About.com Family Fitness

Don't let the turkeys get you down

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:00:23 +0000

If you or someone in your family struggles with your weight, Thanksgiving can be a difficult time. I mean, it's a whole day dedicated to stuffing your face! Try these strategies to have a healthier holiday.

Get in a workout whenever you can. If you're cooking on Thursday, give yourself a break (or squeeze in a 10-minute workout while your turkey is roasting, or do a few minutes of yoga before bed). If you're not, take an early-morning or post-dinner walk, or play some active games with the kids.�
Control your portions. Take care as you load your plate. Try to fill half of it with vegetables--preferably steamed or at least not dripping with sauce. If you're contributing to a family meal, make it a healthy veggie dish.
Drink lots of water. Alcohol has a ton of calories. Skip the wine, or limit yourself to one or two glasses, alternating them with H2O.
Enjoy your favorites and skip the other stuff. The Shredheads blog had a great tip: "Don't bother wasting calories on things you can make any time of the year (think bread, mashed potatoes). Pick what feels like Thanksgiving and leave the rest." That goes for the leftovers too!
Take advantage of the long weekend. Whether you're doing some holiday shopping or visiting friends and family, look for ways to be active and add in exercise.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for reading!

Don't let the turkeys get you down originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 11:00:23.

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Kid asks for more gym time

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:39:33 +0000

A middle-schooler in suburban Philadelphia recently�made a somewhat surprising request: He wanted to take gym class more often. Jack McLaughlin is an 11-year-old sixth-grader who happens to have diabetes, and getting plenty of physical activity every day, at the same time each day,�helps him manage his blood sugars more effectively. Jack and his parents�asked his school to schedule him for phys. ed. class daily, instead of 2 days out of every 6.�The�district�balked at first, according to the�Philadelphia Inquirer, but eventually decided to grant the�request.

The comments on both the Inquirer article and on a post�at AOL's ParentDish are vitriolic. I shouldn't be surprised at�strong opinions�being�expressed on the�Web, sometimes in an�unfriendly way, but I was saddened to see how many commenters derided�Jack's need for extra physical activity as well as his parents' efforts to help him get it. �What do you think? Was this an unfair accommodation? The school originally argued that Jack had other opportunities to get exercise during the day, and shouldn't be allowed to miss out on other classes so he could take gym instead.

Kid asks for more gym time originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 06:39:33.

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Family Volunteer Day

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:42:45 +0000

Saturday, 11/21, was the 10th annual Family Volunteer Day, organized by HandsOn Network. There are so many ways for families to volunteer together while being physically active at the same time. You could:

Walk dogs at a shelter
Help with a Special Olympics event, or other sports program for kids with special needs
Clean up a park or walking trail
Rake leaves, clean, or do home repairs for a neighbor
Particpate in a Habitat for Humanity build
Help at an equine therapy program
Organize a dance event for seniors

And that's just a start. Why not celebrate Family Volunteer Day (and the spirit of Thanksgiving) by choosing a family project today?

Family Volunteer Day originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 06:42:45.

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Kickball kick-off

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:37 +0000

This weekend, my family and I are headed to an all-ages kickball game and chili supper. Our friends Heather and Travis were looking for a way to stay active and have fun during our long Midwestern winters, and they came up with this excellent idea. On the third Saturday of each month, we'll meet in a park near their house for kickball. After the game, we'll go back to their place for a potluck dinner. I'm sure we'll end up kicking the ball in the snow a few times, but that won't matter as long as we're all bundled up.

What kinds of outings or activities does your family enjoy? I made a list of active play venues, but I bet I've forgotten a few. Let me know where you like to go, so I can add it!

Kickball kick-off originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 06:00:37.

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As American as apple pie

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

...and community gardens, and bike trails, and walking groups. Hearing about this project really made me smile. Inspired by research on Blue Zones, geographic areas with especially long-lived participants, the AARP set out to make over one midwestern town by adding 10,000 years of healthy life to its residents. The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, sponsored by United Health Foundation, arrived in Albert Lea, Minnesota, in January 2009. Working closely with residents and local government, project leaders kicked off new ways to eat, exercise, play, and work. By the time the project concluded this fall, the town had achieved some exciting results:

2,300 people officially participated
a walking/biking trail was completed around a local lake
thousands of feet of sidewalk were added
hundreds of kids walked to school in walking school buses
more than 600 citizens joined walking groups
two-thirds of locally owned restaurants added longevity-promoting foods to their menus
Albert Lea pledged to keep the experiment going by establishing a Vitality Center in the heart of downtown

Visit the AARP to learn more about how to make over your town. Or start in your own home with these 10 simple, but valuable lifestyle changes.

As American as apple pie originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 06:00:00.

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Wii figured as much

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:01:54 +0000

Can you burn a lot of calories with Wii Fit? Not exactly. The American Council on Exercise commissioned a study of the popular exergame to analyze its fitness value. Sixteen volunteers played the game in a lab setting at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Of the six Wii Fit activities tested, Island Run and Free Run yielded the highest energy expenditures at 5.5 calories/minute, but none of the six activities were vigorous enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance. In some cases, such as the boxing activity, the start-and-stop nature of the Wii Fit program interferes with calorie burn. The new Wii Fit Plus upgrade (compare prices), with its ability to put together a longer routine, may help.

But overall, says research lead John Porcari, PhD., "You're better off doing Wii Sports [the game that comes packaged with every Wii system] than Wii Fit. There's more jumping around, and you're not constrained by having to stand on the balance pad. There's much more freedom of movement and you get a better workout." Still, any game that gets you moving--even a little--is better than being completely sedentary, so if you're a Wii Fit fan, keep playing!

Wii figured as much originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 07:01:54.

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Untangling teen obesity causes

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:28:59 +0000

Conventional wisdom holds that lack of exercise is a major cause of obesity in kids and teens. But "decreased physical activity may have little to do with the recent spike in obesity rates among U.S. adolescents," according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published in the journal Obesity Reviews.

"Although only one third of U.S. adolescents met the recommended levels of physical activity, there is no clear evidence they had become less active over the past decade while the prevalence of obesity continued to rise," said Youfa Wang, senior author of the study. In fact, Dr. Wang's research showed kids actually watch less TV now (although they may have replaced TV with other sedentary activities).

Wang and other experts on childhood obesity say the takeaways from the report should be that teens, especially girls and non-white adolescents, are still not getting enough physical activity; and that nutrition plays a critical role in kids' health and obesity rates.

Untangling teen obesity causes originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 06:28:59.

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Fitness isn't a luxury

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:16:16 +0000

So says a report from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, which recently released its annual survey of fitness behaviors and purchases. Despite the recession, sales of fitness accessories, hand weights, and exercise mats increased in 2008. Plus, 17 of 28 fitness activities tracked by the industry showed an increase in participation.

Not surprisingly, the top five most popular fitness activities are all fairly accessible, even to busy parents: walking for fitness, treadmills, hand weights, running/jogging, and weight/resistance machines. Many of these can be done at home, or outside with children along for the ride.

Fitness isn't a luxury originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 14:16:16.

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Grades for gym class

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:39:38 +0000

My daughter's school doesn't give letter grades, at least not traditional ones. Her report card includes a long list of concepts, and notes on whether she's mastered them or is still learning them. The progress report also indicates (with a +/-/* system) how she's doing on several behavioral measures, such as working independently and participating in class.

But I was still just the tiniest bit annoyed when I saw that she received a "needs improvement" mark for phys ed class--specifically, for "able to sustain physical activity for 4-5 minutes." As I stood on the playground reviewing the report, my kid was climbing, doing pull-ups on the monkey bars, and running full-tilt, and complaining when we had to leave after more than half an hour!

I know this particular grade really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it does make me wonder about the usefulness of grading kids on gym class. The primary goal of gym class should be to promote physical activity, and some kids might be discouraged by low grades. What do you think?

Grades for gym class originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 09:39:38.

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Lose for Good does good

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:56:40 +0000

A few months ago I mentioned Weight Watchers' Lose for Good program, in which WW promised to donate $250,000 to hunger-relief charities for every million pounds its members and online subscribers lost between August 30 and October 17. The results are now in, and WW will be donating $1 million to Share Our Strength (which fights childhood hunger in the U.S.) and Action Against Hunger (an international humanitarian organization).

In addition, during the campaign, Weight Watchers staff organized local food drives at over 3,300 locations across the country. They collected more than two million pounds of food for local food banks. Way to go, team Weight Watchers!

Lose for Good does good originally appeared on About.com Family Fitness on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 06:56:40.

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