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But, there’s great news! As you turn your eyes towards God, you can take steps to turn your stress into joy, and your ashes into rejoicing. Ready? Here are our 7 steps for summer joy.

7 Steps for Summer Joy

1. Determine What is Joyous to You

It can be very easy to try to keep up with the Jones every summer. The best vacations, the best kids’ camps, the best parties, even the best yards.

Instead of comparing your life with the highlights of others, first step back and decide what is truly joyous to you.

Is it time with family? Movies? Prayer walks? Gardening? BBQ’s and lawn games? Sunday evening dinner? Camping?

Don’t let the image of a picture-perfect life sway you. Decide on your own simple goals for the summer, without any input from social media which tends to induce depressive moods, not joy, in us (1).

2. Stressed? Name the Source & Make a Plan

Of course, just determining what brings joy to you is not the same as dealing with your stressors.

They’ll still be there. And likely, many will also be there. But here’s the thing about stress and anxiety: it’s easier to deal with when it’s brought into the light.

How do you bring it into the light? You name it. You talk about it with someone you trust. Even if you can’t make it “go away,” it can become smaller and less scary.

First, name your stress for the next few months. Maybe it’s:

• Finances
• Juggling kids and work
• Unrealistic expectations
• Allergies and/or sickness
• Loneliness

Take time to name your stress. Everyone has it. Here are also some ways to deal with it: Combat Stress with 11 Daily Habits, including Dr. Colbert’s Nano Glutathione Spray, calming breathing, and more.

3. Cast Your Cares Upon Him in Prayer

You’ve named the stress. Now, pray about it.

Why?

First, prayer gives control to God and releases it from you.

Second, while it may not change the situation, it will change your own heart toward it.

Third, it helps you focus on truth and the present. When we worry, our minds run amuck with concocted fears that will likely never come to fruition. This physically depletes our minds and our bodies.

Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”

And truthful prayer? It does the opposite.

4. Give Yourself Grace & Positivity

In 2nd Corinthians Paul admonishes us to take captive every thought that stands against the knowledge of God. When you’re stressed, how do you talk to yourself?

Does it bring you toward God, or away?

So the kids are home and the house is a mess, you’re not accomplishing everything you wanted, and you’re too busy. Don’t berate yourself, but instead take negative thoughts captive.

Then, replace them with truth.

You can find truth in the Bible. Truth of God’s endless love for you. Truth for joy in your life. We’ve listed verses below, they are a great start.

5. You Don’t Have to Do Everything – Unclutter Your Schedule

If the summer season turns into a rushing-around do-everything season, choose to say “no” more often. Busy schedules almost always increase anxiety, in both children and adults (2).

When determining what activities to keep, decide if they are joyous for you and your family or not. You get to make this determination. Do what’s best for your people.

As for the activities you must do, try to find joy in them. Listen to praise music, pray continuously to invite God into the activity, and again, use these amazing Anti-Stress Daily Habits.

6. Practice Gratitude and Optimism

You’ve heard it before: practicing gratitude and optimism can decrease cortisol and anxious thoughts, while increasing joy (3).

How can you practice? Try writing down specific gratitudes each day. You can tell others. You can tell God.

What’s more, practicing gratitude helps to improve optimism. While some optimism characteristics are innate, others can be learned. And, as we discuss in this article, optimism might just be the fountain of youth!

7. Write His Words on Your Heart. Try Memorizing These Verses about Joy

God instructs us to keep His words, to write them on our hearts. It’s an amazingly powerful practice, and can give you the encouragement you need, right when you need it.

Consider finding a few passages or verses to memorize this summer. Or, try these verses on joy:

Psalm 16:5-11: Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;  surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Habakkuk 3:17-19: Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

John 15:9-17: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

Bottom Line

This summer, joy can be yours. Look to God and His promises. Forget the fools’ gold around you of keeping up with others. Simple joy can be found each day this season.

The post 7 Steps and 3 Verses for Summer Joy appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

But if not, you may be sinking in a pit of anxiety, jealousy, or pessimism. What’s more, you might be missing an amazing opportunity to improve physical health through gratitude.

Honestly, it’s not always easy to have a grateful heart. However, our God has promised to help us in the journey to a truly grateful heart, unshaken by life’s ups and downs. It’s not your burden to bear alone, but a beautiful walk with God.

One Month to a Grateful Heart

During November, take a cue from the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday and put gratitude into practice every day. Here are 4 ways to strengthen your own heart with daily thanksgiving throughout the month.

1. Spend time in God’s Word and in prayer.

When Jesus prayed, He praised God. At the Last Supper, just hours before His crucifixion, He thanked God. This is the example we have: Give praise and be thankful.

Of course, this can be easier said than done when life gets tough. But, the more you spend time with God, the Giver of all good things, the more you will see just how good He is. Try spending time with Him, even if just a few minutes, every single day.

From there, the gratitude in your heart can overflow into every other part of your life.

2. Acknowledge the things for which you are grateful, all day every day.

Have you heard of the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp? It is a beautiful portrayal of gratitude in a daily, ordinary life. Ann teaches that gratitude precedes God’s miracles in Scripture and throughout our own lives.

In the book, Ann tells the story of how she came to the challenge of writing down 1000 things she was thankful for. She kept a notepad and pen handy, and wrote down small and big gratitudes, throughout each day.

For her, it was life changing.

Do you think a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment focus on gratitude could change your life? What do you have to lose?

Take this challenge in November. Start small, and write just a few per day if you’d like. Keep your mind and your attitude focused on the things for which you are thankful!

3. Look Outside Yourself

When we are in the middle of turmoil or feeling defeated, it’s very easy to lose sight of our own blessings. One of the best cures? Get involved with helping others!

Taking the focus off ourselves and blessing others is a great way to develop a grateful heart. You can pray for others daily. You can bless others with a note, text, or encouraging call. You can give small gifts out of the blue – anything from flowers from your garden to a coffee gift card. Or, get involved in a bigger operation with an established charitable group.

4. Give Yourself Lots of Grace

Lastly, there’s no room for perfectionism here. Gratitude requires grace. If you slip up, feel down, miss a day of writing down your blessings, or just have a negative attitude for a day, give yourself grace.

As you do, you’ll learn to take captive the negative thoughts, forgive yourself, and move on quickly. If you’re feeling sad about yourself, it’s difficult to simultaneously feel grateful.

We serve a God who not only forgives us, but takes our worries and cares from us. Give yourself grace and continue to look for your blessings each day.

A Grateful Heart Bolsters Physical Health

Did you know a grateful heart is actually good for you, physically? It’s true. Some of the health benefits of a grateful heart include:

• Stronger mental health: Believe it or not, you can decrease cortisol, the stress hormone, by up to 23% by practicing gratitude (1). What’s more, healthcare practitioners have sustained lower perceived stress (decrease of 28%) and depression by keeping a gratitude journal (2). Controlling cortisol is crucially important to overall health.
• Healthier Hearts: In studies, gratitude is associated with better cholesterol levels, lowered blood pressure and decreased heart rate variability. This all works together to improve cardiovascular health and overall health (4, 5).
• Ease with Change and Healthy Habits: Some benefits of gratitude work in reverse. Researchers have found that those who practice gratitude also tend to make healthier choices. Specifically, there’s an association between those who are reportedly grateful and less use of tobacco, more exercise, and better food choices (5, 6). On the flip side, gratitude intervention shows promise when helping patients increase healthy habits. In one study, 31% of participants quit smoking and maintained abstinence after 6 months, compared to meta-analysis averages of 23% with a nicotine patch alone (7).
• Stronger Immune Function: Gratitude and optimism can actually improve your body’s response to inflammation. Studies have found that our bodies produce more disease-fighting cells when we are grateful and optimistic (11). In addition, anytime you reduce cortisol, you maintain a healthier balance with DHEA levels. This supports healthy immune function (8).
• Better Sleep and Healthy Aging: One key factor to healthy aging is brain health. One necessity for brain health is sleep. Fortunately, gratitude supports better sleep (9)! In one study, gratitude was linked to a 10 percent improvement in sleep and a 19 percent decrease in depression levels in patients with insomnia (10).

Looking for More Ways to Improve Physical and Mental Health?

Did you know there’s an all-natural oil that can help with stress and anxious feelings? In addition, it supports health throughout the body! Hemp oil, specifically nano-particle hemp oil, promotes health from your brain to your toes.

We are fortunate to be able to use natural plants in our lives to support our health. Another thing for which to be grateful!

Bottom Line

November is the perfect opportunity to focus on a grateful heart. Make it count! Spend time with God, truly seek out and list your blessings, help and encourage others, and give yourself grace this month! 

The post One Month to a Grateful Heart appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

How, they can help you set up daily habit-based goals, one small step at a time. If 10 habits in 10 days feel like too much, consider just per week, such as 10 new healthy habits in 10 Mondays. Or, choose just 3-5 of the following list to tackle this month.

No matter how you want to do it, you can set the wheels in motion to change your health with 10 new healthy habits in 10 days. Here are 10 to get you started.

10 New Healthy Habits in 10 Days. 10 Day Plan to Improve Health

Day 1. Start Each Day with Prayer and Faith: From the Rising of the Sun

Prayer is a wonderful gift for spiritual health. Believe it or not, it can also affect us physically. It has been found to reduce cortisol and support mental and physical health!

On day one, figure out the best time to spend in prayer each day. Make it a daily priority and habit.

Prayer has been shown to increase the secretion of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine. These compounds decrease cortisol while promoting relaxation, focus, and motivation.

Day 2. Get Into the Keto Zone

If you haven’t already, take day 2 to learn about the Keto Zone and how it can affect your health.

If you are looking for an effective, healthy way to lose weight, improve overall health, support healthy blood sugars, and more, it’s a great option for you. When you get into the Keto Zone, you’ll cut out most of your carbohydrates. You’ll rely on healthy fats, moderate protein, ketones, and only small amounts of carbs for nourishment and energy.

How?

The best way to get started is to get the book: Dr. Colbert’s Keto Zone Diet Book

You will find how to cut carbs and get into ketosis. Then, continue to follow our posts, recipes, Facebook groups, and more to keep going. You can also join our FREE 21-Day Keto Zone Challenge!

Day 3. Drink Up: Aim for 80 Ounces per Day

This is a simple habit, but not necessarily easy.  Throughout your day, drink 80 ounces of more water per day.

How?

Often, it’s easier if you set up a schedule. Try to drink 32 ounces by noon, 32 ounces by 4 pm, and 16 additional ounces in the evening.

Amazing, adequate hydration supports great energy, health, and the condition and appearance of your skin.

In fact, one study found that increasing water consumption by 2 liters per day improved skin condition and physiology, even in those who already consumed high amounts of water. The researchers concluded that this increase and improvement in skin health would likely have the most positive effect on those with lower daily water consumption (1).

Water, green tea, and black tea are all great choices for overall health, skin health, and anti-aging habits.

Day 4. Stretch for a Youthful Body

One day 4, brainstorm to decide when you should add a bit of stretching each day. Just 3-5 minutes is enough. Stretch in the morning or before bed. Believe it or not, as you gain flexibility in your spinal cord, you’ll improve your posture, range of motion of your limbs, and support cardiovascular health.

Amazingly, trunk flexibility directly represents the flexibility of your arteries? As crazy as it sounds, researchers have found that poor trunk flexibility is associated with stiff arteries. This means that keeping your body flexible enough to touch your toes means better artery health and blood pressure (2).

Day 5. Activate the Cells with a Cold Shower

This habit is simple and doesn’t add time to your schedule. Choose to swap a hot shower for a cold one.

Cold showers may be slightly uncomfortable, but there is strong evidence that they are great for health.

Cold showers are known to activate skin cells, shrinks pores, and promotes a better complexion. Next, cold showers can actually increase brain activity and even reduce stress and depression according to studies (3). Cold showers may reduce chronic fatigue.

Lastly, cold showers likely support immune function. In fact, a recent study from the Netherlands found that cold showers significantly reduce sick days. Just 30 seconds or more of cold showering per day reduced sick days by 29% in the studies (4).

Day 6. Keep a Gratitude Journal and Write 5 Meaningful Gratitudes per Day

On day 6, find an old notebook or journal and begin a gratitude journal.

Gratitude is a healthy habit that can absolutely improve health and wellness. How?

First, gratitude can directly influence the quality of your sleep. A study of 400 participants found that writing gratitudes during the day and before sleep improves both the quality and duration of sleep (5). And, this study even included participants with sleep disorders. In another study, gratitude was linked to a 10 percent improvement in sleep and a 19 percent decrease in depression levels in patients with chronic disease and insomnia (6).

When you improve sleep, you improve whole-body health. Gratitude can also support:

• Immune System Health
• More Motivation for Healthy Habits
• Mental Health
• Heart Health

Want to know more? Read here to find out the ways gratitude affects health and aging.

Day 7. Proactively Learn to Make Laughter an Everyday Event

On day 7, think about laughter, and prioritize it in each day. This may mean reading your favorite funny author, spending time with a great friend, or even listening to a favorite comedian.

Why would you prioritize laughter?

Amazingly, laughter is considered an effective, non-invasive therapy for improved mental health and mood. In fact, it’s been found that laughter alters dopamine and serotonin activity, and causing an increase in endorphins. These chemicals decrease discomfort, cortisol (7), and depressed moods (8).

Day 8. Get Moving, Outside if Possible

Aside from changing your diet, adding exercise may be the most time-intensive habit on this list. But, it can absolutely improve your health.

There’s little doubt that being physically active, every day, is beneficial for your health. It works your heart, keeps blood vessels more elastic, supports a healthy weight and healthy blood sugars, and even supports brain health.

In fact, you don’t need to train for a marathon for these benefits – even walking every day can get the job done. Starting day #8, can you start the habit of a daily walk? Do you have 30 minutes, or even 3 separate 10-minute time slots for walking or another physical activity? Can you do it outside?

Here are 10 Amazing Benefits of Walking!

Day 9. Intermittent Fasting: Evening Through Mid-Morning

If you decided to enter the Keto Zone on Day #2, you can take it one step further and add intermittent fasting starting Day #9. In fact, even if you’re not in the Keto Zone, you can enjoy the benefits of intermittent fasting. How?

Around 7 pm in the evening, consider starting a daily intermittent fast to slow aging.

Why?

There are many documented benefits to intermittent fasting.

These include:

• Improve cholesterol markers
• Reduced triglycerides
• Improved aging
• Weight loss without negative cellular adaptations
• Reduced risk of Diabetes
• Reduced risk of cancer and improved treatment

What’s more,

Study after study has shown that intermittent fasting benefits body systems often affected by aging, including brain health, heart health, and blood sugars (9).

To fast 15-16 out of the 24 hours per day, finish eating at 7 pm each day, and fast with only non-carbohydrate liquids (like coffee) until 10 am or so. Then, utilize Keto Zone eating for 8 hours per day.

Day 10. Sleep Must Be a Priority –  7 or More Hours Per Night

We could all use more sleep. If you’re not getting enough, you are short-changing your health. On day 10, think about sleep and how you can consistently get at least 7 hours per night.

Good quality sleep has many health and aging benefits. These include:

• Reduced Daily Cortisol
• Better Melatonin Levels
• Less Depressed Moods
• Less Inflammation
• Healthy Body Weight
• Better Heart Health
• And More

In fact, good sleep begets good sleep, and lack of sleep increases cortisol for up to 24 hours, which then negatively affects sleep again (10). Lack of sleep has also been shown to reduce mental performance and alertness while increasing inflammation and cortisol (11).

Bottom Line

In just 10 days, you can improve your health. You can set new habits and prioritize activities that support brain health, healthy weight, heart health, and more. If you’re ready to start, just take the first step with day one. Don’t let the list become overwhelming, take it at your own pace. Each day, make your own health your priority, and proactively and systematically start 10 new healthy habits in 10 days.

The post 10 New Healthy Habits in 10 Days. 10 Day Plan to Improve Health appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

Oftentimes, people rush into the New Year and set new health goals for themselves.

Goals can be great.

However, when we don’t first learn from the past, we often repeat the same mistakes.

This year, let’s reflect, learn, be grateful, and then move forward with new goals and joy.

No insanity of repeated mistakes.

Here is a 5-Step Guide to Healthy 2021 Health Goal Reflections.

5-Step Guide for Positive Reflection Before New Year’s Health Goals

First, you’ll need:

• pen or pencil
• 3 piece of paper or a journal
• 20-30 minutes
• an open mind and grateful heart

The Value of Positive Reflection

Why is positive reflection important?

There are 3 distinct positive outcomes:

1) New insight when learning from both challenging and positive past events

2) Gratitude for the positive events and opportunities ahead (there are many benefits for gratitude)

3) Increased sense of control, preparation, and peace for the future.

These are important outcomes before setting new mental and physical health goals.

In fact, a 2018 study of 70 adults found that positive reflection and journaling can reduce mental distress, increase well-being, and enhance physical functioning (1).

Step 1: Prepare Your Heart and Mind

First, there’s some mental and spiritual work to do.

It’s important to go through this exercise in an objective mental state. You don’t want to be overly emotional, too high or too low. You want to be objective and truthful with yourself.

Pray for this. If you are not able to be in this mental state now, continue to pray and wait until you are.

Next, pray for a grateful heart. No matter what 2020 brought, your ability to be truly grateful will shape your reflection experience and goals for the future.

Step 2: Page One, Accomplishments and Challenges

Accomplishments and Positive Habits:

1. First, write down 1-3 things you accomplished in 2017 of which you are proud. There’s always something positive you can take away, so find it!
2. Under each accomplishment, write down 1-3 habits you believe led to this accomplishment.

For example, if you lost 5 pounds, write down how this occurred. You began a keto zone lifestyle, you increased exercise to 3 times per week, you got 8 hours of sleep on average per night.

Challenges and Opportunities

1. Next, write down 1-3 mistakes you feel you made. Instead of categorizing them as “mistakes” though, use the heading Challenges and Opportunities. Just calling them by a different name can change your outlook.
2. It’s extremely important that you keep momentum here and don’t stay on this step. Be as objective and take the emotion out of this one as possible. We all make mistakes and face challenges. In order to turn them into learning opportunities and avoid repeating them, it’s important to momentarily reflect on them. But, it’s a dangerous place to stay. So, just 1-3, in objective terms.
3. Next, write down 1-3 negative habits or circumstances that lead to the challenges.

For example, if your blood sugars went up, you may have 1) included too many carbohydrates in your diet, 2) did not exercise consistently, or 3) were sedentary throughout most days.

 Step 3: Page Two, The Learning

1. Looking at page one, under the heading “Positive Learning,” write down 1-3 things you learned from your accomplishment and positive habits.
2. Next, under the heading “Opportunities to Learn,” write down 1-3 things you learned from your 2020 challenges and opportunities. Do not dwell on the event, circumstance, or challenge itself, but turn it upside down into a learning opportunity.

Summarizing events into learning lessons is the most important part of reflection. Life is about progress, not perfection, and the best way to progress is to keep learning. So, what did you learn?

In James 1:2-4, James admonishes us to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Let’s learn with a joyful and grateful heart.

Step 4: Page Three, The Action

Next, take out your 3^rd page. The last step allows you to take what you’ve learned and put them into actionable habits.

1. First, write down what you’d like to do to continue the positive habits and outcomes from 2020. You may think you won’t forget how you got here, but it’s easy to forget if you don’t write it down.
2. Next, write down what you need to do to avoid or reverse the negatives from 2020.
3. Third, write down 3-5 things you’re going to “let go of” moving forward. This is sort of a decluttering of your mind and any unrealistic expectations. It can be a perfect house, a toxic friendship you’ve been trying to salvage, or an unhealthy body image goal.
4. Lastly, write down 5 things you are grateful for from 2020. The more you can begin and end with gratitude, the better you’ll learn and move forward. God has given us gratitude as an amazing healing emotion.

Step 5, Throw it Out

Now, it’s time to let go of page one. You don’t really need it anymore.

You’ve used it to summarize what you’ve learned, and what you need to do to move forward.

So, if you’d like to throw it away or burn it, do so. Or, you can tear it in half and keep the proud moments and just discard the mistakes portion. This act of letting go of the past things that hold you down is important.

It’s symbolic. Learn from the past, but don’t live there.

The Joy to Come

Next, you’ll need to think about setting goals for 2021. These goals will be habit and action-based. They will not rely on the ups and downs of motivation, but a rewiring of the brain that leads to discipline. Pray for the goals you’ll set.

Learn and be grateful for the past. Then, look and be grateful for the future.

In Philippians, 3:13-14, Paul says:

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Onward to your healthiest year!

The post How to Use Positive Reflection Before Your Healthiest New Year appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

This year, I’m suggesting that Thanksgiving is both a day set aside to be grateful, and a springboard of daily gratitudes for the 365 days that follow.

If you’d like to spring forward from Thanksgiving as well, here are 15 tips to make gratitude stick this year.

15 Tips to Make Gratitude Stick Year-Round

1. Focus on the Act, the Attitude will Follow

To cultivate an attitude of gratitude, focus on actions rather than feelings or emotions. It’s tough to really go for a week, think back, and decide if you were grateful or not. You won’t really get anywhere like that. Instead, write down your gratitudes. Or, even better, express them to another, such as a specific trait you’re grateful about in them, and write that down, too. If you’ve taken our gratitude challenge, you already have a great start!

2. Make it Measurable

Another aspect of writing down gratitudes rather than just reflecting on your attitude is that it’s measurable. If you write down the date, and your list, you can look back and see that you did it. You can make gratitude stick if your actions are measurable.

3. Start simple.

Just 3-5 gratitudes per day is enough to start. Don’t overcomplicate it. You need a pen, paper/notebook, and 3-5 specific things you are grateful for in that day. They can be extremely small things like the sunshine through a window, your favorite slippers, or hot coffee in the morning.

4. Try just 25-30 Days

Sure, I suggested a year, but starting with a less daunting amount of time can help make gratitude stick. Begin with just 25-30 days. How about until Christmas to start. Then, decide to keep going.

5. Make it a Daily Habit

Rather than trying for 5 days per week, or going in spurts and then stopping, do you best to make it a daily habit. Seven days per week, from now until Christmas and then beyond.

6. Set Up Reminders

Many very well-intentioned new habits fail simply because we forget. We are all busy and have a lot to remember without adding more. And while modern life can make it challenging, it can also make it easier: use your phone, computer, or another device to set up both daily and weekly reminders.

7. Use Consistency to Your Advantage

It’s easier to make gratitude stick if you start by writing them down at the same time of day each day. And, while before bed is great (it may help you destress and get better sleep) (1), you may also get too busy by the end of the day and forget. Determine the best time of day for you. Then, you want to write throughout the day as well, those extras are icing on the gratitude cake!

8. Enlist Accountability

Do you know anyone else who would love to do this as well? Enlist him or her and update each other daily or weekly with your progress. Not only does it make new habits more fun, but it can also really help you stick to them.

9. Form a Positive Trigger

A positive trigger is simply a mental image or an action that reminds you to do something. It’s a ritual. For example, you can visualize your pillow as your gratitude journal. When you head to bed and see your pillow (your gratitude journal), you’ll remember to pick it up and write down gratitudes.

10. Give Yourself Lots of Grace

There’s no room for perfectionism here. If you miss a day, only write down 1, or lose your journal, give yourself as much grace as you’d give your best friend in the same situation. Don’t beat yourself up. And get right back to it to continue making gratitude stick.

11. Interrupt Yourself

With any new habit, it’s important to capture any negative thought or self-talk, and stop it in its tracks. You can do this by interrupting the statement with “but” as soon as it’s forming. For example, “Man, I’ve missed 3 days and I’m horrible at this (brain activated by negative self-talk), BUT it’s important to me and I’m going to start again.”

12. Look Up to those Who Exude Gratitude

Can you think of any gratitude role models? Find articles, books, blog posts, sermons, or anything else that puts a gracious role model in the spotlight. A few that come to mind are Corrie Ten Boom, Mother Teresa, the Apostle Paul, Jesus (he broke bread and literally thanked God on the night of his betrayal and crucifixion).

13. Look Outside Yourself

It’s definitely easiest to live a life of gratitude when we are involved with helping others. If you have the time, consider volunteering or becoming involved in a ministry. Gratitude and service go hand in hand.

14. Make it a Gratitude Experiment

Sometimes it’s easier to make gratitude stick if you think of it as an experiment rather than an obligation. Think, “Let’s see how I feel about this by Christmas.” Then, you can decide to continue or stop.

15. Set Up A Day to Reflect & Reward Your Efforts

Make it down on your calendar. Set a date that you will reflect on your journey, and even reward yourself for your efforts. It can be Christmas, New Year’s, or another time with less hustle-and-bustle. It’s good for your mental well-being along this journey. Research shows that those who engage in self-reflection reduce anxiety and improve well-being (2). Maybe reward yourself with a  new journal?

Bottom Line

Thanksgiving is a great time of reflection. But this year, what if it was also a springboard that formed our lookout moving forward through Christmas and into the New Year? What would change in your life if you practice gratitude as a habit? What would happen if you could make gratitude stick?

The post How to Make Gratitude Stick Year-Round appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

With these God-given emotions and actions to guide the way, you can overcome anxiety, fear, and disappointment. You can end the year strong and healthy.

Our 4-part series has focused on both physical and mental health:

1. Part 1: Begin in the Mind: How to Slow Down, Simplify, and Get Enough Sleep During the Holidays
2. Part 2: What to Eat and What to Do When/If You Fall Off-Plan
3. Part 3 (this post): Eat Healthy at Holiday Parties and Restaurants
4. Part 4 (this post): 3 Emotions to Rule the Holidays: Gratitude, Peace, and Optimism

Today, we continue to look at how you can enjoy mental health during the Holidays.

3 Emotions to Guide: Gratitude, Optimism, and Peace During the Holidays

Gratitude:

To start, look back at the year and think about all you have for which to be grateful. Think about any loved ones, family and friends, experiences, lessons, love, and God. Meditate on the good gifts from God you’ve received.

Then, write them down. Maybe you’re keeping a Gratitude Journal as part of our Gratitude Challenge. Or, maybe, you want to do this all at once.

Focusing on gratitude is one of the best ways to end a year, celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, and move forward. Not only does it improve mental health, decrease stress and cortisol(1), it can also reduce the risk of depression, chronic diseases like metabolic syndrome and more (2).

Peace

For many, the Holidays are anything but peaceful. There’s busyness with all the extra tasks, stress with more family interaction, unmet expectations, and more.

But, if you take a step back from the rush-rush-rush, you can cultivate an environment of presence and peace during the Holidays despite your circumstances. Here are 3 steps:

1. Pray about it. It may seem silly to pray about the Holidays when we’re expected to smile and enjoy them, but there’s really never been a better time to pray.How will it help? First, prayer releases control and give it to God. Then, it helps change your heart towards any stressful situation, even if the situation itself doesn’t change. And lastly, it allows you to focus on truth. God’s truth is that He is with you in any circumstance. That nothing is too big. And, that He will walk with you through it.
2. Next, simplify and slow down as we discussed in” Part 1: Slow Down, Simplify, and Get Enough Sleep During the Holidays.” Only you can take control of your schedule and slow down. Some things are simply required of us. Others we take on ourselves. Consider saying “no” more to simplify the Holidays.
3. Release expectations and instead enjoy what God gives. Many of our Holiday expectations surround our emotions about family and friends. While they are certainly a gift from God, recognize that you are only in charge of how you act and your emotion. If your happiness is tied to another’s actions, you will often be disappointed. Determine to find joy in each day, within yourself and God, this Holiday Season.

Optimism

If gratitude sums up our attitude as we look back at the year, and peace if for the present, make optimism your future.

Did you know that God has given us a simple solution to longevity and health? It’s optimism, and here’s what a dose can do for you as you look forward to the Holidays and a New Year:

In recent research, scientists have found that higher optimism scores actually equate to longer life, in both men and women. In fact, optimism was associated with living >85 years, or “exceptional longevity.” The most optimistic men and women reached exceptional longevity 50% and 70%, respectively” more than those with lower optimism.

What’s more, optimistic people tend to be healthier and happier during their lives with less depression and levels of stress.

If you are a naturally more pessimistic person, don’t worry….you can be optimistic that you can at least partly learn optimism. Studies have concluded that approximately  25% of optimism is genetic (4), leaving 75% to attitude and our choices.

In fact, studies show we can create habits of optimism. You can do this with prayer, meditation, journaling, and gratitude, even with just 2 weeks of intervention (5).

BOTTOM LINE

Choose 3 emotions as your guide: Gratitude, Optimism, and Peace during the Holidays. How about it? Do those sound like a good way to finish the year and experience your healthiest holidays ever?

This year, take charge of your emotions and health as you close out the year. God’s given you this gift.

The post Healthiest Holidays Ever: Gratitude, Optimism, and Peace During the Holidays (Part 4) appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

This blog and our full line of products aim to help you form healthy habits from your head to your toes.

In fact, we’ve covered many health topics in 2019.

If you haven’t begun to work on them, it’s never too late. Start with these healthy habits today, and join us in gratitude for each.

7 Healthy Habits to Be Grateful for This Thanksgiving

1. Brain Health

Brain health is a big deal around here. Not only can we impact its wellbeing with the foods we eat, the foods we avoid, and the activities in which we engage, we can also impact it with our thoughts. As in, the brain can heal when we trade in stress for gratitude, optimism, and healthy thoughts (1).

It’s an amazing organ God created. To keep it healthy we’ve covered:

11 Tips to Keep Your Brain Sharp and Young

5 Ways Gratitude Improves Health

Foods that Improve Brain Health

Optimism and Gratitude

In fact, we’re right in the middle of a Gratitude Challenge. It can literally change your health and your life. If you haven’t read about it or started, it’s not too late. Start today: Gratitude Challenge.

2. Anti-Aging

Along with brain health, we’ve been discussing anti-aging. There have been studies that show that “super-agers‘” actually maintain the structure and function of those in their 20s and 30s (2). It’s amazing.  But, how?

While we don’t have all the answers, there are science-backed habits that help our brains stay youthful and sharp In fact, while anti-aging often makes us think of outward appearances, it’s mostly about keeping cells and systems healthy.

From muscle mass to flexibility to a youthful heart and brain, here are some of some tips you can use from the time you wake up until you go to bed (these are free tips!):

10 Free Anti-Aging Habits in 24 Hours – Part I and Part II

Is This Habit the Secret Fountain of Youth?

We are certainly grateful that God has given us simple, free ways to age well.

3. Reduced Oxidative Stress with Free Radicals

Our daily activities require thousands of chemical reactions in our bodies. Just think of what takes place to walk, to visually focus on something, or to read a blog post.

When our bodies undergo even small chemical reactions, sometimes charge ions are released that can damage cells (free radicals). What’s more, our environment, habits like smoking and alcohol, and more increase free radicals and oxidative stress in our bodies.

Be grateful for antioxidants found in whole, real foods. These antioxidants neutralize free radicals and leave them harmless.

Want to get more free radicals in your diet? Look for vibrant, rich-colored fruits and vegetables like those in Fermented Green and Red Supremefoods.

Also, add these high-antioxidant foods each day including coffee, berries, avocados and more (3).

4.  Exercise Outside in the Sunshine

Whether it’s just a short walk or a ride on a bike, God has given us a huge gift in the mood-elevating outdoors. Not only is any activity good for our muscles, hearts, and brains, outdoor-activity specifically has been shown to improve mood and depression (4).

Even in the Winter.

What’s more, our bodies were designed for movement. They need it and thrive when they get it every day, throughout the day.

If you’re able to get up and outside for a few minutes, be thankful that the sun doesn’t just make life possible on the earth, but warms our bodies, lifts our spirits, and even nourishes our bodies with vitamin D.

5. Foods that Actually Reduce Inflammation and Disease

It’s amazing that the natural world provides the substances needed to live. And not just live but thrive. There are foods available to us that actually reduce disease and inflammation in the human body.

Amazingly, food does not just provide the calories we need to maintain our mass, but God’s given sources to stay as healthy as possible.

Anti-inflammatory foods improve health including:

• Food from the sea is highly anti-inflammatory and promotes heart, brain, and whole-body health.
• Many nuts and seeds are anti-inflammatory.
• Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and detox nutrients (5).
• Colorful spices are so highly anti-inflammatory they can reduce swelling, pain, and disease in the joints.

6. Laughter and Relationships

Yes, these are healthy habits.

You’ve heard that laughter is the best medicine, and this is the truth. Study after study has found that the act of laughing, even when faked, reduces cortisol, low moods, and symptoms of depression.

In addition, positive in-person relationships are vital to health. But, you must make time beyond the computer: According to a 2016 report, most social media users spend an hour per day on Facebook alone. What’s more, using social media correlates with a worsening mood, while time spent with friends increases positive moods. Skip just half the social media, and take 30 minutes to meet with a friend instead.

God has designed us to be in relationships; with Him, and with others. Be grateful for those you have!

7. Weight Loss and Ketones

Our bodies also contain what’s needed to reach a healthy weight. In fact, if you tap into ketones with the Keto Zone diet, you can activate weight loss while still enjoying energy, satiety, and clarity (6) – your body can make them!

Over the past few years, we’ve embarked on helping others use Keto Zone to reach weight goals and we’re not going to stop. We are grateful for how weight loss can truly change one’s life and health.

What About You?

What healthy habits have you formed that have impacted your life? Which are you most grateful for?

Bottom Line

There is much to be thankful for this month, and every month of the year. As part of our Thanksgivings, we are thankful for healthy habits, for bodies that respond to them, and for the opportunity to share them with you.

The post 7 Healthy Habits to Be Grateful for this Thanksgiving appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.

Gratitude Challenge: 250+ Written Gratitudes by Thanksgiving

If you’ve ever read Ann Voskamp’s book, 1000 gifts, you know what daily gratitudes can mean to someone. How they can take a heart that’s downtrodden, and show it the small and big miracles, even in an ordinary life.

You may know that giving thanks to God was a practice Jesus taught, throughout the day, before meals, and even before He was betrayed and crucified.

The miracle isn’t in how God feels when we thank Him, it’s in how He changes our hearts and minds through gratitude.

The challenge is simple.

Get any paper and a pen. It can be a notebook, a journal, or a loose paper found on your countertop (you may want to staple loose papers together in the end).

Starting November 1st, simply keep the paper nearby and write down things you’re grateful for throughout your day. There’s no need to be super-legalistic about it, but if you can aim for ten per day to start, you’ll end up with more than 250 written gratitudes by Thanksgiving!

What counts? Everything any anything for which your heart is grateful. The blue of the sky on a clear day. The sparkle of an icicle. The kiss of a child. The smile of a spouse. The dinner on the table.

In fact, the more ordinary, the better. If we can be grateful in ordinary life, we can learn to appreciate what God has given us, and this will in turn overflow as love and trust in Him.

And what’s more, it won’t just change your heart. God has given us this simple practice that can also improve our health.

5 Ways the Gratitude Challenge Can Improve Health

1.Mental Health

Practicing gratitude reduces cortisol, the stress hormone, by up to 23% (1). What’s more, health care practitioners have sustained lower perceived stress (decrease of 28%) and depression by keeping a gratitude journal (2).

This is important. High, chronic cortisol levels are associated with chronic diseases like diabetes, heart health, and metabolic syndrome (3). Most modern stress is mental rather than physical. It’s caused by relationships, traffic, computer malfunction, and busy schedules. It’s not typically a physical threat. When internalized, it wages war on our body systems.

Gratitude also:

• Reducing negative emotions such as envy, regret, and resentment
• Increasing self-esteem
• Lowering the risk of depression
• Increasing positive emotions such as empathy for others

2. Heart Health

Be thankful with a grateful heart. Amazingly, a grateful heart is a healthier heart.

In studies, gratitude is associated with better cholesterol levels, lower your blood pressure and decreased heart rate variability. This all works together to improve cardiovascular health and overall health (4, 5).

3. Healthy Habits and Change

Studies show that those who practice gratitude also tend to make healthier choices. Specifically, there’s an association between those who are reportedly grateful and less use of tobacco, more exercise, and better food choices (5, 6).

As a therapy, gratitude intervention shows promise when helping patients increase healthy habits. In one study, 31% of participants quit smoking and maintained abstinence after 6 months, compared to meta-analysis averages of 23% with a nicotine patch alone (7).

4. Immune System Health

Gratitude and optimism can actually improve your body’s response to disease. How?

Studies have found that our bodies produce more disease-fighting cells when we are grateful and optimistic (11).

What’s more, as we age our immune function declines, in part due to an imbalance in cortisol vs. dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). If we reduce chronic cortisol, we can maintain a healthier balance with DHEA levels and immune function (8).

5. Healthy Aging and Better Sleep

A crucial factor in healthy aging is brain health. One crucial habit for brain health is sleep. As you practice gratitude, you improve sleep.

In fact, a study of 400 individuals, many of whom had sleep disorders, found that writing gratitudes before sleep improves both the quality and duration of sleep (9).

In another study, gratitude has was linked to a 10 percent improvement in sleep and a 19 percent decrease in depression levels in patients with chronic disease and insomnia (10).

Bottom Line

Don’t wait. Get your paper and pen ready. Find a way to keep it with you and begin your gratitude journal on November 1st. There’s nothing magic about November; but the month dedicated to Thanksgiving is a wonderful reminder of the harvest God provides, the beauty in changing seasons, and His unchanging faithfulness.

And if you find this practice to be the amazing gift many do, you may want to just keep going. Two-hundred-fifty written gratitudes, then 500, then 1000, then a lifetime. Take the gratitude challenge and see if God uses it to change your life and health.

The post Gratitude Challenge: 250+ Gratitudes by Thanksgiving appeared first on Dr. Don Colbert, MD.