Wellness Camp inspires many to lead healthier life styles

The class began with an introduction to wellness by Wellness Center Department Head Cmdr. Kathleen Knight. "Why are we here? To be healthy. And, why do we want to be healthy? To live longer," she said before going over what the group would cover over the next two days.

When asked why he was here, ABH2(AW) Antione Arron from VP-30, said "I wanted a better outlook on exercise, how to control what I eat and how to prepare healthy foods. This seemed like a good avenue to do that."

After going over other general wellness tips, Knight introduced Danny Woodard, a substance abuse counselor who runs the tobacco cessation program at the Wellness Center. He discussed ways to effectively manage stress.

"Stress is going to affect you mentally, physically and emotionally," he said.

According to Woodard, stress is an interpretation of an event or circumstance, which is understood to be a threat. Some stress is important to keep people sharp and focused, but too much stress can cause some to feel overwhelmed.

During the class, Woodard described something called "self talk," which are things you tell yourself all day when dealing with various situations. "If you taped yourself all day and played it back, would the message be positive or negative?" he asked. "You may be stressing yourself out without even knowing it."

Woodard also said that when handled incorrectly, too much stress could lead to negative behaviors. In order to curve these behaviors it's important to know what your individual health risks are and whether you have a family history of drug and alcohol abuse. "You need to learn how to deal with stress in your own way," he said. "For me, exercise is the best way. I couldn't function without it."

HM2(FMF) Eric Demler records ABH2(AW) Antione Arron's heart rate during the cardio test portion of his health fitness assessment. This test measures how long it takes a person to reach their target heart rate, which is based on the person's age.

Cheryl Masters, a dietician at the Wellness Center discussed dietary guidelines, the new food guide pyramid and how nutrients affect your body and food labels. "The new food guide pyramid is basically just an inverted version of the old one, but this one also incorporates exercise as part of a healthy life style," said Masters.

Selecting the right shoe When either starting or continuing on your path to physical fitness, the right workout attire is very important. To learn how to select the right shoes, Lt. Jose Dominguez, a physical therapist from the naval hospital, visited the class to teach them the dos and don'ts. "You need to know what kind of feet you have before you buy shoes," he said. "There are three types of feet, high arch, normal arch and low arch. A good way to find out what kind of foot you have is a wet test, where you wet your bare feet and step on a piece of paper. You should be able to see what type you have depending on how much of your arch print is on the paper." According to the Mayo Clinic, a high-arched foot can result in excessive strain on joints and muscles and may not absorb shock well. To compensate, look for a shoe with cushioning in the arch area. "Some may need to use an insert, but remember to take the sock liner out before putting the insert in," said Dominguez. Those with low-arched or flat feet may have muscle stress or joint problems in the feet and knees because your feet don't support the body as well. Look for a shoe with motion control to help stabilize the feet to help with this. The third, or neutral-arched type aren't overly arched or flat and shoppers can look for shoes with firm mid-soles, straight to semi-curved soles and moderate rear-foot stability. "When you buy your shoes there are a few things to remember," said Dominguez. "Remember that feet swell when running and shoes, especially leather shoes can stretch. Also, you need to wear the socks that you work out in when you try on your shoes. You can also do crush and twist tests to make sure the shoe is firm and will fully support your foot."

Mypyramid.gov shows the new food pyramid and offers a My Pyramid Plan, where participants can enter their age, sex and activity level. The program will then generate an eating plan for each individual. There is also a My Pyramid Tracker, which is an online dietary and physical activity assessment tool with food calories/energy balance feature that calculates your energy balance by subtracting the energy you expend from physical activity from your food calories/energy intake. Masters elaborated on keeping a balance between calorie intake and energy output.

"You should eat healthy and balanced meals that are within your caloric needs," she said. "One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, which means you need a daily calorie deficit of 500 to lose one pound a week."

"Just to stay healthy, you should be active for at least 30 minutes a day all or most days of the week. In most cases 60 minutes of physical activity may be necessary to prevent weight gain and 60 to 90 minutes may be necessary to sustain weight loss," she said.

Day one ended with a yogalates class taught by Wendy Tappan. This class strengthens and tones while using relaxation and breathing techniques.

Wellness Camp attendees met at the commissary the next morning to take a tour with Mary Beth Pennington, a dietician from NSB Kings Bay, Ga. "Our goal today is to take a look at the things you eat, see if they're low fat and if not, then how to select healthier foods," she said.

The tour began with orange juice, a seemingly healthy option for most, but many contain high amounts of sugar. "When you read the labels, know that four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon," said Pennington. "Many of these juices can contain around five teaspoons per one cup serving, and many of us usually have more than one cup."

The tour then passed down the dairy aisle with the first stop being margarine.

Wendy Tappan (front left) teaches a special yogalates class for the Wellness Camp attendees Jan. 30. Tappan's regular class time at the Fitness Source is Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon.

"Margarine is a healthy substitute for butter as long as you choose one with no trans fat," she said. "I love the taste of butter and I know we all have things we don't want to give up, but just use them sparingly."

Other tips from the dairy aisle include looking at the sugar and fat content on those supposedly healthy yogurts and that one percent or skim milk is actually what the Food and Drug Administration recommends for anyone over the age two.

Down the bread aisle, participants learned that just because the label says "wheat" doesn't mean the bread is good for you. "All bread is made from wheat," said Pennington. "It should say 100 percent whole wheat right on the front of the package."

Also, it's good to avoid bread with enriched flour in the ingredients because it is considered a refined carbohydrate. "When you're looking at any label, remember that the first ingredient has the most abundance and the amount decreases from there," she said.

After the commissary tour, the camp attendees toured the Fitness Source with HMC(FMF/PJ) Richard Wallace to learn the proper ways to use gym equipment.

After lunch, a psychologist from the naval hospital, talked with the group about why it is so hard to change your behaviors. "After you identify what you want to change, you should identify your motivation," said Lt. Jessica Moeler. "Motivations can be anything such as family, spirituality, personal growth or becoming healthier. Once you know your motivation, then you can set your goals."

According to Moeler, a big misconception people have is that weight loss is a goal. "Weight loss is a great motivator, but it cannot be your goal," she said. She used the following analogy to explain. "If a football team's goal is to win a game and they don't, do they just quit and disappear? No, they get back on the field and work harder to practice for the next season."

Mary Beth Pennington, a dietician from Kings Bay, Ga., goes over the nutrition information on a container of light orange juice, which can have about half the amount of sugar and calories as regular orange juice. When looking at juice labels, four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon. Most regular juices can have about seven teaspoons of sugar per one cup of juice.

She suggested writing your goals down and using the following guidelines. Use positive statements, be precise, realistic and keep them short term and small. Then reevaluate them often.

Near the end of day two, Tonya Sauls, an orthopedic physical therapist from the naval hospital, gave a few tips on how to prevent back injuries. Some tips to keep in mind while exercising are: start slowly, increase gradually, keep a regular frequency and wear proper footwear. The camp ended with a Power Flex class taught by CeCe Hartsell. This class provides a total body workout and combines strength training with weights and cardio.

The next Wellness Camp is scheduled for sometime this fall. If you're interested in signing up or just coming in for a health fitness assessment (HFA), call the Wellness Center at 542-5292.

"Regardless of how much you exercise, I encourage everyone to come in for a HFA. This will give them a more accurate measure of where they are and we can then give them guidelines of how to get started with a program," said Knight.