Stick to Your Resolutions #3, 4 & 5

Everyone wants to start 2015 off on the right foot. And that often means that when we ring in the New Year, we bring on the resolutions. But quite often (more often than anyone wants to admit) those resolutions are forgotten by the time March Madness rolls around – if not sooner.

How do we keep this from happening? What’s the best way to stay on track for a healthier, happier 2015?

Make your resolutions stick by making them SMART and writing them down! SMART is an acronym that outlines a great way to form a goal. Following the smart guidelines will make your goal more attainable and help keep you on track to reaching it!

#3 Achievable: Setting an ambitious goal is great! But it still needs to be something realistic. Your resolution shouldn’t be to swim the English Channel by April if you have never set foot in a pool. Selecting an unreasonable resolution will be frustrating and could lead to setbacks in healthy changes you’ve already accomplished.  Instead, make a resolution that will challenge you and change your habits within the realm of reasonable and achievable. 

#4 Relevant: This one should be obvious, but it’s worth saying. Make sure your resolution is relevant to something you want to achieve. If you want to be in better shape by bathing suit season, making a resolution to become the hot dog eating champion of Diamond Run is not the best goal to get you there. Make a resolution that is in-line with your values and needs and you’ll be much more likely to stick to it!

#5 Timely: Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to achieve your goal and stick to it! Break your resolution into mini-monthly goals to keep yourself on track. We all know how it feels to get to April and realize you’re not where you thought you’d be. Track your success with monthly time limits and re-adjust as needed. Not quite meeting your goal in March doesn’t mean you throw in the towel. That means your make the necessary changes to make April a success!

Adding any one of these tips to your resolution will help to keep you on track for a happy, healthy 2015…using them all will really make that resolution stick! Doesn’t that sound like a SMART idea?

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

This blog maybe be reproduced in part or in its entirety in print or online with specific permission from Dr. Dan Turo.
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Stick to Your Resolutions #1 & #2

Everyone wants to start 2015 off on the right foot. And that often means that when we ring in the New Year, we bring on the resolutions. But quite often (more often than anyone wants to admit) those resolutions are forgotten by the time March Madness rolls around – if not sooner.

How do we keep this from happening? What’s the best way to stay on track for a healthier, happier 2015?

Make your resolutions stick by making them SMART and writing them down! SMART is an acronym that outlines a great way to form a goal. Following the smart guidelines will make your goal more attainable and help keep you on track to reaching it!

#1 Specific : The more specific you are, the more likely you are to accomplish that goal. If your resolution is vague, there are more loopholes and places for rationalizing reasons not to try or succeed. Which goal sounds more attainable: I will finish my housework sometime OR I will empty the dishwasher before 7pm every day.  Multiple specific goals are more likely to be completed than one sweeping goal that covers a lot but is never done.


#2 Measureable: Adding a number or amount to a resolution makes it more tangible. It also gives you a firm endpoint or milestone to reach before you feel like your goal is accomplished. Losing weight is a great example. Setting the goal to lose weight without a measureable component (pounds or inches) keeps the resolution vague and easy to toss aside. Once you’ve lost a single pound, you’ve technically reached your goal. Saying ‘I will lose 15 pounds” not only gives you a milestone to reach, but keeps you focused until you reach it.
 
Tune in later in the week for my next tip to keeping your resolutions!

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

Winter Ways to Boost Your Immunity - 9

With the cold wind blowing and the snow falling, there’s bound to be a sniffle in the air. Some people seem to always be battling some kind of illness from December until March. But others rarely seem to be under the weather. What are those people doing differently to keep the colds away?

The secret is out (and it’s not found on a drug store shelf)! There are lots of ways to boost your immunity naturally – many that you can do without too much extra effort (just healthy decision making).

Here are 10 secrets to boosting your immunity this winter.

10.      Compensate for the Lack of Sunshine

We all love a little bit of sunshine – especially in the winter months. But it’s not just good for the soul, it’s important for our health. 10-15 minutes of summer sunshine a day helps our bodies produce the vitamin D we need to carry out a laundry list of functions (calcium regulation, bone growth, inflammation reduction, immune system function to name a few). But winter sunshine (when we can find it) just doesn’t have the same power as its summer counterpart and so we’re often a little on the low side when it comes to our winter vitamin D supply.

For over 30 years, doctors have known that vitamin D plays some role in improving immune system function by looking at the effects that vitamin D deficiency has on individuals. That list includes asthma, cardiovascular disease, digestive troubles, depression and obesity. Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to an increase in autoimmune activity and a higher susceptibility to infection.

New research is showing us why. Scientists have discovered that vitamin D doesn’t just support our immune system – it activates it! T-cells (the seek-and-destroy cells of the immune system) first search for vitamin D to activate their disease-crushing powers, then search for the foregin invaders. If there is not enough vitamin D, the T-cells can’t fight and the immune response is weak or non-existent.

This research explains why those that have high levels of vitamin D tend to be sick less often and bounce back from illness faster than those with lower levels.

Now how do you boost your vitamin D when sunshine isn’t an option? Try a high quality vitamin D supplement paired with vitamin K. Vitamin K aids vitamin D in many of its processes, so pairing the two together adds an extra punch.

That's all for my tips on how to keep your immune system boosted up in the winter months! I'll see you next month. Have a healthy and safe new year!
Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

Winter Ways to Boost Your Immunity - 8

With the cold wind blowing and the snow falling, there’s bound to be a sniffle in the air. Some people seem to always be battling some kind of illness from December until March. But others rarely seem to be under the weather. What are those people doing differently to keep the colds away?

The secret is out (and it’s not found on a drug store shelf)! There are lots of ways to boost your immunity naturally – many that you can do without too much extra effort (just healthy decision making).

Here are 10 secrets to boosting your immunity this winter.

9.      Add a Probiotic

Did you know that the digestive system is home to more than 500 different types of bacteria? And that’s not just a bunch of organisms sneaking a free ride. We have a symbiotic relationship with many healthy, “friendly” bacteria. We provide their home and they help keep us healthy. Bacteria aid in intestinal health and assist in digesting food. They also help the immune system by challenging it in a “friendly” way. Think of it as a scrimmage to prepare for the big game.

There is currently a large amount of research going on to investigate the extent of probiotic benefits. But what we do know is good and getting better. In 2011, a Yale University review concluded that probiotics are effective for, among other things: treating diarrhea in children, treating ulcerative colitis, preventing pouchitis (inflammation of the intestines), and treating and preventing some types of eczema.

Recent research from the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports stated that New Zealand Athletes reported 40% fewer colds and gastrointestinal infections when they took a probiotic as compared to a placebo group.

I also recommend probiotics to anyone how has undergone a round of antibiotics. An antibiotic’s job is to kill of bacteria that it comes in contact with and it does not discriminate between good and bad bacteria. While it may serve its intended purpose and knock out the bad bacteria, it will leave your system in a shambles by taking down the good bacteria that your body needs to function. A good quality probiotic will help to rebuild that delicate but oh so important bacteria-rich environment.

[I’ll take this moment to mention, without naming names, that yogurt brands that tote their ability regulate digestive health through their probiotic qualities are missing the mark (usually not even hitting the target). While they may contain some probiotics, they are all so full of sugars, chemicals, and lactose that can wreck other parts of your healthy diet. Ship the dairy aisle and ask your trusted health care practitioners to recommend a quality probiotic without the extra toxins!]

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Check back later this week for the last way to power through this cold season (and weather) to maintain a happy, healthy you.
Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

Winter Ways to Boost Your Immunity - 7

With the cold wind blowing and the snow falling, there’s bound to be a sniffle in the air. Some people seem to always be battling some kind of illness from December until March. But others rarely seem to be under the weather. What are those people doing differently to keep the colds away?

The secret is out (and it’s not found on a drug store shelf)! There are lots of ways to boost your immunity naturally – many that you can do without too much extra effort (just healthy decision making).

Here are 10 secrets to boosting your immunity this winter.

8.      Eat for Health

Sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no single food that will instantly upgrade your immune system. But having a balanced diet is a great way to promote overall health (including immune system function!)

I’ll probably sound like a broken record when I say this, but it’s true – eating your fruits and vegetables will boost your immune system. Why? Fruits and veggies are the best sources of the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs for proper function. Eating provides your body with the fuel that it needs to function – comparing vegetables to a twinkie is like comparing premium gasoline to a rubber ducky. There is not comparison (exactly!) Give your body the right nutritional fuel and it will run like a well-oiled machine. Give it garbage and it will roll you right to the junk yard.

Nuts, seeds, and lean, grass-fed meats are also very important in your health diet. They supply an additional spectrum of vitamins that are equally important for body function. Beef supplies the body with a hearty dose of zinc; even a small zinc deficiency can lead to an increased risk of infection. All of these ingredients make a well-rounded diet that can support a healthy, active lifestyle.

There are a few foods that I consider to have immunity super-powers. They aren’t magic, but they are some of nature’s miracles – packed with nutrients and armed with special attributes that are truly beneficial to whole-body health.

Garlic is a great example. It’s considers a nature anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. A British research study of 146 people given either a garlic extract or placebo for 12 weeks revealed that the garlic-takers were 2/3’s less likely to come down with a cold than the placebo group. And it’s tasty – definitely something to add a little extra of when cold season comes around to keep you ahead of the curve.

Mushrooms are another super-power food. For centuries, mushrooms have been viewed as a medicinal remedy in many cultures. Current research shows that mushrooms actually increase the production of white blood cells (infection fighters of the immune system) and promote their activity in immune defense.. Shiitake and Maitake mushrooms have been shown in several studies to improve immune function, including a study of women with breast cancer. Again, another tasty addition with some very happy side-effects.

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Check back later this week for the more ways to power through this cold season (and weather) to maintain a happy, healthy you.

Dr. Dan Turo is the owner and chiropractor of Turo Family Chiropractic located in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, PA. Follow him on facebook and twitter.