Hip roller coster

So, after my recent post about the Gokhale Method, I added an exercise to my PT routine to try rotating my hips so my tailbone pointed backwards while sitting down.  It felt kinda uncomfortable in my bad hip, but good on my back.

7/19.  While in the process of sitting down in my chair at work, something gave in my hip.  There was a brief intense pain, and a lasting dull pain.  Mobility in that hip went through the roof.  I was suddenly able to be much more active than before.  The hip rotation in my exercise became the most comfortable resting position rather than an effort.  All my regular pain points moved.  My leg was straight.

I considered that I’d need to restart my PT at the beginning before I developed new compensation patterns, but was too busy getting useful things done to get serious about it right away.  Did a little bit of my most routine PT.  Noticed especially problems with my asian squat, other exercises brought up new tense areas, but still doable.

I mowed, I cleaned the house, I did laundry, and I didn't have to stop because I was tired.  It was glorious.

7/22 After a day of sitting, and a quick demo to a friend of where my new squat problem area was, started to have moderate hip pain.

7/23 Had already decided to take a day of rest as the new pain areas were getting overloaded with the sudden change, didn’t want to compensate back into the old gait.  After sitting for extended lunch with company, started having intense hip pain.  Stretching, ibuprofen, and a nap helped, but sitting still uncomfortable, and standing tiring.  Following Mobility Wod videos for emergency PT, spending a lot of time horizontal.

Planning to call a professional PT on Monday.  Scoped one out with certifications I like, connected to a gym with more certifications I like, and in-network for my insurance.

Don't teach your child to be fat

A recent discussion on Facebook brought up several details in common between the childhoods of overweight people that bear mentioning to those trying to raise healthy kids.

Make time for dinner

Dinner time should be a family social occasion with food present, and let natural hunger dictate how much food is eaten during that time.  If the child can be excused to go play by wolfing down a measured portion, you're rewarding them ignoring hunger signals and cravings and forcing themselves to eat.  Schedule at least 20 minutes for dinner.  If your child doesn't have the patience to sit as long as the adults, set a time at which they will be excused, not a consumption requirement.

Don't clean your plate

If you have to, get a pet chicken or pig so the food isn't "wasted".  It is reasonable to ask a child to try a new food, but making them eat all of it isn't going to make them like it, and will teach them to try to eat without tasting.  It may be reasonable to reserve their plate in the fridge until they claim hunger two hours later.  Don't sweat unfinished food, a hungry child would have eaten it by now.

Don't leave out large volumes of food

When leaving out snacks for the kids when they get home from school, leave out measured portions, not large supplies.  If the kids have already developed mindless eating habits, it's very easy for them to just munch and munch in front of the TV or game console until you get home.  Consider if snacks are even necessary, talk to your child about how they feel after school, and if they are tired, they might try a nap rather than sugar/starch to regain energy.

Remember childhood pounds never go away

Fat cells can shrink, but never go away.  They're sitting there waiting to re-expand and fight fat loss for the rest of your life.  We don't want to be overly obsessed with thinness in growing children, they do need some fat for brain development and calories on board to support those growth spurts, but a trend of putting on excess pounds is not likely to stop without intentional intervention, changing habits and diet.  It may be easier to put on pasta every night when the child is old enough to start prepping dinner before you get home from work, but if that doesn't agree with your child's metabolism you may need to find other alternatives or upgrade your child's cooking skills.

Low calorie Avocado?

So, I was shopping, and there was a label above the avocados claiming they were a "low calorie food" which I thought was pretty odd, given that avocados are one of the highest fat foods you'll find in the produce section.  So looking into it:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064911.htm

40 cal or less per RACC (and per 50 g if RACC is small) (b)(2)Meals and main dishes: 120 cal or less per 100 g (b)(3)

Of course, the tricksy issue is that a RACC/"serving" is pretty ambiguous size.

An avocado has 227 calories in it, 167 calories per 100 grams, but only 50 calories "per serving".  So that means you get to eat 1/5 of a medium avocado per sitting to keep it within the official serving size.

But even with that serving size, 50 > 40, and 167>120 this is not a "low calorie food".  Read your labels, but also use your brain!

That said, avocados are a pretty good for you food.  They got fiber, they got fat, they have all the sorts of micronutrients expected from fruits and veggies.  The vegetarians like them, the low omega-6 eaters like them, the glycemic index folk like them, the alkaline diet folk like them, even the guy that thinks we should eat chlorophyll and absorb sunlight recommends them (and the avocado is probably why his followers are still alive.)  If you've got something against the avocado, you're in the minority.

So, have and avocado, but remember the calories count, it's not a free vegetable in your diet plan.

Modern furniture leads to modern posture?

I recently stumbled across the Gokhale Method.

“Most pain can be attributed to how we hold ourselves and how we move. Since we aren't born with a user’s manual, we rely on our culture to guide us.
About a century ago, our culture took a wrong turn.”
- http://gokhalemethod.com/gokhale-method

She seems to have some good points about there being evidence that people of modern western culture have a different posture than our ancestors or modern third world cultures.  I wonder though, if it is not so much our culture as our furniture.

Sit on the hardest surface you can find. Start sitting with your spine in an s curve, your shoulders relaxed and slightly forward.  Feel the discomfort of the surface, feel most of your weight on two little hip bone points.  Now shift to Gokhale’s recommended posture, roll your hips so your tail bone is sticking out behind you, and pull your shoulders straight and your spine tall.  Feel the discomfort of the surface under you.  Feel how the pressure has been relieved by being distributed over the leg instead of over one little point.

Modern furniture is made for modern posture, and reinforces modern posture.

Yet another reason to consider replacing my "ergonomic" office chair with a wooden bench, but I don't think I'll be buying the stretchsit cushion or balancing her special pillow on my head (if I want that kind of exercise, our ancestors taught young ladies to balance books up there.)