209 healthy living march 2015

SPRING 2015

CROSS

FIT IT’S NOT YOUR FATHER’S HIGH SCHOOL P.E. CLASS

YOUNG At Heart 32 FREE

senior exercise classes in Stanislaus County

ASK THE

COACH

HEALTH & WELLNESS MENTORS GROW IN POPULARITY, EFFECTIVENESS

SELF Y H T L A CTOR E O H D & F L E S PATIENT, YOUR H IT W E U IALOG D T S E N O TIME FOR H

CONTENTS

Spring 2015 Manteca Bulletin Ripon Bulletin • Escalon Times Oakdale Leader • Riverbank News Turlock Journal • Ceres Courier

PUBLISHER Hank Vander Veen

ADVERTISING DIREC TOR Chuck Higgs • 209.249.3505

FITNESS

5

Pumping up PE

20

Regaining her life

22

Overweight gym rat

DISTRIBUTION Drew Savage • 209.249.3525

HEALTH

EDITORS Dennis Wyatt Kristina Hacker

8

Ask your ‘coach’

9

Central Valley Wellness Expo

12

Treating the spine

13

Eat the rainbow

14

Taxing health

15

Dealing with restless legs

16

Patient, heal thy self

18

Healthy business

19

The speed of sight

Jeff Benziger Marg Jackson

ADVERTISING

In Ceres call 209.537.5032

In Oakdale call 209.847.3021

In Escalon call 209.847.3021

In Riverbank call 209.847.3021

In Turlock call 209.634.9141

In Modesto call 209.634.9141

In Manteca call 209.249.3500

In Ripon call 209.249.3500

In Lathrop call 209.249.3500

In Tracy call 209.249.3500

In Stockton call 209.249.3500

209 Healthy Living is published 6 times a year Comments: dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com ©Copyright 2014. 209 Healthy Living All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher of 209 Healthy Living is strictly prohibited. The opinions expressed in 209 Healthy Living are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of 209 Healthy Living managament or owner. 209 Healthy Living assumes no responsibility and makes no recommendation for claims made by advertisers and shall not be liable for any damages incurred.

SENIORS

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Young at Heart

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FITNESS

HIME ROMERO/209 Healthy Living

TOP PHOTO: Edgar Villanueva is encouraged by classmates in Sierra’s CrossFit style physical education class. BOTTOM PHOTO: Students listen to Sierra High physical education teacher Richard Boyd before starting their workout.

Pumping Up PE

CrossFit program appeals to high school students across the board

By JAMES BURNS 20 9 Health y Liv ing

C

lass was all but over, but a circle gathered and grew in the far corner of the weight room, swelling in size and intensity.

“One more!” they cried.

There, Sierra High junior Edgar Villanueva grimaced and strained and willed his way through his final reps; each movement boosted by a chorus of cheers.

The Bear Complex is just that – a grizzly test of strength and stamina. The

workout of the day, or WOD, called for five rounds of seven cycles of five different lifts: power clean, front squat, push press, back squat followed by another push press.

Villanueva’s body yearned for the comfort of the locker room, but not before he answered the call.

Just one more.

“The kids love this,” said Nick Hobby, the patriarch of Sierra’s near-7-year-old CrossFit program. “The kids that sign up for this continued on Page 6

SPRING 2015

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FITNESS CrossFit continued from Page 5

class work extremely hard. In the old days, kids signed up for body conditioning to hang out on the bench. It’s completely changed.”

••• CrossFit: Embracing the movement Around the world, and in virtually every Central Valley community, CrossFit is re-defining what “fitness” means.

It has shaken the establishment, luring more and more people away from their traditional gyms to the box with a buzz.

More than 7,000 affiliate gyms have opened since its founding in 2000, according to Google analytics, making CrossFit the fastest-growing gym in the world.

Faster than Gold’s Gym. Faster than 24 Hour Fitness.

In our schools, though, the culture has been slow to take hold. Except at Sierra, where

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HIME ROMERO/209 Healthy Living

Chabryel Fay, front, works out during the CrossFit style PE class.

two CrossFit owners have revolutionized the PE Department and inspired thousands of teens.

Richard Boyd is the owner of CrossFit Alpha Omega in Ripon and the department chair

at Sierra.

Hobby is a teacher under his watch and the man credited with introducing CrossFit to Sierra and the City of Manteca.

Hobby is part owner of CrossFit

Excel, home to National Pro Grid League athlete and CrossFit Games competitor Buddy Hitchcock.

Along with teacher Julie Cannon, Sierra has become a torchbearing school in the Central Valley’s CrossFit community.

Modeled after programs in Sacramento, Sierra is the only campus in the Manteca Unified School District with three CrossFit Level 1 certified instructors.

“Our ultimate goal is to instill a lifelong love of fitness in these kids,” Boyd said. “Kids today spend so much time sitting in front of a computer or staring at a phone or playing video games.

It’s good to get them up and exercising and moving.”

••• Extreme Makeover.

Crossing over to CrossFit In 2007, Sierra High made the bold decision to transform its PE Department, infusing its body conditioning and body tone classes with an innovative form of exercise and lifestyle prin-

FITNESS CrossFit continued from Page 6

ciples many dubbed “crazy.”

What began with a curious peek at the CrossFit website and a few experimental after-school workouts quickly snowballed.

“It was completely different than anything I’d ever done,” said Hobby, who began with burpees and thrusters, two fundamental movements. “It left me a complete mess. I started experimenting by myself, but gradually more and more students would join me.”

Before long, members of Sierra High’s PE Department and administration and football staffs were taking exploratory trips to Sacramento-area high schools to see CrossFit in the classroom.

Boyd said they were blown away by their discovery.

At Del Campo High, they watched three separate body conditioning classes – approximately 150 students in all – complete a WOD simultaneously, sharing the same space and equipment.

No one was waiting on a machine, lingering between sets or distracted by the marvels of modern technology.

“It was like, ‘Wow, this is what our classes need to look like. This is what PE should like,’” Boyd said.

Soon, it would.

Thanks to a $20,000 state grant, Sierra made the twofooted, no-turning-back leap into the CrossFit culture. The school gutted its weight room, removing all the traditional machines and other apparatuses in lieu of six double-sided racks, kettle bells, bars, boxes and weights.

“We believe the human body is the machine,” Boyd said, “so we emptied the weight room.”

Change was met with some skepticism, though.

While the athletes and advanced students welcomed the challenge, the non-athlete stepped cautiously into this new-look playground.

“It’s interesting, as this has grown and progressed, a lot

HIME ROMERO/209 Healthy Living

Sierra High senior JoJo Macias demonstrates proper technique.

of our kids, the ones that you think wouldn’t be excited about weight-training, have been our kids that have excelled the most,” Boyd said.

CrossFit has leveled the playing field, putting the Book Worm and Jock on the same plane in an arena where only the muscle-bound and athletic once excelled.

Weight aside, the Book Worm and Jock rifle through the same number of reps, completing the same prescribed workouts.

They share in the agony, the sweat and the triumph.

“The human body is the human body; it moves the same,” Boyd said. “We can have a varsity football player working out next to a kid holding a PVC pipe, and the neat thing about this model is that all our kids are able to excel and do well.”

The hook: No two WODs are ever the same. The workouts change, keeping the body in a state of flux and the curriculum fresh.

It also helps to have a teaching staff that “practices what they preach,” Boyd said. It’s not uncommon to find Boyd, Hobby and Cannon in the weight room

after school completing the very same WOD they administered to their students just hours earlier.

“For me, personally, I was getting bored with PE back before we started doing this,” Boyd said. “This has really rejuvenated it for me. The kids will see each other in the locker room between classes and ask, ‘What’s the WOD today?’ A lot of times they won’t tell them.

‘You have to wait.’ It’s neat to see that kind of excitement.”

••• Fittest on Campus On a campus that loves its basketball, football and soccer, CrossFit has become a bona fide player in the athletic realm.

This spring Sierra will host its second annual “Fittest on Campus” competition, in which participants take part in a series of workouts deemed “life’s skills.” The inaugural event featured swimming, running and lifting.

“Train for the unknown and unknowable,” the press release read. “Anything from throwing a baseball to lifting weights, to gymnastics, even swimming is fair game.”

The top-three boys and girls are awarded prizes.

While “Fittest on Campus” is a crown bestowed once a year, informal competitions take place every day in the weight room.

For years, a boys’ leaderboard hung on the wall, touting the department’s record-setters.

In November, the girls decided they wanted a board of their own – and said as much to Boyd, who was teaching a body tone class at the time.

“The girls kept giving me a hard time,” he said. “We’ve put one up and now they’ve got their names up there.”

What’s more, five girls – Annisity Miller, Priscilla Ramirez, Chabryel Fay, Tayler Moss and Jen Chavez – have transferred into a predominantly all-boys body conditioning class.

“They like the challenge and I feel like they get pushed a little more,” Boyd said. “... It’s been neat to see the progression of the girls.”

To contact Managing Editor James Burns email jburns@ mantecabullet.com. Follow him on Twitter at jburns1980.

SPRING 2015

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HEALTH

ASK THE COACH

She serves as health & wellness mentor

By V I N C E REM BULAT 2 0 9 Health y L i vi ng

A

li Britschgi is a health and wellness coach.

By that, she serves as an advocate and ally for her clients.

“Since wellness involves many lifestyle factors, a health and wellness coach is a professional who stands with the client as he or she commits to making significant lifestyle changes,” Britschgi explained.

It’s all about the big picture. She has served in the role of coach since 2009.

“We create our health through our choices,” said Britschgi, who provided the training and education to help folks make better decisions whether it’s working one-on-one with clients or developing a customized wellness program for companies and other large groups.

She teaches lifelong lessons.

“There are no short-term goals here but a change in lifestyle,” said Britschgi, who developed nutrition and cooking classes at Joe Serna Charter School in Lodi a few years ago.

“When it’s a lifestyle, you’re doing something that you not only look forward to doing but it’s also good for you.”

She actually practices what she preaches, having once been in the same shoes as many of her clients.

Ali – short for Alejandrina – came to grips with herself in 2008. She was overweight by 50 pounds with high blood pressure and facing diabetes, believing the weight issues were hereditary since her mother and sisters had the same problems.

Britschgi initially focused on weight loss, reading books and trying every diet out there but to no avail.

“I knew I needed more guidance and structure,” she said.

That was enough for her to join a wellknown weight loss program and start counting calories. She also attended weekly weigh-in meetings and joined a gym, exercising three times a week.

Still, Britschgi saw little changes to her weight and experienced knee and leg pain from the extra weight. She was nearly discouraged before coming across a nutrition program.

And then it clicked.

“The key was eating the right foods six times a day with only a little bit of measuring and no counting,” she said.

Britschgi not only researched the program but got her mom involved with it not long after.

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Photo contributed

Health and wellness coach Ali Britschgi was once 50 pounds heavier with some health issues before turning her life around in 2008.

“She wasn’t diabetic but had health issues related to being overweight,” said Britschgi, who is bilingual having come from Puerto Rico.

The latter is important since she’s able to adapt the coaching and education methods to accommodate the unique physical, psychosocial, cultural or age-specific needs to each individual in English or Spanish.

Her mother, through hard work and dedication, is enjoying a better quality of life.

Helping her mother gave Britschgi the motivation to become a certified coach. She earned her Health Coach Certification from the MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education at Villanova University’s Health Institute and Wellness Council of America Wellness Certification at Well Workplace University in Omaha.

Her role is important given the statistics.

Unhealthy lifestyles from smoking, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption often lead to chronic disease, accounting for 800,000 deaths annually.

About 108 million people in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, hyperextension, or osteoarthritis.

Chronic diseases related to poor lifestyle

account for 70 percent of the nation’s medical costs.

People usually take that first step towards a better quality of life when they place that initial call to her.

“What are your goals?” is what Britschgi will usually ask.

For some, it’s the otherwise simple things in life such as playing with their children.

“They want better energy in their day,” Britschgi said. “Maybe they want off of prescription drugs? Wear a nice dress? Accomplish more at work or with the family?”

Whatever the goals, she can provide the techniques to form the steps towards getting there.

Part of the process is finding the crux of the problem.

“People eat for different reasons – for some, it’s emotional (eating) while others it’s rational,” said Britschgi, who can build a strategy involving action rather than a to-do list.

Incorporating action, she believes, could better serve her clients towards a change in their lifestyle. A to-do list, on the other hand, is often a one-and-done short-term solution.

The same process she teaches her clients is what she still uses on herself. Included are reading labels and journaling, inputting everything from exercising to the types of foods consumed that day.

“What you put into your body is like a bank account – you want to know what exactly is in there so you can avoid those extra charges,” said Britschgi.

Reading labels mean knowing the contents of what’s in the food choices. For Britschgi, she looks at the nutritional facts as well as the serving size and calories, in particular, calories from fat. “Sugar turns into fat,” she said.

In addition, she offers healthier options in preparing foods along with alternative choices.

Take potatoes, for example. The red or sweet variety make for better choices, according to Britschgi, who just moved into her new place of business at 104 N. School St. suite 124 in downtown Lodi.

Her goal is to create new healthy habits.

“The key is repetition,” she said. “We act, we review, and we correct.”

Britschgi likens the role of a health coach to that of a navigation system along the road to wellness.

“Like a GPS, we can help them reach their destination in a fast and safe way,” she said.

“As usual, obstacles will be present.”

For more information, call 209.642.7084 or log on to www.alibritschgi.com.

HEALTH

March 13

CENTRAL VALLEY WELLNESS EXPO

T

he 2015 Central Valley Wellness Expo is a focused and relevant symposium of wellness-related experts and seminars taking place Friday, March 13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Coaches and products are being brought to one convenient location helping you begin the lifestyle transformation to wellness, mindfulness, ayurvedic, anti-aging, detoxing and nutrition. It takes place at the Crossroads Community Church, 1505 Moffat Boulevard, Manteca, that is visible along Highway 99 and accessed via the Austin Road exit.

Tickets cost $30 and includes lunch and entrance into raffle.

To register go to www.centralvalleywellnessexpo.com/registration.html The website is www.centralvalleywellnessexpo.com Sessions & speakers “Environmental Hazards in the Central Valley” Dr. Corazon Ibarra, International Medical Director, Physician Bio Integrative Health Center International Join ofeatured keynote speaker, Dr. Corazon Ibarra, as she explores some of the environmental hazards specific to our Central Valley community. Ibarra has a large patient base in this area,

serving many who experience our unique environment and the challenges that come with living here. She is the medical director and physician of Bio Integrative Health Center International. With 40 years of professional experience, she is a specialist in the field of homeopathic medicine, and she considers her patients’ positive experience with natural medicine to be the highlight of her career.

••• If It’s Not Food, Don’t Eat It! Understanding the #1 Guideline to Eating for Health Kelly Hayford, C.N.C., Nutrition & Health Coach Vegan, Paleo, raw, gluten free, low fat, vegetarian? These are all dietary prescriptions we hear and debate about regularly in recent years. But contrary to popular belief, they are not the most important considerations when it comes to what we’re eating. In the face of our health-robbing, popular food culture, this talk will equip you with new perceptions and powerful motivation to help yourself and your family take the confusion out of what’s healthy and what’s not — and start developing an Eating-for-Health Lifestyle you can live with. continued on Page 10

Celebrating 15 years of Caring for Valley Patients

Innovative Treatment Professional, Caring Staff

4335-A Northstar Way, Modesto (209) 342-5125

Dr. David G. Ellertson, Collaborative Physician Dr. Alex Mari, Collaborative Physician Deborah Babb, RN, FNP, Clinical Director

Se Habla Españo • We accept new patients SPRING 2015

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HEALTH Expo continued from Page 9

••• “Simply Vibrant Living-Whole Food, Whole You!” Kerri Smith, Certified Health Coach/Wellness Advocate Simply Vibrant Living provides a personalized “roadmap to health” philosophy that is bio-individualisticly (unique to you) designed to assist the client achieve their desired wellness goals. By drawing on her extensive training in holistic nutrition and coaching techniques, Smith has succeeded in helping hundreds of clients discover the regenerating power of whole, nutrient rich food along with the inner strength for change. As an esteemed graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where she studied over 100 dietary theories and a “lifestyle change” based program, Smith’s practice is devoted to assisting real people produce real and lasting results.

••• “Overcoming Chronic Illness - Getting Your Health, Youth & Life Back” John Filippini, D.C., D.PSc., Abundant Life Health and Wellness Center Dr. Filippini is going to share some of the techniques and approaches he takes to help his patients reverse and recover

from chronic disease processes, such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, fibromyalgia, Lyme’s disease, cardiovascular disease, auto-immune diseases, and even cancer.

Most chronic disease processes have a common thread, and the entire body including the digestive system, nervous system, immune system and endocrine system — all have to be addressed. Filippini will discuss the 5 pillars of health he addresses with all of his patients, and explains why our current health care system doesn’t work with chronic disease, as well as why we are growing increasingly unhealthier as a nation (America is now ranked 50th).

••• “Ayurvedic: Enhancing Your Natural Immunity & Receptiveness to Healthcare Treatments” Mandy Sahota-Flood Ayurvedic is a wholistic system of medicine from India that uses a constitutional model – to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy people can stay healthy and people with health challenges can improve their health. Join Mandy as she discusses Ayurveda, and how it looks at each individual and the treatment of their health challenges uniquely, allowing the body to become receptive and capable

Home visits Caring, supportive, helpful people.

In the privacy of your own home.

Stanislaus County Area Agency on Aging

of absorbing and assimilating medicine, food or rejuvenative tonics that are taken, and also allowing for proper elimination of accumulated wastes and toxins.

••• “The Healing Power of the Mind” Carson Johns Eating right, treating your body right and exercise isn’t the only piece of the puzzle to wellness. Wellness requires a clean body and a clean mind. In this lecture learn about techniques and tools you can use to clear the clutter out of your brain, be more focused and most importantly in alignment. Fulfillment, happiness and joy come from within and that starts with healthy thoughts. If thoughts become things...what are you thinking?

••• “Holistic Health” Teresa Miller, Certified Colon Hydrotherapist, R.N., N.D. There are many aspects to health. There is physical health, emotional health, spiritual health and the truth is they are really all parts of whole health. Dr. Teresa will be introducing a new way of looking at an old word and will be addressing the interconnectedness of the different aspects of health, to increase our understanding of what a balanced and holistic lifestyle looks like.

Someone to talk to...

Home visits Caring, supportive, helpful people.

Something to look forward to...

Stanislaus County Area Agency on Aging

Feel alone, isolated, sad?

WE CAN HELP…

F Se ree rv ice

We offer free programs for adults 60 or older providing social visits , peer support and counseling.

Somemes just having someone there to listen, to care, really helps.

For more information Call: (209) 558-8698 Brief or Peer Counseling & Friendly Visitor Programs

Someone to talk to...

Feel alone, isolated, sad?

• We offer FREE programs for adults 60 or older providing social visits, peer support and counseling.

• Sometimes just having someone there to listen, to care, really helps.

F Serree vice

For more information: Call: (209) 558-8698 • Brief or Peer Counseling & Friendly Visitor Programs • Project Hope

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WE CAN HELP…

SENIORS

Classes in Turlock, Modesto, Ceres & Ripon

By GL EN N K AHL 20 9 Health y Liv ing

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wo Ripon seniors – Jim and Dottie Love – are praising the Healthy Aging Association’s “Young at Heart” program that meets twice a week at the Senior Citizen Center where they join others exercising for an hour from 9 to 10 a.m.

Some 30 other classes are set up for seniors in Modesto, Ceres, Grayson, Patterson, Turlock and Waterford.

The goal is to develop a healthier heart and to give them more strength in their muscles.

The exercise sessions are led

by Nancy Vander Veen, who wants seniors to be “older, wiser and stronger” through her leadership for the past dozen years.

“We train volunteers to aid in the classes that are peer led,” she said. There are usually some 17 enrolled in any given week, she noted. The cost is donationbased, she added, with a suggested amount of $2. The center in Ripon is located at 433 South Wilma Avenue at Fourth Street.

Vander Veen is a former Ripon Christian High School physical education teacher.

She explained that her program is trying to regain and retain the strength the seniors should have in their bodies. “We also work on balance that becomes harder as we age and show the seniors how to stand with their feet at right angles and to put their weight on the whole foot.”

That helps in preventing falls, she added.

They also work on stretching every muscle group from the face to the toes. Students are sent home with supporting exercises, an exercise tube and

GLENN KAHL/209 Healthy Living

Jim and Dottie Love of Ripon have nothing but good things to say about their exercise program through the Healthy Agency’s program at the Ripon Senior Citizen Center every Tuesday and Thursday. They say it has given them a new lease on life after having multiple surgeries.

a free T-shirt. All the exercises come from certified programs through a licensed physical therapist, she said.

Ripon has a second Healthy Heart exercise class that is designed primarily for the residents at Bethany Home.

Jim Love, a long time construction worker, stressed that the healing value of the exercise classes is very uplifting. “Since we both have had shoulder surgeries, the option of coming home from the hospital and just sitting down causes the healing to take forever,” he said.

He added that their instructor is a great person with a good sense of humor, making it fun to exercise under her tutelage

as well as her abilities in being quite a story teller. Love said before they began the program they both had electric carts to use instead of walking as it had become very difficult. Now the carts are stored in the garage and seldom used, he added, in addition to their being in a better state of mind and health.

Estimates of the U.S. population in 2010 revealed more than 40 million adults were then 65 and older. By the year 2030. that number is expected to increase to some 72 million. By encouraging healthy lifestyles, along with improving the delivery of preventative services that help older Americans stay healthier longer and

improve their quality of life in their later years.

A 2015 Healthy Aging Summit July 27-28 in Washington, D.C., has set its goals of exploring the science of healthy aging, identifying knowledge gaps that need to be filled, promoting the role of prevention and preventative services in improving quality of life in seniors later years and mobilizing actions to improve the delivery of care for those aging in place or in transition.

For those wanting more information on the Ripon program call 209.523.2800.

To contact Glenn Kahl email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3539.

SPRING 2015

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HEALTH

TREATING THE SPINE Chiropractors: World’s largest group of natural practitioners

By R OS E ALBANO R ISSO 2 0 9 H e a lt h y L i v i n g

J

on Serafin is a secondgeneration chiropractic medicine practitioner. He grew up watching and observing his father work as a chiropractor.

Interestingly enough, his career path was not influenced by that paternal professional proximity.

“I actually went to school for a degree in psychology,” with the intent of going into forensic psychology, said the first chiropractor to establish a chiropractic clinic in Lathrop.

But he had a change of heart after becoming “disenchanted” with his first career choice, and ended up following in his father’s professional footsteps after all.

“I think that you have to have a

passion for it. It’s a great career,” Serafin said.

Like many self-established business owners, he loves setting his own working hours, dealing with people, “working for myself – those things I love.”

But all that aside, on a professional level, what endears him to chiropractic as a career all have to do with self-satisfaction beyond the seemingly superficial aspect of a job.

“I love my patients and I love to see them well,” he said.

And, like many professionals running their own business, he said, “I don’t like dealing with insurance companies and attorneys,” which all go with the territory.

While chiropractic has been around for more than a century, and while the profession has made plenty of strides since

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Daniel David Palmer performed the first chiropractic adjustment on a partially deaf janitor in 1895, “medical communities are still not 100 percent impressed” with chiropractic and chiropractors, although a lot of that has changed, Serafin said.

And is continuing to change with many younger medical doctors becoming “a little bit more openminded,” he added. They are realizing that patients are made well not just from one treatment angle, he said.

From his own personal experience as a chiropractor, and dealing with a lot of patients and doctors, Serafin said a lot of things could be helped through chiropractic such as ADHD and asthma. However, chiropractors are not licensed to treat these continued on Page 13

HEALTH

A R I N E B H O T W T : A E Small diet changes that can make a big difference

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he new year is a great time to start fresh. Many people commit to exercise more, stress less or make healthier food choices.

Incorporating small, sustainable changes, versus dramatic, largescale lifestyle shifts, can make it much easier to stick to your resolutions. This year, instead of overhauling your entire diet, resolve to improve your health with simple tweaks to your everyday meal and snacking routine.

••• Eat the rainbow Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet is an effortless way to boost your intake of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Try to eat one produce item from each color in the rainbow every day.

For example, have blueberries in your breakfast oatmeal, a red apple for a snack, a spinach and radicchio salad with yellow peppers for lunch and sweet potatoes as part of dinner. You could also pack red bell peppers and carrots with creamy garlic hummus or a banana for a convenient pickme-up between meals.

••• Adopt a smoothie regimen Another easy way to consume more fruits and vegetables - as well as other healthy ingredients like nut and soy milk, yogurt, chia or flax seeds - is to start your day with a nutrient-packed smoothie. Smoothies can be a convenient, on-the-go, energyboosting breakfast for adults and Spine continued from Page 12

and other ailments in conjunction with treatments that patients are receiving from medical doctors, he said.

“We treat the spine; we treat the whole body and let the body do its job,” he explained.

He is proud of the fact that his alma mater, and his father’s alma

RED CHERRY SMOOTHIE

Ingredients 1/2 cup (60 g) low-fat cherry yogurt 1 cup (76 g) fresh strawberries, quartered 2/3 cup (50 g) red grapes 1 cup (70 g) fresh cherries, pitted 1/2 cup (60 ml) cherry juice Directions Place all ingredients into the Vitamix S30 40-ounce container in the order listed and secure lid. Turn the dial to 1 and slowly increase speed to 10. Blend for 35 seconds or until desired consistency is reached.

kids alike. Create personalized flavor combinations for every member of the family with the new Vitamix S30, which features a portable blend-and-go container that becomes an instant travel cup. If you have a sweet tooth, try a red cherry smoothie, bursting with the flavors of cherry, strawberry and grapes.

Or, blend in antioxidant-rich kale or other dark leafy greens for an extra serving of vegetables.

••• Choose healthy fats The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend getting most of the fat in your diet from unsaturated fats, which can be found in foods such as fish, nuts, seeds and certain types of oils. Monounsaturated fats, from sunflower oil, canola oil and avocado, and polyunsaturated fats,

like soybean oil, walnuts and flax seed, are sometimes called “good fats” because they are heart-healthy and can help lower cholesterol. Add these healthy fats into your meals: use avocado to cool spicy entrees; top salads with walnuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds for an extra crunch; and cook with canola or olive oil. Fats are essential for your body to function properly, so choose ones that taste great and provide energy and nutrients.

••• Make smart substitutions Another simple way to change your diet is to sub in healthier options. There are many ways to adapt recipes that will increase their nutritional content without sacrificing taste. Replace the typical carbohydrates with vege-

tables: try crispy, baked zucchini sticks in place of french fries or spaghetti squash instead of traditional pasta. Secretly swap ingredients for more wholesome alternatives in your favorite recipes: substitute Greek yogurt in place of full-fat sour cream in dips and sauces or make a cauliflowerbased pizza crust, instead of a flour one, for a more nutritious version of a favorite comfort food. With the right preparation and seasonings, your family will never notice the difference.

When it comes to incorporating changes into your lifestyle, it’s important to start slowly and make realistic choices. Don’t be discouraged if you have minor setbacks. With just a few modifications to your daily meals, you can achieve better health in the new year.

mater as well – Life Chiropractic College west, Hayward (there’s another campus in San Diego) – is working toward improving the image and raising the credibility of the profession.

“They’ve got the only standing MRI unit in the area, and they are really speaking up on the latest and newest stuff in chiropractic,” Serafin noted.

He encouraged logging on to the Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward to find out more not only about the campus but also first-person testimonies from students who are studying to become a chiropractor and pursuing a meaningful career.

Chiropractic, according to the college website, is “the largest natural health profession in the

world and the nation’s third largest primary health care profession, surpassed only by medicine and dentistry.”

It defines chiropractors as professionals who are “skilled in the art of adjusting all of the joints of the spine which reduces the effects of chronic and acute trauma and biomechanical instability.”

SPRING 2015

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HEALTH

TAXING TIME FOR HEALTH

How health care coverage will affect your taxes

T

he Affordable Care Act has changed the health care insurance landscape, and for the first time health care and your taxes are now directly related.

Millions of Americans will have to start making decisions about health care insurance now to be able to save more of their hard-earned money come tax time. The good news is that people have more options than ever for affordable health insurance and now is the time to find out what works best for you and your family.

Free online resources, like TurboTaxHealth.com, offer a guide on how the health care law affects you and your wallet, and has provided six simple tips to get you started: If you’re not currently insured, and were unaware you may face a tax penalty under the Affordable Care Act take steps now to buy health insurance this year.

Enrollment has been extended to Aprill 30 in California. For those who enrolled in the Marketplace in 2014, current coverage automatically re-enrolled on Jan. 1. You should still check your coverage to ensure that your network and costs are what you expect.

If you miss this three-month window of opportunity or fail to take advantage of the extension, you will need to wait until the open enrollment period in 2016 to buy coverage unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. If you don’t have health coverage during 2015 that qualifies as minimum essential coverage, you must either pay a fee or see if you qualify for an exemption from paying the penalty. The fee in 2015 is steeper than it was in 2014 - 2 percent of your household income or $325 per adult/$162.50 per child, whichever is more. Get started now 14

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to avoid overspending. Visit www.Healthcare.gov for more information.

Understand if you qualify for an exemption from purchasing health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Tax exemptions come in many forms. An exemption from the Affordable Care Act will eliminate your obligation to pay a fee for not having health insurance. You can find out if you’re eligible to waive the health care penalty fee with TurboTax Exemption Check.

Check if you’re eligible for a discount on health insurance premiums in the form of a tax credit. To help lower-income families and individuals pay for coverage, the federal government will provide financial support on monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs via subsidies. To help offset the cost of buying insurance

on the exchanges, tax credits are available, depending on your 2015 household size and income. Check out TurboTax’s free health care calculator to see if you are eligible.

If you purchased insurance through the state or federal exchanges, be sure to report major life events, change in income or changes like getting married, having a baby or if you received a raise. You can do this online by logging in to your insurance Marketplace account or calling the Marketplace Call Center. It is important to report any income changes to the Marketplace so they can change the amount of the tax credit applied to your insurance premium. This may also reduce any potential amount you would have to pay back at tax time. You also may be eligible for more subsidies than you’re getting, so it pays

to double check.

Come tax time, report your insurance status when you file your tax return. If you get your insurance, whether through your employer, through Medicaid, Medicare or the Marketplace, reporting it is really a matter of checking a few boxes with TurboTax. Using the tax prep software you simply answer a few questions and check a box to confirm you have health insurance when you file your taxes and TurboTax does the rest.

Choosing health insurance is without a doubt a big decision, which is why it is important to consider all options before figuring out which is best for you. If you need a bit more assistance, there are a lot of free resources out there, like TurboTaxHealth.com, which offers helpful tools and answers to common questions.

HEALTH

Restless legs syndrome: ‘No laughing matter’

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creepy-crawly feeling. An irresistible urge to move your legs. The inability to sit still for long periods of time.

These are common complaints of those living with moderateto-severe restless leg syndrome (RLS), a progressive and chronic condition that affects 2-3 percent of U.S. adults.

RLS is a neurologic disorder that causes these symptoms and it is no laughing matter. According to Yve Cook, a photographer from New York City living with RLS, “When I was first diagnosed with RLS, I laughed at my doctor — I thought he was kidding! It didn’t sound like a real disorder. It sounded silly because I had always been fidgety, but he said it was because I may have had RLS since childhood.”

While RLS can impact even the simplest day-to-day activities, such as watching a movie, driving long distances or sitting through a lecture, it also has a big impact on a patient’s sleep.

“Because symptoms mostly occur in the evening, many individuals experience sleep disturbances,” said Dr. Enrico Fazzini, a board certified neurologist.

“Inadequate sleep can impact work, personal relationships, and even trigger other health concerns.”

Cook agrees, “I had a lot of trouble sleeping for many years and the lack of sleep eventually triggered other significant health issues. I couldn’t work.

The sleep problems compelled me to seek medical attention.”

For many people, RLS is a progressive disease that may get worse over time. While there isn’t a cure for RLS, there are several treatments available to help manage the symptoms.

However, finding the right treatment option for individual patients requires careful coordination with a physician, and may take many years.

“Despite being on treatment, my RLS symptoms continued to progress over time. I began feeling it in my arms in the middle of the day. I just wanted some relief and decided to find a doctor who specializes in movement disorders, like RLS,” notes Cook.

“After working together to find the right treatment for me, I’m now sleeping better, and I don’t have to keep moving my legs around for relief.”

In addition to medication, patients may also be able to implement several lifestyle changes to help manage symptoms, such as finding activities that help them cope (walking or stretching) and adopting good sleeping habits (going to bed at the same time each night).

“As a photographer, I couldn’t do my job and what I love without the right medication and tools to manage my RLS symptoms,” Cook said.

For more information about RLS symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, visit: www.relieverestless-legs.com.

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HEALTH

Patient heal thy self Time for honest dialogue with yourself Jack Vaughn wanted to lose weight.

So as his annual physical was winding down he asked his physician Dr. Paul Dugan for some advice.

Dr. Dugan — a thorough general practitioner that founded Roseville’s Start-aHeart 24-hour cardio pulmonary resuscitation effort that take life-saving skills to over 4,000 people once a year — mumbled a couple of things and turned away.

Jack was mad.

When he went back six months later for a follow-up, Dr. Dugan was astonished.

He told Jack that he couldn’t believe that he’d lost 20 pounds.

Jack replied that it was no thanks to him and proceeded to tell him how he brushed him off when he made inquiries about losing weight.

Dr. Dugan apologized, saying that 95 percent of the time patients ask questions about losing weight but they simply ignore him so he tended not to make much of an effort any longer.

Jack was my best friend some 28 years ago. And for the record, Dr. Dugan is a solid physician in my book.

The incident and exchanges underscore how we often squander precious face-to-face time with physicians and in doing so lessen the quality of our health and health care.

If we constantly ignore advice by essentially not having an honest dialogue with physicians we get exactly what we ask for, which is anything but the best possible outcome.

That doesn’t mean one must follow every bit of advice a doctor gives you. It’s your body

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and your life. But if you’re not willing to communicate honestly, listen, and give what the two of you discuss serious thought then why bother to go to a doctor?

The failure of many of us to have an honest dialogue with not just health care professionals but with ourselves is one reason why medical costs are so expensive and serious health issues seem to keep growing.

Denial and the expectations of a magical pill to reverse years of bad habits are great ways to assure you get the minimum from a doctor’s visit.

Here’s some general advice I’ve gleaned from talking with doctors one-on-one over the years with during a visit or when are sharing their general frustrations with patients during a bicycle ride or a hiking trip: u Make physicians aware of

all of your medical history.

To save time and to make sure I don’t forget anything, I will type it all up and hand it to the doctor. When I recently went for a gout flare-up, I not only listed heredity and knee damage issues connected with it but when I had previous flare-ups, how I dealt with them, my diet over the years and what I was eating prior to the flare-up. u Don’t lie. Doctors aren’t stupid. Doctors are also human.

It’s important to remember that since trust is key to making a physician-patient relationship work. u Don’t make them guess.

Yes, physicians are highly trained but they aren’t you.

Without you telling them everything they ask about whether it is your diet, drinking habits, drug use -legal and otherwise, exercise routine, sleeping habits and such they will be mak-

ing an educated guess at best. u Be a part of the process.

Ask questions. Double check advice. u Assess advice you are given. Don’t take advice as the gospel. Make sure you understand what you are told. Take recommendations and weigh them against your own values and what you want in terms of your health and lifestyle. u Take charge. Just like there are no magical pills, there is no such thing as a magical doctor’s visit. This means if you need to make changes to your lifestyle to improve your heath, do it. Doctors can’t write a prescription for a pill to replace a need to modify diets and change exercise habits. u Make a commitment. You went to the doctor for a reason.

Unless you simply enjoy paying high insurance premiums and making co-payments you need to commit more than just a 10-minute office visit. u Don’t be embarrassed.

There are people embarrassed to go to a doctor for an ailment because they are overweight.

Been there, done that. Think of it this way: Does it make sense to spend a weekend cleaning your house before a hired housekeeper arrives just so you won’t be embarrassed? If you didn’t need a cleaner, why hire one? The reason is simple: They should be able to do a better job than you can. Having a doctor or a health coach guide you through weight loss and establishing a fitness program is a lot more effective than trial and error. Not only can it not be as effective but you might miss key things that may make a world of difference in your health and wellness.

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HEALTH

HEALTHY BUSINESS Easy ways businesses can reduce employee absenteeism

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n ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — especially for small businesses grappling with the high costs of worker absenteeism. Employee time lost to health issues costs American businesses $84 billion a year. For U.S. businesses, helping workers stay healthy costs far less than the financial impact of having them miss work for illness or injury.

With cold and flu season in full swing, HR directors and other business leaders should take steps to help employees stay healthy and on the job. Here are seven steps your small company can take to help reduce worker absenteeism: 1. Encourage healthful habits.

Simple factors such as getting enough sleep and frequent hand washing can go a long way toward keeping people healthy.

While you can’t make workers get seven to eight hours of sleep, you can spread the word on how it’s done. Key tricks? Turn off the electronic devices an hour before bedtime, avoid caffeine and alcohol, and go to bed at the same time every night.

Employers can more directly 18

209HEALTHYLIVING

encourage other healthful habits, such as hygiene. Create minihealth stations throughout the office and include hand sanitizer, fresh tissues and a covered receptacle nearby. Post signs with proper hand-washing guidelines in company restrooms. You can promote a healthy diet by providing healthful options such as trail mix and water in vending machines. Distribute healthy recipes (try the spaghetti squash!).

2. Provide 24/7 support through a wellness program.

Businesses that offer employee wellness programs like the health and wellness solutions provided

by Provant can lower their medical costs and offer a spectrum of additional benefits, including reduced absenteeism. Customized workplace wellness programs give employees round-theclock access to valuable information, health professionals and advice, live or via technology, that can help them stay healthy.

Plus, these programs can help employees manage diseases, assess their health and set personal wellness goals.

3. Reward well-being actions.

Sometimes inertia is all that stands between employees and improved health. You can inspire

employees to be healthier by offering, say, an exercise class at lunch. Provant health incentive programs such as reimbursement for gym memberships, health challenges for most miles walked in a month, insurance premium reimbursements, or rewards points (good for merchandise) for healthful habits have seen marked increases in engagement and significant health risk migration for those rewarded for their healthy choices.

4. De-stress the workplace.

Stress is part of having a job, but you can help workers stay healthy and be more productive by helping them manage that stress. Give them chances to get up from their desk - how about making that next meeting a walking one? Offer a workshop on relaxation techniques, and make sure your health plan offers an Employee Assistance Program for mental health help. Have a de-stress zone in the office.

5. Provide auxiliary benefits.

Auxiliary benefits such as dental or vision coverage support employees’ overall health maintenance and value-adds such as partnerships with local farms for vegetables, dry-cleaning drop-off service, and onsite fitness classes

create a convenience factor that encourages healthy engagement. In addition to supporting employee health, they are a lowcost way to round out a benefits package without increasing monthly premium costs.

6. Tell them to stay home.

Despite their best efforts, employees will get sick. When that happens, it may be best to encourage them to stay home.

Workers suffering with a virus like the flu or a bad cold could spread the illness throughout the office if they come to work when sick. And those with non-communicable illness or injuries may extend the total amount of time they miss from work if they push themselves to return too soon or don’t take the time they need to make a full recovery.

7. The obvious — Get a flu shot.

Sometimes the answer is right under your nose. Make it easy to get flu shots. You can even bring nurses right to your workplace or offer a remote flu program, making it convenient for individuals to get vaccinated.

To learn more about wellness programs that can help reduce employee absenteeism, visit www.provanthealth.com.

HEALTH

Visual processing speeds: The key to peak performance?

W

hat do you and your favorite professional athlete have in common? You both use your eye sight each day to live life

to the fullest.

Whether it’s scoring the winning goal or making that critical catch, trained athletes always use their eyes, and, their visual processing speed can make or break their success. Turns out, visual processing speed can make a big difference for everyone, not just those who work in professional sports.

Visual processing speed is the rate at which a person’s eyes and brain communicate to identify, process and respond to stimuli - whether it’s a major league baseball player’s ability to hit a fastball traveling at 95 miles per hour or your capacity to skillfully maneuver your vehicle to avoid an accident.

Groundbreaking research out of the University of Georgia (UGA) has shown supplementing with dietary zeaxanthin can enhance a person’s visual processing speed.

In the study, young, healthy participants were given an eye health supplement containing a minimum of 20 mg of dietary zeaxanthin and 8 mg of lutein, each day for four months.

Results revealed dietary zeaxanthin supplementation led to improvements in vision quality and gains in visual processing speed by as much as 10 percent. The findings of the double-blind placebo controlled study were recently released in the “Public Library of Science (PLOS).”

By increasing the speed at which the brain processes information, supplements with high levels of dietary zeaxanthin as a key active ingredient have the power to provide athletes with critical extra milliseconds to see better and react faster, says Dr. Graham Erickson, a Pacific University College of Optometry professor. For example, a batter only has a fraction of a second to watch a ball leave a pitcher’s hand, send that visual information from the eye to the brain, process the information, judge the pitch, and physically start to swing.

An advantage like this can mean the difference between an outstanding or ordinary performance on the field. An increase in visual processing speed can positively affect non-athletes as well - whether that’s catching an object mid-fall or reacting in to prevent an accident.

“The ability to actually change brain function in relatively young, healthy individuals based on a dietary supplement has wide implications for our ability to optimize human performance,” says Dr. Billy Hammond, study author and lead researcher at UGA Vision Sciences laboratory. He notes this research is the first time a study has proven the ability to improve processing speed through dietary supplementation.

Zeaxanthin is a carotenoid found in the retina as well as within brain tissue and skin.

The antioxidant has also been shown to protect photoreceptors within the back of the eye that are paramount to central vision.

Zeaxanthin is not manufactured by the body therefore it must be ingested. Most Americans consume less than 1 mg of the antioxidant, found in foods such as peppers, kale, corn and collard greens, each day. The nutrient can be found in eye vitamins like EyePromise vizual EDGE. Previous clinical studies have shown dietary zeaxanthin use has been associated with decreasing light sensitivity while enhancing contrast sensitivity, visual acuity and glare recovery.

SPRING 2015

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FITNESS

HIME ROMERO/209 Healthy Living

Jeanette Balmut reviews her workout and diet plan for the coming year with CalFit trainer Antonio Hernandez.

AIMS TO REGAIN LIFE ‘Oh my God, mom, you’re breathing too hard’ EDITOR’S NOTE: The Year of You begins anew with two participants, Jeanette Balmut and Joshua Messersmith. Each will train with a local gym with dueling styles and philosophies over the next 12 months. This profile previously appeared in the Manteca Bulletin.

By JAMES BURNS 20 9 Health y Liv ing

M 20

ove past the laughter and jokes and the self-effacing demeanor and

209HEALTHYLIVING

you’ll find JeaShe wants MEASUREMENTS nette Balmut’s to celebrate YEAR OF YOU: Jeanette center. her 25th wedBalmut There, at her ding anniverAGE: 46 tender core, sary with her Of HEIGHT: 5-7 Balmut keeps everyday man

Start Current some of her crush, husband WEIGHT: 260 249 darkest secrets Mike Balmut, BODY FAT: 47% 45% and deepest and finally ARMS: 16” 15” desires. take that picCORE: 46.5” 43” For instance, ture she’s HIPS: 56.5” 53” the always-onducked and THIGHS: 29” 28” the-go mother dodged for so of three longs long. to wear a provocative evening More than anything, though, dress; twist, twirl and maybe Balmut wants to stop breathing turn a few heads. so heavily when she’s doing

YEAR YOU

something taxing ... like watching TV. And she’d like to tie her own shoes. Seriously.

“I literally cannot tie my own shoes,” Balmut said during a candid interview with the Manteca Bulletin. “I’m 46 and there are some hot 46 year olds. I do not feel like that. I feel old and I don’t want to feel old at this age.”

Then consider this the newest chapter in her life story, “How Jeanette got her groove back.” continued on Page 21

FITNESS Balmut continued from Page 20

“I

’m 46 and there are some hot 46 year olds. I do not feel like that. I feel old and I don’t want to feel old at this age.”

Balmut will get a chance to recapture that glow. She’s been selected for the Bulletin’s second season of the Year of You. She will pair with CalFit master trainer Antonio Hernandez for a year-long transformational ate and may not always align journey.

This season, the Year of You with her work in the gym and will pit two local trainers against kitchen.

She begins the journey at 260 one another. Hernandez will pounds with a body fat percentmatch his philosophy and style against CORE Athletic Perfor- age of 47.

“We’re going to lose the mance’s Robert Iniguez, who will train Joshua Messersmith, weight the way we want to,” a 23-year-old fast-approaching Hernandez said, “but also add muscle. So you might lose 50 his wedding day.

Balmut is nervous about com- pounds, but gain 25 pounds in peting against someone half her muscle. That’s the only way age – “I think I’m going to we’re going to succeed in life. throw up,” she says often – but We want to make a lifetime understands opportunities like change. I want to help you make that lifetime change. I don’t this are few and far between.

For the next 12 months, she want this to a competition for a will endure a training regiment year and then six months down designed by Hernandez, certi- the road forget it.”

Hernandez knows of which fied by the National Academy he speaks. of Sports Medicine and fortified The Lathrop native won a in his ways by awards and other similar compeacknowledgetition six years ments. ago while Their focus working for will be on Gold’s Gym in functional fitModesto. He’s ness, with an not only studemphasis on ied the body building lean and its relation muscle tissue to exercise and and keeping food, but also Balmut in the the mind. fat-burning — JEANETTE BALMUT, For now, zone.

Balmut is a H e r n a n d e z YEAR OF YOU willing victim. will begin Balmut, a former softball player She welcomes the cardio and and Homecoming Queen, with iron, the prepared meals and the three to four days of light car- pressure to follow through.

For years, she’s been trapped dio and three days of weight training. Each session will last in a body she says hasn’t felt like her own. She’s owned a an hour.

The trick, Hernandez said, is membership to CalFit for a keeping Balmut’s heart rate at decade but only stepped inside 135 beats per minute – the fat- the gym to pay her bill.

Her husband and children, burning zone.

“It’s going to be a hate-love two of which attend major colrelationship,” he said. “Trust leges in Southern California, are me, that’s how it’s going to be.” fit and active.

Now it’s her turn.

Hernandez doesn’t want “I’m planning on working Balmut’s focus to be solely on out,” she said, pausing for drathe scale. He has warned her that the numbers may fluctu- matic effect. “A lot.”

“It’s going to be a hate-love relationship. Trust me, that’s how it’s going to be.”

— JEANETTE BALMUT, YEAR OF YOU Letting go won’t be easy, though.

Balmut is a foodie, through and through. She enjoys the taste, the social appeal and the service.

“I love food and everything about it. I want to go out. I want to hang with people,” she said.

“All the activities that are fun to me revolve round food, so I have to redirect that.”

Balmut arrives with built-in goals. Along with celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary, Balmut’s niece is planning to get married later this year. “I don’t want to be the fat auntie,” she said.

Balmut also hopes to take part in a Lupus run with her

oldest daughter, Myklyn, and she has her 30th high school reunion on the horizon.

If those weren’t enough to keep her motivated, there’s always this: “I don’t know which daughter it was, but she was like ‘Oh god, mom, you’re breathing too loud,’” Balmut said with red cheeks, the brutal honesty cutting a sharp line through the laughter in the room.

“How embarrassing. I’m watching TV and I’m breathing too loud?”

To contact Managing Editor James Burns email jburns@ mantecabulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter at jburns1980.

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SPRING 2015

21

FITNESS

LACK OF DISCIPLINE MEASUREMENTS

YEAR OF YOU: Joshua Messersmith AGE: 23 Of HEIGHT: 5-9

Start Current WEIGHT: 326.6 310 BODY FAT: 45% 41.7% ARMS: 16” 16.25” CORE: 57.25” 54” HIPS: 52” 51.75” THIGHS: 29.5” 30.75”

YEAR YOU

Gym rat tips scales at 326 pounds EDITOR’S NOTE: The Year of You begins anew with two participants, Jeanette Balmut and Joshua Messersmith. Each will train with a local gym with dueling styles and philosophies over the next 12 months. This profile previously appeared in the Manteca Bulletin.

B y JAMES BURNS 20 9 Health Liv ing

W

orking out has never been an issue for Joshua Messersmith.

The former four-sport athlete at Escalon High is a regular at CORE Athletic Performance, where he has cycled through bootcamps and X-Fitness workouts.

By all accounts, the gym temporarily located in Manteca’s Industrial Park could be considered a second home for the 23-year-old if not for one major difference: The refrigerator in the office is stocked with water not sweets.

So focused in the gym, Messersmith wages a losing battle in the kitchen. “It’s not like I don’t have time or don’t want to do it,” he said of preparing meals or eating cleaner. “I just formed a bad habit of eating 22

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HIME ROMERO/209 Healthy Living

Joshua Messersmith, left, with his CORE Athletic Performance trainer Robert Iniguez.

out. It’s easier to eat out.”

That lack of discipline has led Messersmith here, to the second season of the Year of You at more than 300 pounds.

This season, the competition offers a new wrinkle. The Manteca Bulletin has joined forces with two local gymnasiums to provide two readers with a chance of a lifetime.

Messersmith is accompanied

by Jeanette Balmut, a 46-yearold mother of three, in the spotlight. Balmut will train with CalFit’s Antonio Hernandez, an award-winning trainer certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine; while Messersmith remains under the wing of Iniguez.

“He’s more than a trainer.

I’ve become friends with him,” Messersmith said of Iniguez, who trains many of the area’s top athletes, including University of Oregon tight end Jake McCreath.

“It’s not just about what I’m doing to change my life; there are people here counting on me and he’s one of them. So I can’t disappoint him and myself.”

For the next 12 months, Messersmith will adhere to a

diet and training program customized by Iniguez, chasing a transformation he’s dreamed of for years. In the past, Messersmith says he’s been able to shed 30 pounds at a time, but without fail, the weight has always caught up to him.

Iniguez knows why.

Initially, he was stumped.

But after months of seeing very little physical progress from Messersmith, the longtime trainer figured it out.

“I know his work ethic. I know he’s going to put in the work. I know he’s coming in (to the gym),” said Iniguez, who helped launch the Year of You a year ago. “I’ve seen him lose a little weight. He busts his butt in here all the time. It was like, ‘Something’s not right.

If you’re working that hard, we should be down. What’s your diet like?’ He was like, ‘Ummm.’”

Bingo. He had Messersmith dead to rights. Before long, the 23-year-old was baring his soul – and cupboards – to Iniguez.

Ice cream and sweets are his guilty pleasures; the kryptonite to his Superman persona in the gym.

“I’ve been working out hard

for about a year, year and a half, and I have seen changes,” Messersmith said. “But it got to a point where it just stopped.

I’ve talked to Robert and he’s going to take me to that next step. I know my meal plan has been terrible and he’s going to help me out.”

Day 1 provided immediate results.

Within 30 minutes, Messersmith was indeed lighter ... in the pocketbook.

The two traced their way through the aisles of Costco, filling a cart with chicken, turkey, fish, vegetables, healthy snacks, protein powder and more.

Messersmith exited the store pushing a cart stacked headhigh with boxes of groceries, and not a sweet in sight.

“Our biggest thing is diet. ...

Being accountable to what it is.

It’s a matter of actually sitting down and explaining to him the decision he’s making, how to make them and why,” Iniguez said. “Know what you’re doing to your body.”

Messersmith is ready for a change. 2015 promises to be a monumental year with his wedding scheduled for late October. He hopes to exchange vows at a svelte 240 pounds.

“I’ve seen him put in the work,” Iniguez said. “Putting in that much work should have some kind of good finish to it.”

The first step is identifying the problem, which Messersmith and Iniguez believe they have. He’s thrown out all “the crap” in his cupboards and committed himself to Iniguez tutelage.

“My body has changed in the last year and a half, especially my upper body,” he said.

“There’s muscle that I’ve put onto it, but there’s also fat I haven’t been able to lose because of the way I eat.”

I eat “anything I want,” he added.

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