Wellfie Wednesday Tip #130: Bring in the New Year!

Happy Wellfie Wednesday and Happy New Year! This week is brought to you by Patrick (@TheFuelPhysio).

We hope your 2019 is off to a great start! Though we know every start of the year comes with many New Year Resolutions and most of the time they are broad and non-specific. Such as “I’m going to exercise more,” “I’m going to lose weight,” “I’m going to spend more time with friends and family,” and the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, these are great, but may end being very difficult to attain without an execution plan or support.

This year try to set some specific goals for yourself. You can start with a big picture idea, such as losing weight, but break it down into small attainable goals that may help build your confidence and keep a consistent wave of success. Now since most people go the route of improving their health and well-being, here are some things that may help. Have an Accountability Buddy, whether a friend, co-worker, family member, or even a complete stranger with similar goals. Get someone in your corner to help keep you focused and motivate you along the way. Track your progress; when setting small goals you need to have a way of knowing if they’re being met and if you are actually doing what you have set out to do. Self reflection will only make you stronger. Path deviation is OKAY! Since you are most likely tackling a behavior, it’s normal to revert back to old habits or how things were before, but don’t be discouraged. As long as you maintain consistency you’ll most likely be successful in your endeavors and continue meeting your goals.

We hope that you have big things planned for this year, but even more hopeful that you remember success comes with support, consistency, and small incremental change.

Thanks for all of the support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @FreestylePhysio, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew

Wellfie Wednesday Tip #129: Dream Challenge

Welcome Back! Happy Wellfie Wednesday! This week’s post is brought to you by Aaron (@FreestylePhysio). Enjoy! 

I have a challenge for our readers this week for those willing to give it a shot. But first, a quick back story behind its inspiration. One podcast I like to listen to is called Redesigning Wellness. One of my favorite episodes is number 84 with Mary Miller, CEO of JANCOA. The JANCOA story is incredible. In fact, a book was inspired by it. JANCOA is a janitorial services company. As you could imagine, the Janitorial industry has a very high turnover rate. The JANCOA team sought out to fix this problem. However, along their journey they discovered the root cause of turnover was not what they expected, and the “Dream Manager” program was eventually born as a result. Dreaming seems as natural to humans as breathing. I really feel like it’s essential to well-being. Dreams are visions of hope. The book ends with a challenge, to write down 100 dreams. They offer 12 categories to help your brainstorming process:  

• Physical

• Emotional

• Intellectual 

• Spiritual 

• Psychological 

• Material

• Professional 

• Financial 

• Creative

• Adventure 

• Legacy

• Character 

It seems like a fitting time of year to bring this up, given we are approaching the holidays, allowing many of us to break from the daily grind and have time to reflect. Plus, new year resolutions are right around the corner #NewYearNewMe. Why just have one resolution, WHEN YOU CAN HAVE 100???! (CAPS FOR SARCASM). In all seriousness though, I think it’s a good exercise and noticing the themes in your list will likely tell you something about what is most important to you. Don’t overthink it. No matter how big or small, how practical or ridiculous, write down 100 dreams and see what comes to mind. I plan on taking some time to do it, and I hope you will too. More importantly, I hope you all have an awesome holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Thanks for all of the support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @FreestylePhysio, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew

Wellfie Wednesday Tip #80: How to be Successful with Your 2018 Goals!

Welcome back! Happy Wellfie Wednesday! This week is brought to you by Alyssa @kuhnalyssa_spt.

     Most people tend to think about creating a set of goals when the new year hits, a majority of them addressing some aspect of health and wellness. Some adhere to these goals and succeed in accomplishing these throughout the year, while some tend to fall off the wagon after about a month or two. The question is, how can we prevent this from happening? How can we keep people committed to improving their health? It is relatively common knowledge that exercise is good for us and has an overwhelming number of health benefits. It can also prevent many diseases and decrease the risk for hospitalization in people of all ages-so we need everyone to stay on board. There are a few strategies that I have come across that can help you stay on track if you find yourself falling off the wagon come February and March.

1.     The most effective, in my opinion: Find someone you can work with to stay accountable. It can be a friend, coworker, family member, significant other, personal trainer, etc. When you have someone who is counting on you to show up to the gym or to enter your food log, many people are more likely to be successful. When you don’t want to show up to the gym or when you want to eat those cookies in the office, having someone that is counting on you to stay committed can really help you in those times of difficulty. If there isn’t someone that comes to mind that could help, going to group exercise classes or joining an online group of people with similar goals can also be very effective!

2.     Keep a calendar and have a plan: sometimes physically writing down or typing out a plan can help you stay on track. For example, writing out days you will work out and the workouts you will be doing can be helpful on the days that you don’t feel like going to the gym because you don’t know what you will do when you get there. Also planning something that help you mentally prepare to accomplish it that day instead of always making decisions on the fly.

3.     Be prepared. Many people tend to make unhealthy food choices when they are in a hurry or when they don’t have the energy to prepare a lunch or a dinner and need something quick. Meal prepping is such an easy way to help combat this! Taking 1-2 hours on the weekend or in the beginning of the week to prepare healthy meals is SO worth it. When you have everything prepared and already made, you are much more likely to stick to a plan!

4.     Have an open mind. Sometimes people tend to stop exercising due to pain they are experiencing and automatically go down the rest and medicate route. For most musculoskeletal injuries, rest can actually make things worse! Our bodies are meant to move and medication seems to just mask the problem. Having an open mind to other ways to address pain is key to your success with your health goals! When people fall into long periods of rest, it is so much harder to get back into the swing of things. Seeking help right away for guidance as to how you can ACTIVELY manage your pain can be huge in maintaining compliance with your goals. Low back pain is a great example. There are many people that experience low back pain in their daily lives. For most chronic situations, movement is actually the best treatment but some turn to passive treatments such as medications and sedentary lifestyles. Finding a licensed professional you trust to give you a structured and safe exercise program can help you improve your pain and prevent it from reoccurring!

     Keeping these 4 strategies in mind, hopefully we can all stick to our goals and keep living our best lives strong, healthy, and pain-free! Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt, @kuhnalyssa_spt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

Wellfie Wednesday Tip #78: Anti-Goals: What Do You NOT Want in 2018?

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week's post is brought to you by @AaronPerezPT. Enjoy! 

     2017 is winding down, and so the time for reflection and planning for 2018 is upon us. One question I love to ask patients is "If you could do one thing next year to make it the best year ever, what would it be?" I love this question for lots of reasons, and it certainly seems like an appropriate time of year to be asking that of ourselves and others. However, I'm always trying to find ways to ask better questions. A recent EIM Leadership Podcast with Daphne Scott about Anti-goals got me thinking…

(I STRONGLY recommend listening to that podcast as Daphne describes these concepts far better than I can).

     For better or for worse, the majority of us are more motivated to avoid loss or discomfort than to seek additional benefits. This is especially true when those extra benefits are long-term results while the discomfort is a short-term consequence. We're hard-wired to focus on things we despise. So, why then do we set goals for things we desire? Would reverse engineering our goals motivate us more to take action and achieve them? 

Anti-goals

     If next year were the worst year ever, what would that look like? Did you find this question easier or harder to answer than the previous question about "your best year ever?" Perhaps the long-term nature of these questions is difficult to grasp. So, let’s bring a factor of immediacy to the question. "What about yesterday did you love?" versus "What about yesterday did you hate?"  

     I think asking both case scenarios, and comparing that to our "default future" or what is likely to occur if nothing changes, can be powerful. The worst case scenario might evoke feelings of discomfort or anxiety which motivates our short-term behavior. It might also bring about a perspective of gratitude for the present moment. The best case scenario may evoke feelings of excitement and hope which are also important motivational fuels. The default future might connect the dots in realizing how well are current behaviors align with our desired experiences. What, if anything, needs to change? 

     So, as we're setting goals for 2018, I encourage us to set some anti-goals. What about your day do you despise? What are your pet peeves? What does your worst day look like? What does it feel like? Write out a list as long as you'd like. But, don’t stop there! The absence of what you don’t want does not guarantee the presence of what you do want. So, next ask yourself what behaviors are needed to avoid those despised experiences, and make your desired experiences more likely. Then, voilà, you’ve created anti-goals.

     There you have it. By thinking about our problems differently, we can come to more actionable solutions. We wish all of you a healthy and happy 2018! Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt, @kuhnalyssa_spt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

Cheers,

-WW Crew

Wellness Wednesday Tip #27: Sprinkle Fruit Throughout Your Day

Welcome back folks!! Happy Wellfie Wednesday and Happy New Year!

     We hope everyone is recovering well from all the holiday festivities. As we all know, it is New Year Resolution time, and the gyms start to get packed, the dieting goes into overdrive, and in about a month or two life goes back to how it was.

     So for this week’s tip, I want to emphasize the small victories towards health, the little things that can be sprinkled throughout your day to make a lasting difference. Start by adding nutritious options, not eliminating foods. I want to use fruit consumption as today’s highlight. Ideally, the concept can be applied for both fruits and vegetables, but we’ll emphasis just one for today.

     Research shows that roughly only 25% of Americans meet the recommendations for fruit consumption, which is about 1 ½ to 2 cups a day. (1) Check out this link from the USDA for serving suggestions. So why is fruit consumption important? Fruits not only taste great, but they provide your body with an abundance of beneficial nutrients, such as fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, and antioxidants. And what do these nutrients provide? Adequate intake of these may help reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and some cancers, by normalizing blood pressure and cholesterol levels, improving bowel function, and provided satiety (feeling of fullness) with less calories.

     The easiest way I find to meet my servings of fruit is to spread it throughout the day. You can easily add a serving to breakfast, by including some blueberries or strawberries on your plate. A banana works well as a mid-morning snack, perfect for those of us on the go. Lunch can have a small orange or apple. If you would rather, you can move that banana to a mid-afternoon snack or try a different fruit. That little sprinkle of fruit, puts you at 3-4 servings! And if eating fruit isn’t your thing, maybe a texture issue, blend them! That is honestly the only way I eat apples. A quick smoothie can meet those recommendations is one sitting!

     So sprinkle some additional fruit servings throughout your day and let us know how it goes. And as always, thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures again this week and tag Eric (@Eric_in_AmERICa) or myself (@PBernerSPT) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

-       Dr. Patrick Berner, PT, DPT

-       Dr. Eric Uveges, PT, DPT

1.     Van Horn L, Carson JA, Appel LJ, et al. Recommended dietary pattern to achieve adherence to the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) guidelines: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2016.