Life in Action Membership Magazine — National Spinal Cord Injury Association

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Life in Action is the membership publication of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, a program of United Spinal Association.

Our mission is to empower Americans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.

Quad Belly

Ian Ruder, Editor, Life in Action

I’ve got a quad belly. There, I said it. Despite all the times I swore I would never let myself get one and all the time I spent watching what I eat, somewhere along the way it just showed up. I don’t remember the when, the how, or the why, all I remember is looking down one day and seeing my beady little belly button looking right back at me. Despite our natural antagonism, we’ve come to terms over the last few years. He knows I won’t rest until he is vanquished, and I know he will most likely have the last jiggle.
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This Edition
Inexpensive Weight Loss Program Weight gain is a sneaky thing. A study cited in a recent Craig Hospital article showed that people with SCI averaged only a pound gain per year. That might not sound too bad, but when you do the math, the pounds add up. A 2008 National Institute on Disability study did just that and found that at 30 years post-injury, 74 percent of quads and paras were either overweight or obese…		Chefs on Wheels This is the story of three chefs and how an auto accident, a fallen tree and a carjacking forced them to figure out how their love of food meshed with spinal cord injury. If we told you they clawed their way back into the kitchen and white hat to the delight and praise of eaters everywhere, that would be a nice fairy tale, but it wouldn’t quite be true…
Accessible Dream Kitchen In this age of reality television, there are entire shows devoted to renovating the kitchen. For many people, the kitchen is both the most important and the most challenging part of renovation. Adding the need for wheelchair access elevates the difficulty of the project to another level. But with the right combination of vision and savvy architecture, the dream of an accessible kitchen can become a reality…		Beach Wheelchairs A new breed of transport is helping chair users take back the beach. The only problem is, there are so many sand-friendly wheelchairs, you might have a hard time choosing among them. Deciding factors include your size and weight, and whether you want to push yourself or have someone push you from behind. Here’s a look at some of the most popular manufacturers…