Baby PT has gone Primal!

This blog is about me and my safer lifestyle choices based on my professional opinion (as a Doctor of PT licensed in VA & FL) and my personal research into how to live my healthiest life. This blog does not reflect the opinion of any professional organization with which I am affiliated, nor is designed to replace your PT's nor physician's medical advice. This blog is for informational and entertainment purposes only. If a reader relies on this blog as advice, it is at their own risk

Friday, April 15, 2022

Time to get Working out!

New Work Out and Why?

Pandemic 2020

Throughout the past two years of the pandemic many people began working out while at home and it was good. However, I didn't have the time at home to do that and kept plugging along, working in and out of the home. Remember, I'm a physical therapist. So glad I wasn't working in a hospital setting!! I work in pediatrics primarily and during most of the pandemic, we saw patients in the clinical setting. Yes, when EVERYTHING shut down back in 2020, we, too, closed the office. However, we quickly moved to telehealth and that took up almost as much time as going into the clinic.

After moving to Florida, I find myself with a LOT of time on my hands as I'm in-between jobs and just returned from the east coast. So, what does one do when one hasn't given much time to herself over the pandemic? Start exercising!!

I plan to walk until I feel ready to run again... if that happens. It's been 6 years since I broke my ankle running (see blog post April 16, 2016). Gosh, a LOT has happened since then! Not to mention, I'm now in my mid-50s and running will be difficult, but not impossible! I do enjoy walking, so for now, that's the challenge! Besides, walking is VERY good for us! (I'll get into the science another day, promise)

Program Week 1:

I started walking every morning except Sundays - it's cliche, but that's my "rest" day. I also decided to start out slowly and varied my route to reduce boredom. So, on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays I decided to head to the right walking out of my driveway. That way I could backtrack or choose to go longer than the original 1.5 miles for week 1.

I also decided that Wednesday would be the "perfect" day to be my "hard" day and walk farther.

On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays I decided those would be my "easy" days and I'd pretty well stick to the same 1.4 loop as I go out my driveway to the left.

My week looked like this:

Monday - 1.53 miles in 32 minutes

Tuesday - 1.44 miles in 30 minutes

Wednesday - 1.78 miles in 38 minutes

Thursday - 1.47 miles in 38 minutes (with an 8 minute talk with a neighbor)

Friday - 1.54 miles in 31 minutes

Saturday - 1.58 miles in 32 minutes

Program Week 2:

Not only did I feel like I could add more steps into my days, but that I need to add to my work out beyond walking. Though walking is a GREAT workout, especially for those of us who are over 50, I need toning and strength. So, I did a Youtube search as I've always been a lover of exercise classes, and found "Fit Tiff". She had just done a 5-day, 20-minute-a-day workout plan last week and I just did that each day (I'll add a link to each day's workout for your convenience).

What I like about "Fit Tiff" is that she has a timer in the upper right corner fo the screen with a "ding" for the halfway point and 3-2-1 beep sounds for the end of the exercise time. She gives approximately 20 seconds between the exercises and has a small window in the left upper screen to show what the next exercise will be. She also incorporates a 30 second rest between sets. Well done, Tiff!! (No, I do not know her, but I support anyone with good quality exercise videos out there!)

Monday - 2.07 miles in 49 minutes (again, a talk with a neighbor)

20-minute upper body workout: Biceps and Triceps

Tuesday - 1.75 miles in 34 minutes (there are two cul-de-sacs I added in to that loop)

20-minute leg day at home: Glutes and quad focus

Wednesday- 2.5 miles in 50 minutes (I went around the entire peninsula!)

No equipment cardio: Cardio and Abs

Thursday - 1.57 miles in 31 minutes

20-minute upper body workout: Shoulders and Chest

Friday - 2.2 miles in 57 minutes (met another neighbor and her two dogs!)

(no extra exercises today due to patient appointments and Good Friday Mass at 3pm)

Saturday - 2.06 miles in 44 minutes

20-minute lower body workout: Inner Thigh and Hamstrings

So, what for next week and where do I go from here? I plan to repeat week 2 for week 3, but add in fully eating Paleo again. Dairy and certain grains like rice and GF oats have made their way back into my diet. I was talking to my adult son, who is casein allergic and has gluten sensitivity, that we need to begin both eating the same. No dairy, no gluten/grains. So, that'll be the week 3 addition to this lifestyle overhaul. I'll check in after week 3 to update my stats for you! At this point, the scale has slightly gone up, which could be a number of things (like increased water weight as I've been drinking more water, or increased muscle weight due to the exercises, etc).

Friday, April 8, 2022

How can Sunscreen become Safer?

Sunscreen

SUNSCREEN: Boy is that word loaded!

There seems to be so many confrontational issues today, but sunscreen is quickly becoming another one. Why? Because on one hand, we have the scientists, physicians, and dermatologists who are demanding that we, the public, protect ourselves from the harmful UVA and B rays (ultraviolet rays). On the other hand, we have people who are begging us to protect the environment. The question is: Can we protect our skin from the harmful UVA/B rays AND protect the environment? The answer is: YES! Before I get to the "How?" answer, let's deep dive into the sun and why its rays are so harmful to us. I mean, we were put on this earth... why don't we have innate protection?

The sun:

Our sun is at the center of our solar system and referred to as a yellow dwarf star that was formed roughly 4.6 billion years ago.(1) (Want more information on the sun? Click here for the wikipedia link I found this information) Our sun gives us light that includes visible and not visible light. Some of the not visible light includes the ultraviolet rays that can cause plants to grow and skin to age or burn. It is necessary for our skin to be exposed to the sun for us to make vitamin D, but too much of a good thing can backfire on us by causing skin cancer development. We do have some protection inherent in our skin in the form of melanin. Some of us have more and some of us have less. Regardless, we ALL can get burned and form cancers from sun exposure!

UVA versus UVB versus other sunlight:

UVA makes up 95% of the ultraviolet light that gets through our atmosphere and is a longer wavelength than UVB. Most UVC does not make it through the atmosphere, but helps to make our ozone layers. Most of us know about UVC now as we can buy lights that emit the C wavelength and it's known as being germicidal (2), so we've seen the lamps being used against Covid-19 and other infectious diseases in recent years. UVB is important in plant hormone development and our skin making vitamin D, which is actually a hormone. (3)

KEEP them straight: UVA = AGING UVB = BURN UVC = CLEAN

Blue Light:

What is "blue light"? Well, it's a part of the visible light spectrum... we know the parts of the rainbow are visible light separated by prism (or water) into Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet or ROYGBIV. So, blue is just one of the colors and is the dominant color we see in our sky. It is also given off by our electronic devices, and because of that it is coming into the limelight as we see that it, too, causes aging of our skin. It also has some negative properties that can cause us not to make as much melatonin (a natural hormone we make as the sun goes down to help us get to sleep) and can contribute to sleep disorders (4).

Sunscreen vs Sunblock:

Sunscreen is a substance that helps protect the skin from the sun's harmful rays (5). Sunblock is anything that physically blocks the sun from getting to the skin. It can be a shirt, a cream/spray, or a coating on your lens or windows. For the purposes of most articles, "sunscreen" is the term that we use to reference any cream or spray we put on our skin. It is divided into two categories: chemical blockers and physical blockers.

Chemical blockers are the questionable ingredients when we talk about safer sunscreens for our body and our environment. These include: oxybenzone, oxtinoxate, homosalate, octisalate, avobenzone, and octocrylene. The problem, specifically, with these 6 chemicals is that they are absorbed INTO our body after just ONE use and remain in the skin and blood for weeks after that use! What concern should we have about this? Oxybenzone, octinoxate, homosalate, and aveobenzone are all known hormone disruptors and all contribute to skin allergies and other concerns. (6) As for the environment? Hawaii was the first state to ban sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate in 2018. (7) Since that time, more research has shown that it isn't just those two chemicals that are causing the bleaching of our coral reefs, but a huge list of others! (8)

Physical blockers are thought of as "safer" because they are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. However, in order to avoid that white smear that happens with the larger diameter minerals like zinc and titanium, they have been reduced in size to nano particles. Unfortunately, these nano particles can absorb into the body through the skin. Personally, I'd recommend using a "non-nano" formulation which many safer companies are gravitating toward and the EWG recommends. (6) The Environmental Working Group puts together a yearly sunscreen listing for our convenience and you can find that here: https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/best-sunscreens/best-beach-sport-sunscreens/ (9)

The below image was obtained from: https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html

I hope you feel you now know something about sunscreen and why it's important to READ the label! Please do not assume that the product is safe just because the advertisements or bottle claims to be "reef safe" and "mineral" (many that have SPF numbers higher than 30 are augmented with chemicals!). Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! I am here for you as I do my own homework!!

Lastly, my personal favorite is the Beautycounter sunscreens as they are non-nano zinc oxide and even the sprays do not have propellants in the bottles! If you're interested, you can use the code cleanforall30 for the month of April 2022 as a first time customer!!