A common question in the employee wellness (www.uscorporatewellness.com) world is around diets, especially the popular high protein/low carb diets that have regained momentum in recent years.  For those of you considering this option, a new study from the psychology department at Tufts University shows that when dieters eliminate carbohydrates from their meals, they performed more poorly on memory-based tasks than when they reduce calories, but maintain carbohydrates.

How’s that sound?  Yeah - didn’t think so.

High protein diets work to drop a few pounds out of the gate.  But the primary reason they work is that you suddenly become very conscious of all the empty, wasted carbs you’re eating everyday (soda, rolls, candy, muffins, beer, desserts, etc).  With your awareness at full power, you’re more easily able to eliminate calories, and thus lose weight.

The equation hasn’t changed.  Reduce calories and increase (vary) output and you’ll be successful. A smart, balanced diet continues to be the best long term solution, every time.

It’s the American way - don’t worry about taking care of yourself - a pill will fix me!  Employee wellness (www.uscorporatewellness.com) and personal health choices require a daily commitment, choosing to make the right decision on a daily basis.

Medications, when used wisely, can be extremely valuable and even life changing.  But could we all resolve to use those medications only as a last resort and not a first priority?  Here is a link to another article demonstrating negative outcomes (DOUBLE the risk of fractures) with Type II diabetes medication:  http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/547175/?sc=dwhn

There’s got to be a better way.  Oh yeah - there is!

Can an effective employee wellness program (www.uscorporatewellness.com) actually impact one of the infamous “7 Deadly Sins?”  Interesting to at least consider, isn’t it?

This morning, I was listening to a speaker (via podcast) while out for a run and he touched on the 7 Deadly Sins, specifically Slothfulness.  He reminded us that they were termed as such not because they were unforgiveable.  Rather, they were given this title due to the fact that they produced very negative outcomes both for the individual AND those around him. 

Interesting, isn’t it?  In this country, the cost of slothfulness has lead to out of control health care costs, now accounting for approximately 16% of the GDP, which means we’re all paying the price financially.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Shorter lifespans, diminished ability to participate in activities and more influence the lives of those around us, ranging from good friends to co-workers and children/grand children.

Interestingly, most people WANT to make changes.  They just need the right encouragement, tools and resources to make it happen.  Let’s start moving in the right direction - at least when it comes to this one of the seven!

Last week, I was speaking at an event and met some great folks.  A recent triathlon event had been mentioned in the introduction before I spoke, which provided a common point of discussion for many of them during the breaks and the networking time. 

The next part of the conversation was what fascinated me.  On multiple occasions, the comments went something like this:  “So you’re a triathlete?  That’s pretty cool.  I’ve thought about doing one (or a 10K or a half marathon, etc) but I know I couldn’t.”

Huh? 

In each of these conversations, I made a habit to discuss that word “couldn’t” with them.  If they don’t want to, that’s fine.  But “can’t?”  Yes you can.

And so we’d talk it through.  Regardless of the “wall” they were facing (”I can’t swim” or “I’m not a runner” or whatever), they realized that yes - actually they could.  And you should have seen their eyes.  They lit up - they started thinking about the possibilities.  They now had permission to dream!

That’s what an effective employee wellness coaching approach does.  Almost everyone has a dream - we give them permission to pursue those dreams… today.

I was attending a conference today as one of the speakers.  During one of the breaks (a fantastic time for people watching), I took a glance over at the recently filled - and great smelling snack table, which included various sodas, cookies and brownies.  My glance became more of a gawk, as I observed some interesting things taking place…

The brownies looked fantastic.  Standing over them, you could just about taste the chewy chocolate, covered with a thin - but delicious-looking frosting and a few walnut crumbs to top it off.  Next to them were the cookies - which also looked good, but … well… they just weren’t brownies.

As each individual stood over the table, with a napkin, they would pause, looking at the brownies.  Then - over at the cookies.  And back to the brownies.  The bad news?  Just about everyone took one or the other.  Everyone else was, right?  Why should they miss out?  And after all - they were “free” (part of the conference fee).

As I watched from the side, a question came to mind about the decisions.

If there was a little note next to each, with the number of additional steps that would need to be taken (walking) to burn off each item - would more people have chosen the cookies over the brownies?  Or - would some have said “hey - just not worth it.”

Theoretically, people know the difference in the choices in terms of calories.  In reality, I’m not sure that’s true.  Restaurants in some states are including calorie information on their menus.  Great first step (and a “thank you” to those doing so voluntarily!).  But what if they took it one step further, and put the number of steps required to burn off each item? (and yes - I know that varies based on your size, speed, etc - but you get the idea).

Would it matter?

I just read an interesting article about the impact of stress in our lives.  And yes - stress is certainly an issue.  But sometimes I think we forget that there are two parts to the impact of stress…

Stress - in and of itself- isn’t a “bad” thing. It’s what makes us stronger, faster, more educated, closer in our relationships, etc. Rather, stress is only a problem when the amount of stress exceeds our capacity to tolerate it.

Too often, we focus on the outside issues (the stress) rather than enhancing our own ability to tolerate that outside stress. Take a triathlete, for example. As a new participant, running a 10K after the swim and the bike portion of the event is “stressful.” It’s difficult - maybe to the point of dropping out or walking. But the solution obviously isn’t reducing the distance of the race.  That individual would never complain to the race director that “the stress of the race was just too long - you should shorten it.”  Instead, the solution is training more effectively and eating better - and the result is a faster and more positive race result. It wasn’t the stress, it was the individual’s ability to tolerate that stress that was the “problem.”

We live in a time when individuals have lost sight of the basics. Staying up late at night, eating junk food throughout the day and night, experiencing caffeine overload on a daily basis, and combining all of this with little or no regular physical activity has put a large portion of the population in a state where it takes very little “stress” to push us over the edge (because we’re basically standing ON the edge to begin with).

So, while it’s valuable to examine the outside stressors and see what we can do to improve conditions, schedules, ergonomics, etc, I’d encourage us to start with ourselves. Get back to the basics. Before blaming the outside stressors, take a few months to get ourselves back off “the edge” physically. Eliminate the caffeine…start exercising regularly…make healthy selections when eating and drinking…stay on a regular sleep pattern…and THEN see how we tolerate the stress.

I have a feeling that just like the triathlete in the example above, that 10K that was “exhausting” in the first (limited training) race, will become little more than an easy warm-down when the body is prepared for the stress that is laid on us.

We clearly don’t have control over all of the stress around us.  But we can - in many ways - prepare ourselves to tolerate that stress at a much greater level, right?

It’s true!  Lance Armstrong will be returning to professional cycling in 2009.  If you’d like to see him discuss it, here’s a link to his site:  http://www.lancearmstrong.com/

What does this mean to us - as regular people, participating in an employee wellness program?  A lot!  Lance has all the money he can ever spend.  He’s one of the most recognized individuals on the planet.  He’s well respected.  He’s enjoyed staying in shape as a 3-time marathoner.  And yet, he’s not content to settle.

In many ways, improving your own health and wellness involves a commitment to ongoing improvement.  Among the thousands and thousands of clients with whom we work, not one person is perfect.  There’s always room for growth, improvement or fine-tuning.  Even for those who have created a consistent schedule and eat well, variety (in both exercise and eating patterns) can be extremely valuable in continued improved health and wellness.

So today - while Lance starts his path to Tour Victory #8 - let’s all identify our next big goal and start training along with him.  Today’s the day!

Call me a dreamer (everyone else does- among other things), but articles like this one out of Wake Forest really makes me wonder when the day will come where we require some sort of action on the part of individuals to accompany their prescriptions. 

Here’s the article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/543855/?sc=dwhr;xy=5040555.  It demonstrates significantly negative cardiovascular effects to certain types of Diabetes drugs.  This isn’t new, nor will it be the last time.  What if, instead of looking for ways to decrease the costs of drugs, we provided a discount to individuals who - in the case of diabetes - demonstrated consistent activity, weight loss and healthy eating (which obviously all go together)? 

The result would be far better long-term health for all involved, cost savings to tax payors, and a discount to those who are doing something more to improve their health than placing a pill in their mouth.

Someday…

Did you see it?  Big announcement last week based on a national survey.  Companies will be facing “ONLY” an 11% increase in their health care premiums in 2009.  Isn’t that fantastic news?

Are you kidding me?  11% increase is good news?  Is anyone else laughing along with me?  Can you imagine if your accounting costs went up 11% (for the 8th straight year)?  Or what if your lease jumped 11% again.  Would that be good news? 

Fortunately, some forward-thinking companies have stopped covering their eyes.  They’ve stopped being shocked by the annual increases and started taking action.  They’re initiating an employee wellness program that will not only reduce those health care (and disability!) costs over the long run, but will also impact critical areas like sick time and retention.  Well done!  Are we prejudiced about the value of employee wellness programs?  Of course we are!  It’s what we do.  But we wouldn’t be doing what we do if we didn’t see the positive impact in company after company after company.

Let’s take off the blindfolds and fix the problem - not just figure out new and different ways to pay for the annual increases…

Not a week goes by where I don’t hear something along the lines of “I don’t run because it’s bad for you.”  The individual will point to a specific “case study” of someone who died in a marathon or the death of a famous “runner” like Jim Fixx as their own personal research.

I have to admit, that while I do my best to engage the individual in a conversation of reason (ie, reminding them that Jim Fixx was a long-time smoker with heart issues before taking up running and likely extended his life span - not shortened it - through his love of running), inside I’m rolling my eyes a bit.

Start with the bones and joints (”it’s bad for my knees”).  Sorry - not shown to be true.  When done properly (ie, good shoes, form, surface and overall mechanics), the compression of running - when done at a reasonable level of mileage - actually is good for your joints.  And it’s especially good for strengthening your bones at reasonable levels.  A study looked at this years ago and found the knees of runners were actually BETTER than those of couch potatoes.  If running bothers your knees, it means something is wrong - time to go see your neighborhood Physical Therapist (one who works with runners - ask around) and then you’ll be good to go!

Then along came this study - if you have any doubts about the value of running, take a look at this link:  http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/ExerciseFitness/tb/10506

Incredible, isn’t it?  If you don’t want to run, that’s fine - choose something you do enjoy - and then do it regularly.  But please - don’t use silly, un-documented theories as an excuse not to do it, especially when the research is actually so very strong in the other direction.