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Aug 10
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Healthy Kids Playing Ball Outdoors

Childhood Obesity Prevention Tips for Parents

By | Eating Healthy, Exercise Tips, Health Tips | One Comment

It’s vital for children to maintain a healthy weight. One of the most effective ways to guarantee this is a balanced diet. Balance is particularly important when it comes to the number of calories your child consumes and what kinds of foods they eat. As a parent or guardian, it’s your role to ensure you balance the calories your children drink and eat with those they use during normal growth and physical activity.  

Teaching your kids healthy eating practices, including how to reduce empty calories like soda and candy, can make all the difference between your kid living healthily or struggling with their weight. Obese and overweight kids and teens alike need to learn how to eat a healthy, balanced diet that will prevent unhealthy weight gain while nourishing their bodies and promoting normal development and growth.  

For most kids, being overweight is a result of unhealthy eating patterns, including excessive intake of calories, coupled with little to no physical activity. These habits can form early in childhood, making it necessary for parents to teach their children healthy practices from an early age.  

This article suggests some lifestyle changes that can promote your kid’s health well into adulthood. Make sure to focus on improving your kid’s health, not simply reducing their weight. Unhealthy, restrictive relationships with food can result from too much focus on changing your child’s appearance rather than simply helping them live a healthier lifestyle. Your goal is to help your kid be healthy, happy, and energetic! Before putting your kid on a weight-reduction diet, be sure to speak with their pediatrician to ensure it’s being done in a healthy way. 

Balance: Helping your kids establishing healthy eating habits 

Introduce healthy eating habits into your kid’s regular diet. You can start this by offering nutritious snacks and meals with an appropriate number of calories. You can also help your kids establish healthy eating habits by making their favorite meals healthier, as well as curbing any unhealthier temptations. Some ways to do this include:  

   1. Promote healthy eating habits.  

Small alterations to the usual diet can ensure your kids adapt and stick to a healthy dietary routine.  You can accomplish this by incorporating the following simple changes:  

  • Include plenty of fruits, whole-grain products, and vegetables 
  • Offer low-fat milk, or milk alternatives such as almond, soy, or oat milk 
  • For protein, serve lean meats or protein-packed vegetables like fish, poultry, beans, and lentils 
  • Serve appropriately sized portions, and set an example with your own portion sizes 
  • Hydrate: encourage your entire family to drink large quantities of water 
  • Go easy on the sugar, sweetened beverages, saturated fat, and sodium 

    2. Make their favorite dishes healthier 

Making changes to eating habits doesn’t necessarily mean cutting out your kids’ favorite foods. You can tinker with some of these recipes to make them healthier. Add in vegetables, or use fortified ingredients like pasta made with extra vitamins and vegetables. Blend cooked cauliflower into mashed potatoes. You can also introduce several new healthy and delicious dishes which can, in turn, become favorites.  

   3. Reduce any calorie-rich temptations 

There’s nothing wrong with treats – they’re a great way to teach your kid how to indulge without overdoing it. While moderation is crucial, we have to be sure not deprive our kids of occasional treats. If we do restrict them too much, it can inspire them to overeat rather than practice healthy regulation. You can start out by reducing high-sugar, high-fat, and high-salt snacks. This can help your kids learn healthier eating habits. 

Here’s some easy, tasty snack options with low fat and sugar to offer your kids  

  • Apple, medium size 
  • Blueberries, 1 cup 
  • Banana, medium size 
  • Carrots, 1 cup 
  • Grapes, 1 cup 
  • Bell peppers, or broccoli, with hummus (2 tbsp.) 

    4. Teach your kids why exercise is essential 

Our bodies aren’t made to sit still all day, but that’s what many of us do at work or school. As a result, it’s important to make sure you and your kids stay physically active. Physical exercise has a multitude of health benefits, and it’s crucial that your kids know this too. Some of the benefits of exercise include 

  • Strengthening bones 
  • Reducing stress and anxiety 
  • Lowering blood pressure 
  • Boosting self-esteem 
  • Promoting a healthy weight 

    5. Help your kids stay active:  

Physical activity is so important. Kids and teens alike need to practice regular moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week, or on a daily basis if possible. You can introduce various routines to inspire them to stay active. Include exercise in your own daily routine and encourage your kids to participate. You can also inspire your kids to sign up for organized sports or physical activities, like swimming or soccer. Some common, effective moderate-intensity physical activities include:  

  • Jumping rope 
  • Brisk walking 
  • Playing soccer 
  • Playing tag 
  • Dancing 
  • Swimming 

    6. Minimize sedentary time 

After a long day at school or playing outside, it makes sense for your kids to want to spend some time relaxing. While some quiet time doing homework, reading, or resting after a busy day is fine, what you need to discourage and ultimately limit is unnecessarily long idle time. Minimizing sedentary time helps boost physical activity. You can reduce screen time (video games, TV, internet) to only a few hours per day. According to the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), children two and younger should not watch TV or have screen time, as this is a crucial time for physical and mental development. 

Encourage your kids to choose fun physical activities that they can do with family, friends, and alone to help them stay active. 

Why it’s important to maintain a healthy body weight  

The importance of attaining and marinating a healthy body weight can’t be understated. While it may seem easy in theory, it can be quite a challenging task. Focusing on small, but long-term changes to diet and exercise habits is a more effective strategy in comparison to drastic but unsustainable changes that only last for a short while, such as strict diets and exercise routines.  

When helping obese or overweight kids, you should focus on ensuring that they maintain an appropriate body weight for their age, height, and individual needs. Weight gain should generally be proportional to height increase. 

Success predicting factors:  

  • A healthy diet that kids and parents both participate in 
  • Strong social support of healthy habits, especially from those close to the child  
  • Strong support for physical activity and participation of the whole family 

Summary:  

While adopting new lifestyle changes can be exciting and challenging at first, it’s worth noting that these changes only serve their purpose if you and your kids stick to them. As such, it’s important to emphasize the need for the entire family to keep up with these lifestyle changes. The best way to help your kid achieve a healthy weight is by doing it gradually.  

Parents and guardians alike can protect their kids from early childhood obesity by offering healthy snacks and meals, encouraging everyday physical activity, and teaching them about nutrition. Healthy snacks and meals afford growing bodies the right type of nutrition while also promoting healthy attitudes and eating habits. By eating healthy, it’s easy to manage weight and improve overall health.  

As for increased physical activity, it’s essential for health. Along with reducing many health risks, it helps regulate weight. It’s essential for parents to teach their kids about nutrition and healthy eating habits. With nutritional education, kids can know what proper nutrition is, its importance, and adopt healthy habits for a lifetime.  

Feb 21
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mama june weight loss - mama june new look - june shannon

The New Mama June: Weight Loss And Stunning Transformation

By | Eating Healthy, Exercise Tips, Health Tips, Weight Loss | No Comments

June Shannon, more popularly known as “Mama June” is a well-known reality TV star and mother to young beauty pageant queen, Honey Boo Boo. Ever since she came into the limelight, Mama June had been quite overweight. This is, however, not the case anymore. Recently, the TV star has been spotted with a much trimmer physique. The incredible Mama June weight loss story, which has been nothing short of dramatic, has stirred quite the buzz worldwide. Everyone is curious to find out how she was able to move from a size 28 to a size 4 in just a short period of time. Let’s talk about this amazing transformation and how this reality star went from “Not to Hot.”

Who is Mama June?

Mama June rose to stardom for her role on the reality TV show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The show aired on TLC and revolved around the lives of child beauty queen, “Honey Boo Boo” and her family members. The show received numerous negative reviews with critics stating that Mama June had been exploiting her children. In addition, she was heavily criticized with many saying that she was responsible for the fact that her children were overweight.

TLC canceled the show after 4 seasons but Mama June continued to star in her own reality TV show, Mama June: From Not to Hot. This 7-episode show documented her incredible weight loss journey and the challenges she underwent along the way. Anyone who’s struggled with weight loss knows that this was a very real battle for her. She was brave and gracious enough to go through this journey in the public eye, giving the rest of us some major motivation and changing the way many of us think about the “Honey Boo Boo” family.

One of the reasons behind Mama June’s decision to lose weight was the break-up with Sugar Bear, her ex-husband. This, coupled with the many controversial family issues that had plagued her life, strengthened her resolve to lead a healthy life. For Mama June, weight loss became her immediate objective.

First, she sought out the expertise of fitness trainer, Natasha Fett. Fett guided her through the process of developing an effective diet plan, a practical exercise routine, and a suitable supplement plan. Online consultations via Skype allowed Fett to communicate with her and keep track of her progress since Mama June’s busy lifestyle involved plenty of traveling.

Mama June Weight Loss program

  1. Complete Diet Change – Mama June’s greatest undoing was her lack of control when it came to food. She had a difficult time letting go of her favorite foods, which had fueled her weight gain. Fett created a meal plan that would incorporate some of those meals to ease the transition to healthier living.

    Fett advised Mama June to increase her carbohydrate consumption early in the day, then gradually lower her intake of fats as the day progressed. The reasoning behind this is that carbohydrates are best consumed early in the day to give your body plenty of time throughout the day to burn the calories. This is preferable to consuming large amounts of carbohydrates during dinner, as this stimulates fat deposition and weight gain.

    Healthy fats, such as those in almond butter and avocados, were a major part of her new diet. To keep her feeling satiated for longer, Fett recommended adding foods that tend to be slowly digested, such as brown rice, lentils, and black beans.
  2. Cutting out diet shakes – Mama June had wrongfully believed that substituting protein and diet shakes for regular meals would hasten her weight loss. This is not the case, as more often than not, such drinks contain extra sugars and fats. Instead, she began drinking coffee and tea with natural sugar substitutes.
  3. Avoiding Fad Diets – For a while, Mama June had preoccupied herself with every new and trendy diet. None of these worked for her, and this left her feeling quite disheartened. As an alternative, Fett recommended a more feasible meal plan that would not only help her lose weight but also stimulate her metabolism.
  4. Eating Larger Meal Portions for Breakfast – Breakfast is the most crucial meal of the day. Eating a low-calorie meal for breakfast (or having none at all) encourages cravings that cause us to eat even more. To avoid this, it is best to have an ample breakfast. This will minimize the need for frequent snacking throughout the day.
  5. Exercise – Natasha Fett was not keen on creating a strict workout regimen for Mama June. For her new lifestyle to be sustainable, physical activity had to be incorporated seamlessly into her busy schedule. The simplest way to do this was to encourage more walking and biking, both of which she could do with relative ease. This was most suitable for her, as her body was not accustomed to high levels of physical strain.
  6. Surgery – In 2015, Mama June underwent sleeve gastrectomy, whereby 80% of her stomach was removed. This procedure greatly reduced the size of meals she could tolerate. The result was a reduction in total caloric intake, and resultantly, she lost even more weight.
  7. Weight Loss Supplements – A key part of Mama June’s weight loss plan was the use of supplements. In particular, Fett recommended the use of Garcinia Cambogia and Apple Cider vinegar. Garcinia Cambogia, as a supplement, is derived from the fruits of Garcinia cambogia. This plant is indigenous to South East Asia and has been used for years in the treatment of various digestive ailments. The fruit contains high levels of Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a chemical known for its weight loss benefits.

mama june weight loss - hoeny boo boo mom - weight loss transformationBenefits of HCA

  • Appetite suppression – Before embarking on her weight loss journey, Mama June was a big fan of butter and mayonnaise. With the aid of Garcinia Cambogia, she was able to overcome her cravings for such unhealthy additives. Garcinia works by sending signals to the brain giving it a false impression of satiety, even after relatively small meals.
  • It boosts metabolism – Garcinia increases the calorie-burning capability of various body tissues. As a result, you experience not only weight loss, but also increased levels of energy. With more energy, you will be able to endure more strenuous physical activity during workouts.
  • Reduces fat deposition – HCA inhibits citrate lyase, an enzyme that is responsible for the conversion of extra carbohydrates into fats. Once this enzyme is inhibited, excessive carbohydrates consumed in the diet are expelled during bowel movements instead of being stored as fat.

Mama June: Weight Loss is Achievable!

Mama June’s remarkable weight loss journey is a testament to what determination and discipline can help us to accomplish. For Mama June, weight loss and adoption of a healthy lifestyle became a priority, and this helped her overcome the challenges she experienced throughout her weight loss journey. You, too, can take this inspiration and start making the lifestyle changes that are necessary to get your health on track. Check out supplements like PhenoFen to see if you can be one of the many people who have used it to help boost healthy weight loss and even other areas of overall health. As with any dietary supplement, you should talk with your doctor before starting use. Best of luck to you on the path to weight loss. Just like Mama June, you can do this!

Aug 14
0

Orangetheory Fitness – Thriving Beyond All Odds  

By | Exercise Tips, Weight Loss | No Comments

New fitness trends have changed and impacted many individuals’ understanding of what it means to be healthy.

Health and fitness are two areas that have become major concerns to many people. With regards to fitness, they have attempted different ways, strategies, equipment, and innovation just to be fit and sound. Fitness is truly becoming an entire culture.

However, just as fast and strong as they come, these fitness trends also fade. Such trends that came and faded fast include Shake Weight and FitFlops. However, there is one fitness champion trend that has defied all this and is demonstrating that there is space for development and innovation in the category of fitness.

Orangetheory Fitness was ranked 60th on the Inc. 500 rundown of companies that are developing quickly in America in the year 2016. With more than 700 locations around the world, Orangetheory has become loved by many among the many fitness trends. So what’s the mystery behind the prosperity of this fitness trend?

Orangetheory Fitness or OTF is established around the idea of excess post-practice oxygen consumption which is also known as EPOC. OTF’s heart rate monitored exercise is intended to keep up an objective zone that stimulates digestion and energy.

The training claims to make individuals burn around 500 to 1,000 calories in an hour and continue to burn calories at a normal rate of 15-20 percent which is higher than their average resting calorie burning for around 36 hours after work out.

There are 12 water rowers, 12 treadmills and 12 weight floor room stations in a typical Orangetheory studio which has a measurement of 2,800 square foot. The weight room is made up of TRX suspension rig, step bench and free light weights.

The programming and the movements are illustrated by the monitors in weight room. The monitors in cardio zone show a grid demonstrating the members in attendance and their heart rate levels currently whose level of intensity is color coded.

Under orange lights and cheery music, members undertake a program that turns between rowers, treadmills and free weights under the supervision of a vibrant coach. The aim of the program is to collect 12 to 20mins in orange zone. This zone is achieved when the wrist or chest monitor hits a heart rate of 84 percent or higher than your most extreme heart rate.

As indicated by OTF, it is the zone which makes the EPOC to burn calorie, and mins in orange zone members’ splat points. This is tracked and then emailed to every member after class only for fitness following purposes.

Periodical exercise is not new, neither is the idea of objective heart rate training. Orangetheory is shining because it offers individuals from all levels prompt gratification through a feeling of progress which is given by a quick feedback loop.

Studies have demonstrated that the sentiment of progressing positively is a staggeringly effective execution motivator. Collecting minutes in this zone splat points gives a reward after every exercise. Regardless of whether we’re discussing fitness or business, things that are difficult to assemble as a result of delayed effort turn out to be more manageable with prompt and steady praises.

It’s not precisely gamifying, as there’s no methodology or rivalry. It’s truly only a rewards system which feels like acknowledgment. It resembles training a seal meaning a real seal aimed at pushing the rate of your heart up into orange zone.

Achievement in Orangetheory Fitness trend is in respect to every client’s fitness level, which makes it available to a wide gathering of people. It may take several months or even several years to shed a specific amount of fat or reach your ultimate mile time, yet you can perceive the acknowledgment of gaining splat points for participating in orange zone amid each session.

This feedback loop energizes individuals, which makes them to continue coming in. Regardless of whether it feels like a ploy or not, it keeps individuals moving, which develops results. General uplifting feedback can be an awesome if you can discover approaches to praise little however significant benchmarks.

While your OTF instructor might be mindful so as to tell you that 80% of our fitness comes from the kitchen, the right support of a couple of splat points all over is an appreciated support toward carrying on with a healthier lifestyle consistently. 

Jul 23
0

Hacks To Beat the Summer Heat While Working Out

By | Exercise Tips | No Comments

Some great hacks that will help you beat the Summer heat when you workout

The Summer is great because it allows for a lot of outdoor activities without fear of catching a cold because of the old weather or the rainy and windy days. The only problem with the Summer is that when you workout, you might start to feel a little suffocated by the heat. In this article we are going to be talking about the most important and useful ways for you to be able to beat the summer heat and get your workouts done without fear of fainting do to the excessive heat that you will have to deal with.

Stay hydrated

Liquids are your best friends when you plan to workout. There are thousands of people who get dehydrated and start to suffer from side effects without even knowing. The headaches, the dizziness and the lack of energy are certain giveaways that you need to do something in order to feel protected. A good way to know if you are hydrated is by looking at your urine color. If it looks almost like water, this means you are properly hydrated.  

If you want to stay hydrated all the time when you are working out. You should have a bottle holder in your bike and you should have a light backpack or something similar that you could use to carry fresh water.

Look for the shade

When you are out there jogging and doing any kind of workouts. You need to make sure that you can look for the shade as often as possible. If you find two routes that you can use for your workouts. It would be wiser to choose the one that has more shade in the trajectory and this is going to make it easier for you to get through it. You should look for alternate places to workout if you are pending too much time under the sun.  

Use the right kind of clothes

You should use sports clothing like synthetic fabrics that are ideal for this kind of activity. You should wear a hat and make sure that you can have comfortable shorts or pants that are not too hot to wear. The cooler you can keep yourself the better and if you want to get the right kind of results, you should always make sure that you avoid cotton or any heavy clothes that will make it harder for you to maintain a lower body temperature.

Start as cool as possible

A good tip when you are going out to run of job during the summer, is to put your hat in the freezer for about an hour before you go out. Then you can out it on and this will keep you cool for a while. Ay way that can help you start cold is going to be great and that is the key to a great workout during the hottest days of the summer.

Conclusion

There is nothing more important than being able to get the right kind of results from your efforts. This means that you need to be able to keep your body cool, hydrated and protected from the sun as much as you can during your summer workouts outside. This is going to be very useful in preventing all kinds of problems with your health in the long run and even short term problems that could pose a threat to your general health and this is the reason why you need to take proper precautions when you are out there exercising under the sun in the hottest season of the year.

 

Jul 23
0

11 Beginner Workout Mistakes to Avoid

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11 Beginner Workout Mistakes to Avoid

Leaving nutrition out of the picture. Exercise alone won’t get you all the way to reaching your health goals. A solid work out plan is incomplete without an accompanying nutrition strategy. We hesitate to use the word “diet” here; ultimately, what you’re doing is learning a new lifestyle that incorporates healthy eating and exercise routines. When you fuel your body well, exercise will be far more effective.

Being distracted. It’s easy to want to multitask at the gym, but you’re better off just not. Reading on the elliptical, for example, isn’t doing you any favors. Taking time to stop and chat between reps or machines isn’t helping, either. Set a game plan for your time at the gym, stick with it, and be laser-focused about your workout.

Wanting impossible results. There’s no such thing as a “magic” exercise program or diet. Health and fitness simply take time. Many people start a workout plan wanting to see dramatic results in a short amount of time. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have the beach-body you want after two weeks. Stick with it, and you’ll start to see improvement and eventually have an Let’s face it: being a “newbie” at something isn’t anyone’s favorite place to be. It’s intimidating and a little embarrassing, especially when it’s in an area you feel like you should have all the answers – like working out. But everyone starts somewhere, right? And until you take the steps to learn, you’ll never know. Setting goals to get healthy and lose weight means you have to start exercising. We know it’s intimidating, but your health isn’t worth not facing the learning curve. To help you out, here are 11 beginner workout mistakes we frequently see that you can avoid:

Overestimating your ability. This is also known as trying to do too much too soon. Yes, you need to “feel the burn” and push yourself in your exercise routine. But before you try doing it all at once, realistically assess where you’re at and don’t be afraid to start small. The last thing you want to do is overdo it and risk seriously injuring yourself. Pay attention to your body because there’s a distinct line between a good, sore kind of pain and pain signaling you’re actually injuring your body.

bigstock-139204787Thinking more is better. In reality, the quality of your workout is more important than the frequency. When you’re first starting out, you may need to work out less intensely more often, but as you build up strength and stamina, it’s actually better to work out fewer days so your body has a rest day in between. Giving your muscles adequate time to recover will help you in the long run. The same is true for reps. Doing a smaller amount of an exercise right and well will always be better than a sloppy version you’re able to do more of.

Forgetting basic gym etiquette. This might seem silly to include, but it’s important! Don’t be the chatty Cathy holding everyone up from getting to their workout, put away weights you’ve used, and always make sure to wipe down any machines you’ve used. Basic, but don’t skip on learning your gym manners.

Warming up the wrong way. What the first thing you do when you get to the gym? Like a lot of beginners, you might go for some stretches to warm up. This is actually the last thing you want to do as part of your workout. The best way to begin is a quick five minutes on the elliptical or a brisk walk on the treadmill. Use your cool down as a good opportunity to stretch it out.

Not balancing cardio and strength. Both are important, and an imbalance will result in inconsistent results. Strength training tones your muscles, cardio keeps your heart healthy. If you only do cardio, you run the risk of losing muscle. Here’s a free tip: get the most out of your workout by starting with your strength training and ending with your cardio.

 

Skipping out on a plan. Without a goal, it’s hard to stay committed. Set specific goals for yourself and find a plan to get you there. A trainer can help create a custom plan, or there are thousands of great online resources you can find online. Keeping track of your progress is a great motivation-booster.

Never learning proper form. There are right and wrong ways to perform exercises, and the difference is often a fairly small adjustment. One consequence of doing an exercise wrong is it won’t be nearly as effective in helping you see results. A second and more serious consequence is the potential of a serious injury. If you’ve never been taught, there’s no shame in taking the awesome body to show for all your hard work.

Failing to create habits. Ultimately, it’s all about changing your lifestyle to be a healthier person. If you’re exercising (or dieting, for that matter) solely for the purpose of losing weight, you’re not setting yourself up for the long haul. What you really need to focus on is making better choices for your overall health. This long-term goal means you’ll stick with it even once the weight comes off so you can keep it off.

Taking on the challenge of a new exercise routine can be daunting, but you can do it. Just remember, the old saying is true that practice makes perfect. And following this cheat-sheet of beginner workout mistakes to avoid will help you be a pro in no time.

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