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From the President
It's 2008 and everyone has the opportunity to
feel great! Feeling great, they say is what
motivates many of our behaviors. We do, what
we do because we believe it will help us feel
better. The mental health community has
suggested that security, survival and
recognition are the most important areas we
need to feel good about. Taking care of
ourselves by being physically active,
choosing balanced nutritional intake along
with managing stress levels helps each of us
feel better about our security, survival and
recognition factors. There is another area,
which will greatly reinforce feeling good
about your health. It's the area of
self-care, such as age appropriate
screenings, self-exams and appropriate
disease or health condition management.
Whether it is headache, carpel tunnel, asthma
or diabetes there are approaches to self care
that we all could follow closer and comply
with. We greatly improve our odds of avoiding
traumatic, dramatic illness and premature
death by doing just as few things that aid
our body's ability to function and thrive.
It's 2008 and you make the choices.
When we resolve to take great care of
ourselves we achieve a warranted sense of
security, confidence to survive and not only
will you recognize in yourself, others will
also recognize your progressiveness and
self-integrity. Here are the two questions -
What can you do and most importantly what
will you do?
Wishing you Strength, Energy and Vitality
throughout 2008!
Dan Johnson, President NPFW
Executive
Director WELCOAZ
| Absolute Best New Year's Resolutions |
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This is a great time to touch base with
yourself, review personal goals, and refresh
your point of view. Canyon Ranch wellness
experts offer these ideas for help you set
the tone for a healthy, happy 2008.
Lisa Powell, M.S., R.D., Director
of Nutrition, Canyon Ranch in
Tucson
These resolutions are not new,
but they're classics:
- Include 8 to 10 servings of vegetables
and fruit each day. Also, try for as much
color variety as possible daily. The green,
red, yellow, orange and blue/purple in foods
signify diverse nutritional content.
- Practice awareness as you eat. Appreciate
where your food comes from, savor the taste,
texture, aroma and the knowledge that food
should both nourish and nurture you with
every bite.
- Eat consciously, as each bite
communicates volumes to your body, our
environment and the economy - make every bite
count!
Demi Stathoplos, Executive Director
Health & Healing, Canyon Ranch in
Lenox
Smile ... the muscle movement
that makes a smile will actually affect your
brain, and increase your overall sense of
well-being.
Jonathan Ellerby,
Spiritual Programs Coordinator, Canyon Ranch
in Tucson
Take 10 minutes every day to
sit in silence. Use the first five minutes to
focus on what you are grateful for and what
your intentions are for your relationships,
your health and your contribution to the
world. Then spend five minutes focusing on
your breath and relaxing. Take time to notice
the thoughts and feelings that show up in the
moment, without feeding them with time and
attention. Just notice what you
experience.
Evelyn Resh, Canyon
Ranch Director of Sexual Health
Be
mindful about expressing your love and
affection for others daily and create rituals
and habits that reflect this mindfulness.
Reba Schecter, M.S., P.T.,
Director of Exercise Physiology, Canyon Ranch
in Lenox
Begin a routine of daily
exercise. You can start with just 10 minutes
per day to promote the habit.
Molly
Roberts, M.D., Canyon Ranch in
Tucson
Creating a new habit, such as
adding exercise or taking supplements, in
your already-busy day can be hard. Try
piggybacking the desired behavior onto a
routine that's already firmly established.
One example would be to put your supplements
on top of your toothbrush so that you
remember to take them as part of your dental
hygiene. Some others would be to forego a
shower until you have exercised for the day,
or to turn on the TV only after you have
stepped onto the treadmill. It won't take too
long before you have created a new habit out
of an old one, a perfect symbol for the new
year.
Michael Hewitt, Ph.D., Canyon
Ranch Research Director for Exercise
Science
Resolve to make physical
activity a higher priority for 2008. Consider
it not a luxury that you do only after you
have done all the other important things in
your life. Rather, it should be thought of as
an investment, perhaps the most important
investment one can make.
Resolve to add 15
minutes to your nightly sleep. The rewards
are great, and the effort minimal. TIVO Leno
or Letterman if you can't live without the
Tonight Show's monologue or the Late Night's
"Top Ten."
Bruce Roberts, M.D., Canyon
Ranch in Tucson
One of the best
resolutions you can make is to let go of any
anger or resentment you are still carrying
and find forgiveness in your heart. Holding
onto resentment is like taking poison
yourself to try to hurt another.
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| Ask A Dietitian |
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What is an International Unit (IU)?
By Lt. Col. Nancy
Klein,
USAF, BSC Chief, AF Civil Support Branch,
Pentagon
Q: What
is an International Unit (IU)? How does it
convert to the metric system?
A: International
unit (IU) is an old term that is still
commonly used to describe the amounts of
vitamin A, D, and E in food and nutrition
supplements.
Most food and nutrition
experts have discontinued using the term IUs
in favor of more accurate terminology. The
new terms better reflects all of the forms
in which each of these vitamins are found and
the variability in the way they are absorbed
and used by the body. For example, vitamin A
is now expressed as retinol
equivalents
because it comes from several components
found in foods such as retinol, beta-carotene
or other carotenoids.
Current
legislation allows food labels to reflect
either the newer terminology or IUs. Most
manufacturers have not yet converted their
labels. In the meantime, here is how to
covert
IUs into metric measurements: Vitamin A, 1 IU
= 0.3 micrograms; Vitamin D, 1 IU = 0.025
micrograms; Vitamin E, 1 IU = 0.67 milligrams.
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| Healthy Self Testimonials |
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Lauve Metcalfe, M.S.
Associate Director, Center for Physical
Activity and Nutrition
University of Arizona
What
is your favorite fitness
activity or
tip?
My favorite fitness
activity is a tie between hiking in Sabino
Canyon and cycling all over town. We live in
such a perfect place to exercise outside year
round. The fitness challenges are plentiful
as are the social groups to connect with to
make your workouts more meaningful. You can
always find someone your pace to help you get
out of bed in the morning.
A tip to keep
you on target with your physical activity
would be to commit to a fitness challenge
each year, and have that fitness challenge be
a bit of a stretch for you accomplish. I
love hiking the Blacketts Ridge trail in
Sabino Canyon, and have found that my
enthusiasm for that hike has inspired many
women in our weight loss programs to attempt
that hike or similar ones in Tucson. We have
a group of women that now regularly hike the
Grand Canyon and have recruited others to
join them. This process was fueled by a
simple challenge to do a little more activity
each week/month to reach their goal.
What is your favorite healthy
meal or nutritional
tip?
I enjoy preparing meals
with fresh ingredients, particularly using
garlic, fresh herbs and ground spices, and
adding vegetables in my dishes, such as fresh
spinach and zucchini. I am a believer in the
80/20 rule, 80% healthy choices, 20%
pleasurable choices...as long as you are
balancing your calories in (food/beverage)
with your calories out (exercise/lifestyle
activity), this equation makes for an
enjoyable eating experience and establishes a
healthy relationship with food.
When you
are dining out, most restaurants are fine
with splitting entrees and offering a side
salad. The portion sizes are so large now
that you can feel full with half an entree.
Not only do you save calories but you save
money as well.
Another tip that we have
found useful from our weight loss
participants is to make sure you are eating
calories throughout the day, starting off
with a healthful breakfast. Allowing yourself
to get too hungry creates overeating later in
the day.
What is your favorite stress
reduction
practice?
My favorite stress
reducer is exercise. Physical activity
outdoors with good friends allows me to
process any of the life challenges I have on
a daily basis. An outdoor workout is a form
of rebirth, when you finish a walk, a hike or
a bike ride, you don't simply feel better,
and you feel better about yourself.
Another tip is to appreciate what you
have in your life on a regular basis, versus
worrying about what you don't have. This
practice of "gratitude" is gaining
significant support from the field of
positive psychology. You can start by making
a list each day of what you are grateful for
that day. The process is one that can also
work wonders for work relationships and
family connections. Just think what kind of
shift could happen if we started off each
meeting sharing what we appreciate about our
co-workers, or sat down at dinner and gave
thanks to each family member for their
special traits! What a wonderful well world
we could live in!
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| Have an Active Winter |
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Colder weather and fewer hours of daylight
can make it challenging to get regular
physical activity during the winter months.
Regular activity is just as important to your
good health during these months as it is
during the rest of the year.
If the
weather's too bad for outdoor activities,
look for indoor opportunities. Exercise at
home to an aerobic video. Check for indoor
physical activity programs at churches,
schools, and recreation or community centers.
Join a walking group at the local
mall.
With early darkness as a
concern, be sure to wear reflective clothing
and wear or carry small lights to increase
your visibility in the late afternoon or at
night. On warmer and sunnier days, consider
hiking the trails in nearby parks and
recreation areas.
If you plan a
weekend getaway, think about ways to make it
an active one. Look for opportunities to
enjoy activities such as hiking, skating at
an ice rink, and cross-country
skiing.
This season, remember that
it's never too late - or too early - to begin
an active lifestyle.
What's in it
for me?
Regular physical activity
may help reduce your risk for many diseases
including cardiovascular disease, type 2
diabetes, colon and breast cancers, and
osteoporosis. It may also provide you with a
constructive way to deal with the demands of
the day, and help relieve stress.Don't let
the cold or snowy weather slow you down.
There are plenty of things you can do both
inside and outside to stay active. For more
information see the link below.
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January is National Blood Donor Month. During
the winter season blood donations tend to
decline rapidly, this is mostly due to the
holidays and weather. To help aid the
American Association of Blood Banks,
America's Blood Centers and the American Red
Cross with their blood supply you can start
by encouraging others to donate. In order to
give blood you must first be healthy, at
least 17 years of age and weigh at least 110
pounds. To learn more about the process of
blood giving click the link below.
Find out more....
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