September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
by Pamela | September 2nd, 2010 at 10:38 am
Growing up, I was the fat kid. I was the book worm who would rather go to the library than go play outside.
I remember very clearly in elementary school there was myself and one other fat girl in my grade. She was a bit bigger than me but intelligent and kind. We were often picked last for teams in P.E. and were the last two to finish doing the mile run. (Or for us it really should have been called the mile walk).
It was miserable being that girl.
What worries me today, in most grades and schools, there is not just “that girl”. Or two. Or even three. Now it may be a quarter or a third of the class that falls into that obese category. A child born after 2000 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. In the United States 23 million children and teenagers between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese or overweight.
Those are pretty scary statistics.
So what can we do? Just like any problem, we have to start with baby steps. I want you to check out this web site:
http://www.healthierkidsbrighterfutures.org/about/
September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and the web site above is filled with information, links and tips on how you can help turn the tide on this epidemic. It will take each one of us taking action to make a difference.
So here are a few tips I have based on what I know as a trainer and as a former obese child.
- Kick the soda habit. I, unfortunately, lived on the stuff growing up. It’s what my whole family drank so I really didn’t know any better. Kick it for your health and for your child’s.
- Keep kid friendly snacks in the house. Have fruit, nuts, low fat cheese, low fat yogurt, nut butters, whole grain breads and pre cut veggies at the ready. I would always reach for what was easy in my house. That was normally Little Debbie cakes, cheese (not low fat) and crackers, chips or white bread with fatty lunch meat. Limit these things in your house.
- Don’t let your child set the menu or meal times. Know what your child likes but also set boundaries for their unhealthy favorites. Make healthier versions of their favorite fast food treats like chicken fingers or pizza.
- Be active together. Have a Wii sports tournament for the whole family or get everyone out for a hike or bike ride.
- Don’t make it about losing weight. Make it about being healthy. Encourage healthy eating and physical activity. Be a good example of both.
Okay healthy parents, what other tips can you share to help combat this issue one family at a time?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Power Circuit Training with Jackie Warner DVD Review
by Pamela | August 30th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Ready for another exercise DVD review? It has been awhile since my last one, but I finally found another video I wanted to give a try.
This time it is Power Circuit Training with Jackie Warner
Back to the DVD. This is a resistance training workout done at a fast pace to work your muscles and get your heart rate up at the same time. My kind of workout. You can choose a long full body program (40 minutes) or a short full body program (15 minutes) as well as short upper body, lower body or abs workouts. I actually have used this DVD twice, the first time doing the short full body and abs and the second time the upper and lower body programs.
Here is what I liked:
- You are working those muscles! You need at least one pair of dumbbells, two is ideal. You will feel a muscle burn.
- You don’t have time to get bored. You’re doing multiple exercises in a circuit fashion quickly. The 15 minutes is up before you know it.
- You can do a full body workout in 15 minutes. Not ideal, but if you are pressed for time it would be great.
And what I didn’t like:
- The cool down was too short for me. I really like to stretch everything. I skipped hers and I did my own.
- If you do the short full body workout there isn’t a lot of instruction on form. If you’ve never done a dead lift before and you do them with bad form at her pace you will hurt yourself. Beginners beware.
- I didn’t like the full sit ups in the abs workout. I worry, again, about beginners doing full sit ups with weights. They are hard on the body and, again, there is a risk of injury.
I really liked this workout. Good variety which made it go quickly. I’m a fan of efficiency and this was one efficient workout. I give this a rating of 7, with a word of caution to beginners. Anyone else checked out this DVD and want to share their thoughts?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Vote for Me! Best Personal Trainer in 417-land!
by Pamela | August 26th, 2010 at 7:27 am
When I started this blog my goal was to help you.
As a personal trainer my goal and purpose is help my clients achieve their goals and reach their full fitness potential.
But today I am asking for your help. I have a goal I want to reach and I can only do it with your help and support.
I want to be named Best Personal Trainer in Springfield MO by 417 Magazine.
Every year 417 Magazine does their Best Of issue featuring the best the Ozarks has to offer in all categories-breakfast, hair salon, etc. I want to win the Personal Trainer category. Today I am launching an all out get out the vote drive to achieve this goal because the winners are selected by you-the reader and the fan.
I am asking all of you to take a few minutes out of your day to help me by voting. Since I don’t believe that anyone should vote for anything without getting the facts first, here are my top 5 reasons why you should vote for me:
- I’ve been there. I was an overweight child and adult. I know how hard it is to change your life.
- I do this because it is my passion. I truly believe in what I do and I don’t ask anything of my clients that I don’t do or won’t do myself.
- My clients are not numbers. I treat each one individually.
- In this area, I am kind of the “little gal”, the underdog so to speak. Don’t you love it when the underdog triumphs?
- My clients tell me I’m the best. And I always listen to my clients.
So here is what I need you to do:
- Go to the 2011 Best of 417 Readers' Choice Awards Page
- Vote
- On page 5 enter the following for Best Personal Trainer:
- Finish the survey by entering your information on Page 6
Pamela Hernandez, Thrive Personal Fitness
You can only vote on one ballot so I need everyone's help. This is round one and is running now till 5pm on September 15th. With your help I can make it to round 2...Please vote!
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
To “Fed Up” Candidate: Stop Feeding!
by Pamela | August 23rd, 2010 at 10:17 am
How many of you have heard the statement “the personal is political”?
image by vgm8383I’ve always taken that to mean you should live your life in accordance with your beliefs, political or otherwise. For example, how effective of a personal trainer would I be if I ate fast food burgers all day and weighed more than my clients?
So I have a problem with politicians who say one thing and do another. I don’t think this quality falls to one party or the other, I think it goes across both sides of the aisle. (President Obama, put down those cigarettes!)
In this election season there is one local politician in Southwest Missouri who I believe could take a lesson in this area. While I won’t mention him by name, his slogan (plastered on yard signs everywhere) is “Fed Up?”
Now the irony is, whether he realizes it or not, is he appears to be very well fed indeed. Not to mock, but as a fitness professional he appears to be well over the mark for a healthy weight and body fat measurement.
When you visit his web site he makes it very clear he is for budgetary discipline. My problem is he appears to lack the personal discipline to take care of his own health and fitness.
One of my favorite people, Suze Orman, says health and wealth go hand and hand. I couldn’t agree more. If you can’t manage your personal calorie budget than how can you manage a federal spending budget. In my mind the calorie budget should be the easier, less complicated of the two. If you can’t manage that, then I am reluctant to believe you can manage the other.
The other issue I have (which I have with many in the health care debate) is this candidate states very clearly that the health care crisis should be solved by individuals, not goverment . The candidate’s web site says,
“….believes that we must reform healthcare to put patients and doctors in charge of medical decisions.”
Again, by appearances, he does not seem to be living up to his own standard. Obesity is the leading contributor to a number of chronic illnesses, like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The Washington Post stated that between 2001 and 2007 the cost of treating type 2 diabetes alone doubled to the tune of $ 12.5 million per year. Type 2 diabetes is one disease which can be prevented and controlled with lifestyle changes. This candidate for the US House MO District 7 appears to have not gotten the message about how he should change his personal behavior to help change this alarming health care statistic and growing health care cost.
A leader, or a want to be leader, has a responsibility to be a role model for the type of change he or she endorses. I think Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is a good example of this when it comes to health and fitness. In 2003 when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes he took charge like a leader should. He led by example. He lost over 110 lbs and, in turn, made health care reform a priority. I don’t agree with all of his politics, but I applaud him for doing the right thing for his own health and for the health of his state.
So my challenge is this. To our “Fed Up” candidate-show me you can do for yourself what you wish to do in government. Show some personal discipline by taking charge of your health and fitness. How much you can you do to affect your health and fitness by Election Day?
I’m curious, anyone else feel the same way about any of the candidates in your area this election cycle?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Fat Burning Zone – VideoBlog Ep.14
by Pamela | August 20th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss
by Pamela | August 19th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Let’s cut to the chase. When someone says they want to lose weight, what do they really mean?
image by Pink Sherbet PhotographyThey want to lose FAT.
I have yet to meet anyone who had the goal to lose lean muscle. When we say weight loss, we really mean fat loss.
How you achieve fat loss can be very different than how you achieve weight loss. This is one of the reasons I say diets don’t work. A diet means calorie restriction, many times without exercise. Sometimes it can mean severe calorie restriction, far below recommended levels for health. When you follow this route you’ll lose weight, but more often than not it will be more lean tissue than fat.
Real life example, I finally got to do a body composition analysis on someone who was doing the current hormone based fad diet of the moment whose name I won’t speak. This person had one “round” left to go and a goal to lose 10 lbs. In two weeks they met their goal. However using before and after tests, their 10 lbs of weight lost was 8.5 lbs lean mass and only 1.5 lbs fat mass. This person, unlike most others on this program, was exercising as well.
Not the results they were hoping for.
I realize this was a somewhat unscientific study with only one data point, but it is very much in line with the research on weight loss.
On average with calorie restriction alone, 25% of weight lost will be muscle mass. We know this is not good because muscle mass fires our metabolism, so losing it will slow it down in the long term.
If our true goal is fat loss, then exercise (particularly strength training) has to be part of the equation. Cardio is good for us. It burns fat and improves our health but it does not preserve muscle mass. By adding strength training you can work to preserve, and in some cases add, muscle mass.
So when you are thinking about your goals ask yourself this: Do you just want to be a smaller version of your squishy self or do you want to be a new leaner and stronger you?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
What Makes an Athlete?
by Pamela | August 16th, 2010 at 10:14 am
image by Craig MaccubbinI’m not sure when the day came exactly, but there came a time not too long ago that I started calling myself an athlete.
I really never thought that term would apply to me. I never played sports, organized or otherwise. Well, except for a brief flirtation with joining the junior high basketball team. One day of sprints and I changed my mind. That and I’m only 5’3”. But except for that brief blip, I have never played on a team or competed in anything fitness related.
I do work hard. I push myself, sometimes to do things l never thought possible. Like running a 5k last year. Running was always a big mental challenge for me, but once I set that goal I prepped and trained just like I was getting ready to compete at the Olympics. I was dedicated to accomplishing that goal.
I think that is what defines an athlete. It’s not about a team or a trophy, although that can be part of it. It’s a dedication and discipline to keep going after something, to keep striving for better while pushing yourself a little harder every day. I think by that definition I actually became an athlete a long time ago.
Do you call yourself an athlete? If not, why?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
25 Years with Type 1 Diabetes
by Pamela | August 12th, 2010 at 10:11 am
image by Alden ChadwickLast weekend I celebrated my 25 year D-day anniversary.
No I didn’t invade another country. My D-Day anniversary is the anniversary of my diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes.
Perhaps celebrated is the wrong word. After all there wasn’t a party, certainly not any cake. Acknowledged might be a better fit.
I won’t lie; it hasn’t been an easy 25 years. Would the last 25 years have gone smoother for me if I didn’t have diabetes? Absolutely. Yet if anyone asked I would tell them it was a blessing in disguise.
I’ve shared with you a little bit about my own childhood obesity issue. If not for the intervention of Type 1 diabetes I would have continued full speed down the road to overweight adulthood.
As I got older and started to make more and more decisions about my health, I did slip into many bad habits. Late nights, eating cheap fast food and no exercise what so ever. It was the impact that these decisions had on my diabetes, and my well being in general, that caused me to step back and say enough.
I did not want to continue to take more and more insulin. I did not want to have to take additional meds to deal with complications of high blood glucose levels and my weight. I did not want to develop insulin resistance. I bet you didn’t know that, did you? Type 1 diabetics can actually develop insulin resistance and move to a blend of Type 1 and Type 2. That was not going to be me.
So I started my journey to the person I am today. Can I say that I wouldn’t have started this journey even without diabetes? I don’t know, I can’t say that for sure. All I know is that it was clearly a catalyst for change.
So instead of looking at my diabetes as a curse or an excuse, I look to it as motivation and incentive. I look at it as a both a push forward and a challenge to be faced.
Here’s to 25 years with Type 1 diabetes.
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Easy Recipes with Greek Yogurt
by Pamela | August 9th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Perhaps you have noticed all the new varieties of yogurt hitting the grocery stores, particularly the Greek variety.
image by Wolfgang StaudtGreek yogurt, which is made in a very similar process to traditional American yogurt except straining to create a more creamy consistency, is all the rage right now. I personally love it. Typically it has less sugar and more protein than traditional yogurt. It can be a great substitute for sour cream or a handy ingredient for recipes.
But, just like my previous post on ingredient labels said, you have to read the label. For some reason, not all varieties have the higher protein content (around 15 g per servings) and lower sugar. I was surprised myself when I went to pick up another variety (the stores had a shortage of my favorite Dannon for awhile) and found only 6g of protein per serving in brand Y and some extra ingredients that didn’t make since for plain yogurt. I have no idea why the differences, but it reinforced my long standing belief in always reading the label. Look for a quality brand that has basic ingredients and higher protein content if you decide to give it a try.
I will also say it does taste different than traditional yogurt. It’s somewhere between plain traditional yogurt and sour cream. I usually like mine with something naturally sweet, like fruit, to cut some of the tangy taste.
Here are a couple of easy treats that you can make with Greek yogurt. If you are craving something sweet and creamy reach for one of these instead of ice cream.
Frozen Berry Yogurt
- 1 serving plain non fat Greek yogurt ( I like Dannon)
- ¼ cup frozen blueberries
- ½ frozen banana
- Sprinkle of stevia
- Place berries and banana in a bowl and let set 5-10 minutes to partially thaw.
- Add yogurt, sprinkle with stevia and stir until well combined.
- Eat immediately. Makes 1 serving.
Chocolate Banana Yogurt
- 1 serving plain non fat Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ banana (frozen or fresh)
- Sprinkle of stevia
- Place all ingredients in a bowl, blend and serve. Makes 1 serving.
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Fad Diets and How to Spot Them – VideoBlog Ep.13
by Pamela | August 6th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
