5 Healthier Alternatives to Classic Holiday Dishes

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I am still reeling from a delicious meal yesterday! I have to say, the left overs might have been even better today {which is not always the case}. We had a special Thanksgiving this year, because we had a friend join us that is not from the US and this was her first American Thanksgiving celebration. Of course food prep started the day before and restarted Thursday afternoon. I use mainly vegetables in my cooking so most of my food preparation goes into chopping rather than baking. I explained to my new friend what classic Thanksgiving dishes consisted of, but quickly realized that what I was cooking was more of a modification of the “traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner”. Of course I love the regular stuff as much as the next person: green bean casserole, gravy, pie, the whole thing! However, I prefer to cook healthy alternatives to traditional dishes. She was actually excited to hear that! My guests and family loved the dishes I made! Even though they lacked butter and fake cheese goo, it did not take away from the holiday festivities in the least. Here are a few “this for that” alternatives that I chose to opt for on my dinner table this year. They turned out amazing, and were easy to execute:

1. Instead of Traditional Green Bean Casserole (cream of mushroom etc):

   Vegan Green Bean Casserole from the blog The Minimalist Baker

Forget anything out of a can! Fresh mushrooms, green beans, shallots, and almond milk that this a rich and tasty, yet healthy alternative. I added a little fresh rosemary to mine for some extra yummy flavor! I made extra gravy with this as well to eat with the turkey.

2. Instead of Traditional “Dressing”:

Thanksgiving Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing from the blog The Girl on Bloor

No bread. Have I lost you yet? Okay, if you are gutsy enough to still be listening, look at this picture of all the beautiful colorful veggie goodness!!! Oh so good, seriously you won’t even miss the bread. Butternut squash, fresh sage and rosemary, peppers, celery, and more, oh my! I made a couple changes to my personal recipe: instead of turkey sausage {because we ate turkey for dinner} I used Applegate uncured bacon and cooked the veggies in the oil from the bacon for flavor. I also did not use Brussel sprouts, but only because I thought I threw them in the shopping cart but didn’t. Still good! And great the next day.

3. Instead of Loaded Potato Soup: Roasted Cauliflower Soup Shooters from the blog Flavour and Savour

I actually served these in rocks glasses because shot glasses seemed a little too small. I served this soup as a starter and it was a huge hit! It is super easy to make, just sautée all the veggies, add your broth, throw them in a blender and voila! My kitchen smelled absolutely incredible while cooking this soup. I made it the day before, refrigerated it, and it easily heated back up on the stove the next day. I made the recipe as is, without the garnish and it was a perfect starter soup. It’s not too heavy and is vegan, Keto, Paleo, and Whole 30 friendly!

4. Instead of yeast rolls: Best Darn Vegan Biscuits from the blog The Minimalist Baker

Now I am a bread lover. I seriously am, BUT I do not feel good eating a meal with multiple carb items, so since I opted for veggies for pretty much every other side dish, I felt a little better about having a biscuit on the dinner table as an option. This recipe is super simple, just 7 ingredients. The key is definitely making sure you use COLD vegan butter! That’s what makes a biscuit, a biscuit. They are light and fluffy, and you feel a little lighter using vegan butter instead of real butter.

5. Instead of regular Pecan Pie: Vegan Pecan Pie from the blog Chocolate Covered Katie

Take out the butter and high glycemic index sugars and opt for more heathy alternatives such as agave nectar and nut butter. Of course you can still add a little shot of Bourbon for flavor! A perfect way to end your Thanksgiving meal, without feeling like you’re so full of butter and sugar that you’re going to roll out of bed with a sugar hang over the next day. Add a little vanilla coconut cream ice cream as a topper and enjoy!

The holiday parties and Christmas dinners are fast approaching. I hope this inspires you to look for healthier alternatives to your favorite dishes! Not only do they taste way better than anything out of a box, but they are better for your body and leave you with less guilt! Finding recipes is easy, just Google “healthy recipe for ____” you fill in your favorite food, and you will find hundreds of options! Using recipes from blogs are some of my favorites because they usually have lots of step by step pictures and options for other ingredient/tips you can add for that personal touch! The recipes that I used were very easy for me as a novice home “chef”. If I can do it, so can you!! Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy!

Dr. Ashley Romine, DPT
Owner / Physical Therapist
Athlete’s Mechanic, LLC

Want more daily motivation? Following along at instagram.com/dr.ashleyromine.

3 Ways to Actually Get Motivated This Monday

Motivation Monday. It's like an epidemic isn't it? If you look at your Instagram or Facebook accounts on today, I guarantee you won't have trouble finding a "Motivation Monday" quote or saying. It helps temporarily get out of that "Monday Funk", but as the week goes on it tends to get more difficult up until "Hump Day" {insert camel pic} before it gets better. Now is not the time to panic {It's only Monday for heaven's sake}! The best way to start your week is not just with nice saying, but with strategy.

Having a game plan will make your entire week more productive and less stressful. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Plan your day out based on your top priorities, and act on that list in an efficient order. When planning out your attack, consider geography to reduce drive time, what time places are open you need to get to, and even what time you are most productive at each specific task you need to get done. Maybe you are a blogger and have your best creative thoughts in the middle of the night. So what are you doing with your laptop and OJ, zoning out into the black hole of your screen this morning!? Put it down, back away, and grab your gym bag already.

2. Get rid of time wasting distractions. One trick I learned to make myself more productive as an entrepreneur was to make a list of "money wasting" vs "money making" activities to help organize my brain and put things in perspective. What would qualify as a time waster? Well, anything that does not directly help you meet one of your goals. Maybe your time wasters are hours on social media, trolling the Realestate market, cars for sale, or rabbit holing the YouTube vortex of cat videos and DIY laundry detergent. Set aside specific times for the tasks that make you money, give you more time, and meet your goals. Give yourself an allowance for "money wasting" activity {if needed} to decompress a bit, but set a timer for yourself so that it doesn't get out of hand. Make time work for you not, not slip away from you! The powah is yours.

3. Reduce your hat exchange frequency. What I mean by this is that many of us wear several "hats", or have several roles throughout the day. You might play the role of "mommy or daddy", office manager, chef, finger painter, runner, gardener, surgeon, powerlifter, yogi, firefighter, lawyer, boot camper, dancer, booty wiper, waitress, and/or human milk machine. You get the point, but every role we play requires a different mind set, a different way we carry ourselves, and maybe even a different location or wardrobe. When we try to cram in one role right after the next or flip back and forth between roles through out the day, it is not only exhausting, but we also don't perform as well at each task! To make the most of your time and allow you to be the best at each role you have to take on, plan your day out so that you can get as many things done in one role before you change to the next role. For example: in my life, I start my morning as "mom", but I change right into my gym clothes with a bagged packed with another set of gym clothes and a business casual set. I drop the kids off at school, go work out in my gym clothes, then see patients in gym clothes, complete paperwork for those patients at the gym, while it’s on my mind. I film my videos for social media for that same audience during that time. Then to switch gears, I shower at the gym and change into business casual. I am ready to do marketing for my practice, or I can change out hats now that I've changed clothing and could see home health patients. I could stay in that same outfit and give a presentation. You get the point. The other set of work out clothes is for at the end of the day, when I am just ready to change back into comfy clothes. It's time to put the mom hat back on, leave work behind, and pay attention to my family.

Of course, there is the reality of life and everything is not going to run smoothly every day. Kids get sick, a patient reschedules, or you have a specific time to be at an event, but having a plan of attack for the week can reduce so much stress! If you prioritize your activities, strategize your day including what activities are not worthy of your time, and pack your bag {and your brain} for the various roles you have to play throughout the day, you will achieve more and feel good doing it! Happy Motivation Monday....now get to it!

Dr. Ashley Romine, DPT
Owner / Physical Therapist
Athlete’s Mechanic, LLC

Want more daily motivation? Watch videos of stretches, exercises and more by following along at instagram.com/dr.ashleyromine.

What Is Dry Needling?

When I first told my husband I was going to get dry needling certified, he thought I had lost my mind. Needles?! No way. BUT I can assure you that not only is it not scary, but it is also incredibly effective. Having had first-hand experience, I have been dealing with a calf that chronically tightens up especially after running, jump roping, and taking long walks on uneven terrain. Since I have been using dry needling, my symptoms are 90% better —and even when they do come back, they are significantly lesser and go away within a day or two, as opposed to lasting weeks or months! I am far from the only one that has experienced good outcomes with this technique, which is why it is so sought after today. 

What is Dry Needling?
Dry needling is a form of therapy in which fine needles are inserted into myofascial trigger points (painful knots in muscles): tendons, ligaments or nerves in order to stimulate a healing response in painful musculoskeletal conditions. Dry needling is not acupuncture or oriental medicine—in layman’s terms, it does not have the purpose of alternating the “Qi” along traditional Chinese meridians for the treatment of diseases. In fact, dry needling is a modern, science-based intervention for the treatment of pain and dysfunction in musculoskeletal problems such as neck pain, shoulder impingement, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and low-back pain.

Dry needling using the same needles as acupuncture, but are used instead to stimulate a healing response.

Is dry needling safe?
Drowsiness, tiredness or dizziness can occur after treatment in a small number of patients (only 1-3%) and if affected, you are advised not to drive. Minor bleeding or bruising occurs after dry needling in 15-20% of treatments, and is considered very normal. Temporary pain during dry needling occurs in 60-70% of treatments. Existing symptoms can get worse after treatment (less than 3% of patients); however, this is not necessary a bad sign. Fainting can occur in certain patients (0.3%), particularly at the first treatment session when needling the neck or head regions. Dry needling is very safe, but serious side effects can occur in less than 1 per 10,000 (less than 0.01%) treatments.

The most common serious side effect from dry needling is induced pneumothorax (lung collapse due to air inside the chest wall). The symptoms of dry needling-induced pneumothrax commonly do not occur until after the treatment session and sometimes it takes several hours to develop. The signs and symptoms of a pneumothorax may include shortness of breath (SOB) on exertion, increased breathing rate, chest pain, a dry cough, or a bluish discolorization of the skin or excessive sweating. If such signs and/or symptoms occur, you should immediately contact your physical therapist or physician. Nerves or blood vessels may be damaged from dry needling which can result in pain, numbness or tingling. This is very rare event and is usually temporary. Damage to internal organs has been reported in medical literature following needling, but these are extremely rare events (1 in 200,000).

Dr. Ashley Romine, DPT
Owner / Physical Therapist
Athlete’s Mechanic, LLC

Want to see if dry needling can help? Schedule a free screening to talk more about your options before committing to physical therapy.

Running Technique Analysis / Training

In our experience, serious runners are thirsty for knowledge and ready to do almost anything to get better, faster, stronger, and efficient. If you are a new runner, seasoned runner, or want to begin running, we can help you meet your goals and run pain-free and with more efficiency.

How does a running technique analysis or training work?
Find out what areas need improvement in your running mechanics through thorough video analysis. As a certified Running Technique Specialist, we will go frame by frame, through your running gait cycle with you, and show you what is slowing you down or attributing to your pain. We will go through drills, exercises, and tips to use to fix your specific issues. After the visit, you will be sent a summary of your analysis with pictures showing what you need to correct, as well as videos of the drills so you can work on them at your own pace. Usually, two to three follow up visits are enough to see improvements, with follow up video analysis for comparison and progression of drills. 

How can you benefit from a running technique analysis?
An analysis can help pinpoint issues to fix, resulting in reduced back pain, knee pain, hip pain, improved performance, speed—and reduce your overall effort with running more efficiently than ever before!

Interested or want to learn more? Check out our upcoming clinics or schedule an analysis today.