THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512290292
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
HAPPY NEW YEAR tomorrow!
Made it through the holiday season did you? Well, maybe with a few extra pounds or a bad habit or two you thought you'd have shed by now, which brings us to the subject of New Year's resolutions. Ah, 'tis the season but, as the poet, Robert Burns, put it, ``The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men . . .''
This week, we discover how you can keep those resolutions and discover a new you in the new year.
With daughter Sandi out of school for the holidays, we set out to visit Obici Hospital, where Cheryl Baer provided us with information about the wide range of programs and services available there.
A complete listing fills a page of the hospital's quarterly newsletter. Under the heading of Parent/Child Education there are six classes scheduled on subjects such as childbirth education, the prepared sibling (to help kids ages 4 to 10 prepare for the new arrival) and infant CPR.
A good New Year's resolution for those expecting a larger family in 1996 would be to look into these programs. Fees range from free to $40 per course.
There are support groups, some 11 in all, to assist those dealing with ailments such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Other groups are designed for those with life-threatening illnesses and those who are bereaved. Several of the groups include family members.
To resolve to avail oneself of whatever help is available to deal with life's major challenges is always a wise decision. No man - or woman - is an island.
The Women's Center at Obici offers PrimeTime Topics, dealing with women's health and wellness issues. The programs are free. Schedules of upcoming programs are published in this newspaper.
Obici also offers PACE - Patient and Community Education - programs. A free diabetes class is held weekly. A weight-loss class, Choose To Lose, is held quarterly; the fee is $75. The next one begins Jan. 23 and will meet weekly for three weeks from 6 to 8 p.m. The following quarter's class will meet during the day.
Judy Walls, R.N., M.S.N., one of two certified instructors for the Choose To Lose program, provided some insight into this, one of Obici's most popular programs. According to Walls, more than 250 people have completed it in the past six years.
``One of the reasons we try to do a January program on weight loss,'' said Walls, ``is that it is high on the list of priorities for people who are making resolutions.''
The program features a ``nondiet'' approach based on the premise that people who go ``on'' a diet will, at some point, go ``off'' the diet and resume their former eating habits. Instead, Choose To Lose is based on what Walls describes as ``practical, healthy, low-fat eating.''
Said Walls: ``This is a journey that's a lifelong trip. It's a change in lifestyle, to count fat calories and make healthy choices.''
If you want to lose weight but, in selecting a diet plan, don't want to bite off more than you can chew, you might want to check this one out. For information about Choose To Lose or any of Obici's other self-help programs, call the MedMatch Coordinator at 934-4999.
Another good place to help you keep those resolutions is the YMCA, 2769 Godwin Blvd. Sheila Foster, membership and physical director, describes the Y as the only health-club facility in Suffolk. Check out the gym, racquetball courts, workout rooms and indoor heated pool.
There are low, intermediate and high impact aerobics programs and an aquacise - water aerobics - program, free to members. ``We Can Do It, Too,'' a beginner's low impact class, was primarily for the out-of-shape who, according to Foster, aren't comfortable donning lycra and jumping in with the sleek and svelte. Although most who signed up for it were women, the class was open to men, too.
``It was discontinued in December,'' said Foster, ``but if there's enough interest in it, we'll offer it again in January.''
A country line dance class begins January 8; a youth basketball league sometime in January. There are gymnastics and swim teams for kids 4 to 18 and adult and children's swimming lessons. All programs are open to members and nonmembers; most are $10 a month for members ($50 for nonmembers). Racquetball is only $10 for the league's entire playing season.
``I try to keep my New Year's resolutions,'' explained Lynne Hodges of Smithfield as she worked out at the Y, ``and I hope to be back here after New Year's after I've eaten everything!''
If you're serious about those resolutions, you should check it out, too. Call 934-YMCA (9622).
We tried to check out self-improvement programs at Tidewater and Paul D. Camp Community Colleges, as well as the Suffolk Public Schools, to discover programs to improve the mind as well as the body, but found them closed for the holidays. A future column will explore what they have to offer.
For now, though, here's a start to making 1996 not only a happy and prosperous New Year but a healthy and fit one, too. May it be all those things for all of us. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
The YMCA on Godwin Boulevard offers swimming lessons, but Ashley
Payton, left, Brittany Payton and Ciji Ward, right, are just
enjoying the heated pool.
by CNB