Hello there Blog world. I’m Dr Barto. It’s been a LLOOOOONNNNG time since I’ve posted anything at all. I feel like introductions are in order. There have been some things going on my life that have taken higher priority over the blog. We’ve decided to and then opened a second office location – it had been growing extremely well! I’ve been working on my exam to complete my pediatric certification for the ICPA. I have less than 3 weeks to finish that at this point, so I’m about to go MIA again and it’s SUMMER! I’m trying to spend as much time with my kids outside and doing fun things as possible.
On top of all that, next month my Chiropractic license renewal is due and even though I’ve completed all my continuing education credits while taking the over a year long ICPA certification, this renewal we are required to complete a 3 hour child abuse course. Obviously, it’s extremely important information so I don’t want to down play that. But the 3 hours was a hard requirement. I was able to take the course online and to ensure that it was three hours, each slide was timed. Meaning, even though I could read and digest the material in less time, I still had to just sit and wait until I was permitted to click to the next slide. I’m a busy-body, so this was extremely hard on me.
Even the course critique questions at the end were timed! At the top of each slide was a bar that indicated how much I had completed and how much more I had to do. Torture!
Even though I had felt like I had spent soooo much time already, that little bar moved teeny bit by teeny bit. I wanted so much to just to save my progress and quit. I had the option to defer, but I knew it was inevitable. I HAD to complete the course and the consequences would be stiff.
So how do you tackle a project like that?
Exactly how you would cook a frog or eat an elephant. I think people are familiar with the eating an elephant analogy. One bite at a time. But cooking a frog? Well, honestly, I’ve never cooked a frog. I have eaten frog legs and they far exceeded my expectations. But apparently, if you toss a frog into boiling water it will jump right out. Smart little bugger.
But, “they say” you can outsmart a frog by placing it in a pot of cool water and slowly increasing the temperature to boiling. Little by little, the job gets done. Sorry frog lovers.
So this applies to just about everything. But I like health. I talk to people all the time about changing lifestyles and when you’re set in your ways it seems like quite the task. But the way to accomplish Living Well is by setting the goal and working at it. Over night you will not go from Standard American Diet of hamburgers, fries and diet coke to Paleo and actually stick with it long term. But consistently making good choices will become easier over time.
The same with Move Well. Tired of your flabby arms, belly and thighs? Longing for a toned body that’s capable of endurance – you know, that feeling like you’re not going to die after a game of tag with the kids or walking up a hill? Not everyone experiences that! Not everyone experiences shear exhaustion after a day at work! Do you want to experience what that’s like too? Cook the frog! Set the goal – WRITE IT DOWN. Put it some place you will SEE it.
Start walking. Start lifting some weight – something heavier than you can comfortably lift right now – skip the three pounders! Get started. One session isn’t going to do it. But with commitment you WILL see results!
Far too often people put in too little effort for too little time. Or they just delay starting. “I’ll start again tomorrow when [insert excuse] isn’t happening.” Or, “next week when I don’t have [insert excuse] happening at work.” Or, “next month when I don’t have vacations/weddings/social gatherings. Maybe next month will be less hard and doing what I need to do will be easier.
You know what happens tomorrow, next week, next month? LIFE. LIFE happens and… LIFE IS FULL OF OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE EXCUSES! Until suddenly you’re faced with the inevitable and there’s no more time for excuses.
“I have diabetes so I can no longer CHOOSE to not eat sugar but I am FORCED to not eat sugar otherwise I WILL DIE.”
“I can no longer walk with my children or grandchildren because uncontrolled diabetes has led to infections resulting in AMPUTATION of my feet.”
“I can no longer SEE my children’s smiles because uncontrolled diabetes has BLINDED me.”
“I have cancer so I can no longer CHOOSE to participate in life, but I am FORCED to sit in a room hooked up to machines pumping chemicals inside my body that are so freaking toxic that I will have to quarantine myself from my family so that I do not poison them.”
“I can no longer EAT ANY FOOD BY MOUTH AT ALL, I am forced to obtain all life sustaining nutrition via a tube that goes directly to my stomach.”
“I have been FORCED to never taste hamburgers, fries and diet coke again. I have heart disease so I can no longer CHOOSE to Eat Well and Move Well, because I was one of the 50% of people whose first sign of heart disease was a life ending heart attack.”
While those scenarios are grim, every one of them is a true story that I know personally. There are more I could share, but surely you get the point.
Less than 1% of all disease is genetic. LESS THAN 1%. And those are the conditions you are BORN with.
What’s the mean?
That means for the VAST MAJORITY, and for EVERY disease that you are NOT born with, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO CONTROL YOUR CHOICES and how they not only impact your HEALTH, but your ability to LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST. YOU and ONLY YOU have that ability. Though it seems overwhelming, all you have to do is “cook the frog” and “eat the elephant.”
Recent Comments