Individual and Employee Wellness Coaching » Integrative Health

Stress and weight gain

Peggy Gleason — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 03:11:39 +0000

Is stress making you gain weight?
Do you want to lose weight? Have you tried everything to lose weight?
It is not surprising that on January 1st, every year, people come out of the woodwork looking to lose weight.
But lets dissect this a little closer – why in January? Is it only because it represents a new beginning with new resolutions? I s it because Jan 1st follows 2 months of eating rich, sweet, high fat foods. Or is it because during the hustle and bustle of the holidays your exercise regime has taken a back seat to shopping and cooking?
What else is happening?
The last part of the year is generally the most stressful. There are extra expenses of gift giving and spending money on entertaining family and friends. There is the stress of having company including some that you are not so happy to entertain. It is your own expectation that the holidays should be a certain way – from the food to the gifts to the conversations. So in turn, it is a time for a certain amount of disappointment for some. Did I give the right gift? Was it enough? How will I find time to decorate and clean the house? Did my guests feel at home? What if someone does like the menu I planned? When are they going to leave? I don’t have time for a run. I don’t have enough money. My job is driving me nuts – I don’t have time to do all that I need to do. I don’t have time for ME!!!
What is this doing to you? The stress is creating a perfect set up for weight gain.
When we look at stress – a certain amount is necessary – it is when it becomes an excess that our bodies begin to respond in an unfavorable way by releasing too many stress hormones. This results in a myriad of health hazards – high blood pressure, stomach issues, headaches, and yes…. weight gain!
The increase of the stress hormone, cortisol is responsible for the belly fat – another risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
So while you are making your New Year’s resolutions, maybe you can start with learning new stress reduction techniques and get some help to stay on track for a healthier you this year.

Start with breathing.

Find a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Notice the muscles in your face, neck, shoulders, and back. Notice where your hands and feet are.
Now, focus on your breath.
Inhale slowly counting to 4. Feel the movement of air from the tip of your nose flowing down to your belly like a balloon. Hold for a count of 4. Then exhale to a count of 4 and Notice the air and it deflates and comes back out of your body.

Repeat 4 more times.
Now notice all your muscles and how they feel different – especially where your shoulders are.

Doing this simple exercise 5 times is an incredible stress reducer.

What is an Integrative Coach Anyway?

Peggy Gleason — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:39:23 +0000

The term coach is so loosely used these days that I find it hard to articulate what makes me stand apart from all the other coaches.
First of all, I suppose I can start with my training. I studied at Duke Integrative Medicine and just as the name implies, Duke certainly has some high standards and holds the gold standard of any program.
I was honored to be a part of this professional training.
Coach – If you think of playing a sport, you know the coach it is someone who assesses you, strategizes with you, plans with you and puts you into action. She’ll hold you accountable, cheer you on, pick you up when you fall but will never give up on you.
This also describes why we are called coaches in my work.
The integrative health component is about exploring your life as a whole – how are you taking care of yourself in terms of your nutrition, your movement, you relationships, your spirituality and your environment. This also includes how you are being taken care of on a professional level – what pharmaceuticals, supplements, medical treatments, alternative treatments or preventative care you practice. With all these things in mind, I assess to see where there is an imbalance – because, when there IS an imbalance – there will be a consequence to your health – total health – mind, body, and spirit.
Keeping mindfulness in the center of all things, I help you to identify what you want to change. We form a partnership and discover what’s stopping you from achieving this change, and uncover the obstacles. Together, we co-create a strategy that resonates with you, using small, manageable, achievable goals –often times baby steps toward a greater goal. With these we agrees on a time frame you feel comfortable with to achieve forward movement towards your goals. Working together in a partnership ensures your success in the path you are creating. And yes – I do hold you accountable so you get to the place you are striving for. That’s what a good coach does – they stay with you till you win the game.
I challenge you to ask yourself this question, “what is your vision of optimal health mind, body, spirit?” Once you have an idea of what your want to change, let me help you toward your ultimate goal.
Peace & Wellness,
Peggy

Health Care Reform and Integrative Health

Peggy Gleason — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:46:56 +0000

Home Health CBS Doc Dot Com Nov. 5, 2009
Health Reform and Integrative Care
Dr. Jon LaPook Looks at Preventative Medicine’s Place in Health Care Reform
By Jonathan LaPook, M.D.

Integrating An Ounce Of Prevention

Dr. Jon LaPook investigated Duke Integrative Medicine’s non-traditional approach to preventing health issues before they happen. Duke believes this is the future of healthcare.

(CBS) As health care reform heads into the next phase, Congress will miss the boat if it ends up perpetuating a system that reacts to illness rather than preventing it. Chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes wreck our quality of life and cost a fortune. For obesity alone, according to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the annual medical price tag in the United States is $147 billion.

In recent years there has been debate about whether preventive services would actually lower health costs.

Would savings to programs like Medicare be blunted because healthier patients tend to live longer – and therefore ultimately pile up more medical costs – than patients who die sooner of their chronic diseases? But an article in this month’s American Journal of Public Health by Dana Goldman Ph.D. and his colleagues suggests that preventive medicine saves money along with lives. In fact, the authors calculated that a middle-aged person successfully treated for obesity, hypertension, and diabetes would gain about six years of life and, despite living longer, could save as much as $55,000 in lifetime medical spending.

Preventive medicine must become an integral part of health care reform. Counseling and other lifestyle interventions are effective in the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, and smoking. And in recent years, a new and intriguing concept has emerged in the prevention and treatment of chronic illness: the health coach.

I learned about health coaching during a trip to Duke Integrative Medicine, which has pioneered its use. Dr. Tracy Gaudet, Executive Director of Duke Integrative Medicine, explained, “There is currently no one in the healthcare system who has the job or the expertise to actually help people make the lifestyle and behavior changes that they want to make. It is hard to change engrained behaviors. The Integrative Health Coach is trained to help people clarify their personal health goals and achieve them.” I saw an example when I interviewed health coach Linda Duda and her patient, Nasera Hassan, a woman with type II diabetes who was having trouble sticking to her doctor’s prescribed regimen of exercise, diet, and medication. Hassan told me, “I think when you’re so busy with life in general you forget to take medication. You forget to make your appointments for exercise. You don’t really think about how you’re eating or what you’re eating.”

With the blessing of her physician, Hassan agreed to try a health coach. She and Duda spoke by phone once a week for six months. Hassan credits Duda with dramatically improving her attitude and helping her navigate towards a healthier lifestyle.

Research supports the role of interventions that improve patient motivation. A ten-month study at Duke found that an integrative medicine approach that includes health coaching can reduce the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease.
As Gaudet explains, “Incredible amounts of money are spent on largely preventable illnesses rooted in lifestyle choices. Our current health care system is not designed to address this issue. Integrative Health Coaches can work in conjunction with doctor’s offices or health systems, or they can be community-based in churches, synagogues, and barber shops.”

We need many other innovative ideas like health coaching if we are going to make any dent in chronic health diseases. Health care reform will miss a golden opportunity if all it does is sign more people up for our current system – one that fails to nurture wellness. We know that preventive medicine saves lives and money; it must be at the very core of a reformed health care system.