nutrition plan and see your chiropractor regularly to minimize injuries and improve your gait 😊.

Regardless of your goal, breaking it down into simple, attainable action steps that focus on a positive behavior will set you up for success. What about me (Dr. Levi)? Did I make any goals this year? As a matter of fact, I did! My goal is for more energy and focus. My action steps are waking up at the same time every day, complete a 45-day sugar detox and to read every day. How did I do? Well, I have been great with waking up, good with reading and horrible with the sugar. I fell victim to setting unattainable goals and trying to do too much. I also learned that I’m better at reading in the morning than at night. I tweaked my nutrition plan to make it more positive and hopefully February goes better than January. Even with suboptimal success in my action steps, I’m already seeing marked improvements in my energy and focus.

Don’t be afraid to re-visit both your goal and action steps and make changes in your daily routine to help you succeed. And, of course, tell your family, friends or even your health care providers and don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice.

Start with water.

Many people this time of year are feeling tired, rundown, sluggish & sore and decide to make a lot of changes to their diet, lifestyle and routine. This is usually due to overeating and under exercising during the holidays. Even though cutting out sugar, gluten or alcohol are all good ideas, they are hard to sustain if that’s not a normal part of your daily life. Instead of prioritizing these “negative” changes, focus on adding healthy habits and dietary changes. The list is endless but what is the most important?

Water! Every body needs about half it’s weight in ounces of water per day. That’s 75 ounces for 150 pound person. The best way to do this is to drink two glasses of water when you first wake up before eating or drinking anything else. Focus on consuming the rest of your water in between meals so you don’t dilute digestive enzymes.