Change is difficult. However, when it comes to improving your brain and body health, shedding excess weight, boosting your mood and doing all you can to live longer and more vibrantly—change is necessary. So how does one adopt a healthier lifestyle for the long haul? Clinical neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, brain imaging expert and nine-time New York Times bestselling author Daniel G. Amen, MD, shares two vital secrets in this video to help you find lasting success in achieving vibrant brain and body health, right now. They may surprise you – and they are sure to help you!
Dr. Amen’s Secrets to Lasting Brain and Body Health Revealed:
Going through Dr. Amen’s brain health program with a partner is the secret to long-term success. Brain Fit Life’s Coach Steve wasn’t always so healthy. But he masterfully generated social support to achieve his health goals. Today, he stays healthy by helping other people change!
The success of The Daniel Plan relies on this principle too. Dr. Amen, along with his friends, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Pastor Rick Warren developed a program called The Daniel Plan that has been implemented in over 1500 churches around the world. Within the first year of its launch, 15,000 program participants lost more than 250,000 pounds! What’s more, participants reported improved energy, focus, memory, sleep and mood plus reductions in pain, stress, blood pressure, diabetes and many medications. While the Daniel Plan is loaded with great content, the real “secret sauce” of its success is centered on the small-group format where five to eight people meet weekly to support each other. The program leverages human connection, one of the most effective tools for change. Or as Dr. Amen says in even simpler terms, “when you make a commitment to walk or work out with someone else, you’re much more likely to show up.”
Relationships also have a dramatic impact on our health. “If you really want to be healthy, associating with other healthy people is the strongest and most direct path to change,” Dr. Amen says. And if others are unhealthy, you can be the one to introduce them to a brain-healthy program. In fact, Dr. Amen recommends asking yourself what kind of person you are to the people you love most. The key question to ask is: Am I their friend or their accomplice? A friend is someone who helps their loved ones be successful while an accomplice is someone who helps them maintain their bad habits. Be the friend.
You have the power to lead the change in your family. Dr. Amen cites one particular instance, where a woman, who is both a wife and mother, shared the program with her husband and children—and they all got healthy together. When you get the message in this program, it changes everything in your life and in the lives of those you love.
Secret #2: Never stop being a warrior for the health of your brain.
Dr. Amen has observed that as we age, we have less room for error. “To be better, we have to constantly be vigilant for our health and not let others steal it,” he says. There are many forces in our society that are against us, from the “innocent” pastries served at a church service to the proliferation of fast food restaurants. According to Time Magazine, 75% of our healthcare dollars are spent on preventable illnesses – illnesses that are caused mainly by lack of conscientiousness and many bad decisions.
So how do you become a warrior for your health? Stop telling yourself lies! “How you think dramatically affects how you feel in every decision you make and the lies you tell yourself are one of the biggest factors that drive aging,” says Dr. Amen. For example, one common lie Dr. Amen hears often is, “My whole family ends up getting Alzheimer’s disease, it’s in our genes.” However, the truth is that genes account for only about 20-30% of our health. The vast majority of health problems are driven by the bad decisions we make.
Make the decision to get healthy right now. Dr. Amen says you literally have no time to wait on getting healthy. Now is the time to do the program with a partner and become a warrior for the health of your brain!
To learn more about improving your brain and body health with the support of an online community, visit www.clinic.mybrainfitlife.com.