Simple Lifestyle Changes Made in 2025 that Saved My Life
2025 has been quite the year. I walked away from financial security and what I thought was my dream job, got to be present at home for the first time in 15 years, and learned a ton about marketing, SEO, and running a medical practice. I also learned a lot about my own health. Practicing lifestyle medicine, writing blogs, and creating podcasts forces me to stay on top of health trends and evidence-based care. My primary goal is to provide excellent care and education to my patients. An added bonus is that I learn about things and make modifications to optimize my own health along the way, so as 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to share some changes I made and some of them saved my life.
Staying Ground Through Small, Gradual Changes
Before I get into the details, I feel compelled to share that I didn’t make all of these changes at once. Health optimization is not about turning your life upside down in the name of longevity. It is about making small evidence-based changes over time that add up and provide a large benefit. This is not about chasing health trends or shooting for perfection. There’s also no magic pill or biohacking here. These changes were made thoughtfully and gradually, and they are part of an iterative process. It took time to get the “recipe” right, and I am still making tweaks as my health goals and risk profile change. My recipe may not be the right one for you because this is all personalized care.
Building and Protecting Muscle as I Age
One of my biggest personal health fears is being a frail, little old lady. This year, I learned a lot about sarcopenia and how to prevent it. I’ve made resistance training and supporting muscle protein synthesis a priority. Life is busy, and time doesn’t always allow five workouts each week, but I make sure that I do at least one full body strength training session every week and I use heavy weights. My ultimate goal is to consistently do two full body strength resistance workouts per week.
I also make sure I support my body with the proper amount of protein so I can reach my leucine threshold. Lastly, I learned a lot about creatine supplementation and how beneficial it is for my skeletal muscle and brain health, so I’ve added that to the daily routine as well.
Unfortunately, I did experience a muscle strain this year, which taught me a few additional lessons. One is that foam rolling before resistance training is an evidence-based technique in preventing injury. The other is that I’ve been lifting with improper biomechanics for most of my life. When I was younger, I compensated and avoided injury. With aging, that ability to compensate declines and injuries occur. That realization led to physical therapy and relearning how to lift weights correctly.
Cardiovascular Fitness Requires More Than One Type of Training
I had to revisit how to do cardio in 2025 because I could not consistently hit the 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio per week recommendation. I did some MET math and targeted the workouts so I could improve both my VO2 max and Zone 2 output.
For VO2 max, I make sure to do one 30 minute workout per week. This is typically done on a stationary bike because I don’t want to risk sustaining a significant injury doing sprint workouts. I do my Zone 2 workouts by running on either the treadmill or outside for about 45 minutes. I am deliberate about making sure one of these workouts is a running work out because bone density is important to me (remember I don’t want to fall and break my hip).
The impact from running helps improve bone density. My hope is to add another endurance work out each week, likely on the stationary bike. While I want to preserve bone density, I also want to minimize injury risk from repeated running.
Nutrition Tweaks Aligned with My Health Risks
I’ve always eaten “healthy.” I did not grow up in a junk-food household, and I don’t particularly enjoy how I feel after consuming high-sugar, high-fat foods. But eating healthy is more than just not eating junk food. It’s understanding that your body needs specific nutrients, and sometimes it’s difficult to obtain all of them through food alone. In some cases, supplementation makes sense. For example, consuming 25-30 grams of fiber each day is very challenging for me. I now take a fiber supplement to get adequate amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber.
Being mindful of saturated fat intake became particularly important for me after learning about my lipoprotein a, or Lp (a). I’ve also started taking vitamin D3-K2 to improve my bone health and cardiovascular health after discovering that my vitamin D level was very low and my cholesterol was elevated.
Family meals now incorporate more plant-based proteins in an effort to limit saturated fat, and when we do eat animal proteins, it tends to be much leaner that before.
The Blood Work That Changed My Health Trajectory
I haven’t written a blog on this topic yet, but it is coming. This year I learned a tremendous amount about different biomarkers and lab tests that are not part of the routine annual physical yet probably should be. One of the most impactful lessons involved a small lipoprotein called lipoprotein(a), known as Lp(a). This fat and protein containing particle is hereditary associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
After learning about it, I asked my primary care doctor if she would be willing to order the test. She kindly agreed, and I learned my level is exceptionally high putting me at significant risk for cardiovascular disease.
This finding was a major motivator behind many of the lifestyle changes discussed above. It also led me to obtain a coronary artery calcium score and to start statin therapy. Had I not spent time learning about this for the sake of patient care, I may have never known and could have been one of those seemingly healthy people who suffers a sudden cardiac event without warning. This was easily one of the biggest “holy smokes” health moments of 2025 for me. Since Lp(a) itself is not modifiable, it has been an enormous motivator to optimize every other cardiovascular risk factor I can control such as cholesterol.
Reducing Alcohol Intake
I’ve always known that intoxication, binge drinking, and habitual alcohol use are unhealthy. What I didn’t fully appreciate until this year is that alcohol is classified as a carcinogen and that no amount of alcohol is considered truly safe, so this year I stopped drinking any alcohol Monday through Friday. No more red wine with dinner here.
I still enjoy the occasional cocktail or glass of wine, but it truly is occasional now. Alcohol has long been socially intertwined with good food and good company, so not drinking at parties has felt awkward at times. My hope is that it will feel more natural with consistent practice.
Social Connection Is a Health Intervention, Not a Bonus
Learning about the Blue Zones piqued my interest in the longevity science behind social connection. As I dug deeper into the data and understood the health benefits associated with meaningful relationships, I made some intentional changes.
I took a detailed inventory of the people in my life and chose to let go of relationships that consistently took more than they gave. I no longer have the energy or patience to invest in connections that feel superficial and draining. Instead, I made it a goal to prioritize phone calls and in-person time with the people who truly fill my cup. It’s been a liberating year of reducing the noise and focusing on connection.
The Body Needs Restoration
Two of the most restorative changes I made this year involved hormones and sleep. Over the last several years, updated data have dramatically reshaped what we understand about the health of perimenopausal and menopausal women. Not only in terms of long-term health outcomes, but also regarding symptoms that were historically underrecognized or dismissed.
I began experiencing vasomotor symptoms five years ago and entered menopause about a year and a half ago. This year, I started estradiol and progesterone, and the impact was life changing. I expected improvement in hot flashes, but I did not anticipate how profoundly it would affect my anxiety. While I’ve always been a bit of nervous Nelly, and yes, I completely upended my professional life, the level of anxiety I was experiencing was unlike anything I had known before. Hormone therapy eliminated it and significantly improved my sleep. I was thrilled when the FDA finally reversed the black box warning on certain estrogen containing medications, knowing that more women would feel comfortable accessing therapy.
Sleep also became an area of focus. Staying asleep through the night improved substantially with hormone and reduced alcohol intake, but falling asleep still remained a challenge. That prompted a renewed focus on sleep hygiene and putting devices away. No longer working overnight emergency department shifts has certainly helped, but it’s worth noting that many people with standard sleep schedules still struggle with sleep. Improving my sleep has had a ripple effect across nearly every aspect of my life.
Everything is Connected
I’ll likely write an entire post about this in 2026, but even briefly, this year reinforced how interconnected the pillars of lifestyle medicine truly are. Reducing alcohol improved my sleep and provided more energy to exercise. Exercise improved my mood and sleep quality. Eating better reduced bloating and improved my daytime energy. Better sleep improved everything else.
It has been remarkable to see how relatively small changes, made across multiple domains, has led to meaningful improvements in how I feel and what my body is capable of doing on a daily basis.
What I Hope For You in 2026
Nothing I did in 2025 was drastic or magical. I obtained objective data about my level of health, developed short- and long-term health goals, and made small, personalized tweaks to move towards those goals. My VO2 max has improved, but it’s still not where I want it. My upper body strength is better, but still a work in progress. This takes time. It took me 47 years to get here, and it will certainly take more than one year to improve.
My hope for you in 2026 is that you do a deep dive into your own health. If you haven’t seen a physician, please go see one this year. Learn your health metrics. Review your data with your healthcare team and develop meaningful short- and long-term health goals. Then focus on making small, sustainable changes throughout the year. There is tremendous potential for you and your health in 2026.
Happy New Year! Thank you for being on this journey with me.
Disclaimer: Even though I’m a doctor, I’m not your doctor—and reading this blog does not establish a doctor–patient relationship. This information is intended for general educational purposes only and should not be taken as personalized medical advice. Always speak with your own healthcare provider before making decisions about your health.