Let’s keep it REAL today!

We’ve been talking about being S.M.A.R.T. - this is part 4 of a 5-part series on setting S.M.A.R.T. goals and today we are going to look at being REALISTIC.

In my last blog, Attainable Stainable, I used the example of someone wanting to lose 100 pounds in 30 days.

Not only is this unattainable but it also not realistic.

I also showed the example of a person who has never run before and wants to participate in a 50-mile ultra-marathon next week.

Again, this not being realistic.

Setting an attainable and realistic goal often go together but they are a little different.

An attainable goal is a goal that is challenging yet not outrageous.

• Running a 50-mile ultra-marathon with no running experience is outrageous!

A realistic goal is a goal that someone thinks that they can actually achieve, is physically able to achieve it,  AND is willing to do the work to achieve it. 

• Running a 50-mile ultra-marathon with the experience of 5...

When you stain wood, it is permanent. If you pick the right stain, what was once old looking becomes new and polished - something fresh and creative.

When you attain a goal, it becomes a stain - a permanent achievement that marks your progress. It increases your confidence so you can look back and say, “I did that!”

The first step towards attaining a goal is setting an attainable goal.

You can’t make up some extreme far-fetched goal because you won’t reach it and then your confidence plummets… or worse, you will feel like a failure.

No, do NOT do that to yourself.

Set attainable goals. 

Here is an example of a far-fetched unattainable goal:

“I am going to lose 100 pounds in 30 days.”

Not going to happen. This would not be physically possible and would be down right dangerous.

An attainable goal would look like this:

“I am going to lose 100 pounds in 1 year”

This is attainable because the person would need to lose about 2...

When you make a recipe for the first time, do you measure every ingredient?

You do if you want the recipe to turn out like the picture in the cookbook!

When you shop online and aren’t sure what size to order, what do you do?

You go to the size chart and check the measurements so you can order an accurate size without the hassle of returning an item.

The might is in the measured.

To be S.M.A.R.T., you must measure when setting goals.

Let’s look at weight loss. When a woman wants to lose weight, I rarely hear them say, “I want to lose a little.”

No. Instead, they are very clear about losing 5 pounds, 20 pounds, or 100 pounds.

They put a number on it. They place a value on their goal so that they can measure their progress.

And, that’s exactly what measuring does.

It allows you to know precisely what to do.

If we stick with the weight loss theme:

A woman wants to lose 30 pounds. She is not sure how long it will take her but she would...

If I told you that your job this weekend is to clean your house, what is your immediate reaction?

Are you overwhelmed?

Are you thinking that “I can’t clean this entire house in 1 day!”?

What if I told you to just clean the kitchen.

Do you feel less pressure?

What if I told you to clean the refrigerator, the oven, and the counter tops?

Do you feel a bit of relief that you only have 3 things to clean now?

This is what it means to be SPECIFIC.

When you have a big goal like cleaning the house and you break it down into SPECIFIC tasks, the big goal becomes much more achievable.

It is overwhelming to think of the big goal. It can even seem insurmountable.

If we use our cleaning house example, let’s say you have a 3 bedroom - 2 bathroom house. You also have a kitchen, dining area, and living room. You have a laundry room. And you have a finished basement. That’s 10 areas to clean and each of those 10 areas has lots of stuff associated with it....

I turned 45 years old last month and my body acts differently. I noticed it when I became part of the “over 40” category.

Now, I’m not complaining about my age. I celebrate every 45 of those years and I don’t cringe at each birthday when it comes around. I have learned so much in my 45 years and my attitude is that “I’m just getting started!”

Here’s the conundrum though. My mind loves to say “Yes!” yet my body sometimes says “No!”

Have you ever experienced that?

Maybe you are an athlete reading this and you can remember the exact day when you ran down the field, cut to one side, and your mind said you were going to get the ball but your body said “Excuse me, your knee just went the opposite way.” Yea, that ACL tear wasn’t fun.

Or, maybe you are in your 40’s like me and you spend hours cleaning out the garage, weeding, planting flowers, spreading mulch, and thinking about your great...

Have you ever worked so hard for something that when you earned the reward you couldn’t stop grinning?

Well, that’s how I felt this past week.

For the past year, I have been studying for a Fitness Nutrition Specialization credential with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. This was no small credential. It involved 15 modules of videos + reading + quizzes + a final exam. I felt like I was back in graduate school earning my clinical doctorate!

And you better believe… I am excited that I passed my exam with a score of 92/100 on the first attempt!

Why did I put in all this hard work?

I was tired of my physical therapy patients and fitness clients asking me questions about nutrition that I didn’t have all the answers to. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know I’m not going to have the answer to every question that comes my way about food. However, I feel so much better equipped to respond to questions like:

• What is the best diet to follow?
• Is...

Memorial Day is about honoring our fallen soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. These soldiers committed their lives to protecting our country and I salute them.

My dad, Dale F. Brandt, served for 42 years in the United States Naval Reserves and retired as a Senior Chief. We were fortunate that he never had to serve in a war; however, I do remember the Wednesday night he was called to “Stand-by and be ready.”

We had just returned home from my marimba lesson at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He took the call and for the first time in my life I realized the significance of his military career. Prior to that, I just knew of the 1 weekend per month trip to Columbus, OH and the 2 weeks in Norfolk, VA.

This was different. This was the Persian Gulf War in 1991. This was real. For the next 24-48, our house was in a tizzy. Was he going? Was he not going?

The suitcase was packed. His uniforms were ready. His shoes were...

It seems that quite a few people in my life have gone through loss - some very tragic like an accident or suicide and some somewhat expected due to aging or a terminal illness. I have experienced loss recently as well when my father-in-law passed away.

When someone loses a loved one there is a lot of immediate activity between the day of their passing and the day of the funeral. After the funeral, people tend to move forward and the family of the loved one who passed may or may not move forward right away. Besides grieving and emotions surrounding the loss, there are legal and financial issues that must be taken care of. It can be a very emotionally, mentally, and physically draining time. It is definitely one of life’s greatest stressors.

If you have experienced loss, I encourage you to talk about it. Lean on trusted family and friends. Talk with your pastor. Seek a licensed professional counselor if you need help through the grief process. Spend some quiet time reflecting...

Now that you have learned about the One Big Thing called INSURANCE that likes to dictate how you receive your physical therapy care so you can feel better, get in the way of you and your physical therapist deciding what is best for you, and refuse to pay a fair value for services delivered, I hope you can appreciate why I decided to change the game so you and and I could both WIN.

Throughout my 20+ years as a PT, I’ve created and developed the Feel Better Faster Formula to care for My People. I’ve already had this formula on my website and have created videos talking about it. The Feel Better Faster Formula guides you through the following steps to help you WIN!

1. Decrease pain and tightness
2. Improve the way you move
3. Feel stronger and more balanced
4. Get back to doing what you need to do
5. Get back to doing what you want to do

This part is not new. What IS new is that as of May 20th, 2019 I will be moving all services online. This means you will have access to...

Yesterday, I shared how many hours I had to work to meet the demands of insurance requirements. I loved working with my patients but the documentation on the electronic medical record for 3 hours every night was killing me.

I literally went to work at 7:15 AM and left at 5:45 PM. I ate dinner with my girls then they went to bed. From 8-11 PM, I finished my patient notes. My husband sometimes got home from 2nd shift and went to bed before I did!

When I had that intestinal cancer scare in October 2014, for 10 days I thought I was going to die at a young age and leave my kids motherless. It was scary stuff and re-prioritized my thinking. In June 2015, I resigned and opened my physical therapy practice that didn’t take insurance. Do you know that it took 6 months of being home more frequently with my girls for my littlest girl to hug me?

Now she hugs me all the time and it’s the best feeling ever.

Did I make the right decision to resign and start my own practice?

...