Tag: Healthcare worker fitness

Visualizing Fitness

The See and the Saw

By Liz Davis, Certified Personal Trainer

Liz vision articleSit on a park bench, plant your feet firmly, close your eyes and visualize this:

You are energetic and tall, your core is solid,

your muscles taut, your breathing is even and relaxed,

you welcome the world with courage and confidence.

Now get up and walk toward what you see.

In his June 10 posting on ProCRNA.com, Tom Davis, CRNA, USAF Lt. Col (ret) and former Chief of the Division of Nurse Anesthesia at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, gives bullet-proof advice on developing and maintaining a Vision in Leadership. Your road map to physical fitness is encased in your personal view of how to achieve and maintain good health. Your physical well-being requires a personal vision.

When I work with wellness clients, we sit down for an interview in which we become acquainted with each other’s overall view of what wellness means. It doesn’t surprise me anymore to hear a potential client naively say, “I just want to lose ten pounds,” or “I’m getting ready for knee surgery and my doc says I have to get my quads in better shape first.” By the time our consultation is over, the potential client is a whole lot better informed about attempting to solve a health problem using a single stroke of the pen rather that creating a wellness vision, developing a plan for success and implementing it. When the consultee leaves the office he will either be sold or not buyin’.

Your surgeon truly does want you to develop better quads to enable a speedier return to normal after replacing your knee. But what she says and what you hear are not necessarily the same. She says, “Strengthen your quads,” and you may hear, “Go to a gym and do leg extensions.” Your internist says, “Lose 10 pounds to lower your cholesterol, and you may hear, “I will be healthy if I lose ten pounds.” Leg extensions will help strengthen your quads before knee surgery, and losing ten pounds will definitely lower your cholesterol, but neither insures a speedy recovery from surgery or a lifetime of quality HDL/LDL. A well-rounded plan will work wonders for achieving a wellness goal. A vision will work wonders for being able to live each day as part of the plan.

Consult a qualified fitness expert.

This is a must. Even if you have experience with exercise, getting another opinion, even an opinion to debate, is an important step in identifying your true needs. Pay for training with a qualified fitness expert OR go online and compare programs until you find one that wastes few dollars and makes common sense. Be absolutely certain to plan a well-rounded program that includes cardio, stretching, strength-training, Yoga and Pilates plus SAFE crunches.

Schedule your exercise time in cement.

Commit a definite time to exercise seven days a week and make it who you are, not just something you do. Those who say that exercising three to five days per week is sufficient are not wrong, they just aren’t addressing your state of mind. Three to five days is like belonging to a social club. But making a daily commitment to exercise who you are is like using the bathroom when you first get up each day. Your well-being will miss it when you miss it.

 

Establish a nutrition plan

You can do this by visiting a certified nutritionist or licensed dietician. You can take a class offered by your local health care provider. Or, you can go online again and find a common sense approach using a quality web site like Livestrong.com or Caloriecount.com. Stick to your food plan as if you were a politician in constant campaign mode.

 

Change your definition of the words “comfort, “hunger,” and satisfied.

There is no comfort in being overweight and overfat; there is little chance in the civilized world that you will ever experience actual hunger; and satisfaction is a noun. Daily structured exercise and a light, nutritious diet need to become your modus operandi for consistent wellness.

 

Weigh every Monday morning at the same time, au natural.

Weigh in the buff or wear precisely the same clothing items each and every time. Keep records of your wellness on a weight chart. Use a wellness journal to make daily and/or weekly entries of your progress, your state of physical being and your state of mind.

 

Assess and alter the plan.

Part of having a vision is “arriving” and enjoying the results. My older daughter’s high school cross country coach always spent the final practice before a meet having the runners sit in a dark room and visualize the entire running route, the hills, the rough paths, the potential pitfalls and especially, the final stretch. You will know in short order if your own exercise plan needs the adjustment, or if you do.

 

Your vision for wellness is very much like attending your grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary without using google. The address is Wellness World, Fit City is the destination, the vision. The route you take is the implementation of your plan to arrive safely and on time. Celebration is what you do when you get there. Develop your vision and a healthful, efficient plan for implementation. Then get off the bench and on the road. Drive safely and soon you will see what you saw.

CRNA Wellness: Beverages are Making Us Fat

Driven to Drink?
The 6:30 a.m. drive-through line is long but the beverage baristas inside have got the gig down.  Take the order, take the money, write on the cup, hand it off and move’em forward.  Just across the overpass to our medical center, Starbucks customers line up bumper to bumper on their way to work.  And another of the Seattle-based ‘bucks right inside the entrance to the med center picks up the slack.  Mmmmm, creamy, sweet, warm…what’s not to like about lapping up your favorite frap on the way to tackling a heavy work schedule?  Answer:  The heavy part. Beverages are making us fat.

Getting Juiced
Let’s start with juice.  Orange juice and the members of its expanding family, are loaded with sugar.  They may be fortified with vitamin C, added calcium, or may contain those magical anti-oxidants that didn’t make it into your lunch bag, but most juices are also fortified with sugar, frequently over 15 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving.  An 8-ounce glass of Tropicana original orange juice has 114 calories.  70 calories are sugar and though it may satisfy 96% of your daily requirement for vitamin C, there is only a tad of added calcium and a smaller tad of vitamin A.  Ounce for bounce, the payoff isn’t there.  A fresh orange, however, has a much lower 62 calories of which 48 are natural sugar(fructose), and it provides 116% of your necessary vitamin C.  An orange supplies twice the natural calcium as juice, three times the vitamin A plus 3.1 grams of natural fiber.  Plus, you get to chew!

There are entire aisles devoted to fruit- flavored beverages in bottles, boxes and cans in your shiny, upscale grocery chain, but nothing satisfies your body’s needs like fresh, whole fruit, the more color and the more variety, the better.  If ya just hafta have your bananas and berries in a beverage, get out the blender and give it a whirl.  You won’t need to sweeten the pot.

Smooth Move 
Blenders are used for making the smoothie. Originally, the smoothie was a fruit and ice beverage, sometimes with added sugar.  Although it debuted as a beverage in the 1930’s, Wikipedia says that the term smoothie/smoothy was actually conjured up by the hippies, though I don’t remember seeing any at Woodstock, and that California, with its ready access to fresh seasonal fruit was the original venue for vending it.  Now we blend smoothies choosing from yogurt, protein powder, kale, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, milk…the list is endless but the calories are increasing with the options.  It isn’t difficult to find a smoothie shop right around the corner from your produce market, only you’ll drink close to 300 calories if you buy it already made.  Go back around the corner, concoct your own smoothie and you take control.  To get through a busy day in the OR and still get your nutrients, a smoothie is a great choice. Opt for low fat, no sugar-added, skimmed-milk, light yogurt or water-based, make either fruit or veggie drinks, and avoid expensive, high-calorie add-ins.  If your smoothie is meant to enhance your work-out, a tablespoon of protein powder is a fine idea.  If dessert is a smoothie, go back to the original 1930’s recipe by using simply fresh fruit and ice. Eliminate the sugar and pour it in a six-ounce wine glass. Now that’s a juice bar!

Are You a Soda Jerk?
Coke, 7-up, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Mountain Dew, Orange/Strawberry/Grape/Teenage Crush(just checking to see if you’re reading closely), Cream soda and Root Beer are just a few of today’s and yesterday’s beverages-that-make-you-belch.  For some reason, we get a kick out of slugging down that nutrient-free, sweet, fizzy bev and emitting a healthy g-blurp! within seconds after downing the drink.  But colas do not satisfy thirst.  They are wet and sometimes wild, but the ingredients are more de-hydrating than satisfying.  If you choose a caffeine-loaded, high-sugar cola bathed in dark dyes, you are headed for more thirst after drinking than before.  And you just slurped up at least 96 calories per 8 ounces.  A 12-ounce Classic coke is 144 calories and the same fluid measurement of Pepsi or Dr. Pepper weighs in equally at 150. Don’t forget, there’s sodium in them thar streams of sugar and diet sodas have even more. When you just want a little something sweet, a clear soda is the better choice, and a tall, glass, glass of iced cold water is best of all.

The Buzz
Alcoholic beverages are a whole other fast track to fat.  We try to jump-start the day with coffee; we imagine we’re getting a nutrient-dense kick with juice; we substitute meals and assume we’re enhancing exercise with smoothies; we pretend to quench our thirst with sodas; but there’s no denying the reason for consuming that 16-ounce margarita or two 6-ounce glasses of Menage e Trois…red or white.  It’s recreation.  Recreational drinking isn’t a sin, but be aware and compare.  One 4-6 ounce glass of red wine is typically 120-150 calories, no worse than a large serving of crunchy, sweet, juicy, red seedless grapes full of fiber and dessert-like qualities, but hey, I only said, “Be aware!”  White wine, though lower than red in calories by 25%, does not supply the same number of nutrients as red wine, obviously.  Think spinach and mushrooms, dark and light.  But neither red nor white is great for metabolizing fat… it’s alcohol, after all.  You’ll still need to drink plenty of water and skip the sucrose to avoid those heart-pounding chest rhythms.  And do you really want your morning mouth to feel like a cardboard balloon?

Hard liquors are worse for you than wine.  If you insist on preserving your right to imbibe the hard stuff, keep these things in mind.  On a regular diet of hard drink, Your tummy will get soft fast and your red nose may qualify for holiday hire.  Above the others in calories ounce for ounce, more toxic to your internal organs, completely free of nutrients, and potentially more addictive than adult beverages with lower alcoholic content, hard stuff is a poor choice all the way around. Particularly if you are on a wellness program that includes weight loss, deep six the Ten.

There are those who think that a nice cold one quenches the thirst after a nice hot one.  It doesn’t.  You will not cool down by drinking two pints of Fat Tire after mowing the yard or after playing baseball for two hours. But you can get a fat tire.  Beer does not re-hydrate; it doesn’t even hydrate; it is not a substitute for water.  What’s not to understand?  And if you have any interest at all in a flat tummy, fresh, sweet breath, skin that isn’t sticky and smelly and sweaty at bedtime, and if you’d like less opportunity to make a fool of yourself during Sunday afternoon’s TV Testosteronathan, then load up on water before watching the game, drink at least a quart before playing in one, and don’t touch a beer after mowing until you’ve fully re-hydrated with agua fria.  That beer-belly syndrome?  It’s nasty-looking, it’s high-risk and it’s for real.   Try Sparks.

Be-hold!
Here’s a last word about the extent to which industry here in the States has embraced the beverage boom. Behold the cup holder!  We are so dependent on doing something with our hands that nothing with wheels passes market inspection unless it sports a holder for a cup.  Nothing with wheels is exempt.  There’s a cup holder in your car, your truck, your child’s stroller, your grocery cart, your golf cart, your bicycle(okay, safety issue, fair enough), your yard wagon, your oversized cooler, your computer bag, your rolling backpack, your commercial bus, train or plane tray, and your beach roller bag, not to mention purses, fanny packs, exercise belts, cardboard drink holders…the list is endless, but not surprising, at least in the USA.  In Germany, a Bavarian Motorwerks standard issue comes cup-free, but in Spartanburg, SC, BMW assembles the high-end European parts and adds cupholders, “nur fuer uns!”

You Can Lead a Person to Water, but Can You Make ‘em Think?
When you are offered “something to drink,” do you think coffee, water, or a shot of Jack?
Okay, so that may depend on what kind of day you’ve had in the OR and whether it’s
6:00 a.m. or p.m., but, truthfully, if you are a two-fisted cola consumer, a caffeine dependent addict, a juice bar fly, or a regular consumer at Friday Nights Live, it may be time to balance your beverage accounts.  Click on some of the links below to read some nutrition facts and beverage tips’info.  Start thinking about what, why, and how much you drink BEFORE you drink it.  A flat tire is a lot easier to fix than a fat one.  Prost!

Compare the Keurig Chai Latte to the Starbucks Frappuccino

Click here for Smoothies

How many calories in a glass of wine?  Click here

How many calories in a non-alcoholic beer?  Click here

What drinks cause dehydration?  Click here

The truth about green tea…Click here

Please visit Liz at www.bdyfrm.com to read the daily Lizlines and Friday Lizlimerick.  Discover

Liz’s Bands In The Park mobile browser, a perfect companion for your walking or running group.

CRNA Fitness: Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardio is probably the most common form of structured exercise in America.

In the 1960’s Dr Kenneth Cooper, the founder of The Cooper Institute in Dallas, TX, introduced aerobic exercise to the fitness world and made cardio a common household word.  Cooper soon after became crowned the “king of hearts.”

Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise is any structured exercise that elevates the heart rate for a sustained period of time such as jogging, power walking, elliptical training, treadmill walking, and lifecycle pedaling and is essential to any quality fitness program.  Not only does aerobic exercise strengthen the heart, it raises the metabolism, which burns calories, which helps you lose or maintain weight, not to mention releasing feel-good endorphins which makes you feel good to be around.  And you’ll notice that someone who has just completed a cardio work-out doesn’t usually slouch out the gym door..they hustle out.  Cardio is better than Boost for raising your level of energy and it’s lower in calories, too.

To get the most out of your cardio, allot a specific amount of time, start out a tad slowly, then pick up the pace, sustaining a challenging speed for the majority of the work-out. Turn on your i-pod or watch a video flick, but take mental time to focus on form and breathe smoothly, with rhythm.  Did I mention water?  Drink before, drink during, drink after.  You do not need any beverage other than cool water for normal work-outs.  Remember, you’re trying to burn calories, not drink them.  Allow a two to five-minute gradual cool down, wipe up the sweat and stretch.  It’s okay to stretch before the session begins, but you won’t be warm enough to do a great job of it.  Better to simply be fully awake, get a few calories from an orange or tiny bowl of oatmeal, get partially hydrated and “hit the road.”  If you’re really slow at getting warmed up, you can stop after five minutes to stretch before continuing, especially if you’re on pavement, otherwise, five to ten minutes of long leisurely stretching following your cardio is ideal.

Stay off the pavement if you have bad knees, wear padded pants if you cycle, don’t carry anything heavy when you power walk, make like a camel for all cardio, and burn, Baby, burn.  You, too, can be crowned the King and Queen of Hearts.

You can visit Liz at www.bdyfrm.com where the unique, informative and entertaining Lizlines are posted Monday through Friday.  Don’t miss the weekly Lizlimerick, always a Liz original!

CRNA Fitness: Selecting a Gym

Losing weight used to be numero uno on the News Year’s Resolution list but lately it’s given way to touchy, feely hopefulness charged with sentiment and inertia.  In spite of the second-place status, ‘lose weight’ is a list-maker that will open gym doors and sell overpriced clearance tights…for about three months.  Over 30% of the people who join a gym in January, will stop going by March, and may never return.  If you are one of those who does follow through on your resolution commitment of losing weight, here are some tips for joining a gym and/or hiring a personal trainer.

 

The Goals

Establish your basic goals.

That means you may need to sit down at your computer and write down two or three well-defined things you intend to accomplish by joining, then select a gym that has what you need in order to achieve your written goals.

The Proximity

Locate a gym or trainer that is close to home or close to work or right on the precise route that you take to one or the other.  If you have to go the least bit out of your way or have to stop at one light a little too long, you’ll be back under the covers in less than a month.

The Money

Gyms and fitness facilities are muy espensivo to operate so they want, they need your money.  Still, wangle the best deal you can get.  Three-month specials abound (‘cause they know you’re gonna quit in March!) and perks like a free trial visit, personal training packages, free classes, and guest passes are often an option.  Accept an automatic withdrawal from your account ONLY if you fully understand the fine print in the contract.  Yep!  There will be a contract and you won’t get out of it easily in March…or June, either.  Read, comprehend, then pay up and USE the place faithfully. Tip:  Go as the guest of your buff and beautiful friend so you don’t have to listen to marketing hype first-time in the door.

The Machines and the Maintenance

Machines should be up to date and in good repair– you can tell by getting on one and using it or by counting the number of signs on equipment that say Out Of Order.  It doesn’t hurt to take note of the rips and tears in vinyl machine pads, the cracked or missing water holders on cardio machines, or single dumbbells now divorced from their partners.  Check out the bathroom, the showers, the toilets – um-hmmm – and ask straight out how often the cleaning service marches their bucket brigade from ellipticals to lockers and beyond.  There is no better place to get colds, flus and infected scratches and wounds than at a work-out facility.  If you have to step over the spit on the floor next to the squats cage, move on dot com.

The Environment

How’s the music?  Can you hear yourself think?  Is this a meat market or a family fitness center?  Do you recognize some people from work or bridge club?  Do people behave respectfully and share equipment and clean up after themselves on the gym floor?  Does Jocko Madzilla remove the 800 pounds of weight plates from the leg press when he’s finished and does Little Lucy Latte get off the elliptical promptly when her time is up without re-setting the timer when no-one’s looking?  These observations take time so take that time to avoid being sorry.

The Members

Then, ask the members who are there if they are happy with the variety and supply of equipment, with the quality of classes and with the level of maintenance and overall professionalism.  Discuss their payment satisfaction and what they like best and least about the facility. Find out if theft is a problem and how issues have been resolved. Observe the members as they arrive and leave, as they work out and socialize, as they interact with personnel and how they treat the place, ‘cause that’s how they’re going to treat you.

The Trainers

This is my area, Kids.  I’m an integrated fitness trainer and I take this seriously.  If you want a trainer whether short-term or long-term, do your due diligence as real estate people like to say.  Look at other client’s results, interview more than one client to get their comments and interview more than one trainer to feel the fit.  Inquire about credentials and certifications and if you’re at a gym, ask the gym leadership to tell you what the requirements are for trainers – eg, insurance, certifications, age and experience.  Then observe at least one session and don’t look at the trainer’s biceps and glutes; look at the attention he/she gives the client, the focus, the total professionalism.  If the client is grunting, pouring sweat and hobbles for three days after the session, run the other way while you have two good feet. Efficiency, form, and safety are tantamount and pushing clients too hard is a deal breaker.  Make sure the trainer keeps good records of client progress and has some level of education in nutrition.  Supplements of any kind are not necessary for achieving normal, healthy results, but trainers often earn mega extra income by selling them.  If you find a high-quality trainer whom you trust and who guides you to your mutual goals, that’s the deal maker. Just offer her/him a good tip and consider yourself pumped!

A well-run fitness facility is a social mecca for exercise where you can pay for the opportunity to get in touch with your wellness and, therefore, your well-being.  With precious little time and money to spare during this extended employment drought, do your homework before you slide your card then stick with your plan beyond the Ides of March.

 

Liz Sanner Davis is owner and trainer at Body Firm Integrated Fitness Solutions, Temple, TX.  Visit Liz online at www.bdyfrm.com and read her humorous and motivational Lizlines or Lizlimericks published daily.