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In response to writing a magazine, you receive many letters but the email I received recently was unique and strangely moving. There was no name or pseudonym attached and the author asked me to provide a suitable alias if I chose to include his letter. The alias I selected was Sigma Topman.
 "Dear Dr. Collis
I don't know whether to thank you or hate you, I don't know whether you've saved me or set me up for the final fall. This is my story, the very essence of which is true, although there has been some shifting of names and places for legal and personal reasons.
I was an educator and a good one and my students invariably did well academically and often thanked me for expecting the best from them. I was married with 2 teenage children and life seemed to be unfolding as it should. Then I encountered evil in the form of 4 students who stretched the fabric of my life so far out of shape that it could never return to its former place.
I discovered that the 4 students, 2 boys and 2 girls, were cheating and, as was my custom, gave them an 'F' in my course. Their responses went from simulated contrition to diamond hard hostility when they discovered that my concept of a second chance meant retaking the course.
Some weeks later I was called to my administrator's office and was confronted with the accusation that I had been having sexual relations with 2 female students. It was, of course, the 2 girls I flunked, which I quickly pointed out and that's when my world dissolved. They claimed I had failed them because they would no longer submit to my sexual oppression. My principal said she could call the police or "for the sake of all concerned" (i.e. the school's reputation) look into it privately. There I made my mistake. Knowing I was innocent, I should have demanded a police enquiry, which would have afforded me procedural protection. Instead of which I laughed and said I had nothing to hide.
I will spare you all the details but suffice it to say that my school computer was found to contain some child pornography including explicit pictures of the 2 female students taken in my private office. Almost laughably cocaine turned up in a locked drawer of my desk. There was other evidence, and I was dazzled by the precision, complexity and wicked ingenuity that had been used to trap a teacher. (Ever true to my trade I can remember thinking, "If only they had used the same focus and thought in their studies.") I was blindsided and devastated, nearly 20 years of good professional progress was about to be undone by a vindictive fabrication.
I now entered a Kafka-esque world where truth was rearranged and the only way out was down. The next hammer blow was that my wife chose to believe that I was not entirely innocent and thought it would be better if I "left for a while". So I took six months pay as hush money and retreated to a friend's cabin to look at my life.
I began by telling you that I was very good at my job, and like the good shepherd I knew my sheep. I knew that one of my 4 accusers was vulnerable and I hired 2 private detectives to pursue the truth and they found it. Confronted with evidence, he confessed, and I now dealt with my ex-principal with righteous fury and my lawyer put her on the rack. But I hated the whole procedure and quietly accepted compensation just short of 7 figures, but something inside me had died. I wanted to run from my family and anything associated with my former life and I did.
At first, it was fine. I'd wake up and not have to get up. But too much nothing is corrosive, so I travelled and I travelled in style. I cruised the world and developed a taste for dining and fine wine. I went to 'wealth management' (hate the phrase now) talks and figured I could parlay my compensation into some sort of eternal income. (Did you ever wonder who these people were who lost everything in the dot com implosion?)
My descent to poverty was quick, in less than a year I went from a Wall Street Journal reading, global cruising bon vivant, to someone who eked out an existence teaching English as a second language and managing a grotesque little apartment block in exchange for accommodation. Hatred ruled my mind. I hated the low lifes who rented my apartments, I hated my ex-wife and the administrator who chose to take the word of some transparently corrupt students over that of a husband and teacher who valued words and truth. Most of all I hated myself, I felt that somehow I'd brought my problems on myself and the proof of my stupidity was in the way I'd dissipated a small fortune in less than 2 years.
I thought of revenge, fully aware of the maxim that says, "He who seeks revenge should prepare two graves." I was quite prepared to fill one of those graves. Oh yes, Dr. Collis, I though a lot about suicide, as far as I was concerned it was not a matter of if I would kill myself, but when and how. Somewhat uncharacteristically I favored a dramatic and messy departure from this world. A bottle of superb single malt scotch, Laphroaig, and a gun. Hardly befitting of an academic, but perfectly in tune with my surroundings. I had the Laphroaig locked in a cupboard and I'd approached one of my tenants about acquiring a gun. So why am I emailing you and how come I'm still on the right side of the grass?
After my money ran out I devised a way of eating well for no charge. I would dress in a decent thrift shop suit (I'd got much too fat for my old clothes), put on a shirt and tie and go to the major down town hotels where I'd eat the breakfasts, lunches and occasionally buffet dinners provided for convention goers. I'd mingle with hot tub salespeople, real estate agents, medical technicians and even teachers and I'd eat their food. That little scam was one of the few aspects of my life which gave me any pleasure. In retrospect, it gave me too much pleasure and was a major factor in my journey towards obesity. It was on one of my food foraging expeditions that I saw your keynote address listed in the conference agenda that I often carried as part of my cover. 'Human Soup for the Chicken Soul'. I sat in the back and was pinned like a butterfly by your words. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with the fact that you made me laugh out loud for the first time in months. The chemistry of the laughter dissolved my defenses and I wept. I wept for the futility of wasted years, I wept for the confusion of my two boys, I wept for the minor minds of those who could not tell truth from lies and I wept for myself. I wept because, for a moment, I felt I no longer needed a gun.
I know that I might fail, I'm a damaged man, but I'm a damaged man looking for rebirth, not an untimely exit. In your Spring 2000 issue of 'Well' (I've read them all) you quote Rudyard Kipling's 'If'. I knew the poem, but I saw it through different eyes, it burned into my brain. It was as though Kipling was looking over my shoulder and sending me a message.
| IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you.
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream ~ and not make your dreams your master
If you can think ~ and not make your thoughts your aim
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools
The poem goes on:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' ~ Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
I've been lied about and watched the things I gave my life to broken and now I have to "stop and build them up with worn out tools." They are 'worn out tools', Dr. Collis. I'm nearer to 60 than 50, I'm 5'10" tall and weigh nearly 250 lbs., I have arthritis in my hips and ankles (and my knees aren't too great). I walk by necessity, as I don't have a car, but I have quite a lot of foot pain. I can swim although have not been to a pool in years.
I would appreciate some guidance, although I have nothing to offer in return, other than a willingness to share with you and your readers the story of my struggle in my attempts to 'Rebuild the Rainbow'."
NOTE
We have sent Sigma a program of walking, stretching and light resistance work. If he has access to a pool, I will recommend some swimming and aquatic exercise. We included a pedometer and blueprint for a future publication "10,000 Ways". We have suggested 3 different programs of caloric restriction so that he can choose one that suits his needs and eating style. We also included Nancy's CD, 'Calm Down', and we have offered to help in any way we can. We look forward to hearing how he deals with the challenges that confront him. I told him that if he can give me a city I could probably get him free access to a local University gymnasium through my contacts in the field.
There are heroes everywhere, most of them unrecognized and unacknowledged. Sigma Topman's quest to rebuild his life is a thing of heroic proportions and maybe we'll be allowed to share in his efforts. I often tell my audience that life if not a spectator sport, but an effort sport and Sigma Topman seems prepared to make an effort.
This is absolutely awesome! I am enjoying the songs, the poetry and the ideas. You are doing a great job. Congratulations. Your webmaster is pretty incredible. Everything works! It looks good and sounds good. It is fun and interesting and colourful. Easy to read, easy to access. Superb!
~ Kendy Bentley Congratulations on producing a remarkable Fall edition of "Well." It is book length. Furthermore, it seems more like an IMAX theatrical production than a simple newsletter. None could complain if you produced one of these per decade, and took the rest of the time off to pursue your diverse interests.
~ Don Ardell [Don is the Dean of Wellness, currently running for Mayor of Tampa Bay on a wellness ticket] I just finished reading your Fall Newsletter and enjoyed the article on diets immensely. I wanted to share as to your comment about the most common size of American Women being a size 14. I have had an interesting experience as a result of the advent of "vanity sizing" by some marketing savvy clothing store chains. The practice involves selling clothing marked as regular sizes however they fit "generously". I have been a size two for most of my life. In the last couple of years I have noticed that, while my body is the same dimension as it has always been, I have effectively been reduced to a size 0, even though I know I am a size 2. In fact, as it is often hard to find clothes in size 0. I have resorted to buying children's size 14 for certain items. This is a case of vanity sizing gone awry.
~ Regards, Gwen Garris | |
Walking Man II : Giacometti
with Martin Collis
O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,
gimme a break before I die:
grant me wisdom, will & wit,
purity, probity, pluck & grit.
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,
gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,
and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice -
these little blessings would suffice
to beget an earthly paradise:
make the bad people good -
and the good people nice;
and before our world goes over the brink,
teach the believers how to think.~ Philip Appleman |
ecently I've been walking to work which doesn't sound too challenging as my office is at home, but I've found that a 5 k morning circuit delivers me back to my desk ready to write. William James said, "The length of my walking is the length of my writing", so herewith about 5 kilometers worth (about 5000 steps). This morning, thoughts were streaming through my head like electrons in a linear accelerator, all I need to do now is commit a few to paper. When you start out on a walk you usually have no idea where your thoughts will take you, rather like a novelist who starts to write a book not knowing how it will finish. It's the same with 'Well', as I sit down to prepare an edition I have no preconceived ideas of what main themes will emerge. This spring, the emergent theme seems to be personal potential. When I speak of wonder in my presentations it's usually about the wonder of our remarkable and very flawed species. As this edition of 'Well' unfolded I realized it included glimpses of some extraordinary and at times heroic people taking on challenges and in doing so becoming accidental or incidental heroes and heroines. The spirit of runner/philosopher George Sheehan is a constant companion on my walks. "Each one of us is an experiment of one. Each is a unique, never-to-be-repeated event. Our talents vary. Our defeats are our own. Our environments offer special challenges. We evolve from a constant interaction between instinct and will, between emotions and reason, between environment and good fortune. Life, like it or not, is a handicap event and a winner may finish deep in the pack."
As an online magazine, 'Well' is big, but in the words of Bob Dylan, it's "Life and life only" with all its fame and foibles, mind and music, laughter and love, poetry, passion and people, all those wonderful people whose stories are scattered throughout this edition.'
Dr. Kenneth Cooper
The man who should have been Surgeon General
I recently shared a platform with Dr. Cooper at the Health Excellence and Fitness Symposium in Pensacola, Florida. It always amazes me when people in the wellness industry don't recognize his name. He is the man who gave us the word 'Aerobics', which was the title of his first book. He was the single most important person in popularizing jogging in the late 60's and the 70's. His Cooper Institute in Dallas produces more refereed publications on physical activity and wellness than any university or other institution in the world. He was ridiculed when he opened a preventative medicine practice in the 60's, but that same practice is now a major life changing organization with a big preventative medicine practice, residential centers for on-site education programs, a state of the art fitness center and the prolific research institute. [www.cooperinst.org]
Dr. Cooper has long been the personal physician for the Bush family and still looks after the medical and health needs of George W. Because of this association and his stature in the profession and because I knew he wanted the job, I expected Ken to be named Surgeon General (Don Ardell would prefer Wellness General) and was surprised when the post went to Richard Carmona. Ken was able to explain why when we spoke in Florida. He was offered the post but would have been required to sell all the components of The Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas from which the name 'Cooper' would have to be expunged. He worked with a team of lawyers to try to create a blind trust, but the Department of Health and Human Services was adamant and their message was essentially, "Divest yourself of your life's work, (which your son, Tyler, will carry on) and then you can be our spokesperson."
This is a huge loss to the United States who could have had a dedicated, visionary Surgeon General.  Ken still has the president's ear and is still an important voice in Washington, but at a time when North America is being ravaged by the twin pits of overeating and underexercising they need him as a leader. Canada did the same sort of thing when it failed to fund Participaction and thus lost Russ Kisby. It's a sign of mediocrity and modest minds when great people are overlooked for leadership positions.
In Florida, Dr. Cooper showed some persuasive slides illustrating a strong correlation between test results on the Institute's Fitnessgram and academic performance in school children. I'll be following this up in a future edition of 'Well'. He was also clear that C-reactive protein should be measured as part of a coronary risk factor profile. CRP and homocystein are two risk factors associated with heart disease of which researchers were largely unaware when conducting earlier studies.
When someone asked Ken how, at age 72, he can continue to look good, retain his boundless enthusiasm and work 12-hour days, his one word reply was 'discipline'. He runs or walks at least 15 miles a week without fail. Discipline is not a popular word in the best selling weight loss manuals, but without it few positive changes occur.
Steve Nash
I had to admire my friend Steve Nash's decision to make a thoughtful and low-key statement regarding his feelings about a possible war in Iraq and war in general. At the NBA All-Star game Steve wore a T-shirt with a discreet "No War. Shoot for peace" logo. Steve was very clear that this was not an anti-American gesture, pointing out that his own country, Canada, is far from perfect. He feels there is still room for more discussion regarding alternatives to a war. In this he has the support of Winston Churchill who once said that, "Jaw, jaw is better than war, war." Most high profile athletes with big endorsement contracts are advised to tip toe away from controversy so Steve's decision to express himself was a significant and courageous gesture.
Sometimes what we need is perspective and thanks again to Don Ardell for including the words of Carl Sagan along with a picture of the tiny, pin prick dot of Earth as seen by Voyager 1 at a distance of 4 billion miles.
"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam. The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
Injuries
I have a pain in the arch of my left foot which I've come to think of as my 'arch enemy'. It's never easy to deal with injuries. At first, I ignored it, but it got worse. I got the obligatory x-ray, which showed nothing. I finally went to a podiatrist, which was a cosmic waste of time and money. I had the first appointment of the morning, but had to wait 20 minutes to see 'the doctor'. I'd filled out a form prior to my visit, which he clearly hadn't read. He gave a cursory look at my feet and then proceeded to tell me what I already knew. I had pronounced forefoot varus, my left ankle was inflexible etc. Without looking at the site of the injury he quickly got into his sales pitch for othotics and orthopaedic shoes ($700/pair). He then told me that I shouldn't even think of running on feet like mine and that he'd given up jogging 10 years previously and was much happier. (I was tempted to tell him to inform his face). It was clear to me that this was a man with no empathy and no concept of high level performance so I foolishly paid my $45 and went on my way. In retrospect, I should have declined to pay and said why. The foot still hurts, but I don't think my jogging days are over just yet.
"I run so I do not lose the me
I was yesterday and the me I might become tomorrow."
~ George Sheehan
There are certain fundamental things in delivering a professional service
- Be punctual, or if you are delayed, apologize and explain why.
- Be prepared and don't waste the client's time and money asking about things which are clearly documented.
- Be empathetic. Listen to your client or patient's concerns and desires and, where realistic, work towards making them a reality.
- Be very, very careful that the client doesn't feel perceived as a good potential cash cow, rather than someone whose problem needs to be addressed as expediently and inexpensively as possible.
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Big is Not Better
We're developing a drive-through lifestyle where we want things big, in a hurry and for 99 cents. Everything is bigger whether it's SUV's, cookies the size of small pizzas, Grand Slam breakfasts, Big Gulps, TV screens and portion sizes in general. The concept of the biggie size leads to biggie butts and biggie thighs. It's all so obvious you could inscribe it on the head of a pin, but that won't stop countless academicians writing papers, politicians wringing their hands, bariatric surgeons performing new and improved stomach stapling techniques and every pharmacological and naturopathic huckster peddling weight-loss products. |
For a well researched and thoughtful commentary on childhood obesity, I strongly suggest reading Mary Eberstadt's "Child-Fat Problem." This is a lengthy article that deals with the multi-factoral nature of the increasing numbers of overweight children in the USA and throughout the world.
Parts of the article might step on a few toes and deal with politically delicate areas; but I feel its intent is to give an honest appraisal of factors impacting childhood obesity.Mary Eberstadt is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a consulting editor for the Institutions bi-monthly publication, 'Policy Review' . |
Dr. Atkins
He's back. The old doctor doesn't go away and small studies are now being reported that suggest the Atkins diet just might work. I'm often skeptical of newspaper summaries of experimental data where the headline doesn't always seem to match the results. However, when I saw the report of a study conducted by Drs. Gary Foster, Samuel Klein and James Hill I took notice, for they include past and present presidents of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. I have often quoted James Hill in previous issues of 'Well' as he runs the National Weight Control Registry. Gary Foster admitted that one of the reasons they studied the Atkins approach was to 'show that it didn't work'. What they found after 3 months was that the Atkins group lost 8.6kg. (19 lbs) while the high complex carb group lost 4.1 kg (9 lbs). But what about coronary risk factors? The Atkins group LDL's (bad cholesterol) rose 7 points, but the HDL's (good cholesterol) rose and impressive 12 points. The high carb group had a slight decrease in LDL's and no change in their HDL's . The largest difference was in triglycerides. The Atkins dieters dropped 22 points while the high carb group didn't budge. The Atkins weight loss was not simply dehydration, as critics often contend, since dieters in a separate study also lost twice as much body fat on an Atkins type regimen. Despite these results, many of the researchers who did the studies are reluctant to recommend the Atkins diet for now, saying they know too little about its long-term effects. A large new study just underway could settle those doubts. The federally sponsored project will randomly put 360 overweight men and women on the Atkins plan or the US Department of Agriculture's standard high-carb, low-fat diet, then watch them in painstaking detail for at least two years. "It's difficult to swallow," says O'Brien, "but the data are the data, even if they go against 30 years of dogma."
As I noted in my diet article in "Well" Fall 2002, it's intriguing how critical the nutrition establishment has been of Atkins without ever doing their homework.
The Speakwell cat, Roxy, eats an Atkins type diet and is almost 20 years old.
McDonalds
Old McDonald had some stands
Ee I Ee I Oh.
And they played havoc with my glands
Ee I Ee I Oh.
With calories here, calories there,
Here a shake, there a fry
Everything is supersized. |
I always feel a bit 'healthier than thou' writing about McDonalds which, because of its size, is a metaphor or symbol for the fast food industry which has changed the way many people eat. But I can't resist a few observations.
The last few months have not been a vintage time for McDonalds. In January they reported their first ever quarterly loss and share price has gone from nearly $50.00 USD in 1999 to about $12.50 today. Their stock is being battered like that of United Airlines. (Maybe it's fear of frying). Their response is predictable and Larry Light, head of Global Marketing, has been having brainstorming sessions with McDonald's top advertising agencies from around the world. It's all about money and image.
The root of the problem is that McDonalds, like many other multi-nationals, feel they have to grow bigger and more profitable every year and ultimately this is impossible. It is the philosophy of the cancer cell.
McDonalds has had to deal with a number of problems other that its falling stock price and decrease in same store sales.
1. The Law Suit. One of those apparently frivolous lawsuits of the "McDonalds made me fat" variety got a very interesting response in Federal District Court from judge Robert W. Sweet. In his 64-page ruling he disallowed the complaint as it stood but suggested a different strategy might be successful. Referring to some products as "McFrankenstein" foods, Judge Sweet (I love these names: Larry Light, Judge Sweet, sounds like something you put in your motel coffee - 'Sweet and Light') said that if the plaintiff could prove that foods were altered during processing to such an extent that the result could be a health hazard beyond the comprehension of the average consumer, then the case might be worth pursuing. Quoting from the New York Times,  "The judge ran down the ingredients of several McDonalds products, including Chicken McNuggets. Chicken McNuggets, rather than being chicken fried in a pan, are a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook. A Chicken McNugget is comprised of, in addition to chicken: water, salt, modified corn starch, sodium phosphates, chicken broth powder (chicken broth, salt and natural flavoring (chicken source)), seasoning (vegetable oil, extracts of rosemary, mono, di- and triglycerides, lecithin). Battered and breaded with water, enriched bleached white flour (niacin, iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, modified corn starch, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, dried whey, corn starch. Batter set in vegetable shortening. Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and /or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or corn oil). TBHQ and citric acid added to help preserve freshness. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent."
2. The French Factor. The McDonalds head office produced reams of disclaimers when McDonalds France in an advertisement in Femme Actuelle suggested that, in view of concerns about childhood obesity, children should only eat in their restaurants once a week. It must all be part of that anti US French strategy. Several US Government organizations have struck back by renaming 'French fries', 'Freedom fries'.
A recent study out of Minnesota yielded the following information:
Average Calories Consumed by Children per Day
| No Fast Food | 1900 | | Fast Food 2 times a week | 2100 |
Fast Food 3 times a week or more | 2700 |
 3. From Golden Arches to Fallen Arches. McDonalds just can't seem to get it right. They supersize everything and charge less, with .99 cent meals in the US and $1.69 meals in Canada. They frantically open new outlets around the globe at the rate of over 5 a day. They try a 'lighter menu' with little success and their tie-in with Disney has led to some unwanted merchandise with Happy Meals, as a number of recent movies have flopped. They've tried greeters a la Wal-Mart and are now offering 24-hour pick-up windows. They've tried almost everything except great food.
As a service to 'Well' readers, I tried their McVeggie Burger and salad. I had hopes for the burger as it was supplied by Yves Veggie Cuisine of Vancouver who have done well in the burger and hot dog look-alike business. It was a boring burger substitute, tarted up with the usual McDonalds pickles, iceberg lettuce, pepper and ketchup. Let's face it, McDonald's burgers, be they meat or veggie, are really condiment delivery systems.  I noted the disclaimer, "During preparation, the McVeggie Burger may come into contact with meat and/or chicken products." My salad just didn't look like the salad in the 'Lighter Choices' promo poster, but then the flowers in my garden often don't resemble the pictures on the packet. I passed on desert but can share with you the comments of Tralee Pearce of the Globe and Mail, "The new Fruit 'n' Yogurt Parfait, made with creamy Danone vanilla yogurt, goopy strawberries and blueberries, and topped with airy granola, is a complete hybrid of junk food and health food. It replicates the format with a mere 155 calories and 2.5 grams of fat."
Of course, the inevitable happened, while I was purchasing my veggie burger I was approached by someone who had heard one of my presentations. " I didn't expect to see the Wellness guy in McDonalds." I told her I was "doing research for my newsletter" and sounded totally unconvincing. I felt like a priest in a whorehouse.
Do I think the struggle at McDonalds is some sort of watershed in public food choices? In some cases, yes, there are a growing number of people who associate McDonalds with boring, high calorie foods, which don't help with weight control. But remember Wendys is gaining market share and the two giant donut sellers, Tim Hortons and  Krispy Kreme are growing exponentially. Krispy Kreme has been one of the most successful IPO's of the last 3 years with the stock currently trading for $35 USD. They plan to open 77 new outlets in 2003. (It's an odd company name as their signature Hot Original Glazed doughnut is neither crisp nor creamy.) Krispy Kreme stores across North America produce more than 5 million doughnuts a day (more than 2 billion doughnuts per year). The Krispy Kreme web site boasts some astonishing and maybe frightening statistics which include:
- Every week they make enough doughnuts to reach from New York to Los Angeles.
- Every year, they use up two Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of chocolate.
- Every year, they use about 1 million pounds of sprinkles.
- Collectively, Krispy Kreme's stores could make a doughnut stack as high as the Empire State building (that's 1,454 feet or 443 meters) in only two minutes.
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Even the most basic McDonalds burger offers way more nutrition that a donut. In case you're feeling sorry for McDonalds, last year their global sales were around 41 billion dollars.
It might be a bit extreme, but I talked to a woman in Pensacola (the city that sounds like a soft drink) who had taught her children that Ronald McDonald was some sort of evil clown from whom they should stay away.
The States of Obesity
The most recent CDC (Center for Disease Control) graphics of obesity show that 1 in 4 people in Mississippi are now obese with a BMI of 30 or over. The CDC slides are frightening graphic evidence of the epidemic of obesity that's sweeping the continent and is now killing over 300,000 Americans each year.
[Click here to open a separate window displaying the CDC slides for 1990,1992,1994,1996,1998,2000, 2001]
An Orange Alert indeed.
New Book
In past issues of 'Well', I've recommended 2 excellent books that help make sense of our losing battle with obesity. These were "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser and "Food Politics" by Marion Nestle. Now there's a third must read book, "Fat Land" by Greg Critser.
 If you want to really understand why Americans are becoming the fattest people on earth, you need to read Greg Critser's 2003 book, "Fat Land". He relates the development of high fructose corn syrup and the availability of cheap palm oil to the whole concept of supersizing and producing food which was great for shelf life but less so for self life. It's a dazzling piece of work written with wit and insight and supported by very sound research.
Critser also writes persuasively about the 'dumbing down' of physical activity and how there has been a lowering of standards and expectations about the quantity and quality of exercise we need.
He's not afraid to deal with the delicate matter that there are socio-economic factors associated with fatness and that while much research concerns the middle class and the wealthy, more of the problems are found among the poor and disenfranchised.
It's a terrific book, with a sociological perspective, which separates it from the other two. Check it out at amazon.com
It's Not Such a Small World After All
A March 17th 2003 article from Food Navigator.com updates the global obesity picture.
As western nations draw up strategies to combat the growing number of starving people in the developing world currently standing at a staggering 800 million and growing -- a British based group warns this week that, at the other end of the spectrum, up to 1.7 billion people worldwide could be overweight or obese. But, this is not just a problem for developed countries -- obesity is hitting the developing world.
Professor Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity TaskForce, said the revised figure was 50 per cent higher than earlier estimates meant that most governments were simply ignoring one of the biggest risks to health affecting the world's population.
The updated estimate takes into account a new recommendation from a WHO expert group, which concluded that obesity-related health risks increase among Asians from a lower body mass index threshold because of their special vulnerability to weight-related disorders.(Lancet, Vol 360 July 20 2002) If the proposal were adopted as a new benchmark, it could add another half billion to current estimates of the world's overweight population.
Professor James notes:
"It is clear that extreme forms of obesity are rising even faster than the overall epidemic and we are witnessing a real health tragedy unfolding. In the USA the percentage of black women with morbid obesity - a BMI of 40 or more - has doubled in less than a decade to a rather disturbing 15 per cent. Overall 6.3 per cent of US women - that is one in 16 - are morbidly obese.
"We are seeing a rapid increase in morbid obesity in Europe too, although with smaller percentages. The data for England show that morbid obesity in women increased 180 per cent while rising three fold among
men in less than a decade!"
[Through hardship to the stars]
by Simon Ibell
Martin's note: Simon is a Speakwell employee who inspires all.
"Simon, you have been selected as one of the finalists at the Canadian Sport Awards March 25th, 2003 (this will be shown on CBC TV March 26th). The other nominees in your group are the figure skating pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier and cross-country skier Becky Scott."  | I could hardly believe it, me a finalist on National TV for one of the most prestigious sports awards in the country. Of course, I do have a little competition; Sale and Pelletier skated an almost perfect performance in the Salt Lake City Olympics and would have won the Gold Medal outright had it not been for some judging machinations. |  |
(I smiled as I thought that maybe I could borrow the French judge for the Sports Awards night). Then there's Becky Scott who, like Sale and Pelletier, will probably get her Olympic Gold Medal retroactively. The two Russians, Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova who finished ahead of Scott have already been disqualified by the IOC, but their appeals will probably not be heard until later this year.
Fortunately, you don't have to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the category in which I'm nominated. I was recognized by the Spirit of Sport Foundation for my efforts in last summer's Bike4MPS ride, which I created to raise awareness about the obscure disease, which I deal with on a day to day basis.
What an honor, what a thrill. I envisage trading backstage sports award talk with my good friend, Roland Green, who is world mountain biking champion and won the Male Athlete of the Year award last year at the same ceremony. 
I'll also be able to swap stories with my old school friend, good buddy and role model Steve Nash 
Steve is a two time NBA All-Star and won the 2002 Lionel Conacher Award as Canada's top male athlete as voted by the Canadian Press. Dreams really do come true and I'll get to meet Wayne Gretzky  who is scheduled to be there to receive the award for leading Team Canada to its gold in hockey at the 2002 Olympics. (Will I be the only one without a Gold Medal?).
Blind Luck
There I was a couple of weeks ago, so high I was looking down on cloud nine and I'd almost forgotten my opthamologist's appointment on the following day. The news he had was pretty devastating and certainly let some of the air out of my Sports Award balloon. I'd been finding it increasingly difficult to see at night and had to stop driving after dark. The reason for this, the doctor explained, was progressive macular degeneration, which for people with MPS typically leads to blindness in 2 - 5 years. I discovered there was nothing wrong with my tear ducts as I was forced to contemplate a life without sight. I could relate to the comments of an MS patient I read in a doctoral dissertation, "It's like, there is God sitting there, pitching things for me to catch, and every time I get them all, I'd say, 'Good, I've got them all' and then he'd pitch me another one." What should I do, learn Braille, go see the moon over the Taj Mahal or maximize time with my family and friends and memorize every detail of their appearance?
I remembered Martin's wife, Nancy, saying "Accept the diagnosis and defy the prognosis." I've done this with so many problems and now I've got another one to deal with. I tell myself everything happens for a reason but right now it's hard to figure out what that reason might be.
At the age of 4, I was diagnosed with Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), a rare and progressive disorder which impacts many body parts and major organs. This one corrupted enzyme has wreaked havoc on my body. I have an enlarged heart and an atrial valve problem, my joints are arthritic and often painful, my hearing is severely compromised, I have asthma and breathing problems, particularly at night when my tongue blocks my airway leading to sleep apnea and consequent lack of sleep accompanied by some vicious headaches. The most visible impact of MPS was its effect on my growth hormone, which instead of allowing me to grow to my predicted height of 6'3" cut me off at 4'8".
Because of MPS, for most of my life I've been forced to deal with labels like 'disabled', 'handicapped' and even worse, the politically correct 'handicapable'. We are each an experiment of one and to try to pigeon hole me with a label often leads to misconceptions about the impact I can make on this world.
Sport has always been my passion but at a relatively young age I realized that MPS would not allow me to be a high level performer. I would never dunk a basketball but I could be part of a basketball team by being the best and most caring manager in my power. I could do my utmost to make sure that every practice; every road trip and every game were free from any of those administrative glitches, which can sometimes change the course of a season.
Because of my managerial role I was not a spectator, but a participant when Steve Nash led my AA high school to a Hoosier-like AAA Provincial Basketball title. Likewise, when the University of Victoria won the National Basketball Championship I was celebrating in the middle of the dog pile of happy players. I've gone on to fulfil a similar role with the Canadian National Team. It may be ironic being 4'8" and involved in a sport of giants, but why should I let something as insignificant as height prevent me from offering my best to the sport I love? The players and coaches see me as an essential part of the team and at times maybe an inspiration.
The doors of history swing on small hinges and it was Dr. Martin Collis' impromptu decision to ignore the Fire Marshall's restrictions and allow a few extra students into his Human Potential class at the University of Victoria that first put me in contact with him. His class gave me another shot of inspiration and I've subsequently become a speaker in my own right and have addressed a variety of audiences ranging from schoolchildren to international athletes. There is a short distance from mentor to friend and this year I'm working with Martin at Speakwell.
I often ask myself, "What is the source of my passion? Where do I find the will power to carry on, when my biochemistry rewrites the rules of survival? How do I find the courage to seek solutions where none seem to exist?" For me the energy source was my family who provided an environment of respect, integrity, and fun and put no limits on my dreams. It's interesting, even as I write words like 'respect' and 'integrity' they seem like something out of a company mission statement, but at home they were as real and tangible as the front door. In the early years of the 21st century, meals are often taken on the run or in front of the TV. I grew up in a family where mealtimes were a forum for debate, argument, teasing, laughter and conversation. I grew up with unconditional love from my parents and my sister and this is the source of my strength. This unfaltering support has allowed me to face challenges head-on, and to enter a world once considered the exclusive domain of the able-bodied.
Call it denial, call it heroic but I have chosen not to let MPS limit my ambition. I've completed my degree and am working at Speakwell and living independently in Victoria. Last Summer, I created Bike4MPS [see Simon's article in Fall 2002] and with huge support from friends, family and volunteers, rode 380 km from Port Hardy to Victoria in some of the nastiest Summer weather Vancouver Island could throw at us. The journey became a metaphor for people with MPS and many other disabilities as we faced up to physical, mental and emotional challenges. But the end result was a triumph with a gala dinner attended by nearly 500 people and with over a quarter of a million dollars raised for MPS research.
Sometimes life with a disability can get absurd and I'll share with you a current 'Monty Python' like situation with which I am dealing. The Ministry of Human Resources uses me as a spokesperson and role model for their Triumph Vocational Series program, which is designed to integrate challenged people into the workforce. However, when I went to the same Ministry of Human Resources (Disability Assessment Branch) about acquiring a nasal CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine to help with my nighttime breathing, I somehow didn't quite meet their criteria as 'disabled'.  (Rather than seeing humans as 'resources' wouldn't Ministry of Human Services or even Ministry of Human Beings be more likely to produce empathetic bureaucrats?) Currently, I receive only about 65% of the oxygen I should when I'm asleep, which puts a major strain on my heart and is the cause of many of my headaches. But the real headache is having to deal with government departments that spend tens of millions of dollars for medications but cannot provide the modest amount of money for a life-changing piece of equipment.  I'll resolve this problem,
though it's such a poor use of my time and energy.
As Monty Python and Don Ardell remind us,
"Always look on the bright side of life",
and I will.
 sing a pedometer has made me sensitive to just how many steps and how much time it takes to burn off the calories we can casually consume. In the summer 2002 edition of "Well" I went into the lab to test the accuracy of our pedometers and measure how many steps it took to burn off a given number of calories. A person weighing in the 180 - 200 lb (81.5 - 90 kg) range would burn about 500 calories walking 10,000 steps. (Lighter people burn a few less, and heavier folks a few more: see the table in "More Thoughts on 10,000 Steps" summer 2002) Therefore, as an approximation it takes 20 steps to burn off 1 calorie. If you know how many calories in a particular product, just multiply that number by 20 and you'll know how many steps it takes to walk it off.
For example, a regular Snickers bar contains 280 calories and will therefore require 5600 steps to walk it off (280 cals x 20 steps). The next question is how long will this take?  Walking at a typical pace where you can walk and talk comfortably (not a stroll) takes approximately 8 mins. 40 secs. /1000 steps. Therefore, it will take you 48 1/2 minutes to 'walk off' your Snickers bar.
A 'King' sized snickers packs a huge 570 calories and would take 1 hour and 40 minutes to walk off.
As a rule of thumb, 5000 steps takes roughly 3/4 of an hour. If you are power walking you can cut that time close to 1/2 hour. As I've noted before, the business of living in a normal day for me seems to account for about 5000 steps, so in order to get my 10,000 I can jog for about 25 minutes, power walk for 35 or walk briskly and comfortably for 45 minutes.
Obviously, once you get into the cookies, candies, cakes, croissants and chips there are not enough hours in the day to burn them off, so instead you have to let them take up residence in your hips, thighs and abdomen.
In the North American culture, you have to use your brain when making food choices. Don't be guided by your friends, by advertising, by convenience, by 'not letting good food go to waste', or even by your taste buds which eons ago learned to respond favorably to salt, fats and sugar. The following table might guide your thinking when running the gauntlet of fast food franchises that dominate the food courts of our malls and that ruin the landscape as you approach most towns and cities.
| Calories | Steps | Approx time
to to burn it off at a steady walking pace |
A Grande (16 oz)
Starbucks Latte | 350 | 7000 | about 1 hour |
In a world where big is better, it's fascinating that Starbucks has no word for 'small'. Their 3 advertised sizes are 'tall', 'grande' and 'vente'. If you specifically ask for a 'small' they can produce some regular sized coffee cups, but it's not something they encourage you to order.
|
|
McDonalds
Big Mac Meal | 1470 | 29400 | 5 hours |
This needs a long walk and the average
pace will be a little slower.
|
|
Subway Classic
6" Meatball | 501 | 10020 | 1 1/4 hours |
Jared must do a lot of walking!
|
|
Krispy Kreme
Glazed Creme Filled | 350 | 7000 | 1 hour |
|
| 
In New Orleans recently, I watched people
buying Krispy Kremes. In 10 minutes not
one person ordered a single donut, many people
bought them by the box.
|
|
Domino's Pizza
Ultimate Deep Dish
14" Cheese | 677 | 13540 | 2 hours |
(you can add 'Domino's Dots)
|
|
KFC Popcorn
Chicken (large) | 620 | 12400 | 1 3/4 hours |
|
|
Dairy Queen
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
| 310 | 6200 | 53 mins. |
|
|
Jugo Juice
Powerzone | 341 | 6820 | about 1 hr. |
 |
|
Some Typical Meals at Home
| Breakfasts | Calories | Steps | Time it takes
to burn off |
A) 3/4 c fresh fruit
1 oz. Corn Flakes
1/2c. 2% milk | 250 | 5000 | 43 mins. |
 |
|
B) 2 eggs poached
3 pcs. of streaky bacon
1 c. hash brown potatoes
2 slices white toast
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp jam | 850 | 17,000 | 2 hrs. 25 mins |
 |
|
C) 2 slices brown toast
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c orange juice
1 cup black coffee | 350 | 7000 | 1 hour |
 |
|
| Lunches | Calories | Steps | Time it takes
to burn off |
1. 1 c. mixed green salad
1 slice whole wheat bread
1/2 tbsp. Butter
1c. herbal tea | 250 | 5000 | 43 mins. |
 |
|
2. Bowl of vegetable soup
white bread rolls
cup of coffee with cream | 360 | 7200 | just over 1 hr. |
 |
|
3. Chicken salad sandwich
on brown bread
Fresh apple
Cup of tea with milk | 464 | 9280 | 1 hr 20 min. |
 |
|
| Dinners | Calories | Steps | Time it takes
to burn off |
1. Grilled Chicken breast
with steamed vegetables
1/2 baked potato with 1 tbsp butter
Low fat yogurt | 600 | 12000 | 1 3/4 hours |
 |
|
2. Spaghetti with tomato sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. vanilla ice cream | 690 | 13800 | 2 hours |
 |
|
3. Roast beef with gravy
roasted potatoes
Yorkshire pudding, roasted mixed vegetables,
Slice of chocolate cake | 1323 | 26460 | 3 3/4 hours |
 |
|
Looked at in a different way, here is the weight you would gain if you added one a day of the products shown below and didn't burn it off with some exercise. For example, if you consumed one extra 10 calorie product each day for a year the math looks like this:
Approximately 350 days a year x 10 calories = 3500 calories = 1 lb of weight gained.
Every 10 calories per day turns into one pound
[Ron: please put this into the form of columns with the headings of calories and weight gain per year]
As it says in the old song by Kitty Kallen "Little things mean a lot" and those insignificant Triscuits, Kit Kats and cookies can miraculously turn into fat. Conversely, every step you take, every stair you climb, every sit-up you perform and every grocery bag you lift can help turn Triscuits, Kit Kats and cookies into vapour.
The Quick and the Dead
Warren, Bob, Joe, Hank and Townes
My instinct has always been to be happy, to look for laughter, to find the reverse side of the reverse side and to frustrate people like Tolstoy who said, "We are all mirrors dropped at birth and we are wounded in trying to put ourselves back together". The one time I went to see a counselor, I spent part of my 50-minute hour putting him on an exercise program.
Given this mindset, it intrigues me that I have always listened to singer/songwriters who experienced the bleak, dangerous and often desperate world that colored their songs. It was said of Townes Van Zandt "He looked into the abyss and saw the abyss" which doesn't sound too much like wellness. (I'd look into the abyss and see a potential swimming pool). Maybe I live vicariously through the pain of these men, maybe they have the courage, or insight, to go places I strive to avoid. I sense that they're honest and that pain is their muse, for as Montagne once said, "Happiness writes white".
Warren
 I reflected on this after watching Warren Zevon's poignant, self-effacing and bleakly comic interview with David Letterman. Many 'Well' readers will not have heard of Warren Zevon and probably wouldn't like him if they did. His two most famous songs are "Werewolves of London" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". Twenty-five years ago, Warren was the Graham Greene of pop songwriters with a keen sense of geography and potential trouble spots in the world. In 2003, his 1982 song, "The Envoy", sounds strangely prescient:
"Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel's attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad does whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the Envoy."
Click  to download/play mp3 clip.
I loved some of his minor works, such as 'Desperados Under the Eaves'
"I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was listening to the air conditioner hum
It went mmm, mmm
Click to download/play mp3 clip.
At this point, the hum of the air conditioner gradually builds into a full orchestra and chorus. No one but Zevon would make an air conditioner an integral part of a song.
 Death and dying were never far from his mind, from a song titled "I'll sleep when I'm dead" to his two most recent albums, "Life'll Kill Ya" and "My Ride's Here". Warren has incurable Mesothelioma but is philosophical about it. He said he lived like Jim Morrison but got an extra 30 years.  He's using his final weeks to reach out to family and friends and squeeze out one more album (CD). There are messages to those he loves in his final songs. "If I can let someone know what I felt about them, that's more important than passing off some BS insight I've had about living on the planet". But when pressed by Letterman, Warren did have a message for the world. "Enjoy every sandwich".
Bob
In an extraordinary tribute, Bob Dylan shocked his dedicated followers when he included 3 Warren Zevon songs in his recent Seattle show, having never performed one in 40 years. It's unprecedented for Dylan to acknowledge another songwriter in this way. When the man with the most influential and extensive song catalogue of the past 50 years finds space to honor your songs, you could want for no other tribute.
 After a brush with death himself a few years back with a form of pericarditis, Dylan is clearly aware of his own mortality. In an album called "Time Out of Mind" (a phrase from Zevon's "Accidentally Like a Martyr") Dylan's feeling of resignation is almost palpable.
"Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there."
Click to download/play mp3 clip.
But in spite of fame, wealth and an amazing catalogue of songs, Dylan continues to criss-cross the continents and allow us fresh glimpses of his genius in new songs and reinterpretations of old classics. Why does he keep working? He told us in one of his earliest songs.
"He not busy being born, is busy dying".
Joe
 More and more these days I find myself raising a glass to commemorate the death of my favorite troubadours. On my birthday, December 22nd, Joe Strummer of The Clash died of a heart attack. Joe was the most articulate of all the punk rockers and his apocalyptic album, "London Calling", was named the most important album of the 80's by Rolling Stone.  I loved everything about that album including reverential visual tribute to Elvis.
Twenty-five years before Enron, on the album 'Sandinista', Joe wrote,
"Cooking up the books a respected occupation
The anchor and foundation of multi-corporations
They don't believe in crime but expect that it exists
To understand what's right and wrong their lawyers work in shifts."
Maybe Joe just died of futility, for after railing against consumerism, advertising and the moneyed class (from which he came) for 25 years, he lived to hear "London Calling" used to sell Jaguars in TV commercials. Perhaps he just died of irony. In the song "Death or Glory", Joe opens with a crackling verse,
"Every cheap hood makes a bargain with the world
And winds up making payments on a sofa or a girl.
Love and hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands
Hands that slap his kids around 'cause they don't understand
That death or glory
Is just another story."
But he was always able to see beyond the futility and frustration, to the possibility that all the working class energy would be channeled into a noble cause and that the glory was still within reach. On the 12th of March this year, The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a little too late for Joe, but he was always ahead of his time.
Hank
For me the first day of the year is a time for resolutions, football and raising a glass to honor the passing of Hank Williams who died 50 years ago and Townes Van Zandt, whose life and early death mirrored that of Hank in many ways. Both men expressed themselves with their songs and both men used a variety of drugs and alcohol to numb their physical and existential pain. Hank left us with songs like "Cheating Heart", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Lost Highway" and "Jambalaya".  His songs and passionate performances left their mark on generations of singer/songwriters. It was said of Hank Williams, "His genius was that he loved his audience and his audience knew it." In a song by David Allen Coe called "The Ride", the ghost of Hank Williams warns a young performer about the high price of fame.
"Boy can you make folks feel what you feel inside?
If you're big star bound let me warn you it's a long, hard ride."
Click to download/play mp3 clip.
Townes
Townes Van Zandt was loved by everybody except Townes Van Zandt. He was a kind, whimsical, primitive poet with a reputation for missing performances, not completing recording sessions and generally being totally disinterested in the commercial side of the music industry. His addiction was a friendship without a friend. Townes knew there were no answers in alcohol but he seemed powerless to stop drinking himself to death. A number of years ago I was listening to Townes sing and it suddenly struck me he was telling us he'd soon be leaving this world.
"Days full of rain
Sky's comin' down again
I get so tired of these same old blues
Same old song
Baby it won't be long
'Fore I'll be tying on
My flying shoes."
I heard him sing this in Dallas and at the conclusion of the song a voice from the crowd simply said, "Amen, brother, Amen."
Click to download/play mp3 clip.
The Romans told us that "In vino veritas" and the truth that booze revealed about Townes was that he was a gentle man who understood love, laughter and pain. Townes and his talents were not made to succeed in a world of agents and ambition and perhaps that's what endeared him to so many people.
"I don't know how to explain it - never got along with life very well."
Click to download/play mp3 clip of Townes speaking.
As a small legacy to his wife, Janine, and children he left a tape of songs to be released posthumously on a CD titled "A Far Cry From Dead". 
On it is one of my favorite Townes' songs, "To Live's to Fly".
"We all got holes to fill
Them holes are all that's real
Some fall on you like a storm
Sometimes you dig your own
The choice is yours to make,
The time is yours to take
Some dive into the sea
Some toil upon the stone
To live's to fly
Both low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes"
Click to download/play mp3 clip.
The written forward to the recording is typical of Townes.
"Humans can't live in the present, like animals do. Humans are always thinking about the future or the past. So it's a veil of tears, man. I don't know anything that's going to benefit me now, except love. I just need an overwhelming amount of love. And a nap. Mostly a nap."
Rest in peace, Townes.
At one time or another Warren,
Bob, Joe, Hank and Townes all asked themselves the big question, "When I take my final bow who will I be?"
Moliere reminds us that, "Life is a play with a badly written third act", so, "Enjoy every sandwich" and remember that " To live's to fly, both low and high. So shake the dust off of your wings and the sleep out of your eyes."
An Extra Favorite Thing
Eliza Gilkyson has released a stunningly good CD called "Lost and Found". Eliza has been around for a while and it shows. Her songs have richness and maturity and feature some great musicianship.  Her dad was a songwriter who made a decent living writing light and often sentimental songs such as "Greenfields" and "Memories are Made of This". Eliza's writing is in a completely different talent zone. It's interesting when our children catch up with us and then just blow us away. In her own words "I got into music for all the wrong reasons, more as a survival tool than anything else. But it served me more than I dared to imagine it ever would". "Lost and Found" is a CD without any filler or weak songs. The opening track is "Welcome Back". Yes indeed, welcome back Eliza.
Click to download/play real audio clip.
Please note: All the albums on this page can be purchased through
or their American subsidiary
In Pursuit of Ludeau
The derivation of the word Ludeau is interesting; Lud was the Nordic God of Injury, while eau remains the French word for water. Thus, Ludeau literally means 'water of injury', a graphic description of a fascinating substance.
What drives the jogger into the morning mist? Why does a rational and successful stockbroker expose his forty-two year old body to the rigors of rugby? How can people be talked into spending good money to 'pump iron' in the basement of a YMCA or upscale fitness salon? What feeds the fires of the squash players, spinning class adherents and cross-country skiers? And why on earth do people compete in 'xtreme' sports where cuts, abrasions, joint damage and broken bones are de rigeur? Until now, the answers have been rather facile and simplistic. People talked of fitness, weight-loss, social interaction and a mysterious 'exercise high', not recognizing that the real reason behind all the sweat and toil was the pursuit of injury.
Recent German research in the Department of Kinkology at the University of Dresden has revealed the existence of a complex polypeptide released from the pineal gland in response to actual tissue damage. The substance, named Ludeau, is said by the Russian Professor Rippov, to be a sort of self-produced Demerol. The discovery of Ludeau has finally shed light on all the injury seeking behaviors which have for so long baffled Western exercise scientists.
Case study of Ludeau seeking behavior.
Cajoled by Participaction and inspired by beer commercials, Jon Jacobs began a jogging program. Jon's initial runs were about two miles, and early evidence of Ludeau seeking was indicated by the fact that he did no warm-up and ran on the road in a pair of $13.95 triple flash, 10 stripe Korean shoes, which had soles slightly less flexible than plywood. He was rewarded with sore calves, shin splints and his first little Ludeau rush. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks Jon's body accommodated to the Korean shoes and the mileage and, in desperation, he began to run farther and faster in search of tissue breakdown and the Ludeau rush. Like many others, marathon running finally solved Jon's injury needs. The training involved in marathon running almost guaranteed injury and Jon was rewarded with blisters, stress fractures, bursitis and finally Achilles tendonitis. Like all Ludeau junkies Jon gave his injuries little chance to heal and actually ran races while injured, in what is now termed Ludeaucrous behavior.
The science of Ludeau seeking.
Whatever the quest, there will always be extremists, and the author of this article has little concern for the Ludeau freaks who take short-cuts to the thrill of Ludeau release. As in any other endeavor, the real rewards go to those who work carefully and systematically towards their goals. Typical Ludeau freaks will indulge themselves in such behavior as dropping bar-bells on their feet, shutting their fingers in car doors and even jumping off buildings. This last behavior can lead to such a massive Ludeau release that an overdose resulting in death in not uncommon.
 Ludeau on the run.
Leaving aside the lunatic fringe, let us consider Ludeau seeking within the context of running. By following some simple rules almost anyone can ensure themselves of a debilitating Ludeau producing injury while on the run.
1. You must ignore pain!! Pain is a warning that injury is imminent. If you heed the warning and slow down, there is little chance of actual tissue damage. If you can run through the pain barrier you should be rewarded with some sort of physiological breakdown and the opening of the floodgates of Ludeau. 2. Avoid the expensive running shoes sold by the major retailers. A favorite technique of Ludeau lovers is called the 'cross-over', which involves wearing the footwear designed for one sport in a different context. Examples of 'cross-over' include running a road race in bowling shoes or playing soccer in hiking boots or ballet slippers. 3. Ludeautics. These are scientifically made inserts that can be slipped into running shoes. Ludeautics have done for running shoes what spiked heels, pointed toes and Manolo Blahnik have done for women's dress shoes. With a good Ludeautic, the foot is compressed and twisted with every step, resulting in a wonderful array of injuries, which go way beyond stress fractures and bursitis right up into the sacroiliac region. Ludeautics can be purchased from any good podiatrist. 4. Overtraining is an effective injury-producing technique, though it is time-consuming. Perhaps more effective is no training combined with highly competitive racing. 5. Avoid all warm-ups except the 'Ballistic Six'. The B.S. includes straight-leg sit-ups, back arching, vigorous toe touching and other tendon wrenching specials.
 Other Ludeau Producing Activities.
Rugby is an injury-producing medium, thinly disguised as a game. A team is comprised of fifteen players who tackle, run, maul, ruck, stiffarm, scrum, kick, rip and generally brutalize their opponents. Obviously, with thirty players on the field, a small army of officials would be necessary to prevent total athletic anarchy. However, the rugby authorities, in their wisdom, choose to have the game controlled by one referee who often has to 'see through' ten or twelve steaming bodies in order to whistle a foul. The aroma of Ludeau is ever present around the scrums. A further Ludeaucrous aspect of Rugby is that instead of being cocooned by padding, helmets, armour-plate or other protective clothing, rugby players go forth to battle in cotton and polyester shirts and baggy shorts. They are probably the worst protected humans since the Christians fought the lions. In a recent statistic from the World Health Organization, it was estimated that over a million man years of work had been lost because of injuries sustained on the rugby field. Is there anything more Ludeaucrous than rugby? The answer, of course, is a resounding 'yes'. Masters rugby, for those over thirty-five, exposes the frail and flaccid bodies of bankers, computer programmers and executives to all the opportunities for ligament ripping, soft tissue destruction and bone smashing enjoyed by those twenty years younger. In fact, masters' rugby players need only play for a few minutes to sustain a substantial Ludeau producing injury. As a senior civil servant recently said in Vancouver, "I'm no longer concerned about the score, I'm just in it for the Ludeau."
 Further Ludeau Producing Opportunities.
1. Skiing shows an excellent return in injuries, although there is some expense involved. Experienced Ludites have found that by avoiding any pre-ski classes and by tackling runs which are clearly beyond their capabilities they can be in hospital or in the lodge within a matter of minutes with Ludeau coursing through their veins like '92 Chateauneuf du Pap. 2. Weight lifting is another fine Ludeau producing medium. By selecting heavy weights, arching the back and ignoring the biomechanics of lifting, the vertebral column can be subjected to more stress than it can bear. Discs will pop, spinous processes snap and the Ludeau will flow.
Ludeau for those at work and at home.
An ingenious Ludeau finding system was devised by the late Professor Silloc for those with not enough time for organized Ludeau producing sports. Professor Silloc simply rewrote the Workman's Compensation Board Safety Manuals in reverse, and in doing so formalized numerous destructive behaviors which can lead to severe trauma and injury in the comfort of your own home of office.
So there you have it. Once you understand the lure of Ludeau, you can no longer be surprised at the anguish of a runner, the fights in hockey, the grunts in a weight room, the gratuitous violence of football or rugby, it's just Homo-Ludens (man the player) in search of the elusive Ludeau.
Thirsty for Ludeau, the 'gentler sex' have been leaving the Ludeau light enjoyments of Lycra and piped in music and demanding their place in the half-pipe, the hockey rink and the rugby pitch. Dr. Phil theorized that Oprah's marathon running and weight lifting are clear evidence of a feeling of Ludeau deprivation. 
Speaker Profile : Marie MacDonald leads a rich and varied life as a mother, wife and consultant who has run her own human resource development company since 1989. She is an experienced facilitator, keynote speaker and executive coach and has worked with many organizations supporting them in riding the wave of phenomenal change. She has worked extensively with groups to increase their resilience and maintain personal and organizational health during complex change. Marie brings a humorous, infectious and powerful presence to the processes of transition and believes 'Walking the Talk' of our own wellness provides the personal resilience needed to thrive in our fast paced world. Her clients have described her as someone who brings heart to organizations
Marie began her first full time job in 1972 as a childcare worker in a psychiatric treatment center for young children. After she completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Masters of Social Work at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Marie moved to the west coast. She spent eleven years in a number of government management positions in the field of child welfare. At the time of her first pregnancy, Marie left the management stream in government and accepted a position as a college instructor. This allowed her to create some balance between parenting and furthering her professional aspirations.
In a short time Marie was successfully juggling life as a parent, a college instructor and professional consultant. She worked extensively with groups in the areas of Organizational Wellness and Change Resilience. Marie's dynamic, energetic and humorous style brought her great success and her business grew.
With a second child on the way and her father facing a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis, life suddenly became more serious. Her father's illness galvanized her keen interest in wellness and the mind/body/spirit connection. The challenge of balancing her own life however, was becoming increasingly more difficult. At age 41 with 3 and 6 year old daughters, Marie was diagnosed with breast cancer and her world came crashing down.
"Grief makes a precious incision on the soul and has the capacity
to allow you to understand who you really are and what you want."
~ unknown author
Ironically, the day after her diagnosis, Marie was presenting a Wellness Workshop at a conference and was struck by the fact that 'Talking the Talk' of wellness was not enough. Her illness would take her to a much deeper level of understanding. A wake-up call had been sent and received, her keen interest was no longer an academic discussion, 'Walking the Talk' was key to her survival.
The Shift...
Not everything that is faced can be changed.
But nothing can be changed until it is faced.
~ J. Baldwin
During Marie's seven-month recovery period, she stopped for the first time to ponder and reflect on what she really wanted in life.  Like many people living in a fast-paced world, Marie and her husband saw years fly by as they juggled careers, family responsibilities, personal and social lives. They made a decision to focus more on living in the now, having more fun, joy, and time together as a couple. From this new perspective they decided to put everything on the table and reconstruct their lives in a way that supported wellness. Old goal posts had changed, new ones were set, and certain elements of the old ways were dropped over time. The challenge of course was to figure out how to do all of this. As Marie commented to a friend, 'I know I need to be more spontaneous and live in the moment and that's fine if I could just get a schedule of the moments'!
"The goal was to make sure we were doing what we wanted with our lives, and living our dreams today".
 
'The way we lived our lives was put under a microscope. Toxic elements in our family relationships, friendships, work dynamics and aspects of city living were re-evaluated'.
For over a year following radiation treatments Marie's energy was severely depleted. She began to consider her heart to be her energy 'battery' and 'deposits only' became a guide in choosing activities. She taught her children that sometimes 'Mommy' was closed for a while and needed to rest. One day she overheard her six year old telling her three year old, "Don't bug mommy when she's closed or she be closed all night"
This began the continual process of filtering decisions, plans and ideas through a lens to determine if they were supportive to health. The challenge here for Marie was that this was the first time in her life that she consistently put her own needs first. She knew intuitively that drawing personal boundaries and honouring her own needs were part of her healing. A few years later, a decision was made to leave the city of Vancouver for a slower paced friendlier life in Victoria. This meant leaving behind high paying jobs, academic tenure and support networks in exchange for a life with more ease. (and less rain!)
"Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail".
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
 During the last four years in Victoria, Marie has experienced many challenges in maintaining balance. The process for all of us is a lifelong journey and not a quick fix. As Marie has become more resilient, she has increased her effectiveness in supporting the many organizations and individuals she works with to do the same. She defines resilience as the human capacity to bounce back, to face, overcome and possibly be strengthened by change.
As part of 'Walking the family talk' Marie and her husband Gus created a timetable where Gus was able to take an artistic sabbatical and develop his passion for music and composition. One of the products of his work can be heard on Dr. Nancy Wardle's CD, 'Calm Down', for which Gus composed the music and supervised the recording in his home studio.
The demands and challenges of the twenty first century living requires that we focus not just on head, but on heart. Marie had to learn to listen to her heart in order to 'Walk the Talk.'
Speaker Profiles : In each future edition of "Well", we will be featuring an article by, or profile of, one of our Speakwell speakers. This was the first.
 Congratulations to ex Speakwell employee Guy LeMasurier who has received a
grant of $22,000 for a state-wide, pedometer-based intervention in Arizona. It is part of a Healthy Aging 2010 initiative targeting adults between 50 and 64. Guy will be reporting in more detail in the next
issue of 'Well' |
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Martin's disclaimer: Setting a pedometer is really not too hard. People from all 'walks' of life use them successfully, but there are things about the biochemistry of middle-age that can turn simple instructions into a cross between astro-physics and Alice in Wonderland. If you do have a problem calibrating one of our pedometers call Bev. at (250) 721-6997 or toll free at 1-866-721-6940 and she will talk you through it step by step.
Successful Completion of Pedometer 101
Or
What Happens When Two Middle-aged Women Get Together
to Activate Their Pedometers.
What, you may ask, happens when two middle-aged women attempt to set their new pedometers so they can begin their 10,000 steps program? This story will answer that question ~ in the words of Lara Lauzon and Barbara Nylson.
The story starts at the University of Victoria in a Human Wellness class that I (Lara) am teaching and Barbara is taking. Intrigued by Martin's Fall 2002 Issue of Well and Karen Hanford's Pedometer Report we decide to purchase pedometers. That part is easy. A couple of weeks go by - life is busy for the both of us. Neither one of us are using our pedometers. We find out that each of us are somewhat confused with the Pedometer 101 directions found in Martin's newsletter, the Pedometer Personalization Instructions sent to us by Bev from Martin's office and the Pedometer Activation information that comes with the pedometer itself. We laugh. We wonder if it is because we are middle-aged women. Then we wonder if it has something to do with our lack of experience with technology. We decide it might be fun to get together to set up our pedometers. We schedule a Pedometer Activation meeting.
We meet in my office. We read and re-read all of the instructions we have received from all sources. We laugh. We are confused. We are still committed to this task. We are going to succeed. We make a list and gather all of the equipment we need in order to complete our mission. The equipment list includes a long measuring tape, a calculator and a pen and paper. Next we find a long hallway. In the Pedometer Personalization Instructions we discover if we enter the number of steps it takes us to walk 100 feet or more we will have better results. We, of course, want better results.
Step 1: We remove our pedometers from the packaging.
Step 2: We engage the battery by pulling out the plastic tab that protrudes from the pedometer casing.
Step 3: We DO NOT peel off the protective plastic cover from the display screen as advised in the directions. I know ~ it says to do this, but when you have two middle-aged women who are Type A ~ Barbara says she is actually Type Double AA - you have women that want to keep things neat and tidy. We plan on using these pedometers in the Care Homes of our choice in the future. We don't want the plastic cover to get scratched from daily use. This is our first big mistake.
We attempt to set the clock. We press the mode button until the clock feature appears. However, we cannot set the clock properly because we are trying to see through a plastic cover that has numbers on it. We can see the time flashing underneath the protective plastic covering still on top of our pedometers. No, we have still not figured out that we must remove the protective plastic cover from the pedometer to see the actual clock numbers. We still want to believe that we know better.  Our pedometers are going to be like new - many years from now ~ that is if we can actually use them for the use they are intended for. We ponder this problem. Barbara has to go and put money in the parking meter. We have been at this now for about 40 minutes. Barbara returns. We decide we should go and call Martin's office. We know Martin is away, but think that Bev could probably help us. We call. Murphy's law. As soon as we start talking with Bev we both realize that the reason there are two sets of numbers on the pedometer is that the protective plastic covering that we were supposed to remove has numbers on it. Oops. We thank Bev. We take off the protective plastic covering. We save it though - we might need to put it back on when the pedometers are not in use. Just in case. We now set the clock. This proves to be much easier without having to peer through a set of numbers located on top of other numbers. We wonder if other people have had the same problem. We laugh ~ a lot.
We then try to set our stride length. We both walk one hundred steps until we find a consistent stride measurement. We mark the spots with masking tape. That part is easy. Next comes the measurement of the distance we have walked, in centimeters. That part is not easy. You see, Barbara and I are not yet comfortable with the metric system. We are confused. We are not sure how many meters we are measuring. Honest- we are both well educated. We laugh, but feel silly. We wonder what the students who are watching us walk up and down the hall, muttering to ourselves, are thinking. Barbara comes up with a great idea. We will turn the measuring tape over and measure the distance in feet and then convert to meters. There is a conversion chart included in the Pedometer 101 directions. Now we are in business. Or so we think. Barbara has to go and put more money in the parking meter.
We measure the distance. We attempt to convert feet into meters, using a calculator borrowed from some students who are working at the equipment desk. The calculator is new. It has too many buttons on it. We can't figure out how to use it. I go and get my calculator from my office where it's stored along side my abacus. Barbara says it is at least 100 years old. It may be old, but at least I know how to use it. We have finally figured out how many meters we have walked in 100 steps. That part was easy. Oh, oh. Now we have to calculate how many centimeters we walked. We have to ask the students working at the equipment desk how to change meters into centimeters. They tell us to multiply by 100. They look at each other with knowing looks. We wonder what they are thinking.
We keep telling each other that we are 'almost there'. We are thankful we are doing this together. We wonder if other people have difficulty activating their pedometers. We think not, but we secretly hope so. We laugh some more. We have been at this for about 1 1/2 hours.
We are ready to set the stride length. We press and hold the set button until centimeters are on the screen of the pedometer and the arrow is pointing to STR (stride). The directions say that the stride length should be flashing '00'. Both our pedometers are flashing '50'. We press the Reset button and hold for 3 seconds to 'clear any function for re-setting'. Nothing happens. We try again. We laugh. We can't believe this is taking so long. We continue to be thankful we are doing this task together. As it turns out, my pedometer takes 4 seconds to clear and Barbara's takes 5. Could it be that these two middle-aged Type A and Type AA women count too quickly. We think so. We laugh. We determine that the stride length should be flashing '50', not '00'. We remind each other to let Bev know. We tell each other that we are 'almost there'.
Next we set our weight measurement. Oh, no. We have to convert our weight in pounds to weight in kilograms. We thank Martin and Bev for including a conversion chart. We manage to do this. We reset the pedometer to 0. We walk for 100 steps. We check our pedometer. We both have too many steps. We laugh. We tell each other we 'are almost there'. Barbara goes out to put more money in the parking meter. We use the adjustment button to 'fine tune for accuracy'. We walk for another 100 steps. We notice more students watching us as we stride down the long hallway, past the gymnasium, past the apparatus room, past the physiotherapy office and past the squash courts. We wonder what they are thinking.
After three attempts at walking for 100 steps, both of us discover our pedometers are recording 103 steps. We don't care. We laugh. We are still confused. We are concerned that if we start over again we might not get this far. I have marking to do. Barbara is running out of change for the parking meter. We tell ourselves that no one will know except us. We promise to walk more than 10,000 steps each day to make up for the difference. We hug. We tell each other we will stay in touch. Barbara heads out to her car. I walk up to my office, my pedometer in place, recording every step.
Postscript from Lara:
Well, it has been just over a month since our big Pedometer Activation Day. The first few days proved to be a challenge. Like Karen Hanford, stepping at home was more successful than stepping at work. If I did not program a run or walk into my day at work, I did not manage to acrue more than 6000 to 7000 steps in one day - and that was counting my steps at home. Stepping at home on the weekend resulted in total steps close to 10,000. I will admit that after a few unsuccessful days of not reaching 10,000 steps, I decided to keep the pedometer running - no re-setting for me. I know, that is cheating, but it sure felt good to see a 10,000 step total. I am well on my way of stepping 10,000 steps a day now. My pedometer has become a friend, not an enemy. I am encouraged to find ways each and every day to step for my health. My son now wants a pedometer too. I am even considering purchasing one for my husband. I figure a family that steps together stays healthy together. Thanks Martin and Bev for introducing me to the 10,000 step program. Now if you could just send the pedometers already activated with my personal stride length programmed - that would be terrific. Happy stepping everyone. | |
As fitness/health professional, you've probably seen ~ and been exasperated by ~ those television ads for AbTronic belts. You know...the ones that promise to flatten the stomach and pare off pounds with no effort on the part of the wearer.
Here's the pitch: "Say goodbye to strenuous, time-consuming workouts. With the AbTronic, your muscles are moving but you are not! 10 minutes on the AbTronic is the equivalent of 600 sit-ups."
Well, you can say goodbye to AbTronic. The Federal Competition Bureau has discerned that these things simply don't work. The bureau recently ordered Thane Direct Canada Inc. of North York, ON, to stop selling them immediately.
Further, Thane must televise one-minute public service announcements about their false claims for the products, and refund the purchase price (about $120) to any buyers ~ numbering in the hundreds of thousands across North America ~ who send the things back.
In addition, Thane must send the bureau $75,000 as an "administrative penalty."
 Thane, by the way, is based in California and has distributors in more than 80 countries doing direct marketing worth some $1.7 trillion, mostly in fitness, health and beauty "aids", plus motivational courses.
Such as, for example, the Youth Cocktail System, "available in a pre-measured pouch, or great tasting liquid. In as little as one month, you'll start to feel an incredible difference in your energy levels and mental sharpness." Or Eye-Q, which "will enable both you and your children to read and process info at least two to 10 times faster in just two weeks, guaranteed."
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has launched lawsuits against the company.
This article is reprinted from the
January 2002 (vol. 12 no. 1) issue
of Active Living newsletter.
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Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac;
you can always take something for it.unknown |
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Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards.
I got a full house and four people died.Steven Wright |
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| I think the world is run by C students. Al McGuire |
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| How you do anything is how you do everything.
Anon |
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| Speech is located between thought and action and is often substituted for both.
John A Holmes |
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| I finally figured out the reason to be alive is to enjoy it.
Rita Mae Brown |
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| A stitch in time would have confused Einstein.
Anon |
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| To me every cubic inch of space is a miracle.
Walt Whitman |
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| Rewrite your agreement with reality.
Anon |
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| Don't die with the music still in you.
Emerson |
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The problem is not that your hopes are too high and you fail to reach them,
it's that they're too low and you do.
Michaelangelo |
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The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes,
but in seeing familiar landscapes through new eyes.
Marcel Proust |
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| When half gods go, gods arrive.
G. Sheehan |
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| A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon it adds up to real money.
former (Republican) Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen |
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| Genetics loads the cannon, lifestyle fires it off.
Anon |
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| The past week of your life is your best guess about eternity.
Anon |
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The game was never worth a rap
For rational folks to play
In which no accident, no mishap
Could ever find a way.
Adam Gordon 1936 |
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Workplace Wellness : Book Review
"The Healthy Scorecard" is a book by Danielle Pratt published in 2001 which does a brilliant job of clarifying the dimensions of employee health and demonstrating that there is a tremendous synergy in what is good for employees and what is good for companies and organizations. Maureen Shaw, CEO of the Industrial Accident Prevention Association notes that, "This book makes us look at the very nature of the system of quality, health and safety as it is currently practiced."
Danielle lists 5 key points in her introduction, which read as follows:
- What drives superior and sustained business results? A look at the Sears 10-point index and the Gallup 12.
- New thinking - What really makes workplaces healthy? A summary of the research.
- Good health is good leadership is great business...and we can prove it! The piece de resistance - the Healthy Strategy Map.
- Easy money - How investors will profit from this synergy.
- Leadership Check-ups - Self-assessments at the end of each chapter.
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This book is very well researched and referenced and one can get a feel for her direct and practical writing style from a section from the opening chapter, "The Untapped Frontier."
Opportunity Costs: The Underside of the Health Cost Iceberg
But for us to adopt a Strategic Health Focus, leaders need to be convinced that health pays. True, there will always be stellar organizations and leaders for whom this is a no-brainer, and who invest in health on humanitarian grounds. But even this is a risky proposition.
For health to be widely embraced in the business community as a strategic business imperative, we need to step up to the plate with some numbers. And I've been finding numbers that excite executives and directors!
Traditionally, we have captured direct costs such as Worker's Compensation, short and long-term disability costs, and drug costs. These are substantial in their own right. BC Hydro for example incurred over $20 million in direct health costs in 1999. As Ken Webb, Manager of Corporate Health and Safety noted
"We'd really be paying attention to $20 million of maintenance costs in one of our generatorsor in one of our transmission lines. Perhaps we ought to be starting to pay a little more attention to $20 million in maintenance for our human capital." ~ Ken Webb
Until recently we have merely been tinkering with "Good" and "Bad" employee health costs. Now we can get down to business with the mother lode of health costs: the "Ugly" costs of eroded employee wellbeing...the opportunity costs of lost productivity, innovation, and resilience.
Since my baptism with the Service Profit Chain and Balanced Scorecard, I have finally been able to put numbers to the opportunity costs of health.
The message of the 90's was, "You should do this...it's the right thing to do." Framed by the Balanced Scorecard and War for Talent, the message of the new mill
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(from Canada's Tim Horton's)
(Note: Tim Bits are small, round donuts, somewhat like Domino's Dots. Nobody eats one, they buy them by the box of 20 for a 'Snack' Pack or 45 for a 'Family' Pack.)