"Are you sick?" asks the doctor at your annual visit. You quickly respond with a "nope." You answered the question accurately because you feel fine, no fevers, coughing, etc. "Great! See you next year." Says Doc and you're on your way. Your day-to-day continues like always with trips through the drive-through, frozen dinners, stressful work days, and so on. But hey, you didn't have a fever and you're not sick so you should be fine. Here's a thought. What if the question "Are you sick?" was replaced with "Are you healthy?"

We have manifested a billion dollar industry that is trying to answer the questions: 1."How do we prevent disease?" 2. "How do reverse obesity?" 3. "How can we feel and look healthy?" If you yourself or anyone you know might be asking themselves any of these questions, then keep reading.

ANSWER: Get the right nutrients into your body and stay active. It's simple, inexpensive, and one of the best investments you'll ever make.

Take a moment to check-in with yourself and ask the question, "Am I healthy?" or better yet "Am I well?" Health is such a broad topic and I like to refer to over-all "health" as wellness. Wellness encompasses several areas of your life, but for now we'll focus on nutrition or "nourishment" and fitness or "movement."

Our bodies function properly when we provide them with the correct nutrients and minerals. When we provide appropriate nutrient levels for our body, we function properly and eliminate chronic-inflammation which can cause disease. Dis-ease can be looked at as a deficiency (too little) or an abundance (too much) of the needed nutrients within our body.

Hippocrates said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"

Translation= stock up the nutrients!

The easiest way to keep our body nourished or "properly medicated" is through our food source. Your fridge should become your medicine cabinet.

We have choices all day every day about what we eat, and it's up to you to make the better choice. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, keep it simple by eating foods that are: organic, fresh, non-processed, and, if possible, locally grown. The biggest thing is to avoid the processed foods which are usually depleted of nutrients all together.

So, step one towards maintaining a healthy body is using food to get our nutrients which will help to eliminate inflammation. This brings us to the physical external piece of the puzzle which is movement.

Think of working out and staying fit as sweat therapy. Every time you workout, your body releases chemical endorphins that literally affect your overall mood. Exercise helps elevate stress somewhat, the way venting to a friend or having chat with your therapist completely changes the way you feel. So next time you want to hit someone with your car, go on a run! And if you still feel the same, then call your therapist! You get the idea.

Every time you are active, you are adding more of these feel-good chemicals into your "mood bank." Imagine if you worked out 10 minutes and each time you were building up a wealth of feeling good into your life.

In conclusion, to create a balanced, nourished, and stress-free body that is HEALTHY here are a few pointers:

2011 is the year of balance, so take the time and give yourself a little sweat therapy and cheap drugs!