Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

This blog was written by Lisa Larkin. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

It’s nice to see the number of calories burned increasing along with the time on your cardio machine. But when your machine reaches a certain number, don’t always believe what you read.

Getting the Most Accurate Calorie Count

Most machines give you a general number of calories burned that you can use as a guide. But do not think that is your exact number. It is important to always enter your age and weight to have a more accurate calorie count. Everybody burns calories differently, so I recommend that you use a heart-rate monitor to get the most accurate count.

Mix Up Your Workout and Burn More Calories

It may not seem fair, but the more you weigh, the more calories you burn in a cardio session. Also, the more fit you are, the fewer calories you will burn because your body gets used to that activity level. In other words, mix up your workouts to keep your body guessing and burning the most calories. Teaching group fitness classes at an onsite corporate fitness center gives me the opportunity to mix up the workouts for our wellness program members.

To burn the most calories, I recommend using machines that move your arms and upper body. You can also try not to hold on when walking on the treadmill or using the stair climber. This will increase the intensity, which will increase the amount of calories burned.

This blog was written by Samantha Whiteside. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Supersize portions. Hydrogenated and over-processed foods. Lack of activity and responsibility. Decreased nutrient-rich foods in school systems. All of these reasons and more have led America to be the most obese country in the world.

The Risks and Consequences of Obesity

Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. Obesity a risk factor for not just heart disease and high blood pressure, but also for osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, high cholesterol and triglycerides, respiratory problems, cancer, sleep apnea, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and a decrease in life expectancy.

How much of a drain is this epidemic on our society? Obesity kills approximately 300,000 people in the United States every year and we spend $117 billion annually on obesity-related healthcare.

Do I have your attention yet?

Tips for Living a Healthier Life

Wonder what you can do to lead a healthier life? Here are a few tips to take you into 2011 and beyond:

• Get more active—every day.
• Focus your diet on fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.
• Participate in corporate wellness programs.
• Sign up for a gym; or if your company has a worksite fitness center, begin using it.
• Take part in employee health fairs, classes, and health promotion trainings.
• Stay educated. If your employer has onsite wellness staff, use them as your go-to resource.
• Reduce your daily stress. Take advantage of worksite stress-management classes.

Obesity is no longer a silent epidemic. Obesity is screaming, shaking both fists, and asking everyone to step up to the plate and make a change.

After all, how much value is really in a value meal?

This blog was written by Mechelle Meadows. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

While more Americans gain access to healthcare in the next decade, and more senior citizens are eligible for Medicare, one-third of physicians will be due for retirement. Experts predict this will create a shortage of medical doctors. This is alarming news, if it comes to fruition. Now is the time to stress preventive care in corporate wellness programs.

Schedule Health Screenings

Preventive care includes scheduling all regular screenings specific to your age and gender; for example, mammography, colonoscopy, and dental checks. People should schedule as many of these screenings as can fit into one doctor appointment, assuming they fall under the physician’s scope of qualifications. They shouldn't wait until they discover something irregular to make that doctor visit because it may become increasingly hard to secure timely appointments.

Practice Self-Care

In taking preventive measures, there is also a component of self-care that requires no physician. Remind your corporate fitness center participants that exercise and nutrition are perhaps the two biggest methods of self-care.

After you exercise, the immune system is elevated for 24 hours, says the American Council on Exercise. A workout regimen including impact and weight-bearing activities enhances bone health, reducing the need for osteoporosis treatments.

The most well-known fact is that exercise improves all the body’s workings related to the heart, decreasing the chance of cardiovascular disease.

Proper nutrition, including vitamins and minerals, is related to a decreased risk of developing almost all forms of cancer. Also, don’t discount self-exams. While a physician has a better-trained eye for abnormalities, regular self-exams including breast self-exams, skin cancer self-exams, and more can supplement the annual doctor’s assessment.

Make Preventive Health a Priority

Teach your employees to make their own health a priority. Using corporate wellness programs to prevent rather than cure is less costly to the company and the individual.

This blog was written by Lori H. as a guest blogger with NIFS.

Just a few days after Christmas, I met with NIFS Wellness Coordinator Angie Scheetz, a Registered Dietitian, to go over the food diary I kept earlier in the month and get an assessment of my dietary habits.

Getting a personal nutrition coaching session is something I have been wanting to do for myself for several years. But that didn't keep me from being nervous about it. I enjoy fatty foods and lead a fairly sedentary life. I wasn't looking forward to being told to lay off the potato chips!

Meeting the Registered Dietitian

But Angie put me at ease from the very first minute of our meeting. I never felt like I was being judged. She had analyzed my food diary and found that I was actually not far off the mark in terms of calories consumed. But to reach my goal of losing 25 to 30 pounds, she said, I needed to be getting more calories from protein and less from fat. She also said I wasn't getting enough fiber.

We talked about what foods I like (cheese) and which ones I really don't like (fish). She told me how to select cheeses that are lower in fat and higher in protein. We talked about ways to get more fiber into my diet, such as brown rice and high-fiber cereals. (My usual favorite cereal bars are out the window and Fiber Plus cereal is in.) She also told me to have skim-milk hot chocolate for breakfast instead of sugared-up hot tea. (That's a switch I can make easily.)

Angie worked up a good plan for optimal meals and snacks, giving me ideas of some healthy alternatives, and ways to still eat my favorites in moderation and paired with more fruits and veggies.

We talked about how, when I was keeping my food diary and noting everything I ate, I was reluctant to eat unhealthy things because I would have to write it down. As it turns out, that trick serves dieters well. She directed me to My Daily Plate, where I can continue to track what I eat and get nutritional reports on it.

One casualty of the meeting was my daily indulgence of one soft drink per day. It's much better to have water instead, and Angie told me to try adding thin slices of lemon or cucumber to flavor it. She also suggested high-protein Greek yogurt instead of the sweeter varieties I have recently learned to like.

Three Power Rules for Healthy Eating and Weight Loss

She ended the meeting with some high-impact rules to keep in mind:

• Eat three food groups at every meal.
• Eat every four to five hours (this means two healthy snacks a day in addition to meals).
• Drink 64 ounces of caffeine-free fluid per day.

It was a cruel irony to go into my final family Christmas celebration armed with all of this information. Check back in a few weeks to see how I'm doing!

Disclosure: NIFS discloses that it does remit monies to Lori H. for other nonrelated services. However, this venture with the nutritionist is being conducted at the will and request of Lori H., and Lori H. is not being compensated for the authorship of this blog.

This blog was written by Penny Pohlmann. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Each decade the Department of Health and Human Services identifies a list of health goals to strive for over the next 10 years to improve the health of all Americans. You may be familiar with Healthy People 2010. Now that 2010 has come to an end, Healthy People 2020 has just been released with an updated list of goals.

Take a look at the following objectives taken from Healthy People 2020 followed by the Workplace Action for contributing to this goal while also improving the health of your employees.

Physical Activity

Objective: Increase the proportion of employed adults who have access to and participate in employer-based exercise facilities and exercise programs.

Workplace Action: Provide your employees with an onsite wellness center staffed with certified fitness professionals who can provide safe, effective fitness routines.

Offer incentives for employees who regularly participate in worksite exercise programs.

Immunization and Infectious Disease

Objective: Increase the proportion of children and adults who are vaccinated annually against seasonal influenza.

Workplace Action: Provide onsite flu-shot clinics so that employees can get immunized for the seasonal flu at work. Provide discounts or reimburse employees for flu shots for family members.

Tobacco Use

Objective: Reduce tobacco use by adults.

Workplace Action: Offer a free onsite smoking-cessation program for employees who use tobacco. Provide discounts for nicotine replacement therapy products for employees wishing to quit smoking.

What are you doing to help us meet the Healthy People 2020 workplace goals?

This blog was written by Kara Gootee. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

Many employees say they do not have time in their day for exercise, or they forgot their workout clothes. Don’t let excuses stand in the way of your corporate wellness program. Implement a quick walk at work to encourage worksite wellness and get employees up and moving.

The Benefits of an Exercise Break

Recent studies show that more breaks and less sitting results in smaller waist sizes and a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes. A quick 20-minute break is a great way to refresh the mind, catch some fresh air, and get the body moving.

How to Add Walking to Your Corporate Wellness Program

Starting a walking program is easy. Designate a time and location, and get moving. Many employees may enjoy getting out for an afternoon break for a quick walk around a parking lot, or a trip around the block. Encouragement and participation from management will help get the ball rolling.

If Your Wellness Program Already Includes Walking

Here are some ways to spruce up your walking program:

• Specify a day: Get Movin’ Monday, Walk Wednesday, etc.
• Give out walking group t-shirts to create camaraderie.
• Provide healthy snacks following a walk.
• Track steps taken with pedometers.
• Sign up for local area events and walk together.

The benefits of walking outweigh the excuses. Encourage worksite wellness not only for a healthier workforce, but for a happy work environment.

This blog was written by Kara Gootee. Meet our blogging fitness specialists at the NIFS website.

With the new year, many individuals make resolutions that quickly fall by the wayside. Statistics show that 75% of people keep chugging after the first week, and motivation starts decreasing. Start the year off right by rewarding employees for working toward a healthier lifestyle.

Offer Corporate Wellness Incentives

Corporate wellness programming is on the rise, and while company results vary, the return on investment is encouraging. Rewarding employees with the simplest prizes can help keep them on track to maintaining a healthier lifestyle, which in turn reduces health care costs and increases productivity for your company.

Ways to Reward Healthy Employees

Here are some ways to reward employees:

• Small tokens: Everyone loves free stuff. Try items such as key chains, mouse pads, and water bottles.
• Gift cards: Large amounts aren’t necessary. Who wouldn’t like having a $5–$10 gift card to Subway or Starbucks?
• Point systems: By developing point systems for reaching wellness goals, employees can earn points throughout the year to be put toward larger prize items, or even toward a flexible benefits account.

Rewarding is easy. Everyone likes to know that their hard work is being noticed. Treat your employees for being healthy by encouraging worksite wellness.

In what ways are you recognizing employee efforts to become healthy?

You might have seen, or at least heard about, the Shake Weight commercial. It's that somewhat (and by "somewhat," I mean "very") suggestive ad with a woman (and now a man) shaking a spring-loaded dumbbell at chest level.

As a corporate fitness professional, when I see a new fitness product, my first instinct is to investigate further. Did I miss out on inventing yet another ingenious fitness product? Am I going to think "Why didn't I think of that?" There are a plethora of fitness products that I should have invented, including the Gliding disks, the BOSU, and the Bender Ball. Will the Shake Weight be the next product on my list?

The Claims: Strong, Toned, Ripped Arms and Chest

During my initial investigation, I found the product's claim on its website: “In just 6 minutes a day, you'll get strong, toned, ripped arms and chest.” The 2.5-pound (5 pounds for men) product has a spring on either end and is powered by your movement. It comes with an upper-body-toning DVD and an unconditional money-back guarantee.

The product promises to meet its claims through a “completely new workout technology called dynamic inertia.” According to the manufacturer of the Shake Weight, dynamic inertia (the vibration of the muscles) results in a 300 percent increase in muscle.

The Verdict: Not So Fast

A recent simulation study by LifeMOD concluded that vibration training can give us the body we have been waiting for. Keep in mind, though, that this study was not done on humans.

Although the product may have one supporting study, I still have my doubts. The arms and chest may be the most glamorous-looking muscles, but in order to have a well-functioning body, all the major muscle groups should be worked. More importantly, six minutes a day of upper-body work does not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations of 150 minutes of aerobic activity and two or more days of strength training for all the major muscle groups.

If getting the “ripped arms and chest” that you see advertised in the commercials is the primary goal of your workout, it will take a lot more work than just shaking a weight for six minutes a day to get them. Without a balanced diet, a regular exercise program, and some hard work, it is nearly impossible to build those “ripped” muscles.

A Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On

If the Shake Weight claims are true, be on the lookout for exercisers everywhere shaking things in the gym. Gone will be the days of shoulder presses, lunges, and pushups. In will be the days of shaking to create results.

In hindsight, I won't be adding the Shake Weight to my list of fitness products that I should have invented. I will stick with traditional weightlifting for now. If I feel the need to shake something for some muscle activation, I'll grab a bottle of all-natural fruit juice and shake it for six minutes before I take a drink. But hey, if the New York Jets think it's amusing enough to try out in training camp, my conclusion may be way off! 

Water is necessary for the digestion and absorption of food. In other words, it’s essential to life. But does everybody require the same amount of water? You always read that we need to drink eight glasses of water a day. So I did a little more research to figure out under what circumstances you would need more than that.

According to corporate fitness program consultants, you should drink more water when you

• Are on a high-protein or high-fiber diet
• Have an illness that causes vomiting or diarrhea
• Are more physically active
• Are exposed to hot weather conditions

Many worksite wellness centers have handouts for more information on how much water you personally need based on several circumstances. The Mayo Clinic's website also offers some helpful guidelines.

Most people choose beverages that dehydrate them instead of drinking water. Coffee, tea, alcohol, soda, and other sugary drinks are all examples of beverages that dehydrate your body. Not only do sugary drinks cause dehydration, but they also cause you to pack on the pounds. Then you will need to spend your lunchtime going for walks or in the corporate fitness center trying to work off the extra weight.

Water is a great natural resource and it’s involved in all bodily functions, so drink up! Try to drink more water on a daily basis starting today.

This blog was written by Lori H. as a guest blogger with NIFS.

As a busy mother with a full-time job and a freelance business on the side, I know that I don't always make the healthiest food choices―for myself or my family. It's too tempting to grab fast food on the dash between work and the Girl Scout meeting. Too often I find myself completely stumped about what to fix for supper that will be easy, healthy, and satisfying.

Then there are my family's specific health concerns. I suffer from increasingly troublesome acid reflux and low blood sugar. And ever since I got a desk job and gave up caffeine (which is appetite suppressing) nearly 20 years ago, I've been carrying around an extra 25 pounds. My husband has high blood pressure, so we also need to watch our sodium intake. And our daughter is a frustratingly picky eater.

When I saw that NIFS provides personal nutrition coaching with a registered dietitian, I knew that it was something I needed to do. Like everything else, though, I procrastinated about investigating the possibility. I knew that I would probably hear some things I didn't want to hear. But the need to make a change finally overwhelmed me and I connected with the professionals at NIFS.

The first step was to fill out a three-day food diary covering two weekdays and one weekend day. When I announced to my coworkers and Facebook friends that I was undertaking this endeavor in the two weeks between my birthday and Christmas, they said I was brave (and crazy). There are so many temptations this time of year!

As I kept the diary, I found myself trying to avoid eating junky snacks because I didn't want to have to write them down. (Maybe this would be a good continuing exercise to keep me mindful of what I eat in the future.) But in the end, when someone waves a hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate-chip cookie in my face, there's not much I can do to stop myself.

One day at lunch I ordered a beef dish at the Thai place, so that I could accurately represent what I tend to eat. But they got the order wrong and brought chicken! The next day was our company Christmas lunch, for which I had already pre-ordered the chicken dish. So I think most of my meals during the diary period ended up being chicken! I wasn't trying to game the system, I promise!

After dinner tonight I will be done with my food diary and can send it back to NIFS. The next step will be to set up a meeting to hear where I can make some improvements. I have a funny feeling that I'm going to hear that I need to exercise more. Finding time for that will be another challenge, especially now that it's too cold and snowy outside to go on my usual lunchtime walks. Stay tuned and see what I find out!

Disclosure: NIFS discloses that it does remit monies to Lori H. for other nonrelated services. However, this venture with the nutritionist is being conducted at the will and request of Lori H., and Lori H. is not being compensated for the authorship of this blog.