Thanks Insane in the Membrane, our friends in Georgia; great idea.

The challenge is: Go Dancing. You can go out to a club, ballroom dancing, dance to the Wii, whatever. Individuals will get a point for completing 2,000 dancing pedometer steps and posting a pic to the OFAC facebook page.

One additional point given to the team that has the highest cumulative dancing steps/team member ratio.

Our challenge is to record the maximum amount of time that you can hold the position of a “perfect plank” as demonstrated by our model Diane Berlet.

For the basic plank you start on your elbow and knees, with the hands locked together. The elbows are under the shoulders. The legs are straightened and the pressure is applied to the balls of the feet with legs shoulder distance apart. Face the floor, keep your back straight and do not stick your bottom in the air. The reported result is the best you achieve in the week. Remember that poor form does not count.

The plank is an excellent exercise to build your core muscles. It will aid your posture, unload pressure from your spine and improve your performance in any sporting activity.

Points will be awarded to everyone who shares their high time for the week and their plank picture on Facebook.  A bonus point will be awarded to the top 10 times for the fitness challenge, and top 5 times in the health challenge. The highest times in each category will receive and additional bonus point (2 total bonus points).

Good luck and happy planking.

Back by popular demand this weeks challenge is the stair step- easy enough to do in your own home or challenging enough to climb the steps at Alum Creek.  Health Challenge participants, climb 10 flights of stairs (1 flight = up and down), Fitness Challenge participants, climb 20 flights (1 flight = up and down).

If there are no stair cases available for you to use, then we will accept using a piece of equipment at the gym, but it has to be a stair climber not a stair stepper.

Remember, please post your pictures on Facebook to receive credit.

Good Luck!

We all know breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, but sometimes the most difficult to fit in. This week, share your healthiest breakfast. Calculate the total calories, fat and protein content.

3 egg whites, 2 veggie sausage patties, and a medium orange, and a cup of coffee. 285 cal; 6.4 g fat; 28.7 g carbs; 31.4 g protein

Challenge #2 Example: Dr. Berlet’s Breakfast

Protein shake with banana (265 calories, 3.6g fat, 45g protein). A 100 calorie whole wheat sandwich thin with peanut butter and banana (calories 290, 12g fat, 17g protein). Although there is considerable fat in the peanut butter it has reasonable protein and seems to get Dr. Berlet through most of the morning without feeling hungry.

For your weekly challenge, take a picture of your healthiest breakfast, share your picture along with all of your statistics on the OFAC Facebook page.

Here is some great information that explains why breakfast can help control your weight, click here.

Complete a 5K Run/Walk (3.1miles).  Join us for Frist on the First at the Westerville Medical Center or complete one on your own during the first week of the competition.

The 5K can be done inside or outside, grab a friend and make it fun. The deadline to post a picture of yourself participating in the challenge or showing your completed time is due on the OFAC Facebook page by Sunday, Jan. 8.

Health Challengers:

1.    Each Sunday, email Katie Allen at allenkm@orthofootankle.com a “yes” or a “no”. YES  means you accomplished your weekly goal (ie, you went the the gym 3 times that week or went to a fitness class 4 times that week) or a NO means you came short of completing your goal.- First email is due to Katie by Sunday, Jan. 8, no exceptions to receive points.

2.    Post a picture on the OFAC Facebook page each week of you completing/participating in the weekly challenge. Pictures must be posted by each Sunday to receive points. –The first pictures must be posted by Sunday, Jan. 8. Please note, if there are multiple participants in the Facebook picture, please identify all the people in the picture.

Fitness Challengers:

1.    Purchase a pedometer. Track the number your number of steps you take each day. Report a weekly total to Katie Allen at allenkm@orthofootankle.com by end of day Sunday for each week.  Start tracking your steps on Sunday. Jan. 1. The first week will run Sun. Jan. 1- Sat. Jan. 7. Totals need to be reported by Sunday, Jan. 8- No exceptions to receive credit for the week. Points will be awarded to people who have 70,000 steps per week (ave. 10, 000 per day). Bonus points will be given to the person with the most steps during that week. High totals will be posted on the OFAC Facebook page.

2.    Post a picture on the OFAC Facebook page each week of you completing/participating in the weekly challenge. Pictures must be posted by each Sunday to receive points. –The first pictures must be posted by Sunday, Jan. 8. Please note, if there are multiple participants in the Facebook picture, please identify all the people in the picture.

Welcome to the OFAC 2012 Challenge. We are excited to present a health and fitness challenge that we hope will inspire you to better your health in 2012.

 Registration has been strong with over 150 participants joining us from Afghanistan, Calgary Canada, Tennessee, Georgia and of course, Ohio.



The weekly challenges are designed to introduce some variability into your routine. We have created the first few weeks starting off with a 5k walk/ run. If you are in Columbus please join us for First on the First at the Westerville Medical Campus.

The fitness challenges for February and March will be inspired by you. Start thinking of your suggestions.



OFAC Facebook page is the challenge headquarters. Use this site to log your accomplishments, comments, questions, and challenges. Everyone needs encouragement.

Katie Allen from the OFAC team has graciously accepted the role of contest coordinator. Together we are excited to guide you through a great kick start to 2012
. We look forward to celebrating all of our accomplishments and announcing the winners of this years challenge at our “Guilty Pleasure Party” in April.

Good luck to everyone, have fun with the competition, and here’s to your good health in 2012!

Dr. Greg Berlet

Fausto & Kevin

I have participated in the OFAC Health & Fitness Competition since its inception.  Rhonda (the aforementioned beautiful wife) is Dr. Berlet’s nurse and my best friend.  She also can be my biggest critic, competitor and motivator.  The competition has always been a way for us to come closer while working on fitness.

Obviously fitness is a priority in my current situation.  This is an environment where 16 hour days are the norm, not the exception, and the stressors are magnified.  Each Soldier is required to meet the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and weight control standards and I am a firm believer in holding my Soldiers to these standards.  That being said, you have to lead from the front, and all eyes are on you.  Joining the competition is another opportunity as First Sergeant to set the standard for the company.  Soldiers have ample opportunity to work out in all of our 5 locations and many are transforming their bodies into lean specimens.  Regardless, everyone needs a little incentive to push themselves even harder.  That is why the 684^th will be attempting to shadow OFAC Health and Fitness Challenge from here in Afghanistan.

Contrary to what the slogan says, there is no “Army of One”.  When we move out, we leave the most important parts of our team at home, our friends, families and significant others.

The stress that they have at home can be just a hard on them as what we have here. Challenging them to participate in the competition is a way to get them involved in the fun with us, while helping them maintain a health and fitness level that will ensure a happy reunion on our return.

The last thing I would say is that almost every person here is a competitor.  Anytime we get the chance to compete against other units, services or each other, we are eager to do so.  The results and comments are usually hilarious. I will be sure to share during this blog.

Hope everyone enjoys the competition as much as we will!

1SG Kevin Runyon

684^th ASMC (Med Dogs)

Protecting the Pack, Leading the Way!

The purpose of the challenge is to get fit through healthy, smart habits that can be used the whole year round.

Lose weight

Gain stamina

Try new things

Start regular healthy habits

There will be three distinct sections to this year’s competition named, “Hot Pursuit”.

Part 1.  The Bod Pod (40%)

Everyone will enter the dreaded Bod Pod at Baseline Fitness to get exact muscle and fat measurements.  These measurements will remain confidential throughout the entire contest.  Everyone will be asked to schedule his or her body assessment before January 1, 2011.  Call now or schedule online (614-880-9180/ www.baselinefitness.com). Eve Ann Buxton is expecting your phone call.

Weigh out will be April 1, 2011.  We will weigh out anytime from April 1 to the time of the Weigh out Party, which is currently scheduled for April 7, 2011.

40% of your score will be determined by the total percentage loss of body fat and the total percentage gain of body muscle mass.  For those people who have spent the last 7 years trying to cheat this machine will attest to its accuracy. The Bod Pod does not lie.

Part 2. Hot Pursuit (40%)

The 4 attending surgeons of OFAC will represent 4 healthy habits.  Each contestant will try to match or beat the doctors attempt to consistently maintain their healthy assigned healthy habit.  Each category must be done each day for a maximum weekly score of 7/7 days.

Category 1 – Dr. Philbin – Pedometer – 1 point

Dr. Philbin will walk 12,000 steps every day.  He will attempt to reach this goal every day of the week.  1 bonus point will go to the contestant who scores the daily highest step number for the week.

Category 2 – Dr. Lee – Calories consumed – 1 point

Dr. Lee will maintain calorie consumption at 500 calories below metabolic baseline.  Baseline Fitness will calculate each person’s individual metabolic baseline at your weigh in.  If every person successfully consumes 500 calories below this threshold, they will lose 3500 calories for the week or 1 pound/week.

Category 3 – Dr. Berlet – Push up/Sit up Quotient – 1 point

Dr. Berlet will do 100 push up and 100 sit up each day.  He will attempt to do this consistently every day of the week.  Simply do these each day, every day, consistently.  No bonus for doing more than 100.  No point if you do less than 100.  Girls will be allowed to do girlie push ups.  Sits up can be of any variety including crunches, leg lifts, and sits up machines.

Category 4 – Dr. Hyer – Resistance training – 1 point

Studies continue to show the health benefits of resistance training.  Whether you go to the gym to lift weights or do lunges and squats at home, pushing up against heavy things is good for you.

Unlike the first 3 categories, this will be measured as a weekly total.  This will allow contestants to accomplish the weekly goal in any frequency that they would like.

Each week, females must lift 100,000 lbs and males must lift 200,000 lbs in any fashion they would like.

Daunting, but not really.

If a typical 150lb person does 100 squats at home each day, that is 15,000 lbs or 105,000 lbs for the week.  Of course we would encourage each contestant to go to the gym and consider a full body workout using a variety of weights for both upper and lower body muscle groups.

Our hopes are to encourage everyone to go to the gym regularly (3x week) and engage in diverse resistance training regularly. Our super smart personal trainers will also be available to help train you at super discounted rates.

1 point for each contestant who achieves this goal each week.

Part 3. Challenges (20%)

Every so often, we will post individual and group challenges for that week.  Points will be awarded to anyone who successfully participates in that weeks challenge and documents it with a photo on Facebook.

Be prepared, the first one will be bowling.  This was the most popular challenge from last year.

Points are for participation but occasionally, prizes will be awarded for the winner of a challenge. For instance, the highest posted bowling score will win a free pair of shoes from www.footsourcemd.com

So join us this year.  We will kick off Hot Pursuit at the First on First 5K at the Westerville Medical Campus. You can see there will be a premium on doing healthy things regularly and keeping track of your progress.  We hope everyone will lose a little weight, pick up good habits, and mostly, have a lot of fun with our growing family at OFAC.

Please invite your friends, families, and co-workers to participate. Send Katie Allen an email at allenkm@orthofootankle.com to register by Dec. 29. Information will be sent to participants via Facebook and email.  Follow us on Facebook at Orthopedic Foot and Ankle and add us to your fan pages. If you have any questions, please contact Katie Allen.

The holidays can be a tough time to stay active and healthy. So, now is the time to finish off the last of your cravings and desserts and buckle down for the OFAC Fitness Challenge.

A Final Dessert

Each year we put together a competition to encourage health and fitness in a fun, lively atmosphere with a little competitive spirit thrown in as well. This contest has grown in number every year and each year is a bit different. It has been my pleasure to organize this year’s challenge with help from our friends at Baseline Fitness.

This year we are going to use social media and our OFAC Facebook site to help coordinate and update everyone on the contest over its 3 months. Sorry, you will need a facebook account to view the postings I believe.

Here are some details:

• Contest open to all ‘friends of OFAC’- everyone is welcome to participate. The more the merrier.
• Contest runs from Jan 4 to March 31. Yeah, I know—IT’S 3 MONTHS LONG! Only the strong survive.
• RSVP to Katie Allen @ OFAC to confirm you’re joining  allenkm@orthofootankle.com
• Coordinate with Eve Ann @ Baseline Fitness to complete your BOD POD which is a body analysis of lean muscle and body fat content. We’ll do this as a ‘weigh-in’ at the beginning of the contest and another at the end as a ‘weigh-out’. ‘Weigh in’ has to be done by Jan 1.
• You’ll need a pedometer. You can use your own or get one from Eve Ann @ Baseline. One that measures steps for a week is preferable and easier on you.

We will have a Weigh Out Party in early April to celebrate everyone’s improvement and announce the winner!

• This party will feature all the fried food, carbs and sugar laden treats you’ll be skipping on during the contest. This is a nice reward for a job well done.

Here’s how the competition will work:

Points will be calculated by-

• 20% BOD POD- you’re raw numbers won’t be published or identified. We’re looking at who can make the greatest improvement in loss of % body fat- % body fat is changed by losing fat and/or gaining lean muscle–either way, you make positive change to this number.
• 20% Pedometer steps- steps need to be recorded and reported on a weekly basis via email to Katie Allen allenkm@orthofootankle.com First email report to Katie will be Sunday, Jan 10 and every Sunday night after that. If you don’t report, you don’t get credit.
• 20% January Weekly Fitness Events- Each week will have a new ‘Fitness Event’ to perform. It can be done anytime during that week. These events are designed to promote health, wellness and camaraderie amongst contestants. Everyone of all activity levels will be able to perform.  Each Sunday night, starting January 3rd, the event and description will be posted on to the OFAC Columbus Facebook Site . Most events will require you to upload photo evidence to the Facebook site that you completed the event. If you don’t prove you did it, you can’t get credit for that week’s event.
• 20% February Weekly Fitness Events- same rules as January
• 20% March Weekly Fitness Events- same as Feb.

I hope everyone will consider joining this year’s contest! I think with the addition of a new event each week, we should have more fun than ever before!

Good luck—see you at the Weigh Out Celebration Party

Christopher Hyer, DPM, FACFAS

Orthopedic Foot&Ankle Center