Don’t you know the feeling you have when you get to do a little yoga or meditation before you start the work day? Why not carry that same euphoric feeling over to the kids? Shouldn’t they be able to enjoy starting the day with a nice, calm, relaxed energy?
Introduce some quick yoga, or mild stretching, as part of your kids’ morning routine! There are yoga options for kids of all ages to try before they head to school each morning, and the results will be positive from their mood to their energy, and even focus and grades!
Elementary age kids are the most energetic, if you can get them up and out of bed that is! Wake them up to a few rounds of cat/cow, then have them hold downward dog for a few seconds. Repeat this cycle 2-3 times. This is sure to wake them up! Have them make the corresponding animal sounds for each move. It helps with breath control, engages the mind, and it’s just plain fun! (more…)
The impending autumn means one thing and one thing only for many people – the kickoff of football season. Millions will sit on bleachers and couches to watch the football players play their sport, cheering on their athleticism and strength.
But what about the dedicated athletes on the sidelines? Few people recognize it, and it’s been a point of contention for years, but the cheerleaders supporting the team are working just as hard as the players on the field.
“Football has historically been viewed as a very ‘manly sport,'” remarked our guest editor Dempsey Marks, a fitness expert and yoga trainer who founded DepmseyFit.com, about what separates football and cheerleading in people’s minds. “The sport itself is associated with toughness, pain, and even violence. And primarily football is played by men. [The sport] glorifies aggressive behavior, which society associates with men and masculinity.”
“Cheerleading has evolved from simple movements and cheers to a highly athletic undertaking, which requires strength, coordination, agility, and skill,” she added. (more…)
The school year is fast-approaching for my little family, and may already be in session for yours. With this change of seasons comes the hustle of the morning routine.
Ugh.
Two different kids off to two different schools and a teenager who hates eating breakfast, unless its served after 11:00 a.m.
I know I can’t send him out the door with an empty belly or a Pop-Tart clutched in his fist, so I did a little research and I think I found a few tweaks we can make to our schedule, and compromise foods that will make us both happy.
Come on, Mom, just 5 more minutes.
As children get older their sleep patterns change. Teens fall asleep later so the snooze button (slash mom’s forgiveness) gets pushed to maximum capacity until finally there is no time for breakfast. To combat this, I’m instituting a decent school night bedtime and declaring that NO electronics will be allowed in his room past that time.
It’s assumed that kids will turn up their noses at whole-grain foods like oats, whole wheat bread, and brown rice if offered to them, but that may not be the case.
In another strike against “kid food,” a new study from the University of Florida indicates kids will eat whole grains if they’re offered. In fact, they’ll eat them in equal amounts to foods containing refined-grains, especially if they’re snack foods.
One of the authors of the study, Allyson Radford, said, “We tried to choose foods we thought kids would enjoy, such as cereal bars, macaroni and cheese and SunChips and found that they ate the ready-to-eat snack foods the most.”
“We were interested to see if they would eat the whole-grain foods as much as the refined-grain foods, and so we were pleasantly surprised that they would eat the same amount whether the food was whole or refined.” (more…)
Let’s eat cotton balls so we’ll feel full … to whom did this ever sound like a great idea?
Apparently it’s sounding better and better to young girls across the country who are gobbling up the newest trend in diets (read: eating disorders). Not exclusive to teens and tweens, it’s no surprise that models are swallowing this new take on eat-less-weigh-less, too.
It appears to work like this: Dip the cotton ball in your choice of beverage. In the video, lemonade, orange juice and a smoothie were shown being used as the lubricant to make these cotton balls more palatable. Some dieters do this before a meal, limiting the amount of real food they’re able to consume; other dieters consume the cotton balls exclusively.
Nothing good can come of doing this. Absolutely nothing.
Dr. Doug Nunamaker, a physican at the direct care practice Atlas, MD in Wichita, Kansas called it “pretty much one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard people trying in order to lose weight.” We are quite inclined to agree.
Followers of this absurd trend stand to lose more than just weight, as any level of extended use will bring on malnutrition, which has warning signs of anemia, diarrhea, hair loss, disorientation, loss of concentration, weakness, lack of energy, dried and cracking skin, and can even lead to organ failure and death in some cases. (more…)
Researchers at Recovery Record have announced the creation of the first mobile app designed to facilitate the management of eating disorders in real time. Patients and doctors connect through a secure app to co-manage care, monitor goals, track progression, and even communicate.
This comprehensive platform, out today and available for iPhone and iPad, is not intended to take the place of in-person therapy sessions, but doctors hope the new technology will appeal to their core patients, the gadget-centric group aged 12-25.
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, 10 in 100 young women will be diagnosed with an eating disorder this year. Many more will go undiagnosed because of the perceived stigma attached to sufferers and because some are simply too scared to ask for help. Those who battle anorexia nervosa or bulimia have the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition, yet only one in 10 sufferers receive treatment.
These are the shocking statistics that led researchers to create a better way to help patients feel more in control of their recovery, and also to convince those who have been suffering in silence to seek help.
An alarming new trend has come to light following the release of an article in the October issue of Pediatrics. According to researchers from the Mayo Clinic, teens who have a history of obesity of being overweight are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders as they undergo treatment for their weight problems.
The study looked at two cases where teens were brought to their doctors by concerned parents. Though the teens’ symptoms matched those of eating disorders, the doctors were hesitant to diagnose the teens with disordered eating. Instead, both were originally diagnosed with much rarer conditions. The study further states that this may have happened due to the fact that the teens were at healthy Body Mass Indices (BMI).
For those of you who don’t know, ONDerland is the seemingly mystical place of weighing in the one hundreds for all the contestants. Tonight was my night to hit that goal! Last week I weighed 201…
Another mystery… we walk into the gym and something isn’t right. Allison Sweeney is here and she always has a twist – Work Together. If we can collectively lose 70 pounds or more this week EVERYONE gets immunity!! Plus, THE KIDS ARE BACK!! Sunny, Lindsay and Biingo take on the fitness challenge again to help us lower our 70-pound goal to 60. They answered four of the five nutrition questions right and BLEW all five fitness tests out of the water. This reduced our weekly goal to 61 pounds!
The Challenge: we had to dig our way through several sand mounds to find pieces of a flagpole. We then had to assemble the flagpole and hoist it up at the end of the pier. We finished the challenge with only five seconds to spare – that gives us ten more pounds off our goal! Now, we only had to collectively lose 51 pounds. (more…)
Tonight brings episode 8 of the Biggest Loser Season 14, and we couldn’t be more excited. The kids are returning to the ranch for more one-on-one time with the trainers and the remaining contestants.
We had the pleasure of catching up with Biingo, Lindsay and Sunny today, and they were anything but kids to us with their grown-up perspectives and mature outlook on their Biggest Loser experience. Here’s what they had to say.
What was your biggest fear or worry before joining the show?
Biingo: I guess my biggest fear was just thinking about how hard it would be. But I was excited to experience it. I thought it would be hard to change my habits and exercise more.
How has your interaction with the trainers been?
Lindsay: In the beginning the exercising and dieting was really hard for me. I was never used to eating in small portions. I’d tell Dolvett, “No, I don’t want to eat in small portions. It’s too hard for me.” But now my body is used to exercising and eating healthy things like natural sugar instead of processed sugar.
Biingo: All the trainers are really great, honestly. They help me and the other kids a lot. Unfortunately, there is still the whole difference of us being in our homes and them being far away. (more…)
As American Idol kicked off its twelfth season, the judges rolled into Chicago to hear auditions. One contestant in particular got attention for her voice, but perhaps more for the struggles she had gone through just to be standing there. Mariah Pulice admitted to America that she was in the early stages of recovery from anorexia.
Anorexia is an eating disorder that affects nearly 24 million men and women in the United States, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders Inc. (ANAD). Pulice falls into the most common gender and age group to struggle with the disorder – teenaged females.
Pulice admitted on last Thursday’s episode that her struggles with eating began in junior high school, saying, “I felt a lot bigger than the other girls.” These feeling progressed and Pulice said by high school she recalled only eating a single slice of American cheese each day. For reference, that’s only about 100 calories and maybe five grams of protein. The fact that Pulice was telling this story was impressive, considering how dangerously she was treating her body. (more…)
A rising trend among teens is leaving both health experts and parents concerned. According to the 2024 Eating and Activity in Teens Study – a population-based analysis of diet, physical activity, and weight control behaviors among adolescents in Minnesota – teen boys and girls may be using protein shakes and other muscle-enhancing supplements to bulk up now more than ever.
As reported by Med Page Today, the self-reported study involved nearly 2,800 students with an average age of 14. Approximately 53% were female, 46% were male, and 60% played at least one after-school sport.
The study found that 35% of adolescents who participated admitted to using protein powders and shakes, 6% admitted to using steroids, and nearly 11% reported using some other muscle-enhancing supplement. In addition, it was found that boys were more likely to engage in both of these behaviors than girls.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis speculated why this trend has surfaced among young boys, especially considering body image issues are typically more common among girls.
“Boys’ body dissatisfaction has simultaneously increased, and research has demonstrated that exposure to images of extremely muscular models contributes to body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in young men,” they wrote. (more…)
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