2023 New Year’s Resolutions
– This Year MAKE Them Happen! –

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

January 8, 2023 [printfriendly]

It’s another New Year! Are you ready to make changes in your life? Are you ready to declare your New Year’s Resolutions just like you’ve done in past years?

New Year’s resolutions are made with good intent. But most New Year’s resolutions never get fulfilled. Why is that?

  • Many are not specific enough.
  • And many don’t include a game plan to succeed.
  • Then there are those people who lose interest in their pursuit.
  • While others come up with unreasonable goals.
  • And then there are some resolutions that are lists of material “wants” and “needs”, which really mean nothing in the end.

What is reasonable, achievable, and specific?

As I see it, it might be the improvement in health. When you are healthy or at least healthier than when you started your journey, you are moving in the right direction. It’s also the best and least expensive health insurance you can have.

I think you should cherish your body. Your body is your castle. Keep it clean, neat, and simple. And you’ll reap the benefits for the rest of your life.

So, what are these resolutions I recommend as New Year’s Resolutions?

I’ve written many Blogs about wellness with an emphasis on various elements to wellness. I’ll link to a few of my blogs that you can read in more detail for each of the lifestyle changes listed below. As you read them, be sure to click on the cited, peer-reviewed medical articles, which I have included in those posts to support my positions.

Back in October 2021, I wrote a Blog about the 15 Tactics for Wellness. They are still as good today as they were back then. See if they resonate with you.

But my recommendations for specific lifestyle changes which I discuss in this article are more specific. If you make these essential lifestyle changes, they will produce lifelong benefits.

  • Are you up for the challenge?
  • Are you ready to make your 2023 New Year’s Resolutions have staying power?
  • Are you ready to take the plunge and make the biggest commitment to your life and well-being?

I say, “Let’s go for it!”

 

Essential Lifestyle Changes

Mouth Health

Your mouth could be a source for infection and inflammation coursing through your body without you knowing it. It’s like a splinter in your big toe that never gets removed. Although there may be no swelling or pain, any irritant in your mouth could be a causative factor for severe consequences in other areas in your body.

Blog Links:

 

Diet

What you eat and absorb, and what you avoid, make all the difference in your overall health. Include animal-based foods in your way of eating. The volume of a typical plate of food should consist of at least 70% animal products nose-to-tail and less than 30% healthy plants.

Start avoiding all vegetable and seed oils, which are liquid at room temperature but may be hidden in most processed foods. These oils contain unhealthy levels of linoleic acid and are highly inflammatory.

Exclude processed grains and any gluten products. Remove all processed sugars from your food choices. Eliminate any plants that have moderate to high levels of antinutrients which can damage your gut and prevent nutrients from being absorbed. (Many of these antinutrients are Phytates, Lectins, and Oxalates.) And keep your consumption of carbohydrates to low levels.

Blog Links:

 

Gut

Learn how to improve the garden of microbes in your gut and repair any damage that may exist in your gut lining (i.e., Leaky Gut). Also, know your Alpha Diversity, which is a biomarker of the number of diverse microbes in your gut. The greater the “diversity”, the better your gut microbiome can crowd out unhealthy pathogenic bugs. An overgrowth of unhealthy microbes in the gut can damage your gut lining, create a leaky gut, and ultimately cause many chronic diseases.

Blog Links:

 

Stress

Chronic emotional stress is the most understated and misunderstood cause of many diseases – and that includes periodontal disease as well as cancer. Know the emotional stresses in your life and learn to reduce or remove those that you have control over. You already know that it is not as simple as turning “on” or “off” an electric switch. However, those stresses which are out of your control need to be understood but not allowed to overwhelm you – once again, not so easy to do!

Blog Links:

 

Spiritual

Believe in a power that is greater than you. I am not suggesting that you become a religious zealot or subscribe to a specific religion. I am suggesting that there is an energy source that may hold dominion over the universe and that you should investigate what that means to you.

Blog Links:

 

Exercise

Exercise efficiently – don’t overexercise and don’t become a “couch potato”. You’ll read that the science clearly shows that high intensity exercise that lasts a very short time but allows you to enter an anerobic state briefly will produce superior health results compared to most other exercise programs – many of which are longer in duration and frequency. This type of training is called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and can be performed with little to no “fancy” equipment.

Blog Links:

 

Sleep

Sleep restoratively so that your body can repair and refresh itself.

The regulation of sleep is processed by the sleep/wake cycle, which is called the circadian rhythm. This is the 24-hour internal clock in our brain that regulates cycles of alertness and sleepiness by responding to light changes in our environment. Changes in the earth’s environmental light are the result of earth’s rotation around its axis. This has helped humans internally adapt to changes in our environment.

Sleep is critical for life. The lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can produce damaging effects on a variety of essential day to day functions. Memory consolidation, body healing, and metabolic regulation occur during the sleep cycle. This sleep-wake cycle can influence eating habits, digestion, body temperature, hormone release, and other bodily functions. The lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can negatively affect a person’s ability to properly function and can result in many chronic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and many other chronic diseases.

Blog Links:

 

Let’s Get Started

Making changes is hard; there’s no doubt about it. Many of us start out with the best intentions but tend to lose steam as life gets in the way. If that sounds familiar, I invite you to book a free, no obligation consultation with me. I’ll help you figure out a plan around what matters most to your health and structure it to fit within your busy schedule.

Give it a try. What do you have to lose? Worst case, we’ll have a good conversation, and you’ll walk away with some tasty new recipes to try. I’m only working with a limited number of clients for January; so, please reserve your spot ASAP.

Buy My Book

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My 2021 New Year’s Resolution
– 5 Aspects TO THRIVE –

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

January 3, 2021 [printfriendly]

 

 

2021 is here! So, it all starts over again.

 

Another year, another 365 days, another 8,760 hours, another 525,600 minutes. What you do with them makes all the difference – all the difference for you and all the difference for everyone whom you touch.

 

Throughout my 73 years of life, I’ve heard about “New Year’s Resolutions”. Certainly, I’ve participated in these perfunctory acts of good intention. It goes like this, “This year, I’m going to …” It’s almost like we flip a switch and then live happily ever after.

 

Not so fast.

 

The “to do” lists go on and on. Yet, they’re pretty much duplications of most others’ lists. Most of the time, they are Pollyanna-like promises that have no chance of coming to fruition.

 

But here is an opportunity for us. We can make a change that is pertinent, lasting, and meaningful. If you want to make a real change starting in this New Year, you need to answer these three questions first:

 

  1. How much thought will you give when making your New Year’s Resolution?
  2. How committed are you to make this real change in your life?
  3. What has motivated you to move in a direction which is different from the one you have been traveling all your years up until now?

 

I’m serious about these three questions. If you can answer them with conviction and make the necessary effort, you can succeed. Here’s how I am proceeding to succeed with my New Year’s Resolution for 2021.

 

 

My 2021 New Year’s Resolution

I’m going to be 74 years old in April 2021. My oncologist thought I would be dead from my form of multiple myeloma by the end of 2018. Maybe I’m living on borrowed time; maybe I’m kidding myself; maybe I’m living along a new path.

 

I have taken serious time to consider and refine my New Year’s Resolution. I’m committed to make changes in my life. And I’m committed because this is a matter of life or death for me.

 

My New Year’s Resolution for 2021 is TO THRIVE …

 

… TO THRIVE as humans were designed to thrive over thousands of years – metabolically, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

 

This seems like a lot to include into just one resolution. Yet these 5 aspects of thriving can be defined in simple terms, which I know are achievable by me. If you made this resolution yours, then you could achieve it too!

 

 

5 Aspects To Thrive

1. Thrive Metabolically

The essence for our existence is to receive nutrition. This allows our body to function as a finely tuned machine. Look beyond the current plethora of “diets” that are promoted by gurus and zealots. You will discover there are two overriding facts that must be considered:

 

  1. You need to eat foods that your body’s DNA and gut microbiome require you to eat. Your DNA and microbiome must be able to create necessary enzymes and support pathways to completely digest and absorb these nutrients.
  2. You need to completely avoid all “foods” that contain chemicals and other toxic substances that damage the gut microbiome, or inhibit healthy metabolism, or are potentially poisonous to your cells.

 

 

2. Thrive Physically

Our body is designed to move. If we are not moving, we are dying. Moving your body daily with intention benefits the muscles, bones, joints, brain, heart, and lungs. In addition, daily movement has been reported to reduce anxiety and depression, improve mood, boost self-esteem, minimize stress, and enhance cognitive functioning. Moving consists of standing, bending, squatting, twisting, stretching, pulling, pushing, and walking. More aggressive functional movements consist of doing pushups, pull ups, planks, and sprints. Basically, movement must be efficient and effective.

 

 

3. Thrive Emotionally

This amazing quality is embodied in the empathy we give to others, the love we share, and the love we graciously receive. Opening ourselves to understand others’ feelings and predicaments helps us share emotions and support another’s ability to cope personally. One of the lessons of life is to open our heart and share love with those around us.

 

 

4. Thrive Intellectually

The pursuit of knowledge is one of those qualities that sets us above other creatures on earth. It is never too late to learn something new. I love to learn. It gives me purpose. It helps me grow as a person. In the days after my cancer diagnosis, I gained an extensive body of knowledge about healing. I will continue to research and seek out new information to expand my understanding and appreciation of my body’s potential.

 

 

5. Thrive Spiritually

I’ve written about My Spirituality in 2019. In that article, I shared my innermost belief system. My comfort with my mortality has been knowing my soul is immortal and knowing I am learning lessons I planned to perfect. Today, I read as much as I can about human consciousness and our soul.

 

 

Progressing Through 2021

I wrote about how grateful I am to be alive. To my way of thinking, I have been given a second chance to get it right in this world. My path changed abruptly from the 71 years before my diagnose of incurable multiple myeloma to these 28 months since my cancer journey began in 2018. What I have learned in these few but precious years is that creating loving memories is how a person should define his or her life. And these memories are the culmination of the 5 aspects of my New Year’s Resolution TO THRIVE.

 

If your resolution is to improve your health and lifestyle, I’m here to help. I’ve done a tremendous amount of learning on this subject, and I’m happy to share it with you. Set up your consultation today.

 

For 2021 and moving forward, I resolve TO THRIVE.

 

 

Check out my new training on the Better Belly Blueprint! You can watch it HERE.

 

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4 Healthy New Year’s Resolutions

      Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS     December 28, 2015   [printfriendly]
 
 
     
 

Almost every year it’s been the same old thing for me. Has it been that way for you?

 

New Year's ResolutionsFor me, I would decide on my New Year’s resolutions. Whatever they might be, I would make an all-out effort for the first two weeks of the year to make them happen. And then, the normal routine of life would take over for the next 50 weeks just as it had in the past with little significant change that year.

 

But then, it happened. It all changed three years ago for me. The change saved my life.

 

Three years ago my resolutions changed. They weren’t like losing weight or going to the gym more often or learning how to sing. They were so much more encompassing. They redirected my lifestyle.

 

Today, those resolutions are helping me become the healthiest I can. But, I had to relearn everything I thought was right that actually was wrong. I have written about my story here.

 

Pillars of HealthSo for this New Year, I am sharing my four healthy resolutions for you to consider. They changed my life. Chances are they could make you the healthiest person you could be. I consider these lifestyle changes the 4 pillars of health, which I have written about in many blogs. (examples: Here, Here)

  • Sleep 7-8 hours every night to allow your body to restore itself.
  • Start eating a Paleo diet that will nourish every cell in your body with nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods.
  • Begin an exercise program at home in your own time that takes the least amount of effort providing you with the most bang for your buck.
  • Try to reduce the stress that your body endures daily.

 

A friend told me about oncoming disasters. She wisely questioned me, “If you knew a train was coming toward you, what would you do?” The answer is so obvious.

 

As we get older (and I am approaching 69 years old), many of us start to notice changes in our body. Most of us start to develop degenerative diseases like type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, a little fatter around our waist, somewhat elevated blood sugar, and on and on. We think that these things are normal as we age. We think that they are happening all of a sudden. But, what we don’t realize is that degenerative diseases are not a part of healthy aging. Changes that are becoming apparent to us now actually began insidiously within our body decades ago – accumulating damage over time.

 

“If you knew a train was coming toward you, what would you do?”

 

Making these 4-lifestyle changes now could take you off the tracks of the oncoming train. These 4 healthy resolutions for the New Year will change your life forever.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

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