Doctor's Note: Musings from the desk of Dr. Mitchell Rasmussen, D.C.

The days are long, but the years are short.

Man, I am really feeling this these days. It’s crazy how we can forget how time passes us by if we don’t prioritize the things that matter most to us.

Leading up to my wedding, I was all systems go. My diet, workouts, stress management, etc. were quite on point.

Last night, I literally had ice cream for dinner. WTF is that about?

Sometimes, I get so bogged down in the things I need to accomplish, that I forget how a week of bad eating and no exercise can turn into a month of that, and then all of a sudden, 1/12 of this year has been spent NOT doing the things that I KNOW are in accordance with the best version of myself.

Life is kind of that way. Time passes regardless of choices. Getting bogged down in the day-to-day requires occasional self-reflection. Today’s letter is just that for me.

It’s funny. I sometimes picture, what would x-patient think if they saw me eating four Little Debbie’s (Zebra Cake Rolls, obviously). Like, last week after a busy clinic day, I literally walked into the grocery store and just got a box of them. That was my entire purchase. 38 years old. Functional Medicine practitioner.

How embarrassing. Or it just is what it is sometimes. We lose focus on goals, we make decisions based on fatigue or fear or any number of in-the-moment sensations, and then those decisions compound.

It happens to every one of us at some points in the year. I think that this last round of these behaviors is really teaching me that, when I am too restricted for too long, the opposite of that behavior becomes just as difficult to work myself out of.

Here’s to this fall being about balance or whatever. My goal for myself is to lean into something like 90/10. I know myself.

I can't be 100% on point, 100% of the time.

I know that eating this hyper-processed, hyper-palatable “food” is terrible for my health, but I really do struggle to get myself out of that once I’ve done it a couple days in a row. My commitment for this next season is to lean into being, I guess, less consistently rigid. I want to be able to miss a Tuesday workout and not tell myself that the week is doomed and I just need to keep missing workouts until next week, and obviously since I am not working out this week, I better then eat like crap. That’s my pattern. I see it, I know it. Now, it’s my job to figure out a better path forward.

I want one missed workout to lead me back to my routine more quickly. Not be so all-or-none.

And for you; no matter who you are... It's not too late to learn from past patterns, give yourself a little grace, and not become shameful about it. Sit with it and try a better set of solutions going forward.

That is life, to me.

just good people...

We recently had a great conversation with our friend and (distance) colleague Dr. Zach Wagner He’s a physical therapist, business owner, dad of little kids, and someone who thinks deeply about how to serve people well while still protecting the time and energy that matter outside of work. We inevitably leave our conversations with something new to think about. If you enjoy this type of musings email, get on his list! His newsletters are genuinely a pleasure to read and usually weave together lessons from health, business, family, and life in a way that feels thoughtful and useful. Zach owns Wagner PT & Performance in Lakeville, MA, and also offers individualized online strength and performance coaching for people anywhere. LEARN FROM DR. ZACH