Carole Carson

What is Your Dangerous Idea?

What do you believe but cannot prove? What is your dangerous idea? What are you optimistic about?

These intriguing questions are the subjects of books whose author, John Brockman, challenges our thinking about almost everything. Each is a collection of essays from some of the smartest people on the planet. When exposed to the innovative thinking in the essays, I remind myself that ideas once considered radical, even heretical, in one century are widely accepted in the next. If nothing else, reading the essays stretches my imagination.

So what’s my dangerously radical idea?

My idea is that just as obesity is contagious, so is getting and staying fit. Becoming fit can be a fun-filled, lifelong adventure. I cannot prove this idea, although I can offer evidence in support of it.

When I chronicled my own fitness and weight-loss efforts and told the stories of others who had undertaken similar efforts, residents in our small community took notice.

When I issued an invitation in the local newspaper to join a weight-loss program, over 1,000 people showed up. Each week attendance grew, until we had over 200 teams. We lost nearly 4 tons in 8 weeks. From my perspective, that phenomenon demonstrated the truth of my idea.

Our local experiment triggered the next question: Will this idea spread? The increasing number of community weight-loss programs springing up across the country is a good sign.

According to an article by Michael Shermer in the September 2007 issue of Scientific American, several elements are needed for a movement or an idea to gain acceptance:

1. The idea takes a stand for something, not against something, and is based on a positive assertion.

2. The idea uses an intelligent, rational approach to tackle myths and raises consciousness and awareness.

3. The idea embraces the uniqueness of self and others, and it requires us to respect each other.

4. The idea encourages exploration, experimentation and a sense of adventure.

If I look at my idea for these characteristics, I think it passes the test.

First, my idea does not argue against obesity, poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles; rather, it asserts that getting fit can be fun, educational and enjoyable.

Second, my idea challenges the myth that losing weight involves dieting, deprivation and boring exercise—all requiring heroic amounts of willpower and discipline. It also challenges the myth that weight is inevitably regained. Instead, my idea is based on rational decisions about what and how much healthy, satisfying food to eat each day and how many hours to devote each week to fun-filled exercise.

Third, my idea acknowledges that the path to fitness is unique for every person, depending upon his or her age, size and time of life. Given that “one size does not fit all,” my idea requires respect for others’ choices.

And fourth, my idea asserts that the pursuit of fitness involves exploring new foods, experimenting with different exercises and learning new, healthful habits. The journey to fitness is a personal adventure.

Is my idea taking hold? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’m having lots of fun promoting fitness and hope that more people will adopt the radical idea that getting fit is contagious and fun! (539)

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Dubbed “An Apostle for Fitness” by the Wall Street Journal, Carole Carson is the author of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction, which chronicles her own 62-pound weight loss and the Nevada County Meltdown. Visit www.fromfat2fit.com for more information.

How to Know If You’re Ready to Lose Weight and Get Fit

Seven years ago, I stepped on the bathroom scale—and it broke. In that instant, I made an irrevocable decision to get fit and remodel my body by losing weight. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. The incident was a decisive turning point: I took the fork out of my mouth, and I took a fork in the road instead.

In retrospect, the internal discussion (or should I say argument) I’d been having with myself during the prior months was coming to a head. I liked my self-indulgences and didn’t want to give them up. At the same time, I knew I needed to make positive changes because my appearance was making me miserable. The broken scale didn’t trigger my transformation; rather, it crystallized my need to change in such a way that I couldn’t return to my old habits.

If I could bottle the process by which a person irrevocably commits to make positive changes (such as lose weight, stop smoking or give up alcohol), I would indeed be a rich person. Although I can’t patent the formula, I can tell you what the ingredients are so you can tell if you are ready to get fit and remodel your body.

First, your current habits and lifestyle are hurting and distressing you. Maybe you feel bad when you have to move up a size because your clothes no longer fit or when you accidentally catch a glance of yourself in the mirror. Maybe your extra girth is causing medical problems that threaten the quality of your life or require drugs that stretch the family budget. Maybe you feel sad when you can’t take your grandchild for a walk because your joints hurt from carrying a spare tire around your middle. Maybe you’ve lost self-respect because you are unable to manage your impulses and say no to yourself. Whatever the reason, you are unhappy with the status quo.

Second, the pleasure you derive from your current habits is greatly outweighed by the pain and suffering you experience by being out of shape and overweight. The nightly raiding of the refrigerator, while satisfying in the moment, is causing you to suffer when you step on the bathroom scale or the waistband on your pants feels like a vise around your middle every time you sit down. The second and third helpings of food at the supper table make you feel lethargic, bloated and out of control. You have begun to realize that the price you pay for your indulgences is too high for the pleasure you derive from them.

Third, you realize that adopting healthier habits will lead not to a grim life of deprivation but rather to a life that is richer, more meaningful, more productive and more satisfying. You will enjoy the food you carefully choose more than you ever enjoyed your mindless eating. You will add far more joy and satisfaction to your daily life than you give up. Instead of being ashamed of how you look, you will enjoy the experience of being in your body. And you will appreciate the simple gift of life your body represents.

There you have them. Insofar as I can tell, these three conditions, when present, can propel you into beginning your own fitness remodeling project. Are you ready? If the answer is yes, start making the positive changes today.

Are You NEAT Enough to Stay Trim?

If you think I am talking about tidiness, you’re wrong. NEAT refers to Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

That’s a mouthful. To understand the concept, think about it this way. You’re sitting in a chair, watching television—a sedentary state. The effort of sitting upright burns about five extra calories an hour compared to the calories you would burn if you were sleeping. Or you walk briskly for one mile and burn 100 calories. This activity is exercise. Everything else is NEAT.

NEAT is important because it significantly influences whether we gain weight or stay trim and fit, according to research conducted by James Levine, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Levine confirmed that people who spend their waking hours sitting weigh more than people who move around. His conclusion? Living in a chair-based environment can result in obesity.

Unfortunately, the chair-based environment is everywhere. We may sit at a table to eat breakfast, sit in a car or bus on our way to work and sit during our workday. We may sit during lunch and sit driving home, only to sit before the television with a remote control in hand. On the weekend, we may sit through a movie, ride a lawn mower or snow blower or sit in a car as we pick up fast food at a drive-through. For some people, 23 out of 24 waking hours are spent sitting or sleeping.

Dr. Levine has a visionary plan to create more opportunities for NEAT that will get us moving and keep us fit and trim. He’s designing dynamic environments for offices where work stations are mounted on treadmills. Instead of meeting in rooms with tables and chairs, employees conduct meetings while walking on specially designed parallel tracks. Walking side by side, the employees conduct business while engaging in exercise.

Dr. Levine is also continuing an educational drive to make people aware of how much they sit and suggest ways they can introduce more movement into their lives. Walking, shopping and moving around for any reason shouldn’t be underestimated, according to Dr. Levine.

After thinking about the implications of his research, I appreciate the layout of my home even more. I live in a two-story house, so I am constantly running up and down stairs. In addition, my office is located outside the house over the garage. If I’m working in my office and want to throw in a load of laundry, I have to walk down a flight of stairs, walk upstairs to get the laundry, back downstairs to the washing machine and then back upstairs to my office. To accomplish my task, I am forced to move by the different levels.

Besides appreciating the layout of my home, I welcome Dr. Levine’s development of the NEAT concept for a distinctly female reason. His research gives me another excuse, in addition to retail therapy, to go shopping.

Unite Your Fitness Team and Win the Battle of the Bulge

For many years, I viewed my inability to lose weight and get fit as a personal failure. Each day I would wake up and gingerly step on the bathroom scale. An impossibly high number would appear, followed immediately by distress over my weight.

Each day I began with good intentions and a willingness to continue, even in the face of repeated defeats. And each night I ended the day with the same ritual: I would promise myself that tomorrow would be better; tomorrow would be a new day.

After what seemed to be about the ten-thousandth time of going down the same tunnel and finding no cheese, I finally realized that perhaps I needed some help. So I reached out and created two kinds of fitness teams—a team of healthcare professionals and a team of supporters.

The first person I put on my healthcare team was my physician, followed by a physical therapist, who helped me figure out what exercises I could safely perform with a torn hamstring. A personal trainer in my local gym supervised my initial workouts to make sure I didn’t reinjure myself. I also consulted with my cardiologist, who reduced my medication following the weight loss.

The coordinator for the local hospital wellness center, Debbie Wagner, RN, helped address questions about nutrition, the kinds of exercises I should undertake and the psychological impact of making such dramatic lifestyle changes.

I first recruited my husband, Dick, to be on my cheerleading team. Then I added my best friend, Dale, who shared an interest in exercise and nutrition. Next, I added my offspring and a close neighbor. Before long, I had surrounded myself with people who, besides cheering me on, were also committed to become more fit.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that the outcome from this effort was different than the outcomes from my prior ten thousand or so attempts.

In retrospect, I realized I was smart enough to apply the same skills that had helped me in my career to my pursuit of fitness. That is, I created a company called Fit Carole. As the CEO, I defined my mission—to lose weight, become fit and adopt permanent, healthy lifestyle habits.

Then I recruited team members to help me realize my goals.

Of course, I relied on myself to set priorities and measure results. But as important as my tasks were, I couldn’t have succeeded without the support of my team.

I urge others who are beginning their fitness journey to create their own team. You may be one of those exceptional people who can achieve their dreams on their own; the rest of us mortals, however, need each other. United we succeed. Go team, go!

What Is the Relationship between Lifestyle and Medical Problems?

As coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community, I ask experts to share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Dr. Maxine Barish-Wreden, the comedical director of the Sutter Downtown Integrative Health program in Sacramento, California.

 

I asked Dr. Max (as her patients call her), “What is the relationship between lifestyle and the medical problems your patients come to you for?” Her answer follows:

 

As a practicing internist, I see many patients in my office who are dealing with medical symptoms and diseases that are the result of unhealthy lifestyle choices—poor nutritional intake, excessive caloric intake, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco abuse, chronic stress, ongoing unhappiness and social isolation.

Over time, these choices have led to a costly epidemic of many chronic medical conditions, including obesity, heart and vascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia, arthritis and cancer. The good news is that the human body has a phenomenal capacity to heal, even after many years of poor self-care.

 

When we clean up our diets by eating less meat and more plant-based foods; when we exercise, cut calories and lose weight; and when we slow down and savor our lives more, we give ourselves the opportunity to heal, and our bodies often respond miraculously. It's never too late to begin. Healing is yours when you focus your intention, attention and action on what you want for yourself.

 

As her comments convey, Dr. Max strongly believes in the capacity of the human body, psyche and spirit to heal, given the appropriate environment. Through treatment of her patients and through her writing, Dr. Max guides and informs individuals on the positive effects of lifestyle choices—including nutrition and exercise—on health and wellness.

 

Maxine Barish-Wreden, MD

 

Dr. Maxine Barish-Wreden is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Secrets of Longevity and also coauthors a syndicated newspaper column with her medical partner, Dr. Kay Judge. Dr. Max holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of Maryland and graduated from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She has a long-term interest in complementary medicine, particularly the mind-body-spirit connection.

 

Is Obesity Contagious?

As coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community, I ask experts to share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Nedra Weinrich, a nationally recognized pioneer and expert in social marketing, a field that promotes healthful changes in behavior.

 

I asked Nedra, “Is obesity contagious? If it is, how do we make fitness contagious?” Her answer follows:

Yes. Obesity is contagious. A 2007 study found that if your friends or family members are obese, you are up to 171 percent more likely to be obese yourself. The reason is not just that you share genetics or eat the same foods if you live together; this effect is found even among unrelated friends living across the country from each other.

 

So what’s going on? Our norms and expectations about concepts like appropriate body size, normal food portions and exercise habits come from what we see our friends and family members doing.

 

The good news is that the social side of this epidemic means that we have control over whether we “catch” obesity ourselves, and we can turn the situation around to spread fitness and other healthy behaviors through our social networks.

 

If you decide to lose weight, exercise regularly and surround yourself with others who are getting fit, the people in your life are more likely to catch the fitness bug as well. These effects were found to extend to three degrees of separation—meaning that even friends of your friends’ friends can be affected by your losing weight. So break out of your unhealthy habits and set off an outbreak of fitness!

 

Nedra’s perspective suggests that we are highly social animals; consequently, we are connected to one another in ways we may not fully understand. Nedra’s comments also underscore the adage that “We are our brother’s keeper.” Armed with this insight, we are encouraged to become role models for others and to use our influence in a positive way wherever and with whomever we can.

Nedra Kline Weinreich
Nedra Kline Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, consults with nonprofits and government agencies to promote changes in health and social behavior. She is the author of Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide. A lecturer at UCLA, Nedra earned her master’s degree in health and social behavior from the Harvard School of Public Health and has served on several federal expert advisory panels and committees.

When in Need, Pour Yourself a Drink

Of water, that is. Drinking water is an appropriate response to many of life’s impulses and cues.

 

Hungry? Drink water.

Thirsty? Drink water.

Tired? Drink water.

Dining out? Drink water.

Dining in? Drink water.

Rising? Drink water.

Retiring? Drink water.

Bored? Drink water.

Hot? Drink water.

Dehydrated? Drink water.

Irritable? Drink water.

Celebrating? Drink water.

Foggy? Drink water.

 

Get the idea? Water is good for us. That statement isn’t surprising since about 70 percent of our bodies are made up of water. Some experts consider water the most important factor in losing weight and keeping it off. Limiting liquid calories from sugar-sweetened drinks is an effective tool for losing weight or to avoid gaining weight, according to Dr. Benjamin Caballero of Johns Hopkins University writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

And here’s more good news: water is affordable and well within our reach.

 

If you agree that water is good for us, I suggest we tip our glasses and have a drink or two to celebrate.

 

 

 

 

"Water is the only drink for a wise man."                            Henry David Thoreau

 

Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week?

Dr. Martin Gibala, PhD, chairman of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, is researching the astounding effect of interval training. His studies suggest that “six minutes or so a week of hard exercise (plus the time spent warming up, cooling down, and resting between the bouts of intense work) had proven to be as good as multiple hours of working out for achieving fitness.”

This research challenges the longstanding idea that hours of exercise are required to achieve fitness. Even more impressive is the theory that intense interval training helps with weight loss.

Dr. Gibala’s findings have been confirmed by other researchers who found that intense, short exercise sessions improved heart health, even among individuals with heart disease.

But to realize the benefits, the six minutes of interval training need to be intense—demandingly intense, even uncomfortably strenuous. Exercisers must exert themselves flat out for six minutes with nothing held back.

Still, the idea of achieving fitness with a minimal expenditure of time has enormous appeal. So when I read the latest research praising the benefits of interval training, I thought I’d consult John Hendrickson, a local expert. John is a certified member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a certified personal trainer and a certified post rehab conditioning specialist through the American Academy of Health, Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals.

I wanted to see if John’s real-world experience made him similarly enthusiastic and also to learn how to add interval training into ongoing exercise routines.

John surprised me by reporting that long before interval training was popular, he incorporated the concept into his tennis clinics and personal training sessions because of the benefits his clients reported. (His clients, by the way, range in age from 15 to 75.)

Here are my questions and John’s answers:

Q. What is interval training?

A. Interval training refers to exercise at a very high intensity followed by exercise at a lower intensity in repeated patterns or sets.

Q. What are the benefits?

A. Interval training improves fitness and balance, increases speed and stamina and reduces recovery time.

Q. How can interval training facilitate weight loss?

A. When you follow high-intensity exercise with low-intensity exercise in repeated patterns, you increase metabolism, thereby increasing the calories that are burned during and after the exercise period.

Q. Is interval training an efficient way to exercise?

A. Structured correctly, interval training can blend strength, cardio, agility, flexibility and speed exercises into one 20- to 30-minute workout. The routines I’ve developed are both fun and challenging. Best of all, they pack a great punch in a short period.

Q. Is tennis an interval sport?

A. Yes, especially when played as a singles player. When I teach tennis, I structure the clinics as interval-training workouts. I introduce controlled, balanced drills followed by higher-intensity drills that focus on balance, cardio, agility and speed.

Q. Before we undertake interval training, are there any safety issues that we should be aware of?

A. It’s prudent to warm up before starting, set realistic goals and make sure the program matches your abilities. Start slowly and build up to the maximum intensity and duration. Monitor your heart rate during the intense drills and bring your heart rate back to normal during rest periods.

If you are pressed for time, you might want to press yourself as hard as you can for six minutes at least once a week. This way, you can achieve the same level of fitness that others take hours to achieve. Which style of exercising will you choose?

Trivia Question

Meatless Monday is a national public health campaign encouraging individuals to eliminate meat one day of the week. The campaign is designed with a number of goals in mind:

• Improve health. Eating a diet lower in saturated fat, found mainly in meat and high-fat dairy products, helps prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer, the four leading causes of death in America.

• Lose weight. By eating meatless meals rather than meat-based meals on Mondays, individuals typically consume fewer calories.

• Help the environment. Consuming vegetable-based meals helps conserve fresh water and better the environment by eating food raised in a sustainable manner. Participating in Meatless Monday also helps reduce, albeit modestly, the harmful environmental impact of cattle farming.
  

Who originated the Meatless Monday campaign?

1. Vegetarians who believe that the healthiest diet is one based on plants

2. The surgeon general, in an attempt to encourage Americans to tackle the expanding problem of obesity by cutting back on calorie-laden meat

3. A religious organization whose members believe that humanity is best served by giving up the practice of eating animals

4. Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, who encouraged patriotic citizens to forgo eating meat on Mondays to make more food available to troops overseas and to minimize worldwide food shortages

The correct answer is number 4. The tradition began with presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, who were trying to conserve food for overseas troops during a time of worldwide food shortages. If you’d like ideas on what to serve for your Meatless Monday, check out some easy-to-prepare recipes here.

What Is a Holistic Approach to Weight Loss?

A delightful part of my job as coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit Community Weight-Loss Challenge is interviewing experts who share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Dr. Kay Judge, a board-certified internal medicine specialist who brings her interest in traditional and holistic medicine practices to her patients. (See her full biography below.)

I asked Dr. Judge, “What is a holistic approach to weight loss?” Her answer follows:

“We all know that ‘calories in versus calories out’ is the key to weight loss. But the human body can be more complex than a mathematical equation. If one is having a problem losing weight, then a holistic approach to weight loss may be beneficial. Holistic medicine recognizes that the mind, body and spirit all play a role in creating good health. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I eating to fulfill a need other than hunger?

2. Are there certain people or environments that cause me to overeat or underexercise?

3. Do I derive comfort or pleasure from eating? Does eating reduce my stress?

4. Am I eating foods that nourish my body?

5. Do I participate in activities that are good for my body?

6. What is missing from my life that food is replacing?

Answers to these questions will point you in a direction that can create a lasting solution to bringing your body in balance holistically.”

These questions can trigger self-insight and can be reviewed again and again, especially when overeating threatens to derail our fitness goals. The questions also address the underlying motivations and rewards that keep us from realizing our fitness goals. Thanks, Dr. Judge, for sharing your insight.

Biography of Kandeel “Kay” Judge, MD

Dr. Kay Judge received her medical training at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. Kay is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Secrets of Longevity (November 2009). She currently practices internal and holistic medicine at the Sutter Downtown Integrative Medicine Program in Sacramento, California.

Kay spent five years in India, where she discovered a passion for alternative treatment including meditation, yoga and ayurvedic medicine. Kay helps her patients find the balance between mind, body, emotions and spirit so that they can attain their fullest potential. She gives health recommendations based on a combination of conventional (Western) medicine, health and lifestyle modifications and alternative treatment options.

"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole universe--the trees, the clouds, everthing."                        Thich Nhat Hanh