get your kiddies moving!

As I have been preparing to speak to a youth group about the importance of health and exercise I've been reviewing statistics about childhood obesity, and it really is shocking. In the United States 1 in 3 kids are considered overweight or obese. 1 in 3!!! The saddest part about that...it's almost a given that these overweight kids will grow into overweight adults. I've studied several cases involving overweight children and the parents health and activity level has a lot to do with the child's health and activity level. Hence; sedentary parents often times produce sedentary children. My plead? Get your kids active!! Make it fun. They don't have to be "exercising" just moving. 43% of adolescents watch more than 2 hours of TV per day. Turn of the tube and get those kids outside, take them roller skating, go sledding, go for a bike-ride, have a dance contest...do SOMETHING. Getting them into the habit of being active now will benefit them immensely in the future. Introduce healthy foods to them. Most importantly...be an example. Be an example of healthy eating, exercise, and taking care of your body. A great family activity is looking over the Food Guide pyramid. Explain the different areas, and the newly added exercise portion. CLICK HERE for a link to Mypyramid.gov, a great, kid-friendly, informative website. Be a part of stopping this growing obesity epidemic that is killing America, one french fry at a time!

Who Knew?

(Photo Taken From HG website!!)

Happy National Blueberry Pancake day! (I didn't even know there was such a thing.) My Hungry Girl newsletter gave me the good news...and along with it was Hungry Girl's recipe for a healthy batch of Blueberry Pancakes. They look SO delicious! Here's the recipe...
**I took this recipe straight from the Hungry Girl website. To see the comparison of this recipe to Denny's Blueberry pancakes, and to find a TON more amazing recipes CLICK HERE.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup regular oats (not instant or steel cut)

1/4 cup blueberries

3 tbsp. egg whites

1 tbsp. nonfat milk

1 tbsp. fat-free cottage cheese

1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. flour

1 no-calorie sweetener packet

2 tbsp. water

pinch salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for the blueberries and stir until well mixed. Gently fold in blueberries. In a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray, drop batter into pan to form 3 pancakes (or 1 big pancake). Once pancakes begin to look solid (about 3 minutes), gently flip (if possible, re-spritz the pan with nonstick spray as you flip 'em to prevent sticking). Cook for approximately 3 additional minutes, or until both sides are lightly browned and insides are cooked through. Now plate those suckers and enjoy. Serves 1. (Pssst...we like 'em drizzled with sugar-free maple syrup!)

Serving Size: Entire recipe Calories: 201 Fat: 2g Sodium: 295mg Carbs: 32g Fiber: 4g Sugars: 6g Protein: 13g *3 Points

See Megan Run...

Last week's running had it's ups and downs. The mid week runs weren't too bad, but my energy level seemed lower than normal which wasn't my favorite! I decided to change up the schedule from the normal and do them with sprint intervals to keep my body from getting too set in a routine. This is something I'd recommend to those of you who run consistently, but feel like you aren't see a change in your body. Add some speed intervals or hills to change it up. Saturday was my 10 miler, and it went really well. Again, I hate running outside with how cold it is, so I ran on the treadmill in the cardio cinema. I absolutely love the feeling of those last few steps. It feels so good, so accomplished. This Saturday's run is only 7 miles, so I get a bit of a break. Wahoo!

Exercise of the Week: Oblique Plank Twists

The obliques are an area of the body that women often want to work, (think love handles.) This exercise is an awesome one that is SURE to give those sides a run for their money.
1) Get in a side plank position. Keep the side of your body in a straight line, not letting those hips dip down to the ground.
2) Extend the free arm up into the air as if to make a T with your arms. (This picture has the hand behind the head which is ok as well.)
3) If this position alone is difficult for you begin by just holding each side for 30 seconds at a time, not allowing your hips to dip down to the ground.
4) If you feel like you can intensify this exercise rotate your torso down towards the ground, touching your hand or elbow down to the ground. Rotate back to the start position. All this time not letting your hips dip down. Do 15-30 reps on each side. 3 sets of each.

*hint: You should be feeling this in the side that is closest to the ground as it is holding your body weight up.

Weight Lifting Workout Format

Thanks to Karissa for inquiring about when to do what exercises. This post is LONG overdue. Let me begin by saying there are so many different workout formats that you can follow. It really all depends on what you want to accomplish. I gear my workouts toward the average woman wanting to lean up, lose weight, and become more toned, because I feel like that is the main sum of my reader-base. Writing workout programs is a very individualized process, and is very different for each person. For that reason I try to include general exercises and tips that can benefit anyone. Hopefully these tips can help give your workouts some direction.

1- For the average woman I would recommend doing a full body lifting routine each time you lift weights. Why? Well, as you've read previously I recommend lifting weights three times a week. If you are hitting this goal, working all those muscles three times a week I can guarantee you will see results. BUT, If you are doing a full body routine, and one week life gets crazy and you only get it in twice you won't feel that bad. At least you are still getting all those muscles worked twice rather than having a split routine and having entire muscle groups left out for the week. Kapeesh?

2-So...like I said, full body. What does that mean you ask? Well looking at the basic format you want to hit the following muscle groups (in this order if possible): legs, chest, back, biceps, shoulders, triceps, abs. Aim to do one exercise for each (I usually triple up on legs).

3- Time saver Double ups. Now you see why I talk about multi tasking when working out. If you don't have time for each do squats with a shoulder press, and then do triceps kickbacks in a lunge position. Kill two birds with one stone!

4- USE YOUR CORE. You will benefit in so many ways. You will have better balance, you will decrease your lower back problems, you'll improve your overall strength, and you'll slim down that waistline.

5- Push yourself. Make sure that you are using heavy enough weight. You won't burn as many calories, and you won't see improvements if you aren't pushing yourself.

(Click here if you need to be reminded about the MANY benefits of weight training)

Lastly...So, you get the basic format idea but you're still wondering how often to switch up your workout? This is another area where it depends on what your goals are. If you are looking to increase weight at a certain pace sticking to the same routine for about a month at a time will give you a way to gage your progress. BUT...I like to train my clients in a method dealing with muscle memory. I feel a future post coming on... I switch up my workout every time I lift. I'll go in to detail in a later post, but the main idea is not letting your body get comfortable. Changing things up, so you continue to progress. Makes sense, doesn't it? I hope so.

I've spoken with several of you about offering online training programs. I'm still working out the basic pricing and everything, but for those of you who are motiviated to workout on your own, but just need a little more guidance as far as what to do I think it will be a very valuable tool. I'll let you know when the details are finalized. Keep up the good work, and thanks for the great questions. Keep them coming!

Oven Bakes Sweet Potato Fries

You've heard me rave about my beloved Sunflower Market in previous posts. And I'm here to rave, yet again. Their selection of produce is AWESOME. So much variety, and all SO fresh, and not to mention at a great price. It makes me want to eat fresh fruits and veggies all day long. Well, since there is so much variety there I've decided to try a new fruit or vegetable every week to broaden my horizons. It's a great way to spice up your dinner table, and to get your kids trying new things. This week I decided to try preparing a Sweet Potato. I have had sweet potato's for thanksgiving dinner...and that is about it. Soooo...I wasn't so sure as to what I was going to do with it. I looked up recipes online and I found a bunch of different recipes for baked sweet potato french fries. That sounded delicious to me and all of the recipes were pretty similar, so I kind of just did my own thing.

OVEN BAKED SWEET POTATO FRENCH FRIES
-preheat the oven to 450
-scrub the sweet potato so the fries can be cooked with the skin on
-cut them into strips (french fry like) the thinner they are the faster they will cook
-lay the strips out on a cookie sheet (spray it with Pam first)
-drizzle olive oil over the strips (you really don't need very much)
-flavor them however you like. I sprinkled half of mine with salt, Lawry's, and garlic salt. The other half i sprinkled with a little bit of brown sugar. (I thought using Splenda's brown sugar mix would be perfect for this, but I didn't have any on hand.)
-I put them in the over for about 20 minutes, stirring them around a few times.
-A medium sweet potato makes about two servings of fries, @ about 100 calories each...yep you heard me right...100.

I really had NO idea what to expect. The results...DELICIOUS. I really loved them. My roommates helped me gobble them right up. The texture wasn't as crispy as french fries, but they were so delicious. I liked both the sweet and the salty. I don't even know if i could pick a favorite. They were SO easy, so healthy and low in calories, and I'm positive that kids would love them. Try them!!

Exercise of the Week: Jump Squats

Wanna Boost up your workout and work those legs a little bit harder? Insert a set of jump squats in between all of your sets of exercises when you're lifting weights. It will help to keep your heart rate higher, (helping you to burn more fat), and you'll be working those legs!!

Step 1: start with your feet shoulder width apart and squat down as low as you can go. Remember to keep those knees right over your ankles, don't let them extend over your toes. Sit your hips back like you're sitting in a chair. Weight in your heels.
Step 2: Explode upwards trying to get as much height as possible. As you land be sure to land into your squat absorbing the shock into your legs. Go right into step 1. Keep your abs tight the whole time. Stay controlled. Land with your weight in your heels.
Do 15-20 of these in between your regular exercises and sculpt those legs!!