HJBR Jan/Feb 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JAN / FEB 2022 31 high intensity training exercises, which offer more aerobic benefits. All it would require is adequate floor space and possibly a floor mat in order to perform these exercises. Editor You told me once, in the midst of caretaking, that I needed to make sure I was taking care of myself. I remember staring at you and whispering to myself … “I don’t even know how to begin. What would that really look like in my reality?” Do you remember saying that? What did you mean? What actionable steps would you have taken if you were me at that moment? I felt like I was doing the best I could at the time, given the circumstances. Fontenot I do remember saying this to you, Diane, and I think my point was that with the added stress of being a caregiver for a loved one, we can tend to take our own well- being out of the equation so that we feel as though we can invest everything into the quality of care that we are giving. Every- one who finds themselves operating in this capacity would be best served by figuring out some kind of balance in maintaining a healthy mental, physical and emotional state so they can offer the best possible care for their loved one. The law of diminishing returns comes to mind and can be a very common result when caregivers are operat- ing in a sleep-deprived, overwhelmed and, quite simply, a fight-or-flight mode for long periods of time, which can be harmful to the caregivers’ health as well as not being able to provide a more helpful quality of care. Editor How are you handling the aging process? What has surprised you most? Fontenot Well, I hope to be handling it as gracefully as possible, balanced with enough edge to continue to see gains in areas that are important to me. First, I operate under the mindset that there is no changing the fact that, as humans, we all age; so, my efforts are not to alter this process, but to employ the means necessary to provide an opportunity for the best quality of living through this unavoidable fact. When I was younger, for instance, my activity level and my metabolism were in a different place than they are today. Nutri- tion was not a focal point for me at that time, as I felt like I could eat whatever I wanted to. Today, I find that nutrition plays a sub- stantially more important role in my over- all health and wellness, in addition to my level of fitness. I have experimented with a number of different eating plans, all of which promise to produce certain results, and I am journeying through many of these plans to experience howmy body and mind reacts to them. In 1998, while rehabbing an ACL recon- struction, I hired Mackie Shilstone, a New Orleans-based sports performance man- ager, who came highly recommended from local athletes and physicians. He was very instrumental in getting me to consider spe- cific measuring tools for my body, such as body mass index (BMI), instead of relying on a body weight scale. Today, there are plenty of rated smart scales out there that will give you valuable information on bio- metrics such as BMI, body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, etc. These are surprisingly inexpensive and relatively accurate tools that I use to quantify my jour- ney toward fitness and health. What has surprised me is that it’s never too late to start this journey. I have been able to experience more drastic changes at my age now than I did when I was at the peak of my career. The only difference being that I have to proceed much more carefully, smarter and with more diligence than in the past! Editor We live in a culture that venerates youth, especially forwomen. I realize you are not one, but what are your thoughts on feeling optimal about your age? Any advice for the women out there? And, would your advice be different for men? Fontenot You’re hitting me close to home here as I have three daughters of my own, each one truly magnificent in her own way; and, no matter how much I tell them this, it doesn’t change the way they feel about themselves. In a world where social media