Norton Shores Michigan Chiropractor - When people ask me what I’ve done to lose weight and get healthier, it bugs me when they ask “Are you on a diet?”What does that even mean?The word diet is defined as “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.”  So, essentially, everybody is ON A DIET, provided they eat something.  What that diet consists of will determine your body composition (body fat percentage), energy level, libido, mood, resistance to disease, etc. 

So, when people ask me what I’m doing different, I tell them I made a “lifestyle change.”  Because that’s exactly what it is.  The question is: what part of your lifestyle is in need of change?  For some people, that means exercising more.  For others, that means getting more sleep.  For some, it means finally getting into a chiropractor’s office to deal with those headaches so they can quit popping pills all the time.

Furthermore, what are you WILLING to change?  Anybody can want something to change.  That’s easy. The tough part is MAKING change, realizing that you have to make sacrifices to make it happen. Unfortunately, the first thing someone does when they are faced with a lifestyle change is to make excuses.  They use one word that makes my skin crawl: “CAN’T”

Here are things that you truly CAN'T DO:

You CAN’T tickle yourself.You CAN’T lick your own elbow (without some sort of orthopedic issue)You CAN’T sneeze with your eyes open

But here's what people have told me they "CAN'T" do when faced with a lifestyle change

“I CAN’T give up bread.”“I CAN’T find time to exercise.”“I CAN’T afford to see you anymore.”These are just excuses that allow us to neglect the issues that need to be dealt with.  So, when making a list of things you CAN’T do, turn it around into a list of of things you CAN do:

You CAN make a sandwich without bread or just eat meat with a fork.

You CAN spend less time watching TV so you can find time to exercise.

You CAN get rid of your cable to have more money to invest in your health.

The choice is yours and yours alone.  I’d love to be able to magically force people to take better care of themselves and be healthier.

But guess what?

I can’t...