5 steps to a fitter Joe

5 steps to a fitter Joe
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1503430.html

Outdoors lover will take away lessons learned on health, fitness beat
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Tue, Apr. 28, 2009 02:00AMModified Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 03:57PM

A funny thing happened during the three years that I've been writing about health and fitness for The News & Observer: I've lost 30 pounds and gotten into the best shape of my life.

I wasn't a schlub before that. Since 1995, I've written about outdoor adventure for the paper, a job that, among other things, found me climbing mountains, scuba diving through caves, doing 24-hour mountain bike races and riding my bike across North Carolina twice.

The job demanded that I stay in pretty good shape, but it also allowed wiggle room -- mostly around my midsection. Because I didn't have to be the first up the mountain or across the state, I discovered that beer and fried foods can get along remarkably well with an active lifestyle.


Joe Miller hikes on the Falls Lake Trail, part of the 900-mile North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail, in June.
- STAFF FILE PHOTO BY TED RICHARDSON

Adding health and fitness to my reporting mix, though, allowed me to pick the brains of the best health-care minds around. Yes, it was for work. But several things prodded me to pay a little extra attention during these interviews. I wanted:

to be more competitive in mountain bike races,

to have the stamina to write books about hiking and backpacking on the side,

to at least try most of the sports and workout regimens I wrote about

and perhaps most important, to keep up with our kids.

What did I learn over the past three years? A lot. But here are the five key things I take away from the job.

1. Variety is the spice of a good workout. In October of 2005 I was on the last day of Cycle North Carolina, a weeklong bike ride across the state, when I passed an inviting blackwater swamp in coastal Beaufort County. My goal that year was to ride 5,000 miles, and that was pretty much all I'd done -- ride, ride, ride. Much as I loved cycling, I missed all the things I'd had to give up to achieve that goal.

I passed the creek and thought, "Man, I wish I was in a boat." A flash of resentment flared toward my golden yellow Lemond road bike. Not only was I getting tired of pedaling, but I wasn't turning into the cycling stud I assumed all those miles would turn me into.

The experience made me particularly receptive to Nathan Crow, an exercise trainer with WakeMed, when he told me in the spring of 2006 that the best workout is one that is constantly surprising the muscles; that is, a workout that's never the same. Perform the same movement over and over and your muscles settle into a comfortable routine. Mix it up and they're constantly forced to work.

It's a message I've heard repeatedly since then: Make the most of your workout time by doing the most varied workout you can.

2. Listen to your body. Listen to your doctor, listen to your coach, listen to your personal trainer, your nutritionist, your health guru. Listen to them all -- then listen to yourself. This is perhaps most important with eating. I've talked with countless people who finally unraveled the mystery to losing weight by simply pausing after their first helping and letting their bodies tell them whether they actually needed more fuel or whether they were eating for another reason. Stress, for instance.

Take a reasonable portion; eat it. Wait a minute or two to see whether you really are still hungry. Often, the answer is no. It's amazing what that pause can do.

Your body will also tell you what food and drink aren't working for you. I more or less quit drinking alcohol, not because I had a problem -- I didn't, really! -- but because one beer would have me asleep on the couch before SpongeBob was over. Staying up past 8 p.m. became especially critical when I was trying to finish writing a book on hiking in North Carolina. I substituted near-beer for the real stuff and soon was staying up well into Nick at Nite.

Similarly, I cut down on red meat because I found that it, too, slowed me down. I cut down on it but didn't give it up because sometimes my body simply craves more protein than a slice of cheddar or a handful of almonds can deliver.

3. Inform yourself. Few things are more distressing than walking out of a doctor's office and having no idea what just happened. Left ventricular hypertrophy? Tinnitus? Diverticulitis? You've been given a diagnosis, a prescription, therapy -- yet you have no idea what's really wrong, or whether you have alternatives to your dictated treatment.

At least that used to be the case. Today, the Internet is full of good sources of information to help you understand what's going on with your body and help you make smart decisions about mending and improving your health.

A quick personal example: Last summer I came home from a mountain bike ride very itchy, scratchy, red and puffy. My wife called her mother, a nurse, and she Googled "itchy, scratchy, red and puffy." Anything happen on the ride? she asked. Well ... I did get stung by a bee. I get stung a lot, but nothing ever happens.

Turns out, Marcy learned from both sources, you can endure years of bee stings with nothing happening, then -- boom! -- suddenly, you suffer allergic reactions. She gave me Benadryl, which offered immediate relief, and told me that from now on I would be packing the drug whenever I set foot outside because the reactions to a bee sting can get progressively worse -- to the point that it can swell your airwaves shut.

Six Web sites I've found to be particularly accurate, thorough and helpful: mayoclinic.com, webmd.com, kidshealth.org, medscape.com, medicinenet.com, nih.gov.

4. Numbers be danged. A week ago in this space, I wrote about health coaches. They're like personal trainers for folks who want to get fit, only health coaches counsel people who simply want to live healthier lives. As part of their approach, they focus on goals, not numbers. Instead of telling their clients they need to lose 30 pounds or lower their cholesterol by 40 points, they get them to envision their ideal lifestyle, then work to help them achieve it. Being able to tango until 2 in the morning is certainly a more enticing carrot than getting your low-density lipoprotein below 160.

A number I have no use for is the body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Problem is, it doesn't take into account things like muscle mass (NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal was once deemed obese by his BMI). In three years, I have yet to interview a health professional who gives the BMI a whole-hearted endorsement. At best, they say it's one of several factors to consider.

Full disclosure: I may be bitter about this because when I took the President's Challenge last year ( www.presidentschallenge.org) it told me I was overweight. I'm 5'9," weigh 165 pounds, have a 30-inch waist and am not hobbled by excess muscle mass. In short, I'm normal.

5. Give yourself a break. I have. I'm apparently overweight (see above), yet I've never felt better. If you're happy with how you are, go with it. A visit to Five Guys Burgers and Fries every now and then, the occasional chocolate chip and raspberry concrete from Goodberry's, a beer or two on the weekend with the guys/girls: They will not kill you. Just the opposite; they're often just the carrot you need to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Indulge, I've learned, but don't go overboard.

OK, so anyone can stay in shape when it's their job. But what about when it's not? What about that most stressful of times, when you don't technically have a job? Will the lessons I've learned on the job stick as I leave The N&O and venture into the stressful world of self-employment? Follow my plight at mysocalledlayoff.blogspot.com.

Taking paddle therapy

Taking paddle therapy
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1499384.html

Taking paddle therapy
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 02:00AMModified Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 06:00AM
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'Civilization is a pretty nice thing," says long-time paddler and outfitter Joe Jacob, "but it comes with a price, and I call that price insanity. The background noise that we consciously and subconsciously respond to makes us tune out. If we don't, we become overwhelmed."

Every week in this space we focus on ways to keep fit. That usually means keeping your body fit. Just as important, though, is keeping our psyche in shape. Neglect it or let a world increasingly overrun by Twitter blasts, text messages, the 24-hour news cycle and YouTube videos of everything desensitize you and everything becomes nothing.

That's where the boat comes in. A couple of hours paddling on the water, say Jacob and fellow paddling outfitter Banks Dixon, is worth a month of Tuesday afternoons at 4 on the therapist's couch.

Lake Johnson Park, which has a lake that covers more than 150 acres, rents paddle boats to visitors. - NEWS & OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
paddling resourcesFor guided trips, rentals or both:
Frog Hollow Outdoors, Durham: Conducts guided trips in the region. 949-4315, www.froghollowoutdoors.com.
Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., Saxaphahaw: Specializes in guided trips on the Haw River, 336-260-6465, www.hawrivercanoe.com.
Paddle Creek, Raleigh: Guided trips and rentals on the Neuse River from Falls Lake dam to Buffaloe Road, 866-1954, www.paddlecreeknc.com.
Neuse Adventures Canoe & Kayak Rentals, Raleigh: Offers rentals with shuttle on the Neuse between Poole Road and N.C. 42 near Clayton, 553-3295, www.neuseadventures.com.
Boat rentals at some local lakes:
Lake Benson, 1807 Aversboro Road, Garner. 662-5703.
Lake Johnson, 4600 Avent Ferry Road, Raleigh. 233-2121.
Lake Wheeler, 6404 Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh. 662-5704.
Shelley Lake, 1400 W. Millbrook Road, Raleigh. 420-2331.
Umstead State Park, U.S. 70 entrance, south of Interstate 540. 571-4170.
Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 801 High House Road, Cary. 469-4100.
Lake Crabtree County Park, off Aviation Parkway just south of I-40 in Morrisville. 460-3390.
University Lake, South Old Fayetteville Road near Jones Ferry Road in Orange County. 942-8007.
Cane Creek Reservoir, Nine miles west of Carrboro on N.C. 54 in Orange County. 942-5790.

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"There's an old saying," says Dixon, "that every day on the water adds a year to your life. My great aunt used to tell me that, and she lived to be 102."

Water has a restorative effect. We vacation by the water, retire to communities on the water, pay $170 for a New Age water bell fountain that transports us miles away.

"It's fluid. It's directly connected to the emotions," says Dixon of Durham's Frog Hollow Outdoors. "We spend the first nine months of our lives in water. It's no coincidence that when we're on water we feel a sense of safety and well-being."

Jacob, who for years ran Rock Rest Adventures of Pittsboro and now runs guided trips through his Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., says the transformation on the water occurs before pushing off from shore.

"I notice it when they show up in the parking lot," Jacob says. "I don't care if they're bank presidents or university professors or ditch diggers, they're like first-graders. They want someone to take over for them."

They want to go on the water, Jacob says. They want a little shove that will send them into a world where the white noise of daily life is blotted out.

Fortunately, we live in an area with ample opportunities for paddle therapy.

"You don't have to go five minutes out your back door," says Dixon, "and you're in an area where wildlife thrives."

Dixon is partial to an area he calls "three rivers," where the Eno, the Flat and the Little rivers combine briefly to form the Neuse River before becoming Falls Lake for the next 24 miles. You may not get that feeling immediately as you put in at a concrete Wildlife Resources Commission boat ramp, he says, "but it doesn't take long."

The Beaverdam area of Falls Lake is good as well, says Dixon, especially once you cross under the Old Weaver Trail bridge into a shallow wetlands area.

"We've never had a lack of wildlife sightings, of great blue herons -- there's a small rookery -- of bald eagles, osprey."

Wildlife is also abundant at the mile-long mill pond at West Point on the Eno Park, a refuge in the heart of Durham; at the Robison Creek boat ramp on Jordan Lake, at a remote section of the popular reservoir that few speedboats find; and at Neuse River between Falls Dam and Capital Boulevard, where the slimmest of riparian borders manages to insulate the river from a bustling Raleigh beyond.

One possible caveat from Jacob. Couples seeking an escape together need to know that "between the two gunnels of a boat, everything in your relationship gets in the boat with you." Translation: Piloting a tandem canoe requires the ultimate in good communication. If you squabble on shore, you'll squabble in a canoe, a craft in which men have a tendency to play captain.

"Women," observes Jacob, "like kayaks more than men."

Relationship issues aside, a little paddle therapy may be just the thing to help you tune out life's white noise. And maybe you'll live to be 102 in the process.

blue ridge outdoors

Blue Ridge Outdoors
http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/

Great free mag about all year round events in this great mountains

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http://www.cathyhartland.com/Newfoundland/Newfoundland.htm