Small Steps to Health

New Life as a Mom

A friend of mine kept talking about how healthy she used to eat when she was pregnant. Unlike me, her diet consisted of fresh fruits and veggies when she was carrying her baby. I, on the other hand, ate like I’ve never seen a cheeseburger and milkshake before. I never realized that grease and fat [...]

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Specific Reader Questions about Torn Hip Labrum and Pregnancy

This post is a response to a reader question about my pregnancy and torn hip labrum. But first I want to announce that I created a hip pain resource page listing all my postings regarding this injury in chronological order and grouped around pain management and pregnancy.  You will find it much easier to follow [...]

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Your To-Do List Before You Schedule Hip Surgery

Since I rarely discuss my torn hip labrum with co-workers and friends, it is amazing to find many people with hip and back problems once I open up. Though surgery is the only way to “heal a torn hip labrum,” here is a checklist of several things to do before you schedule hip surgery to [...]

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Would You Let Your Child Become a Meathead?

In this week’s issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek there is an interesting article on child bodybuilding. According to the article, "youth memberships have become one of the fastest growing areas for the fitness club industry… Over the past five years pre-adolescent and teen memberships have increased by 2.9% annually and the 6 to 11 age category [...]

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Get Relief from Your Pet Allergies Symptoms

A close friend of mine brought a cute purebred Yorkie for $1000. After several weeks of sneezing and watery eyes, he found out that he is allergic to dogs. If my friend took a skin test at an allergist’s office before purchasing his dog, he could have saved himself several weeks of suffering from his [...]

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Take a Walk for Healthy Knees

My knee has been aching lately. Normally I spend a lot of time talking (okay complaining about) my torn hip labrum. What I usually don’t discuss is how my knee would sometime ache because of my weak hip. As I mentioned in my knee injury post, sometimes knee pain starts at the hip. Good thing [...]

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Cost of Effective Weight Loss Programs

How much are you willing to pay for an effective weight loss program? Would you be willing to pay $25 to lose 1 pound? What about $100? People enrolled in a structured weight loss program such as Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig often end up losing more weight than people try to lose weight on [...]

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Cooking Mystery Books

Sometimes when you are overexposed to TV commercials advertising food causes you to rummage through your refrigerator or pantry for something to eat. Apparently reading mystery books based on cooking causes me to develop the same habit. Lately I’ve been reading two mystery series where the main characters are cooks. So throughout the multiple books [...]

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Lose Weight on Casual Friday

I love casual Friday. Not only is it the day before the weekend, but a day for me to wear jeans and tennis shoes instead of business casual at work. If every day is casual Friday, then all of us would have a slimmer waistline. On average, your typical office worker will walk an additional [...]

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Walking for Weight Loss

If you were sedentary before you started your walking routine, you might lose a few pounds. But as your body becomes acclimate to the walking, what was once challenging becomes, well, routine. When you reach this stage, you will not see additional weight loss from walking (also known as a plateau). In order for you to continue to lose weight from walking, you must change one of the two variables: intensity or duration.

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One Tip on How to Eat Healthy at Work

Lunchtime is my favorite time of day. I usually head down to the break room with my lunch bag to catch up with some friends. I rarely ever eat in front of my computer. Even when I have no one to have lunch with, I still head down to the break room with my Kindle. [...]

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Torn Hip Labrum after Pregnancy

I got an email from a reader asking about my decision to have a baby prior to getting more treatment for my torn hip labrum. In the email the reader wrote: I am not a good candidate for surgery either… The doc has told me that in my shoes, she wouldn’t wait to have kids, [...]

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I want to lose the baby weight!

The days and nights are starting to become less of a blur as Hazelnut and I establish somewhat of a routine. Since I am slightly less sleep deprived (though I still could use more sleep), my thoughts are starting to drift to my weight. I gained 42 pounds of baby weight during my pregnancy. I [...]

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Welcome Little Hazelnut!

It’s been a while since I last wrote. Things have been a little hectic since our daughter, Little Hazelnut, was born a few weeks earlier than expected. After two weeks of being a new mom, I feel like I am finally coming up for air. I never knew sleep deprivation until now. I was not [...]

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The French Diet: Skinny from Wine and Butter?

If you spend any time trying to lose weight, then you must have heard about the French diet and how French women are skinnier than your average American women. The French diet is higher in fat and encourages wine consumption, and yet French women are less obese than American women. The French diet consists of [...]

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Eating Breakfast to Prevent Sumo Size Weight Gain

Do you know that sumo wrestlers have a rigid training plan like most athletes? One of the training techniques for turning regular size boys into sumo wrestler is by not eating breakfast. Do you skip breakfast in the morning? Not eating breakfast = sumo size The sumo wrestler training plan consists of waking early, not [...]

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What is an Ideal Body Weight?

The one thing I learn from my pregnancy is that you are never at the ideal body weight. Ever. There will always be someone who thinks you are too big and someone else who thinks you are too small. I am not just talking about pregnancy weight gain, but just body weight in general. I’ve [...]

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Pregnancy Update

One more month to go and I will be able to hold my little girl. I am at the point where I am ready for this pregnancy to be over.  Though I have a relatively “easy” pregnancy up until the last couple of weeks, I am at the stage where I am uncomfortable no matter [...]

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A Pill Splitting Horror Story

This weekend I found out that my mom is taking a generic maintenance drug for high blood pressure. Since she her blood pressure sometimes get as high as 150/90, her doctor wanted my mom to try taking half a tablet of a generic high blood pressure medication on a daily basis. The generic medication already [...]

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Can a Torn Hip Labrum Heal Itself?

The short answer is no. A torn hip labrum (or any labral tear) cannot heal itself.  However, when most people are asking this question, they are more interested in whether the pain of a torn hip labrum will disappear over time.  The answer to that question is “it depends.” Quick overview on your hip labrum [...]

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