FamilyInShape

The power of a positive attitude

Photo by SpinDiva "Sunset on the Sound, OBX 2009"

You ever find yourself surrounded by negative people? 

At work.

At the grocery store.

At the gym.

Sometimes, even at home.

Yes.  We all face them and sometimes we just follow suit and fall into that negative rut that plagues so many.  

I'm a big believer in living as an optimist (with realism not to far behind).  I have asked the pessimists in my life why they always thing the worst of things or the worst  case scenario?  They respond with "this way I'm prepared for the worst and if something good happens then I'll be surprised." 

WOW.  That response has stuck with me because it is amazing that anyone can think like that.  I see their point though.  They are trying to avoid feeling disappointed.  But, what's wrong with a little disappointment?   Aren't those the hurdles we must strive to jump every once in a while?  

As an optimist I say everything will workout as it should or today is going to be a great day, regardless of how it started and it usually turns out that way.  I find myself smiling more, getting less stressed over traffic issues, silly people, etc.  However, when things don't workout, even after I've worked myself up to thinking they will, I use those moments as challenges to make things better.

There's a theory about stress first identified by Dr. Susan Kobasa (1979) called the Hardiness Theory of Stress. The theory has three basic principles: Commitment, Control and Challenge, also known as the three C's.  Possessing the three C's makes one hardy.

One who is hardy  will be committed to what they are doing, act as if they can control the outcome regardless of the changes, and use the change as a challenge to improve their life. Those people are considered hardy and have been known to #1 manage stress better then most, #2 avoid the health effects of stress, #3 live a happier life.

"When I go to bed at night I already know how my day is going to be the next day.  However, I have been known to oversleep, forget to turn on the alarm, the kids sleep right through their alarm, and I forgot to pack lunches the night before, etc.  OK so things have taken a turn and my plan to have a great day has been challenged.  Am I hardy enough to deal with this mess?

I'd like to think I am, most of the time.  I commit myself to what I know I can and must do NOW (get everyone up and ready to go).  I control the outcome of this event (everyone will get to school, eventually- it's not the end of the world). I use the challenges and be better prepared next time (pack lunches the night before, go to bed at a reasonable time).

No screaming, no anger, no fights.  Just taking the time to do what needs to be done because no matter what I do, I can't turn back time.  I can only work towards making this day a great day, regardless of the setbacks.

A few quotes to get you thinking:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

~ Winston Churchill “To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun?” ~ Katherine Graham “When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world.” ~ Zig Ziglar My favorite is one I used to sing to the kids on the way to school -  So let the sunshine in Face it with a grin Smilers never loose and frowners never win So let the sunshine in Face it with a grin Open up your heart and let the sunshine in! Stay Well,

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

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,

Don't forget to fill the tank...eat breakfast!

Photo by sweeteats

Imagine a teenager waking up just 20 minutes before running out to catch the school bus.  If you have one of these creatures you'll know that in their list of priorities, breakfast is not near the top. There are other, more important things topping that list like clothes, hair, make up, shoes and if time allows maybe, something to eat. If I was a junk food mom that's exactly what they would eat for breakfast. In my dream world my kids would get up earlier giving themselves time to eat a hot breakfast or even a cold breakfast full of all the good stuff nature has to offer.  You know, eggs, fruits, whole wheat toast, jam, hot cocoa, yogurt, oatmeal, etc...mm-mm.  That's not happening as often as I would like.  

Personally, I rarely, if ever, skip out on breakfast.  I make it a priority because I know it is one of many important meals of the day.  I'd like to say that it is THE MOST important meal of the day, however, I believe every meal to be important for different reasons.  Breakfast, however, is the one that gets me started and thus I plan to start my day off right, every single day, whether I'm in a morning rush or sitting back sipping green tea.  I do occasionally fall off the wagon and here's what happens:

The other day I decided to take some time off from my usual daily routine to stay home with my little Bear, catch up on chores and organize something that needs to be organized.  Well, I was in such a high to get started with whatever multi-tasking activity I had planned for the day that I went right to work.  Every so often reminding myself that I needed to eat and drink my tea which was steeping in the kitchen.  Every time I would say to myself, "well when I go in the kitchen to do the dishes I will eat, but let me finish this first."  Yeah...3 hours later, my tea was still steeping and my stomach was screaming at me.  Funny thing is that I took the time to feed, play with and entertain the toddler, clean out a closet, reorganize my pantry, make 6 scented candles and organize two other kitchen cabinets...all without eating a darn thing.

Bad move.  I was shaky, fatigued, felt exhausted and weak.  I could feel my glucose had dropped, I was completely out of whack.  It took about 3 hours to get myself back to normal and in the end, I had a pretty bad headache.  Of course I know better, but I got carried away.  In my job I often hear my clients tell me that they just don't have time to eat breakfast or they just aren't hungry so they don't eat until lunch time.  It's very easy to get up and get busy right away, every day and go on without thinking about eating.   Kids do the same and probably feel the same, they just don't know it.  One of my teens will get a migraine, usually by the end of the day; the others get irritable and cranky when they don't eat a nutritious breakfast. Of course, they would never admit that the lack of food had anything to do with their issues.

One of the problems with this time of day is that many people think they have to sit down to eat breakfast; others feel hat they need to cook or do some time-consuming task.  While sitting down to eat is best because it gives you the time to really enjoy your meal and slow down while you eat, that is not always possible.  Everyone is busy and many rushing out the door. 

There are many ways to fuel your body quickly and effectively with little preparation. Here are some easy ideas for the entire family:

Yogurt with Granola----or your kids favorite cereal

Oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar ----- any fruit will do

Whole grain/whole wheat toast with peanut butter

Banana, Strawberry (or any fruit combination), yogurt, orange juice & protein Smoothie

High fiber/high protein cereal with 1% or 2% milk---add any fruit with this meal

Apple with Peanut butter

Banana with Peanut butter

Egg whites with cheese & toast

Cottage cheese & fruit

Frozen waffles with peanut butter & fruit

Protein bars

ZonePerfect: 210 cal, 7g fat, 3g fiber, 13g sugar, 14g protein

Balance: 200 cal, 7g fat, <1g fiber, 17g sugar, 15g protein

SouthBeachLiving: 140 cal, 5g fat, 3g fiber, 7g sugar, 10g protein

Granola bars

Nature Valley: 180 cal, 6g fat, 2g fiber, 11g sugar, 4g protein

NutriGrain: 130 cal, 3g fat, 2g fiber, 12g sugar, 2g protein

There are many, many, many other options for quick and sit down meals out there.  Think nutritious, think energizing, think brain power.  I usually make my kids drink at least 100% pure orange juice, apple juice or milk even if they don't have time to eat a thing.  Generally, when they are rushing out the door I'm handing them something to eat as well.  The granola bars are OK options, not the most nutritious but not terribly bad either.  A banana and a granola bar is more powerful than nothing at all and sometimes it's difficult to please picky, cranky, morning teens.

For us adults, we need to take control of our nutrition if we are going to teach our children well.  Lead by example.  It may require you to get up a little earlier or do some prep work the night before but be prepared to fuel your family with easy to prepare, portable, or sit down breakfast every morning.

Stay well,

Crossposted at BlogHer

Re-evaluating fitness and setting goals

Photo credit Tizzalicious

(cross posted at BlogHer)

I think everyone can agree that we all get in a workout rut every once in a while. I realized that I'm there and that I've been doing is just not giving me the results I want. I think I'm doing plenty, but it is obviously not the quantity of my workouts that's holding me back but the quality and so I need to make some changes. For a little while there I used my Little Bear as my excuse, "I have some baby fat to burn off, but he's only six months old, I have time" I recall telling myself. It is a really bad idea to even START using the pregnancy and the birth of a baby as a crutch or as a reason why we hold on to excess body fat. Soon the child is getting ready to graduate High School and we're still claiming baby fat. Well, Little Bear is now 2.5 years old and the oldest is 18 with a 15 and a 6 year old in between. Luckily, I kept off most of whatever I gained during pregnancy. My focus is now on losing body fat and trimming down the inches and not so much on the number on that cranky scale. I'm not a good friend of the scale so I will stick with a tape measure instead.

My fitness routine on most weeks includes Boot Camp, Muscle Conditioning, Spinning®, Turbo Kickboxing, and Pilates. I say most weeks because when I don't teach or train someone I CHOOSE to stay home and catch up on my chores, homework, sleep, etc… And there it is, the culprit and the reason I'm not getting results. Did you catch the operative words—MOST WEEKS. I have to commit to go workout on days when I don't have to teach, regardless of what else needs to be done at home. Chances are the chores will still be there waiting. Besides, if I had to teach or meet a client I would have to go, right? Right!!

My other issues are that I sometimes go off track with my eating habits, I stay up late and get up early, and lately, I have not been writing anything down as I should. Did I mention stress? I have a few things that add unnecessary stress to my life. Let's see now, we are a military family expecting orders to move mid-school year – no, not crazy about that; we have a house to sell; I'm taking classes online (what was I thinking?); our oldest is going AWAY to college and did I mention we have a 15 year old girl? Yikes! What happened to my little girl? It can all be handled, I just have to get organized, re-evaluate and set some realistic goals. Here are some things I know I need to do:

1. WRITE IT DOWN! A goal has to be on a paper, on the calendar, journal, or on the fridge door. Once it's written down I am accountable and more likely to stick with it.
2. It is important to set realistic goals. In other words, I can't just write that I want to lose 15 pounds by next Friday and expect it to happen, at least not following a healthy routine. I am willing to trim down at a much slower pace because I want it to stay off. I also don't want to lose muscle mass just body fat and inches.
3. I will be prepared to succeed every day. This means, don't leave home without my water and healthy snacks such as a fruit, protein bar, nuts, etc. I will pack my gym bag and have my workout clothes ready every day. Sometimes I wait to the last minute (procrastinate) then I end up stressing if I can't find my shorts or my shoes.
4. Use my calendar to keep track of what I am doing to reach my goal – sleep, nutrition, exercise, relaxation, etc.
5. Re-visit the fridge, freezer and pantry. There are some pesky snacks left over from a party that need to go. I must eliminate the temptation and replace them with healthy snacks—again!

This is my week to evaluate my fitness, nutrition, stress, and sleep. To reach my goals I have to get them down on paper, give myself the time it takes to get there, eliminate some of the stressors in my life, and get some well-needed sleep. I'm excited and energized by seeing my plan on paper or on screen in this case. I hope this list will give you a boost to get started on your goals as well, try mine or tell me about yours…I'd like to know what you are doing or plan to do to reach your fitness goals.

Stay well,