Clinic Wellness Team. A key factor to spine or back pain conditions is staying healthy. Overall wellness involves a balanced diet, appropriate exercise, physical activity, restful sleep, and a healthy lifestyle. The term has been applied in many ways. But overall, the definition is as follows.
It is a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving full potential. It is multidimensional, bringing together lifestyles both mental/spiritual and the environment in which one lives. It is positive and affirms that what we do is, in fact, correct.
It is an active process where people become aware and make choices towards a more successful lifestyle. This includes how a person contributes to their environment/community. They aim to build healthier living spaces and social networks. It helps in creating a person’s belief systems, values, and a positive world perspective.
Along with this comes the benefits of regular exercise, a healthy diet, personal self-care, and knowing when to seek medical attention. Dr. Jimenez’s message is to work towards being fit, being healthy, and staying aware of our collection of articles, blogs, and videos.
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PUSH-as-Rx � fitness facility owner and exercise physiologist Daniel Alvarado gives insight into building muscle.
Inability to grow muscles may be associated with poor�diet and appropriate exercise. Adequate calories and protein are needed to build muscle.
There are a variety of body types than others and many people lose weight easier than others and a number of people put on weight simpler.
For along with doing weight training exercise those who are looking to pack on some muscle, after the correct eating system is crucial.
Here are the best tips on how to build muscle quickly if you’re planning to gain weight and muscle naturally.
Top Foods to Build Muscle Fast
Here are the best foods to add in a muscle development program:
Whole eggs � A complete egg contains vital nutrients, protein and fats to help build muscle.
Clean Protein � �Train for 5-8 ounces per meal of high-quality lean protein.
Broccoli � And other cruciferous vegetables will assist with fat loss and also have essential nutrients for building muscle.
Wild-caught fish � Omega-3s help reduce inflammation and are essential for muscle mass building.
Almond butter � Almonds nutrition provide L-arginine to increase vitamin and NO2 E that will help reduce damage from free radicals after having a heavy workout.
Sweet Potatoes � Yams and sweet potatoes are a superb source of carbohydrates which are gluten-free and alkaline and can help pack on some healthy pounds.
Bananas � This sweet and smooth fruit is saturated in nutrients that support muscle health and is perfect for adding into smoothies for extra calories.
Foods to Avoid
White Sugar � Will raise free radical damage from challenging workouts, leading to exhaustion.
Alcohol�� Empty calories and will remove nutrients that are critical from your own body.
White and Wheat products � Stay away from bleached white products like wheat products, white pasta and white bread. They include anti-nutrients that can slow muscle growth.
Hydrogenated oils � Found in vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, and canola oil cause inflammation which slows recovery of muscles.
Top 5 Natural Muscle Mass Building Supplements
Here are the best five nutritional supplements to assist you to naturally build muscle:
1. Whey Protein (1�2 scoops daily)
Helps increase protein intake and is rapidly absorbed by the body so it�s a perfect protein right before or after a workout.� Avoid whey protein powders that have artificial sweeteners. Look for undenatured whey protein preferably from grass-fed cows with natural sweeteners such as stevia.
2. BCAA�s (follow directions)
These amino acids are crucial for muscle formation and can help build muscles.
3. L-Arginine (1000 mg 2x daily)
Helps with blood vessel dilation and improves the flow of blood.
4. L-Glutamine (5�10 grams daily)
This amino acid helps with muscle recovery and preventing catabolism.
5. Creatine Monohydrate (1�3 grams daily)
Helps increase muscle strength increases so you can train harder. Be constantly aware that consuming more than 1�3 grams daily may be hard on kidneys.
Exercise Suggestion
Doing hefty weight training of 6�12 reps, five days weekly for 45�75 minutes is perfect if you are attempting to gain muscle. Also, limitation when you do cardio and traditional cardio, opt for burst training�instead.
Nutrition Tip
Try this recipe for the Superhuman shake � because in case you need to pack on muscle, ensure that you use up plenty of calories in liquid form. Consuming a milkshake a few times a day with uncooked eggs, almond butter, coconut milk, raw milk and protein powder will help you receive the extra calories you want.
Osteoporosis and low bone mass, which puts folks at increased risk of this debilitating disease, affects a whopping 54 million people in the United States. Ten million actually have the condition while another 44 million have low bone density which puts them at greater risk.
This means that half of all adults over the age of 50 are at risk of breaking a bone and should be concerned about bone health, says the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
“We have our blood pressure checked regularly, and our cholesterol levels measured, but too many of us ignore screening for bone health,” says Dr. E. Michael Lewiecki, director of the New Mexico Clinical Research and Osteoporosis Center.
“Elevated blood pressure can lead to a stroke while elevated cholesterol levels may lead to a heart attack. Low bone density can lead to hip fractures which can also be deadly. “
Studies show that approximately one in two women and up to one in four men age 50 or older will break a bone due to osteoporosis.
“This can seriously affect your independence and lifestyle,” Lewiecki tells Newsmax Health.
May is Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, www.nof.org, has compiled a list of tips and information on how you can prevent, manage, and even reverse the potentially debilitating disease.
Here’s a primer for action, including five steps you can take to protect yourself:
Know your risk factors: Some factors that put people at increased risk uncontrollable, but others involve lifestyle behaviors that can be modified.
Uncontrollable risk factors include:
Being over the age of 50
Being female
Menopause
Family history of osteoporosis
Low body weight or being too thin
Broken bones or height loss
Controllable risk factors include:
Not getting enough calcium or vitamin D
Not eating enough fruits and vegetables
Getting too much protein, sodium, and caffeine
Having an inactive lifestyle
Smoking
Drinking too much alcohol
Losing weight
“It’s important to note that osteoporosis and the broken bones it can cause are NOT part of normal aging,” Claire Gill, chief marketing officer of NOF, tells Newsmax Health.
“There is a lot you can do you protect your bones throughout life. Osteoporosis prevention should begin in childhood, but it doesn’t stop there. Whatever your age, the habits you adopt now can affect your bone health for the rest of your life.”
Take action now: Lewiecki says it’s important to act to prevent osteoporosis before you have a problem with bone loss.
“Although there is a genetic predisposition that affects 80 percent of the people who develop osteoporosis, there is a lot you can do with proper diet, exercise, and supplementation that can optimize your genetics,” he says.
“Making sure that you are getting enough calcium and vitamin D, exercising against gravity, and checking bone density regularly are just a few ways to protect and maintain good bone health.”
Get screened: Lewiecki recommends that all women over the age of 65 and men over the age of 70 get screened annually.
“And if you’ve suffered previous bone fractures, screening should begin at age 50,” he says.
There are medications used to treat osteoporosis. One type helps rebuild new bone, while another slows down bone cells to allow more calcium absorption and prevent more loss.
“”It’s kind of a one-two punch,” notes Lewiecki.
Osteoporosis usually has no symptoms until the person fractures a bone, which is why it is nicknamed “the silent disease.”
“We see people who have lost height or are slumped over and take an X-ray of the spine and sure enough there is a fracture,” says Lewiecki. “Two thirds of people with spinal fracture don’t even know they have them. That’s why it is so important to discuss bone health with your doctor.”
Boost your nutrition: Diet can play an important role in managing osteoporosis says Dr. Gabe Mirkin, who is board certified in sports medicine. A 2010 Rotterdam study of 14,926 people 45 or older, who were followed for 20 years, found that a diet based on vegetables, fruits, dairy, and fish was associated with:
Markedly reduced risk of bone fractures
Higher bone density as seen on x-rays
Stronger bones measured by bending strength tests
“Diets that included a lot of sweets, processed meats or alcohol were associated with increased risk for fracture and weaker, more unstable bones,” Mirkin tells Newsmax Health.
Harvard Medical School researchers noted that calcium is an important nutrient for building bone and slowing the pace of bone loss but it’s not a “magic bullet.” It needs its indispensable assistant, vitamin D, to help the body absorb calcium.
Experts recommend taking 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily for adults up to age 50 and 1,200 milligrams for people aged 51 and older when bone loss accelerates.
Fortified foods can help provide the vitamin D your need to absorb calcium efficiently or you can manufacture your own by spending 5 to 30 minutes in the sun daily, making sure arms and legs are exposed.
Get moving: Exercise is also an important component of bone health. But always check with your health care provider to ensure you embark upon a safe program.
“You may want to avoid high impact weight bearing exercises like jogging, running, or jumping rope if you are increased risk of fracture,” notes Gill. “Low-impact weight bearing exercises can also help keep bones strong and are a safe alternative. Elliptical machines and fast walking on a treadmill or outdoors are two examples.”
In addition, she recommends lifting weights or using exercise bands to offer resistance against gravity and build stronger bones.
“Osteoporosis is manageable,” she says. “Although there is no cure, there are steps you can take to prevent, slow down or stop its progress. In some cases, you may even be able to improve bone density and reverse the disorder to some degree.”
Ever find yourself going about your day, not even thinking about food, when all of a sudden your appetite kicks in, and you’re at the drive-thru or rummaging through your pantry, looking for whatever it is you crave?
That’s because feeling hungry often has little to do with whether your system really needs food and a lot more to do with some sneaky cues and behaviors you encounter without realizing it. These 6 are among the biggest offenders tricking you into thinking you’re hungry when you really aren’t.
Cooking Shows
There may be a downside to turning to TV for recipe inspiration. A new study found that people who cook from scratch based on recipes they got off a cooking show weighed 11 pounds more than those who watched these shows but didn�t cook very often. The authors of the study, from Cornell University�s Food and Brand Lab, think the extra pounds might have to do with how indulgent TV recipes are. When people make them at home and consume them, they think it’s okay to take in all the extra calories.
Orange and Red-Colored Foods
From a biological perspective, humans �tend to seek out vibrant colored foods, as these contain the most vitamins and minerals,� says Susan Albers, PsyD, clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic and author of 50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food. �The response is subconscious�think about a time when you’ve walked through a grocery store and found yourself picking up a sack of oranges or bag of red peppers.� But that instinct works against you when you’re face to face with a plate of mac and cheese or gooey nachos. These dishes share a similar hue as oranges do, but they have way more fat and calories.
Food Packages on Kitchen Counter
You know the saying, out of sight is out of mind? That definitely applies to food as well, and it sums up the dangers of not putting your groceries away as soon as you come back from the supermarket or leaving out half-eaten boxes of takeout pizza. When you see these items, even in their containers, your appetite gets going, and it�s hard to resist consuming them.
�People tend to reach automatically for foods that are within arm�s reach,� Dr. Albers says. �If it�s there, you�re likely to eat it.� One study shows that people who keep soda and cereal on their counters weigh a startling 26 pounds more than those who opt to tuck them away in a pantry.
Other People Eating
You�re having drinks with friends when someone orders a round of apps. You weren�t hungry at all before the order was placed, so why did you dig in when the food arrived at the table? We automatically match the pace at which people around us eat and �mirror� their behavior, Dr. Albers explains, and that�s true even if they�re at another table and you don�t know them. You could also blame a little social anxiety. �We�re simply trying to fit in and make a situation more comfortable,� she adds.
Large Plates
If you�re served a heaping pile of food on a large plate, you�ll likely try to finish it, even after you�re already full. �We naturally eat more off of large plates and bowls,� says Dr. Albers. It�s a mean trick your eyes play on you. Larger plates cause us to think a serving of food is smaller than it actually appears. One study showed that people scarfed down 16% more cereal than usual when it was served to them in a bigger bowl.
A Happy Mood
You know about stress eating: tough day of work = pint of ice cream. But it’s not just negative emotions that lead us to dive into our kitchens. Positive emotions like joy, excitement, and even love can crank your appetite as well. It has to do with the fact that certain foods, like chocolate, trigger satisfying neurochemical responses in the brain. �We want to hold onto [those happy emotions], and another creamy bar of chocolate or crispy bag of chips promises to keep the good feelings rolling,� says Dr. Albers.
Also, when life is going well and you feel good, you�re more relaxed and less vigilant about your calorie intake. �People actually eat more when they�re in a happy relationship,� Dr. Albers notes.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Whole Body Wellness
Maintaining overall health and wellness of the body can be achieved through a balanced nutrition, regular physical activity and/or exercise, as well as by getting plenty of rest. Along with these basic principles, its important to receive whole body maintenance, especially making sure the spine is properly aligned, ensuring the nervous system is functioning to its fullest capabilities. Chiropractic care is an alternative treatment option which focuses on musculoskeletal and nervous system conditions and injuries, helping to maintain spinal health.
The first sign was itchy skin. My thighs itched. My belly itched. Everything itched. I couldn’t see any rashes or dry skin, but after two months, the sensation got so bad that it distracted me at work.
I finally went to a dermatologist in December 2007. We considered potential explanations. Could it be eczema? Probably not; I showed none of the classic markers of the disorder. At the end of the appointment, I mentioned that I had a lump above my collarbone. It might be getting bigger, I told her, but I wasn’t sure.
She examined the bump and told me it was an enlarged lymph node, a gland that helps the body fight off infections. She advised me to see a general practitioner for a full checkup. She even called me a few times the following week to remind me.
So I went to a general physician to have blood work done and take a chest x-ray. Then came additional tests, including a tissue biopsy of the lump. That biopsy confirmed the last thing I expected: I had stage 2A Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer that often strikes adults in their 20s and 30s. Itchy skin, it turns out, can be a symptom.
I collapsed into my mom’s arms when I got the diagnosis. “I just don’t want to die,” I told her. I was 23, and I had so much more life to live.
The battle begins
I started chemotherapy two weeks later in my doctor’s office, enduring 12 treatments over six months. I’d get the drugs every other Thursday and take off work the following Monday, when the steroids that were supposed to ease side effects like nausea and pain wore off. Apart from that—and the wig I wore to conceal my bald head—I kept my life normal. I went my job as a fundraising event planner and met friends for dinner.
By summer, I was in remission. Yet I wasn’t feeling like my old self, and I knew I wanted to get strong again. When two friends told me they were running the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco in my honor (fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society), I was moved and motivated. With my doctor’s okay, I started to train for the Disney Half Marathon in Orlando in January 2009.
I admit it was a little crazy. I’d been a runner pre-cancer, but I had never attempted a race longer than 10K. Still, I did it—I ran the half in two hours and eight minutes. Victory, right? Not quite. The weekend of my half-marathon, I noticed a familiar feeling near my collarbone. Could the lump be coming back?
Returning to normal life in remission
I should mention that coincidentally, I’d recently started working in the fundraising department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), a top cancer hospital that my doctor was affiliated with. I wore my wig when I interviewed at Memorial in September 2008, but I didn’t mention that I had been diagnosed with cancer less than a year earlier. I wanted to be hired because I had the skills they were looking for, not my health history. Luckily, I got the job. But right after I ran my half in January, my doctor confirmed that my Hodgkin’s lymphoma was back.
Lauren vs. cancer: round two
My doctors told me that treatment would be more aggressive the second time around, and I had to be admitted into the hospital for most of it: two preconditioning chemotherapy treatments were followed by two weeks of radiation followed by four-day rounds of high-dose chemo. “Uncomfortable” doesn’t begin to describe the high fevers I struggled with and such severe throat pain that it hurt to eat.
I also underwent a stem cell transplant: a catheter transfers my own cells, collected by medical staffers weeks earlier, back into my body. The hope was that the newly transferred cells would prompt my system to produce healthy new blood cells. It’s a milestone; people in the medical world call the date of your stem cell transplant your second birthday. I celebrated my 25th birthday in the hospital on April 17. A week later, I had my ‘second birthday’ when I got my transplant.
A life dedicated to fitness
I left the hospital in May and focused my life on recovery and getting strong again. I’ve always loved trying new classes and getting better at old ones. After all I’d been through, working out felt even more rewarding. Nearly every Saturday for the next five years, I’d be at Core Fusion Barre class at Exhale or sweating it out at SoulCycle.
My teachers inspired me to develop a level of strength I didn’t know I had, and the thrill I felt when I realized I was getting better motivated me. With time, I made the decision to devote my life to inspiring others through fitness. In fall 2014, I signed up for barre teacher training with Exhale. Two hundred hours later, I was certified.
In January 2015, I left the security of a full-time job and founded Chi Chi Life. This is my way of pursuing fitness while keeping up my love for fundraising, event planning, and cancer advocacy. I teach barre at Exhale and Pilates and TRX classes at Flex Studios in New York City while also working with clients to plan philanthropic events.
For me, fitness is all about community and connection. I’ve run several half marathons since my cancer’s been in remission, raising more than $75,000 for causes I’m passionate about. I even ran the New York City Marathon, which took me past the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center building. I wish there were words to capture what it felt like to run past the place that saved my life—and helped me discover my life’s mission.
Meditation continues to become more and more popular, and for good reason. Research shows it can help with everything from getting a good night’s sleep to reducing stress to even easing pain.
However, many people are under the impression that in order to meditate properly, you need to be sitting still for an extended period of time in a perfectly zen setting. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, you can meditate anywhere, says wellness expert and founder of BexLife, Rebekah Borucki. That could mean while you’re commuting, during your lunch break, right before bed, or in any other setting that works with your schedule and lifestyle.
However, if you can, it does help to find a place you where you feel comfortable, she says. This way, you can enter a state of mediation without feeling distracted by the position of your body.
There are also plenty of options for what to focus on during your meditation—positive affirmations, a peaceful visualization, or simply quieting all the commotion in your mind. In this video, Borucki guides us through a meditation for self-acceptance, which is meant to quiet your inner critic and ease self-doubt. To try out this meditation for yourself, play the video and get ready to focus on yourself for ten minutes. From here, all that’s left to do is to close your eyes, connect with yourself, check in with your body, tune in to your breathing, and do your best to keep all distractions at bay. Then, just pay attention to her calming words—you’ll be working towards a more kind, loving relationship with yourself in no time.
Sure, spin class feels killer, but outdoor cycling may require you to work even harder, according to a study in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Plus, “there’s something really nice about covering distance and being in the fresh air and sunshine,” says Jim Rutberg, a cycling expert for Carmichael Training Systems and Strava in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He created the 30-minute interval workout below. If you’re a beginner, try doing the workout in a loop first so you can log the distance without getting too far from home. Once you feel comfortable, turn it into an out-and-back ride and explore some new terrain.
• Six 30-second speed intervals separated by 30 seconds of easy recovery. Rev your cadence and power as you accelerate for 30 seconds, then pedal very lightly as you slow down for 30 seconds before starting the next effort. These aren’t really sprints so much as hard, seated accelerations.
• 3 1⁄2 minutes easy recovery
• 8-minute tempo interval. Effort should be a 6 on a rate of perceived exertion scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being as hard as you can go. Your breathing should be deep and controlled, nowhere near panting.
• Cool down with an easy pace for 5 minutes.
This workout burns approximately 285 calories (for a 30-minute ride at 12 to 14 mph for a 150-pound person).
Not sure how to tell if you’re biking at “easy” or “fast”? There are a lot of ways to gauge your intensity level, but you won’t always have a heart rate monitor handy. Instead, you can use a “talk test” to track your efforts.
• Talking casually: recovery pace/easy • 1 to 2 sentences at a time: endurance pace/moderate • 2 to 3 words at a time: labored breathing/hard
For timed intervals, look at a watch, or you can time the distance between landmarks, like phone poles, and use those as your markers.
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