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October 26th, 2009
“Man, you’ve got to write something about this H1N1 flu panic. It’s crazy,” a doctor I know at the YMCA said from the treadmill he was on.
I encouraged him to tell me what was on his mind, and he cut loose.
“People are coming into our offices and saying they’re afraid of the H1N1 vaccine — and these are otherwise intelligent people. The H1N1 vaccine has been made the same way that all of our flu vaccines have been made for years and years and they are safe.
“But these people are scared and say they’re not going to get their kids vaccinated. And, what, because some TV commentator says it’s dangerous? They’re endangering their kids’ lives.”
His comments fit right in with the message that Winnebago County Health Department Administrator Mike Bacon, Dr. Robert Bales, the Health Department’s medical director, and Dr. Gary Rifkin, an infectious disease clinician and professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, delivered in an H1N1 update for medical professionals earlier this month.
 I have to admit that, as someone still fairly new to paying a lot of attention to health issues, I’ve been surprised by the number of people with no evident medical credentials who have no qualms about second-guessing the people who do have that training and experience, or for that matter, calling them outright liars.
It’s their right to do so, sure, but that doesn’t make it any less curious.
I’m in an age group that puts me at a low priority to receive an H1N1 vaccination but, when my turn comes around, I’m getting one. I hope you will, too.
September 15th, 2009
I’ve been trying to support our copy editor Sadye Scott-Hainchek with tips from my 28 or so years of running experiences as she prepared for her first half-marathon run.
Her blog reminds me of the weekly columns I wrote 11 or 12 years ago — as in long before anyone thought of blogs — about training for my first marathon. I’ve also been assigned to edit her Get Running (http://blogs.e-rockford.com/getrunning/ ) blog posts for use on our Sunday HealthyRockford.com page so, when she wrote in her description of her finish in the Waterfront 5K that she was passed at the end “by a man who looked almost old enough to be my grandfather” I left that in because it was a nice bit of color.
Besides, we guys who actually are old enough to be grandfathers of young adults have to stick together.
I didn’t think anything more of it until the guy who passed Sadye identified himself to me this morning. It was Ed Clucas, one of my old running buddies. He, of course, was good-natured about the mention but expressed no sympathy for Sadye.
“Hey, competition is competition,” he said.
August 13th, 2009
Among exercisers’ most common complaints is that their abs workout hurts their back or their neck.
I tend to think it’s because many of them, unconsciously or otherwise, pull their head forward as they move upward from the starting (lying down) position of an abdominal crunch or a sit-up. This creates an unnatural strain on the vertebrae in the neck and, depending on how hard they pull, could also affect the thoracic and lumbar regions.
There are a couple of tricks to remind yourself not to pull on the head — such as forcefully pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth or pretending you are holding a large apple or potato against your chest with your chin and that you can’t squeeze it — but a better solution would be to switch up the exercises.
An abs bridge — also known as a plank — is a great alternative to always lying on your back and performing an exercise that requires spinal flexion (something not recommended for those with osteopoenia or osteoporosis) every time.
To perform an abs bridge lie prone (down position of a push-up) on a mat with feet together, and place both elbows directly under both shoulders. Lift yourself up until your shoulders, back, hips (no sagging in the middle) and knees and form a straight line angling down to your feet. Â Hold the position as long as possible — 15 seconds would be a good start — and gradually build the amount of time you can hold it.
Enhance your core strength by also performing side bridges. To do this, lie on your right side with legs straight and feet together. Place your right elbow directly under your right shoulder and push yourself up until your torso, hips and knees are in a straight line angling down to your feet. (Once again, no sagging in the middle). Hold as long as you can, then switch and do it on the left side.
Not only will bridges give you an alternative to your crunch or sit-up routines, your abs may feel stronger the next time you crunch.
June 12th, 2009
I first ran across this exercise five or six years ago during a National Exercise Trainers Association workshop on core strength.
It must be good, because I’ve seen it recommended in literally scores of exercise programs since then. When I’ve used it with my clients, I just call it hand and knee balance, but it also goes by several fancier names. It works for the shoulders, back, abs, obliques and a little muscle under your glutes called the piriformis, no matter what you call it.
 The beginner’s form of the exercise is to start on the floor on your hands and knees, with your abs tight and neck and back in neutral spine (flat). Lift the right hand off the floor and extend it above your head while also lifting the left knee and extending it back with toes pointed. While balancing on left hand and right knee, bring the lifted hand and knee in toward your midsection at the same time. Then return to extended position. Do 12 repetitions, then switch to left hand and right leg up and extended and do 12 more repetitions.
Don’t worry if you wobble a bit. Tighten your abs, glutes and obliques to help keep yourself on balance.
Another note: When you’re starting out, especially, one side is always quite a bit better than the other. You’ll improve.
To increase the intensity of the exercise as you get better, you can hold a weight or weighted ball in the extended hand, put the hand that is on the floor on a ball to de-stabilize yourself, or do both at the same time. You can be even tougher on yourself by trying it while balancing on an exercise bench, but make sure you’re really good before you do.
And, by all means, have fun.
April 6th, 2009
I was in Arizona playing really bad golf when I heard about the pistachio recall, but I want to pass on this information I received in an e-mail about a new Web site created to help those who may be concerned about it seek safe sources for the little green nut.
The new site is http://www.pistachiorecall.org/, and is the result of a collaboration between the FDA and California growers/processors.
The site lists specific safe pistachio products and brands not affected by the recall. For additional information or to see the FDA announcement, click on this link http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-04-2009/0005000912&EDATE= or go to www.fda.gov/pistachios.
March 23rd, 2009
We pretty much know the conventional healthy eating advice — cut down on the fatty meats and cheeses, consume more fruits and vegetables, switch to whole-grain breads and pastas and be mindful of realistic portion sizes.
The main idea is to take in high-grade fuel and leave out the excess calories that will weigh down performance.
Well, don’t forget to count the calories in what you drink. While it probably doesn’t make a significant difference that you order the diet soda to go along with your double cheeseburger with bacon and extra sauce, it is a saving of 140 to 150 calories.
In fact, sugared soda is the number one source of refined sugar in the American diet at 10 to 12 teaspoons in a 12-ounce can. That’s enough to earn it the nickname of liquid candy.
Here, according to a chart I found in ”Take Charge of Your Health” by Aileen Ludington and Hans Diehl, are some other drinks and their calorie counts:
1 cup of coffee with cream and sugar — 75, 1 cup of orange juice — 110, 12 ounces of diet soft drink — 0, 12 ounces of fruit punch — 140, 1 cup of nonfat milk — 90, 1 cup of whole milk — 160, 12-ounce milk shake — 425, 12-ounce beer — 150, 1 cocktail — 150, 12 ounces of mineral water — 0.
Plain water also has no calories and doesn’t irritate your system — but it is PLAIN.
So, if you can’t stick to water, drink what you want but remember to count your liquid calories in the total.Â
March 16th, 2009
Unless we have some decidedly un-springlike weather, I’ll be somewhere on the Sinnissippi Bike Path when spring officially arrives at 6:44 a.m. Friday.
I’ve been getting outside to run in a — mostly — straight line now for a couple of weeks after spending the winter going around in ovals and abusing my hips on the YMCA’s indoor track. When I gave up racing — not like I was a threat to beat anyone in my age group — a little over five years ago I also gave up running outdoors in anything colder than 20 degrees above zero.
I’ve read several articles about how exercising outdoors in cold weather helps build your resistance to wintertime ailments — and when I ran outside in winter, I rarely had a cold or the flu — but just couldn’t continue to push myself out the door when I knew I wasn’t training for anything specific.
Now, instead of just feeling the moderating temperatures, spring running is kind of a jailbreak for me and that makes it all the more fun. My hips sure appreciate it, anyway.
So let me encourage you to take your workout outside. It’s getting to be that time.
February 18th, 2009
In a few months short of 40 years at the Register Star, I’ve listened to a lot of stories because I had to.
This Sunday, I’m going to listen to one because I want to. The Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) is bringing Appleton, Wis., florist Verna Van Nuland to the YMCA of Rock River Valley’s Northest Branch at 8451 Orth Road from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and I want to hear her story.
The local CHIP organization, of course, has been advertising the appearance so I already know part of it. She was on the express route to inspecting daisy roots and had already made her funeral arrangements and written a goodbye letter to family and friends when a doctor suggested the CHIP eating program to her.
She’s lost 75 pounds, bicycled over 1,300 miles and gotten rid of a boatload of medications since then. In short, she got her life back.
There’s no getting around it that CHIP, when adhered to completely, is a vegan eating plan. It’s tough. I know, because I tried it. But no one says you have to do it all the time every day. I still try to have totally vegetarian days every week and most of the time I make it.
The point is that the evidence that CHIP is definitely onto something good is growing all the time.
Hey, there’s no football on this Sunday and I don’t think they’re televising spring training yet, so why not give CHIP a looksee.
December 30th, 2008
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I’ve whittled mine down to one that works – the same one every year.
I vow to be just as bad, but no worse, in the new year as I was in the old one.
This resolution works for me because the idea instead of resolving to lose a bunch of weight, improve my exercise routine or watch my spending more closely – all of which I would probably break just as fast as most anyone else — is to try to emphasize positives, the things that I think I already do well and do them more often in the new year.
It doesn’t matter if other people think I do them well, Â just that I think so.
I think the same approach can work for anyone. Figure out two or maybe three things that you do well — politeness, generosity, leadership, or whatever — and practice them more often. You may find that that person who now emphasizes those positives is more motivated to drop those five pounds that have been hanging around for too long or has the willpower to finally put out that last cigarette.
You get a better, healthier, happier you and no resolution to make yourself over was needed.
December 17th, 2008
Among the things we ran across Tuesday while covering Windsor Elementary School teacher Amy Conklin’s success in a Weight Watchers’ contest were her tips on sticking with a weight-loss plan.
You wouldn’t have seen them unless you went to www.weightwatchers.com/inspiringstories to follow everything about the story, and I wanted to make sure they got repeated here since weight loss is likely to be high on a lot of New Year’s resolution lists.
Her tips are:
“You need to eat to lose weight. It may sound counter-intuitive, but when you deny your body nutrition by not eating, your metabolism slows down, making it harder to lose weight.”
“Don’t set a time frame for your weight loss. It can be a recipe for disaster. If you set a goal date and you are off track on achieving it, you are more likely to give up.”
“Lose weight and get healthy for yourself. Trying to lose weight for someone else or for an event means you aren’t ready to make a lifestyle change. Weight Watchers isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle (yes, I’m letting her get away with an endorsement, but to not do so would be to change her quote). This is one instance in life when it is OK to be completely selfish. Everyone who loves you will reap the benefits of this commitment to your health.”
“Be realistic about your goals. Rapid weight loss is not healthy and in most cases not sustainable.”
Her last tip is another endorsement, and one is enough. You can visit the Weight Watchers’ Web site if you want to read it.
In any event, I hope this may help you if weight loss is your goal for 2009.
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