26 InRegister • July 2008
InTouch
Think getting in shapemeans all veggie meals and endless hours on the treadmill?Think again.
“We wanted people to know staying healthydoesn’t have to mean eating celery sticks and doing aerobicsall day,” explains Robin Mayhall, spokeswoman for Blue Cross andBlue Shield of Louisiana.
In fact, eating right is abig part of the secret. As Mayhall describes, the ideais to “eat healthier food, not less food.”
Thatcomes as welcome news to Louisiana residents everywhere who can’timagine a gumbo-deprived world.
The concept of “EatRight” is the first of two basic tenets of theLouisiana 2 Step, a motivational program spawned by Blue Crossin collaboration with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Where didthe idea begin?
“Mike Reitz, our senior vice presidentand chief marketing officer, saw a study showing that 72percent of all illness was preventable,” continues Mayhall. “Fromthere, we realized all that was needed was a lifestylechange.”
Louisiana 2 Step sparks that change through its interactiveInternet program which pushes eating right along with its runningmate “Move More.”
The Web site, louisiana2step.com, encouragesa healthy lifestyle through nutritional guides, food logs, healthy recipes,weight trackers, exercise suggestions and even an entertaining avatar ascoach to keep you on your toes.
“The ideawas born to give a simple message that two smallsteps each day can lead to much bigger results,” Mayhallsays.
Considering Blue Cross insures more than one million Louisianans(or one in every four people), it spares noexpense in lending its resources, commitment and knowledge to thestatewide initiative.
“We have a stake in combating obesity,”adds Mayhall. “If we can reduce the claims’ costfor Blue Cross, then that will keep premiums as lowas possible.”
“Doing the 2” is as easy asone click of the mouse, but InRegister was curious toknow how Baton Rouge is doing its own jig tostay healthy.
Yoglates
Where in the world can you findLSU gymnasts, grandmothers and a Tulane women’s track coach alltogether in the same room?
Try a secluded little shopnot much bigger than a storage rental unit, tucked awayclear of plain sight from adjacent College Drive.
Coincidence aside,it’s what they’re doing there that’s really interesting.
Yoglates, combiningaspects of yoga and Pilates, is the brainchild of localactor and entrepreneur Don Yesso.
“This idea came fromdesperation, not inspiration,”
explains Yesso.
Desperation arose when Yesso’s techbubble burst like many others in the earlier part ofthe decade. Still working as an actor and bodybuilder inCalifornia at the time, he suddenly felt pressure to “get a real job.”
Scrambling for ideas, Yesso tried toconnect his fitness affinity with a new phenomenon in hislife, yoga.
“Yoga in high temperatures would help relievemy back and knee pains,” says Yesso. “But afterwards,I didn’t want to work out and lift anymore.”
Acclimatinghimself to this Eastern workout philosophy would prove difficult, ifnot occasionally comical.
“All these people from California, they’retalking colonics and I’m eating cheeseburgers and doing push-ups,”Yesso remembers with a sheepish grin.
In a short time,Yesso became efficient at both yoga and Pilates and beganconducting his own unique workout blending the two disciplines.
Fastforward to October 2001 and Yesso signed a one-yearlease on that small place off College where he plannedon teaching Yoglates to the unprepared masses of Baton Rouge.Roughly three months into his endeavor, Lori Lynn Braymer arrivedunimpressed.
Yesso remembers, “She took one look around andsaid, ‘You charge $85 a month and don’thave a babysitter.
TWO WAYS TO
By BEN LOVE
DonYesso with
Lori Lynn Braymer
