Eating right, sleeping well, exercising regularly...these are the tenets of "good health" that we hear so often they've almost become a dull buzz in the back of our minds. "Yeah yeah," you might think, "tell me something I don't know about health."
Okay. How about the fact that most Americans don't know their blood type, much less their triglyceride or blood glucose levels (or why those numbers are important)? Perhaps you would be shocked to know that only 50% of Americans receive regular dental exams*. Did you know that 30% of emergency room patients also report signs of untreated depression**?
President Obama has already called attention to the lack of preventive health care in the United States - the new bill covers a variety of preventive screenings and treatments in full. However, it is up to individuals to "heed the call" and start taking action to protect themselves and address preventable diseases and risk factors before they become problematic. So what do you need to know to stay safe and healthy?
For women, ask your doctor for a full checkup, TSH (thyroid) test, HIV test, blood pressure and cholesterol ("heart healthy") test, bone density screen, A1c (blood glucose) test, and mammogram.
For men, get the same sequence but replace that mammogram with a DRE (digital rectal exam), PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, testicular exam, and colonoscopy.
Don't be afraid to ask your doctor for more information on these tests and others that you might be at risk for given your family history, weight, health status, and background. It is never too soon to make a small (or free!) investment in your long-term health - inside and out. Small acts can reap great bene-fits!
As the saying goes - perhaps never truer than it is today, in an era where obesity, diabetes, and CHD rates are spiking - "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
*source: ADHA.org
**source: WrongDiagnosis.com
May 10, 2010
May 3, 2010
Spin Your Wheels
Whether it's from my clients, my friends, or even my own Mom, I am constantly being asked for advice on fitness and nutrition. Common questions about what to eat, how to exercise, and what wellness skills are most important are often on the minds of those trying to make healthy changes to their lives.
At bene-fit, we will never tell you to "do as I say, not as I do." We embrace a holistic wellness lifestyle, and we teach that regular physical activity, an individualized and functional diet, and maintaining healthy habits (such as adequate sleep and stress management) are the keys to long-term health. However, it is not always clear what aspects of a person's life need the most help.
We offer you this great tool for assessing your own wellness needs - it's called the Wheel of Life. The basics are this: consider each of the eight pieces of the "pie" and then rank your current lifestyle (1-8, 1 being the most high-functioning part of your life and 8 being the least) in terms of these categories. Go ahead - give it a spin!
bene-fit asks you to think about where "health" falls in your rankings. We don't advocate that it has to be #1 for everyone, but where you place your health among the other priorities of your life can key you in to what might be stopping you from reaching your best self.
For example, if your health falls below your need for "fun/recreation," it might be a sign that your current routine has gotten stale. Try taking a new exercise class or buying a cookbook for a cuisine you've always wanted to try. If your health doesn't rank as highly as your desire for "romance," perhaps you want to try exercising alongside your spouse or partner or joining a matchmaker group like FitnessSingles. If "money" is getting in the way of your health, quit your gym membership and take your workout outdoors, and try to make more healthy meals at home to save that critical cash.
As the ancient Indian text Sama Veda advises, "anybody desirous of success should spend some time in introspection and contemplation." This week, take some time for yourself to reevaluate your priorities, consider your life choices, and begin to chart out ways to make your long-term goals reality.
At bene-fit, we will never tell you to "do as I say, not as I do." We embrace a holistic wellness lifestyle, and we teach that regular physical activity, an individualized and functional diet, and maintaining healthy habits (such as adequate sleep and stress management) are the keys to long-term health. However, it is not always clear what aspects of a person's life need the most help.
We offer you this great tool for assessing your own wellness needs - it's called the Wheel of Life. The basics are this: consider each of the eight pieces of the "pie" and then rank your current lifestyle (1-8, 1 being the most high-functioning part of your life and 8 being the least) in terms of these categories. Go ahead - give it a spin!
bene-fit asks you to think about where "health" falls in your rankings. We don't advocate that it has to be #1 for everyone, but where you place your health among the other priorities of your life can key you in to what might be stopping you from reaching your best self.
For example, if your health falls below your need for "fun/recreation," it might be a sign that your current routine has gotten stale. Try taking a new exercise class or buying a cookbook for a cuisine you've always wanted to try. If your health doesn't rank as highly as your desire for "romance," perhaps you want to try exercising alongside your spouse or partner or joining a matchmaker group like FitnessSingles. If "money" is getting in the way of your health, quit your gym membership and take your workout outdoors, and try to make more healthy meals at home to save that critical cash.
As the ancient Indian text Sama Veda advises, "anybody desirous of success should spend some time in introspection and contemplation." This week, take some time for yourself to reevaluate your priorities, consider your life choices, and begin to chart out ways to make your long-term goals reality.
April 26, 2010
From Ideal to Real
Too often in the fitness industry, trainers and health professionals assume they "know" their target client. This hypothetical client is typically young, fit, non-injured, and in a healthy weight category. This client might also be completely prepared to begin an aggressive exercise program and give up all sugars and carbohydrates in the name of renewed health.
You've probably guessed by now that this client rarely - if ever! - actually exists.
Here at bene-fit, we view our role not simply as trainers or coaches but as fitness leaders, ready to help anyone who is genuinely ready to make positive change find the tools and motivation to make that change. We don't assume anything about who you are, what you've done in the past, or where you're headed. We want to empower you to find purpose in what you are doing and support the healthy choices you make along the way.
That said, the most overlooked populations in the personal training and wellness industry typically fall into one of three categories: over-55 adults, the obese, and post-natal women. Older adults might not have grown up doing regular exercise and may be fearful or intimidated by the way fitness is perceived in our pop culture. The obese might feel excluded from venues and activities that make them more conscious of their bodies and size. Post-natal women are undergoing significant life and physical changes that may make their old routines ineffective and any new time commitments prohibitive. These groups are being overlooked by the "mainstream" fitness industry, which is why bene-fit strives to welcome these groups as our primary clients.
For older adults, try wearing a pedometer and setting "step" goals each day - start at 5,000, then move to 7,000 and eventually the optimal 10,000 steps per day. For obese persons, invite a personal trainer into your home to show you how to get fit in the privacy of your own personal space, or outdoors in a park if you aren't ready to commit to a gym membership. For new moms, hop on the computer as your baby naps or feeds and chart out a workable plan to keep both you - and baby - fit and healthy. The first step can be the hardest for anyone new or returning to fitness - the key is simply to get out of your comfort zone and take it.
Remember, you're never too old - or big - or busy - to commit to your best self. Go find your bene-fit!
You've probably guessed by now that this client rarely - if ever! - actually exists.
Here at bene-fit, we view our role not simply as trainers or coaches but as fitness leaders, ready to help anyone who is genuinely ready to make positive change find the tools and motivation to make that change. We don't assume anything about who you are, what you've done in the past, or where you're headed. We want to empower you to find purpose in what you are doing and support the healthy choices you make along the way.
That said, the most overlooked populations in the personal training and wellness industry typically fall into one of three categories: over-55 adults, the obese, and post-natal women. Older adults might not have grown up doing regular exercise and may be fearful or intimidated by the way fitness is perceived in our pop culture. The obese might feel excluded from venues and activities that make them more conscious of their bodies and size. Post-natal women are undergoing significant life and physical changes that may make their old routines ineffective and any new time commitments prohibitive. These groups are being overlooked by the "mainstream" fitness industry, which is why bene-fit strives to welcome these groups as our primary clients.
For older adults, try wearing a pedometer and setting "step" goals each day - start at 5,000, then move to 7,000 and eventually the optimal 10,000 steps per day. For obese persons, invite a personal trainer into your home to show you how to get fit in the privacy of your own personal space, or outdoors in a park if you aren't ready to commit to a gym membership. For new moms, hop on the computer as your baby naps or feeds and chart out a workable plan to keep both you - and baby - fit and healthy. The first step can be the hardest for anyone new or returning to fitness - the key is simply to get out of your comfort zone and take it.
Remember, you're never too old - or big - or busy - to commit to your best self. Go find your bene-fit!
April 19, 2010
Tweet Yourself Healthy
The rumors are true - bene-fit is now coming to you more than just Mondays via Twitter.
Follow us @findyourbenefit for daily tips, tricks, and just plain fun (all in 140 characters or less).
Happy tweeting, bene-fitters!
Follow us @findyourbenefit for daily tips, tricks, and just plain fun (all in 140 characters or less).
Happy tweeting, bene-fitters!
From Start to Finish
Allow me to describe a scene we all know too well. You wake up after a 6-hour night's sleep to a blaring alarm at an ungodly hour of morning to rouse yourself for work or your daily activities. You shuffle over to a coffeemaker and brew up a quick pot to get you through the morning commute. You arrive at work hungry and grab a sugar-laden breakfast (or worse, nothing at all) and power through until lunch, at which point you're starving. You eat a carbohydrate-heavy lunch and are all but napping at your desk by 3pm, at which point you reach for the coffee yet again. You eye the clock and wonder how you're ever going to muster up the energy for your post-work exercise session, which at this point sounds absolutely dreadful, and decide to hit up the happy hour instead.
Now consider a few revisions. You wake up after 8 hours to either natural light (leave those dark-shield curtains for the weekend) or a peaceful-sounding alarm. Because you set your coffeemaker the night before to brew only one cup, you switch it on and enjoy the awakening smell without the extra servings. You heat up a bowl of instant oatmeal with fresh fruit in one minute - no sugar required! - and are off to work. You make it, satiated, to lunch and enjoy a few servings of vegetables and protein tossed into a light salad. Refreshed, you work straight through the next few hours with a piece of fruit, some raw nuts, and a cup of hot green tea. Suddenly, the clock hits 5pm and you, ever-prepared with your gym bag packed in the back or your car or stashed under your desk, head out energetically for a strong workout to end your healthy day.
Notice that each of these stories contains the same three variables: sleep, nutrition, and exercise. The difference in the outcomes is simply in the amount, and form, that each variable takes in the course of a day. Adequate (7-8 hours) sleep staves off fatigue and helps keep the appetite in check, avoiding the high-low sugar spikes that do no one's body good. A diet high in vegetables, fruit, and lean protein and low in sugars, sodium, and saturated fats provides a natural energy source more powerful than any additive or pill. Keeping foreign substances, such as caffeine or alcohol, to a minimum allows you to rediscover the power of your own focus and mental processes without intervention. Regular exercise decreases stress, boosts metabolism, and promotes muscle development to support strong bones and joints, even as we age.
The bene-fit lifestyle is a wellness lifestyle - we believe that every part of the body and mind must be working in sync to truly find health in the long term. Try and think about your day not as one amalgamate blob (good/bad, for example, or happy/sad), but rather as a linked chain of small choices and interconnected actions that stack up to your whole self. You can turn a bad night's sleep into an opportunity for a hot bath and an early night the next day. You can think about the doughnut you had for breakfast as a small treat for the healthy eating you will pursue the rest of the day.
Try to start and finish each day on a healthy note - eating breakfast and getting a good night's sleep, for example - and watch how easily the middle starts to fall into place. Stay focused to truly find your bene-fit
Now consider a few revisions. You wake up after 8 hours to either natural light (leave those dark-shield curtains for the weekend) or a peaceful-sounding alarm. Because you set your coffeemaker the night before to brew only one cup, you switch it on and enjoy the awakening smell without the extra servings. You heat up a bowl of instant oatmeal with fresh fruit in one minute - no sugar required! - and are off to work. You make it, satiated, to lunch and enjoy a few servings of vegetables and protein tossed into a light salad. Refreshed, you work straight through the next few hours with a piece of fruit, some raw nuts, and a cup of hot green tea. Suddenly, the clock hits 5pm and you, ever-prepared with your gym bag packed in the back or your car or stashed under your desk, head out energetically for a strong workout to end your healthy day.
Notice that each of these stories contains the same three variables: sleep, nutrition, and exercise. The difference in the outcomes is simply in the amount, and form, that each variable takes in the course of a day. Adequate (7-8 hours) sleep staves off fatigue and helps keep the appetite in check, avoiding the high-low sugar spikes that do no one's body good. A diet high in vegetables, fruit, and lean protein and low in sugars, sodium, and saturated fats provides a natural energy source more powerful than any additive or pill. Keeping foreign substances, such as caffeine or alcohol, to a minimum allows you to rediscover the power of your own focus and mental processes without intervention. Regular exercise decreases stress, boosts metabolism, and promotes muscle development to support strong bones and joints, even as we age.
The bene-fit lifestyle is a wellness lifestyle - we believe that every part of the body and mind must be working in sync to truly find health in the long term. Try and think about your day not as one amalgamate blob (good/bad, for example, or happy/sad), but rather as a linked chain of small choices and interconnected actions that stack up to your whole self. You can turn a bad night's sleep into an opportunity for a hot bath and an early night the next day. You can think about the doughnut you had for breakfast as a small treat for the healthy eating you will pursue the rest of the day.
Try to start and finish each day on a healthy note - eating breakfast and getting a good night's sleep, for example - and watch how easily the middle starts to fall into place. Stay focused to truly find your bene-fit
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