Yesterday I attended a Workplace Wellness Conference put on by the Wellness Council of Maine, Eastern Maine Healthcare, and other organizations. The main focus of the conference was this: We are a nation at risk. Your lifestyle drives your safety.* If your lifestyle is one of poor diet, inactivity, and lack of sleep, you are putting yourself, your family, and your community at risk. But instead of focusing on what we were all doing wrong, they suggested a new approach. Dr. Steven Aldana, author of The Culprit and The Cure** was the keynote speaker and he advocates promoting happiness and hope. There IS hope that people can be happier. That they can feel good about themselves again.
I agreed 100% with what Dr. Aldana was suggesting. Because I feel that way since I recently made a complete lifestyle change myself. I took ownership of what went into my body. I took ownership of how I moved throughout the day so that I could be a healthy, energetic mother to my child, so I could be a productive and happy employee at work, and so I could feel good about myself when the day was done. You can read more about that here.
Before we get to the 'happy', I want share some sobering statistics:
We are a nation at risk.
1 out of 3 adults exercises regularly.
1 in 4 do not exercise at all.
Nearly 40% of adults spend the majority of the day sitting.
8 out of 10 adults recognize the benefits of exercise but only two exercise enough to meet the physical activity guidelines.***
Actual Causes of DEATH per year in the U.S. in 2004.
#1 Tobacco= 435,000
#2 Inactivity/Poor Diet=400,000
Leading causes of Preventable Death in the U.S.
1. Tobacco, 18.1%
2. Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity, 16.6%
Wow. Just look at those numbers. It's staggering. What if more people took ownership of their lives? What if more people took ownership of what they put into their bodies and how they moved their bodies?
Instead of focusing on the "shoulda, coulda, woulda", let's look in a new direction:
Instead, there is "Happiness" and "Hope"
Imagine how it would feel after you got 8 or more hours of restful sleep at night. Imagine how energized your body would feel if you fed it the fresh, healthy fuel. Imagine how fun it could be to hike, bike, or walk without knee pain or without gasping for breath. Imagine being able to enjoy a romantic evening with your significant other. These are not far-fetched fantasies, nor are they out of reach.
Debi McCann of Eastern Maine Medical Center asked us to Consider This:
Exercise IS Medicine.
Why not consider lifestyle changes before resorting to medications. Tremendous health benefits are seen with even low levels of exercise. The amount of exercise needed to benefit health is much lower than amount needed for fitness.
Here are some of the benefits of Regular Physical Activity at the correct intensity:
>Reduces the risk of heart disease by 40%.
>Lowers the risk of stroke by 27%.
>Reduces the incidence of diabetes by almost 50%.
>Reduces the incidence of high blood pressure, by almost 50%
>Can reduce mortality and risk of recurrent breast cancer by almost 50%.
>Can lower the risk of colon cancer by over 60%.
>Can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by one-third.
>Can decrease depression as effectively as Prozac or behavioral therapy.
This is just the first article in a series; a new beginning, if you will, for us at Stanley Subaru. We recently started an Employee Wellness Program and are encouraging other businesses in our community to do the same. In the coming weeks we will share with you information on ways we are helping our employees to improve their health, how to extend those efforts to their families, and how we can support each other and become healthier as a team. Being healthier as a person allows us to help make our company stronger, which in turn helps to make our community stronger.
Resources:
*Penny Townsend, Master of Public Health and is the Business Health and Wellness Manager for MaineGeneral Health.
**Dr. Steven Aldana, author of The Culprit and The Cure, founder and CEO of WellSteps, a Workplace Wellness Consulting Firm.
***Debi McCann, RN and Director of Wellness at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Wellness Council of Maine
