Three Ways to Spring Clean Your Wellness Routine

Spring is a great time to refresh your home - and your wellness routine! Simple tweaks like using tools for stress management can have a huge impact. Significant changes like exploring GLP-1 medications and the nutritional support that goes with them can play a huge role in optimizing your health. Here are some tips to build a wellness plan that aligns with a spring-cleaning mindset: 

Don’t: Sit all day. 

Do: Move your body more often and for longer. 

Sitting all day long has harmful effects on the body. It slows metabolism because less muscle activity means fewer calories burned. Over time, inactive muscles lose tone, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight. A sedentary lifestyle also impacts the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, control blood pressure, and break down fat, which increases the risk of chronic diseases. If you sit too much, you aren’t alone! Most of us spend half of our waking hours sitting - in a car, at a desk, on a couch - you name it. Time for a change! 

Doctors recommend 30 minutes a day of structured exercise for optimal health - but don’t stop there! It's still important to get up and move for at least a few minutes many times throughout the day. Find a colleague at work who will do a noontime walk with you. Make a pact with your partner to walk the dog around the block after dinner and before TV time. It’s also invigorating to find a workout you really like. It doesn’t have to be a HIIT class at the gym; we all have different personal workout styles - and workout personalities! For fun, take this workout personality quiz here. Whether you are a “social butterfly” and like group classes or a “competitor” who likes to seek maximum impact in minimal time and enjoys the challenge of outperforming others, knowing what you want is the first step to developing a consistent workout plan. 

Don’t: Skip essential nutrients. 

Do: Clean up your eating habits and prioritize nutrient intake. 

With the current typical American diet, most of us are not getting the nutrients we need on a daily basis. This study states, “Almost everyone falls short of the average requirements for vitamin D and vitamin E, and more than one-third fall short of the average requirements for calcium, magnesium and vitamin A.” And it’s a big deal! Nutrition fuels our bodies by providing essential nutrients that support our brain, muscles, bones, nerves, skin, blood circulation, and immune system. A well-balanceddiet sustains these vital functions and helps protect against illnesses and diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis. 

It’s essential to focus on incorporating the most nutrient-dense foods into your diet. These foods provide the highest amount of essential vitamins, minerals, and beneficial compounds per calorie. They include avocados, eggs, berries, and more. Check out this list of the 12 most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. 

Easy food swaps include white bread, rice, and pasta for whole-wheat bread, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta. A helpful tip is to have an abundance of chopped vegetables ready in the fridge to accompany every meal. 

Now, with the emergence of GLP-1 drugs, many see the incredible benefit they provide for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, but GLP-1 users face unique nutritional needs as well. GLP-1s improve insulin response, lower blood sugar levels, and aid in weight management. The medications reduce cravings and make you feel full longer, which can then reduce hunger, and eating less means getting fewer vital vitamins and minerals from your daily food. Also, gastric upset with GLP-1 medication can affect nutrient absorption. 

A high-quality nutritional supplement fills the dietary gaps and supports overall health, vitality, and well-being for GLP-1 users. The Replenza™ Daily Nutritional Supplement provides 22 essential vitamins and minerals to help replenish the body - and contains enzymes and probiotics for gut health, as well as B Complex and ashwagandha to aid 

with cellular energy and stress. It provides optimal support, much more than a traditional multivitamin, and is formulated specifically for GLP-1 users. Taking the Replenza Nutritional Supplement once daily with a meal or as directed by your healthcare provider, is an easy way to ensure your body gets the proper nutritional support it needs. 

Don’t: Let stress take over your life. 

Do: Find an effective way to deal with it throughout the day. 

We encounter three different types of stress in life with varying effects on the body:

• Good stress, or eustress, often accompanies the “firsts” in life—like starting a new job or getting married. This kind of stress keeps us motivated - and excited - about life. The dictionary defines it as “moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as beneficial for the experiencer.” 
• Acute stress is the adrenaline rush that triggers a spike in cortisol. We encounter it regularly, whether racing to meet a deadline or running late for a meeting. This short-term stress response sharpens the brain, enhancing focus and performance. 
• The third stress - prolonged stress - is the most damaging. Chronic stress impacts nearly every system in the body. It can weaken the immune system, disrupt digestion and reproductive functions, elevate the risk of heart attack and stroke, and accelerate the aging process. Prolonged stress can bring on depression, anxiety, insomnia, anger, and irritability. 

Don’t fret! There are many ways to reduce stress. Yoga and meditation are powerful for inducing mental relaxation and physically relieving tension, and they can help alleviate stress-induced pain. Find a simple meditation guide on the Mayo Clinic website here. Deep breathing has been proven to calm stress and anxiety and is a simple way to reduce stress levels throughout the day. Box breathing is a simple technique that can be done anywhere and anytime. If you are serious about spring cleaning chronic stress, consider a three-pronged approach with changes in your lifestyle through diet and exercise, mindfulness practices, and self-care strategies. 

This Spring, take some time to focus on yourself and find your optimal health. Reflect on these three critical parts of your life: your activity level, nutrition, and stress. Whether looking into the benefits of GLP-1 medications and nutritional support like Replenza or tweaking lifestyle habits and saying goodbye to a sedentary lifestyle, now is the time to spring clean your wellness routine!