Salads For A Full Meal: How I've Resisted Them & Now I'm Learning To Make Them! RECIPES!!:-)

My own pasta salad with vinegar,
sundried tomatoes, carrots, scallions &
rice pasta

So I haven't eaten salads consistently in years.  If I ate them at all I ate them out.  I rarely if ever made them at home!  I think because when I was dieting all those years (and failing again and again), salads were a staple.  Eating them reminds me of those unhappy days and so I avoided doing that often since entering recovery!

But then I became a vegan!  And by force of my dietary limitations (gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free) I'm starting to slowly warm to them.  All of a sudden I'm discovering that you can actually eat salads for complete, nutrient dense meals!  And eating them makes you feel well nourished and energetic!  

The only thing is, I was kind of at a loss on how to create a diverse enough salad to keep me satiated AND provide me with a wide variety of nutrients.  

Enter the amazing vegan low-fat blog world.  

I am so grateful to all my favorite bloggers for teaching me how to do this!  I've been easing into this slowly but the more I read Wendy's (Healthy Girl's Kitchen) posts on how she and her husband eat a salad for dinner nightly, the more I'm becoming jazzed up to actually give this whole salad thing a try!  At first I didn't think it was practical--how was I going to find the time to prep all the raw veggies, etc, during the week!  And what was I going to put on it for dressing??  But then Wendy once again came to the rescue--just recently she posted that she makes all their salad dressings for the week once on the weekend and she also shared the helpful information that without the dressing, a prepped salad can last for several days!

So I'm going to start trying it!  For my food plan next week salad is going to factor in prominently!  My life is becoming more complicated with each passing day and I'm set to travel nearly all of March so I'm going to need some simpler foods to prepare while I'm on the road.  I'm thinking HELLLLOOOOOO Soups and Salads!  

Some great resources in the blogosphere that I have found to guide this new food category for me include:

Tons of AWESOME resources in Wendy's blog "Healthy Girl's Kitchen:"

HGK's No Oil
Caesar Salad Dressing

• The BIG List of No-Oil Salad Dressings: Wonderful dressing options from multiple sources!  Ranging from Dijon Pistachio Dressing to Chef AJ's Husband's Favorite No-oil Balsamic Vinaigrette!
• How To Build A Nutrient Dense Salad
• Time-Saving Tips To Make Salads AND A RECIPE: Roasted Kabocha Squash, Dried Fig and Walnut Salad
• My absolute favorite salad dressing I've made so far:  HGK's No-Oil Caesar Salad Dressing!  I alter it by not adding the soy sauce.  Instead I add 1/4 cup oat milk (original flavor) AND I add 2 full mini bottles of capers instead of just 2 Tbl!  I think I like the flavor of capers...hehe:-)

Fantastic posts on Susan Voisin's blog "Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen:"

• Right up my alley:  Tips for Eating Salads When You Don't Want To & RECIPE:  Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing!
• RECIPES:  Salad recipes galore!!  Such a large list and so much variety!  Everything from Artichoke Pesto Pasta to Thai Salad in Pineapple BBQ Sauce!
• RECIPES:  Salad dressings: Once again a wide variety of types of dressings, ranging from Blueberry Vinaigrette to Guacamole Goddess Dressing

Other Amazing Salad RECIPES I like:

• My New Roots Roasted Sesame Winter Slaw
• Romaine & Avocado Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing from the Party Vegan Cookbook by Robin Robertson

A BIG thank you to all you bloggers out there who give us SUCH great salad recipes and "how-tos!"

Do you all eat many salads?  If so what are your favorite combos and do you have any favorite healthy dressings to recommend?  Would love to learn more from y'all!!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions. 

How I Stay Healthy During Vacation!!! :-)

Well I wasn't planning on posting from vacation but I really love to write so I'm sending you all one from sunny Florida!!


I got inspired walking on the beach yesterday thinking about how vacation is different since I've been able to receive the gift of recovery from my 12 step compulsive eating recovery program. 


Basically, I'm a long-time food tourist.  Ask me about Greece & I'll tell you about baklava and moussaka.  Ask me about France, I'll tell you about pastry and Brie. Ask me about Texas & I'll talk about eating BBQ & potato salad.   And so on and so forth.


For years, every time I traveled I thought about the food before, during and after the activity.  I wish I could say that being in program and losing so much weight and gaining so much sanity has erased this dangerous habit--but that wouldn't be honest.  Its SO much better than it used to be but it is still an ongoing problem.  


That said, the exciting news is that I realized on this vacation that I'm actually really starting to become better at letting the food go!  Maybe its because I've enjoyed the pleasure of getting in a bathing suit and not feeling enormously uncomfortable.  The best thing is that there aren't any bulges escaping from the "slimming" panels of my swim suit.  In fact, I don't even wear those "slimming" suits anymore!  Yay plant-strong living!!!  I'm not quite ready for bikini action but I'm comfortable in my plain, no frills tank suit.  And that is a MIRACLE.  It makes me very conscious of the gifts that program has brought me.  And inspires me to change the way I operate with food on vacation.


I thought it might be helpful to share some of the techniques and tools I use to stay sane during vacation & lose/maintain weight during the trip.  So here they are!


1) I pack my own plant-strong snacks for the airplane and car rides: 


This is absolutely critical.  No matter what, take the time to get those ziploc bags out and fill them with fruit, homemade trailmix (for me its raw oats, some raisins & a few nuts), oil-free kale chips, crunchy raw veggies etc. See my snacks post or my kale post for more details.  At some point along the way you WILL want something around you that is not good for your body.  For me, I always look at those airplane snack packs with longing.  Yes I know those mini snack packs are not exactly the yummiest food when you actually eat them, but because I can't have them, my disease likes to throw a small tantrum in my airplane seat!  Thus the homemade snack bags.


2) I check to make sure every hotel I stay at has a fridge so I can bring my own food:  


Once again, very important if you are staying anywhere for an extended period of time.  Pack some Nalgene bottles or other empty water bottles in your luggage so you can fill them up with water at the hotel (of course ignore this tip if you are in a foreign country with questionable water sources--splurge and buy the commercial bottled stuff). Its nice to have something to drink to tote along with you--whether its to the beach or to the slopes (I'd put the water in a mini-pack if you're on skiis!) or hiking or driving etc.  Buy some of your favorite breakfast & snack foods at the grocery store--especially cereals and plant-based milks.  If worst comes to worst, you can have cereal for a meal if necessary!  Fruit is also an extra bonus to have on hand!


3) I grocery shop:  


One of the first things that the Happy Nurse and I did when we got down here is shop for some fresh fruits and vegetables to stock our hotel fridge.  I also got a few things I can fix for lunch or snack.  This makes a huge difference financially AND unless you can find gems of restaurants then eating at the hotel is always better than eating out nutritionally speaking.  


4)  I spend time pre-selecting what I'm going to eat at restaurants & when I'm traveling with others, I stay flexible:  


When someone suggests a restaurant on vacation I like to immediately go to the restaurant menu and check to make sure I can eat there.  I even call the restaurant ahead of time to make sure they have some decent options for me.  Depending on the restaurant I either say that I'm a vegan with a gluten allergy OR I say that I'm allergic to eggs, dairy, soy, gluten & I don't eat meat.  I can tell pretty quick if it isn't going to work.


Vacation is a great time to demonstrate to those omnivores you love who travel with you that vegan food can be delicious!!  This trip we've had a chance to take my brother and sister-in-law to two delicious vegan restaurants and they have actually LOVED some of the food at each!


When I'm out to eat on a special occasion at a restaurant location that is non-negotiable & there are very few or no vegan options, I'll be honest--I'll choose a piece of fish & go for rice & veggies if I don't think the rice & veggies alone will sustain me.  I still think that being 100% vegan is the way to go and I'm vegan 99.9% of the time, but occasionally I like to reduce the number of ripples I make in social situations & maintaining my abstinence is more important than anything else.  If I've consulted with the manager, the restaurant location is non-negotiable and I really don't have options (hello, remember soy-free and gluten-free and sugar-free too), then I opt for seafood. It is pretty rare that I find myself in that position but I did have to do it once this week.  There really wasn't anything I could eat on the menu & we were in a huge group.  I decided to just relax & go with the flow because sugar was a bigger temptation at the time and I needed something filling in my stomach to not eat dessert.  


Guess what?  That is ok. At least it is for me.  I do the best I can, and that is good enough.  I am 100% an imperfect vegan.  Just like I'm 100% an imperfect person.


5)  I try to be more active and exercise more often than I ever do at home:  


I am usually exhausted by the time I make it to vacation.  But I find that if I force myself to get up every morning (even if I sleep in) and go for at least one solid walk outside (no matter what the weather) than I really feel so much more energized.  I've been walking on the beach for very prolonged periods of time this vacation and am finding it absolutely heavenly.  I've added in a little upper body routine where I mimic the motions I would do while weight lifting except I'm walking without weight.  I realize that many of my fellow beach walkers may look at me a bit funny doing chest presses in front of me as I walk but I love the result.  My body feels strong and healthy by the time I'm done.  Just feeling the sand beneath my toes is therapeutic by itself!  Water relaxes me and I try to vacation near water as much as possible.   


On top of the walking routine, I try to specifically look to get involved with high energy activities as much as possible.  For example, this time I made a sand castle with my nephews (elementary school age) and then played in the water with them for over an hour.  And let me tell you, that sand castle was no smoothing and piling sand operation--we were digging!  We dug a huge hole in the sand all the way to water.  My hamstrings and triceps were screaming the next day after leaning over and scooping sand for well over an hour but it was so worth it.  I felt alive and so grateful because four years ago it would have been impossible to do it!  


Wherever or however you vacation, you can always find something more active to do than what you are doing.  Don't hurt yourself, but do look to push yourself with fun activities!  Play with active kids and you won't even notice that you are doing a major workout until its over!  Trust me!!:-)


6)  I go to at least one of my 12 step compulsive eating meetings:  


The Happy Nurse and I checked the program's meeting list in our vacation location before we came down & we really enjoyed going to a meeting down here.  Its always fantastic for me to reconnect with program people who understand the struggles of being on vacation and wanting to "splurge" and reward myself for working hard!  Going to meetings helps me remember that my disease is always present even if I like to pretend it isn't.  And I remind myself that vacation is a great time to get to meetings--I don't have work or other demands to keep me from them!!


7)  I use my downtime to catch up on step work and readings:  


I haven't been doing as much of this on vacation this time because its been really socially active with my husband's family, but we do have some quiet time the next few days which will give me time for reflection.  I like to find a quiet spot--I remember fondly doing my Step 7 work on a deck on the back of the cruise ship where very few people came.  I was able to write and write and feel nature and just relax to let things flow.  It was incredible and I highly recommend scheduling in some "down-time" to recharge and reflect.
  
8)  I unplug:  


I really try to stay off my phone, my email, facebook and now, the blog.  I often turn my electronic devices off completely for the entire week (scary in this day and age eh!!:-))--I did do that on our vacation in October and it was wonderful.  Oh! And as much as possible, I resist the temptation to turn the TV on in our hotel room.  I find that once it is on, I get stuck in the room instead of out and about experiencing my vacation location.  I like to take time to relax in the room yes, but its a totally different relaxation experience without the TV chattering in the background!!


A few specific tips for food-challenging vacations:

• Cruises--First, the basic thing: no snacking between meals, skip dessert & take advantage of the awesome exercise equipment on the ship.  Second:  talk to the maitre d and your waiter/waitress about your food restrictions.  Call them "allergies."  The chef can usually accommodate you without any fuss at all!  We love cruises--particularly on Celebrity (they are awesome last minute vacations--fantastic price reductions when booked within a month before & you feel so pampered!).  With their all-you-can-eat philosophy, they tend to be a real challenge for compulsive overeaters but I've managed to stay abstinent throughout two of them so far.   
• Our first night on the ship on our honeymoon I let my waiter know about my dietary restrictions and from then on, he pointed out all the meals I could safely have on the menu each night.  
• On another cruise the waiter called the maitre d over and each night before we left he brought the menu for the next night to the table and asked me what modifications I needed on the already planned dishes!  It was wonderful--and there was no extra fee or negative reactions to my requests.  
• Just ask what you need--if you ask politely and nicely, they tend to bend over backwards to accommodate you! 
• Bed & Breakfasts--this is one of the trickiest by far.  If you are staying at a place really remote than you need to call ahead and let them know about your restrictions.  If they can't accommodate you--don't go.  Really.  It will be incredibly frustrating every morning to come down from your room to a delicious looking meal that you can't eat.  Frankly, it can ruin a vacation for a food addict like me.  So choose a place that will work with you.

Ok!  I hope that is helpful!!  

Like so many of us, I wish I could stay on vacation forever but at some point I'm heading home.  And I can say confidently that I haven't gained a bit of weight during this vacation despite all the eating out!  Using the above tips have made that completely possible and I feel so good!

What techniques do YOU use on vacation to stay healthy?!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Healing Your Skin with Food!! Part 2 on "The Clear Skin Diet"

Yay!  Spots Gone!:-)

Today I want to follow up on my previous post "Ok Lets Talk Skin!  New Book to Recommend:  The Clear Skin Diet!"  Since that post two weeks ago I have continued to follow Drs Logan and Treloar's nutritional program to feed my skin the right nutrients it needs to heal!!  I'm delighted to report that after applying my dermatologist recommended products, completely eliminating soy from my diet since mid-December and strictly adhering to my omega-3 fatty acid supplement regimen, the "spots" are gone!! I actually was complimented twice this week on my skin sans makeup!  Whoohooo!  

For my omega-3's, I'm taking a multi-pronged approach.  It turns out that there is soy in a lot of those algae-based vegan omega-3 supplements!  So they were out for me.  I started doing more research and now I'm targeting components of omega-3's:  both DHA and EPA.   After reading several studies on brain function associated with DHA and the difficulty vegans sometimes have in converting EPA into DHA, I decided to splurge and get Dr. Fuhrman's liquid pure DHA.  Its expensive!  I put a few drops into my food or drink each day and consume that.  I also have been eating a lot of chia seed (which, like flax I think I'm now having a reaction too--argh!) so I'm heading back to my good old fish oil supplements for necessary EPA.  If what I just wrote sounds like a foreign language (and it would have been to me a few weeks ago!) then check out the following:

1) an excellent post from The Vegan R.D. about vegans and omega-3 fatty acids.

2) a fantastic series on fats by the Vegan Epicurean:

• http://veganepicurean.blogspot.com/2011/10/fats-101-first-in-series.html
• http://veganepicurean.blogspot.com/2011/10/fats-101-part-two-and-patrick-stewart.html

The additional omega-3's have been amazing for all of my skin in general--the winter dryness has decreased significantly.  Of course I'm still using my dermatologists regimen of various cleaners and lotions (I think this regimen is brilliant so check out the comments on the previous skin post for details on that regimen).  One caveat, I have noticed though that my skin is very very sensitive to what I put in my body.  A little grease--boom, new spots.  Too much of one thing (excessive chia seed--and yes, I know this is an EFA and it doesn't make sense but its the truth!)--boom, new spots.  And so I've continued to read The Clear Skin Diet by Dr. Alan Logan (ND) and Dr. Valori Treloar (MD) closely and have learned SO much about nutrition in general and what is best nutrient-wise for skin care!  

Last post I shared Drs Logan and Treloar's assessment of what the native Japanese & other ethnic groups with gorgeous clear skin eat (and we should too!).  

From p.163 of The Clear Skin Diet by Dr. Alan Logan (ND) and Dr. Valori Treloar (MD), ethnic groups with beautiful skin eat:

1. Less processed foods (my side note: this can be a vegan problem too--a lot of the "fake meats" are very processed)

2.  More colorful antioxidants

3.  Greater intake of omega-3 fatty acids

4. Fewer foods capable of spiking blood sugar

5. More fiber 

I am now hitting all five of the recs instead of just four and wanted to also share with you Drs Logan and Treloar's list of the highest antioxidant-rich foods that feed your skin and the doctors' advice on the specific types of food to embrace to have clear, healthy skin!   

Now, as you long-term readers know, I've posted on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich foods in the past regarding my approach to pain management, but I wanted to share Drs Logan and Treloar's list in particular as it does a nice job of detailing out in a more extensive list all the specific fruits and vegetables that are the most antioxidant-rice foods!!  

Here it is from p.70 in The Clear Skin Diet by Dr. Alan Logan (ND) and Dr. Valori Treloar (MD):

Acai Alfalfa Apple sauce Apple vinegar Artichoke Asparagus Avocado Basil Beans (red, pinto, black & navy) Beets Bell peppers Black-eyed peas Black pepper Blackberry Blueberry Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cherries Chili powder	Cilantro Cinnamon Cloves Cocoa Cranberry Dates Eggplant Elderberry Figs Fuji apples Ginger Green tea High-quality olive oil *** Kale Nuts (walnuts in particular) Oatmeal and whole grain breakfast cereals oranges	Oregano Parsley Peaches Pears Plums Pomegranate Prunes Purple califlower Purple sweet potato Raspberry Red cabbage Red grapes Red leaf lettuce Red potatoes Spinach Strawberry Tangerines Tumeric
***(NOTE:  Dr. Esselstyn FIRMLY recommends against olive oil & oils of all kinds)

Next time I'll finish up this series by sharing what Drs Logan and Treloar which of these foods will get you the most "bang for your buck" so to speak for your skin!! 

Finally, if you want some extra data on how to get the most antioxidants out of our foods, check out The Healthy Librarian's post on the subject:  http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2010/03/antioxidants.html

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Ok Lets Talk Skin! New Book to Recommend: The Clear Skin Diet!

Before

Ok so I've been having some issues with my skin that began a few months into my change to going strictly vegan! This perplexed me because I heard from so many others that the vegan thing has been wonderful for skin!  But since early November, my previously pretty perfect skin (and yes, this is my one vanity--first of all its genetic so I didn't do anything special and second of all it was the only thing I could really feel pretty about when I was obese so indulge me!!) broke out into spots that my new dermatologist calls "folliculitis" or irritation of the hair follicles.  It looks like teenage acne but it isn't.  

After (this past month)!

Of course it has caused me significant distress to look in the mirror every day (I think I was driving my husband crazy as I pointed out every new spot that cropped up!  His favorite phrase was: "welcome to my teenage years honey.")


Anyways, so when this all happened I started trying to figure out where I went wrong.  Nothing major in my life had changed--I had the usual stressors with work and family members being ill but this was normal for me.  So I started looking at what I ate.  The only new food that I can ascertain that I added in a major way in early November was that we went from eating soy maybe once every few months to soy everyday.  And before you point out the obvious--yes I know that I also eliminated animal products, but dairy and other meats are known to be a huge pro-inflammatory agent that cause skin issues so I really don't think the animal-free diet was the cause.  With this in mind, as a first step I eliminated soy. 


I have to be honest and share that this soy elimination has really, really upset me.  My dietary program is already quite restrictive in many ways--no sugar, no gluten, vegan....so to add soy to it too!  Argh!!  But I'm attempting to embrace a new cooking opportunity (trying to stay positive here!), so I'm searching out non-soy recipes.  So let me know if you all have any low-fat/no-fat non-soy, gluten-free, sugar-free recipes please?  Much appreciated :-)


Anyways, back to the skin problem.  With the elimination of soy I did notice that my skin started to improve.  But it was still not back to normal. So I bit the bullet and went to my first dermatology appointment.  And there, I really hit the jackpot.  I expected a very traditional doc as I knew he had a military background and was well over the age of 70 but much to my surprise, within the first two minutes of the visit he started talking nutrition!!  And then he actually complimented me on my dietary choices.  Whaaaat?  I know, you are all shocked here but he actually liked the vegan thing and the gluten-free thing and the sugar-free thing.  


Full disclosure, he wasn't 100% on board with my soy theory--mostly he thought it was likely not a true allergen but more like a "trigger" for beginning eczema (which is what he described my spots as!). And of course now my skin bumps were infected (helllo work in health care, land of disease!) and so I needed oral antibiotics on top of everything else!  He also gave me an excellent skin product regimen which I'm happy to share with all of you if you would like.  I say excellent because its been less than a week since the appointment and my skin is nearly completely clear (of course I also haven't had any soy for 2 1/2 weeks so I can't give the products all the credit but my skin certainly feels really nice!):-) 

Today
Soy Free, Omega-3 rich,
Dermatology Products & Antibiotics

Back to what he said about nutrition.  You all know I'm a fan of food-based treatment so isolating a soy allergy or "trigger" was not enough in my book.  I started wondering why I, with my anti-inflammatory diet, had developed a completely inflammatory disease (eczema)!  I have a strong family history of eczema so this diagnosis actually wasn't all this surprising but hearing that it was a potential diagnosis brought me back to reflect on whether I had made the right anti-inflammatory food choices.  Remember my list in my post  HERE? 


I found the answer in a book my dermatologist recommended:  The Clear Skin Diet by Dr. Alan Logan (ND) and Dr. Valori Treloar (MD).  I'm not finished reading it yet but I can tell you that from what I've read so far it is AMAZING!!!  It definitively demonstrates that diet DOES have a major impact on skin AND also reinforces my assertion that the reason most physicians don't prescribe nutritional treatments is that we are generally not educated in nutrition at all & therefore are very skeptical of data supportive of nutritive cures!  Don't get me started on the need to change medical education or else this post will be ridiculously long!  Suffice to say (and I'll write more about this in a second post because this one is getting too long), Drs Logan and Treloar give some fantastic advice.  


From what I can tell so far, my main issue appears to be a omega-3 deficiency.  This makes sense to me because the only other major change in my diet except for the soy was dropping my fish oil daily in favor of flaxseed meal!  Despite my own advice, I obviously wasn't loving the flaxseed meal (I ate it VERY inconsistently) so I have started to search out other plant-based omega-3 sources (in the meantime I'm back to fish oil daily).  


I do still strongly believe soy is at the root of this as well because it IS considered an inflammatory food for some, so I'm going to continue to eliminate it for another month & then start a few gentle food challenges to see if it really does have an impact. But for the omega-3 issue I'm going to start taking The Healthy Librarian's advice and try a seaweed-based omega-3 supplement with DHA (good for the brain).  In the meantime, I'm going to keep reading this book!  


I'll end with Drs Logan and Treloar's assessment of what the native Japanese & other ethnic groups with gorgeous clear skin eat (and we should too!).  From p.163 of , ethinic groups with beautiful skin eat:
1. Less processed foods (my side note: this can be a vegan problem too--a lot of the "fake meats" are very processed)
2.  More colorful antioxidants
3.  Greater intake of omega-3 fatty acids
4. Fewer foods capable of spiking blood sugar
5. More fiber 


Sounds pretty darn good to me!  Tune in to my next post on skin to get Drs Logan and Treloar's list of the highest antioxidant-rich foods that feed your skin and the doctors' advice on the specific types of food to embrace to have clear, healthy skin!   

Coming Up:

• Treating Pain with Food--more thoughts
• Foods That Make You Feel Good (A New Series Featuring Individual Foods & Their Nutrient Power)

Coming Up on Medical System Tuesdays:

• A Toolbox for Health:  Communicating with Your Doctor (Part 2)!
  
  The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.