Health and Nutrition for Children and Teens

  I have started a video series for children called the Good Grub Club, where they can learn how to eat properly and get some exercise. They will also learn how to prepare easy delicious snacks as an alternative to the fattening snacks that they are eating. Today, about 12.5 million teens are obese because of overeating, the quality of the food they are eating,  and the sedentary lifestyles brought on because of the use of computers.  As a result, teens are developing high blood pressure, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol, which were once problems afflicting adults only. The incidence of obesity among teens is so severe that Surgeon General Richard Carmona has issued the following statement: “Because of the increasing rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity, we may see the first generation that will be less, healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.” The goal of this video series is to establish communication with the children and encourage them to learn how to take responsibility for their health and make better choices about their lifestyles.  By doing so, they will be able to lose weight and feel more energetic.  I encourage you to direct your friends and family to the link to the video on You Tube.

Exercise for Fun

 

If you have been watching what you eat or dieting to lose those extra pounds, it is important to get enough exercise to tone the muscles, especially after lose a significant amount of weight.  Maintaining the weight is a new life cycle and we will find ourselves making changes to accommodate our schedules and our new commitment to a healthier lifestyle.

A decision has to be made about how we will spend our days in vigorous exercise.  Some may prefer working out at a fitness center.  Here we can get individualized training on the proper way to exercise so as not to cause injury to our bodies. 

There is a new kind of fitness regime called the High Intensity Interval Training which involves spreading out the exercise time to ten minutes of vigorous exercise throughout the day.  Doctors have certified that this routine is as effective as spending longer periods of exercise.  This is ideal for those who are strapped for time.

Some may prefer bike riding in place of a fitness program at a gym.  If so, there are many bikes on the market that can be folded and placed in the trunk of a car.  This facilitates keeping to the exercise routine while on trips.   For some, a long bike ride could be very invigorating and relaxing as well.   The bike enthusiast can now take his/her bicycle wherever they go.

If you are more gymnastics oriented, you can purchase a mini trampoline and burn as much as 160 calories in twenty minutes!   That’s a great workout that even your children can enjoy.  It is important to practice good safety while working out.  Have an adult supervise the children and do not attempt the more advanced moves without a trainer or someone to spot you.

As you decide how you are going to spend your time, it is important to remember the benefits of vigorous exercise:

1.  It helps you to avoid major health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and cancer,
2. It will help you to sleep better,
3. It will help you to reduce stress,
4. It will slow down the aging process,
5. It will help you to lose weight.

Cure for Diabetes?

Someone posted this article and photo on Facebook about okra being a cure for diabetes. As it is such a troublesome disease, I decided to research whether or not this is true.

Out of all the vegetables in the world, why would okra be the one to offer a cure for diabetes?  I am not a fan of okra.  It does not sound good, nor does it smell good when cooking. My family did not eat okra, as my mother never cooked it for us.  It was not until I visited the family of a friend in the back hills of Alabama, that I learned what okra was.

It is a vegetable which has its origin in Africa and grows primarily in the southern United States.  It is also known as “gumbo” and is a member of the Hibiscus family.  It is high in Vitamin A, stabilizes blood sugar, and binds cholesterol and toxins in the large intestine.  If used over several months, it has been known to cure some of diabetes.

Whether or not you believe it, it is worth a try!

 

Importance of Good Nutrition

Healthy exercise.

Losing weight is not easy.  It takes discipline to adapt to a new lifestyle of eating.  We know what our weaknesses are in terms of food and lifestyle, if we have been coached properly.  But it does involve many factors and an understanding of the bad habits and choices we made in getting to the point where we were unhealthy  Once we learn about making better choices, then we have to change.

The better choices include choosing the right foods, ridding the body of toxins, nutritional supplements, exercise, and following spiritual beliefs to strengthen the mind.  I used Herbalife to get the right nutrients in the body.  Initially, I was having a problem with poor digestion which caused me to vomit frequently.  After using the Herbal Aloe Juice, the vomiting stopped.  I also lost weight by using the protein shake, which also gave me the nutrients I needed in my diet, and drank more water.

Food was one of the temptations of Jesus, and he was the only one who could resist the temptation.  If you remember the story in the Bible, Jesus went into the desert for forty days and forty nights to fast.  The devil told him to turn stones into bread so that he could eat, but he refused, because he had made a commitment to fast for forty days, (Matthew 4:3).   So many of us break our diets, including myself, because someone offers us a meal which we once ate, but gave up, in an effort to become more healthy.  I was finally able to resist the temptation to eat red meat after the first six months that I stopped eating it over 20 years ago.  It is times like this that we need strength from Jesus to help us to resist the temptation.  If we turn to him, he will hep us to find a way out so that we do not succumb to unwise behavior,  (I Corinthians 10:13).   So the next time someone offers something that we should not be eating, recognize that it is from the devil.

I found a video of a sermon by Pastor Bobby Scales, who has been following good habits of diet and exercise for over twenty years.  He gave a sermon about the effects of insulin on the body.  It is rather long, but well worth watching.  It is not impossible to change our lifestyles, but it is necessary if we want a long life.

Amazing Weight Loss

Recently, I met six people who lost over one hundred pounds and it brought me to tears.  I cannot imagine losing that much weight.   It must have been incredibly hard work.  Some still have more pounds to lose.  I am impressed that they were able to set goals and achieve them.  I spoke to one woman today who told me she lost one hundred sixty pounds in the last two years through diet and exercise.  She works out regularly and replenished her body with Herbalife nutritional products and supplements.  She looks really great!   to the sagging that occurs in the arms after losing as much weight as she has, she really worked on them to make the muscles more defined.  She proudly showed me her arms – they were very toned!

For one week, I have been watching this woman come into the nutrition club where I have been working, and I would have never known that she ever carried so much weight.  None has  impressed me more than her.  She actually uses the products that weight lifters and sports players would used to stay fit.  But, it helps to have the support of others who are trying to achieve the same goals.  This way, anyone trying to lose weight can stay focused on the goal and would not be undermined by someone who is not supportive of what they are trying to do.

 

 

The Choice to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy and abundant living begins with good food choices.

It has been years since my diet underwent a radical change.  It took months to adjust to eating a more healthy diet.  I changed it because of the many relatives that I witnessed dying prematurely because of not eating healthy food.  I am glad that I did.  It was not easy having to answer to so many people who believed I was doing the wrong thing, people who chose to eat whatever they liked, regardless of how it made them feel.

Initially, I lost weight, although, that was not my goal.  I felt more energetic.  I was eating organically grown food.  It was expensive, but I shopped at a healthfood store for several years.  I tried new recipes and finally acquired a taste for the vegetables, fruits and grains which I added to my diet, eliminating red meats.  I still crave vegetables, I am happy to say.  But, maintaining this lifestyle has been a choice for me, because I choose to live.  I feel I have a lot to share with others.  I would not be able to influence others unless I was exhibiting wise lifesyle choices.  For me, it has been spiritual and physical.  The two seemed to go hand in hand, which I thought was interesting.

So, it has been over twenty years that I have been eating this way.  Oh, yes, I made mistakes along the way, but I feel better overall.  I created this blog so that I can share what I have learned about weight loss.  Come back for the next posting in which I will discuss weight loss.