Nutritious choices made simple®
It doesn’t matter where you are in the country this summer, there seems to be only one temperature setting… and it’s hot. While we all still want to remain active with our exercise routines, sometimes it can be difficult to stay cool, comfortable and motivated out in the sweltering heat. Here are a few tips so that you can still enjoy the great outdoors and even find some indoor activities you’ll enjoy just as much!
I enjoy running, and am somewhat amazed as I pause to reflect that I have been a regular runner for the past 43 of my almost 58 years. In retrospect, I realize that I was a part of the first running boom during the 1970s that was led by baby boomers and popularized by Jim Fixx in his seminal book The Complete Book of Running. In those days, runners were among a relatively small minority and were regarded by many as crazy for donning skimpy shorts and torn t-shirts while loping along the roads and trails of America.
Did you know that the nation celebrated Girls & Women in Sports Day at the beginning of February? This day honoring female athletes epitomizes what Title IX gave us in 1972 when it made it illegal to exclude anyone from any educational program on the basis of gender. While I don’t think this holiday is celebrated enough, it doesn’t mean that its value can’t be recognized during the other 364 days in the year. As a college cheerleading coach and former athlete, I see the value of sports for women every day.
Fitness and nutrition may not be on the top of your list of priorities during a move, but they’ll certainly keep you feeling good during it. Here are some things to keep in mind during the process of your move.
We all know exercise has a ton of benefits (including weight loss), but there are quite a few additional benefits you may not have known about.
If you are like most people, I’m sure at some point in your life you have “tried” to be on a diet. Take a second to think about and add it up. Most adults can list the many experiences they have had with one diet or another, while some are so deeply identified as “dieters” that they would do better to try to remember the few times they weren’t on a diet. Imagine how happy that makes the diet industry! Then consider how sad it is that a basic need like eating has become so tangled that we need a multi-million dollar company to “teach” us how to do it.
Kids are exposed to almost 8,000 food advertisements each year. That means that they are seeing about 21 ads for food every day. Most of these ads are for junk foods or those that are high in sugar, salt and fat and low in the nutrients that promote healthy growth and development. Studies show that the more time a child spends in front of the TV, the more likely that they will be overweight or obese. With 1 out of every 3 children in the U.S. being overweight or obese, reducing TV and screen time can help to improve the health of our children. What can be done to help our children with screen time?
There are few topics that paralyze me the way childhood obesity does. I know…I’m not supposed to “take it home.” As a clinician, it is my job to be just that…clinical. But how can I, when I am facing a 70-pound second grader and a parent that doesn’t know where to begin?