HealthyLife May 2013

body. mind. spirit.

A Times Union Publicat

may 2013

Jumpstart your

Creativity Weighing Yourself

Too Much?

Plus...

• Beating bloat • Are you tired all the time?

• Tips for achy knees

Taking Care of

the Girls

Why bra fit matters

s Don't mis our FREE e f HealthyLi n seminar o May 9!

36 See page s for detail

bite-sized lessons Keep Mom Strong!

In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day. Honor your mom by delighting her with a calcium-rich treat! Calcium, found in yogurt and many other foods, is essential in building strong teeth and bones to help fight against osteoporosis. Some studies even suggest it may help in weight loss, too.

There are many ways to enjoy calcium-rich yogurt besides eating it out of a plastic container. Recipes made with Greek yogurt provide extra creaminess and zingy flavor, plus many nutritional benefits. Celebrate mom with this tasty, healthier dessert packed with calcium, protein and fiber!

Fruit Tart with Honeyed Yogurt Serves: 8 Prep Time: 35 min.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups finely ground cookie crumbs 1/4 cup sugar 5 tablespoons melted butter 1 cup Dannon® Oikos® Greek 0% Fat Yogurt Plain or Vanilla 1/4 cup honey, divided 2 cups berries (sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or combination) McCormick® Ground Nutmeg (optional) Health tip: In place of cookie crumbs try Kashi® Oatmeal Raisin Flax Cookies that boast omega-3s and bump up fiber intake. Swap half the butter for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter® Sticks which have 50% less saturated fat than butter.

Directions: 1. Combine cookie crumbs, sugar and butter in a bowl, until well mixed. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9” tart pan* with a removable bottom. Refrigerate crust for 20 minutes.

2. Combine yogurt with 2 tablespoons of honey and spread over the crust.

Decoratively arrange the berries over the yogurt and glaze with remaining honey. Sprinkle nutmeg if desired and refrigerate until ready to serve. *You can use a springform pan instead.

Recipe adapted from The Dannon Company, Inc.

Craving more?

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Contributing Writers Kristi Barlette, Beth Cooney, Cathleen F. Crowley, Laurie Lynn Fischer, Valerie Foster, Elizabeth Keyser, Carin Lane, Merci Miglino, Lee Nelson, Wendy Page, Cari Scribner, Emma Tennant, Linda Tuccio-Koonz, Melinda McGarty Webb Contributing Photographers Emily Jahn, Philip Kamrass, Tyler Murphy Sales Kurt Vantosky, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing Kathleen Hallion, Vice President, Advertising Tom Eason, Manager, Display Advertising Michael-Anne Piccolo, Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley, Magazine Sales Manager

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HealthyLife is published ten times per year. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of HealthyLife magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or e-mail magcirculation@timesunion.com. For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358.

HealthyLife is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2013 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher.

Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.

Love the Way You Look!

Visit our State-of-the-Art location!

950 Route 146, Clifton Park www.almedspa.com Michael Salzman, M.D., P.C.

38

65

body

mind

every issue

24 Pop ’Em or Eat ’Em?

59 Ask Emma

8 talk back

Are supplements as helpful as food?

28 Welcome to the Neighborhood

An online cooking community creates

32 Scaling Back

Do you weigh yourself too much?

34 Beating Bloat

Tips for handling gas

38 Tired of Being Tired?

Learn how to find the culprit and restore energy

43 Knee-d Help?

Dealing with this achy joint

46 The Silent Killer

What you should know about ovarian cancer

50 No Stretching the Truth

Is sex necessary?

60 Tired of Clumsy Mistakes?

How to become less of a klutz

65 Don’t Be Afraid!

How to get over your phobia

spirit 71 My Word

Weighty matters

74 Jumpstart Your Creativity Nine ways to get those creative juices flowing

76 Put on a Happy Face

Even a fake smile can help boost your mood

10 on the web 12 editor’s note 14 news & views 18 fit & fab 22 did you know?

36 ask the doc

Key medical tests for women

49 owner’s manual

Your liver: a primer

78 cover model Q&A Up close with Tiffany Robyck

The real deal on stretch marks

52 Taking Care of the Girls Why bra fit matters

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healthylife

Hair and makeup by Kimberley’s A Day Spa, Latham, (518) 785-5868. Select clothing available at Boscov’s Clifton Park, Clifton Park Center, (518) 348-0800. On the cover: Nine West top and jeans, Betsy Johnson necklace, Ashley Cooper earrings, Tignanello bag. Photos taken by Philip Kamrass at Siena College in Loudonville.

may 2013

76 78

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talk back

The story behind the story from our contributors Smile Factor Cari Scribner  I became my own test subject by holding up the corners of my mouth with my fingers to form a non-genuine smile and see if it improved my mood. I felt silly, which made me want to laugh at myself. It also reminded me to use those muscles more, because after a few minutes, my smile muscles hurt! See Cari’s story on page 76.

Scaling Back Kristi Barlette  Women are far too concerned with the number on the scale. In reality, it’s your overall health that matter most — cholesterol, heart health, BMI. Just how well your favorite pants fit may be the simplest indication of whether you need to move more and eat less. See Kristi’s story on page 32.

join the conversation!

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Vitamin Facts

“When it comes to supplements, you really can have too much of a good thing” Laurie Lynn Fischer  Sailors used to eat citrus fruit so they wouldn’t get scurvy from vitamin C deficiency while they were on long sea voyages.

Researching this article made me more conscientious about getting nutrients from a balanced, varied diet.

When it comes to supplements, you really can have too much of a good thing. See Laurie’s story on page 24.

Soooo Sleepy Lee Nelson  So many things can be going on in our minds and our bodies that make us feel tired. It’s amazing that just one vitamin or mineral can affect us so much. See Lee’s story on page 38.

Stretching the Truth Valerie Foster  Stretch marks: If you have them, you better embrace them because there’s little that can be done to get rid of them. I always suspected as much, but hearing it from the experts I interviewed made me a bit sad! See Valerie’s story on page 50.

Ask the Doc Brianna Snyder  I’m kind of a hypochondriac, so knowing when to go in for checkups and when to know you’re OK is a huge relief to me. I was surprised to learn that Pap smears are no longer recommended on a yearly basis, and that it’s a good idea to start mammogram screening early if you’ve got cancer in your family. Finding out some of the rules about this is a huge comfort; it’s the anxiety that comes from not knowing that does the real damage. See Brianna’s story on page 36.

We asked, you answered!  What’s your best tip for falling asleep when you’re feeling restless?

With he Wind: “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but few men realized it...”

Rachel: I try to remember what I’ve worn, starting with that day and working backwards. By the time I can’t remember, my mind has usually quieted enough to drift off!

Corri: I take very long, very deep breaths, in through the nose, out the mouth ... if I’m not out by 6 ... well, it always works.

Marie: Started doing this when I was a kid, so now it has an hypnotic effect: I list the states alphabetically, usually fall asleep by “Pennsylvania. If that doesn’t work, I recite the first page of Gone

 Do you weigh yourself regularly?

If so, how often?

Pam: Never! Being the mother of three daughters I never owned a scale because they are obsessed with their weight. I can feel if I gained a pound!

I try to take care of myself and eat right!

Debi: Every Friday morning ... and sometimes mid week, just to make sure I’m not falling off track!

Marcia: I try to only weigh myself once a week at the same time — early a.m.

 What are your tips for avoiding latenight snacking?

Kristen: Good protein at dinner.

Marcia: What to do about a late-night sweet tooth????

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on the web facebook.com/ HealthyLifeNYmagazine

check out the healthylife channel

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

After reading our interview with cover model Tiffany Robyck on page 78, head online to read about the shoot and see behind-the-scenes pictures.

healthylife

blogs

COOKBOOK Read all about The Food 52 Cookbook on page 28; then head online for a bonus recipe for sausage and kale dinner tart. Yum!

Midlife Mom Rebecca Haynes, editor of HealthyLife Connecticut, offers her perspective on life and motherhood while she navigates the teen years and beyond.

Healthy Tips Writer and freelance editor Beth Cooney scans the web to bring you the latest info and tips for healthy living.

Healthy Life

GLUTEN-FREE & HAIR BRUSHING Should you go gluten-free if you don’t need to? Also, are you brushing your hair correctly? Go to timesunion. com/healthylife to find out!

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healthylife

Writer and designer Carin Lane shares her success stories with losing weight her way — without a gym membership, a personal trainer, or special foods.

KNEE EXERCISES Check out our exclusive online video, and read about how to help your knee pain on page 43.

Got a smartphone?

Scan the QR code at right to link directly to our YouTube playlist. 

Illustration/Photos: Computer mouse icon, ©Irina Iglina/Dreamstime.com; Behind the Scenes photo by Brianna Snyder; gluten-free products, © iStockphoto.com/jamesbenet; hair brushing, © Andres Rodriguez/Dreamstime.com.

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editor’s note

We Want to Know! help us in that redesign. After all, with all local content, HealthyLife is your magazine.

Taking the survey will only take a couple of minutes. And as a thankyou, one lucky survey-taker will win a girls’ getaway for two to the Cranwell Resort and Spa. To take the survey go to:

Photo by Krista Hicks Benson.

T

hree years ago, we did our first HealthyLife survey, asking you what you thought of what we were doing. While we do get e-mails and phone calls about what we’ve written, the survey was a more formal way for you to talk back.

The response was impressive — both in terms of the numbers of you who took the time to respond and also in what you told us. And we used that information to help tweak our features and how we present our information.

Now it’s time to tell us what you think again. We’re in the middle of redesigning HealthyLife — stay tuned for the debut in January 2014! — and hearing what you have to say about the magazine now will

timesunion.com/ HealthyLifeSurvey or scan the QR code at right.

And thanks for reading and talking back.

HL

Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor jreynolds@timesunion.com

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news & views

D

compiled by beth cooney

is for Deficient

VITAMIN D, otherwise known as the sunshine drug, has been getting copious amounts of good-for-you buzz lately because it seems critical for everything from bone health to alleviating heart disease, dementia and mood disorders. But since this essential vitamin is naturally derived from exposure to sunlight, many people take supplements to get their daily dose.

Research published recently online in JAMA Internal Medicine found that many over-the counter supplements don’t contain the amount of D claimed on their labels.

Researchers affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., tested 55 different kinds of vitamin D supplements sold by 12 different manufacturers, and found that over-the-counter vitamins sometimes contained too much, or too little, of the supplement. Since it’s hard to get sick on too much D, researchers say they are most concerned about people popping vitamins with deficient amounts.

If you have questions about whether you are taking a sufficient dose of D — and have been urged to take supplements by your doctor — follow-up blood tests can determine whether you need to switch brands or up your dose. Another recommendation: Look for brands tested by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which sets standards for supplements. source: tinyurl.com/hl13vitamins

Acupuncture for Allergies?

THE ANCIENT PRACTICE of

medical acupuncture has been touted as an effective therapy for problems ranging from infertility to the side effects of cancer treatment. So researchers were curious about what it could do for people struggling with sneezing and wheezing associated with common seasonal allergies.

According to a new study recently reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, this so-called

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healthylife

alternative was incredibly effective when offered to 442 people suffering with severe grass and pollen allergies. The test subjects, who were studied in Germany by researchers affiliated with Charite-University Medical Center in Berlin, were able to use less antihistamine and felt much better when they underwent a course of weekly acupuncture for eight weeks. source: tinyurl.com/hl13 acupuncture

Domestic

Arthritis Threats

IF YOU WANT TO reduce your risk of developing arthritis with age, you may want to purge your home of common household goods, such as non-stick pans and takeout food containers. In research described as groundbreaking, scientists have linked a connection between chemical compounds known as PFCs and the development of osteoarthritis in women.

Exposure to PFCs is said to be nearly universal, as they are contained in textile stain protectors, grease-proofers, non-stick pans, carpets and even rain gear. A new study suggests that women who are exposed to high amounts of PFCs over the course of their lifetime run a greater risk of developing osteoarthritis as they age. Interestingly, the same phenomenon was not true for men examined in a comprehensive study conducted by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science.

The scientists, who recently reported their findings in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, say while they haven’t determined the exact nature of the relationship between PFCs and female arthritis cases, they do have one suspect trigger: hormones.

They theorize that toxins in the chemicals stimulate hormones to cause a systemic reaction that contributes to arthritis. source: tinyurl.com/hl13arthritis

The

Booze-Cancer Connection

MANY WOMEN LIKE to

unwind after a stressful day with a glass or two of wine or kick back on girls’ night with a couple of cocktails. But startling new research puts alcohol consumption in sobering new terms: An estimated 1 in 30 cancer deaths in America is “directly attributable” to alcohol consumption according to research recently reported in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers noted alcohol consumption put women at especially high risk of breast cancer. And perhaps more disturbingly, alcohol consumption did not have to be out of control for the researchers to establish a cause-and-effect relationship. The researchers associated a daily consumption of as little as 1.5 drinks a day with the increased cancer risk.

The takeaway: Despite many prior studies that have established a correlation between moderate drinking with positive health benefits, such as improved heart health, there are still plenty of reasons to limit your social drinking to an occasional cocktail or two and not make it a daily habit. source: tinyurl.com/ hl13cancer

Animal Instincts Photos: Vitamin D, © Twoellis/Dreamstime.com; All others GettyImages.

Frying pan, Stockbyte; Wine glasses, Nicholas Eveleigh; Dog, Li Kim Goh.

EVER THINK your beloved pet pooch seems to

know exactly when to misbehave? Well, a hilarious new study out of England suggests that dogs seem to act up — doing things like sneaking forbidden pet treats — when they intuitively know their owners can’t see them. Turns out these not-so-stupid pet tricks tend to be committed when it’s lights-out.

Researchers affiliated with the University of Portsmouth studied 84 dogs and their owners in a simulated environment where they changed lighting conditions. They put out a tempting snack and had their owners tell the dogs not to touch it. That worked in full light, but many of the dogs went for the goodies when the room was dark and researchers said the owners couldn’t see what their pets were doing.

Besides being amusing, the animal behaviorists noted their findings also shed light on higher-level animal intelligence, suggesting not all dog behavior is based on training and conditioning, but also an astute assessment of their surroundings (and what they can get away with).

The research was reported recently in the journal Animal Cognition. source: tinyurl.com/hl13dogs continued on page 16 

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

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news & views continued from page 15

The Adolescent Key to

Marital Bliss WANT YOUR KIDS to grow up to be loving, committed, happy partners? One new study suggests that everything they need to know about being a good spouse begins as early as seventh grade.

Well, perhaps the foundation is formed even sooner than that, but new research reported recently by the Association for Psychological Science suggests that children who are thriving in positive home environments as adolescents ultimately have the most Everything you satisfying, stable marriages. need to know about Even more intriguing were the findings marriage begins by researchers at Michigan State Univerin seventh grade. sity that suggest that these happily-everafter outcomes extended to the marital partner of the well-adjusted spouse.

The study involved checking in 17 years later with a group of married adults first assessed as seventh-graders. The study found that the adults who had been exposed to positive relationship skills in their home as young teens — relating qualities such as warmth, listening and appropriate assertiveness — reported the most satisfaction in their marriages.

“Perhaps one of the most striking results from this work was that the quality of one marital partner’s family climate during adolescence was associated with marital outcomes for the other partner,” the researchers noted in a press release. source: tinyurl.com/ hl13relationships

Food Safety Watch List WHAT’S THE RISKIEST FOOD to keep in your kitchen? Well, it’s an unappetizingly loaded question, but at the top of a comprehensive list compiled recently by the Centers for Disease Control, are those otherwise good-foryou leafy greens.

It seems vitamin- and fiber-rich greens such as spinach and kale are responsible for more foodborne illnesses than any other foodstuff. Also high on the list were meats and poultry, dairy, nuts and fruit.

But before you toss that salad take healthy note: while greens ranked high on the list of foodstuffs linked to illnesses, it was poultry that was linked to the highest number of deaths, according to the research reported recently in the journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Tips from the CDC for avoiding food-borne illnesses include copious hand-washing after using the restroom, especially while handling these foods, as well as diligent rinsing of foods, including bagged greens. source: tinyurl.com/hl13riskfoods

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Pace those WORKOUTS

Photos: GettyImages; Family, moodboard; Lettuce, Davies and Starr; Tired runner, Brooke Slezak; Woman with marks on face, uwe umstÃtter.

WANT TO GET THE MOST

much of what we’ve gleaned from research about exerof your exercise routine? The cise over the years, researchbest way may be to schedule ers had an interesting take on a few deliberate rest days and what factors may have skewed not be so determined to make their results in favor of a cohort rigorous exercise a daily habit. that spent just a little less time A provocative new study pumping up their hearts conducted by researchand muscles. ers at the University While they acof Alabama at Birknowledged more mingham found That day of research is necthat when womrest from essary, they sugen between the exercise may gested the group ages of 60 and help make that worked out 72 worked out ina little less often you more fit! tensely (for least might not be as faan hour) six days tigued as the more a week they weren’t committed-to-exercise necessarily any fitter group because they stayed (and sometimes less fit!) than more active in their daily lives, participants who matched doing good-for-you things their pace and stamina just such as walking with their four days a week. (By contrast, neighbors, climbing stairs and a group that worked out just doing more active household two days a week was deemed chores. less fit than both groups.)

While it seems contrary to source: tinyurl.com/hl13fitness

Plastic Surgery and Botox Boom AS THE ECONOMY IMPROVED

in 2012, the eyelids and faces of millions of Americans got a lift, too.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that the number of eyelid surgeries and facelifts they performed in 2012 was up from the previous year. So, too, were more minimally invasive non-surgical procedures, such as chemical peels, fillers and Botox injections.

Experts suggest some of the increase is in direct correlation to an uptick in the economy.

“For the third consecutive year, the overall growth in cosmetic surgery continues to be driven by a

significant rise in minimally invasive procedures, while surgical procedures remain relatively stable,” says ASPS President Dr. Gregory Evans in a society news release.

Botox topped the list of the nonsurgical procedures performed by plastic surgeons at a staggering 6.1 million treatments, an increase of eight percent from 2011.

Interestingly, the society reports that surgeons experienced a slight decrease in the number of breast augmentation and nose reduction or rhinoplasty procedures they performed on women in 2012. No explanation was offered for the decline.

source: tinyurl.com/hl13surgery

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

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fit and fab

▲ Going Natural These might be minimalist shoes, but Under Armour just calls their UA Micro G Toxic Six running shoes for women “natural.” I call them hot! These shoes are top-notch with innovative side laces and a 4D Foam footbed for comfort, marbleized rubber soles for traction and MPZ panels to keep things sturdy. The shoes are so stylish and light that you’ll find yourself wanting to run a few extra miles. $99.99. Available at Dick’s Sporting Goods and other shoe retailers, or visit underarmour.com.

▶ Workout Upgrade Put away those thermal undergarments! These two-in-one mesh shorts from Nike feature a soft, stretchy interior and a supportive, full-coverage exterior so you don’t have to worry if you’ve been laying off the squats. Nike’s Dri-FIT material will wick away the sweat while the waistband keeps everything in place. $40. Last year’s sports bra also needs an upgrade, I’m guessing, so give the matching Pro Core Stacked Elastic one a try. $50. Available at Dick’s Sporting Goods and other sporting goods retailers, or visit www.nike.com.

by carin lane

Take your fitness routine back to the great outdoors with these Fit and Fab finds.

For more Fit and Fab goodies, go to timesunion.com/ healthylife. Have a new product you’d like to share?

E-mail Carin at clane@timesunion.com.

You can visit Carin on facebook at www.facebook.com/ carinlane.healthylife or follow her on twitter @tiredorinspired and Pinterest at pinterest.com/carinlane.

▼ Online Help Diet and exercise are obvious; motivation is key.

MyFitnessPal can give you the motivation and the tools you need to reach your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be. The site tracks your food, offers mobile apps to help when you’re onthe-go and provides a personalized profile to help you become the best you can be. The plans are flexible so you choose the diet and exercise you prefer, and let your “pal” figure out the rest. Free; no membership or sign on fees. Visit myfitnesspal.com.

◀ Superfood Cocktail

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If your fitness and diet plan dropped off during the winter months, this nutritional superfood cocktail — made with over 70 whole food ingredients — can help get you to optimal health quickly. Mix the powder with water and Athletic Greens promises their drink will increase absorption of nutrients, boost your body’s alkalinity and improve your digestive health and performance. This product is gluten-free and contains no GMOs, wheat, dairy, corn or eggs, peanuts, yeast or other allergens. I tested it for 7 days and it was a great morning pick-meup after my workout. It tasted great, unlike some other protein and green powders I’ve tried. Price depends on quantity ordered. Visit athleticgreens.com.

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body Did You Know? 22 The best way to get your vitamins 24

A community-built cookbook 28 Do you weigh yourself too much? 32 Tips for handling bloat 34 Ask the doc 36 Tired all the time? 38 Dealing with achy knees 43 Are you at risk for ovarian cancer? 46 Owner’s manual: Your liver 49 Ahh! Stretch marks! 50 Bra fit DOES matter 52 timesunion.com/HealthyLife

21

fast facts

did you know?

compiled by brianna snyder

25 There are about 20,000 different types of fish in the sea.

For every extra pound of weight you carry, three pounds of pressure is put on your knee joints when you walk, and 10 pounds when you run.

So, if your BMI is 25 or more, you may be compromising the health of your knees.

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Younger kids fight even more, with fights happening every 10 minutes. source: tinyurl.com/hl13siblings

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Photos/Illustrations: GettyImages; Fish, Russell Tate; Runner, Cindy Singleton; Woman, Pascal Broze; Siblings, KidStock; Email, Š Juliengrondin/Dreamstime.com.

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savvy supplements

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healthylife

Pop ’em or

Eat ’em?

are supplements as nutritionally helpful as food? by laurie lynn fischer

T

hey huddled on my kitchen table like bowling pins: vitamins C, D and E, calcium, zinc and more. Although I took them with meals, I was downing so many supplements the combination was sometimes nauseating. Then I started paying more attention to the meals themselves.

“Most of the research has shown a greater benefit from eating more whole fruits and vegetables than from taking supplements,” says Sandra Varno, registered dietitian and nutrition educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany County. “Most of the time both vitamins and minerals are better absorbed through food than supplements.”

Whole foods are superior to fortified foods and beverages, says Dr. Sonya Hauser, director of the Sage Colleges’ graduate program in nutrition. “In a nutshell, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts,” says Hauser. “The components of whole foods will be used by the body in ways that are different from processed foods in which the components are sometimes picked apart and then partially added back. For instance, fruits are nature’s way of getting you to eat fiber. If you drink the nutrients with a bunch of sweeteners, you’re missing the fiber. If you eat a bowl of cereal enriched with various vitamins, you’re not necessarily replicating the vitamins and minerals that you’d be eating in whole grain foods such as oatmeal.”

There are exceptions where it’s hard to get a sufficient amount of certain nutrients from food alone, Hauser says.

“Vitamin D is one of them,” she says. “We synthesize it in our skin with exposure to the sun. If you live in the North during the winter, it’s almost impossible to get enough exposure.

Milk and orange juice are often fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Those are examples of foods you may want to buy in the fortified form.”

Certain populations can also need supplements, Hauser

says, to get the full complement of what’s nutritionally necessary. “Pregnant and lactating women might need prenatal vitamins,” she says. “Folic acid is important for women of childbearing age and the elderly are commonly deficient in B12.”

If you are going to take a supplement, it’s best to select a balanced multivitamin with no more than 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of nutrients, she says.

“Where people get into trouble is when they pick and choose individual nutrients,” she says. “Nutrients work in concert. If there’s too much of any one, it might crowd out the other.

If you’re taking isolated nutrients here and there, it might throw things off balance. When you’re eating a balanced, healthy diet, you’re almost ensured that you’re going to get the array of nutrients that you need for proper health. The risk of ODing can almost be entirely eliminated by obtaining nutrients from foods versus supplements.”

You can overdose on any vitamin or mineral if the dose is high enough, says Hauser. “Some have more serious consequences than others and some populations are more vulnerable,” she says. “For instance, for vitamins, getting too much vitamin A in supplement form during pregnancy can cause birth defects. As far as minerals, too much iron can be dangerous for anyone, especially men.”

Some tests bear out this idea that the body may not absorb supplements as effectively as the foods themselves.

Clifton Park nutritionist Kristen Caponera says these tests have tracked typical multivitamins through the system and found them in the colon, suggesting they have not been absorbed.

HL If you’re interested in supplementation, it’s best to consult a doctor or registered dietitian and do your own research, Caponera and Hauser suggest. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at eatright. org is a credible resource, Caponera says. For dietary guidelines, Hauser recommends the USDA’s myplate.gov.

Get our Top 10 choices for a power lunch on page 26 

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

25

savvy supplements continued from page 25

Power Lunch Get the most bang for your bite.

While it’s important to eat a broad variety of foods in moderation, here are 10 choices that pack the most nutritional punch.

5

3

4

1. Almonds – They’re bursting with protein. Sprinkle them over green beans or mix them into curried chicken salad.

2. Salmon – This fish is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which can help lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce inflammation. Bake or broil it without the skin or go Japanese and have sashimi.

3. Steel-cut oats – When people say oatmeal sticks to your ribs, they’re not far off. Abounding in soluble fiber, oats form a gluey gel in your digestive tract that grabs cholesterol and clears it from your body.

These healthy carbohydrates can curb your appetite. Prepare oatmeal with fruit or cinnamon or make your own fiber bars.

4. Quinoa – Great for vegetarians, this protein-rich grain contains eight essential amino acids.

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2 Eat it hot or cold. Lemon accents its nutty flavor.

Sprinkle them over salad or mix with raisins for a snack.

5. Broccoli – It helps lower cholesterol and detoxify the body. This high-fiber, cruciferous vegetable is rich in vitamins A and K. Consume it raw, steamed or sautéed.

9. Avocado – It’s a good source of fiber, potassium vitamins and unsaturated fat. Make guacamole or chop it into salad.

6. Tomatoes – They contain lycopene, which has been shown to help ward off cancer. They’re also a strong antioxidant. Put them in salad, soup or sauce or slice them onto your sandwich.

7. Lentils – These legumes contain ample protein and iron. Serve them in soup or whip up some daal, a traditional Indian dish.

8. Sunflower seeds – Savvy baseball players chew them instead of tobacco. They’re a good plant-based protein, a healthy fat source and an excellent source of fiber.

10. Blueberries – You know when metal rusts? The same sort of thing happens in our bodies through a process called oxidation. Blueberries are full of antioxidants, phytochemicals and flavonoids.

These high-fiber fruits contain vitamins and minerals that help keep the immune system strong. Blueberries also help prevent some forms of cancer and contain lutein, which is important for healthy vision. Make fruit salad or add them to yogurt.

Source: Sonya Hauser, Ph.D.; certified clinical nutritionist Francine Blinten; nutritionist Christine Caponera; and registered dietitians Madeline Glick, Michele MacDonnell and Sandra Varno.

Food illustrations by Emily Jahn.

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cookbook

Welcome to the

Food Neighborhood and an online cooking community by janet reynolds | photos courtesy william morrow

L

et’s face it. The Web is home to about a gazillion food blogs. Finding the best ones — i.e. those that will help you not make the same six recipes week in and week out — could be a full-time job.

Enter Food52.com, an online site dedicated to one basic idea: finding and sharing the best recipes from home cooks. Edited by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the best of Food52 is now available in one handy cookbook, The Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2.

It includes 104 recipes from a year in the online life of Food52 (the extra 23 recipes are wildcard winners chosen

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by Hesser and Stubbs because they’re among their favorite recipes). Divided into seasons, the recipes are a result of a year of contests — cooks entering their recipe for the best gravy, the best recipe with citrus and olives, the best chicken wings, etc.

Each recipe includes a brief bio of the winning chef — amusebouche (they use their Web usernames), for instance, is a student in Boston whose first love is baking — as well as why the authors love the recipe. The recipe concludes with a comment from the online community about this particular recipe as well as tips and techniques for having the best suc-

R E T T BE EARING TH H MON

MAY IS

cess. The result is foolproof recipes — chosen by reader votes and obviously trying the recipes — complemented with mouth-watering photos.

Hesser, an award-winning book author and editor for the New York Times, says the theme-a-week for this cookbook was designed to help home cooks get out of their culinary rut. “It really kind of gets home cooks’ creative juices flowing,” she says. “It lets them riff on what they already make and show off their talents rather than going to the recipe box and sending in their favorite recipes.”

Food52 is also meant to give home cooks their due. In an era of food networks and the celebritization of professional cooks, the authors want to create a place for the rest of us. “We knew there were a ton of cooks out there with talent and who were underserved online in terms of having a place to share their ideas and be celebrated,” Hesser says. “Working on a book project together was a way to focus everyone together. It also includes people who love food and cookbooks and have great conviction about what makes a great recipe and what’s interesting and give them a place to also be heard.”

“Our whole ethos is to help people eat better and live better and involve them in the process,” she adds. “We consider ourselves a collaborative community, a constructive community.”

Although Hesser and Stubbs (a graduate Le Cordon Bleu in London and an experienced food writer) are obviously seasoned cooks, Hesser says they had some surprising moments while putting together this book. “One is that home cooks are more innovative than they get credit for and much more practical than chefs who write recipes,” she says, noting that the pros operate in a team format while home cooks work alone, “so they have to be clever in how they use their time.” continued on page 30 

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cookbook continued from page 29

Another surprise was the winning recipes themselves.

“The recipes that win are not elaborate fantasy dishes,” Hesser says. “It’s often what you’d cook on a weeknight but with a twist.”

So what trends can we expect to see coming from these creative home cooks? More experimenting with greens and grains, says Hesser. “They’re interested in healthy eating but starting to feel more comfortable exploring the world of rices and grains, such as faro and wheatberries. [With]

Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Cardamom and Yogurt Serves 2-4 Ingredients Seeds from 6 cardamom pods 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 2 teaspoons sea salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander 1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin 3 garlic gloves 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 3-4 pound chicken, butterflied fresh cilantro leaves for garnish method Grind the cardamom seeds and peppercorns to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle or a spice/coffee grinder. Stir in the salt, coriander and cumin; then add the garlic and smash it.

Add the olive oil and work everything together to form a paste. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the yogurt, ginger and lemon juice.

Place the chicken in a large bowl or baking dish. Rub about half the yogurt mixture between the skin and the meat over the breasts and thighs. Then smear the remaining yogurt all over the chicken, front and back. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours.

Thirty minutes before roasting, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the chicken breast-side up in a cast iron skillet or baking pan. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees.

Let the chicken rest 15 minutes before carving.

Garnish with cilantro leaves.

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all these different flavors and textures, you can really play around a lot.”

Home cooks looking for something creative to whip up on a Wednesday are not the only ones benefitting from Food52. “I cook a wider range of things,” says Hesser. “Like home cooks I get attached to a few things, and when I’m feeling lazy I cling to them. This has pushed me to experiment more.”

HL

Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart: For this recipe from The Food 52 Cookbook, visit timesunion.com/healthylife.

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body image

Scaling Back do you weigh yourself too much?

by kristi barlette

I

t’s the number few women want to share, and some don’t even want to know themselves: those digits on the scale. But, while many women fixate — and base their self-esteem — on pounds, your actual weight is really only one element in overall health — and not necessarily the most important one.

“It’s part of the picture,” says Dee Lonergan, a dietitian at the Glenville Hannaford. “Like when you get bloodwork at the doctor, your cholesterol is just one part of the results that paint the whole picture.”

Women’s obsession with that number isn’t surprising given the many social cues telling us it’s all that matters. Shows like The Biggest Loser are all about the pounds that are shed and magazines regularly show people holding up their “fat pants” with a number — the pounds they hope they’ve left behind forever — printed next to them.

Because weight is so emotional and personal, however, many women can’t look at that figure on the scale objectively. The number itself or a change of even a couple pounds make some feel anger or even resentment toward themselves, says Stuart Erner, a Guilderland doctor who specializes in bariatric medicine.

Part of this comes from excessive weigh-ins. He, and other experts, define “excessive” as anything more than once a week. “If someone is getting up and weighing themselves every day, they are starting their day feeling like a failure and having low self-esteem,” Erner says.

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The Basics If you choose to weigh yourself, try to follow these rules: • Always use the same scale.

• Weigh yourself in the morning, after going to the bathroom and before eating or drinking.

• Never weigh yourself multiple times in one day.

• Better to skip the scale the morning after an extremely indulgent meal or banquet or weekend. Give yourself

at least 48 hours — maybe longer — to assess the true damage.

• Consider a high-quality home scale that also measures body fat composition to keep the emphasis on your muscle-to-fat ratio.

• Don’t assume because you weigh the same as you did five years ago your body composition is the same.

Metabolism changes with age, making it harder to maintain essential lean muscle.

If you’re weighing yourself at home, you should not only stick to a once-a-week regime, but you should also step on the same scale at the same time of day on the same day of the week wearing the same thing. A similar pre-scale routine is also important.

Ideally, weigh yourself in the morning. Get up, use the bathroom, and get on the scale. Once that’s out of the way, you can go about your morning, including eating and drinking.

And before you berate yourself for gaining a pound, remember this: Dozens of factors affect body weight — water retention from flying or eating more sodium than usual, premenstrual syndrome or even a lack of sleep can all add a pound or two.

Weighing yourself too frequently can lead you to conclude — falsely — the reasons behind the change, experts say. “You think you gained two pounds from eating that pizza last night,” says Lonergan.

But that’s not really possible.

A pound is made up of 3,500 calories. So, in theory, to gain one pound, you have to eat 3,500 calories more that you typically take in, and your exercise (or lack thereof) for that day would also have to be the same or less.

“Usually for people if they weigh themselves too much it becomes too much of a focus on that number rather than exercising more or eating healthier,” Lonergan says. “People who do that often become frustrated.”

It’s natural to want to weigh yourself more often when you’re zipping along on a successful diet, says Maureen Farrell, a registered dietitian and director of community wellness with the Capital District YMCA. Let’s say you are losing five pounds a week. That is, roughly, a pound a day. If weight loss is a goal, that progress is exciting, so it’s natural to want to track it closely.

But, even when you are making steady progress, Farrell advises against the daily weigh-in. That’s not healthy for anyone.

While seeing a number dip on the scale can be satisfying, true weight-loss is about maintenance, says Farrell.

“It’s easy to lose weight. It’s harder to maintain the weight they have lost,” she says. “Keeping it off over time requires self-monitoring.”

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Andrew Blyth.

W

hile incessant weighing can be a sign of a problem, avoiding the scale entirely can also create an issue, experts say.

Some women, for instance, turn their backs to the weighted bars when at the doctor’s. They think not knowing will keep them from worrying, but that attitude can be as unhealthy as the daily visit with the scale. “You want to be aware of what’s going on,” says Farrell. “It’s a lot easier to lose five pounds than to wait until you’ve gained 30.”

That’s why some self-monitoring is crucial — as long as you keep in mind the right numbers. Besides knowing your weight in pounds, it’s good to be aware of your body mass index or body composition analysis. Both can be done at home, with more sophisticated scales, or in a doctor’s office.

Essentially, this is about knowing your overall makeup. A 180-pound woman who is primarily muscle is healthier than another 180-pound women with little muscle tone.

“It takes a big effort to de-emphasize that number on the scale,” says Erner. But often these tests can do it. Understanding your body’s composition helps to point out what

Weighing In …

The Pros and Cons DAILY Pros: Best for women who are reasonably comfortable with their current scale weight and want to maintain it. Some research has shown this daily check-in can be “highly motivating” for a subset of women trying to maintain weight loss.

Cons: It can be psychologically and physically disastrous for anyone who is neurotically weight-obsessed or prone to eating disorders.

ONCE A WEEK Pros: A weekly weighin can be helpful to anyone devoted to a diet and exercise regimen who wants to track the results of their efforts.

For some, it’s a better barometer of success or setbacks because so many variables can affect weight within a 24-hour period. Ultimately, it tends

to give a more accurate picture of your results.

Cons: Not beneficial if it’s your only barometer of fitness. Some experts suggest using a tape measure to assess your waist and hip circumference can be an even better tool for evaluating whether you’re meeting your goals.

NEVER Pros: Experts in this camp believe the best way to measure up is by focusing on different health statistics, such as your muscle-to-fat ratio, cholesterol and blood sugar levels and even the fit of your favorite pair of skinny jeans.

Cons: Pounds can creep up if you’re not scrupulously honest about what you see in the mirror or the way your jeans fit.

— Beth Cooney

you need to work on and how you can improve.

Other measurements are as simple as having an awareness of your energy level or how your clothes fit. Women have a pretty keen sense of their bodies, says Erner. They can sense fluctuations, changes and differences, but oftentimes that one pair of jeans — the “gauge pants,” if you will — really confirms what’s going on. If they pull up and zip closed easily, you’re where you want to be. If, on the other hand, getting on your favorite Rock & Republics requires jumping around the room to yank them up and ends with you on your back trying to flatten your stomach to get the zipper in place, it may be time to get back on that scale, and back to the gym.

And, remember, once you’re back, if you don’t see the movement you want at the pace you‘d like, don’t get discouraged.

“Most people engaging in a weight-loss program will hit a plateau,” Erner says. “It’s a temporary situation. It can last weeks, or a couple of months, but eventually you’ll get past it.” HL

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

33

digestive health

oat

Beating

BL

gas down with these suggestions from area nutrition experts

by laurie lynn fischer

Y

ou feel as if you’ve swallowed the Hindenburg. Your meals repeat themselves more than late-night TV ads. You avoid occupied elevators. Sound familiar?

You may be suffering from bloat.

“People who feel bloated can feel the urge to belch or pass gas,” says Albany Gastroenterologist Nina Sax. “They feel like their stomach is distended and that they can’t button their pants, and they feel uncomfortable. Bloat is always a symptom of something else.”

People with chronic bloat should see a doctor and possibly a gastroenterologist and/or gynecologist, she says.

Bloating can accompany ovarian cancer, polycystic ovarian syndrome, colon cancer and celiac disease, she says, but it’s not always so serious.

“For patients with bloating due to constipation, we advise them to drink more fluids, exercise more, and gradually increase their dietary fiber,” she says. You can occasionally take laxatives or try fiber supplements for a week or two, but should see a doctor if this doesn’t work, she says.

Women with post-menopausal weight gain accompanied by bloat might try exercising more, Sax says.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), otherwise known as dyspepsia and heartburn, can also make you feel bloated. “With these

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conditions, acid travels from the stomach into the esophagus, causing heartburn,” Sax says. You can take over-thecounter antacids occasionally, but not regularly, she says. Instead, she advises changing your diet, eating smaller meals, eating slowly so you don’t swallow air, not eating on the run, not overeating, not eating late at night and lying down, and limiting caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol and fatty foods.

Poor carbohydrate absorption can trigger irritable bowel syndrome — another cause of bloat, says Sax. Examine your diet for foods including bread, pasta, dairy and sugar substitutes, she says. Bacteria eat such fermentable carbohydrates in the large intestine, producing gas, says Sax. Following the FODMAP diet — which restricts fermentable, oligo-, di- and mono-saccharides and polyols — can have dramatic results within a month, she says. The gluten- and wheat-free FODMAP diet limits pasta, high-fructose corn syrup, beans, lentils, broccoli, cabbage, apples and most yogurts.

“You have to be your own detective when it comes to seeing what foods best agree with you,” Sax says. “After following the FODMAP diet, you can gradually reintroduce some of the original foods you ate, but in small quantities, so that you can see which ones caused you to have bloat. Keep a food diary and see a dietitian.”

In your food journal, note your activity, when you eat,

Steer Clear Are you prone to bloat? Here’s a list of behaviors and foods to avoid: 1. Overeating – “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” You may remember this line from an Alka Seltzer ad. In our supersized society, it’s easy to overdo it. Control your portion sizes, don’t clean your plate and avoid all-you-can-eat buffets.

2. Eating too rapidly – Don’t speed through your food; chew it and be mindful of your meal instead of reading, working or doing a crossword. If you’re really hungry, or you don’t feel full yet, take a 15-minute break to let the meal sink in.

3. Deep-fried foods – Try baking, broiling, steaming or sauteing instead.

Illustration: © Hypermania37/Dreamstime.com.

4. Fatty food – Our hunter-gatherer ancestors got plenty of exercise and

worked hard to get enough calories, so we evolved to like the flavor of fat. Today, it’s no longer a rare commodity, and our digestive systems have trouble breaking it all down.

5. Carbonated liquids – Charlie floated up to the chocolate factory ceiling after imbibing a bubbly beverage. He had to belch to get back down again. Unless you want to burp like him, you may want to forgo carbonated drinks such as soda.

6. Beans and legumes – Because they’re excellent sources of protein and fiber, it’s a shame to eliminate them entirely from your diet.

Sprinkling Beano on these veggies might help break down the starch. If you build up to eating them regularly, your digestive system may well adapt and produce less gas.

7. Cruciferous vegetables - Pregnant women are sometimes advised to avoid vegetables, such

as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, to save the developing baby from distress. Since these are so nutritious, try and pinpoint whether they’re actually behind your bloat before cutting down on them.

8. Rapid fiber increase – It’s healthy for digestion, but if you up your intake too fast, prepare to suffer the consequences. Do it incrementally and drink more fluids.

9. Salty foods – At that time of the month, you may crave salty food, but beware: sodium can make you retain water and feel even more bloated.

10. Stress – Averting emotional upset can help prevent an upset in your gut. Try breathing or relaxation techniques.

Sources: gastroenterologist Nina Sax and dietitians Lisa Hodgson and Sandra Varno

what you eat and how much, says Registered Dietitian Lisa Hodgson, clinical nutrition manager at Saratoga Hospital.

Anything from excess tummy fat to menstruation can cause bloat, she says. Drinking water and exercising may relieve menstrual bloating, Hodgson says.

Real ginger ale is a tried and true way of settling the stomach — ginger anything, for that matter, says Hodgson. Antacids such as Tums may help, but if you’re popping them like candy or you have chronic heartburn, you’d be wise to consult a doctor, she says.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all way to beat that bloat,” says Sandra Varno, a registered dietitian and nutrition educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Albany County.

“Treatment needs to be very individualized. It’s worth trying to find the reason for it, and then customizing an approach that works for you.”

Lactose intolerance, which often increases with age, is another thing that generates bloat, Varno says. “Fortunately, there is a test for that, and it isn’t too difficult to determine which dairy foods to limit or avoid,” she says.

If you test positive for lactose intolerance, you may not have to wean yourself altogether. Keep portion sizes below four ounces. Hard cheese, goat and sheep milk products and fermented milk products such as yogurt may be more easily tolerated. No-lactose milk is also readily available.

HL

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ask the doc DR. KILEY EXPLAINS the bead educational tool indicating breast lump sizes (see sidebar).

The

Screening Games what women should know about medical tests by brianna snyder | photos by emily jahn

M

edical screening for women has gotten more confusing in recent years as the frequency of certain tests such as mammograms and Pap smears have come into question. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force mammogram guidelines, for instance, recommend women begin screening at age 50 and repeat the test every two years. The American Cancer Society and other organizations recommend screening begin at 40 and continue annually. And that’s just one test.

This month’s HealthyLife seminar is designed to help women make more informed gynecological screening and healthrelated decisions. “There’s a whole host of issues, questions and concerns those women have,” says Dr. Kevin Kiley, noting that the seminar will focus on the issues women deal with from their late 30s to mid-60s. Kiley is chair of the OB/GYN department at Albany Medical Center, which sponsors the ongoing seminar series. (See box for more seminar details.)

“From a screening and monitoring perspective, the landscape is moving at lightspeed on this,” Kiley says of the various changes. “Even the five years I’ve been here, the standards have changed.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends most women get screened for cervical cancer “no more often than every three to five years.” In other words, an annual Pap smear might not be necessary, depending, Kiley says, on your medical history. A history of abnormal Pap tests and/or ovarian cancer in the family may lead to a recommendation for more-frequent exams. So for women age 30 to 65, who have had normal Pap tests on a regular basis, the new recommended standard is an exam

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healthylife

Join us for our next HealthyLife seminar on key medical tests every woman should understand, May 9 from 5-7 p.m., at the Desmond.

The seminar, sponsored by Albany Medical Center, will feature Dr. Kevin Kiley and Dr. Anna Varlamov.

The seminar is free but pre-registration is required.

All registrants are automatically entered to win a girls’ getaway from the Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox, Mass. You must be present to win.

once every three years, according to the ACOG. (Exciting news for women approaching 70: if, starting at 50, you’ve had 20 years of normal pap smears, once you turn 70 you don’t have to have another one.)

Mammogram screening is more controversial. A couple of years ago, research indicated, among other things, that too many unnecessary biopsies were occurring, which in turn led certain authorities to suggest that women start screening at age 50 rather than 40. Kiley still thinks 40 is a good

time to begin regular breast screenings. Technology is getting better all the time, and Kiley says digital mammography technology is amazing.

“Start at 40,” Kiley says, and get a mammogram every year or every other year, depending again on your history and on what your doctor recommends.

And “a good breast exam” every year is also highly beneficial. It’s important for women to know what their breasts feel like so they can spot any changes. The earlier an abnormality is caught, the better. Many, many women find their own breast lumps, Kiley says, but by the time they get to a size that you notice or feel them, they’re already of a size that may be problematic should they prove to be cancerous.. (See sidebar.)

While cancer screening is often top of mind, women have other concerns as they age, everything from worries about libido and vaginal dryness, to depression, empty-nest syndrome, weight gain and more. Kiley says a number of treatments and therapies can address these problems. “While the menopausal midlife issues are really pretty normal, they don’t have to be tolerated,” Kiley says. “Regular exercise helps a lot. [It] Helps with everything from breast cancer to heart disease.”

HL

Bead It Dr. Kiley uses these beads, designed by KePRO, as an educational tool for patients and other physicians. The size of the beads indicates the size of a breast lump at an average size at time of detection, depending on the method.

the size of a lump found in a regular mammogram

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restoration strategies

Tired of Being Tired? find the culprit and restore your energy

38

healthylife

by lee nelson

Photos: Woman at desk, © Pavle Marjanovic/Dreamstime.com; Energy drinks, © iStockphoto.com/Skip ODonnell.

T

hat fifth cup of coffee is no longer helping you stay awake during your day. Even simple, daily tasks seem overwhelming. Each step feels as if you are wearing heavy marching boots and 50 extra pounds of combat gear.

Are you tired of being tired all the time? It’s happening to lots of women in every age group, workplace and lifestyle. But what’s causing all this fatigue and what can you do about it?

“Eighty percent of the time in my clients, energy is an issue,” says Mary Beth McCue, certified dietitian and clinical nutritionist who owns Saratoga Nutrition in Saratoga Springs. “Being tired all the time can be coming from lifestyle, stress, medications, disease, hormones or other deficiencies in their lives. But you really need to talk to someone about it, and they need to really understand the whole picture of you and your life.”

You can start with assessing your own life and what you do and don’t do. “As women today, we are juggling many, many things,” McCue says. “We are still trying to do all the things from the women in the 1950s, such as raising the children and doing all the household chores, plus having big careers. It is impossible, and we get exhausted.”

Here are some of the most common reasons for feeling tired and what you can do about them:

Doing Too Much

Women are asked to do too much, says John Pelizza, associate professor of health education at The Sage Colleges in Albany. He also is a motivational speaker and author on subjects such as wellness, stress and work/life balance.

“They never get to shut down. They have to have the good jobs, take care of their families and homes and then have a thin, ripped body. They have to do it all. You can’t do it all,” he says. “Something has to give.”

Pelizza has been hired by a large law firm whose attorneys are more than 50 percent women to find out why they’re all so tired and not performing up to par. The boss, a woman, is noticing things just aren’t right with those around her.

“The demands on a lawyer are 60 to 80 hours a week. It’s too much,” he says. “And the women that work for this firm won’t give anything up. They have families and homes to take care of, and they never ask for help.”

When you face too many demands, your brain starts to think negatively and you worry more, he says. “You begin to have more fear of failure, and all of a sudden you think things aren’t going to work out. Once you go down that path, your

Energy drinks are a quick fix, and can lead to a quick crash.

Stick to healthy calories.

energy level gets down.”

Pelizza suggests finding a maid, a cook, a grandma or anyone else who can take some of the workload away. “Change can be a positive discovery. That gives you more energy. You feel better and then you are happier,” he says. “When you lack energy, you don’t have discovery. You begin to not feel good and you are depressed.”

Doing Too Little

Has that treadmill in your bedroom become an expensive clothing rack? Do you keep turning down invitations to outings with friends and family? Daily exercise, a fun and active social life, and pleasurable hobbies can keep people healthier and happier.

“Any tools that you can find to relieve the stressors in life can help,” says Christine Marra, clinical psychologist in Saratoga.

Even though Marra is a psychologist, she first tries to rule out medical causes when patients complain of being chronically tired. “I encourage them to meet with their doctor to have a general physical and get all the blood tests done,” she says. “But when they come back to me, we look at all the foundational things like their routine and how they take care of themselves.”

Just increasing your activity level or learning something new can foster amazing changes to the mind and body. The American Heart Association suggests on its website to get 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, five times a week.

Doing so will give you the benefits of a healthy heart, better sleep and more energy. The association describes physical activity as anything that moves your body and burns those calories, including swimming, biking, aerobics, running, playing sports or using that treadmill. continued on page 41 

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Increasing your level of activity can positively affect your energy level.

Photos: Dreamstime.com; Woman walking dog, © Starblue; Woman with alarm clock, © Eastwest Imaging.

continued from page 39

“Just getting outside with nature for a walk can lift your spirits and get the blood flowing through your body,” Marra says.

Eating Too Much and Not the Right Foods

Being overweight can be a big offender in zapping your energy. Another no-no is grabbing those quick fixes to give you energy, such as sugary snacks, energy drinks and coffee. They are only temporary solutions, says McCue. Leiah Bowden, who owns Energy Portraits in Schenectady and is one of McCue’s patients, came to her feeling unenthusiastic about life. They came up with a nutritional plan that eliminated food choices that were bringing her down, physically and mentally, such as gluten products like her favorite pancakes. Gluten is found in wheat, rye and other grains, and can cause some adverse effects, including fatigue, in some people.

“I had never truly realized how crucial nutritional balance is to health, and what true health can feel like. It was all about what I was eating, and what I was not eating. And now I am less tired,” Bowden says.

Several months after eating differently and making better choices, Bowden noticed that she “felt unmitigatedly happy.” “I looked at my life and realized that the only thing that had changed was my diet,” says Bowden.

If you aren’t eating a lot of whole foods from sustainable sources — such as organic or those clean of toxins and pesticides — you’re taking in a lot of toxicity that can make you tired, too, McCue says.

Sleep Patterns are Messed Up

Sleep is not a luxury, but a necessity, which is why Marra goes over her sleepy clients’ routines. What time they go to bed, how many hours they sleep and what they drink and eat before going to bed are important elements in learning what needs to be changed.

“All of it could be contributing to their tiredness. They need to be doing something qui-

People need 7-9 hours of sleep to feel well rested, yet most don’t get nearly that.

et and calm an hour before going to bed,” she says. “And you shouldn’t drink caffeine past 2 p.m.”

Going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the same time each morning can have a positive effect on your energy level, brain activity, ambition and almost everything else involved in your life.

“Experts don’t know all what sleep does to our bodies and minds,” Marra says. “But you can’t catch up what you have lost already. It’s in the minus category.”

Other Medical Conditions

Many health-related issues can cause that lethargic feeling. For instance, over- and under-active thyroids can both cause fatigue. A simple blood test can help your doctor evaluate what’s going on.

Many people also may have diabetes but don’t know it.

They also could be low in potassium, vitamin D, vitamin B-12 or iron, or have an undiagnosed heart problem. For instance, a study by Tufts University shows 64 percent of those ages 26 to 83 were deficient in B-12. Dangerously low B-12 levels can cause fatigue, anemia and loss of memory and nerve damage.

That’s why going to your primary care physician to discuss your issues is important, as well as getting the right blood, urine or other tests to eliminate any of these factors.

“When your body has energy and you feel good, things just fall into place in your life,” Pelizza says. “You need to get your life in balance and make good choices.”

HL

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41

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smart exercises

Knee-d Help? how to deal with this achy joint

by elizabeth keyser | photos by tyler murphy

C Walking puts one and a half times our body weight on each knee.

licking and grinding. Pain when we run. An ache when we go up or down stairs. Stiffness when we sit too long.

Our knees are the largest and most complicated joints in our bodies, and we put a lot of wear on them. No wonder we’re likely to have problems. In fact, knee problems are more common in women than men because our wider hips put more pressure on our kneecaps.

Think about the weight our knees carry. Walking puts one and a half times our body weight on each knee,

according to the American Physical Therapy Association. Walking up stairs puts three to four times our body weight on each knee. Being overweight adds three pounds of pressure on the knee for every additional pound. That means if we’re just 10 pounds overweight (and how many of us are only 10 pounds over?) we’ve added 30 pounds of pressure to our knees. No wonder our knees ache!

Physical therapists, sports trainers and yoga instructors work with knee issues every day. Our active lifestyles and intense exercise habits lead to

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43

smart exercises

nated (pigeon-toed) angle of the feet and inner angling of the knees. Tight hamstrings can tip the pelvis back, reducing the curve of the back and over-rounding the upper back. This can turn the femur (the thigh bone) outward and make people roll onto the outer edges of their feet. “This is not a healthy situation for the knees,” says Kasius.

Good shoes that support your feet are also important and physical therapists recommend finding a local store with a trained staff that specializes in fitting feet properly.

O

ne of the most common knee problems physical therapists say they encounter is patellafemoral syndrome, a catch-all phrase used to describe pain or grinding in the knee cap when this small, roundish bone glides over the end of the thigh bone. “You can remedy it with easy exercise,” says Doreen Frank, a physical therapist and co-owner of Columbia Physical Therapy, which has offices in East Greenbush/ Schodack and Kinderhook/Valatie.

She recommends stretching the hamstrings and strengthening the gluteals. Having a sedentary job tightens the hamstrings. “Take frequent breaks and stretch,” says Frank. “Change your posture.” To strengthen the muscles she recommends one-leg mini squats, exercising the hip extensors and doing the yoga pose called Being overweight the Bridge. adds three pounds Taping is a technique developed by Ausof pressure on the tralian physical therapist Jenny McConnell knee for every to address patellafemoral pain. The knee additional pound. cap is taped to relocate it more to the in— American Physical overuse injuries and are causing an earlier side of the leg, which allows it glide over Therapy Association onset of arthritic changes. Although they the thigh bone. It immediately relieves pain are vulnerable, we can take better care of our and allows physical therapists to work with a knees to prevent and remedy problems. It beclient to strengthen the muscles. gins with the way we stand.

Playing sports that involve running, jumping, “We train ourselves to build and maintain healthy sudden stops and changes in direction are punishing to alignment from our feet up to our heads,” says Andrew Kathe knees, and women and girls are four to six times more sius of Heartspace Yoga & Healing Arts in Albany, “In doing likely to suffer a tear in the ACL, the anterior cruciate ligaso, our knees take less twisting and torque and can flex in ment that connects the thigh bone to the shin bone. Female the direction they’re designed for.” high school and college athletes have less-developed musThe Tadasana, or Mountain pose, is the foundation of yoga cles than their male counterparts, making them more likely standing poses, and it’s all about alignment and evenly disto strain their ligaments. The bad news is that studies show tributing weight. The knees should stay aligned with the heels, that young athletes who require ACL surgery are at risk of say yoga teachers. They shouldn’t bend outward or inward. developing osteoarthritis years later. “Early injuries as an Yoga builds strength and flexibility so that the entire body athlete or being in a car accident create arthritic changes as moves toward better alignment. Tight psoas muscles, a major an adult,” says Frank. core muscle that connects the lumbar to the legs, can tip the Experts underscore the importance of stretching and pelvis forward, which leads to overarching of the back, a prowarming up before playing sports as a preventive mea-

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healthylife

sure. And as we age, we might think about replacing hard-impact sports with low-impact sports, such as swimming, rock climbing or yoga. Or taking a brisk walk instead of running.

A common runners’ injury is ITB Syndrome, which often causes sharp or burning pain on the outside of the legs when the iliotibial band, the ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to the shin, becomes inflamed. Another common injury is a tear in the meniscus, the shock-absorber-like pads of cartilage between the femur and tibia. As we age, the meniscus gets more rigid and is more prone to tearing.

But even the most common, mindless movements we do in our own homes can cause strain or injury. “Even the way you carry a laundry basket or load a dishwasher, if you are twisting and bending, it’s wrong,” says Frank.

“Bend from the hips and knees.”

Treatment for knee problems needs to be tailored to the individual. But there are a few one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s holistic. Improving our overall physical conditioning, eating healthily, getting enough sleep and having an exercise program that strengthens the muscles — including the core musculature and muscles around the pelvis — but not enough to irritate our knees. And losing weight? It’s the best thing we can do for our knees.

HL

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cancer care

The Silent

Killer

what you should know about ovarian cancer

A

ndrea Annese-Como considers herself lucky.

Annese-Como, 46, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer six years ago after a sharp pain sent her to the emergency room. Two cysts on her ovaries — unrelated to the cancer — caused the pain, and a surgeon discovered the cancer while removing the cysts.

“I am so lucky that this was caught,” says Annese-Como.

“Many women don’t get any pain.”

Annese-Como, who was a HealthyLife cover model last year, lives in Ballston Lake with her husband and two children. She works at Annese and Associates, a computer networking business that she runs with her three sisters. Her ovarian cancer was diagnosed at Stage 2 and was eliminated with surgery and radiation.

About 22,240 new cases of ovarian cancer are reported annually in the United States. The median age at diagnosis is 63. With 14,000 deaths each year, ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecological cancer. More than half of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die within five

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healthylife

years because so often it is discovered after spreading to the abdomen, lungs, brain or other organs.

“The problem with ovarian cancer is the ovary is tiny and there are rarely symptoms,” says Dr. Lance Hellman, a radiation oncologist at Northeastern Radiation Oncology.

The symptoms also often mimic discomforts women ignore: bloating, feeling full, abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits. Frequent urination can also be a sign.

In part as a result of this masking, most ovarian cancers aren’t detected until Stage 3 or 4. There is no proven screening method that catches ovarian cancer in the general population. In fact, testing healthy women for ovarian cancer causes more harm than good, according to a major study that used a blood test and an ultrasound of the ovaries to screen for cancer. The high rate of false positives led to unnecessary surgeries — the 2011 study found that 20 women had to undergo surgery to find one case of cancer.

“Screening has been disappointing,” Hellman says.

Photos: iStockphoto.com. Doctor, © ericsphotography; awareness ribbon, © Alexander Tesevich.

by cathleen f. crowley

Your Risk

S

till, regular blood tests and ultrasounds are recommended for women who have a family history of ovarian cancer or a mutated breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1 or BRCA2). Having the mutated gene significantly increases the risk of developing both breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Dr. Karen Lynn Tedesco, of New York Oncology Hematology in Albany, counsels women who undergo genetic testing. Tedesco is director of the practice’s Hereditary Cancer Risk Assessment Program.

The lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer among women in the general population is 1.4 percent. For women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, it is 15 percent to 40 percent. Like many doctors, Tedesco delivers the results of genetic tests in person. “I encourage patients not to make dramatic decisions that day,” she says.

Genetic testing can be expensive but most insurance companies cover the cost for women considered at high-risk for developing ovarian or breast cancer, including patients with a family history of the cancer.

Federal law protects people who find they are at a higher risk for a disease because of their genes. In 2009, Congress passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act that prohibits insurance companies and employers from using a person’s genetic information when making decisions about insurance eligibility, hiring, promotions or terms of employment.

A woman with a BRCA gene mutation has several options: do nothing, increasing screening or have her ovaries, and possibly uterus, removed. Removing the organs reduces the chance of developing ovarian cancer by 96 percent.

“A lot of women do it,” Tedesco says, but most wait until they are done having children.

Annese-Como does not have the mutated gene but believes her cancer came from her infertility. There is conflict-

Your risk of developing ovarian cancer is higher if:  You have a close family member

who has had ovarian cancer  You have had breast cancer  You have a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene  You never have had a child  You took estrogen-only hormone

replacement for 5 or more years  You are over 55 Source: National Institutes of Health

ing evidence on whether fertility treatments increase the risk of developing cancer, but solid evidence suggests that never having children increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Annese-Como had fertility treatments but they were not successful, so she and her husband adopted.

Her gynecologist gave her the blood test for ovarian cancer during an exam in 2007. She was feeling tired and nauseous at the time, but the test came back normal. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three months later. “That’s how quickly ovarian cancer can move,” she says.

Annese-Como now volunteers with Caring Together, a local nonprofit. She and other ovarian cancer survivors talk about their experience with nursing and medical students at Albany Medical College, Russell Sage College and The College of St. Rose.

“I honestly feel better now than I have in my whole life,” she says. “Cancer was a benefit in a sense. I felt like it was a gift, in a weird way, to be able to share my story.”

HL

Ovarian cancer symptoms Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague.

Women and their doctors often blame the symptoms on other, more common conditions.

By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries.

You should see your doctor if you have the following symptoms on a daily basis for more than a few weeks:  Bloating or swollen belly area  Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly  Pelvic or lower abdominal pain; the area

may feel “heavy” to you (pelvic heaviness)

Other symptoms are also seen with ovarian cancer. However, these symptoms are also common in women who do not have cancer: • Abnormal menstrual cycles • Constipation • Increased gas • Indigestion • Lack of appetite • Nausea and vomiting • Unexplained back pain that worsens over time • Vaginal bleeding that occurs in between periods • Weight gain or loss • Excessive hair growth that is coarse and dark • Needing to urinate more often than usual Source: American Accreditation HealthCare Commission

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47

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owner’s manual

Your Liver

— a primer compiled by linda tuccio-koonz

Y

Photo/Illustration: Woman, Fuse/GettyImages; © Nguyet M Le/Dreamstime.com.

our liver, an organ about the size of a football that’s flat on one side, sits under your rib cage on your liver right side. The largest organ in your abdomen (it weighs 3-4 pounds), its main job is to filter toxins from the blood coming from the digestive tract before passing it to the rest of the body.

Without your liver, you wouldn’t be able to digest food, absorb nutrients or rid your body of toxic substances. In other words, you can’t live without it!

The liver helps with digestion by making enzymes and bile, and also makes proteins important for blood clotting.



The more toxins, such as alcohol, that go into your body the more poisons the liver has to filter — and buildup of toxins in the liver can damage the organ itself.

cher’s disease (a disorder that causes fatty substances to accumulate), or hemochromatosis (a condition in which iron accumulates in the liver).









Cirrhosis, or scarring, is caused by disease (such as hepatitis or cystic fibrosis), as well as chronic alcohol abuse.

When the liver is injured it tries to repair itself and forms scar tissue in the process.

Cirrhosis often has no symptoms until liver damage is extensive. Signs may include fatigue, bleeding and bruising easily, itchy skin, jaundice, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, loss of appetite, nausea, leg swelling, and weight loss.



An enlarged liver — hepatomegaly — is a sign of an underlying problem such as hepatitis, cancer, fluid-filled pockets called liver cysts, Gau-

To keep your liver healthy: lead an active life, drink alcohol in moderation (if at all), eat a well-balanced diet, limit contact with chemicals, use aerosol cleaners and insecticides only in well-ventilated areas, maintain a healthy weight and don’t smoke.

Having more than two drinks of alcohol every day for many years increases the risk of liver cancer. Other risk factors include obesity and diabetes.



Symptoms of liver cancer may include pain in the upper abdomen on the right side, a lump or heavy feeling in the upper abdomen, bloating, loss of appetite and feeling full, weakness or feeling very tired, nausea and vomiting, jaundice and fever. HL

For additional information on the liver, go to

www.timesunion.com/healthylife

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

49

skin care

No Stretching the Truth once you’ve got ’em, stretch marks stay with you

A

bout a decade ago, a friend who shall remain nameless was given a birthday present she will never forget: a jar of stretch-mark cream. The giver — her husband — thought he was being creative and that she would love the present. My friend, very pregnant at the time, was not amused. All she could think of was her baby belly and her oh-so-stretchable skin that was now a mass of lines, aka stretch marks.

She didn’t need to be reminded that her tummy skin was taking on a look all its own. She also knew that the cream was not going to make her stretch marks disappear. Unfortunately, in most cases, once you get them they become a permanent part of your body. Ugh! Although most point to pregnancy as the main source of stretch marks, they actually occur for a host of reasons, and not to women only. Being obese, growing too quickly as a teen, lifting weights, taking corticosteroid creams, lotions and pills, and chronic use of oral or systemic steroids, as well as your genes — all can cause stretch marks. The Cleveland Clinic says they occur when the skin is stretched and thinned, causing the elastic fibers to break. And every expert HealthyLife contacted says there are no statistics about how many people have stretch marks because many people

do nothing about them. As those of us who have them know: ignoring them won’t make them disappear.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Malcolm Roth of Cosmetic & Reconstructive Plastic Surgery of Albany and chief of the division of plastic surgery at Albany Medical Center says stretch marks form in the dermis and then move up through the skin’s layers until they reach the surface, where they look like scars. “They are discolored lines that are sometimes thick, sometimes thin, sometimes spread out, with a length that is variable,” he says. “Unfortunately, we don’t really have the answers for what causes stretch marks.”

He explains that in addition to the abdomen, stretch marks commonly appear on the butt, thighs, back and arms. The medical term is striae, which in Latin means groove or stripe.

They usually begin as pink, red or purple lines, which is when they most readily respond to treatment.

Dermatologist Dr. Jean Buhac of Saratoga Dermatology/ Spa City Spa in Saratoga Springs recommends people seek help when the marks are red, pink or purple, as they are beginning to form. “What is fortunate about the red color is that it makes it very suitable to treatment with lasers that target red coloration,” she says. “The VBeam is a pulse dye laser that delivers wavelengths … specifically designed to

kid #3 kids #1 & #2 kid #1 kid #3 kid #3

kid #3 kid #2

Photo: © Dgmate/Dreamstime.com.

by valerie foster

LOOK GOOD FROM HEAD TO target the color red. Early intervention with the VBeam laser may shrink the width, fade the color and plump up the collagen associated with the stretch mark.“ Treatment is fast, and patients can return to whatever they were doing before treatment.

As an adjunct to the laser, Buhac uses topical retinoids.

The Mayo Clinic suggests using Retin A, Vitamin C or glycolic acid to improve the appearance of stretch marks but cautions that although these products can decrease the length and width of the marks and make them less colorful, the marks will remain. And patients need to remember that these treatments are not instant. It can take three, four or five months for them to begin to work, since it takes are least 30 days for topical creams to penetrate one layer of the skin. Remember, stretch marks form several layers down.

All stretch marks fade to white or silver, usually over a few years. That fading signals that the inflammatory process is done, and the marks are now mature. Unfortunately that also means little can be done to erase them.

Except for surgery — although there is no surgical technique for removing stretch marks. But some operations, such as a tummy tuck, offer an added benefit. “When we are actually cutting out skin that has stretch marks on it, the stretch marks are gone,” says Roth. “In fact, I just had a body contouring consult with a patient who has lost over 100 pounds, and in this case, we will be removing stretch marks with surgery.”

So is there anything we can do to avoid them in the first place? Roth says it’s impossible to determine if you will get stretch marks. That doesn’t mean you should give up.

Our experts offer some suggestions:

• Keep your weight constant. If your skin has no reason to stretch, stretch marks will never form.

• If you are pregnant, avoid gaining more weight than needed.

• Moisturize potential trouble spots daily with cocoa butter or Vaseline Intensive cream.

• See a dermatologist when the stretch marks are immature and colorful – pink, red or purple.

And one more, from Medical News Today, which suggests eating a diet healthy in vitamins A, E and C may help prevent stretch marks since these vitamins help maintain healthy skin. Foods high in vitamin C include orange fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, carrots and sweet potatoes, and green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale. Vitamin C-rich foods include strawberries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, broccoli and cabbage. For vitamin E, include whole grains, wheat germ, green leafy vegetables, egg yolks, nuts and seeds in your diet. HL

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bra 411

Taking Care of

The Girls

a bra that fits will keep you looking and feeling good

52

healthylife

Deconstructing

the bra

There’s more to a bra than meets the eye.

Meet the five parts:

by valerie foster

Photos: Dreamstime.com. Woman in bra, © Piotr Marcinski; dangling bra, © Olira.

W

hen was the last time you were measured for a bra? Or perhaps the better question is this: Have you ever been measured for a bra?

Dora Lau says chances are you haven’t, and if you were, it might have been when you got your first bra. For all too many women, that first size becomes their size for life, no matter how much prodding, pushing and stretching they have to do to make it fit. “Eighty-five percent of women are wearing the wrong size bra,” she says. And when it comes to bras, size really matters.

Lau should know. A spokeswoman for the Intimate Apparel Council, she has spent more than two decades designing bras for such giants as Victoria’s Secret and Lane Bryant. Today, she is president and founder of Curvy Couture, a California online bra manufacturer and retailer specializing in bras for fuller-breasted women.

“Above everything else, your bra should be comfortable,” Lau says. “It should not pinch your sides and back, your breasts should fit in the cups without spill-over, and the straps should be comfortable, not digging into your shoulders. If it’s not comfortable, it’s not a good fit.” Plus, poking underwires can lead to formation of scar tissue in the breasts and a properly fitted bra can improve posture, staving off back and neck issues.

Karen Esposito agrees. “When your bra does not fit right, you find yourself constantly pulling on the straps, pulling the bra up or down to cover your breasts, or moving the band into a comfortable position,” she says. “A bra that fits properly is a bra that you never feel. That’s the goal.” Esposito founded In the Mood Intimates — another online intimate apparel store — eight years ago.

Add two more reasons: a more confident and healthier you! Kailyn McLaughlin, co-owner of Chic Underneath in Saratoga Springs, says: “There’s something about being comfortable and chic underneath your clothes that really makes you feel so confident. Your body will feel better and your clothes will fit better. We’ve all had back fat or have bulged out of our cups and had the four-boob look, or been poked by an uncomfortable underwire. A lot of people don’t know that ill-fitting bras can lead to scar tissue and back and shoulder problems.”

 The band is

 The cups securely hold your breasts, with no spillage below, above or on the sides of the cups, and no puckering or gaping in the cups.

 The center panel, or bridge, should lie flat on your skin, between your breasts.

the bra’s main support system.

When properly fitted, it should never pull, tug or make you sore. A band hiking up in the back signals it is too loose and the support is compromised.

If the underwires or front band are pulling away from your body and the bridge is not flat against your skin, that’s another sign the band is too loose.

 Wings or

 The straps are for tweaking the bra’s fit. They come in many styles, including basic, straight over-the-shoulder, criss-cross and halter. Some are very thin, while bigger bra sizes often come with thicker, sometimes padded straps for comfort.

side panels — on both sides of the bra under the arms — are there for support and to hold the cups in place.

continued on page 54 

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

53

bra 411 continued from page 53

Types of

bras

bras have straps that can be rearranged into CONVERTIBLE back criss-crosses, halter or traditional over-the-shoulders.

They all come with directions for rearranging the straps to fit your clothes.



OR BALCONETTE are not full-cup bras. They make DEMI more of a horizontal line across the top of the cups.

BRAS lie completely flat on the back and FRONT-CLOSURE are easier to fasten than traditional back-closure bras. In some cases, front fasteners are uncomfortable for fuller-breasted women. compress and shape the breasts, often giving MINIMIZERS a flatter, more spread-out shape and the illusion of being a



cup or two smaller. Minimizers usually start at 34C and can be very comfortable for fuller breasts. bras give great support and lift, and provide MOLDED-CUP the most nipple coverage. Molded bras are not the padded bras of yesteryear and are suitable for any-size breast. Today’s molding materials are lightweight and thin, allowing your breasts to move with you while providing a wonderful silhouette. Some molded bras come with a pocket inside the bra, which encases a removable pad, particularly helpful if your breasts are different sizes or you need a little extra oomph!!

and shoulder straps that come over the shoulder in a V pattern close to the body.



bras lift and move breasts closer together, providPUSH-UP ing more cleavage. Often, push-ups contain foam, rubber or gel padding. bras are usually made with molded cups and are T-SHIRT seamless, for a flawless look under light-weight fabrics.

All three of our experts agree that, in most UNDERWIRES: cases, underwires are preferable since they provide the most support and keep your girls looking perky. Underwires should never dig or cut into your body, and on the sides, should rest on your bone not your breast. If they are not comfortable that means the bra is not the proper fit. Following surgery, many doctors recommend you heal completely before wearing an underwire bra.



are used for clothes with deep, plunging neckU-PLUNGES lines. Really plunging!

Bra

care

All experts agree that hand washing is always preferable. If you refuse to hand wash, be sure to clasp the bra and put it into a lingerie bag before tossing it into the washing machine.

And never, ever, put bras in the dryer. The dryer’s heat fries the bra’s materials, making it lose the support your girls deserve.

HL

54

healthylife

Photos: Dreamstime.com. Leopard bra, © Ruslan Kudrin; Sports bra, © Andrey Butenko; T-shirt bra, © Ruslan Kudrin; Underwire bra, © Ruslan Kudrin; Bra fitting, © Otnaydur.

bras give support to the breasts, important during SPORTS vigorous exercise. Some have racerbacks with front closures

MARIKA + CHARLES FACTORY STORE

So, what

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This question has no simple answer, since every bra manufacturer sizes bras differently. But all three experts agree that every woman should be measured by an expert once a year. Weight fluctuations, pregnancy, nursing, menopause and gravity all contribute to changing bra sizes.

McLaughlin offers bra-fitting parties that she promises are fun. “I think it’s easier for someone who tends to be more shy about the process to get a fitting once she sees that other people are doing it,” she says.

“We’re all women and have the same body parts. There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. It takes about five minutes. It’s quick, easy and painless.”

Still not convinced? Victoria’s Secret offers these tips for measuring yourself: on a comfortable non-padded bra, Put one that does not pinch or pucker. a soft tape measure around your back at Hold band level. Bring it to the front, just above your bust. That number is your band size. If the number is odd, round down to the closest even number. measure around the fullest part Now of your bust, at nipple level. This is your bust measurement. If this measure is a fraction more than one-half, round up. the band size from the bust Subtract measurement. This number equals the letter of your cup size. If there is no difference, you are a AA. One inch, an A. Two inches a B. And so on.

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Remember, these are just estimates. Lau and Esposito both offer generous return policies, so if you order the wrong size bra online, getting a replacement is not a problem. If you are measured by an experienced person and not sure what size to order from their websites, both say customers should contact them. They can make adjustments for different bra manufacturers.

Lau offers this simple test to check if your bra has your breasts in the proper place: • Bend your arm at the elbow, forming a 90-degree angle.

• Lay your arm across your middle.

• Your breasts should be sitting halfway between your shoulders and your elbow.

Visit our website for more details!

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mind Ask Emma 59 How to get over your clumsiness 60 Conquer your phobias! 65 timesunion.com/HealthyLife

57

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ask emma

Is Sex Necessary? by emma tennant

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Lise Gagne.

I

have a patient I’ll call Mark. He’s been coming for about five years. He is single, in his 30s, fastidious, a bit depressed. He is very funny.

“Umm, I thought this was supposed to be about me, isn’t it?” he’ll say if I digress for a moment into my own reflections. “I don’t pay to listen to your problems.”

We laugh. We also play this little game. He doesn’t say anything — at all — about sexual desire, or romantic love, of any kind. He never talks about longing for a woman or a man. And since he never brings it up, I don’t ask.

We know we are doing this. This is our version of romance within the bonds of therapy. I want something from him. He knows I want it, but withholds it from me. He is depriving me of the satisfaction.

Then there is Constance. Constance has about nine dogs.

She is a medical doctor, performing at the highest levels.

She also happens to be a virgin.

But Constance, unlike Mark, does talk about romantic longing. She looks online for the perfect man. “It’s like homework,” she says, miserable. “It’s so much work. I just want someone to come along and make it simple.”

Every now and then Constance does go out with someone she meets online, but she unconsciously dooms the date from the start. She literally schedules them for 4:30 in the afternoon, somewhere bright and crowded, between shifts at the hospital.

“So, what was he like,” I’ll ask after one of these dates.

“The same. I don’t remember. They’re all the same,” she’ll say.

W

hat we have here are two people who would simply prefer not to — I mean, they just don’t want, in their hearts, to get sucked into the maelstrom of sex and relationship. I suspect Mark has fantasies he doesn’t want me to know about, and that’s certainly his right. If he doesn’t want to bring sex and intimacy into his life, isn’t that OK? Constance has dreams of being swept away by a knight on a horse to a magic land where everything will be better, But the mess involved — the literal mess: fluids, the touching, the body-on-body dimension — repels her. Dating is work, and I suspect that if she didn’t feel social pressure to “date” and

“marry” and be “normal” she would drop it immediately and get another dog.

And I want to say that this is all right. Sex isn’t for everyone.

But somehow that doesn’t quite work out well for people, because there is something about the sex drive that seems to insist upon finding an expression. As you are probably aware, the wonder of the Internet was driven in part by the need for greater bandwidth to feed the insatiable desire for more, better, faster pornography. Recently, a study of preferred porn search words by geography was published. You can find it for yourself — let’s just say, Kentucky and Romania, what is going on there?

Not everyone has the same level of drive or enjoys sex that much. But the denial of the sexual impulse altogether does seem to create unpleasant side effects. Some, for instance, become immersed in pornography and online chat rooms to the exclusion of human encounters and so on. The real danger is the split in the ego — where one half of the person can’t integrate the sexual self and splits it off. That’s where you get perversions of various kinds — the molestation of children, voyeurism, and so on. The impulse finds an outlet without the governance of reason, because sex is “bad” and therefore can’t be part of the integrated self. It needs to happen in a dark, secret place.

But that’s not what troubles me today. When I look at Mark and Constance, I see people who have not acquired a certain ease in their bodies. They aren’t at home in themselves. They are — and feel — cut off from the essential human experience, which is to be a bodied, incarnate, messy, fluid emanating, sexual creature. To have this aspect of our nature met and accepted by another person is a very deep need. For a moment, we are OK — interpenetrated — with another person and it confirms us as being part of the human family, alive for a moment, aware of our finitude.

That’s why sex is necessary. Sex, even bad sex, has a way of throwing us into the river of the living.

HL Emma Tennant (not her real name) is a practicing psychotherapist.

All advice offered here is simply that. If you have a pressing concern, you should see a specialist in person. If you have a question you’d like addressed or a comment for Emma, send it to askemma@ timesunion.com. Inquiries will be treated with confidentiality.

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

59

your confidence

Tired of

Clumsy Mistakes?

60

healthylife

“KNIFELESS LASER FACELIFT”

how to become less of a klutz

Featuring FDA-approved SideLaze800™ technology

by wendy page

D

o your friends remove their breakables when you visit? Do you trip over air? Being a klutz every now and then is normal; accidents happen. But if you’re a bull in a china shop much of the time, combating your clumsiness is fixable — with a little perseverance and help.

First and foremost, visit your doctor. An underlying condition may be causing your lack of grace, sometimes referred to as ataxia (an issue with balance and coordination). The problem can be as simple as dehydration, which causes dizziness; impaired vision, which makes it more difficult to navigate your way; an inner ear infection, which directly affects balance; or an issue with the medications you take. You might also be sleep deprived, or your body may be lacking in necessary minerals.

A disease such as arthritis, where your body’s aches make it more difficult to use your limbs gracefully, or a larger illness such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, might also be the culprits.

Once medical explanations have been eliminated, it’s time to find solutions to your klutziness — and the key, experts say, is to efficiently incorporate mind, body and spiritual exercises into your day so that all the parts work together to keep you from, well, tripping over yourself.

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BODY “As we age, we tend to shorten the important muscles that help us get around — our hamstrings and calves,“ Fox says. “You need good feedback from the surface you’re standing on — good footwear. You need good core strength in your trunk and abdominals to keep them lengthened, which gives you stability as you move. You need to maintain flexibility and core strength.”

Evans agrees. “Balance can be developed in different ways,” she explains, “through yoga, regular fitness, working those abdominal muscles and your back muscles. If you don’t have strength in them, then you’re not going to be able to maintain anything. You need to work your body so you’re balancing your muscles inside your body to get the balance outside your body.” The yoga “tree” pose — standing with one foot against the opposite shin — is just one example of an exercise that can improve balance. (See sidebar for other simple balance exercises.)

Taking care of your body in general and being aware in particular of how your body feels each day will also help stave off klutzy behavior. Pay attention to your stress level, watch your nutrition, and tailor a workout toward areas in which you’re deficient, such as poor posture.

Sleep deprivation can also lead to clumsiness. It’s also important to be well hydrated, as dehydration is a large cause of falls because it causes instability in your system. continued on page 63 

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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK & WIN! When we started HealthyLife nearly five years ago, we were the first in the area to create a monthly glossy magazine devoted solely to women and body, mind, spirit issues. Each issue we strive to bring you local information about ways to live your healthiest life.

In the past five years, you’ve heard a lot from us. Now it’s your turn. While we regularly receive feedback from readers — keep those e-mails and phone calls coming! — we decided to take a more formal route. We’ve created a survey so we can take HealthyLife to the next level — all with you in mind.

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your confidence continued from page 61

MIND

SPIRIT

It’s no secret that women are natural multitaskers. The more you have on your plate, however, the more stressed you feel, the more you’re pulled in different directions, and the more your mind doesn’t focus. And that means your coordination suffers.

“Especially for women, it’s such a busy life,” says Christine Fox, physical therapist at Albany Physical Therapy. “We’re sort of motion-without-thought much of the time. We get a little cluttered up in our brain, and it puts us at high risk for doing an act safely. It’s a risky thing to be busy.”

She advises taking a moment to think before rushing to the next thing. “Stop yourself short of jumping into clumsiness,” Fox says. “Do your task safely and carefully.”

Slowing down and de-stressing can help keep your mental acuity high. Anything that challenges your mind — Sudoku, knitting, or sites such as Luminosity.com — can help with mental acuity and keeping you in the present.

“Taking care of yourself in general will help balance,” says Andrea Evans, physical therapist at St. Mary’s Healthcare Outpatient Physical Therapy Department at Amsterdam. “If your neurological system isn’t working with your muscular system, you’re going to be all askew.” She also advises paying attention to your surroundings and focusing on the task at hand. Live in the moment.

While it’s sometimes difficult to wrap your head around spirituality in the midst of your busy-ness, that’s precisely why you need it — to center yourself. “Make sure you spend some time by yourself and de-stress,” Fox advises.

“It’s really important to spend time in a quiet room and do some deep breathing exercises.” This allows your body to decelerate, sending a message to your brain that you’re at rest.

This process of slowing down can be effective any time, even a moment of duress. Take a minute to breathe deeply, calm down and regroup. Sitting on a solid chair that offers a good foundation helps. Check your posture: Your shoulders and head should be straight — don’t look down at the ground — to literally lift your spirit. “Go forward rather than thinking about the past,” Evans says. Lifting the proverbial weights off your shoulders will help center you.

“If we focus on what we should focus on — eating right, sleeping enough, and exercising 30 minutes a day — you could really balance a lot of things out,” Evans says. When you’re engaged, standing up straight and focused on the here and now, you’re less likely to be a klutz, which is better for all of us — and our coffee mugs.

HL

Exercises to improve your balance and strengthen your core “Balance activities can be anything,” Evans says.

“Close your eyes and stand up.” Removing your visual signals forces you to rely on your muscles and muscle memory, which stimulates your sense of balance.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/rollover.

Stand in a hallway at home or at the office so you can reach your arms out to a wall, if necessary.

Create a balance beam effect where you can walk a straight line, with your eyes open or closed.

Follow a line on the floor, or simply put one foot in front of the other.

Sit in a chair with arms (they control your movement, and act as a support). Extend your right leg, flex your foot, point your foot, rotate your ankle in one direction five times, then other direction five times. This simple leg exercise works to get fluid out of the ankles (especially if you sit all day). Too much fluid in your ankles can affect balance.

Exercise using a stability ball, whether it’s doing squats against a wall (which also helps with lower back strength) or sitting on one at work to keep your core activated. Also try a bosu ball or a wobble board to do squats and knee bends. The disk forces you to strengthen your core and thus improve your balance.

timesunion.com/HealthyLife

63

HealthyLife magazine brings you stories and advice geared at living a balanced life, and nourishment of your mind, body, and spirit.

Life@Home is packed with inspiration to help you make your house a home.

Capital Region Women@Work is the in-print component of an innovative network of local women in managerial and executive positions.

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fear factor

Don’t Be

Afraid! by lee nelson

D

o you shriek when you see a spider? Do you get clammy hands and palpitations when you go to the dentist? Everyone has fears — crowded elevators, tall ladders, mice, public speaking; the list goes on and on.

You probably can avoid going to tall buildings if you’re afraid of heights. You can keep your cool if you see a bee, even though they scare you to death.

Most people can deal with that fear internally or avoid places and things so they don’t have to face it. Their lives go on.

But, for some, it’s not that simple. Their lives are affected drastically when that fear becomes a phobia. Their involuntary and irrational reaction to a thing, situation or idea can devastate their lifestyle and relationships or give them panic attacks.

“Most of us carry a certain degree of anxiety. But it’s when those fears become extraordinary and interfere in enjoying life that something has to be done,” says Alan Barnett, clinical psychologist in Clifton Park. “I thought I was fearful of heights until I went to the top of a ski jump at Lake Placid. I went out to the end of the platform. I realized then that I wasn’t afraid of heights. I was afraid of falling.”

He’s since visited many high places including the Empire State Building. “It’s high up there but it is enclosed. I can go to places that are tall as long as they have railings or enclosures. I am OK. I just won’t be jumping out of airplanes anytime soon,” he says.

But for his patients who come to him with fears that interfere with their lives, he works with them to gain a set of skills to address those phobias and desensitize them.

you CAN overcome phobias

continued on page 66 

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65

fear factor

What are you afraid of?

Here are some of the most common phobias our experts have seen through the years:

Acrophobia

Brontophobia

Aerophobia

Claustrophobia

Fear of heights Fear of flying

Agoraphobia

Fear of thunderstorms Fear of confined spaces

Fear of large crowds and inescapable situations

Mysophobia

Aquaphobia Fear of water

Fear of social situations

Arachnophobia

Trypanophobia

Fear of spiders

Fear of germs or dirt

Sociophobia

Fear of injections

continued from page 65

Phobias are anxiety disorders and can be caused by an assortment of things, including genetics, brain chemistry, environment, traumas and other biological and psychological influences, according to the website of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

The association denotes three groups of phobias. The first and most common are specific phobias with fears of specific objects, animals, places and situations. The second is social phobia or social anxiety disorder, which causes extreme anxiety when in a social or public setting. The third is agoraphobia, the fear of being surrounded by large numbers of people or having a panic attack in public places where you can’t easily escape.

Specific phobias afflict 19 million adult Americans, with twice as many women as men affected, says the National Institute of Mental Health website. Often, the phobia is accompanied by depression or substance abuse. Phobias can ruin lives, families and dreams. But there is help out there.

“Anxiety is a natural part of our experience. For someone who helps those with phobias, my goal is not to rid my clients of anxiety but to help them cope with it,” says Melissa Them, clinical psychologist at Health Psychology Associates in Albany.

She is working now with a woman with social phobia, who desperately wants more friends. But the woman worries that people will judge what she’s saying or that she’s not

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smart enough.

“Her co-workers ask her out, but she comes up with some excuse every time,” Them says. “She’s very lonely. She’s not living a full life, but she wants to.”

Them is helping her understand that the negative thoughts the woman imagines others have about her are actually just coming from her own mind. “Once you lay a foundation of cognitive restructuring, then the behavior component can come in,” she says. “I can teach her skills to keep her body under control so she doesn’t go into a panic attack.”

Through the years, Barnett has had patients afraid of thunderstorms, snakes, flying and more. But usually the fears run in clusters, such as fears of animals or fears of physical injury with natural events such as hurricanes or thunderstorms.

“If you use avoidance, you never overcome the fear,” he says. “Avoidance convinces yourself you were right all along.

We want them to come to terms with that fear or confront it in protective steps.”

T

he fear of flying is quite common and can be a devastating phobia for those who have jobs that require travel or those with family spread out across the country. Martin Seif, founder of the ADAA and clinical psychologist in New York and Connecticut, suffered from his own fear of flying years ago.

“Getting over my fear of flying was one of the most dif-

Photos: GettyImages; Scared woman, Peter Dazeley; Spider, Nature Picture Library; Dreamstime.com; Airplane, © Svlumagraphica; Pit Bull, © Ginger Monteleone.

Phobias can ruin lives, families and dreams. But there is help out there. ficult achievements of my life,” he says.

Fear of flying is not just a single phobia. Those afflicted also may be claustrophobic, the fear of having no escape or being in cramped quarters, or other anxieties such as fear of heights, he says.

Thirteen years ago, he created the Freedom to Fly program at the Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Center at White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital, where he serves as associate director.

He also is founder of the ADAA. The program is a six-session program with the participants actually flying at the last meeting. He understands why people fear flying: it seems unreal that a big, heavy plane can get off the ground and stay in the air. People know that flying is a safe way of traveling, but statistics don’t stop their fears. Nearly 20 percent say the fear interferes in their work or social lives, Seif says.

“There are rare cases where they decide not to fly on that sixth session. But we give them a lot of information and teach them to look at their anxiety differently,” he says.

“They learn to control the fear instead of fighting it.”

Coming face to face with the fear has proven through the years to help many people come to grips with their phobias. “The name of the game is exposure. People have to come into contact gradually with the thing they are afraid of,” says David Tolin, clinical psychologist and author of the 2012 book, Face Your Fears: A Proven Plan to Beat Anxiety, Panic, Phobias and Obsessions. He also is a featured expert on the A&E cable television series Hoarders and director of Anxiety Disorders Center Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital. “We retrain the brain not to have an alarm reaction and

to keep pushing what the person can do and face,” he says.

For example, one of his clients had been afraid of snakes since she was a little girl. She now was in her 50s and still struggling. She was getting to the point of avoiding going outside or letting her grandkids go outside to play when she watched them.

“She knew it was silly, but she was still fearful. The impact on her relationships was growing,” he says. “We started her out with looking at pictures of snakes, then bringing in a snake into the same room with her, and then having her touch the snake.”

By the time her sessions with Tolin were through, she was able to have a snake crawl across her arms without having panic attacks or any other exasperating feelings. “They weren’t doing anything bad to her so her fear subsided,” he says. “She found she was no longer impaired. She can go anywhere now and walk across grass or take a hike in the woods.”

At his center and with many anxiety centers, virtual reality programs can be used to give someone the feeling, for instance, of being at the top of a tall building, or giving a speech to a large group of people. “You can simulate something and let them practice over and over again like speaking in front of a group that wouldn’t be practical in real life,” he says. “But there is no substitute for reality and facing the fear.” He admits there are a lot of good and bad therapies out there to help those with phobias. “You just have to find which treatment has the strongest scientific evidence. If your fear is unrealistic and way out of proportion, you have to recalibrate the brain,” he says. “But people really can get past their fears.”

HL

Difference between normal anxiety and a phobia Normal Anxiety

Phobia

Feeling queasy while climbing a tall ladder

Refusing to attend your best friend’s wedding because it’s on the 25th floor of a hotel

Worrying about taking off in an airplane during a lightning storm

Turning down a big promotion because it involves air travel

Feeling anxious around your neighbor’s pit bull

Avoiding visiting your neighbors for fear of just seeing a dog

Contributed by Anxiety Disorders Association of America

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Top Tip: There are no ➺

secrets [to dieting]. You have to eat right and exercise and stay consistent. You have to give your body time to adjust to the changes you’re trying to make. For some people it happens really fast; for other people it takes longer. We’re all made up differently.

spirit

— Cover model Tiffany Robyck

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my word

Weighty Matters by janet reynolds

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/inkit.

F

or years I was ruled by a small rectangular piece of equipment. Although not human, it had as much control over my psyche as an overbearing parent or teacher. Its feedback literally determined whether or not I began my day with a smile or a frown.

I’m referring to my scale.

I don’t remember exactly when I began weighing myself daily, but my first moment of scale torture began in elementary school. Each year, we traipsed down to the nurse’s office as a class to get our height and weight recorded. I was a chubby child — Janet the Planet was the taunting nickname of choice by some — and I dreaded the announcement that it was height and weight time as much as going to the dentist.

I can still feel the pit in my stomach as I recall walking down to the office, wishing that the Earth would somehow swallow me up before we arrived. As we stood in line, it was all I could do not to run as the nurse announced each child’s height and weight so the teacher could record it.

Fifth grade was a particularly noteworthy — read awful — year. I was literally the tallest girl in the entire school. I was also the only girl in my class to cross the 100-pound mark.

Now you would think that being so tall — I was 5’ 2”as I recall — would make it OK to weigh 102 pounds. It didn’t, a fact that was only exacerbated by the “helpful” school nurse deciding the best approach was to whisper my weight rather than announce it. She wasn’t quiet enough not to be heard, of course, just quiet enough to feed the children primed to proclaim it loud and clear on the playground.

The litany of commentary surrounding my body continued as I grew older. The aunt whose first comment when she saw me would be — as if somehow my weight had made me deaf — “When is Janet going to lose some weight?” The boyfriend at music camp who said — and I believed him! — “You’re so pretty, but you’d be so much prettier if you just lost 10 pounds.” (Which I then did with him “helping” me by telling me what I could or couldn’t eat at a particular meal.)

I

t wasn’t until I was out of college, though, that I began weighing myself. Every. Single. Day. I don’t remember why I started. I just know I couldn’t stop.

I also know that a change of one pound either way was

enough to set the tone for the day. One pound up and I wouldn’t eat until dinner. One pound down was a red letter day. That day, I would eat two meals instead of one. (Breakfast was just not on my food radar for decades.)

I did take some scale breaks, usually when I was gaining weight beyond that pound or two, because really how much did I want to know about that? Then, after a period of time when my self-loathing reached its apex, I would brave the scale again and realize it was time for desperate measures.

No more two meals a day for me. No sir, it was time to eat one and certainly nothing that resembled a carbohydrate or sugar. I would lose the required 20-15-10 pounds and life would be somewhat stable for a while — until the whole cycle started again.

I’m not sure exactly when I started a more rational approach to my weight; as with many major life changes, it began small and eventually added up. I started exercising and realized I could eat more if I exercised. I had children and didn’t want to pass on poor body image and eating habits.

I did a lot of interior work and started to like myself more. I got older and, yes, wiser.

And so two years ago, about a year after what I consider to be my last diet ever, I decided I would never weigh myself again. It’s not that I don’t care about my health; indeed I am healthier today than ever before, eating well and exercising regularly. I’m also interested in staying close to my current size.

But instead of tying my worth to an arbitrary set of digits, I now measure my size by how my clothes fit and I am more conscious of how I actually eat. Today, after years of counting calories, I finally know the real math: I’m more than just a number.

HL

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71

A DV E R T I S E M E N T

Have you heard about this new technology that is FDA cleared, and non-surgical treatment for back pain?

Herniated Disc?

Non-surgical spinal decompression may be the last back pain treatment you will ever need. And you may be able to forget the pills, getting endless shots, struggling through exercise programs...and...risky surgery...because with this amazing new technology...if you are a candidate... they may be a thing of the past. You’re about to discover a powerful state-of-the-art technology available for: Back pain, Sciatica, Herniated and/or Bulging discs (single or multiple), Degenerative Disc Disease, a relapse or failure following surgery or Facet syndromes. Best of all -- you can check it out yourself for FREE! CALL 518-300-1212

I

magine how your life would change if you discovered the solution to your back pain.

In this article you’ll discover powerful new back pain technology that has the potential to be that solution for you.

This incredible technology is Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and the DRX 9000.

Here’s the amazing story how it was discovered and why it has a chance to help YOUR back pain...

How Science Helps Back Pain The lower back is a series of bones separated by shock absorbers called “discs”.

When these discs go bad because of age or injury you can have pain. For some the pain is just annoying, but for others it can be life changing...and not in a good way.

It has long been thought that if these discs could be helped in a natural and noninvasive way, lots of people with back and leg pain could lower the amount of pain medication they take, be given fewer epidural injections for the pain and have less surgery.

Recent medical breakthroughs have led to the development of advanced technologies to help back and leg pain suffers!

Through the work of a specialized team of physicians and medical engineers, a medical manufacturing company, now offers this space age technology in its incredible DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression equipment.

The DRX 9000 is FDA cleared to use with the pain and symptoms associated with herniated and/or bulging discs. . . even after failed surgery.

What Conditions Has The DRX 9000 Successfully Treated And Will It Help YOU? The main conditions the DRX 9000 has success with are: • • • •

Back pain Sciatica Spinal Stenosis Herniated and/or bulging discs (single or multiple) • Degenerative disc disease • A relapse or failure following surgery • Facet syndromes A very important note: The DRX 9000 has been successful even when NOTHING else has worked.

Even after failed surgery.

What Are Treatments On The DRX 9000 Like?

After being fitted with an automatic shoulder support system, you simply lie face up on the DRX 9000’s comfortable bed and the advanced computer system does the rest.

Patients describe the treatment as a gentle, soothing, intermittent pulling of your back. Many patients actually fall asleep during treatment.

The really good news IS... this is not something you have to continue to do for the rest of your life. So it is not a big commitment.

Since offering the DRX 9000 in my Colonie office, I have seen nothing short of miracles for back pain sufferers who had tried everything else. . . with little or no result.

Many had lost all hope.

Had herniated disk operation 8 years ago another disc became herniated. Doctor wanted to operate have arthritis from 1st one (did not want to go under knife again) very grateful to DRX9000 (thank you Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC) Very happy camper.

Raymond F Niskayuna, NY Age 55 This treatment was a miracle for my cervical disk herniations. Only other alternative was surgery, which I no longer have to face.

William I Schenectady, NY Age 63

I was told by a doctor I wouldn’t be able to work. I cannot afford to not work so I tried Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC, and not only did the pain go away but I never missed a day at work.

Rick S Clifton Park, NY Age 42 I would love to shake the hand of the person who invented this machine. It was a life saver for me and a lot better than going under the knife. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with chronic back pain.

Dawn H Colonie, NY Age 49 Before the DRX 9000 treatment. I had no quality of life.

Couldn’t do anything for myself. Thank God for Dr. and the DRX machine. I can live again.

Yvette K Schenectady, NY Age 47 I suffered for three years, before I received treatment on the DRX 9000. Today, I can sleep and get out of bed like a normal human being. Before, I couldn’t even drive my car because the pain in my hips, legs and feet were so bad from the sciatica nerve being pinched by my Herniated Disc L4 and L5, which also prevented me from sitting in a chair or even using my computer lap top at any time. Today things have changed due to advance technology therapy on the DRX 9000. They always try

A DV E R T I S E M E N T I would definitely refer people to your office. Dr. Guerra and his staff have made this experience a pleasure.

Ed H Hoosick Falls, NY Age 70 Pain free, numbness in the left foot is gone. DRX 9000 is GREAT and does work.

Sal L Niskayuna, NY Age 50

Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC demonstrates the DRX 9000 to a patient

to regulate the treatments that work. What is up with this taught process???? The world is changing and so have I. Frank A Troy, NY Age 52 Before receiving the DRX treatments, my quality of life was very poor. I could hardly do anything other than going to work and going to bed.

After the DRX treatments my quality of life has improved 90% which has resulted in me being able to go for long walks without a cane and go shopping.

Anne P Burnt Hills, NY Age 70 I am so appreciative of this method of therapy because when I came to the office I had to use a cane and had muscle pain in walking. After 2nd treatment sciatica nerve pain was gone in my left leg.

Judith W Albany, NY Age 64 Prior to this treatment my only options appeared to be invasive pain management, or surgery. After receiving 24 sessions on the DRX, I am markedly improved, relatively pain free and am able to function as I had in previous years. Highly recommend to anyone with disc issues.

Alan P Scotia, NY Age 53 I would choose this therapy again! Painless treatment that gets your life back to

normal. Stick with it-it works!

Linda G Broadalben, NY Age 53 I am so happy I came to Dr. Guerra. I was in a lot of pain and after being on the DRX I tell you I do not have pain. I feel wonderful and the staff are very nice. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is wonderful. If you are in pain try the DRX it really helps.

Edith C Schenectady, NY Age 71 I think more people should know about this procedure before considering any surgery. Medications help the pain but they don’t cure the cause. I am back to my old self again.

Lorraine B Scotia, NY Age 78 I highly recommend this machine. I had my doubts but it really and truly works. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is a wonderful doctor and his staff is great too.

Linda D Clifton Park, NY Age 46 I was extremely skeptical at the beginning of treatments - Progress was slow in coming - But... then it worked!

What a relief!!!

Joan K Delmar, NY Age 71 I had no where else to go with this problem. The DRX 9000 was just what I needed. Many thanks!

Burton S Mechanicville, NY Age 50

I’m able to go on long walks and get all night sleep (I’ve had 3 surgeries since 2006) Without the DRX I would be in for a 4th back surgery. I’m getting back to doing activities with my 10 year old son.

Lisa V Catskill, NY Age 45 I wish to thank you very much for all the help I received with the spinal decompression therapy. Your entire office was very helpful and compassionate. No longer do I sit at night with my heating pads, moving them from sore spot to sore spot. My knees are no longer on fire and I’m able to go up and down the stairs much easier than before.

Mable D Ballston Lake, NY Age 68

SPECIAL OFFER Call Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC’s office at 518-300-1212 and mention to my assistants that you want a FREE back pain/DRX9000 qualification

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Here is what you will receive: • A consultation with me, Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC to discuss your problem and answer the questions you may have about back pain and the DRX9000 • A DRX9000 demonstration so you see for yourself how it works! Due to current demand for this technology, I suggest calling today to make your appointment.

The consultation is free.

We are staffed 24-hoursa-day, 7-days-a-week. Call 518-300-1212 right now!

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There is ONE Big Problem: My busy office schedule will limit how many people I’m able to personally meet with... so you will need to act fast.

Call 518-300-1212 right now... to be sure you are among the first callers and we will set up your free consultation today. We have the phones answered 7 days a week 24 hours a day so call now...

518-300-1212. (Free consultation is good for 45 days) 2016 Central Ave., Colonie www.albanyDRX.com

your mind

Jumpstart Your

Creativity 9 ways to get those creative juices flowing by merci miglino

I

t’s classic easier-said-than-done advice: Be more creative. Whether you are trying to come up with a new product, blog post or project, getting your creative juices pumping can be a challenge.

So how do you jump-start your creativity especially when you are tired, stressed or convinced your muse she left you years ago? You work at it, says the research, and the payoff is a good mood, improved self- esteem and richer socializing. And better yet, a recent article in The Washington Post suggests that creative activities can renew our vitality and can-do attitude as we age.

Here are some great ways to get those creative juices flowing and improve your life at the same time.

1. Seize Serendipity When the muse leaves, says Creativity Coach Joe Califano, Albany, you have to believe it will return. In the meantime, change what you are doing. “Stand up, stretch, go to a window and take in a deep breath. If you’re desperate, go play in the dirt. Go outside and work in the garden. Clean the refrigerator bins, basement windows.

Take out the garbage. Listen to what’s around you — a bird chirping, a siren outside, someone saying something that relates to what you might need. This sounds crazy, but serendipity can be huge in the creative process, so stay open and aware,” says Califano, a retired art teacher.

2. Manage Your Inner Critic Don’t ignore those voices in your head that stifle your creativity, adds Califano. “Thank your inner critics for their doubts, fears or concerns. And then tell them to just chill out. You have it all well in hand.”

To fool those critics, say Califano, pretend you’re a character in a book or someone you know and admire and ask yourself how she would handle this project or block? This

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can help you unearth new approaches and ideas and move you forward without the constraints of those inner critics.

3.

Nature is on Your Side

Remember, it’s almost impossible for human beings not to be creative. Califano suggests making a list at bedtime of three ways you were creative during the day, no matter how trivial they may seem. For example: Perhaps you varied a recipe by one ingredient, discovered a keyboard shortcut, or recalled an interesting dream.

“This practice reminds us that we can’t help but be creative,” Califano says.

4. Lighten up and Move On “We close ourselves off to our creativity and imagination when we take ourselves too seriously,” says athlete and owner of Insights Out Coaching Rebecca Boswell. Take a step back, a big breath and “loosen your grip on having to being creative. Get your body moving too.”

“When our bodies are active, we release stress, anxiety, and other conditions in the mind and body that thwart creative flow,” she says. “With the body taken care of, the mind begins to settle and looping thoughts often, almost miraculously, begin to jump their track and new solutions or ah-ha moments suddenly surface. New ideas and possibilities emerge and we are once again in the creative flow.”

5.

Brainstorm

Boswell, who is also the Albany blogger of Inner Fast Girl, suggests brainstorming while running or working out.

“Come up with as many different ideas as you possibly can.

Don’t edit or judge them; the more outlandish, the better.”

An unconventional thought , after all, can lead to a useful idea that lives just outside of your usual way of thinking. “If you get stuck again, just ask, ‘What else?’ Oftentimes one idea will spark a series of similar, yet unique, new ones,” says Boswell.

6.

Keep An Inspiration Drawer or App Creativity Coach Janet Tanguay also suggests keeping a “drawer full of inspiration” including items such as colorful images, favorite quotes, photos of people you admire, and cards you’ve received that make you smile. “You can also use your iPad or iPhone and pin these inspiriting elements online at Pinterest. Find a way to capture ideas that inspire you, and when you need a creative boost, you can just open the app or the drawer,” says Tanguay.

8. Think Small If you’re a poet like Therese Broderick of Albany, do what she does: Take one small step such as looking up just one word in the dictionary. “If you’re a choreographer, sketch just one dance motion. If you’re a clown, paint only your nose. There! You were creative!” say Broderick, a volunteer for Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

9. Just Do It Take a page out of the Nike bible and just do it, suggests Boswell. “Whatever your creative endeavor, just start it, even if you feel blocked. So, go for it!”

“You can always go back and edit or change it,” Boswell points out. “Beginning something new is daunting, but once we get over the initial hump of starting, we are able to gain focus, direction, and inspiration. Once inspired and on a roll, you simply enjoy the ride!”

HL

Photo: ©iStockphoto.com/ Simone Becchetti.

7. Get Outside of Your Genre If you’re a writer, dance. If you’re an artist, write.

If you’re a dancer, make art. “We can get so stuck

in our own genre,” says Tanguay, founder of Art n Soul, Inc. in Amsterdam, “that we forget creativity comes in the form of music and storytelling or sculpting, too.”

“The best ideas often come when you’re not looking for them,” she says. “When we’re stuck, it’s usually because we’re too much in our head and not in our body or spirit.

Getting into something else can help break the block and invite the muse back in.”

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your spirit

y p p a H ! e c a F

a n o Put

even a fake smile can help boost your mood by cari scribner

“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

— Charlie Chaplin

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W

e’ve all heard the old saw that when we smile, the world smiles with us, but apparently there’s another reason to turn that frown upsidedown. Even if you use your fingers to prop up the sides of your mouth into a pseudo-smile, you’ll help banish those blues.

“When you smile, you produce the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain that floods it with a sense of happiness,” says Dr. Valerie Whitney, from The Neurology Group in Albany. “Whether it’s a fake smile or real doesn’t matter; they use the same muscle groups.”

Scientists have documented the physical release that happens when these facial muscles, along with the thin bones of the face are moved. Their findings: that we can improve our physiological and psychological states by deliberately changing our facial expressions.

In a recently released study by the University of Kansas, people were given stressful tasks while holding chopsticks on their mouths to form a smile. Another group of participants was asked to maintain a smile while completing the same stressful activity. (None of the subjects were told the true objective of the study). When physiological responses were compared with the third control group doing the same stressful task, both genuine and chopstick-induced smilers had lower heart rates and faster cardiovascular stress recovery than the non-smiling controls.

CARDIOCOMFORT “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

— Phyllis Diller

Photos: Michele Constantini/GettyImages.

“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.”

“The world always looks brighter behind a smile.”

eightonethree TREND SETTING FEET SOMETIMES FALL ASLEEP ESPECIALLY DURING A CARDIO EQUIPMENT WORKOUT. ©2012 New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

What can we take away from these study results? “Fake it till you make it” might be true when it — Andy Rooney comes to smiling.

Being unable to frown — a variation on the smiling research — also affects mood. Researchers at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is compromised by cosmetic Botox injections are happier, on average, than people whose frowning is unimpeded. The researchers administered a questionnaire about anxiety and emotional state of mind to 25 women. Half were able to frown while completing the survey; half had received frown-inhibiting Botox injections.

The surprising results? Botox recipients reported feeling happier and less anxious in general, which scientists speculate could be connected with their inhibited ability to scowl.

Dr. Joel Goodman is executive director of The Humor Project, Inc., in Saratoga Springs, an organization that seeks to “help people get more ‘smileage’ out of their lives and jobs by applying the practical, positive power of humor and creativity.” Goodman says he suits up every morning with a smile.

“If I have a challenging day ahead, I will literally look in the mirror and smile to jumpstart the day,” Goodman says. “Just putting your face in that position will get that internal chemistry going. I’m proof of that.”

So, the next time you are feeling stressed, have a difficult task, or just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, smile for a while and see how your mood can change for the better. Along with bringing on self-cheer, a wide grin is contagious and will benefit everyone around you.

“When someone is down and you make them respond with a smile, they’ll cheer up — Mark Twain eventually,” Whitney says. “Just keep trying.”

HL

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cover model q&a

up close with ...

Tiffany Robyck by brianna snyder | photo by philip kamrass

How do you keep healthy?

I have to work out every day. I have to eat right. I’m definitely not one of those lucky people who gets to just eat whatever they want and do very little exercise. I have trouble with weight

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healthylife

fluctuation so I progressively got bigger after each child I had.

Did you lose a lot of weight?

I’ve lost about 30 pounds. I think what happens to a lot of women is that as young moms they do everything for their kids and their whole day is based around taking care of their kids and not taking care of themselves.

You really have to make time for yourself. To exercise and eat right, it’s a daily effort.

What’s your diet in general?

I stick to a whole foods diet. I avoid fast food or processed food. I eat protein, carbs and fats.

I really don’t believe in eliminating things from your diet. I think your body needs all three components — proteins, carbs and fats — in order to run efficiently.

What have you learned from running a boot camp?

For me, when I first started taking boot camp as a client, I definitely liked the group atmosphere. I found it more motivating to go and be with other people that were going through the same thing. So I find that that’s why my clients keep coming back: because they’re motivated by being in a group. You start to make friendships with other people and those people are then looking for you and wondering where you were if you miss a workout. But if you show up at a setting like mine, I’m going to be looking for you. I think that’s what keeps people motivated to keep coming back. Plus, it’s a little bit addicting.

HL

Behind the Scenes Hair and makeup by Kimberley’s A Day Spa, Latham. Select clothing available at Boscov’s Clifton Park.

Above: Nine West top and jeans, Betsey Johnson necklace, Ashley Cooper earrings. Photo taken by Philip Kamrass at Siena College in Loudonville. Visit facebook.com/healthylifenymagazine to view our Behind the Scenes photo gallery, or scan the QR code at right to link to our HealthyLife photos page on Facebook.

‘Before’ photo by Colleen Ingerto.

T

iffany Robyck wasn’t always athletic. But after catching her reflection in a store window one day, the mother of three didn’t like what she saw. So she took action.

“I started taking boot camp [classes],” she says, “and now I’m just one of those people that really needs to be active and moving and eating a healthy diet.”

Three years ago, Robyck, who’s 39, started her own boot camp in Ballston Spa, where she lives with her family. Up until she had her oldest child, who’s now 15, she’d worked as a paralegal.

But she left that job to become a full-time mother. Now she makes her living in exercise.

“I loved working out and I was getting to the point where I wanted to go back to work and I just didn’t want to go back into an office-type job where I was sitting at a desk,” Robyck says. “I like to be up and moving around.”

Robyck’s three kids are all active in sports and she says her husband recently started coming to her boot camp. “I’ve been doing this for three years and he just started coming,” she says, laughing. “At my gym we are more motivating than intimidating. I’m not going to be in your face and screaming, unless you want me to.”

Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, a serious disorder that can lead to heart disease, diabetes and stroke. People who suffer from sleep apnea actually stop breathing 20-30 times each hour. Loud snoring and daytime fatigue are the most common signs.

A test at our sleep lab can determine if you have it—and if you do, our board-certiďŹ ed CapitalRegionSleepWake.com

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Most people think of snoring as just an annoyance.

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