I received a phone call from a Heart Check participant that reminded me of the beauty of learning and the joy of achievement. Adopting change can be an agonizing process, however I am impressed with how this couple took several basic principles, guidelines and ran with it. They are achieving health outcomes they did not believe possible. The satisfaction of hearing their story comes out of a progressive stream of events.
Last year I attended a “Diabetes: You Can Live Well” master trainer class. It’s a grant-funded leader training sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health. For certification, each leader is to lead two groups of persons with diabetes. During one of those classes, I had the honor of getting to know a particular man, who out of frustration, created a tracking tool. I affectionately call his document, “Jim’s Tool”. As a retired company executive, Jim reported to our group, “I had to create a system to organize information”. During class the week before, we had covered multiple dietary guidelines for major nutrients important to improve blood glucose levels. Jim took the material home and “made sense of it”.
Since then I have offered “Jim’s Tool” to many Heart Check participants who are struggling with blood glucose control. I never know who is going to use the tool and to what level they will understand its usefulness.
Today I can say “wow”. Confidence building, healthy dietary guidelines that make sense, practical tracking tools adopted by this couple helped them to discover trends of daily nutrients. Daily insulin requirements are lower and sense of well being is high. Hearing “I feel so much better” with anticipation towards a healthier future is why I love my job.
In today’s world it has become more difficult for people to decipher reputable information from myths and opinions mainly due to the vast amount of media found on the Internet. There are a few myths people commonly mistake as truth, but here is a chance for you to be informed about what really is true. The first common myths people believe are that all fats are bad for you. Some people think they should completely eliminate fats from their diet but doing that will harm your body and put it in danger. The fact is fats can be divided into two categories, essential fatty acids, and non-essential fatty acids. The non-essential fatty acids are fats the body doesn’t need and can live without; in fact most of the fats in this category aren’t good for the body. Trans fats, saturated fats, and hydrogenated oils fall into this category. These fats will increase an individual’s risk to heart disease. However, for the essential fatty acids which include the omega 6 and omega 9 come from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats our body needs from food sources. These essential fatty acids will help lower an individuals risk for heart disease.
The next few myths are related to eggs, the first being that eating eggs will lead you to heart disease. The fact is that eating one egg several times a week will not affect your risk of heart disease. The next egg myth is that brown eggs are more nutritious than white eggs. The truth is that both brown and white eggs are identical in nutrients. The only difference (being their color) is that white eggs come from hens with white feathers while brown eggs come from hens with red feathers. The last egg myth is that egg yolks are unhealthy and should be avoided. The truth is that egg yolks have many benefits and happen to be a rare source of vitamin D, if you are worried about the fat the yolk contains just remember to limit your intake and only eat an egg a few times each week. It’s a great source of lean protein.
by Nikki, RMH Heart Check Student Intern
HEALTH UPDATE: EGGS. By: Parajon, Lauren. Prevention, May2009, Vol. 61
Issue 5, p50-50, 2/3p
Holt, S. (2004). low-carb diets in perspective. Better Nutrition, 66(5),
37-40. Retrieved from Alt HealthWatch database.
Jaret, P., & Martin, A. (2003). miss a meal, add years to your life.
Health (Time Inc. Health), 17(9), 41-44. Retrieved from Alt HealthWatch
database.
Many people make new years resolutions to lose weight or improve their physic. The first of the year is one of the busiest times for fitness centers for this particular reason. However, what extremes are people willing to go in order to achieve this goal? It is literally unbelievable what some people would put themselves through in order to be satisfied with their physical appearance. Many people, whether they realize it or not choose to go on fad diets to see quick results.
So what constitutes as a fad diet? Fad diets all have similar characteristics which includes:
- Recommendations that promise a quick fix
- Dire warnings for dangers from a single product or regimen
- Claims that sound too good to be true (because they are)
- Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex study
- Recommendations based on a single study
- Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations
- List of “good” and “bad” foods
- Recommendations that help sell a product
- Eliminated one or more of the 5 food groups
- Promises fast weight loss in a short amount of time (which is dangerous)
What are some of the Fad diets out there we should be aware of?
- Atkins diet- restricting almost all carbohydrates
- Grapefruit diet- eating a grapefruit before every meal will help you lose 10 pounds in 12 days
- Tapeworm diet- by ingesting a tapeworm that will sit in your intestines and take in the food you eat (gross!!!)
These are only a few examples of the types of fad diets that you may come across. There are many out there so be aware and do your research before you trust anything that sounds too easy.
by Nikki, RMH Heart Check intern
Burmeier, B. (2006). The facts on fats: read the labels, because they’re
not all bad!. E – The Environmental Magazine, 17(2), 42-43. Retrieved
from CINAHL database.
Fat in the diet: how to retain the “good” fats and avoid the
“bad”.Lawrence RM; Total Health, 2001 Mar-Apr; 23 (2): 50-1 (journal
article) ISSN: 0274-6743 CINAHL AN: 2001095800
Grapefruit role in grapefruit diet. (2005-2008). Retrieved from http://www.grapefruit-diet.org/
http://www.Tapewormdiet.net
I am currently a senior in college majoring in Nutrition and Wellness. I have recently started a three week internship with Maria Hostetter at RMH Women’s Center. These past several days have already been rewarding, being given the opportunity to gain experience and obtain a greater understanding of the process one goes through as a professional to lead a community through long term health prevention and intervention techniques. Mrs. Hostetter has put her confidence in me to complete tasks such as calculating her patients food journals, shadowing appointments with her clients, formulating new blog entries, and helping put together details for the 5k fundraiser JMU’s Alpha Phi sorority is having for the RMH Heart Check program.
I have previously worked on many projects for several classes dealing with diets, but after being able to record some of her client’s food records my eyes were open even wider about how little most people pay attention to the nutrients or lack there of going into their body. This being one of the reasons I have chosen to find a career in this field that is constantly growing with new information. There is also a world wide need to spread awareness of the importance of living a long and healthy life starts with taking care of your body.
Preventing chronic diseases and bad habits that can lead to living an unhealthy lifestyle is a missing link many people overlook when they are making goals to improve their health. The prevention of any health risk does not start with what medication to take, which will only mask your symptoms and at best get rid of the short term effects, instead it starts with how you take care of your body; from the food you choose to eat to the amount of exercise you do on a daily basis. By developing healthy habits you invest in your wellbeing and reduce your risk of dealing with health complications in the future. ~~Nikki
Thank you Nikki for joining the RMH team. You are a welcome addition! ~~Maria
The Theta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi at James Madison University is proud to present our annual “Move Your Phi’t” 5K with RMH Women’s Center and RMH Heart and Vascular Center in Harrisonburg, VA.
Register online @ http://moveyourphit5k2011.eventbrite.com/
Onsite REGISTRATION is at 10am and the RACE STARTS at 11am. There will be breakfast provided for participants. In addition there are Hydration Stations located periodically throughout the 5K! Participants who finish first will win prizes!
To see a map of the 5K route click here!
PAYPAL is OFFICALLY UP and RUNNING! But, as always you can pay by check or cash. Checks made payable to Alpha Phi and send them to:
Alpha Phi – Theta Iota Chapter
MSC 3518
800 South Main Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Registration at the door is $15 so save time and money by registering early!
The Alpha Phi Foundation donates 70% of the Theta Iota Chapter’s fundraising directly to the Women’s Center of Rockingham Memorial Hospital. The Move Your Phi’t 5K is the culmination to the entire week of philanthropy events called Aphiasco!
Uncategorized | Maria Hostetter | 
January 31, 2011 12:03 pm | 
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