+
Family

How pilots deal with stress can teach us all something about the importance of self-care.

True
Cigna 2017

What’s more deadly for a pilot: high cholesterol or dangerous airspeeds?

All images via iStock.

You probably thought the answer was the latter, right? After all, that sounds right.


But according to an official Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) health information handout provided to pilots, pilots are actually far more likely to die from the complications of high cholesterol, such as a stroke or heart attack, than dangerous airspeeds while flying.

In our minds, pilots seem larger than life, but they need to be just as aware — if not more so — about their health as we do.

Pilots have an incredibly stressful job — after all, it's their responsibility to get everyone on the plane safely to their destination.

And they have to do that while also coping with irregular, around-the-clock schedules, jet lag, and large amounts of time away from home and loved ones.

With all that pressure and responsibility, it is crucial that pilots develop good habits for taking care of their health. Otherwise they can develop some severe health issues that can put them — and everyone on board — at risk.

This means that preventive health care is incredibly important for pilots. So why not ask them to share some health care tips?

All pilots have to pass routine FAA mandated medical requirements where doctors check things like their heart health, blood pressure, vision, and hearing — any of which could ultimately cost pilots their license because issues in these areas could hinder a pilot's ability to do their job or could endanger passengers' safety.

Taking control of their diet, exercise, stress levels, and sleep are the best ways for pilots (and all of us!) to stay healthy.

Check out these helpful tips on preventive care and self-care from some seasoned pilots.

One of the most important things is to make a plan ahead of time for when to eat, sleep, exercise, or even just relax on a trip.

Because their schedules change so often from day to day, one of the only ways pilots can make sure to remember to take care of themselves is to actually schedule everything, says John Scully, a retired pilot who flew for almost 40 years and the father of one of our staff writers.That way, they are always prioritizing health and well-being — even when things get busy.

And while most of our schedules are probably nowhere near as hectic as a pilot's is, making a plan for your day is a great way to make sure you don't forget to schedule some "you time."

If you're always eating on the go, try to opt for something on the healthier side.

While some airlines — depending on the length of the flight — provide crew members with meals, others do not provide any meals at all for the pilots. According to Mike Scully, a first officer with a major U.S.-based airline (and John's son), if they don't eat before they fly (or bring something on the plane), Mike says, all they have are snacks like pretzels or peanuts. And hotel and airport food, while usually available, isn't always the healthiest or most nutritious, but sometimes it's all pilots have time to grab.

"I'll do everything that I can when I am on the go to not eat at a chain restaurant or a hotel," says Mike. And when he has to grab airport food, he tries to get things like salads, sandwiches, or fruit — things that are healthier, easy to carry on the plane, and that taste good eaten cold.

And, he says, when home from a trip, he tries to offset any unhealthy habits. "I personally like to cook. I try, once or twice while I am home, to cook, and when I do, I try to cook healthy."

Remove "avoidable stress" whenever possible.

Because piloting is, by its very nature, stressful, it becomes tremendously important to make other things less so. This means avoiding things that they know will be upsetting when pilots know they have to sleep or take care of themselves before a flight.

"The worst thing that I can do is look at my phone right before I need to go to sleep," says Mike. Upsetting news or unopened emails have the potential of worrying or waking a person in the middle of the night.

Removing "avoidable stress" also means finding ways to avoid easy mistakes and put your mind at ease.  And for that, organization is key.

"I miss routine, so when I’m home or not flying, I like to have routine," Mike explains. "So I try to make sure that even though I am in different countries or different hotels, everything is very standard."

For example, he tries to pack his suitcase in the exact same way for every trip so when he needs something — say, a pair of sunglasses — he knows exactly where to look.  And when he arrives at his hotel room, he tries to unpack the same way every night and repack his bag in the same way so that nothing gets lost. "I don’t want to be losing phone chargers every week at hotels," he says.

And after working, it's important to find a way to relax and exercise.

"Some of my friends, the first thing that they do is plan a time to go to the gym," says Mike. "I carry clothes with me and I go down sometimes, but what I really like to do on the road is walk. If I'm in a safe part of a city, I'll walk, and it's nice to see things and try things, like if I'm in Lima, I'll try Peruvian food and just walk around the city."

A view of the city of Lima, Peru.

For him, walking accomplishes two things at once — exercise and relaxation — so he’s more likely to actually do both. (No excuses!)

Plus as little as 30 minutes spent walking outside has been shown to reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure.

Remember that your loved ones are there to help.

Having a supportive family is also a great stress-reliever because they are there to offer support when you need it.  "A call home always helped me," says John. "And they would generally know that it was best to wait to tell me about the plumbing problem at home — or something else — until after the last leg of the trip."

Of course, most of us are not airline pilots, and we might not have such unpredictable work schedules, but we can all learn something from their self-care routines.

The most important thing — whether you work around the clock, have a sedentary desk job, or just feel a lot of stress in your day-to-day life — is to remember to take time for yourself and your health in all the business.

And while most of us don’t have routine FAA mandated medical requirements to remind us to go to the doctor, it is still important that we schedule a checkup with our doctor so that we know our health numbers — cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), and blood sugar — and so that we can take control of our health before a problem develops.

Because if pilot routines show us anything, it's that caring for your health and your well-being isn't selfish: It's crucial if you want to be able to be there for those who are depending on you.

Learn more about how to take control of your health at Cigna.com/TakeControl.

This was written by staff writer Simone Scully and the pilots featured are her father and brother.

Sponsored

Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

True

It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

Ring doorbell video captures what it's like to be the default parent.

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit.

One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.

Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call.

Keep ReadingShow less

Little girl shocks her mom by pulling out a pocket full of worms

Kids will absolutely test all parts of your personality. Not out of malicious intent, but simply because kids are innocent and don't don't understand unspoken social rules, especially when they're very little. One of those seemingly common sense unspoken social rules is that you don't go to the nail salon with worms in your pockets.

Scratch that, you don't walk around with worms in your pocket, period. That is unless you're on a fishing boat and you're in charge of bait and you run out of room in the canister filled with worms. I mean, there are a lot of things that would have to come into play to make having worms in your pocket socially acceptable. But kids don't know that, and one little girl, Kylee Grace, gave her mom a shock after they left the nail salon one day.

In the video posted to TikTok, which has now gone mega-viral with over 11.5 million views, Kylee and her mom are walking down the sidewalk after getting their nails done. Jenae, the little girl's mom, asks her daughter if she has a worm in her pocket. Then things quickly get hilariously weird.

Keep ReadingShow less
@geaux75/TikTok

Molly was found tied to a tree by the new owners of the house.

Molly, an adorable, affectionate 10-year-old pit bull, found herself tied to a tree after her owners had abandoned her.

According to The Dodo, Molly had “always been a loyal dog, but, unfortunately, her first family couldn’t reciprocate that same love back,” and so when the house was sold, neither Molly nor the family’s cat was chosen to move with them. While the cat was allowed to free roam outside, all Molly could do was sit and wait. Alone.

Luckily, the young couple that bought the house agreed to take the animals in as part of their closing agreement, and as soon as the papers were signed, they rushed over to check in.
Keep ReadingShow less

A Golden Retriever taking a break on the floor.

If you’re having trouble meeting a romantic partner, research shows you could improve your chances by getting a dog. A 2020 YouGov study found that 50% of Americans would be more willing to date someone if they had a dog, while only 9% would be less willing to do so.

Women are more interested in meeting someone with a dog (54%) compared to 46% of men.

People are more attracted to dog lovers for a pretty simple reason. They assume that those who have dogs are better at having long-term relationships. “People might infer that a dog-walking man knows how to form lasting attachments, has the resources to care for someone else (dog ownership is expensive!), and is reliable enough to do the daily work involved with dog ownership,” Theresa E. DiDonato Ph.D. writes in Psychology Today.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Mom calls out 'weaponized incompetence' by flipping the script on parental expectations

Hearing a woman say these things is ridiculous, and that's the whole point.

@clarabellecwb/TikTok

Too real. Tooooo Real.

While marriages are by far much more egalitarian than they have been in decades past, many women will tell you that when it comes to emotional and domestic labor, they still take on the lion’s share of responsibility.

Many women are using TikTok to call out this imbalance, even going so far as to share how it led to them filing for divorce. As for Clare Brown, she’s opting to illuminate the issue in a more satirical way.

Brown has amassed over 400,000 followers on her TikTok account, where a major part of her schtick includes what she calls “flipping the script” on social issues. And as of late, it’s her focus on parenting expectations that has people—particularly fed up moms—nodding in agreement.

In a series titled “flipping the script on weaponized incompetence,” Brown pokes fun at fathers who remain willfully ignorant by asking their partners for help on even the most basic tasks, thus escaping the responsibility of pulling their weight.

Keep ReadingShow less

Redefining comfort: Your guide to seamless athletic leggings for women

Experience the perfect balance of comfort and style with women's seamless athletic leggings.

Editor's Note: Upworthy earns a percentage of revenue from the sale of items mentioned in this article.


In athletic wear, a good pair of leggings can make or break your workout experience. Comfort, flexibility, and style are key factors contributing to the perfect pair, and finding ones that marry these elements seamlessly can be challenging. Whether you're a yoga enthusiast, a gym-goer, or someone who values comfort in their everyday attire, these seamless leggings offer something for everyone. Dive in to discover the perfect pair that will elevate your athletic wardrobe and enhance your workout routine.

Keep ReadingShow less