Tired of no sleep

By Lissa Wohltmann

Sleep. Just the word makes me want to yawn. How about you? Do you feel like yawning right now? Are you? Yawn, yawn, yawn. Yup, you’re doing it right now if you are in the least bit sleep-deprived. Sleep is what so many people crave today and seldom get the amount they actually need. According to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention, inadequate amounts of sleep are linked to car accidents, industrial accidents, medical errors and other occupational disasters. Yet, if you type for a living (for example) the result of your slumber-less habits won’t be deadly, just embarrassing – but only if you are about typoes.

The lack of sleep for other desk jockeys (such as me) won’t prove lethal if we fall asleep at our desks unless we slam our heads on the computer while we literally “fall” asleep. On the other hand, falling asleep at work might be lethal to your career, especially if the boss just happens to stroll through the cub-barn and hears those melodic sounds of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Instead of downing a handful of uppers or drinking cupfuls of caffeine, there are alternate ways to keep you alert when necessary that won’t affect your ability to peacefully snooze when you choose.

• Drink. Not alcohol because that does strange things to your body, mind and sometimes reputation. Instead, drink really ice-cold water. In fact, if you drink eight ounces of ice cold water right after one cup of coffee, the effect will be the same as drinking two cups of coffee. Hey, two for the price of one—can’t beat that.
• Walk. Talk a brisk walk around and if the temperature has dropped, take advantage of this body-wakening weather by walking outside. Moving those legs might get that mind moving which will motivate you to creatively engage with others. That’s academic speak for “have fun.”
• Calisthenics. Remember those old jumping jacks and push-ups Jack LaLanne had our mothers do in the 50s and 60s? Well, they’re baaaaack. These are simple exercises you can do to strengthen your muscles while keeping you alert. And, if nothing else, do them in the cube-barn and people will stay clear of you as they may question your sanity. Whatever works, right?

Getting tired is a part of life – occasionally. However, don’t make it a part of your day-to-day life because going through life tired is just going through the motions. That’s not fun. And remember: he who has the most fun in life, wins.

Regroup. Recharge. Renew.

By Lissa Wohltmann

Regroup. Recharge. Renew. These are words that can help you make it through weeks of never-ending conflicts. Imagine living as if you were continuously running endless numbers of back-to-back marathons. NG—this is Not Good. You will be entering Stress City Central. The only time you’ll really avoid stress is when you leave this planet -- and I’m not talking about becoming an astronaut and zooming off to other planets. Consider the following few ideas that might work in the short run.

• Sweep everything off your desk and start over, but then you may have to get another job which could add to your stress level – no money tends to do that to some people.

• Emit a primal scream in your cubicle or office, but then again the result might be the same (see above).

• Voodoo. This helps only if you know the magic words and the magic placement of those pugnacious voodoo pins. Chanting helps, yet if you don’t chant the right verse, you may just put a spell on your office plant.

• Fantasize about another job, another life, or whatever puts a smile on your face. We won’t go into that – this is a family blog, after all.

If none of the aforementioned appeals to you, then perhaps a proven tactic for long-term effectiveness will work. Rituals and routines. Studies are clear that those who work out in the morning, for example, are much more apt to maintain their regiment. These people have created a routine. It’s like brushing your teeth. That ritual is performed every day without thought.

If you establish a run/walk ritual you won’t need to think about it. You’ll just get up in the morning, don your workout clothes and start moving. Before you actually wake up, you’re half-way through your routine. By that time, you may as well finish it because if you run/walk outside, you’re a couple of miles away and you’ve got to get home.

The question of the day is: what are you going to do tomorrow morning at 4:30? Hint, the answer is NOT sleep. You can always respond below by posting a comment either with your real name or anonymously. Would love to hear from you.

Hate to Cook

By Lissa Wohltmann


This blog will be short and sweet because it's geared toward those who are not chefs, hate to cook and/or just have no time to cook. Yet you still require fuel for running, walking or whatever it is you do. If this is you, then you need to visit Karl's Kafe. Karl's a guy who runs and walks, is in good shape but would rather clean your bathroom than cook. It's not that he doesn't know how, it's just that he hates it as much as doing his taxes. Yea, he does those once a year because he is forced but no one forces Karl to Kook. Therefore, he's come up with some delightful ideas. Check it out here. Then click on Karl's Kafe. You might get some ideas of your own.

I ran. At last.

By Susan Clark

When I first started writing this blog the first of January I started a journey of movement and walking and a hope that I might actually pick up running some day. Well, I wouldn’t call it running as in “I’m a runner now” just yet, but after getting the “go-ahead” from my doctor last month after a full checkup, I’ve incorporated three one-minute runs into my 20-minute walk. Actually, the way it works is I walk for a brisk 10 minutes and then alternate one minute running, one minute walking, one minute running, etc. for a total of six minutes and then walk for four more minutes followed by stretching. I will do this every other day and add more running intervals each time. That was Monday and today, Friday, I walked eight minutes and alternated running with walking for 10 minutes, followed by a two-minute walk.

Those of you who run may laugh but different things enter my mind as I pick up the pace. One, before I started this I consulted with a long-time runner about how my feet should land on the pavement or treadmill. I had read something about this in a women’s health magazine saying something about not landing on my heels first (which I thought odd since we walk heel first). She quickly told me just to run, that these magazines only confuse “newbies.”

Newbie, eh? Is this an endearment, an official noun in real runner’s world, or is there a chuckle behind it? Probably all three! Glad to have a new title. Other things that enter my mind, especially the first two times, “I can’t wait for this minute to be over,” “this might be easier if I weighed 100 pounds,” “I wonder if I’m really cut out for this,” “this should be fun, right?”

I’m still working on the inner thought of “this should be fun,” but the other thoughts are starting to dissipate as I’ve completed my third walk/run workout. I really do feel terrific, both physically and mentally, after my workout. I notice when I run and then return to the walk, the walk feels like I’m gliding almost. On the days in between when I’m not walking/running I’ve started some strength training with hand weights and lots of stretching.

I’m trying to now find something on my iPhone that will assist me with my timing and make this easier to do outdoors. There is a free program called Runkeeper that I’m going to learn to use. It’s spring in Oklahoma and what a great time to get out and experience the great outdoors. I’m stepping it up and look forward to sharing my experience after another week. I’d love to hear other’s thoughts on what running means to you, why you do it, and is it fun? How does it fit in with the other things you enjoy doing? Until next time…

Back on the healthy bandwagon, ready to ride

By Susan Clark

Well, life has its interruptions. I haven’t written in a while mostly because of the usual demands—work, family, and more work. My workouts haven’t completely fallen to the way side, but I had an incident a few weeks ago that slowed me down. I kept feeling a “pinch” right in the center of my chest—on, off, on off, all day. A million messages and headlines went through my mind regarding women and their heart health, but I had no other alarm symptoms so I regarded the flurries as a peculiarity, not worthy of a trip to ER and yet hmmm……I even held my arms over my head, made sure I could smile, and all those things they tell you to do if you think you are in trouble. That was a Sunday. Monday, the “pinches” dwindled to just a few, same with Tuesday, and Wednesday. By Thursday, they disappeared.

I had a full physical scheduled with my doctor, who happens to be a cardiologist I had seen once years before, and I decided to move it forward. Meanwhile, even my friend Lissa (yes, your Lissa) said “this might not be a good time to exercise.” (can you believe she said that?) I did begin walking again after the “pinches” disappeared but decided not to push my time or speed. Long story short, I went to my exam, got my blood work first and once I met with my doctor we went over my numbers. He was pretty sure my “pinches” were muscular-skeletal but with my mother’s previous heart history, he decided I was ripe for a nuclear stress test, which I did the following week. In this test, they inject you with an IV fluid and scan your heart and chest area. Then, you walk on a treadmill at various speeds while hooked up to EKG monitors and a blood pressure cuff.

I am happy to say I passed this test with very good results. My blood work was pretty good too. No need to go on cholesterol medicine and although my blood sugar was a little high, he reassured me I could arm myself with diet (decrease bread and sweets) and EXERCISE! Why, of course…

So I’m back! I guess it’s like when you are on a walking or running path and you circle off the path long enough to see something different, and swing back on. If anything, I feel like I have a new, clean, wonderful bill of health and if I want to be running in a couple of months, I now know there is nothing to hold me back (other than a bum knee) but myself. So, yes, I slowed down, but didn’t give up, and now I’m back to walking every other day or so and next blog, I’m returning to my roots and trying out the new Jane Fonda workout CD…..more on that next time. Some of us (I’m giving away my age here) worked out to Jane in the 1980s so it’s a bit of a full circle.

Hey, what did I learn from this? We’ve read this time and again, but it really is a good idea to have a full physical before starting a new workout plan. And, although my outcome was a positive one, women should always pay attention to their hearts and any symptoms that seem out of the ordinary. Never hesitate to call you doctor! I was glad I did and now I notice a little more skip to my step. Until next time……

Want to save some money?

By Lissa Wohltmann

I know you’re not smoking, otherwise you’d be reading the “Bad Breath Blog” instead a Healthy Tips blog. However, chances are you know someone that still hangs out with Marlboro man (oh wait, he died of lung cancer), the Camel Comic, or whoever is popular with pushing poison to the population that is most pointedly vulnerable. Ask them if they are so rich then why not throw a little cash your way? After all, they are burning up some serious currency. Therefore, just for you, I crunched the numbers and came up with some surprising facts.

Based on a 2-pack-a-day habit ($5/pack), using a modest 6 percent interest rate compounded monthly, a former smoker could save $3,875 the first year of non-smoking, $4,114 the second year of non-smoking and $4,368 the third year. This does not include reinvestment of the $12,357 saved in three years of not smoking. Your friend’s financial health will improve along with his or her physical health. That $12,357 savings does not even account for the opportunity costs you lose out on when you could spend that money elsewhere. Heck, you could have bought 12,000 lottery tickets and won the big payout of maybe a cool $5 million. Think about it. Is smoking really worth $5 million?