Celebrate Fitness scheduled for March 10

2012/01/26

It’s that time of year again, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Celebrate Fitness, an annual 90-minute fitness workshop for men and women, will be held Saturday, March 10 at the Washington University Athletic Complex. Participants will choose one of nine exercise activities, including, for the first time, a competitive 10K run managed by the Missouri Running Co.

“We added a 10K run this year because we wanted to provide a training opportunity for runners competing in longer spring and summer running events,” says Cathy Cooksey, co-chair of Celebrate Fitness. “Also, we have limited capacity with our indoor workouts, and outdoor events offer the best way to open Celebrate Fitness to more participants.”

This year’s event benefits two initiatives at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine: the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Program, a support and research program focused on breast cancer patients under the age of 44, and the Director’s Discovery Fund, which provides funding for promising, cutting-edge research at Siteman.

“The Siteman Cancer Center is extremely grateful to Celebrate Fitness for having raised over $1 million that support Siteman’s innovative clinical and research programs” says Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, Siteman director. “Through their support, the volunteers of Celebrate Fitness help us give lasting hope to thousands of people battling cancer in our region.”

In addition to the 10K run, Celebrate Fitness workout options include:

  • Boot camp
  • Yoga
  • Deep water aerobics
  • Shallow water aerobics
  • Zumba/hip hop
  • 5K run managed by Missouri Running Co.
  • 5K walk
  • 1-mile fun walk

Event Details

7 a.m.: Check in and registration

8 a.m.: Welcome ceremony

8:30 a.m.: Workouts begin

Location: Washington University Athletic Complex, Clayton, Mo.

Cost: $30 for those who preregister or $35 the day of the event

For more information or to register, visit www.celebrate-fitness.org.

To learn more about Celebrate Fitness, watch Missy Fish, one of the founders, discuss how the event came to be and what it all entails.

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31 Days of Health Tip #15 – Cancer Prevention

2012/01/23

The American Cancer Society has outlined new guidelines related to cancer prevention.

These updated guidelines are not only for the individual, but also the community:

1. Reduce the access to the marketing of unhealthy foods

2. Increase access and affordability to healthy foods

3. Increase access to places and facilities (playgrounds, gyms) where people can go to improve their physical fitness.

The individual guidelines include:

1. Maintain a healthy weight throughout your life – now, if you’re just now getting started on this, that’s okay, better late than never.

2. Adopt a physically active lifestyle – adults need at least 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity or 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week.

3. Consume a healthy diet, increase the greens – incorporate more ‘plant life’ into your diet, which would include fruit, leafy greens, broccoli, and other healthy vegetables. At least 2  1/2 cups a day is great.

4. Limit alcohol intake – no more than two alcoholic beverages a day for men, one for women.

To take an interactive cancer risk assessment, please visit Siteman Cancer Center.

 

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31 Days of Health – Tip #14: Does the HCG Diet work?

2012/01/19

For many of us, weight loss can be a challenge. It takes time, and many are looking for a quick fix.

Enter the HCG Diet.

I’ve seen a lot of hype about this diet for some time now, and was curious to learn more, especially in light of learning that Barnes-Jewish Hospital RN Kim Stone was competing on The Biggest Loser.

HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced during pregnancy. The diet promises to help you lose a lot of weight, and fast. It restricts your calories to between 500-800 per day, and you need to take the HCG drops before two of your three daily meals.

Now, a daily intake of 500 calories doesn’t seem like much nourishment to go on. Depending on your height, weight and age, you may need as much as 2,000 to remain in the healthy range. To calculate your range, go here.

I went to a local source for the answers – Aaron Gutjahr, Exercise Specialist for the BJC WellAware Center. Turns out he’s written articles on the subject, and shares his opinion in the video below.

 

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31 Days of Health Tip #13 – Heart Tips & Fashion

2012/01/18

You may be confused by the title – heart and fashion don’t usually go together.

Well, they do when it comes to one of the ways Barnes-Jewish Hospital educates our community on heart disease:

February is American Heart Month and doctors are spreading the word about lowering the risk of heart disease.

 Anita Bhandiwad, MD, cardiologist at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center, says awareness is important

“Heart disease is America’s leading cause of death and major disability. If you look at coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease in women, more people die from those causes than all other causes combined,” says Dr. Bhandiwad, who will talk more about this at the upcoming event “Heart Health and High Style,” February 4, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza St. Louis-Clayton Hotel, 7750 Carondolet Avenue. The complimentary event will feature blood pressure screenings and “ask the expert” booths on nutrition and fitness.

With heart disease prevention such a part of the event, member of our Heart & Vascular Center have a “Top 10” list of ten tips to prevent heart disease:

1. Maintain a proper diet.

2. Exercise for 150 minutes each week.

3. Manage your weight (normal body mass index is 18.5 – 24.9).

4. Manage your blood pressure (less than 120 – 130 mm Hg systolic AND less than 80 – 85 mm Hg diastolic).

5. Decrease your salt intake (less than 1.5 – 2 mgs per day).

6. Control your cholesterol (total cholesterol less than 200).

7. If you smoke, stop smoking. If you don’t smoke, don’t start.

8. Reduce your blood sugar.

9. Avoid excessive alcohol intake (fewer than two drinks per day for a man, fewer than one drink per day for a woman).

10. Manage stress levels at work and at home.

For more information on cutting heart disease risk or to register for the “Heart Health and High Style” event, call 314-TOP-DOCS or 866-867-3627.

-Jason Merrill

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31 Days Of Health Tip #12 – Make Them Count

2012/01/17

How many steps do you think you take in a day?

500?

1,000?

It all depends on the type of job you do, and what kind of shape you’re in. A sedentary person may only take 1,000-2,000 steps a day, whereas a person who is on their feet a lot for work or exercise may take anywhere from 3,000-12,000 steps a day.

A healthy goal is to get to as close to 10,000 steps a day. If this sounds impossible, it really isn’t. It’s a very attainable goal for many, if you have the right tool and gumption to do it.

The tool I’m referring to is a pedometer. Studies have shown that on average, a person who wears a pedometer to measure their steps walks farther each day than the average person, and steadily increases their count. Pedometers start as little as $3, so it’s an inexpensive tool to have while you’re on your journey to 10,000.

It may come down to accountability and beating your record – if you make a challenge out of it, you may find yourself taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking to the next meeting instead of hopping on the shuttle. When I used to live in a third-floor walk-up after college, I would grab as many grocery bags as I could and begin counting my steps from car door to fridge. I made it a game, and it lessened the load a bit.

Speaking of lessening the load, there are great health benefits to walking. It helps to lower blood pressure, improves your cardiovascular fitness, and you can even lose weight – provided you stick with a healthy diet.

Another thing it can help do is prevent heart disease. We’ve closing in on February, which is American Heart Month, and if you start today you could very well get up to the 10,000 steps a day goal by then!

 

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31 Days of Health Tip #10 – Don’t Just Stand There!

2012/01/12

This is a trip that my trainer from long ago taught me, and I love to pass it on.

Let’s say you’re in the kitchen mixing up a batch of cookies, or talking on the phone, or even blow-drying your hair. These things all have one thing in common – you’re just standing there! There are some very simple exercises you can work into these activities that will give your legs a good workout and won’t interrupt what you’re doing:

1. Calf raises – stand with your feet comfortably apart, toes facing forward. Keep your knees straight and stiff, but not locked, and rise up on the balls of your feet. Then, slowly lower your heels down to a normal standing position. Do this for three sets of 10.  For a more advanced workout, try the exercise with one leg at a time.

2. Outer thigh leg lifts – again, this is a great exercise to do while you’re blow drying your hair or talking on the phone. If you’re in the kitchen, be sure that you’ve got enough safe space to do the exercise in comfortably.

Stand up tall with your hips lined up and your abs contracted. Soften the knee you are standing on as you slowly lift the other leg straight out to the side keeping your knee pointing straight ahead. Pause at the peak of the contraction and slowly lower to just above the floor. Perform 10 of these side leg lifts with one leg, and then repeat the sequence on the other leg. Do this three times each. This exercise works the muscles of the outer thigh and your glutes.

These are great exercises to do if you’re new to strength-training. They help to improve your balance and build up strength that can help you take your workout to the gym, either with free weights or Nautilus machines. There are many myths surrounding strength training, such as it can be dangerous or for men only – to learn about more of these myths and why they’re false, check out our Barnes-Jewish Hospital health library.
Now, get busy!

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