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September Newsletter
15-Oct-2009
- Make SMART lifestyle changes
- Free Q & A Day Wednesday 16 September
- Breast Screening Alternatives
- Pelvic Flaw Workshops
Make SMART lifestyle changes
Is this Spring weather enticing you to get healthier? Perhaps you’re thinking it’s time to start walking, join a class, cut out the stodge or lose a few kilos, and the extra sunshine is an incentive to take the next step.Since making new changes and sticking to them isn’t always easy, here are some recommendations from Dr Michelle Segar, a researcher at the University of Michigan. Like me, Dr Segar focuses on supporting midlife women to make healthy lifestyle changes. She’s developed a SMART approach to doing this.
The S stands for SUSTAINABLE. Most of us want to see change happen fast. If we’ve been exercising for three weeks and can’t see Cindy Crawford showing up in the mirror, we start losing interest. But as Dr Segar points out, the real object of making lifestyle changes is to continue the new behaviours forever. If we’re going to do something for the next 30 or 40 years, it’s worth taking the time to build a solid foundation. Most of us are stretched to integrate more than one new change into our lives at once, so focus on one behaviour at a time, and take 3-12 months to get it bedded down. Then move on to the next one.
M stands for MY SELF-CARE. Make you a top priority. Taking care of yourself takes time, and that’s not easy to allocate if you’re used to looking after everyone and everything else first. But prioritising the way you nurture yourself is the starting point in making lifestyle changes.
A is for ACHIEVABLE. Often we set our expectations too high, but baby steps are just fine. En route to accomplishing those you’ll learn what stops you, but on a small scale. Things are easier to deal with on a small scale. You can set them right more easily and develop strategies for overcoming them next time. You might take a month or two to add 5 or 10 minutes to your daily walk, but that’s OK.
R is for REJECT ‘QUICK FIXES’. They never last. Steer clear of false advertising and impossibly unrealistic standards. If you want to develop new habits or make changes, do it in a way that you can maintain for the long haul.
Finally, T stands for TAILORED. Changes have to be tailored to fit you and your life. Unless you eat food you like and do exercise you enjoy, change in those areas won’t last. Dr Segar’s research has shown that women who try to make changes they think they ‘should’ make often quit. We only stick to things that give us pleasure or satisfaction.
Enjoy the warmer weather, and if it provides an opportunity to make some healthy changes, be SMART about it.
Free Q & A Day, Wednesday 16 September
I’ve set aside Wednesday 16 September to answer your questions about keeping healthy in midlife. You can call me on 3352 5826 from 9.00am-5.00pm, or email rhonda@fitandwell.com.au any time that day. Or drop in to 32 Finsbury Street, Newmarket.
And if you’d like to have a chat about what Fit and Well can do to support you in getting healthier, feel free to do that anytime.
Breast Screening Alternatives You’ve probably heard that a committee of health experts has advised Breast Screen Australia to cut the availability of its free mammogram service because demand is too high. The committee is recommending that only women aged 45 to 74 have free access to the service.
Not surprisingly, the publicity surrounding the cases of women such as Kylie Minogue and Jane McGrath has prompted many younger women to seek a mammogram. In younger women, however, the breast tissue is thicker and mammograms are less effective.
It’s valuable to be aware of alternatives such as Multifrequency Electrical-Impedence Mammographs (MEM) and thermography. These use different techniques but are easy, safe and painless, and are considered good options for women with dense breast tissue. Both also play an important role in prevention, in that they can detect potential problems before they turn into cancer.
Since mammograms involve radiation and breast compression, older woman may also want to investigate these less invasive technologies
The MEM is carried out in Australia by Safe Breast Imaging www.safebreastimaging.com.au. This technique uses electrical impedance which measures the electrical properties of cells. The breast is imaged with a hand-held device — about the size of a square bread and butter plate — against the breast. Different types of tissue have different electrical impedance levels, e.g. breast cancer cells conduct electricity more than normal breast cells. Cysts, lumps and hormonal imbalance are also detected.
Thermography or infrared www.stimaging.com.au measures skin temperature and metabolic processes. Heat patterns created by increased vascularity point to areas of inflammation and possible cancer.
Neither technique can tell for certain that you have breast cancer; they can only indicate a suspicious area, and you’re likely to need a follow-up mammogram or ultrasound to identify whether or not it is malignant. But they can provide good front-line screening. Both cost about $150 and are currently not eligible for a Medicare rebate.
Be prepared that your GP may have little awareness of these techniques at the moment, but the more that women try the alternatives and make up their own minds, the better.
Pelvic Flaw Workshops
In the June 2009 newsletter I mentioned physiotherapist Mary O’Dwyer’s great little book ‘My Pelvic Flaw’. Mary is about to run pelvic floor workshops in Toowoomba (25 October) and Brisbane (14 November).
Anyone can attend though they’re mainly aimed at exercise professionals who work with female clients. If you know anyone who works in this area, please pass it on. The cost is $195 and more information is available from Ina Koka (3397 9532, 0403 605 908, or confitin@bigpond.com).