Has your company done a Health Risk Assessment lately?  It may help stem the tide (and cost) of undiagnosed diabetes.  Here’s a link to the full article if you’d like the details:  http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/01/28/hscout623508.html

The House approved (by a margin of 9-0) a measure that, if fully passed, will provide the ability to provide a break on insurance rates for companies with less than 50 employees in Colorado.

House Bill 1012 will allow smaller companies to be proactive and benefit from the efforts.  A great move in Colorado for everyone involved.  Here’s a link to the full article:  http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/01/19/daily29.html

General Mills moved up into the Top 100 Places to Work this year, and to what did they credit this honor as one of the primary reasons for the placement?

Their employee wellness program! 

While areas such as health care, disability and sick time are measureable, there are so many additional benefits to an employee wellness program.  Does your company get it?

Here’s the full article if you’re interested:  http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/01/19/daily42.html

The House Appropriations Committee Reveals Economic Stimulus Proposal to include Focus on Wellness

The House Appropriations Committee announced $3 billion to fight preventable chronic diseases, the leading cause of deaths in the U.S., and infectious diseases.  The summary of the stimulus package states that “Preventing disease rather than treating illnesses is the most effective way to reduce healthcare costs. This includes hospital infection prevention, Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grants for state and local public health departments, immunization programs, and evidence-based disease prevention.”  For further information see http://appropriations.house.gov/.  (thank you to the Alliance for Wellness in America for providing this highlight)

The Wellness Nation group has recently been launched on Facebook.  If you’re one of the 150 Million Facebook users, come join us by clicking on Groups and searching for Wellness Nation.

Thanks!

Just in case you had any doubts about the benefits of health and wellness pursuits, here’s a fantastic quote from a very credible expert…

Dr. Walter Bortz is a longevity expert who says regular exercise is the key to better heath later in life. “Exercise is the treatment for everything. You just go right down the list of things that are killing us and maiming us and costing us money, and physical fitness is the answer to every one of them,” he said.

Here’s a link to the full article: http://voanews.com/english/2009-01-02-voa19.cfm

Well - this will be the last workout journal entry for awhile.  If I’m fortunate to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman later this year, I may check back in with some sample workouts for those of you who have considered training for such an event sometime.  In the mean time, I hope the last couple of weeks of entries have been helpful to the other injured runners out there who are looking for ways to stay in shape when the body won’t cooperate on the running front.  It is possible to stay in shape - or to even enhance your fitness while “laying low” as a runner temporarily.

So - the last two days of workouts have consistend of…

• Saturday - 6 hrs of cycling on the Computrainer.  Crazy ride?  Maybe, but with a half Ironman coming up in 3 months, it’s good mentally to know I’ve gone 100+ miles a few times prior.  Puts everything into perspective.  In terms of investments, it’s tough to beat an indoor trainer for your bike.  They only run about $100 and you can ride any time of day and in any weather.  And for the runners out there, stay standing for awhile (or take off the seat and you almost turn it into a pseudo-stairmaster)
• Sunday - Just under 4 hours on the bike trainer, but the last 2 1/2 hrs was done on something called POWERCRANKS (the cranks of the bike are separate, so they work the hip flexors more like running and are a fantastic cross-training tool).  Later in the day, a 1 hour of lap swimming with Joshua and then 30 minutes of basketball with Josh/Ashley.  And then, just for grins, topped it off with 30 min of legs, core stab, etc.

As a final (for now) sidenote, if you don’t have a medicine ball as part of your home exercise equipment, you may want to check into one.  With that one item, it’s easy to create a fun and simple functional strengthening routine that doesn’t take much space (and is easy to do in front of the TV).

Take care everyone.  Hope you’ve found some of these ideas helpful.  Feel free to add your own comments or drop us a note anytime.

Home Depot demonstrated a strong ROI with their wellness program, focused around setting regular exercise-based goals and then tracking the outcomes. 

Here’s a link to the synopsis if you’re interested:  http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/547464/

Another brilliant study just came out showing that the more time kids spend in front of a TV screen (including computers, computer games and television), the less likely they are to be active.  I have a feeling we all could have guessed at that outcome.

BUT - is it being applied to our own lives as adults?  Just for one week, keep a log of your (non-working, to be fair) total hours in front of the computer or television.  Then compare that number to the amount of time you’re spending being active (walking, cycling, hiking, anything active).  How’s it look?

Here’s the actual article if you’re curious:  http://www.hbns.org/getDocument.cfm?documentID=1822

Grocery stores are beginning to set up simple to read (and use) labeling systems to identify healthy foods for their customers.  Great move!  Remember - wellness comes down to Eat Smart…Move More…Repeat!  This positive step makes it easier to hit the bulls-eye on the first part of that strategy.

Here’s an article about one of them:  http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/digest.jsp?id=9265&c=OTC-RSS&attr=DI