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Milk-Almonds

Cow’s Milk vs. Almond Milk

/31 July 2023/ All MFN blog/

Milk has been a staple of the American diet for every generation. Children are told their bones will grow strong when they have a glass of milk. It is our first meal from our mother, but then becomes replaced by another form. For many years, the only type that existed was cow’s milk. Today, almond milk has become an alternative causing a debate questioning which is the better choice.

In the battle of cow’s vs almond milk, the winner might be a matter of personal preference. Here’s how they stack up:

Cow Milk

One percent low fat milk contains about 110 calories, 2% contains 130 calories, and whole milk has about 150 calories per cup. 90% of the world’s milk comes from dairy farms. There has been questioning about the cleanliness and humanity of this process. Some even argue that cow’s milk is not actually meant for human consumption. Milk is made up of lactose, which is the most common food allergy in the world. Despite all this, cow’s milk does have quite a bit of nutritional value. In just one cup of milk, there contains 305 milligrams of calcium. This is needed for bone health, our teeth, and blood health. Cow’s milk also has choline which is a nutrient that helps with memory, sleep, and muscle development. It also contains potassium and Vitamin D. The major downfall is that this milk is high in saturated fat. This is an important consideration for person’s with diabetes or heart disease.

Almond Milk

Almond milk generally contains fewer calories. Unsweetened almond milk has a mere 30 calories per one cup. The process of making almond milk is similar to brewing coffee. However, the final product does not contain the same amount of nutrients as whole raw almonds. Some of the calcium, fiber, and protein is lost in this process. Therefore, many almond milk products are fortified with nutrients to help make it look comparable to cow’s milk. Almond milk is naturally lactose free which can help those with digestive issues. It is also environmentally sustainable due to the major cultivation of almonds. Almond milk contains healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. This can help lower bad cholesterol levels.

When it comes down to the final winner, the decision is primarily based on a person’s dietary needs. For someone who is trying to lower their cholesterol and keep their blood sugar down, almond milk would be the winner. For someone who is active and still growing and developing, cow’s milk might be the winner. Again, this would all depend if a person is lactose intolerant. The world of milk has changed with many different varieties now available. A bowl of cereal just isn’t a bowl of cereal without milk, no matter what kind.

A new game changer has been the spark in attention for chocolate milk. Both traditional milk and almond milk can come in this tasty flavor too.

At the outset, one might question chocolate anything being beneficial to our health, and this beverage is normally a mixture of the milk type with cocoa and other sweeteners (sometimes even high-fructose corn syrup). A little higher in sugar and carbs then most might desire, but the benefits might override these factors. 1 cup has about 200 calories and 30 carbohydrates as well as 28% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) for calcium, 25% RDI for vitamin D, 24% for riboflavin, and 25% for phosphorus. All of these are great for bone health.

Avid exercisers and athletes have become fond of drinking chocolate milk because of its contribution to muscle recovery post-workouts. Here is where the carbs and sugar can actually be beneficially, and it is also important to remember that milk is considered a protein with all the essential amino acids. Studies have not proven the effects of chocolate milk are any better than any other type of recovery sports drink.

Including milk of any form in your diet can be great for you bones and hormones, but that is not the case for everyone. Some people have an intolerance to milk that can cause abdominal pain and bowel problems. A person that is lactose intolerant has a condition in which their small intestine doesn’t produce enough of the enzyme lactase. Lactase is needed to break down and digest dairy, so if you aren’t able to do so then discomfort can result. For some people irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can be triggered by dairy products. This can result in stomach cramping and chronic diarrhea. In this case, milk should certainly be avoided. Some people are also simply allergic to milk. Their body treats it like a foreign substance. Children usually outgrow milk allergies by the age of three. Symptoms include itchy skin and hives after drinking. There are supplements that can help a person break down and digest dairy if they desire to have it. This way they don’t have to completely eliminate them.

As adults, we don’t always drink milk like we used to as kids. Maybe a little with cereal, oats, or coffee here and there, but overall, we don’t have it with dinner anymore. Milk is a tricky portion distortion problem for some people. Have you ever added more milk because you have a little cereal left? Have you ever thought cookies and milk sounded good and then you keep eating the cookies, so you keep drinking the milk with them? Sticking to drinking just once cup is out of the question many times. For kids, milk is certainly the better option versus soda or sugary fruit juice. Families buy gallons for their kids. There’s a type for everyone’s taste buds depending on what type you buy. Skim or 2% are the most popular options, but then again, some people even like buttermilk. Milk is great for our bodies, and well, chocolate milk makes it case, but not too convincingly. Let’s face it any excuse to add some chocolate to anything can be attractive. Our society keeps the cows busy, but certainly not by those who are lactose intolerant.

Originally printed on Every BODY’s Fit blog. Reprinted with permission.

Dr. Megan Johnson McCullough, owner of Every BODY’s Fit in Oceanside CA, is a NASM Master Trainer, AFAA group exercise instructor, and specializes in Fitness Nutrition, Weight Management, Senior Fitness, Corrective Exercise, and Drug and Alcohol Recovery. She’s also a Wellness Coach, holds an M.A. Physical Education & Health and a Ph.D in Health and Human Performance. She is a professional natural bodybuilder, fitness model, and published author.

weight lifting barbel

Lift Ugly!

/26 July 2023/ All MFN blog/

The title of this article is a quote from UK physiotherapist Adam Meakins. The context is that one does not need to exhibit or use “proper exercise technique” constantly throughout daily life or even during physical rehabilitation for pain or injury.

Now, this at first sounds counterintuitive to what the majority of fitness professionals and even physical therapists are taught and believe. The mantra of “poor exercise technique leads to injury” has been spouted for decades… but there is absolutely no proof of this in medical and fitness-related academic research.

Yep, your absolute most favorite go-to coaching point as a FitPro is pretty much bunk. So, do we throw the baby out with the bathwater and let our clients lift just however they please? No, not exactly, context is king.

If you are working with an athlete, which includes body builders, stricter exercise technique is beneficial to a high degree (esp. with physique athletes who require symmetry and maximal muscle development) but real-life sport doesn’t look anything like the gym when it comes to movements. Some variation in technique is beneficial as it will expose the athlete to forces in various, and more realistic fashions that provide greater benefits on the sport field or ring.

If you are working with general population, mostly healthy clients, “proper” exercise technique should honestly not be force fed initially, as this can be both physically uncomfortable for the client as well as demotivating if they’re “still not able to keep the back flat on a deadlift.” Find whatever movement pattern is natural for them and coach from there.

I used to be a hardcore stickler for technique, now, not so much. Instead, I coach my patients to lift in a manner that “feels stable, safe, and powerful” for THEM. The result? Better client engagement, better client results, and far less stress on them and yourself during the coaching session.

Now what about medical fitness and physical therapy? While strict joint actions may be required during some phases of physical rehabilitation or other therapy, we must consider how a client naturally and instinctively moves and wants to move. We need to understand any fear-avoidance behaviors they might have developed previously, and we certainly want to know their beliefs about physical activity.

So, if “improper” exercise technique isn’t to blame for gym and sport injuries, then what is?

We don’t have a firm answer, but we can say with a high degree of certainty that it’s a combination of physical and mental stress, distractions, nutritional state, hydration, focus in the moment, and how well prepared the individual is for that movement they are about to engage in. Simply not getting a good night’s sleep before deadlifting the next day can potentiate an injury, but that’s not a guarantee either. Load management and recovery are far more important when it comes to injury prevention than anything else, and this is why you should be writing and logging client training plans and sessions and not winging it. Otherwise, you have no historical record with which to troubleshoot things with which will only frustrate you and your client.

I sincerely hope that I have ruffled some feathers and also have given you some food for thought. There’s a time and place for everything, including strict exercise technique, it just takes some insight and thought to determine if “this” is the appropriate context.

Reprinted with permission from the Move Well, Live Well blog.

Joshua Slone is an Exercise Physiologist and Pain Therapist. He serves as Rehab Team Lead/Physiologist at the Center for Health in Yucca Valley, CA. His clinical expertise includes chronic pain management, joint replacements, sport and orthopedic injuries, complex medical condition management, geriatrics, degenerative neurological conditions, and psychiatric disorders. Visit his website, movewelllivewell.org

baby-boomers2

Successful Aging with Positive Thinking

/17 July 2023/ All MFN blog/

This article was written with the intent to inform as well as inspire trainers, coaches and other practitioners who work with the aging population. As a gerontologist who studied the evolution of reflective wisdom, I am intrigued by famous quotes from years past. Henry Ford once said: “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” The aging process should be an enriching experience that involves our appreciation of our personal significance. However for many, it is a time of loneliness, depression, isolation and purposelessness.  Is this purely due to circumstances, our outlook, or a combination of both?

We have approximately 60,000 thoughts daily and 80% of them will be present tomorrow. Our thoughts and beliefs generate our feelings and emotions, our emotions drive our actions, and our actions create our outcomes. So there might be something to the statement – “Think positive and change your thoughts because it can change your world”. There are some studies looking at the possibility of meditation and gene expression. That in turn raises the intriguing possibility of dodging our supposed genetic destiny by changing our thoughts and attitudes which affect our mental and emotional stress. Positive emotions are an essential daily requirement for successful aging. Not only do they improve our physical and mental health, they provide a buffer against depression and illness. Science shows that people who are happy – live longer and have healthier lives. It was also noted that positive people are 50% less likely to have heart disease, a heart attack, or a stroke and that increasing positive emotions could lengthen life span by 10 years.

Over 60 % of US centenarians called themselves “Positive People”

Even though Positive psychology has been around for 20 years, it seems to be absent in our conversations and teachings. Dr. Seligman did not want to focus on the negative issues but instead the positive. Positive psychology is “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living”, or “the scientific study of positive behavior and thriving on various levels that include the cultural, personal, physical, social, and comprehensive dimensions of life.” This way of thinking is concerned with “the good life”, consideration about what is our ultimate value in life – the factors that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life. Positive psychologists note many ways to cultivate happiness. Happiness can achieved with a productive and meaningful existence. Social connections with family, friends and networks become more important as we age. Physical exercise in numerous methods and the practice of meditation may also contribute to happiness.

Those who practice positive psychology use affirmative attitudes toward one’s personal experiences, and life events. The objective is to minimize negative thoughts that may arise in hopelessness, and instead, cultivate positivity toward life. This method encourages the acceptance of one’s past, enthusiasm about one’s future, and a sense of desire and gratitude in the present.

Margaret Lee Runbeck states, “Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.”

According to Andrew Weil, MD, healthy aging includes an ethical will which is pertinent to those of us “concerned with making sense of our lives, giving back, and leaving a legacy”. It is a way to express optimism for future generations. An ethical will could be in many forms such as a letter, card, book, project, etc.  The ethical will includes:

  • A way to leave something behind, to be remembered
  • A way to document your history and stories for others to learn from in the future
  • A way to help you understand your own values and to share your ideals with future generations
  • A way to help you learn more about yourself
  • A way to help you accept mortality and create a way to ‘live on’ after you are gone
  • A way to provide an immediate sense of worthiness, completion, and accomplishment

Death is inevitable and aging wisdom is the process of our coming to terms with losses and changes.   We must focus on the life in our years not the years in our life, as well as passing down our pearls of wisdom from our years of learning and experiences. This in itself gives us purpose.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand – strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming… WOO HOO!!! WHAT A RIDE!!!” 

May you live all they days of your life and may your life live on forever.

Dianne McCaughey Ph.D. is an award winning fitness specialist with more than 35 years experience in personal training, group exercise, coaching, and post-rehabilitation. She is a master trainer for multiple companies and practices and teaches optimal wellness emphasizing the mind, body and spirit. She works with special populations and focuses on posture, gait, balance and corrective exercise programs for better function and health.

adaptive-fitness-wheelchair

What is This Thing Called Adaptive Fitness?

/12 July 2023/ All MFN blog/

Her insurance benefits had just run dry, we were at a critical point in her rehabilitation and recovery following a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)  from an automobile accident. “What should I do?” she asked me as we neared the end of a therapy session. “Why don’t we meet up and just keep exercising.” I replied and the rest was history. 

There are countless other stories with other patients at the time that could have easily pointed me in the same direction. “I am being discharged with a home exercise program, but I want to keep working on my Stroke recovery.” or “I have been using a wheelchair for the past 20 years and I want to maintain my health and function as I continue to age but every time I go to a gym it just does not work out.” or “I wish there were a way I can be active besides adaptive sports.”

In my case, it was the former, a patient of mine with so much potential for continued outcomes was being prematurely discharged from physical therapy due to insurance limitations — the start of my personal journey into adaptive fitness began.

Up until the start of this journey in 2005, the majority of activities for individuals living with or recovering from disability was limited to adaptive sports… Wheelchair Basketball, Quad Rugby, Wheelchair racing, etc. The availability of fitness programs, group fitness, and even accessible gyms were very limited. 

The idea that there was a trainer that was performing one-on-one fitness training with an SCI client and that the individual was excelling to the point that once therapy resumed, newer goals could be addressed by the therapists leading to better outcomes, spread throughout the rehabilitation halls and soon more folks wanted this type of training in addition to therapy.

What initially started as a temporary fix to aid a patient in need, has led to redefining my own career and sharing through experience and education what adaptive fitness is and how adaptive fitness trainers can bridge a huge gap. 

Adaptive Fitness has really blossomed and now (thanks to social media) Adaptive Fitness Trainers, clients, and facilities are able to share training experiences to the public.

Wheelchair users can highlight their fitness workouts, PRs, and other fitness trends and challenges. Facilities can highlight client success stories, and brands can and have sponsored wheelchair athletes. 

For the purpose of this article, I would like to highlight education and standards as I identify what adaptive fitness means to me.

Group Exercise, Virtual Group exercise, Seated Exercise, Adaptive Crossfit, one-on-one personal training can all be identified as Adaptive Fitness and really anyone can lead a group exercise class for any and all abilities… but should they?

Understanding the needs of a participant who is living with Multiple Sclerosis, Transverse Myelitis, Cerebral Palsy, Stroke and SCI in the same group class is extremely important for the safety of all individuals and should not be taken lightly. 

Adaptive options presented to one participant may not work for another. Some folks may need specific cueing to maintain safety while others may be able to accept any challenge without adaptive needs.

Understanding risks, precautions and limitations to maintain safety in the group class setting but still make it an effective class is vitally important, and is why having the proper education to lead such classes is a must.

Working one-on-one with an adaptive fitness client who is focused on neuro recovery following a neurological impairment is not a cookie cutter type workout. You can use exercises you may know of, but the set and rep schemes differ entirely and blow traditional routines with 4 sets of 10 reps out of the water. There are specific strategies that can be utilized to effectively challenge someone working on improving neuroplasticity, but how you implement those strategies is dependent upon the individual, the diagnoses, and the strategy being utilized. Having an understanding of all of the above is imperative to your success as an adaptive trainer and their success for their outcomes

The same can be said for an adaptive client working on functional mobility. If floor transfers or stair climbing is a challenge then working on movements and exercises to improve those abilities is a must, but it’s important to have an understanding of how to guard, how to support, how to transfer, how to use your adaptive trainer body to aid your adaptive client in successful progressions toward achieving the movement they are working towards.

An understanding of adaptive training, adaptive accessories that can be used, equipment that can be modified, and strategies that can be used to make an adaptive client successful in the pursuit of their goals should be your goal as a Medical Fitness Professional. So that you become that trainer that should be leading adaptive fitness classes/session and not the trainer that is leading the classes/sessions but shouldn’t be.

Become an Adaptive Fitness Specialist

The Adaptive Fitness Specialist online course is designed to provide the knowledge needed to safely and effectively design and implement adaptive exercise programs for individuals living with or recovering from a physical disability or disease.

Devon Palermo is a leading authority on Adaptive Fitness for those living with or recovering from a disability. He is the Founder and Principal director of DPI Adaptive Fitness, A company focused on safe and effective adaptive fitness for individuals living with disabilities. With over 15 years of experience in both fitness and rehab, He is the go-to resource for clients, therapists, and doctors in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area looking to maximize the benefits of adaptive exercise to improve strength, balance, function and abilities. dpiadaptivefitness.co

summer meditation

One Minute Practice: Present Moment Awareness

/5 July 2023/ All MFN blog/

Roasting, boiling, baking. One might use these words if they are providing cooking instructions. For those who live in the Northern Hemisphere, these might also be some words you are using to describe your current relationship with the weather. Maybe even adjectives for your internal atmosphere.  

For some, summer signifies increasing daylight. While others, summer indicates an excess of heat.  Between last issue and now, perhaps you have been practicing how to maintain an awareness of and appreciation for the strengths gleaned in darkness, while simultaneously allowing the lengthening of days to unfold in a way that is calm, reflective and appreciative of what is present now. What did you learn in winter that can serve you now? Beauty in breath? Beauty in darkness? Beauty in coolness?

Between now and June 21, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, days will continue to lengthen. Heat will increase. The digestive fire will burn. And muscles will contract. Although we must not forget the importance of the cool, the rest, and the relaxation.

As I introduced in the previous article, the month of March can evoke bodily rhythmic awareness. For respiratory, digestive, muscular or cardiac system, or any other bodily function – you may be feeling the heat. A balance of the fire is necessary.

In what ways can you locate spaces, in June and among the continually unfolding hot Summer days, where the appreciation of coolness you cultivated in winter may gently breeze in? Neurologically, the exhale induces the brain to relax and feel calm.

I invite readers to consider finding spaces where you can allow your breath to exhale.  How might you channel the winter of the breath to serve you in summer?

Let’s engage in a 1-minute practice of honoring the internal fire and welcome a cool breeze.

Where you are right in this moment is the perfect place to practice. You have everything you need.

1. Locate the breath: say, “Hello breath. Thank you for respirating today.”

2. Create a comfortable breeze: Tune into the coolness of the exhale.

3. Discover the coolness within: Focusing on the exhale creates a lowered body temperature.

4. Carry your awareness: Maintain an awareness of coolness.

Repeat steps one through four.

Dr. Adrienne Ione is a cognitive behavioral therapist and personal trainer who integrates these fields in support of people thriving across the lifespan. As a pro-aging advocate, she specializes in the self-compassion of dementia.

Website: yes2aging.com
Guided Meditations: insighttimer.com/adrienneIone
Facebook: silverliningsintegrativehealth