MENU

Sections

More

November 15, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

Health Health Lead

Senior Nation: Nature’s Multicolored Autumn Farewell by Susan Covey

by Leave a Comment

Every autumn, we revel in the beauty of the fall colors. The mixture of red, purple, orange, and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in the trees as the seasons change from summer to winter, painting the landscape with nature’s autumn palette.  How does this happen you ask?

In the fall, because of the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.  At the same time, other chemical changes may occur, which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange.

The autumn foliage of some trees shows only yellow colors. Others, like many oaks, display mostly browns. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf during the fall season.

The weather also affects color intensity. Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation, producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color, yet rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. 

Enjoy nature’s last fling before settling down for a winter’s sleep!  

Susan Covey is the Fitness Director of Acts Bayleigh Chase in Easton

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Senior Nation: Embrace Your Age, Live Your Best Life by Susan Covey

by

According to Leading Age, “Active Aging is a worldwide initiative that honors the spirit and contributions of older adults while encouraging active lifestyles and changing perceptions of aging.” The theme for 2025, as stated in the title of this article, aims to celebrate the positive aspects of aging, encourage healthy habits and promote the idea that aging can be an active and fulfilling experience. This year, Active Aging Week will be celebrated from October 6th through the 10th.

So, as Autumn closes in, I’d like to especially encourage everyone to reap the benefits of nature every chance you get. Scientific studies have proven that not only walking, but just being in nature has a profound positive impact on our health. Of course, we know that if we walk at least 15 minutes a day, we will have fewer diseases and are less likely to get cancer, have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke and have better bone density.  But recent researchers are now demonstrating a reduction in stress, blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as an upswing in mood and general outlook on life just because of being outside.  They have also shown a link to longevity and decreased risk of mental illness and depression. (Kuo and Taylor 2004, DeVries et al. 2003) The health benefits of nature may also be relevant to injury prevention and control, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions, and other maladies, including cancer (Li, 2009).

Drawing attention to these benefits of outdoor leisure and recreation for improved health helps shift attention from the downstream costs of health care to the upstream efforts to prevent ill health from occurring.  An upstream focus is always empowering and enables individuals to take a more prominent role in their own wellness.

Ok folks, time to get out there! We are so very fortunate to have such lovely, well-maintained nature trails in our area: Tuckahoe State Park, Adkins Arboretum, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Martinak State Park, Pickering Creek, and more!

Enjoy everything around you and take the time to PLAY. After all, you’re never too old to jump in the leaves!

Susan S. Covey is Director of Fitness at Acts Bayleigh Chase in Easton. 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Difference Between Try And Triumph Is A Little Umph! By Susan Covey

by

September is Healthy Aging Month which is designed to focus attention on the positive aspects of growing older. The mission being to encourage all of us to take personal responsibility for our own health and well-being by aging with a healthy body, mind and spirit.

So, let’s get motivated, reinvent ourselves and use these simple strategies to keep our good intentions to begin an exercise program or to just keep you on track and CELEBRATE HEALTHY AGING MONTH!

  1. Find something you enjoy. Remember “exercise” can include brain games, outdoor games, playing with the grandchildren, walking around the Zoo, hiking in the woods or taking a meditation walk around the block.
  2. Set goals but make them short term goals that you can easily track. One workout at a time.
  3. Find the best time and make part of your everyday schedule. This will keep you more accountable than just thinking about doing and never doing.
  4. Start slowly. Even just 10 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. The goal being 150 minutes per week.
  5. Plan to do things with a buddy, or a group.
  6. Reward yourself with anything that makes you feel good as long as it doesn’t interfere with your goals.
  7. Mix it up, try a new class, challenge yourself.
  8. But also go easy on yourself if you fall off the wagon. Just get back in your routine as soon as possible. Don’t make it a source of stress. Just enjoy a bit of a break and move on!

Put some umph in your good intentions and reap the benefits!!!  You’ll be glad you did!

Susan Covey is the Acts Bayleigh Chase Fitness Director based in Easton.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Strive for Independence, Not Just on the 4Th Of July! by Susan Covey

by

Like most people, you’ve probably heard that activity and exercise are good for you. The frailty and decreased energy often associated with aging is largely due to muscle loss.  (Here’s where I can’t resist adding the adage “Use it or lose it”.)  So true.  

Being physically active on a daily basis is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.  As a matter of fact, exercise is THE key to maintaining your mobility and prolonging your INDEPENDENCE!  It is central to daily functioning…think about it.  Your daily activities like getting out of bed, rising out of a chair, standing in the shower, carrying groceries, walking down the hall.  They all require strength and energy, and one of the best ways to keep muscles healthy and strong and to increase the body’s vigor is with mobility-enhancing exercises.  Also called strength training or resistance training, these exercises are among the best ways to fight weakness and frailty that can come with age.  If done regularly they will build bone and muscle and help preserve your INDEPENDENCE.

So, let’s make our founding fathers proud, take back our freedom of movement and refuse to surrender to the tyranny of aging!  We may be born into a life of liberty, but we must not ever remain idle. After all, the key to INDEPENDENCE (and therefore happiness) lies in the pursuit!

Susan S. Covey, Director of Fitness Acts Bayleigh Chase

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Senior Nation: Gardening a Great Boost for Body and Soul by Susan Covey

by

 

The calming benefits of being in the natural world are endless and include fresh air, improved mood and concentration, mental clarity, lower blood pressure, improved flexibility of your joints and muscles.  The list goes on, but the simple satisfaction and delight derived from watching things grow and bloom is both unmatched and undeniable.

Gardening sharpens your mind.  There is evidence that growing plants enhances your brain.  For example, one NIH study found that the act of gardening may lower your risk of dementia by as much as 36 percent!

Gardening strengthens your body.  The actual act of maintaining a garden keeps you moving for one thing. Considering many of us sit for way too much of the day, this is important.  An active lifestyle in turn lowers your likelihood of obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, stroke, depression, and more.  In addition, if you garden outside, you’ll also passively reap the benefits of sun exposure.  Sunshine, of course, is a key source of vitamin D, which fortifies your bones and immune system.

Gardening soothes your soul.  Working in the garden can lower your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone and restore your energy.  It generally lifts your spirits and if that’s not enough growing a community garden with others can also combat feelings of loneliness.  

I’ll end with an anonymous quote that you may have heard before, and someone gave to me on a kitchen towel that reads:

“Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes” …or flowers, or fruit!

Susan Covey is the Director of Fitness at Acts Bayleigh Chase in Easton

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Senior Nation: April Is Parkinson’s Awareness Month by Susan Covey

by

It is time to spread awareness and understanding of Parkinson’s Disease. This is a chronic condition affecting approximately one million people in the U.S. This is more than the number of people living with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined. Every year in our country 60,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s. There are 10 million worldwide.

The causes of Parkinson’s are still unknown, but researchers believe it is a combination of genetics and environmental factors. Though only 15-25% of people with Parkinson’s have a relative with the disease, those with first-degree relatives have a slightly elevated risk of developing the disease. Environmental toxins may be a greater risk than any other factor. Rural living, well water, manganese, and pesticides have been associated with an elevated risk of Parkinson’s. Scientists quickly emphasize that although certain neurotoxins may be a risk factor, no single exposure to a particular chemical has been directly pinpointed as a cause.

Treating Parkinson’s disease is more about managing symptoms and slowing the progression than it is about “curing” this disease.

One thing we know for sure is that exercise is medicine for people living with Parkinson’s. Exercise is a physiological tool that protects neurons at risk or compromised, and guides brain health, protection, repair, and adaptation after a neurodegenerative process occurs…otherwise known as neuroplasticity. Once triggered by exercise, these physiological mechanisms have the potential to slow disease progression!

Please join me in raising awareness for Parkinson’s Disease by exercising on National Parkinson’s Day, April 10th. Bike, walk, box, dance, swim—any movement you can do—and think about those who are living with this disease and their caregivers.

Susan Covey is the Acts Bayleigh Chase Fitness Director and Rock Steady Boxing Coach

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Hello Spring by Susan Convey

by

The vernal equinox, the finish line to our winter marathon, a time to escape the cold grip of darkness and welcome the light.

This year, spring begins on March 20th, and we should all celebrate its arrival by fostering creativity, tending the soil, planting seeds (both physically and figuratively), gathering outside and generating movement!

To that end, I encourage everyone to emerge from hibernation and focus instead on the great outdoors. It’s time to get back out in our yards as well as checking out the many lovely parks and trails in our area that are great for day hikes.

Let’s enjoy the new season!

Susan Covey is the Acts Bayleigh Chase Fitness Director in Easton

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

It’s American Heart Month by Susan Covey

by

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.  Every year, one in four deaths are caused by heart disease.  The good news?  Heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions, even for people who already have heart disease lower your risk try following the “Life’s Simple 7”:

  1.  GET ACTIVE – Daily physical activity increases your length and quality of life.  If you get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity each day, five days a week, you can almost guarantee yourself a healthier and more satisfying life while lowering your risks for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
  2. CONTROL CHOLESTEROL – By controlling your cholesterol, you give your arteries their best chance to remain clear of blockages.  Our bodies need some cholesterol to make cell membranes and some hormones, but when you have too much bad cholesterol, it combines with white blood cells and forms plaque in our veins and arteries which lead to stroke and heart disease.
  3. EAT BETTER – Healthy foods are the fuel our bodies use to make new cells and create the energy we need to thrive and fight diseases, in other words, the basic building blocks for a healthy life.

Try tracking your daily food intake, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, unrefined whole-grain foods, fish twice a week and cut back on added sugars and saturated fats.

  1.  MANAGE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE – Keeping your b.p in the healthy range, reduces the strain on your heart, arteries and kidneys which keeps you healthier longer.  Hypertension means that the blood running through your arteries flows with too much force and puts pressure on your arteries which stretches them past the healthy limit causing tears.  This then kicks your body into injury-healing mode to repair the tears with scar tissue.  Unfortunately, the scar tissue traps plaque which can form blockages, clots and hardened, weakened arteries.  So, eat a heart healthy diet and reduce your sodium perhaps by using spices to flavor food instead of salt.
  2. LOSE WEIGHT – Too much fat, especially around your waist, puts you at a higher risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes.  If you’re overweight, you can actually reduce your risk for heart disease by losing as few as five or ten pounds!
  3. REDUCE BLOOD SUGAR – Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose that our bodies use for energy.  The body makes insulin, a hormone acting as a carrier to take food energy into its cells.  Fasting blood sugar should be below 100; if not, you could be headed for pre-diabetes.  This, then, increases your risk for heart disease and stroke.  In fact, most people with diabetes die from some form of heart or blood vessel disease.  So, cut back on simple sugars found in sodas, candies and desserts AND get regular exercise as this will help your body respond to insulin.
  4. STOP SMOKING – Smoking damages your entire circulatory system and increases your risk for coronary heart disease, hardened arteries, aneurysm and blood clots.  Like the domino effect, one risk creates another.  Blood clots and hardened arteries, for instance, increase your risks for heart attack, stroke and peripheral artery disease.  Smoking can also reduce your good cholesterol and your lung capacity, thus making it harder to get the physical activity you need for better health.

Only you can change your lifestyle…it’s time to take action and get moving!

Susan Covey is the Fitness Director at Acts Bayleigh Chase in Easton.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

My wish for 2025 by Susan Covey

by

The human body is such a wonder, and my wish for this new year, as a fitness trainer and general wellness enthusiast, is that all of us make the time to discover, or perhaps rediscover, our own awesome wonder, our own joy.  

Clear your mind of that four-letter word, “can’t”, because the only thing standing between you and your discovery is that bull—- story you keep telling yourself as to why it will never happen!   

I quote Nelson Mandela… “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Just keep moving and Cheers to new adventures!!

Susan Covey, Fitness Director-Acts Baleigh Chase

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

December Fitness Feature: Leg Strength

by

Our legs make up the largest of our muscle groups which include the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. Low body strengthening is a vital part of senior fitness. It is the most effective and efficient method of preventing sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) and preserving independence. By maintaining both mobility and stability we are improving our lean muscle mass. This reduces blood pressure, improves bone health, lessens low back pain, and reduces falls.

One incredibly significant advantage for you is that this leg-strengthening can be accomplished using a leg press machine, which is like seated squats, a leg curl machine and leg extension. There are exercise techniques you need to know when using these machines like adjusting the load, determining movement speed, range of motion (ROM) and your breathing pattern. Using these machines properly as little as twice a week can help prevent many chronic conditions. (Be sure to ask for help with proper technique if you are unfamiliar.) The following are general guidelines:

  • Begin with a weight you can correctly push or correctly lift 8 times.
  • Ideally at a speed of 6 seconds, 2 second push or lift and 4 seconds to return.
  • Full ROM is the goal, but only if pain-free.
  • Always EXhale on EXertion.
  • Use proper body mechanics and appropriate settings for your body.

An alternative to machine work is of course using your own body weight such as sit-to-stands, squats, lunges, even standing or seated marches. If you have stairs in your home, climbing them is a great leg exercise right there!

Susan Covey is the Fitness Director at Bayleigh Chase in Easton

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.