Wednesday Bubble: Becoming Bendy. A guest post by Patti Digh
I had a revelation this past year. Two of them, actually. Okay, three. Or twelve.
One: My husband, John, created a video for our oldest daughter’s graduation from high school, one documenting Emma’s life since birth to that moment of leaving home, going to college, walking into the world on her own. As I watched this beautiful progression of her life, it became so, so clear to me that I have spent the last 18 years trying to hide behind other people in photographs, buying and wearing clothing I didn’t love but that fit over my hips. Eighteen years. And probably, yes, longer even than that. Not walking in the world in jeans, a simple t-shirt and flip flops, but in every outfit covered by a big overshirt. Not wearing a bathing suit, never wearing shorts. Hiding. I watched it a few times, each time realizing that I knew exactly how I felt about my body at that point in time. “Oh, that’s baby weight,” I said until Emma was 10, for example. Every pound a witness to a heartbreak, a change, a fear, a celebration.
Two: I’ve spent the past year being tested for things. Ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and repeat. The morning they first tested for ovarian cancer, I sat in the parking lot sobbing, and then drove to the Chocolate Fetish and bought a nine-pack of chocolate covered caramels with sea salt and ate them all in the car. When I found out that test was negative two weeks later, I drove back to the Chocolate Fetish, bought another nine-pack of chocolate covered caramels with sea salt and ate them all in the car. I told Michael Scholtz, a brilliant wellness coach and personal trainer. “So,” I said jokingly, “do you think this means I’m an emotional eater?” He smiled a quiet smile. “Well, Patti,” he said, “if you had only eaten them when you thought you were dying, maybe not.” He paused. “But the fact that you ate them when you found out you would live… yeah, maybe.” We laughed. Yes.
Three: In November, I ended up in the emergency room with what I thought was a heart attack. It wasn’t. But my blood pressure was very high: 188/144. I typically have very low blood pressure. And I am now on medication to bring it down. I am not fond of taking medication and want to find other less intrusive ways to lower my blood pressure. “I want you to sweat six days a week,” my doctor said when giving me the prescription. I knew what he meant: lose weight.
There was an article in Wired Magazine a few years ago called “Change or Die.” It reported, among other things, that 90% of heart patients, when told they had to change their diet and exercise or they would die, did not change anything. Not even the threat of death got them to change their Krispy Kreme couch potato habits. Not even death.
I will change. Yes, I surely will.
As I start 2011, I no longer have in front of me the “lose 50 pounds” mantra. It is gone, irrelevant. While I do know that my natural, happy, comfortable weight is less than where I am right now, but I am no longer measuring happiness–or the lack of it–by a number. I am not concerned with a size, but a measure of wellness.
I am measuring wellness from now on by how bendy I am.
What is bendy?
Bendy is flexible, strong, able to run when it wants to. Bendy feels connected to body, stretched, confident, able. Bendy is a body not in competition with other bodies, and not even in competition with itself. It just is. Stretched and tall and aware of its Self. Bendy is a body to go along with a head; it is learning from the neck down. It is embodied learning. Embodied living. Embodied mindfulness.
I’m spending 2011 becoming bendy. Again.
I’m documenting that journey here for myself, and for others who might find it helpful.
Patti Digh is the author of Life is a Verb, Creative is a Verb, What I Wish For You and Four Word Self Help. She has also written two business books on global leadership and diversity, one named a Fortune magazine “best business book for 2000.” Patti’s comments have appeared on PBS, and in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, the New York Times, USAToday, the Washington Post, and London Financial Times, among other national and international publications. She speaks around the world on diversity, global business, and living intentionally.
Patti is also co-founder of The Circle Project, a consulting and training firm that partners with organizations and the people in them to help them work more effectively and authentically together across difference.
She lives in Ashville, NC with her husband, two daughters and various animals. She also likes Black & White cookies although they are now off the list during her ‘Becoming Bendy’ stage.
In training? Make sure it’s resistance!
For some time now, experts have advised that aerobic exercise is preferred over other forms of physical activity for reducing the risk of heart disease. One key reason is that it confers favorably changes in the arteries, making them pliant and able to assist with blood flow and maintenance of normal blood pressure. Although our arteries tend to stiffen naturally with age (losing their elasticity), other factors, including high cholesterol, an unhealthy diet, obesity and sedentary behavior also contribute. Unfortunately, the stiffer arteries become, the more difficult it is for blood to flow, meaning that the heart has to work harder to pump blood. This leads to high blood pressure, stroke and of course, death.
So, is the only physical option aerobic? Evidently not.
Historically, resistance training has been shown to increase the stiffness of the arteries. However, it also protects bone (thereby lowering the risk for osteoporosis), helps to maintain normal weight and promotes general health and wellbeing. These factors in particular, are essential to women as they age. However, for the first time, researchers are now saying that resistance training may confer heart benefits that are similar to aerobic exercise.
In a very small study published last year in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the effects of resistance training on the arteries and blood flow were thoroughly examined in young adult men, who, following a brief warm up, performed resistance exercises on weight machines; repetitions ranged from 3 to 15, and subsequent weight was added or reduced in increments to achieve the most optimal effort from each man. They found that 45 minutes moderate intensity resistance training, despite causing the arteries to stiffen, actually increased blood flow and as a result, lowered participant’s blood pressure by as much as 20%. What’s more, these benefits were greater than those seen with aerobic exercise, but, residual effects appeared to continue at least 30 to 60 minutes after resistance training stopped and recovery started. Among individuals who trained 30 to 45 minutes three times a week, these benefits continued for at least 24 hours.
The researchers point out that although it’s difficult to directly compare aerobic activity and resistance training, particularly with regards to exercise intensity, they believe that resistance training has an important role in lowering blood pressure and may be as “good as or better” than the benefit seen with antihypertensive medications.” They also say that for people who have orthopedic or weight limitations and can’t walk or run for long distances, these findings offer an important alternative: resistance training.
At the end of the day, any training is good, so long as it is supervised. Now it appears that adding resistance training to aerobic activity imparts a lot more benefits than previously thought. Aerobic AND resistance training = win/win for your heart and your health. Want to learn more? The American Council on Exercise has a great website on resistance and strength training. My friend Andrea Metcalf also provides some wonderful guidance in her new book, Naked Fitness.
Read MoreHave a heart…
HeartSense, that is.
My colleague Mary Knudson asked me to write a post about my exercise routine over at HeartSense blog, a blog devoted to heart failure. I hope that you’ll visit, not only to read it but also, Mary’s message. Heart failure is no joke and many of us don’t recognize the signs until it’s too late. Moreover, waning estrogen levels and resulting changes in LDL and total cholesterol contribute to increased risk of heart disease as we age.
Read MoreWednesday Bubble: word to the wise – move early, move often, keep moving
I’m not bursting bubbles this week but rather illusions about physical activity. This advice is for women AND men. And not just for the midlife set:
Maintaining high activity levels throughout the young adult years may help to reduce weight gain during middle age.
It’s intuitive, isn’t it? And yet, obesity has been steadily increasing since 1973 and now affects almost a third of adults in the US. And while battling the bulge definitely becomes more challenging with age, it appears that there is a rather easy solution: Move early. Move often.
In a newly published study of over 3,000 men and women, researchers found that habitual activity, described as maintaining high intensity activity (including sports, exercise, home maintenance and occupational activities) totaling roughly 150 minutes/week over a period of 20 years resulted in:
- A weight gain of approximately 6 lbs to 13 lbs less per year in men and women respectively, compared to peers who were exercising only moderately or lightly
- A lower increase in body mass circumference (measured by BMI) by as much as 1.2 inches to 1.5 inches per year in men and women, respectively, compared to peers who were only exercising moderately or lightly
These outcomes, which were especially notable in women, remained even when the researchers accounted for such factors as race, education, smoking, age, BMI at the study’s start, alcohol use and daily caloric intake.
One of the remaining questions is how much activity is needed to sustain these sort of changes, especially as we transition into middle age. That’s where experts disagree, with some claiming that 30 minutes daily is enough and others, suggesting that women in particular require at least 60 minutes daily. There is also indication that higher activity alone might not be enough to counter age-related weight gain although the findings only partially support this. The bottom line is that there is no time like the present to start instilling good habits, which why I’m challenging you to share this post broadly, especially among the young adult women in your life. As I’ve written time and again, the earlier the intervention, the likelier you are to remain healthy and stave some of those troublesome menopausal symptoms.
Young or old, start moving, move often and keep moving.
Read MoreNewsFlash! Unsightly cellulite? Shock it away!
Every now and then I have to share some exciting news. And honestly? I don’t even know what to think about this one:
Got cellulite? There may be hope! (Do you hear the angels singing?!!!)
As women, we are both blessed and burdened with extra padding around the thigh and buttocks area. These days, thanks for JLo, some women are even trying to pack some extra stuff in their booty, and when they can’t they can even enhance their rear-ends with Booty Pop. But all kidding aside, while it might be great to have some extra junk in the trunk, the unsightly bumps due to numbers of large fat cells in fatty tissue can be downright difficult to overcome or get rid of, even with ample exercise, weight training and a proper diet. Indeed, aging in connective tissue can lead to an imbalance between the body’s ability to produce and breakdown fat, causing even more cellulite.
The news…German researchers are studying if shockwaves aimed at the thigh region plus intensive gluteal strength training can help solve the cellulite problem. Over 12 weeks, roughly 200,000 women under age 18 or over 65 are receiving:
- Six sessions of shockwave therapy (given every 1 to 2 weeks; 2000 focused impulses) plus twice daily gluteal exercises consisting of 15 quadruped hip extensions and 15 quaduped hip extensions with the leg straightened, or
- Six sessions of sham shockwaves (given every 1 to 2 weeks) plus twice daily gluteal exercise as described above.
Cellulite is measured (or graded) on a scale of 0 to 3, ranging from no dimple when skin is pinched to skin alterations or dimpling both when women are standing and lying down. The results of this study, which are not available yet, will focus changes in skin elasticity based on this scale, self assessment on appearance of thighs and buttocks and on any changes in blood or oxygen flow in thighs.
Wow! I’m excited. Cellulite is a challenge, no matter how much exercise you do. This is one procedure I might get my arms (and legs and butt) around! Shock it baby! I’m in!
Read MoreArchives
Tags
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.