A Tough Love Approach to Health and Fitness

A Tough Love Approach to Health and Fitness
by: Anna Fleet

Yesterday at the grocery store, I came across a child, who was about 8-years-old. She was lying on the floor flailing her arms and legs yelling “I want a chocolate bar.” I could have predicted the outcome. The child continued to scream until mom put a chocolate bar in the cart. The crying ceased instantly.

As they passed, I took note of the contents of the grocery cart - Coco Puffs cereal, soda, 3 bulk bags of potato chips, chocolate covered granola bars, macaroni & cheese, hot dogs…you get the drift. Try as I might I couldn’t help but feel scared for that child’s future.

You see, a long time ago I was that obese little girl. I was unhappy with my body, but I dulled the pain by eating – chips, chocolate bars, hotdogs. I threw tantrums because I knew my mother didn’t have the patience and would just give me what I wanted.

By the age of 12 I was 4-foot, 11-inches and 135-pounds. My doctor put me on a restrictive diet. However, I would steal money from my parents to buy candy. It didn’t make sense to me. I was allowed to eat those foods before. Why were punishing me? I hated myself more.

In the early 80’s, being a fat child was rare. However in 2006 one in three North American kids are overweight. Both parents likely have full time jobs, which means less time for healthy meals and exercise. Fast food and activities have taken over the family roost.

I’m sorry I have to lay this responsibility on the parents, but kids only practice what you preach. If they see you eating poorly; they’ll follow suit.

Practice what you preach by adopting and enforcing these FitnessGear101.com family lifestyle changes:

• Explain the difference between health food choices and non-healthy food choices.

• Sit down and compile a weekly grocery lists with your child.

• Let them go with you to the grocery store and shop only for the foods on the list.

• Get kids involved in preparing healthy meals, so they adopt healthy habits for life.

• It’s normal to shelter our kids from ridicule. However if your child is obese their health is at risk and tough love encouragement is needed, for example: “honey, you are overweight, but I believe in you and I’ll support you because I love you.”

• Never use food as a reward. Instead reward them with mini-golfing or baseball.

• Ditch the clean-plate policy. If your child is full, don't force them to finish.

• Institute an open policy about food. Kids should be comfortable telling you when they’re hungry and not hungry without fear you’ll get mad.

• Don't eliminate snacks. It will lead to lying and binge eating outside the home. Instead plan a cheat meal once a week when they’re allowed any foods they want.

• Encourage physical activity. It will get them up and out and encourage them to socialize with other active kids.

• Never allow eating in front of the TV. This encourages passive eating, and the child won’t concentrate on how much they’re eating or when they’re full.

• Limit TV or video games to 1 hour per day. The rest of the time, keep them busy with outdoor activities.

About The Author
Anna Fleet is a certified fitness instructor, and the face and voice behind fitnessgear101.com – an excellent website with valuable information about weight loss( http://www.fitnessgear101.com/fitness-articles/weight-loss.aspx ), stretching(http://www.fitnessgear101.com/printables/stretching-diagram.aspx ), cardio equipment( http://www.fitnessgear101.com/cardio-equipment/ ) and more.

How to Rejuvenate After Your Workout by Kamau Austin

How to Rejuvenate After Your Workout
by: Kamau Austin

Regular exercise will help protect you from chronic disease, improve your mood and decrease your chances of injury. The older you are, the more you have to gain from exercise.

All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

Everyone tries to exercise, but most people forget about their body once they have finished the exercise. If you are not careful about your post-workout routing, it will come back to haunt you.

After a workout, exercising for several minutes at a low speed helps blood to be redistributed throughout the body consistently and prevents the dizziness, sickness, and muscle cramps that sometimes occur after exercises.

In addition, you need to supply your body with water and carbohydrates after a workout. Carbohydrates help regenerate muscles, increase stamina, and prevent fatigue. A few good examples of high quality carbohydrate foods are bread, rice, jam, fruit, vegetables, table sugar, potatoes, and sweets.

It's also important to cool down your muscles after exercising by stretching them. Stretching improves flexibility, lessens soreness, and improves circulation. Here are a few tips:

• Hold a static stretch for twenty to thirty seconds.
• Stretching positions should be repeated after the cool down period to enhance muscle strength and flexibility.
• Include some deep breathing exercise in your cool down routine to oxygenate your system.
• At the end of any strenuous physical activity, gently bring your breathing down to normal. Walking and easy indoor cycling are great follow-ups to a workout. Both of them allow you to hydrate yourself and also put on warm clothing.

These four tips will help you avoid mishap after a strenuous workout session. However, mishaps still occur and cause problems like muscle pain, or in older individuals, arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the loss of the body’s shock-absorbing ability. It is a degeneration that is part of the aging process. And when a person who has osteoarthritis exercises, there can be problems.

This can be a serious problem since regular exercise is recommended as a good way to fight a host of medical conditions associated with aging. But now there is hope for people suffering from osteoarthritis too.

There are products, such as Phosoplex™, available that help counter the effects of osteoarthritis. Phosoplex™ is able to Rejuvenate the body and combat the aches and pains associated with the deliberating affects of osteoarthritis.

It is also effective in countering the muscle pain that often accompanies workouts. Phosoplex™ is available at Amazon and at http://www.BODeStore.com. So enjoy your workout without worrying about the future.

About The Author
Kamau Austin is a health and fitness enthusiast and advocate. He writes on a regular basis on timeless health and fitness tips at the Fit After Forty Blog. See more useful health and fitness news and tips at… http://www.healthandfitnessvitality.com

kamau@searchengineplan.com