My Plan For Health

...And I hardly felt a thing. Though I did look away and sing "la la la" to distract myself. The kind nurse sang along.

I got my seasonal flu shot last night at the Agricultural Administration Buidling, and I saw many nurses and volunteers who were worn out after a long day. One commented that this was the biggest turnout for flu shots that she’d ever seen. Still, I hardly had to wait in line at all, as there were so many nurses on duty.

This year, getting a seasonal flu shot is more important than ever. That’s because different strains of the flu can combine to form new strains — inside your body. The Los Angeles Times explains how this happens in an article that traces the origins of the H1N1 swine flu:

When a flu virus infects a cell, it breaks down into its eight component genes and invades the cell’s nucleus. Once inside, those genes make hundreds of copies of themselves. Then they exit the nucleus and repackage themselves into new flu particles, which go on to infect additional cells. If a single cell is infected with two strains of flu at the same time — which can happen easily — genes from both can be bundled together to form a new virus.

And new research shows that getting the seasonal flu shot can offer some protection against swine flu, because the shot wakes up your body’s immune system and gives your antibodies a boost.

With all our fears about the swine flu, it’s easy to forget the danger that the normal seasonal flu poses in this country. In trying to allay people’s fears about the swine flu vaccine, this article in The New Yorker makes the point that the seasonal flu is also a killer:

In fact, the new H1N1 virus is similar to seasonal flu in its severity. In the United States, influenza regularly ranks among the ten leading causes of death, infecting up to twenty per cent of the population. It kills roughly thirty-five thousand Americans every year and sends hundreds of thousands to the hospital. Even relatively mild pandemics, like those of 1957 and 1968, have been health-care disasters: the first killed two million people and the second a million.

Click here for an interactive map of flu shot locations on campus.

Ohio State employees can sign up for a free flu shot here. Remember to bring your BuckID!

Adult dependents may also receive free shots, but only on one remaining date: next Tuesday, Oct. 13. Something important to keep in mind is that your dependent will need to have your OSU employee ID number when he or she fills out the form to get the shot.

Meanwhile, free shots are available to OSU employees — but not dependents — at participating Kroger pharmacies.

Bonus: This week’s onCampus newspaper cautions us to take care but don’t panic, and offers a Q&A on the university’s flu prevention efforts. As always, you can check http://flu.osu.edu/ for updates.

Yesterday’s Rally for Wellness was chock full of information and — as always — free stuff. My favorite: a manicure kit from the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology. [The folks at OBGYN really know what the ladies want, don't they?]

I was glad I stopped by the booth for the University Health Connection, where I learned that this year’s flu season is already underway. It’s more critical than ever that we all get flu shots and get them early.

Swine flu aside — health officials are still working out the availability of that vaccine, and it will go to people such as health care workers and the elderly, who are most in need of it — the regular-old seasonal flu is spreading with the start of the new school year.

Bonny Roberts with Jeff Stephens, executive director of Consider Biking. Jeff gave me a book on "Ohio Bicycling Street Smarts."

Flu shots will be available to OSU faculty and staff starting October 6, and the university recently launched a new Web site to keep everyone up to date on flu happenings.

Next, I chatted with Bonny Roberts, Senior Systems Consultant at OSU Medical Center. Bonny was on hand at the Consider Biking booth, to testify that biking to work is possible, even when coming far from campus.

She takes the bike path near Olentangy River Road, then changes into dress clothes at her office. Her secret to freshening up? “Deodorant and wet wipes,” she said. She can afford lots of wet wipes with the money she’s saving in gasoline.

Finally, I checked in at the Faculty and Staff Fitness Program (FSFP) booth, where they were offering blood pressure checks, as well as the coolest t-shirts of the event.

The fall quarter FSFP class schedule is available, and I see that both yoga and pilates are on the list, as well as my much-beloved water aerobics.

I ate organic food before “organic” was cool.

When I was growing up, many people in my small Ohio River town grew vegetables. My mother grew corn, zucchini, and tomatoes — so many tomatoes! Neighbors shared what they grew, so we ate home-grown potatoes, peppers, and cabbage, too, among many other choices.

Maybe that’s why the idea of farm sharing appeals to me. It’s a return to my youth.

Last year, an Ohio State study found that grocery shoppers are willing to pay more money for locally grown produce. The author of the news release, my Research Communications colleague Emily Caldwell, showed me a way to eat healthier foods while patronizing local growers and possibly saving some money.

This summer, her family purchased a farm share: they invested in a local farm, and received baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables every week. The investment required a good bit of money upfront, but over the course of the summer they received so much food that Emily feels she saved money on her grocery bills.

Some friends and I are looking into doing the same thing next year, using this Web site to pick a local farm. Until then, I’ve been enjoying some produce that Emily and other co-workers have shared around the office, and I’ve been shopping farmers’ markets.

Chow Line: a service of OSU Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center

That being said, I have to confess that in my adult life I’ve sort of lost the ability to deal with home-grown foods. I mean… if it doesn’t come out of a package, pre-washed and pre-processed (stems removed, etc.), I find myself at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it. For example, there might actually be dirt on it. (”Dirt? On food? Grown in the ground? How could that be?”)

So, how exactly should fresh food be washed? Should I just rinse things in water, or scrub them? Do I need to buy a vegetable brush? Or a bottle of fancy produce wash?

OSU Extension answered my questions today, in the latest edition of Chow Line.

Here’s an excerpt, from editor Martha Filipic:

Clean produce properly. Thin-skinned produce can be rinsed with cool water. Firm-skinned produce can be rubbed with a soft-bristled brush while rinsing. Food safety specialists at Ohio State University recommend washing produce just before consumption. If you clean it beforehand, drying it after washing will decrease the risk of any bacteria left on the produce from multiplying. Also: You don’t need special products for cleaning produce. While they may be effective, the evidence is not yet conclusive and so the CAST [Council of Agricultural Science and Technology] report authors do not recommend them.

Thanks, Martha and Emily!

How about you? Are you thinking about buying locally grown food? Or are you already living this trend, and have tips to share? Leave them in the comments below.

Just got this tip from the Office of Human Resources: OSU employees may use all the Rec Sports facilities — including RPAC — for free during Staff Appreciation Week (August 17-21). Here’s the low-down from the newly redesigned Rec Sports Web site:

Staff Appreciation - Rec Sports offering a free week in all facilities August 17-21

Recreational Sports supports Staff Appreciation Week by welcoming any Ohio State University employee to a free week Monday, August 17 through Friday August 21, 2009. During Staff Appreciation Week, any person with a valid university ID is invited to use the recreational facilities at no cost, including the Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC) and RPAC Aquatic Center, the Adventure Recreation Center (ARC) on West Campus, and the Jesse Owens Recreation Centers. The Tom W. Davis Climbing Center and Outdoor Adventure Center will also be available, which are located inside the ARC. Staff may simply stop by the RPAC Welcome Center or the ARC’s front desk with a valid university ID and register for Staff Appreciation Week.

Even if you’re not interested in Free Week, it’s worth checking out the new Web site. There are some useful additions, including an easy-to-access daily facility schedule.

The new Lunch & Learn list is out — sign up now to reserve a spot in summer classes.

Fitness instructors Marla Musyt and Shelly Dembe are offering their usual mix of yoga, pilates, and walking, but with a renewed emphasis on low-impact exercise that’s very welcoming to beginners. So if you’ve never tried any of their classes before, this summer might be a good time to start.

Meanwhile, there are some intriguing one-time classes, such as “A Healthy Grocery Store List” and “Knowing Your Medicines: How to Be an Effective Consumer.” I’ve already signed up for both of those, and some others on stress reduction. So expect reviews of them after the fact.

Normally, these classes fill up very fast, so register now!

It’s finals week, so all the recreational facilities on campus are open for free, including the RPAC. With a valid university ID, anyone can use the gym or aquatic facilities. New hours are in effect, so check the Rec Sports Web site for details.

Fitness classes are also available for free, and you do not have to be an RPAC member to take them.

RPAC Summer Quarter fitness class schedule

This may be a change from last quarter, when I phoned RPAC for info and was told that anyone could use the gym or aquatic facilities for free during finals week, but only RPAC members could take the classes for free (normally, even RPAC members have to pay an additional $45 to have full access to fitness classes for the quarter).

But the updated fitness class page clearly states: “Fitness classes are FREE to all Recreational Sports members and non-members during finals week, so bring a friend to try a class.”

While you’re there, you might want to check out the Summer Quarter Fitness Schedule, which includes a new Zumba class!

Yoga that caters to plus-size folks is on the rise, according to a New York Times article.

I’ve never been to a plus-size class, but I see the appeal. Classes full of skinny people are intimidating. The solution for me has been to find small classes, where there’s an ongoing conversation between the instructor and the students on how to modify poses for different body types.

In a large class, having a conversation with the instructor means interrupting, which is just embarrassing. I don’t care what the yoga teacher says about interruptions being welcome. The one fat person in the class is not going to ask how to modify a pose, and he/she is not going to appreciate being singled out by the teacher for advice on modifying poses, either.

That’s why small classes are more comfortable for me: everybody gets advice. Nobody stands out.

Most of the public comments on the NYT story were very thoughtful. Only a couple of ignorant ones got my dander up. One was from a guy who said it’s good for plus-sized people to be segregated in their own yoga class, because that way they can’t slow down class for the skinny people. As if yoga were a race! Feh!

Because large yoga classes are so common in the United States, we have a skewed view of what yoga is supposed to be. We think everyone is supposed to be doing exactly the same thing, at exactly the same pace, while the instructor stays far away in the front of the room, posing. It’s just not natural.

The way I look at it, the instructions from the teacher are a suggestion — a guideline. Something to think about and discard, if you don’t feel like doing it. Try the pose. If you can’t do it or it hurts, try to modify it. If you’re still uncomfortable, just do something else. Challenge yourself in a different way. Just keep breathing!

See, I told you it got my dander up.

I was happy to see that one of the plus-size classes mentioned in the NYT story is Mega Yoga. I’m currently reading the book by teacher Megan Garcia.

Hello to everyone who found My Plan For Health through the May 2009 Connect newsletter. Welcome, and thanks for clicking in!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the site.

Hi — sorry I didn’t have time to post this yesterday, but RPAC is offering all its fitness classes for free this week (finals week, 3/16-3/20).

I called the RPAC welcome desk to ask whether you have to be a member of RPAC before you can attend the “free classes,” and the answer is yes — you have to be a member first. You cannot simply buy a day pass to attend a class. It seems unreasonable to me that you would have to commit to a full membership before you could even see whether you liked any of the classes.

RPAC offers indoor cycle classes

But if you are already an RPAC member or want to join right now, feel free to check out the classes this week. For faculty and staff, the cost is $115/quarter, $437/year.

Given my interest in water aerobics, FSFP water aerobics instructor Ya-Ting suggested that I try RPAC’s H2O Challenge class Thursday evening. She describes it as more intense than her class. Here’s the RPAC description:

Looking for a challenging cardiovascular workout minus the impact of a floor?  Stop looking! H2O Challenge is a mixed intensity workout designed for all levels. Within varying depths (4ft to 9ft), the participant is instructed through a range of movements that create resistance work with a cardio focus.  Noodles, water belts, water dumbbells, and water paddles give the participant an extra challenge, as well as extra comfort, when working in the water. No swimming experience is necessary, but very welcome! The option to remain in shallow water the duration of the class is certainly encouraged to those who do not feel comfortable in deeper water.

As it turns out, Thursday night I’m otherwise engaged (book club — hey, I’ve got priorities).

I’m still waffling on whether to join RPAC. I already have a membership at the Center for Wellness and Prevention, and I have also signed up for FSFP. But I’ve worked out at RPAC practically every day for the last three weeks (via a short-term membership), and I’m starting to really like it.

I’m also starting to feel a little stronger and a little more energetic — when I’m not curled up in a little ball moaning about how sore I am.

Liquid courage?

Last night, I headed to RPAC to try the cardio equipment for the first time. I was just a wee bit intimidated about exercising amongst the students. For some reason, after changing into my workout clothes and tennis shoes, I felt the need to don lip gloss. Must have been some kind of self-defense mechanism.

RPAC offers cardio equipment in several areas of the building, including “Cardio Canyon.” [As I left the office, Jeff Grabmeier asked me if I was headed to Cardiac Canyon. All I could say was, "Only if things go horribly wrong."]

An elliptical trainer similar to those at RPAC

Once at RPAC, I climbed to the balcony in the hopes that the high ground would give me an advantage à la Obi-Wan Kenobi. I found myself surrounded almost entirely by female students, which felt less intimidating. Though it was 5:00 p.m. by this point, there were still several cardio machines available.

The elliptical trainer was similar to others I’ve used. The experience is like pedaling a bicycle, only standing up. It’s a heck of a workout. I was a little out of practice, and at one point I nearly dropped my water bottle when I tried to take a drink while still pedaling. I managed to catch the bottle, only to send my iPod and headphones bouncing across the floor. The nice young ladies around me pretended not to notice.

The half hour went something like this:

1-10 min: Warming up. Lots of energy.
11-20 min: Working hard, hitting a groove.
21 min: Feeling a little tired.
22 min: Feeling a lot tired.
23 min: Looking around for a place to lie down after.
24 min: Second wind. Woo-hoo!
25 min: Second wind? What second wind?
26-30 min: [Expletives deleted]
30 min: Cool down! Whew!

No problem. No problem at all… According to the machine, I burned almost exactly 300 calories.