Healthy B.P.M.

We know the benefits of fitness for us, but how often do we consider the benefits of exercise for our children? It isn’t necessary to have a formal workout routine for them (unless that fits your family structure). What’s important is that they spend less time with the Playstation and get moving. Here are some stats from the CDC. Daily participation in school physical education among adolescents dropped 14 percentage points over the last 13 years — from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003.

In addition, less than one-third (28%) of high school students meet currently recommended levels of physical activity. The most important lessons children learn, begin at home.In our busy hectic lives, it can be hard to work in playtime with our children. To properly grow and learn, children need to be active. We can help by playing with them. Here are some ideas and benefits:

How’d the first set of common sense rules sit with you? Hey don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just trying to help. Following these practical tips can save you time, money and frustration. Tally ho!

Most of weight loss and fitness is just plain ol common sense which some seem to be lacking. I have 14 basic common sense steps you can take to take the pressure off and enjoy your life in the meantime. Here’s the first 7 and the second set will come tomorrow.

I want to tell you a story. It’s a story about a heart. Listen up.Hi my name is Henrietta and I’m a heart. I’m over worked because Harriet, my owner is overweight and that puts more stress on me. Let me tell you a little bit about Harriet. She is a 32 year old African-American woman. Both parents are overweight. Her mom is diabetic and her father suffered a heart attack at the age of 43. Harriet is the oldest of six children. As a teenager she was active, playing volleyball and running track. The activity helped her to balance the hefty meals that were a staple in their household. Harriet was afraid of being overweight and started dieting her senior year of high school. She’d starve herself all day and then eat a meager supper.

Have you ever had a food high? Do you recall a time when you were eating something that was just so good you couldn’t stop even though you were way past full? The need to feed just wouldn’t go away. Food was so instantly gratifying you wanted the feeling to go on and on, so you continued to eat. Most overweight people have felt that loss of control. When you were finally lulled, back into reality what did you feel? Probably guilt and lots of it.Once again, you allowed yourself to go overboard; you relinquished your control and self-esteem to the goddess of goodies. We all have the ability to pull ourselves out of the food basket, we just don’t know it. In some cases, we don’t want to. We don’t want to because living in the food basket is comfortable, we know what to expect there. Even though we know the detriments of living there, of setting ourselves up for debilitating health conditions, we remain, hoping that the miracles of modern technology will provide us with a quick and easy way out. That is precisely where the $30 billion a year weight loss industry wants us to stay. Overweight and in search of a quick fix.Put it into context, say it aloud, ask this question as many times as you need to: DOES THE FOOD YOU OVEREAT TASTE THAT GOOD?? Does it taste better than feeling good, physically and emotionally? Some of us don’t have anything else to compare it to, because we’ve lived in the food basket all of our lives. Could it be that we are hiding inside the basket? We don’t know what it’s like to be healthy, we don’t know what will happen to use or we’re afraid of what might be expected of us should we be successful in our weight loss and fitness goals. There’s a part of us that is afraid to reach our goals and this doesn’t just apply to weight loss. How much better are we expected to perform in all areas of life if we succeed? That is part of the reason we sabotage our success. Take ownership of your fitness.

Monday, Monday the start day of most diets. Yes, I used the “D” word. Most people start a diet on a Monday. Is that supposed to be the official fresh new beginning day? It seems to me that if you’re really serious about healthy eating and losing weight you’d, a) not start a diet because you’ll probably stop it eventually and b) start now. Now there are some exceptions to point b. If it’s a day or two before Thanksgiving or Christmas you might as well wait, unless you’ve got resolves of steel. Or, if you’ve just checked into your cabin on a 7-day cruise you’ll feel like jumping overboard if you don’t partake in some of the goodies.This is the real world and timing is everything. I’m not advocating that you go into a feeding frenzy during vacations and holidays or event your own holidays to prolong your plans. Just be realistic and know your limitations. You know the old saying about cutting off your nose to spite your face? Once that healthy eating plan is well in place there will still be tempting times and occasions when you’ll backslide. Find the balance, indulge moderately and don’t like the backslide expand your backside. Take care and be well.

It’s lunch time folks and you want to eat healthy. Most of us head on over to the salad bar because its much better on our waistlines than Wendy’s or McDonalds. Now here is where things go awry…we start adding high calorie, low nutritional value items to our salad!

Listen to this, certain types of lettuce are even better for you. Iceberg lettuce is a standard on most salad bars but it offers very little nutritional value. More greener, leafy varieties such as romaine start your salad out packed with nutrients. The typical salad bar is full of items that are definitely not healthy, like high fat dressings, calorie laden tuna salads, high fat cottage cheese, baby corn (starch), sugary jello mixtures with dates and other high calorie fruits in heavy fructose syrup.

Picture this, a Classic Cobb Salad with chopped bacon, egg, blue cheese, avocado, and creamy dressing, or standard restaurant Chef Salad loaded with Swiss cheese, roast beef, eggs, and dressing can contain more than 1,000 calories and 80 grams fat! For some people, that’s more than half their day’s worth of calories (and all their fat). You would have woofed down more calories than a McDonalds Big Mac and regular fries! What a way to shoot your diet in the foot.

Joy Bauer, a leading nutritionist shared with Katie Couric on the Today Show “5 rules to make the best low-calorie salads” Joy says “don’t give up on salads; they’re loaded with nutrition and can be satisfying and delicious. Follow my guidelines for making a perfect low-calorie salad — and you’ll never have to worry again.

1. Pile on leafy greens
2. Load up on plain veggies
3. Add a few lean proteins
4. Indulge in one high-calorie “extra”,
5. Go easy on dressing

I also came across a good video on CBS Early Show with Hannah Storm and R.D. Terri Glassman with audience members challenged to prepare a good salad on stage! Check it out here

Salad Bar, High Fat Salads, Salad, Katie Couric, Joy Bauer, The Today Show, CBS Early Show, Hannah Storm, Terri Glassman, diet, Lowfat Salads

What is this obsession with how much stars weigh? I was reading an article on ifit&healthy about how much weight Angelina Jolie has lost. I will say that compared to a couple of years back, she has trimmed down quite a bit. When asked about her weight she routinely shrugs off the anorexic concerns and insists she has always been thin.

I think we are so concerned with how much the stars weigh so we won’t have to focus on our own problems or issues with weight. It is easy to point out the “dot” in someone else’s eye–but we need to focus on the “plank” in ours. Many women and some men obsess about their weight in unhealthy ways. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to a grocery store and see your face and body plastered on every magazine; stating you have anorexia!

But of course I am a hypocrite as I am the first person to pick up one of those rag mags in the store. Maybe this obsession is rooted in the media and the images that are constantly portrayed as “beauty” on the screen. Unfortunately we allow them to dictate to our young girls how they should look and the horrible cycle continues…

Anorexia, Angelina Jolie, Thin Celebrities, Weight Obsession, Celebrities, Weight

Everyone wants to be a rock star. But how healthy is it?

Not very. All youngsters aspire to be rock stars if they get the chance but the lifestyle is far too fast and can have consequences like suicide, drug overdose, murder to bizarre accidents. The mortality rate of performers is three times that us unrock ‘n roll sorts.

According to statistics,for the 100 performers who died early, the average age was 42 for North American stars and just 35 for those in Europe.

From Elvis to Eminem the graph looks bad.

For those of you who are fascinated by obesity myths this article by Gina Kolata is a good read. She deconstructs the factors responsible for obesity-it’s not just calories and exercise. It’s your DNA, the conditions you were exposed to when you were in your mother’s womb and a whole lot of other factors.

Check out America’s Biblical Health Coach Jordan Rubin’s(author of best-selling books such as The Maker’s Diet and The Great Physician’s Rx for Health and Wellness) health formulae in his three new titles-The Great Physician’s Rx for Arthritis, The Great Physician’s Rx for High Cholesterol, and The Great Physician’s Rx for Heartburn and Acid Reflux.

Thought only girls were anorexic? Catch I’m a Boy Anorexic on the BBC, slated for Sep 9.

Do you have enough probiotics in your diet? These “friendly” microbes are found in breast milk and fermented foods such as yogurt, fermented milk drinks, aged cheese, miso and certain pickles and sauerkraut. They keep intestinal flora balanced and prevent bacteria from causing disease. Scientists have declared an “invisible epidemic of insufficient probiotics”. More here.

Sometimes I think remedies at home are great. In Ayurveda, there are dietary and herbal techniques that people use to fight the bulge. The idea in Ayurveda is to think in the long term. Although effects can take time, a good Ayurveda practitioner can help. Check out some weight loss home remedies.

Is Nintendo Wii the new route out of obesity? A Canadian health club in Vancouver is attracting huge interest with its Nintendo-based workout circuit.Users can punch, run and jump with the system’s movement-sensitive controller. How cool is burning 75 to 125 calories with Nintendo?:)

Some healthy juice combinations for you.

Health stories that caught my eye this week:

If you thought a good diet could help all the time, this story doesn’t help:Among breast cancer survivors, adopting a low-fat diet high in vegetables, fruit and fiber does not prevent the cancer from returning or prolong survival, according to a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Monkeys have their own brand of contraceptive:Baboons in Nigeria are consuming natural contraceptives which, for around three months of the year, prevent females getting attention from males and falling pregnant.Eating the ‘chasterberry’ increases progesterone levels beyond those during pregnancy and prevents ovulation and behaving very much like the human contraceptive pill. Plus by eating this fruit,the females don’t get those sexy swollen bottoms that male baboons love.

Adelie penguins have altered their fish diet to a more shrimpy crustacean palate as Antartic whaling practices have led to a krill population explosion.

Foods with a low glycemic load (legumes,cereals) can help prevent acne.

cancer, diet, glycemic index

Are you a yo-yo dieter? Well even if you try to change things with counseling programs, the weight will return.

Researchers have used statistical techniques to combine data from 46 randomized controlled trials of counseling programs and have come to the conclusion that with counsel-based programs(led by dietitians, nurses or doctors) there has been a substantial weight loss. But the effect of the programs wear off.

That means physicians have to work harder to get their patients on a better lifestyle management program. How can they do that? They will have to see their patients more often and create programs by which the patient can analyze his eating habits better.

When I decide to change my eating habits, I have to keep reminding myself that today I will eat x+y and stay away from z. I have to keep working on myself. It’s a process. Although it’s physicians who can help create the change, a lot of the change is up to me. It’s my body and I’ve got to save it.

yo-yo dieting