Cooper Aerobics Blog

Peg Williams, a two-time participant with Cooper Wellness Program, is interviewed by Todd Whitthorne. The Cooper Wellness Program is medically-supervised, in-residence lifestyle modification program. Since attending the program in June, 2008, Peg has lost 120 pounds. Listen to this discussion on this podcast.

Flying around the country for her job, Peg says she regularly saw the ad for the Cooper Wellness Program in the American Airlines in-flight magazine. While at a conference in 2008, Peg realized she was wearing her largest clothes, and they were tight! At that point, Peg made the decision to come to Cooper for help.

Peg says when she had a Cooper Clinic physical and spent a week in the Cooper Wellness Program, she knew she was overweight and that her clothes were tight, but at the time she didn’t think she felt bad. After getting a download of data during her Cooper Clinic physical and then during the Wellness Program, Peg realized she had been headed in the wrong direction. Luckily for her, all of her potential health issues were fixable with weight loss.

With weight loss as the goal, Peg focused on getting healthier. She says the key to her success has been to learn how to eat right, to make healthier choices, and to get moving. Peg learned during her week at Cooper that good food doesn’t have to taste bad. Departing a few pounds lighter after her week at Cooper, Peg built on that success. She started watching her calories, and she started exercising.

In an exercise session at Cooper Fitness Center, a trainer told Peg she needed to get 200 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly. Peg says this number was about twice what she had hoped, but that little by little she slowly started upping her exercise time.

Between healthier eating habits, and increased activity at the gym, Peg was losing 2- to 3 pounds per week, and then it was just a matter of staying focused for the long run.

Peg travels most of the time on business, is on a plane, or in a hotel almost every week. She says the Wellness Program taught her that “this is only hard if you make it hard.” She found a couple of things she can do all the time, and arms herself against excuses. For example, every hotel has a fitness center—it might not be pretty, but it’s there. So there’s no excuse not to utilize them. And when it comes to food, there are tons of choices and restaurants are accommodating if asked. Peg says she has a list of go-to meals she utilizes when on the road.

Peg’s advice to those wanting to be healthier is to get started. Do something and build on that. Get a little bit of exercise. And, at each meal, make one smarter choice. For example, for breakfast choose oatmeal instead of a donut. And, when ordering lunch, instead of ham and swiss with mayonnaise, order turkey on whole wheat. These are examples of small changes that add up. Success will follow!

Peg says her family, friends, and colleagues all say she looks so much younger. And she truly feels great!

You can read about Peg’s weight loss in the Southern Living magazine blog.

For information on scheduling a 4 or 6-day visit with the Cooper Wellness Program, contact Cindy Bostick at 800-444-5192 or e-mail clbostick@cooperwellnessprogram.com.

Jill Turner is VP of Operations for Cooper Concepts, the company that markets Cooper Complete nutritional supplements. Jill regularly contributes information to the Cooper blog. Contact Jill at 972-560-3262 or e-mail jsturner@cooperwellness.com with your questions and comments.

Reference Information
Cooper Wellness Program Information
 

Dr. Kenneth Cooper is one of ten experts featured on U.S. News & World Report’s new web column Health Advice: U.S. News Experts' Opinions. Dr. Cooper answers reader questions on preventive medicine and childhood obesity.

To read his and other expert answers, go to http://health.usnews.com/sections/health/health-advice/index.html.
 

By Tyler Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., CEO of Cooper Aerobics

I’m often asked what it was like growing up as the son of the “father of aerobics.” After all, my dad, Kenneth Cooper, MD, MPH, started the jogging craze after releasing his first book, Aerobics, in 1968.  My earliest memories are of my family running together. Our Sunday afternoons centered around a 3-mile run.  For a while, I was in last place, but as I grew older and stronger, I eventually passed my dad.  At the time, I was proud of my accomplishment.  Looking back, I learned important lessons to living a healthy lifestyle: dedication and determination.

Now, nearly 40 years later, we co-authored our first book together, Start Strong, Finish Strong, about how the fitness journey is truly a lifelong endeavor. It can start at any age and any level. And it can lead you into a healthy, ripe, old age.

It’s amazing how many fad diets and workout regimens have taken the place of an honest commitment to a healthy lifestyle. There is no “quick fix” to sustained health and fitness. It is a process that requires discipline and commitment.

Numerous studies have proven that “After thirty, the unattended human body begins to fall apart.”  Side effects of the aging process include most notably:

• loss of bone mass
• decline in aerobic capability
• lower energy
• impaired functions – eye sight, back pain
• weaken immune system
• loss of mental functioning
• shorter life

Normal wear and tear on the human body can be reversed through simple adjustments to daily life. Make health a habit—simply change one thing at a time. There is no need to overhaul your entire life or let the thought of healthful living consume or overwhelm you. Small steps lead to big gains. Take the stairs, eat an extra helping of vegetables, go for an annual checkup, get more sleep.  It all counts.

And ridding yourself of a single un-healthy habit is as effective as starting a new one, such as cutting out one bad food addiction or stop smoking.

To jump start a strong, healthy lifestyle, find your motivation “hot button.” Use this hot button as your reason to change and improve. The New Year is a great motivator. Here are some others to consider:

• Are you competitive?
• Are you goal oriented?
• Are you a born athlete?
• Do you want to look and/or feel better?
• Do you want to live longer?
• Do you want to perform better – physically or mentally?

The ultimate goal of Start Strong, Finish Strong is to make health a “positive addiction.” This addiction will then lead to the continued success of living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

This “addiction” to exercise, whether moderate or intense, recreational or competitive is up to you.  Remember that you don’t have to be a marathon runner to reap the health benefits of being physically active.  You just need to get a collective 30 minutes at least 3 days a week to feel the positive results.

While today you may be pulling up the rear, with discipline and determination, one day you just might be leading the pack... or more importantly, leading a healthy lifestyle.

Start Strong, Finish Strong is available at The Coop Pro Shop inside Cooper Fitness Centers in Dallas and McKinney or shop online.

Fifty thousand Americans will die this year from colon cancer, a largely preventable disease. Dr. Abram Eisenstein, director of gastroenterology at Cooper Clinic, discusses the screenings for colon cancer and provides recommendations in this blog. To listen to the podcast on this topic, including major risk factors and how a colonoscopy can save your life, click here.

Dr. Eisenstein recommends selecting a board certified gastroenterologist when having a colonoscopy. He also suggests that patients ask the following questions before scheduling the procedure:

• How many years has the physician been doing the procedure?
• How many colonoscopy procedures does the physician perform annually?
• How long does the physician spend looking for polyps?
• What percentage of patients are found to have polyps?

The preparation for the colonoscopy is generally considered to be “worse than the actual procedure.” Dr. Eisenstein says that the ability of the physician to see polyps depends upon their skill, but also very much on the quality of the preparation. The prep needs to be completed as directed by the physician—if not, it may be difficult to identify the polyps, particularly the “flat polyps” which don’t stick out from the wall of the colon.

Both optical (traditional) and virtual colonoscopies are available options, and both are performed at Cooper Clinic. Dr. Eisenstein recommends that patients talk with their physician about which test would be best depending upon their circumstances. The preparation for the tests is the same. The benefit of the virtual colonoscopy is that it doesn’t require anesthesia or someone to drive the patient home afterwards. The downside is that flat polyps can be more difficult to see with this method. And, if polyps are found, the patient then has to undergo a traditional colonoscopy in order to have the polyps removed. With the optical colonoscopy, if polyps are found, they can be removed immediately. But Dr. Eisenstein says technological and scientific advancements will continue to improve the virtual colonoscopy.

Cooper Clinic recommends a baseline colonoscopy at age 40 or 45, and certainly by age 50. If no polyps are found in the initial test, follow-up screening is recommended in 5 years. If polyps are found, the time between exams will vary depending upon the number and type of polyps found.

Podcast
Click here to listen to the full interview between Todd Whitthorne and Dr. Eisenstein.

Reference Information
-Association of Colonoscopy and Death From Colorectal Cancer: A Population-Based, Case-Control Study http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200901060-00306v1

-How Much Does Colonoscopy Reduce Colon Cancer Mortality?http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200901060-00308v1

Make an Appointment
To schedule a Cooper Clinic physical examination or colonoscopy, call (866) 906-COOP (2667) or click here for more information.