Category Archives: Health and Fitness

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

First barrier of resistance

June 9, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I will tell you what the first barrier of resistance is not. We move right through it in our typical stretches prior to a walk, run, bike or hike.

You are stretching. You put your foot on the lower rail of the fence, leg at full extension and you lean forward to reach for your toes. You push your calf into submission. Hold a few seconds, maybe count to 30. Switch.

The run is over. In the night, a Charlie horse makes wakes you screaming for mercy. You grab your calf, knuckles bouncing off the rock solid knot. You think, Did that stretching do any good at all?

Your lower back is cranky. To get relief you lie down on the mat, swing one ankle over the other standing leg, grab your thigh and pull the bent leg in, feeling it in the T-band running down the crossed leg, thigh and into the butt. Your hip still screams when yet another set of stairs appears on the trail to Snow Lake. What good was that stretch, really?

Thinking you have been helping yourself all these years with these classic stretches, you feel despair. At the next appointment with the Myofascial Release therapist, you ask what you might try that could be a more effect method of self-care.

The first barrier of resistance. Feel for it. Stop there and hang out.

You have no idea what this feels like even though you have had a dozen treatments which have reshaped your body and given you far more flexibility than you have had in 40 years. You get on the floor together. You sit, legs out-stretched, leaning back on your arms, stiff behind you. You slowly point your toes. The pain up the T-band involving the Sciatica begins immediately. The toes barely push toward the floor. In perceptively pointed. You hold right there, listening to the body, applying a tiny bit of pressure with the toes, just short of inducing pain. After about 2 minutes, there is a release, a melting of fascia and you can point the toes a little further toward the floor before the next “first barrier of resistance” engages.

(If you explore myofascial release videos, they all present poses that are way past the first barrier of resistance for most of us over 50. Do not force yourself into a position. You will not be able to feel the resistance.)

Intolerable, you think. How can you bare to wait patiently for the fascia, that girdle of collagen that has formed an inner armor against too much fluid movement, to relax its hold? Not only is it boring but also it seems like such a tiny effort when you are used to big effort to overcome anything troubling. You find a meditation download and put on your head set. The small pressure against the first barrier of resistance becomes a mindfulness exercise, self-care on all levels. You decide to allow 24 minutes for this each morning. Stair climbing, hiking, sitting and walking are less painful. Amazing. It doesn’t take large lunges, pigeon pose, figure four ankle over bent knee.

Perhaps your neck and shoulder are your problem area. You ice, use a brace, put heat on the painful muscles and joints. You might give this self-care a try. Turn your head toward the pain and stop the minute the movement induces pain. Back off just a little and then lean gently into the pain producing position and hold. You will soon feel the fascia melt and you can move a little further until the next first barrier of resistance.

I was standing in line in Costco today and my shin and hip were bugging me. I found a comfortable standing position and moved slightly to produce this pain, then backed off just a little. I breathed into the pressure I was putting so gently on the leg. By the time I was summoned to the counter, the fascia had released and I walked without that discomfort. This is a self-care you can do sitting on a bus, at the movie or in a concert, at the dinner table or in a restaurant. Mindfully notice when pain lurks in your body. Shift so the pain lessens. Lean into the pain-producing position just to the first barrier of resistance, and hold. Deepen your breathing. Soon you will feel the relaxation of the tension that is causing the pain.

I searched the web to find videos and websites with hints for self-care. Everything I found was too far ahead of where my pain kicks in. You may find them helpful so I have included several for you to watch/read. They just left me more frustrated because I was working so hard to get into the position that my body tightened up and could not relax. I couldn’t find the first barrier of resistance. You may be less bound up than I have been.

I’d love to hear how this goes for you if you try it. Please send me any questions if I have not explained the simple self-care technique adequately.

Until next time,

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

Shopping for supplements that help: www.HiHoHealth.com

Travel tips and tales: www.EmpoweredGrandma.com

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

What BMI stand for

May 27, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I was browsing my kick-ass fitness coach daughter, Priscilla Bell’s Survivor page on Face Book and today I am going to share a post she sent her followers. You might agree. You will certainly gain a new perspective on BMI. What BMI stands for really is the topic. Here goes.

BMI Basically Meritless Indicator

If you don’t know what BMI means it is a simple (and inaccurate) way to assess if someone is overweight or obese by measuring height, weight and age. As some of you know any calculation that uses age as an indicator of fitness drives me crazy. So at 49 your not fat but at 50 you are? Really? When the National Institutes of Health began using the BMI formula suddenly overnight twenty-five million Americans instantly went from being at a healthy weight to being overweight.

Astonishingly the below incident happened on Friday…this past Friday, March 27th, 2015…as reported by ABC News:

A Missouri mother is livid after her daughter came home from elementary school with a note saying that her body fat index was too high despite her lean frame.

“She goes, ‘Does this mean I’m fat?’

Moss’s daughter Kylee is 7 years old, 54 pounds, 3-foot-10.

Belton School District Superintendent Andrew Underwood told ABC News. “We do the body mass index on our students for positive reasons to try to promote healthy habits as far as what the kids eat and their activity,” Underwood said.

When contacted by ABC Dr. Naveen Uli, a pediatric endocrinologist, said ‘BMI is a controversial measurement because it does not distinguish muscle mass from fat mass’. He also said “[I]t may in fact be psychological[ly punishing, since school personnel may not be familiar with details regarding that child’s health,”

Yes, that’s what we need – more kids stressed about how they look and maybe even developing an eating disorder because of it.

Belly fat is the most dangerous kind. You can be at a satisfactory weight and still carry a significant amount of weight around your middle and the BMI calculation doesn’t measure that. The trouble with belly fat is that it’s not limited to the extra layer of padding located just below the skin (subcutaneous fat). It also includes visceral fat – which lies deep inside your abdomen, surrounding your internal organs. Regardless of your overall weight, having a large amount of belly fat increases your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and sleep apnea. And I do believe that those are the health risks that matter. When Arnold Schwarzenegger was Mr. Universe, his BMI was well into the obese range. True story. The really scary thing is that people of influence, namely doctors, are still using the BMI index to assess whether or not a person is overweight.

Here’s the formula that I am going to suggest the National Institutes of Health use: Stand like your going to ask your boss for a raise, preferrably wearing tighter clothing, which actually might be the way you ask for a raise but I’m not going to judge. Now drop your chin to your chest but do not lean forward. Look down. Can you see your feet? Both feet entirely? Just your toes? Or are you asking yourself ‘what feet’? There you have it. Belly fat is the only reason why any health organization should care about why carrying extra weight can be a problem. And it has nothing to do with a formula that calculates your height, weight and age.

She finishes the article with this:

Dear extra fat in my body.

You have two options:

make your way to my boobs,

or GTFO.

That’s my daughter, yes siree. If you want to browse her site, take a look. I would probably die in one of her classes. Her addendum is this:

The simplest diet changes are just that, simple.

More protein and vegetables, less refined carbohydrates. That’s all you need to know, it’s not complicated.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

Comments: I’d love to hear them. Priscilla is 52, BTW, and has four teenagers. And a husband.

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis, Weight Loss

Victim of genetics

May 14, 2015 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

One of my clarion calls has been “Don’t be a victim of your genes.” Recent genetic studies indicate that some conditions that “victimize” people are dramatically challenging. My local Seattle Times carried an article discussing the latest research findings published in The Lancet, Diabetes and Endocrinology. Turns out there are 32 genetic variations that have been linked to obesity. In one study of 148 women between 35 and 60, those who carried 21 or more of these genetic variations did not benefit from resistance training. No matter how much they worked out in the gym, their genetic makeup protected their fat stores and prevented weight loss. Looks like these people are a victim of genetics.

In some of our bodies, lowering calories and increasing exercise cause a famine response. We store more calories, no matter what. If you have fewer of these genetic variations, lowering calories and working out results in weight loss. The difficult alleles (one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome), seem to work together to keep the body from losing weight. In fact, they strive to get you back to the highest poundage you ever weighed. If you succeed in achieving normal weight, you are considered to be obese-in-remission.

What shall we conclude from this miserable information? (Sometime I wish we didn’t have all this new data about our genetic makeup.)

The endomorph body type is more likely to hold excess weight.

I am neither a doctor nor a scientific researcher, however, I have been observing my own body over time and been in close contact with hundreds of people who have discussed their health issues with me. One of the questions I ask people when we sit down for an advisory session is “What did your parents die of?” If they are not dead yet:“What health challenges do your parent/relatives face?”

In my own case, my hair was thinning, my fingernails were breaking and splitting, my joints ached and I suffered from arthritis at age 48. I had dandruff, bleeding gums and smelly arm-pits. My PMS was terrible and I yo-yo dieted. My doctor never asked me these questions, but Jayme Curley did. Jayme was the person who introduced me to supplementation. In the preventative health world, these answers tell us what tendencies your body has toward various future conditions. I had breast cancer at age 34. I wondered if a poor immune system might be the cause. No professional health care provider will travel down the road of cause with cancer, but after looking at my various poor health markers, Jayme concluded I might not have a strong immune system.

My mother had the splitting nails, bleeding gums and the menopause rages. My father had psoriasis and arthritis and caught colds constantly. I was following in their footsteps.

I reversed all these unsavory traits by introducing better nutrition—protein and vitamin supplements—into my diet. Having cancer so young put me on a mission to outwit any deficiencies my body had which would lead to cancer. My new supplement regimen helped when all the attempts I had made to mitigate these various minor symptoms before supplementing had failed, including maintaining a healthy weight.

For the record, my youngest daughter had two cancers at an early age which prompted her HMO to do a genetic study. Low and behold, her blood and mine (they wanted the parents but the father was dead) are genetically skewed at P53. P53 has a DNA repair function which, when wild or variant, doesn’t do its job.

Stay with me, here. Suppose I had decided I had no choice but to be like my parents and live with these minor ailments, yo-yo dieting and medicating heavily at the slightest twinge of sinus infection or arthritis? That would have made me a “victim” of my genetics. Before I knew I have a genetic pre-disposition for cancer, I declared myself a victor over future cancers. My mother had breast cancer at age 74; my cousin died of breast cancer; another of melanoma and another of a brain tumor (two of the three deadlies that come with P53 variant). Am I just the lucky cousin?

In the case of obesity and obesity in remission, I have great sympathy for these people. The Lancet article offers medical interventions and I’m sure many desperately over-weight people will take advantage of them. If I were genetically tested for obesity genes, I’m sure I would have a handful of the 32, maybe even the dreaded 21 that put women over the edge. I feel as though I am an “over-weight-in-remission” person. To change my body into the relatively lean one I live in today, I had to go after an unhealthy sugar addiction but cutting out all sugar including grapes (forever mostly) and all other fruit for a period of time. I was rigid for years about white flour and sugar. I’ve been able to relax, but continue to avoid refined flour, sugary snacks, baked goods and I limit my fruit intake. I have always eased myself out the door to exercise, even when the book/computer/bed held me back.

While the morbidly obese have what seems like an insurmountable struggle, those of us who tend to pack in on easily and have a hard time getting it off again, would do well to claim the victor attitude, rather than the victim.

Genetics is what can happen, our choices is what does happen!!

Fool your body with gentle and gradually increased exercise and modest food changes. We may be better off not calorie counting, pushing the numbers so low our body goes into starvation-avoidance mode. Get out the glycemic index chart and avoid the foods that contain the most sugar while loading up on the low-glycemic foods. I like a diabetic-safe soy protein shake loaded with vegetables and I pay attention every day, whether home or abroad, to how many vegetables I eat.

I will probably never have a flat belly or slim hips. We can love our bodies the way they are. One thing is sure: when your diet is heavy on the protein/vegetable end and you take some form of exercise every day, your brain, your immune system, your sense of well being are all enhanced. Does it matter, really, if you are never a size 6?

When articles like the one on Mother’s Day claim our genes may be at fault, I worry that some may give up the effort and believe themselves to be a victim of genetics. Why not eat what I love and crave: I’m going to be over-weight anyway? This is victim thinking. It could lead to diabetes (another condition that ran in my family), a poor immune response, arthritis and heart disease. Be a victor, no matter what your parents dished up. You’ll feel better and live longer.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

PS: If you are reading this and you are morbidly obese and have tried everything, are at your wits’ end, I have great empathy for your situation. I don’t mean to be flip or suggest this is a 1, 2, 3 easy change. No doubt you have sought medical help already. If I can support you in any way, let me know. For the psychological aspect of the issue, you might take a look at http://workwithgrace.com/eating-peace/.

I love your comments, and read every one.

If you are interested in the protein shake I use, you can find it here.

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, travel

Staying healthy while traveling

May 6, 2015 betsyjbell 3 Comments

Gentle Reader,

I just spent two glorious weeks in Portugal. I will get on an airplane and fly off to other time zones several more times this summer and fall. Staying healthy while I travel is of upmost importance. You probably have the same goal: staying healthy while travelling.

Jet lag is one of the most difficult challenges of travel. You can lose a day or two of alert engagement with your new surroundings; the very sites and tastes you paid all that money to enjoy.

I found great information from Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare, on USAToday, March 1, 2015. He consulted the folks at the Mayo Clinic who define jet lag as a “temporary sleep disorder that can affect anyone who quickly travels across multiple time zones.” In other words, you don’t have to go to Europe to get it!

We already know that, right? The real question is how to prevent it, or cure it once you’ve got it. I’ve got some answers which I will add to Rick’s. In addition to the Mayo Clinic, he talked with experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the non-profit National Sleep Foundation, plus some remedies from veteran travelers. His “Wild Card” suggestions are entertaining and I will share them here. I hope some of these 15 ideas work for you.

Before You Fly

A little planning goes a long way.

Take care of yourself: You know the drill, eat right, sleep right and exercise. Now for the hard part: You’ve actually got to do this! Most of us get a little hectic just before a trip. I like to zip up a week ahead of time and maintain my normal exercise routine. The better you feel overall, the lighter the jet lag.

Move your bedtime: Several authorities say you should gradually change sleeping patterns before departure.

If heading east: Try to go to bed one hour earlier each night for a few days. • If heading west: Try going to bed an hour later, again for a few days before you leave. This is super hard for a person with a busy schedule. I did manage to get to bed early the night before I left. Try it the next time you go east. I haven’t been to Asia for a while, so I do not have any recent experience there. I’d love to hear from you if you have tried this and made it work for you.

Pack a pillow: You can’t bring your mattress but you can bring your pillow. Nothing wrecks a night’s sleep like trying to settle your head on a puffed-up piece of foam when your noggin cries out for your pancake-flat feather pillow (or vice-versa). I don’t do this. I find the transatlantic/transpacific airline pillows sufficient and when flying domestically, I use my sweater or jacket just fine. I see people sleeping with those blow-up pillows. Whatever works.

Pack your headphones: My noise-canceling headphones have kept me smiling in the face of wild 2 year olds and often help me nod off. Earplugs can help, too. Others recommend sleeping-masks but not all of us can drowse with something draped across our faces. I use earplugs and find they work great.

Wild card:No night-before bon voyage parties, the kind were everyone raises a toast to your travels and you gulp along with them (we’ll assume those glasses don’t contain ginger ale). In fact, no night before anything except for a good night’s sleep. Here’s how: All packing is done, period. Get it done at least 24 hours before departure, with everything you need (electronic tablets, passports, medication, maps, pre-printed reservations, boarding passes, etc.) ready to go alongside your suitcase. If begin your trip in a stress-free frame of mind, that’s half the battle.

During Your Flight

Do’s and don’ts for a long plane ride.

Set your watch: Move it ahead (or behind) to destination time, the better to start syncing the rest of you. I always do this immediately upon taking my seat.

Watch what you eat: Don’t fall into the, “I’m on vacation, I can eat or drink anything” trap, especially on the plane. Super important. I carry this mantra through my entire vacation, packing my protein powder for a shake at breakfast and my vitamins packed in snack zip lock baggies for each meal exactly as I ordinarily take them when at home. I have my baggies and protein powder, a cup and spoon for stirring, plus food for the next meal I’m planning to eat in my carry on. For the overnight flights to Europe, I sit down, eat my dinner—the stuff I brought along, take a sleeping pill, put in my ear plugs, get settled for a long night’s sleep. I usually get a pretty good sleep and wake up ready for the day.

I stick to my diet as best I can while traveling. It is hard to get as many vegetables while traveling, so I take some anti-oxidant supplements along. I stay away from breads, pastries and go for the eggs, fruit, dried prunes and nuts. Enjoy tastes of the local specialties, but there is no reason to add sugars and white flour to your diet while away if you avoid them at home. I take healthy snack bars and meal bars. These saved me on the return from Portugal.

Plenty of water: Plane rides can be dehydrating and this can worsen jet lag. Drink up.

I take a rehydrating powder with me and add it to my bottled water. You lose one cup of fluid for every hour you are in the air. So you have to disturb your fellow passengers. You get up and they have to get up. Good for them. Do not buy your extra water before you go through security; wait until you are on the other side. I carry my own empty bottle and fill it from the water fountain. If you have a bottle with a wide lid, you can easily add powders to the water–protein or hydrating.

Try to sleep:Don those headphones or earplugs you packed and try to fall asleep on the plane especially if you’ll arrive in the morning (and this is often when U.S. flights to Europe arrive). See my remarks on #7.

Try to exercise: No yoga moves, just a simple stroll down the aisle every now and then but only when you won’t disturb meal or beverage service and only when seat belt signs are off. When you return, buckle up no matter what the sign says (turbulence can come out of nowhere). I really do exercise. Kinesthetic moves: clench and unclench your butt, holding the clench for several seconds; alternate up and down top/heel while sitting; reach your hands out in front of you and push/pull your shoulders;
Airplane exercises

role your head to stretch your neck; do pelvic clocks as you sit, first one direction and then the other; drop first your left and then your right arm to get a good stretch with your head going in the opposite direction. These exercises can help prevent pulmonary thrombosis which is a danger, especially in older adults.

moves to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis
11.Wild card:Ever hear of the Argonne Anti-Jet-Lag Diet? It was developed years ago by a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and is said to be effective but “difficult to stick to.” I don’t doubt this since it involves alternate days of feasting and fasting before departure. Another approach calls for no food at all for 12 to 16 hours before breakfast time at your destination. Note: The Mayo Clinic says no anti-jet lag diets have been absolutely proven to work but give them a whirl if so inclined (though you should talk to your doctor first).

At Your Destination

Don’t make important decisions first day: I think this CDC tip is meant for those who suffer extreme jet lag but if you’re flying in for a business meeting and know you won’t be super-sharp, consider arriving a day ahead of time. I arrived in Paris in the morning, checked my luggage at the hotel and immediately went walking. I wanted to take in the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore (I was on a writing retreat in southern France). I got sloppy with my cell phone and it was gone when I wanted to take a picture minutes later. Keep your wits about you for the first couple days. Check and double-check all the important things: since that experience, I keep passport, money, credit card and phone in my money belt at my waist under my pants, especially when in key tourist attractions. On this recent trip to Portugal, our guide spotted pickpockets and gave us a warning. Train stations are particularly bad. If you carry a backpack, bring it around in front of you anytime you are in a crush of people.

Sync up with local time: If you arrive at your destination at 9 a.m., don’t go to bed. Get into the rhythms of the city and stick with it. If you must nap, lie down for no more than 20 minutes or so, otherwise you may have trouble sleeping at night. A friend of mine who travels to the UK all the time tells me, “No! No afternoon naps. Walk around the city, stop for coffee, go for a hike and stay up at least until 9 p.m. local time.” Absolutely. When traveling with a twelve year old grandchild a few years ago, she suggested stopping at a swim facility (I gave her the book, Ireland with Kids and she found the place). This took care of her jet lag completely. We had an on time week of sleeping and waking pleasure after that.

Get some sun: According to the Sleep Foundation, daylight is “a powerful stimulant for regulating the biological clock.” Staying indoors, they add, will only worsen jet lag. My rule: walk outdoors no matter what. I remember arriving in Mumbai mid morning after hours in planes. I walked my feet off, wandering into a cafeteria-style restaurant where the locals ate during their lunch break from a factory. I sat between a gaggle of women. When I couldn’t stand up another minute, I found a church and asked if I could sit down for a few minutes. It finally got dark so I could go to bed. The following days, I was alert and enjoyed each full day in crazy India.

15. Wild card tip: According to an Australia-based travel blogger, you can get rid of jet lag quickly by putting your bare feet on the ground (or the grass or the sand). Apparently, you just wiggle your toes around for a while. I can’t vouch for this, but probably couldn’t hurt and probably feels great. All fine and good as an idea, but I seldom end my plane travel in a place where I would want to put my bare feet directly on the ground. It is helpful to visualize grounding yourself in the earth. Those Aussies are more direct!

One thing more. Whether you are a vitamin taker or not, this might be a good time to take an immune booster. I carry Vitalized Immunity by Shaklee. Emergen-C Vitamin C Fizzy Drink Mix is popular. I used the pop-in-water-and-drink supplement several times while in Portugal.

Happiness is staying healthy while traveling.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving.

Betsy

For detailed blog and pictures of my Portugal trip, check in at www.Empoweredgrandma.com.

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

No cure for aging

March 5, 2015 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

In my Facebook inbox this morning came, “There’s no cure for aging, so embrace it.” I thought this is a post just for me. It sings my tune. Plays my tambourine. One of the comments let a little air out of the balloon by speaking truth to all of us songbirds of perpetual spring.

Tommie Montgomery Leydsman

There are many aspects to aging that are, quite frankly, NOT what you are dying to experience! Knees that dare you to move in the morning, BEFORE you have taken one of countless relievers of pain. Haphazard sleeping patterns, I mean who doesn’t love to wake up feeling refreshed at 3 A.M. , but dead asleep again at 4 A.M., only to wake up AGAIN at 5 A.M., pushing away at an annoying object on your chin. That object, of course, being the book you began reading at 3 A.M. !!!

The countless solicitations in the mail letting you know that the countdown clock has slipped into fast forward. You receive reminders like refrigerator magnets for funeral homes. I have always wanted to know whom I should contact after my demise. Not to mention the number of aging services that send you click style ballpoint pens, because our little fingers find it too hard to take the cap off a Bic.

However, there are upsides. I could fill my social calendar with invitations to hear people “advise” me on the best way to invest my entitlements, a.k.a., Social Security! Are they kidding? No, but they do provide “refreshments.” What I want to know is how every hearing aid company got my address? This group is especially devious. They send out envelopes, the size and quality of an upscale wedding invitation, with your name handwritten on the envelope. They invite you, in EXTREMELY LARGE PRINT (because your eyes are also going) to come in and try on some all but invisible hearing aids. I’m wondering if they are the same kind that the Secret Service uses, you know, the ones that they couldn’t hear out of when the White House perimeter was breeched?! *snarky laugh here*

I also love my copies of the AARP and Costco magazines, with aging celebrities on the cover, who don’t EVEN look like they are aging. When you read the articles, these people are going on Safari’s, taking hot air balloon rides over the Serengeti, car racing, starting new businesses (probably using their windfall SS checks as startup money.) You’ve got to watch these “entitlement generation oldies.” They’re a slippery lot!!!!

BUT…………….. All in all, I am embracing the process. Very happy to be aging, happily!
ENJOY THE VIDEO!!!
>

What’s better than the truth? The simple add-on: Very happy to be aging.

I natter on in these pages about strategies to slow the process down, to mask the symptoms or attempt to correct the problems with exercise, therapies and supplements. It seems to be a more positive approach; a going with the flow while using every available oar to navigate the rapids. Why not? I’m not in favor of the alternatives: sitting down, going deaf, searching for bigger and bigger print (I’m typing at 140% as it is. That way I don’t have to lean over to see the screen and can maintain an upright back posture. Hehehe)

Most of you, my faithful readers, are in the game to go out dancing, so let’s keep sharing our ideas for how to do that with aplomb.

Love you all,

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.grandmabetsybell.com/be-well/ thoughts on how to stay healthy

www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee products

Vivix the anti aging tonic. I love my swig every morning.

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

personal training results

February 23, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I was wondering if I could walk to the car on my rubbery legs from the lunges with a weight vest on when PJ Glassey captured me on video. I had just finished my 21 minute workout with Dan this morning at the Xgym on Alki in Seattle. My goal in going to the Xgym 2 x a week for personal training is to increase bone density. At my next annual physical in Sept 2015, I’ll get that tested and report on the success. What has surprised me is the functional improvement in my daily life tasks.

Betsy X Gym Testimonial

Here’s one of the exercises, bench row with barbells.

I am in the middle of what they call splits: controlled small movements monitored for form, lasting until the muscles in use fatigue completely, about 4 1/2 minutes. Efficient and not damaging to joints. Can you see that it’s 25 lbs in each hand?

Two things: I have hiking friends who give me a run for my money without this kind of training. Some people are lucky with their genes and don’t have as much to overcome as I do. Secondly, I am convinced diet and supplements make a big difference in my recovery and improvement. I always take an after workout recovery drink Physique or the 180 smoothie Shaklee makes, to repair the muscle break down. The protein powder has leucine in it that heals muscle. I get enough protein every day from both plant and meat and fish sources, at least 100 grms. And I eat many servings of vegetables, beets, carrots, celery, kale, other greens, onions, tomatoes plus apples, raspberries and blueberries. No grains, or very little. It seems to be working to keep this arthritis-ridden body going. Hiking, anyone?

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com/be-well/ for more health stories and tips

www.HiHoHealth.com to shop for Shaklee products on my personal web site

206 933 1889 I still love to talk to people, answer questions, hear your stories.

Sign up today for my monthly Health4U newsletter for the latest Shaklee product information and special offers. Click here to sign up.

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

Dirty dozen non-organic foods

February 16, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

The following information will help you make healthier choices when grocery shopping. Organic food is worth money. Take care of yourself and your family. These are the dirty dozen non-organic foods to avoid.

I am grateful to my customer, Lanni, for sharing this web site with me. You can follow Garrick Dee, something of a guru for juicing, at http://www.juicingwithg.com/category/blog/. I hope this helps you at the check out counter justifying the expense of organic. It does make a difference.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

Hearing loss and dementia

January 8, 2015 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

I can’t hear you! Will you please speak up?

I noticed I was the only one asking for increased volume.

I arrived early for yoga so I could put my mat right in front of the instructor. Otherwise, I missed her instructions. The meditation went right by me.

I cupped a hand behind first one ear and then the other to hear the reader in our foursome at Louisa’s where several groups of four were taking turns reading aloud what we had written in the previous forty-five minutes.

One particular daughter speaks so softly that I missed half of what she said. Since she has the belief that I have not listened to her much of her life, this is particularly serious. I can’t be asking her “What did you say?” over and over. She might believe that I don’t hear her because I don’t listen.

At my annual physical this past October, I asked my doctor about this matter of missing things and straining to hear in certain settings. He referred me to the Polyclinic’s audiologist. Sure enough, I tested below 20—the line of perfect hearing—in both ears, the left one more severe than the right. A follow up visit with the ear/nose/throat specialist determined that the hard-of-hearing diagnosis is age related and not caused by anything that could be fixed with an operation. Surgery? Yikes. That had never crossed my mind. I had the closing conference with the audiologist. “Here is what we have to offer you for the best and most nuanced hearing enhancement.” Price tag, $6000.

I nearly fell out of my chair and watched my fall trip to Europe disappear into the realm of Never-Never. I became an observer of ears and noticed a lot of people have spent $6000 to hear better. Or have they? I talked to many and discovered there is an alternative. Costco. Suspicious of a quality discrepancy between private and warehouse medicine, I made an appointment to check it out. This required joining Costco. I am not a Costco shopper.

Luckily, for me, my audiology person at Costco had worked in the private sector before moving to Costco. She explained the difference—and it was not about quality. Sale of hearing aids is lucrative in private practice. The mark-up is unregulated. Medicare and Medicaid pay nothing for hearing aids. (I wonder if that will change when the results of several studies catch the public eye. More about that in a minute.) Doctors and clinics in the private sector of medicine are happy to have big-ticket items to sell and hearing aids are among them.

Costco on the other hand is all about volume and a low margin of profit, 5% in the case of hearing aids according to my specialist. They just cut a deal with the top of the line, Phonak, which angers the private practice audiologists. The batteries sell for $.23. And when you join, the Costco/Amex card charges the minimum monthly payment and no APR for 6 months, giving one a chance to space out the cost with no interest. To read an interesting discussion of Costco’s decision to sell Phonak and the industries reaction, click here. The ones I chose are the most nuanced as far as being able to move the volume up and down without taking the hearing aids out of your ears. The price? $3000, half the price for a better product.

I walked out of Costco on Christmas Eve with hearing aids and greeted 20 people for a stand up oyster stew and cocktails party a few hours later. I found it easy to turn the volume up and down as needed just by pushing a tiny button on the right (increase) and on the left (decrease). The apparatus is the size of a kidney bean and rests behind the ear attaching by a thin transparent wire to a tiny nub that fits snugly into the ear. I got the feel for inserting the nub with minimal practice. Later on Christmas Eve, the tympani, trumpets and organ needed quieting down. When my stepdaughter leaned in to whisper something during the service, I turned it up, adjusting quickly to meet the situation. In the past, I would not have heard her. Period. Now I could. On Christmas Day, twenty family members and friends sat around a massive table and I could hear every word, even the words not directed at me.

Since my hearing loss is not severe, why bother? Why not wait until it gets much worse? The audiologist told me that there is evidence that untreated hearing loss and dementia may be connected. The problem of a dramatic increase in the prevalence of dementia—doubling every 20 years—and the fact that preventing or delaying dementia is easier than reversing it, gave rise to a study of 635 people from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

The conclusion drawn from this careful study (2011) is that “Hearing loss is independently associated with incident all-cause dementia. Whether hearing loss is a marker for early-stage dementia or is actually a modifiable risk factor for dementia deserves further study.” If you are interested, I recommend you read the abstract which can be found here. They don’t know cause and effect, but the coincidence is there.

An earlier review (2003) of unattended hearing loss and quality of life studies came to this conclusion:

Uncorrected hearing loss gives rise to a poorer quality of life, related to isolation, reduced social activity, a feeling of being excluded, and increased symptoms of depression. There is a significant correlation between uncorrected hearing loss and reduced cognitive functions. There is no clear proof that hearing loss is the cause of the reduced cognitive function, but indirect evidence from some studies supports this hypothesis. If the hearing loss is indeed a cause of cognitive decline, this is a very strong argument for early detection of hearing loss and fitting of hearing aids. However, hearing loss and cognitive decline having a common cause is also a good reason for early detection and fitting of hearing aids: The cognitive decline will exacerbate the consequences of missed information due to the hearing loss. The more auditory information that is available, the easier it will be for the impaired cognitive system to process it successfully. Stig Arlinger, Department of Audiology, University Hospital,

Linköping, Sweden Negative consequences of uncorrected hearing loss––a review

No one is coming right out and saying, “Get hearing aids and avoid dementia.” Here, however, is an argument no one will disagree with, as remembered by my friend who wears hearing aids. It is posted on her audiologist’s wall.

The background is faint picture of a grandpa walking with his young grandson. The content goes something like this:
How much did my hearing aids cost? Let’s see–at least three good friendships, a lot of aggravation with my loving spouse, a regular bridge game, my grand children thinking I didn’t care about them, and many other activities that I used to hold dear like group gatherings, singing and going to the movies. The actual aids were really inexpensive!

If you have a little—or a lot—of trouble hearing, and haven’t taken any action to address this problem, why wait any longer? Whether you want to avoid dementia or increase your capacity to connect with people you care about, either reason is a valid push toward making that appointment. I am so glad I did.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving. Betsy

Arthritis, Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness, Keep Moving: Managing Arthritis

Sitting causes premature death

December 27, 2014 betsyjbell

Gentle Reader,

Sitting causes premature death. Wow, that’s a big statement. Imagine my surprise when an NRP report on the radio last week suggested that sitting will be the next “smoking” as a cause of early death. I have harped ad nauseum about the need to keep moving, but I didn’t think it would come to this.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk. Read more.

a work station that helps you keep moving.

A study conducted as part of the Women’s Health Initiative titled Sedentary Behavior and Mortality in Older Women concluded that the women with the highest rate of sedentary life had a 95% increase in death by all causes than the women with the lowest rate of sitting. The study was conducted with over 92,000 women aged 50 – 79; body mass, age, ethnicity, physical function, physical activity and chronic disease were taken into consideration. They wanted to know if there is a correlation between a sedentary life style and diseases of cancer, cardiovascular and coronary heart disease. Sure enough, there is. What we all intuited is a sure thing: you lose it if you don’t use it. Keep moving!

In the radio report, the final word was “the next position is the best position,” i.e. move.

A similar study was conducted by Kaiser Permanente with over 85,000 men aged 45. The research covered 10 years of self-reporting for activity outside of work. Men with the lowest level of physical activity were more than twice as likely to develop heart failure than those in the most active group (7.8 heart failure cases per 1,000 person years compared with 3.8 cases). The men who spent the most time sitting were also more than twice as likely to develop heart failure than those who sat the least (8.8 heart failure cases per 1,000 person years compared with 3.8 cases).

For a lot of us this is bad news. We sit at our work, sometimes for hours at a stretch. I sit for hours in front of my computer. My “to-do” list everyday includes multiple tasks that require sitting at my desk. Many of us have office jobs where we are chained to our desks. Even work that requires moving around a fair amount includes several long stretches sitting at the computer.

In the study involving men, it didn’t matter what they did for work. Only their activity outside of work was considered. Apparently a man who moves all day at work but sits all evening and on the weekends, is not protected by his physical activity on the job. I find this “outside of work” fact to be particularly interesting. KUOW reported on this study in January of last year.

What happens to the body when we sit for long periods of time? The effects are scary.

Muscle atrophy. Mushy abs; tight hips; limp gluts. You have to work your muscles to keep them.
Organ damage. Heart, pancreas and colon begin to malfunction.
Foggy brain. Slow circulation and a bent neck cause poor brain function.
Soft bones and bad back. Joint health in general deteriorates when there is prolonged sitting. Avoiding osteoporosis requires weight bearing movement.
Type II Diabetes risk increase It takes movement to get insulin into cells and control blood sugar
Cancer risk increase Colon, endometrial and possibly lung cancers in particular
Obesity increase even without an exercise program, simply moving more throughout the day keeps fat away
Depression risk seven hours of sitting a day greatly increases depression

Benefits of moving are legion. My daughter Priscilla, personal trainer and group exercise specialist, is a strong proponent of the benefit of aerating your body. She believes that a half hour of vigorous exercise a day will flush the impurities from your blood and carry away bacteria, viruses and other unwanted invaders from your system. When your circulation slows down, blood pools, clots could form.

Sitting on an airplane is one of the worse things you can do to your circulation. For those of us who love to travel, the 9 – 12 hour flights can be deadly. For those who have to fly for work, here are some tips to keep moving in the air. Flex your calves. “Your calves are often called your second heart because of the role they play in helping pump venous blood from the lower extremities,” says Leslie Kaminoff, a yoga therapist and breathing specialist in New York. Something as simple as tapping the feet will also create movement in the shins and thighs, and even in the hip joint. Drink a lot of water because it will force you to get up and head for the lavatory.

I find that when I get up from a prolonged seated position, I have more pain and stiffness in my joints. I have noticed that if I can make myself take a short walk, the pain eases. In college I used to walk around the dorm reading, mostly to stay awake, but, I now realize, I needed to move then, too.

Working at home as many people do nowadays, you have to create a schedule for moving. I use a timer to remind me to get up. I might garden for 20 minutes; fold laundry; check on the chickens. The biggest problem with interrupting yourself as an at-home worker, is getting back to the desk. You could look at the clock and realize you’ve been in the garden for two hours. It requires vigilance and discipline to take a break, move, and get back to work.

Digestion issues from sitting too long, the pancreas and colon sluggishness, can be corrected so easily. Just a short walk will get things moving. I have a friend who takes a walk with her husband nearly every night after dinner. She’s the lovely person who introduced me to Shaklee and a whole new way of life back in 1985.

This article gives suggestions for moving: sit on a ball, walk around during commercials, get out of your chair and stretch the hip flexors every hour or so, get a standing work station (I found several references to using a treadmill desk) and do the cat/cow yoga exercise several times a day. Some of these are easier than others in an office setting.

Imagine what would happen if the Surgeon General of the US decreed that movement is a health necessity, not just a health benefit.

Sitting is often a relief, a relished pleasure when you are worn out from cooking, shopping, cleaning house, wrapping packages, wandering through an art gallery and you just can’t wait to sit down. I love that instant comfort that comes from collapsing into a chair or sofa. Fine. Enjoy. Just don’t let 4 – 5 hours go by in that sitting position before you get up and move again.

All the best for this holiday season. Get out and take a walk, snow shoe, ski, shoot baskets with your kids and grandkids, dance. I’ve just started attending my oldest daughter, Grace and Jon, her husband’s Free Form Dance Dance on Saturday mornings. What a joy to move my body to great music for about 80 minutes in a big room with a wall of glass looking out into trees, and a group of people all joyously moving according to their inner guide!

Want to have a long, engaged, active life?

Be Well, Do Well and Keeping moving.

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee

Be Well health tips, Health and Fitness

Thanksgiving

November 27, 2014 betsyjbell 2 Comments

Gentle Reader,

I sit here the night before Thanksgiving with multiple layers on, my nose cold and the backs of my ears feeling the cool air circulating in my living room, the temperature set at 65. The Roman shades are still up so I can enjoy the spectacular Christmas lighting I put up this year. The May pole is planted in the middle of the seven-circuit labyrinth that fills my front garden and hanging from its 15-foot tip are fourteen strands of multicolored LED lights. I am so proud of this accomplishment. It took several hours of mathematical figuring with the help of Google to find the circumference of a circle where the radius is 4 ft; and to determine the length of the hypotenuse of a triangle where the pole stands 15 ft. tall. I loved geometry but remember nothing. The three lengths of lights measured 66 ft each and, stretched end to end, I wanted them to hang in equal lengths with traveling distance between them around the edge of the circle on the ground. It was complicated. This seventy-seven year old brain figured it out and when the taped strands of lights rose skyward, their 14 lengths reached the ground evenly spaced around the pole. Must be the MindWorks at work.

These days leading up to Thanksgiving and the holidays are full of all the emotion that comes with a long to-do list and the hangover from holidays past. Yet somehow this year the Christmas letter is written and printed and ready for my grandson Jack to help me mail on Saturday. The special gift list for the holidays is updated and ready on my website. The version of the letter for family and friends not in my Shaklee family is printed and ready for mailing and labels for both sets are printed, stamps purchased and all will be done Saturday, using up the Christmas cards and envelopes I have stored over the years.

I have the Christmas event planned for the grandchildren: we will meet at the Experience Music Project for lunch and an afternoon of touring the exhibits, virtual music performing and good times at the Seattle center, maybe including a carousel ride. Why not? You never get too old for that. Even if these children are late middle school, high school and college aged.

Today I hiked with two stalwart friends who are as reluctant to give up the weekly wilderness as I am. It was a trip up the backside of Cougar Mt., one of the Issaquah Alps, near foothills of the jagged Cascade Range, a second growth forest of Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Red Cedar with big leaf maple and alder and plenty of thick sword fern and salal on the forest floor. The trails, developed over the years, are now maintained by the Greenway Mountain to Sound organization with the help of the Washington Trails organization. The hiker heading for Shy Bear Pass climbs to dramatic cliffs and past giant erratics (those mammoth boulders spewed around the region by the tumultuous volcanic and glacial periods eons ago).

My body keeps going and is getting stronger all the time, thanks to the guys at the Xgym. I feel lucky today. My cousin, Jack Bell, seven years my junior and far more diligent about his fitness than I, suffered a massive heart attack a week ago last Friday. He was in the gym at the time and experts performed CPR immediately. Ten days later, he is in a rehab facility near San Francisco where they will provide 5-7 hours a day of physical therapy to bring his fitness level back. This is the man who climbed Rainier for the Breast Cancer Fund and inspired me to climb Mt. Shasta a year later. He greeted me at the end of my climb with a silk prayer scarf from Tibet where he and his husband had gone. I greeted him at the end of his Rainier attempt with a big glass of Physique. It was a high wind, socked in, fog impeded ascent and he was in bad need of an after workout restoration. He has been up Kilimanjaro, Whitney and Aconcagua in Argentina, and others I have forgotten. He will climb mountains again.

Jack’s dad died of a heart attack. Jack will not die from this one. He has taken Shaklee vitamins for a long time. They probably help. His mother died of Alzheimer’s. He has been taking Vitalizer Gold and recently added MindWorks. This is a man who believes in prevention and the heart attack strikes him anyway. He will probably have a complete recovery because of those thoughtful and persistent prevention efforts.

We will all die. We do have some measure of influence on how and how soon.

I am off to my time-share in Mexico with my sister-in-law and two friends in their early 80s. The four of us will have a great time in the warm sweet smelling air, the fine-grained sand, the elegant accommodations and entertaining nightlife of the Gran Mayan Resort. We will shop for exquisite jewelry in the market and eat fish, guacamole (made fresh by me daily) and drink margaritas.

The deeply religious festival of the Virgin de Guadalupe will be our pre-Christmas advent preparation. Early December is a lovely time to be in Puerto Vallarta where Guadalupe is the patron saint. I have counted out my Shaklee supplements, my individual portions of Vivix, my 180 Smoothee mixtures for breakfast every day. I’ll be ready for whatever.

So much to be thankful for. Good health, good friends, loving family. I bid your prayers for all who struggle during this season when the airwaves perpetuate jollity and if you are not participating, you feel wrong somehow.

Be well, Do well and keep moving.

Betsy

206 933 1889

Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving