Active Kids Mean Healthier Kids

Health and Science for Sunday 112810

Hey folks,

OK. I know some of you are not going to be happy with me on this one. I know, I know. It's a different day and age. I know it seems too simplistic. But it really is pretty simple. Active Children are HEALTHIER Children.

Remember the ELMM Diet I told you about? The Eat Less Move More Diet. Guaranteed to work every time for anyone. Simply put, if you burn more than you take in, you lose weight. You are healthier. You feel better.

Kids have a higher metabolism than Adults. For the most part. They have more energy, and they burn more energy. They do not have to be over weight, even if Fast Food is included in their diet. The key is activity.

What brought all this to mind was this. According to Clubmum.net - Keeping the Kiddos Active in the Cold Months This post brought to you by Chef Boyardee Posted on November 08, 2010 by Jodi Grundig

Okay, I'll admit that November is one of my least favorite months of the year. It's just the beginning of the winter, when the leaves are bare, the cold has settled in, and the days get shorter. Since my kids spend so much time outdoors in the summer, I really have to work hard to keep them active in the winter.

My kids are constantly trying to get me to turn the television on, and honestly, the temptation is strong to give in. After all, they are quiet and easy to manage when they are watching television! But they have loads of energy to burn, and believe me - it's best for the whole family if they burn it off in an organized, mindful manner!

This month, I have a few tricks up my sleeves to keep them active indoors - without me having to refuse them television constantly. First of all, they are each enrolled in weekly gymnastics classes – which they absolutely love. It's a good forty-five minutes of solid exercise, AND they are learning some great skills that they can utilize in the future.

For more ad-hoc play, I like to do dance parties. My son just loves using my iPad to play music, and we all dance around together until we collapse in exhaustion. We also do some really fun "Olympic-style" games, with skipping, hopping, and jumping as "sports". If they get sick of that, we do obstacle courses and relays.

What do you do to keep your kids active in the winter months?

When I was growing up, my activity was Seasonal. In the Spring and Summer, we played Baseball, Smear the,,uh, one with the Ball. You know, throw the ball up and whomever caught it got slammed by EVERYONE else. Boy Girl, it didn't matter, and we are not talking Tag. We would also go out from Dawn til Dusk making stuff up as we played, rode Bikes, ETC.

In the Fall, Football. Again, Boys and Girls. Football. Not Tag. Full contact, full force. No mansy pansy "careful, someone might get hurt," or, "Hey careful you may brush something and it may be considered 'harassment,'" Again, from Dawn till Dusk, or at least after school, til Dinner.

Winter? Of course SLEDDING. Snowmen. Snowball fights. Shoveling out the Neighbors for some extra cash. Yeah, it was cold. We put on coats. Instead of Texting to see what our friends were up to, we went to their HOUSE.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not completely against Texting. Not against Computers, or Video Games. Although, try the Wii, or Kinect for Xbox 360. They will satisfy the Virtual Reality Excitement craving, AND they will get plenty of exercise at the same time.

The point is, let Kids be Kids. Teach them how to use their imagination, then LET them. If you have to, RESTRICT the amount of time they spend Online and sitting in front of the the Boob Tube. If you live in an area that is not safe for them to go out unsupervised, then why not sigh them up for something like the Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Organized Sports, or even Boy / Girl Scouts. Some thing. Any thing.

Just because the temperature is dropping outside, doesn't mean that they have to hibernate for the Winter. There will already be more and more foods. Lets not let them more less and less. That's what too many Adults do. Hence the increase in Gym Memberships in January. You know, the ones that usually see a influx of new People for about a Month. {Smile}

Anyway, as I said before. It's Sunday. Three / Four days removed from Thanksgiving, and I'm still feeling it. Of course I just finished off the Pies and other left overs yesterday. Josh? Me and him hit the Mall Friday. He spent the day with Nana and his friend Saturday, and we are heading off to Church and then a Daddy and Son adventure in just a couple of hours. I have a feeling we will be working some of it off.

Happy Holiday Season to you all. Make it a Happy and Healthy one.
Peter

Sources:
Clubmum.net - Keeping the Kiddos Active in the Cold Months

The Cost Of Eating Healthy

Cost of Junk Food Vs Healthy Eating.

Hey folks,

I have gotten MANY articles sent in by you, talking about everything from the Egg scare, to Caged vs Free Range Chickens, ETC. I have posted several articles about Healthy Eating, Franking Fish, and High Fructose Corn Syrup. So the question is, why do we NOT head in the direction of healthier eating?

The answer is sadly simplistic. COST. Here is what I mean. Go to the Grocery Store, look at the Food Prices. If you get mass produced Chicken, usually frozen, what is the cost. About ten bucks for a bag of Chicken. Look at the Fresh? You get maybe two good sized breasts. Look at the price for "Free Ranged Chickens" You will get even less.

Look at the mass produced products. You know, those high in preservatives and of course HFCS. Then look at the prices of "Organic." Go to the snack isle. How much for a big bag of chips? Some run specials like $1.99 a bag. Now go to the Produce isle. How much is a head of Lettuce? Getting the point?

When we can go to a fast food place, and buy a DOUBLE Burger and Small Fries for $2.11, or go to the store and buy? What? That's a whole meal, add a buck for the drink. So $3.20 you get a whole meal. No cooking. No real clean up. A whole meal. Go to the Store, you can not even get a ready made meal for $3.00. You have to buy all the ingredients, prep, and cook it. Then, add A LOT on if you try to be healthy. For a meal, you are most likely talking $10.00 to $20.00, plus the time to prepare it. If you are even able to prepare it. No one is teaching you how to cook anymore.

People would LOVE to eat healthier. The companies that produce "Organic," "Free Range," and more natural Foods would love to make more money. But the sad fact is, people go the cheaper route.

Then you have the stereotype that healthier food taste, well, bland, or bad. This is not always the case either. As many of you know, my Wife Laura is a Vegan. That means no meat, no dairy. I eat Vegan meals about two to three times a week. There has only been one or two that I really didn't like. You can keep the Tofu. ANY Tofu. But the "Beef crumbles" and the Bacon, oh the Bacon, actually tastes BETTER to me than the real deal. I'm not kidding. "Morning Star Bacon Strips?" Give them to me EVERY DAY! I can't get enough.

So why are the alternatives more expensive than the junk? Supply and demand play a part. Less people are buying them, therefore, they cost more. But at the same time, less people are buying them BECAUSE they cost more.

So what's the answer? Truthfully? I'm not really sure. You could start by watching a movie I just saw recently called "Food inc." It will change your perspective on the food industry. The facts are out there. Commonsense and logic are out there. But there is still the cost factor.

My recommendation to you, try it. Try it a little at a time. One meal a week, try to skip the meat. Try to buy from humane companies. Try to give up some of the Junk. You may find that you like it better.

Yes, it does cost a bit more to eat healthier, but the savings in long term medical bills will even that out. Now do not get me wrong folks, again, I like my meat. I like my occasional fast food. But I do not live for it, or on it. I try to eat healthy as much as possible. I try not to buy items from companies I know do not treat their animals humanely. I try to do the right thing.

I will tell you this. In the long run, not only you sill start feeling better, you may even start seeing a difference in your physical appearance. Worked for me.
Peter

Best, Non Failing, Diet Ever. Works Every time, With Everyone

And it's FREE.

Hey folks,

Bold Statement, but it is TRUE. Seems we all have had times in our lives when we want to loose the extra pounds. From those truly heavy, to those who want to loose the 5 to 15 pounds they gained from the Holiday Food Free For Alls.

We have heard them all before. 1 Day Diet, 2 Day Slim Down, 3 or 4 Day Diet, 5 Day Miracle Diet, 6 Week Body Makeover, 7 Day Diet, 7 Step Diet, Accelerona-Carb Trapper Plus, Acutrim, Adiphen, Adkins Diet (Atkins Diet) The Hollywood Diet, Starvation, Water, ETC. For more, check out Diet Riot. They have a few more. {Smile}

How many have you been on? How many have failed? Weight loss in a bottle? Power added to food? Man-made chemicals that they tried on Rats. Do you even know what you are putting in your body? "Don't change anything. Eat whatever you want. Just take this pill." You say "GREAT." You take the pill, then eat TWO "Big Macs" Three Fries, and a Diet Soda. No offense intended to McDonald's. I had a Friend that WOULD do that. He weight 400 pounds. He would actually eat THREE Big Mac Value Meals, then drink a two litter Diet Coke. Yup. He couldn't figure out WHY he was not loosing weight.

Well, NOW they have a TEST. Yes. A TEST to tell you what diet will work the best for you. Don't worry. I will share with you the Best, Non Failing, Diet Ever. Works Every time, With Everyone, and it will actually SAVE you money. I will share that with you FOR FREE, in just a minute. But they NOW have a test. According to the AP - Gene test claims to show what diet works best By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione, Ap Medical Writer – Thu Mar 4, 5:22 pm ET

Diet not working? Blame your genes. That's the pitch behind a new test that claims to show whether people will do better on a low-fat or a low-carb weight loss plan.

We're all hard-wired with DNA that controls how we burn and store calories from various foods, and the test claims to sort out this machinery. A study this week found that women on diets well-matched to their genes, as defined by the test, lost roughly five times more weight than those on mismatched diets.

"We were able to explain why some people were successful" and others were not, even though they ate the same way, said Mindy Dopler Nelson, a nutritional biologist at Stanford University who led the study but has no financial ties to the maker of the test.

Wonder how much the TEST costs you to take it? My Diet is FREE.

Some scientists find this hard to swallow. It's another test being peddled without enough research to show it really works, they say.

"I'm afraid this may be another attempt to lure the public into purchasing genetic tests that provide little value for those struggling with their weight," said Raymond Rodriguez, director of the National Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics at the University of California, Davis.

The research shows "nothing that should move the American public out to get their genome tested," said Dr. Robert Eckel, a former American Heart Association president and cardiologist at the University of Colorado-Denver.

But it sure has appeal.

Gene testing originally was aimed at finding risk for things like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Lately, genes have been linked to things you might not suspect, such as stuttering or compulsive leg-jiggling.

The latest trend is to connect genes to lifestyle counseling, determining what type of diet or exercise is best. That's what the maker of the new diet test hopes to do.

The company, Waltham, Mass.-based Interleukin Genetics Inc., looked at studies on hundreds of genes and chose three genes that show a pattern for metabolizing fats and carbohydrates, said its chief scientific officer, Ken Korman.

The company then hired Stanford researchers to do a validation study of its $149 test, using people who took part in diet research that was published in 2007. That study tested four diets — Atkins (ultra-low-carb), the Zone (low-carb), Ornish (very low-fat) or a low-fat diet following the federal Food Pyramid.

$149.00 for the test? Again, MINE is FREE.

About one-third of the original participants, 138 women, sent cheek swabs with their DNA to Interleukin, which tagged them as "low-carb appropriate" or "low-fat appropriate."

Looking back at the original study's results, researchers saw that women whose diets matched their genetic makeup lost more than 13 pounds over a year compared to less than 3 pounds for women on mismatched diets, Nelson reported at a heart association conference this week.

13 pounds in a YEAR? REALLY. You can loose 5 to 10 pounds in the first two weeks, with MY Plan.

Some scientists were unpersuaded. Sticking with a diet is more important than what diet you choose, as is not regaining weight, Eckel said.

"I have serious reservations with this study and studies like it," Rodriguez agreed. "The idea that genetic variants in these genes can predict the likelihood for weight loss in such a small population, particularly since the tendency for weight loss is probably more behavioral than genetic, is simply hard to believe."

However, one of the study participants, Jacqueline Gardner, 55, of Evergreen, Calif., does believe. She went from 200 pounds at the start of the study to 185, but was back to 200 pounds two years later.

"I now know why I gained it back," she said — the gene test showed she does not metabolize carbohydrates well. More recently, she has been on a high-protein diet and weighs 180.

"I wish I had had a DNA test 10 years ago," she said.

The researchers also tested themselves.

"It confirmed my suspicion," Nelson said of her result. "When I eat a lot of carbohydrates, I tend to put on weight."

Do we really need a gene test to tell us that?

{Laughing} That is actually the last line in this article. "Do we really need a gene test to tell us that?" No.

OK, so you NOW spend $149 of this test. It tells you that you are best suited for the Atkins Diet. Now, you go out and purchase THAT. Then you go buy all the food that you need to follow this Diet. Then, when you gain the weight back. "It's your fault. You did not stick to the Diet." Or maybe, "It's just your Genes. It's NOT really your fault."

Well, OK. I've teased you enough. For just $49.95, Plus $9.95 S&H, I will send you the ELMM Diet. The "Best, Non Failing, Diet Ever. Works Every Time, With Everyone." Oh, did I say I would give it to you for FREE? Gosh Dang it! I DID! Well, OK. fine. Here it is.

It's pretty complicated. It's a little difficult to understand. So you will need a piece of paper to write it down. OK. Step one. Ready? Eat less. I know, I know. It's scientifically PROVEN, that if you eat less, you take in less of the stuff that can add to your weight. OK. Step two. I know this is the difficult part. Ready? Move MORE. It is scientifically proven, that if you move, you BURN energy. By burning energy, your body has to produce more energy to burn. So if you are burning more of what you are taking in, you will loose weight. {Gasp}

I know I know. It's amazing. To good to be true? I know it sounds like that doesn't it. But it TRUE. Eat Less, Move More diet will change your life. It will also save you on the Less food that you need to purchase.

Now of course if you live on Ho,Hos, and FRIED food, you may want to look into a healthier diet. Add some fruits and veges. Bake instead of Fry. Cut out the stuff you KNOW is bad for you anyway. But if you Eat Less and Move More, it will even work on the Ho,Hos, Diet. But I would hope you would care to be a bit more healthy. {Smile}
Peter

Sources:
AP - Gene test claims to show what diet works best