CEDAR FALLS — College Square Mall will be bustling with educational and active events Saturday.

The Courier’s sixth annual Health and Wellness Event will partner with the Juvenile Diabe-tes Research foundation, and sup-porters will walk to raise money for diabetes research.

The Wellness Event begins at 9 a.m. The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes will get under way at 10 a.m.

Breakout seminars, guest speak-ers, special demonstrations and a hands-on look at cutting-edge technology and practices in the health field will be showcased in the east wing and Center Court of the mall. Vendors include Acu-puncture and Chinese Medical Clinic, American Red Cross, Any-time Fitness, Bickford Cottage,

Bridges, Cedar Valley Orthodon-tics — Dr. Holohan, Clark & Associates, Curves of Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Ebert Chiropractic, Ecoquest, Elements Therapeutic Massage, Home Instead, Hy-Vee, Kaplan University, Mallard Point,

Proactive Health, Snap Fitness, TNK, Total Wellness Int., United Sport & Athlete Inc., University of Iowa Children’s Hospital Pedi-atrics, Upper Iowa University, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and Wilson Family Chiropractic.

The Health and Wellness Event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Wheaton Fran-ciscan Healthcare. Lectures and demonstrations will be provided by health experts, and health screenings will be available.

Those interested in participat-ing in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes should contact JDRF special events coordinator Laura Rompot at (319) 393-3850.

Walk registration begins at 8 a.m. in the mall’s west wing. HuHot Mongolian Grill will donate some of its day’s tips to JDRF, as well as a percentage of its sales. B Dalton will have a book fair, with 10 percent of its sales going to JDRF.

Entertainment will start at 8:30 a.m. in the west wing of the mall. Included in the entertainment lineup are guitarist/vocalist Chris Tripolino; the Dean of Juggling Dean Franzen; T.C., the Universi-ty of Northern Iowa mascot; pia-nist/vocalist Tori Ovel; the UNI Spirit Squad; the Waterloo Black Hawks mascot; and the Waterloo Bucks mascot.

JDRF walk to raise money for research

By DR. RICHARD VALENTEWheaton Franciscan Healthcare

WATERLOO — Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in this country. And sev-eral other top killers, including stroke, diabetes, heart attacks and more, are related to it. That’s why cardiovascular health is one of the most important aspects of your health to watch out for.

A recent study by the American Heart Association shows more women are recognizing the dan-gers of heart disease, but the numbers still are far lower than they should be. The problem is many women still consider car-diovascular health to be a danger only men need to worry about.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the American Heart Associa-tion, women need to take heart of the following:

The female heart attackWhen a man experiences a heart

attack, the most likely symptom is a sharp, crushing pain in the chest, sometimes extending to the left arm or left side of the jaw. These are the symptoms you see on TV. But in women, symptoms may be more subtle. You may

experience heartburn, nausea, fatigue or pain in the arm, neck, jaw, back or stomach.

Because those symptoms can be so vague and widespread, many women don’t consider the pos-sibility that they could be expe-riencing a heart attack. Your symptoms may even seem less serious to a health care worker. In addition, many women down-play their own symptoms and delay seeking medical attention because they’ve trained them-selves to focus on the health of family members instead.

Heart disease risksAge — Although women have

lower rates of heart disease than men when they are younger, your chances of heart disease catch up

following menopause. By age 60, a woman’s risk of heart disease is as great as a man’s. Also, many women are uninformed about the danger of a heart attack. Under age 50, a woman is less likely than a man to have a heart attack, but more likely than a man to die if she does have one.

Waist size — A larger waist size increases your risk of heart disease. That’s because waist size is an indicator of abdominal fat, which seems to be particularly problematic when it comes to heart health. It’s recommended that your waist size should not exceed 35 inches.

Alcohol intake — You’ve prob-ably heard that a glass of red wine each day may benefit your health, but remember that more than one drink per day is considered unhealthy.

Other risk factors you should watch out for include your family history of heart disease or stroke, diabetes, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, unmanaged stress, hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol.

The best advice is to have a frank discussion with your pri-mary care doctor about your personal risk for heart disease.

Based on that discussion, lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, or proper maintenance of health problems, may be recommended.

Richard Valente, MD, FACC, is an interventional cardiologist at Covenant Medical Center, part of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, located at 2710 St. Francis Drive,

Suite 320, Waterloo. Women at risk should attend the free Wom-en’s Heart Health Assessment Clinic every Friday at 1 p.m. at 2710 St. Francis Drive, Suite 320, in the professional build-ing at Covenant Medical Center. Please call and confirm atten-dance at 272-5000.

What you should knowThe National Institutes of Health

has several tips to help you maintain proper heart health.

Learn your blood pressure and make sure you control it.

Learn your cholesterol and tri-glyceride levels.

Exercise regularly.Don’t smoke.Maintain a healthy weight.Get tested for or make sure you

properly control diabetes.

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health and wellness eventTHE COURIERPAGE � TUEsDay, FEbRUaRy 17, 2009www.wcfcourier.com

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 THe COurIer PAGE �www.wcfcourier.com

By DEAN SCHILLINGERCollege square Hy-Vee dietitian

CEDAR FALLS — Diabetes mel-litus is a disorder that is char-acterized by abnormally high blood glucose levels. People with diabetes cannot properly process glucose, sugar that the body uses for energy. As a result, glucose tends to move inefficiently from the blood-stream to the tissues of the body where it is needed. Thus, at the same time blood glucose levels are high, the rest of the body can be starved for glucose. The hormone insulin is responsible for regulating glucose levels in the blood. Diabetes can lead to poor wound healing, higher risk of infections and damage to the eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart.

There are three common types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, also called childhood onset or insulin-dependent diabetes, is usually (but not always) diag-nosed in children and young adults. People with type 1 diabe-tes make no insulin due to dam-age to the pancreas and must take insulin every day. Most risk factors associated with diabetes do not apply to type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset or non-insulin depen-dent diabetes mellitus is usually (but not always) diagnosed in adults over the age of 45. In type 2 diabetes, either the person is not making enough insulin or the body is resistant to insulin and cannot use it properly.

Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy. Between 2 and 4 percent of all pregnant women have gestational diabe-tes. If a woman has gestational diabetes, she has about a 40 percent chance of having type 2 diabetes later in life.

About 17 million Americans have diabetes mellitus, but 5 million of them don’t even know it. Nearly 1 million new cases are diagnosed each year. The disease affects men and women of all ages and ethnic groups. However, type 2 diabetes is much more common in native Americans, African-Americans and Hispanics than whites.

As stated above, as many as 50 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are unaware that they have the disease. For this rea-

son, it is particularly important to pay attention to the signs and symptoms of diabetes and its risk factors.

Some of the signs of either type 1 or type 2 diabetes are excessive thirst and frequent uri-nation, feeling hungry or tired, losing or gaining weight without trying, having sores that heal slowly, having dry itchy skin, losing the feeling in your feet or having tingling in your feet, and having blurry eyesight. Symp-toms of type 1 diabetes often develop over a short period of time whereas symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop more slowly. If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms you should see your doctor.

Although researchers don’t fully understand why some people get diabetes and oth-ers do not, there are certain risk factors that increase one’s risk for developing diabetes. These include having a parent or sibling with diabetes, having high blood pressure (at or above 130/80), having a history of dia-betes during pregnancy (gesta-tional diabetes) or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds at birth, being obese or overweight, being inactive or having a sedentary lifestyle and being older than 45 years of age. If you have one or more of these risk factors, even if you are experiencing no symptoms, your doctor may want to test you for diabetes.

A doctor can test your blood sugar level to determine if you have diabetes. Usually two or

more glucose tests will be per-formed before confirming a diagnosis of diabetes. In gen-eral, your blood sugar is highest after you eat and lowest after you have not eaten for eight to 10 hours. People with untreated diabetes will have higher blood sugars after fasting and after eating.

Research has illustrated that diet and exercise can greatly lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Specifically, some research has found that diets high in fiber and diets low in saturated fat can decrease the risk for developing diabetes. Saturated fat is found primarily in meat, dairy fat, poultry skins and dark meat.

In contrast, diets high in mono-unsaturated fats have been found to improve glucose intolerance. Using olive oil instead of other vegetable oils, butter and mar-garine is one way to increase monounsaturated fats in your diet. Individuals with questions about diabetes should visit their doctor or a Hy-Vee dietitian.

Information for this article was taken from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Diabetes Information, and from Health Notes at Hy-Vee.com.

Dean Schillinger, RD, LD, received his degree in dietet-ics from the University of Wis-consin-Stevens Point and com-pleted his dietetic internship through Iowa State University. As the College Square Hy-Vee dietitian, Dean enjoys help-ing customers find answers to their nutrition questions and concerns about food, products, and overall health. Dean also enjoys teaching customers quick and easy ways to make deli-cious and healthy food. Dean promotes healthy lifestyle liv-ing through healthy eating and regular exercise.

health and wellness event

Recognizing diabetes signs

Dean Schillinger

Study: Experiences can bring people happiness

Los angeles Times

Money is an emotional issue, especially during economic hard times. Social scientists have always warned that once a person’s basic needs are met money doesn’t buy happiness. But if you’re wondering, or maybe even arguing over, what to do with any precious discre-tionary income these days, a new study suggests how to get the biggest emotional bang for your buck.

Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, found that buying experiences — such as vacations, going to the theater or renting a sailboat — gave people more happiness than buying mate-rial things. The study, of 154 people ages 19 to 50, showed that experiences increase hap-piness because they are often social in nature. In addition, however, experiences tend to

make people feel more alive. “People report a sense of feel-ing invigorated or inspired,” Howell said in an interview. Experiences may also yield more happiness because peo-ple are left with positive mem-ories, a sort of return on their investment.

“It’s not that material things don’t bring any happiness. It’s just that they don’t bring as much,” Howell said. “You’re happy with a new television set. But you’re thrilled with a vacation.”

The study may yield some les-sons for Americans in despair over the recession. “For what-ever you can afford, you’ll maximize your happiness, and the happiness of others around you, if you spend it on a life experience,” he said. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend, either. “Whether you spent a little or a lot on the life experience, you still have the same level of happiness,” he said.

The study was presented Sat-urday at an annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and will be published later this year in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Diabetes typesTyPE 1 DIABETES: people make

no insulin because of damage to the pancreas and must take insulin every day.

TyPE 2 DIABETES: person does not make insulin or the body is resistant to insulin and cannot use it properly.

GESTATIoNAL DIABETES: occurs during pregnancy.

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THE COURIERPAGE � TUEsday, FEbRUaRy 17, 2009www.wcfcourier.com

By SUE WILLETTCourier Correspondent

CEDAR FALLS — For 7-year-old Kaitlynn Keller, nutrition is fun, even if it means trading in her favorite breakfast cereal.

On Jan. 21, Hy-Vee became the first grocer in the Midwest to implement the NuVal program. The science-based food nutrition scoring system assigns food items a simple score from 1 to 100. The higher the number, the more nutritious the food.

“My daughter has quickly become obsessed with this new scoring system,” said Niki Keller, marketing coordinator for Hy-Vee.

After comparing the NuVal score of her favorite cereal to others in the aisle, Kaitlynn was happy to make the change to a box with a higher score.

Shoppers can find NuVal labels on Hy-Vee shelves next to an item’s price tag. Store signs, banners and brochures highlight and explain how the program works.

Hy-Vee tested the NuVal System in its Des Moines-area stores in the fall and is currently unveiling the program to its entire operating territory.

“Using this new scoring system makes it easy to see the nutri-

tional value of each food item you buy, helping you to make smarter choices one item at a time,” said Dean Schillinger, a registered dietitian at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee. “It’s meant to be a quick reference guide for a balanced approach to shopping and eating.”

During the launch of the NuVal program, more than a dozen food categories will be scored including fresh produce, frozen and canned vegetables, cereal, juice, crackers and cookies. Categories will con-tinually be added as NuVal scores become available. Schillinger said every area Hy-Vee will have NuVal, and eventually every food item in the store, with the exception of baby food, will have a NuVal tag by early 2010.

NuVal scores are obtained through an algorithm known as the Overall Nutritional Quality Index. The procedure was devel-oped over a two-year period by an independent team of health pro-fessionals led by Dr. David Katz, chairman of Yale University/Grif-fin Hospital Prevention Research Center.

The team’s mission was to develop a science-based formula to allow people to see and com-pare the overall nutritional value of any food or beverage within a

grocery store section.“You really shouldn’t need a

Ph.D in nutritional biochemistry

to figure out which kids break-fast cereal is more nutritious,” Katz said. “We should give people nutritional information they can understand.”

For more information, visit www.hy-vee.com.

Contact Sue Willett at newsroom@wcfcourier.com.

health and wellness event

NuVal program helps teach nutritionHy-Vee dietitian Dean Schillinger, left, and marketing coordinator Niki Keller show where to locate the NuVal score for cereal on the shelf at the Cedar Falls store.

Photos by SUE WILLETT / Courier Correspondent

Pictured is a NuVal score label for Cinnamon Toast Crunch displayed on the shelf at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee store. The cereal has a score of 27.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 THe COurIer PAGE �www.wcfcourier.com health and wellness event

McClatchy Newspapers

YORKTOWN, Va. — Marcie Jones danced her way from more than 200 pounds to her current trim 142-pound figure in less than six months. “When it became fun, then I wanted to do it,” says the 45 year-old, 5-feet-3-inch York-town mother of four. Now she wants to pass the message along and get others moti-vated to take control of their lives.

A registered nurse and director of a home health-care agency, Jones’ epiphany happened at a Hampton 7-Eleven on March 1, 2007, when a store clerk mistakenly assumed she was pregnant. Too embarrassed to correct him, Jones left with her Coke, chips and Snickers bar. After consuming them she found a soli-tary place to pray and cry, and four hours later she vowed to change her life.

The next morning, she discovered “The 50 Million Pound Challenge” online. She went cold turkey, giv-ing up her four or five daily Cokes and fast food, and embarked on Dr. Ian Smith’s weight-loss program using his meal-tracking methods, menus, food choices and encour-aging words to shed more than 60 pounds. She has maintained her desired weight of around 140 pounds ever since, and this month she won the 2008 national Chal-lenger of the Year title from more than 700,000 entries.

A veteran of Weight Watchers, the cabbage diet, the no-carb diet, the gym, B-12 shots to speed the metabolism, nothing had worked for her previously for more than a month or two. “You have to get your mind right,” says Jones, who dealt with the stress of her job and a failing marriage by eating. “A guy I didn’t know and everyone in line at the store saw me as six months pregnant. That’s what did it for me.”

And with the 50 Million Pound Challenge she found she had a choice. “You’re in control. You have the power,” she says. “Other pro-grams want you to do it their way or eat their foods. This way I have a choice if I eat McDonald’s for lunch, then I can’t have dinner or breakfast.” And she started read-ing labels and seeing what she was doing to her body.

What does she eat and drink in a typical day?

Jones’ day now starts with a 16-ounce bottle of chilled water from the small refrigerator in her bed-

room. “It gets your metabolism going,” she says. She drinks at least half a gallon of water daily, a dramatic change from when she might not drink water for a week at a time. In place of Cokes, she’ll drink either Sprite Zero or Lipton’s Diet Green Tea. She likes Weight Watchers’ cereal for breakfast with vanilla soy milk; for lunch she’ll either take a turkey sandwich and a 100-calorie pack of Pringles chips, or go out for a Chick-fil-A chicken strip salad and a diet lemonade.

She developed a quick-fix din-ner so that she could feed herself before cooking for her children, Ashleigh, 18, Mareo, 16, Alexus, 10, and Myles, 9. When she gets home from work, she’ll wrap frozen tilapia, broccoli (which she loves) and fat-free Italian dressing in foil, and put it in the oven to cook while she changes. Ten minutes later her meal’s ready. “Now I’m full, I can cook fried chicken for them,” she says.

When she broils or bakes chicken, she cooks a lot at one time, so she has a constant supply of cut-up chicken in a container in the refrigerator, along with almonds, fruits and salads for quick snacks. “You have to keep yourself full. Your mind has to know that you’re not hungry. You can eat six meals a day.”

What role does exercise play?Jones used to munch while she

watched TV. Now, she says, there are so many other things to do. She

doesn’t believe in the “no pain, no gain” philosophy. She doesn’t walk in the cold, and if it’s raining, she skips going to Gold’s Gym, where she’s been a member since before her diet took hold. (Sometimes if she’s on the fence about going, she’ll drink a sugar-free Red Bull to get herself psyched.) What she does is a lot of dancing “because that’s fun.”

She practices salsa dancing at a friend’s house; she’ll dance while she’s cleaning up, downloading all styles of music: salsa, jazz and old school from djstantheman.com to her Zune for a few dollars for an hour’s worth of entertainment. Then she cavorts around the house amusing her children with dances from the ’80s. For her it’s the key to losing weight while having fun and laughing (another calorie-burner).

At the gym, she started by going alone to the cinema room where no-one could see her in her size 18 sweat pants and 2X T-shirt. Now she’s down to a svelte size 6 or 8, but she’ll still run on the treadmill and use the bicycles there when she likes the movie that’s playing. Jones advocates finding a friend to work out with and asking others at the gym for help. To get over the inevi-table plateaus in weight loss, she kept switching her routine between the treadmill and elliptical, salsa and line dancing, and so on. “I switched it up so it’s never boring.” She recommends heading to the gym immediately after work before

g e t t i n g settled at h o m e . “You do what you want to do, and then do five more,” she says.

And when she has cravings for the foods she’s given up?

“At first you can’t fight it. If you do it on an empty stom-ach you won’t win. Do it on a full stomach and have just one chip or take just one forkful of cake, whirl it around make sure your mind has got it, then swal-low it and wait. In 15 to 20 min-utes the craving will be gone.” Then you have to throw the rest away and not leave it around, she insists.

How has it changed her life?“Everything has improved,” she

says. “I handle stress a lot bet-ter, I think clearer, my posture and self-esteem are better.” And though she never had any health problems, she’s no longer out of breath and she has more energy. She has also learned to be more selfish and stopped trying to be everything to everyone, and to say no.

That said, as the winner of the first national Challenger of the Year, Jones wants to help others.

She has formed a company

called Power House and says, “I would like to do a talk show to inspire and encourage others.”She’s hoping,

too, that the Chal-lenge, which has sent

her a video camera so she can keep a blog, will use her as a spokesperson.

‘‘People can help but no one can do it for you. I really feel happy.”

MCT Photo

Marcella “Mar-cie” Jones, 4�, of Yorktown, Va., is a registered nurse. The mother of four is the first national winner of the “�0 million pound challenge,” a weight loss pro-gram founded by Dr. Ian Smith. She lost more than 60 pounds in five months and now weighs 140 pounds.

Weight loss champion offers advice

Saturday, February 21, 2009 I 9 AM - 2 PM I College Square Mall, Cedar Falls

SEMINARS & SCREENINGSThe Courier’s Sixth Annual

Health & Wellness Event

SPONSORED BY:

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

FUN FOR ALL AGES!

Chris Tripolino - Guitar/Vocal

Dean Franzen - The Dean of Juggling

T.C. (UNI Panther Mascot)

Tori Ovel - Piano/Vocal

UNI Spirit Squad

Waterloo Black Hawks Mascot

Waterloo Bucks Mascot

ATTEND THE FOLLOWING SEMINARS:

10:00 AM COVENANT AMBULANCE

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

11:00 AM CARE FOR THE CAREGIVER

Jen Hoelscher, RN, BSN, LBSW

Cedar Valley Hospice

1:00 PM ADVANCED NON-SURGICAL SPINAL TREATMENTS AND ADVANCED TREATMENTS FOR NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WITH HYPERBARIC THERAPY

Dr. Jason Rose,

Advanced Spine

PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING SCREENINGS:

HEALTH SCREENING

Provided by Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

NUVAL SYSTEM / HEALTHY BAKING & COOKING SUBSTITUTIONS

Provided by Hy-Vee Dietitians

TEST DRIVE A SCOOTER

Provided by Hy-Vee Home Medical

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page 6 Tuesday, February 17, 2009health and wellness event

Saturday, February 21, 2009 I 9 AM - 2 PM I College Square Mall, Cedar Falls

SEMINARS & SCREENINGSThe Courier’s Sixth Annual

Health & Wellness Event

SPONSORED BY:

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

FUN FOR ALL AGES!

Chris Tripolino - Guitar/Vocal

Dean Franzen - The Dean of Juggling

T.C. (UNI Panther Mascot)

Tori Ovel - Piano/Vocal

UNI Spirit Squad

Waterloo Black Hawks Mascot

Waterloo Bucks Mascot

ATTEND THE FOLLOWING SEMINARS:

10:00 AM COVENANT AMBULANCE

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

11:00 AM CARE FOR THE CAREGIVER

Jen Hoelscher, RN, BSN, LBSW

Cedar Valley Hospice

1:00 PM ADVANCED NON-SURGICAL SPINAL TREATMENTS AND ADVANCED TREATMENTS FOR NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WITH HYPERBARIC THERAPY

Dr. Jason Rose,

Advanced Spine

PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING SCREENINGS:

HEALTH SCREENING

Provided by Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare

NUVAL SYSTEM / HEALTHY BAKING & COOKING SUBSTITUTIONS

Provided by Hy-Vee Dietitians

TEST DRIVE A SCOOTER

Provided by Hy-Vee Home Medical

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THE COURIERPAGE � TUEsday, FEbRUaRy 17, 2009www.wcfcourier.comhealth and wellness event

By HOWARD SCHNEIDERThe Washington Post

I haven’t seen it documented yet, but you can be certain that with unemployment rising, incomes stagnant and a brooding sense of uncertainty about what is ahead for the economy, gym member-ships and personal training ses-sions are on the chopping block in many household budgets.

But giving up the fancy venue and the personal attention doesn’t have to mean giving up altogether. For a minimal investment — say a hundred bucks or less — you can assemble the tools needed to get (or keep) yourself in shape.

You can stick to running and walking through the neighbor-hood. If you keep the shoes laced and the feet moving, that will go a long way toward keeping you healthy. But it won’t do much to enhance your flexibility and upper body strength or help maintain your ability to bend and twist and turn. For that, it helps to have a couple of simple items from the local sports store and a willingness to learn how to use them.

When I asked trainer Michael Everts, owner of Fit in Washington, what he’d recommend to someone who wants to stay in shape on the cheap, he boiled it down to two items: a yoga or Pilates mat ($20 to $25, and a lot more stable and cushioning and better to sweat on than an old blanket) and a set of elastic resistance bands. (Thera-Band is the major brand name, but you’ll find knockoffs at the big-box stores for as little as $15 for a pack of three.)

But as Everts explained it, resis-tance is resistance. It doesn’t much matter if you are lifting a dumb-bell or pulling on a rubber band, as long as the muscles have to overcome something. For a lot of staple exercises, he said, a couple of bands can provide the same effect as several pairs of dumbbells, for a lot less money and a lot less space and clutter.

Lie on one (or wrap it beneath a bench) for a chest press. Stand on it to do shoulder presses and biceps curls. Tie it to a door handle for back rows; throw it over the top of the door and grab the two hanging ends for triceps push-downs. If the intensity seems inad-equate, double them over, or use two bands at once.

“They are a full-body piece of

equipment,” Everts said.Rubber tubes (also at the big-box

stores and inexpensive) are an alternative. But in my experience the wide elastic bands work better. They are easier to grip and wrap around your hands if you want to increase the resistance. Both have the advantage of being portable, an easy way to take your gym on the road.

Everts recommended body weight exercises for the legs and hips: standard moves such as squats, lunges and calf raises. If you’re just starting, you can use a chair to assist with the squats; even sitting and standing a few times is a beginning. For lunges you can put your hand on a chair or table for assistance. If you want to increase intensity, experiment with combining upper- and lower-body exercises: Stand on the band, for example, and as you rise from a squat, do a shoulder press; or tie the band around your shoe, and as you step into a lunge, do a biceps curl.

For the abdominal and core muscles, Everts scaled-down, no-machines-or-dumbbells-needed routine involves five exercises done on the mat, with 30 repeti-tions each. They should be done in order (“synergistically,” he said) to take advantage of how the different abdominal muscles work together. All are done lying on your back.

Hip thrusts: With legs in the air, push the hips up and the toes ■

toward the ceiling.Oblique crunches: With the

hands behind the head, raise the right shoulder off the ground and rotate toward the left thigh; after 30 repetitions, do the same thing with the other side.

Standard crunches.Reverse crunches: Knees bent,

raise the legs toward the chest.Lifts: With the legs in the air,

raise the shoulders off the ground, but, rather than “crunching,” push the chest toward the ceiling.

Jason Riddell, head strength and conditioning coach at American University, added another dimen-sion to the idea, coming at the problem as someone who spends his days trying to tweak an extra bit of power out of the college’s

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athletes, while working in his own sets of 300-pound-plus squats.

His on-the-cheap gym would include a jump rope, a pull-up bar, a 6- to 8-pound medicine ball, and a Jumpstretch band, which is basi-cally an industrial-strength rubber band, popular with conditioning coaches.

Jumping rope is a powerful car-dio exercise. The medicine ball is a versatile tool, useful for abdomi-nal twists, playing various types of catch if you have a partner, adding resistance to crunches and squats, or simply raising overhead and slamming to the ground.

The pull-up bar may be diffi-cult to accommodate. There are various models designed to fit in doorways that may or may not

work for your home. If that’s not a problem, the pull-ups themselves may be difficult anyway. These are one of the exercises that many trainers and athletic coaches rec-ommend because they recruit so much muscle: chest, back, abs and arms all at the same time.

They are also hard as heck. Many people can’t do them at all. That’s where the Jumpstretch band comes in. Big, closed-loop pieces of rub-ber, in the thickest version they offer up to 200 pounds of resis-tance. (The term is used loosely here because resistance with these is not fixed, and it increases as the band is stretched.)

The light versions (the purple one offers a 50-pound resistance and can be ordered online for about $18) can be used to do assisted pull-ups. Looping it through the bar, step into the end that is hanging down and let your body weight stretch the band out. The resistance of the band will help pull you up.

They can also be used for some other exercises popular among weightlifters, including the “good morning”: With the band looped over the head and secured to the floor with the feet, bend at the waist and try to straighten, lifting with the hamstrings and gluteal muscles. You can also strengthen the knees by standing on the band, grabbing opposite sides with the hands so it forms an X, and walking sideways.

Washington Post photo

Howard Schneider demonstrates a series of exercises with a resistance band.

You don’t need to spend a lot to stretch your fitness dollar

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 THe COurIer PAGE �www.wcfcourier.com health and wellness event

McClatchy Newspapers

CHICAGO — If you’re lucky, you’re still sleeping when it’s “time to make the doughnuts.” Joni Caputa, a pastry chef of two years at Lakeview’s Bitter-sweet pastry shop in Chicago, manages to kick the sandman to the curb at 4:15 every morning.

“I don’t let myself set a snooze on my alarm, and I put my alarm across the room,” Caputa said.

Once she’s vertical, “I have coffee immediately from an automatic coffee maker, and I need a glass of cold water to wake up.”

Whether you suffer from insomnia or are just having an off night, the solution is mostly mind over matter.

No gadgets, no pills, no hyp-notism, just some sound advice from Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Dr. Lisa Woofe, a physician who specializes in sleep medicine.

Set a routine“Have stringent times for get-

ting into and out of bed,” Woofe said. “Your body has a clock that helps regulate your brain when you’re awake and asleep, and your body will autostart the sleep process accordingly.”

Get steamed“Before bed, take a hot shower

and then enter a relatively cool bedroom,” Woofe recommended as a way to copy the natural effects of a warming sun setting. “Imagine an ancient man living out on a prairie. When the sun goes up, you get up, when the sun sets, you sleep ... and when the sun goes down it gets cooler. In modern society, we regulate lights and the body gets discon-nected from the environment.”

Let there not be light“Get both bright light, like sun-

light, in the morning and avoid bright lights in the evening,” Woofe said.

“And for shift workers, if you’re a third-shift person and you leave work at 10 a.m., put sunglasses on when you go outside.”

Work it out“During daytime, make sure

you get exercise. It helps sleep at night, especially for those over the age of 60, for whom stay-ing asleep is a big issue,” said Woofe, who cited studies done at Northwestern’s sleep center by her colleague Dr. Phyllis Zee. “Research has shown that exer-cise during the day is better than a sleeping pill.” Woofe also

says to complete all activity two hours before sleep time.

Turn off your your brain“Keep a worry diary in your

bedroom, so when you’re think-ing, ‘I can’t forget to get that fax at the office’ or ‘I have to remem-ber to go to the post office,’ write that in the diary and put it next to your bed,” says Woofe.

Picture itAnother way to distract a rest-

less mind is to fill it with peace-ful pictures.

“With imagery therapy, you come up with a pleasurable image, such as a beautiful vaca-tion on the beach, and you con-centrate on how the sun feels on your face, the sand on your toes, the cute guy bringing you drinks,” she said.

No catch-upWoofe warned not to sleep in

to make up for the lost hours at night. “Keep a fixed wake-up time, and get up and go about your day.

“It’s an investment in good sleep,” she said. “The next night you should be tired enough to fall asleep on time. A little bit of pain today means good sleep for tomorrow.”

Los angeles Times

The candy bars in the hotel room mini-bar.

The glazed pastries at the free breakfast buffet.

And, finally, the biggest hurdle to keeping fit and eating health-fully while traveling — the Cin-nabon kiosk at the airport, those 730-calorie glazed swirls of baked dough that can add 2 inches to your waistline on sight alone.

So how do you eat well and stay trim while living out of a suitcase?

The answer comes down to one word, doctors and other health experts say: preparation.

Here are 10 tips to help you avoid returning from your next trip with extra baggage around the waist.

1. Be sure your hotel offers access to an exercise room or gym. Make time in your schedule to exercise at least as often as you do at home.

2. Pack your running shoes and workout clothes. When you unpack them, you will see how much space they take up in your suitcase and will feel too guilty not to exercise.

3. Before arriving at your desti-nation, look at a map of the area around your hotel and plan to see as much as you can by foot. Walk-ing not only burns almost 100 calories per mile (depending on how fast you walk) but also saves money on transportation. “See the city by running or walking instead of taking a cab,” says Jamie Davis, a registered dietitian and assis-tant professor of nutrition at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

4. Refuse the key to the in-room mini-bar, which will save you money (do you really want to pay $2.50 for a bag of chips?) and eliminate the temptation to snack.

5. Pack yourself a few health-ful snacks so you don’t eat the high-carb, preheated stuff served on airplanes, at convention cen-ters and in hotel bars. Dr. David Heber, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles, travels extensively and says he

always carries protein bars and a bag of raw almonds.

6. Once you clear airport securi-ty, buy a bottle of drinking water. The water will keep you hydrated during the flight and help you fight the temptation to suck down high-calorie soft drinks.

7. If your hotel offers a free con-tinental breakfast, skip the glazed pastries. Try yogurt or whole-wheat cereal with low-fat milk.

8. If you are going to be on the move all day — say, taking your kids to an amusement park — try to have at least one healthful sit-down meal. A solid meal will reduce your chances of snacking throughout the day. “And remem-ber to order reasonably at restau-rants,” added John Swartzberg, a clinical professor of medicine at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.

9. Drink alcohol in moderation — it’s loaded with calories. Two Manhattan cocktails have more calories than a 2-ounce Snickers candy bar.

10. Be active. If you’re vacation-ing by the shore, don’t lie on the beach all day. Take surfing lessons or rent a bicycle to explore the coast. Use your vacation time to play like a kid.

Stop counting sheep (and hitting snooze): Finally get a good night’s sleep without pills

Tips for eating well while on the road

By META HEMENWAY-FORBESCourier Life Editor

WATERLOO — Getting ready for school each morning, Ally East-land is a typical eighth-grade girl. She gets up early to style her hair and carefully apply makeup. And, of course, there’s always the deci-sion on what to wear. A girl with a dream to be a fashion designer can’t leave the house in just any old thing.

But Ally must make time in her a.m. routine for some extras. She must check her blood sugar, administer an insulin injection and carefully count the carbs in her breakfast.

“It’s pretty much second nature,” said the petite Central Middle School student, peering over the top of her stylish glasses. “I’ve been doing it for seven years — half my life.”

Ally was 7 when she was diag-nosed with type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin. She had all the classic signs — extreme thirst, excessive trips to the rest-room, fatigue and irritability.

The Eastland family was about to leave for a trip to St. Louis the day Ally was diagnosed.

“I thought they would just give her some medication and we’d be on our way,” said Kim Eastland, Ally’s mother. “I was so unedu-cated about it. They said, ‘No, you’re going to the hospital imme-diately.’ We were in the hospital for five days.”

Since then, Ally has learned to monitor her condition carefully. She checks her blood sugar five to six times a day, gives herself insu-

lin shots — even in the nurse’s office at school — and diligently watches what she eats to keep her blood sugar in check.

“The biggest thing is she has to stay on a routine,” Kim East-land said. “If supper will be late, we have to make sure there are snacks for Ally. For most kids, a late supper isn’t a big deal. For Ally, it’s life-threatening.”

Several years ago, the family got involved with the Juvenile Diabe-tes Research Foundation. Meeting other families who have a child with type 1 diabetes has provided the Eastlands with lots of moral support.

Walk it offGo & do

What: 2009 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

When: SaturdayWhere: College Square Mall,

Cedar FallsDetails: Registration begins at 8

a.m. and the walk starts at 10 a.m. The indoor course is 3 miles long.

More info: Contact Laura Rompot, (319) 393-3850 or e-mail lrompot@jdrf.org.

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health and wellness event

Saturday event will benefit juvenile diabetes research

See DiABETES, page 11MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor

Kim Eastland, left, helps her daughter Ally with an insulin injection before dinner in their Waterloo home.

THE COURIERPAGE 10 TUESDay, FEbRUaRy 17, 2009www.wcfcourier.com

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 THe COurIer PAGE 11www.wcfcourier.com

The Eastlands, in return, have helped JDRF with its fundraising efforts.

More than 40 family members and friends of the Eastlands — team Ally Cats — will join the family on the 2009 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes Saturday at Col-lege Square Mall in Cedar Falls. It’s the second year for the event locally, and organizers are expect-ing about 1,000 participants.

“Last year we raised almost $90,000. Our goal this year is $95,000,” said Laura Rompot, special events coordinator and outreach for the Eastern Iowa branch of JDRF.

All of the money raised goes directly to type 1 diabetes research at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Research-ers there have already found that even in people with type 1 diabe-tes, the body continues to make

insulin-producing cells. The prob-lem is the autoimmune response that shuts them down.

“If we can stop that immune response in type 1 diabetics, these patients could regain function. That research breakthrough has opened up a world of opportunity for the kids and adults with this disease.

“This isn’t some pie in the sky,” Rompot said. “This is a curable disease. It will take time and effort but we can get there.”

Contact Meta Hemenway-Forbes at (319) 291-1483 or meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com.

Photos by MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor

Ally Eastland, 14, far left, prepares her insulin injection. She was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 7. Ally must check the carbohydrate counts of everything she eats to keep her blood sugar levels in check.

DIABETESMore than 40 family members and friends to join JdrF walk

From page 10

health and wellness event

health and wellness eventTHE COURIERPAGE 12 TUEsday, FEbRUaRy 17, 2009www.wcfcourier.com