Bartley Center Wellness News – 75
March 2007
2. Do you know about family caregivers?
4. Quotes
Wellness News quiz:
Answers are below in the reading material.
Some diets can be unhealthy, and sometimes downright dangerous. Fad diets are weight-loss plans that promise quick, dramatic weight loss. Fad diets rarely help with long-term weight loss, and can even be dangerous to your health, the American Academy of Family Physicians has the following descriptions of diets that promise more than they can deliver:
2. Do you know about family caregivers?
Who are they? It's a complicated question and answers may vary depending upon whom you ask. Physicians may give an answer different from social workers and researchers may undoubtedly quote statistics. However, if you really want to know who America's family caregivers are, you need to ask them directly. America's family caregivers are family, friends, partners, and neighbors. Family caregivers are providing 80% of long-term care in the US, a level of care valued at $306 billion a year, more than what is spent on nursing home and paid home care combined. Family caregivers form an invisible healthcare workforce and literally underpin our healthcare system. Even though most families take great joy in providing care to their loved ones so that they can remain at home, the physical, emotional and financial consequences can be overwhelming without some support.
Below are ways to support a caregiver:
A. Climbing stairs for strength Tip: To add strength to leg muscles and get a cardiovascular workout at the same time, try climbing plain old stairs. This can be done at here at HCC, home, in an office, apartment building, or on stair-climbing machines in the gym. Climbing two steps at a time is good for building the quadriceps (thigh muscles) and the gluteus (butt). Going down steps builds strength in the quadriceps and to a lesser extent, the hamstrings.
B. Weight Training Tip: Weight lifting "cold" can cause tiny tears in muscle tissue that you may not even be aware of at the time. Always do a five-minute warm up such as walk at a pace of at least 3.5 mph., ride a stationary bike or jump rope before lifting weights. Other alternatives are: Walk/jog in place, jump rope, swing the arms back and forth, or walk up and down a flight of stairs for about a minute or two. This will safely prepare the muscles for the workload that is to follow.
C. Weight Train for Specific Sports: Sports people look at weight training from a somewhat different angle.
For example,
Note - fifteen to twenty minutes of stretching following weight training is a must.
R.I.C.E for Injuries: If you suffer from a sports related injury, use R.I.C.E.
The term stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.
Nonprescription anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may also help relieve your pain and swelling. They include: Ibuprofen, such as Advil or Motrin, Naproxen, such as Aleve or Naprosyn, Ketoprofen, such as Actron or Orudis, do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20 because of the risk of Reye's syndrome. When your soreness and pain are gone, begin stretching and strengthening exercises slowly, then gradually increase these exercises.
E. Should you exercise when sick? Illness or fatigue can cause you to relax your diligence about using proper form when exercising. Fatigue can increase your level of clumsiness, potentially leading to muscle strains or other injuries. If you are experiencing aches, fever, cough, congestion, other debilitating symptoms, discontinue exercise until the symptoms subside. When you start to feel better and have more energy, resume your regular workout.
F. Consume Antioxidants: As you process food for energy, your body produces substances called free radicals. Free radicals are believed to contribute to aging and certain diseases. To neutralize free radicals, your body uses antioxidants - certain vitamins, minerals and enzymes - that come from the food you eat. Some research suggests that antioxidants can prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. The best way to give your body antioxidants is to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. If you can't obtain all the nutrients you need from food, your doctor may recommend using supplements to make up for any deficiencies such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Beta carotene, Folic acid, or Selenium. The bottom line is that adding a few servings of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables to your diet will certainly improve your health and even help with anti aging.
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." –
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” - Groucho Marx
‘Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.” – Buddha
“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.” - Japanese Proverb
‘Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.” - Lily Tomlin
“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.” - Virginia Woolf
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” - William Butler Yeats
“A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.” - Leo Rosten
“Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.” - Erma Bombeck
“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you.” - Aldous Huxley
“We had a lot in common. I loved him and he loved him.” - Shelley Winters
5. A Wellness Challenge - keep it simple: find and preserve the simplicity in well-being, live healthy by eating healthy and participating in regular, meaningful physical exercise. Not only does it sound simple, it is simple.