PT Pro - January 2021

PT Pro - January 2021

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THERE’S NO PLACE TO GO BUT UP!

Going into the New Year, my friend and patient feels 100% better. He didn’t realize his problem was one that could be addressed by PT, so he didn’t think to call us early on. My goal is to fix this. When people start looking up specialists to call about their problems, I want to make sure PT is on that list as well. Another way to think about it is, PT is “part of” the process rather than “instead of” it. We see everyone from young athletes who are injured on the field to retirees who just want to walk their dog — and everyone in between. The bottom line is there is so much PT can do! When you’re in pain or unable to move like you once did, PT may hold the answer. Another big goal I have this year is to fold back in some of our continuing education initiatives. Continuing education is so important in PT — there are always new techniques and treatment options to learn. For the past 10 years or so, PT Pro has hosted a handful of continuing education classes each year. We invite other PTs to join our PTs — and we also invite a luminary from the field to speak and teach a class. In 2020, we held zero classes, for obvious reasons. My goal (and hope) is that we get the opportunity to hold a few this year. We currently have four tentatively scheduled, so we’ll see! I’m optimistic about 2021. There are still many challenges ahead, but we’re getting there. I have some big goals ahead of me — and I hope you have some big goals, as well! There’s no place to go but up! 425-497-8180 | WWW.PTPRO.BIZ 1 -Maureen Madden

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why he had waited so long to make an appointment. Over the last several months, countless people have experienced stress and strain, which can be traced back to just about any and every stressor of 2020. The answer was, we — as a PT clinic — weren’t out there as much. We weren’t an active voice reminding people that PT not only helps treat all kinds of musculoskeletal issues, it also prevents all kinds of issues, including pain and strain related to stress. People will spend months going from specialist to specialist looking for the answer to their problem. Sometimes, the specialist will have the answer and everything will work out just fine. Other times, they won’t find the answer at one specialist, so they’ll go to another, and another, until they get closer to an answer.

It’s a new year and that means new goals! One of my big goals for 2021, as far as PT goes, is to change the way people think about PT. Basically, I want to be more proactive in communicating the idea of “PT first” with the idea of helping people avoid the vortex of medications, imaging, surgery, and countless appointments. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently after a friend came in for treatment. He had already been to a number of specialists and was taking medication in an effort to relieve major tension in his head and neck. It turned out, he had been dealing with this tension since last spring, not long after the pandemic hit. I spent an hour with him, and by the end of his appointment, he felt significant relief. By the next day, he said he felt fantastic. Several months of stress and strain were gone!

LET THAT FRESH AIR FUEL YOU 4 Tips to Make Getting Outside Easier

melatonin production, which means you feel ready to face the day sooner. So, set yourself a second alarm to head outside and take a quick walk around the block just after waking. Don’t even wash your face or grab coffee. Just get out there. 3. Take your work outside. If you’re working from home, take some work outdoors. Phone and virtual meetings are a great outdoor option, especially if you’ll just be an active

Hunkering down and waiting for the dark and chilly winter season to pass sounds pretty nice. But the reality is, if we deprive ourselves of time outside, we do ourselves a big disservice both mentally and physically. Staying indoors all day affects your energy and mood, which makes it hard to get anything done, so here are four easy tips to make it easier to get a little fresh air. 1. Make it a priority. Getting outside means making the conscious effort to do so. If you want to reap its benefits, you have to decide to make it a priority in your day-to-day schedule. If you make the act important to you, you have more motivation to actually do it. 2. Use mornings effectively. Waking up and getting the day started can be hard. But studies have shown that natural light helps decrease your

get wrapped up in activities and overlook breaks, and these reminders are exactly what you need. Start with 10-minute blocks three times a day. If you stick to them, soon you won’t need a schedule to get outside anymore.

listener and aren’t required to do any work simultaneously. Attach a note to your meeting reminders to get yourself set up outside five minutes before you start.

Winter weather may be cold, but even when you’re bundled up under a jacket and scarf, just 5–10 minutes outside can do wonders for your mood and energy for hours.

4. Create a schedule. It might feel

strange to set reminders throughout the day to step outside, but you easily

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH Walking!

Why: Walking is a natural reciprocal motion that most bodies crave. A 20-minute walk is like giving the body an oil change. It gets all your joints lubricated and gives your muscles a gentle flushing. It’s a fantastic way to get some exercise that is low impact. Even the swinging of your arms that naturally occurs when you walk is helpful for the neck and walking is often great for the low back as well. Just walking at the grocery store or in your house or at work does not count! How: Get a decent pair of running or walking shoes and put one foot in front of the other! No excuses like bad weather ( just bundle up) or no time (10 minutes out and 10 minutes back is an easy amount of time to spare ) and odds are that the break and brain benefits of a walk will make you more productive. 20 minutes daily. Try it for 2 weeks straight and I bet you’ll be addicted! Get a walking buddy if you need to keep you accountable.

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SOUP’S ON! Perfect Your Soup Recipe With These 3 Tips

Inspired by MinimalistBaker.com

EASY ONE-POT LENTIL SOUP

This delicious plant-based soup is loaded with vegetables, so it’s a healthy way to stay warm on a winter night! This recipe makes four servings, and you can freeze the leftovers for up to a month.

Ingredients

• • •

3 cups red potatoes, cubed 4 cups vegetable broth 2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme, chopped 1 cup uncooked green lentils, rinsed and drained

• • • • • • •

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, diced

Soup is perfect for sick days and alongside grilled cheese, and Grandma always seemed to have a recipe to make everything better. For as simple and comforting as soup can be, re-creating those memories from your stovetop includes a few tedious steps. Become a soup master with this go-to guide to winter’s favorite dish. Mind your peas and carrots. The magic of a hearty minestrone or old-fashioned chicken noodle soup comes from the flavors of vegetables to create the perfect blend of comfort and taste. However, overcooking or undercooking vegetables can ruin this delicate balance. So, consider the vegetables you want in your soup and plan accordingly. Start by chopping vegetables into bite-size pieces that will easily fit on a spoon. No one wants a spoonful of soup that’s just carrots after all! Then, add vegetables to your soup based on cooking time and flavoring. Carrots, onions, and celery should “sweat” in the pot with oil and seasoning before you add the broth to capture the fullest flavor of these ingredients. Potatoes and other root vegetables can be added in the boiling phase, while leafy greens only need minutes in the pot toward the end to capture their full flavor. Simmer to blend flavors. Simmering is the key to a great soup. Once all your ingredients are in the pot, reduce the heat to a low simmer. This allows the flavors to play together without overcooking. If a soup is boiled for too long, the vegetables, meats, and/or pasta can become mushy and underwhelming. Season gradually — but generously. No one enjoys a bland soup, but too much seasoning can overpower the natural flavors of your ingredients. Add your seasoning to vegetables as they sauté in the pot before adding the stock. Then, add the stock and the remainder of your ingredients. Only add more seasoning as the soup simmers and do a taste test. Add a bit of salt and pepper until it’s perfect! If you over-salt, don’t panic. Adding more stock, potatoes, noodles, or cream can fix your soup in a pinch.

4 large carrots, sliced thin 4 stalks celery, sliced thin

•

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

•

2 cups chopped kale

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic, shallots, carrots, and celery for 4–5 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. 2. Add potatoes to pot, along with more salt and pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes.

3. Add vegetable broth and herbs, then bring soup to a simmer.

4. Add lentils, stirring until soup returns to a simmer. Then, turn the heat to low and cook soup uncovered for 15–20 minutes. 5. Finally, add kale and additional salt and pepper as needed. Cook for 3–4 minutes, thin soup with additional vegetable broth as needed, and serve!

“Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.” –Brian Tracy

Bonus Tip: Always serve your soup with bread, toast, or crackers. It’s the perfect vehicle to soak up all the flavors!

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A friendly reminder that many insurance companies will restart your deductible in January. If you have a nagging issue, let’s take care of it before the end of the year!

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No Place to Go but Up!

Give Yourself the Boost of Getting Outside Exercise of the Month

3 Steps to Perfect, Comforting Soup

Easy One-Pot Lentil Soup

Stay on Target in 2021

STRATEGIES TO STAY MOTIVATED AND ON TARGET IN 2021 Focus on your mind and body. Think positive thoughts! When you teach yourself to think and act positively, your positivity grows. And just as you should focus on mental positivity, you should also keep your body happy by making nutritious food choices and staying active. After all, your body converts food into energy, which in turn, is used to process your positive thoughts and keep you moving. Keep an eye on outside influences. Avoid people or things that don’t have a positive impact. They misdirect your focus, energy, and time. Instead, surround yourself with people who are motivated and optimistic. Energy is often shared, and when your peers are motivated, it’s easier for you to be, too. Be goal-oriented and intentional. It’s always good to set goals and stay mindful of them, but you shouldn’t be rigid in setting or maintaining them. Staying flexible allows you to adapt to changing circumstances. At the same time, when you work through your goals, do it with purpose. You don’t want to do anything that distracts you or wastes your time and energy. Recognize your personal responsibility. Your goals, actions, and results are yours and you should own them. If something goes awry and you lose your focus, don’t come up with an excuse to cover it up. Recognize the issue, learn from it, examine it, and continue to push forward.

Exceed your limitations. Take steps outside of your comfort zone. As you accomplish goals and create new ones, set the bar a little higher each time. This ensures you’re always progressing and challenging yourself to be better each day than the day before. Let your failures be your guide. When you are afraid of failure, it’s hard to achieve much. Reflect on missteps and failures to understand what went wrong and how you can do things differently in the future. Embrace failures and missteps as learning experiences, knowing you can take what you learn from them and apply those lessons to successfully achieve future goals.

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