STAT Quick reads about health topics in the news One healthy habit
Heidi Lancaster, right, has lost 165 pounds over the last 21/2 years by changing her diet and exercising with friends and a personal trainer. MARK YLEN | TO YOUR HEALTH
A weighty achievement Albany woman loses 165 pounds, learns to value herself along the way By AMANDA ROBBINS or the longest time, Heidi Lancaster, 34, focused on everyone around her: her husband, her children and friends. It came at the expense of taking care of herself. In 2009, at age 32, she was addicted to food and weighed 381 pounds. “I don’t remember any day in my life when I wasn’t overweight,” she said. “I’ve always used food to deal with anything. “I put my children’s needs before my health so I didn’t have to deal with my weight. I’m sure most parents would think putting their children’s needs first is the right thing to do, but I was doing it so I didn’t have to take care of myself.” Then her life took a turn. She found herself with no husband, no children for the summer and friends who wanted her to focus on herself. So she did. And now, 21/2 years later, the Albany woman has lost 165 pounds from her 5foot-7 frame and gained a healthy lifestyle and self-esteem.
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Workouts, diets evolve Lancaster wasn’t keen on the idea, after a negative experience at a local gym in 2001. At that gym, each new member had to have a fitness evaluation from one of the trainers. After hers, Lancaster went to get her kids from the
– The Yomiuri Shimbun
Make mine water Watching their wallets and waistlines, Americans are ordering more free tap water when they eat out. That is cutting into the bottom lines of restaurants, which draw hefty profits from sodas, juices and alcohol. Beverage purchases have declined 6 percent since 2006, according to research company NPD Group, and more people are ordering water. In the past two years, orders of water have gone up 3.2 percent while purchases of sodas, coffee and other beverages have declined 3.6 percent. – The Orlando Sentinel
Breast-feeding advice
Start of a change In June 2009, Lancaster was approaching her second divorce and felt like her life was falling apart. Her three children from her first marriage were away for the summer with their dad. She was alone. As Lancaster thought about her kids — a daughter who’s now 15 and 11-year-old twins (a son and a daughter) — she realized that if they were so important to her, she needed to take care of herself so she could be with them longer. It was about then that two friends asked her to join them for morning walks through the neighborhood. In the past, she hadn’t accepted offers like that because she was prideful, shameful, embarrassed and felt as if she was without hope. This time, she said yes. “I’m not sure why I accepted this offer on this day, but I thank God every day that she offered and that ‘yes’ came out of my mouth,” Lancaster said. Every weekday morning that summer she and two friends would go for a walk and do low-intensity strength training before work. Though there were many days she would have rather slept in, it made a difference knowing that her friends were waiting for her. “I believe without a shadow of a doubt those two friends have contributed to saving my life,” she said. “Having a workout partner or trainer makes a huge difference.” By the end of that summer, Lancaster had lost 25 pounds. “This was a miracle to me,” she said, “but the weather was changing and working out outside soon would not be an option, so I had to bite the bullet and join a gym.”
The adoption of only one of five healthy lifestyle habits, such as not smoking and drinking moderately, can lower the cancer risk in males by 14 percent, according to the results of a long-term survey by the National Cancer Center in Japan. The center surveyed about 80,000 Japanese men and women aged between 45 and 74 over a 10-year period. The center set numerical criteria for five cancer risk factors — smoking, drinking, salt intake, exercise and body mass index. Cancer risks increased if the subjects exceeded those criteria. According to results of the survey conducted between 1995 and 2006, the more healthy habits subjects had, the lower their cancer risk. On average, the adoption of one healthy habit would reduce cancer risks by 14 percent for males and by 9 percent for females, the center said.
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gym’s child-care area and overheard the trainer telling others how disgusted she was by Lancaster’s weight. “I was mortified, hurt, embarrassed and determined to never step foot in another gym,” she said. But if she wanted to keep up her workout routine she only had two choices: Brave the Oregon weather or join a gym. “With great apprehension, I went to a different gym and signed up,” she said. “It’s ironic that I was terrified of the gym because now I miss the gym if I’m gone for more than one day.” Lancaster chose Fitness Experience in Albany and couldn’t be more happy with her choice. “I started to notice something at this gym,” she said. “People there weren’t judging me, they were encouraging. The staff was genuinely nice and helpful and cheering me on every step of the way.” She joined a variety of classes — body sculpting, spinning and gravity training — and started working with manager and trainer Brenda Spinney. “I started by monitoring her eating and activity levels,” Spinney said. “We worked together pretty closely for six months.” At first Lancaster just started to cut back and make healthier choices. As her workouts evolved, so did her diet. “The more time I spent in the gym, the more I learned about how to help my body, such as what to eat before a workout to fuel the body and what to eat after to help my body recover,” she said. Her current diet regimen is 60 percent carbs, 20 percent protein and 20 percent fat. “That balance has worked well for me,” she said. “Plus I like that I get to have carbs — good carbs.”
By the summer of 2010, Lancaster was down 45 pounds. She and her friends started talking about morning workouts again. “I loved my time with them (last year) and was so thankful, but something was missing.” Lancaster said. “Then it hit me: running.” Lancaster had told her friends the previous summer that she wanted to run a mile, but by summer’s end she’d only made it three-quarters of a mile. So in 2010, she tried again. “We started running a little bit at a time and within weeks I ran that first mile,” she said. “Never in my life had I ran a mile.” By the end of the summer she ran her first 5K. “It took me 55 minutes. Some people could have walked a 5K faster than that, but for me it was a run and I did it.”
Head games As Lancaster started eating healthier, running in the morning and spending evenings at the gym, her body was improving, but her mind wasn’t following suit. “I could push myself with exercise but when it came to how I felt about myself, there was something wrong,” she said. People would compliment her on her physique, but her mind wouldn’t accept it. “I was turning into a triathlete and I still felt like a miserable fat cow,” she said. At this point, Lancaster had already lost 100 pounds, but she couldn’t be happy for herself. “I actually felt fatter after losing 100 pounds then I did when I was heavier,” she said. She came to understand that her journey wasn’t just about her body, but about her mind and her spirit as well. SEE ACHIEVEMENT | A6
The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed its position that women should breast feed for at least a year to get the best health benefits for their babies. The group said in a paper published in the March issue of Pediatrics that women should breast feed exclusively for six months and complement breast milk with food for another six months. Breast feeding promotes both health benefits and bonding between mother and baby, the academy said. But breastfeeding may not be as easy as it looks. While 75 percent of moms nationwide initiate breastfeeding, many don’t continue for the full year. Babies may not latch properly or mothers may find it hard to balance pumping and work, among other reasons. – The Baltimore Sun
Whole eating In a recent article titled “Fiber: The Bottom Line,” nutrition specialists at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded: “When you eat a healthy diet rich in whole grains, vegetables and fruit ... you’ll be lowering your risk of diabetes, heart disease, diverticulitis and constipation.” They go on to recommend we “choose foods that list whole grains (like whole wheat and whole oats) as the first ingredient.” Other documented health benefits associated with eating foods made with whole grains include a reduced risk for stroke and type 2 diabetes. Whole grains have also been shown to help control weight and blood pressure, and reduce the risk for colorectal cancer. – The Monterey County Herald
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To Your Health
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Can you prevent Alzheimer’s with lifestyle changes? BY MELISSA REPKO THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Mark Ylen/To Your Health
Heidi Lancaster, left, Cheri Schoen and Keri Schneider work out in front of personal trainer Brenda Spinney.
Achievement Continued from A5 “I started to pay attention to how I treated my friends and how I would encourage them, say nice things about them and be there for them if they needed me. Why couldn’t I be a friend to me?” Spinney told her it was a normal reaction. “I had to let her know that it’s OK to feel that way,” Spinney said. “I pushed her to look in different directions and focus on her goals.” It helped. “I came to understand what I was doing,” Lancaster said, “but I was perplexed by how to make it stop.” Lancaster had to retrain her mind so that she would be nice to herself. “Each day I have to choose to like me. No matter my size — thicker or thinner — my family and friends have always loved me unconditionally. It’s time to start treating myself with as much love as they have,” she said.
The right numbers In February 2011, when she weighed 304 pounds, Lancaster started using a Body Bugg — a small device worn on the arm that tracks calories, fat, muscle and more. At that time she had 49.1 percent body fat. Now, at 216 pounds, she is down to 25 percent body fat, which is average for women and only 1 percent away from athletic standards. She has lost 17.5 inches off her waist, 7 inches off her upper arm, 13 inches off her hips and 8 inches off each thigh. “It’s very important to be measured. The scale can be deceiving,” she said. “Being meas-
ured shows the progress you’re making that the scale doesn’t.” During a recent weigh-in, Lancaster had only lost 2 pounds, but her measurements showed she’d actually lost 6 pounds of fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle. “I still struggle every day when I step on the scale. To me, weighing over 200 pounds, even though I’m healthy, seems too heavy, but I’m learning the scale is a tool to help me figure out how I’ll handle my day,” she said. “The number on it isn’t my identity and doesn’t determine my attitude. Weighing myself daily helps to keep me in check even though it’s so hard to not be fixated on that number.” Lancaster says she has to consider all the facts — her percentage of body fat, muscle mass and then weight. Lancaster did her first triathlon on her 34th birthday in April last year. Now she focuses more on running and can run four miles with an average pace of 12 minutes per mile. The furthest she has gone is six miles. She still has 35 pounds to go to meet her goal of losing 200 pounds, and she’s excited for what’s in store. She recently registered for her first halfmarathon, in May. She also plans to do more sprint triathlons and maybe even longer triathlons. “I am not proud of where I was. It’s not a good place to be,” she said. “If I wouldn’t have let myself get that big, I wouldn’t have had to go through what I did. “In the midst of all this change it seems like it’s taken forever and I’ve complained the whole way, but looking back it wasn’t that hard. The time has flown.”
FOOD ADDICTIONS Heidi Lancaster attributes part of her weight problem to having an addiction to food. “Food addictions are unlike any other addiction,” she said. “You can’t just stop eating like you can stop smoking or doing drugs. You have to eat to stay alive.” Sarah Weber, a registered and licensed dietician, teaches nutrition at Western Oregon University. She also works in the WOU dining facility doing nutrition analysis and counsels students on healthy eating. “Food addiction is a really interesting topic,” she said. “It varies from person to person. How easy it is to overcome depends on the person.” She explained that some people are able to make some minor adjustments in their diet, while others need to make drastic changes. Some researches believe that certain food combinations trigger the hypothalamus and cause the person to want more of that food. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger, thirst and circadian cycles. It is also the control system that regulates the pituitary gland. “Food addictions do kind of cross the line into that eating-disorder realm,” Weber said. “It’s not just about solving that food problem, but being able to use the food as more or less a focus and also as something that will initiate a larger change in someone else’s life.” She explained that we all have our own relationship with food and sometimes that relationship needs to change. “We can’t just drop food to stay healthy,” she said. “We really need to keep an eye on our food intake. It’s all about a balance with how much you are expending.” For most people, addictions happen with certain types of foods, such as fats, salts and sweets. “For those, it’s limiting the amount they can have or staying away from those foods for a long time,” she said. “If someone is able to identify a certain flavor or certain flavors that trigger the addiction, it is easier to stay away from that certain kind of food or not even let it in the house.” Weber added that much like any other addiction, such as smoking, addicts are always going to be exposed to someone doing that behavior, so they need to be able to learn the skills to cope with the addiction on a daily basis. “Often a journal or person to check in with really helps,” she said. “Many check in with a trainer or dietician. Some just have a support person, which is really helpful. It’s really hard to do it on your own.”
Your body gives you silent cues cially if it’s accompanied by The trick is a stiff neck, nausea, fever, knowing how bright lights bothering your to read them and eyes.” when to take action Chest pain BY HEIDI STEVENS CHICAGO TRIBUNE
It might be a caffeine headache, but it might be an aneurysm. Great. Now, at the very least, it’s a stress headache. We asked the experts to tell us five signs that your body is telling you something. And why you should do something about it. (Namely, call your doctor.)
Headache If you’re saying the words “worst headache of my life,” said Camelia Davtyan, clinical professor of medicine at UCLA, it’s time to make a call. “It may be caused by an aneurysm that can burst and lead to sudden death,” said Davtyan. Or it could be bleeding on the brain, encephalitis, meningitis or some other viral or bacterial infection within the spinal fluid, said Joshua Miller, medical director at the Cleveland Clinic’s Strongsville Family Health Center. “The headaches that worry us are ones that start suddenly, like a thunderclap,” Miller said. “Espe-
Some chest pain is obvious — and obviously alarming. “A squeezing pressure, elephant-sitting-on-yourchest feeling,” said Miller. “You may have nausea and shortness of breath and feel your heart fluttering.” But some symptoms are less noticeable. Miller said to be mindful of how your body recovers from activities you’re used to performing. “If you climb a flight of stairs every day and you usually feel fine, and then one day you get to the top and feel short of breath, panting, a little pressure in your chest, you shouldn’t ignore that,” he said. “We worry about cardiovascular events, aortic dissections, an impending blockage of a blood vessel in the heart, possibly pneumonia.” “People may think it’s heartburn,” said Davtyan, “particularly women.”
Abdominal pain “It may be attributed to digestion problems and ignored,” said Davtyan, “But it may be caused by appendicitis or kidney stone, which can get worse quickly if not treated.”
Pay particular attention to pain that’s accompanied by a fever or vomiting. “If there’s a fever or so much pain that you’re unable to eat or drink, you’ve got potential gall bladder diseases, appendicitis, something infectious going on,” said Miller. And be mindful of a recent change in your bowel movements. “If you’re having severe diarrhea or black or bloody stools, it can be a warning sign of an abdominal aneurysm,” said Miller. “This is something we get particularly concerned about in our elderly patients because it can also mean low blood flow to the colon. If it’s not acted on quickly you can end up needing emergency surgery.”
Back pain Who among us doesn’t have a sore back, right? Sit up and take notice, however, if yours is accompanied by tingling and numbness in your feet and toes. “Tingling and numbness don’t happen with a simple back strain,” said Davtyan. “It may be a disk herniation that can progress if not treated.” “Back pain is probably the most common symptom we see,” said Miller. “As with anything, worsening of the symptoms and pain that’s
escalating are what you want to watch for. “There could be underlying issues such as cancer, but most often it’s not going to be. It could be one of the disks between vertebrae has become infected. It could be a compression fracture in the back. You want to pay attention to the patient’s age, whether there’s a family history of osteoporosis, whether there’s been trauma to the back within the past few weeks.”
Unexpected weight loss Few of us are going to complain if our clothes start fitting a little looser, particularly in a nation with a 26 percent obesity rate. But unintentional weight loss, Miller said, is “very concerning.” “It’s a time to get a really good history of what’s been going on, review your symptoms from head to toe and get some blood work done,” he said. “Gastrointestinal symptoms can signal malabsorption issues such as celiac disease, where your body’s not absorbing nutrients properly. “It can also signal depression or, often in the case of elderly patients, early signs of dementia. They may think they had a sandwich for lunch but, in fact, they forgot to eat. It can be one of the first signs.”
DALLAS — Bronwen Zilmer has three generations of Alzheimer’s disease in her family. She hopes not to be the fourth. Her great-grandmother and grandmother had Alzheimer’s. Her father was diagnosed at 56, and he died at 63. She’s now 35. After her father’s death, the Highland Village, Texas, resident and mother of two began running half marathons, taking fish-oil supplements and eating more fish in hopes of avoiding the memory-robbing illness. “People are desperate to avoid it and desperate to find some kind of treatment or cure,” she says.“If somebody told me, ‘Do these 10 things and I’ll assure you that you won’t get Alzheimer’s disease,’ I would do it.” Researchers agree that the causes of Alzheimer’s have some genetic links, but they aren’t sure exactly what causes the disease or how it progresses.Although a growing number of studies examine how lifestyle choices may affect a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s, medical professionals disagree over the strength of the evidence. A National Institutes of Health independent consensus panel rejected a definitive scientific link between lifestyle habits and risk reduction in a 2010 report that said the amount of evidence and its quality was low. The panel called for more largescale, randomized studies. “Currently, firm conclusions cannot be drawn about the association of any modifiable risk factor with cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease,” the report said. That hasn’t kept Americans from taking up brain teasers or buying supple-
REDUCE YOUR RISK While experts don’t agree on the links between lifestyle factors and diagnosis, there are some habits that have been associated with risk reduction. The Alzheimer’s Association recommends these strategies: • Stay physically active. Exercise helps keep blood pumping to the brain and wards off heart disease, diabetes and stroke — other risk factors for Alzheimer’s. • Eat a brain-healthy diet. Fill your meals with low-cholesterol, low-fat foods — especially fruits and vegetables. • Stay connected to others. Being social may help the brain cells by reducing stress. • Stay mentally active. Challenging your brain daily can strengthen existing brain connections and build new ones. ments in the hopes of staving off the disease. Some books, such as “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program” by Dr. Gary Small of the UCLA Longevity Center, promote a proactive approach, much like exercise or diet programs. The book includes a seven-day regimen of foods to eat and mental and physical exercises to do. “It’s a weak argument to say, ‘I’m going to wait here until we have conclusive proof,’ while we have so much compelling evidence already,” Small said in an interview. “We are not saying you can guarantee you’ll never get Alzheimer’s disease,” he says, “but what we’re saying is there is a possibility that we can delay the onset of symptoms through the healthy lifestyle approach.”
How to use ‘neurobics’ BY ALISON JOHNSON DAILY PRESS
Challenging your brain with new and unexpected experiences — sometimes referred to as “neurobics” — can help keep it stronger into old age. “Breaking with routine, and using all your senses, is like having your brain cells lifting barbells,” says Manning Rubin, co-author of the book “Keep Your Brain Alive.” Some basics: • Make life your “gym.” You don’t need to use a computer or puzzle book or schedule a specific time to sharpen your brain. Instead, think of ways you can break your usual habits throughout the day. • Close your eyes. Listen to sounds in the park, take a shower, navigate around your house or try to identify objects by touch without relying on sight. • Use your nondominant hand. Eat, brush your teeth, dial a telephone number or write with the hand you
don’t normally use to give different parts of your brain a workout. Or try to button a shirt, tie a shoe or get dressed using just one hand. • Vary your commute. Get off at an earlier bus stop or drive down different roads on regular errands or trips to and from work. New sights, sounds and smells will take your brain off auto-pilot. • Mix things up. Have people sit at a different spot at the dinner table, trade chores with another family member or rearrange dishes in a cabinet so you’ll have to think about where you’re reaching. • Try something new every day. This can be something small — tasting a different food, say, or using chopsticks at dinner — or bigger, such as picking up a new hobby or tackling a skill such as a foreign language. • Combine your senses. Read a book while burning a scented candle, and pay attention to both. Or close your eyes and try to identify a food by smell alone.
To Your Health
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
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