By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO– I have to face it; I’m too heavy. Practically the only time I can see my feet is if I’m sitting down and I cross my legs. Or if I lean back in my Lazy Boy Chair. I had a biometric examination the other day at Grossmont College, where I have been engaged in a temporary gig as the acting, interim director of college and community affairs. They took my blood pressure, put me on a scale, took some other measurements and pronounced that while my chronological age is 68, my biological age is 80. I guess that means that I’ve already outlived most of the Harrisons who came before me.
Wanting to prolong my life, at least so long as I can form a coherent thought, I take an interest in the “wellness” lectures and workshops that periodically are offered to the Grossmont College faculty and staff. I had the opportunity the other day to interview Sharon Vilarino, an instructor in exercise science and wellness, (ESW) and I was pleased to hear that as part of its “wellness program,” Grossmont College will be challenging staff members to increase the amount of walking they do on the campus. Interesting walking paths will be laid out for those who want to take the challenge seriously. Additionally, the ESW faculty suggests a range of exercises that office workers and faculty colleagues can do in their seats, or, if they prefer, they can exercise while standing to limber themselves up and to reduce their stress.
On Sunday, August 18, I took a walk with Dr. Israel Barken, a slender urologist, around the Santee Lakes. Barken wears a pedometer as part of a regimen in which he walks 10,000 steps per day. Exercise is not his medical specialty, so he emphasized that he was giving me advice not as my doctor, but as my friend — the same as other friends without medical licenses might do. He told me that 10,000 steps a day generally consume about 100 minutes of his time– which suggests that he walks at a pace of 100 steps per minute. That may sound fairly quick, but in fact it is fairly leisurely. He said if we were walking at a faster pace, and getting our heart rates up — in other words, doing the kind of aerobic exercise that my wife Nancy has unsuccessfully urged me to practice — fewer steps would be required daily because aerobic walking burns more calories than regular walking. However, if an old duffer like me will walk 10,000 steps per day, even if I do so in a leisurely manner, it will put me on the road to weight loss, according to Israel, who is originally from Israel.
Israeli Israel and I walked for about 45 minutes on a Santee Lakes route, stopping occasionally to admire a heron or an egret, and when we got back to our starting point, his pedometer indicated that we had banked 4,500 steps towards the daily goal of 10,000. Walking twice a day around Santee Lakes would be ideal, unless one walks so much around one’s house and backyard to make that unnecessary. A word of caution: walking back and forth to the refrigerator doesn’t count. Instead of mornings and evenings at Santee Lake, I could vary the venue, perhaps to Lake Murray, or Mission Trails Regional Park, or Mast Park, or even in my own hilly neighborhood.
As I write this, however, I wonder if I could really spend so much time per day walking? Isn’t this taking time away from my computer–away from my routines as a writer and an editor? Israel, intuiting my concern, suggested that while walking, I should wear headphones, and listen to a book, or hear someone read to me news from the New York Times. That could give me double satisfaction–learning while exercising.
It turns out that many people have advice for getting healthy. I am indebted to another slender fellow, John Finley, who became friends with my daughter, Sandi Masori, when they were both students at UC Santa Barbara. Today he is an honorary uncle to my grandsons Shor and Sky.
I listened as John was telling my visiting grand-niece Jessica about some of the things that he does to stay trim. One of his methods is to drink a large glass of water about a half hour before any meal. That fills up his stomach, making him feel as if he has already eaten. As a result, he is satisfied with smaller portions of food.
So, 10,000 steps per day and drinking lots of water might become weapons in a campaign against obesity. The stress reduction exercises that Sharon Vilarino told me about also could be incorporated into a daily regimen. According to Israel, stress not only has psychological impacts on us but also physiological. He says in trying to defend itself against stress, the body hoards rather than sheds calories. So the more stressed someone is, the harder it is for that person to lose weight.
I extrapolated that to mean if you constantly harangue someone about his or her weight, rather than helping, you’re actually hindering that person; unwittingly you are making that person’s life more stressful. “It’s easy to lose weight when you’re relaxed” –on say a vacation, assuming you’re not eating yummy cruise ship food all the time — “but it’s much harder when you’re feeling stressed,” Israel said.
If you have financial problems, or are a caregiver for an elderly parent, are having difficulties at work, or are in a failing relationship, you still can lose weight — but it probably will be a lot harder.
The keys to all this, says Israel, are persistence and consistency. There are a variety of methods to be utilized, be they walking, water drinking, smaller portions, stress reduction, or another of Nancy’s suggestions — “don’t nosh between meals.” Perhaps, you can follow another of Israel’s suggestions — weighing yourself each morning and writing down the result. Whichever method or combinations of methods you use, you’ve got to keep doing it day after day, until it becomes habitual.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
So what did you decide to do?
Can’t wait to see the answer.
C.