Exercise: Will an hour a day keep the doctor away?

We all know that exercise keeps us healthy. Decades of research shows that the benefits of regular physical activity are endless!  Just a sample of the benefits of a regular physical activity program...
- improves cardiovascular health
- lowers blood pressure
- improves metabolism
- lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
- reduces diabetes risk
- reduces risk of certain cancers
- helps you maintain a healthy weight

The surprising thing is that many people might be placing too much clout in their regular exercise regimen because one hour each day might NOT be enough to counteract the effects of too much sitting during the rest of the day. With remote controls designed for televisions, stereos, window blinds and even air conditioners as well as the option to purchase treadmills for your dog (www.jogadog.com), we have become a nation of sitters!

And since you're wondering, a treadmill for your medium size dog costs $1500 and, according to the website, provides the following benefits to your dog...
Reduce risk of serious injury
Provide versatility in exercise
Develop muscle strength & stamina
Control your dog's exercise regimen
Provide exercise in adverse weather
Prevent obesity & associated problems
Improve health, well-being & longevity

Now, if you are allowing your dog to exercise indoors, where are YOU getting your exercise??

Back to humans... Many of us have jobs where we sit at a desk, spend a large amount of commuting time in the car, watch hours of television or spend time on the computer or in front of the TV in the evening. That is a lot of sitting and not a whole lot of moving! When you sit for a long period of time, many of the major muscles in your legs and back for example, aren't moving, slowing down your metabolism.

New research from the University of South Carolina studied adult men and their risk of dying from heart disease. The study found "that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity." So, not only do we need to commit to at least an hour of physical activity o most days of the week, we also need to get up and move around throughout the day. Try stretching at your desk, take a walk break instead of a coffee break, or grab a co-worker for a walking-working meeting (MBWA -- meeting by walking around is the term you might hear).

In fact, the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommend individuals participate in 30, 60 or 90 minutes of regular physical activity daily, but the guidelines ALSO suggest we "limit sedentary activities". Great idea whenever possible...

Need some ideas for stretching at your desk or tips on how to power up your productivity? Let's talk! Shoot me an email and I'll send you (or someone you care about) a copy of our Stretching at Your Desk handout.

Now, get away from the screen and start moving... :)

Surviving the office candy dish

It’s 2:00 in the afternoon and you are feeling hungry and tired. How many of you immediately reach for the office candy dish or grab a brownie from the snack tray in the kitchen? Sharing food is a sign of friendship, camaraderie or appreciation but have the office treats gone too far? Even people with the greatest resolve can fall into the trap of grabbing a Hershey Kiss, or sharing a brownie with a co-worker. Don’t get me wrong, everyone loves a treat once in a while, but once in a while can quickly lead to everyday or even a few times a day.

According to Brian Wansink, a professor of marketing and human behavior at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and author of "Mindless Eating", "the proximity and visibility of a food can consistently increase an adult's consumption."  There is research to show how irresistible the candy dish can be. A four-week study of 40 secretaries found that when candy was visible in a clear, covered dish, participants ate 2.5 pieces of chocolate on top of the 3.1 candies they would have eaten had the chocolates been in an opaque container, according to the 2006 study in the International Journal of Obesity. Moving the dish closer, so the subjects could reach the candy while seated at their desks, added another 2.1 candies a day to their intake. Being consistently faced with unhealthy food options may be tiring when you are trying to make the right choices for your health.

But don’t lose hope! There are plenty of ways to avoid the candy dish...

• Take the time to plan and pack healthy snacks to eat throughout the day.
• Take a different route to bypass temptations.
• Bring fruit or vegetables to share.
• Chew on gum or mints instead.
• Keep satisfying snacks in your office drawer for when an urge strikes.
• Ask the person not to fill the dish anymore!
  

Here’s a little food for thought for the next time you reach for the candy jar…

  Candy   Calories   Sugar (g)  
  Jolly Rancher Hard Candy   25   3.5  
  2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups   210   21  
  Milky Way Fun Size   75   10  
  York Peppermint Patty   140   25  
  Almond Joy Regular Size   220   20

Does your office have a candy jar looming at every corner? How do you avoid the temptation to snack on the sweets?

Plateauing Obesity and Why That's Not Good Enough

We hear so often about obesity in America, how Americans are gaining weight, eating more, moving less, and getting more and more unhealthy. According to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, many government studies are actually showing that the obesity rates of men, women, and children are actually leveling off. "Results from the CDC’s 2007 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) suggest that the prevalence of obesity among women (35.5%) and children 2 to 19 years of age (16.9%) has remained stable over the past 10 years and that the prevalence among men (32.2%) has not changed significantly since 2003" (Yanovski and Yanovski, NEJM).

While it's good news that the obesity rate has slowed, as a nation we are still far too unhealthy. According to a 2010 report by the Centers for Disease Control, 34% of adults over the age of 20 were obese. 19% of adolescents 12-19 were obese, and 20% of children 6-11 were obese. The culprits remain the same - high calorie, high sugar, high fat fast food, lack of available fruits and vegetables, and poor exercise habits. Proof of these persistent systemic problems came in the NEJM article which noted that the rate of extreme obesity and the rates of obesity in lower income and urban communities has continued to rise.

So what can we do to, not only, curb the rate of obesity, but maybe even lower it? Access and education are two good places to start. Too often, in many parts of the United States, the local grocery store is more than 20 or 30 miles away, leaving what are known as "food deserts" where the only viable options are beef jerky and candy from a gas station or fast food. This is a problem in both urban and rural communities. One solution is community supported agriculture or other programs that connect farmers directly to consumers in areas of high food need. Co-ops or CSAs can offer families access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains at affordable pricing. Even companies like Wal Mart are making an effort to put more stores in urban "food desert" settings that offer full grocery services to meet this need.

Of course... education is equally important. Teaching children and their families about healthy food choices and weight maintenance is an integral part of lowering the obesity rate. Here, at Wellness Workdays we focus on educating employees about ways they can adjust their lifestyle to improve the heath of themselves and their family...  In return, the hope is to increase energy, improve focus, and lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. 

Individuals can consider the following to maintain and/or promote a healthy weight:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer foods high in fat and sugar.
• Choose water instead of sugary drinks.
• Participate in physical activity on most days of the week. 
• Watch less television. Aim for less than 2 hours.
• Promote policies and programs at school, at work, and in the community that make the healthy choice the easy choice.

Programs through schools, workplaces, community groups, churches, athletic teams, and other outlets can all have a positive effect on our nation’s health. Do you have your own ideas on ways we can lower the nation's obesity rate? 

Leave a comment below or join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

We eat first with our eyes...so why not protect them?

We certainly know, by now, that including fish in our diet is good for our hearts and waistlines, and current research is showing that women who regularly eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids are less likely to develop eye diseases like age-related macular degeneration. The Harvard Women's Health Study followed more than 39,000 women over a ten year period and reported that those who consumed 1 serving of fish per week were 42% less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration than those who ate less than a serving each month.

Omega-3 fatty acids are proven to have inflammatory effects, so eating fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines, bluefish and swordfish as part of a balanced diet may help with your eye health. Weekly consumption of fish is largely encouraged in the Mediterranean diet along with daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and low-fat dairy products; weekly consumption of fish, poultry, tree nuts, and legumes; and high consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids, primarily from olives and olive oils. In addition to aiding in eye health, the Mediterranean diet also reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome - risk factors that boost the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Try adding more fish into your weekly meals. In fact, try out this recipe for Roasted Salmon with Tomatoes and Olives and let me know what you think!

Employers across the country are starting to notice that the stress of personal finances can spill into the workplace in the same way as poor physical health according to a recent story on FoxBusiness.com (http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/02/03/financial-literacy-shares-spotlight-health-wellness/). Despite the recovering economy, the Mercer Annual Workplace Survey and other polls are showing that as many as ¾ of Americans say that money causes them stress.

Financial stress can show up in the workplace in several ways including absenteeism and tardiness, much like the workplace problems associated with poor physical health. According to Mark McAvoy from the Society for Human Resource Management, stressed out employees spend an average of about 20 hours a month dealing with their financial situations. “This equals about 30% of our 40 hour work week and includes time to go to the bank or call the debt collector from the office,” said McAvoy.

To counter the bad effects of financial stress on a workforce, companies like Prudential are tackling the problem in the same proactive way that they handle physical health issues. During the financial collapse in 2009, Prudential developed a Personal Budget Coaching program which connects an employee with a personal financial coach to do an analysis and develop a budget. Mercer partners with a third-party vendor, Financial Engines Inc., to offer employees professional management and provides a do-it-yourself investment option.

Have you noticed financial stress affecting your employees? How have you reacted to it? Have you taken any proactive measures to help your employees be more attentive at work? Would love to read your feedback in comments below or on Twitter @DebraWein, #wellnessworkdays.

Can Facebook help you finally reach your goals?

Does posting an idea on Facebook or tweeting a resolution make it more likely to come true? I recently read an article in The New York Times that talked about people uploading New Year’s Resolution videos to YouTube and posting promises on social media sites in order to keep themselves accountable. A girl who goes by the name, Glamourista16, posted a video about her desire to stop eating so much at Chipotle, and it was viewed 38,000 times on YouTube! So, do you think it works? Will Glamourista16 eat fewer burritos because she vowed online to do so?

Economists say that people who make their promises public are much more inclined to fulfill them. The price of failure is different for everyone, but I think we can agree that no one wants to feel ashamed or embarrassed, and certainly don’t want to do so in front of all their friends and followers. SticK.com, a social media site for tracking personal goals, puts an actual price on failure. To use the site, the resolver logs on, puts in their goals and then puts their money on the line – literally. Users put in their credit card information and designate where the money will go if they don’t succeed. Users also pick a “referee” who can confirm or deny their successes, as well as some cheerleaders to keep up their motivation. As an example, Professor Karlan, a professor at Yale University and co-founder of sticK.com stands to lose $3,250 if he doesn’t reach his goal of editing his slides following each lecture. Is reaching your goal or keeping your resolution important enough to you that you are willing to pay if you don’t succeed?

In many ways, goals make you feel vulnerable. So, does an announcing your goal to the World Wide Web really help with success? Many social media users say yes, it does. Posting a message on sticK.com or other sites such as 43things.com  is a way of putting your goals out there, without admitting them to family and friends. The fear of failure is still there, but motivators for success are plenty as well. Not to mention that most sites help you find others who share your goal, so you automatically are a part of a community of like-minded people.  

But is putting money on the line upping the ante, or taking things too far? Gym-Pact offers motivational fees to gym members who agree to pay a fee for missing their workout (even as much as $10). The idea was born in a behavioral economics class at Harvard University and is still somewhat experimental, with pilot programs at Bally Total Fitness and Planet Fitness in Boston. Future changes to the pact may include incentives to work out, like lower membership fees, rather than just a penalty for not going to the gym.  

Goal setting is a very important part of changing unwanted behaviors and making that change a reality. From fear, to money, to the promise of a new wardrobe or car, to even the smallest of rewards – I say go for it. Do what works for you and helps you to stay on track with your own health and wellness goals. Feel free to share your goals or comments with me on Facebook.com/WellnessWorkdays, I’d “like” to hear them!

Nutrition Know-how. Do your employees really know how to eat well?

If your employees are like most Americans, they probably think they eat better than they actually do. A recent survey by Consumer Reports showed that 90 percent of Americans think their diet is healthy, yet according to a recent Centers for Disease Control report, less than one-third of Americans manage to consume even two servings of fruits and vegetables per day! The goal is 5-9 servings each day!


Do your employees claim to know everything they need to know about nutrition? Have them take the Consumer Reports quiz. If they do alright on that one, have them try this one from Center for Science in the Public Interest so they can rate their own diet.  If your employees are interested in nutrition, try a few of these ideas from some of our clients:
- Set up a pot-luck healthy lunch
- Organize a "Salad Spinner" where each employee chooses a different salad ingredient to bring in (i.e. baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, etc.)
- Invite a Registered Dietitian to present a "Super Foods" or "Diet Myths and Facts" seminar 
- Offer  the "Nutrition Price Is Right" or "Nutrition Jeopardy" game in your cafeteria
- Incorporate some healthy resources and links in your newsletters and on your intranet site
- Evaluate your cafeteria, vending and meeting options


Good luck! As a Registered Dietitian, this topic is near and dear to me. Let me know what you do to promote nutrition at your workplace.