It could have been a really bad Hurricane

Since we met, my wife and I try to go to Boston for dinner (sometimes a comedy club, play or movie) most every Saturday night.  We stayed in last night because most things were closed due to “The Impending Hurricane”.  What to do?  We could watch a documentary or movie?  So, we watched two docs, a movie about the assassination of President Lincoln, visited parents and called it a night.

This morning we got up to learn more about “The Impending Hurricane”!  We were trying to figure out how long we could sit on the couch and watch the correspondents being bounced across Kill Hill Devil’s Island, North Carolina?  It was fascinating to watch these newscasters getting belted by wind and rain.  It was cool to live vicariously through them and we watched for about 30 minutes.  It was amazing how easy it was to sit and let television just wash over us.  There was only so much information you could take in about “leaves and wind in New York” and we could not take anymore.

As two people that find it difficult to sit still we decided to make a “sauce” from all of the tomatoes we picked out of our garden last night.  We picked them because of the forecasted “torrential rains and gale force winds” the Weather Channel and Storm Team 5 told us about.  We were so happy we decided to do the sauce because it ended up being the best we ever had.  It was great to experience picking the tomatoes and then making a sauce from our own garden.

Having a lot of children (5) helped me to remember how much fun it was to play and cook with them.  As an exercise physiologist it got me to thinking of children and the physical concerns the lack of movement can cause. 

In last weeks Boston Globe there was an article written by Beth Teitell about how difficult it is for parents to talk to their children about obesity.  The article focused on parents’ fears of talking to their children about over-eating, proper eating, worries of triggering eating disorders, passing on bad habits or worse, suicide.

When our children were young we told them to go out and play; can’t do that anymore.  The stories we read and hear nightly scare us about letting our children out to play.  How many of these issues can we put on the shoulders of ourselves as parents? How much of it can we put on teachers and school administrators?  How much of it can we put on our children?  How much of it can we put on the media that try to make stories out of nothing?  How much of it can we put on the government; Michelle Obama and letsmove.org?  At least the government and schools try to help. 

It is hard when parents do not make the time to “be” with their children.

Did you know that most American adults watch four hours of TV a day?  And kids watch 32 hours of TV a week.  There are 168 hours in a week.  How does anyone ever get anything done? 

25% of adults are overweight and have a hard time relating to their children and their over-eating issues because they have a difficult time themselves.

We are not sure there is a simple answer to any of these questions.  We just want to give you something to think about and try to think of ways to make things different.

Children just want our time and it does not stop when they are 10.  To be an effective parent you have to be there to listen.   Our parents are still interested in what we do; even though we are in our 50’s.  They are just there to listen.  We all have to do the same for our children. 

If we do not let our TV’s be a baby sitter; if we become a little more involved in our children’s lives it will pay huge benefits in their education, socialization and learning skills. 

Television can be great for information and not just PBS.  If we take a look and watch some of the amazing stories that are on and then go throw around a ball with our children then there is a balance.  We do not have to be good at throwing a ball.  Children do not care and it could open an avenue to talk.  We still do it with our children and then are in their 20’s.  We hope it never stops.

If the most experienced group of wellness specialists (personal trainers) in the Boston, Metro West, South Shore and Cape Cod are telling you this; maybe you should listen.

If you want more information, you can log onto our website - www.satinwellness.com or email us at info@satinwellness.com or call us at 978-369-3492 and we can send you some information that just might help us all lessen the effects of stress. It all starts with you.

The sky is falling

Last week it was the debt ceiling, sky falling…  Then it was the reaction to it by the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500, sky falling…  Then it was the S&P lowering our bond rating from AAA to AA, sky falling.  Now Moody’s is “downbeat” and has assigned a negative outlook on some of the most affluent towns in Massachusetts, sky falling.  Anything else?

Many of us are bombarded by the daily news.  Some of it is good and more of it is not so good.  The negative information thrown at us by the media sells but it can become a stressor for some. 

With all of this information you need to know what it does to your body.  Some may get stressed due to news, travel, lack of sleep, work and family issues and that causes an increase in many chemicals (hormones) in the body; the most well known ones are Cortisol, Adrenaline, and Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine).  They play a major part in our “fight or flight response” and are released when we get stressed. 

Now for the good news; Cortisol increases belly fat in the body and makes it hard to remember things.  What a one-two punch!  The best example of Cortisol buildup I can think of is – you are in a rush and you cannot find your keys no matter where you look?  They could be right in your hand, pocket or in the ignition.  That is what Cortisol does and it adds belly fat too, great.

Along with Cortisol, Adrenaline and Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine) are another part of the flight or fight response and are released during stressful events.  An example (I am sure you can think of plenty) - you are driving and someone cuts you off; you want to lash out but cannot or a sales clerk will not give you a refund for the moldy strawberries you just bought.  Here comes Adrenaline and Noradrenaline!  Your blood pressure and heart rate increase quickly!  Your muscles tense!  You want to yell or lash out but you do neither. 

It takes time for the hormones to be re-absorbed into the blood stream and you are left feeling blah.  The effects of stress on the body after flight/fight are varied.  You can be left feeling irritable, angry and impatient which is your body’s way to tell you it has been through quite an ordeal with out you knowing it. 

Thank you for the information Mr. What Stress can do to us.  Now, what can I do about it? 

If you look on a search engine like Google you would find that there are 33,000,000 different ways to handle stress or you can do one simple thing to lessen the effects of these hormones and what they do to the body.  You doctor has been telling you for years what to do.  You could move!  It really goes a long way to lessen the effects of stress.

Many of our clients want to reduce their midsections so they think they can just do sit ups.  To reduce belly fat all of the sit ups in the world will not do it.  You need to move and that will help reduce the fat and negate the effects of stress, too.  It takes a while to reduce fat but in the long run you have found an easy way to get healthier and live a longer life. 

You may be thinking, “What should I do when you say, just move, right”? 

Walking is a start if you are able.  If not riding one of the 8 gazillion exercise bikes sold in this country every year is another way.  If you do not have one, you could buy one in your local Pennysaver.  You could walk up and down a flight of stairs a few times per day.  Once you start moving a little you could even lift a weight or two to strengthen one of the 650 muscles in your body.  Then you could try to stretch out one of them too.  Imagine how good it would feel and how you body might repay you?  You might even start moving better?

They are just a few thoughts because many go through stressful situations everyday and do not know how to lessen the effects.  So, the next time you get moldy strawberries or get cut off on the Sagamore Rotary, think of this information.

If the most experienced group of wellness specialists (personal trainers) in the Boston, Metro West, South Shore and Cape Cod are telling you this; maybe you should listen.

If you want more information, you can log onto our website - www.satinwellness.com or email us at info@satinwellness.com or call us at 978-369-3492 and we can send you some information that just might help us all lessen the effects of stress. It all starts with you.

So we averted the debt ceiling... Now when do you start taking care of you?

So the debt deal has been signed. Now how about taking care of you?

It has taken months of wrangling for the inevitable to happen. We all knew the debt ceiling bill would be signed. It had to be and our country is running at such a deficit that our children will be paying for this if we are not careful.

As a husband, parent and business owner if we all ran our family and businesses the way the country is run our kids would be in jail and we would be bankrupt. Let's look at what we can and should control - ourselves!

While writing this a group of children are running around at camp on Cape Cod (lucky place to work), what happened to that being the norm anyway? Each of us has to get our physical house in order because Medicaid will not be able to afford the rush of health issues the baby boomers will require. It sounds scary and is frightening to think of.

A few minutes a day to move is not asking a lot. The average adult watches 48 hours of TV a week and sits about 23 hours a day. That is not healthy and there is little balance in many of our lives.

Many doctors tell you to walk to get exercise. You need more than just some walking to stay healthy but it does not take hours a day.

If the most experienced group of personal trainers in the Boston, Metro West, South Shore and Cape Cod is telling you this you should listen.

If you want more information, you can log onto our website - www.satinwellness.com or email us info@satinwellness.com and we can send you some information that just might help us all balance the budget. It all starts with one.