It’s easy to tell someone to eat healthy, but our doctors understand life sometimes gets in the way, and it becomes hard to actually do it.

To help, our doctors have created the FOCUS Challenge - a simple, two principle process:

Principle 1: FOCUS on Your Diet (or the 3:3:1:1:0.1 ratio)

When we refer to the word, FOCUS, we do so to help you in two ways. Not only is it meant to help you focus on the right choices, it is also an acronym for “Foods to Optimize CellUlar Systems.”

Don’t worry about memorizing the exact ratio. Instead, picture your plate and try to think of what you eat in sets of threes.

⅓ should be vegetables, ⅓ should be water, and ⅓ can be made up of proteins, complex carbohydrates, a dash of good fats and a gap of space to rest your fork on.

While we know you wouldn’t put water on a plate, this helps visualize how nutrition is important to give your cells the fuel needed to work well, so you will feel well. Human beings are not like camels: we can’t store water or nutrients for very long periods of time, so this plate helps remind you of the nutrients you should be putting into your body, all throughout the day.

But, let’s briefly touch on the gap. The gap is there to remind you of what you haven’t eaten that day. Did you forget to pack some fruit? Can’t get your hands on some fresh veggies at work? Closest thing to healthy food you could get on the road is a sandwich? Don’t worry. Life happens. And a supplement can be one way to cover nutrients a busy week leaves out. It is not a substitute for food.

Principle 2: FOCUS on Your Behavior

You may have heard the adage, “You are what you eat,” and it’s true. 90% of living healthy is putting healthy and good nutrients into your body, to ensure your body can function well.

However, the other 10% of living healthy means you need to stay active, mindful and make good choices for your well-being.

This can be done as simply as walking for a total of 30 minutes per day, broken up to be three 10-minute walks a day. Additional exercise to strengthen your core and build your endurance can help even further, but simply going out for a walk can give you much needed vitamin D, activate your cells, and ensure that your body releases antioxidizing enzymes to keep you healthy and strong. Exercise will also ensure you are tired enough to get a full 7-8 hours of sleep.

Further, to reduce the effects of stressors in your life, music, meditation, prayer, massages, and joyful activities in general can help your body release endorphins, serotonin, and many other beneficial cellular signals to help condition your body to take on almost anything. In particularly hard times, remember that we are social beings and writing down your thoughts, feelings, or talking to someone else about how you are doing can also help immensely.

Finally, to ensure you are at your optimal, limiting sugars, simple carbohydrates, and processed foods is important. Moderation is key to changing your behavior, and trying to cut these things out all together can be difficult without the proper guidance and support.

*The FOCUS Challenge was designed by Jia-Yia Liu, MD and Lisa Ma, MD around everyday eating and behavior habits.

For a limited time, you can receive a FREE copy of the FOCUS Challenge at NACPRO+ by using the coupon code GETFOCUS at checkout.