A New Year, A New You: Top 5 Wellness Resolutions | January, 2010

Each year millions of people make a commitment to change. Although New Year's resolutions tend to vary from person to person, we've all been guilty of making commitments to our health that we ultimately fail to uphold. For some us ?getting healthy? means eliminating some of those bad habits in our lives such as quitting smoking, cutting back on alcohol or curtailing junk foods, while for others it's just a matter getting in shape and losing some weight. Whatever your goal for 2010 may be, optimal wellness begins on the inside with balance.

Here are 5 easy steps to achieve balance from the inside out and make 2010 the first of many healthy years to come:

• Hormonal Balance - Hormones lay the groundwork for our health and wellness. As we age, our hormones naturally begin to decline. By the time we reach our 40's, our hormone levels are a mere fraction of what they once were in our youthful 20's. These fluctuations ultimately lead to hormonal imbalances. For men, the decline is much more gradual than experienced in women but the end result is still the same; weight gain, hot flashes, fatigue, depression, mood swings, irritability, low libido and anxiety. Hormonal imbalances are detected using saliva or blood samples and can be corrected using a regimen consisting of bioidentical hormones and customized fitness and nutrition programs.
• Exercise - Physical fitness isn't just about losing weight and building muscle mass; exercise can help improve your mood, reignite your sex life and relieve stress and all it takes 15 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week. Medium to high intensity workouts get the blood flowing and reduce plaque build-up along the interior walls of arteries, which significantly reduces one's risk of developing cardiovascular problems such as atherosclerosis.
• Balanced Nutrition - America's health crisis is largely attributed to the way that we eat. With an oversaturation of McDonald's restaurants and Starbuck's cafes, it's no wonder our health is in the state that it is. Diabetes, obesity and diseases related malnutrition have seen a dramatic rise in recent years. Your best bet for eating healthy: go green. Studies have indicate that people who follow an organic diet can decrease their risk of age-related disease by up to 60%, when compared to those who follow a more "traditional" processed diet. Sometimes we don't get everything we need form the food we're eating and that's where antioxidants come into play. Antioxidants rid the body of free radicals, which are thought to be one of the primary causes of cancer.
• Sleep - The average human spends approximately one-third of their adult life sleeping (providing that you get 8 hrs each day). Sleep isn't as simple of a process as it appears to be on the surface. During a night's sleep, our body produces extra protein molecules to help repair the body and strengthen the immune system. Sleep reduces the stress levels and inflammation of the heart muscle, significantly reducing one's risk of heart attack and stroke. Sleep also lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Stress Reduction - Stress can be trying. Using stress-reduction techniques such as breathing exercises and meditation, we can rid ourselves of stress in a positive, productive way. Many of the more reactive methods of coping with stress such as binge eating, smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol may appear to be effective on the short term, but in reality they are actually aggravating the situation more by suppressing the stress instead of releasing the negative energy. Stress is not just a burden of the mind - it has widespread effects throughout the body such as hypertension, digestive issues, fatigue, weight gain and can lead to inflammation, a known widely known cause of a variety of diseases including cancer.

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To get started, leave us your information and we will contact you to find out exactly how we can help. We order the initial labs you'll need for your first visit and we'll schedule the appointment with your new bioidentical hormone physician. Before your visit you'll spend time on our website completing a thorough questionnaire in the convenience of your home.

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At your hour-long initial consultation, your physician will meet with you personally to discuss your symptoms, review your results and talk through the appropriate treatment to meet your individualized needs. Our highly experienced physicians undergo hundreds of hours of training in bioidentical hormones and have helped thousands of women and men suffering the symptoms of hormone imbalance.

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Finally, if necessary, your physician will prescribe the customized compounded bioidentical hormones and other pharmacy-grade supplements for your personalized program. The compounding pharmacy will contact you and send these directly to your home or office as you request.