As we kick off a brand new year, it's easy to feel pressured to change everything all at once. Your diet, your routine, your health, your habits. But what if real lasting change didn't come from doing more, but from doing a few small things really well?

Today's episode is all about small, simple steps you can take right now to start your year on the right foot, and how those tiny, doable choices can compound over time and move you closer to your long-term health goals.

Whether your goal is more energy, better immunity, improved focus, or just feeling like yourself again, these small shifts can make a big difference. Now first, a note from Dr.

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Genetic testing helps identify how your body responds to things like detoxification support, inflammation, oxidative stress, and functional therapies like ozone and IV therapy.

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By understanding how your body handles inflammation and immune signaling, providers can make more informed, personalized treatment decisions. Hi, I can't believe it's 2026. Like, can you?

I feel like 2025 went by so fast. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. Now that I'm a grandparent, it really goes by fast. I bet you get to see it in the lives of the little ones and the way that they age.

And you're just like, it's a blink of an eye. But as we know, 2026, I mean, 2025 and the holidays, I feel like those like we call it the Burr months. The Burr months go by so fast.

And we know January is usually the time where people feel like they're ready from a fresh start. They're ready to start new things. They're ready to look at things differently.

And so let's just dive in to talk about just the approach to 2026 and how people can start getting towards and start thinking towards a healthier lifestyle.

So let's just kick it off. What do you think are some of the most common mistakes that people make when setting health goals and how can we start avoiding some of those things?

I think that one of the most common mistakes is people set themselves up for failure by trying to be perfect. And it's better to set low expectations and just remember that you're looking to have progress, not perfection.

and then that's where people crash and burn. So, no, I've had to educate myself through the years, too, to just not set these unrealistic goals. They're crazy, and then you feel like a failure.

Yeah. Yeah. No, I absolutely believe that. So what you're saying, starting the year off on the right foot is to give yourself standards that you can actually meet.

So it's like if you weren't eating dairy free and gluten free and sugar free and all those things, starting off day one, trying to do everything all at once feels…

Impossible. Right. Right. It's kind of like this magical thinking, OK, it's going to be the new year. I'm going to do this and I'm going to do great. And I'm just going to plow through.

And then two weeks in, you're just this is I'm just a failure. And you're telling yourself all these lies. And it's like, stop that. Let's let's breathe, extend some grace to ourselves and our family and start small.

Atomic habits, you know, little tiny changes. That's what we want. Little tiny changes. I love that. Okay, so because functional medicine deals with the functional medicine tree, and we always start at the roots, I thought it would be really cool to break down some of the lifestyle modifications in some of the areas That people would want to grow like we all know we want to grow in less stress less more sleep and better eating but maybe if we just break down one tiny thing and one tiny area that people could start with and I thought a good one would start with nutrition what are.

three quick and maybe practical nutrition tweaks that people can implement right away when they're maybe if they're thinking about for either more energy and or less inflammation.

What are just three tiny things they could start to tweak? Okay, this is something that doesn't cost you anything. So one tweak is when you go to the grocery store, just go around the periphery.

And I'm thinking when you think energy, you want to think about energy from the different colors of the rainbow. And we get into these habits of having the same stuff, especially if our children are really, really picky.

So it's good to go to the fruits and vegetables section. Remember, you want to choose the clean 15, not the dirty dozen, because nobody can afford to eat everything organic.

So we want to make wise choices. So remember that various little colors, you don't need a huge quantity, just changing it up. Like if you've never had a pomegranate, buy a pomegranate, YouTube, Google, how do I open this thing up, how do I eat this thing, and try a pomegranate seed.

And who knows, maybe your kids will like them too. Same with blueberries, same with strawberries, you know, different fruits and vegetables. So that's one, one small thing, so nutrition-wise.

The other is just being more thoughtful about the water that you're drinking, trying to get more water in. And so silly things like when you have a water bottle, you carry it with you because if you're flushing toxins out of your body, so drinking water, having the colors of the rainbow, making better choices, less processed foods.

So if you have kind of go-tos where, gosh, I want to just buy this pre-made lunch for my kid, well, usually there's a lot of chemicals and things like that.

So just think real food. You know, even if you've got picky eaters, you can choose like Hebrew national hot dogs, Applegate. pick a better choice and that's more nourishing to the body.

Even if your kid is a stinking picky eater and they are so picky texturally, pick a better type of hot dog. Okay? Yeah. No, I love that. Well, and think about that.

Even as adults, I think that that's the hard part because we have been so ingrained with these are our favorite foods for so much longer than the kids have.

And so I think there's like a both and to what you're saying in the sense of, yes, children, but I feel like as an adult, widening our palates can be feel, especially when we're controlling what we purchase, right?

It's our money, it's our thing. And so that's where I love that introducing like with everything you said is new things, trying something new. And doesn't that actually do something to our brain?

Like when we start new habits and so that grow, you're doing two things at once and you're only changing one thing, which I love. It's stacking, right?

Right. It's called neuroplasticity. When you try something different, you're growing different parts of your brain. Now, here's one more little thing.

I learned this and it's called the veggie mash. It's kind of weird, but I did it for a while. You know how kids and even adults are uber picky? Well, if you go to the grocery store and you pick something that you never eat, like, for example, a radish, If you can get one radish and you can get, say, a piece of jicama, you're like, jicama, what the heck is that?

What does it look like? Where is it in the grocery store? That kind of a thing. And then maybe something of another color. And then you can put it in the blender or the food processor.

freeze it and you just have a tiny amount and you can throw it into a smoothie and nobody knows the difference and by doing that you're exposing your gut to different fruits and vegetables and things you don't even know what they are.

And if it's seasonal, getting these seasonal things and by doing that, you're changing the organisms that are in your gut. I love that. Okay. Veggie mash.

I know. Well, I really love what you're going out. And for any adults that are listening to this that may not have littles or may not be impacted by littles, what I would really encourage you with is like, in all of like my years being coached as well as coaching others.

I think we forget that it is still so important as adults to have fun and to explore. I tell my patients without children, I was like, make this fun for you.

Make this an adventure for you. Going into like, this isn't just for children, but this is actually like enjoying your process of getting better, like leads to your brain not feeling like this is a punishment.

that this is a joy to explore something new. This is an experiment, and it doesn't have to become your favorite food, but you may find your favorite foods along the way.

And I really love the fun that you put in this, Dr. K. That's really exciting. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, make it fun. And it doesn't have to be hard. It's a simple change.

And you're changing your gut microbiome. I love that. So next up, we are going to talk about the one that sadly the holidays can bring up, which is stress and emotions.

And that brings in a lot. So we are carrying that from year to year as we know that isn't always something that can be gotten rid of, but we can start somewhere.

So one of the questions I had was what is one effective strategy that we could use to reset our stress responses as we begin the year? There's nothing like being with family to bring up stuff that you thought you'd gotten over.

It's like you can be a full-grown adult and feel like a child when you get in the presence of your parents or other people. And it's like you're stuck there developmentally, emotionally.

And there are things about the holidays that can trigger really sad things. I think that a practice is pausing and not speaking and reacting emotionally and thinking it through and maybe withholding and thinking through, this is how I feel this is what I'm tempted to do, but is this the right thing to do?

And is it better for me just not to say anything and breathe through this? So stress, again, we've talked about this before, but breathing is really important.

So taking a moment to just pause, not get ticked off responding anger and to allow yourself to try to process what was said and try to figure out what is going on inside of me that's triggering this.

I love that. Yeah. I really love that. I think what that also includes in a society that we now have Google and ChatGBT and all of these AI bots, people are used to having to get an instant response and an instant action.

And creating that kind of experience or expectation in a conversation is super not healthy. So I really love that you're saying, like inviting that space to say, hey, I'm going to have to think on that before I answer that is an appropriate response.

And I really love that, that before responding, before being reactive, that giving people permission to kind of pause. And I really love you bringing that up.

What you just said about chat GPT and Google, we are all stuck in this instant gratification mode. And that's not reality. And when we talk about our emotions and the trauma that our bodies carry, So, especially around the holidays, so pausing and even trying a great way to lower your stress is to disconnect and turn off the phone, which we're all addicted to that and we're scrolling and we're getting dopamine hits and it actually is not healthy for us.

So pulling away social media wise and that just that pulls the stress off of YouTube. Being present and playing games. That was something that I really enjoyed over Thanksgiving.

I love that. A couple of hours of games, card games at the table and it was so fun. It was so fun. I love that. And there were no arguments either. No arguments.

That is, I feel, it's a Thanksgiving miracle. Yes, I love that. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about this because I think you brought up a really good point.

And so before we step away from stress, I really would love to talk about, like, our bodies were made to get, and you can correct anything if I'm wrong, but to my understanding, our bodies were created to get dopamine from personal interactions, from being able to have that.

By being on our phone all of the time and being by screens all of the time, Does that change the way that we are engaging with each other in a negative?

Because you mentioned the negative impacts. I'm just trying to understand a little bit more about that. Yeah, I believe it has and it does. And this is something that I have to work on.

And I think it's a struggle for every single one of us. I agree. And it's going to be 2026 when this episode airs, you know? Absolutely. So I think that because we're literally addicted to our phones and our devices, it's incumbent upon us to learn to engage in conversation, to hear what people say to us, and respond to them.

So trying to even teach small children, they don't have a tablet, they don't have a device. And it's, we're going to play Old Maid now, or we're going to play Go Fish, or we're going to try playing this card game, or we're going to try coloring this together.

And that's right in your little book. And what's this word? And taking the time to be present and pull away from our device. So as family members just learning to take small moments of this is like a phone free zone and we're not going to look at our phone, we're going to turn the notifications off and that's really hard.

I'll sit in an appointment with patients and, you know, if one parent has a phone and they're on their phone, I'm like, hey, you know, this time it's devoted 100% to you and your child.

Let's engage. You know, if it's a business call or whatever, I get that, but, you know, it's… really hard to pull away. And that does stress us out.

And we have a whole generation of people that want instant gratification, and they don't know how to carry on conversations with people. Right. I think that, I mean, you said generation of people, I think the problem is, is 2020 almost spread that need for phones because now I see it at any age of like that need to have like the device.

I can't tell you how many times like when that being one of the coaching topics that somebody wants to address, they're like, I'll have it in my hand and I don't even remember why I had it.

Like I'm just, I'm on a site and I'm like, where did I get, how did I get here? And they're just not. And so now this has become literally what we're kind of talking about right now, which is it's become habits.

It's become a habit. I have to know where my phone is. It has to be in my hand. I instantly know where to click, whatever that is, whether it's Pinterest or social media or researching topics.

So that's really, it's a really good point. Getting back to your original question, that in itself causes a stress. Now, we work from our phones and our laptops, but we have to learn how to give ourselves some boundaries here and there.

You know, the first thing that stops is you stop reading. You stop reading. And, you know, pulling away enough to read a book and dive into what a book does to your brain, creating stories in your mind and your imagining things.

And that's a stress reduction thing. The thing that we are trying to reduce is actually being stopped because we're going to different devices instead of taking the time.

So that's a really good point to bring up. Okay, so a lot of these topics we are going to dive in deeper over the years, but we just wanted to have a here are fun places to start.

So the next one up is sleep. I feel like all of us can just take a deep breath in and a deep breath out and release whatever shame or stress that we may have for having not slept this holiday season and just moving forward, right?

That's all we're doing is moving forward. So I'd like to talk a little bit about the importance of sleep because I do see it as almost one of the number one neglected places because even though they're trying to do healthy things like, oh, I stayed up late organizing my supplements or I stayed up late researching.

So let's talk about the importance of sleep before we dive into a tip about sleep. Okay. Excellent topic. Even when you were saying that, you saw that I yawned because when you said take a deep breath, I'm like, then I started yawning.

Exactly. Sleep is so critical for our brain to detoxify itself. And some very simple things that we can do is to try to get ourselves back on a routine.

Now, if you're wide awake because you stayed up really late over the holidays, and this is really particularly hard for children, when they have to go back to school.

If you have devices too close to bedtime, you should really stop devices about an hour before bedtime because it's sending signals to your brain to stay awake, stay awake, and you're not releasing melatonin.

So I think some really important principles for sleep are, one, as silly as it may sound, I've mentioned this in previous podcasts, I believe, is that For our brain to detoxify and to clean itself out, when you raise the head of the bed, so if you go to a store and you purchase large furniture movers, they're a quarter to a half an inch.

And if you put them under the bed posts that are where your head are at and you increase the slope of the bed by a quarter to a half an inch, I don't care if you have a sleep number bed, you still need to do it.

And what that will do is when you do go to sleep, there's a system in the brain called the glymphatic system, not lymphatic, but glymphatic. So all of you know what lymph nodes are, those things that you feel in your neck and your head and your armpits, your groin, that kind of a thing.

It kind of clears toxins out of your body, but the glymphatic system, it's activated at night, so raise the head of the bed. The other is try to get back on to your sleep schedule, to where you go to bed at the same time every night, and you wake up preferably around the same time every morning.

And that's hard to start moving into, but when we get our kids on schedules, you know, you're reading to them, If you can use a real soft light bulb, you have a nice little routine.

The other is if you've got some magnesium around the house to take, magnesium is relaxing. If you've got a little melatonin, you want a pretty clean melatonin.

And using those, melatonin actually can be taken earlier in the evening. It doesn't necessarily knock you out. too much, just a little dab, and it modulates the immune system.

It's good for you, too. And some people like to do Epsom salt baths with a little bit of baking soda, like a cup of Epsom salts to a cup of baking soda.

And at, like, Costco, you can get those in large amounts. But, you know, just good sleep hygiene. This kind of gives you some ideas. Oh, a couple of other good things.

One second. Why the baking soda? It modifies the pH of the water and so it might improve the delivery of the magnesium into the body and it won't dry your skin out so much.

OK, perfect. Sorry, go back to what you're saying. I was like, that's so fun. Yeah. So really, some basic principles for children and adults is that your room should be very dark.

And that includes potentially covering the light on the carbon monoxide detector, the smoke alarm smoke detector. Because when you close your eyes, that light goes through your eyelids, and it's activating.

So I use a little night cover. The other is having some background noise, maybe a sound machine, like a white noise, but move it about six to eight feet away from you and potentially earplugs.

And also having your phone about six to eight feet away from you because those electromagnetic fields from your phone can interfere with your sleep patterns.

And there are some people that are sensitive to electromagnetic fields and some people that, well, I'll just say that it's not good for any of us to have our phones right next to us.

Simple sleep principles and just shifting everything. It's hard if one spouse has different sleep schedules than the other one, But you need to kind of come to an agreement if one person is going to bed a little later than your spouse that you do your best not to wake them up or try to get on the same rhythm.

It's when you can. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. The best thing that I love about what you're saying with all of these tips is that you literally pick one and kind of figure out your rhythm.

And it really is to have a good morning routine is to have a good nighttime routine. People try to do the morning before and it is very rarely that I've seen people succeed when they have such a hard nighttime routine or don't have a nighttime routine.

And so really getting to set the pace for your morning is to set the pace for your evening. I like that. That's so true. You know, I don't know if you've noticed this, but grandparents tend to be kind of set in their ways or they have a rhythm and they're predictable.

I'm finding the older I get, the more predictable I am. And my kids say only in the Krupp-Stadt household, you know, we're talking about what type of poop you had.

And, you know, what was your aura ring score? You know, like, let's compare and those kind of things. And it tells you how much REM and, you know, deep sleep and all those things.

So it depends, but you can be very, very simple and not cost you anything. But the benefits are so huge. Educating yourself about your sleep and about what you need is so important.

Simplicity, keep it simple. I think that's my mantra for 2026 for our medical office and just life in general. Shed, shed stuff, get rid of it, simplify.

There's a lot of freedom there. Absolutely. I think what you'll also notice is the more that you start applying these simple things, it gives your brain the capacity to decide alongside a provider or a counselor or your family.

It helps you make harder decisions because your brain is wiring better, your rhythms are in check so that when there are more challenging things that you do have to layer in for your health, and we all will have those journeys at some time in some way, doing these basic things also gives you like a, and I love what you said, celebrating the wins, like what this looks like, how this looks like.

If you go to sleep at one o'clock in the morning every single day, the fact that you went to bed early, three days out of the week, or four days out of the week, like starting to see your body make those changes versus a, it's a zero or nothing approach is also really helpful.

Next up, environmental pollutants. So we all talk about low tox and all of that, and that is such a hard place to know where to start. And could you just give maybe one or two tips on where is an okay place to start or where can they do it?

And does this mean I have to throw everything away all at once and Just can you give us some hope around this area? There's a limit to our resources and, you know, everyone starts somewhere.

So I think a really simple place to start. And we, it's pretty reasonable to try to remove plastic. and Tupperware from our kitchens. So that's a problem because we're surrounded by plastic and those are forever chemicals.

So that would be the first place. Try to replace your plastic with glass and there's some wonderful places to do that like IKEA, Pyrex, Anchor. You know, you can pick these up at Walmart and Costco, just glass containers.

And it's a real simple way, too, to do meal prep. You know, if you and your husband work and you've got kids and you want to meal prep on the weekend, just replacing Tupperware or plastic with glass.

The cool thing about that, you said meal prep and something that I would take Dr. K's suggestion and then ensure it can do this thing and it will do two things at once, which is a lot of glassware is now rated for oven safety, which means you have meal prepped and you do not have to put it in another container.

You get to throw it in the oven and I felt like that was like a win-win. right, to be able to go, I meal prepped, I'm glass, which is cleaner. But then also I've created a, and Christopher, which is my husband, are tired and we're like, just throw it in the oven.

And there's that ease. So I love that. That's such a great suggestion. Yeah. And you can like purchase it as it goes, like a little bit here and a little bit there starts to add up and you have a new collection.

So it's really great. So another little environmental hack is not using the microwave. So the microwave emits microwaves and you can decrease the toxicity on your body and the damage that it does to your DNA by not using it.

So like we still have one, but it's in our garage and we literally put something in it, walk back in the house and then go out. That's awesome. And then at our medical office, our hope for healing office, we have toaster ovens.

We have three of them. We don't have a microwave and we also have some convection oven tops and pots and pans and you can whip up your stuff. So that's another way to detoxify.

Another thing that you can do, this kind of went along with the whole plastic thing, is replace your cups and your glasses. You want to make your glasses, your drinking utensils glass or potentially stainless steel on the inside.

So there's less of a chance of toxicity. So that goes a long way. I love that. Well, and I think everything you're doing also lends to the principle of use it, then replace it.

Right. And so even if you say you're like, maybe you're like, man, that that's a lot. And it's like, yeah, but if If you use plastic, the wear and tear on plastic, you probably have a couple of dishes that you're like, those plastics should probably be thrown away.

Then instead of buying new plastic, you would just replace it with plastic. And that goes the same with cleaning chemicals, right? You finish what you're using and then replace it with something new and trying out different things.

And that's been really fun. And also another like tip for like financial things like Marshall's and Ross and all of those places will have them on super sale.

Sometimes, so if you're unsure of a scent and you're like, I don't know if I'm going to like that, it's a cheaper way of looking into things. I had one other comment I wanted to make about toxicity.

You know, white distilled vinegar is very inexpensive and baking soda can be bought at your local grocery stores, sometimes in a big container and using a toothbrush instead of buying these chemicals that you spray on things.

I mean, there's a time and a place, but you can use lemon juice. You can use baking soda and white distilled vinegar as cleaning agents or finding a better choice at the grocery store.

And that way you're, you're not putting potentially carcinogenic things in your home. I love that. Yeah. And you know, like, instead of buying something that we put into the water of our toilet, there's these pumice stones that you can purchase to clean the rings in the toilet.

Of course, you've got on your gloves, that kind of a thing. that's another way and then if you have babies if you want to use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers or picking a better disposable choice like an organic diaper but that you know it not everybody wants to do that you know but that's a way to kind of pull down on toxicity I love that and the hybrid space right where so maybe you don't want to go all reusable diapers but you want to do it sometimes if y'all are at home and it's a lot easier but when you're on the go like allowing your space for grace and understanding so I really love that like those are really great tips to be able to do because there is so much information out there to be able different ways to clean and to be able to spend your time.

What I've always done is like, like we talked about with the phone, like this instant scroll, like I've used the time for scrolling for like educational purposes, like what's a new topic or new thing that I can test out and use.

So I really love that. Yeah. Well, another point on toxicity, when you're washing your clothes, there's an old substance called mule-team borax. And you can even make your own soap.

But I've done that before, and it's kind of difficult. But mule-team borax, you have to soak this stuff, too. And it's harder with the new HE washers for it to dissolve and you have to have hot water in your home.

The other thing is your cookware for your skillets on the on the top of the stove and this is also you mentioned you know looking at Marshall's or Ross or different places that will have sick Costco Sam some of these giant wholesalers you can look for the skillets that have non-toxic insides, okay?

Yeah, you're right. And the old-fashioned iron skillets, you can use those too. I mean, of course, people are talking about, you know, the iron that comes out of it.

But hey, you know, those are a lot healthier than Teflon, which is carcinogenic and a forever thing. So those are some toxicity, lower toxicity educational items that we can all kind of keep our eye out for little changes here and there.

Me and Christopher, when we first got married, we did not understand fully the importance of like silicone being super helpful. So we would like, I remember like every other paycheck, we would get like a new silicone utensil until we had like our silicone set.

And so we were like, to slowly do it. And also what we've noticed is like the durability of it all has been really great. Okay, the last one, and I know this last one is on several people's list, is exercise and movement.

That can feel, wow, that can feel really heavy for a lot of people to put in, especially in the busyness of life. So do you have any tips or tricks in getting, if that is their goal for the year or their goal for the month of January to like start movement or exercise in any way, what are some helpful tips we can share with them?

You know, some people are very athletically inclined and other people are not. Some people have had injuries and both of us, Lauren, we've both had some significant injuries.

And then I was in the military. I was in the United States Army when I first began my medical career and I have trauma around exercise because I could never meet the standard.

Well, I won't say never. I ended up power walking. So I don't like to call it exercise. I like to call it just movement and it's all about finding joy and fun.

So if you don't like exercise and you don't like to be thinking, you know, I don't know about you, but I have joined so many gyms and done so many things and crashed and burned.

And I'm like, why am I even doing this? I don't use it just because I pay for it. I'm wasting this. This is a waste. So I would keep it simple. If you're the exercise guru person, but I'm talking to everybody in the crowd that is not like an athlete, I'm talking about people that movement, exercise is like a dirty word, okay?

But you know you need to move. So just keep it simple. So I would say grab moments and opportunities to just move your body. So walking, simple walking, and to try to make a habit out of it.

My husband was talking to me, we have two boxers and they need to get out. We live in a neighborhood, they don't have a backyard, plus they're like kind of aggressive at the dog park.

So we were talking and two of them on one person is too much to handle. So we are going to try to create a new little habit for us to take our boxers on a walk after dinner.

And for me, even if it's one block, I have back injuries, I have a hip that gets messed up, and I have to be incredibly careful. I've had back fusion, you know, for you, Lauren, I know it's your knee.

My knees. Yes, your knees. So it's Even if it's stinking chair yoga, so it's all about… Sit and be fit classes. Yes, it's all about stretching your body, moving your body.

And people talk about this, and I'll do it sometimes when I park here. I'll park at the far edge of the parking lot, so I have to walk in a long ways.

Usually I'm running too late, so it's like I park close. But if I've got time, I'll park far away and then take the stairwell if you don't have crappy knees, you know, and, you know, and…

To talk to injury, like to speak to injury. Big bubble is talk to your doctor clearly. Do not do anything that. But the smaller bubble is even in having two knee surgeries, there is a necessary need for my body to relearn the movement that was taken away.

So like there are times where I'm like, okay, Christopher, it's a stairs day. to relearn that movement and understanding and giving my body grace for what that is.

And again, it's not going to be easy, but it is so brilliant. And to me, I think it's been my focus. I have a goal. I have a goal in mind that I am trying to hit.

that is bigger than the pain or the frustration of the injury, right? Or the of the recovery, because it's really not the injury now, it's the recovery.

And so like, I have a goal, and I want to hit that goal. I want to have a baby in 2026. And what does my body need in order to get there? And I think has helped.

So like, that's what I'm saying. So I love that you're mentioning what I hear also is in 2026, maybe I need to get a dog. Like, because I just I think having I don't know about that.

I was going to say not the year of the dog and the baby. I think I'd stick with the baby. There you go. I'll borrow other people's dogs, right? Have a neighbor who needs a dog walk.

Go to like a nursing home and be like, can I walk their animals for them or some ways? But no, I love it. That's a great idea. And when you have like trauma around movement or exercise, having something realistic like, can I go outside and walk in my neighborhood three days this week?

Can, you know, not like every day, you know, and then you're, you set yourself up for failure. I, I have, I know myself and I think if you know that you're going to set yourself up for failure, make it small, make it small.

And you know, I love what you said to talking to your provider, if you know your medical provider, your orthopedist, whatever, your neurosurgeon, if you've had like neck or back surgery, your orthopedist, you know, make things realistic and doable.

Mm-hmm and those doctors really will want that movement for you and sometimes you just have to ask Like they they want you to live a fuller life and sometimes they're not used to people wanting that for themselves So sometimes you just have to ask like hey, I really feel like I want to strengthen this area What is a safe way that I can do that and introducing that like I did?

as a sit and be fit instructor, you would be very surprised how long spiraling your arms at a rapid rate can get your heart rate up. Those types of ways of learning how to do movement is really exciting and can be fun and can be something you do with your grandkids, your kids or your friends, and it be a community event.

And so I'm really grateful. So Dr. K. The question that we always end with and the kind of overall is, what is a hopeful sendoff that you would like to send people with with their year of 2026 begins?

I would say extend grace to yourself and take it slow and easy. It's progress, not perfection. That's what I would say. And want to be present, be present with your family.

I love that so much. Thank you so much, Dr. K. Thank you. As you move into the new year, remember small intentional steps can lead to meaningful lasting change.

Choose one thing and let it build. If you found today's episode helpful, be sure to follow the podcast so you don't miss what's coming next and leave us a quick review.

It truly helps more people find these conversations. And as always, thank you for listening and remember there's always hope for healing.

Progress Over Perfection: Simple Habits That Heal Over Time

Paula Kruppstadt, MD, DABP, FAAP, IFMCP

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