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:

Some people procrastinate, as a way of life, tomorrow never gets here when it comes to making changes. So here’s the $20 million question, what are YOU waiting for? While it is true that proper mindset is crucial in making changes, it is also true that there is no magical date or time when it’s going to show up. This is true in regards to fitness more than any other area. There’s no denying that a vast majority of us are in denial. We have a thousand and one excuses for not getting started and even more for quitting. Different things spur individuals into action, whether it’s a less than favorable report from the doctor, or that dreaded three-way mirror in the fitting room.

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.

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.

Yesterday my guest blogger Marcia described what Awareness is. Today she discusses Joy and Choices-things we should know about before we get into holistic fitness.

JOY:

The entire process of building a healthy body goes from something impersonal to something very personal and meaningful to each of us as individuals. This process brings us closer to the spiritual aspect of how our body works. Let’s face it. We all have arms and legs, we all have thoughts and emotions; but something deeper within us drives us to do things that others wouldn’t even consider. This deep sense of individuality is our connection to the spiritual aspects of the self. When the physical body, mental body, emotional body and spiritual self are all in harmony, the chances for success are phenomenal.

The traditional fitness triangle of body-mind-emotion, now has a unifying aspect-the spirit that drives the individual to seek fulfillment, satisfaction and joy. Being “well” in the physical body isn’t enough for most of us. We need a deeper more personal motivation, to make the effort to find a fitness program and stick to it.

Traditional fitness is a program of regular exercise, “proper” diet/nutrition, and “proper” rest to allow for physical recovery. A traditional fitness program is built around attaining agility, balance, body composition, cardiovascular endurance, coordination, flexibility and joint range of motion, muscular strength and endurance and speed.

While this may all sound good, (more…)

Nowadays if you want motivation you can find it everywhere- in shops, greeting cards, the internet other than all the support you get from your friends and family and nature.

While I was scanning the blogosphere I came across a link that Lady Rose had posted and I wanted to share it with you. It’s a great destress motivator and makes you stop and think about how simple life can be if you can focus on the Right Now.

I’m always thinking of what tomorrow can bring and what happiness/unhappiness might show up in my life. If I just focus on writing my blog as I am doing it right now, I’ll be happier

No stress means more health….so check out the daily motivator and get inspired!:)

motivation, destress tips, happiness

I’m seriously considering to put my babies in play school for a brief hour so that I can start on yoga.

Writing this blog has made me more health conscious and I’ve been dying to learn yoga for years. I do the odd meditation but I want to be flexible like my kids.

Research shows that children prove to be obstacles to your physical fitness. While running around your kids can make you tired, it is not necessarily as good as working out. So if you were a good athlete once upon a time, you may find a lot of things stop you from going to the gym when your children are growing up. You could be guilty of spending time on yourself.You will suffer as a result.

I feel it right now. Something called age come nagging at me as the kids climb the chairs and the tables and the sofa. I don’t usual get all personal in my blog. But I’m dead beat right now. Pooped. Wiped out.

So I want to do something about it! Change my life. Learn something new.And share it with you on my blog. Hope it works out.Wish me luck!

yoga, parenting

In her Color Me Fit blog Kery talks about how it feels when someone comes up to you and says “You’re so pretty”.

The sad part is that my first thought was to wonder if he was mocking me.

Now I don’t personally subscribe to anyone commenting on how I look. But once my friend did the exact same thing. While I was in college, a friend of mine talked about how she went up to a boy and complimented him on his looks. He looked back at her insulted as though she had said,”You like like dog shit.”

She never saw him again.

Sometimes we can underestimate ourselves so much that we can’t even take a pat on the back without suspicion. Maybe there are days when we look really good, regardless of our size. I’ll say embrace those days and understand a compliment when you get one.

appearance, body image perception

Part of leading a healthy lifestyle has to do with being in control of your life. When you are not, you tend to see things falling apart.

One way to be in contol of your life is to quit your addictions. Easier said than done. Meera has written a great post about how she quit smoking for good. She tackled her problem using logic. When you smoke you spend an hour or two on your cigarrettes. That realization changed her approach.

Sometimes having kids is an opportunity to change. If you assume responsibility as a parent then quitting habits like drinking could help. Living with parents on a high could cause stress in children and lead them to pursue binge-drining habits or experience mental trauma later on. Read this.

control, self-control, bine drinking, smoking, addiction, stress, trauma, childhood problems

Yesterday I talked about what burnout is really all about. Sometimes it could be the multitasking you do, sometimes it could be the kind of relationships you are in, other times the kind of compensation you get for the time and energy you invest in your work. All these things can contribute to the level of stress in your life and the happiness quotient you experience.

I would advice any stressed out person to read this excellent article Set Limits at Work to Beat Burnout.

Four ways to beat burnout:

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I came across JM’s new blog and she used a phrase “I think I’m reaching rock bottom…” and I started thinking about all my rock bottom days and for me hitting that low means not moving out of my chair and getting the routine things done. It means just sitting and doing nothing. If some unfortunate soul comes before me, I could lose my temper and be unreasonable.

You know you’ve hit rock bottom when you read this.

How can you deal with those rock bottom days?

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If you think you are the boss when it comes to your health, then chances are you will work harder on keeping yourself fit. Statistics reveal that less and less people are taking health into their hands and are pessimistic about any durable change that they can produce. Read this story.

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What goes on in the mind of a fat child? Check out this post on Angry Fat Girlz.

As parents we can teach our kids some things:

-Go easy on criticism-criticizing others(think about the names kids call their fatter or skinnier counterparts) and taking it. It isn’t easy not to take yourself seriously but once you learn to laugh at your defects life becomes easier. A lot of young kids who are anorexic or have weight problems have a problem with criticism.

Some parenting tips:

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I came across this great post on getfitsource.com about how research points at the link between exercise and the mind. The more fit you are, the fitter your mind is. That gives you one more reason to abandon your sedentary life and watch less T.V.Exercise actually stimulates the growth of new nerve cells, something that wasn’t known before. Exercise boosts production of chemicals like brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF: this chemical makes you have more knowledge acquisition ability.

Read this Newsweek article: Stronger,Faster,Smarter

[tags]brain,exercise,Newsweek