Welcome to RHWellsFitness!

Welcome!  Thank you for stopping by. 

This post is just an introduction of myself to the world at large. 

Who is RH Wells?  I am a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise.  I enjoy health and fitness and this is my way of sharing, and hopefully making a difference, with the world.  I have my share of health issues.  I have found that exercise has helped me cope with my condition and continues to give me a very good quality of life. 

On the personal side, I am a Christian, a husband, and a dad. I grew up in west Texas, played high school sports even though I wasn't the most athletic, and spent my weekends riding horses and competing in Gym Kanas. I attended Northern AZ University (Bac. Sci.) and a few years later University of Phoenix (MBA). Took up Kajukenbo after that, earning my brown belt and doing some competitions - including Vegas. Years later, after getting married, now raising three wonderful kids with their interests ranging from archery to ballet.

Here in the States, there seems to be a disconnect between the rising cost of healthcare, the rising occurrence of obesity, and the lack of exercise people get.  My plan is to educate people on what we can change and how to change it to give us all a better quality of life.  Some things, unfortunately, are out of our control.  With some pre-planning and proactive actions on our part, we can improve our quality of life and hopefully reduce the costs/occurrences of the things that are out of our control.

I will be writing posts about health, fitness, and nutrition.  Disclosure:  I am NOT an MD or a RD.  I do not prescribe or eliminate foods based on what ails you.  I also can't diagnose ailments that you might be going through.  These are things you need to see a medical professional for.  Any personal trainer that prescribes a diet or diagnosis of an ailment, unless so licensed, is doing you a disservice and is operating beyond their scope of practice.

What I do and suggest is based on research and science.  In the course of the past 100 years, the USDA has provided food guides to educate people on what to eat and what quantities to eat.  I'm sure majority of people have heard of it and forgotten it as well.  The guidelines have changed several times since their inception in 1916.  The knowledge of exercise science has changed a lot in the past 40+ years as well.  Other things that have changed over the years are portion sizes, food labels, number of meals eaten out vs home cooked meals and food allergies to name a few.

Thanks again for stopping by to read.  Hope to see you back for more.


RH Wells

 

On February 13th, Robert F Kennedy was voted and confirmed to be the 26th secretary of Health and Human Services.  Some people are scared, and others are hopeful of what he might do.

This got me to thinking about what his background is.  Why is he qualified for this position?  Should we be scared, or hopeful?

In researching Mr. Kennedy, here is his history.  He attended Harvard in late '70's and law school in early '80's.  Passed the Bar in 1985, which is when he began his career as an environmental attorney suing corporations for disposing of hazardous waste into waterways instead of properly disposing them.  In the '90's, he began taking private clients, instead of cities or groups, to fight against corporations with poor waste management.

This is also when one of his son's was found to have peanut allergies.  After some research, he attributed this to certain vaccines that began to be used in 1989.  His fight against oil and chemical companies began to move against big pharma as well.  Now it was personal.

Since then, we have seen a large increase in chronic diseases, mental health, and the rising costs of preventable health conditions.  Many are therefore looking to work with Mr. Kennedy to advance policies that will be more in line with preventative health and wellness through physical activity.

Regular exercise has been shown by science for years, if not decades, to be a very effective way to manage and preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression. What many are hoping to see is:

    1. Including access to fitness and wellness programs into healthcare programs

    2. Policies to allow Americans to use pre-tax dollars for physical activity, such as gym memberships.

    3. Supporting exercise to support mental health wellness, as exercise, has been shown to be a good way to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.

Only time will tell what he will do.  It is promising that finally someone will start to look into preventative measures and not just being reactive as usual. One cannot legislate or regulate people to behave a certain way, but with education one can hope to guide them in a better direction. Also, this may incentivize a route to improve one's health without the use of drugs and getting them to move more.