The Oregon Women's Report - Women's News from Oregon

By Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN

Resistance training, also known as strength training or weight training, is one of the components of a balanced exercise program that I discussed in my September 9th article.  It is an important part of every health and fitness program and provides health and functional benefits, particularly for women.  “Strength training can lead to improvement in overall health and well-being including increased muscle strength and lean body mass, decreased body fat, decreased risk of injury, improved joint function, increased bone density, improved cardiac function and an increase in good (HDL) cholesterol.” (Kettles, Cole, Wright,  Women’s Health and Fitness Guide)  It is important and beneficial for all ages, especially post-menopausal women who may experience a more rapid decline in bone density.

Lisa Unsworth
Varsity Student Institute College Advisor

There are several reasons why families choose the wrong college, but many find out the hard way.   These families choose the wrong school and end up transferring which costs a lot of money!  For high school student-athletes who choose to play NCAA Division I sports, the transfer rate is now at an alarming 40%. That transfer could cost up to $20,000 or more depending on the schools involved.  On average, the typical student-athlete only competes in 1.5 seasons in the NCAA (male or female sports).  So, what are you doing to ensure that you and your student are searching for the right school?

If you have been remotely considering the variety of different hair removal options out there, you are likely to have heard about waxing. This procedure – waxing – is quite simple, but painful. For many, it will be something that they will subject themselves to every couple of weeks to maintain their appearance. But, what are the side effects or after effects, if any, of waxing?

What’s Going To Happen?

While, this can be done at home, a trip to the waxing salon is the preferred method. This is primarily because it allows for individuals to have the procedure done professionally which translates to faster, less painful and a more thorough application.

Submitted by Kay Helbling

September 25, 2008

In memory of David Steele, an Ashland rugby player, and the other eight men who lived their lives with honor and lost their lives with courage..

You haul them off to football in the fall, wrestling in the winter and rugby in the spring. With families of five children, it may mean seeing only half of one game and the other half of another. If you are the “snack mom” for the day, you need to be there for the whole game, which means dad needs to cover the bases on the other “athletes”.

All sounds chaotic but all sounds so familiar to the Oregon mom who loves her kids and the sports they love to play. But, she often finds herself wondering whether so much time “on the field” is really giving them the foundations they need in life. Then, you fast forward ten years and find these souls of sweat and determination, blood and grit, become the heroes of tomorrow.

You hear the coaches lecture the players about discipline and team play—to “dig deep” and to “give more of themselves than they knew they had”. You think, great words to apply to life, but you can’t really picture the moment when words meet life. Then, life hits you square in the face. ___________________________

How Should I Exercise?…Let Me Count the Ways…Your Personal Trainer,
Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN

I’d like to begin this article with a response to a question I received from Evergreen in my September 9 “At the Heart of What Matters.”  She asked:  “Are all movements equal?  Moving while walking is different than exercising while swimming?  What moves does one recommend?”  Evergreen’s question leads me to another important aspect of exercise:  What should you do and how should you do it?

Sara Larsen stared at the fragile baby boy in her arms. The victim of extreme neglect, he still had vomit sticking to his hair and filling his ears. The foster mother sighed, knowing how much work this child would be, and wondered if she and husband Dick could handle it. But as soon as the Eugene, Ore. Couple left the room, Dick looked at her and asked, “How do we get him out of there?”  Scenes like these are the snapshots of Sara Larsen’s life. The former farm girl from St. Charles, Iowa, grew up with one brother and never imagined the dozens of children that would one day fill her home. Today, however, the Lane County foster mother has fostered 54 children and adopted five with her husband of 43 years, in addition to raising a biological son.

Article Written By: Gerry Briggs, Eugene Oregon

I can’t help myself. We get up in the morning, my husband grabs the paper, I put the coffee on and while we wait for caffeine he reads the Register Guard. I use to read it. Well, That’s not quite true, I’m like an addict. I say that I don’t but I slide over to the abandoned print as soon as he leaves the room and stare at the “coiled snake.”

It’s the Editorials. I can’t stay away from the insanity and that’s when these thoughts start roaming around my consciousness and I end up clipping out the offensive articles, jotting down strings of rebuttals, and before you know it, I have another chapter written on my answers to liberal ideas.

Here are seven ways you can maintain motivation for fitness. As Fall and winter approach, there are many ways to be fit,but how to get motivated you ask?

Use the following 7 steps consistently, and you will begin to see the benefits to staying active.

Submitted by Kay Helbling

The Animal Liberation Front continues their raids on mink farms. It was the second this year for the S & N Fur Farm in Scio, with more minks dying as a consequence. (Eco-saboteurs Release Minks, Oregonlive. 9/9/08). These are not isolated incidences. In a communiqué written to The Oregonian newspaper, these releases were among others in Utah and British Columbia in the last month. It is no wonder the FBI consider them a leading domestic terrorist group in the country. They repeatedly sacrifice the life of the very animals they purport to defend. Their communiqué included April mink releases, a practice that has been going on for at least 50 years, which is the prime birthing time for mink.

Over ten years ago, it took place on the farm of a friend of mine. She had just finished her breakfast and headed out the door with her two young boys to feed and tend to the minks in the barn. It was a beautiful, crisp, spring morning in the quiet community of Mt. Angel. The minks had recently given birth and the boys loved taking care of them. But, what they found they would never forget.

The use of glycolic acid for the removing of acne scars is carried out through the use of a chemical peel containing glycolic acid. To understand how a chemical peel works, we must first understand the causes of scars and how to prevent them.

Our skin has sebaceous glands which produce oil to moisturize the skin. Bacteria that form on our skin from acne metabolize this oil, and the by-product of this action leaves the skin irritated. As the skin becomes irritated, the tiny hair follicles become clogged and begin to collect debris, such as dirt, oil, and dead skin cells. When this dirt and oil is not cleaned properly, either by the body’s own natural defenses, or by general cleansing, it can travel down into deeper tissue causing very severe acne.

Want a new blanket, but cannot afford to buy one? Here’s 3 ways to get an inexpensive fleece blanket, ranging from “no sew” to “minimal sew” options.

Materials

The first thing you’ll need is your material. I recommend polar fleece, brushed wool, or any other fabric of a suitable weight and thickness for your requirements.

by Kay Helbling

By Erika Weisensee, Oregon Women’s Report

A few years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early (in a routine mammogram). Today, she is cancer free, a vibrant mother and grandmother, a sister, aunt and friend to many. She has taught her family, particularly us women, about the need for regular self and clinical exams. She also taught us that regular mammograms save lives. I know many other people who are personally affected by breast cancer. The odds are, so do you. Oregon and Washington have the highest rates of breast cancer in the nation and no one knows why, according to Portland Race For The Cure spokesperson Mary Ellen Glynn.

While home schooling a dyslexic child has no shortage of challenges, your task of teaching your dyslexic child at home can become easier and more rewarding with the right tools.

Sure, you’ll still have your share of setbacks, but it’s so rewarding when you finally see those little breakthroughs suddenly develop into a major progression in your child’s comprehension.

Your Personal Trainer, Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN,
As a cardiac rehabilitation nurse for over thirty years and a Certified Personal Trainer and Clinical Exercise Specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine, lifestyle change is at the heart of what I do.  I consider the heart to be the most important muscle of the body.  It is a muscle that has its own intrinsic pacemaker and rhythm.  Its function is to beat, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week delivering oxygen to every cell of your body for as long as you live.  How well it does that has a lot to do with how you choose to live.  Your heart is one muscle but it is supported by the rest of you, all of the other muscles of your body that get you around from day to day.  If you keep those other muscles in good form, it can make the job that your heart has to do a lot easier.  That is one of the benefits of exercise.

There have been two high profile ATM scams reported in the past 30 days.  The first were two men dressed up as security guards who told customers that the ATM was broke and that they were accepting deposits to submit the next morning.  The two men made off with dozens of checks and cash deposits before they were caught later in California.   Another scam involved putting a thin device into the ATM slot preventing the card from being read.   The criminal would approach puzzled customers who couldn’t figure out why their bank card was not working.  Acting as a good Samaritan the criminal would offer to try the customers card and in the process learn the customers card number and PIN number.

Photo by Abbie Storm. South Waterfront looking downtown. Fall 2007

Submitted by Kay Helbling

Some things I guess it takes 18 years to learn. I realized that this week, when my son asked the simple question, “Do you want to play Risk?”

You see, as all moms and dads learn upon the birth or adoption of each child, you acquire the ability to question everything you say and do that could impact who they become as a person. You see and read about all the great things others do for and with their children and think, “Maybe I should do that too”, or “If I don’t do that maybe our family will be missing something important”. I guess you could call it “Keeping up with the Jones’… Family Life”.