7 First Things I'd Do If I Had to Start My Health Journey Over

August 24, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Opening a blood test report is the last thing most people want to do when they feel fine. But according to Dr. Josh Axe, waiting for symptoms is exactly how 88% of American adults end up metabolically unhealthy. In this episode, he walks through the seven steps he would take if he had to rebuild his health from zero, arguing that the common failure pattern isn’t a lack of motivation—it’s a sequencing problem. Do the right things in the right order, he says, and each one makes the next easier.

Know Your Numbers Before You Trust Your Feelings

The first thing Axe would do is get a baseline blood test. His reasoning is direct: “You cannot fix what you don’t measure, and you will not stay motivated by how you feel. Feelings drift, numbers move.” He points out that most disease is silent for years, and that nearly 50% of people have a heart attack as their first symptom.

The markers he prioritizes are hemoglobin A1C (blood sugar), triglycerides and HDL cholesterol (or ApoB), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (inflammation), vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamin B12, blood pressure, and body fat. The one he urges listeners to fight for is fasting insulin, which often rises a decade before other blood sugar markers shift. If you cannot get blood work, he suggests ranking your symptoms or using a body fat measurement, but the principle is the same: start with data.

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What you'll learn

1 (02:01) **The Right Sequence Makes Everything Easier** - Dr. Axe introduces the core concept: health is not a motivation problem, it's a sequencing problem; doing the right things in the right order makes each next step easier.
2 (05:14) **#1: Know Your Numbers First** - Before any habit change, get a baseline of objective markers to create motivation and direction.
3 (08:08) **#2: Fix Your Wake-Up Time First** - Anchor your sleep by picking one wake-up time and hitting it seven days a week, rather than forcing an early bedtime.
4 (10:55) **#3: Walk After Your Meals** - A simple, zero-cost habit that directly improves blood sugar control, the most important metabolic marker.
5 (13:28) **#4: Lift Weights Twice a Week** - Resistance training is the highest-return habit per minute, especially for those over 40.
6 (14:51) **#5: Crowd Out, Don't Cut Out** - Build a healthy foundation by adding good foods and making swaps, not by banning everything you love.
7 (17:21) **#6: Focus on Gut and Digestive Health** - Improving your gut microbiome positively impacts every other organ, especially immunity (70-80% lives in the gut).

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Dr. Josh Axe

Show Notes

Most people fail at health not because they lack willpower — they start in the wrong order. In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe walks through the exact 7-step sequence he would follow if he had to rebuild his health from zero: the things that make the biggest difference fastest, layered so each one makes the next easier.

**In this episode:**

- Why 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy — and the one blood marker most doctors skip that predicts disease a decade early

- The sleep fix that beats duration: why a consistent wake time (not more hours) cuts risk of death by up to 48%

- The ancient after-meal walk that matched a full 45-minute workout for 24-hour blood sugar control

- Why resistance training twice a week is the highest-return investment if you're over 40 — and why body weight and bands count

- The "crowd out, don't cut out" food strategy that helped Josh's patients reverse autoimmune disease and hypothyroidism without giving up the meals they loved

- Why guarding your peace isn't soft advice — church attendance alone was linked to a 33% lower risk of death over 16 years, and the physiology behind it is real

Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → http://mybloodwork.com

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0:00 Introduction — why health is a sequ