It’s the time of year when many folks find themselves looking to create healthier routines to improve body composition and overall well-being. Instead of attempting fad diets or funneling your money into the weight loss industry, consider implementing simple, free, and science-backed habits into your day-to-day life. Adding in basic, tried-and-true behaviors can yield life-changing, sustainable results. 

On this episode of The Model Health Show, you’re going to learn five behaviors you can begin utilizing today for better health this year. These habits are simple and attainable lifestyle changes like spending more time outdoors, building strong connections with others, and eating more meals at home. You’re going to learn about the incredible benefits of adding muscle to your frame, how walking more can increase your longevity, and so much more.

No matter your intention for the year ahead, these five habits can help you improve your immune function, reduce risk for disease, and improve your metabolic health. I hope this episode will support you in your goals and allow you to model health and vibrancy to your loved ones. Enjoy!

In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why spending time in nature can act as a preventative medicine.
• What biophilia is.
• The link between environmental exposures and gene regulation.
• How air quality and sun exposure impact your health.
• Why spending time in nature can reduce inflammation.
• How our relationships influence our brain health.
• Why social engagement is critical for the health of elderly populations.
• How oxytocin affects immune function.
• The minimum number of steps you should get in a day.
• How walking can reduce risk of multiple diseases.
• The connection between testosterone and steps per day.
• How to reduce your intake of one of the most toxic substances in our food supply.
• The details of how vegetable oil is processed.
• Four main benefits of building muscle.
• The link between resistance training and brain plasticity.
• How often you should weight train to improve your long-term memory.
• Why muscle is the key to improving metabolic health.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

• Foursigmatic.com/model -- Get an exclusive discount on your daily health elixirs!
• Organifi.com/smarterkit -- Get a free copy of my cookbook when you buy the kit!
• Eat Smarter Family Cookbook

Join TMHS Facebook community - Model Nation 

Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes: 

• Apple Podcasts
• Stitcher
• Spotify
• Soundcloud

Thanks to our Sponsors!

This episode is Brought to you by Four Sigmatic. Give yourself permission this year, proactively spend more time with the people that you care about, and again, this could be a date night, this could be, family get togethers, this could be, getting together with a friend to exercise or go for a walk, this could be scheduling lunch or dinners together, this could be making time for a cup of coffee, whatever the case might be. Whatever the case might be. And a little funny story, and I've never shared this before, I've never gotten a cup of coffee with someone, like out there in the streets, there are all these cool coffee shops. I've never done it. I've never done it. Alright, I just haven't. I didn't even drink coffee most of my adulthood, and this was until a few years ago when my wife, I was utilizing these dual extracted medicinal mushrooms from Four Sigmatic in making teas, but they were sending coffee as well, and my wife was just like... It was... She loved it. It was just her highlight of her morning, and I was just like, what is it? Because the last time I had tasted coffee, I was a kid, and I was with my grandmother and I'm wondering, why is this lady always drinking this? Whatever this is, and I drank it, I took a sip and I was like, I literally... The thought that crossed my mind when I sipped that coffee when I was probably seven years old, is that something is wrong with my grandmother. There's something wrong with her. How in the world can she drink this stuff? And that was that, and I even actually bought her for Christmas a little container of her favorite coffee, which was Folgers, is what she was using. The best part of waking up. And she actually, and this was... Again, I was like seven or eight, and when I was maybe in my late 20s, I went to my grandmother's house. And that Folgers gift that I had bought her that had a bow on top was in her cabinet still, she had kept it all those years. And so there was this beautiful affinity with this, but I was just like, I'm never drinking this stuff again. And so once I tried the coffee and had it the way that I was preparing it for my wife, like blending some high quality fats into it and things like that. It was like, oh, I get it. This is pretty awesome. But for me, I haven't gone and gotten coffee with anyone, I have gotten some tea, I have had some tea, like back in the day if somebody would wanna get coffee, I'd get some tea. But now it's because I'm kind of spoiled. I have the most incredible coffee in the world that I get from these people that I truly trust, because the coffee industry is crazy right now. All these different microplastics and toxic molds and pesticides and all the stuff that people are just consuming every single day. And many of these chemicals are in a category known as obesogens, these are obesity-causing agents that alter our metabolic health and also carcinogens, these are cancer-causing agents, and so Four Sigmatic is all organic, the most incredible coffee, all organic, but also it's blended with dual extracted medicinal mushrooms like lion's mane, and scientists at the University of Malaya discovered that compounds in lion's mane are able to significantly improve the activity of nerve growth factor in the brain. Nerve growth factor is essential in the regulation of growth, maintenance, proliferation and the survival of various brain cells, it's pretty powerful stuff to say the least, and also there's several studies indicating its role in helping to reduce issues related to mental health, things like anxiety and excessive stress, the lion's mane is really remarkable. And that's what I actually had today, the Four Sigmatic ground coffee lion's mane blend with Chaga as well, and Chaga is a powerful, powerful antioxidant and mountains of studies affirming its benefits with the immune system. So this is what I make for myself and my wife every morning, and I highly encourage you to check them out, go to foursigmatic.com/model. That's foursigmatic.com/model, and you're going to get 10% off all of their incredible coffee blends, if you're not into coffee like I used to be, they also have incredible elixirs or tea they're in a tea version basically, with these incredible science-backed long storied medicinal mushrooms as well, and they also have a great hot cocoa, a reishi hot cocoa that my son loves, my youngest son, Braden really loves, that reishi hot cocoa. So many great things, you get 10% off store wide, also you get access to some free shipping opportunities and stuff like that, so they're amazing. Really, really amazing. Been a big part of my family's lives for many years foursigmatic.com/model

This episode is brought to you by Organifi. I'm imploring us to make it a mandate this year. This is the year to have some more home-cooked meals focus on a system for some food prep, making some delicious meals, spending a little bit of time in the kitchen, or having your family find a strategy for that so that you can have healthier ingredients and also ingredients that are not riddled with these toxic oils. And I'm a big fan of helping to create a fun kitchen culture and family culture around food and around the dinner table. And that was really the inspiration behind my latest book, The Eat Smarter Family Cookbook, which I am incredibly honored to say is a USA Today national bestseller. And it was a number one cookbook in the United States, number one new release cookbook in the United States when it came out. That is crazy pants, all right? But a book like that could not do what it did without being focused on deliciousness. Yes, we've got all the science there. As a matter of fact, the science that we just shared on those vegetable oils is in the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook. There's over 250 peer-reviewed scientific references embedded into the book in a fun and beautiful way. But also when it boils down to it, it's really about the delicious recipes. There's a hundred incredible recipes and something for everyone, absolutely. But listen, from what I'm seeing, this book is making its way into people's kitchens and it's just staying there, all right. So we're seeing pictures all over the place of people getting the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook and it just becomes a staple in their kitchen. There's so many delicious things to make from that book. And right now, you can actually get your hands on the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook as a free gift with the New Year, New You Superfood Bundle from Organifi. The Superfood Bundle has three components. One focuses on energy, the other focuses on recovery, and the other focuses on a radiant appearance, which includes healthy skin. For energy, you get the Organic Red Juice Superfood Blend. In addition to this berry blend, which includes blueberries that have been found to directly target fat cells, and this is according to researchers at the University of Michigan, one of their other ingredients used in the Red Juice Blend is beets. And a study published in the journal Applied Physiology showed that beet juice boosts stamina up to 16% during exercise and training. So the Red Juice Blend is all about energy and kids love it as well. It's one of my family favorites for sure, and it's been a huge upgrade to the Kool-Aid paradigm that I grew up in, and I know that you probably grew up in as well. Kool-Aid and their Flavor-Aid. Kool-Aid is already cheap, but if you didn't even have Kool-Aid money, we got Flavor-Aid. And now, in addition to that, so we've got the Red Juice Blend in this incredible bundle for this new year, but we've also got the Gold Blend. And the Gold Blend is centered around the power of turmeric, and it's an incredible turmeric latte. And in particular, a study that was published in the European Journal of Nutrition uncovered that compounds in turmeric can down-regulate inflammatory cytokines and up-regulate the activity of adiponectin and other satiety-related hormones. And turmeric has been well-established to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood fats, and directly act upon fat cells. And in addition to this organic turmeric blend, there's also things like Reishi Medicinal Mushroom and cinnamon and other incredible ingredients that have been documented through peer-reviewed studies to improve our sleep quality and improve cognitive function and recovery. And finally, in this amazing bundle, for a radiant appearance, in particular for healthy skin, and it's derived from the very best and most bioavailable sources there really isn't any collagen better in the world than Organifi's Collagen. Now, a study published in the journal Dermatology Practical and Conceptual titled Collagen Supplements for Aging and Wrinkles: A Paradigm Shift in the Fields of Dermatology and Cosmetics. This was just published in 2022, affirming collagen does in fact work at preventing and reducing the signs of aging of our skin. Improving the elasticity, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, and there's this huge component that often isn't given a name, but we talk about the glow of the skin and this kind of radiant appearance of the skin. Collagen is critical in that. And so you get all three of these incredible superfood blends, Organifi's Red Juice blend, their Gold blend, and their Collagen blend, you get all of these together for 15% off, plus they're going to give you a free physical copy they're gonna send to you of the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook, the USA Today National Best-Selling Book for free. It's absolutely amazing. Head over there right now and take advantage of this. While supplies last, go to organifi.com/smarterkit. That's organifi.com/smarterkit, all together as one word, smarterkit. And take advantage of this. Again, this incredible bundle that they put together just for this, for us to kick off this new year right, to provide some incredible resources and incredible nutrition as well. Organifi really does go above and beyond. I love those guys. So again, take advantage of those resources and take advantage of the Eat Smarter Family Cookbook and make more home-cooked meals for yourself and your family this year.