Blue & You - Spring 2012

Resolve to keep
your resolution!
So, now that we are approaching spring,
how are those New Year’s resolutions holding
up? Was this the year you were going to get
into shape? Well, if those good intentions
fizzled out after the first few months, don’t get
discouraged, and don’t give up either.
We are constantly bombarded by the need
for wellness. The rising costs of health care,
increasing incidences of certain medical
conditions and high rates of obesity are a
direct response to our unhealthy lifestyles. The
statistics are staggering. Did you know that
Starbucks spends more each year on health care
than coffee? And the health care portion of the
cost of a new General Motors vehicle exceeds
the cost of the steel from which it is made?
As a rehabilitation physician, exercise has
special meaning for me. I prescribe it as a
treatment when individuals have lost their
independence with the goal of gaining it
back. I see regularly how medical conditions
caused by an unhealthy lifestyle can affect
patient outcome. Stroke patients with diabetes,
regardless of age, are less likely to return home.
Obese patients increase the burden of care
for their loved ones. On a personal note, after
having my last child at 42, I felt an obligation
to do my part to be sure I would be there at a
minimum for his high school graduation.
Many people deviate from their resolutions
by setting themselves up for failure. They
adopt an overly ambitious diet and exercise
plan. Changing habits one at a time works
better. Losing less but keeping it off yields
better health results. Remember the Aesop’s
fable about the tortoise and the hare? The hare
alternated between spurts of showing off his
the
DOCTOR’S
corner
by Cygnet Schroeder, D.O.
Medical Director, Fort Smith
speed and long lapses where he was doing
other things while the tortoise plodded along
with slow steps to win the race.
Try picking a realistic goal. Be specific — for
example, you could have the goal to lose 10
pounds during a three-to-four-month period.
Walk twice weekly. Eat fast food one less time
a week than you do currently. A rough rule of
thumb is you maintain your body weight if you
consume 8-10 calories a day for every pound
you weigh. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, you
will start to lose weight if you take in less than
2,000 calories. The daily decrease in calories
will determine your weight loss. Just remember
that to maintain a 10-pound weight loss it will
require eating 10 percent less over time than
when you started. Exercise compliments your
weight loss. A modest gain in muscle tissue
resets your metabolism higher because muscle
must burn calories to maintain itself.
Start exercise slowly. If you overdo it there
will be multiple reasons to quit, such as pain
and fatigue. Try something that appeals to you.
Even an increase of 500 steps a day will help.
Any activity that increases your pulse, makes
you breathe hard, or causes a light sweat
counts. A high school friend who had gained
quite a bit of weight over time and successfully
lost with diet change and exercise told me she
didn’t really like to exercise, but she liked how
she looked and felt by doing it. Keep track of
your success. After you have achieved a goal,
revise it. Remember you are racing only with
yourself and you can get to the finish line at
your own pace.
Blue & You SPRING 2012
19