So you survived Memorial Day weekend, and a few nice swimsuit days since then! Personally I've used the nice weather as an excuse to relax in the sun, and enjoy a few cocktails. Assuming most of you have done the same I just want to remind you to keep your wellness and nutrition goals in mind. I'm not suggesting that you ruin your weekends by counting calories and giving the Heisman to Fun. I just want to share a few tips on how you can clean up your weekday meals so you can head into the weekends guilt-free and confident.
Keep it Clean! For those of you who know me... this is what I preach for nutrition plans. Eating clean means different things to a lot of people, but I define it as, cutting the SALT, kicking the SUGAR, ditching the DAIRY, watching the CARBS, limiting the BOOZE, pounding the WATER ... and choosing FRESH over processed. Simple enough definition, right?
Okay... to simplify it all just take these three notes. (1) SALT is a 4 letter word. Without getting too technical, SALT(sodium) is abundant in ALL PROCESSED foods. Especially watch out for low-fat, non-fat, etc. because chances are it's loaded with sodium or sugar to save the taste. There are a million articles on this, and a ton of research supporting it, but take a look at this one which even takes a step further to blame SALT for causing or exacerbating some auto-immune diseases. ... waiter, may I have the no-sodium soy sauce? (2) Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Flush the system and remember that our brains are about 85% water, and our adult bodies can be about 50-65% water. Drinking sufficient water reduces stress, and remember, "Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty." - Zoolander. (3) Quick weekday meal plan snapshot - Eggs and fruit in the morning, grilled chicken and salad/greens lunch, grilled chix/fish dinner and fresh veggies. Snack on almonds and oranges(natural sugar).
For those of you still following along... today was an important week for my recovery as I passed the 6 week mark past surgery. I saw Dr. Drakos on Monday and he gave me the yellow light for starting physical therapy! He explained that the light is yellow because I'm in a golden period where I'm healing, but not healed, and each bit of calculated progress is critical to a full recovery. I was pumped to start. Even though I found out I had bronchitis a few hours later it was a great day. The night was not so good... I took my boot off to go to bed, but realized I'd forgotten to read something on my desk. So I hopped over (on one foot with bad one unprotected) and tried to sit down on a rolling desk-chair that shot out from under me when I tried to sit. I slammed down on my bad foot before catching myself with my arms. I feared the worst for my Achilles based on the pain I felt. I quickly jumped back to my be to make sure my Achilles was still connected, and it felt like it was, but my ankle felt like it had way too much flexibility. I was freaking out... and praying. I spoke to Dr. Drakos the following day and he said I had to come in and get re-examined to make sure I hadn't done any damage. So, he gave me a red light and I had to cancel the physical therapy session I was to start the next morning. Instead, my dad and I got up early and fought with traffic to get into the City. Although it was a terribly frustrating and frightening ordeal, it was all worth it to hear Dr. Drakos say that I was ALL GOOD! He gave me the yellow light back for physical therapy, but I'm green light - GO, excited.