YOUR GUIDE TO LOOKING, FEELING AND STAYING HEALTHY
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12/19/12Crossfit, Using Technology to Stop Smoking, Hospital Buzzwords: Delaware HealthCrossfit Catching On In the past decade, fitness niche communities have left the confines of the big gyms and branched out on their own. Pilates and circuit training workouts found homes in strip malls across the country. Every once in a while a new fitness niche will emerge and suddenly there are multiple studios for it around the state. Such is the case with Crossfit. This is a high-intensity, diverse, strength and conditioning program offered by specially trained coaches. If you can handle weightlifting, calisthenics and cardio such as running or rowing, Crossfit’s for you. It’s easy to assume this type of program would be for elite athletes or even for someone in training for the military, but here’s the secret—it's for people like you and me.... |
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11/30/12Holiday Survival, Hot Yoga, New Year’s Resolutions: Delaware HealthHoliday Survival It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the time where the parties start and every office kitchen has colorful tins of snacks that vaguely resemble popcorn. It’s the time of the year when people bring their own homemade dishes to buffets and you realize how much butter they use in recipes that don’t actually call for butter. So since it’s that time of the year, how does one get through it without needing a lot of sweatpants to wear through January? On Dec. 6, Christiana Care will be holding a Holiday Survival presentation as part of its Celebrating Women's Health Lecture Series. I spoke with one of the featured nutritionists for the event, registered dietitian Gabrielle Snyder Marlow, about the challenges of weight... |
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11/16/12Spinning, Personal Trainers, Nancy Fleming Update: Delaware HealthGo for a Spin Have you ever worked out so hard you actually glistened? I did. Once, I actually glistened. In 1995, I received a free pass to a trendy gym in Manhattan. I heard about this new fitness craze called spinning and thought I would be brave and give it a try. It was an amazing workout and I am convinced that I am still burning calories from it 17 years later. Spinning takes the cycling experience indoors by combining simulated hills and terrains with a great mix of music and positive energy. It has become a core offering at gyms across the country. As I watched cyclists ride by my house the other day, I thought it could make an ideal winter workout option. I consulted Joel Schiller, a 12–year veteran spinning instructor at the Central YMCA of Delaware. I... |
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11/07/12Delaware Trail Challenge, Vitamin D, Pre-diagnoses: Delaware HealthTime to Walk the Walk For many, the less an activity feels like exercise, the more likely they will do it. I get that. I was always bewildered by people who naturally fit exercise into their day. You know, those active people. These are the same people who will recommend a hike before a picnic as opposed to my plan, which would be to simply picnic. I even understood the people who wanted to eat the picnic lunch on the way to the picnic. But I digress. I think Delaware has an amazing resource for both audiences in the aforementioned picnic scenario. The trails at Delaware state parks are a phenomenal resource for both of these audiences—the active types and the types who want to exercise without feeling it. The Delaware State Parks have come up with a great incentive... |
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10/17/12Chefs Fight for Your Heart, Personalized Medicine, Kids’ Blood Pressure: DelawareHeart-y Meals I admit it. I have never watched those reality shows—especially the competitive cooking shows. From the iron chefs to the cupcake wars, I somehow never got into them. They look intense. People cry … over cupcakes. Anyway, I think I found a cooking competition that I will watch and this one is a local production. It’s a healthy, heart-smart cooking competition and I can even taste the food. Maybe that’s why I have not watched the shows—it’s too hard to watch those perfectly good cupcakes go to waste just because they “were not innovative.” For this American Heart Association sponsored event called “Chefs Fight for Your Heart,” on Nov. 3, three top local chefs will compete and be judged by a... |
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10/03/12The Power of Pets, Postnatal Weight Loss, Yes U Can: DelawarePet Power When I was 5 years old, we had to give away Flyer, my hamster. Flyer, of course, was named for the Philadelphia Flyers and I truly believed he was worthy of a hamster Stanley Cup. We had to say goodbye to Flyer because I was allergic to him. Soon after, we discovered I was allergic to dogs, cats, horses, you name the animal—I am allergic. So it came as a huge surprise when I was approaching 30 and I received a call that my dad and stepmom had adopted a dog, a Shih Tzu named Tiger. About 12 years ago, my dad suffered a stroke. When I went home to visit him after his illness, I was struck by how protective Tiger was of my dad. It’s as if he knew my dad had been sick and was determined to take care of him. Out of all the family members, Tiger followed my... Posted at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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09/19/12Back to School, Cancer Prevention, Dining Out Healthy: DelawareBack to School Blues? The fall season can bring several parenting milestones. For my family, it was the first day of third grade, which was an incredibly welcome day after my son climbed the walls during the month of August. My friend, Judy, had her own milestone this past summer—she dropped off her daughter at college. As I am a parent of a 9-year-old, I had very little advice to offer except for this: “Get on Facebook. Perhaps you will see her there.” Schools can help prepare families for the college admissions process, as well as consultants, friends and family—but how can parents best prepare themselves to deal with the range of emotions involved when at the end of summer, a child has moved out of the house? For Delawareans, there is a... |
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09/05/12Gluten, Farm-to-School, Life Coaches: DelawareSalutin’ Gluten Aaaaaah, gluten. I have heard so much about you and yet I know so little. Readers, there is one thing you should know about me—I tend to attract advice. All the time. I don’t ask for it, people just want to give it to me. As a result, I have received many emails from family and friends about how I might want to consider a gluten-free life since I live with a chronic disease. Yeah. I don’t. I love bread and I can assure you bread loves me in return. For many, living a gluten-free life is an absolute medical necessity and for others it’s a personal lifestyle choice. Regardless, I salute the people who are making the dining experiences of these individuals pleasant and delicious. Allow me to set the record straight about a couple... |
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08/15/12Wine Wellness, Health Care Decisions and Reform: DelawareWine Wellness I’ve been getting so confused by the mixed media messages about the health and wellness benefits of wine. For me, the wellness benefits include a remarkable increase in my patience level for my husband’s propensity to discuss “The Lord of the Rings” as if it all really happened. The health benefits, according to the Mayo Clinic and Web M.D., include: • Wine promotes longevity. There was study done in Finland about this. Apparently 34 percent of wine drinkers have a lower mortality rate than those who drank beer or other spirits. The study did not mention whether or not I actually needed to be Finnish. • Wine reduces risk of a heart attack. I can honestly say this is true because if I go to an evening function... |
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08/01/12Delaware Sports League, Sussex Hospitals Team Up, Got MilkAre You Game? These days, my friends are playing an online game called Words with Friends. In my humble opinion, my friends are really playing the game Words with People They Don’t Even Know. This got me wondering: How do people meet one another offline anymore? It sounds so old-fashioned, but socializing offline has its merits. The Delaware Sports League (DSL) has figured something out. This statewide co-ed group for the over-21 crowd provides the opportunity for adults to get together, play sports games and make friends all while being in the same physical space. I know—it’s so 1912, not 2012. According to president and co-founder, Bobby Downing, the DSL has been able to do this by focusing on the following three areas: Connection. ... |
