Holiday Tips

Dear Friend,

My apologies for letting too much time pass since the last blog, but family commitments do come first.

The Holiday Season is upon us with the first feast done and the second and third on the way. Every year I face similar questions: "How can I ensure the number on the scale doesn't go up" or "how can I win the "Battle of the Bulge" before it defeats me?" My answer remains the same, prepare and stay real.

The Holiday Season is most certainly a tough time to lose or even maintain current weight, and your goal should not be deprivation as temptations loom everywhere.  Instead try to maintain your weight and your workout schedule AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.  It is unrealistic to expect to work-out as much as one would during other times of the year. Holiday parties with friends and colleagues, traveling and shopping consumes the time usually dedicated to your normal work-out routine.  However, exercise activities can still be integrated in many different ways.  Avoiding the ever so coveted close parking spot at the mall, or using the stairs instead of the elevator, will burn a few extra calories which can definitely accumulate to a measurable difference on January 2.  Family activities such as walks after holiday dinners or the traditional football game in the backyard are fun and are an excellent alternative to popping bonbons while sinking into a sofa and watching TV. 

Of course this is the season to be jolly and I love chocolates and all the other goodies abundantly and ubiquitously available.  Just establish a Holiday Game Plan and stick to it!  Make sure you provide the healthy fall back option when invited to a pot luck party. Arriving at the buffet fill your plate on the first round with healthy and low calorie food choices such as veggies and fruits. The second round opt for some lean meat or fish dishes and go easy on the deserts by the 3rd round. Any good host/hostess ensures that your wine glass is full at all time, so make sure you leave a sip to discourage any refills until you are ready for more.  Add a glass of water after each alcoholic beverage to further reduce the party calories.

Another hot topic at the end of each year is the Personal Training question. Can I afford Personal Training?  Will I realize a true benefit?  How do I choose the right Trainer?  A Personal Trainer can be a great ally in the prevention and reversal of holiday expansion.  He or She will hold you accountable to an agreed-upon work-out schedule. Pricing for trainers varies greatly depending on the area in which you live, the qualifications and experience of your trainer as well as travel time and expense.  As a Personal Fitness Trainer, I strongly believe in the benefit of enhanced quality of life, that fitness training provides whether through a PFT or on one’s own efforts.  I have personally experienced the difference a good trainer can make in my own athletic endeavors.  I’ve also had the pleasure of influencing positive impacts of many of my clients’ health and wellness. 

For guidance on how to select a Personal Fitness Trainer, visit a blog I wrote in January of 2011 titled Happy New Year: How to choose a Fitness Trainer.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season and a healthy, wealthy and joyful 2013!

Hartmut

Childhood Obesity - Let's face the challenge

Dear Friends,

after taking a break I am coming back to you with a blog that addresses the fitness needs of an age group opposite to those I wrote about last time, our children and adolescents. Childhood obesity has according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) tripled over the past 30 years, increasing from 7% in 1980 to 20% in 2008 among 6-11 year old kids and in the same time period increasing from 5% to 18% among the adolescents (age 12-19). One third of all children 6-19 were overweight. Healthy weight, over weight and obesity are defined in children and teenagers with the help of the BMI (Body Mass Index - relationship between body height and body weight) in addition age and sex are taken into mathematical consideration. Children among the 5th-85th percentile are considered "healthy weight", 85th-less than 95th percentile are considered "over weight", and those 95th percentile and higher are labeled "obese".

The effects of being over weight and obese have immediate and long term health consequences.

Early heath effects:

• Increased risk of cardio-vascular disease (due to hypertension and hyperlipidemia).
• Increase in pre-diabetic conditions
• Extra weight is also hard on joints and bones creating early onsets of osteo-arthritis.
• Being out of shape and furthermore leads in many to being ostracized and suffer from poor self-esteem.

Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This chance increases to 80% if one or more of the parent/s is/are overweight or obese.

Health consequences later in live include:

• Increased risks for type 2 diabetes
• Increased risk for heart attacks and strokes
• Greater rate of osteoarthritis
• Increased risk for many forms of cancer

How can I as a parent prevent my child from growing overweight or obese or help him/her when already overweight?

In the vast majority of cases childhood obesity  is a result of caloric imbalance. Too many calories are being consumed while too little calories are being used for physical activities. In plain English; most children spend too much time in front of TV and computer screens while consuming high caloric foods of very little or no nutritional value. Educating your youngster on healthy dietary choices, limiting his/her screen time and encouraging physical activity by being a role model and activity partner goes a long way in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. When addressing the need for more physical activity please realize that sending your child outdoors is not enough to encourage physical activity. You going to the pool, playground or neighborhood park together and engaging your child goes a lot further. Another mistake parents make when choosing a physical activity for their kids is to integrate them into their own routines i.e. jogging. When deciding on a specific activity for your child please take his/her age and physical developmental stage into consideration. Jogging might be a good choice for a 16 year old adolescent (if it isn't painful due to the extra weight), but is certainly utterly boring for a 5 or 6 six year old kid. In addition, young children up to age 12 are metabolically "High Speed Stop and Go Engines". Next time you have a chance observe little kids on a playground. They most likely go in short spurts to full exhaustion, recover and go full blast again. Chose playful forms of activities in younger years and continue on with more organized forms of exercising as your child grows up to be a teenager.

To give yourself and your child a better chance to be successful in dealing with her/his weight issues make sure your whole family is on board and ready to support each other in living a healthier live.

Helpful websites:

http://www.nourishinteractive.com/healthy-living/family-nutrition-exercise-facts/childhood-obesity/childhood-obesity-prevention-websites-childhood-resources

http://www.letsmove.gov/


http://www.shapingamericasyouth.org/Default.aspx


As always, your questions, comments and suggestions are appreciated.


In good health,
Hartmut

Sources:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html
http://backinform.com/services.php#fit4kids