I have one more gift for you this year! Each year, late in the month of December and over much of January, many people approach me and ask for advice on fitness, diet, and overall health. As we all know, many people start of each year with some health resolutions. While I am primarily a business coach, I do quite a bit of life coaching along the way. While today’s topic may appear to be a non-business subject, don’t be fooled. Just as business people read this column to assist in their business, there is no reason why health shouldn’t be just as important. Your health is absolutely critical to not only your personal success but also to the overall success of your business, whether you are a business owner, or not.

Today, record numbers of people are losing their lives to cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stress and more. The latest statistic I could find on diabetes is a staggering one. It states that, “one in three children born today will contract diabetes, primarily due to obesity, which is caused mainly by poor diet and lack of exercise.” In addition, the “highly acidic” lifestyles many of us live, which creates massive amounts of toxins in our bodies, is thought by many to be the leading cause of cancer. Can we effectively run a business when we are living lifestyles that destine us for these diseases?

Regardless of the physical or emotional shape we are in, we can always improve it. With good physical health comes energy, which is vital to our success. All the experts tell us that if we truly want to make a change in our life we should find a mentor to help us. In essence, we should find someone who has already made the changes we want to make and model them. Today, if you’ll let me, I’d like to be your mentor for physical health. Without going into too much detail (I save that for my one-on-one clients) I want you to know that this past year I let “things” get in the way, and I lost control of my diet and didn’t take good care of myself physically. I’m taking steps I will discuss with you today to get back on a healthy track. You will not believe the amount of energy and creativity you’ll gain by practicing these habits. I’m excited!

1. Reduce the amount of these you put in your body:

• Processed Fats and Oils: Cooking fats makes them unusable and toxic to the body, resulting in acidic and disease bearing conditions.
• Animal Flesh: This is the leading source of saturated fat and cholesterol and a big cause of heart disease. Watch the red meat!
• Dairy Products: These are also a leading source of saturated fat and cholesterol. They are extremely fatty and one of the most destructive things we can put in our systems. As a former cheese lover, I can tell you this was personally a very challenging change to make, until I really looked at the flip-side.

2. Drastically reduce or eliminate your dependence and consumption of these acid additions:

• Sugar (there are 14 teaspoons of sugar in one can of soda)
• Alcohol
• Nicotine
• Caffeine
• Drugs

3. Eat a diet that consists of water rich foods:

• This should be about 70% of what we put in our mouths.
• We should also drink half our body weight in ounces of water per day.

4. Make Aerobic training a priority:

• At a minimum of 30 minutes, 4 days per week.
• Heart rate should be between 70 and 80% of your maximum heart rate.

5. Include supplements in your daily plan: I will gladly discuss the many options with anyone who contacts me.

6. Exercise daily.That’s right every day. All you need is 25 minutes per day. A mix of strength and cardio exercises is recommended.

While making these changes in your lifestyle are difficult, I can tell you from personal experience, that you will indulge in life much more when you have the energy, vibrancy, and clearness that these healthy habits afford you. You will think, act, and feel at a different level, and your business will follow. Join me! If you need any assistance or if I can answer any questions for you, please do not hesitate to email or call me.

I will close with a quote from the great Zig Ziglar: “Discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, and the day will come when you will be able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them!”

Happy Holidays, and Awesome Health!