Friday, January 30, 2009

2009 Fitness Goals: Another Halfsie, Pushups?

In 2008, I joined the YMCA, ran my first half marathon and starting doing yoga.

In 2009, I'd like to add another halfer and some pushups, please?


Last year, I ran the 28th Annual Stratton-Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon in June with my friend Laura and her family. THIS YEAR, Fairfield has upped the ante including MEDALS for all half marathon finishers. As if I didn't need another reason to do it!

This is a big deal. I'm not a distance runner and although I'm athletic, 13 miles is extremely daunting to me. Last year, I tried to train, but there were some extenuating circumstances that kept me from focusing as much as I wanted to (i.e. a stalker, whatever). Before the race, I think the most I ran consecutively was 8 miles. But then again, that's the number I told everyone, and I clearly I would have lied about it, so really think it was closer to 6. I finished the race, but I was running about 10 minute miles, which is not really anything to brag about.

In any case, I'm going to do it better. The race is June 28, 2009, so that gives me just under five months to pull my shit together. Most half marathon training programs are for 12 weeks or so, but I'll need to start getting back into better shape now, especially taking care of my knees.

Also, I'm intrigued by the One Hundred Pushups challenge. Following the posted program, they assert that in only six weeks, you could do 100 pushups. For reals?

I'm going to look into this more and report back. Anyone interested in trying it out?

Intro to Napping: Part 2

I always thought that some people were just awesome nappers and other people just couldn't handle it. Through reading Take a Nap and other stuff, I still think that's true, but I also think that napping takes practice, just like anything else.

As I mentioned in Intro to Napping: Part 1, I've had some rough napping experiences recently, although to be fair, any time when I am woken up by anything other than my own biological clock, I tend to want to kill something. (That first chime from my alarm in the morning is the single worst moment of my day. Or when my roommate's dog whines at 6 am when she leaves. That little bastard is lucky he can still walk.)

Anyway, it turns out that there is something of a science to napping, which, when taken into consideration, can help one avoid the negative effects of waking up feeling groggy and irritable.

Sara Mednick explains that the culprit here is Slow-Wave Sleep or SWS:
When you're fully awake, your brain is operating on many frequencies. but during SWS your entire brain rhythm has synchronized into a slow, uniform pattern. Sleep inertia is how we experience the lag that occurs while the brain once again recreates them multiple faster frequencies. The groggy feeling can become particularly acute for the sleep-deprived, since someone whose body has a greater need of SWS has a greater chance of waking up during SWS and thus into sleep inertia.
Now here comes the exciting part: By sleeping shorter or longer periods, you can avoid waking up in SWS and therefore avoid (for the most part) feeling like crap when you wake up! Yay!

The Boston Globe has a nice little napping "cheat sheet", if you will. It appears that The Guardian ripped it off here, and then Lifehacker posted it again here. Awkward.

This very blurry and small picture explains how to avoid waking up in SWS. Click to enlarge, por favor.
Bottom line: Your naps should be shorter than 45 minutes or longer than an hour and half in order to avoid SWS.

Also, Mednick says that even if you do feel a little fuzzy after a nap, you can quickly "fire up" your brain through physical activity, sensory stimulation such as splashing water on your face or a shot of espresso.

"In any case," Mednick explains, "having napped cannot make you 'more tired,' any more than a light snack makes a starving person 'more hungry.' If you experience sleep inertia (grogginess), you've simply whetted your body's appetite for a resource that your conscious mind has been trying to ignore."

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Intro to Napping: Part 1

I was a napper for about two years: senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Since then, I haven't been able to find the balance between getting a restful sleep and not waking up hella groggy and irritable. (Yes, hella.) The last time I took a nap, I woke up 30 minutes late and proceeded to pick a terrible fight, behaving so ridiculously, I almost got dumped. It was decided then and there that Chloe Shall Never Nap Again. So it was proposed and unanimously accepted and written into law.

But really--what is all this napping crap about? Isn't that what BABIES do?!

True, but napping has also gained a lot of support from the Professional Medical Community in the past few years. I picked up Take a Nap! Change your life by Sara C. Mednick, Ph.d. at the library the other day, and I wasn't prepared for it to rock my world. But it sort of did.

Mednick explains that we're naturally biphasic sleepers, meaning that we want to sleep two times during the day. In fact, we're the only mammals that don't sleep multiple times in a 24-hour cycle, although no other mammals have to pay taxes either. That second sleepy phase falls right between 1 and 3 pm, which is prime siesta time.

Are you in the market for a nap? Well let's find out with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, shall we?

Use the following point system to score how you'd react in the situations below.

0 = Would never doze
1 = Slight chance of dozing
2 = Moderate chance of dozing
3 = High chance of dozing

SITUATIONS
  1. Sitting and reading
  2. Watching TV
  3. Sitting inactive in a public place, e.g., in a meeting or theater
  4. Riding in a car as a passenger for an hour without a break
  5. Lying down to rest in the afternoon
  6. Sitting and talking to someone
  7. Sitting quietly after lunch (when you've had no alcohol)
  8. Sitting in a car while stopped in traffic
Now, add 'em up and let's see how sleepy you are.

If you scored:
  • Less than 8: Normal sleep function. You might consider napping during periods of high stress.
  • 8 to 10: Mild sleepiness. A well scheduled nap a couple times a week could improve your sleepiness.
  • 11 to 15: Moderate sleepiness. You should be concerned that their sleepiness may interfere with daily activities.
  • 16 to 20: Severe sleepiness. Talk to a doctor! You shouldn't be so sleepy.
  • 21 to 24: Excessive sleepiness. You probably have a severe sleep disorder, so please seek medical attention if this is news to you.
How'd you do? Need a nap after that? In the next few days, there will be more on when, where, and how long you should nap. Get excited.

Yay naps!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Winter Propaganda, c/o The Weather Channel

Because there is a major storm heading into Boston tonight, I was checking out The Weather Channel this morning to get the 411 and guesstimate my chances of having a snow day tomorrow (it's looking good). As I briefly browsed TWC's homepage, I found that they're promoting a new feature called, "Why I Love Winter."
Also, if you've checked your Local on the 8's in the last few days, you've probably seen the promo on TV.

TWC Road Crew personality Jeff Mielcarz hosts this piece, albeit reluctantly. According to his Do you love Winter? blog post, Jeff is not a fan of the winter months:
"I feel like you and I have a pretty good relationship and I don't want to ruin that by lying to your face ... so I'll be straight up with you ... winter ... clearly not my favorite season."
Alright, Jeff, whatever you say. After Jeff gets through relating his elementary school snow day experiences (with enough dot-dot-dotting to drive a person mad), he goes on to tell us how other TWC personalities feel about winter. Most of them seemed to have missed the "Why I LOVE Winter" memo because many are luke warm at best about the season. Heather Tesch even goes so far to say, "Honestly, winter is not my favorite month." If winter was a month, that would be harsh.

But seriously... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP?! Winter sucks and everyone knows it. Why is The Weather Channel forcing this weak propaganda on us?

Also-- why am I getting so worked up about this? I'm not sure. Clearly this is just a very poorly perceived and executed PR stunt by a bunch of weather geeks trying to get people jazzed about Winter and increase their ratings.

But mostly, I think this campaign isn't 100% stupid and it could have been a great opportunity to address some public health issues, namely the "winter blues" or Seasonal Affective Disorder, instead of a plea for people to spend loads of money they don't have traveling to Florida and/or snow sporting.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is the extreme version of the cabin fever, fatigue and irritability that many people experience during January and February. If symptoms are so severe that you can't function, please seek professional advice. Otherwise, there are lots of articles and advice columns for how to deal with the blues, but here are some general tips:
  • Exercise 4-6 times a week for 30-45 minutes.
  • Take vitamin C supplements to keep your immune system healthy.
  • Decorate your living space with bright colors like red, orange and yellow.
  • Eat complex carbohydrates like rice and pasta to feed your brain, and simple carbs like fruits and juices for a sweet meal-ender. Strategic eating!
  • Get some sun exposure soon after you rise in the morning. Opening your shades can be enough!
Personally, I've been cooking, baking and trying to get some sewing projects going to keep me busy. I find that too much idle time can be a hazard to my mental health, i.e. unemployment. A couple weeks ago, I made Beef Barley Soup, which was DELICIOUS and pretty easy. The leftovers were even better the next day. And the next.

So, WEATHER CHANNEL listen up: Stick to what you know, i.e. THE WEATHER. Don't tell me I have to love Winter, because I don't! You're not my mom!

Resources:
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Mayo Clinic
Gannett Advice on Beating the Winter Blues, Cornell University
Natural Ways to Beat the Winter Blues, Health.com
Go Away Winter Blues!, DoItYourself.com

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Asexuality: 1 in a 100

So. I don't post about sex much (or ever?) for a number of reasons that I choose not to discuss at this time. In an effort to diversify the content of Healthy, Wealthy & Wise, I wanted to highlight an issue that I barely knew existed: asexuality.

Our friends at Wikipedia explain that asexuality is "a sexual orientation that describes individuals who do not experience sexual attraction." Yes, alright. But what does that MEAN?! (Also, interestingly, this post is listed as part of the LGBT Portal, which doesn't seem to fit to me. Thoughts?)

A recent ABC News article (Asexuals push for greater recognition, 1/16/09) explores the asexual orientation a bit further. David Jay, a 26-year-old grad student and founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, explains his motivation for creating greater awareness of asexuality:
"The problem is not that there is too much discussion about sex; 99 percent of the world really, really likes sex, so it is something that should be talked about openly and honestly," Jay said. "But we need to have more discussion about how people can not have sex and still be happy."

And this is coming from someone who hasn't taken an oath of celibacy? Who isn't "born again"? Who doesn't have a Top 40 single and a mammoth tween following? Curious, very curious.

I checked out Jay's website, AVEN, and was surprised to find an enormous amount of thoughtful, well-articulated information. Not that I thought that asexual people are stupid... I just wasn't expecting to "get" what they were all about.

My biggest question was about arousal: do they ever feel it? Here's what AVEN had to say:
For some sexual arousal is a fairly regular occurrence, though it is not associated with a desire to find a sexual partner or partners. Some will occasionally masturbate, but feel no desire for partnered sexuality. Other asexual people experience little or no arousal. Because we don’t care about sex, asexual people generally do not see a lack of sexual arousal as a problem to be corrected, and focus their energy on enjoying other types of arousal and pleasure.

Interesting. So, it's not that there's no sexual activity, it's just there's no partnered sexual activity. AVEN is explicit about the fact that companionship is still desired and attraction still occurs for asexuals, but they look different than in a typical hetero-, homo-, bi-, trans-, etc. sexual relationship.

AVEN also has links to asexual-interest blogs. From just the few posts I browsed, many are thoughtful and bring light to the asexuality that exists all around us. From asexy beast, the author writes about asexual themes in movies, like Amelie and Wall-E. (The Trouble With Movies, 1/11/09) Amelie is one of my favorite movies, and I never thought about it that way, mostly because when the two weirdos DO get together in the last 90 seconds, it's pretty hot. But asexy beast does make an interesting point.

(Can I just say... I almost wish I were asexual because it would just cut out a whole lot of wasted time (not the actual sex part! the thinking about it). And just the fact that this blogger would not ever want to have sex with me, makes me want to seduce them... and I think that's wrong.)


I learned a lot today. From now on, I promise to limit how often I refer to my close friends as "asexual" who haven't dated in awhile (ever?). Or maybe that's something I was just born with: being an a-hole.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Best USA Cities for Women & Men

The Women's Health Magazine published a report recently listing the BEST and WORST cities for women to live in.

Want to see if you're going to live a long life or die in a mushroom cloud of pollution? Look at the map. Actually, it doesn't give that information, and the city you live in probably isn't even on the rankings. I just like to look at these things.

FYI--the magazine goes into great detail about how fabulous and accurate their rankings are. If you care enough to be convinced, browse the preamble here.

Not to be outdone, Men's Health Magazine published their OWN MAP. Take that.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Fitness on a budget!

Even though gyms have been slashing prices to attract New Year's Resolutionees, it's difficult to find a decent membership for under $50 a month. Sure, you can use the YMCA or your local rec center or your university's facilities, but if you're like me, it's hard to utilize those money-saving options and still get a satisfying workout. (Issues like overcrowding, sub-standard equipment, and creepy old guys tend to make me a flight risk at the Y.)

That's why I was excited to get last week's e-newsletter from the National Women's Health Resource Center. The feature article was 9 Great Ways To Stay Fit Without Breaking Your Budget. Great timing!

While there aren't any ground-breaking suggestions, it's a really thoughtful article with some good tips. Notable suggestions include:
  • Make ordinary moments count. Fitness expert Shirley Archer says, "When you brush your teeth, do a set of 20 to 25 squats, as your fitness permits." Sure! I just stand there awkwardly anyway. Why not throw in something productive?
  • Break your exercise boredom cheaply. Check out the programming on the fitness channel (if you have cable), rent new DVDs from the library (Sweatin' to the Oldies!) or go to the American Counsel on Exercise's Exercise Library, a website that I am extremely impressed with and will be highlighting often.
  • Look for bargains. They suggest that you do your homework on gym memberships before committing to one, so you get the best deal. If you're in the market for fitness equipment, look on Craigslist or sign up for Freecycle. And personally, I always look forward to nice weather so I can drive through the neighborhoods looking at all the crap people try to get rid of (otherwise known as garage/yard/tag sales). Also, Play It Again Sports. *Note: I think it goes without saying, but it's always a good idea to test drive any item before you complete the purchase.
I've been in a workout slump recently, so these ideas have helped kick-start me back into a schedule. I'm excited to do squats when I brush my teeth tomorrow morning!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Who cares about steroids?

Do you care about steroids? I'm not sure if I do, but it's been a hot topic in the last couple years, what with the Major League Baseball fiasco including the Mitchell Report, congressional hearings and the continuing controversy surrounding Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, et. al.

What really prompted this post is a 'roids site (Can you shorten it to "roids", or does that refer to hemorrhoids? Help!) I came across called Steroids Live, a pro-steroids blog that is "intended to inform and educated athletes, bodybuilders and the general public about anabolic steroids." Fair enough.

If anything, "Dr. Stevens" seems to be working against his cause. Besides the obvious grammatical errors (have you heard of a comma?) and nonsensical writing, the ultimate question is never even addressed: WHAT IS THE POINT? Clearly, I'm not of the target audience, but who is? How do you even become someone who is thinking about steroids?

Also, the office where I work get the American Journal of Public Health, which I read when the boss is out of the office (and sometimes take home). The December 2008 issue includes a study that looked at steroid usage in relation to violence.*

The results? They suggest that steroid use is related to "heightened levels of violent behaviors," and that the media attention and public concern surrounding this issue is justified "given its association with violence among males in the United States."

This seems to address Steroid Lives' issue in Roid Rage, Myth or Real Danger???, so I'll just leave it at that.

*Beaver, K., Vaughn, M.G., DeLisi, M., Wright, J.P. (2008) Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use and Involvement in Violent Behavior in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adult Males in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 2185-7.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Digest a 'la Simone: Thinking=Eating, Excuses

Two recent suggestions from my friend Simone.

From Jezebel, I'm not fat, I'm just smart details the findings of a new study that found that people consume more calories following "intellectual work" than after relaxing. Apparently, doing a crossword or Sudoku puzzle causes people to eat more calories than say, staying at wall. (That is, of course, unless your name is Henry David Thoreau.)

The study's main author, Jean-Phillipe Chaput hypothesized that this could be a contributing factor "to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialized countries."

Meh. I don't know about this study. Something seems off.

Firstly, the problem is not just the consumption of more calories--it's the consumption of bad calories. When most people snack during the work day or during finals or whenever, it's most crap food: chips, cookies, and crunchy salty sweet things.

Secondly, this implies that a lot of people (specifically, people with weight problems) are doing a great deal of heavy thinking, if you will. Really? I don't know.

From Lifehacker, Why Your Self-Handicapping Excuses Don't Work (And How to Fix Them) highlights a NY Times article discussing self-handicapping.

Self-handicapping is something that everyone does on occasion, but people who do it regularly are generally seen as annoying. Who wants to hear excuses all the time? (Otherwise known as whining.)

To protect our fragile egos, we've all thrown out the occasional "my dog ate my homework" type excuse, but for people who do it often, it becomes an exercise in self delusion. The Times cites some interesting information:

Studies of college students have found that habitual handicappers — who skip a lot of classes; who miss deadlines; who don’t buy the textbook — tend to rate themselves in the top 10 percent of the class, though their grades slouch between C and D.

It's one thing to miss an occasional deadline, forget an appointment, etc. but when the same thing happens consistently with the same reasons for failure being offered, it's not healthy.

The Times also points out that if someone else is giving excuses for you, people won't hate you. But they don't explain how to get other people into doing it... I suspect the trick is to recruit someone with an extra dose of patience and sympathy.

Good luck with that!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Obesity in the USA

From Jill Richardson on La Vida Locavore.

OBESITY TRENDS 1985-2007 shows a nice little animation of the percent of obese people by state. Watch as each state changes colors through the years, as the residents gain more and more weight.


An interesting way to represent the situation. And also disheartening.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Update: No $$ in the bank, no ga$ in the tank...

As a follow-up to my recent post about women forgoing health care because of financial issues (No money in the bank, no gas in the tank and no healthcare either, 12/17/08), I thought I'd point out a post from Women's Health News that covers the same issue, but is based on a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

PBS reported the survey's results, which indicated that more people have been postponing health care or treatment, not filling prescriptions and skipping appointments because of the costs.


Can we just gives props to the Women's National Health Resource Center for already covering this?! It's too bad Kaiser has billions more cash monies to pay for a huge survey and publicity.

Although, I was thinking that BOTH surveys have a pretty major reporting flaw in that participants are asked to report on their current feelings toward healthcare and their past feelings toward healthcare at the same time. It's been proven time and time again that your current inclinations towards a specific thing can greatly affect your past perceptions of that same thing... even when that thing is something as seemingly bias-resistant as seeking healthcare.

I would imagine that while not everyone is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, since we talk about it so damn much, it seems like it's worse than it currently is. Surely, it will get worse later, so are people really unable to pay for health care or are they unwilling?

And, in response to Kaiser's survey, was it really that much worse in October 2008 than it was in April 2008, a mere 7 months later? I don't know. I'm skeptical, but that's why I'm asking.

This isn't me being insensitive, because I pay for health insurance also. Sometimes PBS is just annoying to me... like how this story Even Insured Patients Struggle as Healthcare Costs Rise appears in the special In-Depth Coverage section on "The Uninsured in America." Um, these people have insurance, and they're complaining about it? At least they have it, compared to the 25 million who are apparently underinsured in the USA.

Look, if you want to talk about healthcare in general, just put it all in a "Healthcare Issues" section. But don't throw everything healthcare related under "The Uninsured" because it's misleading.

There are strong arguments for all of these issues, but when you throw all this crap together and force it to be related (when it shouldn't be), it muddles the issues, nobody wins and everyone is annoyed. Most of all me.

Friday, January 2, 2009

British Mythbusters Rock Your World

From Lifehacker: Popular Medical Myths Put to Rest.

The British Medical Journal dispels some of the most commonly held medical beliefs, in Festive Medical Myths and Medical Myths.

Some interesting conclusions:
  1. We use more than 10% of our brains.
  2. Hair and fingernail growth does not continue after death.
  3. Reading in low light does not ruin your eyesight.
  4. You cannot cure a hangover.
  5. Night snacking does not necessarily make you fat.
  6. Sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity. Then why do I run laps around my apartment after eating a bag of blue raspberry Sour Straws?
Also, the British have some terse words for medical professionals everywhere.

Physicians would do well to understand the evidence supporting their medical decision making. They should at least recognise when their practice is based on tradition, anecdote, or art. While belief in the described myths is unlikely to cause harm, recommending medical treatment for which there is little evidence certainly can. Speaking from a position of authority, as physicians do, requires constant evaluation of the validity of our knowledge. (My emphasis)

Ha! So serious! Lighten up... shoot.

Also, do you remember how you reacted when that snotty boy in 1st grade told you there was no Santa?

I think it's something similar to the reader reactions in Lifehacker's comments. BUT MY MOM SAID HE'S REAL!

Resolutions: Why bother?


I've never been big on the New Year's Resolutions. Maybe it just seems like a weak reason to make significant changes in your life. A new year? Who cares. A new day starts in about an hour and a half and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a lot like the one that just ended.

However, a lot of people buy into the "resolution" industry. A poll on Vitamin G shows that 64% of Glamour readers (whoever they are) always make resolutions and 36% said "No--there's too much pressure!"

According to About.com the 10 most common resolutions are:
  1. Spend more time with family and friends.
  2. Work out.
  3. Lose weight.
  4. Quit smoking.
  5. Enjoy life more.
  6. Quit drinking.
  7. Get out of debt.
  8. Learn something new.
  9. Volunteer.
  10. Get organized.
And surprisingly (randomly?), USA.gov has a list of popular New Year's resolutions as well. They've added save money, get a better job, get a better education, take a trip, and reduce stress at work and in life. Just in case you needed ideas, the government is here to help!

I have to admit, I made one resolution last year: to stop drinking to excess.

This was a retroactive measure taken in response to a particular situation. I brought in 2007 with a handle of tequila and subsequently spent the following day and a half lying on the floor of the bathroom. I made an ass of myself and was totally ridiculous. I thought, "I'm too old to be doing this!" Seriously, it's not attractive AT ALL. I don't care how hot you are or how short your skirt is. Once those eyes roll back in your pretty little head and you vomit all over yourself, it's over. Disgusting.

And what's the status of my resolution? 366 days (leap year!) and still going strong. No more pukey nights for Chloe.