June 28th Kick Off Walk.....SUCCESS!!

The Kickoff event for Get Fit Festus was a success! Thank you all who participated! There were over 80 in attendance that completed the 2 mile fun walk. As you can see from the pictures this was not a grueling never ending event! It was just walking for the health of it! Whether it is an intact lifestyle pursued for years or just getting started fun was had by all.
This is just a beginning for Get Fit Festus which is focused on promoting healthy and active living in our community and those surrounding. Be on the lookout for more events and programs to come.

Also a BIG thanks to all our volunteers that came out to help put this event on. We couldnt have done it without you, especially our amateur photo taker, Madison Proffer. She captured the fun that was being had by all.

If you or anyone you know has an new idea or information on a current program for promoting a healthy and active lifestyle or wants to help improve the health of our community drop us an email at getfitfestus@gmail.com and let us know.

Thanks from: Steve Stoll, Matt Clark, Jamie Wolf and Andy Held

Kick Off Event Only Hours Away!

Dont forget Tomorrow (Saturday June 28th) to be at West City Park for the Get Fit Festus Fun Walk. Starts at 8:00am by the gazebo. Bring a friend or bring all your friends. See you all there.

July is Firework Safety Month

Prevent Blindness America warns that there is no safe way for nonprofessionals to use fireworks. It is only safe to enjoy the splendor and excitement of fireworks at a professional display.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fireworks were involved in an estimated 9,200 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 2006.

An estimated 6,400 injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms during the one month period surrounding the Fourth of July.

• Eyes were the second most commonly injured part of the body, with an estimated 1,500 fireworks-related eye injuries treated in the same one-month period of 2006.
  
  
• Firecrackers accounted for 1,300 injuries, sparklers, 1,000 and roman candles, 700.
  
  
• Males suffered three times more injuries than females.
  
  
• 2,300 of the injuries were to children under age 15.

source: www.preventblindness.org

(click on the picture to go to the website)

http://preventblindness.org/safety/fireworksafety.html

  

Tips To Stay Safe While Active In the Heat!

Tips To Beat Heat Illness

Heat illness is an accumulation of body heat when the bodys ability to cool itself is overwhelmed. The different types of heat illness’ are: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke (most serious and can be potentially fatal). According to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute heat illness symptoms do not progress from one to the next.

Dehydration is a risk factor developing a heat illness. Exercise or increased physical activity in a hot, humid environment can bring about significant dehydration in as little as 30 minutes. The way the body’s thirst mechanism works is that once you have a dry mouth and feel thirsty……you are dehydrated.

To avoid heat illness follow these tips:

· Wear loose fitting, light colored clothes to promote heat loss
Do strenuous activity/exercise in the early morning or late evening, and avoid the hottest times of the day.

· When exercising outside try to stay in shaded areas as much as possible

· DRINK UP WHEN ITS HOT AND WHEN ITS NOT!!
Before exercise drink at least 16oz of water
Drink at least 7-10oz of water every 10-20 minutes during activity/exercise

· Water is the best choice for rehydration! If you want a sports drink choose cool, lightly sweetened, flavored beverages with sodium (like Gatorade) when possible. If water is only available drink early, drink often!

· Avoid drinking beverages containing caffeine. These can further progress dehydration.

· Limit carbonated beverages and fruit juices during exercise since they can upset stomach.

source: Gatorade Sports Science Institute, American College of Sports Medicine

Andrew Held, BS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, ACSM, is the Wellness Coordinator for Jefferson Memorial Hospital

Fitness as a Family!!

Exercise and the Family

Exercise can be enjoyable for entire family. In fact, if you pick the right activity the exercise will become secondary to the fun that you are having.

Walking through your neighborhood, hiking through the woods, or playing at the local park make great family outings that will provide exercise as well as time away from the distractions of televisions, video games, or the computer screen. You can discover a whole new world if you’re looking in the right places as you walk.

Walking is great exercise and you can’t beat the price, but you have to make sure that the exercise/activity you choose can hold the interest and attention of everyone involved.
Families should strive to find activities that meet the abilities of all participants. Modifying the rules of a backyard basketball game to give everyone a chance to play makes the game more inclusive.

There really are no limits on how much families can exercise together, but there are some minimums that everyone should try to reach. Adults should find some way to be physically active for at least 30 minutes each day. Children should participate in a physical activity for least 60 minutes on most days of the week.

That may seem like a lot of time to fit into our already busy schedules but it is that important. An easy place to find some spare time is to limit TV time to less than two hours per day. That reduction in screen time should also include the hours spent with computer and video games.
The activities do not have to be overly strenuous. It doesn’t take much to exceed the physical exertion needs to operate the television remote or video game controller.

Adults need to be responsible for making their own time to include exercise into their daily routines, but we also must make sure that our children are getting moving as well. Kids are easier to keep track of if you can keep them mesmerized in front of a TV or computer screen, but inactivity is one of the primary causes of our country’s epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes.

Perhaps the single most important time to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary activities such as television watching and computer time is after school.
Many children are inactive following school, through no fault of their own.
Parents must help their children find safe and enjoyable opportunities to be active.
Becoming more active, 30 minutes to an hour each day, is an important component of wellness, but it is not to be rewarded with increased calorie intake. Improved exercise habits should be complemented with a healthier diet plan.

Regardless of your age you must keep physically active to balance the calories you consume. Unless a special time is set aside each day, the opportunity to be active will slip away because the excuses to put off physical activity are often easy to come by.

Information for this column was collected from the National Association for Health and Fitness and the President’s Council on Exercise.

Andrew Held, BS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, ACSM, is the Wellness Coordinator for Jefferson Memorial Hospital.

Being Active Anywhere

HOW can I make activity part of every day?
With a few simple guidelines, you can make physical activity an integral part of your day even
with a hectic schedule. Look for all the easy ways to fit fitness into your life.

Play more: Feel like a kid again by skating, swinging, playing ball or flying a kite.
Use leg power: Walk the dog; walk to the store; walk around the mall; just walk.
Hide the remote: Change the channels the old-fashioned way – by getting up!
Practice inefficiency: Make multiple trips on the stairs or to the car for groceries.
Pick up the pace: Use a longer stride when you walk – everywhere, all the time.

Who is Get Fit Festus?

There are many people like you who want to see the quality of life improve for Festus and this is why our community is working on setting up an initiative to achieve just that. Imagine….having health fairs, screenings, local walk clubs, walking/running maps, trails, parks with exercise equipment, exercise classes, better body challenges, kid activities, and more! These are just some of the ideas that the initiative has tossed around and is where we need the help of our residents. This is your town; tell us what you want to see!)

Core Committee Members

Steve Stoll, City Administrator, City of Festus

Matt Clark, Executive Director, Jefferson County Family YMCA

Jamie Wolf, Chronic Disease Prevention Coordinator, Jefferson County Health Department

Andrew Held, Wellness Coordinator, Jefferson Memorial Hospital