My Struggles with My Body and My Self-Image

I have a confession to make…I absolutely hate to have my picture taken. So I will avoid it at all costs. In fact, every time I am tagged in a photo on Facebook, I immediately untag it. I don’t appreciate being put out there without permission. Okay, that’s not really what it’s all about. It is my inability to accept my body image. Because of my extreme disliking to having my photo taken, I have bypassed two opportunities in the past several years for my family to receive a free 8×10 portrait, compliments of the church I attend. You see, … Continue reading →

Benefits of Exercise When Pregnant

With three teenagers, having a baby is the last thing on my mind. But with so many women I know around me carrying a child, I was thinking about how differently I might have felt nearly 18, 15 and 13 years ago when I was pregnant if I had been more active. Exercise may be the last thing on earth you feel like doing when you are pregnant. You may be dealing with nausea and a lack of energy. You may feel big as a house. But many of the aches and pains that come along with pregnancy could be … Continue reading →

Zumba Is Coming to the Video Game World

I keep hearing about the latest fitness craze, Zumba. In fact, I have a few Facebook friends who will post status updates about how much fun they had in their Zumba class. One status yesterday read, “My Zumba class got canceled,” followed with a sad face. If you’re wondering what Zumba is, it is a dance fitness program with some Latin flair. If that doesn’t sound like fun in itself, then I don’t know what more you want. But I’m always up for a little funk. And since it is dance fitness, it burns a lot of calories. Zumba classes … Continue reading →

The 10-Year-Old with Six-Pack Abs

Have you heard about the 10-year-old boy with six-pack abs? You can see his picture and read more about him at ABC News. Personally, I’m not impressed. In fact, I am a little put off by the whole thing. First of all, does a 10-year-old really need to have six-pack abs? Can we just be a normal, healthy 10-year-old? Second, isn’t it sort of exploiting him with producing workout DVD’s? I mean, I totally understand the intent is probably to motivate other children to get healthy but this seems a bit extreme to me. I also find it odd that … Continue reading →

Family Fitness with Your Preteens and Teens

In this blog I am going to be talking about family fitness with your preteens and teens. This is definitely a whole new ball game, since engaging with this age group can be more of a challenge. The reality is that preteens and teens would rather be hanging out with their friends, but don’t take it personally. We just have to really instill in our children the importance of maintaining good family relations and spending time together. What better way to do this than bringing in some type of exercise? You don’t even have to tell your children that this … Continue reading →

Family Fitness with Your 5 to 10 Year Old

In my last blog I talked about family fitness with your toddler. In this blog I am going to be talking about family fitness with your 5 to 10 year old. This age range allows for a lot of fun opportunities. While you can enjoy a lot of the more common physical activities with this age group (playing catch, soccer, walking, etc.), you can also come up with some really creative ideas for incorporating exercise. One idea is to go on a scavenger hunt. Now this might not sound like a way to incorporate fitness but that’s what makes it … Continue reading →

Family Fitness With Your Toddler

If we want to prevent future health problems in our children, then we need to be encouraging fitness while they are young. If they start off life with exercise and healthy eating, they are more likely to continue it into their adult years. So I am going to be writing a series on how you can incorporate family fitness into your home. And believe it or not, it starts with your toddlers. Once children start walking, they have the opportunity to begin a healthy lifestyle. That means allowing your child to walk, not always confining them to a stroller. If … Continue reading →

My Favorite Fitness App

There is one application that I simply love for keeping track of my outdoor workouts. It is called iMapMyRun. This has been a really helpful tool in my quest to live a healthy lifestyle. IMapMyRun is an excellent choice if you do a lot of walking, running, or biking (road or mountain). You have an option of recording a workout you are about to do or logging a workout you have already done. Recording a workout is a great to see your distance, elevation and a map of what you did. The program uses GPS signals to record these features. … Continue reading →

Community College Workout Classes

If you’ve read some of my blogs, you will notice that I am a big fan of taking workout classes at community colleges. While my spinning (indoor cycling) class comes to an end tomorrow, I was thinking about how I really enjoy taking classes at my community college. Price If an organized class is your thing, then your best options when on a budget are community and college classes. My local college was $50 for one class spring quarter. With quarter being twelve weeks and the class was twice a week, making each class just a few dollars. What is … Continue reading →

Should Children Lift Weights?

Last year about this time I attended my first preseason football meeting for my son who was going into 6th grade at the time. I had no idea what to expect and how much work it would be for him. The meeting covered more than just practice times and how to get your uniform. It also included information on the importance of nutrition and what the boys should be eating. They also talked about exercise and stressed that the middle school students would not be utilizing the workout room, which was reserved for high school football players. One of the … Continue reading →