Achieve Magazine Spring 2013

spring ‘13

inside: men’s, women’s & kids’ health heart health • eye health nutrition • vegetarian life massage • yoga corporate wellness mind + body • r u n n i n g cycling • kids fitness personal training event calendar & more!

a•chieve (e chev) vb -

| -

1. to finish: complete: win: succeed 2. to accomplish: obtain with effort 3. to perform by one’s own efforts

kathryn lee publisher / creative director john lee vp / director of sales & marketing

Achieve is a quarterly health, wellness and fitness magazine published by Impressions Group, LLC. The covers, contents and ads in Achieve magazine are copyright protected and may NOT be reproduced without prior consent of the publisher.

Our staff has made every effort to insure the accuracy of the publication, however we assume no liability or responsibility for content, errors or omissions in any articles.

Achieve welcomes the submission of any information, articles and photos. We will make every effort to include the submitted items, however, we cannot guarantee the inclusion or the return of materials.

table of

contents

health

fitness

2 men’s health:

14 personal training: professional fitness

keeping your memory sharp

3 women’s health: walking regularly slashes stroke risk in women by nearly 50%

4 heart health: outsmarting your family history

trainers are a perfect source of motivation

15 cycling: 9 tips for beginner cyclists running: 5 bad habits & 5 fixes 16 yoga: what is yoga?

Race Directors, Event Planners Include your events in our calendar!

Contact: kathryn@ImpressionsGroupLLC.com or post on them our website for free: www.achieve-magazine.com .

5 kids’ health: too young to be so tired

17 personal training: beyond the sit-up

6 chiropractic corner: the gut-brain

18 kids fitness: running & kids

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connection

7 eye health: eye problems & diabetes

19 pulling together for pitt county babies — march for babies 5.18.13 20 event calendar (april - june 2013)

8 corporate wellness: wellness plans & obesity

10 nutrition: “desktop dining” vegetarian life: a vegetarian diet

For more information, contact:

lowers risk of heart disease by 1/3

11 sports nutrition: how much protein is enough?

Post Office Box 2627, Greenville, NC 27836 252.355.8345 phone / 252.355.4224 fax kathryn@ImpressionsGroupLLC.com email www.ImpressionsGroupLLC.com www.achieve-magazine.com www.impressions-magazine.com www.impressions-bride.com

12 massage: avoid the upper traps trap 13 mind + body: secrets of staying motivated

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health men’s health: keeping your memory sharp Article by Dennis Thompson Jr. / Reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH / www.everydayhealth.com

Normal age-related memory loss usually affects your recent memory, rather than your remote memory. For example, you might forget the name of a person you just met, or an item your wife wanted you to pick up from the store. But you would continue to accurately recall memories stored last week, or many years ago.

Luckily, there are ways to fight the memory loss that occurs with aging. A combination of regular mental stimulation and maintaining physical health can keep your mind sharp into your late old age.

Some ways to beat back memory loss include: Keep your brain active. Challenging your brain and mental abilities is believed to stimulate brain cells and keep your thinking sharp. Reading, writing, developing a new skill, or relearning old skills are ways to give your brain a workout. You also can work on stimulating problem-solving and brain games and puzzles. These mental challenges should be a regular part of your life.

Let go of stress. Prolonged stress over many weeks has been shown to cause memory loss by altering brain chemistry and damaging the hippocampus, which is where the brain stores new memories.

scheduled activities or misplacing items a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign that you need to have checked out.

Forgetting how to perform activities you’ve done many times before. No longer being able to balance a checkbook is one example.

Finding it difficult to learn new things. You just can’t grasp something that’s being explained to you, even though you feel it should be simple.

Repeating yourself. Telling the same stories, asking the same questions, or repeating the same phrases during a single conversation could be a sign of advanced memory loss.

Confusion. If you’re suffering serious memory lapses, you might end up getting lost in a familiar place. You might also put something in an inappropriate place — your wallet in the oven, for example — because you can’t remember where it should be kept.

If you find yourself experiencing any of these symptoms, you should go see your family physician. The doctor will ask you questions to objectively test your memory and thinking skills, and do a physical exam and possibly other diagnostic tests. He/She may have suggestions to help you improve your memory function, and might even be able to prescribe medications known to help with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, if necessary.

Stay socially active. Relationships with other people can improve your mental performance. Social activities can often be intellectually stimulating, which prompts good memory function. Friends also can provide support when you are feeling stressed. Research has linked loneliness with an increased risk of memory loss and dementia.

Exercise. Working out can keep blood flowing to the brain, leaving brain cells well-nourished with oxygen and nutrients.

Don’t smoke or abuse alcohol. Smokers have been shown to perform worse than nonsmokers in memory studies and tests of thinking skills. Heavy alcohol use is also known to cause memory loss.

Trauma. Head trauma is one of the major causes of memory loss, as well as something that can cause dementia later in life. Always use a helmet and protective gear when participating in high-speed activities and contact sports.

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When Memory Loss Is Serious How can you tell when your memory loss has become something worse, like a symptom of dementia or, perhaps, Alzheimer’s disease?

Here are some warning signs: Forgetting things at a noticeably increased rate. Everyone at one time or another forgets about plans they have or where they’ve put things, but if you find yourself frequently missing

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health women’s health: walking regularly slashes stroke risk in women by nearly 50% Article by John Phillip / www.naturalnews.com

Physical inactivity continues to be a significant underlying cause of chronic illness and early death in the U.S., as sedentary Americans succumb to the utilitarian comforts of modern technology. Lack of exercise, coupled with a largely processed food diet leads to potentially deadly diseases, including: cancer, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Stroke incidence continues to increase at a staggering rate, affecting 425,000 women each year, often leaving them unable to perform routine daily tasks and increasing mortality risk.

Researchers from Spain have published the result of a study in the journal Stroke that has determined walking at least three hours a week reduces the risk of stroke among women by nearly half, yet another important reminder of the health benefits of exercising on a consistent basis. The study team set out to assess the association between regular physical activity and cerebrovascular diseases, defined as conditions that develop as a result of problems with the blood vessels inside the brain such as stroke.

ponded to a physical activity questionnaire and were divided by gender, type of physical activity and how much time they had spent on physical activity.

After a 12 year follow-up period, 442 stroke cases were recorded and subsequently classified as 80% ischemic, 10% hemorrhagic, 7% subarachnoid hemorrhage, and 3% unspecified. Interestingly, the researchers determined that physical activity was associated with a stroke reduction risk for women but not men. Women who walked at least 210 minutes (three and a half hours) a week showed a reduced risk for stroke of 43% compared to those who did not participate in physical activity.

A brisk walk improves vascular function in women to help prevent a stroke

The team also revealed that other types of exercise, regardless of intensity had no significant association in stroke risk reduction. The study’s authors concluded, “Though the exact relationship among different types of physical activity and different stroke subtypes remains unclear, the results of this specific study indicate that walking, in particular, is associated with lower risk of stroke.” Walking briskly for 30 minutes on most days of the week is not only a perfect complement to weight management strategies, but also dramatically lowers the risk of a devastating stroke in women.

To conduct the study, scientists developed a cohort consisting of 13,576 men and 19,416 women, aged 29 to 69 years who were part of the European Cancer Project that was initiated during the mid-1990s. Participants res-

Sources for this article include: http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/44/1/111.abstrac http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23223506 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/254632.php

Attention Users Of

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The Blount Law Firm is currently reviewing potential legal claims on behalf of women who have experienced serious problems with Mirena IUD.

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health heart health: outsmarting your family history Article by Deborah Pike Olsen / www.smartbalance.com

If your family tree is full of broken hearts, you may worry that there’s a space for you on the next rickety branch. After all, one to five percent of people younger than 65 who have a heart attack are more likely to have inherited a susceptibility to heart disease.

In fact, researchers believe at least two dozen gene regions are involved in cardiovascular disease, says Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., author of several recent studies on the genetics of heart disease and director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. At least 13 of those regions predispose you to high levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, which is proven to cause heart disease. The goal is to identify people at high risk for developing heart disease and treat them early with lifestyle changes and, often, medications that target these genes.

In the meantime, it pays to figure out your risk for having a heart attack, because you can use that information to protect yourself. Dr. Kathiresan recommends using the Framingham Risk Score, (found online at http:// hp2010.nhlbihin.net/atpiii/calculator.asp?usertype=prof ) which will calculate your chance of developing heart disease in the next 10 years.

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The test uses your age, gender, total cholesterol level, “good” HDL cholesterol level, blood pressure and whether you smoke to determine your score. If your score is less than 5 percent you are considered low risk; if it is 5 to 20 percent, you have an intermediate risk; and if it is more than 20 percent you have a high risk. Regardless of your risk level, there are simple ways to reduce your chances of having a heart attack. “Your lifestyle is key regardless of whether you have a genetic susceptibility to heart disease,” says Dr. Kathiresan.

Get regular exercise — even if it’s just going for a walk — at least 30 minutes a day, five days per week.

Maintain a healthy weight. Your body mass index should be 25 or less.

Use this calculator to determine whether you are in the ballpark: http:// www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi.

Eat foods low in saturated fat (less than 30 percent of total calories).

Don’t smoke.

There are a number of medications that have been shown to reduce your risk of a heart attack: these include cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins; aspirin; and blood pressure-lowering drugs, says Dr. Kathiresan. Although many of these medications have only been studied in older adults (women over 60 and men over 50), they may be beneficial if you’re younger and have a strong family history of heart disease. If you’re at particularly high risk, talk to your doctor about which, if any, may be beneficial for you.

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health drink on five and a half hours sleep, reports Maas, has the same effect as six drinks on eight hours of sleep! “You have a young population learning to drive and experimenting with alcohol, a deadly combo. The greatest killer of teenagers is car accidents largely exacerbated by sleepiness.”

• Sleep is critical to academic performance. It’s also essential for performance on the athletic field, and for mood.

• The sleep deprivation of today’s students is exacerbated by so-called yo-yo scheduling — going to bed late during the week, but going to bed even later on the weekends. Lack of sleep on weekends delays the nightly secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone. As a result, kids are “walking zombies” in the school corridors on Mondays. “Their bodies are in the classroom but their brains are jet-lagged, somewhere in London, and they never left home.”

The delay in hormone secretion also keeps them from going to bed on time the next day, even though they are vastly sleep-deprived.

kids’ health: too young to be so tired Article by Hara Estroff Marano from eDiets - The online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource

America is an overworked and under-slept nation, and parents are among the most sleep-deprived segment of the population. Americans spend more hours working than residents of any industrialized nation. In order to keep up with work, keep the house going, spend time with the kids and take a moment for ourselves, we steal time from sleep.

It starts with childbirth. Raising an infant is exhausting. On average, a parent of a new baby loses 400 to 750 hours of sleep during the first year!

The need for parental intervention doesn’t disappear the first year. A third of children ages one to four require some form of nighttime ministration.

Chronically sleep-deprived, parents are at risk of thinking that tiredness is a normal condition of life. It’s not. Even small decrements from the eighthour standard for adults can impair performance in the following days.

Memory, learning, coordination, concentration, mood, ability to tolerate stress — all are affected by sleep loss. But as bad as sleep deprivation is for adults, it’s an unfair burden to foist on kids, whose growth and learning — and thus capacity for future performance — hinges on adequate sleep.

Unfortunately, says Cornell University psychologist James B. Maas, Ph.D., young parents know nothing about the rules for good sleep. As a result, many kids today are struggling just to keep their eyes open. They’re not just falling asleep on the school bus, they’re having trouble keeping on task inside the classroom. When they’re not in a stupor they’re acting up and acting out... and often mistakenly diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder (ADD) and given stimulants.

• Motor skills are improved about 20 percent with sleep of adequate duration. Between the sixth and the eighth hour of sleep, the brain acts on calcium molecules, preserving motor skills newly acquired through practice.

• When the schools in a community adopt later start times, allowing kids to get more sleep, behavioral problems plummet and performance in the classroom and on the playing field improves.

After all — you watch what your kids eat, so why not watch to make sure they get enough sleep?

Attention Patients With

Transvaginal Mesh The FDA has issued WARNINGS of SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS associated with transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

If you have suffered infection, pain, urinary and bowel problems, or other complications from transvaginal mesh, call Rebecca Blount to have a local, experienced attorney evaluate your mesh, pharmaceutical or other medical device claim.

Dr. Maas wants to set the record straight and let parents know that kids today need much more sleep than they are currently getting.

• High school and college kids average 6.1 hours of sleep a night when they need 9.25 hours to be fully alert all day long the next day.

• Kids are swilling stimulants like coffee and colas — and sometimes amphetamines — to keep themselves awake.

• Behavioral problems among kids in middle school and high school significantly disappear when kids get more sleep.

• Lack of sleep magnifies the effect of alcohol, with alarming results. One

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health chiropractic corner: the gut-brain connection Article by Dr. Robert McCarthy, Board Certified Chiropractor 916 Evans St., Greenville / 252.758.2222 / www.greenvillehealth.com

There exists an often overlooked and generally unknown connection between your gut and your brain. By gut, we mean your gastrointestinal system, which consists of everything from your mouth all the way to your large intestine. For brevity we will call it the gut.

The vagus nerve is a nerve directly from brain to gut. It tells your gut what the brain wants it to do. As well, the gut sends an enormous amount of information to the brain that affects how your nervous system functions. This article highlights some of the important ramifications of overlooking this connection.

There are many different ways the brain and the gut have direct connections: the vagus nerve, hormones, neurotransmitters, and chemical messengers called cytokines. The vagus nerve connects the brain in your skull to the brain in your gut; the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is a vast network of nerves surrounding every inch of your intestines. The communication is a two-way street. If something is wrong in the brain, something will go wrong in your gut and vice-versa.

Most of us are familiar with the neurotransmitter serotonin. Many of the drugs used to treat depression are serotonin type drugs. The traditional health-

care approach to depression is to give drugs that help increase serotonin levels in your body. What is often overlooked is the fact that 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gut. Thus, if there is a problem in your gut that decreases serotonin production, depression can be the final manifestation. Decreased serotonin production can occur with gut infections, dysbiosis, and leaky gut.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to rid your body of infection, repopulate the gut with probiotics, or repair the leaky gut as opposed to adding drugs? Unfortunately, this is not the norm in health care in the U.S. these days.

Gut infections can have a devastating effect on your brain health. Dysbiosis is a condition when the normal population of bacteria is thrown off kilter. Your gut is populated with trillions of good bacteria. When you get a gut infection the ratio of good to bad bacteria is thrown off. The condition can actually be worsened when powerful antibiotics are used. Yes, they will kill off the bad bacteria in most instances, but they also destroy the good bacteria that we need to have proper digestive health.

Another side effect of gut problems is leaky gut. This is due to eating foods that your body has an immune reaction against. Gluten, dairy and soy are common offenders. These foods tear holes in your intestines allowing large, undigested proteins to pass directly into your blood stream. This is the leading cause of Autoimmune Disease in the industrialized world. Autoimmune reactions cause a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and allow toxic, inflammatory chemicals called cytokines to leak into your brain. This is what causes the major neurodegenerative diseases we see nowadays: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, etc.

Attention Kidney Dialysis Patients The FDA has issued a Class I recall of GranuFlo Dry Acid Concentrate and Naturalyte Liquid Acid Concentrate.

The Blount Law Firm is currently reviewing legal claims on behalf of patients who were administered GranuFlo or Naturalyte during dialysis treatment and suffered stroke, heart attack or death.

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health eye health: eye problems & diabetes Article provided by Dr. Tim Klugh / Eye Care Center, 1100 West 15th Street, Washington, NC / 252.975.8040 or 1.800.738.8040. For more information, visit www.webmd.com.

If you have diabetes, regular visits to your ophthalmologist for eye exams are important to avoid eye problems. High blood sugar (glucose) increases the risk of diabetes eye problems. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults age 20 to 74. If you have eye problems and diabetes, don’t buy a new pair of glasses as soon as you notice blurred vision. It could be a temporary eye problem that develops rapidly with diabetes and is caused by high blood sugar.

High blood sugar in diabetes causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of eye problem, you need to get your blood sugar back into the target range (90-130 milligrams per deciliter or mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal).

It may take as long as three months after your blood sugar is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal.

Blurred vision can also be a symptom of more serious eye problem with diabetes. The three major eye problems that people with diabetes may develop and should be aware of are cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

Cataracts and Diabetes A cataract is a clouding or fogging of the normally clear lens of the eye. The lens is what allows us to see and focus on an image just like a camera. Although anyone can get cataracts, people with diabetes get these problems at an earlier age than most and the condition progresses more rapidly than in non diabetics.

If you have a cataract with diabetes, your eye cannot focus light and your vision is impaired. Symptoms of this eye problem in diabetes include blurred or glared vision. Treatment is usually surgery followed by placement of a lens implant, with glasses or contact lenses as needed to further correct vision.

nations. The duration of diabetes is the single most important risk for developing retinopathy. The longer you have diabetes, the greater your risk. If retinopathy is not found early or is not treated, it can lead to blindness.

People with type 1 diabetes rarely develop retinopathy before puberty. In adults with type 1, it is rare to see retinopathy before five years’ duration of diabetes.

The risks of retinal damage increase with progressive duration of diabetes.

Intensive control of blood sugar levels will reduce your risk. The DCCT, a large study of people with type 1 showed that people with diabetes who achieved tight control of their blood sugars with an insulin pump or multiple daily injections of insulin were 50%-75% less likely to develop retinopathy, nephropathy (kidney disease), or nerve damage (all microvascular complications).

People with type 2 diabetes usually have signs of eye problems when diabetes is diagnosed. In this case, control of blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol with diabetes have an important role in slowing the progression of retinopathy and other eye problems.

The American Diabetes Association recommends those with type 1 have a dilated eye exam by an ophthalmologist/optometrist within three to five years after diagnosis, those with type 2 have a dilated eye exam by an ophthalmologist/optometrist shortly after diagnosis, and annual eye exams for both type 1 and type 2 by an ophthalmologist/optometrist; more frequently if necessary.

To prevent eye problems in diabetes: control blood sugar and control high blood pressure! Contact your doctor if you experience: black spots in your vision, flashes of light, “holes” in your vision or blurred vision.

Glaucoma and Diabetes When fluid inside the eye doesn’t drain properly from a buildup of pressure inside the eye, it results in another eye problem with diabetes — glaucoma. The pressure damages nerves and the vessels in the eye causing changes in vision.

In the most common form of glaucoma, there may be no symptoms of this eye problem at all until the disease is very advanced and there is significant vision loss. In the less common form of this eye problem, symptoms can include headaches, eye aches or pain, blurred vision, watering eyes, halos around lights, and loss of vision. Treatment of this eye problem in diabetes can include special eye drops, laser procedures, medicine, or surgery. You can prevent serious eye problems in diabetes problems by getting an annual glaucoma screening from your eye doctor.

Diabetic Retinopathy The retina is a group of specialized cells that convert light as it enters though the lens into images. The eye nerve or optic nerve transmits visual information to the brain. Diabetic retinopathy is a vascular, blood-vessel related, complications related to diabetes. This diabetes eye problem is due to damage of small vessels and is called a “microvascular complication.” Kidney disease and nerve damage due to diabetes are microvascular complications. Large blood vessel damage, macrovascular, includes complications like heart disease and stroke.

The microvascular complications have, in numerous studies, been shown to be related to high blood sugar levels. You can reduce your risk of these problems in diabetes complications by improving your blood sugar control. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in industrialized

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wellness corporate wellness: wellness plans & obesity Article from John Bates / www.wellnessproposals.com

One of the most prevalent health care issues in the United States is the rising rate of obesity. It is the most common, most expensive and least addressed disease among the workforce today.

Obesity and tobacco use are the source of almost every preventable illness targeted by wellness plans and single-handedly cost employers most of their health care dollars.

Are Wellness Plans Enough to Combat Obesity?

Addressing obesity during health promotion planning is much more complicated than including weight loss incentives in corporate wellness plans.

Obesity is a disease that has extensive roots in the media, at the supermarket, around our technology and is firmly imbedded in our American culture of excess.

We have a host of industries that have a parasitic existence built upon the tragedy of obesity: diet pills, miracle diet plans, special clothing, extra charges for seats on public transit and a plethora of other questionable marketing strategies that focus on heavily overweight people.

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It’s a complex issue that’s maintained at every turn by our entire society.

Can corporate wellness plans appeal to the Food and Beverage industry for corroboration?

How do People Become Obese?

For such a complex problem, obesity has a fundamental simplicity: for every calorie consumed, there should be a corresponding output of energy to burn it. If the solution is as easy as this, why is obesity such a pervasive problem?

Some of the problem lies in the kind of food consumed.

Prepared and packaged foods are a relatively new addition in North American society during the last five decades. Simultaneously, the growth of information technology exploded exponentially. Higher fat and carbohydrate foods combined with the reduced physical activity to produce an average weight gain in North Americans of disproportionate size.

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wellness Wellness Plans and Consumer Options Health promotion planning to reduce obesity should include the consumer food and beverage industry. Wellness plans should ensure that healthier choices that are easily identified and readily available as better choices of vending machine fare and as workplace cafeteria options.

All consumers do not have the knowledge necessary to make good food selections or the motivation to change their current eating habits. A more parochial role initiated by the food and beverage industry and education facilitated by corporate wellness plans should focus on consumer direction and the marketing and sale of health promotion products.

Education and Obesity How many employees know what the difference is between mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated, saturated or trans fats? Does the employee population understand how to read a nutrition label and how to apply that information to their grocery list?

Will an average American by-pass the vending machine full of soda and make a selection from a range of bottled waters and juices?

Would a teenager?

Reducing the prevalence of this disease will take a cross-cultural collective effort of health promotion planning between all levels of North American consumerism and corporate marketing to make obesity an unnecessary part of the American lifestyle.

Can this step be broken down to include low-cost but healthy alternatives if organic food is beyond the allowable portion of the pay check that can be spent on food? Are people willing to switch from their present style of consumption?

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wellness nutrition: “desktop dining” Article by Kathryn Kolasa PhD, RD, LDN Professor Emeritus, Brody School of Medicine

For years my hubby encouraged me to take at least a lunch break, at least a few minutes away from my desk or the classroom. His thought was it would relieve the stress.

More recently, we all have been encouraged to get up and move, if only for a few minutes, in several bouts of activity throughout the day. Lunch time is a good time to do that as well. And now, the food safety experts are suggesting that we should move away from our desks because bacteria that can lead to food borne illness is lurking there. University of Arizona researchers found 100 times more bacteria on the desk than on the typical kitchen table and 400 times more than the average toilet seat.

Stay healthy by washing your hands with warm water and soap both before and after eating. Dashing through the drive thru? Keep hand sanitizer handy in your car. Clean all surfaces — at home or work — before eating on them.

They surmised that the toilet seat is cleaned way more often than desktop, keyboard, or mouse.

Every restaurant restroom we visit, exhorts the staff to wash their hands before returning to work. A recent survey showed only half of Americans always wash their hands before lunch.

Even though most workplaces have a refrigerator for employee use, a surprisingly large number of workers don’t store their perishable items in it.

Reduce your risk of food borne illness and get a bout of activity by using the refrigerator. Don’t leave perishables out for longer than 2 hours. If there isn’t a refrigerator, use an insulated bag and ice pack.

If you use the microwave in the break room and it’s different than your home microwave, take the time to learn about it and make sure you are heating your food to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Harmful bacteria survive in the cold spots left in the food.

Want to learn more? The University of Nebraska developed a fun Application for the iPhone and iPad called “4 Day Throw Away”. If you rather surf the web from your desk top, look at the www.homefoodsafety.org site. If you need additional sick days because of food borne illness you didn’t save any time and money by eating breakfast, lunch or snacks at your desk.

vegetarian life: a vegetarian diet lowers risk of heart disease by 1/3 Article by John Phillip for www.naturalnews.com

Common sense dictates that a diet filed with fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and legumes that eliminate excessive red and processed meats, fried foods and sugary sweets will benefit overall health as it naturally extends lifespan. Many people rely heavily on fast convenience and processed foods that are virtually void of any bioactive nutrients and actually stimulate the storage of body fat and encourage development and progression of most chronic illnesses that shorten our lives.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK have published the result of a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that explains how the risk of hospitalization or death from heart disease is 32 percent lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish. Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in all western societies, taking the lives of more than 700,000 men and women each year in the U.S. alone.

Vegetarian diet lowers blood pressure and improves blood lipid biomarkers to reduce heart disease risk In the largest study of its kind conducted in the UK, scientists compared rates of heart disease between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Lead study author Dr. Francesca Crowe noted, “Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure, and shows the important role of diet in the prevention of heart disease.” Researchers analyzed the diet of nearly 45,000 British and Scottish volunteers enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Thirty-four percent of the participants were vegetarian.

tion. Almost 20,000 participants had their blood pressure recorded, and gave blood samples for cholesterol testing. Participants were tracked for nearly 20 years and researchers identified 1,235 cases of heart disease, which resulted in 169 deaths and 1,066 hospital diagnoses.

The study’s authors concluded, “The results clearly show that the risk of heart disease in vegetarians is about a third lower than in comparable non-vegetarians.” Researchers found that vegetarians had lower blood pressures and cholesterol levels than non-vegetarians, thought to be the main reason behind their reduced risk of heart disease.

The findings reinforce the idea that diet is critical to prevent heart disease.

Nutrition experts recommend five to nine daily servings of fresh, leafy greens and vegetables of all colors to halt chronic illnesses and lower risk from heart disease by one-third.

Sources for this article include: http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2013/130130.html http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/97/3/597 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130130121637.htm

Volunteers completed a lifestyle questionnaire detailing diet and exercise as well as other factors affecting health such as smoking and alcohol consump-

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wellness sports nutrition: how much protein is enough?

Article from www.poehealth.org.

When thinking of protein, the first thing that typically comes to mind is “muscle”. While the nutrient protein plays a key role in building and repairing muscles, you may be surprised to find out how much you need daily to get results.

Protein recommendations vary per individual depending on age, gender and/ or type of athlete. To determine if you are meeting your daily protein needs first identify what type of individual you would be in the chart below and multiply the recommended amounts of protein with your body weight in pounds.

For example, if you are a 150-pound recreational exerciser, you would need about 75 to 105 grams of protein each day: 150 lb X 0.5 g/lb = 75 grams of protein 150 lb X 0.7 g/lb = 105 grams of protein

Groups of individuals who have the highest needs for protein include: • Endurance athletes and individuals participating in intense exercise.

During this type of exercise, about 5 percent of energy being used will come from protein.

• Individuals who are dieting and consuming too few calories. Because of the low number of calories being consumed, protein becomes an energy source instead of being used to build and repair muscles.

• Individuals who are beginning an exercise program. When starting an exercise program extra protein is needed to build muscle.

• Teenage Athletes. For these young athletes, protein is an essential component not only for their growth but also to develop muscles.

In many cases, individuals tend to eat too much or too little protein. Finding the right balance of protein in your diet can improve your performance and help you achieve better results from your exercise routine.

For those individuals looking to build muscle mass, eating too much protein can actually be a barrier to achieving the results they are working toward.

Muscular physiques are not the result of extreme amounts of protein but rather the result of intense training.

Examples of the amounts of protein in various foods are found below: 1 cup of milk has 8 grams of protein 3-ounces of meat has about 21 grams of protein 1 cup of dry beans has about 16 grams of protein 8-ounces of yogurt has about 11 grams of protein 4-ounces of tofu has about 11 grams of protein 1/2 cup nuts have about 6 grams of protein 2-ounces of pasta has about 8 grams of protein 1 egg white has about 3 grams of protein 2 tablespoons of peanut butter have about 9 grams of protein Too much protein and not enough carbohydrates can actually cause individuals to tire more easily and hurt performance. It’s just as important for individuals trying to build muscle mass to consume adequate amounts of carbohydrates, as this nutrient will provide muscles with glycogen. Glycogen fuels muscles allowing them to complete more intense training, which will help these individuals get better results.

On the other side of the spectrum, individuals who consume too little protein tend to trade in protein and consume additional fruits and vegetables. Though fruits and vegetables are a healthy option, this could cause a low consumption of iron (for red blood cells), zinc (for healing), calcium (for bones) and other nutrients for many active individuals and athletes. A continued lack of protein can increase the risk for anemia, frequent illnesses or affect bone strength.

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When you add up the protein from the foods above, you’d be getting about 93 grams of protein. This doesn’t count all the other foods consumed through the day that also add protein such as bread (1 slice provides 2g), rice (1 cup cooked provides 4g), potatoes (1 small potato provides 2g), carrots (1/2 cup cooked provides 2g) and others. You can see it would be easy to get adequate protein.

Plant and animal sources of protein can provide the same benefits this nutrient has to offer, however, eating sources of protein high in fat can be harmful.

Reduce saturated fat intake by choosing lean and extra-lean cuts of meat and trim off extra fat as needed. If you’re sticking to plant sources of protein you will have to eat larger portions because plant protein is less concentrated than animal protein. Protein is a key nutrient not only for overall health, but also enhances your exercise routine when consumed in the appropriate amounts.

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wellness massage: avoid the upper traps trap Article by Rosalie Jacobi Hutchens, BFA, LMBT, NC License #5792 Touch Matters Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork touchmatters1@suddenlink.net / www.touchmattersofgreenville.com / www.hhpofenc.com / 252-717-0012

propriately. Think about it. Do you ever find your shoulders creeping up toward your ears with your sports activities, the tension of city driving, lifting things, computer use, shallow breathing, or simply due to stress? Well, stop that! I really mean it. Stop it now.

The ‘A’ word

One of the favorite areas where many massage therapy clients appreciate receiving massage is the superficial muscles between the lateral edge of the shoulders and the neck, better know as the upper trapezius, or upper traps.

A common complaint is that the upper traps feel tight, sore, or painful.

Now comes a call to you that bodywork therapists make with regularity. It’s the ‘A’ word – AWARENESS. Please become AWARE of what is happening to your neck and shoulders and make a conscious choice to release the tension you discover there. Make a conscious choice to move with less strain and more ease.

Where are they?

Self-massage your upper traps

The upper traps run from the middle of the back of the neck and the middle base of the skull to the outer third of the collarbone and outer edge of the shoulder.

Tight upper traps deserve a massage. Here’s how to give yourself a quick upper traps massage and melt away unnecessary tension.

Try this palpation exercise. Put a soft flat palm against the outer edge of the opposite collarbone, with the fingertips resting lightly on top of the shoulder.

As you slowly lift the shoulder up toward the same-side ear against the downward pressure of your palm, you will feel the upper trap contract under your hand. You will also feel the collarbone (clavicle) lifted upwards by the muscle.

The trap of the upper traps is that they are often used unnecessarily and inap-

1. Again locate the muscle by crossing your arm across the chest and rest your palm gently on top of the opposite shoulder.

2. Beginning at the base of the neck, start slowly and rhythmically kneading the muscle with a deep-enough pressure to achieve a “good hurt.”

3. After 3-5 repetitions in one spot, move an inch or two outward toward the arm and repeat. Keep repeating until you reach the bone at the tip of the shoulder, and you’re done. Mentally compare the shoulder you have massaged with the other shoulder.

4. Relax and enjoy the feeling!

5. Try to take a full breath without lifting the shoulders. Fully exhale. Take another full breath, consciously expanding the ribs. Bring awareness to the shoulder blades sliding down the back, aided by the activation of the lower traps (that’s another article).

6. Repeat the massage on the opposite side using the other hand.

You are encouraged to develop a daily appreciation for your body’s ability to move with freedom, ease, and lack of pain.

If you need help in identifying whole-body postural, tensional, or movement patterns that will yield to positive changes, seek the services of a professional structural integrator.

To help restore a sense of ease in the musculoskeletal system, seek the services of a professional massage therapist. Both of these specialties can assist your goals of having a more efficient and more relaxed body.

“

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.

”

— Tommy LaSorda

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wellness Let simple pleasures motivate you. We know the many benefits of physical activity. However, it can be difficult to continue to work out if you don’t see immediate results. Focus on the small, positive changes that you receive from exercise. You may start feeling and looking better, having more energy, sleeping more restfully, and much more!

Be patient with yourself. A new exercise plan may take a while to become a permanent part of your lifestyle. Keep track of your progress and your accomplishments. If you’ve been away from your routine for a while, add an incentive, such as a massage, to get you going again.

mind + body: secrets of staying motivated & maintaining fitness Article from www.quakeroats.com

Everybody begins an exercise program with the intention of sticking to it faithfully. However, inclement weather conditions, clashes with work or school schedules, or any number of other distractions can quickly make us forget our goal of fitness. What can you do to stay on track? Read on for some simple ways to make an exercise program a permanent part of your lifestyle.

Set aside the time. Unless you make a conscious effort to set aside time for exercise, it can be tough to fit into your schedule. Try to fit 30 minutes or more into your calendar at least a few times a week. But be realistic; don’t try to fit your workout between two meetings or at a time when you’ll likely have to cancel it. It doesn’t matter when you exercise. Just find a time that works for you and do your best to stick to it.

Engage in an activity YOU enjoy. One of the primary reasons people quit exercising is because they don’t enjoy their workout. They’ve either selected an activity that they don’t enjoy or they have simply become bored. Don’t be afraid to change your routine periodically and try new activities. Try a fitness class, ride a bike, go for a swim, take up a sport. There are many options to choose from so don’t let yourself get stuck in a fitness routine that you dread.

Be flexible when you’re not motivated. Everyone makes excuses to avoid exercising. Find reasons to negate the excuse. Remind yourself of the priority to do something good for yourself. Resist ineffective excuses to cancel, and remember it's okay to adjust your activity when you’re feeling tired.

Get a buddy. Get your friends and family to join you in your exercise routine.

Not only will they provide companionship and even a pleasant distraction while you exercise, they will also be a great motivator on days when you are tempted to skip your exercise routine.

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fitness personal training: professional fitness trainers are a perfect source of motivation!

Article by Roy Hopkins, Owner/Professional Trainer, Pro Fitness 24 and Tanning of Greenville, NC www.profitness24-7.com / 252.353.7324

It’s the easiest thing in the world to find a good reason not to go to the gym or go for a run, even when your shape and weight clearly say that you need to be doing regular exercise. One of the best ways to get and crucially stay, motivated is to work with a professional personal trainer with experience and holds a B.S. degree in fitness or exercise & sports science.

No longer the preserve of Hollywood stars; professional personal trainers are very much an established part of the fitness industry and the key to success for many clients.

Whether it’s a post Christmas tummy, a pre summer holiday tone up or just a general need to get fit and healthy, motivation is one of the most important factors in starting and maintaining a successful fitness regime.

Exercise is no different from any other discipline, one-to-one tuition is nearly always going to be the best way to help you achieve the best results.

Sometimes the obvious physical need to shed some pounds and improve fitness levels just isn’t enough on its own to provide the incentive to head to the gym or out for a run two or three times a week. Alternatively you may

have got stuck in a bit of a rut and stopped making any real progress towards your goals. Working with a professional personal trainer can help in lots of different ways.

Firstly, using their expertise your professional personal trainer can work with you to create a fitness program that tackles all the issues you want to sort out and set you clear and realistic goals for achieving them.

Whether it’s a program at the gym, or running round the park, your trainer is with you every step of the way to provide you with the encouragement to ensure you complete the sessions. If you feel like stepping off the cross trainer a bit too soon, or finishing your run early, then having someone to encourage you to keep going is likely to mean the difference between giving up and continuing to the end.

Working with a personal trainer means you are in good hands as they will be able to ensure you are working with equipment effectively and safely, or using the correct technique for your running and floor-based exercises and stretches. They will also be able to judge when it’s right to push you onto the next level therefore helping you to increase your strength, stamina and fitness, while toning up and losing body fat. They will also keep your program interesting so you don’t get bored with the same activities.

Of course it isn’t just about cardiovascular exercise, diet is important too and your professional trainer can advise on the best foods to eat to give you an the best approach possible. The nutrition piece to the puzzle is the biggest.

Another good motivating factor is money. Putting it bluntly, if you know you’ve booked and paid for a professional personal trainer it can make all the difference between deciding to stay at home or getting your trainers on and getting active. No one likes to waste his or her hard-earned cash, so paying in advance for a course of sessions can be a real incentive to turning up for every meeting and ensuring you stay on track and maintain your health and fitness or weight loss program.

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fitness cycling: 9 tips for beginner cyclists Article by Steven Pease / www.examiner.com

There are millions of Americans who ride bikes and those numbers are increasing all the time. With more and more riders on the trails and roads, these tips for beginner cyclists will help you ride better and safer.

1. Protect your head. Head injuries are the cause of 60 percent of all cycling deaths in the U. S. every year. Many of these deaths could be avoided if everyone wore a helmet while cycling. Always wear a helmet when riding and make sure your kids do as well. Many states have bike helmet laws, but you should always wear one even if you don't have too.

2. Don’t pedal in high gear for extended periods of time. You want to try and keep your cadence between 70 and 90 rpm’s. When you pedal in a high gear it puts added strain on you knees.

3. Use your gears. When climbing hills shift into a gear that will keep your cadence in the right range of rpm’s so you can make it up the hill without putting undue stress on your knees.

4. Get a proper bike fit. Have your bike set to fit your body. It’ll make riding easier, more efficient and cause you less pain and soreness during and after rides.

5. Get the right saddle. Getting the right saddle will make a huge difference when riding. Don’t think the thickest padding will give you the most comfortable ride. A longer seat with a cutout will generally be the best type of saddle. Read reviews online and find out what others like, then test ride a few.

6. Change position while riding. Move your hands around on the bars, and move your rear end around on the saddle. This will keep your hands, arms and rear from getting numb due to prolonged time in a given position.

running: 5 bad habits & 5 fixes Article by Marty Munson / www.active.com

Bad running habits — that you don’t even realize — can cost a lot of energy and keep you from running faster. Ignoring them is like driving down the highway with a tarp a top of your car with a loose corner. This resistance can cause fuel economy to dip, as well as energy and enthusiasm for the trip.

Runners move parts that don’t need to move and compromise their ability to speed up and stay fresh. Here are common bad habits and how to fix them:

8. Know the rules. Ride with traffic and obey all road signs. Closely watch all cars in front of you so you can try to anticipate what they are going to do.

1. Swinging your hands across your body. When you run, all movement should be forward or back. Any other motion saps energy. Crossing hands over the midline of your body is a big one. It forces your upper body to work harder, and makes you cross your legs over each other. “If there’s a white line on the road and you’re hitting it with every step, then you’re spinning your body more,” says New York City Nike marathon training coach Terence Gerchberg.

Be aware of where your arms are. Keep elbows moving front to back and hands will follow. “Relax your arms and keep your elbows at a 90-degree angle. When arms are a little lower, it’s harder for them to cross,” he says.

9. Keep your head up. Look out in front far enough ahead so you can react to any obstacles in the road or on the shoulder in front of you. Things like storm drain grates are very bad for skinny road bike tires.

2. Looking at your feet. “When you look down, you’re cutting off valuable oxygen.” Plus, he says, “If you’re looking where you are, you’ve given up. There’s nothing to see at your feet.” Look at least a few feet ahead of you.

Follow these tips for a better, safer and more enjoyable time on your bike.

3. Squeezing your fists. The pressure that you put on your hands translates into your forearms and shoulders, he says. “That energy starts to travel to every part of your body. If you’re not relaxed in your arms and hands, you’ll inevitably feel it in your legs,” Gerchberg says. When you feel yourself tightening, let your arms fall down to your sides, relax your shoulders, and shake out your hands.

7. Don’t ride with headphones on. It can be extremely dangerous if you don’t hear an emergency vehicle or other commotions behind you or off to the side.

If you need music, get a clip-on radio you can attach to your jersey.

4. Trying to get faster every day. To get strong and fast, your body needs workouts and rest. Rest helps repair muscle tissue, making you stronger over time.

To get faster, either build in rest days and/or go easy on your easy days.

5. Bouncing up and down.Going up doesn’t help you move forward. You need to move horizontally across the ground. “Think about propelling yourself forward, not up,” Gerchberg says. It may require a slight bend in the ankle. “Sometimes when you tell people to lean forward from the ankle, they want to lean from the waist,” he says. Form better running habits by keeping the action in your feet, and let that lead you to speed you never knew you had.

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fitness yoga: what is yoga?

Article by Suzanne McCartney and Jess Reedy of Purple Blossom Yoga Studio 505 S. Evans Street, Greenville / 252.364.2917 / www.purpleblossomyogastudio.com

The word yoga in Sanskrit is yuj which means to yoke or bind, or to bring into union or the method of discipline. This language of India’s ancient texts has given us the how and why of yoga as a guide called the Yoga Sutra. The Sutra serves as a philosophical guide book for the yoga that is practiced today and outlines the eight limbs of yoga of which the physical practice is only one.

Yoga has been translated and interpreted in many ways and yet each translation speaks to the idea of uniting mind and body.

The discipline of yoga has been practiced for several centuries as a system of psychological and physical exercises. These postures, or asanas, were designed to open and strengthen and allow for the channels of energy to flow thru and balance the body. Ancient yoga practitioners used the system of yoga to prepare for long periods of sitting and to seek greater health, mental awareness, and balance. Today we practice mostly in the physical sense of asana or yoga postures.

Yoga is a non-competitive form of exercise and meditation. Hatha Yoga, the set of physical exercises or sequence of postures that the practice of yoga is meant to unite the mind and body. In Sanskrit Hatha means forceful. It’s also translated as sun and moon. This is about the balance of the masculine aspects of yoga as in the active, hot, sun, and feminine aspects as in the receptive, cool, moon within all of us. It’s a path toward creating balance and uniting opposites.

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Turning to yoga simply for its physical benefits is a great place to start your practice but its only half or part of the whole experience. You’re missing out on the fullness of what yoga can offer in its entirety if you see yoga only for its physicality. Yoga is about much more than stretching. In yoga we learn to turn our attention inward to the self. This is most often achieved by placing focus on your breath. Breathing is the most powerful tool to calm and relax our bodies.

There are many different styles of yoga, all with roots in Hatha Yoga. Other styles like bikram, yin, ashtanga, vinyasa, and many more are available to us, to suite our individual needs and desires. There is room for everyone in yoga.

Take the time to explore and find the right style of yoga for you. Remember... yoga is more about the journey than the destination!

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fitness personal training: beyond the sit-up Article by Scott Woolard, NSCA and C.S.C.S. Certified Trainer Fitness Connection, Greenville, NC / 252.756.9175

I always love watching late night infomercials selling various workout equipment, especially ab workouts. Inevitably there will be someone lying on the floor doing “boring ol’ sit-ups” with a horrific look on their face, and honestly I can’t blame them. I’m not knocking the sit-up so don’t strike it from your regimen just yet, but understand that crunching is not the only function of the core; as the great orator Paul Harvey would say, “Now for the rest of the story...”

Aside from looking good on the beach, our core group is one of the most fundamental units in the body. The abdominal wall provides us a rigid structure by maintaining proper pressure in the thoracic and abdominal cavity. This creates a safe environment for our spine and organs throughout our daily movements.

Equally impressive is the core’s responsibility in resisting rotational force (twisting) applied to the body, which allows our shoulder and hip to rotate together. The entire abdominal group helps facilitate these movements, keeping the spinal column, and more specifically the lumbar spine, happy and healthy.

I like to use a few unconventional exercises to show clients the importance of training the various responsibilities of the core.

The first, and my personal favorite, is the Pallof press. This exercise is named after physical therapist and creator John Pallof; it is also known as the cable core press. The idea and execution of the movement is simple. Use a band or shoulder high cable system to apply lateral force (an outward force) to the body, asking the core to keep the shoulders and hips facing forward, effectively resisting the natural urge to rotate. The only movement involved is extending your hands straight out in front of your chest while pushing the cable or band away from you. In moving a little you achieve a lot.

great recipe for shredding your abs without wrecking your spine. Make sure that the arm performing the work and the knee that is on the ground, what we refer to as the support leg, are on the same side of the body. If the right arm is pressing, the right knee should be on the ground.

Experimenting with these variations will add a whole new dimension to your abdominal workouts and encourage you to effectively move beyond the sit-up.

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The second movement is more of a position, but it calls great attention to the structural importance of the core. The half kneeling position, more commonly known as the "proposal" position, is a way to remove the structural support of the legs, making core stabilization the focus. Add any single-arm press or pull variation, whether straight out in front or overhead, and you have a

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fitness kids fitness: running & kids Article from Claudia Piepenburg / Road Runner Sports Run Today Newsletter

Kids love to run. That’s what they do. Watch a group of kids on a playground or in a park. They’re seldom sitting still. When kids aren’t sitting in front of the TV or a computer screen, they’re in motion. Babies want to learn to crawl and once they’ve discovered crawling they want to walk. Then they become toddlers and they want to run.

Kids should run. It’s natural, fun and beats the alternative...those often useless hours spent watching the tube and playing computer games. That said, it’s important for parents to realize the importance of not pushing their children into competitive running before they’re ready, either physically or mentally.

Keep it Fun! Because kids naturally love to run, it often looks like they’re running a lot more than they really are. The average adult would probably get tired following a six-year-old during a typical day. Running up the stairs. Running down the stairs. Chasing after the family dog. Playing with a ball. Running to mom or dad for a big kiss when they come in the front door after they've been away.

It seems like they’re running seven hours out of eight. But running across the back yard to pick on the family poodle and running up the stairs to wake a sleeping sibling isn’t the same thing as racing a 5K or a mile. Kids, especially youngsters under the age of six, should run for two reasons: Running is the easiest and quickest way to get around, and they’re playing games.

The joy, freedom and sheer fun of running are unique to youth. Youngsters always enjoy running, it’s an everyday activity, natural as eating or even breathing. Adults usually lose that sense of fun and spontaneity somewhere along the way. There are moments: great runs that make you feel alive and one with the whole world, but hammering out a 20-mile training run on a Saturday morning after a tough work week often doesn’t fit that description! Your child’s future may hold many long, tough runs. But their young years should be filled with running strictly “for the fun of it.”

Fun Runs and Other Games Kids 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and one mile fun runs are a terrific way to introduce your child to organized, but non-competitive running. Kids runs have become a ubiquitous ancillary event at most road races during the past decade or so.

Here are tips to make the experience fun and rewarding for you and your child.

• Remember...spontaneity is key. Kids don’t plan days and weeks ahead.

• If your child is under the age of five, you’ll probably want to run with them.

Many race directors encourage parents to accompany younger children.

• Celebrate the fun of the day. Pack a picnic lunch and share it as a family once you’ve finished running your race. Take photographs, not just of your child finishing the fun run but during the entire day. Bring a Frisbee to toss around.

• If your child is three or under, remember they don’t have long attention spans, and they’ll probably begin to tire after a few hours of activity. Be aware and take them home before they start getting cranky!

• If your kids are under the age of six, try playing running games with them on occasion. Unlike soccer, or other field games that involve a ball or other type of sports equipment, the purpose of these games is simply to run and have fun. Try these games with your child: 1. Catch Dad (or Mom) — Let your child chase you for short distances (no more than 200 feet). Listen for the sound of them coming up behind you and slow down so they can catch you.

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2. Tag Me! — Run for a short distance, let your child catch you and tag you.

Once your child tags you, he or she starts running and you try to catch them to tag them. You tag them, then they try to catch and tag you again.

3. What Animal Am I? — Run and have your child guess what animal you are. If you’re pretending to be an elephant, swing your arms down in front of you like you have a trunk. If you’re pretending to be a lion, roar! Then have your child run and guess what animal they’re pretending to be.

Getting Competitive Eventually your child will want to run a race. Particularly if you or your spouse races, they’ll want to emulate mom or dad. Most races start breaking down age groups with the 14 & under category. A few begin age group categories with 12 & under. Most marathons don’t allow anyone under 16 to compete. Although a child of seven or eight could compete in the 12 & under category, some physicians believe that it’s best not to encourage competitive racing until a child is at least ten or older.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much research done on the subject of children competing. Medical professionals and coaches often base their opinions on anecdotal “evidence”. Mary Decker (nee Slaney) may have been an anomaly.

On the other hand, so were a family of talented young runners from Southern California named Garritson. For a few years during the mid-80’s the amazing youngsters ranging in age from six to their early teens raced nearly every weekend on the West Coast. They set incredible age group records; several are still standing. Many people in the running world thought the kids might go on to collegiate and possibly Olympic success. Sadly, they seem to have disappeared.

If Decker hadn’t started training hard and racing as a youngster, would she have gone on to become one of this country’s most successful middle-distance runners? No one can know for sure. There’s a good chance that her exceptional determination coupled with her enormous talent, set the stage at an early age for her future achievements. And if the youngest Garritson children had put off racing until they were older, would they still be competing and breaking records in the 21st century? Again, we’ll never know. Everyone is different. All kids are different. What works well for one may cause problems for another.

As a parent of a child who wants to race you should focus on: • Avoiding the little-league parent syndrome. Many communities around the country are asking parents to sign a form stating that they’ll control their behavior at little-league games or run the risk of being tossed out.

• Don’t try to live out your athletic ambitions through your child. Set a good example. You’re the best role model for your child. They want to emulate you. Keep that in mind when you’re setting up your own racing schedule.

Do you really think it’s a good idea to run a 10K on 10 miles a week? Don’t give your child the impression that it is. “Do as I say, not as I do” isn’t always the best way to teach your child life’s lessons. Sensible training and racing applies!

• Define the differences between competition, winning and fitness. Competition doesn’t have to mean competing only to win. In a race there’s only going to be one winner. Don’t pressure your child. Teach them the joy of competing for the pleasure of doing the very best you can on that day. Don’t discourage your child if he or she clearly is going to be at or near the back of the pack. Running is terrific exercise. Running will make them feel better.

Kids develop strong bones, and strong, healthy cardiovascular systems when they run. Teach them that running is not only fun, it’s good for them too!

Of course, children often don’ want to do what’s good for them. But if you’ve avoided putting pressure on them to compete and win they’ll enjoy running so much that they won’t care if it’s good for them!

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fitness pulling together for pitt county babies march for babies 5.18.13 Imagine having a baby that weighs only a pound and a half; weighing less than that of a bottle of water and measuring smaller than a 12 inch ruler. You don’t know if your child will survive, and you don’t know why this has happened.

Instead of a beautiful bassinet at home, your baby lies in an isolette in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit month after month with wires and monitors surrounding his or her tiny little body.

Imagine having visiting hours to see your baby and being told when you can hold your very own child. For one out of eight families in the U.S., this is their reality.

March of Dimes is working towards a day when all babies are born healthy.

North Carolina has one of the highest rates of preterm birth in the country, ranking 41st. Each year over 16,000 babies are born too soon, too small or too sick in our state — the equivalent of over 1,046 kindergarten classrooms.

Won’t you join us in supporting March of Dimes?

March for Babies, the nation’s premier walking event, is held in more than 900 communities in the U.S. Over 7 million people get involved each year. The Pitt County March for Babies will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at the Town Commons in uptown Greenville. The event provides food, fun

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and entertainment for the entire family. The chair for this year’s March for Babies is Rob Peterson of The Oakwood School.

Registration will start at 9:00 a.m., and the walk will begin at 10:00 a.m.

To pre-register, call Emily Jarvis at 252-531-7203 or register online at: www.marchforbabies.org.

March of Dimes is the leading organization for pregnancy and baby health.

Its chapters nationwide work to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Learn more at www.marchofdimes.com or www.nacersano.org.

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fitness april-june 2013 event calendar Runs, Walks, Races, Events, etc.

Apr 6

Run Like a Kid 10K/5k

Morehead City, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 6

Running for the Rock 5K

Beulaville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 6

Pirate Nurse 5K

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 12-13 PirateFest 2013

Greenville, NC

Info: piratefestnc.com

Apr 13

Goldsboro 10K/5K/1M

Goldsboro, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 14

PCC Bulldog Run

Winterville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 20

Pirate Alumni 5K/1m Fun Run

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: ecrr.us

Apr 20

Flanders Wellness Works 5K

Washington, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 21

Fiesta Biathlon

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 27

Walk MS 2013

Greenville, NC

walkMScarolinas.org 1-800-344-4867

Apr 27

Lookout Rotary Road Race

Morehead City, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 27

Ocracoke Island 10K/5K/Fun Run Ocracoke, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 27

Cuke Patch 5K

Mount Olive, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Apr 28

RailTrail Run for CareNet

Erwin, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

May 4

Run the Yellow Brick Road

New Bern, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

May 4

Race for the River Kayakalon

Washington, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

May 11

Greenville Rec Run

Winterville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

May 18

March of Dimes March for Babies Greenville, NC

marchforbabies.org 252-531-7203

May 19

Cupcake 5K

Kill Devil Hills, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

June 1

Wildnerness Challenge Triathlon

Erwin, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

June 1

5K Whirli-Run

Wilson, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

June 1

5K Race for Second Base

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

June 8

Skedaddle for the Small Fries

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

Greenville, NC

Info/Register: runtheeast.com

June 22 Flat Out 5K & 1 Mile

_______________________________________________________ Visit these sites for more information on these and other events: active.com, ecrr.us, runtheeast.com, runnc.com, and ncroadrunners.org. To submit calendar events, email: Kathryn@ImpressionsGroupLLC.com. Deadline for the next issue is June 1, 2013.

The next issue will feature July-September events.

page 20

www.achieve-magazine.com • www.facebook.com/achievemagazine

achieve magazine

Walk MS is about connecting people living with MS and those who care about them. It is a day we come together to show the power of our connections. The Greater Carolinas Chapter hosts 13 walks across North and South Carolina.

Each walk site provides a fun and safe environment for everyone to come together and walk to create a world free of MS. Routes at all walk sites are 100% accessible and route lengths vary from 1-5 miles. Music and entertainment is provided at each site, as well as food and beverages.

Participating in Walk MS is more fun when you are part of a team.

Ask others to join you and enjoy walking together. Share the experience of connecting with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors or anyone that wants to end MS forever. Team Village is a place where you and your team can celebrate on Walk day. Bring a tent, a cooler, games, drinks, food and fun! It's the perfect location to hang out and celebrate with your teammates both before and after walking.

At your Walk MS site, the National MS Society will designate a location just for teams. We encourage teams to bring pop-up tents, tables, and outdoor chairs to enjoy the day's festivities. Teams can

bring snacks and drinks, decorations, banners and much more to make the experience memorable.

The success of Walk MS is directly related to the wonderful volunteers who help make the event a great experience. We welcome volunteers with a wide range of skills, talents, abilities and interests. Families, corporate groups, and individuals are welcome to participate. Your donation of time is greatly appreciated and needed to create successful events. From pre-event planning to day-of implementation, it takes hundreds of volunteers to make Walk MS successful. The only requirement we have of you is a sincere desire to help us end MS forever.

It's easy to get started. Find a Walk near you, register, and start fundraising today. Because the money we raise at Walk MS speeds new treatments for people with MS, ensures financial support for people dealing with the havoc MS causes and supports local programs. There are more than 14,400 people living with MS in the Carolinas, so the money you raise helps YOUR neighbor, YOUR friend, YOUR loved one.

Visit www.walkMScarolinas.org or call 1-800-FIGHT MS to learn more.