Lets consider the following:

· For age > 65 y/o, falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and responsible for approximately 2 million ER visits per year.

· Most falls are not truly accidents rather represent affects of physical deficits related to diminished vision, strength and/or balance.

· Ankle strength and range of motion accounts for approximately 50 percent of our balance.

· Hip strength accounts for approximately 20 percent of our balance.

· Numerous muscles of the trunk accounts for the remaining 30 percent of our balance.

· Decreased flexibility of musculature and ligaments away from the ankle also contributes to imbalance.

· Improved visual contrasts in the home and work environments, and keeping floors tidy (free from slip/trip hazards) lessens risk of injury.

Come on Baby-boomers, avoid the injuries. Contact us for additional recommendations.

Most persons with a sense of quality, contemporary health, nutrition and fitness have a reasonable understanding of good dietary and exercise practices. Moreover, the battle is generally that of taking action versus accepting the fallback mantra of “be satisfied with who you are.” The latter is acceptable only if you have acknowledged that where you are is not where you want/need to be, and the satisfaction is based upon your efforts in transition. If you need a new strategy, you may wish follow these seven free steps to guaranteed weight loss.

If you are not yet convinced, consider the following. The media is still promoting H1N1 vaccination (we have to get rid of the overstock), but the real epidemic in the U.S. is obesity. Affecting more than sixty percent of the population, it will cause far more morbidity and mortality than the flu. It affects all age groups. Moreover, its high prevalence is a measure of our self-deception. If you don’t believe that you are deceiving yourself, then be your own fitness spy.

Get a small notebook and record the following:

1. The time of day you eat and drink anything with calories.

2. Your hunger level (1-10 scale) at the time of your intake.

3. What and how much did you eat and/or drink?

4. Did you apply gravies, toppings, dressings, etc., and what volume?

5. Your mood when you eat and/or drink.

6. Your reason for eating and/or drinking.

7. Describe your exercise for the day.

After recording your consumption activity for approximately three weeks, review it against what you know to be good practices. Make some decisions and develop some strategies to address your findings (mistakes) and start again. Enjoy being a “fitness spy”, and the next thing you’ll be recording is your successful steps to weight loss, guaranteed.

Permanent degradation is not a foregone conclusion when you notice problems with memory. Health, nutrition and fitness habits should be evaluated when memory appears to be flagging. Consider the following possible contributors:

1. Poor sleeping habits it the most common cause of occasional slips in memory. Make time for healthy rest.

2. Acute infection frequently clouds thinking. Chronic illness of any type often precipitates excessive mood changes, which has an untoward effect on memory. Take care of your health in general.

3. Emotional distress often adversely affects memory. A calm mind is a healthier mind.

4. Pharmaceutical agents such as sleep agents, opiates, anxiolytics and some blood pressure medications and a good memory often conflicting objectives. Talk to your doctor about any side effects of medications.

5. Alcohol overuse may both effect your cerebral tissues permanently and have numerous short term adverse effects, including affecting memory. Moderate alcohol use significantly. Moreover, there are much healthier sources of anti-oxidants than red wine.

6. Poor circulation is can be circumferential, effecting your body and mind. Exercise regularly.

Eat well (including vitamin supplementation as needed, e.g., B-12), sleep well and exercise regularly. Take care of your health, nutrition and fitness for the good of your memory.

1. Plantar Fasciitis - If identified early more than ninety percent of plantar fasciitis can be adequately addressed by a combination of weight loss and passive plus active ligamentous/muscular stretches of the feet to develop and maintain balanced, normal motion and wearing good shoes.

2. Iliotibial band - Increased iliotibial band stress often occurs with increased impact force during running. IT band micro-injury often precipitates reactive tightening of the band, resulting in lateral torque force on the patella and related soft tissues. To prevent lateral thigh pain, knee pain and plantar foot pain related to the IT band, perform frequent crossed leg sitting stretches and improve the arch support of your shoes.

3. Balance - Walking is a bit difficult without good balance. Tai Chi, a martial art, has as its most important characteristics that it improves balance, endurance and ambulatory skills amongst its practitioners.

1. Determine the ideal time to work out at your gym.
2. Keep your personal equipment and clothing organized and ready so that when you are ready, preparation is not the barrier to getting it done.
3. Develop a base routine with variations; cycle through the variations.
4. Get your heart rate up. If you can still talk while engaged in your aerobic activity, you are probably not working out hard enough.
5. Consider alternating between upper extremity and lower extremity exercises on the same day so that you get a full body workout even when you miss a day.
6. Try working out with a group or class to inspire and pace you.

The brain is a dense tangle of interconnections. This thicket (bush) can grow or lose new branches daily. Mental activity builds synapses in a manner similar to physical activity building muscles. However, as muscular fitness is a multifaceted process including nutrition, resistance exercise, stretching, oxygenation, and adequate rest, care for your brain is very similar.

Brain care includes regular engagement in mentally challenging activities, physical exercise to encourage circulation, avoidance of recreational, medicinal and environmental toxicants, as you are able, consumption of foods high in B complex vitamins and antioxidants, and low in fats to lessen cerebral atherosclerosis.

Sixty percent of all issues discussed at visits with a primary care practitioner address pain. For most primary clinicians, discussing pain management infers discussing medicines. For those who are enlightened enough to consider fitness and exercise as part of general health care.

Many people have difficulty getting back to exercise because they fear that their previous inactivity will cause them to injure themselves. If you are amongst those, consider pool exercise. An effective work out in water may include walking, jogging, swimming and exercises with resistance tools made specifically for use in water.

The key advantage to restarting your fitness plan in a pool is buoyancy. You may reduce your effective body weight by up to 90 percent in deeper water. The reduced effective weight makes exercise easier on your joints.

Light dumbbells made of foam provide substantial resistance as they pass through the water not by their mass, rather due to volume and shape. Water resists the motion of the body and exercise tools as they move, providing the opposition force of work. However, it lessens the speed and torque of the work, making it safer. Additionally, the gravity-defying assistance of water lessens the risk of falling or performing exercise at an unfavorable angle.

Pain is frequently associated with excessive weight on the lumbar, hip and lower extremity joints. Pain is frequently associated with the effects of disease related to obesity. Pain is frequently related to injury that occurs subsequent to loss of muscle mass. Pool work is no magic bullet, and it is work. However, it is very effective in its many potential applications of increased flexibility, weight loss strength gains and pain management via improved fitness.

When considering personal and national healthcare plans we need to define healthcare. While much of western medicine is focused upon diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, we should actually consider healthcare as the compound word that it is, health and care. As such, the objective should be that of caring for your health. To focus upon health, consider the following to motivate yourself to get healthy and fit.

1.    Describe your objective. How will you look when you are healthy? Write your description detailing your future appearance including hair (color, amount, style), face (with or without wrinkles, acne, scars, etc.), skin (tone, lesions), posture, height, weight, body measures (e.g., chest, waist, hip circumference), and clothing sizes.

2.    Create an initial plan. Create a plan for reaching your objectives. Of course, we all have different resources. So, your plan will need to fit your budget and resources. Plan elements may include: exercise plan, dietary plan, social habits plan (e.g., related to alcohol, cigarettes, pharmaceutical products, sleep, etc.), describing a support network (e.g., physician, nutritionist/dietician, trainer, software resource, books, newsletters, blog information, family, friends, etc.).

3.    Create a calendar. Create a skeleton calendar noting endpoint objectives and intermediate targets. The skeletal nature will allow for updating the plan, with the most detailed aspects of the plan being the current month.

4.    Sign up for events. Participate in contests and competitions for which the primary expense is your time and effort. These physical events should be consistent with your level of fitness. The contests may be a 1-day event for a charity where the primary benefactors are others or may be a fitness competition that is performed over the course of months, sponsored by nutritional supplement companies, with prizes for the high performers. Participation in these events and contests will be complementary motivation.

5.    Share you goals. Tells others who will encourage you if nothing else. The term “support” in “support network” will be defined in many ways. Sharing enhances your accountability.

6.    Visualize your objectives often. Type your goals and post them where you will see them frequently and where you need the reminders and encouragement. These locations might be on your bath mirror, in the bedroom closet, on food cabinets, on your refrigerator, and in the car. If you are sophisticated enough to scan a picture a picture of yourself into a computer, digitally manipulate it and print the image of the anticipated “new you”, do so.

Formulate your plan, get healthy and stay fit.

Losing weight is equal parts dietary content, dietary behavior control, and exercise. Here are nine behavioral tips to help you succeed in the weight loss process.

1. Make sure that when you start your program, you are actually ready (mentally) to start; no half-hearted efforts.
2. Choose foods well (get educational materials) and eat more of the foods that you learn are good for you.
3. Eat smaller amounts, more often. Increasing frequency of meal consumption is desirable, but nibbling between meals should be avoided.
4. Be aware of the calories per source food.  Some persons avoid sweet, carbohydrate rich food. However, this is not necessary, rather be aware of the calories consumed per “bite/swallow/mouthful” of the food item.
5. Avoid foods and beverages that induce personal binges or tendencies to consume more of undesired foods (e.g., more salty snacks consumed with a beer).
6. Consider exercising or participating in a full-body engaged activity during the times of the day when cravings are more likely to occur. These times of day will vary by individual.
7. Consider eating meals in courses to slow consumption and speed satiety (the sense of fullness).
8. Develop a habit of snacking on foods that may be consumed in high volume (e.g., celery, carrots) with little calorie consumption.
9. Water, water, water. . . . consume your water.

Fitness and weight management is a process. Learn what you need to know, develop a plan, and if you are really ready, get started.

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