Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Kids, obesity, and being a good role model

Eager to imitate.

Children are always looking up to older people. Often, they copy what they see trying to be like that person.

Easy-bake ovens and toy tools aren't played with because kids want to be chefs and construction workers. They want to be like mom, dad, sibling, cool person they saw, so on and so forth.

Where am I going with this?

Role models, and no, I'm not talking about the movie.

Modeling positive behavior is a must. How are we suppose to expect kids to be in decent shape if the adult they're around most barely eats, regularly consumes fast food, and does nothing productive with their time?

Parents who think their child is overweight might even force them to exercise and/or only eat certain foods.

That's awful.

8 hours of school, 5 days a week, and added to the mix is exercise or a diet? You just can't do it.

It's important to give them a warm loving childhood for the best development possible.

We can't fix child obesity if adult obesity is still a problem. Seth Godin wrote a post about fixing the real solution. This is a similar scenario.

Ross Enamait wonderfully explained the same topic recently as well.

Want a kid to be active? Give them a fun activity to do. Any sports, DDR, going to the park, you name it.

The rules are simple.
1) Make sure they're having fun and enjoying it.
2) Make sure it's safe.
That's all there is to it.

I'll end the post with a story.

Last spring, my Infant & Child Development professor told us one visit, she took her daughter to the pediatrician. The doctor said, "your daughter is overweight and something needs to be done."

She goes to daughter and asks her, "do you want to join dance?" She nods her face no.

My professor goes on to say, "well, since she didn't want to do that, I put her in Taekwondo. She enjoys it, she lost weight, and she got her black belt by 3rd grade."

Simple solution. On top of that, it most likely boosted her self-confidence, enhanced her social well-being, and got her a new hobby.

Not too hard, right?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What does an athlete look like?

You wouldn't guess they're deaf.

When we think of an athlete, we imagine these rock hard bodies with chiseled muscles.

And then, what do most of us do? We use exercise as a means to achieve that perfect body.

But what if we're wrong? The result?

We're chasing after something that's not even there to begin with.

Athletes put in a lot of work to become pro and do what they do.

Exercise is their job and they better be good at it, or otherwise, they won't be employed much longer.

So, we should see what their bodies really look like.

Go see for yourself here. (thanks goes out to Ryan Andrews for posting this)

Not what you had in mind?

Don't worry, neither did most of us.

Hopefully you won't epitomize their bodies anymore over yours.


I believe beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

But before you do, you need to open your eyes so you can truly appreciate it.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Calorie vs. Calorie

Try eating a hundred calories worth of vegetables.

A similar topic to last week's post, but overlooked often.

Let's start with a joke, one most of you are familiar with.

Which weighs more, a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

When you first heard that, you most likely answered the bricks. But of course, when it's explained to us, we realize that it's a
ton of each material.

Regardless of what either is, a ton is a ton. It may take less bricks than feathers to reach a ton on the scale, but that wasn't the question.

Now, what's this have to do with calories?

Everything!

It's the same deal. A calorie is a unit of measurement.

100 calories of cookies is the same caloric amount compared to 100 calories of carrots. (first learned this in The Metabolism Advantage)

The difference? You're won't have nearly as many cookies as the amount of carrots.

On top of that, the latter has nutrients useful for your body, while the former will have a negative impact on your health.

There are other factors besides what I've mentioned, but the picture's clear.

If you're starting a more health-conscious way of living, don't worry so much about calories. Usually when people do worry about calories, it's over a poor food choice to begin with.


Don't worry how many calories that baby is.
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