Taking the first step
No one needs to tell Brandy Cruthird to take the lead on physical fitness and health.
A former basketball star at James Madison University, Cruthird started her own fitness club in a studio apartment in 1996. Since then, her company, Body By Brandy, has grown to a 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Dudley Square in the heart of Roxbury.
Her business has grown largely because the number of African Americans wanting to get in shape has grown considerably over the years.
Her mission is simple: “We want to make our community healthier by teaching individuals to take ownership of their health and make THEIR BODY, THEIR BUSINESS.”
Cruthird has learned that getting started is probably the toughest challenge.
“Most people just don’t know how,” Brandy said.
The first step is to make an appointment with a doctor. The next steps are creating goals and establishing a schedule.
If people are trying to maintain their overall physical health, Brandy explained that they need to exercise two or three times a week for a moderate period, equally divided into strength and flexibility and conditioning.
If they are trying to lose weight, they need to work out as many as five times a week and perform conditioning exercises as well as strength building and flexibility. The period of time can be extended as their physical condition improves.
If those are unrealistic goals to establish in the beginning, Cruthird said she is a big fan of walking. “It’s the friendliest of exercises.”
Brandy readily admits that it is not easy. But she says she always tells people that “if they don’t have time for themselves, then how do you give your time to others?”
Of particular concern to Cruthird are overweight children. A recent report by Children’s Hospital Boston suggested that by 2010, nearly one in five children would be overweight or obese.
“Parents have to turn into role models,” Cruthird said. “They need to bring more fruits and vegetables into their homes and introduce their children to these sorts of foods.”
As it is now, children are very comfortable being overweight and they are not encouraged to exercise or be physically active. Overweight children tend to have less confidence, poor posture, are more likely to sit in the back of the classroom and have a tendency to not look people in the eye.
“We have to let our kids know at an early age what their weight should be based on their height,” Brandy said. “We also need to tell our children to be healthy and not put pressure on them to be thin. There’s a big difference between the two.”
Part of that difference is nutrition. Kathy McManus, director of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Nutrition Department, explained that regular exercise goes hand-in-hand with a healthy diet.
And that means keeping an eye on what McManus described as “portion distortion.”
“The portions have just gotten larger,” McManus said. “From restaurants to the grocery stores, everything is super-sized. A small soda is no longer eight ounces. They are now 24 ounces. Candy bars have also gotten much larger.”
Some of that can be blamed on unchecked marketing. “I mean, c’mon,” McManus said, “How many ways do we need to make Fruit Loops?”
She quickly points out what we don’t see on television. “When was the last time you saw an ad for broccoli or a healthy bag of carrots?”
Ultimate responsibility still lies with the individual. “Healthy food just doesn’t happen,” she said. “It doesn’t just plop down on your desk for lunch.”
Over the years, McManus has seen a number of different ways that people become motivated to solve their weight problems. Sometimes, its medical and obvious, like rising blood sugar levels that are a red flag for diabetes. Other times, the triggering mechanism is the deteriorating health condition of a close friend or relative.
But the one that usually works the longest is self-determination to look and feel better.
“I’ve had people tell me that they wanted to get healthy after they saw a picture of themselves five or ten years ago,” McManus said. “Other people have said they grew tired of being exhausted after playing with their children or grandchildren. Their extra weight had finally gotten to the point where they couldn’t walk around the block without being out of breath.” |
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Brandy urges everyone to make “their bodies, their business.”
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| Exercisers go through a rigorous workout to improve their strength and health. |
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