My hazardous work station.

You’ve heard it before: Sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy.  Like, really unhealthy.

So what are you gonna do about it?

Like so many things in life, just knowing something’s unhealthy usually isn’t enough to avoid it—especially if it’s part of your daily habit.

I’m a pretty fidgety person, but I know I still sit too much. How can you not? For many of us, our jobs are designed around our chairs. Eight hours in the workday, spent focused on tasks or sometimes just trying to make it to 5 o’clock; either way, it’s hard to get out of the chair—especially at regular intervals. And I, for one, hate to tear myself away from a problematic paragraph. I can burn an hour, easy, just trying to get a couple of sentences straight.

But here’s the thing: It’s not like you have to take a walk or do calisthenics in front of your baffled coworkers. Just getting your butt out of the chair for a couple minutes two or three times an hour can make a huge difference.

So yesterday, being an impulsive person who will opt for an immediate stop-gap instead of a customized and well-considered solution, I gave this a shot: I put a blank appointment in my Outlook calendar, which I use for everything from meeting schedules to grocery list reminders. (There are also other, higher-tech, specialty options, like this here.)

At 10:30 a.m., the appointment reminder popped up. I set the snooze for 30 minutes (20 minutes isn’t an option, and 15 sounded too frequent), clicked the button, and took a stroll to the kitchen to get some coffee.

Thirty minutes later, it popped up again. I clicked snooze, stood up and continued to read proofs right there at my desk, on my feet.

And I’ve stuck with it—every time the reminder pops up, I go to the kitchen or the restroom or just stand up for two minutes.

What’s really interesting to me is that, I thought the whole “sitting is bad for you” thing was one of those medical conclusions that we just have to take on faith without really noticing the effects in the short-term. But no: It really does feel good to stop sitting. It’s like when you don’t realize you’re cold until you step into the warm sun: You probably don’t realize how much you want to stand up until you make yourself do it.

Even more surprising than the immediate physical benefit, it’s been mentally refreshing, too. I know you’re probably thinking that a thing popping up repeatedly like that is annoying—and for some people, it probably is—but it turns out, it’s a nice little reset button for me. Sure I can burn an hour fretting over a paragraph, but that might not be the healthiest (or most productive) mindset. And at the very least, I can still type while standing up. (It gives me a different perspective, so to speak.) Heck, paragraph four of this blog was written from the standing position.

We’ll see how it works for the long-run, but as of day two, my legs—and my brain—appreciate the stretch.

Read Hannah Wallace’s “Health Report” in our June issue.

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My parents and me.

My father, who’s now 73, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago. As is their wont, my parents have embraced the challenge with outward cheerfulness and optimism. Since I didn’t know much about Parkinson’s at the time, but I do know my parents fairly well, their sudden, pronounced optimism was one of the first signs for me of the seriousness of the condition.

The first thing I thought of—and I’m sure I’m not alone here—was tremors, which, in mild manifestations, if you don’t really devote any time to educate yourself, seem little more than a physical and aesthetic inconvenience. But, as has become abundantly clear, Parkinson’s tremors have a serious cause—one that extends to many other symptoms and ailments, as well. For as uneducated as I have been, every new bit of info is a revelation.

For instance, I interviewed Bradenton sleep specialist Dr. David Law for our annual Top Doctors feature in June, and he told me about “REM behavior disorder” (RBD), which inhibits the natural paralysis we’re supposed to have during REM sleep. Essentially, with RBD, you thrash around, acting out your dreams. This disorder, Dr. Law told me, can be related to the family of neurodegenerative disorders that includes Parkinson’s—and can manifest years earlier.

I told my parents about this, and they smiled and nodded knowingly.

So yesterday, I visited Judith Bell and Dr. Dean Sutherland of Sarasota’s Neuro Challenge Foundation, a nationally recognized resource for Parkinson’s patients and their families. It was eye-opening.

Parkinson’s is caused by the progressive death of brain cells that make dopamine, a neurotransmitter that, in part, helps you modulate movements. Early symptoms might include stiffness, a soft voice, a loss of facial expression; in later stages, Parkinson’s can involve memory loss, hallucinations and other forms of dementia. There are a number of drugs available, some of which address the dopamine loss directly, while others address the individual symptoms. There’s also deep-brain stimulation, and other treatments still being developed. Also, “Exercise is as important as anything you can do,” says Dr. Sutherland.

While Parkinson’s was traditionally diagnosed by a physical assessment, there’s now an FDA-approved test for Parkinson’s called a DaTscan.

There’s optimism that, as doctors learn more about the causes of Parkinson’s, they’ll be able to develop even more successful treatments—and hopefully a cure. Like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s can be traced to a faulty protein that, in a sense, “convinces” the proteins around it to become malformed as well, so that the condition spreads somewhat like a virus. (It’s not a virus, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s involve different proteins.) In a moment of random science trivia, I was able to connect this process to an article I read in TIME more than a decade ago about bovine spongiform encephalopathy—mad cow disease—which also stems from a malformed protein convincing its neighbors to go bad.

While all this science is fascinating—and, let’s face it, reassuring, in its own way—to me, Judith Bell, the executive director of Neuro Challenge, describes a “whole person” approach to treating Parkinson’s, taking into account the social and emotional toll it can have on patients as well as their friends and families. “Because it can have visible symptoms and challenges, people can become reclusive, and friends can become uncomfortable,” she says, emphasizing the importance of education in helping everyone be more comfortable—and, ultimately, able to look past the condition and back to the human being. “People with Parkinson’s are more than their disease.”

As for Dad, he walks, rides his bike and lift weights daily—and, especially for such a private person, he’s astoundingly open about having Parkinson’s; he’s more likely to bring it up than anyone. With that approach, he and my mother both have made it easy to accept, deal with and, often, look past entirely.

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Inside the lab at Quorum Innovations.

“The human microbiome is the body organ you didn’t know you had,” says Dr. Eva Berkes, co-founder of Sarasota’s Quorum Innovations at the Hawthorne Clinic and Research Center. “It basically calls for a re-examination of human physiology and disease.”

Basically, she explains, your body has about 10 trillion cells. But on top of that, your body is also supporting an additional 100 trillion bacteria and other microbes—collectively called the microbiome. These microbes are in the middle of everything—the immune system, digestion, you name it. So when they get out of whack, health issues arise. “Diseases such as psoriasis, asthma, eczema, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer and heart disease are associated with an abnormal human microbiome,” says Berkes.

Have you been eating probiotics to regulate your bowels? (As some folks like to say, your “gut flora”?) Ladies, do you make it a point to eat active-culture yogurt when you’re on antibiotics to help avoid potential yeast infections? These are all in the realm of the microbiome.

“Yeast ‘infections’ are actually not true infections at all but are actually an overgrowth of Candida we all have as part of our own natural microbiome,” Berkes explains. “Overgrowth occurs due to suppression (death) of the beneficial microbiota (bacteria) caused by the antibiotic, since it non-selectively kills good with the bad.”

In fact, the overuse of antibiotics–especially broad-spectrum antibiotics–is one of the major issues affecting the health of today’s microbiomes, in addition to other aspects of modern living, like diet. “Unfortunately, most of our current microbiology tests are stuck in the 19th century and cannot diagnose 99 percent of clinical infection rapidly,” says Berkes. “This means the practical use of selective antibiotics remains elusive, even if such things did exist (and we at Quorum Innovations are working on them).”

The term “microbiome” itself is less than 15 years old, and its potential is only now beginning to be explored—which puts Quorum Innovations’ research at the forefront of an emerging field. The organization is hoping to develop over-the-counter products derived from the human microbiome for common conditions like eczema and chronic sinus issues, as well as FDA-approved drugs for multi-drug resistant bacteria and disease-causing biofilms, including MRSA and the “nightmare” bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia.

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Before and after: One of Captain’s patients.

Pain? Weight loss? Quitting smoking? As it has become more mainstream, acupuncture is used to treat an ever-increasing list of ailments. Including: aging faces.

I visited Christina Captain’s Family Healing Center for a demonstration of “cosmetic acupuncture” techniques—as well as an overview of acupuncture in general. Though I’ve encountered several people who swear up and down at acupuncture’s effectiveness, I didn’t know much myself. And though I’m sure there are still many skeptics, you can’t deny that, for many people, acupuncture occupies a significant spot in today’s American health culture. (Even the most skeptical in our society tend these days to respond with an, “Eh…can’t hurt.”)

A quick Google search reveals that there’s even a U.S. Air Force Acupuncture Center.

First of all, Christina Captain is kind of awesome. She conducted the demonstration with the attitude that was part stand-up comic and part BFF—lighthearted and charming, but still  informative, confident and competent.

There are the acupuncture basics—that the technique is based on the idea of meridians throughout the body; that each point can have seven or eight functions; that the professionals locate each point, which are about the size of a quarter, from a “bony landmark” and a Chinese measurement technique called cun (pronounced “soon”), which takes into account each body’s unique size and shape. The needles, which are a hair-like 36 gauge, come sterile, individually wrapped, and are only used once before being disposed as medical waste.

A personal assessment determines what needs to be addressed using which points, aiming for a balance of body functions, or chi.

Addressing facial lines and wrinkles involves more than just points on the face, but addressing those points on the face itself, in addition to their traditional acupuncture uses, adds another aspect to the cosmetic treatment, according to Captain: The micro-trauma from the needles stimulates healing, including collagen production.

The Mei Zen facial rejuvenation acupuncture technique can be performed twice a week for five weeks. Captain can also pair Mei Zen with homeopathic injections, for another facet of treatment. The effects, says Captain, can last three to five years.

Though the procedures are, by and large, pain-free—most even imperceptible—Captain emphasizes that acupuncture has a real and immediate effect. “Injections cause trauma. That’s just how it works,” she says, adding, “That’s why it works.”

Read Hannah Wallace’s Health Report in our April issue.

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The standard nasal CPAP headgear.

I’ve always snored like a mofo. As a kid, I was tormented by fellow campers and sisters alike, who would wake me up to complain about the snoring when it seemed to me I hadn’t even fallen asleep yet. (My college roommate was deaf in one ear; small blessings.) And there’s a famous story from a hockey tournament a few years ago where a teammate, awakened by the racket, initially assumed it was coming from her 6’5” 300-lb. husband. Nope: little ol’ me.

It wasn’t really a problem for me. All it did was bother other people while I slept soundly. Or so I thought.

But then my father, who was long known as our family’s champion snorer, was diagnosed with sleep apnea. He’d decided to go to the sleep clinic not long after NFL legend Reggie White died in 2004 at the age of 43, his death caused in part by complications from sleep apnea. (His wife founded the Reggie White Sleep Disorders Foundation in his honor.)

According to the National Institute of Health, in addition to risks associated with excessive tiredness, sleep apnea can:

• Increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity and diabetes
• Increase the risk of, or worsen, heart failureMake arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeats, more likely

Finally, a year or two ago, I asked my GP to steer me to a sleep clinic. The experience really isn’t much fun, and I had to go twice—once to (try to) sleep with miles and miles of wires and sensors stuck to me, and a second time to do a test run with a CPAP—or Continual Positive Airway Pressure—a breathing mask that forces a gentle stream of air into your nose so that your airway doesn’t collapse and cause the lapses in breathing.

All dolled up for my sleep study.

The CPAP is hard to get used to. The first few times I put it on, it emitted weird sounds—rushes of air or whistles when I exhaled—and it was hard to get the seal right. If the mask isn’t snug and in the precise right position on your face, air escapes in streams that can tickle your neck or, say, puff right into your eye in the middle of the night. (I also had a tendency to tear it off while unconscious and wake up with it whooshing harmlessly on the floor.)

But the first time I fell asleep for any significant amount of time while wearing it, I woke up feeling like I’d slept heavy for hours and hours. Then I looked at the clock: It was 1:30 a.m. I’d been asleep for a little over two hours. (Heh, that happened to me last night, too; I was poised to hear my alarm go off, but then I looked at the clock: It was 4 a.m.)

What’s also really cool is that I’d always slept with my mouth wide open, but the CPAP, which only fits over my nose (though there are full-face versions available), only works if your mouth is closed (otherwise there’s this weird wind-tunnel effect with the air flowing into your nose and out your mouth). After getting used to that, nowadays, even if I’m not wearing the machine, I’m much more likely to sleep with my mouth closed, breathing through my nose alone. My mom confirmed the difference during a hotel stay a little while ago: hardly any snoring.

I was also really fascinated last year when Dr. Jill Morris told me about new evidence suggesting that a too-small dental arch can be to blame for apnea.

When I thought about it, I’ve actually noticed that: When I sleep a full night wearing the CPAP, my front teeth feel…different. I’m sure it’s because, with my mouth closed the whole time (and my nose receiving constant airway pressure), my tongue doesn’t have anywhere to go, so it pushes forward against my teeth.

All part of a good night’s sleep.

To read Hannah Wallace’s “Health Report” in our March issue, click here. 

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Last week, I got to work on a piece about Sarasota’s Institute for the Ages, which is hosting its annual Winter Forum this Friday—“Technology & Connections in Positive Aging.”

I admit, going into it, I was a little confused about the essence of the organization. CEO Tom Esselman broke it down into three “pillars”—to catalyze innovation, to engage the community, and to “evangelize positively” for aging and help reverse the stigma. “There’re a lot of small groups that are devoted to aging issues,” says Esselman. “But there are few that are getting up on a soap box and trying to take a lead, from the perspective of older adults themselves.”

Essentially, Sarasota’s long-maligned older-than-average population is, in reality, one of our greatest strengths.

1. Our demographics represent what the world’s population is going to look like in 2050.

2. Up to this point, products and services being developed for aging issues rarely enlist input from seniors themselves—in part because of barriers like trust issues and the stigma of being considered older.

A big part of Institute for the Ages’ mission is to unite a collection of Sarasota’s older population with entrepreneurs, companies and organizations that are developing products and services for that demographic. (Part of the “engaging the community” goal is to develop a large group of Sarasotans who are willing to participate in new product development and other studies.)

What really clicked with me was the Institute’s first product study, which recently got underway: It’s for Live!y, a device from a couple of California entrepreneurs that encourages healthy interaction between seniors who live alone and the people who care for (and about) them.

The device, which operates from the home of the lone senior, has two functions: Using sensors that are attached to items like pill boxes, phone receivers, house keys and the refrigerator door, it monitors daily movements; caretakers can then check an online dashboard to see that the person is keeping a healthy daily routine. This helps eliminate constant “check-ins” from concerned relatives, who may frequently start phone conversations by asking a series of questions—i.e., “Did you take your pills? Are you eating enough? Are you drinking water regularly?” Prior to the device, in some cases, says Live!y co-founder Iggy Fanlo, “Parents were getting nagged, and it became toxic relationship.”

But Live!y has another function that also encourages positive interactions: The senior provides the company with a list of email addresses for anyone he or she wants to hear from—“all their kids, nieces, nephews, friends from all over the country, golfing buddies, their book club,” says Fanlo. Folks on the list receive a weekly e-mail, encouraging them to upload messages and photos. Every two weeks, Live!y compiles these into a physical photobook, which is then mailed to the Live!y client.

I dunno. I thought that was pretty cool.

Read Hannah Wallace’s “Health Report” column in our February issue by clicking here.

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During Patrick Swayze’s two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi Swayze, served as his caregiver. After Patrick passed away in 2009, she became a public face for dealing with terminal illness and the loss of a loved one, and an advocate for pancreatic cancer awareness. Her new book, Worth Fighting For, chronicles the couple’s experiences during the last years of Patrick’s life.

This Friday, Niemi Swayze, also an accomplished actor, director and playwright, will be the keynote speaker at Tidewell Hospice’s Compassion in Caring luncheon. We spoke with her on Monday about her marriage, dealing with loss, and the ongoing fight against pancreatic cancer.

Losing a loved one is such a personal experience. Why did you decide to share your story so publicly?

It was always our opinion that if you can’t take a bad situation and do something constructive with it, you’re not honoring that experience.

I’m a real crybaby, too. I tear up [during public talks]. It’s hard. Sometimes I’m very depressed afterwards. It does take a chunk out of me. But at the same time, I have found it to be very, very valuable to me. That whole experience of being with him when [we knew] he wasn’t going to be in the world—there are things I don’t want to forget. Otherwise, you stop remembering just how hard it was, just what that impact was. I get to remember what’s important in life.

By all accounts, you two had an incredible marriage, especially by Hollywood standards. What was the key to that relationship?

Someone once said, “The way that you stay married for a long time is you don’t get divorced.” You just stay in there. Of course, the love has to be there. We never gave up on each other. Over the course of being married for 34 years, we had our ups and downs, especially considering we were working in extremely stressful situations. But we were still the most important things to each other.

Do you have any regrets? Are there any conversations you wish you’d had with him before he died?

We were so busy being positive; we said were “realistic optimists.” We were going to hold space for miracles. We never wanted to talk about anything negative, but that also meant that there were some discussions we didn’t have, about any kind of angst we had about what might happen. I would’ve wanted to talk with him more. But there’s no doubt that I was doing the best that I knew how. It wasn’t perfect, but it was my absolute best.

What do you miss most about Patrick?

I miss everything about him. I miss his presence, I miss seeing him across the room, knowing that he’s right around the corner. I miss talking to him. I know he’s here with me in spirit, but I still miss him.

What’s the most important advice can you give to those who are caring for someone with a terminal illness?

I always tell people, “Take care of yourself.” It’s very difficult. I would’ve thrown myself under a bus if it would’ve made Patrick better—of course, then I wouldn’t have been in very good shape. Being a caregiver is physically and emotionally exhausting. Take advantage of little breaks. I used to go to TJ Maxx. That’s a good two hours of not thinking about the illness.

What can friends do to support a caregiver?

I had incredible wise, wonderful friends who said, “If you need me, it doesn’t matter if it’s 3 a.m., call.” Mind you, that didn’t mean they were going to pick up. [Laughs.] Just the act of reaching out made an enormous difference to me.

The most meaningful calls for us were people who were just checking in—“I’m thinking of you, I love you, call me back if you want to, but don’t feel like you have to.” That’s the thing: You’re living with this 24/7; when you get a break, the first thing you don’t want to do is talk about it with someone who just wants to handle their own fears about death.

You’re the spokesperson for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. What should people know about pancreatic cancer? What strides are you making in the battle against it?

It’s a merciless disease. Less than 6 percent survive to five years. Usually it’s in its advanced stages by the time it’s diagnosed. The average life expectancy is three to six months—which is why the tabloids could print that Patrick had died day after day. Of course, he said, “I guess they figure one day they’re going to get it right.”

The statistics have not changed in over 40 years. It’s the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the nation, but less than 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute budget goes to pancreatic cancer research. This is a no brainer that this needs to change.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network provides patient services, but we also lobby hard in Washington. We finally got what’s called the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act—just signed by President Obama last month—which deals with cancers with survival rate less than 40 percent. Pancreatic cancer is way at the top of that list. This bill compels the NCI to come up with a plan for addressing these diseases.

[Getting the bill passed] took everything we had, everything we knew. We are so passionate about fighting for our loved ones and the chance that they deserved. We’re a hard group to say no to. I know that Patrick would be extremely proud that his presence has brought all this to pass.

Click here to read Hannah Wallace’s “Health Report” in our February issue.

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The World Health Organization just released new recommendations for the consumption of sodium and potassium—two nutrients that factor heavily into your blood pressure.

Potassium is the goodie: You’re now to consume at least 3,510 mg of potassium a day. (I really enjoy the specificity of that number—if you’ve only had 3,500, grab another banana.)

Actually, according to this list from the USDA, bananas aren’t anywhere near the top of the list for potassium content. (Plantains do rank pretty high, though.)

And this is one of those circumstances where you have to stress the “balanced” part of a balanced diet—best not to base your meals on potatoes au gratin (which ranks high on the potassium list, though most preparations would probably put it up there for sodium, too).

Salt is the baddie: The new recommended daily intake is 2,000 mg of sodium (which, WHO tells me, is what you’d get from five grams of salt). The previous recommendation was 2,300 mg.

I’d wanted to provide a scientific explanation for how salt mucks with your blood pressure—I liked the idea that it inhibited the production of nitric oxide, a vasodilator (it opens your blood vessels), or that the water sodium makes you retain results in more pressure. But what’s interesting is that the more I looked into it, the more articles I found (including The New York Times, Scientific American, etc.) that questioned the relationship between high blood pressure and sodium intake.

I floated the question to dietician, physician’s assistant and hockey teammate Heather Hornstein. “For some people, [sodium restriction] might not make a difference [in chronic high blood pressure],” she told me. “However, eating lower sodium usually means eating fresh, whole foods, which is good for everything.”

For more health news, read Hannah Wallace’s Health Report in our February issue.

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No, seriously: do it.

It’s amazing to me that the murmurs arise every year: “Are you going to get a flu shot? I’m not sure if I should. They say it can’t give you the flu, but my [friend/sister/waiter/cab driver] told me they got the flu from it and now they’ll never get one again.”

Oh, crowd-sourced medicine, you are a troublesome phenomena.

So instead of echoing the word of every doctor I’ve ever heard or read comment on the topic, I asked Intercoastal Medical Group‘s Dr. Philip Rubin to expand a bit. He gave me two major reasons for the persistence of these anti-flu-shot rumors:

1. The dead flu virus in the vaccine causes an immune system response—that’s what it’s supposed to do. It might make you feel achy or otherwise like you’re coming down with something. You’re not. If you were, it would get worse from there.

2. You might get a flu shot and then get sick anyways—just not with the flu.

That second explanation entertains me a bit. Because the rumor that the flu shot causes the flu is so persistent, I imagine that there are a number of people who manage to avoid illnesses for a few flu seasons by practicing your basic flu-safety behavior. Then one year, they get the shot and come down with some other icky bug (that they then blame on the flu). It makes me imagine that flu shots trigger some invincibility mindset that leads to risky behavior—like there are people who get the shot and then, drunk on the power of their new immunity, avoid Purell altogether and chronically stick their fingers in their mouths.

Yeah, don’t do that.

Dr. Rubin also told me that it’s possible this year’s outbreak is so bad because this year’s prominent strain of influenza—there’s usually a different strain that makes it big each year—hasn’t been around so much for seven or eight years now. That means fewer people have developed a natural immunity to it.

For more health news and tips, read Hannah Wallace’s “Health Report” in our January issue.

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You get a workout fighting for the puck.

I’ll be enjoying one of my favorite kinds of fitness—ice hockey—in Ellenton this weekend, as our women’s team, the Gulfcoast Ms Conduct, hosts a tournament for the Florida Women’s Hockey League at Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex. Here’s a breakdown of the weekend-long workout.

Time factor: We’ll play four games between Friday night and Sunday morning. Games are three 12-minute periods, stop-time—which means the clock stops between whistles, so every time you have to skate back down the ice for a faceoff or pick yourself up after the goalie covers the puck and a defenseman clocks you, that’s all “bonus” exercise. With warm-ups and between-period breaks, it comes out to about 50 to 55 minutes on the ice.

Weightlifting: Aside from the helmet, which is equipped with a weighty metal facemask or “cage,” each individual piece of equipment feels pretty light—that’s shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, padded pants, jockstrap (sometimes called a “jill” for women), shin pads and skates. But altogether, the gear starts at at least 10 lbs. and gets incrementally heavier through the weekend with the accumulation of sweat and water (from the ice you gather every time you fall down and skid. And sometimes from your teammates squirting you with water bottles). By our third game, my gear will weigh me down to the tune of about 20 lbs. Our team’s goalie, who might weigh 100 lbs. total, is probably increasing her body weight by another 25 percent with gear on—and goalies are basically doing squats the entire game.

Warm-up: To keep games on schedule, we’re only given 3 minutes on the ice to warm-up before each match-up. So in the locker room, before I get all my gear on, I like to loosen up my muscles and get my heart rate (and a little sweat) going by knocking a tennis ball around with my hockey stick and/or juggling a size-three soccer ball. (The latter also doubles as a confidence-building holdover from a sport in which I am way more experienced.)

Interval exercise: Aside from the goalie, all the players are substituting constantly. You alternate between a minute of hard skating, stopping and starting, and a minute on the bench. (Well, theoretically: To our coaches’ frustration, we tend to stretch our shifts out a little longer—1:30 or so; NHLers aim for 35- to 45-second shifts, but, let’s face it, they’re skating way harder that we are.)

Calorie-burning: I’ve worn a heart-rate monitor at hockey practice before and burned 900 calories in an hour and a half. Games are a little different, but I can count on burning about 500 calories a game. (Exercise.com has a neat calculator that seems to agree with me. )

Nutrition: At the advice of Kaizen dietician Patricia King as well as the performance institute folks over at IMG (read more about both in my January feature, “Upping My Game“), I’m bringing Gatorade’s protein-heavy Recovery shakes into the locker room to have immediately after each game—along with lots of water and some G2. (Beer also factors a bit into tournament weekends, which only makes the rehydration doubly important.) I haven’t been “carb loading,” per se, but I’ve let myself off the hook for some pasta-heavy dishes this week.

Soreness: Thanks to the forward-leaning skate posture and the repetition of picking up and putting down my legs while wearing skates that are, of course, heavier than my usual footwear, the first thing I’ll notice on Monday morning is my hip flexors and quads, followed shortly by my back. My arms will also be a little sore, most likely from the push-up-like motion of getting up off the ice. And if I happen to get dumped on my backside, I’ll have a little whiplash, too.

To see the skating up close, FWHL teams will be playing at Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. (Spectators are free.) “Your hometown Ms Conduct,” as we like to call ourselves, will be on the ice at 6:30 Friday, and 9:15 and 2:15 Saturday (fourth game TBD).

Read Hannah Wallace’s “Upping My Game,” chock-full of tips and tricks from local experts about improving your sports performance, in our January issue.

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