FamilyInShape

School is now in session

Photo from The Hot file

For many of us whose children attend school outside of the home (public or private) this is a time of year when we are rushing to get school supplies, school clothes & shoes, the new back pack and that really cool pencil pouch.  OK maybe not rushing, some people actually plan ahead and all this done early in the summer.  I'm not one of those people, I confess.  Stress and pressure are my friends.

While it is important to prepare all the material stuff needed, apparently, on the first day of school, we also have to focus on the child and making sure they are prepared mentally and physically.  

I have to digress here and say something about the school supplies. Really? She's in second grade, she needs all that paper to write on?  She better be working on a dissertation or some long physics problem to be using so much paper in one school year.  Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm shopping for others as well.  Don't get me wrong, that's cool, I don't mind donating school supplies, I just wish I was given the option and not feel pressured to buy and send in a 24 pack of pencils, several glue sticks, six composition notebooks, a two inch binder and 2 packs of loose leaf paper for my 2nd grade kid. Anyway, it seems I took off in a new direction for a moment.  

But as a parent we need to place to focus back on the child's health.  It is extremely important to discuss nutrition, sleep (seems teens need to stay up late and get up late which doesn't fit in with their current school schedule-oh shucks!), physical activity AND personal hygiene.  I don't mean their daily bath and brushing their teeth - that's a given or it should be anyway.  I mean the hand washing before eating, not drinking from other people's drinks and washing those grubby hands as soon as they walk in the door.  Kids touch everything.  Ugh!

About nutrition.  Boy in my house new habits have to be established.  Not because they eat poorly, I think in general my kids eat pretty healthy.  I don't really buy junk food.  I mean we usually have chips and salsa, crackers to eat with cheese or in soup and our fantastic neighbor might bring over her most delicious brownie (she hates me, I just know it!).  But none of these things are eaten in excess so I don't worry about it.  The new habit is getting up at the crack of dawn and eating a healthy breakfast before 6:30 in the morning.  

Photo by TowerGirl

Some ideas we like to share - 

Hot breakfast - oatmeal, cream of wheat, pancakes and waffles, eggs and toast.

Cold Breakfast - High fiber, whole grain cereal with low fat or no fat milk, yogurt with granola, fruit & yogurt, mini bagel with peanut butter, hard boiled egg

After school snacks - apple with peanut butter, cheese stick and green apples, hummus and vegetables, fruit or fruit smoothie

The biggest concern, however, might be lunch time.  Most or many kids bring lunch to school, some buy the school lunch and that's fine if they make the right choice. I was able to make them pack lunches until the first two hit high school years then it was just embarrassing to carry around a lunch bag. Well forgive me, mam/sir for wanting you to eat a good meal.  Appearances mean a lot more I guess. However, that's only one meal in the day and although they may not have too many "good" choices to make, they need to know how and why to choose healthier options.

Listen here, this is important stuff --

With the rate of childhood obesity growing in the United States, it is up to us parents to help kids make better choices in any situation, stay active and live a healthier lifestyle.  You can't expect one child to be on a diet while everyone else enjoys the goodies.  It's not happening and it's not fair to the child to be singled out.  So what do you do?

You (the entire family) should adopt new healthy eating habits because everyone should be eating healthy.  You limit sedentary time and go do something fun and active TOGETHER.  You encourage everyone to live healthier.  Yes, that includes you - the one that makes the meals, serves the meals and buys the groceries.

That's my rant on nutrition for now because I can go on for ever.  I hate to sound like we live this perfect life, like we never eat junk food or indulge in a most delicious ice cream or brownie cake.  Oh we do. Trust me on that.  We enjoy eating the food we like, but moderation must be taught and exercised, and as the parent I also encourage (enforce) portion control.  There's a time and place for everything.

So now the kids are going back to school, we're done shopping for supplies they probably wont ever use and clothes they'll outgrow by the fall and the shoes they'll wear out before Christmas.  Let's go shopping for the food they WILL consume at home and put your focus on those meals.  If they eat at school for lunch, again, it's one meal of many.  Think about it, the more you enforce healthy eating at home, the more likely they are to choose healthier meals at school.  But if they don't, again, one of many meals in the day.  

Stay Well,

 

crossposted at BlogHer

Sore Muscles...Ouch!

Photo Credit: shadowandsilhouette

(Crossposted at Blogher.com)

Who knew that after not exercising like I normally do I would be this sore coming back.  I mean OUCH!! I can hardly move.  OK well, I knew this would happen and it's not quite that bad but I am sore today, very much so.  I can feel every muscle I worked this week and to be honest, it's a good feeling, except for when I try to get up out of bed or off the couch, when I squat the pick up the toddler and when I pull open the fridge door... you get the idea, it hurts.

My muscles are sore because of all the vacationing I've been doing lately at home and away from home. My latest trip took us to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, where we walked on sand and land, climbed the Nags Head sand dunes, and battled the waves of the ocean.  Evidently, that was not nearly enough to give me a good workout, however, it was nice to have such an active vacation.  We had a great time!!

Back in the gym I started my week off with weight training, Turbo Kick Box, Spinning, Elliptical training, and more weight training.  Although my diet was not bad during vacation, it is definitely better now that I'm home.  I think my body is in shock from all the egg whites, salads, lean meats, fruits and vegetables I've been eating this week.

When muscles are sore it is important to remember that:  

#1 stretching, massage, hot baths will help you fell better but it isn't going to make the soreness go away completely, 

#2 drinking water is essential, 

#3 eating high protein foods is a requirement to help muscles grow stronger, and 

#4 take it easy, take time to recover, but don't stop exercising.

The last one here, #4 is the one that can make or break your fitness routine.  Many people prefer not to feel that pain and they either never increase the resistance or quit exercising all together. That's never a good idea because if you return to the gym you will be sore all over again.  However, keep in mind that the endorphins released during exercise relieve pain so instead of not doing anything, exercise and experience the benefits of endorphins.

Ideally, you want to take 24-36 hours off between sets.  If you work chest, biceps and shoulders on Monday, then wait until Wednesday or Thursday before working that same set of muscles.  It largely depends on how hard you work each set.  The soreness you feel is the pain of your muscles getting stronger.  Your muscles are just getting used to the new fitness routine. You want to work those muscles and push yourself harder each time you go back.   

In order for you to become stronger, faster, and improve endurance you have to exercise beyond what you normally do, you have to make the muscles burn during the workout. Just like in running, you can't run the same mile every day and expect to become a better runner. So you run faster and further and feel the burn. In weight training or muscle conditioning you feel the burn by lifting heavier weights. This burn is a sign that you are damaging your muscles (that doesn't sound appealing does it?)  But it is. Because muscles have the unique ability to recover and when they do they are stronger and that's what we're looking for.  The more lean muscle mass you develop, the higher your metabolism, the more fat and calories you burn-- again, who doesn't want that?

While I do feel very sore today, I am confident that my muscles are once again adjusting to my workout routine, I know that I am becoming stronger, improving my physique, lowering my BMI and speeding up my metabolism.  I will rest this weekend from any weight training and go back on Monday for more burn!

When your muscles start burning, push just a little harder.  When you are sore, rest, stay hydrated, eat well. Whatever you do, don't ever stop exercising!

Stay Well,

Fitness on vacation

Photo by Santosh_b_s

Do you ever plan to exercise in some form or another while on vacation? Yeah, most of us do.  Many of us have have every good intention to exercise, even if only a little bit, while on vacation with the family or visiting family. Generally, anytime we go out of town we plan to use the facilities or engage in some form of physical activity that does not include the consumption of food or opening of beer bottles.  Visiting family adds another dimension to our overall health program because they will all cook and expect us to eat or they will be offended if we don't; our old friends want to get together, usually over a meal, and lets not forget the snacks in the car and the unexpected stops in places we would never visit otherwise.  

We were visiting family last week and going to a college orientation and catching up with friends along the way-- we were driving...driving...driving up and down interstate 95, and dealing with heavy traffic at times, etc.  My plan was  to seize the moment and spend some quality time with ME involved in some form of physical activity either on the road or in the local fitness center.  

I remember feeling pumped up the day before our drive North on I-95.  I packed my gym clothes and shoes, water bottle, and my iPod too.  I was prepared, no excuses.  I looked up fitness centers near each of my locations, was glad that the College had a gym on site which we were allowed (encouraged) to use, and even mapped out where I could go for a walk or run if a fitness center was not available to me.  

First night we arrived in Pennsylvania very late.  The toddler was a little hyper and a little out of sorts.  He fell asleep after  1:00 AM.  By the time I fell asleep it was well after 2:00 AM.  I was not about to get up early to go to the gym or walking or running or anything physical.  But, that's OK.  I went to the gym the day before and worked extra hard.  Missing a day was really no big deal.  (excuse #1)

The next evening we were visiting family  in New Jersey, stayed up late playing Rock Band on the Wii, got up at 6:00 AM to begin 2 days of college orientation for the Musician in the family who is attending Westminster Choir College in the fall.  We were shuffled from one room to the next, across campus and back, each time providing a mini buffet of snacks and drinks not necessarily fit for the sedentary lifestyle we were following these two days.  I know, I didn't have to eat but hey it was free and my excuse was either "the last thing I ate was bad for me so I'll eat this because it's good" OR "I can afford to eat this because the last thing I ate was pretty healthy" (excuses #2 & 3)-- we can be so good at making excuses sometimes.  

Needless to say, we were kept up late by presentations, chatty parents and the accommodations, well they were less than pleasant...those rooms were hot!  So once again, waking up early was not going to happen...UGH.  Now on day three and heading into another day of orientations I was really beginning to feel like I was dragging, bloated, and lethargic.  I figured I was just tired from lack of sleep and being fed so much information in such a short period of time.  Besides, we were walking around a lot, doesn't that count? (excuse #4) Not really.

Back in Pennsylvania, day four, I was really feeling fatigued and did not have the energy to even attempt a trip to the gym.  So I packed up the kids and we headed to the King of Prussia Mall Plaza and Court.  This is a really big mall, there was a lot of walking to be done here.  We made a few stops in some kids stores and looked through some other "me" stores, but for the most part we walked all over the place.  That did not help how I was feeling probably because we made a trip to the candy factory and the pizza shop but it was better than sitting at home AND eating. (excuse #5)

On the ride over to Delaware I really began to feel like CRAP!! I mean that, I just felt like I was retaining more water than the local dam, I was ready to throw in the towel and just forget exercising until I returned home.  However, I knew there would be a price to pay for that AND most important, my clothes were starting to feel uncomfortable...UGH!! What the heck happened? I felt so out of control and so tired.  It wasn't long before I realized I needed to get back in the game.  

Moment of truth:  I got up on day six at 6:30 am, got dressed, drank some orange juice and headed out the door with my iPod and my cell phone.  I had no idea where I was going but Delaware is pretty flat so I knew that at the very least I could go on a brisk walk but my goal was to go for a run.

After a quick warm up and stretch I started jogging.  Slowly I took my speed from a slow, almost walking, jog to a moderate pace--moderate for me, the non-runner.  I realized after the first five minutes that my breathing wasn't labored, but my legs felt tight and heavy; the music was a huge help.  I took note of the fact that I wold have to come back on foot so I mentally planned to run for about 15 minutes in one direction.  I ran 20 minutes, stopped and forced out 30 push ups, then started running back.  Upon my arrival I worked on abs with some Pilate moves, right on the wet, prickly lawn.  Fifty-five minutes after getting out of bed and I felt fantastic.  

I felt empowered, strong, full of life and ready to tackle the day's events.  

I asked myself why I didn't just go, even after not getting enough sleep, in fact I think a short run or walk would have been good for me.  All the excuses I came up with could have been easily overcome if I had given myself the opportunity.  There really was no reason to skip out on a good dose of physical fitness during my vacation from the Gym.  Physical fitness should not be left out of any schedule, it should not be something you  have to work at, it should be a part of our lives as much as food and sleep.  

  

We should consider physical fitness a vital part of our everyday lives, because it is.  

My tips to those of you vacationing or preparing for a vacation in the near future:

1.  Pack your workout gear just the same way you would pack your toiletries, make up, and clothes.

2.  Look into the facilities that may already be available to you.  Most hotels have fitness centers on site, some better than others, however, you don't need much to get a good workout.

3.  Using google maps you can search near your location for health centers, fitness centers, exercise, or gym.  Use a combination of words to find them, then call and ask what they charge for a guest fee.  It's a small price to pay, maybe 2 or 3 days during your vacation.  Also, check with your current membership at your local gym.  Many fitness centers allow members from other areas to use their facilities at no cost.

4.  Go for free.  Running, walking, push ups, sit ups, playing sand games costs nothing.  Bike rentals in beach areas can be a ton of fun for the entire family as well.

5.  Plan to exercise everyday.  If no one wants to go along, that's OK.  Bring your music or downloaded books and just get up a little bit earlier so that your activity doesn't interfere with the plans for the day.

6.  Every little bit helps.  Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you ignore your nutrition.  Continue to drink lots of water and eat as healthy as possible while rewarding yourself with the fun treats we all love to enjoy.  Don't deprive yourself, Moderate yourself!

I hope everyone can learn a little something from my experience.  I would love to hear yours too.  Leave a comment with your "fit on vacation" attempt and how you worked through to make a change during or after your trip.  Thanks everyone for visiting.

Getting Fit with the Wii--oh yeah, it can happen

I celebrated my birthday a week ago and as always I was thankful, blessed, and excited to reach another year in my life when I still have the ability to enjoy life, my children, family, and friends.  Another year in a job I love because I can help people stay motivated, get excited about fitness, and really, who doesn't like working only a few hours a day.  

To celebrate my birthday this year my husband and children decided it would be appropriate to give me the Nintendo WiiFit.  I've read a lot about it and heard a lot about getting fit with the Wii but my only experience was when I did my body test at a friend's house.  That time my scores were pretty sweet- I remember my WiiFit age was 28 at the time.

My life is always full of things to do with kids, at the gym, or in the house.  My busy schedule kept me from opening my new game right away.  But that's OK because my Peanut (7) and her daddy decided they would open and set up for me.  How nice.  They went as far as trying it out too.  Such wonderfully thoughtful people I live with.  

I finally had my chance to get on the Wii and perform my body test.  I was hesitant because the timing just wasn't right.  I had just come home from having a late birthday lunch with friends, I had a drink or two and ate like one should only eat on one's birth date.  I expected to have terrible scores and I did.  If I wasn't in the right frame of mind I would have been depressed.  The darn thing said I was nearly obese AND ranked my age at 47.  OUCH!!

We also learned that if you have plush carpet you have to use the extra caps on the board, for stability I guess and that might have contribured to my poor balance..no, it was definitely the Peachtini.  I decided I needed to redo this test.  I was convinced I could bring those numbers way down.  I waited a couple of days, gave my body a chance to rid itself of excess water and being completely sober would really help my balance which apparently has a huge effect on the Wii age.   

My second test put me back on the "healthy weight" range with a decent BMI and my Wii age---28!  Yes!  Now that I like!  I think I'll keep the game.  It's safe to keep in mind that this game is just a game and not an exact science.  It doesn't know that you have a muscular body which might make you heavier than it says you should be.  I think they should update it to ask if you are athletic or sedentary and to add body measurements, then it would be a little more accurate, maybe.

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to really spend a lot of time on the game, but I did go through every game available to me at this point and found that you really can get a workout with this thing.  The push up plank works abs, obliques, shoulders, chest and back; the V sit works abs and legs; there's skiing, Yoga, and aerobic exercises like step, boxing and running.  They start at a very easy level, I mean my 7 year old can do them.  But as you get better and reach high scores you unlock other games so the challenge does go on.  One of my favorites for a quick cardio routine was the Hoola Hoop. WOW!  I was only on the Wii for a total of 7 minutes and I was sweating, dripping down my back and exhausted after that program.  The next day, my abs and legs were sore.

Now we have some serious competitions going on because five of my six family members are trying to beat those high scores.  We all want to be number one. 

The WiiFit has brought some really awesome things to my life:

• We, as a family, spend a lot more time together being active, have a great time.  Yes, we could be active outdoors and we are, but when it's 95 degrees outside, being together, active inside is the next best thing.
• The game requires us to strive to be better because they are all exercise related so we get a workout each and every time.
• Even though the body test could be better, it does give a guideline to measure our progress, like a scale.
• My young children would rather get active on the Wii then watch TV.
• I get to practice my balance moves with Yoga - I'm actually not too bad with balance.

Please remember, however, that this is just a game--don't take it too seriously, just have fun. Now I'm going to give that downhill ski another try, my dear hubby has the highest score right now and I need to take him down a notch or two.

Stay Well,

Consistency is key for long term fitness

Over the last, oh I don't know, eons, I have tried every diet, fitness routine, quick fix pills and several equipments, and even several diet products that promise to make me skinny in no time flat. Some worked short term then I had to get back to reality, others just didn't work at all and for sure I figured it was the crappy product or diet plan I was on.  It couldn't be me right? 

I have become a little bit smarter about all the dieting and quick fix programs and their false promises - basically I don't believe in strict diets nor do I believe that diet pills or quick-fix equipment work, at all.  OK maybe some of you might have lost some weight or lots of weight taking an over the counter or prescription pill but go ahead and stop taking that pill and see how long the weight stays off.  Strict diets only work if you do them consistently for the rest of your life.

I learned, the hard way, that the #1 key to success is consistency.  Once you have a plan that includes eating healthy and exercising then all you have to do is follow through and keep doing what you planned to do.  The best laid plans are nothing if we don't follow through.  

So buying a journal, a gym membership, cute workout clothes and new running shoes and paying a trainer will not increase your ability to lose weight or get in shape or even improve your health if you don't use them.  You still have to watch what you eat (and I don't mean watch it go in your mouth, I mean be aware of what's good and bad in what you eat each every meal).  The gym membership is just a waste of money if you don't actually go to the gym; cute workout clothes and new shoes are pointless if you don't ever break a sweat in them.  Go ahead, make them stinky - that is the smell of a hard workout. The Personal Trainer still gets paid regardless of your progress - he/she is there to lead you, teach you, motivate you and guide you - but you have to want it more than the trainer.  Show up, work hard!

I'm sure, in fact, I know I have not reached the MY personal fitness goals. Not for lack of motivation, know-how, or consistency but simply because I set goals for the long term and I know that it can take as long to get there as it did to get where I am now.  Funny how my body just didn't bounce back after baby number 3 and 4.  What was I thinking?  Regardless of the changes in my body as I age, umm  get wiser, I can't give up and blame it all on my "maturity," in fact, I work harder because it takes longer to achieve the same results.  Add to that the added stress of raising kids, added stress of packing out and moving every 2-4 years due to military orders, school, work, etc..etc. 

With a well laid out plan and taking into consideration holidays, kids getting sick, family visiting, etc. What can possibly keep me from getting a workout in today?  Well, first my attitude can get in the way of things.  If I get up looking for an excuse not to go to the gym or for a bike ride or a walk then, believe me, I will find a way and a reason why I can't exercise today.  Secondly, preparation.  If I don't lay out my clothes, pack my gym bag, fill my water bottle AND write on my calendar what my next day will be, it's very likely that it will be filled with a lot of things, none of which include my fitness routine. 

To avoid these potential interruptions in my fitness routine I first fix my attitude, before I even get to bed.  I write down what class I'm taking or how far I plan to walk/run/ride, etc.  When all else fails, I call someone and tell them what I'm doing. Now there's one more person I'm accountable to.  Second, I plan to succeed the next day by preparing everything the night before - gym bag, food, water bottle, clothes, etc. 

OK so I have control of these two issues in my life.  I can fix that.  But what about the others, the unexpected or even expected events that come up. I have those days.  Believe me, with four kids and a husband whose not always here, the last minute cold, tummy issue, and food spill rests on me to clean up.  No matter how great a plan I had to go to the gym at 9:30 am, things happen.  

It's OK to stop and do what needs to be done. Deal with the situation and move on.  I can't beat myself up about it, I can't beat my kids up either -- that would be counter productive. So I have to go to plan B.  We all should have one.  Options:  Once all the clean up is done and the child is settled or asleep, workout at home, use FitTV, ExerciseTV, YouTube, and the million and one blogs out there with easy, no equipment required fitness programs that can be done at home in a short period of time.  In fact I have a few of those myself.  Checkout the links below.  The idea is to keep moving, do something, don't just give up for the day and call it quits.

The last minute visitors...they have a place in my healthy heart too. Either come with me to the gym or wait here, I'll be back shortly.  Many of my friends already know to show up prepared, just in case we go for a long walk or in case we go to a Spinning Class.  When I have overnight visitors coming and I know they're coming I tell them in advanced that I plan to go to the gym and I would love for them to come along.  But if they don't want to, that's OK.  Mi casa es tu casa...be back shortly.  I know there are times when you have company coming and you have to prepare, clean, cook, etc.... that's different, but not so.  This is a great opportunity to get the workout in around that particular visit - very early or late on the day of, or the day before or after.  No one ever said we had to be working freakishly hard 7 days a week.  But we can certainly plan to exercise and eat healthy before a party.

It is not difficult to be consistent with matters of the heart and health.  We can consistently find time to do a great deal of things in our every day life, except taking care of #1- that usually goes to the bottom of the list.  Maybe it's time we reset our priorities and put YOU back on the list as #1, permanently.

Here's a tasty, easy, breakfast recipe - try it, hope you like it!

Egg white & Salsa Wrap

1/2 cup egg whites

2 TBS Salsa

1 TBS Mild Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese

1 Small wheat flour tortilla

Cook egg whites

Add Cheese and Salsa

Scoop it into the tortilla, wrap it and eat it!!  

It's delicious.

Stay Well,

Relevant Links:

Are you Stuck: Here's a quick fat-burning workout

Staying focused when kids are sick

Cool sites you should visit:

LoveEshe - Exercise advise, nutrition tips and tough love!

The Jungle of Life - Traveling through the jungle we call life- one step at a time.

Create a Balance - A life balance personal development blog to help you embrace your authentic self.