Tag: healthy weight

For Optimal Health, Make Yourself Move Every Day

Move it Monday!

 

One of the themes I seemed to notice this weekend as I was browsing articles was the topic of wellness challenges. There is good information that shows that when we join a wellness activity or challenge that we are more inclined to make ourselves move.  

 

I know that this certainly works for me. One of the things I miss from my last job was the wellness activities where we walked to a variety of locations. I have even done a personal virtual walk from Charlotte NC to Corpus Christi, TX over 16 months. That is a total of 1,230 miles.

 

My team and I are doing the Blue Ridge to the Beach virtual walk and have completed 38% of the distance (thanks mostly to Renee!) I slacked off a bit last week so I know that I need to up my game. That is a map of our trek below.

 

What do I mean by movement? It can be a variety of activities. It could be pulling weeds, raking leaves, sweeping, mopping, walking, running, yoga, Zumba, dance, pushing a lawnmower, water aerobics, bicycling, rowing, arm exercises, etc.

 

For optimal health, make yourself move every day.  The type of movement is not important.  You just need to do something other than sit on the couch.  Your goal should be to be active for at least 30 minutes a day.

 

If you are not moving everyday, why not?

 

What is holding you back? (This is not geared to those of you who have a physical disability.) If you are sitting here watching the Steelers play or watching another show, you could be doing arm exercises, walking around the room or in place. You can use a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical while you are watching TV.

 

You don’t need fancy machines or weights. Cans from your pantry can be your weights and walking in place doesn’t cost you a thing. YouTube has hundreds of FREE workout videos.

 

What wellness challenge are you willing to commit to?

 

What other excuses do you have?  ?

 

Leave me a comment below so I can counter your excuse!

Obesity Screening and Counseling

Obesity Screening and Counseling–the majority rules!  The Facebook Group members voted on this for our next topic so here we go. I approach all topics by giving you the background for why the screening is recommended and how the screening is done.

Background

Obesity screening and counseling is recommended for  everyone from the age of 6 and older. This screening is done by your clinician to determine if there are treatment options and counseling that is needed.  

In order to standardize this topic and its metrics around the world, the Who Health Organization adopted the Body Mass Index (BMI) back in the early 1990s as the gold standard to use. This allows all countries to use the same data when comparing how one country does in comparison to others. This also allows a country to determine their own health metrics by region, state and/or county levels.

The BMI is not a perfect tool as it does not differentiate between body lean mass and body fat mass; that is, a person can have a high BMI but still have a very low fat mass and vice versa. For instance, think of your bodybuilder who is very buff and has minimal fat. They may have a BMI that labels them as ‘overweight’ but their physical exam negates that.

The BMI is used in conjunction with the rest of your health metrics to determine whether you are at risk for other disease processes. You and your clinician will need to review this information to determine what counseling or treatment plan is needed in your specific case.

There are many online calculators that you can use. As they are gender and age specific, use the one that is specific for you.  This value is going to be useful for the vast majority of us as we are not in top physical forms. This is your baseline as you proceed on your health journey.