For years, doctors have been preaching the importance of staying fit and healthy as you get older, especially after the age of 50. Valerie Belcher is a firm believer. In fact, she could very well be one of the fittest 50-year-old women in Houston. Not only does she devote two hours a day, four days a week to working out at the gym, but she also participates in other athletic activities on a daily basis to supplement her training and for sheer enjoyment.

A member of Bally Total Fitness since 1978, Belcher began working out religiously in 1983 after graduating college. Her morning gym sessions include a half hour of calisthenics followed by weight training.

“I think it’s important for girls and women to workout regularly because it’s good for strengthening bones, and it makes you stronger,” she said. “As you get older, your bones need to be strengthened, and, especially for women in their 50s, it helps to prevent osteoporosis. It’s good for your cardiovascular system, it develops muscles and it keeps you looking toned and lean so you don’t get flabby.”

In addition to gym workouts, Belcher, who stands an even 5’, often runs at Memorial Park, rides a stationary bike at home, practices archery and goes horseback riding with her 15-year-old daughter Kristi. She trained to compete in the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2009, but had to drop out of the race more than halfway through after suffering an injury. Belcher has also participated in a sprint triathlon and twice in the BP MS 150 bike tour.

It doesn’t take a hockey aficionado to figure out that the sport is one of the most grueling and physically demanding team sports on earth. It demands gigantic amounts of aerobic endurance, strength and agility, not to mention outstanding skating skills. For Houston Aeros right winger Danny Irmen, 25, meeting the physical challenges requires a virtually year-round training regimen.

“After the season is over, trainers recommend taking about two weeks to a month off from training,” says Irmen, in his fifth season with the American Hockey League (AHL) team. “I usually take about three weeks off, but I get bored with nothing to do, so I want to get back into the gym.”

HCC Passion for Fashion Party

Robin and Charles Reimer hosted a kick off party for Houston Community College’s upcoming Passion for Fashion luncheon. HCC Chancellor Dr. Mary Spangler, Kay King, chair of the Lifestyle Arts and Design Careers Division at HCC and H&FSM contributor, Julia Frankel, honorary luncheon chair and Leisa Holland Nelson, luncheon chair.
Photo by Kim Coffman

2010 Heart Ball Reception

The American Heart Association recognized honorees and underwriters at a pre-event reception for the Keep the Beat Heart Ball, held last month. Community honorees Lilly and Thurmon Andress.

Vicki West, Cynthia Allshows, Lilly Andress and Carol Sharp.
Photos by Alexander's Fine Portrait Design

Houston's zaniest recreational sports events

––By Gene Duffey––

Mutt Strut and Runway Race

March 6
Where: Bush Intercontinental Airport
Sign up: Pre-event online registration is free. $25 day of event
Info: 713-869-7722 or Houstonspca.org.

Want to parade around with your pooch and get some exercise at the same time? And maybe see a few 747s up close? This event is designed to raise $250,000 to help the Houston Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

There is a 5K race in addition to the one-mile dog walk. Categories for the dog walk include “most talented,” “best kisser,” “best tailwag,” “best look-alike” (Wouldn’t you love to be a judge for this category?) and “most creative costume,” which gives you a chance to put some wow in your bow-wow.

Photo Gallery

Digital Panoramic X-Ray

The next time you make your bi-yearly trek to the dentist, pay close attention to the x-ray equipment. You just might be using the safest, newest and coolest thing out there. While the technology is still emerging, a few dentists around town have invested in the Digital Panoramic X-Ray machine.

The digital radiology technology works much like a traditional x-ray, according to Houston dentist Spiker Davis, who utilizes the new device. “You get more radiation from your cell phone than from this machine,” said Davis. Patients who before refused to have x-rays are now able to not only have the x-rays, but their dentists are able to see much more.

Davis knew that the technology would allow him to see more than he ever had before, but he wasn’t totally prepared for just how much more he would see. “The detail that I can see is incredible,” said Davis. “I’m not only able to see everything from TMJ to clogged carotid arteries, but I’m able to immediately email those images to insurance companies, other doctors and patients. It’s really cool.”

The immediacy of viewing the images has also revolutionized the field because it has made developing and copying film and mailing the film out to be processed a thing of the past.

While the Digital Panoramic machine is significantly more expensive than the traditional machines, dentists are able to continue to charge the same for these images as they do for the traditional variety because of the money they save in not having to buy film, chemicals for processing or cover Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fees for disposal of chemicals and materials.

Davis’ machine has found blocked arteries in 10 patients who would have never known otherwise because symptoms don’t often present themselves until it’s too late.

Not “Just A Girl” Anymore

By Amy Lee

I have always considered myself to be “just a girl.” I have never thought there was anything terribly remarkable about me and I have hidden in a cloak of fat for most of my life. My outward appearance was a result of poor food choices and a lack of exercise. It is also a direct reflection of how I felt.

I was overwhelmed and unable to control everything that happens in life, so I ate to stop the pain. Over the course of 20-something years, my weight climbed to a staggering 286 pounds by November 2008. I never would have known how much I weighed had I not been forced to visit the doctor due to illness. I avoided scales like the plague and consequently avoided the doctor because I knew I would have to stand on one and face the truth.

I was stunned, sickened and heartbroken that I had allowed myself to get to that point. I realized I was killing myself and I knew I had to stop it. I have this amazing family and I didn’t know if they would ever get over the anger of losing me to something I had the power to do something about. I made a choice to save my life.

March 2010

Fitness Scene
presented by The Winning Circle®

Laser-based procedures are at the forefront of the lipo revolution

By Nancy H. Rosenberg

Tremendous technical and medical advances have been made in the last few years in the field of liposuction, according to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS). New liposuction techniques utilize lasers, which liquefy fat before removing it and smaller cannulas, which are the hollow tubes that are inserted beneath the skin to remove the fat. They also allow for local as opposed to general anesthesia, which means the procedure is becoming less invasive and recovery time is faster.

Costa Rica Getaway

Pura Vida. It translates to “the good life,” and it’s the phrase that best sums up the Central American nation of Costa Rica.

Situated between Nicaragua and Panama, Costa Rica is a tiny sliver of land–about the size of West Virginia–that packs a lot into its 23,000 square miles. An emerging tourist destination with a population of 4.5 million residents, Costa Rica offers an abundance of wildlife, active volcanoes, majestic mountains, powerful rivers and crystal blue ocean waters.

Rental management company Stay in Costa Rica invited H&FSM account executive Shawn Broussard to enjoy a four-day media junket, and he returned with a lifetime of stories following his stay at the Los Suentos Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort, where he stayed in one of the resort’s luxurious condos. The fun started as soon as Broussard’s 3½ hour direct flight from Houston touched down.

Core strength training puts barrel racer Tammy Key Fischer on top

––By Allison Stephan––

When Tammy Key Fischer sits in the alley waiting for the gates to open, she knows that she only has seconds to apply what has taken years to hone. Everything in barrel racing happens in a split second, and the mastered skills that have become almost innate are crucial because a correction in the arena can mean disaster.