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:
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:
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:
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:
New Rules of Lifting for Women Review
by Pamela | June 17th, 2010 at 10:06 am
A few months ago I reviewed The Female Body Breakthrough
I thought for those who have already read the New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROL4W) The Female Body Breakthrough might feel redundant in some respects, particularly the style of workouts. However, having had time to further examine both books I might have jumped the gun a bit.
While the types of exercises and layout of the workouts are very similar, there is one big difference. NROL4W wants you to not be afraid to lift heavy and puts on emphasis on getting strong. Not that the Female Body Breakthrough doesn’t challenge you, it does. But it doesn’t put as much emphasis on building strength through lifting heavier.
I think this is important because many women are afraid of anything bigger than a 5lb dumbbell. I see it all the time. The same tired bicep curls with the same tiny weights. Or using the leg press with maybe 50 lbs on it, seesawing back and forth at lightning speed. Yet we carry huge baskets of laundry upstairs and down or kids to and from the car, both of which I guarantee weigh more than 5lbs. We need strength!
The program in NROL4W is designed to do that and I think can be very effective for someone who has been lifting for a while and perhaps finds themselves in a bit of a rut. The exercises are basic, yet challenging and the structure really encourages you to push past your comfort zone when it comes to the amount of weight you can lift.
Nutritionally the program is also sound. I really like the fact that this book is not about extreme calorie cutting. After all, you need some fuel for that heavy lifting. It gives you a simple tool to help you find your maintenance calorie level and recommends trying that for the first four weeks. Then you assess your progress and look at the whole picture. Not just the number on the scale, but how do your clothes fit and how do you feel? If you aren’t seeing results it then recommends cutting a maximum of 300 calories per day for another four weeks before assessing your progress again.
I like this approach. It is counter to the crash diet, lose weight quick trend I am so not a fan of. It also helps us remember that weight loss is not an exact science. Everyone is different. Start with the small reduction in calories and see how your body reacts. Make adjustments based on your individual progress not some one size fits all number.
I would rate this book a 9 also and would recommend checking out either or both. In fact, I want to help you do that. I have one copy of The New Rules of Lifting for Women that I would like to send to one lucky reader.
Here’s what you have to do. Post one comment (one entry per person) to the blog and tell me what your favorite weight training exercise is. All entries must be posted by 10 pm CST on Wednesday June 23 to be eligible. Only U.S. residents are eligible. A winner will be chosen at random and notified by a post to the blog and email (when possible). Good luck to all!
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Home Gym for Under $100
by Pamela | June 3rd, 2010 at 10:22 am
One of the excuses people often give as to why they can’t start exercising is that they can’t afford it. They can’t afford a gym membership or a big piece of cardio equipment so they settle for doing nothing.
Today I am going to help you eliminate this excuse by sharing with you how to build an effective home gym for under $100. That’s right, all you need to get started for under $100. I want to show you that you can start on this journey and get a complete workout with a minimal upfront investment.
Keep in mind, you have a very effective piece of equipment already - your own body. It doesn’t cost anything to start walking or jogging. You can do pushup, dips, squats, lunges, pull-ups, burpees, planks, crunches or cobras with just your own body weight. These exercises are a great foundation to any program with no cash required.
Here is the list of basic equipment I would recommend that won’t bust your budget but start you on the journey to health and fitness.
- Jump Rope
: When walking or sprints won’t work, you can use the jump rope for an excellent session of High Intensity Interval Training Cardio. You can also take it anywhere.
- Stability Ball
: This is one of the most important and versatile pieces of equipment you can own. You can do any number of great exercises just using our body weight. It also makes a great substitute for a bench for exercises like chest presses or rows.
- Medicine Ball/Kettle Bell Combo
: Great for power moves or core exercise.
- Dumbbells
: This one can be tricky, because it depends on where you are in your fitness level. For most people just beginning, particularly ladies, a pair of 5 and 10 lb dumbbells will start you off. The beauty of it is you can save and add a new set as you get stronger.
With these 4 things, and your own body, you can start a highly effective fitness program. As you progress on your journey, you can add pieces based on your individual goals and progress.
So no more excuses. Set up your home gym and get moving!
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Stress Busting Exercise
by Pamela | May 31st, 2010 at 9:36 am
A few posts back I wrote about ways to bust through a plateau. One of the things I listed that could be a factor in stalled weight loss is stress.
image by 顔なしStress is unfortunately a huge part of modern life. I know I am often a victim of it, letting little things get to me that really shouldn’t. I find myself with my shoulders up to my ears for no reason or clinching the steering wheel while driving.
I became acutely aware of my stress levels recently for a couple reasons. One, probably the most important one, is the relationship strain it was causing. My husband is a wonderful, helpful and very easy going man. When he’s had enough, you know there is a problem. The other reason was my own attempt to lose those last few nagging pounds of fat. I wasn’t going anywhere and I knew stress was probably part of the problem.
It’s not that I am a stress eater, at least not anymore. Before I started this journey I would often let my emotions dictate my food choices. Thankfully I got that under control early on. However stress causes things to happen in the body that are counterproductive to health and weight loss.
Stress makes the body produce more of a hormone called cortisol. When truly needed cortisol is beneficial in releasing fuel to the body. In an emergency where you need to move quickly or be alert, it’s a good thing. The problem is constant stress. Consistently elevated levels of cortisol (which also leads to elevated insulin levels) can encourage fat storage. It also goes without saying that stress is bad for your overall health.
These increased hormone levels can cause imbalances in the body which can lead to other issues like disease (think type 2 diabetes), increased inflammation (a key factor in heart disease) and premature aging. Even if we can get past the physical side effects stress is detrimental to our mental health, productivity and overall quality of life.
So we know stress is bad. What can one do about it?
For me I have always used exercise as an outlet to let go of stress. I can remember days, during my previous career, that were extremely stressful where exercise was truly my only relief. I would come home, make dinner as quickly and as peacefully as possible, then go to the gym. Only after that did I feel like myself again.
Recently I have looked to another form of stress reduction. We’ve had a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Meditation
I have to say the book has been fantastic. I told my husband that I feel more relaxed just reading it. I have tried a couple of exercises and really feel like they are starting to make a difference. Don’t get me wrong, I still have some stress going on but it’s not as bad as it was for sure. I am making progress.
One exercise that I have found highly beneficial is about gratitude. I have been doing it every night and find it helps put my day in perspective and quiets my mind a bit before bed.
The exercise is to list something you are grateful for that involves one of the five senses. For example, if I were doing this exercise today for my day thus far it might look a little something like this:
image by Héctor Guerra- I am grateful for the smell of my morning jasmine green tea.
- I am grateful for the feel of my husband’s hug as sends me off to the Farmer’s Market.
- I am grateful for the taste of homemade protein bars
- I am grateful for the sound of the birds outside while I do my yoga.
- I am grateful for the sight of morning sun.
If you are like many of us, struggling with the pitfalls of daily life, I recommend giving this a try and looking for other ways to reduce the stress in your life. Exercise, meditation or yoga are all fine examples and will go a long way in supporting your journey to health and fitness.
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
4 Ways to Bust a Plateau
by Pamela | May 17th, 2010 at 10:19 am
image by Lee Carson So everything has been rolling along great for months. You’re working out on a regular basis, you’re eating well and your weight is dropping off at a nice steady pace. Everything is going great.
Until one day it’s not.
You have hit a plateau. A plateau is when, despite continuing to exercise, eat healthy and eat less, your weight loss stalls or stops.
This is the point where many people get frustrated and start beating themselves up. They wonder why they are doing all of the hard work and then get nothing. This can be a turning point, a sink or swim moment, for many people on the journey to health and fitness.
When you hit a plateau, first of all, don’t beat yourself up. Negative thoughts don’t do anyone any good. Here are some things I want you to do or consider when you hit that dreaded bump in the road.
- Redefining progress: The scale is just one data point. Have you checked your body fat percentage? How do your clothes feel? How do you feel? Your body may just be changing composition (dropping fat and gaining muscle) causing the scale to stay somewhat stagnant, but causing other things to change in a positive manner.
- Eat more: You read right, eat more. This comes into play if you have been in a calorie deficit for a prolonged period of time. Your body may have gotten wise to your ways and is trying to conserve fat. Increase your calorie intake for 2-3 weeks to your maintenance level. Keep eating all the clean healthy foods you have been, just eat a little more of them. Then go back to cutting calories after giving your metabolism a break.
- Change your routine: Have you been doing the same workout since you started your journey? If so, it is time to shake things up. Your body adapts quickly, finding the most efficient way to perform an action. Try a new weight routine with new moves and new methods. Or if you love the treadmill, try adding High Intensity Interval Training on the stationary bike instead. If you aren’t lifting weights, start.
- Relax: Stress can cause cortisol levels to rise. In general, this is not good because cortisol encourage fat storage. Try to deal with any stress you may be experiencing or add a new stress relieving activity to your routine like yoga or meditation.
Tell me, how have you powered through your plateaus in the past?
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Reinventing Yourself
by Pamela | April 29th, 2010 at 10:15 am
The other night my husband and I had another couple over for dinner. At one point in the conversation my husband started to talk about how in high school he never enjoyed sports. He never got into any athletics and loathed physical education class. Yet today, he is in the gym almost every day and loves weight training and getting outside to cycle or walk.
image by helena.40proofWhen he made the statement, my mind drifted back to my school days. I’ve already shared a little bit with you about my elementary school P.E. trauma. In high school, I also dreaded any type of physical education class. I identified with that scene in the opening credits of “Daria” where the volleyball goes whizzing past her as she makes a half hearted attempted to bump it with her hand. There was no way if you had told me then what I have become today that I would have believed you.
What happened was I reinvented myself. Not necessarily on purpose, but a transformation none the less. When I started this journey to get healthy and fit, that was the goal. Nothing more, nothing less. I felt bad and I wanted to feel good. I didn’t like the way I looked and I wanted to fix it. At the time, in my mind, those two things had nothing to do with reinventing who I was as a person.
However, that is exactly what had to happen for me to be successful. I couldn’t live the old life (going out all the time, late night dinners in diners and an erratic schedule) with the old attitudes (I don’t want to look silly, I don’t want to fail, I don’t want to get up early or change anything about how I live) and be a healthy and fit person. They simply didn’t work together.
I think this is where most people hit a roadblock. They want to have all the benefits of living healthy and fit without actually living that life. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way. At least not in the long term. If you are going to lose weight, feel good and keep it that way then paradigms have to shift.
I think by framing it those terms, it helps me better communicate with clients the reality facing them on their journey to reach their goals. Sure, the idea of “reinventing yourself” can be a little scary. It’s unknown territory. What brings most clients to me, though, is that they are unhappy with some aspect of themselves or their life. So if someone is unhappy with something that should be a signal to change it. Yet most people don’t get the connection between their underlying lifestyle and their overall health and fitness. As a trainer, it really is my job to help them start connecting those dots and making those shifts.
image by Unhindered by TalentI guess that is one of the reasons why I say diets don’t work. Diets are temporary and address something on the surface. They give you a map that you don’t really think about, you just follow. In most cases, they have nothing to do with creating new habits, just temporary steps for you to follow to a finite point. Once you’re there, you are back on your own with the same habits and behaviors that caused you to be unhealthy and unfit in the first place.
Reinventing yourself is not something that happens over night. For me the transformation happened over many years. That is part of the reason I call this is a journey. Your destination will not be reached in a matter of days or weeks. It takes time for a true transformation to occur. That is what I seek to help my clients find-their healthy and fit self through transformation.
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
Do You Know What Your Kids Are Eating?
by Pamela | April 26th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
I have, along with the rest of the country, been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. After seeing his speech at the TED conference I was really excited to see what he could do with the town of Huntington, West Virginia.
What I saw in the schools was frustrating but sadly not a huge surprise. After all it hasn’t been that many years since I was in high school. I remember the salad bar being off limits to students (a practice that finally changed my senior year) and sopping the excess grease off the pizza before we would even attempt to eat it.
What was really surprising to me was the fact that everyone, particularly the parents, seemed so completely shocked by what is being fed to their children. To me that is one of the root causes to the issue of childhood obesity. Parents aren’t as involved in what their children are doing and eating as they should be.
Hold up, you might be saying. Who I am I to judge, after all I don’t have kids. This is true, I don’t. I will, however, be just as dependent on the next generation as the next person. I care very much about those who will be the future leaders, military personnel, firefighters, teachers and doctors. I think as a society we all have the responsibility to care about the health of this generation and generations to come.
So for those who have kids, therefore having more influence over the future citizens than I might, please get involved. Don’t assume the school system is providing foods that are in the best interest of your children and regular physical activity. Their job is to educate, unfortunately physical education and basic nutrition have fallen out of the curriculum.
As a parent here is the plan of action I am asking you to put in place:
- Start by setting a good example at home. Kids actually learn more habits from their parents then you think. If they see you eating fast food all the time they think that is what they should do to. Be active and cook meals at home to be a good example. I can’t stress how important this one is. Take care of yourself and be a healthy adult to inspire your kids to be healthy as well.
- Talk to your kids about food. Get them involved in the shopping and preparing of those meals you are cooking at home. Talk to them about what they like and what they are being fed at school. If the school is making an effort, don't sabatoge it with a brown bag lunch full of processed junk. Support the school!
- Go see for yourself what they are being served at school. Many schools even need lunch room volunteers to assist younger students. Take the time to at least occasionally have lunch at school with your kids.
- If you aren’t happy with what your kids are being served, say something. Ask for better choices and limits on things like products from vending machines. Find out what types of physical education classes are being offered. If they aren’t being offered or are inadequate, say something.
Jamie Oliver is only one man, helping (at least right now) one town. It's going to take everyone getting involved to turn the tide on the epidemic of childhood obesity. Those efforts have to start at home and be taken to the schoolhouse by parents around the country.
So parents out there, am I asking too much? Tell me what you think.
Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!
Related Posts:
