|
This week's topic: Planning for Success
Do you provide easy-to-implement plans for your patients?
During a recent work meeting, we discussed a patient who wasn't losing weight. It wasn't due to a lack of knowledge - he knew what to do and why. And he had plenty of eBooks and handouts we'd given him! However, his busy lifestyle kept him from establishing a routine to prioritize a healthy lifestyle.
In exacerbation, someone said "we all know that you have to plan out your meals to stay healthy!"
Agree or disagree?
Overview of today's email:
- Importance of a plan
- Clinical tips
|
|
|
"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act." — Pablo Picasso |
|
|
1. Importance of a plan
Having an easy-to-implement plan is so important for success!
- A plan provides direction
- A plan reduces stress (and we all know how stress affects health!)
- A plan increases efficiency
- A plan is a proactive and strategic (giving a sense of control)
Meal planning is a perfect example.
When a meal is planned in advance, patients gain control over what goes into their body rather than leaving nutrition to chance — or hunger-driven impulse decisions. And of course, if we know "what's for dinner", we have less stress and less money spent on last-minute take out.
An article to peruse on PubMed: Meal planning is associated with food variety, diet quality and body weight status in a large sample of French adults (2017)
|
|
|
2. Clinical Takeaway
Planning meals doesn't have to be complicated.
When guiding patients, a few actionable steps can make a real difference (start with 1-2 per appointment):
- Pick one day a week (Sunday works well for many people) to map out meals for the coming days.
- Start small — even planning just dinners, or three days at a time, builds momentum without feeling overwhelming.
- Provide a 1-2 page simple checklist of food options (before giving a 10-page list of meals to cook), and go over these with your patients (i.e. don't just hand it to them). My personal favorites are the Phytonutrient Spectrum (from IFM), as well as a detailed yet practical list of healthy gluten-free fiber and protein options I created for my myself and my patients.
- Ask your patients about the patient's top 10 favorite meals, and build a rotating list of 8–10 healthy versions of the patient's go-to meals the patient's household enjoys. This way, planning becomes a matter of choosing rather than inventing.
- Batch cook where possible — grains, proteins, sauces, and roasted vegetables can be prepped in bulk and mixed and matched throughout the week, saving both time and energy on busy nights.
|
|
|
Functional Medicine Collective (FMC) 2.0
The FMC is evolving! In this (intentionally) small collaborative community, I aim to get to know each member and their unique challenges as we navigate the nuances of real-world functional medicine.
The first new change: "practical reviews" of individual topics every 2 months. Since I am always questioning things, I am taking a deep dive into individual topics that I learned in my functional medicine education, but want to see what the scientific evidence says. I include the evidence I find, and tips to address these in the clinical setting. Upcoming topics:
- Practical Review of Leaky Gut Syndrome and Metabolic Endotoxemia
- Practical Review of Hormone Therapy (with the latest research to support or challenge the use of HRT)
- Practical Review of Perimenopause Evaluation and Treatment
- Practical Review of Supporting Mitochondria (in the Clinical Setting)
Recordings of the above will be available for non-members to purchase.
The other new change? A monthly self-scheduled 1:1 mentor call with me! And all members can have the option to sit in on these.
Click below to join!
Not a member, but want the occasional 1:1 mentor call? I'm now offering these! Click here to schedule.
|
|
|
I hope this was clinically useful!
To see more of my deep dive into the literature, as well as my clinical insights and thoughts on this topic, subscribe to my paid Substack ($8 a month)!
Meg
P.S. These emails take a lot of time to create (and I don't receive a lot of feedback on whether they are useful to those that receive them), so I've moved to Substack for an extended version of these at a low monthly cost (available within 24 hours of releasing this email). Why Substack? It has the benefits of being able to comment and ask questions about the posts, you're not bombarded with ads, I'm using the platform as a "micro-mentorship", and it's low cost!
Additional resources that may be helpful:
Every time one of you chooses to support me financially, it tells me my effort and words matter. It’s validation. It’s fuel.
Thank you for believing in this work — and in me.
|
|
|
I do my best to share information you find helpful, but if it's not to your standards, please let me know what I can do better by replying directly to this email (it's my personal email). No worries, too, if you need to unsubscribe via the link below.
600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
Unsubscribe · Preferences
|
|
|
