60th Anniversary Marriage Tips, Bladder Infection and Kidney Stone Prevention, Eric's Nutrition Tips

Happy Fall! I just got back to Indy after my parents 60th wedding anniversary celebration with our whole family at their home in Fort Wayne. It was a wonderful celebration at the Fall Festival at Solomon Farms and then a family dinner that evening (I am including some pictures I took with my camera). In this blog I am writing my prayer for my parents (and I pray it for all your families too!), bladder and kidney stone prevention, Eric’s nutrition tips, and my parent’s tips for a wonderful successful marriage.

Dr. Lisa’s prayer (for my parents and you)

We so love you God and are so thankful for Jesus, and for you always being right here with us. We thank you for your greatest commandment of LOVE, as Jesus says in Matthew 22, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love you neighbor as yourself.”
We thank you that Mom and Dad have followed this commend with each other and our family and our community. We pray that all of us will let Your and Mom and Dad’s great love fill our hearts and lives and our families through all our ensuing generations. We pray for unity with You and us and our families. Please keep all evil away, and for us to go forth as Mom and Dad in LOVE, as written in 1Corintihians 13 and seen in their marriage…

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking. Love is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails…”
We know Mom and Dad’s love like Yours is eternal, and pray for many more healthy wonderful years for them on earth!
With all my eternal love and thanks, Lisa

Bladder Infection and Kidney Stone Prevention

Bladder infections and kidney stones can happen at any age and in men and women. Bladder infections (or also called urinary tract infections) are most common in sexually active women, and both men and women above age 60 (with decreasing skin tone and prostate enlargement). We need to teach our children to drink plenty of water, and over age 10 we need to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day – preferably 130 ounces (one gallon). This is best to be water, and can include some tea. Soda is especially irritating to the urinary system, not good for your bones, and can add many calories and weight!

Once a person has a bladder infection, I talk about prevention. This starts with drinking over 64 ounces of water a day. Tips to accomplish this are drinking intentionally double or triple the amount of water you normally would when you take a drink (quickly downing 8-16 ounces with a drink), keeping a water bottle with you in your car and desk, and drinking a large bottle of water when you drive home from work. You also need to eat healthy (plenty of good veggies, fruit, and lean protein – the Mediterranean diet is best), exercise, and keep a healthy body weight. Sexually active women should eventually get up after intercourse to urinate and drink at least 4 ounces of water (this flushes out bacteria from the urethra). If a person gets recurrent bladder infections, I commonly recommend daily cranberry pills and sometimes an antibiotic after intercourse.

Nutrition
By Eric Walden

Nutrition is a complicated sometimes, so I’ll try not to make it more complicated. I want to go through some simple ways to help you cut back in the amount of calories you consume on a daily basis. I am a big fan of calorie counting. I feel that this is the best way to keep track of how many calories you consume on a daily basis. There are several ways to approach weight loss. This is the way that I prefer to council my clients.

I want to go through some simple ways to cut back calories. None of which counting is needed. The first one is SLOW DOWN! I know this is hard because of the type of lives we live. A go, go, go lifestyle makes slowing down hard. Even just taking a few more minutes to eat is important. I talk to so many people on a daily basis that never eat. Some of them don’t eat breakfast and others don’t eat lunch at all. I don’t get this, especially when they tell me “I want to lose weight”. You have to eat to lose weight. If you don’t eat your body stops processing the food that you do eat. Your body starts thinking it isn’t getting enough food to work. I am not going to waste what food I am getting so I’m going to store it as fat for energy later. Then people ask why am I not losing weight? Duh, you’re not eating! Daily nutrition is a must; you can’t just eat junk food and expect to lose weight. So the first simple advice to losing weight is to eat at least 3 meals a day. Ideally 5 to 6 meals, but we’ll get to that another time. A way to help you make sure you get breakfast is by getting some healthy breakfast bars. Ideally I would like for you to sit down and eat a nice well rounded breakfast, but just getting something in your system is a start.

Next is cutting out the second helping. I know this is so hard to do. Believe me I love the second helping. In my house my dad always got first dibs then I did. Being the male of the family it seems that it is a right of passage to get to finish off the rest of the food. Take a few minutes after eating that first helping to talk to your family or friends. Use this time to let your stomach send your brain the news that it is full. Now in the beginning your stomach will tell you that it still needs food. This is because you are use to eating more food. It will take you a couple of days for your stomach to adjust. It is amazingly quick how fast your stomach adjusts.

Here are a few things you can do when you are out to eat.
- Share the main course of food
- If you don’t want to do that ask for a “to go” box when they give you your food and put half the food into the box.
- Ask if they have a lunch menu. These portions are usually smaller than the main course meals.
- DON”T SUPERSIZE ANYTHING! Get the smaller portion. When asked what size ask for the smallest size.
- Look for the Weight Watchers symbol. This usually means it has less fat. I have found that the portion size is just as big as the regular, so don’t over eat.

The last thing I want to leave you with is the best exercise of all to combat over eating. It is called the push back. Push yourself away from the table and call it quits. I hope some of the info will help you be able to cut a few more calories.

Obviously there are a bunch of ways to combat weight loss through nutrition. I don’t diet unless I am training for a competition of some kind. I try to make sure that whatever food I am eating is healthy for me. My biggest problem is over eating. I can put the food away. So I have to make sure that I use the “push back” exercise a lot.

I hope these tips have helped. If you have more questions please feel free to email me or call me. You can call me at 765-404-7343 or by email at eric_walden@waldospersonaltraining.com

Family and Faith

Marriage Tip: from my parents, Don and Virginia Wolf – their tips told to me this weekend, after 60 years of a wonderful loving passionate fun marriage

Virginia: Don’t hold a grudge. Tell each other every day that, I love you! Remember that you will not always agree, and cool off if angry before talking again. You can not and should not win every argument, and it is not worth the upset. Do not take your life and marriage for granted – your spouse is a gift and treasure from God.

Don: Date constantly, and do not take each other for granted. Keep your marriage fun and warm and physical (hugs, cuddles, touch, and more) and laugh! Always strive to give more than you take – remember that it will be 75/25 both ways. Always respect each other.

Parenting Tip: for younger children

When children awaken in the middle of the night, you can have a pillow and blanket handy near your bed to let them sleep on the floor if they need to be closer to you. I never recommend having children sleep in their parent’s bed – it is not good for them or your marriage! If they routinely come into your bedroom, you can gradually move the pillow and blanket farther from your bed and then down the hall to their room.

If you continue after many efforts to have problems getting your toddler to poop in the toilet, I recommend trying glycerin pediatric suppositories. One of my children just would not poop in the toilet after a longtime of being urine trained. I finally told this child that if they did not poop in the toilet, they were choosing a suppository. It took just one suppository (and then only one more reminder), and then this child always chose the toilet and not the diaper!

Remember to talk with any age children about their “choices”, and that by their own choices, there can be good consequences and bad consequences… We all need to remember this!

With my hugs and prayers for you and your family!
Dr. Lisa

H Pylori, Fish Oil, Eric & Childhood Obesity, Power of Encouraging Words

I am so joyful and thankful to be writing to you, and want to help motivate and educate you to your very best health! Eric is writing about his passion – to decrease and end childhood obesity. I am writing about the stomach H. pylori infection, proven benefits of fish oil, the power of words in your marriage, and letting your children know you will always be there for them. The pictures above are from the Moto GP race this year. My husband loves anything at the IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)!

My Rant (and Passion About Childhood Obesity Prevention)
By: Eric Walden

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone had a good Labor Day. Lisa asked me to forego the exercise routine this week. Instead of an exercise routine she asked me to write about something I was passionate about. So hear we go: My Rant, well really just my passion.

Overweight/Obese Kids:

I know this may be a touchy subject for some parents, but I feel it is one that should be talked about. I know as a personal trainer I am asked all the time about nutrition. Rarely am I asked by a parent about nutrition for their children. Sometimes I feel that parents just think about their own nutrition and not their children’s, or parents are even scared to give their children healthy food. I even hear, “Well, I have tried giving them healthy food, but they won’t eat it, so I give them the junk food that they ask, scream, and beg for.” I have a 3 year old that loves sweets (what 3 year old doesn’t?). He begs all the time to get something sweet. Most of the time we say no, and occasionally we will say yes. But, and I repeat, but we give him a nutritious snack the majority of the time. Sometimes he balks at the idea of a healthy snack, but if he does he doesn’t get a snack. Don’t feel bad for not giving into your child’s wants, even if they throw themselves on the floor of your local grocery store. Let them do it. We, as other parents, know and understand, and we won’t think badly of you. Saying yes to a healthy snack is going to be a little tough if they aren’t use to it. It is like any behavior it takes time to get use to.
The main reason I chose this subject is because it breaks my heart to see children so overweight or obese at a young age. It is because the parent hasn’t taken time to provide the right care for their child. Again, I know I’m stepping on toes. I may even be stomping on toes, but something has to change. You are slowly killing your child.

The following is an excerpt from the CDC.
Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. Data from NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2006) show that the prevalence of obesity has increased: for children aged 2–5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 12.4%; for those aged 6–11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17.0%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.6%.1, 46
Obese children and adolescents are at risk for health problems during their youth and as adults. For example, during their youth, obese children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes) than are other children and adolescents.2
Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults.3, 4 For example, one study found that approximately 80% of children who were overweight at aged 10–15 years were obese adults at age 25 years.3 Another study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children.5 The latter study also found that if overweight begins before 8 years of age, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.

Did you catch the first paragraph? The statistics DOUBLED! I know there are tons of excuses to be had on why a child is overweight or obese. But killing your child is what is happening. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of all Americans, and the age at which it is being developed is going down. Childhood Diabetes is on the rise. Another way to put it is the fact that your child is overweight/obese means you will pay more for health care.
If your child isn’t use to eating healthy, don’t try to change over in one night. Not too many people can do a switch cold turkey; take it slow. Change up the pasta you use to whole grain or ground turkey from ground beef. These little changes may or may not be noticed, but it is a start. Another suggestion is once dinner is over, get everyone out of the house and take the family for a walk. This next month will be perfect for walks in the evening. It is a little cool therefore the walk won’t be hot. Again, there may be some complaining and grumbling, but bare through it. Once it happens consistently the grumbling will become less.

I’m not going to go into this too much. I just wanted to let people know where I stand. I think as parents we can do a lot better on caring for our children. We also need to educate ourselves so we can teach our kids to make better choices.
The following is the link to the CDC where I pulled the excerpt. I encourage you to read through this article and do some research of the effects of being overweight and obese as a child.
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html

I know I have stepped on toes today with this article, but I really hope it opens someone’s eyes to how serious of problem childhood obesity is and how it will affect the life of the child until something changes. As our current president says, “Yes we can…Change”. Please take this to heart and look for ways to change your lifestyle to a healthier one.
If you have questions please feel free to contact me through email or phone. My email is eric_walden@waldospersonaltraining.com and 765-404-7343.

Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Treatment
Helicobacter pylori (also known as H. pylori) is a bacteria found in the stomach and can cause many digestive problems and ulcers, and much less commonly stomach cancer. It is present in ½ of the world population, and the vast majority have no symptoms and never will develop problems. We do not yet know why some people with H. pylori get digestive problems and others do not. It is spread most commomly by consuming food or water contaminated with fecal matter, and then can cause changes to the stomach and upper intestine.

H. pylori needs to be thought of as a cause for especially upper digestive problems which do not quickly resolve. The most common symptoms are pain or discomfort (usually upper abdomen), bloating, feeling full after eating a small amount, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dark or tar-colored stool (from bleeding), and low blood count and fatigue (from ulcers that bleed).

Diagnosis of H. pylori can be through blood, breath, stool, and upper endoscopy. Treatment involves taking several medications for 10-14 days (two antibiotics and one acid lowering medicine). Even though the 3 medicines together can cause side effects like nausea, t is important to finish all the medicine to ensure the bacteria is killed. Usually a follow up breath test is done to ensure the bacteria is gone, and some people need a second course of medicine.

Fish and Fish Oil Supplements Work – Remember your daily fish oil and Vitamin D!!!
Recent studies show eating several servings of oily fish (especially salmon) or taking daily fish oil pills reduce the risk of death or major heart problems in people at risk by 7 – 30%. A recent epidemiological study on healthy people showed that those who ate one fish meal/week lowered their heart disease risk by 15% and those who ate 5 servings of fish/week lowered their risk by 40%. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends healthy people should eat oily fish at least twice a week, and people with existing heart disease take a daily fish oil supplement (500-1000mg/day of DHA and EPA). Flaxseed oil is not as beneficial because it contains alpha-lineolic acid, which is converted into DHA and EPA in only small amounts.

Vitamin E is no longer recommended as an extra supplement for cardiovascular protection. It can be beneficial especially in some women for breast pain and also can help some women with their hot flashes.

General Tips:
Jennifer, wife and mother of two, orders weekly fresh organic vegetables at reasonable prices delivered to her home from http://www.farmfreshdelivery.com/!

Family and Faith

Marriage Tip (from “Red-Hot Monogamy, Making Your Marriage Sizzle”) - Power of Encouraging Words
Remember the great healing, loving, and sizzling power of encouraging words. I learned from my father that if you think something nice, be certain to say it! This is especially important with your spouse. So when you think of something nice or tender toward your spouse, say it or say something! God can help it to come out well and be powerfully received!

The authors of this book, Bill and Pam Farrel, found out the power of encouraging words on their honeymoon. Pam was looking in the mirror after showering and started to criticize her body. This so bothered Bill that he prayed, “God, I could do a better job than that mirror!” He then wrapped his arms around Pam and looked straight into Pam’s eyes saying, “I will be your mirror. My eyes will reflect your beauty. You are beautiful, Pamela. You are perfect, and if you ever doubt it, come stand before me. If I have to throw away every mirror in the house to get you to believe me, I will! From now on, let me be your mirror.” … Pam adds that a man does himself a favor by loving his wife and being her mirror, because she will want to love him the way he desires to be loved. This is also very true for a wife respecting and being a mirror for her husband!

Chorus from the song “I Will Be Your Mirror”
I will be your mirror
Reflecting the beauty of your face
You are lovely and gentle
A picture of God’s amazing grace
I will see in you what you can’t see in yourself
And I will tell you again and again
I will be your mirror

Parenting Tip (from “For Parents Only”)
Tell and show in actions to your children “I will always be there for you.”

Our children need the security of knowing we are making the effort to understand them and will be there for them regardless of their mistakes, otherwise they will emotionally shut out a parent.

Take the time to focus on them, show you want to know and understand them, and spend time in their world (put aside other “urgent” things to say to them “Honey, YOU are my most important place to be”, ask them what makes you seem available or unavailable, you could text them once a week that you care, love, and am proud of them, etc.)

We as parents need to be vulnerable and admit our mistakes, and say “please forgive me, only God is the perfect parent”

Be calm and work with your words and actions to show that you will always be there for them, love, be their backup, support, desire the best for them regardless of their mistakes. They may have gone against your values, forgotten how valuable they and their bodies are to God, and have consequences, but let them know that God forgives us, so how can we not forgive them!

Have a terrific September, and I will write next after my parent’s 60th wedding anniversary celebration on the 26th! I pray for us and our families and generations for our God to protect us from everything else but do not protect us from God and His powerful work and blessings!
Dr. Lisa