Somewhat OT: Health Issues

[Michael Hancock]

Start a daily exercise regimen. Even going for a walk every day for twenty or thiry minutes will help.

I also try to get up from my desk every hour to walk a lap or two around the office. It’s just enough to get me out of my chair and get some blood moving.

Michael

——————————-
I’ll be working late.

[Tim Wilson]

The same thing happened to me as a I turned 40, a truly miserable time to very suddenly get sedentary. My body was already ready to start spreading, and stopping carrying a BetaSP camera with tripod, batteries and lights into the swamps of the Everglades meant a huge amount of energy dissipated into thin air. I learned a lot of this stuff the hard way, but it worked for me.

Note re: back pain: my wife broke her back, and went through a lot of these same cycles as she recovered. This stuff worked for her too.

To continue Michael’s very good advice, start as small as you need to. If you can only walk 2 minutes, do it until you can do more.

As you start to get into a *little* shape from walking around, the new rage is short bursts of something genuinely approaching 110% effort. Even 60-90 seconds, repeated three or four times, of something like running uphill or swimming, will make a huge difference, very quickly.

I’ve been jumping rope, and pulled off a couple of inches in a month – weight the same, just better shape. When I started, I couldn’t even go 30 seconds. Now I barely get 90 seconds before I get wrapped up, but I can unwrap and keep going for another couple of times.

No need to be a hero here. Start with with walking before you do anything else. Start as slow as you need to, build up as you can — but building isn’t the ultimate goal. MOVING is the goal.

What a lot of people experience as back pain is the body reorienting to carry itself with minor muscles as the major muscles get weaker. So I also found that returning to the kinds of weight that I was carrying made a huge difference. That is, carrying a camera is very much oriented toward what is now being called “the core.”

Try very slow squats and deadlifts with similar weights — again, almost certainly starting with NO weight, then building slowly to probably in the 30 pound range, tops. Go slow enough to start that it’s more like stretching than “weight lifing.” You can pick up hand weights up in this range for a song at a sporting goods store.

All that talk about “the core” comes from Pilates. Look into a class or DVD – even YouTube. Again, do it slow enough that it’s more like deep stretching than “exercise.” Yoga is worth looking at for the same reason.

I found that my diet had to seriously change. You’ll figure out what works for you. I found that gradually transitioning to a vegetarian diet, now vegan when it’s practical (better than half the time at the moment). I have a very light frame, and the 50 pounds I gained looked like even more. But I’ve been able to keep it off for the past nine years, and feel better now than I did then.

(What you may not want to hear: if you’re serious about staying in shape, stop drinking. I found that very moderate drinking was costing me 20 lbs./yr. I don’t miss meat and dairy AT ALL, but going from 3 or 4 drinks a week to one or two a YEAR was much harder. I won’t trade it for how much better I feel though. With both, I’m well past the point of feeling like I gave anything up. I’ve embraced living longer and feeling better.

Last but not least, spend serious money on a chair. I spent over $1000 on mine. That relieved my pain embarrassingly quickly. I felt like an idiot because I had let money stand in the way of my health — because once I was no longer hurting (at one point, I couldn’t even stand up straight), I was able to do all the stuff I mentioned above. No excuses: spend whatever it takes.

Okay, HERE’s the last thing. Do the same with your mattress. You’re going to spend around one-third of YOUR ENTIRE LIFE from here on in, and there’s no excuse for not spending as much as you need to. I won’t tell you how much I spent except to say that it was more than the chair…but again, for both my wife and I, it was the difference between night and day, and the difference between being able to get started or not.

The bottom line is that I’m fitter now approaching 50 than I was at 25. And it took maybe 5 years to get here, starting slooooow.

Tim Wilson
Creative Cow Magazine!

My Blog: “Is this thing on? Oh it’s on!”

[Tim Wilson]

Speedy follow-ups:

1) re: the bed. Seriously man. Do it.

2) Our household income was maybe $30K when we invested in the expensive chair and bed. When my wife broke her back, she was a student on a teaching fellowship. I was teaching pre-school. Hence my feeling that there are no excuses for investing in your back.

3) You might THINK you need firm mattress because it is what has worked so far, but that’s likely because it’s the only thing in a certain price range that worked. As you move up, you can be a little more thoughtful. We were SHOCKED at how much better a softer mattress worked as you move up the product line.

Think of it this way. A jeep is fine when you’re in your twenties, but it turns out that a luxury car in your 20s is also nice. When you get older, a luxury car is REALLY nice. When you’ve hurt your back, it’s essential. And since we’re talking about mattresses not cars, it’s an investment in the rest of your life.

4) I’m neither touchy nor feely. In the rest of my life, I’m a shark. A really vicious one. I’m not even very nice.

Still, the vegetarian thing has worked beyond my wildest dreams. I had absolutely no idea how much better I’d feel. And trust me, I’m all about how I feel. 🙂 If I didn’t feel 1000% times better (900% would not have been enough), and wasn’t able to keep the weight off for a decade, I wouldn’t do it.

Your mileage will vary of course. But along with gradual exercise and money well-invested in my back (okay, and no more drinking), it’s a big part of why I’m in better shape than I was 25 years ago.

Tim Wilson
Creative Cow Magazine!

My Blog: “Is this thing on? Oh it’s on!”

[Grinner Hester]

For 20 years, with youth and strength, I sat in a dark edit suite pushin’ buttons. Now, pushin’ forty with a bad back, a bum knee and several years of bodily abuse due to being an adrenaline junkie, I find myself all over the world as a roving hand-held vidiot. What I do to ignore pain is ignore it. After 12 hours of shooting, I fake a grin as if my threshold of pain is not an 8 ona scale from one to ten. The last thing I can afford is folks to think I have any sort of handicap doing my job. Last week found me in a boat crash in the gulf of mexico. I bruised a bone in my shooting shoulder and pinched another nerve in my back. As people on the boat compaired battle wounds, I simply documented them and said nothing.
In typical man fasion, when I get home, that’s when I milk sympothy. My wife heals all ailments with love, attention and vast amounts of icey hot. My daughter walks on my back to realign my spine, my boys tell me I kick ass and off I go to do it again.
This method works for me. Miles may vary.
I can tell ya the more ya excersise, the better. Walk a lot, jog if you can. Have as much sex as your wife can stand. Use stairs, not the elevator when not on a shoot. Sit in the sun when chillin’. It simplay aint good for a brother to hang out in a dark suite 60 hours a week every dang week.

[Todd Terry]

A couple of years ago, in an effort to make myself move a little, I went out and bought a decent treadmill. This thing is GREAT!… it can literally hold like forty shirts.

But on a more serious note..

As Tim said above, one of my most important pieces of equipment is… my chair.

I slogged for years in a 80-buck chair from the office supply store. I always thought it was fine but anytime anyone else sat in it they immediately screamed “Oh! My! God!”

My general manager Phil finally had enough, and finally convinced me to spend the money to get really good chairs. It was surprising, since I’m usually the one throwing money around on new toys and he’s the tight-fisted bean counter. I gave in.

We chunked all the old office chairs, and bought Herman Miller Aeron chairs for all the suites and offices.

The Aeron is the chair you’ll see in high-end offices where people have to sit all day. Wildly, almost shamefully expensive… usually a bit over a thousand dollars (although can sometimes be found for less).

And worth every penny. Your body will thank you.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Mark Suszko]

Simple things:

Skip elevators and always use the stairs where practical. If you eat out for lunch, try to walk to the place as often as you can, instead of driving.

Cut soda and lose a pound a week, as well as improving your dental health. I can’t quit it completely, but i won’t have a second can until I have an entire can’s worth of plain water first. Byt he time the water’s gone, I don’t feel the need for the second soda any more.

Eat whatever you like, but let no portion of anything be larger in area on your plate than a deck of cards.

My bad back adores A SUPER-FIRM custom-built Verlo mattress and box spring.

Exercise sucks. But exercise with an ipod full of your favorite pumping music sucks less. When I get on the elliptical machine for a 20-minute session, the music takes me away and I don’t notice the time passing.

Try tai chi moves during renders. (But not when clients are around.)

[Mike Cohen]

Scott – I would say Health Issues are very much ON TOPIC.

Since we are all either independent operators, small business owners or employees of others – health care and its costs are definitely a business issue. The costs are not only insurance and its associated controversies – but perhaps more importantly – the costs of not being healthy.

True, in our line of work, back injuries are common. I used to transport a 70 pound operating room tripod around the country as checked baggage and carry the full size broadcast camera in bulky Portabrace case on my shoulder and onto the plane – not good. Today, while the camera is smaller, the rolling golf case of gear is still 50 pounds and those wheels don’t get it in and out of my car. And carrying a HDV camera case with batteries, mics and tapes on one shoulder and a laptop case in the other hand is still pretty bad for your back.

In the past 2 years, I have taken off maybe 2 days due to back pain, and 5 days for flu-like illness. Neither of them are entirely preventable. But prevention is the key to longevity. Here is my strategy, though I may need to bookmark this post for future reference:

1 – Drink a lot – of water that is. On days when I remember to drink two liters of fresh tap water and have a lot more energy after I leave work, am less grumpy and my urine is nice and clear. Hey this is a health topic and I work in a health related field so we don’t mince words when it comes to bodily functions. Clear urine = clean plumbing.

2 – Eat on a regular schedule. First have breakfast before you leave the house. If you have a 6am call time or flight, the last thing you want to do is get up extra early and toast a bagel. If I have an early day ahead of me, I sometimes stop on the way home from work and get a pastry or some flavor of bagel that tastes good un-toasted to eat in the car. Also try to have a good portion of liquid in the AM to replenish your body post-sleep.

Eat healthy choices, shop the perimeter of the supermarket. Any food package that says it is healthy might be lying. Low fat pasta? Of course it’s low fat, it’s pasta. But fat does not make you fat. Carbs make you fat. Fat gives you heart disease. Food manufacturers are catching on to the fact that people are paying attention to what they are eating – that was not always the case.

3 – If you keep food at work try to find something either healthy or a small enough portion that it does not kill your diet. When I was in my 20’s I stocked my desk drawer with Little Debbie products and juice boxes. Did not affect my waistline due to my high metabolism, but probably didn’t make me any healthier. My parents both have diabetes, so I’d better watch my sugar intake if I know what’s good for me.

4 – If you are sedentary a lot, and we all are, there are a few things to do. I agree about the good chair. I’m saving up. Our chairs are actually pretty adjustable, just need extra cushioning.
Try to sit with your back as straight as possible. Those chairs with a lot of levers let you lean way back or have a rocking chair. That’s fine if you are playing video games or if you are the CEO. But for long duration computer work, you need all your parts in alignment. Feet flat on the floor, elbows on arm rests with fore-arms angled slightly down from the elbows. Thus the keyboard and mouse should be around the level of your navel.

Another problem with being sedentary is what happens on the inside. Sitting down a lot can cause problems down below. This is another reason to drink lots of water. One coffee a day may be ok, different people react differently to caffeine. I drink a lot of green tea in the winter. Constipation and other problems in that neighborhood can result from lots of sitting. Eat enough fiber to compensate. That should keep you running!

5. Sleeping. We too invested in a nice pillow top bed. My wife and I both sleep with our backs elevated 45 degrees and a good sized pillow under our knees. The pillow behind the back prevent snoring and helps drain the sinuses. The pillow under the knees keeps the spine in alignment which is good for the next day spent in a chair.

6. Exercise. Anything is better than nothing. In the warm weather I try to walk around the building a few times a day, or even into town a 1/2 mile. Even in the winter I will bundle up and go for a jaunt.
But even inside the office, I do a lot of MBWA so I am always in other offices. On days with a hot deadline for FedEx I move even faster.

As for actual cardio or resistance work – I have some dumbells in my bedroom. I’ll do a dozen reps in the morning if I think of it. Stretching is very helpful. I ride my bike but not very often and should get more exercise overall. But don’t be fooled into thinking you have to workout to exhaustion to keep weight off. When you run for your life, your body thinks it is being chased by a velociraptor and increases cortisol to give you that energy boost. That is not going to help you lose weight but it might improve your muscle tone. And when you eat a lot of carbs, your body thinks you are preparing for hibernation, so it stores that away as fat storage. Then when you don’t hibernate or increase your activity level, but keep eating, the body keeps packing on the fat.

In other words, a healthy diet with deliberate food choices, moderation, and regular activity, strenuous or otherwise, is a good idea for all of us. If you have additional middle-aged health concerns like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, then all bets are off – do what they tell you to do.

7. Unplug. Have an outlet for spending time that is not your job. The COW for example – still sitting at a computer but using a different part of your brain. Have a hobby that is not shooting video. I go to the library every 2 weeks and get a suitcase full of books. Fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, travel books, biographies. Keep that brain running. I bought my obligatory economy stimulation 40″ LCD television last year, and almost never use it. I also write short fiction and screenplays for my own amusement, but it is not work. Free your mind and the rest will follow.

Mike Cohen

[Tim Wilson]

[Mike Cohen] “1 – Drink a lot – of water that is.”

Very wise to put this at #1, Mike. I agree.

re: DRW and the Aeron – a great place to start. The cool thing is that they were de rigeur in corporate life for quite a while. You used to be able to pick them up on eBay for a couple of hundred bucks. People are getting back to work (yes, really), so those deals aren’t as common…but still worth a look.

Note that you’ll find a wide range of prices. That’s because Herman Miller put out a couple of different versions, at different price points. Even the “bottom” of the line ($600-ish) is wonderful. Do check around.

The one I went with is the Humanscale Freedom chair. Rather than coming from the world of office furniture like Herman Miller (although REAL Herman Miller is hardly what you think of when you say “office furniture” – I don’t have anything that nice in my house…besides the bed…), Humanscale comes from the world of ergonomic accessories.

The idea of “Freedom” includes freedom from the kind of careful set-up that most good office chairs require….but the big one for me is that it readjusts itself automatically as you fidget. As soon as I tried it, I realized that a big part of what hurt my back in other chairs is that the chair was forcing me to be as rigid as the chair!! Not good.

Anyway, the Aeron was the chair that sparked a revolution. The Freedom is 2.0. (Leap is another company that has done great things in the second generation.) If you look around, you’ll see that we’re well into the THIRD generation of ergonomic chair design. As is the way with such things, plenty of folks like me and DRW who are plenty happy with the first 2 generations. 🙂

If you have a serious office furniture store nearby (most definitely NOT Office Depot, Staples, Walmart, etc.), it’s worth spending a little time trying some stuff out. That’s how I chose the Freedom.

Drink lots of water before you go, and when you come back. 🙂

[Jon Schilling]

I’ve lost 25 pounds so far since May not drinking soda. I also bike 6 the 6 miles to work whenever possible, save gas, is healthy & I’m more awake & don’t need my morning coffee.

I saw Shane Ross at the LAFCPUG meeting, (haven’t seen him for awhile) & he said “you’ve lost weight huh”? So it’s noticeable.

Jon Schilling | Director of Business Development
CalDigit Inc
phone 714-572-9889 X234
fax 714-572-9881
web http://www.caldigit.com
email jons@caldigit.com
skype cgijon
office 1941 Miraloma Ave. #B Placentia, CA 92870

[Todd Terry]

As for getting heartburn over the cost of the Aeron or any of the other high-end chairs… just remember to think of them as an investment and another piece of important equipment. You wouldn’t bat an eye at spending $1200 for a piece of video or film equipment.

Also… unlike the office supply store chairs, these not only sit great and help your bod, but they are built to last. My Aeron is several years old now and still looks and sits like it did the day it was delivered. The film lab that we use is full of Aeron chairs in all of their daVinci suites, and I think the last time I was there the colorist told me they were more than ten years old, but still looking new. Also, I can’t speak for the chair that Tim has, but mine has a 12-year warranty and I bet his does too.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com