By: Brad Hankins
Many of us with a few miles on the odometer of life haven’t gotten here unscathed. As grateful as we are to have reached this number of years old, accidents, emotional stress and routine physical wear and tear can combine to limit the way we want to live our life. This month we look at improving chronic health conditions, specifically Metabolic Syndrome.
The combination of Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are the chronic health conditions that make up Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). Also, in my Nursing opinion, there is often a fourth accompanying component, depression. Up to one third of Americans have MetS, with that number increasing each year, and because the symptoms of MetS are slow to appear many are not aware of their worsening health. Outwardly MetS symptoms are somewhat limited to increasing body weight and waist size, though waist size is not a direct indicator of MetS nor its independent factors.
The prevention of MetS include maintaining a healthy weight (as measured by percent of fat mass and skeletal muscle – not BMI), regular exercise, an active life, a reasonable diet, successful stress management and making time for yourself to enjoy those things you enjoy. MetS prevention is a team-based endeavor involving a positive relationship with your healthcare provider and clear, honest communication with your family.
If you have MetS, you can improve your health, both physical and emotional, with an informed gameplan and disciplined approach. If there is a good thing about MetS it’s that an improvement in one of the four component medical conditions will also improve the other three. The best first place to begin is with your healthcare provider for testing and perhaps the prescribing of medications to improve symptoms while developing a plan to lessen the overall impact of MetS.
Typically, the next step is weight reduction via diet and exercise, which will bring with it an across-the-board MetS improvement. The approach to dietary change, in my opinion, should first begin with an honest appraisal of what you are currently eating, which can be done with the help of a diet tracking app such as MyFittnessPal. Next would be a change in calorie intake while improving, to toleration, the nutritional content of the types of food you currently enjoy.
Per an earlier column, exercise should be considered in the combined approach of cardio, weight training and movement practices. Cardio can simply begin with walking 20 minutes a day, three times a week. Weight training is best explored with the help of a South Sound YMCA trainer to help develop a safe, enjoyable training plan which will increase both strength and stamina. Movement practices include Yoga, Palates, Tai Chi, dance and/or court sports such as pickleball and basketball, most of which are available at your local South Sound YMCA branch.
MetS prevention and the improvement of developed MetS are similar, weight reduction, regular exercise, reasonable diet and stress reduction/management. The programs, staff, instructors and trainers at SSYMCA are all available to help you in your MetS journey. We hope you will consider SSYMCA as part of your care team and we look forward to supporting you as you improve your health and wellbeing.
I would enjoy hearing about your wellness journey, please feel free to email me at hankinsb@ssymca.net.
Brad Hankins RN, CPT