The Most Decadent Paleo Recipe Ever!

Today I thought I would do a little something different with the blog.  Matt and I had some good friends over to watch the LSU-Mississippi State football game. Ugh!  Plain old painful.    We normally tailgate with them for the Saints night games at Emerils.  I know, I know...suffering! Anyways, I have been thinking about  my favorite dish there which is Smoked Mushroom and Tasso Pasta.  Of course, being all Paleo and everything you know I won't be ordering that anytime soon but thought what if?  What if I tried to make it at home with uncured bacon instead of tasso, coconut milk instead of heavy cream, and zucchini instead of pasta?  So that is what I did.  For you non-paleo people out there here is the original recipe...you can stop reading the rest here.  Smoked Mushrooms and Tasso over Orecchiette

Boy, do I love Emeril Lagasse's food!

I was so worried it would be like "SWYPO" like the whole 30 people talk about.  Honestly, it was just as good and equally satisfying.  Take my word for it. So here it the recipe and I know you are going to thank me...so you are so welcome!

Smoked Mushrooms and Bacon over Zoodles
Serves 6 normal people or 3 Crossfitters here is the recipe:

3 - 8 oz cartons fresh button mushrooms with stems removed and quartered
3 Tablespoons olive oil

My Big Green Egg

3 Tablespoons Emeril Essence (I made my own with this recipe here )

First, you need to smoke the mushrooms.  Emeril sells a stove top smoker, but hey we have a Big Green Egg that is great at smoking so we did that first.  Believe me, that is the secret ingredient and it is so easy and so good. Toss these together and smoke in a  stove top smoker or regular smoker about 25 minutes. (You should consider getting a good looking guy to do this for you like I did, because they will taste that much better!)  Set aside and cover with plastic wrap or you will eat all of them before you finish the dish.

For the next step you will need the following:
3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 large cloves of garlic chopped
1 bunch green onions chopped
1 package of Pederson's  uncured sugar free Paleo approved bacon chopped (uncooked)
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon Lousiana hot sauce
6 zucchini cut on a spiralizer or julienned to resemble spaghetti noodles

Zoodles -  spiralized zucchini 

Heat oil and add chopped onion and bacon.  Cook until onions and bacon begin to brown,  add garlic and green onions and stir til garlic and green onion softens but don't brown.  Add coconut milk, hot sauce and mushrooms and simmer to combine  favors.  Add zucchini or zoodles to the sauce and simmer for 3-4 minutes until zucchini are cooked.  Serve warm.

I like to add more protein on the side so we served this with smoked chicken wings from Nom Nom Paleo which are almost as awesome.



Let me know if you make this and what you think.  Hail Emeril for inspiring this dish!

See Paleo can be just as good as anything you have ever had!!

  Smoked Mushrooms and Bacon over Zoodles

However, if this dish doesn't ease your aches and pains you know what I am going to say.  "Everyone Deserves a Good Mechanical Assessment and Treatment Plan!"  Visit grimmpt.com or call 504-228-0524 to set up your evaluation today.

Why What I Do Won't Work

As my mother used to say, and probably still does..."I wish I had a quarter for every time  you said that!"  Geez, thanks mom...What I wish is if  I could get a quarter for  every time a patient comes back for a follow up visit and says they aren't 100% better.  When questioned further, I generally hear that they didn't do the exercises as prescribed or at all.   Well...

It doesn't work if you don't do your homework!  Period.  The McKenzie MDT evaluation for your lumbar and cervical spine or extremities is extremely reliable and validated.  This means it has been proven by research to be very useful in diagnosis and preferred treatments.

I have worked extremely hard to fine tune my evaluation skills so that we are wasting very little of your time (and mine too).  I have also worked very hard to determine which movement or prescribed therapeutic exercise you need to do to remedy your condition.  Occasionally, I come across a few problems that PT or MDT cannot correct and this is made clear by the evaluation.  Sometimes the evaluation will take a few visits and include many repetitions of one or two movements over time to determine if this is something you can actually treat yourself.  If you do the work and your condition isn't rapidly resolved, maybe you need another intervention.  Just remember the magic will only happen if you do the work...

MDT is almost magical if you do the exercise enough and as prescribed!

Don't you think it is worth it to give it a chance?  However, I want to make it clear here.  If you are not interested in learning to treat yourself and to resolve your issues in the least amount of time and are unwilling to do your homework, don't bother coming to see me. Why?  Because it won't work!   There are plenty of others out there who will gladly take your money and your time.  If you want I can refer you to them.

No "Brainer" if you do the work!

 However, if you want more information about the McKenzie or Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment Method, you may click here.   Also, check out this video below.  Its a good one!

You know what I am going to say..."Everyone Deserves a Good Evaluation and Treatment Plan!"  If you are willing to put in the time to do your prescribed homework then check out GrimmPT.com or call 504-228-0524 to set up your assessment today.

New Approved Medical Screen Mandatory, Prevents Disease, Falls, and Improves Overall Health and Longevity!

We are health conscious, or at least we are trying to be.  We count calories,  fat grams, amount of carbohydrates and weigh our food.  We monitor our blood sugar, heart rate, and blood pressure. 

We weigh ourselves regularly and watch our belt lines.  We test our cholesterol and our bone densities.  We measure our respiratory rates and our body mass indices.

Don't get me started on what I think of all of these tests.  We don't have all day!


But are we really measuring what matters?  Are you measuring your strength?  Flexibility? Endurance?  How about quality of movement?  Probably not.


Is there really a new approved Medical Screen that is mandatory...no, not really.  I was just wishfully thinking. 


When I was in Physical Therapy school one of my professors really enjoyed working with the "geriatric" population.  Her shtick was to make sure that her patients could get on the floor and off of the floor at least once a day.  When was the last time you did that?  I can hear the snickers out there right now.  Do you have any idea how many patients I see every week who can't do that?  We aren't talking about the geriatric population either.   Can you imagine how many people are unable to do this simple feat?


Can you touch your toes? Can you do a real push up?  Can you crawl? Can you climb stairs? Or a ladder? Can you squat below parallel with your heels on the ground?  Can you carry a 5 gallon water jug for 25 feet?  How about a suitcase on vacation?   If you are female can you blow dry your hair and fasten your bra in the back?  Can you hang from a bar like you did when you were a kid for at least 15 seconds?  Can you turn your head over your shoulders when you drive so that you can actually see something when  you merge into traffic?  Can you work overhead?  Can you stand on one leg with your eyes closed or even open for that matter?  Can you help pull a bike out of the ditch? Could you change a flat tire by yourself?




I could go on and on.  If you can do all of these things, GREAT!  Make sure that you keep the ability to do so.  If you can't, think about it, this is a huge wake-up call!  WAKE UP PEOPLE!  It isn't getting any better with time.

Movement as a study is extremely complex.  I am trying to learn as much as I can about functional movement and it is a little overwhelming, to say the least.  You can develop your own method of screening yourself if you wanted to but it is difficult to be objective and to record change.   However, there are standardized screens out there that you can benefit from.  I am most familiar with the Functional Movement Screen or FMS.   I love to use this in my practice once painful conditions have been addressed.   I also think it should be mandatory in all schools and gyms so that everyone would have an opportunity to measure their quality of movement. 

The FMS is used to rank movement.  It is not a test that you can pass.  It is a screen that highlights imbalances, weakness, and asymmetries.  It is comprised of 7 functional movements and 3 clearing tests including:  the deep squat, hurdle step,  in-line lunge, shoulder mobility, impingement clearing test, active straight leg raise, trunk stability pushup, press-up clearing test, rotary stability, and the posterior rocking clearing test.  It takes approximately 15 minutes and provides you, your healthcare provider or athletic trainer some valuable information.   Once you have completed this screen you are able to see quite clearly where problems exist in your basic movement patterns.  Corrective exercises can now be applied so that you can improve your movement before dysfunctional patterns are ingrained.  Of course, you have to actually do the exercises, about 15 minutes a day to see change for the better. 

To see how the Seattle Seahawks have benefited from the FMS check out this link here and you all know what happened after they introduced this screen and the corrective exercises...the dang Super Bowl!  If it is good enough for them it is definitely good enough for me too.  Maybe the New Orleans Saints could add this into their training too.



Wouldn't you think that this should be part of our quest for health and longevity?  I certainly do. Maybe instead of getting your cholesterol tested you should get your movement tested...just saying!


You know what I am going to say..."Everyone Deserves a Good Mechanical Assessment and Treatment Plan!"  This includes a Functional Movement Screen.  To schedule yours today, visit GrimmPT.com  or call 504-228-0524 to schedule your screen today.
 

What a Week!

I went to a new doctor myself this week.  As you probably know I am trying to keep myself healthy and having a check up now and then is part of my plan.  

1.  The hour was spent with her on her laptop typing in the lab results and medications, vitamins and supplements I am currently on.  I had brought written copies of this for her records.    I realize that this is now the norm in medical practices thanks to the regulations insurance companies place on us leaving us very little time to actually practice our professions.

2.  I was offered only an opportunity to change one of my medications from an "alternative" to a more mainstream one based on new blood work that she ordered.  

3.  There was no interest generated in my current diet or lifestyle or my questions regarding the root of my health problems.  



Later on this week I read an article  and came across this statement:  

"I made a mistake for most of my professional career, a mistake nearly all my physician colleagues make. For decades, I believed the best way to take care of my patients was to use the latest drugs and newest procedures. Instead of talking to my patients about food, toxin exposure, or activity level, I prescribed meds and moved on to the next person as quickly as I could."  Dr. Terry Wahls in an article here in the Huffington Post.  

This sounds just like the experience I had!  I realize that doctors get very little training in nutrition, toxin exposure and lifestyle choices.  I know that it is difficult to keep up with the literature that is coming out, believe me I can't keep up with everything in my field either.  This just saddened me and really frustrated me.   You just have to be your own health advocate and do your own research on your specific health issues.   Health care professionals don't have the time to learn everything and are really buried in bureaucratic paperwork.  This is the main reason I went to a cash based practice which you can read about in one of my previous blogs (Why I Have a Cash-Based Practice).  When you come to my office, you get my undivided attention for the entire hour.  I am NOT spending time with needless documentation for insurance companies.  I spend our time together assessing and developing a treatment plan designed specifically for your problems.  

Then a wonderful thing happened to me this week.  A previous patient of mine has been following my blog The Grimm Details,  and with many questions back and forth, decided to heed some of my advice.  Here is a little bit of our conversation:  

Look how receptive her doctor was!  That was so exciting for me to hear.  I recommended to her that she should try the Whole 30.   It is detailed in the book It Starts with Food  by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig.  You can purchase the book here.  It really is a life changer for sure.  It isn't easy but the results are dramatic!  You might even lose a little weight with the lifestyle and dietary changes The Whole 30 demands.  Isn't feeling so much better and reducing medications what it is all about?  What are you waiting for?  If you have any questions give me a call or message me, I will be glad to help you get started on your journey to a healthier life.  I bet Kami could answer your questions as well.  Chances are you will feel and see improvement in your health just as she did.   Maybe you will want to name your first born after her...

Buy it Here

However, if you are experiencing pain and want to know if it is rapidly reversible you know what I am going to say, "Everyone deserves a good mechanical assessment and treatment plan!"  Schedule your evaluation today at Grimm Physiotherapy by calling 504-228-0524 or visiting the website grimmpt.com.  

How to Exercise with Sciatica

In my line of work, which is utilizing the McKenzie Method or Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy, I am initially trying to determine directional preference.  If you come to me with sciatica which is pain in your legs originating from your back, I try to find movements that will centralize and eventually abolish your symptoms.

If you go to an exercise class that actually eases your leg pain and leaves you with only back pain, then believe it or not, that would be a good exercise class for you.  

Yes, you heard me right...a class that gives me back pain?  As long as it eliminates your leg pain, then I am going to say yes.  Because this class is actually helping to centralize your symptoms which is a green light in my type of work.  (See I always said you didn't have to stop exercising!  We just have to find the right exercise for you.)  Ideally, you would find an exercise class that actually abolishes your leg and back pain and helped you to feel better.

If you have back pain that peripheralizes (or spreads away from the center) down into your buttock, or IT band, to the back of your knee, calf or even all the way down your leg, then you are making yourself worse.  If you are exercising and it causes you to list, or shift away from the pain, then you are also making yourself worse by producing a lateral shift.  If you went to a class without any pain at all and left with pain then

 This means this is not the exercise class for you.  

 

Sciatica

Lateral Shift

You might just need to scale your exercises or substitute one exercise for another.  I will be glad to help you with this once I know what is really going on with your back or sciatica problems.  If you aren't sure whether or not you are helping or making your problem worse, you know what I am going to say.  "Everyone Deserves a Good Mechanical Assessment and Treatment Plan!"  Visit grimmpt.com or call 504-228-0524 to set up your evaluation today.