Category — Longview

How many New Year’s Eves have you spent sipping champagne and vowing to get more fit in the coming year? And how many times have you failed to follow through?

“December 31 over a drink is too late to set goals and make promises,” says Justin Price, owner of The Biomechanics, a personal training and wellness coaching facility in San Diego, Calif.

Fall, on the other hand, is a great time to start a fitness program because “‘you’re going to create good habits for the holiday season and the upcoming winter months,” says Price.

Chris Freytag, a fitness instructor and fitness expert with Prevention magazine, agrees.

“With the change of seasons comes a renewed time to rethink and restart,” she says. “‘What’s so special about January?”

Besides, says Freytag, a mother of three, moms with school-aged kids “think of September as the new year.”

Here are 10 ways to start making the most of the season. And who knows? This year, you might be in great shape before that New Year’s Eve party rolls around.

1. Take advantage of the weather. Fall can be a treat for the senses: the crisp air, apple picking, pumpkin carving, a gorgeous canopy of fall foliage, and the crunch of leaves underfoot. These months are a great time to exercise outdoors and enjoy cooler temperatures.

“Walking, hiking and cycling are all awesome in the fall,” says Todd Durkin, MS, fitness coach and owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, Calif.

Discover park trails and take in some new scenery, whether you’re walking, biking, or in-line skating, he suggests.

In places where snow falls early, try cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Or, if you live near the beach, get out and play volleyball, throw the Frisbee around, or play a vigorous game of fetch with your dog.

“It’s a great time to do beach activities because it’s so much less crowded,” says Price.

If you’re near a lake, try kayaking or canoeing, for an excellent whole-body workout and a great change of pace.

And remember, it doesn’t have to seem like exercise to be a great workout.

“Raking leaves or doing some fall outdoor yard work is a great way to get the heart pumping, and it’s great calorie-burning,” says Freytag.

2. Think outside the box. Always wanted to learn to tap dance? Attempt to box? Master the jump rope? Ask any schoolchild: Fall is a great time to learn something new.

Many classes at gyms and elsewhere get started in the fall, so look around and see if something intrigues you.

And with the kids in school, parents have more time to check out those classes, Freytag says.

Fall is the perfect time to gain new physical skills, Price says, because you burn fewer calories when you begin a new activity (thanks to the learning curve). If you learn something new now, by next summer, you’ll have mastered the skill — and you’ll burn more calories doing it, just in time for swimsuit season.

3. Be an active TV watcher. Many people get geared up for fall premieres of their favorite television shows, says Freytag. “If you’re going to sit down and watch hours of TV, get moving,” she suggests. “Make a date with exercise and TV.”

While you watch, you can walk or run in place, do standing lunges, do tricep dips off the couch, or lift weights. During commercials, do push-ups or sit-ups. In a one-hour show, you probably have close to 20 minutes worth of commercial interruption.

4. Integrate exercise into your life. You already know the obvious suggestions: park farther away from your destination; take stairs instead of elevators; take a walk during your lunch break. Here are a few that are less obvious:

• If you’re spending the afternoon taking kids to soccer practice, instead of reading a book or visiting with another parent, “why not walk around the outside of the field while they practice?”, suggests Price. “Or (if you feel comfortable) warm up and cool down with the kids.”
• Or try “walking meetings,” like those Price and his colleagues at Biomechanics often hold. ‘”We go for a walk, we brainstorm, and we figure out who’s going to take what responsibilities,” says Price. “‘Things get achieved much more quickly,” he says, and everyone feels better for doing it.
• You can even get moving while you get motivated — for fitness or other life goals. ‘”Get some inspirational music or find a motivational talk and download it to your iPod,” suggests Durkin. Walk while you listen for 30 minutes.

5. Rejuvenate yourself. Fall is the time to rejuvenate body, mind and spirit, says Durkin. Get a massage after your run. Learn to meditate. Take an art class. Treat yourself not just with exercise but other activities that promote wellness, he says, so you can feel good physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

6. Remember the 30-day rule. “‘It takes about four weeks for the body to adapt to lifestyle changes,” says Price. That’s why people who give up on their fitness programs tend to do so within the first 30 days.

So, when the alarm goes off in the morning and it’s darker and colder, don’t roll over and hit the snooze button.

“Try to stick with a program for a month,” Price says. “After a month, behavior patterns will have adapted and it will be much easier to stick with it after that.”

7. Strive for the 3 Cs. Freytag calls commitment, convenience, and consistency “the three Cs”, and says having all three will lead to a successful fitness program.

First, exercise takes commitment. When a client complains to Freytag about a lack of time, she responds: “Tell me something I haven’t heard before. We’re all busy; that’s just part of our lives.

“You have to start planning exercise, just like you do everything else,” like meetings, dinners, and getting kids to lessons and practice, she says. “Put in on the calendar, because later always turns into never.”

Convenience means choosing a gym that’s close by, or an activity you can do at home, or a time when you’re not likely to be interrupted.

Finally, there’s consistency. “I’d rather see a brand-new client work out for 10 minutes a day rather than one hour every month,” Freytag says

8. Deal with darkness. The best way to enjoy fall is to exercise outdoors. But it is getting darker earlier, and staying dark later in the morning, so be smart and safe.

“Just because it’s 6 p.m. (or a.m.) and dark doesn’t mean you can’t work out,” says Durkin. If walking or running outdoors, he says, “wear a reflective vest and carry a flashlight.”

When cycling, affix a light to your helmet or bike.

If possible, use trails or a local school track to avoid vehicle traffic. Try to work out at the same time every day, so drivers get used to seeing you.

9. Dress in layers. When exercising outside, layer your clothing. Before your body warms up, you may feel chilled, but once the blood gets pumping, you’ll feel overdressed.

These days, there’s no lack of great weather gear. Freytag and Price recommend clothing with wicking, often called “DriFit.”‘ This fabric wicks moisture away from your skin so you’re not exercising with wet fabric hanging on you.

Freytag suggests three layers: “The inner layer should be a moisture-wicking fabric, so it wicks away sweat and you’re not chilled. The second layer should be a warmth layer, and the third layer should be a protective layer (like a windbreaker or rain slicker, depending on the weather).”

“And don’t forget the sunglasses,” she warns. UV protection is important year round. Fall sun can be blinding at certain times of the day.

10. Find your motivation. “People are motivated by different things,” says Durkin. It’s important to first discover what your individual goals are, whether it’s losing weight, strengthening and toning, or preparing for a race or event, says Durkin.

But goals aren’t enough to get you there; you have to be motivated by the day-to-day workouts, he says. So choose something you’ll enjoy doing and will be likely to keep up, whether it’s walking or hiking with a friend, working with a trainer, or taking part in a “boot camp” class.

Creating a challenge for yourself will motivate you, as will encouragement and accountability, he adds. “You want to know when you’re doing a good job, and when you’re not,” says Durkin.

Remember too, that anything worth having takes work.

“Tell me something you can do three times a week for 10 minutes and be great at? It doesn’t exist,” he says. “If it was easy to be great, everybody would be great.”
Taken from: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/10-tips-fall-fitness

By: Jo Lee Ferguson Special to the News-Journal

 When two emergency room doctors looked around the hospital where they worked in Texarkana, they saw people who didn’t belong there. Flu patients, for instance, and people without primary care physicians who were there for non life-threatening ailments.

The answer Drs. Tim Reynolds and H.J. Platt developed was HealthCARE Express, an urgent care and occupational medicine clinic. They were joined as owners by nurse practitioners Steven Foltz and Kevin McCann, who also worked with them in the emergency room at Wadley Hospital.

“As ER doctors …. they realized the need was there,” said Tina Baiter, marketing director for HealthCARE Express.

That was 2004, and the business since has grown to three clinics, in Texarkana and Wake Village, and the newest clinic that just opened in Longview at 1509 W. Loop 281.

“They studied the Longview market and realized there was indeed a need to bring an urgent care clinic to Longview,” Baiter said.

While a couple of other urgent care clinics exist in Longview, there was still a need, she said. The decision to open a clinic in Longview was based on the numbers of people who use the emergency rooms at the city’s two hospitals and conversations with health care providers here.

The emergency rooms in Longview are two of the busiest in the region, Baiter said.

HealthCARE Express offers all the services a person would find at an emergency room except treatment for life-threatening injuries, she said.

“It’s beneficial for the patients,” Baiter said, explaining patients with insurance will pay lower co-pays at an urgent care clinic versus an emergency room. Customers without insurance also pay less.

Urgent care clinics can offer lower-cost service because their operating costs are “substantially different” in terms of staffing, supplies, building and insurance requirements, Baiter said.

Doctors at HealthCARE Express’ other clinics are staffing the Longview office for now, until Dr. Lynn Redels joins the Longview staff on Aug. 1. Two physicians assistants, Pamela Welch and DeWayne Bricker, help round out of the staff of  11 full-time employees. Three other physicians also will assist at the clinic.

The clinic’s website lists headaches, allergic reactions, eye injuries, sore throats, sprains, burns, lacerations, animals bites, pink eye, fever and other ailments among the common problems it treats. On the occupational medicine side, the clinic’s services includes workers’ comp, drug testing, breath alcohol testing, DNA testing, physicals and corporate wellness programs. Baiter said the clinic also offers 24-hour on-call drug testing, and can schedule onsite drug testing and physicals for companies that do group hiring.

HealthCARE Express is celebrating its opening by offering free physicals this month, and during a grand-opening event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 17. That event also will feature free blood-sugar screenings, ambulance tours for children, snow cones, popcorn and free Frisbees”for children.

There are no appointments for the clinic, but website check-in allows patients to place their name on the list, and staff members call when a room is almost ready.

****

If you go

What: HealthCARE Express

When: Opened this past month; hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays

Where: 1509 W. Loop 281

Contact: (903) 759-9355. Visit http://healthcareexpress.us/ for more information.

As published in the Longview News Journal on Sunday, July 4, 2010.

This offer is valid only at our Longview, Texas Clinic from July 1 – July 31, 2010.

The free physical does not include lab work or X-Rays. Should a practitioner determine lab work or X-Rays are needed during the exam, this will be discussed with you to determine the best way to proceed. Charges will only apply if you agree to have lab work or X-Rays done, and in most cases, they will not be necessary.

This offer has no cash value and is not valid for D.O.T. or work related physicals.

Please call 903-759-WELL (9355), ext. 315 if you have any questions or e-mail longview@healthcareexpress.us.