With all the talk about obesity, you may be wondering what your
child should actually weigh. While adults can use the Body Mass
Index to determine their ideal weight, the scale for children is
different. It's based on percentages.
If your child weighs more than children in the 95th percentile, he
or she is considered overweight. Above the 85th percentile and
your child is considered to be at risk of becoming overweight.
You can see the growth charts for boys and girls age 2-20 by going
to www.cdc.gov/growthcharts.
It's important to remember that this is just a general guideline.
You shouldn't become too obsessed with making your child's weight
fit into a specific category. Instead, worry about his or her
overall health.
If your child is approaching the 85th percentile, you'll want to
look at your family's lifestyle and see where you can make
improvements. You should also talk to your pediatrician before you
make the determination that your child is overweight.
It's important to help your child maintain a healthy weight because
that will contribute to a healthy adult weight. However, it's also
important that you take things in moderation. Constantly weighing
your child and becoming fanatical about keeping his weight on
target can do more harm than good.
Use your common sense to monitor your child's weight. Help your
child to have a healthy lifestyle by providing her with a
nutritious diet and plenty of opportunities to exercise. It's also
critical for you to be a good role model.
You can't expect for your child to change her lifestyle while you
keep the same unhealthy one. When you work to keep the whole
family healthy, your child will be more likely to have a healthy
weight.
Rachel at YAYFood gives lots of tips on how to change our lifestyle and that it not just about us but also our childred. Visit her site here: http://www.YAYFood.com/
If you're like most people, you love to pour rich, creamy dressing
all over the vegetables in your salad. And while you may think
you're eating healthier because you're eating your veggies, the
salad dressing may be weighing you down more than you realize.
Salad dressings, while tasty, are often full of fat and calories
that you don't need when you're trying to slim down and get
healthy. But there are alternatives that are healthier for your
body yet still delicious.
One option is to mix olive oil or flaxseed oil with red wine or
balsamic vinegar. You need one part oil to one part vinegar. You
may also want to salt and pepper it before shaking to mix the two
ingredients together.
While olive oil and flaxseed oil have fat and calories, they are a
healthy source of fat that your body needs. In fact, flaxseed oil
is used by so many organs of your body that it's almost impossible
for it to be converted into fat cells.
Another way to dress up your salad without adding extra fat is to
squeeze a little lemon juice on your salad. It gives it a tart
sweetness that many dieters enjoy.
You can also choose bottled dressings that are vinaigrette style
and have fewer calories and fat grams. However, steer clear of
low-fat and non-fat dressings. While they may be lower in fat,
they often have just as many (if not more) calories. Why? Because
to replace the flavor from fat, dressing manufacturers often load
the bottle with sugar!
Finally, if you simply can't go without your favorite salad
dressing, you can try a method of eating it that won't add as many
fat grams to your day. Instead of pouring dressing all over your
salad, put the dressing on the side.
Dip the tines of your fork in the dressing before putting the
veggies on it. You'll get a little dressing with each bite, but
you won't use nearly the same amount as if you pour it all over the
salad. In fact, you'll be surprised at the great flavor and the
small amount of dressing you actually need to feel satisfied.
These tips are provided by Rachel, The owner of YAYFood, visit her at: http://www.yayfood.com/
You've probably heard a lot about the importance of exercise for
your child. But you may be wondering how to help your child
exercise when you're competing with the TV and video games that he
loves so much.
You can make exercise fun for your child. Here are a few simple
ideas to get you started:
Play Games. While you may be used to the idea of structured
exercise, kids don't need to hit the gym. Instead, try playing
games with your kids that will allow them to get their heart rates
up and their muscles moving.
Playing Frisbee, basketball, soccer, tag, duck duck goose, or ring
around the rosy can be just as effective as a structured workout
would be. Even better, your kids won't know they're exercising.
They'll just be having fun.
Encourage Outdoor Play. When your kids play outside, they'll
naturally exert more energy. You may be able to allow your child
to play in the backyard or in the neighborhood.
If this isn't an option for you, make it a point to take your child
to the local park. It can be even more fun if you allow your child
to bring a friend or two. Water play can also be a great way to get
physical activity into your child's day.
If you have a swimming pool available, encourage your child to go
swimming (supervised, of course). If a pool isn't available, try
turning on the sprinkler in the yard and letting your child run
around in it.
Active Video Games. Some video game manufacturers are working to
help kids get off the couch and on their feet. Games like Dance
Dance Revolution encourage your child to move while having fun at
the same time.
While it's important for your child to get daily activity, it's
also important that you help your child develop lifelong habits.
When you help your child to understand that exercise can be fun,
you'll encourage him to keep doing it.
Rachel over at YAYFood gives lots of down to earth tips, not only for you but your entire family. I suggest that you pay her a visit over at YAYFood
In today's world, unhealthy drinks can be found everywhere you
look. From sodas full of sugar and preservatives to fruit drinks
that aren't really made of fruit, there are a lot of unhealthy
choices.
But it's critical that you make sure that you make healthy choices
in drinks. Not only do these unhealthy beverages lack vitamins
that you need, they can also cause problems with growth and
development.
So what are good choices? It's time to get back to basics.
Water. The absolute best beverage for you to drink is water.
Water is essential to the function of every part of the body.
Sadly, most people who eat the Western diet are dehydrated much of
the time.
Having plenty of fresh water available is one way to make sure you
have the option to drink this healthy liquid. If you don't like
the taste of plain water, you can try squeezing some lemon juice or
limejuice into the water to give it flavor. Serving water very
cold also can make it more favorable.
While there are plenty of flavored waters on the market, many of
them are flavored with artificial sweeteners. While this doesn't
cause them to be higher in calorie, artificial sweeteners may not
be the best things for your body. Try to stick to plain water as
much as possible.
Juice. Many people worry that they will be drinking too many
calories if they drink fruit juice. Some recent research shows
that drinking juice, even in large amounts, doesn't cause you to
become obese later in life.
While you should get most of your hydration from water, it's okay
to have a few servings of fruit juice every day. However, make
sure that you're drinking 100% juice. Many beverages claim to be
fruit drinks, but have as little as 2% actual fruit juice and are
filled with sugar and corn syrup instead.
This and thousands of more great tips could be found in the members area at YAYFood, I understand that Rachel, the owner, have lowered the fee from $19.95 to $1! Yes! 1 Dollar!
One of the toughest things about dieting is choosing snacks that
both satisfy you and keep your calories under control. This is
especially true if you're used to snacking on potato chips and
candy bars. But you don't have to go it on your own. Here are
some ideas for snacks that can help you curb those cravings.
- Air-popped or 94% fat free popcorn
- A handful of pistachio nuts or almonds
- Carrot sticks with a small amount of your favorite dip or dressing
- A small amount of dark chocolate - it will satisfy your chocolate
craving and it's healthy too!
- Yogurt
- A piece of fruit
- A spoonful of peanut butter
- A small bowl of whole-grain cereal
- A protein shake
- A tablespoon of raisins or other dried fruit
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are some
guidelines you can follow when selecting snacks. Try to stay away
from foods that are high in sugar or salt. These foods can cause
you to crave more foods and retain water.
For example, it's better to have a handful of nuts than a granola
bar. Most granola bars are low in fat, but they have a lot of
added sugar that you don't need.
Also make sure that you keep your body hydrated. Hunger and thirst
often feel the same. If you feel a little hungry, try drinking a
glass of water and then wait a few minutes. You may find that you
don't really need a snack after all.
Combine these tips with Calorie Cycling and you are determined to lose fat!
The amount of calories that you consume on a daily basis will determine whether you gain or lose weight and this is one of the most important aspects of any weight loss program that you decide to go on.
Studies have been taken where overweight people believed they were eating no more food than other people they associated with who were considerably slimmer than them.
The overweight people were under the false impression that the reason why they were heavier and gaining weight was due to their body's metabolism.
When keeping a record of their food consumption over a specified period of time it was shown that they were actually consuming more calories and it had nothing to do with their metabolism but rather their choice of food and the quantities they were eating.
You only need to reduce your calorie intake by 100 calories per day to make a substantial effect on your weight over the period of the year.
This is a very manageable goal for almost everybody and it is not too difficult to cut back by that amount, however many of the weight loss programs are recommending considerably more reduction in calories making it very difficult to maintain and as a result of this many people are failing to achieve what they start out to do.
Now when you combine the fact that you only need to reduce calories by that much, with additional supplementation of vitamins and minerals that can help your overall health, you can see how you can stay nutritionally balanced throughout the whole weight loss process and not feel as though you are starving yourself.
For many people just knowing that the hurdle is not so great, and that there are suitable supplements to assist them, is enough to ensure that they can start and maintain a good weight loss program.
Hello and a warm welcome to my Fat Loss Blog. In here I'll try to post interesting articles and more. As you know by now I really like Calorie Shifting and a special training called Turbulence Training. They are both very effective and if you combine them together you are in for the ride of your life! Summer 2008 in thongs (if that is what you want....;-)
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