New Lily
You are here: Home / 2012 / Archives for November 2012

Mom: Your Kids Love Your Squishy Hugs!

November 30, 2012 by 1 Comment

From Whitney:  The following is an important article for moms to read.  As someone who enjoys fitness and has an interest in it on many levels, I am more importantly a mom…which is why this article really hit home!  I think exercise and staying fit help to make me a better mom.  That being said, I also realize that we can put too much emphasis on fitness and it can interfere in our job as a mom.  I can say, however, that I haven’t ever truly thought of any of this from the eyes of my children.  Dr. Meg Meeker writes about how children do not see whether their mothers are fit, look good, or have a six pack…in fact they probably would rather they be a little on the “soft side”.  It is definately good food for thought!!!  The following is the entire article from Dr. Meg Meeker’s website:

Mom: Your Kids Love Your Squishy Hugs

mom trying to zip her jeansFind me one American mother who doesn’t want to tweak something about her body, and I’ll pay you $100. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Family Life Tagged With: , ,

From 5K to Marathon in a Year!

November 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

At 65, he started running and accomplished a marathon in a year…and so much more!

I saw this post on SparkPeople and thought I would repost it here for my 9 Kid Fitness readers…Great story!

From 5K to Marathon in One Year

On December 3, 2011 I ran my first race, a 5K in Orlando, FL.  I had just turned 65.  This was after 10 weeks of training, which started quite innocently as a way to lose a few pounds.  I enjoyed it so much I thought I would try to do a 5K.  Fast forward just about one year, and I have completed my 1st Marathon. The Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon, on November 3, 2012. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Getting Started, Running Tagged With: , ,

9 Tips to Drink 8 a Day…

November 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Here are some tips from SparkPeople for getting those 8 a day…

As many of you know, drinking water is not my favorite thing to do.  I recently saw this article from SparkPeople about tips for getting those eight glasses a day.  I tweeked their 12 tips to make it nine (not just because I like the number nine…also because sometimes fewer is better).  What are some of your strategies to get enough water…?

 

9 Tips to Drink 8 a Day [Read more…]

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , ,

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God:
it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Filed Under: Family Life, Spirituality Tagged With: , ,

Exercises to Prevent Pelvic Organ Prolapse

November 21, 2012 by 3 Comments

 

We can’t ignore the pelvic floor!

As I approach the second half of my forties, I realize that in order to stay fit and to continue to do the exercises, workouts, and other physical activities I like to do, I need to be proactive about strengthening my pelvic floor muscles.  I have talked about this before at 9 Kid Fitness, and I will continue to look for up-to-date information about the pelvic floor because I know just how crucial it is for women to be well informed.  The following is an interesting article from 9 Kid Fitness follower, Elizabeth Carrollton, who talks about some of the preventative measures women can take before having to do more invasive procedures such as surgery, etc. Elizabeth also writes about defective medical devices and dangerous drugs for Drugwatch.com.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) often can be prevented with proper exercises. In fact, many of the exercises d to prevent the condition can also be used to treat mild to moderate cases of POP. Surgical intervention has become a common treatment for moderate to severe symptoms of POP. This is unfortunate because surgery is an invasive procedure that has inherent risks. In fact, one of the most common types of surgery used to treat pelvic organ prolapse uses a high-risk medical device called transvaginal mesh, which has been linked to severe health complications in as many as 10 percent of surgeries. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Pelvic Floor, Women's Health Tagged With: , , ,

Exercise After Baby…How Do We Do It?

November 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Shannon working out at Pure Barre at 38 weeks!

A topic that many are interested in is how and when to get back to fitness after a pregnancy. Although getting back to fitness after each of my nine pregnancies was a priority for me, it changed as I had more children and as I got older. I talked to two women who both had a baby in the not-so-distant past and who are both already back to a full workout routine. I met Shannon at Pure Barre and was amazed as she continued to work out and look great throughout her pregnancy.  Ashley is a friend who also exercised throughout her eighth pregnancy…doing mostly P90X at her house.   I also weighed in on some of the questions…

1. How long ago did you give birth? Was it a C-section?
Ashley: My youngest is 4 months old.  Not a C-section.

Shannon:  I gave birth to my second son 14 weeks ago. I had a C-section due to complications from my first son’s delivery.

2. Did you exercise during your pregnancy? If so, did that help in terms of birth or recovery?
Ashley:  Yes, 5-6 days a week up until the week she was born.  It helped greatly in terms of energy during the pregnancy.  My labors have started to slow down (she is my 8th).  It’s hard to tell if it helped in terms of birth.  It certainly helped in terms of my health.  Her strip during labor was flawless … no way to know for sure if that is connected to a healthy mommy, but I have to think it factors in.  My recovery was very easy.  That is absolutely attributed to the exercise.  I’ve had non-exercising pregnancies and the recovery period is much longer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Family Life, Getting Started Tagged With: , , ,

Running, New Perspectives, and Hope Overwhelming…

November 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

Yesterday’s Carolina blue sky was full of hope…

I stumbled onto a new run yesterday morning. Coming out of Levine Children’s Hospital, going down some cement stairs, crossing a creek bed, I found myself on the Sugar Creek Parkway (or the canal run) and took it for about half a mile into downtown Charlotte.  I turned around at that point and ran for another two miles to Freedom Park, passing dozens of other runners, walkers, and bikers. Then, after running  in the park for a few minutes, I turned around for the run back to the hospital.

I had been down at Levine’s Children’s Hospital for three days with our daughter (#6) Grace who at 7 am last Friday had a cyst removed from her face (next to her right ear).  We will find out exactly what the cyst was this week although we are fairly certain it was just one of those benign masses that form for odd reasons.  The surgery was more involved, however, than we had predicted.  She has two incisions because they had to “borrow” some belly fat to replace the skin that was removed from her face.  Grace has been a trooper and has literally not complained about anything (even pain) since we arrived at 4:45 am on Friday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Family Life Tagged With: , ,

The Biggest Loser…a Motivator or a Downer for Those Needing to Lose Weight?

November 5, 2012 by 4 Comments

According to a recent study, some people are actually turned off by watching the “extreme”exercise on a show like The Biggest Loser.

A recent study showed interesting results after participants watched The Biggest Loser.  Although we might believe that The Biggest Loser would motivate those who need to lose a lot of weight, the study revealed that the opposite might be true.  Watching “extreme exercise” seemed to create a negative feeling about working out for those who need to lose weight… possibly because of the extreme fitness required of those profiled in the show.

In the study, 138 undergraduate students from the University of Alberta (Canada)  were split into two groups. One group watched a seven-minute clip – chosen for its extreme depiction of exercise – from early in The Biggest Loser’s ninth season, when competitors were struggling with obesity. A control group watched a segment from the reality show American Idol. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: ,