These Super 6 Lifestyle Pillars are critical in the prevention and reversal of chronic disease. Typically one of these 6 areas or more need some nurturing. We encourage you to be and stay curious about these areas and what you feel would be a practical next step towards wellness for you to make. For more information/resources for transformation go to drkyle.com or follow me on Facebook Dr Kyle Homertgen or drkyledo on Instagram.
Get whole with awareness of Forks, Feet, Fingers, Stress, Sleep & Love
1. FORKS:
It is a myth that we need to give up our joy of eating to be healthy
I look forward to my overnight oats soaked in homemade hemp seed milk sweetened with dates and vanilla extract with berries, ground flaxseed, cinnamon, ginger, cacao nibs for breakfast. I absolutely love my breakfast! I look forward to our curry potato, brown rice or quinoa vegetables stews for lunch and dinner or burrito bowls with pumpkin seeds, whole grains, beans and hot sauce. I do not feel deprived. I feel light and energized in my body. I am eating for optimal blood flow and loving every bite. With every meal I know I am repairing damaged blood vessels and healing my body.
Eat whole nutrient dense fiber foods!
Shift your plant to animal ratio, your whole to processed ratio
Perfection is impossible, to be whole is the goal!
Whole foods with fiber: Vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, seeds
Avoid or keep to 2 servings or less a week “meats and treats” which are foods WITHOUT fiber
Foods without fiber = meat, eggs, dairy, cheese, oils, white flour, sugar
Eat oatmeal with 1-2 tablespoons fresh ground flaxseed with berries and plant milk
Try “overnight oats” for breakfast:
Soak 1/2 cup of steel cut oats after rinsing before bed, soak in plant milk overnight in the fridge.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of fresh ground organic flaxseeds, berries, cinnamon
We encourage a large salad with beans, whole grains for one meal a day.
Hemp milk recipe:
Blend ¼ cup raw shelled hemp seeds with 2 cups water for 40 seconds
Add a few pitted dates and vanilla extract to taste
Read to serve, no need to filter.
Try burrito bowls for lunch and dinner. Google: whole food plant based burrito bowel recipes
Try living on sweet potatoes and kale with fruit for snacks and dessert for a few days.
Consider watching: Forks Over Knives
Consider reading:
How Not To Diet by Michael Greger, MD
Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD
The Pleasure Trap by Doug Lisle, PhD
2. FEET: Move your body a little bit every day as tolerated
ie mini squats in your home, walking in the house or outside, stationary cycling, gentle yoga stretches
Goal to increase exercise to 30-40 minutes a day
Consider reading Finding Ultra by Rich Roll or listening to the Rich Roll Podcast
If you are a runner or want to start, read The Running Revolution by Dr Nicholas Romanov
Watch the film The Game Changers on Netflix
Check out Zach Bush, MDs 4 minute work out on YouTube
Reclaim your squat to make up for the lost time due to the Western toilet seat
Add hanging time daily and advance slowly as tolerated
Rewild your feet by slowly advancing time in a barefoot style shoe (wide toe gap, zero drop) Brands I use are Vivobarefoot and Lems
3. FINGERS: Avoid tobacco use, if you smoke stay curious about quitting, practice posture and breath awareness, do body scans when reaching and commit to this practice if you still decide to have a cigarette. Increase fruits and vegetables and you will naturally smoke less. Stay curious about screen time. Reactive addictive patterns, food as therapy rather than food as medicine. Consider reading The Realm of the Hungry Ghost by Gabor Mate, MD or watch his You Tube videos.
4. STRESS: To balance your nervous system, relax the body and prevent compression pain we need to recruit back your parasympathetic nervous system.
To do this:
Practice soft belly breathing and posture awareness
The belly should rise on inhalation and fall on exhalation
Allow shoulders to rest on top of the rib cage avoiding ‘ear muffs’
Minimize slouching, goal for a straight spine and strong core
Add the free app Insight Timer to your phone for guided meditation and sleep support
Use slow exhalation breaths for resistance, feeling belly drawn in and up. On inhalation, the belly rises. This is a way of supporting strength and resilience of the pelvic floor. An alternative or addition to kegal exercise. Add high lunges.
Can add square breathing and count 4 count on inhale, hold for 4 count, then exhale 4-6 count.
Consider reading Mindsight by Dan Siegel, MD
Ground to nature!
Add humming, chanting, singing, speak your truth!
5. SLEEP:
Prioritize adequate sleep, create a new ritual around sleep. Stay curious about barriers.
Avoid caffeine after Noon, stay curious about your total use of stimulants and need for ‘downers’ at night ie alcohol or cannabis or sleep medications.
Minimize screen time 2-3 hours before bed or use special glasses the block light frequencies that keep your melatonin levels inappropriately low when you need to sleep.
Read a real book before bed
Consider lemon balm, passion flower, valerian root supportive herbs. Ie Relaxing Sleep tincture by Herb Pharm
See my sleep hygiene handout at drkyle.com for more ideas
6. LOVE:
Are you isolated?
Are your relationships nourishing?
Connect with yourself, go inward
Choose a few minutes every day for silent contemplation, prayer
Practice gratitude: Place hands on chest and feel one thing you are grateful for for 1-3 minutes before getting out of bed in the AM each day.
Connect with other sentient beings, the earth, our shared home, volunteer?
Be curious about grudges, need for forgiveness, adequate grief work, find a depth therapist or counselor for support. We all need support!
Consider reading Lost Connections by Johann Hari, Grounded Spirituality by Jeff Brown