Move It and Lose It: How Are You Doing?

I was not sure how to enter my exercises in Dr. Oz’s 11-week program Move It and Lose It in 2011 – so I thought I’d tell you my problems and the solutions.   

First, the good news … more than 500,000 of you signed up! The email to enter the program took 2 or 3 days to come back to you at the worst due to the tremendous load, but it did.  

The second bit of good news is the food log and calorie tracker that monitors what you eat works intuitively and perfectly. If you need help on using the food log, check out this video: http://www.sharecare.com/static/howtologfood 

I couldn’t figure out how to enter my steps, my cardio and resistance exercises and have them count toward my weight-loss goal. I contacted the Sharecare.com expert and here is what she shared with me:

1. The exercises you enter on your “My Exercise” log and calendar do not show up at this time as additional calories burned on your “My Summary” page. These exercise programs are there simply to help you reach your calorie-expended target. Since I made this comment to the developers, they are seeing if they can add that feature to the program to help people who require immediate reward feedback – not just the weekly weight loss feedback that is current in the program. It was recommended to go in and create an exercise program based on my goals. You can do this by clicking on the “My Exercises” page, then selecting “Create Exercise Program”. For those of you who do weird minutes (I do a weird time of 48 minutes), you have to round up or down to 60 or 45 minutes – it doesn’t matter until these calories count in your calories-burned area; they may soon, so I’m trying to get it as accurate as possible. 
2. You can move the days you exercise by clicking on “Exercise Calendar” and dragging the icon for the exercise to your desired day. For example, if you select the heart icon for cardio, you can drag it to another day. It’s kinda neat (my ‘60s language creeping in).  
3. You can find a tutorial video on all of this at http://www.sharecare.com/user/sharecare-info-center/blog/show/watch-these-11-week-program-tutorial-videos.The Sharecare Info Center also has information on how to use and navigate Sharecare. If you can’t find what you need, email info@sharecare.com.
4. The important item for me: I eat more calories than I thought. Smaller portions are a must if I’m going to hit my goal of weight and waist loss.

Now to the big event of the week: turning 65. Since describing it here would make this blog run too long, I’ve posted it on The Huffington Post. The short version: the government forces you to get your Medicare card within 90 days of your 65th birthday, or you lose all benefits. Getting your Medicare card kind of brings home this message: YOU BETTER TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. You’ve got only one body to live in – and you need that body to keep your brain functioning, not to mention other vital parts. That’s another reason to choose to Move It and Lose It in 2011.

What else happened this week: the Brownies and the CAVs continued their losing ways. This hurts; we want you back King. Monday, usual work at the Institute. Tuesday and Wednesday, more administrative and leadership meetings at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, including talking about spreading our Intensive Disease Reversal Program outside of Ohio; Tuesday, I did a Fox TV and .com piece on the most important changes in medical care that the Cleveland Clinic group expects to see in 2011. The most important one is the new imaging technologies for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and the testing of therapies so this disease doesn’t have to increase from 4 million to 20 million over the next 4 decades. Thursday, continued with meetings with Institute staff and a couple of patient calls (and of course, every day sent patient emails for the Enforcer email coaching program to help others seize health).

My New Year’s resolution for 2011 is intact – smaller portions, and an extra 11 minutes of cardio every day. I’ve tracked them on Sharecare.com. I urge you to make these choices while you can seize health. The admonitions – eat smaller portions and mostly vegetables – will allow you and me the energy to enjoy life, Jon Stewart, Dr. Oz, friends, and the purposes we choose in life.