Warm Weather Workout

Continuing with our guest blogger this month, here is the second installment from our very own Shawn Massey.

Hey everyone here is a quick workout you can do outside as the weather gets nicer (if you have kids you can include them too as a game to get them outside, spend some quality time, and teach them healthy habits).   (Click on each exercise for a link on how to perform it).

Bear Crawl 

Depth Jumps

Spider Walk (if playing with kids add push up for you)

Crab Crawl

Sprints (uphill if possible)

Complete each exercise for a designated distance.  If you are playing with your kids complete this workout as a obstacle course and race to see who can finish first.  Complete 3 sets or race best 2 out of 3 wins.

Get outside and get active!!

Kids and Fitness

This month's guest blogger is our very own, soon-to-be-mom, Caitlin Massey.  This is the first of her blogs this month and today it is dedicated to all the parents out there.

Are you a parent?  If so listen up.  Health and fitness are quickly becoming nonexistent in our kid's lives.  Between sitting all day in class, fewer schools valuing PE, rushing from here to there and grabbing whatever meal you can find on the side of the road, and a technological society kids are quickly learning that health and fitness is not important. It's no surprise that 1 in 3 American adolescents are obese and by 2020, 75% of the American population will be overweight.  It is estimated that the obesity epidemic adds 40 billion in health care costs per year.  Ouch!  And that number will only grow as inflation and the obesity rates increase.  

It's time to take action and your kids need you to step up and lead by example.  Take a look at the above list of contributing factors to the childhood obesity rate (sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, fast paced lifestyle).  Any of those ring a bell?  You teach your kids about health everyday with the decisions YOU make.  That means you can change their future and protect your kids from weight-related chronic illness, poor self esteem, lower levels of concentration, and the ongoing "battle with the bulge".  Here are a few ideas you can start with to get your kids active and teach them a healthy lifestyle from an early age.

1. LEAD BY EXAMPLE.  Your kids watch what you do and what you eat.  The first place to start changing your kid's habits is by changing your own.
2. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CHILD LIKES.  Kids don't exercise like we do. They don't see the long-term benefits and initially don't care about improving their health.  But they do like to have fun!  The more fun you can inject in exercise, the harder, faster, and more frequently they will participate in it.  So find a way to make a game out of it.
3. TAKE CHARGE.  You are the parent so exert your right to be.  Limit TV and computer time and make sure your child eats their veggies before leaving the table.
4. CHORES.  Any sort of physical activity will get their muscles moving...and make less work for you!  Have your kids help with vacuuming, sweeping, or yard work.  Not only will it get them up, it will also instill good work ethics and values.
5. GO OUTSIDE.  Let them move while enjoying the great outdoors to build an appreciation for outdoor activities.  The greater this appreciation the less they will be tied to a computer or video game.
6. KEEP IT POSITIVE.  If exercise is fun, it is never a chore.  Be sure to keep the emphasis off weight and on being active or being the best they can be.  If exercise is viewed negatively or as something at which they can fail kids will avoid it.  The goal is to not only teach healthy habits but to instill them in a positive way so physical activity will never be something they dread. 

 

Does Feeling Fat Make You Fat?

We have all those days.  The ones where you feel fat and frumpy.  But just because you "feel" fat, does that make you fat??  According to a recent study published in the Journal of Obesity by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, normal-weight teens who felt fat were more likely to grow up to be fat.  This study was an eleven-year follow-up that tracked 1196 normal-weight teens as they progressed into adulthood (between ages 24 and 30).  

According to the results of this study, researchers found that half of the participants still maintained a healthy weight as an adult.  Unfortunately, the results also showed that 59 percent of the girls who felt fat as a teen later became an overweight adult (based on body mass index, or BMI).  This is in comparison with 31 percent of girls who did NOT feel fat as a teenager but developed into overweight adults.  This study also showed that normal-weight girls were more likely to perceive themselves as overweight in comparison to normal-weight boys.  Twenty-two percent of the girls in the initial study felt they were overweight whereas only nine percent of boys felt this way.

Why is this??  According to the researchers, psychosocial stress is most likely the main culprit.  The need (or the want) for maintaining an ideal body weight according to social pressure can cause people, especially teenage girls, to gain weight as they progress into adulthood.  This psychosocial stress can cause poor habits such as improper dieting and skipping meals.  Both of these result in weight gain.  Unfortunately, teenage girls are affected more by this psychosocial stress due to media pressure for girls to be thin.

The media's notion of the "ideal" body type for women is based on celebrities and super models.  Young people, both female and male, need to have positive (and healthy) role-models, not ones who severely restrict their calorie intake or engage in unhealthy dietary habits.  Make sure you spend time with your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews to ensure they understand what the "ideal" body type is and how to properly achieve healthy results.  Keep kids active and limit time spent in front of the television, video games, and computers.  Schedule family "play-time" to get everyone involved and active so you can help young adults improve their self-esteem.

Need help with getting your teen involved and active?  Check with your school or local government to see what programs or assistance is available to you.  Also, check at local gyms or health clubs for after-school activities or sports for your teens.  Set an example by being active yourself and make appropriate food choices.  Together, we can help turn these statistics around and make the future for our children brighter, happier, and most importantly, healthier!!

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2012, August 8). Feeling fat may make you fat, study suggests. ScienceDaily.