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Not all goals are created equal

In lieu of our last blog about setting goals for spring-time, let’s talk about how to set goals successfully! The first and most important element of goal-making is being realistic. As it applies to fitness, be honest with yourself and locate yourself on the fitness spectrum- are you truly a person who shuns all exercise, someone who works out casually 3 times a week, someone who walks to say in shape or a more dedicated gym-goer? Locate yourself and feel no shame- we all start from a different point on the spectrum; the important part is that we start at all. 

A checklist for successful goal-setting 

• On a piece of paper, write down your goal. 
• Make it as realistic and detailed as possible- you want to walk 30 minutes a day, stretch for 30 minutes, or complete 3 30-second planks per day. The idea is that you keep it small and easily attainable at first. 
• Choose a way of going about it that will bring you joy: what activity do you enjoy most? If running is not your thing, don’t run! Choosing activities that bring you joy keeps you coming back for more. 
• Choose a time frame that sets you up for success- no more than two months for a short-term goal. 
• Schedule the time: set an alarm on your phone or write yourself a big, bold note on the fridge. 

Set one goal at a time 

This is the foundation from which you will grow. The feeling of success that comes with achieving one goal will spur you on to set and achieve the next one. At our office in Sacramento, we can help you achieve any fitness goals you set for yourself by supporting your body and treating chronic pain. Let’s stack the odds in your favor- give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

New Years Resolutions should be set in spring

It is the time of renewal and a positive change in the weather; the time of color and abundance in produce; if ever there were a season that was geared toward losing weight it would be this one! It’s the time to put the dourness of winter behind and focus on what makes us happy. But how do we start breaking ourselves out of our winter skin to take advantage of the season? By setting goals that are realistic and that take advantage of the season. 

Let’s focus on why we want to set goals for spring first:

• Improve health
• Boost immune system
• Get outside and enjoy the season
• Improve mood

Setting goals that are spring-specific

• Getting outside: walking 30 minutes in the winter is not the same as in spring. Warmer temperatures mean more calories burned. 
• Eat 1-2 pieces of fruit a day, preferably from the farmer’s market or your own garden!
• What activity do you love? Biking, swimming, running, walking- choose the one you like most and schedule a few 30-minute blocs for it in your weekly schedule. 
• Get involved locally: volunteer in the parks, sign up for a community race that supports a good cause and get training. 
• Stretch in the backyard or on the front porch: there’s more to look at! 
• Spring cleaning: Gets your body moving and helps to clear you mind to fight stress!

The earlier you start the better

With spring right around the corner, there is no better time than now to grab a friend and get outdoors. If you are itching to get outside but your body is ailing from a long winter spent inside, give our office in Sacramento a call. We can help you address long-standing muscular and structural dysfunction so that you can get out and pursue the activities you love. Let’s make spring the foundation for a year full of fitness! 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

Don’t let flexibility slip away while you work…

….because it will! Sitting hunched over for 8 hours is a behavior that contributes to a steep decline in flexibility as we get older. If you choose to do nothing about it, then you are leaving your body at risk for injury from basic daily motions. Think of all the standing, walking, lifting, twisting and turning movements that you do in a day, many of which are unconscious processes. Now imagine that you couldn’t do these with ease, that simply standing up could cause you pain. That is what is at stake if we let flexibility slip away. 

Can you spare two minutes? 

Instead focus on simple upkeep- 2 minutes an hour to establish a baseline of flexibility and keep muscles tension free; we promise you the effects will be astonishing. Start with these basic movements, all of which can be done from the seated position in your office chair: 

• Gentle twist: sit up straight, inhale and exhale while gently twisting your body to the left, as you look over your left shoulder. Place your right hand on your knee and rest for 10 seconds then repeat on the other side. 
• Release the shoulders: hands off the keyboard, sit up straight and squeeze your shoulder blades in toward each other. Hold 10 seconds and release. 
• Release the neck: sit up straight, place your hand on top of your hand and gently lower your left ear toward your shoulder. Feel the stretch in the opposing side and hold 5 seconds, then repeat on the other side. 
• Forward fold: sit on the edge of your chair, extend your legs with feet hip width apart. Inhale and exhale and fold your upper body down, reaching toward your feet with your hands. Grasp your ankles and rest this way for 10 seconds. 

Use your time at work to preserve flexibility

Now instead of a situation in which you are actively defeating your own flexibility, you are adding to it! This is a crucial difference-maker in our experience as we age and our bodies slow down: flexibility is one of the factors that can make the difference between chronic pain and an old age of independence. Let’s start restoring that flexibility today! Give our office in Sacramento a call to schedule an appointment. 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

Computer screen headaches are on the rise

For many people, a work day is defined by bodies crunched over, eyes focusing on a bright screen, with the whole office illuminated and a vortex of sound surrounding them. Is it any wonder that a headache could develop out of this kind of sensory stimulation and poor posture? The importance of this illustration is not that a headache could develop, but the fact that there are so many factors contributing to it.

While it is important to determine the true cause of your headache, the computer screen and associated eye strain is quite a common trigger. 

• Resting focus: because of the small text, we keep computers closer than is a comfortable resting distance for our eyes. 
• Eye strain: focusing intently on small text causes eye strain as does switching focus between screen and desk. 
• Lighting: computer work on a bright screen in a brightly lit environment is too much for our eyes to take in constantly and can lead to strain. 

Prevention of computer screen headaches

Let’s focus on ways to lessen the impact of a computer screen as it contributes to your headaches.

• Take a break once every hour to do something completely unrelated to the screen. 
• If possible, turn down overhead lights and adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor.
• Create a good ergonomic environment that makes posture easy for your body and reduces eye strain. 
• Keep your eyes from refocusing too often; this means from notepad to screen for example. Rapid flitting between two objects is difficult for the eyes. 

Prevention is a key part of our wellness program at Espinosa Family Chiropractic. We believe that many of the maleficent factors in life such as headaches can be negated with enough attention to prevention and to that effect, we offer your our services and expertise to keep you happy and healthy. Give our office in Sacramento a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C.

When only stress remains in the day…

Many people complain of not being able to switch off when they leave work- they arrive home to more thoughts of the job and the feeling that they can’t let go. This sends us spiraling into stress when we should be unwinding. As an office of chiropractic, we are primarily concerned with the effect of stress on the body- the tense muscles, tension headaches and shallow breathing that it causes. We have brainstormed a few simple techniques for diverting your mind from the vicious cycle of stress. 

Physical ways to let go of stress: Legs-up-the-wall

It can be hard to remove yourself from the vicious cycle that stress causes, but sometimes you have to get inverted! One of the simplest and most powerful yoga poses, legs up the wall has the benefits of: 

• boosting circulation to the upper body
• relieving lower back pain
• alleviating headaches
• boosting energy
• encouraging lymph and other fluids to drain from the legs

How to do it: 

1. Sit with left side against the wall 
2. Turn your body to the left and bring your legs up on the wall
3. Lower your back to the floor and lie down
4. Rest shoulders and head on the floor 
5. Get buttocks as close to the wall as possible 
6. Let your arms rest extended to the sides.
7. Practice deep breathing and hold for 5 minutes

Progressive relaxation: 

Start breathing in deeply, expanding the belly and holding for 4 seconds. Exhale for the same amount of time. Focus on each breath and the rhythm will help stress melt away. Now add in part two: with each inhale, tense a different muscle group and then let go on the exhale. Dedicating a few minutes to physically unwinding after work will help to keep stress at bay when you are trying to relax at home. Give it a try next time you are feeling burnt out! 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

Your head weighs more than you give it credit for…

Forward head posture (FHP) is a pervasive positioning of the head related to overuse of cell phones and computers. The wall test is a simple way to diagnose yourself with FHP:

• Stand straight against a wall
• Feet shoulder width apart.
• Heels, buttocks and shoulder blades touching the wall
• Is the back of your head touching the wall?

If not, there’s a good chance your head is resting forward most of the day. This is problematic when you consider studies that suggest for every inch you move forward, you are adding 10 pounds of extra pressure to the spine. It’s no wonder we are seeing the onset of degenerative spinal conditions shift to an earlier demographic.

How we help at Espinosa Family Chiropractic

At our office in Sacramento, we help you address FHP through postural analysis and awareness, chiropractic adjustment and attention to the muscles that matter. A leading reason for FHP is tightening and weakness of the muscles which are used to support the head at the top of the spine (the head’s center of gravity). This is a key area of focus for us at Espinosa Family Chiropractic. We want to release tight muscles such as the occipitals and the sternocleidomastoid and focus on strengthening the muscles that will make it easier to keep your head atop the spine without craning forward. 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

When you work at the computer, your hands are on the front line

For some it may take weeks, for others years, to show but the repetitive stress of typing all the time does take its toll on the fingers, wrists and forearms. And this map of pain can be traced further to the shoulders, neck and spine- science is clear regarding the harm of sit-heavy lifestyles. Most employers invest little in education regarding ergonomics and posture, so it is up to us, the responsible workers, beholden to our own health, to take action!

Easy stretches on-the-job: 

• The paci-fists: starting with your hands wide open, gently squeeze them into fists and open them again. Repeat 10 times. 
• Clasp hands together in front of you and extend arms with palms facing outward. Hold 10 seconds then bring hands over head and repeat. 
• The prayer: hands together, palms and fingers flat against each other. Push hands in toward each other to provide a stretch to the wrist. 

Do these as often as the thought strikes you and it will go a long way toward preventing wrist and hand pain from occurring in the first place. Repetitive stress is ubiquitous in the workplace: listen closely when your body twinges with tightness or pain and respond in the moment! This will stop the problem from compounding and causing more trouble down the road. If you need help addressing repetitive stress that won’t seem to go away, give our office in Sacramento a call. We specialize in finding and treating the cause, not the symptom! 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

^cake pops, a snack sure to cause a sugar crash. But how likely are you to reach for it anyway? 

Snacking has a bad rap in the health community

Because we tend to snack on JUNK! For a busy individual, snacking can actually be extremely useful. It just needs to be done right. Blood sugar ebbs and flows throughout the day: letting it get too low leaves us feeling light-headed, hungry and stressed out, which leads us to grab at the nearest snack, say a candy bar, which spikes blood sugar too high and then drops us off the other side feeling fatigued and depressed. The idea is to remain in the middle and snacking can be very useful in this endeavor. 

Preparing your snacks: a successful formula

This is where responsibility comes in: your responsibility is to avoid processed sugars and saturated fat by packing yourself a healthy snack. We want to focus on snacks that have: 

• Between 150-200 calories
• Carbohydrates, fats and proteins
• Avoids processed sugars and fats

Here are just a few ideas: 

• Apples and peanut butter
• Granola and yogurt
• Egg and hummus 
• Lunch meat and low-fat cheese

When should you snack? Well this depends on your eating schedule: remember that balanced meals are most important. Snacks should be fit in between, as needed. For example, if you eat breakfast at 8 and lunch at 12, have a snack at 10, then another at 3 before dinner at 6. A properly timed snack can do wonders for your state of mind, helping you stay productive and sane! 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C.

Breakfast for energy

There is quite a bit of debate regarding breakfast and its supposed role in weight loss vs. weight gain, its links to cardiovascular disease and its relative value to other meals. Foregoing this debate, we want to focus on one reason why breakfast is important: energy. For the busy professional, breakfast is indispensable. 

Is any breakfast preferable to no breakfast? 

More specifically, are the empty calories and sugar content of a doughnut worth the trade-off of energy that you may get out of it? Signs point to yes, as long as you aren’t making this a regular habit. If you are in a time crunch and have no recourse, a doughnut from the office dozen can still benefit you in terms of getting the metabolism moving and waking up your brain. 

Breakfast made easy

Let’s focus on the elements of a hearty breakfast that will:

• Start your metabolism, helping you to burn calories throughout the day.
• Provide you with energy for the first half of the day.
• Balance blood sugar; the feeling of being ‘hangry’ usually comes from shortages in glucose in the blood that need to be replenished with a morning meal. 
• Lower levels of stress hormones
• Take under 10 minutes for preparation and consumption.

Well it turns out there are many options!

• Oats and yogurt: oatmeal is a whole grain that contains complex carbs- your main energy source- and fiber which digests slowly and helps you feel satiated for longer. Yogurt contains healthy fats and proteins for added energy
• (Insert favorite nut here) butter and apple: fruit sugar plus the protein from nut butters, and this one takes no time to prep at all.
• Avocado on toast + egg: the most laborious process, but the healthy fats from the avocado, the carbs of the toast and protein of the egg will keep you going until lunch.

Going without breakfast is selling your body short! We can get the nutrients we need to fire up our brains in the morning with next to zero effort required. It’s time to start saying yes to breakfast. 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C. 

Muscle tension is a byproduct of stress

While your brain is on fire, your body feels tight and this feeling perpetuates itself: the tightness and potential pain add further to the stress. This situation necessitates an equally comprehensive response, taking deep breaths while addressing the muscle tension. 

When it comes to beating stress, progressive muscle relaxation is a tactic that is too easy to ignore.

• Close your eyes to block out extra-sensory stimulation 
• Start inhaling and exhaling evenly, four seconds at a time. 
• With each inhale, flex a single muscle group.
• With each exhale, relax that muscle group. 
• Start with toes and work your way up to shoulders. 

This translates to immediate values, including a lowering of blood pressure, more fluid blood circulation and the relief of muscle tension. Focus the entirety of your attention on the rhythm of breathing above all else and you should start to feel less overwhelmed. When you open your eyes again, you can return to the task at hand with a refreshed perspective.

While stress encourages us to work harder, it does not necessarily make us work better. Taking as few as 60 seconds to de-tense your muscles is a powerful way to improve productivity while keeping your sanity intact! 

Dr. Raymond Espinosa, D.C.