The cost of health

I was reading an article recently on environmental issues and the following was said:

Prevention is often less expensive than the cure.

I thought, how true this is!

We live in a band-aid, medically focused, fix when things break kind of culture. When someone thinks of training, or joining a gym, or even going for massage therapy - often they think "too expensive".

I had heard someone say once, if you think health is expensive, try illness. Again, so true!

People underestimate the costs of illness once it happens. The cost of medication, sometimes not covered by health plans, the cost of care for the family to take care of you, then the indirect costs - mental health, the lack of a quality of life...can you put a price on that?

Be well

Some comments on Supersize Me.

Well, i finally did. I watched the movie. Ok, a couple of years old now. I watched Supersize Me.

The truth is - the results of his experiments didn't really surprise me. I have worked as a trainer for 5 years. I see the result of a lifetime of poor eating and exercise habits in many of the clients I have worked with over the years.

The movie is a good eye opener for those who "wonder" if it is really all that bad -

1) Processed, high fat, high sugar foods are horrible on the body's systems. Period.
2) Isn't it interesting that it took 17 weeks to lose the weight he had put on in 4?? One cannot expect to lose 20 pounds that took years to put on. Patience and persistance is key. Along with the healthy eating and exercise habits.
3) The gentleman that had the gastric by pass surgery - he drank the same number of liters of pop in a tank of gas of the average car (51 liters). Rather than work on his habits - he opted for surgery. I am sure there are more medical reasons that can justify this. But the truth is we live in a society of instant fixes and gratification...
...4) Rather than focus on prevention - eating healthy and exercising, we live in a culture of pharmaceuticals.
5) 1/3 of cancers are caused by poor habits - food, exercise (or lack thereof) and smoking - all controllable behaviors. (but see #4)

Yes it is easy to say eat right and exercise - our jobs as health and fitness professionals is to show our clients that it CAN be done - by learning NEW habits, making better choices, finding new ways to do things. We can make all the suggestions we can - but like in the movie - the doctor told him to stop - HE decided to keep going. So its up to you - are YOU committed to make the changes and LET your family, your friends, your health experts help you along the way - or do you keep making excuses.

End rant.

Be well.

Winter Holiday Tips

I don't know about you - but I can't seem to get over the fact that its NOVEMBER. This year has been pretty crazy with me.



Parties are going to start soon, and I have just received my training magazine put out by CanFitPro (my certification). There are some great tips for staying healthy this winter season.



1. Be kind to yourself! I love the book "When you eat at the refrigerator, pull up a chair" by Roth
which boils down to - no guilt and do things with gusto! So if you are going to splurge, eat, enjoy, be merry. A day of eating won't break the bank.

2. that being said - Eat before going to party. If you are full, you won't snack.

3. Use the small plates. Less food - eat less.

4. Put a glass of water in your hand. Hard to balance a glass and a plate of food. Not to mention most of us are chronically dehydrated. We tend to eat when we are thirsty.

5. Plan your life - shopping, parties, work and family can fill the hours. Use a calendar and write out all the events, including shopping, baking, parties etc that you need to spend time on. Then write in your work out times. Commit to smaller bouts of exercise. The exercise will help alleviate the stress of the holidays.

6. Plan your event around an activity - hold a snow man building contest, go for a family walk or dance!

7. Plan for healthy eating at your own parties - you control the menu. Make lower fat versions of recipes or reduce the amounts of sugar in your baking (or replace the sugar with pureed fruit).

8. Repeating #1 - do NOT feel guilty. The holidays are a time to celebrate the year and your successes. You can pick up where you left off once the partying is done. and remember - that's ok!!

The purpose of exercise

Ever go through your work and wonder...what's the point of all this?

Lets answer this question in a few steps;

There are many benefits to exercise including improving mood and cardiovascular health.

This in turn will lengthen your life as well as make you physiologically younger

I think most humans strive to live as long as possible with a high quality of life. That means being active and functional into our 80's and 90's (and beyond!).

The goal of exercise is to challenge the muscle. Muscles that are continuously challenged will improve. The key is to apply the challenge in a structured and progressive way in order to reduce the risk of injury and increase our body's ability to improve.

I hope these ideas give you some pretty good reason to move!

be well!