by Dr. Cindy Briggs (Dr. Scott’s wife)

Hi everyone! Thanks for allowing me to join in on the blog and discuss the Health Challenge 2022. As Scott has told you, we have jumped into this challenge as a family.

A little background– I did not grow up in a family where health was a priority. Actually it was the furthest thing! Our house consisted of junk food (all of the time), soda, and unhealthy eating habits. My parents were both overweight, and never focused on our overall health. (To be fair… growing up in the 70’s/80’s this was more common than today). I battled my weight but could keep it under control because I was fairly active in athletics. However, I do remember when my best friend asked me to attend Weight Watchers with her my junior year of high school. Soon after we both joined a local gym. This began a life-long journey for me of on again, off again health.

In college, I dealt with the ups and downs of my weight. My roommates and I would “try health” for a bit– but quickly return to fried food, pizza and beer. I lived on diet Pepsi… and never drank water. Again, my weight fluctuated but I was never considered “fat”.

Then in my late 20’s it started to be much more of an issue. Since that time…. I have done EVERY weight loss program– Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Optivia, and many others. I have joined gyms, I have made short term commitments and progress. It’s never been about health… it’s always been about weight.

Fast forward many years to when I met and married Scott. He was already a chiropractor when we met, but even he will admit he didn’t focus on overall health much. In our first years of marriage, we dealt with some unbelievable stressors that impacted both of us. Then we both went on Weight Watchers and lost a lot of weight– and then more stress hit– and then we were parents of three children (yea… there is much more to that whole story but that can be for a later post!)

Needless to say, our health took a major backseat (actually I am not sure it was even in our car… so it was way worse than the backseat). Our weight went up, my blood pressure went WAY UP, and we just overall felt yucky. I have ended up in the hospital a few times because of my poor health…. It was time to make some changes.

In our home these changes started small, but we weren’t leaning into them enough. It was time to amp this up!! As we were discussing this late last year, we decided to make this a community effort. And so here we are with our Health Challenge 2022. As Scott has said several times… we aren’t just focusing on weight, but instead our overall health.

Sometimes you have to just get back to basics…and make one healthy habit at a time.

dr. cindy briggs

As a wife and mom, so much of this falls to me. I grocery shop, I set meal plans, and in many ways even the mood of our home is set by me. I had to take an honest look at my stress that was being caused by outside influences. I had to make major changes and leave several things behind for the sake of my sanity! I have always been big on meal planning, but now I am watching it closely to ensure these meals are healthy for all of us. In January we were all doing DASH, but now we have shifted to some more individualized programs. I am being more proactive to all of these areas.

I am going to be super honest here and tell you sometimes the “weight” of all of this overwhelms me. I think, “I can’t do everything!” When I start to feel this way– I get back to basics. Sometimes we will focus on just drinking water for a day (I even make it a fun contest.) Each day if I can add one new healthy habit– I feel like all of these will add up (and they do!)

If you have hit the February slump… and it just seems hard… I get it! I want to encourage you. We all feel this way at times. I tell Scott sometimes that I am tired of this! And why in the world did we share this with everyone? What if we fail? What if we just stop? (Yes, I have those thoughts) Let’s just stick together. Let’s be accountable to each other– let’s push each other with love and concern.

Here are some areas I am recommitting to on this cold February morning:

1. Healthy meals— I am making sure I have a weekly plan in place so we don’t get off track.
2. Water (no sugar)– I got back into my diet Pepsi a bit and I am backing off those for more water
3. Grace/ Less Stress— I am giving myself grace when I stumble. I am committed to this being a marathon and not a sprint.
4. Positive Attitude— I am reminding myself that I CAN do this!

What can you recommit to this week? Is there anything we can do at Briggs Family Chiropractic to help support you in your effort (if yes, please let us know what).

Remember, YOU CAN DO THIS TOO, AND WE ARE WITH YOU!

Dr. Cindy Briggs is the wife of Dr. Scott Briggs. She’s mom to three awesome kids, and she is also a professor, speaker and author. In addition, she runs the business side of the chiropractic office. She is dedicated to God, her family, and her community. You can learn more about Cindy at www.cindybriggsphd.com.