Seven Small Mistakes Can Sabotage Your Well-Being, Happiness and Fitness

Everyone wants to experience an ongoing sense of joy and well-being. But when it comes to happiness, even little missteps can poison your pleasure in living.

Why is maintaining a positive outlook important to reaching and maintaining your fitness goals? Because, according to Dr. Martin Binks, Director of Behavioral Health at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center (www.dukediet.com) and co-author of The Duke Diet, “negative thinking can interfere with making healthy choices like getting started on your workout. By focusing on the positive, like that feeling of accomplishment you get after even a short exercise session, you will be motivated to get started.”

What are seven common mistakes, and how can you avoid them?

Focusing on the Negative
Everything else may have gone right today, yet you find yourself obsessing over the woman at the grocery store who cut ahead of you in line.

Simply put, gratitude for our blessings ensures happiness. Developing an attitude of gratitude is a skill that requires conscious effort. Before retiring, list three wonderful moments you experienced during the day for which you are grateful. Or keep a gratitude journal.

Neglecting Our Bodies
Despite information from dozens of sources bombarding us, we fail to eat foods that nourish our bodies or to set aside time for playful exercise.

If we move our bodies, stay rested and eat appropriately, our bodies provide us with ample energy to live zestfully. A high level of physical and emotional well-being is possible only in a body that its owner consistently maintains with healthful habits.

Postponing Happiness
Children who ask the question “Are we there yet?” are assuming that the fun won’t begin until the car trip ends. Many of us postpone enjoying our days in anticipation of the annual vacation or perhaps retirement.

Before you begin your day, ask yourself one question: “How will I show up today?” Make a decision to enjoy the miracle of being alive. Fortunately, happiness is possible at any given moment—and the moment is with us at all times.

Getting Even
Revenge is a dish that some of us love served hot or cold. Vindictiveness—whether executed boldly or delivered through passive-aggressive behavior—seldom satisfies. Like a drug addiction, the desire for revenge creates a craving for more.

Forgiveness is what we do for ourselves, not for the person who may have harmed us. Consequently, forgiveness doesn’t have to be earned. We offer it freely to others and in the process, it lifts our own spirits. And don’t forget to forgive yourself. Like every other imperfect human being, you are a work in progress.

Pursuing Powerlessness
Individuals who collect and recite ongoing stories of victimization are trapped in perpetual suffering. Always receiving the short end of the stick, these victims inevitably become embittered and resentful of others’ happiness.

Accept responsibility for the authorship of your life story. Consider rewriting the ending of victimization stories. Recast yourself as a noble survivor. This is your life. You are the hero—script a wonderful future. Reclaim your right to have great dreams and then pursue them.

Overvaluing Possessions
For some, the acquisition of material possessions becomes the central meaning of life. When ownership is accompanied by a sense of entitlement, discontent is bound to follow. Jealousy rears its ugly head. Acquiring newer, better and more expensive versions of possessions eventually results in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction.

Stop comparing yourself to others. Choose to be happy with what you own and take care of the possessions with which you have been entrusted. Above all, give to others who are less fortunate. Happy people have figured out that the greatest joy in life is not in the getting but in the giving.

Living on an Island
When we isolate ourselves from family, friends and community groups, we starve the part of ourselves that needs encouragement and takes strength from others. Self-doubts undermine our courage to take risks. Self-pity replaces self-respect.

Get involved. Others challenge us to grow and learn and to engage our strengths and talents. We become more capable and loving when we share our time and our gifts. Whatever our age or condition, we still possess untapped possibilities that, when expressed, will benefit others.

Your outlook on the world is an advertisement that tells others what you feel. How will you advertise yourself today? This very moment? How happy will you allow yourself to be?



"I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently." Ernest Hemingway

Gaining Perspective on Losing Weight - Should I drink to that?

One of the most frequently read articles in the online version of Time magazine, January 24, 2008 was one that delighted many.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported that a “a new study of cardiac health has yielded a happy formula: start with moderate exercise, at least thirty minutes to one hour a day and add moderate alcohol consumption.”

Now that’s health news we can all live with, right? Eating healthfully, exercising regularly, flossing daily and getting a good night’s sleep were unexciting rules our mothers taught us. But who would have dreamed that alcohol would be a recommended addition to our fitness program?

The study, first reported in the European Heart Journal, involved 12,000 people over a 20-year period and was conducted by Denmark's National Institute of Public Health. Dr. Morten Gronbaek, epidemiologist, summarizes the results: alcohol and exercise affect the body in similar ways, and they reinforce each other when both are practiced. Evidently, consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol increases good cholesterol and clears out the circulatory system.

The population under study was divided into four groups: nonexercisers who did not drink, nonexercisers who drank, exercisers who did not drink and exercisers who drank moderately. The group that exercised regularly and drank moderately had the greatest benefit in terms of reduced risk of heart disease (50 percent). The nonexercisers who drank moderately had about the same reduction in risk (30 percent) as the teetotaling exercisers. Besides suggesting that consuming a drink a day was equivalent to exercising, the study also suggested that combining the two—exercise and moderate drinking—provided the greatest benefit.

A couple of caveats, though, are included in the study. First, moderate drinking is one to two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. Second, the study is relevant for only an older population since there is no proof that alcohol will reduce the risk of heart disease before age 45. And third, women who are at risk for breast cancer need to avoid alcohol because of increasing evidence of the link between the two.

In my case, I am careful about consumption of alcohol because I seldom have the calories to spare. One drink can steal a couple of hundred calories from my daily budget of 1,500. Still, the study is intriguing. What’s your take on it?



"As I see it, every day you do one of two things; build health or produce disease within yourself." Adelle Davis

Nothing come between me and my slogan

Most days I find a way to sail through the temptations that would steer me away from my commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Other days—and I can never predict when they will occur—I am challenged to stay on course.

When the sweet siren song of seductive indulgence calls my name and my fitness plans are in danger of being shipwrecked, I need a reminder to help me navigate through the shoals. But what kind of reminder?

I needed an internal marketing plan. My first step was to order a personalized “Fat2Fit” license plate for my car. I knew that I could not drive a car with this message on the plate if I didn’t look fit. (Incidentally, I ordered the license plate a year before my book From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction was written and three years before it was published.)

My next idea was to find a meaningful mantra or slogan. Why did I need one? For the same reason advertisers spend millions to develop slogans—because they stick in our heads. If you’re old enough, you may remember Brylcreem’s slogan “A Little Dab’ll Do Ya,” the U.S. Forest Service’s slogan “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” or Wendy’s slogan “Where’s the Beef?” Why not, I asked myself, harness the power of a slogan to create awareness of my commitment to a healthy lifestyle? And if the slogan lost its impact over time, I could adopt a new one.

Searching the Internet, I found a Web site that allows visitors to insert key words into well-known commercial slogans. I inserted the words body, fit, fitness and health. Here are a few of the generated slogans:
Make room in your life for your body.
All you need is a body and a dream.
Body is Job #1.
I’d walk a mile for a body.
A body is forever.
A body is a terrible thing to waste.
No size fits all.
Better living through fitness.
Because so much is riding on your health.
My body. My way.

I had so much fun playing with the slogan generator that I had to stop myself when the list approached 50. After all, how many slogans could I use?

I hope you’ll adopt one of these slogans or, better yet, create one of your own. Be sure to display the slogan where you will see it throughout the day—on the bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator door, in your wallet and on the dashboard of your car.

You can also have your slogan imprinted on a coffee cup or t-shirt—buy one for your friends and one for yourself. If you create your own slogan, be sure to send it to me so I can add it to the list. And please let me know if your internal marketing campaign steers you toward healthier choices.

I found it hard to pick my favorite slogan. Given my role as fitness advocate, I finally chose “Make Every Body Count."



"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stearn resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind." Leonardo DaVinci

Fit in America: Coming to a town near you?

On any given day,

• nearly one out of two American women and one out of four American men are on a diet;
• over $50 billion is spent each year on dieting and diet-related products;
• four out of five 10-year-olds are worried about getting fat; and
• 33 percent of children are overweight.

Despite the attention and expense, we’re getting fatter. So what’s a country to do? Some countries have created their own solutions:

• Japan is measuring the waistlines of all citizens. Those who exceed the limit are required to attend classes and make healthy lifestyle changes.
• Mexico has introduced a national campaign to lose weight titled Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos, or Let’s Lose a Million Kilos.
• France has introduced a community-based initiative titled EPODE (Ensemble, Prēvenons l’Obésité Des Enfants, or Together, Let’s Prevent Obesity in Children). Successful in thinning children in the two pilot villages, the program has expanded to 113 villages.

Our national educational efforts, while laudable, are insufficient to trigger positive changes on a day-to-day basis. To trigger changes on a grand scale, we need a project far more imaginative than anything we’ve tried so far.

If we can harness our collective talent to put a man on the moon, surely we can direct our talents to create a fun-filled, dynamic U.S. fitness promotion campaign. If we can spend $700 billion to solve problems in the financial community, can’t we find a few million dollars to address a health concern that touches the lives of a majority of our citizens?

Let’s call the program Fit in America. Under this umbrella heading, leaders can organize group weight-loss programs that respond to the needs of each community. Fit in Atlanta can compete with Fit in Dallas. Fit in San Francisco can challenge Fit in Chicago.

Besides losing weight, we can also reinforce the sense of belonging. Being part of a larger effort will help rebuild the cohesiveness of the American people and shrink the gap resulting from the increasing polarization that has diminished our trust in one another.

Working together to lose weight and become fit, we will reaffirm that it is more fun to create than to tear down. We will discover that our differences are less important than our similarities are.

What do you think? Are you ready to bring Fit in America to a town near you?

"To pull together is to avoid being pulled apart" Bob Allisat

Does the calendar control your weight?

Who hasn't stepped on the scale on Monday morning after a weekend of splurging and resolved to shape up? To diet from this day forward until the surplus pounds are gone? And to exercise at least an hour a day?

By Tuesday, the resolve is weaker but the memory of the number on the scale is still fresh enough to ensure compliance, albeit unwilling. On Wednesday, the commitment to shape up and lose weight is hanging by a thread. Thursday is a “just get through it” kind of day.

Friday night signals the beginning of a three-day orgy that starts with relaxing drinks and food and is followed by more treats and delights on Saturday and Sunday. Then once again comes Monday's moment of truth, complete with regrets when the unhappy consequences of last week’s choices are reflected in the number on the scale.

What helped me escape the weekly cycle was taking a “no matter what” approach to my fitness commitment to myself. I resolved that whatever the day of the week or whatever events were swirling around me, I would keep my caloric intake in the range of 1,500—1,800 calories and exercise an hour each day. Unless I was sick or injured, there would be no exceptions. No days off. No matter what.

Just like I had my cup of coffee each morning and flossed my teeth each night, I would exercise and monitor what I ate each day.

Over time, this “no matter what” approach to eating and exercising has become part of my daily routine. Consequently, my habits, not the calendar, now dictate my behavior.

If you’re struggling to free yourself from repeated failure, consider experimenting with the “no matter what” approach. Building healthy habits into our daily lives is a task worth undertaking. Join me!

What can MacDonald's do for you?

First we heard about Jared and the Subway diet (Jared lost 245 pounds eating only at Subway), and now the McDonald’s diet is receiving attention. Chris Coleson, a 42-year-old Virginia resident, lost nearly 80 pounds eating two meals a day at McDonald’s for six months.

And Chris is not alone. Eating only at McDonald’s, Merab Morgan of North Carolina lost 30 pounds (10 pounds a month for three months).

These dieters aren’t the first to claim weight-loss success eating at McDonald’s. Previously, a New Hampshire woman lost more than 35 pounds on a diet based on McDonald’s fare, and Don Gorske, featured in Guinness World Records, has eaten over 19,000 Big Macs, yet he remains a slender 6-foot, 180-pound man.

For some of us, the idea of eating mounds of french fries and double cheeseburgers, topping that off with a McFlurry dessert and still losing weight is a dream come true. But the truth is that all of these dieters drastically reduced their calories by choosing salads, wraps, diet sodas and apple dippers without the caramel dip. The dieters also limited how often they ate and how much food they consumed.

Like Jared, Chris and the other McDonald’s dieters lost weight because they cut the number of calories consumed on a daily basis. Even on the reduced-calorie regimen, the dieters found eating strategies they enjoyed, so they were able to stick with their program. These successful weight-loss stories reaffirm the basic premise: if you consume fewer calories than you need, your body will burn stored fat to make up the difference, and you will lose weight.

Even if you’d never consider adopting the McDonald’s diet, Chris’s story still provides a lesson: to lose weight and sustain new habits, follow an ongoing eating regimen that you find pleasurable and satisfying. Depriving yourself of food you enjoy and forcing yourself to eat food you hate can easily send you into an attack of overeating and bingeing. To achieve your ideal weight, eat foods you like that provide nutrition and don’t pack on pounds. This way, you can continue your eating program indefinitely.

Whether the McDonald’s diet provides the necessary nutrients remains unclear. But even on a low-calorie eating regimen, you can consume the required nutrients if you eat a balanced diet.

The key to losing weight and maintaining your new weight does not involve where you eat, but what you eat. Don’t follow your inner sheep and adopt a regimen that for others. Instead, find the eating style that works for you and your body. Your goal is to achieve a healthy body weight and have fun achieving it.

"Things are only impossible until they are not." Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

To Drink or Not to Drink?

That is the question—at least for those of us trying to lose weight. Should we indulge ourselves and then suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous guilt for consuming empty calories? Or should we abstain?

Last week, my girlfriend Deborah Wagner, a registered nurse, and I had an animated debate on this subject over a wineless lunch. Both of us work to maintain our weight between 128 and 132 pounds. Given our commitment, lunches inevitably begin with a self-assessment on how we’re doing, followed by the latest insights.

When the topic of wine came up, Deborah argued on behalf of the daily sip. As head of our community’s wellness program, Deborah is well informed, whereas my contrary point of view was strictly personal. Although my mind was made up, I was willing to listen.

Deborah asserted that her nightly glass of red wine is medically beneficial. She cited research claiming that a daily glass of red wine improves heart health, may prevent tumors from growing and may also improve nerve function. Preventing or delaying heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s should be reason enough, Deborah said, to enjoy a glass of wine. She quickly added, however, that if a person didn’t drink wine, they shouldn’t begin. However, for Deborah, the immediate benefit was the relaxing effect of wine. The nightly ritual made the transition from work to home seamless.

Best of all, Deborah said, a glass of wine helps individuals maintain their weight. She based her assertion on researchstating that people who consume a single drink a few times each week have a lower risk of obesity than teetotalers or heavy drinkers have. I could understand the connection between heavy drinking and surplus pounds, but I was surprised that a moderate amount of alcohol helped individuals stay trim.

My argument against indulging was not scientifically based but was nonetheless compelling to me. I seem incapable of drinking only one glass of red wine. If one glass tastes good, then the second glass tastes even better. I’ve also noticed that if I drink a glass of red wine with dinner, I crave sugar later in the evening. While the wine doesn’t cost too many calories, the sugared dessert I can no longer resist certainly does. In addition to consuming surplus calories, I feel less rested upon rising the following day. Throughout the day, my energy level is lower than usual even as my appetite is ratcheted up.

I’m 15 years older than Deborah, so our age difference might explain the different physiological reaction I reported. Or maybe I just have different body chemistry.

Had I been more prepared, I could have buttressed my antiwine argument by citing the dangers associated with drunkorexia, the latest eating disorder. This unofficial term describes individuals (mainly women) who starve themselves all day so they can indulge in alcohol later without feeling guilty about consuming too many calories. This abuse of alcohol leads to malnutrition, organ damage and weak bones. Treatment is complicated because the disorder is frequently part of a larger complex of dysfunctional behaviors, such as bulimia and anorexia.

Debbie and I ended our lunch without resolving our differing opinions on the value of a daily glass of red wine—we agreed to disagree. Like the good friends that we are, though, we had no problem agreeing on our next lunch date.

What’s your perspective?

"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake."                Bible, 1 Timothy v. 23

Ten Essential Lessons to Build Body Esteem

Kathy Kater is a nationally recognized expert in eating disorders and created the Healthy Body Image curriculum for the island of Kauai. She also is the author of Real Kids Come in All Sizes.

Kater’s ideas for young people are highlighted in the January-February 2007 issue of Inspiration, Hawaii’s Wellness Journal, and apply to people all ages: 

1. Accept your body’s genetic predisposition. All bodies are wired to be heavier, thinner or in-between.

2. Understand that all bodies change developmentally. Puberty, pregnancy, menopause and aging cannot be controlled.

3. Never diet. Hunger is an internally regulated drive and demands to be satisfied. If you diet, you trigger overeating and a preoccupation with food.

4. Satisfy your body with plenty of wholesome, nutrient-rich foods.

5. Limit sedentary entertainment.

6. To find your optimal natural weight, eat healthfully and maintain an active lifestyle.

7. Choose realistic role models.

8. Maintain your integrity as a person. Your sense of identity is based on many aspects including values you believe in and the person that you are deep inside—not just your body image.

9. Become media savvy. Educate yourself about manipulative advertising and other factors that lead you to buy products or foods that aren’t good for you or that make you feel deficient.

10. Encourage others to join you in developing a healthy, realistic body image.

Kater’s insights underscore a simple truth: how you see yourself determines your daily choices, and the cumulative effect of moment-by-moment decisions shapes your future. Instead of looking for a path that will carry you forward into the future of your dreams, make your own path. As you self-confidently forge ahead, you will achieve a healthier body image—and by your example, you will help others achieve their goals.

Kater has encapsulated a lifetime of work in these ten items. I think you’ll agree that the list is worth saving, rereading from time to time and sharing with others.

Because I found Kater’s ideas so valuable, I sent this article to Gabby Reece, world-class athlete and beautiful young mother. Her staff posted it on Gabby’s site (www.gotogabby.com) on October 6. Go here for the full article.

"Self-esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves."                Nathaniel Branden

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Searching for the Keys to Weight Loss

For 40 years, I wandered alone in the harsh and unforgiving wilderness of diets and tried desperately to lose weight. I tried every popular fad diet in an effort to return my body to its youthful shape so that one morning I could look down and see a number on the bathroom scale that wouldn’t send me into despair.

The most memorable diet was the “three-meals-of-cabbage-soup-a-day” diet—if only because my kids hated the smell of cooked cabbage.

I thought if I found the right diet, however bizarre or unhealthy, the surplus pounds would disappear and I could be happy again. I would rise each morning determined to follow my strict regimen. By the time I went to bed, I had engaged in unplanned eating (the name I gave to eating everything I planned and lots more). The “Just Say No” campaign didn’t work.

In retrospect, I can see that I was like the man who, when trying to unlock his car parked on a dark street, drops his car keys. Crawling around on his hands and knees in the blackness of the night, he searches unsuccessfully for his keys. After several minutes, the man realizes that finding his keys would be easier if it weren’t so dark. Spotting a lamppost 50 feet away, he walks to the lighted area. Once again, the man begins crawling around on the ground and searching for his keys.

A passerby finds the behavior odd and stops to ask the man what he is looking for.

When the searcher explains that he is looking for keys that he dropped near his car up the street, the passerby looks perplexed. “If you dropped the keys over there, why are you looking for them here?” he asks. “Because,” the man replies, “I need light. I can’t find my keys in the dark.”

This story explains much of my frustrating effort to lose weight. For years, I tried and failed. Then I tried again and failed again. I failed because I searched for the key to weight loss inside the pantry and refrigerator—where there were lights—rather than inside me. I was looking for comfort, reassurance and love in all the wrong places.

When I stepped on the scale shortly before my 60th birthday and the scale broke, my history with failed searches became irrelevant. In a single moment, I experienced a breakthrough: I adopted a different point of view. For years, I saw my problem of obesity as one of simply eating too much. The solution would be to eat less. I was wrong.

Overeating was not the problem—it was the solution. Overeating was an effective (albeit fattening) solution to problems that were hidden from view. The overeating—which I brutally criticized myself for—was my creative way of coping with difficulties.

To succeed long term, I would have to pinpoint the problems that ultimately led to consuming more food than my body needed. Identifying these problems and finding healthier solutions were new and exciting tasks that required observational skills.

By paying attention, I discovered that two conditions—physical and emotional—triggered overeating. If I became ravenously hungry or overly fatigued, I misused food as a solution to my physical discomfort. If I became sad, depressed, angry or anxious, I turned to food for love and comfort.

When I looked back at the occasions when I overate, I could see the wisdom embedded in the acronym HALT, which advises those of us who want to make behavior changes to be vigilant when we are in one of four dangerous states: Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. This acronym is used to counsel individuals seeking relief from excessive stress and individuals overcoming drug and alcohol addition or other dysfunctional habits including overeating. Food was simply my drug of choice and the solution to my problems.

Armed with this insight, my first strategy was to manage myself. I paid attention to my eating schedule so I didn’t get ravenously hungry. I noticed if I was angry or anxious. I began reaching out to family and friends to counter my sense of loneliness. And finally, I decided to stay more rested.

But life happens. It isn’t always possible to avoid these conditions. Despite my best intentions, I can end the day starving, anxious, isolated or fatigued. But now I am more willing to recognize these feelings, and I know that they need to be honored with a solution that nourishes my spirit rather than adds unneeded fuel to my body. When I am in any one of the four states (God forbid I am in all four at once), after acknowledging my feelings, I have to figure out how I can comfort myself in a healthful way.

Sometimes, I simply need a reassuring conversation with myself, a hug from my husband or a “walk and talk” with a friend. Other times, I need to telephone one of my sisters. And when I become overly tired, I give in to my body and go to bed early because I know that my optimistic outlook will return in the morning. With this awareness, I can manage myself through the crisis. And when I do succumb to temptation and revert to my old ways, I simply pick myself up the following day and begin anew.

One of my favorite expressions is “You can never get enough of what you don’t really need.” I could never eat enough food because food wasn’t what I needed. Instead of stuffing my feelings, I needed to face them and find healthier ways to comfort myself. I stopped looking for love in the refrigerator and cupboard—in all the wrong places. Instead, I found my personal keys to fitness and weight loss in the only place they could ever be found—within me.

I achieved this insight late in life. Hopefully, you can take advantage of my delayed learning curve to achieve your weight-loss goals.

Examining a Family’s Coping System Can Help Weight Loss

When we decide to lose weight, we don’t have to look far for reliable information about diet and exercise. Finding and maintaining the emotional will to change lifetime habits is a more difficult, but critical, requirement for success.

According to Kathy Sheffield, a therapist and registered dietician, individuals may be in a better position to live without overeating when they understand how overeating functions in their lives. She asserts that the answer can be found by examining a family’s emotional coping system. For example, when family members relate to each other in a dysfunctional manner, they may unwittingly adapt to the difficult situation at the cost of their own well-being. The resulting conflict and inner tension is managed through food.

One interesting study observed that weight loss occurred at least temporarily when the family system changed. Without exception, the desire to lose weight appeared when a shift in a relationship changed the emotional climate for the dieter.

In one case, a husband's became more emotionally available when his job changed. In another, a difficult relationship with a mother-in-law became manageable after the family moved. Once the emotional climate improved, the dieter was able to make changes. If the climate shifted back, weight was regained.

According to Sheffield, therapy can help individuals discover the link between relationships and eating disorders and offers new possibilities in weight-loss success.

"To err is dysfunctional, to forgive codependent" Berton Averre

Would You Walk a Mile for a Doctor?

If you’re a patient of Dr. David Sabgir’s, you might find yourself doing just that. Every Saturday at 8:30 a.m., rain or shine, Dr. Sabgir heads out on a walk at Highbanks Metropolitan Park in Lewis Center, Ohio, with 175 to 200 patients, neighbors, friends and family members.

Three years ago, after unsuccessfully admonishing his patients to lose weight, Dr. Sabgir had a flash of insight. Why not walk with his patients every Saturday morning? During the walk, patients, along with their family and friends, would have the opportunity to talk with medical professionals to learn how to take care of their health. By becoming more active, patients could alter the course of anticipated heart disease and improve the quality of their lives.

The project quickly became a family affair. Dr. Sabgir’s wife, Kristin, began bringing lower-calorie fare to the walks to demonstrate healthy snacks. Alexandria (age 9) and Charlie (age 7) joined the walks. Dr. Sabgir’s father telephones weekly reminders to participants without access to e-mail. Other volunteers who joined the effort include nurses who provide free blood-pressure checks, an exercise physiologist who leads and closes the program with appropriate stretches and sponsors who provide free pedometers. Healthy recipes, samples of the recipes and nutritional weight-loss tips are provided each week. Participants can also receive a free one-hour counseling session with a registered dietician.

Dr. Sabgir, a board-certified cardiologist, practices with clinical cardiology specialists at McConnell Heart Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital. Through these organized weekly walks, Dr. Sabgir has found a way to encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages, sizes, shapes, physical conditions, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Dr. Sabgir considers the diversity of the walking group to be its strength. He says, “The diversity of the group is most apparent when you see a young mother pushing her newborn in a stroller alongside a couple in their 90s. Both obese walkers and endurance athletes share in the benefit of education and exercise.”

With Ohio’s obesity rate approaching 27 percent, Dr. Sabgir has a big job. His state ranks 17th among the 50 states. Moreover, the numbers on the scales of Ohio citizens—and of the rest of the nation—are heading up. Even more worrisome is the fact that interventions—whether undertaken by medical personnel, private companies or government entities—have yet to reverse the trend. Dr. Sabgir’s has designed his volunteer efforts to do just that by creating a greater awareness and commitment to health among residents in his community.

Besides making new friends and having fun, patients learn the medical benefits of walking. Exercise helps patients feel less tired, decreases stress, aids in weight loss and weight control, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels and improves circulation.

If you’d like to learn more about the Walk with a Doc program, you can sign up for Dr. David Sabgir’s newsletter, e-mail Dr. Sabgir at contact@walkwithadoc.org or call 614.273.8030.

"I have two doctors, my left leg and my right."

G. M. Trevelyan

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Will You Help Me Become Friends with My Body?

This letter came to me from a reader. I wanted to share it because many of you will be able to relate to what she says.

Dear Carole:

About 10 years ago, The Body Shop ran a campaign that showed a plus-size Barbie on a sofa and the words, "There are 3 billion women who don't look like supermodels and 8 who do. Learn to love your body." That was a huge statement. I bought up the magnets and gave them to every woman I cared about.

I turned a corner when I became conscious of the critic in my head that said I couldn't be acceptable unless I looked a certain way. I think women in particular are raised to nurture that critic. We're taught to listen to it. For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked in mirrors and dissected the things that are wrong with me. The nose. The hair. The legs.

Lately though, I've started to appreciate that this body is what I'm going to live in for the rest of my life, and I might as well make friends with it. It takes me where I want to go and is the source of my physical and emotional responses to the world.

Today, I don't want to get fit to become more acceptable or meet some outside ideal. I just want to be healthy and active as long as I'm in this body.

On some level, I think I owe my body an apology. I'm sorry for starving you; overfeeding you; purging you; and manically exercising you, then completely neglecting you. I'm okay with the waxing and dyeing—you'll just have to deal with that. But seriously, want to go for a walk and catch up on how things really are? I think I'm ready to be friends. J.E., Walnut Creek, CA

Isn’t this a wonderful conclusion to her letter? Becoming friends with our bodies is a powerful idea whose time has come.

"Getting my lifelong weight struggle under control has come from a process of treating myself as well as I treat others in every way."

Oprah Winfrey

Healthy Aging—for Kids?

One potato, two potato, three potato, four.

Kids won’t live as long as their parents did before.

This lighthearted chant conveys a serious message: today’s children may be the first generation to suffer more health problems and live shorter lives than their parents will.

September is national Healthy Aging Month, and the traditional focus of this health promotion has been on adults 50 years or older. But in light of the downward trend in longevity, the concept of healthy aging needs to be applied to everyone—even children.

I wrote about this issue in an article titled “Healthy Aging—for Kids?” that appeared on Gabby Reece’s Web site

on August 24, 2008. Go here for the full article.

Whether we’re teachers, friends, parents or relatives, we can help children get FIT and preserve their option to age healthfully. Here are three FIT tips:

F: Feed your children home-cooked meals that include vegetables and fruit. Fix family favorites but reduce calories—for example, replace oil or butter in baked goods with applesauce. Fill your cupboard and refrigerator with healthy “fast foods” (for example, bananas, apples, hard-boiled eggs, whole-wheat bread, raisins and carrots) that kids can grab and eat on the run. Find games to play either indoors (Wii Fit or another exergame) or outdoors that will get your family moving.

I: Inquire about the calories and content of restaurant and processed foods and check specifically for fat, trans fat and sodium. Involve yourself in parents’ groups promoting healthy school lunch programs. Initiate family rituals that include a nightly family dinner. Introduce concepts about portion size and caloric content. Invite your children to help you cook.

T: Teach children about nutrition. For example, discuss the importance of drinking milk to build strong bones and eating fresh fruits and vegetables to provide needed vitamins, fiber and nutrients. Track your family’s screen time (video, television and computer) and set a limit on use. Take time to participate in fun physical activities with your kids and show them by example that exercise is important.

Raising children is a daunting yet fun-filled challenge. Whether we’re a parent, relative, teacher or physician, we have one goal: to develop children into fit, productive adults. To assure this happy outcome, all of us must adopt a healthy lifestyle. We’re never too old—or too young—to focus on fitness.

Five potato, six potato, seven potato, eight.

We need to help kids change before it is too late.

What’s Triggering Body Inflation?

The price of food throughout the world has risen at an unprecedented rate, according to a warning issued by United Nations. In 2007, the global food price index rose over 40 percent compared to 9 percent in 2006. Agency officials cite global warming, changes in farming practices, natural disasters, war and rising demand for food and fuel from growing populations as key factors.

In the United States, the price of fresh fruits and vegetables rose 74% between 1989 and 2005, and we can expect the cost to continue to rise given the damage to crops from flooding in the Midwest and a drought on the west coast. In terms of the dollar’s purchasing power, it takes $125 to buy the same goods today that $100 bought in 2000.

Given the rising cost of food, why are Americans—along with citizens of other countries—ballooning? Obesity is even becoming a problem in some parts of Africa as the pendulum for many now swings from under-nutrition to obesity without bothering to stop at normal weight. Is inflation contagious? Is it triggering inflation in body weight as well?

In an effort to address this question, a special health issue of Time magazine focused on supersized kids. The expanding problem (excuse the pun) of childhood obsesity is a concern for many but especially parents, grandparents, teachers and medical professionals.

Time’s eight lengthy, well-researched articles cover topics ranging from the economics of obesity (how limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables in inner cities and certain rural areas, referred to as food deserts, encourages calorie-laden diets) to genetic causes of obesity and medical solutins. Practical tips to help parents trim their oversized kids by helping them become more active is also included.

But is the problem of body inflation this complex? And is the solution more exercise?

Not according to biologist John Speakman at the University of Aberdeen in the U.K. He narrows it down to one simple cause: we eat too much. In a study reported in the June 4, 2008, issue of Science Now titled “The Couch Isn’t Making You Fat,” Dr. Speakman asserts that overeating rather than under-exercising is the root cause of obesity.

Dr. Speakman and a fellow biologist, Klaas Westerterp of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, studied data that measured the daily energy expenditure stretching over a twenty year period. Then they compared the data from the long term studies with results they obtained measuring the current energy expenditure of 366 individuals. Rather than rely on subjective reporting, the researchers measured the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen in the urine of subjects, a ratio that provides information on the rate of metabolism.

Their conclusion was both startling and controversial. The researchers found that the daily expenditure of energy for their subjects was about the same as it was for people measured twenty years ago. True, watching television has replaced listening to the radio, and surfing the Internet or playing video games has replaced reading books. But the effect of these changes does not significantly alter energy expenditure.

Even more impressive was their conclusion that the expenditure of energy was consistent over the entire twenty year period. Surprisingly, geography had little impact. That is, the expenditure of energy remained constant whether the data came from studies in developing or westernized countries.

His study confirms my own experience in losing over sixty pounds. How did I acquire the surplus pounds? I ate too much.

Here’s a typical day of eating before I lost weight.

Breakfast

1 fried egg 100

2 slices of bacon 80

2 slices whole wheat bread 200

2 cups of coffee with cream 90

1 8-ounce glass of orange juice 130

Total 600

Lunch

1 double cheeseburger 440

1 large order French fries 500

1 packet catsup 15

1 12-ounce McFlurry with M&Ms 620

Total 1,570

Snack

2 chocolate chip cookies 200

Dinner

2 slices cheddar cheese 210

4 whole wheat crackers 100

1 baked potato 90

2 heaping tablespoons sour cream 120

1 heaping tablespoon butter 100

1 breast of chicken 200

1 cup green salad 180

3 tablespoons salad dressing 100

1 cup green beans with butter 100

Total 1,200

Total for the day 3,570

Given my height of 5-feet 2-inches, even with an hour of exercise, my body burns around 1,500 calories a day. So what happened to the 2,080 surplus calories on my typical eating day? My body stored fat around my middle, hips and thighs.

Had I tried to burn the extra calories through exercise, I would have needed to walk 10 hours. As you can see, there weren’t enough hours in the day to burn off the surplus calories.

Although I’m not a math major, I figured out that except for the ultra-athlete engaged in intense, continuous training or the competitors on The Biggest Loser, exercise by itself would not be sufficient to lose weight. Consequently, my approach to losing weight involved eating less (reducing portion sizes) and eat differently (substituting lower-calorie foods for richer ones.

Don’t get me wrong. Exercise shapes and tones my body, lowers my blood pressure, improves my balance, sharpens my mind, strengthens my muscles and bones, reduces the risk of certain chronic diseases and lifts my spirit. Exercise also helps me sleep better, boosts my energy and burns a few incidental calories. Because exercise has these enormous benefits, I’m committed to daily exercise. At the same time, I’m realistic about the ongoing need to monitor the amount of calories I consume if I want to keep from packing on pounds.

What triggers body inflation? Genetics? Too much screen time? Or do we eat too much? Is it simply consumption inflation? If it is, can we accept such a straightforward answer? Or will we seek an answer that does not require us to alter our current way of life. And eating.

Like Brutus, will we continue to look for answers—not in ourselves—but in the stars?

"The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves..."                            Shakespeare

Local fitness guru goes global on AARP Web site | TheUnion.com

http://www.theunion.com/article/20090616/NEWS/906169998/1053/NONE&parentprofile=1053

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To Size Down, Wise Up—on Serving Sizes

Are you the kind of person who calculates each serving you eat? Do you weigh each ounce of nourishment on a food scale? Most of us aren’t that precise about our eating habits, and perhaps it is just as well. Food is meant not only to nourish our bodies but to be enjoyed.

Still, to manage your weight, you need to have an accurate idea of what constitutes a serving. If you don’t pay attention to the amount of food you eat, you can easily consume 20 to 30 percent more calories each day than you realize. One study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that the larger the meal, the greater the underestimation of the total calories consumed—sometimes by as much as 38 percent. Another study estimates 40 percent. These researchers found that the more people eat, the more they underestimate their caloric consumption.

Labeling of food products is helpful, but the federal government requires that the caloric content be within only 20 percent of the actual content. And although New York City’s Board of Health recently introduced regulations requiring restaurants to post the caloric content of the food served, it did not mandate any standards for accuracy. The restaurants are on the honor system.

Making it harder for us to judge serving sizes is the supersizing of portions over the past 20 years. Here are a few dramatic comparisons in calories resulting from the supersizing of portions:

1988 2008 Difference

Cheeseburger 330 590 260

Bagel 140 350 210

Turkey sandwich 320 820 500

French fries 210 610 400

Soft drink 85 250 165

In general, today’s food portions contain over three times as many calories as the portions served 20 ago. We’ve become so accustomed to oversized, calorie-packed versions of our favorite foods that ordinary-sized servings seem woefully skimpy and certainly no match for our appetites. Who, for example, eats the standard serving size— 1/2 cup or 1 scoop—of ice cream? Aren’t we more likely to have 2 or 3 scoops?

Distinguishing between a portion, the amount of food served, and a serving, the measure of caloric and nutritional content, is essential for weight management. If you are not mindful of this distinction, you will underestimate the total calories consumed even though you are diligent in keeping a food journal.

The following list of common foods, along with a few tips, will help you gain perspective on what constitutes one serving:

1 slice bread

1/2 cup cooked grain, such as rice, oatmeal or pasta (about the size of a cupcake wrapper)

3/4 cup cereal

1 medium potato

1/2 cup cooked vegetables (about the size of one tennis ball)

1 cup raw leafy vegetable, such as lettuce

1/2 banana

1 cup melon or fresh berries

3/4 cup fruit juice

1/4 cup dried fruit

1 ounce meat, poultry or fish (3 ounces equals a deck of cards)

1 ounce cheese (equals about 4 dice)

1 egg

1/2 cup beans or tofu

1/3 cup nuts

2 tablespoons nut butter, such as peanut butter

1 cup milk

1/2 cup cottage cheese

2 teaspoons oil, butter, margarine or mayonnaise

2 tablespoons regular salad dressing

4 tablespoons reduced-fat dressing

Until you are familiar with serving sizes of various foods, it’s helpful to use a measuring cup, tablespoon or teaspoon to measure food. This exercise will help you gauge a normal serving size until the serving size looks familiar to you.

Knowing how many calories your body requires and keeping track of your food intake are good foundations for weight management. Accuracy in gauging serving sizes, however, is just as critical. If the numbers on the scale aren’t moving in the right direction, keep this handy guide in your kitchen so that you can quickly identify your serving sizes and make corrections.

"The greatest gift that you can give yourself is a little bit of your own attention."                         Anthony J. D'Angelo

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