Posts from — December 2009

photo by markusram
Note: I’d never, ever wear these high heels with my knee injury.

Because having two bum knees isn’t bad enough, my body went ahead and broke something else: my Achilles tendon. All right, so it’s not broke broke. But, whatever. It’s inflamed, it hurts, and it is a bona fide injury. Yippee.

I learned about my new injury today when I visited the podiatrist after a couple weeks of heel pain. It started in the back of my heel, the part that rests on the couch when I stretch out my legs. I figured I was bruising my heel by constantly sitting with extended legs—at work they even rest on top of my ancient tower computer. Then the ache increased and spread to the bottom of my heel. The injury isn’t as painful or debilitating as the chondromalacia in my knee. That said, I hope to halt the pain before it turns into a major problem.

So, what’s the Achilles tendon?
It’s the largest tendon in the body and connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. The Achilles tendon makes it possible to rise to your tiptoes and propel yourself into a walk or run.

What is Achilles tendonitis?
When the tendon becomes inflamed, you can feel pain in the back of the heel or above and below it.

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photo by ginnerobot

There’s something about the holidays that makes a girl want to scrap healthy eating and live off of popcorn balls and marshmallow Santas. Not saying I’m one of those girls (I like my Santa candies made out of chocolate.) Anyhow, something makes me want to indulge at Christmas time, and it’s not the nonstop holiday food fest going on at the Food Network.

I won’t pooh-pooh holiday treats, but I am going to restrain myself. My eyes are very often bigger than my stomach, especially when there are homemade Christmas cookies involved. Instead of eating the whole tray a bunch, I’ll pick my favorite and fully enjoy it. (Yah, I’ll probably sneak a couple bites of pie, too.) As for other meals, I’ll try to swap less healthy options for those I know are packed with more nutrients and fewer calories.

Need ideas for smart holiday food swaps? Read on for some tips.

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photo by calmenda

This weekend, The Man and I took care of most of our list in one swoop at the mall. Yes, I went to the mall and walked from one end to the next in search of the perfect present. (Family, feel honored.) And, yes, I dragged The Man to the mall despite his begging and pleading—and kicking and screaming that only the crazies go to the mall during the weeks before Christmas. Once I finally talked him off of the ledge—you know, the one where he was whining that he now hates Christmas—we were pretty efficient.

But the biggest success was how my knees handled walking, more walking, and weaving through the sea of Christmas shoppers … all of whom walk much, much slower than this gimp, by the way. Sure, my knees were sore, but they didn’t get red hot and swollen. And the next morning, they were back to their pre-shopping spree feel.

Because I’m still in the Christmas spirit, I thought I’d share my wish list with you. You may get good gift ideas for health-minded friends and family. Or the injured gimp in your life.

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id-iom

Hope you’ve all had a good week. I’m proud that I got back on the fitness wagon, and I’m vowing now to never let myself take so much time off again. (Hold me to it, will ya?) Before I get to my weekend activities—Christmas shopping, organizing the new apartment, and making a few trips to the gym—I thought I’d leave you with some health articles I enjoyed this week. Check them out when you’re bored at work before you sign off for the weekend.

I love Fit Sugar’s idea for sore feet: Roll your foot over an icy water bottle. I can’t wait to do this after I work out. I’m sure it feels just as good on tired feet as it does on aches.

The LA Times asked three Hollywood fitness pros to pick their top exercise tools. Here’s what they said.

Are canned foods dangerous? This story looks into whether you can ingest a harmful amount of bisphenol-A, a chemical with estrogen that’s been linked to a variety of health problems, by eating canned foods.

Vitamin G dug up a silly sugar ad from the ’60s. According to the makers, all kids need sugar to keep their energy going all day long. And I quote: “Play it safe with your young ones. Make sure they get sugar every day!”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest lists the 10 best health foods. But the best part of the list is the 10 worst foods. No. 5: Cheesecake Factory chocolate cake. One slice weighs in at ¾ of a pound (no joke) and has 1,550 calories. Yikes.

Wear and tear isn’t the only thing that will cause cartilage damage to the knee. This story explains why researchers say that other injuries, like ACL tears, can lead to early arthritis.

Think your chicken’s safe to eat? Read about a Consumer Reports study on the deadly bacteria it probably harbors, then be extra careful to cook it to an internal temp of 165. That, and make sure the juices don’t touch other foods. (I treat raw chicken like the Ebola virus, so I’m pretty sure my kitchen’s safe.)

My weekend’s starting now! What are your plans?

photo from reebok

My foam roller looks innocent. It’s lightweight and purple and reminds me of a yoga mat, which reminds me of deep breathing. It’s crazy how such a harmless hunk of foam can create so much pain when your muscles are crunched up into little knots.

If you’re a runner, you should know what I’m talking about. Weekend warriors can still be tight, for sure, but runners typically have those telltale trouble spots: quads, hamstrings, hips, and outer thigh. Because stretching can’t conquer muscle knots, it’s important to work them out by massage. A deep tissue massage tackles the knots and breaks them up.

As much as I’d love to get a weekly deep tissue massage (and I’d love to, so if you want to donate to my tension-relief fund, go ahead), it’s not practical for my lack of budget. Instead, I use my foam roller. It’s the next best thing.

After a workout, I roll my thighs, hamstrings, and IT band—that one sends shockwaves down my leg hurts the most. After that, I stretch. My foam roller helps my flexibility and eases knee pain when my muscles are especially tight. In fact, I can usually feel a difference in my knee right after rolling.

So, how do you, um, roll yourself silly? Below, I’ve listed three moves that’ll loosen knots…

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I would just like to start by saying … I did it!

Yep, I got my butt (and The Man’s) to the gym last night and broke my stretch of stupidity fast. I think the best way to get over a slump is to just do it. This afternoon, as my legs ached from strength training, I was reminded why I love the gym. And that made me excited to go again tonight.

So, what does a gimp do at the gym after being away for too long? Primarily, I took it slow. As tempted as I was to resume my workouts as I had been doing them before PRP, I decided it would be smarter to ease into physical therapy. Here’s what I did:

Warm up: 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. I was hoping to snag a regular exercise bike but, alas, those were all occupied. I set the level high because my gym’s bikes glide too easy, which—strange as it sounds—hurts my knees even more.

Leg press: I did two sets of 15 on each leg with 40 pounds on the machine. The right leg pressed like a champ, but the left was a wimp.

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photo by timtak
Maybe if I buy some supercool shoes I’d want to work out.

I’m not a liar. (OK, I lied to The Man about my love—or tolerance—of sports when we first started dating. But whatever.) My main point here is that I won’t lie to you. I started this blog to journal the ups and downs of living with knee pain. I wanted to mark the fitness and nutrition and emotional aspects of living healthy. I set out to chronicle my journey through PRP, PT, and whatever other acronyms come my way. But…

I have to admit: I’ve put off posting about my knees on purpose. That’s because it’s my fault they’re sore. I’ve skipped the gym for an embarrassingly long time. Sure, I had some good reasons at first: PRP, a chest cold, a 10-day headache, packing up my old place, and moving into my new place. But I haven’t gone back since moving even though I’m fully capable. Frankly, I don’t feel like it.

Back in the day—you know, summer of ’09—I looked forward to exercising after work. Whether I’d hit up the gym or the couch wasn’t a question; I came home, changed, then got The Man and myself over to the gym faster than you could say “dinnertime.” Now, after being out of practice, the motivation isn’t there. I’ve been meaning to get back to the gym for weeks, but somehow everything else in life has bumped the gym to the bottom of my Must Do Or Else list—things like unpacking boxes, organizing new drawers and cabinets, researching closet shelves, and, um, relaxing.

I’m hoping (crossing my fingers on both hands, which is making typing a little hard) this post will shame me into getting me to the gym. As in, I can’t face you tomorrow with a big, fat lie. So, I’m going tonight and I’ll write about my experience tomorrow. There—I’m locked in. (I hope.)

I hope I can kick-start my motivation simply by forcing myself to just go. But how do you get out of an I-don’t-wanna-exercise funk? Do you have any tips to get motivated?

photo by daniel y. go

Nobody hates the taste of salt. Nobody. Even to people (like me) who crave sugary snacks over salty, the teensy grains still matter. (Hello, sea salt–topped chocolate. To. Die. For.) And since the affects of salt are understated—that is, you won’t see a hunk of fat firmly on your hips soon after downing Campbell’s soup—the stuff doesn’t seem as sinister as ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, or lard. But it is.

In a review of 13 studies, researchers analyzed data on more than 170,000 people and found a scarily strong link between too much sodium and cardiovascular disease and stroke. As in eating just 5 extra grams of salt (about a teaspoon) daily upped the stroke rate by 23 percent. As in that same 5 grams of salt increased the cardiovascular disease rate by 17 percent.

The researchers say cutting 5 grams of salt daily around the world could prevent more than a million strokes and 3 million cardiovascular disease deaths per year. Yikes.

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I covet athletes’ bulging thighs. That’s right. You heard me. I don’t dream of having Gwen Stefani’s abs or Madonna’s biceps. OK, maybe a little. But what I really want is strong, muscular thighs. (Though I hope mine are a little less masculine than the ones in the photo above.)

A new study confirms something my doctor told me more than a year ago: Weak leg muscles contribute to Runner’s Knee, a layman’s term for the oh-so-fun cartilage condition I have.

If I didn’t hate my knees so much, I’d call them something like remarkable or incredible. If I were to call them that, I’d do it because these tiny disk-like bones are what allow you to walk, bend your legs, and lift heavy objects. See, without them your thighs would fall onto your shins, making it really hard to do things like sit. And making you look really, really, ridiculously funny.

So about those knees … They’re connected to your upper and lower legs by tendons and ligaments. I imagine them like rubber bands, connecting the whole shebang. You can think of them however you like.

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photo by Iacovos Constantinou

When I’m low on groceries, I eat like a 7-year-old. That’s the sad reality of my life. My days are filled with peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, and peanut butter alone (hey, a girl gets desperate with dwindling supplies!). I eat veggie burgers for days with no end in sight. I create pathetic quesadillas like cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce–and that’s it. I resort to boxed mac ’n’ cheese that fills the far reaches of my cabinets. And then, one day, when the milk is bad and the though of dry cereal for dinner is very, very real, I make a grocery list.

It’s not that I hate grocery shopping. Much the opposite—being able to grocery shop is a dream of mine. (Don’t laugh unless you’ve been walled-up thanks to an injury for a year.) Here’s what it comes down to: The Man does the grocery shopping. And I hate to remind The Man that we’re out of, um, everything when he’s busy cleaning the house, unpacking our boxes, driving me around, and—oh yeah—working. So we let our supplies get low this November.

Yesterday, was The Man’s great big shopping trip. And today, after the first lunch in weeks that wasn’t based on peanut butter, I realized there are certain foods that almost beg me to eat healthy:

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