Bert and Ernie Are Speaking "Healthy!"

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muffitMarilynn Marchione in an Associated Press article on January 24, 2014 shared that Bert and Ernie jump rope and munch apples and carrots, and Cookie Monster has his namesake treat once a week, not every day. Can a Muppets mini-makeover improve kids’ health, too?

A three-year experiment in South America suggests it can. Now, the Sesame Street project is coming to the United States.

Already, a test run in a New York City preschool has seen results: Four-year-old Jahmeice Strowder got her mom to make cauliflower for the first time in her life. A classmate, Bryson Payne, bugged his dad for a banana every morning and more salads. A parent brought home a loaf of bread instead of Doritos. Read more

How Are They Doing Pt 2? Latest Update on Our Your Healthy Life Made Easy!™ Contest Winners

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It’s been a few weeks since we last checked in on our Your Healthy Life Made Easy!™ Contest Winners, so here’s an update on how they’re doing, and we have some great stuff to shout out!  For background on Cindy and Cheryl CLICK HERE

man with megaphone

Contest Winner Cindy Musiel broke through an important weight loss benchmark in early December-getting back down to a weight she hadn’t seen since 2009!  Since my last post on 12/3, Cindy is down another 14 pounds-21 since we started working together in early October and 69 since she started her overall weight loss journey in April 2013!

Cindy was a little frustrated when the scale refused to budge over the holidays despite her keeping her workouts up-only losing about half a pound-but as I tell all my weight loss coaching clients, if you can just maintain your weight over the holidays when most people gain weight, you’ve done an outstanding job!  And in her case, like it is for most people, it’s just temporary as sometimes the body just needs a chance to catch up.

Getting close to the end of the 4th month of our work together (out of 6), now Cindy is focusing on increasing the intensity of her workouts as she’s lighter and more fit, increasing the speed on the treadmill and elliptical, doing some HIIT (high intensity interval training) using work-at-home videos that she’s modifying for some prior injuries to make them right for her and keeping up the resistance training she added when she joined a gym in November.

Interestingly, Cindy was using an app that she felt was giving her too low a daily calorie target for all the activity she was doing, and when I reviewed her records I agreed.  So we actually had to adjust her consumption upwards to give her the proper amount of fuel to support all her activity.  And the pounds are coming off steadily again.  Yes, sometimes when you’re trying to lose weight, you actually have to increase your calories to strike a proper balance.

Contest Runner-Up Cheryl Behrens finished her 3 months of coaching with me earlier this month, and dropped a major surprise announcement on me during her final session. As you recall, while Cheryl had come to enter the contest for weight loss reasons, when we got to talking, she really wanted to focus on getting more energy, organization and a regular, healthy eating pattern into her life, reducing stress, get more work-life balance and maintaining her ability to do all the activities that she wants to in life as she gets older.  So we put the weight loss aside…or so I thought.

By the end of our time together, Cheryl did achieve all that and more.  She’s been feeling way less stressed, more positive as life’s challenges come her way, achieved greater work-life balance all on increased energy.  Cheryl has learned to not try to take on too much at one time and scatter her focus, as well as to be creative in organization of her time and space so she feels more in control of her world-something we can all aspire to do.

She’s taken new measures based on ideas we’ve brainstormed together to ensure she eats regularly and healthfully even if she doesn’t want to cook for herself.  And when it’s not snowing too badly and doesn’t feel like Siberia out (or CHIberia as my husband has been calling it), she gets to the gym.

So the BIG surprise from Cheryl, was that without even trying, by addressing all the other aspects of her health and wellness she wanted to work on together, she sneakily LOST 10 POUNDS during our 3 months together!  She had told me that she wanted to surprise me with this happy, unexpected change, and she sure did!

It goes to show you that like I always believe, weight loss and weight management are intertwined with all other areas of wellness-nutrition, fitness, stress reduction, work-life balance and life satisfaction.  Needing to lose weight is usually a sign that something else in your life is off, and until you get to what’s really getting in the way of being the happiest and healthiest you, it’s going to be a struggle to get to where you want to go.  But once you do, it’s not as hard as you think to lose weight and keep it off for good.

I learned this lesson myself through my own weight loss journey that led to a 48-pound weight loss I’ve kept off for 4 years now, and I’m privileged that as a Certified Health and Wellness Coach, I get to spend my days helping people like Cheryl and Cindy make their healthy lives easy and break down these barriers every single day 🙂

 

Copyright 2014 SunLover Publishing LLC

Exercise Can Make You Feel Better!

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Emily Main for Rodale News  reports that exercise  helps you live longer, lose weight, and gain a stronger heart. It can help you cope with stress and depression and boost your self-esteem.  If you’re sick of being sick, try adding in some exercise!  Here are some ways to get started:

1. Anxiety
There’s the day-to-day anxiety we all suffer from, worries over work, money, and family issues. (Sometimes it even creeps up on you-learn to tune in to your body’s cues in 13 Silent Signals You’re Stressed.) Then there is chronic clinical anxiety that can stem from other mental health issues like depression. Exercise can be helpful for both, since it releases feel-good endorphins and provides an immediate mood lift. And people who exercise are 25 percent less likely to develop anxiety than people who don’t, research has shown.

Best exercises: For chronic anxiety sufferers, meditative exercises that focus on breathing, such as yoga, are best, as they work to calm a nervous system that’s on overdrive. (Are you breathing the right way? Click here to find out.) For general day-to-day anxiety, any regular exercise is fine, although the higher the intensity, the better.  Read more

New Year - New Exercise Ideas

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Jenny Sugar posted at POPSUGAR  that if f you’ve been doing the sam strength-training workout forever, it might be time for some new ideas. She suggests choosing an entirely different routine to do each time you hit the gym, or picking a new exercise to add to your existing routine. Here are some links to check out:

Five common exercise mistakes to avoid

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Joshua Steckler, owner of Push Fitness, a personal training studio located in Schaumburg shared the following information in a article posted in the Daily Herald Newspaper on December 30, 2013:

Thinking of hitting the gym in search of a healthier body in January? If your workouts include strength training, and they should, don’t make these common mistakes that many times cause unnecessary injury and hinder results. Read more

Rise In Obesity Leading To An Increase In Knee Replacements

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Knee replacement surgery (also known as knee arthroplasty), where the joint is literally removed and replaced with an artificial one, was once thought of as an older person’s surgery or for those with sporting injuries.  But the trend towards people under the age of 65 being referred is on the up, and new research has now pinpointed rising levels of obesity as the culprit.

The study, carried out by The University of Massachusetts Medical School, looked at 9,000 knee replacement patients and found that 55% of patients in the under 65 age group were obese, compared with 43% in the group who were 65 or older.  And of the patients in the under 65 years age group, 11% were classified as severely (morbidly) obese, compared to 5% in the older age group.  Read more

Five More Years - YEAH!

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Five years ago, National Dairy Council and America’s dairy farmers teamed up with the National Football League and other powerful partners to empower kids to make their schools a healthier place. Since then, Fuel Up to Play 60 has reached over 38 million kids in 73,000 schools, encouraging them to choose good-for-you foods and get 60 minutes of play a day.

 The NDC and NFL, along with GENYOUth Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education are proud to announce a renewed $250 million public-private partnership to benefit America’s youth.

A celebration of the program’s success and commitment to its future kicked-off in bright lights with a halftime vignette during the Jacksonville Jaguars game on NFL Network and continues with the founders of Fuel Up to Play 60 coming together in Chicago onMonday, December 9 for the formal announcement.

Glenbard District 87 has joined FUTP60 and has received over $16,000 in grants.  Hopefully their Elementary Feeder School Districts will also start to explore the advantages of being part of this fantastic opportunity.

Meet The League of Illinois Bicyclists (LIB)

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The League of Illinois Bicyclists is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving bicycling conditions in Illinois. They are the statewide advocate for all Illinois bicyclists, promoting bicycle access, education, and safety. Their vision is :  “Illinois – Land of Safe and Enjoyable Bicycling for all.” 

In addition to great information about biking, their website provides  helpful quizzes for Adult Bicyclists, Motorists, and Child Bicyclists at www.bikesafetyquiz.com

The League of Illinois Bicyclists has also developed bike safety sheets focusing on safe riding skills. The single-page format can easily be reprinted in newsletters, copied for bike rodeos, etc. There are two versions: one for younger elementary school kids (Grades K-3), one for older elementary and pre-teens (Grades 3-7).  The back of each has further details for parents.

The sheets may be downloaded and printed for your use.  Limited quantities of printed copies are also available from LIB (630-978-0583).  To print a copy go to: http://www.bikelib.org/safety-education/kids/bike-safety-sheet/League of Illinois Bicycls

How Are They Doing? Update on Our Your Healthy Life Made Easy!™ Contest Winners

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It’s been a little bit since Healthy Lombard Partner and Certified Health and Wellness Coach Melanie Jordan started working with the winner and runner-up of The Greater Lombard Area Weight Loss Transformation Contest, so let’s see how they’ve been doing!  For background on Cindy and Cheryl CLICK HERE

Our Winner, Cindy Musiel is what Coach Melanie calls “an absolute rockstar!”  As of 11/25-her last weigh-in, she’s lost seven more pounds. Cindy also smartly planned for the Winter weather by joining a gym and taking her workouts indoors, added water aerobics, and is now strength training and doing Zumba®-new experiences for her.

Another new achievement for Cindy was walking her first-ever 5K (The Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot in Elmhurst) to kick off her Thanksgiving celebration. Now she’s eager to do another one!

For runner-up, Cheryl Behrens, she’s decided to focus more on stress reduction and feeling more energized with Coach Melanie.  So together, they’ve been working on time management, getting more organized and being more in control of situations where it’s possible.  Cheryl has been making great strides in these areas, and is already reporting improved energy, feeling better and being more active.

Way to go Cindy and Cheryl!

Don’t Let the Holidays Derail Your Healthy Lifestyle

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November is a great time of the year, with the leaves changing and our attention turning to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. This month is also National PTAs Healthy Lifestyles Month – a time when PTAs are encouraged to celebrate health and wellness in their schools and communities.

In their new brief, the PTA shared that many folks may think: “How can I possibly think about promoting healthy eating and physical activity during a time of year that brings families together to eat lots of delicious food, watch football, and stay warm and cozy inside?” Families may think: “It’s simply not possible to eat healthy or have time to exercise until after the New Year.” And, everyone may think: “Healthy food tastes bad and exercising is too hard.”