Latest / The ACL Athlete Podcast / 072 | Nutrition + ACL Rehab with Emily Barnhart, Sports RD - Part 2

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072 | Nutrition + ACL Rehab with Emily Barnhart, Sports RD - Part 2 · The ACL Athlete Podcast

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk about everything related to the ACL, whether that's the injury itself, the rehab process, return to sport, and more.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Ravi Patel, performance physical therapist and coach.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Between myself and fellow guests and experts, you'll learn through the lens of the patient, the healthcare professional, and the coach.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this podcast is to equip you, the athlete, with the education to make the best informed decision about your care and your ACL journey.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive into today's episode.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this two-part episode series where we are talking with Emily Barnhart, a registered sports dietitian and someone who specializes in injuries like an ACL injury and surgery.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are diving into part two of this episode series where we talk about nutrition and ACL rehab.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we answer all of your questions, we answer some from Instagram, we talk about mindset.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of different pieces in this episode.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you have not listened to part one, go back and listen to part one and then build into this episode.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now sit back, enjoy the episode, and get all you can from Emily's conversation.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I it's one of those, and it's funny you bring that up because that was actually one of the common questions I got from the Instagram poll that I did was how is how useful is collagen?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is it worth it?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: How to use it and things like that.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I again I would say it's only useful if that baseline is in place.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're skipping breakfast and lunch every day, but you're taking your collagen and your coffee, it's not really doing much for you.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you also need vitamin C to be able to make that collagen useful to you.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh a couple common supplements like vital protein has vitamin C with their collagen, but if you're pouring that into your hot coffee, it's denaturing that vitamin C.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I like to try to tell people to mix it with orange juice or you can take it with your multivitamin because there's vitamin C in your multivitamin.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's just a lot of nuance to make sure you're doing it right.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Collagen is temperamental.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's one of those things where it's, you know, you could take all the collagen you want, but if you are not tackling the bigger buckets of proteins, carbs, and fats, or uh you're not exercising, then you're not really making it available.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're just kind of taking it in and it's not necessarily benefiting you nearly as much as compared to maximizing the bottom of the pyramid, if you will.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the top of it is kind of where these supplements sit, correct?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, perfectly said.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of kind of moving in a little bit of a different direction, one of the things that I wanted to talk about is mindset around nutrition.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And specifically around the ACL injury, the ACL surgery.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You're working with a lot of athletes who have these injuries.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you typically see and how do you approach mindset with nutrition?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the mindset piece is probably the main reason that I love working with these athletes.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because obviously, mental health is important for healthy athletes too, but it really, really plays a role in an injury.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: People really struggle.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, I am not a mental health professional, but nutrition for a lot of people plays a role in their coping mechanisms, especially if how they typically cope with stress is to go get a workout in, and now that's suddenly taken away from them.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people revert to food, and it also obviously plays a big role in body image.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of what I'm talking to athletes about is how to kind of have a healthy relationship with food and a healthy relationship with your body image.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's tough.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's a really tough time to do that.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's very difficult.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I've talked about this before, but your your background will play into this.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, I I grew up and I was incredibly overweight.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so there was whenever I was younger, and so that has always kind of stayed on me in terms of, or you kind of think back to it, but luckily, you know, it's one of those things that motivated me to move and to get healthy, and that played a big role.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I will be honest with this is that when I had my ACL injuries, this crept back in.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: The the thought of like gaining weight and all this hard work that I had done to kind of get towards a body composition I appreciated.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: But whenever I had these ACL injuries, I knew my energy uh expenditure or I know I wouldn't be moving nearly as much.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that factored into my recoveries.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I was trying, I tried to be as methodical as I could with this.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the mindset piece, and I know for a lot of you out there listening, is a big part of this.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things I want you to talk about is weight gain or the fear of weight gain, especially during this immobilization period where you're not moving nearly as much.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think also an important piece to include here is yes, for a lot of athletes, there's a fear of weight gain.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: For a lot of athletes, there's also a fear of weight loss, especially if they've worked really hard to put on muscle in the last year or two.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you I have seen grown men cry with this fear of having to redo all of that really hard work.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it goes both ways.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: There's just fear of change that's coming that you don't know is coming.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So something that can be helpful is getting some education on what change maybe to expect on what is coming.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And also if you are seeing changes on the scale, what those potentially could be coming from and what that means.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you are magically gaining five pounds in a day, I promise you that is from water.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: That is not fat.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, right.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, if you have lost weight in the past or you have gained weight in the past, it doesn't happen overnight.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: It happens slowly over time.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not just magically gonna wake up and things are gonna be different.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So keeping that in mind too, that things happen over time and you won't be stuck in this immobile state forever.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other piece that we can address here is where is that fear coming from?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or where is that feeling of insecurity coming from?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Is it coming from social media and comparing yourself to other athletes or to, you know, there's all sorts of stuff on social media.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: If your scroll is making you feel bad about yourself, for the love of God, please unfollow those people and either find a feed that is making you feel good about your body image, or it just doesn't talk about food or any of that at all.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: You have control over that.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that fear is also coming from maybe a comment that a coach said or a parent said, or maybe even something that someone said in the past that has stuck with you and kind of is in the back of your mind.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's a little bit harder to address.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: It really depends on your situation of can you have a conversation of, hey, this isn't helpful?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Or if it's a coach, for example, and and their words are like, hey, don't come back fat, or you know, be careful.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, they they mean well, but it's not helpful.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Try to remind them of all the other things that go into your performance.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you can say things like, yep, I'm gonna watch my weight, but I'm also gonna make sure that I come back strong.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: I also am gonna make sure that I work on my agility and my sport specific skills, and I come back with those and check.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: I am taking this seriously and don't worry about it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm working with other professionals that are gonna make sure that when I'm back, I am back and I'm good to go.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's yeah, that's much easier said than done.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then I guess my last piece of advice on body image is again, those first couple weeks after surgery, people just like don't know what to do with themselves.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Their world has turned upside down.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: There is a quiz.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm not a mental health professional, but there is a quiz that I really, really like.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's on the VIA Institute, and it's about connecting with your values and kind of finding some purpose during that time.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I like it because it gives you kind of some buckets that match your personality and that you get energy from, and it also gives you activities of what you can do to fill those buckets.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: So this sounds, you know, kind of woo-woo and whatever.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, for example, my top bucket is love of learning, which tells you how nerdy I am.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the recommendations are like, can you read a Wikipedia article every day?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Can you learn a new language?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, all that stuff, which doesn't sound exciting for a lot of people, but for me, it's fun and it brings me brings me joy.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: So finding those other things that are gonna make you feel like yourself, that are gonna make you feel confident, that are gonna give you purpose, that are gonna help take your mind off of the suffering that you're going through, can really be helpful.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: These are there's so much value in all the things that you just said.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh some of the things I want to touch on.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: One is the identity piece that you just mentioned.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll make sure we uh tag that quiz in the show notes that that way you guys can do that.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: But identity is such a big piece, and the mindset piece in general with this process, any injury, navigating nutrition, navigating the rehab, is is difficult, it's tough.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so making sure that you have pieces in place in order to make the most of it.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, those first two weeks, like you said, people I've had athletes who uh, you know, whether it's they can't work their job because it's more physical, where they had to just take time off, teachers who are doing that, like where uh they just can't necessarily do anything.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: So they're literally just laying at home for a little while because they can't move around.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: So then there's a lot of time to think, a lot of time to think, yeah, too much.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of time, too much.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And no human beings are that great with too much time to think.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have to be very filtered and very judicial about the things that you let in during that time.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And to your point of social media, um, circling around to comparison, if you're comparing yourself to a teammate, to someone else at the physical therapy clinic, to you know, whoever you see baby body appearance on social media, you just need to be very careful about how you let that stuff in because it could really trickle into your mindset and then put you down this kind of like spiral, if you will.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to get there without even thinking about it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So um making sure that that filter is there, that you're letting in, as Emily had mentioned, the positive stuff and things that are going to empower you and motivate you in this process rather than kind of sitting in your misery.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the other piece, too, is that this is an opportunity for you to figure out more about yourself, especially if you identify with a specific activity or sport.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is an opportunity to find more about your identity and your purpose outside of what that is.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: And there is something there for you.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So those are big pieces here.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the last thing that I want to touch on is the if you feel like you are prone to this, then finding a professional that will help you with this.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you know that you have had uh maybe it's eating related issues in the past or body image, or maybe it's the rehab side of things, you kind of suck at accountability and doing the things at home.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing wrong with finding someone to help you in this process, whether that's working with Emily on the nutrition side, you know, finding a physical therapist that's gonna support you, or even uh someone who is focused on psychology or mindset, if you know that that's gonna be something that plays into this.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: In a perfect world, we have an entire team for people to approach nutrition and physical therapy and nutrition uh and mindset.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's a team approach which is ideal, but in this world, that's not always gonna be the case.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: So these are things that are important to keep in mind, as Emily had just touched on.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I'll say my DMs are always open.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've had plenty of athletes just pop in and ask a question or vent, and I'm so happy to have that conversation with you.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had a couple where, you know, financially it comes down to do they want to work with me or do they want to talk to a therapist?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And if I'm losing out to a therapist, I promise you I am not offended.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I support that wholeheartedly.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, if you are struggling, I don't care who you talk to, if it's a friend, if it's a parent, if it's a stranger in their DMs, hopefully a helpful stranger like me or Ravi, but um just if don't shove that fear of body change or you know that stuff away.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's so helpful to talk about it because I there are so many other people that experience the same thing that are happy to share their experience with you.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And this this comes down to building your team, having especially the support system in place.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Cause I know not everyone is gonna run and go get, you know, a professional for each bucket.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, if you can, that's great.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: But outside of that, even your support system of your friends or family, teammates, anyone along with that, whether it's accountability or just someone that you can literally just talk to with it being a safe space is so key through this whole process, whether it is the nutrition or the rehab or you know, mentally, like there's some stuff, tough stuff going on.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that's gonna be a very important part of this process.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: If I can, while we're on this too, I want to touch on some other resources.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I mentioned earlier that um some education can be helpful.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there's a few accounts, again, I'm not related to them in any way, shape, or form.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I just love them, so I'm happy to promote them to people.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: There's a woman called Food Science Babe.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: She's on Instagram.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: She addresses a lot of ingredient fears that people have.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So there it's very trendy now to hate on ingredients for whatever reason.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: She, in a very logical way, will explain what it's doing in that food.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you can decide whether that's for you or not.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: She is awesome.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's um another woman named L and Link that is director at Purdue.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: She has linked to nutrition.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: She'll do like marketing madness Mondays and just kind of explain what you're getting shown that's just trying to sell something to you versus what is valid.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she has a lot of good, really inf really good information on there.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's another podcast called RDs versus BS, and they just go into different like diets or different things that are popular and explain whether it's worth your time or not.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: And they're they're pretty good too.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously, like I said, my DMs are always open for questions.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's awesome.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you guys check that out.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: We'll link those in the show notes as well.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: That way you have access to those.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: But that's where it's going to be incredibly important, especially, and even before Emily and I got on to record, we were talking about the world of performance and health and fitness and especially nutrition.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: It can be very, very difficult to navigate because you would think in a world where we have so much information available that we would have more accuracy and ability to filter through that, but it actually makes it more difficult because we don't know what's right from wrong.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where learning from professionals like Emily in this space is so critical because they have the education and they've done the research.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so that way you can find resources that can help to solidify some of your thinking in this area.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh the internet is a crazy world out there.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Try to try to find information that's trustworthy, sometimes easier said than done.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's crazy.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'll get DMs all the time of people like, hey, what's the best exercise for this?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, someone's like, Here's how you accelerate your ACL rehab recovery.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, you can't accelerate it.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you have a paper cut, you're not gonna do anything to speed up that paper cut healing.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: You just your body has to do its thing to some degree.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: You could create a great environment, but at the end of the day, the body is biological as well as other pieces, so those all have to play into it.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've never heard the paper cut analogy before.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: I like that one a lot.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think your your profession also sees this as much as mine, where people will be like, what's the one simple thing I can do that makes the big difference?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm a broken record here, but it's big picture.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's big picture.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's getting those three meals and snacks in, it's getting, you know, and doing it consistently every day.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, there's not one supplement, there's not one food, and that goes both ways.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's not one food that's gonna ruin all of the progress that you've made, or one thing that you can do that's gonna turn everything around.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's all it's all gonna fit in one way.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's the big picture, which is frustrating to hear for a lot of people.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think everyone's everyone always is looking for the magic bullet.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing that's really tough with this.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the same thing with ACL.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you could you could list this for any professor or any situation for the most part, but when you kind of boil it down and you talk to the professionals in the field, it comes back to mastering the basics as well as you can.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're talking about, hey, what supplement is this or what exercise is this, as well?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you moving well?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating well and are hitting these bigger buckets?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, are you managing your stress?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Also, something we haven't talked about at all is sleep.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, if you are doing everything well in nutrition and movement, but you're only sleeping three hours a night, guess what?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're working against yourself and you're likely doing more harm than good.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: So sleep is a big piece, stress is a big piece, and community, your support system plays into those things.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: So those are what we call kind of like the big buckets of health and performance to make sure we are maximizing each of those buckets to be able to make the best kind of you know athlete that you are in this process.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the basics are sometimes easier said than done, right?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Especially with nutrition.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: You've had these habits for 20, 30 years, maybe.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if you expect yourself to magically turn around and be able to change perfectly, you are setting yourself up for disappointing and your disappointment, and you're setting yourself up to be kind of harsh on yourself.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, like I said, those basics and the bottom of the pyramid is what I'm working on with most of those people.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot that goes into that.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's, you know, what is your food budget?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: What is your ability to cook and grocery shop?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: What is your time like?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: What obstacles are you gonna face to actually be able to execute this?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of us are super, super busy and food is very much on the go now.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we eat in our cars and, you know, we don't like sit down and have family meals anymore.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my mindset is always gonna be how can we fit this into your routine in a way that's as easy and as stress-free as possible?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And the the internet doesn't tell you that kind of stuff.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: They just throw a meal plan at you and they're like, you should be able to do this.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can't do this, you're lazy.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I hate that.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: I hate that because it's not true.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's not true.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, and I think the thing is, is especially for something that might be a bit more templated, is that two the points that you had just mentioned is that each person has a very unique situation, whether they're in school, whether they're working, whether they're a professional athlete, you know, whether they're just a stay-at-home mom.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, all these things are going to be so different.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why you need professionals to help meet you where you are, as opposed to fitting you to this perfect program, which doesn't exist.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it needs to be adaptable.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: It needs to be flexible along the process.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's really big here is like, don't make yourself feel like you need to fit into this perfect program.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it's more like find the professional who you trust and feel comfortable with and see if they can meet you where you're at in this process.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Again, operate in that gray area.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Don't everything doesn't have to be so black and white.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Again, that's also why um I've talked a lot about things that you can add instead of everything you need to cut out.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want you to feel like you have to cut everything out.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't need to do that, but we can add things in that will be helpful to you.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: And for most people, that's a much easier mindset to operate off of.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh as we kind of wrap up here, got a couple questions.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: So one is what is something that Athletes, you know, in this ACL process, people you've worked with, what are some of the common things that you see that would be kind of like the lowest hanging fruits?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: I know we talked about protein and a few things.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any other things that you would mention or advice for these athletes as they're getting ready for surgery?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: And even later in the process, we want to make sure we don't leave that as well, making sure that they're optimizing the whole process.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think lowest hanging fruit would be you can add that multivitamin in.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's pretty easy.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Put it by your toothbrush at night so you remember to take it.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, hopefully you brush your teeth at night, I guess.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then again, whatever the easiest thing that you can come up with to get three meals in a day.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: If you are not a breakfast eater and you start out with just a frozen protein waffle and some peanut butter, that takes, and sometimes for some people, that's too long and that takes too much time.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's just half a banana and that's where we're starting, I will take that over nothing.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: If um, lunch is easiest for you to get Chick-fil-A through the drive-thru, and 50% of the time you choose the baked over the crispy sandwich, I'm absolutely taking that as a win.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be these huge life-changing shifts.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Take it slow.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: You've got a long rehab ahead of you.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we've got plenty of time to work with.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're making a 1% change every week and you're trying to set small goals and hit those goals, it's gonna absolutely add up over time.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's really great advice.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the instead of feeling like you need to make these massive changes or you know, you have to hit these big milestones, if you will, is just focus on the day-to-day and the 1% changes and also building your environment to make sure it facilitates that.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're trying to cut out a bad habit and you got a bunch of cookies and sweets in the fridge, and you're also trying to take your protein, but you'd rather eat that stuff, you know, make sure you build your environment to help facilitate that as best as possible.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, Ravi, you got caught up almost saying to cut something out though.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you love those cookies, yeah, let's pair it with something that's helpful to you.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, do you have a chocolate protein shake and you want to dip those cookies in some milk?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Typically, that also helps you eat, you know, three cookies instead of 10.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or if we want to make some kind of Greek yogurt dip or something, just pair it with something or portion it in a mindful way.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to cut it out.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's, you know, and that's one of the things as I was thinking about, I was like, not cut it out because even during my process, there are things you just gotta keep those little things in there in order to enjoy it and not just feel so miserable, right?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a way to balance this so well.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it always comes back to kind of like a sliding scale as opposed to an all or nothing.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Operate in the gray as opposed to black and white, you gotta cut something out versus not.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think one other really great tool, um, if I can go on a tangent for a little bit, that's kind of related to this.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then and can also help with that fear of weight gain or weight loss too.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's something called the hungerfulness scale.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a scale that operates from one to 10.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And one is like, I'm so hungry, I could eat my own arm right now.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: And 10 is I'm so full, I'm gonna throw up.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: And in a perfect world, we kind of waver throughout the day between a four and a seven.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you can recognize when you're starting to feel hungry and you're like, hmm, I should probably eat something now so that I'm not hangry later.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: And a seven is you feel satisfied.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: And part of that satisfaction is you enjoyed the food that you just ate and you actually were mindful in the fact that you enjoyed it.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but also, you know, you're feeling full but not uncomfortable.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And if you check in on that scale a couple of times a day and you start to notice that, hey, I'm a two all morning and then I'm starving at night.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a 10 at nine o'clock at night because I've just eaten everything in sight, that's a pattern that's potentially unhelpful.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you're fluctuating throughout the day between a six and a nine, that might be an indication that you're eating too much because you're you're never really feeling hungry.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we've talked about how post-surgery sometimes you're not hungry and that kind of affects the scale a little bit.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: But using that tool and checking in with that tool of yeah, how how are you managing food and your hunger is really, really helpful and it's free and it's easy to do.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's great.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's really helpful.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know sometimes I could be that way too, where you know I can hit the 10 pretty quick just because maybe there's less in the day, and then all of a sudden it's like, all right, we're gonna go into dinner, eat more.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: So being able to be aware of the scale is really great.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the last question I have for you is should there be, and this could be a little bit loaded, but should there be any distinctions between men and women?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: And this is uh I think an interesting question that I got from an ACL athlete on Instagram that I wanted to ask you.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we always talk about gender differences, and obviously like body image can play into things like that, but just in general, as you're approaching this process, is there anything, any distinctions between men and women for you?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good question.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I do want to say that I think men struggle with body image issues just as much as women.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: I've worked in a lot of male sports and it just shows up a little bit differently.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't notice it as much.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like men tend to maybe binge eat a little bit more.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: So they eat perfectly in front of all their friends, but then at night they go somewhere secret and they eat a lot of food that maybe they're feeling uncomfortable afterwards.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: And men also struggle more with like bigorexia or orthorexia, where they're just kind of obsessed with exercise and eating perfectly as you know, that pure food is fuel and nothing else mindset.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that can definitely cross an unhealthy line.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I I do just want to make it clear that I think men struggle with body image issues just as much as women and talk about it less, um, which is really unfortunate.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think I guess in forms of like straight up nutrition, you know, some of what I talk to my female ACLers about is like we can talk about period stuff.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's some fluctuations that can happen in your nutrition based on your period and where you are in your cycle.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: I've also had a couple people that lose their cycle right after surgery and it takes a little bit for it to get back to normal.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: And again, that's that's not my area of expertise, but uh ideally we always want a regulated cycle.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that might play a role in it, but for the most part, um yeah, I don't really think there's a ton of differences.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's differences in numbers, like men need 11 milligrams of zinc and women need nine thing, but most things are based on body weight, anyways.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I know plenty of men that are maybe shorter and smaller than some of their female counterpart parts, and vice versa.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't think there's a huge difference.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good question.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that that's like such an important point you bring up is that it's not like it's a massive difference between the two.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's so specific to your situation.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, what we do is you take the principles of what we know in this process and you apply it specifically to their situation, right?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Their body weight, their lifestyle, their day-to-day, all those things.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: No different nutrition, no different in your ACL rehab, right?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's always going to be individualized, and I think that's an important thing to take away from this rather than you know, two people like two different genders sitting on different ends of the spectrum, right?
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's a great point.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so all right, gang.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, Emily, it's been such a pleasure to have you on the show today.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: Where can people find out more about you online and how can they keep up with you on social media?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have a website, www.uminjuryrd.com.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can find me on socials as injury underscore rd.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on Instagram and TikTok.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of a cringy TikToker though.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's not my force.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you gotta do it.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Instagram is the place to be.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, my DMs are always open, and I have some links in there with some resources or how to apply to work with me.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if I can just plug really quick, yeah.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Working with me, I run a four-month ready-to-return program.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Within that program, you have unlimited access to one-on-ones with me.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: We do tech support, we do weekly check-ins.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: So again, my whole mindset and the whole goal is you feel confident about the choices that you're making, and you feel confident about what is maybe to come, and you feel continuous support from a professional so that we can make those small changes over time and nutrition doesn't feel overwhelming.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: You have enough stress going on in your life.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want food and nutrition to be adding to that.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that's always my goal.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so make sure that you check all that out.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you are someone who is potentially struggling with nutrition, don't know where to start.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you need some help with this, then please reach out to Emily.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: She's a great resource, even if it's a question or if you end up working with her, that is something, just think of it as a part of your team and being able to make sure that you look at this as the big picture rather than just your rehab or just your nutrition or you know, any of the other pieces.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're trying to maximize those as best as possible.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: So exactly.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: We will have all of Emily's information in the show notes below.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Emily, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: This was fun.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh a lot of people will take away a lot from this episode.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: Nutrition is such a big bucket and such a big question.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's good to have you on here to be able to talk about some of these kind of myths or things that is kind of hard to grasp, and you put it in a very simple way.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's confusing.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: I studied it for I spent way too long in school, and you know, it's still confusing to me sometimes.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're overwhelmed or confused, I think that's totally understandable.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, especially for like even professionals, is you know, we get new research or information all the time.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we're trying to sift through it.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: So uh it could be tough, but that's what we're trying to do to put out to everyone uh who's listening as well, right?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: So well, I think that wraps things up for this episode, folks.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: As always, thank you all so much for listening to the ACL Athlete podcast.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Robbie Patel, signing off.