Message from TJ: The Optimistic Skeptic

My father-in-law and I have a pretty great relationship. We trade thoughts and ideas during lengthy conversations. His ability to pull data, quotes, and memories is something like that of a carnival mind-reader. He has zero tolerance for bullshit and demands to know the origin of "facts."

Recently, we talked about an ankle fracture he suffered just over a year ago. He went into the ankle specialist's office and told him that he didn't want surgery. The doctor agreed that they would set the bone and cast it, not because it was my father-in-law's wish, but because the doctor had seen the most success by casting instead of surgery, as long as the patient followed the protocols. My FIL told me that most doctors perform surgery for that particular fracture because a JAMA (Journal of American Medicine Association) study a couple of decades ago suggested that surgery was better. It was peer reviewed and published.

The study was based off of five people. Not cool, Bro.

When Allison herniated (to be clear, that means ruptured, not bulged) two discs in her lower back last year, she was left completely incapacitated. No acute injury or accident--likely the result of years of sports plus a pretty severe car-vs.-pedestrian accident many years ago (she was the pedestrian). Anyhow, back in January 2018, she was unable to move off of our living room floor and was in excruciating pain, plus she had numbness and loss of strength in certain parts of her leg for awhile after the initial onset. After getting her pain med protocol straight, she was finally able to get into a car and to the surgeon's office. He spent a lot of time talking with us about what was going on physiologically, what the treatment options were, and what the next few days and weeks would be like. He drew a cool pic on the liner of the exam table showing exactly what had happened and how that related to the order of operations in embryonic development (I'll save that part for another blog). The treatment options were:

1. Epidural

2. Surgery

3. Do nothing

He told us that all three options would put Allison in the exact same healing time frame. The choice was based off of how uncomfortable she was willing to be. The shot would numb her, not fix her The surgery would relieve the pain, but only time would let the discs heal. If she was willing to gut it out, start very basic physical therapy to get some feeling back into her leg, she would be back to a new normal in about a year. Which was pretty much the same prognosis she'd have if she chose surgery or took the shot.

One year.

Most of you know that Allison chose option 3 and went to work. For sure there were bumps in the road, but now she is mostly pain free and almost as active as she'd like to be. A night in heels sets her back.

The "How Stuff Works" podcast is fun and a great way to kill time while walking the dogs. I happened across their blog and read the "10 Biggest Lies of All Time" entry. From the Trojan Horse, to fake artwork, to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the theme was consistent.

Greed.

We just launched our new LEAN Program. I'm going to be doing talks and providing education around things like Macros, Keto, and Intermittent Fasting. I'll be debunking the myths about body-fat loss, and I'll be putting my spin on how I've seen people lose weight with my own eyes, using my own data and my own experiences with clients throughout my career.

I'll also be exposing our own personal greed. Digging into the roots surrounding why we want change now, not in a year. Why do we need something with a name, or a brightly colored pie chart, or detailed menus in order to succeed?

We need distraction. We need to tell ourselves something along the lines of "I just need someone to tell me what to do.”

For me to succeed, I need someone asking me hard questions with even harder answers. I need to define why I'm doing something, or as I call it, my beacon. Then I need a year.

You might need a year to right your ship or to lean out or to reach some kind of goal. Have the year mindset. If it happens sooner, then hot damn. But give me a year.

TJ

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