New Year's celebrations are behind us, leaving only the resolutions to eat better and get fit. Don't worry, we're here to help. This week – Healthy Living Week, brought to you by The Milwaukee Y – we will focus on articles and information about exercise, eating right and staying healthy in a variety of ways.
What you do every day matters more than what you do occasionally or just every now and then.
Indeed, our health journey is a marathon not a sprint. For me, I focus on it daily by doing the items I've listed below. And, when I don’t I feel off and unbalanced. Sure, I also sprinkle in many other efforts each week, and – probably like you – I’m far from perfect when it comes to healthy living. But, I’ve found that you must attack it, and focus on it every day to win.
- Give thanks the moment you wake up.
- Make your bed. I always make our bed. It must be done.
- Read positive, encouraging words before you read anything else. For me, I have several books that I read from, including Dr. Peale’s "Positive Thinking Every Day," that I’ve read from daily for more than 25 years.
- Do push ups and stretch. I don’t have a specific number or time, but I do both every morning.
- Walk/run. Again, no daily goal here. Some mornings it’s three miles others it’s three blocks. No matter what, it gets done.
- Drink warm, lemon water with a splash of turmeric. You have to squeeze the lemon yourself, but this potion when you add pepper to aid the absorption of the turmeric seems to work. And, drink it before you drink anything else. Good and good for you!
- Take Vitamin D. Consult your doctor for proper dosage.
- Eat breakfast. For me, it’s usually blueberries, a protein shake, oatmeal and maybe a hard boiled egg. Of course, if I have a breakfast meeting, I’m diving in with whatever. I love breakfast.
- Floss and brush. Gotta floss every day, and for me it has to be Glide Tape.
- Drink coffee. I love my daily stop for coffee and do my best to spread the wealth to all of Milwaukee’s great coffee shops.
The above may seem mundane, but they are important to me as is my daily monitoring of steps and sleep via my Fitbit Flex. I work out regularly too, use a standing desk at the office and do intense sessions every Monday and Friday.
All of this including a general focus on mindful thinking, prayer and hard work is what healthy living means to me. There’s more to it, too, but my point is that consistent daily habits help win the race.
Happy healthy living week, Milwaukee.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
