3 Easy Ways to Get Kids on the Right Path of Healthy Living!

Each year, kids become heavier and unhealthier, many kids are even dealing with health issues like Type 2 Diabetes and chronic knee and back pain. We can’t change the situation over night but there are things we can do to get kids moving and making fitness fun.
Here are just 3 ways that we can get kids moving and on the right track to fight obesity and avoid health issues.

Fighting Against Fat and for Fitness

3 Easy Ways to Get Kids on the Right Path of Healthy Living!

Each year, kids become heavier and unhealthier, many kids are even dealing with health issues like Type 2 Diabetes and chronic knee and back pain. We can’t change the situation over night but there are things we can do to get kids moving and making fitness fun.
Here are just 3 ways that we can get kids moving and on the right track to fight obesity and avoid health issues.

1) Make Learning an Activity
Forget sitting at a desk or staring at a computer – make games up to use for teaching tools. Try something like jumproping while saying the alphabet or practicing multiplication tables.

2)Make Play Time Fun Again
Earn outside play points, reward the family with hikes, biking and even fundraising events – lead by example showing kids that its a big active world if they just leave the couch!

3)Education of Parents and Kids
We have to find a way to teach parents and kids how to eat healthy and serve proper portions. I’m not sure how exactly you do that but if it could become common knowledge then so many of the health and weight issues for kids and adults will diminish.

These are just 3 of my suggestions for how to get kids moving and on the right track to fight obesity but What Do YOU Think? Make sure to leave comments or send me your suggestions -amy@withamymac.com .

WithAmyMac.com

Time to Build a Strong Back!

Do you do exercises for the upper and lower back? So many people struggle with back pain and so much of it is preventable with proper exercises and stretching. Everyone is always so busy working the abs that they rarely pay equal attention to the back. However, they should be treated equal because they each control a side of the body and have to work together so you want them both to be strong! Here are some exercises that will get you started in strengthening the back. And did I mention that proper posture will also make you look taller and thinner?!

Best Back Exercises: 

Reverse Crunch - The reverse crunch, or cobra, works to strengthen and stretch the upper back muscles.

Deadlift – Lower back pain plagues most people at some point in their lives. Doing this exercise to strengthen the lower back can save you lots of pain and pills in the future.

Bent over rows – A great way to work the back muscles, this move can be done by anyone at any level with any size weight – so no excuses!

Health and fitness tips and exercise videos at WithAmyMac.com 

Jermiko’s 20 Minute Burn Routine

** Guest Blog Post! **

If you are busy, not able to get up early morning or have no time for
gym just follow this 20 minute home work out to stay healthy and fit.

1) Jog : in one place for 3 minutes

2) Jumping jacks: 25 repeats
When landing, bend your knees slightly to reduce the impact on knee joints.

3) Crunches : 15 repeats
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands behind
your head with elbows pointing outwards. Support your neck with your
hands. Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine. Flex your
waist to raise the upper torso from the mat. Lower yourself until the
back of your shoulders touches the mat.
Muscle worked: rectus abdominis

4) Hip Bridges : 10 repeats
Lie on your back. With your hands at a 90 degree angle to the floor,
lift your body off the floor to form a straight line, a sort of a
bridge, from the shoulders to the knee. The position should resemble a
table … your hands and legs as the legs of the table and your upper
body to your knees as the surface. Hold this position for two seconds.
Squeeze your gluteus (butt muscles) and then lower yourself.
Muscle worked: Lower back, hamstrings and gluteus.

5) Step – up’s : 1 minute
You will need a stepper for this.
Muscle worked: hamstrings, gluteus, quards.

6) Reverse crunches: 15 repeats
Lie on your back with your hands on your sides. Keep you knees bent.
Bring your knees towards your head, till your hips come slightly off
the floor. Hold this position for a second, and then lower your knees.
Muscle worked: lower abs and obliques.

7) Mountain climbers : 1 minute
Get your hands and knees and raise your knees like a starting block
sprinter. Run in that position, supporting your upper body with the
palms of your hands. Keep your back straight.
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoid muscle, gluteus, quards, hamstrings, calves.

8) Push – ups : 15 repeats
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoids, pectorals.

9) Squat thrusts: 1 minute
Stand straight. Now, drop to a crouch position. Immediately thrust
your legs out straight behind on your toes, in push up position, now
jump to pull legs  back to the chest, in crouching position , then
stand up straight,
Muscle worked: arms, legs, chest, and lower back.

Cool down by walking around, till your heart rate starts getting back
to normal, stretch.

A minutes rest is needed in between exercise. Proper form is
important. Do not hold breath. Sip water during the workout. This
workout targets the whole body, improves cardiovascular efficiency and
tones and strengthens the body.

Jermiko Thomas is C.E.O. of JT Elite Health-Sports Fitness and Professional Football Player

EverydayBetter.com Online Personal Training System 

Smile Your Way to Healthy!

This post brought to you by CloSYS. All opinions are 100% mine.

No one wants to be the stinky kid! This is especially true when it comes to stinky breath! As a person that talks a lot, on camera and off, it’s one of those things that I’m always paranoid about. Ever since I was a teenager wearing braces and a retainer, I’ve been using CloSYS mouthwash to make sure the bacteria and the stink are not something I have to worry about!

Most people don’t even realize that having healthy habits are as simple as your dental hygiene. Did you know that the state of cleanliness and health of your mouth has actually been linked to cardiovascular issues? I’m not saying that brushing and flossing will prevent a heart attack but it’s a simple step to eliminate bacteria and infection and keep it from entering the bloodstream. What an easy win for your body!

Brushing, flossing and using mouthwash are things that we incorporate into our daily activities… well, most of those things – most of the time! When was the last time you flossed? Well, no fear, you can start today! And if you think mouthwash has to be that stinging, chemical tasting stuff that you swish around for a total of 4 seconds before spitting it out, then you are wrong! I’m excited to give you a quick pointer about CloSYS oral rinse. It eliminates 99.9% of harmful bacteria in 10 seconds, doesn’t sting, doesn’t have a terrible taste and it works!  I was recently sent a sample of their products and loved the toothpaste just as much as the rinse!

Even if you don’t have time to fit in the gym today, you can still do something healthy for yourself! I encourage you to give the CloSYS rinse and toothpaste a try and let me know what you think! Don’t forget to like CloSYS on Facebook too!

The Magic of Uncluttering!

It sounds strange but we hardly ever live in a place for more than a year which means we never have to worry about uncluttering and deep cleaning. Silly, but true. We have officially been in this house for 18 months and I literally can’t stand any of the drawers, closets, garage, etc. Nothing is where it’s suppose to be and why is there so much stuff?! Slowly we’ve started to attack rooms and once again put things in their homes and organize and clean everything. The pile of donation stuff is growing! It always amazes me how satisfying and calming life seems after taking the time to put everything in it’s place.

I’ve always had a habit of physically organizing something whenever my head was cluttered because it just makes everything seem more manageable.

Once again, after a kitchen revamp (I’m amazed!) and some simple cleaning (allergens have been killing me!) the place is looking and feeling better! After cleaning last night – I even slept through the night without waking up, coincidence?!

At the end of the day, I know things will get crazy again this week and I won’t be able to find anything and there will be dog hair tumbleweeds rolling down the hallway (Roomba is broken, again!!) and we’ll go yet another year without being the Container Store dream house but I try to focus on the joy and pride that we LIVE in every square inch of our home and love it.

WithAmyMac.com 

THE Diet Trend of the 2012 – Juicing!

It’s time to reveal THE Diet Trend of the 2012!

Juicing fruits and vegetables has been around for a long time- I’m sure you saw late night infomercials with Jack Lalanne and his juicer at some point. Well this year – it is the hot ticket to looking and feeling great so I tried it!

The benefits of juicing as opposed to eating lots of fruits and vegetables is that:

1) when the juice is broken down, your body can start absorbing the nutrients almost immediately
2) you use a lot of veggies to make a glass of juice – its possible to put 2 lbs into a glass of juice! not even i would eat that much otherwise
3) because juice doesn’t have to be processed or broken down by the body, your body gets to heal and cleanse itself – think of it as a reset for all ofyour systems.

Now we did a 5 day all juice only diet and it was tough because we wanted to eat. We weren’t hungry or weak or confused, we just wanted to chew! After those 5 days, we decided to keep drinking juice but add small meals back into our diets.  It allowed us to cut calories and processed foods and also gave us tons of energy from all the nutrients. Even if you don’t go extreme, you can still make smoothies in the blender or add juices to your day.  It takes a bit of prep work, but in the end, the benefits made this dieting fad a keeper!

Here’s a quick recipe to get you started: amazing fresh lemonade

3 apples, 2 carrots, 1 lemon (taste will vary on vegetable sizes)

This is our juicer and we love it. It does exactly what we need it to do and it’s under $100!

Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain

Cost Per Pound

Ever wonder exactly how much money being overweight costs an individual?

When people think about losing weight, they associate is with how they want to look. On occasion, people lose weight for health reasons but it’s rare that I meet people that want to lose weight to save money. As a matter of fact, people usually think that fitness is expensive with all of the equipment, clothing, organic foods and gym memberships. But for a minute, I’d like to pose an argument focused purely on the bottom line.

From GetRichSlowly.org:

The high price of a high BMI
After tabulating various costs associated with being overweight or obese, the researchers found that being an obese individual in the U.S. costs $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men each year. The overall annual costs of being overweight are $524 for women and $432 for men. The researchers defined “obesity” as a body mass index (BMI) higher than 30, and “overweight” as a BMI between 25–29.

Adding the value of lost life to these yearly costs makes the price tag even higher: $8,365 and $6,518 for women and men, respectively.

If you are overweight and unhealthy, then you spend more money on that problem than you ever would to solve it.

To fix it, you just have to rearrange your priorities. Healthy people spend their money at the grocery store and restaurants for nutrient-dense, rewarding foods. They spend money on the gym, active vacations, vitamins and wellness visits to the Dr.

Unhealthy people spend their money on medications of illnesses for physical and emotional issues, doctors appointments, buying larger clothes, buying 2 seats on an airplane and even in lost wages for missing excessive amounts of work.

This might seem extreme but it’s really quite true. Fast food, even the dollar menu costs money. Cars and airplanes use more fuel because of obesity. Simple household items like body wash and laundry detergent don’t stretch as far and even the simple over-the-counter medications for poor sleep, headaches and sore backs all add up to emptying your wallet.

When it comes down to it, people complain about money but if it really were the factor people were concerned about, there wouldn’t be any frivolous spending on fast cars, cigarettes, martinis or fancy dinners. Nonetheless, if you are overweight, then you are costing yourself money and it’s just another reason to start taking steps toward a healthier life.

Fit Link:

• The Financial Cost of Obesity

EverydayBetter.com 

Benefits of Your Workout

It’s officially spring but the summer weather has seemingly moved in, which is awesome and a little unsettling. All week I kept talking about how I thought we should do a family bike ride over the weekend. We’d hit the greenways in the sunshine and have fun while enjoying the weather and getting some exercise. However, yesterday, when I told Chris to take his new bike out on his own, he was confused. He set out and I went to the gym to use the boring elliptical machine and made Nik do some laps. I didn’t skip the family bike ride because I didn’t want to go, I  skipped it because I knew that Chris needed to go out and really hit the pavement. He’s been so busy that he just hasn’t had the time to workout. It was more important for me and I think to him, to get in some think time and really feel great about his workout.

Why am I telling you this story? I’m using it as an example for knowing and anticipating what people really need out of their workout. This is something that I do instinctively after years as a trainer. A little family bike ride instead of watching a movie is almost always a great thing. But sometimes, everyone going out on their own and really pushing themselves is really what they need. Chris did 11 miles in 40 minutes on the bike, Nik did a few hundred meters in the pool and I was able to do 25 minutes of cardio for the first time in a few weeks. I’m even a bit sore today – feels great to be back! :)

Working out isn’t always about the calorie burn but instead about the mental and emotional benefits that exercise and working out can provide as well.

Time for Sexy Shoulders!

When it’s time for strapless shirts and dresses, ladies, the secret to pulling them off is sexy shoulders! Women tend to shy away from working their shoulders because they don’t want to bulk up but that’s just not the case. So roll your shoulders back and take a look at my 3 top shoulder exercises.

Sexy Shoulders Exercises:

• Standard shoulder press
• Modified side raises
• Arnold press

All of these shoulder exercises are excellent for men as well so don’t think I’m only talking to the ladies out there! Strapless shirts or just rocking the tshirt, sexy shoulders are in!

WithAmyMac.com