Challenge Yourself and Motivate Others

YOUR DAILY YEAR-'ROUND EXERCISE PROGRAM: GETTING STARTED

  1. INVOLVE YOUR FAMILY PHYSICIAN. The Williamstown Healthy Lifestyle Partnership's goal is to help you gain the skills to manage your own exercise. Even so, we can't stress enough that you would be wise to involve your family physician in plans for a significantly new level of exercise. If you are over age 50 and starting a new exercise program, this recommendation is offered even more strongly. Your family physician is trained to fully evaluate your health status and suggest strategies for safety and success. We have four family physicians practicing in Williamstown. Listed alphabetically:

    • Dr. Michael Holtgrewe, MD, 424 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV 26187, 304-375-4656
    • Dr. Cynthia Martinsen, DO, 424 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV, 26187, 304-375-4656
    • Dr. John Nash, DO, 501 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV, 26187, 304-375-7992
    • Dr. Jill Powell, DO, 501 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV, 26187, 304-375-7992

  2. ACHES AND PAINS: As you begin or increase your exercise routine, pay attention to your pains. Under the guidance of your family physician, you will learn to distinguish normal muscles soreness from other more serious pains and symptoms which should be referred to your doctor. In addition to the family physicians listed above, we also have two chiropractors in Williamstown:

    • Dr. Steven Eddy, DC, 443 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV 26187, 304-375-6000
    • Dr. Jarred Colegrove, DC, 443 Highland Ave., Williamstown, WV 26187, 304-375-6000

  3. YOUR EXERCISE GOALS: You may just want to feel better, sleep better, and have the strength to climb the stairs or lift a gallon of milk. You may want to lose or gain weight. You may want to decrease or increase your body fat percentage. Maybe you would like to build up your basic strength and endurance enough to take your child (or grandchild) to the playground or to the pool. Maybe you want to join with a friend for regular walking to increase your stamina and strength.

    Your doctor can help measure your current condition and help you set achievable goals. You can attain those goals by establishing a regular routine -- a different lifestyle which will give you steady gains, month after month. By setting moderate fitness improvement goals, then steadily working to achieve them, you are taking more control of your health future. You will help determine how much less poor health will hurt you or will cost you - and how much better good health will let you feel.

  4. PLANNING AND SUSTAINING YOUR EXERCISE PROGRAM: After consultation with your family physician, there are many ways you can build your personalized year-'round exercise program. You can proceed on your own. Or you can obtain expert advice. You can exercise regularly and effectively at little or no expense. Or you can purchase special equipment, join a club, or pay a trainer to assist you.

    1. Read how others do it.
      1. At the library, check out Flexible Fitness (a set of tapes, charts, and a pamphlet which together offer comprehensive advice for fitness and exercise in any situation). Among the subjects addressed in Flexible Fitness are: setting realistic exercise goals, staying motivated, finding time, discovering nutrition, preventing injuries, tracking your progress, and monitoring your intensity level. May also be purchased for $10 each.
      2. Visit exercise websites. Here are just four of the many available. If you need help accessing these sites, visit the library:
    2. Exercise with a friend or a group-- learn more about exercise together. Walk with a buddy!
    3. Set a short term goal. Meet it. Then reset your goal. Meet it.
    4. Attend an exercise class - an excellent way to learn how to exercise effectively -- and fun, too. Some of the exercise businesses in our area are:
      1. Marietta YMCA, Marietta, 740-373-2250
      2. Family Fitness Center, Parkersburg, 304-424-2348
      3. Sherry's Custom Fitness and Personal Training, Vienna, 304-488-3831
      4. Curves, Marietta, 740-374-8994

  5. THE CALORIE EQUATION: Ignore it at peril of your health! The calorie equation says that if calories consumed and calories expended are equal, your weight stays the same. If consumed is more than expended, you gain weight. If less than, you lose weight. The WHLP focus is almost entirely on controlling the exercise (calories expended) side of the equation, but the calorie equation still applies. Watch the amount of food you consume, and its nutrition value.

    Watch what you eat, when you eat, and where you eat:
    1. What you eat: Eat a balanced diet from the “food pyramid”, especially the top three categories: grains, fruits, and vegetables. Include plenty of whole grains, and 4 or 5 fruits and vegetables a day. It is not necessary to overload your diet with protein, just eat an adequate quantity of protein.
    2. When you eat: Instead of skipping breakfast and lunch and then cramming all your day’s food consumption into the time between dinner and bedtime, spread your eating throughout the day.
    3. Where you eat: Be aware that the average restaurant meal offers you between 1000 to 2000 calories. So you can understand how threatening this might be if your daily calorie consumption target is only 1700. So be aware that “a serving” is not necessarily what is put in front of you. That may be way too much to eat in one sitting."

  6. BODY FAT PERCENTAGE: Although health professionals seem to agree that body fat percentage is a good indicator of health problem risk, be aware that the methods and conditions of fat percentage measurement are still in flux. Your doctor or health club can help you obtain comparable results from body fat measurements taken over time.

  7. FITNESS, OBESITY, AND DISEASE: Poor fitness or poor body weight control can lead to serious injury or disease. The American Heart Association (www.justmove.org) and American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/ped_3.asp) maintain excellent websites serving those who wish to avoid disease by maintaining good fitness.

  8. NON-MEDICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM? 304-375-7761