SimplyFit turns one year old - you get the gift!

The fun folks at SimplyFit (who led many of the various movement activities at PRL's Full Staff Day) are celebrating their first birthday this Saturday, Nov. 9. Guess who gets the presents? YOU!

Bring the whole family out for a day of fun, food and fitness Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The SimplyFit Fall Festival and Birthday Bash takes place at their main facility, 2830 Ackley Avenue, Richmond, VA. Lots of cool activities are on tap, including apple bobbing, a bounce house, carnival games, group exercises, fitness testing, chair massages and healthy cooking demos! Don't forget the glitter tattoos and raffle prize drawings! Call 804-262-7777 for directions or more info, or drop an e-mail to info@simplyfit.com.

ONLY in Richmond!

Call me crazy, but once the leaves start falling, I start thinking about the upcoming holiday season. Anyone who's ever lived in Richmond for more than ten minutes knows that folks down here LOVE their seasonal Tacky Lights displays, and it seems every year there's someone trying to out-do the next guy. For the first time ever, I think Sports Backers has everyone beat.

The inaugural CarMax Tacky Light Run, a 6K run through the lovely 900-home Walton Park neighborhood (known for its plentiful Tacky Lights displays) off Coalfield Road in Midlothian, is set for Saturday, Dec. 14 at 6:00 p.m. The event is untimed, so there will be plenty of opportunities for participants to ooh and ahh at the lights while running the course in their favorite holiday garb. Don't forget to compete in one of the many best-dressed categories, including Santa, holiday sweater, seasonal costume, and more. Organizers say it will be TACKY. ('Nuff said. I'm there!)

Tacky Light Run participants receive a stocking's worth of cool swag, including a glow kit, jingle bells (!), a finisher's t-shirt and a prestigious holiday ornament finisher's medal. (No coal here!) Cost is $35.00 through the end of the day October 15; price increases to $40.00 on October 16. In the true spirit of seasonal giving, though, Sports Backers announced that groups of six to fourteen people receive a rebate of $3.00 per person, and groups of fifteen people or more receive a $7.00 rebate per person. Ho ho ho!

For more information or to register, visit the Sports Backers website or the Tacky Light Run Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tackylightrun). Fa la la la la, run run run!

Get R.I.P.P.E.D. and Fall into Fitness

Hey, everybody! There's a super new high-energy fitness class starting next week for Hanover County employees called Get R.I.P.P.E.D. that you don't want to miss!

Simply put, R.I.P.P.E.D. - which stands for resistance, interval, power, plyometrics, endurance and diet -  is the "one stop body shock" - a plateau-proof fitness formula offering consistent results and challenges in each and every class! Your body, I'm told, never gets "accustomed" to one set of exercises because the routines (and muscle emphasis) is constantly changing. Many participants say they can burn 750-1000 calories during each super-effective 50-minute workout session. How awesome is that?

You can Get R.I.P.P.E.D. through the county's Be Well program at Henry Clay Elementary School (310 South James Street, Ashland, VA 23005) on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning October 1 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Class won't be held on October 10 but made up on the 29th.) Cost is $64.00 (eight bucks per class). Participants need to bring their own hand weights (five, eight or ten pounds) or a resistance band, and a yoga mat.

To register, contact the instructor, Jennie Richie at jrichie@hcps.us. For more info on the program, visit their website.

As our thoughts turn to fall...

Wow! Where has the time gone? Has your summer been half as crazy/hectic/fun/exciting/healthy as mine? I hope it has been!

A lot of people tend to cut back on their fitness regimens once the weather heats up. You'll probably hear "it's too hot" or "there's too much other stuff going on"...to me, summer is the perfect time to ramp up your workouts. Too hot outside? Go walk inside an air-conditioned mall or check out your local library's stack of exercise DVDs (hint: use "exercise" as your "word or phrase" and change the "location" to "adult DVDs"). Try something totally new - if you're a cyclist, take up tennis. Swim instead of jogging. (Do like I did, and take your seven-year-old dog to a first-time beach vacation...see the sun rise every morning and walk more than four miles daily while WonderMutt tries to figure out the sand/bathroom thing!) Point is, just keep moving. Your body (and health) will thank you for it in the long run.

The calendar says we're slipping into autumn, day by day. Hard to believe another season of sun and fun has passed us by, but there's so much to look forward to once the calendar turns to September. With that in mind, I wanted to share a scrumptious super-energy kale soup recipe shared by my fabulous Zumba instructor, Christie. Who doesn't need more energy? And talk about simple to fix!

She writes: "I made this Kale Soup last week and it is really, really good (even my kids ate it!)!  The recipe feeds 4 to 5.  I would double it if you want leftovers.  It is so yummy, I am making more tomorrow with my extra Kale as an energy boost before tomorrow night's classes." (Well, shoot, if kids will eat it, you know it must be tasty!)

To make your own batch of this energizing super-food delish dish you'll need:

1 Medium Onion

4 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and chopped
5 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth (not stock)
1 Medium Carrot, peeled and chopped 1/4 inches (about 1 cup)
1 Cup Celery, diced
2 Large Red Potatoes, diced 1/2 inch cubes
3 Cups Kale, rinsed, stems removed and chopped into bite size pieces
2 tsp. dried Thyme
2 tsp. dried Sage
Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop garlic and onions and let sit for 5 minutes (to bring out their hidden health benefits). Heat 1 TBS of the broth in a medium soup pot. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute (continue to stir). Add 5 Cups of broth, carrots, and celery and bring to a boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.  Add potatoes and cook until tender (about 15 more minutes). Add Kale and Spices (cook another 5 minutes).  If you want to simmer longer for extra flavor and richness, you may need to add a little more chicken broth.

 

Got your own recipes to share in this space? Want to share your own wellness success stories or fitness tips? We'd love to hear from you!

Upcoming Workshop for Special Needs Caregivers

EDITOR'S NOTE: Late this afternoon I just got word from Hanover County HR that this all-important workshop (below) is temporarily POSTPONED due to unforeseen circumstances beyond anyone's control. I'll definitely keep you posted as to the new date and time as soon as I hear something! - DJ

Just got word from our friends at MetLife Plan Smart Financial Education that they're holding a workshop especially for caregivers of special needs children soon. Your Dependent with Special Needs: Making Their Future More Secure takes place on Tuesday, July 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Social Services Large Conference Room (12304 Washington Highway, Ashland, VA, in the rear of the building). Feel free to bring your lunch (and your spouse!).

Topics covered during the seminar will include choosing a guardian, trustee or conservator; providing lifetime care through special needs trusts; selecting appropriate funding methods for these trusts; and protecting government benefit eligibility for SSI (Supplemental Security Income).

As always, it's super-simple to register. Visit www.metlifeplansmart.com (if prompted for an employer's name, use Hanover County [two words]); call 1-866-801-3547 or fax the registration form (available on the website) to 1-855-288-6015.
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Summer Superfood!

Quiz time! What has been depicted in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, was first harvested more than 5,000 years ago and is the "number one fruit on Facebook"? That's right, everyone's favorite super sweet summertime treat, watermelon. Did you know, though, that watermelon is one of the hottest superfoods around?

The latest buzz in the foodie world is that watermelon is exceptionally good for you. A serving size of 2 cups (!) (what other food can you think of that measures a serving in THAT quantity?!) is only 80 skinny calories. Watermelon is 92 percent water, so it fills you up without filling you out. Each serving piles on the antioxidants and provides about 25 percent of your daily vitamin C and 30 percent of your daily beta carotene (which our bodies convert to vitamin A).

Watermelon also contains lycopene, the miracle cancer-fighting substance. In years past, tomatoes seemed to get all the attention in the nutritional world for their high lycopene concentration. Nutritionists and food gurus alike now know that watermelons contain even more lycopene than their round, red, fruit cousins. Munching a slice or two of melon each day is said to lower your risk of certain cancers, including lung, oral, esophageal and colon.

All you juicing fanatics take note: watermelon can be juiced in its entirety - seeds, rind, and all! Scientists have discovered that the most nutrient-dense portion of the fruit is the rind, and that watermelon seeds contain beneficial fats. While deeply hydrating (with a 92 percent water content, how could it not be?), watermelon juice is also high in vitamin B6, which is essential for brain balance, lowering anxiety and keeping depression symptoms in check. Some suggest it might even play a role in regulating women's hormonal balances, which makes it great any time of the month!

How do you choose the perfect watermelon? Run your fingers along the center of the fruit. You should feel slight ridges, indicating the melon is "mature" (not-quite-ready melons are completely smooth to the touch). Give the melon a good "thump" - you should hear a hollow sound (some experts say the tone produced is a b-flat!). The fruit should feel heavy for its size (due to its high water content) and should have a creamy, pale yellow spot on its underside showing where it had ground contact in the farmer's field. Yummy straight from the 'fridge on a stiflingly hot day, even better just off the roadside produce stand, fantastic any way you serve it, watermelon is the ultimate year-round superfood!

Hungry for more? Check out the National Watermelon Promotion Board's website to learn more about the 300-plus varieties of watermelon grown; pick up astonishing trivia for your next dinner party; try some new recipes and read more about the myriad of health benefits contained in the fruit. If you're feeling creative, be sure to stop at their carving page and see just how beautiful (astounding/imaginative/incredible) healthy eating can be!

The secret to weight loss (Spoiler Alert: NOT a secret)

Tracey Carlton, a Fitness Nutrition Specialist and owner of On-Point Nutrition (that fabulous gal you may recall meeting at our Wellness Breakout session on Full Staff Day) shares some wonderful food for thought on weight loss and nutrition. News bulletin...it's really no secret at all! Here's the dish:

The secret to weight loss is really no secret at all. It’s not written in a special tablet stashed away under lock and key. You don’t need to know a secret handshake to learn it. It’s quite simply – compliance.

Oh, the big “c” word. With a barrage of advertisements claiming to have the miracle pill or cream that will allow us all to lose weight without making any lifestyle changes, no wonder the big “c” word has become so obsolete, or maybe even, a forbidden word. Does that mean you have to starve yourself on less than 1,000 calories a day to see weight loss? No. Does that mean you have to eat only asparagus and fish and drink only water? No. That’s not what compliance means. Compliance means setting your goals, establishing the plan, and executing the plan. Quite simply, compliance means being true to yourself, being in compliance with what you have set out to accomplish – for yourself.

Let’s put it this way. Say you want to lose ten pounds. While it would be nice to place a time frame on those ten pounds, you really have no control over the speed of reaching what is really an outcome goal. What you DO have control over is your compliance to reaching behavior goals. Behavior goals are those daily accomplishments brought about by what you decide to do or not to do. Maybe a behavior goal is to keep those most tempting sweets out of your house, in hopes of helping you lose weight. Sure, you may have thrown them away on day one of your nutrition plan, but if you go out and purchase an ice cream cone just because it is only one ice cream cone. Then guess what? You fell out of compliance with your behavior goal. That one cone may not seem like a big deal, but maybe in that same week you ate another of those yummy cones, or maybe you went out to eat and decided to have a cheat meal. Then, maybe you decided to eat cookies instead of the apple and Greek yogurt that was on your nutritional plan. You see, once you decide to fall out of compliance with your goals once, it becomes easier and easier to fall out of compliance repeatedly and more frequently in a short period of time.

The sad thing is we then begin to justify our lack of compliance. “Oh, I’ve been doing so well. I can have the ice cream cone. Oh, I only had one ice cream cone this week, so I can have a cheat meal. Oh, I just had an ice cream cone and one cheat meal this week, so I’ll have the cookies instead of the apple and Greek yogurt – this time.” Isn’t it always just “this time”? 

Are you a numbers person? I’ll put it like this: It takes a deficit of around 3,500 calories to lose a pound of body fat. I focus on body fat here because as a fitness nutrition specialist, my goal is to help you keep healthy, hard-earned muscle and lose weight through fat loss. To create a deficit, you can either consume fewer calories than your body uses in a period of time or use more calories through physical activity or employ a combination of both. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll say you need a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose a pound of fat a week. Through diet and exercise, you make that deficit when you are completely compliant with your plan. If you have a low-fat ice cream cone, you’re looking at about 180 calories consumed. Then, you had a cheat meal at a restaurant, which could very easily and realistically run anywhere from 900 to even 2,000 calories, because let’s face it. If you’re going to cheat, you are going to do it right and not skimp. Finally, you have the cookies instead of the apple and Greek yogurt. The cookies might be portioned to about 200 calories, and the apple and Greek yogurt combined might be around that same caloric value; however, that apple and Greek yogurt wouldn’t spike your blood sugar and, therefore, insulin like the cookies. Furthermore, the protein and fiber in the Greek yogurt would keep you satisfied much, much longer than the cookies, preventing you from later overeating and falling out of compliance, again.

Back to the calories – 180 for the ice cream cone + a minimum 900 calories for a cheat meal (not counting any special adult beverages consumed at that meal) = 1,080 calories not in compliance with your nutritional plan. That’s almost a third of your fat loss for the week! Then you wonder, a month later, why you haven’t seen the scale move much, if at all. Or, stepping away from the numbers (which I prefer), you don’t see a change in the mirror or in your clothes. It is because those “just this times” have added up and slowed your progress down by a third!

The above scenario is an over-simplified example. There are many other ways to fall out of compliance with your plan. Maybe you have decided to drink more water and let go of a diet-soda habit, but you’ve decided that one a day isn’t too bad. Well, before long, that one-a-day soda turns into two-a-day quite easily. Maybe when you cook your meals, you grab an extra bite here or an extra nibble there. They all add up, and if you’re trying to lose weight, those “just this times” or “isn’t too bads” or “it’s just a nibbles” can thwart your weight-loss efforts.

Fat loss, and even healthy weight gain when needed, is multifaceted. Your progress depends on your past dietary history, your activity level, your medical history, how you view food, and most importantly, how you view yourself. If you deem yourself worthy enough to make healthy lifestyle changes, then complying with a nutritional plan individualized for you comes much easier. Sure, you don’t have to like what your body looks like; you don’t have to like the feeling of a waning energy level or decreased health. You do, however, have to love yourself enough to give yourself a chance, a chance to see results, to look better and to feel better. Setting goals and finding the right nutritional plan is a wonderful first step, but frankly, it is not enough. If you want to see progress, progress that is sustainable rather than quick and fleeting, then you have to be consistent – consistent with compliance that is.

Find the support you need to help you remain compliant. Maybe that support comes in the form of a spouse, a friend, a colleague, a workout partner, or, of course, a nutritional specialist who can set you on your nutritional plan and guide you in staying in compliance. Then, remind yourself throughout the day, every day, what you truly want. If you truly want to reach your goals, then stay true to your plan. Be in compliance with yourself.

You can find On-Point Nutrition on Facebook or at www.on-pointnutrition.com.