Childhood Obesity Prevention Should Begin At Home!
childhood obesity, parenting by example, nutrition, healthy habits
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A few of you know that I've started training to become a children's fitness specialist and nutritionist. There's definitely a need for it - just look around. As a teacher I see an appalling number of kids whose weight issues begin at a very early age. I also see what they're putting into their bodies, how weight impacts their performance in school (and I'm not just talking about sports and physical education classes), and sad as this sounds, it also effects interaction with their peers. To their credit, some parents are aware of these issues and are trying their best to address the problems - some, but not ALL. If more parents stepped up, took a look at their own eating and health habits, their kids would be better off. Here's my advice to them, to all of us really.
As parents, we spend a lot of time talking to our kids about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and Internet safety, but obesity rarely comes up. Yet it's clearly one of the biggest concerns in the United States today and poses dangerous consequences to our children's physical and emotional health. Let's reverse this epidemic by creating a healthy home environment and regularly talking with our kids -- starting as young as two years of age -- about the importance of eating right and engaging in regular physical activity.
Health Strategies for Parents:
Set a shining example. Kids, especially the youngest ones, mimic their parents. Be a healthy role model at home and on the road.
Put the entire house on a "health program." Never single out one child struggling with a weight issue. Even super thin siblings benefit from healthy eating and regular exercise.
Make healthy eating fun. Involve your kids in meal planning, shopping, and cooking. When kids help pick out and prepare veggies for the stir-fry, or season turkey meat for tacos, they'll be more likely to branch out from mainstays like chicken nu... read entire entry
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on 7/17/2008
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18.9
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Avoiding Energy Sappers
nutrition, organization, negative influences, healthy habits, limits
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Do you ever find yourself feeling run down and your day has barely even started yet? Or you make it through your morning okay enough only to hit a zero energy wall midway into the afternoon. It takes a lot of energy to do all of the things, such as work, school and family, we do in a day. We need to be wise about how we allocate our energy to things so we can conserve enough energy to get through the whole day. Certainly you can be bone tired and still get things done. However, how well they get done and how you feel about it as you go can be dampened when you lack energy.
Conserve and spend your energy wisely for the tasks you must complete and for activities you want to engage in. Get rid of as many energy sappers from your day and life as possible to help you do this better. Other people, gadgets, technology, and our own behavior can all be energy sappers. There are energy sappers that are common to most of us and others that are uniquely your own based upon your personality type.
An improper diet and a lack of proper exercise are serious energy sappers. They are also health sappers, robbing the body of what it needs to maintain optimum health and function. Getting an improper amount of sleep is another energy sapper that can also harm the health of your body. Diet, exercise, and sleep are important factors in your emotional and physical health.
Behavior such as thinking we are never good enough or that we cannot achieve our goals is a distressing energy sapper. Moreover, our thinking propels our motion in the world. We can either propel ourselves forward towards success, love, money, and a good job by thinking we can. Or we can stop ourselves from moving forward and trap ourselves in a muck of unhappiness and failure by thinking we cannot achieve all of these things.
Allowing other people that routinely think in a negative way into our liv... read entire entry
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on 4/27/2008
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23.5
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Strength: It's in the recovery, not the workout!
workout, strength, recovery, nutrition, protein
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Did you know that it's not your workout that makes you stronger? Although aerobic exercise and strength training are essential, your strength and fitness gains are actually made during your recovery from a workout, not the workout itself.
You can maximize your fitness and strength gains from every workout by making sure your body actually recovers from the stress and challenges of your training. To do this, it is important to understand the nature of your muscles. Your muscles are packed with an energy source called glycogen. Glycogen is a form of sugar that your body uses as a fuel during exercise. While you exercise, your glycogen stores decrease but they can be replenished during your recovery from exercise. When you finish exercising and consume a meal containing carbohydrates, sugars pass through the blood stream, and eventually enter your muscle cells where they are converted to glycogen. Soon you can use this glycogen as the fuel for your next workout. The replenishment of your muscle glycogen is maximized in a short window of opportunity within one hour of your workout, so it is important to consume a meal or snack containing carbohydrates as soon as you leave the gym.
During rigorous exercise, you are actually creating small micro-tears in your muscle fibers. When your body repairs these micro-tears, the result is increased strength and lean muscle mass. However, to repair these muscle fibers, your body must have the amino acids from proteins to use as building blocks. Amino acids are smaller molecules that connect together in a specific sequence to create proteins throughout your body. When you eat a meal consuming proteins, they are broken down into amino acids, pass through your blood stream, and used throughout your body to build new proteins specific to your genetic make-up. Again, this is a time sensitive process and you need to supply your body with these essential amino acids soon after you finish your workout by consumin... read entire entry
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on 4/14/2008
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5.9
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Jitters Upon Coffee Jitters
coffee, saturated fat, calories, trans fat, nutrition facts
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Coffee Creamers: New report finds hidden calories and fat
Ok, I'll admit it - I'm hopelessly addicted to caffeine. But not just any caffeine; I NEED MY COFFEE! Besides my morning workout, the day just hasn't started for me until I've had a steamy cup of brewed perfection. Yeah, it's a vice, but it isn't too bad for me - or is it?!
It seems innocent enough - just adding a little cream to your coffee can’t hurt, right? After all, some nutrition labels list a measly 10 calories and half a gram of saturated fat per serving. But both your serving size and the labels might deceive you, according to a new report on coffee creamers from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
CSPI finds Nestle rounds down the calories in its Original Coffee-mate powder - from 14.83 calories to 10 - and the 0.99 grams of saturated fat is rounded down to 0.5 grams per one teaspoon serving. But the truth is most people actually use about a tablespoon.
Anyone glancing at the Nutrition Facts label for most of these coffee creamers would have a false sense of security. If you use one tablespoon of the Original Coffee-mate, it adds up to 45 calories and three grams of saturated fat - more than the 40 calories and 2.1 grams of saturated fat in two tablespoons of half & half. Three or four servings of coffee creamer a day and before you know it you’ve had half a day’s allotment of saturated fat.
The CSPI report finds some Coffee-mate products and other brands are lower in saturated and trans fat. But after reviewing several popular liquid and powder coffee creamers, the only “Best Bite” ratings (this means no partially hydrogenated oil, i.e. trans fat, and no more than 0.6 grams of saturated fat per serving) go to International Delight Fat Free and Silk liquid creamers… as well as plain old fat-free, 1%, 2%, or even whole milk, and fat-free half & half from Land O’Lakes and some store brands. Something to keep in ... read entire entry
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on 4/9/2008
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16.7
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Gone Bananas!
bananas, mood, nutrition, diet
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I never begin my day without one!
A banana is the most unique of all fruit because unlike any fruit it does not come from trees at all but from large plants that are giant herbs and are related to lily and orchid family.
In order to have a healthy lifestyle, you have to meet your daily requirement of five fruits and vegetables. Bananas are a perfect part of your diet and they are the most popular fruit in America. Bananas are available all year and they are a great source of instant energy whether you are watching your diet or just trying to eat healthy. Like other fruits and vegetables, bananas contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol. It is a known fact that a low fat, balanced diet rich in vegetables and fruit may reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer.
Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 and they are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium. Lack of B6 in a diet can cause weakness, irritability and insomnia. The potassium found in bananas helps to regulate blood pressure and may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. Potassium is also essential for helping muscles to contract properly during exercise and reduces cramping up. A medium-sized banana provides 400 mg of potassium -11% of daily value- and contains 110 calories and 4 grams of fiber. Bananas also contain plenty of carbohydrates which are the body's main source of energy. They are also easy to digest.
Because of their great taste, they can also serve as a substitute for sweets and satisfy sugar cravings.
Research also shows that serotonin and norepinephrine in bananas may naturally help sufferers overcome depression. They are the good mood food.
Convenience and nutritional value of bananas make them a good post-exercise snack. During long exercises your body loses vitamins and minerals and a banana replaces these nutrients as well as giving you the ene... read entire entry
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on 3/22/2008
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14.3
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