Wednesday the 9th, July 2008 ::

T he last leaves are still hanging on, so before they let go, welcome to ‘Fall Well’. We’ve got the usual mix of style and substance with most of the credit for style going to our computer artist, Ron Nye. We tested 25 different pedometers and picked a few winners. We deconstructed Dr. Flegal’s JAMA article, which spawned numerous ‘Fine to be Fat’ pieces in popular magazines. The video clips of Rob Dyke’s swim alone are worth opening ‘Fall Well’. The Grins are up to their legendary high (low?) standard. By the way, my local stores are full of Christmas merchandise; why not go to WellMart and give the gift of wellness. A pedometer is the perfect stocking stuffer. :: Martin The headlines in the New York Times and most major magazines had the same message, “It’s Fine To Be Fat”. Being ‘overweight’ (BMI 25-30) is better than being a ‘healthy’ weight with a BMI between 18.5 and 25. The Center for Consumer Freedom, which is a thinly veiled front for the US food and restaurant industry, was ecstatic. The Consumer Freedom group, which is funded by companies such as Coca Cola, Wendy’s and Tyson Foods declared, “The founding fathers greatly enjoyed their food and drink…Now it seems that food liberty—just one of the many important areas of personal choice fought for by the original American patriots—is constantly under attack.” Their message was that all the concern about overweight and obesity stemmed from scare tactics and hype from ‘health Nazis’. The origin of the ‘fine to be fat’ headlines was an article by Flegal et al. in the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 2005). Why do the findings of Flegal and her co-authors differ from those of nearly all mainstream scientists and epidemiologists? Firstly, it was a mortality study, which correlated body weight with death. The consensus of opinion is that, although they tried to control for confounding variables that could skew the results, they failed to do so adequately. Without diving into statistical and methodological debates, here are some of the main problems when looking at death and weight. Smoking Smokers tend to be thinner than non-smokers (a major reason given by teenage girls for smoking) but smokers also get cancer and die of cancer. With almost 30% of the US population still smoking there are large numbers of cancerous people with BMI’s between 18.5 and 25 who die. This can show up statistically as a correlation between being thin and dying. An example of how smoking can distort the relationship between body weight and mortality comes from the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed 115,000 US women for 16 years. All Women (including smokers) The above graph indicates that there is no significant increase in the risk of dying until after the threshold of obesity. Compare the above graph to the one that follows, which eliminated the smokers. Women Who Never Smoked and Had Stable Weight As soon as the smokers are removed from the cohort, there is an almost linear relationship between risk of dying and body weight, which shows up when BMI reaches 26, well before obesity . Source: New England Journal of Medicine 333:677, 1995 Aging. How often have you heard people described as ‘old and frail’? Appetite often dies along with the ‘will to live’ and people take to their bed and literally waste away. This ‘will to live’ can be lost at any age, but happens increasingly in later years. Illness. A number of diseases are associated with unhealthy weight loss, cancer being the most obvious. Unless you can selectively factor out chronic wasting disease you will again see a statistical correlation between low body weight and death. Medical Advances. We are getting better at keeping fat people alive. We have medications for high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and diabetes and there are hundreds of surgical procedures ranging from a coronary bypass to knee replacement (which occurs 3 times more often in obese people than those of a healthy weight.) Conclusions Don’t believe all you read. Fitness trumps weight. At any weight physically fit people are healthier and live longer than sedentary, unfit people. Most fit people are not overweight and most obese people are not fit. However, it’s entirely possible to be fit and overweight, or unfit and normal weight. BMI is an imperfect assessment so that heavily muscled athletic men might be categorized as ‘overweight (e.g. Johnny Duncan, baseball; Kobe Bryant, basketball) whereas some couch potatoes with little muscle mass and significant body fat might slide into a normal weight category. Obesity is bad, period. Leaving aside the overweight/normal weight debate, even Flegal’s statistics show that obesity puts you on a fast track to an earlier death. Even if it doesn’t kill you, it’s no fun being fat. If a judge sentenced someone to wear a 50lb body suit 24 hours a day for the rest of their life, it would be thrown out as cruel and unusual punishment. Overweight/obesity put you at much greater risk of the following: Type ll diabetes High blood pressure Stroke High cholesterol Heart attack Congestive heart failure Many cancers Gallstones Dementia Osteoarthritis Gout Sleep apnea The old proverb said, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” But sometimes you don’t die and are lucky enough to escape with Type ll diabetes, high blood pressure and maybe the odd gallstone. Eat, drink and be wary. Have fun, eat your fruit and vegetables, go out and play and be careful out there, because nothing’s enough for the person for whom enough is too little. Update The Tale of the Tape One contributing factor to the confusing information in Flegal’s research above may be the use of BMI (Body Mass Index, which is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared), in determining whether someone is ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’. A new study published in the Lancet (November 2005) by S. Yusuf et al. as part of the Global Interheart Study, found that a person’s hip to waist ratio was a much more reliable predictor of a myocardial infarction (heart attack). Yusuf, of McMaster University, found that the waist to hip ratio (WHR) was three times better than BMI in predicting risk of heart attack. In fact, Dr. Yusuf went as far to say that in much of the world BMI is of ‘no value’. Staying with the words of Dr. Yusuf, “What we know is that fat in the abdomen, which is associated with a larger waist, is metabolically active and produces various hormones that can cause harmful effects associated with diabetes, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). Fat in the abdomen may also relate to fat in the liver.” A person with a 30-inch waist and 36-inch hips would have a WHR of 83% (anything under 100% is acceptable). To use a fruit analogy this person would be a pear. Whereas a person with a 42-inch waist and 34-inch hips would have a dangerously high WHR of 123%. This is the sort of person who wears elastic waist bands or whose belt is inches below their naval. To stay with fruit, they are described as ‘apples’. (This is the sort of apple that, far from ‘keeping the doctor away’ like the ‘apple a day’, will make it very likely that you’ll be seeing your doctor soon.) Using more than 27,000 carefully matched people throughout the world it was found that the 20% with the highest HWR were 2.5 times more at risk than the people in the lowest 20%. I’m all in favor of simplicity and HWR seems a lot easier to calculate than any equation that involves height in meters squared. There are, of course, other simpler ways to assess undesirable weight gain, which include:   (i) inability to get into your old pants and skirts,   (ii) if your clothes leave wounds,   (iii) you can’t wait for the Mu-Mu to be fashionable and   (iv) the old mirror test. Jump up and down naked in front of a full-length mirror and stop suddenly. If your stomach continues to move, it’s time to eat a little less and move a lot more. Note: Dr. Yusuf’s study was dealing with heart disease, whereas Dr. Flegal’s study covered all causes of mortality, but it does make one speculate about the usefulness of using BMI as a tool in epidemiological studies. Acknowledgement: I was alerted to the Lancet article by reading a succinct summary by André Picard in the Globe and Mail. I paid $30 to read the original Lancet article on-line, but, as usual, Mr. Picard provided nearly all the pertinent information. I regard him as one of the premier popular health writers in North America.  send a link   to this page

I spent a couple of days on the support boat and watched the never-varying ritual, which, after 3 months, lead up to the final few exultant strokes, the applause and songs of the spectators and the blessing of the Songhees Chief. End of an Epic Journey

Distance swimmer, Rob Dyke, center, celebrates with support crew Ian Scanlan, left, and Peter deZwager as he wades ashore near Clover Point after completing a grueling 94-day swim around Vancouver Island. Dyke undertook the aquatic journey to raise funds for the Red Cross water safety program. Each day the boat would motor out to the starting point determined by a GPS finder. There was little talk other than technicalities of tide tables and of the currents and eddies that, on the Eastern leg of the journey, ricocheted and swirled off the smaller islands. It is not good enough for things to be planned—they still have to be done: :: Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan Rob bit into his first ‘sandwich’ of the day; a ‘sandwich’ being the team’s term for a Halls Extra Strong cough candy between two layers of Trident Double Berry gum. The taste combination might not sound attractive to you, but Rob used it to mute the many splendored flavors of the ocean as he swam past pulp mills, fish farms and estuaries.

Once in the water the swim typically lasted between 5 to 7 hours, broken up into 40-minute segments. Twenty minutes breathing left; twenty minutes breathing right; stop; tread water; drink some hot Gatorade and have 3 or 4 liters of warm water funneled inside his wetsuit; then off for another 40 minutes with a fresh ‘sandwich’ between cheek and gums. These are the sort of rituals and the discipline that hide behind every great achievement. Words cannot describe the joy and the pain that were part of this journey, but the following flash clips, 'Pain' and 'Joy', might help:

The swim began with a party at Speakwell and ended the same way. Family and friends finally getting to crack the magnum of Champagne that Rob had been saving to mark the end of this chapter in his adventurous life.

We embarrassed Rob by playing ‘The Ballad of Robbie Dyke’, written and recorded by myself and Gus Verstraten. Then we brought things back to normal by playing the bootleg version whose lyrics might not be suitable for a family webzine. To purchase a copy of the Ballad of Robbie Dyke click on [this link] with profits going to the Red Cross Island Aquathon. Click to hear a clip! More than $50,000 has so far been raised for the Red Cross and money is continuing to flow in now that Rob is being featured on radio and TV and in the print media. He has emerged from his enforced solitude in the ocean as a thoughtful, dramatic and eloquent speaker. Testimony to his ability to enthrall an audience was a recent presentation to 1300 high school students.

Rob's message is so amazingly powerful. Tears in my eyes followed by a smile across my face, followed by a lump in my throat. His motivating way is so quiet and profound. The feedback we got from the kids was wonderful. Imagine hundreds of kids on the bleachers and more on the floor, all completely mesmerized by his session. Rob is not an unusual god-like person, he is one of us; he did what he did with help of good friends and with a smile on his face. These are the amazing and powerful messages of Rob Dyke’s talk.              :: Wendy Thomas, Frances Kelsey Secondary School

Now Rob is off the high seas and between adventures he is available for speaking and can be booked through Speakwell [Click here]. Learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers Comprehend its mystery :: H.W. Longfellow "See, son... this is why I save these bits."   The Ballad of Robbie Dyke  :: Lyrics by Martin Collis He’s a Buddha in a wetsuit With a Mona Lisa smile, Put him in cold water He’ll swim 1000 miles He’s a stoic, he’s got fortitude And courage you can’t fake. Other structures crumble This Dyke doesn’t break. Robbie Dyke. 10,000 smacks across the face From the pounding west coast surf. Jellyfish attack him For intruding on their turf. He doesn’t wait for time and tide, He swims inside the pain, Gets a shower, sleeps 10 hours And does it all again. Robbie Dyke. Bridge: It’s a breath taking, gut aching, limb-shaking swim; spirit breaking enterprise for anyone but him. If Terry Fox came back to earth He’d shake Rob by the hand. Lance Armstrong knows what he is worth, Rick Hansen understands. In UK he’d be ‘Sir Robert’ Bush can’t think what to say, “Should Vancouver Island Be in the USA?” Not on your life. Killer whales and porpoises Assume he’s one of them. Fishermen call him crazy, First Nations call him friend. When you ask Rob why he does it He’s somehow at a loss, “It’s not for me I fight the seas It’s for the big Red Cross.” Not Robbie Dyke. Bridge: It’s a breath taking, gut aching, limb-shaking swim; spirit breaking enterprise for anyone but him. Cruel, unusual punishment It’s torture by the seas. Salt into the wetsuit wounds While face and fingers freeze. 1400 painful K, No motor and no bike. It’s another great Canadian By the name of Robbie Dyke. Robbie Dyke, Robbie Dyke, Robbie Dyke, Robbie Dyke.   Footnote This was Rob’s second attempt at swimming around Vancouver Island so it is appropriate that we close with the words of Barbara Ward: There is no human failure greater than to launch a profoundly important endeavor and then leave it half done.  send a link   to this page

The health plan that's kept me fit for 37 years is simple: do what you already know you ought to. By Thomas Withers Newsweek: Sept. 26, 2005 issue—Ironically, if I hadn't been trying to beat the high cost of health care, my wife wouldn't have run over my head with her bicycle a few months ago. The wheels on my bike hit a slick spot and I fell directly in her path. Missing me was impossible. Moments later I was sitting in the middle of the trail wearing a cracked helmet and saying, "What happened?" Just before we'd begun our ride, my wife had looked at me and given me an angry ultimatum: "You are 86 years old, and if you don't know enough to wear your helmet, you can ride alone." Rue Ann is 29 years younger and more verbal than I, so I replied with resignation, "Yes dear," and donned my helmet. How does the high cost of health care relate to my accident? It's simple. One of my strategies for avoiding health-care costs is to stay healthy, and that means riding regularly. My plan works primarily for people in the 40- to 60-year age range, those young enough to make the necessary changes for entering old age with good health and enthusiasm. In towns like mine across the country, that's just not happening, and the result is that fewer people my age are still leading active lives. Our local hospital, St. John's, will hold its 26th annual 10-kilometer foot race in October. About 2,000 people are expected to participate, but if it's anything like past years, I won't have much competition. Usually after a race, when people ask how well I did, I say, "I came in first in the 80- to 90-year-old class." Invariably, they ask the follow-up question, "How many were in that class?" With feigned embarrassment, I answer, "I was the only one." My quest to see how little I could spend on health care began when I was 50. Two events spurred me to action: First, my blood pressure began rising above the normal range. Second, a close friend only a few years older than I had had a stroke that left him speechless, in diapers and in a nursing home. It also left him penniless. In a society where health-care costs were spiraling out of control, how could I escape a similar fate? To protect myself, I considered many plans, from trying to marry a rich widow to buying long-term medical insurance. Finally, I thought of a strategy that would work, though the method I chose is somewhat un-American. I decided to take care of my health. It was the best decision I ever made. “The Payoff: Now, after my 87th birthday, I can still say, ‘What’s a headache? Constipation? Arthritis?’” The success of my plan lies in its simplicity. It's available and adaptable to almost everyone. Furthermore, it requires little special equipment other than a bicycle—and a helmet. The system I have followed for 37 years has three essential parts: nutrition, exercise and perseverance. Nutritionally, I deviate little from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines. All the foods needed to meet its requirements are available in a traditional food store. I head to the produce department to buy fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement those I grow in my garden. I read labels and put back products that are loaded with hydrogenated fats and sodium. When using these criteria, three fourths of the grocery aisles become irrelevant. As a result, my shopping is streamlined. Rue Ann and I, depending on the weather, do one of the following five days a week: ride our bicycles 10 miles, walk 3 miles or climb the stairs in a 10-story building. Consistency is the key to a successful exercise program. The financial payoff for this kind of living has exceeded my wildest expectations. I get a routine physical once a year. Intermittently, I see a dermatologist and ophthalmologist. When I was 75 my doctor said, "I know you don't take any prescription drugs, but what over-the-counter drugs do you take?" When I answered "None," he smiled and wryly said I wasn't doing my part to support the drug companies. Today my old cat's drug bill is higher than mine. I'm not sure if I'm bragging or complaining. My biggest payoff, however, is not in the money I save, but in the way I feel. Now, just after my 87th birthday, I can still say "What's a headache? Constipation? Arthritis?" When I'm in the drug department of a supermarket, I feel like the bewildered Texas cowboy in a Dallas department store. When the clerk asked, "Is there something wrong?" I drawled, "No ma'am, I've just never seen so many things in my whole life I don't need." Recently, as my wife and I were going through airport security, a young male employee said, "It sure is a nice weekend for a father-daughter outing." With a grin broader than natural, I replied, "It certainly is, and we are going to make the most of it—aren't we, daughter?" I'm saving my cracked helmet with the bicycle-tire marks on it as a token of my good health. I hope I'm still wearing a helmet at 95, because the alternatives are unacceptable. Withers lives in Springfield, Mo. © 2005 Newsweek, Inc.  send a link   to this page

:: Martin Collis Pick a practical pedometer; try saying that quickly 3 or 4 times. In many ways pedometers are like wristwatches. The primary function of a watch is to reliably tell you the correct time. If your watch can’t be relied on to reflect the correct time, it doesn’t matter what it looks like, whether it gives you phases of the moon, has an alarm feature and other functions, it’s a useless watch. The same applies to pedometers, their primary role is to count and record your steps and if they don’t do that, all the other design features and extras are irrelevant. In assessing pedometers I’ve divided them into two categories, namely: (i) Step-only pedometers, which record your step count and nothing more and (ii) Multi-function pedometers, which provide additional information, such as estimated distance walked and calories burned. Pedometry is not a precise science, during the course of a day we will do all manner of half steps, shuffle steps, balancing steps and incidental moves that may or may not be recorded and it doesn’t matter. We are not doing research in which we need to record every micro-movement; we are looking for a practical recording device, which reflects our general activity level. The word pedometer has it’s roots in the Latin word ‘pedi’, which means foot, and as the word suggests it means things we do on foot and not activities such as swimming, weight training, Pilates or yoga. Although pedometers are not designed to be used while cycling, I choose to leave mine on my belt when I ride and have noticed that it does record some ‘steps’. This is something you might wish to try for yourself, or you may choose to keep your pedometer exclusively for walking, jogging or other step related activities. I have found that a pedometer keeps a good count of my rotations on an elliptical trainer and can also be used on a home ‘stepper’ and, of course, in the increasingly popular pole walking.

How to Wear Your Pedometer This is very important; the pedometer should be worn as close as possible to the top point of the hipbone. It will clip onto a belt or an elastic waistband (Note: When clipped onto an elastic waistband there is a tendency for a pedometer to ‘jump’ off when the pants are taken down, e.g. when going to the bathroom. This problem can be solved by attaching a very inexpensive ‘leash’ to the pedometer, which provides a secondary safety clip.) I discovered the importance of correct pedometer placement in an experimental series in which I compared results of placing pedometers on the point of the hip with ones in which the pedometer was worn closer to the center of the body (Approximately half way between the hip and navel, more or less above the knee.) The more central placement produced results that were so inaccurate and unreliable that after 20 tests there was no point in continuing the series. Most manufacturers do a good job in describing the optimal placement of a pedometer, however, the instructions accompanying the Kellogg’s promotional pedometer were not only misleading but also good for a smile. “The paces are detected via the movement of waist. Attach the step counter securely to your waistband or belt, close to the center of your body. False mounting will possibly arouse inaccurate result.” There you have it, beware of ‘false mounting’. How Pedometers Work You don’t need to know how your pedometer works in order to use it successfully any more than you need to understand your car’s engine in order to drive. Suffice to say there are a few different mechanisms, which enable pedometers to count your steps. The most common is the (i) hairspring pedometer, which is generally considered to be somewhat less reliable and long lasting than the more expensive (ii) coil spring pedometer. Another type of mechanism is the (iii) magnetic reed proximity switch (MRPS), which seems to be quite dependent on its design and the quality of its manufacturing. I note this because some makes, which use this technology, are accurate and dependable, whereas others are much less so. Finally, there is (iv) the accelerometer type of mechanism, which tends to be the most sensitive and expensive and is excellent for research or for someone who needs precise information about caloric expenditure. Picking a Good Pedometer How do you pick a good pedometer? I feel this is a question I can answer as well as anybody. Because of my work with Circle Canada and Route 66 and with various group walking projects, I’ve talked with hundreds of people about the reliability, effectiveness and pricing of a variety of pedometers. When I decided to market a pedometer in 2001 my due diligence led me to select the Omron Company as my major supplier. Like most technology, pedometers have continued to evolve and in 2005 I assembled 25 popular pedometers and tested them on a 25-point scale for the multi-function pedometers and a 20-point scale for the step-only pedometers. I looked at pedometers from the point of view of consumers, not for university-based research, where price and some other factors are less important. The Perfect, Practical, Multi-Function Pedometer The perfect, practical multi-function pedometer would get its 25 points as follows: Within 1% accuracy on repeated trials at 2mph walking 5 points Within 1% accuracy on repeated trials at 4mph walking 5 points Price below $25 CDN or $20 USD (Providing the pedometer is within 5% accuracy) 3 points Strong spring clip 1 point  (Important so pedometers don’t get lost) Cover (so the buttons don’t get accidentally re-set) 1 point  Easy-to-read display 1 point  Easy-to-use buttons 1 point  7-day memory of daily step counts 1 point  Calories burned 1 point  Distance covered 1 point  Clock 1 point  Supporting print information (good instructions) 1 point  Other useful features (e.g. Backlighting, timer, separate aerobic steps, radio, sensitivity adjustment etc.) -up to 3 points Total 25 points The study we conducted at Speakwell was not definitive research, it was a careful look at a variety of pedometers, which had been purchased from local stores, from web sites, sent to us by manufacturers or distributors and even obtained ‘free’ from McDonalds and Kellogg’s. We looked at form (design) and function (performance). Our hope was to provide consumers with a practical way to evaluate pedometers. The most significant part of the testing was accuracy of step counting. In order to assess this, each pedometer was monitored on 8 separate 200-step walks on a treadmill; 4 at 2mph and 4 at 4mph. If 7 consistent scores were obtained and one was out of place, we ran one retest in case there had been some flaw in the testing procedure, such as pedometer placement. Many pedometers functioned well at 4mph, which is faster than most people walk, but were less reliable at 2mph, which is a lot closer to the typical walking speed of people throughout the day. In calculating the accuracy of a pedometer we quickly discovered that it was no use just averaging the totals of the 8 200-step walks. For instance, if a pedometer recorded 250 steps for one 200-step walk and 150 steps for the next, the average would be 200 (250 + 150 = 400/2 = 200), which looks perfect, when in fact it miscounted by 50 steps on each walk. Therefore, we had to look at how much the step count differed from 200; whether it was over counting or undercounting. Using the previous example, the step count would be 50 steps over 200 and 50 steps under 200 for a total of 100 miscounted steps in two walks. Expressed as a percentage this would show 25% error in recorded steps (100 miscounted steps out of 400 steps walked). Rating Pedometer Step Recording Accuracy on a 5-Point Scale Any pedometer that was within 3% accuracy at both speeds is acceptable for day-to-day step counting (N.B. Pedometers manufactured and marketed in Japan are required to be within 3% accuracy by law). In putting a numerical value to pedometers we awarded points for accuracy as follows: (Percentage Error) Points 2mph 4mph 5 1% 1% 4 2% 2% 3 3% 3% 2 4% 4% 1 5% 5% A pedometer that was within 1% of the actual step-count over 4 trials at the fast speed or 4 trials at the slow speed was awarded 5 points, so that a really accurate pedometer would score a total of 10 points. Example My Health XL15 Pedometer Actual steps recorded for 4 200-step trials at 4mph: 200    199    202    200 So at 4mph the XL15 was only 3 steps away from perfect, giving it a percentage error of 0.375%, which is well under 1%, for a 5 point score at 4mph. Actual steps recorded for 4 200-step trials at 2mph: 201    197    208    202 At the slower speed there was a slight decrease in the accuracy of recording, with 14 mis-recorded steps. In this case the percentage error is 1.75%, which is less than 2%, giving it a score of 4 points at 2mph. Table 1 Percentage of Error for All 25 Pedometers Tested Pedometer Make & Model Accuracy at 2mph Accuracy at 4mph Within 5% accuracy Points out of 5 % of error Points out of 5 % of error for all tests at both speeds Multi-function Models Blue Cross/Blue Shield 0 51.5 0 20 No Freestyle599 Coach 0 6 5 0.75 No Freestyle Ergo Touch #591 1 4.625 5 0.625 Yes Freestyle Tracer (display on top) 0 11.75 3 2.375 No LifeGear 3 2.125 4 1.375 Yes MyHealth X08 0 8.875 2 3.25 No MyHealthXL15 multi-function (Good display) 4 1.75 5 0.375 Yes New-Lifestyles NL2000 4 2 5 1 Yes New-Lifestyles SW700 3 2.125 5 0.625 Yes Omron HJ-105 Multifunction 4 1.625 5 0.375 Yes Omron HJ-112 5 0.625 5 0.25 Yes Oregon Scientific Pe316FM 1 4.5 2 3.25 Yes Oregon Scientific Pe316CA 0 13.375 3 2.375 No SAHO Step It Up Digital Ez-V 5 0.5 4 1.125 Yes SPEAKWELL H215 4 1.375 5 0.5 Yes StMoritz Digiwalker SW-500 0 7.25 5 0.875 Yes Step Only Models 10 K a Day 0 9.375 3 2.625 No Accusplit 0 30.125 4 2 No Active Living Alliance 4 1.375 4 1.25 Yes Kellogg's Pedometer Giveaway 0 15.5 2 4 No McDonald's Go Active 0 42.75 0 11.875 No New Lifestyles Digi SW-200 3 2.75 5 0.125 Yes Omron HJ-002 step only 2 3.375 4 2 Yes Step Diet Accusplit Eagle 1020 (Hard to read) 0 27.375 4 1.25 No Small Steps/Big Rewards HM FP002 0 17.625 2 3.125 No [Click here] to download this table in MSWord format. Table 2 Top 12 Pedometers for Step Counting Accuracy Price is not a consideration in these ratings. It will be factored in later in Table 3. TYPICAL RETAIL COST Pedometer make and model Points for accuracy out of 10 (At time of testing in CDN $) Multi-function models Omron HJ112 10 $45.00 Digital EZ-V (SAHO Step-it-up) 9 18.00 SPEAKWELL H215 9 19.00 New Lifestyles NL2000 9 75.99 Omron HJ105 9 30.00 My Health XL15 9 19.95 New Lifestyle Digi-Walker SW700 8 41.99 Life Gear 7 30.00 Freestyle Ergo-Touch 591 6 34.99 Step-0nly Models Active Living Alliance 8 See below** New Lifestyle Digi-Walker SW200 8 31.99 Omron HJ002 6 22.00 **Active Living Alliance pedometer is included as part of the Stepping Out program in some Canadian provinces. Before showing our overall findings, I will reiterate that this is not the definitive rating of pedometers; in fact no such list exists. There are hundreds of pedometers out there and we have neither the time or budget to assess them all. We would like to have tested multiples of each model selected, but again time and budget constraints did not permit this. What this will provide you with is a template for assessing any pedometer in which you are interested. It will also give you our findings, testing 25 pedometers using male and female subjects on each test on 8 standardized 200-step treadmill walks. A few of our ratings, such as quality of display, type of clip and ease of use of buttons, are subjective. There is a great variability in price and our estimates were based on averaging an internet search. Appropriately, by far the heaviest weight is given to accuracy. The next heaviest weighting is given for price, because in supplying pedometers to schools, hospitals, seniors’ centers and various employee groups we have found cost to be a very significant consideration. However, it is pointless to save money by purchasing unreliable pedometers. If people record their steps, the 7-day memory is a useful feature. Master Table Table 3 (Page 1 and 2) Overall Findings and Total Score for Each Pedometer [Click here] to download Master Table page 1. [Click here] to download Master Table page 2. Observations (I) Pedometers are nearly always more accurate recording fast walking than slow walking. The only pedometer that tested slightly more accurate at a slow speed was the Ez-V (SAHO). (II) We were somewhat surprised that the Digiwalker line (although good) did lose some accuracy at the slower walking speed. Our surprise came from the fact that Digiwalkers have been described by some researchers as the ‘gold standard’ for pedometry. A few researchers have actually evaluated other pedometers by comparing them with a Digiwalker. With their premium pricing and lack of extras the three Digiwalkers we tested did not score as highly as I would have anticipated. (III) A surprisingly effective pedometer was a customized model distributed by My Health and SAHO. Because of different packaging and branding we did not realize they were in fact identical models until closer inspection after the treadmill testing. They are relatively inexpensive, have an excellent display and each independently scored a 9 out of 10 points for accuracy. Note: We were sufficiently impressed with the price and performance of the SAHO and My Health pedometers that we contacted the manufacturer and have imported the identical model to be distributed by Speakwell (SPEAKWELL H215). Best Buys High End (Typically priced over $35 Canadian or $29 US) Best Buy: Omron HJ-112 The Japanese based Omron Healthcare Inc. markets a variety of medical instruments including a line of pedometers. The HJ-112 with its accelerator sensors was the only pedometer we tested to score a perfect 10 points for accuracy. In our overall scoring the only points it lost were for pricing, as it is a sophisticated piece of equipment. If worn on your belt in the traditional way it slides into a holster to hold it in place, but it also tested out extremely well when carried in a small pocket, in a bag or around the neck. A noise reduction algorithm excludes incidental movement such as standing up/sitting down, car driving and other micro-movements. As noted earlier, the effectiveness of the HJ-112 was reported at the October 2005 ACSM Walking for Health Conference in papers by Hassen et al. And Roberts et al.. For research work, or if I simply wanted an excellent pedometer I would select the Omron HJ-112 over the comparably priced New Lifestyles NL2000 and the Digiwalker SW700, because of its accuracy, its flexibility of placement and its features. Our findings were in line with Consumer Reports October 2004 issue, who only rated one pedometer, the Omron HJ-112, in their “Excellent” category. They, too, placed it ahead of the New Lifestyles 2000, which was rated “Very Good” and the Digiwalkers SW700 and SW701, which were rated only “Good” (see ‘Well’ Fall 2004). *Note: In the United States, WalMart have been offering the HJ-112 for $20, which is a fantastic deal. Mid-Range Priced Pedometers (Between $21 - $35 Canadian, or about $17 - $29 US) Best Buy: Omron HJ-105 The Omron HJ-105 had the highest total points score and would be my selection for a multi-function pedometer in the mid-price range. It scored 9 out of 10 points for accuracy, 2 for pricing and comes with a variety of useful features including a 7-day memory and an ability to separate continuous aerobic steps from intermittent steps. It has a variable sensitivity lever, which some critics regard as a deficit, but which I have found very functional. Some older people and obese people don’t have a lot of leg lift when they walk and often need enhanced sensitivity on their pedometers in order to more accurately reflect their step count. It is interesting that in other evaluations I have seen, no one has adjusted the sensitivity lever for testing. Speakwell has sold over 10,000 HJ-105s and have had less than 1% returned, indicating good reliability. In one report I read, “Anatomy of a Pedometer” by JSC Engineering, the battery life of the HJ-105 was rated as ‘very short’. This has not been my experience; the battery is protected from activation, until after it’s unpacked, by a thin plastic strip. I have used the same Omron HJ-105 for my Circle Canada virtual walk and at the time of writing have logged over 6 million steps and I’m on my 2nd battery, which is good enough for me. Inexpensive Pedometers (Under $20 Canadian, $17 US) Best Buy: SPEAKWELL H215, My Health XL15 and SAHO Ez-V (same pedometer, different name) Based on our testing, I would select the above pedometer as my choice in the inexpensive range. It was more accurate than any of the step-only pedometers tested and offered more features. The magnets are not rubber coated so there is a quiet clicking, but it in not intrusive. The H215, XL15 and the Ez-V scored 9 out of 10 for accuracy rating them the real surprise of the group. They are excellent for school groups and we are carrying them at Speakwell, at a generous reduction for bulk purchases. See WellMart for pricing and information regarding class sets. Closing Comments This survey has looked at a cross-section of currently available, widely used pedometers. The popularity of pedometry seems to continue to grow and we are already beginning to see the direction in which the next generation of pedometers will evolve. The Omron 700 series is now available in Japan and have the capability of being downloaded into your computer. A number of other companies are in the process of launching downloadable pedometers and we will look at them in a future issue.

Even without looking at eBay, one can currently find pedometers, which are built into cell phones and are combined with MP3 players. Others are in shoe insoles, ballpoint pens and can be worn as armbands. Despite the gadgetry and packaging the bottom line remains: does the pedometer accurately count and record your steps? If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Caveat emptor still pertains.  send a link   to this page

‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ and Bob “The first way to answer the questions in this song is by asking them.    But lots of people have first to find the wind.” :: Bob Dylan More than 42 years ago I sat in the living room of my parent’s London house to watch the BBCs ‘Play of the Week’ on our tiny black and white TV. The play was called “The Madhouse on Castle St.” and featured a disparate cast of characters in a boarding house. There was nothing memorable about the play for me until the appearance of a young folk singer, sitting on the staircase singing a song called “Blowin’ in the Wind”. The singer was Bob Dylan and I was scarred for life. My response to Dylan was immediate and visceral and I’ll never know what curious chemistry enabled the song of a kid from Hibbing, Minnesota to resonate in the mind of a kid living among the bricks and Michelmas daisies of a London suburb. There’s something about Dylan’s songs that defy analysis. It’s like the story of the Mathematical Bridge in Cambridge built without nails or screws, but held together by stress and counter-stress.

The bridge was dismantled to be analyzed by physicists and mathematicians, but when they tried to re-build it they had to resort to nails, nuts and bolts. Take Bob’s songs apart and you can never put them back together; he’s the Humpty Dumpty of songwriters. “How many seas must a white dove sail?” Doves don’t sail, they fly. “How many times must the cannonballs fly?” Why cannonballs, why not rockets or ICBMs? But it sounded right and went on sounding right. In some ways, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ is quintessential Bob, it’s an interrogative song in which you have to answer the questions for yourself because he’s not going to tell you. This is a reproduction of Dylan’s hand written lyrics from early ’62. In 1968, the BBC erased the tape of “The Madhouse on Castle St.”, which in my mind is akin to melting down a Rodin sculpture or painting over a Van Gogh. But Dylan won’t go away, and in an attempt to rectify their blunder this year the BBC put out a worldwide appeal to find if anyone recorded the show. Somebody did, the mother of a teenage boy in Essex knew her son liked folk music and put a microphone and reel to reel tape recorder in front of the speaker of her TV set to record it for him. Her tape survived and 42 years later I heard the young Dylan, with his old man’s voice singing ‘How many roads must a man walk down?’ It was one little moment of perfection; something that seemed lost forever had merely been hidden in a closet. In a new Dylan encyclopedia titled “Keys to the Rain” Oliver Trager writes: “With a simple melody and subtle, questioning lyrics, “Blowin’ in the Wind” struck chords deep within both the civil rights and nascent antiwar movements of the early 1960s, giving widespread voice to the sentiments that until then had rarely before been explicitly articulated in popular music. Even now, more than 40 years since the song’s composition and after millions of renditions by innumerable singers around the world, the queries Dylan raises in it don’t appear as if they are going to be answered anytime soon. Each verse includes three rhetorical questions that cut to the marrow of injustice and ends with a Taoist koan presenting the clarity of the only true answer. Perhaps they can never be answered properly – and therein lies their brilliance and the secret of the song’s effectiveness. In the October-November 1962 issue of Sing Out!, Dylan wrote, “There ain’t too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowin’ in the wind. It ain’t in no book or movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it’s in the wind—and it’s blowin’ in the wind. Too many of these hip people are telling me where the answer is, but oh, I won’t believe that. I still say it’s in the wind and just like a restless piece of paper, it’s got to come down some time... I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it’s wrong. I’m only 21 years old and I know that there’s been too many wars... You people over 21 should know better.” Perhaps his most famous rendition of the song was in 1963 when he stood on the platform with Martin Luther King at the March on Washington. Dr. King delivered his speech, “I have a dream”, Bob sang “Blowin’ in the Wind”, not a bad double bill. Within a couple of years Bob distanced himself from the protesters and angry rhetoric to write more personal songs. He said his farewell to the movement in his 4th album, “Another Side of Bob Dylan”. In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand At the mongrel dogs who teach Fearing not that I'd become my enemy In the instant that I preach Lies that life is black and white Spoke from my skull. I dreamed Romantic facts of musketeers Foundationed deep, somehow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now. The song, “It Ain’t Me Babe” is not so much the breakup with a lover, but a goodbye to all the people who wanted him as a spokesperson for their generation. Someone to open each and every door, But it ain't me, babe, No, no, no, it ain't me, babe, It ain't me you're lookin' for. Later in ‘Wedding Song’ Bob was quite specific. It's never been my duty to remake the world at large, Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge. Afterword I was disappointed that 2005 was not Bob’s year to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It went to Harold Pinter, who was a rank outsider according to the British bookies, who make a living predicting the outcome of everything from dog racing to the Nobel Awards. However, it’s been a good year for Dylan aficionados, with major Dylan exhibitions in Seattle and London, Martin Scorsese’s brilliant documentary on PBS, separate film and photography retrospectives in London, 2 historical Dylan CDs in Starbuck’s, the release of the first book of his autobiography, ‘Chronicles Volume One’, a new Dylan Encyclopedia and his 2nd ever visit to Victoria, where three generations of male Collis’s enjoyed the show. Maybe he’ll get the Nobel next year and it doesn’t matter, because prizes and awards have never interested Bob, whose acceptance speeches are legendary for their incoherence.  send a link   to this page

July Kenneth Cole designs shoes and accessories, his controversial ad campaign has garnered worldwide attention for its humor and social consciousness. In 1985, he was the first member of the fashion community to take a public stand in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This little piece caught my eye in one of his Seattle stores.                 July or do you tell the truth?                 July to yourself?                 July about your age?                 July how much you exercise?                 July about your waist size?                 July to each other?                 July about why you didn’t show up?                 July to get out of jury duty?                 July about your diet?                 July on a first date?                 July about how much you give to charity?                 So July?

Desiderata (translation: Things to be desired) Parts of the Desiderata show up on Christmas cards, at weddings and funerals, in sermons and at inaugurations. It was rumored to have been ‘found’ on a leaflet from Old St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore, dated 1692. It was, in fact, written by a poet and lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana, who lived from 1872–1945. The author, Max Ehrmann, said, “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift—a bit of prose that had caught up some noble moods.” Thank you, Max. Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. A Seasonal Poem The Music One Looks Back On :: Stephen Dobyns In early autumn, there’s a concerto possible when there’s a guest in the house and the guest is taking a shower and the host is washing up from the night before. With each turn of the tap in the kitchen, the water temperature increases or drops upstairs and the guest responds with little groans – cold water for the low notes, hot water for high. His hair is soapy, the tub slippery and with his groaning he becomes the concerto’s primary instrument. Then let’s say the night was particularly frosty and now the radiators are knocking, filling the house with warmth, and the children are rushing around outside in the leaves before breakfast, calling after their Irish setter whose name is Cleveland. And still asleep, the host’s wife is making those little sighs one makes before waking, as she turns and resettles and the bed creaks. Standing at the sink, the host hums to himself as he thinks of the eggs he’ll soon fry up, while already there’s the crackle of bacon from the stove and the smell of coffee. The mild groans of the guest, the radiator’s percussion, children’s high voices, the barking of a dog, even the wife’s small sighs and resettlings combine into this autumn concerto of which not one of the musicians is aware as they drift toward breakfast and then a leisurely walk through the fields near the house – two friends who haven’t seen each other for over a year, Much later they will remember only a color, a golden yellow, and the sound of their feet scuffling the leaves. A day without rancor or angry words, the sort of day that builds a life, becoming a soft place to look back on, and geese, geese flying south out of winter.  send a link   to this page

No one who pursues their ideals in their own way will be without enemies. :: Daisy Bates There is no planet, sun or star could hold you if you but knew what you are. Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. :: Ralph Waldo Emerson We dance around in a ring and suppose But the secret sits in the middle and knows. :: Robert Frost Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves. :: Germaine Greer Service to others is the rent you pay for living on this planet. :: Marian Wright Edelman We might as well make up our minds that chastity is no more a virtue than malnutrition. :: Edmund Waller Strategic planning is worthless unless there is a strategic vision. :: John Naisbitt He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder. :: M. C. Escher I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go. :: Langston Hughes Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other. :: William Faulkner Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other. :: Mary Caroline Richards Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you'll start believing in it. :: Jesse Owens Don’t substitute frenzied activity for the joy of routine physical exercise. :: Peter C Whybrow Patience is passion tamed. :: Lyman Abbott When passion drives you let reason hold the reins. :: Ben Franklin  send a link   to this page

10 PERKS OF BEING OVER 60 1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you. 2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first. 3. People call at 9 pm and ask, " Did I wake you?" 4. There is nothing left to learn the hard way. 5. Things you buy now won't wear out. 6. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge. 7. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off. 8. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either. 9. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size. 10. You can't remember who sent you this list. And you notice these are all in Big Print for your convenience My Dear Wife, You will surely understand that I have certain needs that you with your 54 years can no longer supply. I am very happy with you and I value you as a good wife. Therefore after reading this letter, I hope that you will not wrongly interpret the fact that I will be spending the evening with my 18 year old secretary at the Comfort Inn Hotel. Please don't be perturbed—I shall be back home before midnight." When the man came home, he found the following letter on the dining room table: My Dear Husband, I received your letter and thank you for your honesty. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that you are also 54 years old. At the same time I would like to inform you that while you read this, I will be at the Hotel Fiesta with Michael my tennis coach, who, like your secretary, is also 18 years old. As a successful businessman and with your excellent knowledge of math, you will understand that we are in the same situation, although with one small difference: 18 goes into 54 a lot more times than 54 goes into 18. Therefore, I will not be back before lunchtime tomorrow. Things to Ponder 1) Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes. 2) A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation.... 3) I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. 4) If quitters never win, and winners never quit, what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead?" 5) Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks? 6) What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men? 7) I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans. 9) I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then it dawned on me - they were cramming for their finals. 10) Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of emergency. I think you should write "A very good doctor".

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