A new year usually comes with a push to reset your health. Most people make big plans, but most of those plans don’t last. So instead of asking for resolutions, we asked our doctors something more practical:
What is a habit or a series of habits you follow all year, no matter how busy life gets?
Because in proactive health, meaningful change doesn’t come from dramatic reinvention. It comes from the habits you can sustain on your busiest days, not just your motivated ones.
The responses aren’t theoretical. They’re personal. And while each habit looks different, together they reflect a shared belief: proactive health is built on small, repeatable choices that compound over time.
1. Prioritize restorative sleep and support it with daily behaviors
Dr. Vikash Modi, M.D.
Dr. Modi treats sleep as a core vital sign, or the anchor that stabilizes every other part of his health. He aims for at least seven high-quality hours each night and shapes his evenings around that goal: no screens an hour before bed, a predictable wind-down with white noise or meditation, no late meals, and a low-dose melatonin buffer on mentally busy days. He reinforces this habit during the day as well, emphasizing fiber-rich nutrition and regular strength training to support digestion, metabolism, and recovery.
“Sleep is the vital sign that keeps everything else in balance,” he says.
His proactive toolkit:
– Screen cutoff and wind-down routine
– White noise or meditation before bed
– No late meals; optional low dose melatonin on high-stress nights
– Daily fiber focus: apples, vegetables, greens + hemp protein/fiber
– AI-guided strength and cardio plan (4+ days/week)
2. Build movement into your day, even when conditions aren’t ideal
Dr. Shannon Ashley, M.D.
Living with a chronic, flare-prone condition has taught Dr. Ashley that the best habits are the ones that survive real life. Some days her mobility is strong; other days it’s limited. Instead of chasing perfect workouts, she prioritizes consistency. She keeps a list of simple movements she can do anywhere like jumping jacks, pushups, high kicks, stretches, and wall sits. And treats even a five-minute burst as an investment. At home, she keeps a weighted hula hoop within reach for quick, low-effort movement breaks that add up over time.
“Your body doesn’t need perfection; it needs partnership,” she says.
Her proactive toolkit:
– Five portable exercises for any environment
– Micro-workouts: 5 minutes counts
– Weighted hula hoop for screen-break movement
– A mindset of consistency > ideal conditions
3. Maintain a growth mindset to steady your health through uncertainty
Dr. Josh Diamond, M.D.
For Dr. Diamond, the habit that grounds everything else is mindset. He intentionally cultivates optimism as a disciplined lens for navigating challenges. A hopeful orientation makes him more resilient, more flexible, and more committed to healthier behaviors even when life feels unpredictable. Over time, this creates a reinforcing loop: a constructive mindset fuels better actions, and those actions strengthen the mindset in return.
“Resilience comes from choosing to see challenges as opportunities to learn,” he says.
His proactive toolkit:
– Daily optimism practice
– Reframing uncertainty as growth
– Using mindset to sustain healthy decisions
– Viewing health goals through a long-term, adaptive lens
4. Use Zone 2 training as a metabolic anchor
Dr. Kas Tayebi, M.D.
Though he has always leaned toward strength training, Dr. Tayebi now prioritizes steady-state Zone 2 cardio two to three times a week for 30–45 minutes. He prefers the stationary bike, where he can monitor heart rate, wattage, and perceived exertion with precision. This type of training is a cornerstone for metabolic and mitochondrial health, improves endurance, supports brain-health peptides, and leaves him feeling mentally and physically sharper.
“Zone 2 training has been one of the most reliable ways I support metabolic and mitochondrial health,” he says.
His proactive toolkit:
– Stationary bike sessions (30–45 minutes, 2–3× weekly)
– Heart rate + wattage monitoring for accuracy
– Steady-state effort to target Zone 2
– Complementary strength work for balance
5. Make whole-food, protein-forward meals a daily standard
Dr. Giuliana Zaccardelli, M.D.
Dr. Zaccardelli’s foundational habit is deceptively simple: eat real food. Raised in a family where cooking was central to daily life, she learned early that nutritious meals don’t need to be complicated or time-consuming. She prioritizes protein, fiber, vegetables, and healthy fats, avoids processed and fried foods, and makes time to prepare whole-food meals even when life feels busy. The payoff shows up in her energy, mood, and metabolic stability.
“Healthy cooking doesn’t need to be elaborate, just intentional,” she says.
Her proactive toolkit:
– Protein-forward meals
– Daily vegetables + fiber
– Home cooking inspired by family habit
– Avoidance of processed and fried foods
– A simple, whole-food pattern that’s easy to sustain
What these habits reveal about proactive health
Proactive health is built on consistency. Each habit is small, repeatable, and flexible for busy days, travel, stress, and more.
As the new year begins, you don’t need a complete reinvention. You need habits that are simple enough to carry you through the year and meaningful enough to change the way you feel.
If you’re ready to complement your habits with a comprehensive look at your health, book a call with a member of our care team to learn about the benefits of whole body MRI and how Prenuvo can help.
