While many of you know that I’m the Fitness Expert for a company called GlobalFit, you may not realize that my husband Frank is the CEO.

In today’s USA Today, you’ll see a full page letter from Frank urging people to take this simple “Just Walk” Pledge.  Please read his important message:

Just Walk!

Dear America,

Our country has the highest obesity rate in the world.

As the head of the nation’s largest network of fitness centers and gyms, that ranking makes me cringe. A sedentary lifestyle and poor diet are primarily to blame. If we’re serious about changing our ways and being healthier, we need to set realistic fitness goals.

So this year, I’m asking America to take a small but important step in fighting this issue. Just walk.

Walking Is Easy

Walking is widely known within the fitness community as having the lowest dropout rate of any form of exercise. Why? It’s convenient, costs nothing and can be done almost anywhere. And studies show that the simple act of walking can reduce your resting heart rate, lower blood pressure and help you lose weight.

Community is Key for Success

Walking with a friend, loved one or co-worker will help you sustain the routine. In fact, GlobalFit had a leading health insurance provider conduct a double-blind study to prove it! So when I say we’re all in this together, it’s true. Community and the support of a group are critical to your success.

Take the Just Walk Pledge™

As 2011 begins, make a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep. One that will produce healthy habits for a lifetime and set you down the path to a sustainable fitness routine. I’m inviting America to take the Just Walk Pledge™. It’s easy. Just go to www.justwalkpledge.com and sign up to participate.

Remember, it takes time to develop a healthy routine. So once you take the Pledge, we’ll send you weekly tips on ways to easily incorporate more walking in your day.

But even if you don’t enroll online – Just Walk.

Frank Napolitano

President and Chief Executive Officer

So please take a moment to sign up for the Just Walk Pledge and watch a short video from Frank.. Encourage your children, loved ones and co-workers to do something good for themselves and for the health of our country.

So please, Just Walk!

Molly and Frank

Recently a good friend of mine, who normally has the energy of 10 teenagers, complained to her doctor about feeling exhausted all the time.  He ran some tests and found she had extremely low levels of Vitamin D.  After about a month of treatment, she was as good as new again.  But what if she just chalked up her fatigue to the aging process and not addressed it with her doctor?  And why is Vitamin D so important?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is unfortunately found naturally in very few foods (the flesh of certain kind of fish—salmon, mackerel and tuna).  You can also get very small amounts of Vitamin D in egg yolks, cheese and beef liver.   Since the 1930’s, milk products in the United States have been fortified with Vitamin D to combat rickets, a softening of the bones in children which can lead to fractures and irregularly formed bones.   Luckily, the milk fortification program eliminated the disease in the US but rickets is still a major problem in many developing countries today.  Other foods, such as certain breakfast cereals, orange juice and yogurt are often fortified with Vitamin D as well.

Your body also produces Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, which is why it’s often called “The Sunshine Vitamin”.  This presents a conundrum for us!  We’ve been told to cover up and wear sunscreen all the time.  However, the NIH states, “It has been suggested by some vitamin D researchers that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually leads to sufficient vitamin D synthesis.”   I’m not sure if dermatologists would agree with this since they’re the ones who’ve been telling us to get out of the sun.

So what do we do?  I’ll present the research and let you decide…

Dangerously low levels of Vitamin D have been linked to:

• Heart Disease. In a study published in June, 2008, subjects with low levels of Vitamin D were 80% more likely to have peripheral artery disease (Arterioscler, Thromb, Vasc Bio–2005; 25-39: 39-46).
• Depression. Blood levels of Vitamin D have been shown to be 14% lower in depressed individuals (Arch Gen Psychiatry; May 2008).
• Osteoporosis.  According to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, 85% of women hospitalized for hip fractures have a Vitamin D deficiency.
• Back Pain.  In the report, “Vitamin D—A Neglected Analgesic for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain” 95% of back pain sufferers (who had low Vitamin D levels) reported decreased symptoms after 3 months of supplementation.

Getting Adequate Amounts of Vitamin D has been shown to ward off:

• Diabetes: In a study of more than 83,000 women over a 20 year period, the ones who took the highest levels of calcium AND Vitamin D had a 33% lower risk of Type 2 Diabetes (The Nurse’s Health Study).
• Cancer: Higher levels of Vitamin D may cut your risk of certain cancers—particularly, breast,  pancreatic, colon and rectal cancers–and possibly ovarian, kidney and prostate cancer.

Vitamin D may also protect against fatigue, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, psoriasis, and colds/flu. Vitamin D levels are the lowest in the winter, which coincidentally is the peak season for catching colds and flus.

If that’s not enough to get your attention, low levels of Vitamin D have even been linked to premature death.  A paper published in March 2010, urges the Canadian government to take action against the low levels of Vitamin D found in their residents–which they  associate with a 26% increase in the risk of premature death.

So, while I’m not a doctor, my advice to you is this:  get your Vitamin D levels checked the next time you visit your physician.  She can guide you in the right direction.  Knowing your levels can make a world of difference to your health and the way you feel.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency, please tell us how it made you feel and what you did to get your levels up to an optimal level.

Know Your Numbers and Smile,

Molly

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’d first like to congratulate all the incredibly tough and resilient women who have fought this battle and won.  Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate.  Women of all ages and ethnicities fight the war and, fortunately, many of them win.  Sadly, some of them don’t.

Cancer, also known as the “C” word, is scary.  It’s scary to the point where sometimes you don’t even want to know—which can lead to really bad decisions, like ignoring something that’s not quite right.  My Grandfather, Grandmother and Father all died from cancer.  My mom battled her war with breast cancer in her 50’s (she underwent a lumpectomy followed by radiation) and then again in her 70’s, when she underwent a mastectomy.  She is one of the lucky ones and for that, I’m forever grateful.

Cherylle Hayes, MD, who not only is one of the best cancer docs on the planet, also happens to be one of my best friends.  Dr. Hayes is the Medical Director of radiation oncology at North Florida Regional’s Cancer Center, in Gainesville, Florida.  She has a passion for treating women with breast cancer—which ironically, since choosing her specialty, has plagued her immediate family.  Dr. Hayes has become an expert  at Cyberknife® , a robotic radiosurgery system that is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors in the body.  She is a very strong advocate of community education, giving 30-40 patient-focused talks throughout the year!  When speaking to her about this article, she said we really need to get women thinking about being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to our health

“I want all women to learn a new meaning of the “C” word.  It’s CEO.  Women should be the Chief Executive Officers of their bodies.  This means they need to pay attention to what’s going on, learn as much as they can about disease prevention and get into the habit of making healthy choices.    Diet and exercise are extremely important, not only for maintaining a healthy body weight, but for fighting heart disease, cancer, diabetes and  a number of other killer diseases.  Unfortunately, many women are not doing these things.”

As CEO of a company, you must take responsibility.  You constantly learn as much as you can about your competition so you can outsmart them and win.  You need to implement that same strategy when fighting disease.  The following are some great tips to how to become the CEO of your body:

1. Know your family history.
2. Don’t skip preventative screenings appropriate for your age.  These include skin cancer checks, breast self-exams, mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies, routine blood work and annual physical check-ups.
3. Review all medications (prescription and over-the-counter) that you take and read about them.  Know their side effect and possible drug interactions.  If you’re taking multiple meds, talk to your pharmacist.  Don’t be embarrassed.  Just do it—that’s what they’re there for.
4. Choose healthy, fresh foods.  Cook as much as you can so you know exactly what’s going into your body.  Stay away from pre-packaged foods and keep saturated fat and sugar intake to a minimum.
5. Move.  The more you move the better.  Walk you dog, garden, take an exercise class, and clean your house.  Keep your muscles strong by strength training—either at home or in a gym—twice a week.
6. Find ways to relieve your stress.  Stress is a killer so find solutions that work for you.  Exercise is a great reliever of stress, as is meditation, journaling and deep breathing exercises.
7. See the glass half-full.  The way you look at life matters.  Try to look for the positive in every situation even if it seems impossible at first.

By making healthy lifestyle decisions, you can significantly decrease your risk of getting breast cancer.  While healthy living doesn’t promise a  money-back guarantee that you won’t get the “C” word,  it’s certainly worth the effort.

On a happy note, my mom just returned from her first-ever trip out of the United States.  She bravely embarked on a 10 Day European Tour and had the time of her life.

Now, at 72, with a passport and a great attitude, she’s ready to take on the world!

If you have a story to share about someone who has faced the battle against breast cancer, please share your story with us.

Be Your Own CEO and Stay Healthy,

Molly