Carole Carson

Is Exergaming the New Fitness Frontier?

What do I have in common with Shigeru Miyamoto, internationally acclaimed video game designer of Wii Fit for Nintendo? When it comes to promoting fitness, we share the same philosophy.

If you read the notes of the small design team that developed the ground breaking Wii Fit exergame, you quickly realize that Miyamoto wanted the game to be fun, he used his own life experiences and those of team members to build the model, and he wanted fitness to involve the entire family.

Those characteristics are consistent with the message I’ve been promoting, reflected in the acronym FIT:

F: Fun—Make exercise fun and playful.

I: Integrate—Integrate your exercise routine into your lifestyle.

T: Together—Team up with others so you can give each other support and encouragement.

With his blueprint and the talent of his colleagues, Miyamoto created a product that hit the mark. Over a million customers have purchased Wii Fit since it was introduced in Japan last year. The exergame will be introduced in the United States and Europe this spring (it is expected to sell for less than $100), and extraordinary sales volumes are anticipated.

Wii Fit relies on a peripheral balance board that measures the weight, locates the center of gravity and calculates body mass index of the user. It also counts steps, serving as a pedometer.

Four kinds of exercises are offered: aerobic, muscle and strength building, stretching and balance. The exergame has 6 to 10 activities associated with each category. For example, aerobic choices might include step exercises or jogging, and balance exercises might involve tightrope walking.

The Wii software displays the progress of family members on graphs and charts and comes with its own dedicated Wii television channel.

Miyamoto explains the logic behind the game’s design: “What it’s actually aiming to do is make you aware of your body.” Once we become aware of our bodies, he believes we will choose healthier lifestyles.

Although the technology seems a little daunting, I’m game to try it (excuse the pun). What about you and your family?

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle—Your Tennis Shoes

If you play tennis like me or engage in any kind of exercise, you can easily end up with extra pairs of tennis shoes in various states of disrepair in your closet.

For my part, I have to be careful about wearing good shoes because of the pounding that my knees, hips and back take during tennis. I can’t overuse my tennis shoes without risking injury. In fact, my back and hips tell me when I need to change shoes; they start hurting after I play. After about two months, even though the shoes look and feel terrific, I need to make a change.

What then, am I to do with the tennis shoes that, like rabbits, seem to be multiplying on the floor of my closet?

I try to give each pair a special function. I have a pair for walking on muddy trails (they look terrible), another pair to wear to town when I shop for groceries (they still look pretty good), a spare pair in the trunk of the car (just in case I need them) and another good-looking pair to use when I travel and want to be comfortable.

But alas, at this point, my imagination fails me. What should I do with the rest? They are too good to throw away but not cushioned enough to wear on the tennis court.

Along comes solutions that I’m eager to share with you. Athletes in Africa and Latin America are looking for gently used shoes. To donate nearly new athletic shoes to this group, go to www.oneworldrunning.com. Worn-out shoes that are beyond salvaging can be donated and recycled into material used for athletic flooring. Go to www.nikereuseashoe.com for more information.

Aren’t those two great solutions? Do you have any tennis shoes to donate?

Are You SMART About Setting Your Fitness Goals?

Conventional wisdom says we need to set goals if we are to achieve anything of consequence. Like a lot of accepted truths, the idea has its detractors. For instance, goals give us focus but at the same time limit us. If, for example, my goal is to sail around the world, then I cannot simultaneously be working full-time in building my business.

And it isn’t always clear what we are giving up when we choose our goals. For instance, the busy executive who chooses an ambitious financial goal and neglects his well-being may not understand the price he will pay in broken health until it is too late.

The limitation of setting goals can be compounded by a lack of imagination. How do we create big enough goals?

Imagine trying to map an area walking on a mountain trail where you can see only a few feet ahead. You don’t know what lies around the bend, nor can you imagine what the view will be like when you reach a higher elevation. Because you’re limited to the immediate scenery, you’re limited in your perspective. Only when you stand on top of the mountain do you see the entire topography. That’s why, once we realize our limitations in setting goals, our friends, family members and colleagues who stretch our imaginations become incredibly valuable to us.

It is also difficult to articulate goals that speak to our deepest needs. I’ve found that trivial goals, such as cleaning a closet, are easier to list than significant ones, such as changing jobs, preparing a will or saving for retirement. That may be because organizing a closet is a task I can confidently achieve, whereas I am not at all certain, for example, that I can achieve the goal of finding a new job. Consequently, if I don’t know whether I can accomplish a goal, I’m tempted to leave it off my list.

Goals also have the unfortunate consequence of making us dissatisfied with the status quo. If, for example, I set a goal to lose weight, that goal reflects my discontent with my current body shape. Yet everything I’ve learned about making progress with weight loss and fitness indicates that acknowledgment and acceptance of my situation is essential if I am to make constructive changes. I find this statement paradoxical.

A friend of mine, a prominent psychologist, was well-known for his refusal to set goals. He wanted his future to be open-ended so that he could respond to and capture the essence of each moment. He wanted to be in sync with the flow of his life, rather than impose a structure on it. I learned a lot from him because I realized that goal setting for many of us is an ill-disguised attempt at controlling an uncertain future.

If you have ever uttered the expression “Man proposes and God disposes,” you have acknowledged how unpredictable and uncontrollable the future can be.

The other day I was out on a walk by myself, enjoying the blue sky, fluffy white clouds, warm sunshine and gentle breeze. I could hear birds singing in a nearby bush. In the next instant, I was face down in a brown mud puddle, having tripped over a small rock embedded in the dirt path. When I got up, I had a gash on my hand that had broken my fall and a sore knee and shoulder. But it was really my feelings that were hurt. I was embarrassed cleaning dirt, grass and blood off myself, even as I gave thanks that I had suffered only minor injuries. This incident is a small reminder of how quickly the circumstances in our life can change.

Setting goals has the potential to make us unhappy when we fail to reach them. Perfectionists in particular fall prey to this subtle trap. Take the woman, for example, who decides to eat 1,500 calories a day to lose weight. On Tuesday, for some reason, she overeats and doesn’t reach her goal. Since she missed the mark, she decides to overeat the rest of the week and start over on the following Monday. Does this behavior make sense? No, but I have made that mistake myself.

Still, with all their shortcomings, we need goals. How would we ever reach our destination if we didn’t know where we intended to go? Consequently, I can’t resist setting goals, and I get tremendous satisfaction working toward them and finally achieving them.

One such goal, for example, was completing a cathedral window quilt sewn entirely by hand. The quilt is composed of small squares that are separately constructed and then hand sewn together. Each of the squares is complicated to make (it has five layers of fabric), and each takes about one hour to construct.

Because of the multiple layers of fabric, about 36 yards of fabric are needed to make one queen-sized quilt. Once the boxes are sewn together, a design fabric is hand sewn on the top, again in a complex, detailed pattern. When finished, the quilt resembled a cathedral window with variegated colors and the illusion of depth.

For seven years, I worked about an hour a day on my quilt. I enjoyed cutting fabric, hand sewing each square and later painstakingly assembling the various pieces, even though my fingers would hurt from the handwork and I’d have a headache from eye strain.

Each time I added a square, I relished the day when it would be completed. Having assembled all the squares, I sewed dainty lace around the sides. The final stitch was sewn on a Christmas Day while the turkey was baking. I remember the moment because, after the initial elation, I was surprisingly sad. I realized I needed to find another project to fill the void. That’s how important goals are to my well-being. I felt the same way when I retired and quickly realized I needed to create new goals.

Setting goals is really how we try to define the future; that’s why I language my goals as desired outcomes. I try not to worry if I don’t know how I will achieve them. Through experience, I’ve discovered that adding this requirement—knowing how to achieve the results—puts a brake on my thinking. Instead, I spend time reflecting on what I truly want to achieve.

At this point, the prevailing wisdom about how to articulate goals is useful. The ideas are summarized in SMART:

S=Specific

M=Measurable

A=Attainable

R=Relevant

T=Time-bound

Instead of setting a goal, for example, to lose weight and get fit, set a goal to lose 10 pounds by July 2008. This second statement is specific (lose weight), measurable (10 pounds), attainable (a weight loss of 2 pounds a month), relevant (I really want to do this) and time-bound (July 2008).

Another essential element of successful goal setting is writing down goals and measuring progress. For many years, I wrote down annual and quarterly goals that I regularly updated for both my professional and my personal life. Now that I am semiretired, I have a master set of goals that I break down into weekly plans. Each day, after checking the weekly goal sheet, I write down what I want to accomplish.

Articulating desired outcomes is an important first step. But of course, the work doesn’t stop there. The next critical skill involves tackling the goals and staying on track. I’ll save writing about that for another day. In fact, now that I think about it, I better put that writing assignment on my list!

BTCV Responds to Green Gym Posting

Rob Bowker, staff member of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), sent me an enthusiastic e-mail in response to the February 11, 2008, posting titled “Green Gyms: A Collision of Two Powerful Ideas.”

BTCV is a nonprofit organization that originated in Great Britain to promote conservation. Originally named the Conservation Corps when it was established in the 1950’s, the organization expanded its mission and changed its name to the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers in 1970. Its patron is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Other notables in the organization are Lord Norrie, president of BTCV, and board members Sir David Attenborough, Baroness Hilton and Baroness Miller.

BTCV coordinates the environmental efforts of hundreds of volunteers in over 1,000 communities throughout England, Scotland and Wales. In addition, the organization has international ties and promotes conservation globally. BTCV was also instrumental in forming the Conservation Volunteers Ireland (CVI).

One of BTCV’s recent innovations (1996) is Green Gyms, which involves teams of individuals working outdoors to achieve exercise goals while simultaneously improving the environment. Participation has continuously increased in this popular program since it was introduced.

In support of its mission “to create a more sustainable future by inspiring people and improving places,” the organization espouses five goals:

1. Sustained environmental improvement
2. Inclusiveness, accessibility and choice
3. Appropriate support to individuals and communities
4. Individual and community empowerment
5. Corporate responsibility as an employer

In his e-mail, Rob thanked me for posting the blog on Green Gyms and said, “Taking part in one can transform a person's life and make a huge difference to the environment. As well as a really enjoyable calorie-burn, loads of people get a real buzz from the social side, so there's a big 'smile factor' too.”

If you would like to contact Rob to see how you might start a Green Gym in your community, e-mail him at [email protected]. For more information on BTCV, go to http://www.btcv.org/news.

Thanks for your e-mail, Rob. Keep us posted on future developments.

Fat to Fit Trivia

What is the percentage of American adults who are dieting, exercising or both during any nonholiday period?

1. Less than 25 percent
2. Between 25-50 percent
3. Between 50-75 percent
4. Over 75 percent

Answer: (#3) 66 percent, according to Pew Research Center reported in Time magazine, January 21, 2008.

Green Gyms: A Collision of Two Powerful Ideas

What if someone told you that instead of walking on a treadmill at a gym (which I lack the discipline to do with any regularity), you could find a way to exercise that would be fun, help you make new friends, teach you some new skills, improve the environment and give you an extraordinary workout?

That’s the idea behind Green Gym, a program that began in England and whose name is surfacing in newspapers and blogs. One blogger in the United States, for example, suggested using the innovative concept of the Green Gym to jumpstart our New Year’s resolutions. A blogger from Ireland also generated readers’ comments, some of which I found hilarious.

The Green Gym program is a predictable merger of two increasingly urgent goals—taking care of our bodies and taking care of the environment.

The concept is simple. At a predetermined time, members of the Green Gym show up to work on a project. The team might construct a drystone wall, build a trail, cultivate a garden or create a wildlife pond. A trained leader provides direction and expertise on the tasks at hand. At the end of the workout session, the participants have enjoyed exercise and camaraderie while taking action to improve the environment.

The growing popularity of Green Gyms in England may be linked to the range of benefits associated with being outdoors. Besides the obvious benefit of physical exercise, outdoor activities are credited with reducing stress and fatigue and improving our mental health as well.

Cedrick Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise says, “There are some very real psychological and physiological benefits to balancing your exercise routine between indoor and outdoor environments.” “Outdoor exercise,” he says, “tends to be more engaging and mentally stimulating due to the changing scenery and terrain—not to mention the mood boost that comes from being outside in the sunshine.”

Youth in particular seem to benefit from outdoor programs. In one study funded by the USDA Forest Service, researchers concluded that “positive effects occur in all the dimensions of academic performance, leadership, self-concept, personality development, interpersonal skills and adventuresomeness.”

Despite this impressive list of benefits, more and more Americans are experiencing virtual nature indoors using electronic devices instead of going outdoors. Two separate studies, the most recent appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, report that after a 50-year increase, use of national parks is declining. In 1988—a year that coincided with the advent of electronic entertainment media—park use began declining and has declined steadily since.

Researchers fear they are “seeing evidence of a fundamental shift away from people's appreciation of nature (biophilia) to ‘videophilia,’ which is defined as ‘the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media.’ Such a shift would not bode well for the future of biodiversity conservation.”

The trend is worrisome enough that the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department recently introduced a campaign called “Life’s Better Outside.” Its second campaign, “Outdoor Family,” teaches camping, paddling, archery and other outdoor skills formerly passed on informally from one generation to another. Both programs are intended to get families to turn off electronic devices and enjoy the great outdoors.

Will the concept of Green Gyms spread virally in your community? If you’re ready to import the program, go to http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/greengym_start. All it takes to bring Green Gyms to your community is a decision by one person to take action. Will that person be you?

From Fat to Fit Trivia

On February 1, women are encouraged to wear a specific color.  What is the color and why should women wear it?

1. Pink:  to encourage awareness of breast cancer.
2. Green:  to promote awareness of the environment.
3. Yellow:  to support the troops in the armed services.
4. Red:  to create awareness of heart disease for women.

Answer:  (#4) Red:  to create awareness of heart disease for women.

From Fat to Fit Trivia Answer

What is the number one killer of women?

1. Breast cancer

2. Houseworkitis

3. Heart disease

4. Old age

Answer:  3. Heart Disease according to the American Heart Association.

Not Exactly a Book Club Selection

At last—I finished The Fat to Fit Meltdown Manual: Create Weapons of Mass Reduction in Your Community (ISBN 978-0-9766030-5-4) and I have the published book sitting next to me as I write this.

What started out as a 30-page spiral-bound workbook designed to help organizers create a community weight loss event turned into a 110-page paperback, complete with information, charts and forms.

Elisa Parker helped me with much of the detail because it was a huge sorting, sifting and organizing project. When I led the Nevada County Meltdown in 2004, I didn’t expect that it would take on its own life. Plus, I was busy organizing an event with volunteers, an event for over a thousand enthusiastic neighbors and friends who were busily e-mailing me and each other.

To recreate the event, I sorted through e-mails, letters, registration and team forms, checklists and class notes. I also reviewed video footage and photos. The materials filled two large boxes. I was both grateful to have saved almost everything and daunted by the tedious task of organizing materials in a useful and comprehensible way.

When I had a working draft, I sent it to key participants, who added their own perspectives. They fleshed out elements that I had forgotten about or simply wasn’t aware of. Thanks to the extra sets of eyes, the manual is as complete as we can make it.

The manual retails for $89; group discounts are available. Also, if you want to organize a Community Meltdown, you can write me and get permission to reprint parts of the book.

This is my Christmas present to myself—ending the year with one useful and completed project. Maybe I’ll put a bow around it and tuck it under the Christmas tree. And then I’m going to take a badly needed rest!

Fitness Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Do you receive those wonderfully attractive catalogs in the mail for calorie-laden cheese-and-sausage gift baskets? If you’re like me, you’ve sent these gifts in other years, hoping to please the palates of those you care about.

Today, almost all of my friends and family are, like me, conscious of their weight and trying to become more fit. So what can I give my family and friends to encourage healthier eating and exercise habits?

Here are some ideas:

1. The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook ($29.95) by Jeanne Besser and Colleen Doyle, MS, RD. This is one of the best cookbooks I’ve come across lately. Readers get 140 great-tasting, good-for-you, easy-to-prepare recipes. Each main dish, snack and dessert recipe includes a nutritional breakdown per serving of calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium and protein. Curried chicken salad, Provencal fish and chocolate-almond biscotti are just a few of the recipes in this multicultural collection. As an added bonus, the purchase benefits the American Cancer Society.

2. Pedometer ($15—$50). This wearable device tells users the number of steps they take each day as they walk or run. It provides an easy way to keep track of one’s exercise. More importantly, it will spur users to reach their daily goal of the recommended 10,000 steps.

3. Heart monitor ($40—$80). This device will help wearers keep their heart rate within the recommended guidelines for their age range while they exercise. It will also help them make sure they reach their recommended aerobic level of exercise.

4. Hand weights ($20—$30) or a weighted vest ($120—$200). By carrying extra weight, users can increase their heart rate and build muscle as they walk, jog, run or even cook or dance.

5. Exercise ball ($10—$30). Your friends can perform exercises and stretches on the floor. But by adding an exercise ball, they can increase the range of their routines; some exercises will help them stabilize their core abdominal strength, which will also improve their balance and coordination.

6. Jump rope ($10—$15). Jump ropes are still in style. A simple 20-minute workout with one of them will get the user’s heart pumping, increase flexibility and build bone mass.
Singing one of those happy playground chants from his or her childhood while jumping will lighten their spirits as well.

7. Mini-trampoline/rebounder ($100). Users can jump with their children or grandchildren. (If they don’t have any, maybe they can borrow some from the neighbors.)

8. Gym membership gift certificate (cost varies). Help someone you love start a new fitness program by doing an online search for local gyms that sell gift certificates. Sometimes folks just need a little financial encouragement to get started.

9. Resistance bands ($20—$30). These bands are small and portable—perfect for helping users maintain their exercise routines while away from home.

10. Yoga mat and/or yoga class gift certificate ($10 and up). Encourage your friends and family to study yoga to increase flexibility, improve circulation and prepare the body for exercise and/or meditation. It’s important to have the guidance of a trained yoga practitioner to ensure success and prevent injury, so search for a well-established yoga studio that sells gift certificates as well as yoga mats.

11. Subscription to a fitness magazine ($10—$20). Here’s reading material that will inspire and educate your friends while they work out.

12. A fresh-fruit gift basket ($25—$50, depending on weight and recipient’s location). Navel or mandarin oranges are high in vitamin C and contain antioxidants. For friends and family who live in colder climates, these are a sweet treat.

And if you can’t think of anything else, you can always give your friends and family a copy of my book, From Fat to Fit. The story of a community of over 1,000 folks who changed their lives by working together has a happy ending, just like this blog!

My best to you during this holiday season.