This Is Our "Why"... What's Yours?

dee6321
May 15
3 min read

Our country has been getting sicker and losing more healthspan and function. The cost of healthcare for treating chronic disease that is PREVENTABLE is destined to bankrupt the country. Health inequality is rising. People are not able to live their best life.

There are a lot of reasons that are contributing to this chronic disease epidemic including food policy, ultra-processed foods enmeshed in our culture, lack of reimbursement for preventative care, technology causing lack of movement, mental health disorders and poor sleep quality, isolation and chronic stress in our current times.

We couldn’t sit by the sidelines and just watch it happen. We had to come up with an idea.

It was going to be hard to impact these problems from the top down, but could we focus on the bottom up? Could we create a movement using Lifestyle Behavior change to address the root causes with patients and their providers to turn the tide?

As Certified Health and Well-being coaches, we know that lifestyle change happens when patients and providers are ready for change, when that change is self-determined, and there is a small step that is doable. Change also happens when they are motivated by their “why”, have support and accountability.

Most people see their primary care providers at some frequency and as PTs, we know they have a lot of authority in regard to motivating change.

Patients tell us they want to have conversations about what they can do to improve their health, not just take another pill.

Lifestyle behavior change could come up in almost every healthcare visit.

And yet, in real clinical settings, it’s often the thing that is left out and the hardest part of care to do well.

We created a Substack to talk honestly about what it’s like to support behavior change in real clinics: when time is tight, energy is low, and the desire to help patients is very real.

The Barriers that We Kept Seeing

Over years of working in healthcare, we noticed a repeating pattern:

Patients want to feel better.Providers want to help them get there.But lifestyle conversations often stall somewhere in between.

There isn’t enough time in a visit
Education for providers hasn’t included lifestyle information or how to create sustainable change in patients
Providers can feel that patients don’t or won’t change
When given, advice often feels too broad to act on for the patient
Improvising these conversations all day is exhausting

We kept asking ourselves:

Why is something so important also so difficult to do well—in a way that fits real practice?

That question sits at the heart of our Substack.

We created our Substack to explore:

What actually helps people change
How language shapes motivation and follow‑through
How small, realistic steps outperform perfect plans
And how providers can feel more effective—without doing more

Sometimes that will look like practical phrasing. Sometimes it will have lifestyle knowledge. Sometimes reflections from clinical work. Sometimes naming what isn’t working, even when intentions are good.

And it’s not about perfection. It is just about starting to appreciate the benefits to you and your patients by looking upstream and getting to the root cause of their disease.

It’s about clarity, autonomy, and feasibility—within real constraints.

If you’re looking for:

Quick language you can actually use
Thoughtful reflections grounded in practice
A perspective that respects limited time and energy

You’ll be in the right place.

You can expect posts about:

Language that lowers resistance
How choice supports behavior change
Why “small steps” are not settling for less
Making lifestyle conversations feel less heavy
And what it means to support change without carrying responsibility for outcomes