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MOVING UP
HEALTH AND FITNESS CLASSES CATER TO STUDENTS
Fad diets offer no real solutions
By Nikki Black
For the Daily
Too much turkey, candy binges and
the "freshman 15" worries can send
students swarming to the gym. The
University has many options for stu-
dents, faculty and other members of
the community to get in shape and
feel confident in a program they can
stick with.
U-Move, one of the University's
health and fitness programs, offers
affordable and fun group exercise
classes and, at the same time, gives
Kinesiology students and faculty
the opportunity to work and study
in leadership roles relative to their
field.
This year, the rush of students to
U-Move left staff and fitness profes-
sionals wondering just how long they
would stay.
"U-Move is a great program, with
group fitness taught at the highest
professional standards. The big ques-
tion, then, is not why there are tons of
people lining up for class during (the
first) week," said Johann Borenstein,
an Engineering research professor
who has been teaching aerobics at U-
Move for more than five years.
"The big question is why, on a Sat-
urday afternoon at 1 p.m., you can
find only a handful of participants
in the only group fitness class being
taught in all of Ann Arbor at that par-
ticular hour," Borenstein said.
Borenstein's wife, Laurie Finch,
also teaches with the U-Move pro-
gram. She taught high-low impact
aerobics for five years, and, this year,
she is teaching spinning classes for
the first time. A large part of her
spinning class is the music, which
she chooses carefully to best moti-
vate her classes.
In a single session, participants
77-
"The big question is
why, on a Saturday
afternoon at 1
p.m., you can find
only a handful
of participants in
the only group
fitness class being
taught in all of
Ann Arbor at that
particular hour."
-Johann Borenstein
U-Move aerobics instructor
are likely to hear anything from John
Cougar Mellencamp to The Tramp's
"Disco Inferno." She began with a
New Year's resolution to get healthy
in 2000, and Borenstein's classes
helped her to make a permanent com-
mitment to personal fitness.
"He made that hour of fitness so
much fun that I was immediately
hooked," Finch said. "I quickly real-
ized that I was a person who needed
a scheduled class with an instructor
and great music as well as the sup-
port and camaraderie of a group
class to make the New Year's resolu-
tion promise a permanent part of my
weekly routine."
"We take into account student,
faculty and staff schedules. We offer
a few early morning classes, a good
variety of half-hour noon classes and
then a slew of evening classes," said
Danielle Vincent, assistant director
for U-Move. "A lot of what we offer
By Amanda Shapin
Daily Arts Writer
Walk into a Barnes and Noble or Bor-
ders and undoubtedly you will run into
a table solely devoted to diet and nutri-
tion. Filled with books claiming that you
can eat more and lose more or ensure
that following simple guidelines will
reduce your pant size, there is quite a lot
of information to take in. However, many
of these diets hold empty promises and
lack actual healthvalue.
"Although the low-carbohydrate diet
is still a popular fad diet, its use has dras-
tically declined over the past months"
said Marilyn DeMuth-Nakamoto, a
registered dietician and counselor with
the University's Nutrition Services, a
division of University Health Service.
"It was a 'fad' followed feverishly for a
short period of time, but not lasting as a
lifestyle."
Below are four different diet plans
promising quick weight loss, and why
you should beware of their claims.
The Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet focuses on cutting
out carbohydrates from meals and sug-
gests eating foods that are high in pro-
tein, according to "Dr. Atkins New Diet
Revolution" by Robert C. Atkins. In
turn, many of these foods have a higher
fat content. While OK for short-term
weight loss, the Atkins diet can become
dangerous if dieters keep up high fat
consumption over a long period of time.
One study done by Tim Crowe, a reser-
acher from the Deakin University Cen-
ter for Physical Activity and Nutrition
Research, came to the conclusion that
low-carb dieting is not the correct way
to lose weight. "Serious complications
such as osteoporosis, kidney damage,
cholesterol, cancer, heart rhythm dis-
turbances and sudden death can all be
linked to long-term restriction of carbo-
hydrate foods." Crowe said.
Other problems with this diet, accord-
ing to Atkins's book, are symptoms some
followers have reported, including the
shakes, fatigue, lightheadedness, head-
ache, leg cramps, irritability and cold
sweats, all due to sudden carbohydrate
withdrawal.
The South Beach Diet
This diet is also based on a low-carb
lifestyle, yet not as extreme as the Atkins
diet. South Beach is broken down into
three phases, beginning with no carbs,
and then slowly re-introducing good
carbsbackintothediet,accordingto"The
South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston.
The book comes with an easy-to-follow
guide, complete with meal plans, recipes
and lists stating what is acceptable to eat
and what is not in each phase.
This diet does have its good side.
While it seems that carbs are now being
seen as the most evil food group on the
planet, this diet emphasizes that not all
carbs are bad; some are good and should
be kept in your everyday diet.
However, many meals recommended
on this diet are highly involved and hard
to keep up with, practically impossible for
a busy college student. Additionally, while
many have succeeded on this diet, others
find it hard to transition through the phas-
es and simply get stuck in the first stage,
which cuts out all carbohydrates and can
be harmful to your health. This stage
does not allow for any fruits, which are an
importantpartofahealthy diet. Following
stage one too closely and for too long can
lead to disordered eating.
"I was on South Beach for about two
and a half months and at first it was easy,
but once I stopped, it was really hard to
get back into it," LSA sophomore Eliza-
beth Hunt said. "The main problem was
I had no energy, making it harder to
work out, which really is the best way
to stay fit."
The Abs Diet
Consisting of a six-week plan, the
Abs Diet promises a flatter stomach
through special dieting and exercis-
ing. The key to supposed success on
FILE PHOTO
U-Move classes are taught at the IM Building, the CCRB and the NCRB.
is dictated by utilization trends that
vary by semester and even by day."
Vincent pins most of the success
of the U-Move program on the qual-
ity, enthusiasm and diversity of its
instructors. The participants seem to
agree.
"It's easy for a student to get busy
with school and put the gym at the
bottom of their list of priorities," said
Kristin Ellis, a Nursing junior who
is taking U-Move classes for the first
time this semester.
"That's why I loved cardio blast,
because (Borenstein) was so ani-
mated and fun. It was a tough work-
out, but the time flew by and he was
hilarious and motivating at the same
time," Ellis said.
U-Move classes are taught at the
Intermural Sports Building, the Central
Campus Recreation Building and the
North Campus Recreation Building.
MFit, a division of the University
of Michigan Health System, is a more
medically based program that offers
a range of programs, from nutri-
tion and personal training to cook-
ing classes and smoking cessation.
Classes are offered all over campus
and at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
MFit has also introduced some
new programs for students this year,
including personal training services
and the weight management Pro-
gram. These programs offer a holis-
tic approach to weight loss, including
diet, exercise, mental health assess-
ment and exercise strategy.
"This program is not solely about
weight loss, said David Waymann,
manager of Fitness Center Initiatives
for MFit. "It is making an investment
in your future well being, not just the
'freshman 20.' "
Holly Scherer, a registered dieti-
cian and coordinator for the MFit
Weight Management Program, finds
that small steps are the key to long-
term success with a weight-loss pro-
gram.
"We're taking a look at what they
are willing to change, and teaching
(participants) to develop healthy hab-
its they can live with," she said.
Seminars like "Vegan Meals"
and "Salads For All Seasons," make
getting healthy fun and painless,
and spots in the courses are in high
demand. Exercise and relaxation
classes are at their highest enroll-
ment ever this semester, Waymann
said, who added it is partially due to
continuous change and growth within
the programs.
Getting involved is nearly as easy
as it was to reach for a second helping
of pumpkin pie. Information and reg-
istration forms are available online at
www.umich.edu/-umove/ and www.
med.umich.edu/mfit.
U-Move registration is on a first-
come, first-serve basis and most
classes cost less than $50 per semes-
ter. MFit programs offer special stu-
dent pricing, and coupons for free
and discounted services will be dis-
tributed at University basketball and
hockey games.
U-Move MFit
Winter 2005 fitness class- Variety of fitness and cook-
es include spinning, pilates, ing classes. Fifteen-visit punch
yoga and tae kwon do. Class cards available for fitness
schedule and prices available classes. More information at
at www.umich.edu/-umove. www.med.umich.edu/mfit.
U-Move classes combine aerobic workouts with fun times.