* The lazy man’s way to exercise

OK, I have had enough. I’ve heard every available excuse not to exercise despite the remarkable benefits. These include reduction in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, anxiety weight and blood pressure. The excuses are endless but here are a few: It’s not fun. I don’t want to change clothes. I’m stressed out. Work is tiring. By the time I’m done with my kids, I’m ready for bed. I don’t like to sweat. It’s boring. I don’t have time to go to the health club. I think you get the picture by now. Since I hear these phrases everyday, I have decided to develop “the lazy man’s way to exercise.” Of course this applies to men and women. Be sure to run this by your physician too. Here goes!

1) Get a treadmill. This boring machine burns the most calories. The main assumption is that you will use it of course.

2) Place the treadmill in a room where you visit often. If you never go in the basement, then you will never go in the basement with a treadmill either.

3) Make sure that there is a DVD player, TV, VCR or CD player nearby.

4) Be certain that you have the tape, program or DVD ready to play at a moments notice. It’s just too much trouble to go channel surfing or to look for a DVD.

5) Consider subscribing to www.netflix.com This http://www.netflix.com This is your own exercise program for 20 dollars a month. You get as many DVDs as you can watch per month and you return them in a postage paid envelope. There are no late fees and you can receive up to 3 DVDs at a time. They have concerts, movies, old TV shows etc. This is cheaper than your health club and it’s lazy too.

6) Don’t change clothes–it’s entirely too much work. You probably won’t need to shower after your exercise session either.

5) Set the treadmill at 2-3 mph. That way you won’t work up a sweat. If you get bored with your favorite tape or if your kids are pulling at your belt then get off the darn contraption. Exercise is cumulative. You can do 10 minutes at 7pm, play with your kids and come back and do another 10 minutes later.

6) During a commercial or break, do some triceps extensions, biceps curls and ab crunches. Do 5-10 repetitions with light weights (no weights necessary for the abs). Commercials are over in two - three minutes so the weights wont’s get boring. During the next commercial try a few stretches. Make it fun and easy!

7) Keep doing this routine 5 days per week. If you are bored then just do 10 minutes on the treadmill. The important factor is to get started.”Exercise is 90% inspiration and 10% perspiration,” said Vince Lombardi, the Green Bay Packer legend. Believe it or not, you can reduce heart disease by 30% with 10-15 minutes of walking daily. Walk longer and eventually the pounds will start coming off too. Remember, there are 3500 calories in 1 pound. If you walk 1 mile on the treadmill (3 mph for 20 minutes) for 300 days per year, you will lose almost 10 pounds each year. My assumption here is that you are maintaining your weight and doing very little exercise presently.

Please understand that 70% of the nation doesn’t do squat in the world of exercise. If you are a member of this club then this program may be just what the doctor ordered (sorry about the pun). Certainly if you enjoy the health club, your trainer, Tae Bo or chasing after a ball, please continue to do so. Those of you in this elite 30% club don’t need this article. Send it to a lazy friend. Undoubtedly, the above program may not work for some of you lazy people either. In this case, you need to find out what makes you tick! Writing this article is not work for me because I am thoroughly enjoying myself! That’s the idea behind the lazy man’s way to exercise. Make it interesting and prolong your life at the same time. If you are depressed or need a more organized program then see a psychotherapist (Judy Hild at 847-729-0332 is outstanding) or a trainer (Jan Kasner at 847-729-9552 is terrific). Feel free to choose the necessary professional to help you along. While to some of you, making exercise fun is key, these “laws” do not apply to eating. I find that when more fun is associated with eating, then we no longer eat when we’re hungry. We “pig out.” Food is for survival and we don’t have to have a party in our mouths to survive. Eat when you are hungry and don’t enjoy yourself too much in this area of your life.

*SARS-Here’s the scoop from the CDC

A new disease called SARS

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a respiratory illness that has
recently been reported in Asia, North America, and Europe. This fact sheet
provides basic information about the disease and what is being done to
combat its spread. To find out more about SARS, go to
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/ and www.who.int/csr/sars/en/ . The Web sites are
updated daily.

Symptoms of SARS

In general, SARS begins with a fever greater than 100.4?F [>38.0?C]. Other
symptoms may include headache, an overall feeling of discomfort, and body
aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms. After 2 to 7
days, SARS patients may develop a dry cough and have trouble breathing.
How SARS spreadsThe primary way that SARS appears to spread is by close person-to-person
contact. Most cases of SARS have involved people who cared for or lived with
someone with SARS, or had direct contact with infectious material (forexample, respiratory secretions) from a person who has SARS. Potential ways
in which SARS can be spread include touching the skin of other people or
objects that are contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching
your eye(s), nose, or mouth. This can happen when someone who is sick with
SARS coughs or sneezes droplets onto themselves, other people, or nearby
surfaces. It also is possible that SARS can be spread more broadly through
the air or by other ways that are currently not known.
Who is at risk for SARSMost of the U.S. cases of SARS have occurred among
travelers returning to the United States from other parts of the world with
SARS. There have been very few cases as a result of spread to close contacts
such as family members and health care workers. Currently, there is no
evidence that SARS is spreading more widely in the community in the United
States.

Possible cause of SARS

Scientists at CDC and other laboratories have detected a previously
unrecognized coronavirus in patients with SARS. The new coronavirus is the
leading hypothesis for the cause of SARS.

What CDC is doing about SARS

CDC is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other
partners in a global effort to address the SARS outbreak. For its part, CDC
has taken the following actions:
Activated its Emergency Operations Center to provide round-the-clock
coordination and response.
Committed more than 300 medical experts and support staff to work on the
SARS response.
Deployed medical officers, epidemiologists, and other specialists to assist
with on-site investigations around the world.
Provided ongoing assistance to state and local health departments in
investigating possible cases of SARS in the United States.
Conducted extensive laboratory testing of clinical specimens from SARS
patients to identify the cause of the disease.
Initiated a system for distributing health alert notices to travelers who
may have been exposed to cases of SARS.

CDC RECOMMENDATIONS

CDC has issued recommendations and guidelines for people who may be affected
by this outbreak.For individuals considering travel to areas with SARS:
CDC has issued two types of notices to travelers: advisories and alerts. A
travel advisory recommends that nonessential travel be deferred; a travel
alert does not advise against travel, but informs travelers of a health
concern and provides advice about specific precautions. CDC updatesinformation on its website on the travel status of other areas with SARS as
the situation evolves.

For travelers:

CDC advises that travelers in an area with SARS should wash their hands
frequently to protect against SARS infection. In addition, CDC advises that
travelers may wish to avoid close contact with large numbers of people as
much as possible to minimize the possibility of infection. CDC does not
recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment
while in public areas. For more information, read the Interim Guidelines
about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) for Persons Traveling to
Areas with SARS.

For individuals who think they might have SARS:

People with symptoms of SARS (fever greater than 100.4?F [>38.0?C]
accompanied by a cough and/or difficulty breathing) should consult a
health-care provider. To help the health-care provider make a diagnosis,
tell them about any recent travel to places where SARS has been reported or
whether there was contact with someone who had these symptoms.
For family members caring for someone with SARS:
CDC has developed interim infection control recommendations for patients
with suspected SARS in the household. These basic precautions should be
followed for 10 days after respiratory symptoms and fever are gone. During
that time, SARS patients are asked to limit interactions outside the home
(not go to work, school etc.) When this small epidemic ends, there will be episodes of post traumatic stress disorder.

!* The Businessman and the Fisherman. (By Anthony De Mello)

A wealthy businessman noticed a fisherman lounging on his boat
drinking a cup of coffee. “You’re back pretty early,” he said to the
fisherman.
“ I’ve caught enough fish already. I’m through for the day,” said the
fisherman.
“ But it’s not even noon,” said the businessman. “You could go back
out and catch more fish.”
“ Why should I want to do that?”
“ If you can catch more fish, you can sell more fish, you can make
more money.
“ Why should I want to do that?”
The businessman scoffed. “Because if you made more money you could
buy a second boat, hire a crew, catch more fish, make even more money andbecome rich like me.”
Again the fisherman asked, “Why would I want to do that?”
The business man sighed. “So you’re free to do whatever you want and
treasure life.”
The fisherman looked at the businessman and grinned, “But that’s
what I’m doing now.”

* A couple of vitamin studies.

About 160 people were studied to see what effect a multivitamin had
upon their health. Although the study was small, there were less upper
respiratory infections in the vitamin group. A multivitamin was especially
helpful in diabetics and in people younger than 65.The above results
correlate with my personal observations in medicine.

In another study of older patients, oral supplementation of vitamin
D reduced first time fractures by 22% and by 33% in areas of osteoporotic
bone. In other words vitamin D which is found in a multiple vitamin may help
to prevent bone fractures in both elderly men and women. Our Mega Multiple is perfect for this benefit!

View newsletter archives here!