With the decline in the economy, employers are forced to take a closer look at their workforce. One of the things they have to consider is employee health, a growing concern partly based on increasing health care costs.

So where will they “trim the fat?” Simple—by looking at employees that cost them money. Key elements of a 2006 study provided by Leade Health and titled “The Business Case for Weight/Obesity Management Using Health Coaching Interventions” focused on obesity-related diseases and their effects on the bottom line of businesses. Employee obesity is the number-one factor in productivity loss, and employees under scrutiny are those who are severely overweight.

In the study, it was determined that medical costs for obese employees are 77 percent higher than for those who maintain a healthy weight, and that obesity-related disabilities cost employers up to $8,720 per claimant a year. Additionally, obesity represents an estimated 43 percent of all health care spending for coronary heart disease, type II diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis of the knee, and endometrial cancer.

If you’re overweight, and your employer is evaluating job performance, missed days due to illness, and work limitations, then your employment may be at risk. Let’s face it—obesity is a growing epidemic in our society. Out of all the countries in the world, America is ranked number one for its overweight population. 30.6 percent of the population in America aged 15 and above have a BMI greater than 30. By comparison, the lowest is Japan at 3.2 percent.

So what is feeding the obesity epidemic? Dr. Dave Johnson, bariatric surgeon for Arizona Weight Loss Solutions, states, “The way people eat has changed. Many families try to make food dollars stretch by loading up on carbs and not enough protein, fresh vegetables, and fruit. Portions are larger, and fast food is on every corner. Fresh-food meal preparation has decreased due to busy schedules. The most concerning ripple effect is the alarming rise of obesity and inactivity in our children.”

Dr. Johnson questions the effectiveness of popular fad diets, which he says fail when people go back to eating “normal food” and gain back the weight they lost and continue to gain. The dieters, he says, don’t learn through these diets how to make wise food choices.

So what can employers do to help build a stronger, leaner workforce? We talked with United Healthcare, one of the largest insurance providers in the United States. They said that an increasing number of companies are providing wellness programs to help educate their employees while offering the employees positive incentives to create a healthy workplace. One such program is called Vital Measures, and the incentive is simple: If you don’t smoke, maintain healthy cholesterol levels, keep your blood pressure down, and maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) level that is proportional to your height and weight, you receive a credit on your deductible for each criterion met.

So where do we go from here? “Exercise, proper diet, nutrition, and behavioral education are the key to a person’s success with weight loss,” Dr. Johnson says. “Employers and employees need weight loss programs to mobilize their workforce and help them succeed in their efforts. Most insurance companies require a five-year weight history before bariatric [weight loss] surgery is approved. Because of this, we have added a medically supervised weight loss program for the people who do not qualify for weight loss surgery but still need to lose twenty to fifty pounds to get into that healthy weight range.”

To tip the scale in the right direction, America seriously needs to get moving, eat less, and eat more nutritious meals in order to trim the fat from its waistline. Don’t be a target—set a goal and get to your target weight instead.

To calculate your BMI, go to azwls.com.

This past June, I took a fabulous cruise aboard the Regent Seven Seas Mariner. It was my third time in Alaska, and I have to say it was by far the best. I purchased my first two Alaska cruises based on low price. This time, I paid more and went for the value.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises operates deluxe ships that are totally inclusive. Once I paid for the cruise in full, I could have left my wallet at home! My cruise fare included everything: airfare, transfers, and accommodations, including meals and entertainment, taxes, shore excursions, onboard gratuities, and all beverages and spirits aboard the ship. Even the alternative restaurants were complimentary. I booked early and reserved their minimum accommodation—a luxurious suite with a balcony.

The shore excursions Regent included at each port were nothing less than spectacular. A few of the more extensive ones required a small supplement; however, most were included with the booking. We could select from anything and everything from an active day of hiking and zip-lining to a relaxing city tour. My biggest thrill came during a whale watching excursion. We found a mother humpback and her calf and stayed with them for almost fifteen minutes, and I got a photo of the calf waving goodbye to us!

Whether you are sailing to the Alaska Last Frontier or the ancient treasures of the Mediterranean, be sure you know what you are receiving for your money. I’ve returned home from other cruises to some very large credit card bills when I thought I got a real deal on my cruise.

To receive complimentary copies of our travel magazines, Insights and Virtuoso Life, please e-mail me at marion@hagers-journeys.com with North Valley Magazine in the subject line.

It’s that time of year again when the world’s leading electronics manufacturers get together to show off their latest products. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held in Las Vegas every January. Approximately 110,000 visitors had the opportunity to meet with 2,500 exhibitors, featuring a whopping 20,000 new products. We obviously don’t have room enough to discuss them all, but here are a few highlights.

With the huge success of Avatar this holiday season, undoubtedly helped by stunning 3-D showings, a new breed of 3-D–enabled TVs was very popular at the show. CNET (cnet.com) sponsors the Best of CES awards and Panasonic’s Full HD 3D VIERA Plasma television took both the Best in Television and the coveted Best of Show categories. Panasonic’s Full HD 3D technology delivers a full 1080p-resolution image to each eye, offering viewers the highest possible visual experience. Panasonic will ship four 3D models in the spring of 2010 in 50-, 54-, 58-, and 65-inch sizes. All four 3D VIERA televisions feature Panasonic’s VIERA CAST(TM) IPTV functionality, and all models are THX certified for the best sound reproduction possible. Many other manufacturers announced 3-D technology, including Sony, JVC, Samsung, and Toshiba.

Not surprisingly, the trend toward connecting everything to the Internet continues. A big buzz at last year’s CES, Yahoo’s Connected TV initiative has moved a step closer to us all having Internet TV by adding several new companies to its cache of developers and adopters. Yahoo has software called the Yahoo Widget Engine that will run programs called (not surprisingly) widgets. Along with existing partners such as Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony, manufacturers Vizio, Viewsonic, and Hisense have announced new products that will ship this spring. Widget partners include Amazon, USA Today, eBay, Twitter, Facebook, CNBC, NBC, Napster, RadioTime, Dailymotion, and The Weather Channel.

Speaking of the Internet and linking to phone services, there was some very interesting and controversial news relating to a new product by Magic Jack—yes, that’s the very same company you have heard on TV promoting their Internet phone gadget. YMax Corp., the company behind Magic Jack, announced a new gadget that will allow you to use your cell phone at home for free calls. Essentially, this new device acts as your own private cell tower in your home. It then connects to your computer and sends your call over the Internet. There has so far been a muted response from the cell phone network operators, who have paid billions for the rights to the radio frequencies, as questions were asked about the legality of the setup. The bottom line is that if this product goes to market, it will allow users on GSM networks such as AT&T or T-Mobile to reduce the minutes they are charged for while making calls from within the home.

Got a digital camera and can never find the cable to get the photos onto your PC, or you can’t remember how to upload to your photo-sharing site? Checkout the wireless memory cards from Eye-Fi. Yes, that is just what it sounds like: an SD memory card with built-in Wi-Fi. At CES, we saw the new Eye-Fi Pro X2 wireless SD card. Store up to 4,000 photos or three hours of video with 8GB SDHC capacity and then upload photos and videos directly from your camera through your Wi-Fi network. The X2 has unprecedented wireless performance built in as it implements the latest technology standard (802.11n). There is a comprehensive list of features, including the ability to share your JPEG photos and videos on popular Web sites like Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, MobileMe, and YouTube.

If you want to display some of those photos and want to automatically jazz them up a little, you may like Casio’s new Digital Art Frame. With in-built automatic Photoshop-like software, this digital photo frame “transforms ordinary digital photographs into works of fine art,” as several reviews state. Users can create up to eight different authentic styles of art from a single photo at the push of a button: watercolor painting, color-pencil sketch, pastel painting, pointillism, airbrush, and oil painting, Gothic, Fauvist, or otherwise. The frame has a 10-inch LCD display, supports SD memory cards, and has WiFi capability.

If you like gadgets and can stand to be in Las Vegas at capacity attendance, then add CES to your calendar next January. If not, look for my highlights here in North Valley Magazine!

Dear NV readers—I’ve received an unbelievable quantity of mail in reaction to Tiger Woods’s indiscretions. The following are two such letters.

Noticing Links

Dear Lea,

I am really upset about the whole Tiger Woods story. I too have had a philandering husband. [Woods’s] wife, Elin, is beautiful and a great mother who has shied away from the press—choosing to make a somewhat normal life for her family. They are still pretty much newlyweds—I don’t get it…My husband and I were only married a year when I found out about the first of his thirteen affairs. I guess I thought Tiger was different. My son has looked up to him as a role model. If Elin Woods can’t keep her husband faithful, how can the rest of us ever hope to have a faithful, loving relationship?

Unlucky in Love

Dear Unlucky,

You are not alone. Many people were upset with the news of Tiger’s affair. (That is the problem with putting people on pedestals—the fall is far). I would like to point out, however, that it is a private matter, and unfortunately, because of Tiger’s celebrity status, there are probably some inaccuracies. I had to reread your letter—I am shocked that you stayed married to a man who has had thirteen affairs, if indeed you did. I don’t really have enough information to go on regarding your situation, so my response will be somewhat generalized. There seem to be a few common trends when it comes to infidelity. Some men do have sex addictions, but I have found that most married men are not looking for a one-night stand—they are looking for a lost connection. It is rare for this to happen in the short span of a year (it’s generally five to seven), but my male clients have revealed to me over and over again that they feel neglected and saddened by their wives’ loss of interest in them. The majority of the men I have consulted feel that their wives are preoccupied with the house and the kids and that they have become an afterthought. Once the relationship becomes a roommate situation, it becomes more difficult to resolve. I also hear that men are bored with the same dull routine. They like their wives to change things up—sexy lingerie once in a while, for instance. (A sexy text or a seductive voicemail can do a lot to keep the home fires burning hot). One of the most important things to remember is that men need to feel appreciated and wanted. (As human beings, we all want to feel special to someone. Men do feel deeply—they just communicate it differently). Although infidelity is not at all justified, most of the time it comes as a result of both parties and not just the one who had the affair.

Lea

Hold That Tiger, Buddy!

Dear Lea,

I read your columns and find your advice pretty much dead on most of the time. I am writing to you about the Tiger Woods story. I am about Tiger’s age and have been married about five years and am considering having an affair. My wife is completely preoccupied with our 3-year-old. She wears T-shirts and boxers to bed and has lost all interest in me sexually. I consider myself lucky if we have sex once a month. I am attractive and work out and keep myself in shape—women in my office find me attractive, and a couple have asked me out. I love my wife, but I can’t stand the fact that she is letting herself and our relationship go. She got me into reading your columns, so I am hoping you choose to print my letter. I just feel so rejected by her.

P.S. I am an avid golfer. I have hidden my golf clubs after the violence Tiger experienced. LOL.

Avid Golfer

Dear Avid Golfer,

I am glad that you decided to write about rather than act on your current options. I don’t know whether you have talked to your wife about your concerns, but you should if you haven’t. I have had a small child a home and know that sometimes it’s tough to feel sexy when you are dealing with dirty diapers and sleep deprivation. It is really important during these times, however, to stay connected and communicate. You may want to take a few things upon yourself, such as buying her some pretty clothes as well as lingerie and treat her to a day at the spa. Let her know how beautiful she is and that you want to make her feel special. A lot of overwhelmed moms are tired and feel less than sexy. If you help her in subtle ways to feel good about herself, you will reap the benefits. I really think you will see big dividends with just a just a few small gestures. (Ever notice how we are drawn to people who make us feel good about ourselves?) Make her feel special and important and communicate with her—then you won’t have to hide the golf clubs. Keep me posted!

Lea

Final Thought

Staying connected is vital and is the responsibility of both parties. It really does take two to make a relationship work, to ensure that the “worse” portion of “for better or for worse” is but a fleeting moment in time. One party should not be expected to shoulder all the responsibility.

Sweat’s annual affair celebrates a year of wonderful results for clients and growth for the gym. It’s an appreciation party for clients, to demonstrate pride in the Sweat family. sweatchallenge.com

Photography by David and Jolene Cummins of Cummins Photography

Called a “glitzy denim and diamonds event,” this fund-raiser for the nonprofit Joy Christian School included dining, musical entertainment, and live and silent auctions. Among the items donated for the auction were dream vacations, a new jeep courtesy Moore Chrysler Jeep, sports tickets and memorabilia, and themed baskets. The event raised $58,292.81 for the school. joyschool.org

Photos by Robert Cain

Nationally renowned medium and author Allison DuBois was the keynote speaker for the event, which raised awareness of and funds for early childhood education. CBS 5 news anchor Sean McLaughlin served as master of ceremonies. The luncheon featured a silent auction—whose items included a dinner with DuBois—and honored seventy-five women who have made positive contributions to the community over the past seventy-five years. The Junior League of Phoenix is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action of leadership and trained volunteers. jlp.org

Photography by Tina Greggo of Greggo Photography

The exclusive party at the Biltmore included a dinner, live show, silent and live auctions, raffles, and all-night dancing with the Chris Parker Project Band. Last year’s event raised $90,000 in support of For Those Without a Voice. ftwav.org

If Mozart were alive today, he’d undoubtedly be a DJ mixing tunes for a gyrating crowd in Ibiza. If Beethoven were alive, he’d be posting new music on Facebook.

These scenarios play out for fun in the minds of classical music fans. But there’s a serious question underlying this fun: Where are today’s great classical music composers?

Here’s an answer: One of them is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, and his white-hot career has been taking off since early this decade, with some performances in Arizona. He’s a DJ mixing electronica who also performs with world-class orchestras, often on digital drums or a laptop.

His name is Mason Bates and he’ll be in the North Valley in late February for four performances as part of the month-long Arizona Musicfest. His music is ethereal, gorgeous, lush, and intoxicating.

“I started on the piano, but I always knew I wanted to compose,” says Bates. “I found a way to combine both in a crazy concerto I wrote in 1998 for synthesizer, which I performed with the Phoenix Symphony in 2001 with [Musicfest artistic director] Robert Moody.”

Bates, a 32-year-old Virginia native with a shaggy early-Beatles haircut, is also a straightforward classical music composer. He’s a composer-in-residence at the California Symphony and, beginning next fall, he’ll be composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony. Since 2000, he’s been composer-in-residence at New York’s prestigious Young Concert Artists. He’s a composer who performs. When he does, it’s largely to get a firsthand feel for how electronic music fits in with classical instruments.

“The world of electronics is unmapped territory in the concert world,” says Bates. “When I’m in the percussion section with the laptop, it’s for technical reasons—I like to take cues from the conductor. But it’s also a musical decision—electronics need to operate within the orchestral setting in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the orchestra.”

Bates will perform his pieces, including “Rusty Air in Carolina” commissioned in 2006 by the Winston-Salem Symphony, at this season’s Arizona Musicfest.

Arizona Musicfest performances run Feb. 1–March 7 in venues throughout the North Valley. Mason Bates will perform with the Arizona Musicfest All-Star Orchestra conducted by Robert Moody: A World Class Opening on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.; Opera Grand and Glorious on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Orchestra Fireworks on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.; and Symphony Fantastique on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. All performances are at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, 25150 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale. Box office: (480) 488-0806. Visit masonicelectronica.com to sample Mason Bates’s music.

Photos by Robert Grebe, James Hamilton, Don Meserve, Stephen Parsons, Chuck Williams

It’s easy to overlook a piece of land, no matter how expansive, beautiful, and unique. Case in point: the breathtaking McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which includes the McDowell Mountains that hug the northeast corner of the Valley. This is land—dirt, bushes, stones—but it’s much more: It’s a treasure that needs to be saved.

It’s also easy to overlook people like Carla, which is her full legal name. Carla is a commissioner on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission and has tirelessly worked for decades to preserve vast stretches of the North Valley that have lured millions of visitors and residents to the area for generations. She maintains that protecting the environment is unto itself a noble cause.

“At the core, economically, keeping this beautiful open space is what draws visitors here,” says Carla, 54, who’s lived in Scottsdale since she was a child. “If you develop all of it, you’ve killed the golden goose. We’re protecting one of Scottsdale’s key industries.”

There’s another reason that Carla’s made protecting this land a lifelong effort.

“We need it spiritually,” she says. “It’s where you can go hike 20 minutes in and completely escape urban pressures. And this is our children’s and grandchildren’s classroom.”

Carla is emphatic in saying that the Preserve is intended for all Arizonans and other Americans to enjoy, as she did as a child.

“I grew up here in South Scottsdale, with a scientist mom,” she says. “We weren’t allowed to have a TV. We were always told, ‘Go outside.’ So, for us, our enjoyment was family picnics in the northern desert or taking daylong hiking trips. It was our playground, and it was our classroom.”

The Preserve encompasses more than 16,000 acres, roughly north of Via Linda and east of Thompson Peak Parkway. It includes The Gateway: a visitor center, trailhead entrance, and educational path that opened in May 2009.

The vision for the land encompasses another 19,000 acres. In 1995, voters approved a sales tax increase to purchase the land. In 1998, voters approved funding for the expansion. Additional funding was approved in 2004. And Carla was there each step of the way. In 1992, she began volunteering for McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, formerly the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust. From 1998 until 2007, she worked for MSC.

“To make something big happen, it’s like rolling a boulder up the hill,” says Ruthie Carll, executive director of MSC. “It just doesn’t happen easily. The thing about Carla that is so amazing is that she kept pushing, even when it seemed the boulder was too big.”

Carla’s efforts will be recognized with a street being named in her honor: Carla Way. The city council was scheduled to vote on final approval of the street name on January 12.

“Carla is a great example of the impact that one individual can have on a community,” says Scottsdale’s mayor, W. J. “Jim” Lane. “She was an early advocate for preservation, and her continued passion for the cause has spurred other citizens to get involved.”