Creating a plan for your family's health

health plan Jan 13, 2023

--> Hey check this out -- if you're a medical professional (I'm talking to you my physician & healthcare colleagues) - I'm now offering free CME for my podcast episodes. Check out the link at the end of the blog. And let me know how you like this - I'll work on capturing prior episodes over time. Drop me a line at [email protected] about which ones to focus on. 

Also I have a fabulous live series coming up this month: Family Weight Help 101. What can you do to start helping your family NOW? You will learn about the 4 pillars of establishing lifelong helathy weight habits for your whole family. Don't miss it. In fact, pause now to go register. 

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming: 

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Does having a plan sound really scary?

Or like you've got the Lego instructions?

How is it different from what you've experienced when you go to the doctor and they say, "Eat less, move more?" When you see a plan for calories per day, per meal, per snack - what comes up?

Having a plan can be amazing - and if it's not your plan - a complete and utter disaster.

WHY?

Because we resist being told what to do. Or rather, we want to be told what to do to make it easy - until it's not. When it gets hard or uncomfortable, we throw it way.

So begins our love-hate relationship with plans.

 

But what if a plan is setting the foundation for you? The outline of where you want to go, what obstacles you anticipate, how you're going to get around those obstacles?

What if the plan were to follow what works for you, what you want to experiment with and keep testing? What if the plan were to include flexibility and - gasp - joy?

And what if the plan were to be more about who you are BEING as you keep experimenting with what works for you and your family?

I think the greatest plan I've created -- is to love myself through it.

A few years back, I took my family on a wonderful trip to Europe to visit our former exchange student in the Czech Republic. We decided to stop along the way in Venice and Berlin. I made a plan to squeeze the juice out of our time there.

It didn't work.

I didn't account for my family, and what they wanted and needed - like sleep, like not exploring every exciting site under the sun. And I didn't account for something: my family members have a different relationship with food than I do. They build their schedules around the next meal timing. At that time, I did not.

My plan was faltering...

As I look back, the bigger plan was how to accommodate what we wanted to do - which is based more on spending time together, enjoying each other even moreso than ticking off a list of all the sites.

I have learned, and am applying that now. Fast-forward to this past year. You may have heard about the 3400 mile roadtrip. We clearly had a plan: roadtrip. Goals: return to where we started, intact, and have fun. We had points along the way that we wanted to see.

And we introduced flexibility. My sister had the planning down for this trip: the waypoints, mileage, where to stop. As for me, I brought the fun. My plan: to bring adult supervision and sharing the drive, and fun. Um, that may not sound like a lot, but here's the thing - not taking away from anything my sister did --- it complemented and made the trip.

I brought the plan for how to BE: calm, yet zany and fun. Flexible and yet consistent.

Looking at the plan through a health perspective:

We moved every day, some much moreso than others. Trust me, there were days we drove and drove and drove and the kids were tearing through Harry Potter audiobooks or asking to please get back on Minecraft. We planned to stop and do ridiculous things along the way.

We planned to have healthy snacks in the car - because there is nothing I like more while driving than crunchy road foods.

The plan didn't constrict. It helped us ENJOY EVEN MORE.

So that's what we are looking at: how can you have a plan for your family's health, day-to-day, that includes how you want to BE? A plan to enjoy the process?

A plan that is consistent, yet accounts for the flexibility you want and need because... life.

Isn't that what all plans should do? Account for how we are actually living!

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If you want to dive in more, go hit the replay for my recent Live Training on Creating a Plan for Your Family's Health, available immediately after registering here.

Calling all Healthcare Professionals: I'm so glad you're here, to benefit yourself, your family, and your patients. The CE experience for this Blog/Podcast is powered by CMEfy - click here to reflect and earn credits.

Check out the Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD Podcast!

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