That's Fit

Fitting exercise in when you are a parent can be challenging enough. When you are a parent on vacation, you can almost forget it. Unless a trip to an amusement park, as they are called, happens to be on your itinerary.

I should have worn a pedometer when we went to Sea World in San Diego last week. Even without measuring, though, I'm pretty sure we cleared at least five miles. We're talking brisk. No strolling. Not even close. With a show schedule and a 3-year-old, you simply cannot be leisurely. Remember, though, if you want to count a walk in this kind of park a workout, you must bypass the junk food around every bend.

Of course, I'll need a vacation from my vacation when I return home. The good news is that going to the gym will feel like one.

Just looking at the schedules of my cousin's kids exhausts me: Soccer two night a week, Karate two nights a week, swimming three times a week and SCUBA diving classes once a week. That's in addition to full-time school and part-time volunteering. Holy commitment.

And there's no doubt that commitment is what it takes to be outstanding -- these past Olympics have showed us that. But when it comes to kids sports, how much is too much? Bloggers over at the New York Times are asking the same thing. On one hand, fostering a lifelong relationship with exercise will benefit your child's body and mind for years to come. On the other, too much exercise can be dangerous and can have lasting effects.

What do you think?

As Jacki pointed out last week, sleep is important for children's health. I can totally relate to her post about strict bedtimes ... we're going through this right now ourselves. After a long summer of lazy evenings spent with little regard to bedtime (and peaceful mornings where the kids slept in!), we now have to be up, at the latest, at 7 A.M. each morning.

Because my kids are still quite young, I know that they still need 10 to 12 hours of sleep a night. It's not easy getting them to bed early (my goal is 7:30), but I know that if we don't stick to the new bedtime routine, I'll have sleepy, grouchy kids who aren't getting what they need to be healthy.

So how much sleep do kids need? It depends on their age and their individual needs. My girls should be getting 10 to 12, but I know from experience that 12 is really optimum for them. Kids Health has a great article on sleep guidelines for kids. As a general rule:

• 0-6 months: Newborns may sleep up to 16-20 hours a day, split between day and night.
• 6-12 months: Between naps and nighttime, babies this age may sleep 15-16 hours a day.
• 1-3 years: Toddlers need 10 to 13 hours of sleep, including a nap
• 3-5 years: Preschoolers will sleep about 10 to 12 hours a night, and may start to drop their nap.
• 6-9 years: These kids still need about 10 hours a night.
• 10 to 12: Aim for a little more than 9 hours per night.
• Teens: Not quite adults, teens still need about 8.5 to 9 hours per night.
  

Of course, these are only guidelines. There are children who will need more sleep, as well as those who thrive on less. But in general, making sleep a priority will help your child be healthy and alert for whatever their day holds.

As I sit here typing this, my three-year-old -- according to her anyway -- desperately needs a cookie. The trouble is, it's only 8:44 A.M. and she just had breakfast. It's not easy being being the one who has to enforce healthy habits, because I'm sure things would be a lot more pleasant around here if I'd just give her the cookie. But teaching kids good healthy habits are part of being a parent.

Denying a poor little child an A.M. cookie and giving her some fruit instead isn't really all that tough. But when kids get older, we not only give up some of our influence over them to friends, teachers, and TV commercials, we also aren't with them every minute of the day.

I like the idea of "family health rules." Just as kids know that they need to look both ways before they cross the street, they should also be taught about the importance of healthy lifestyle habits. FamilyDoctor.org has some great suggestions for laying the groundwork for family health rules. Teaching healthy habits is a lot easier when kids learn them from the get-go (like no cookies for breakfast), but even if you're just now making lifestyle changes for yourself and your older children, it's not too late to teach them healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

Across the country this morning, kids are heading off to their first day of school. Hopefully, they're hitting the books with a solid, nutritious breakfast in their stomachs. Research shows that not only do breakfast eaters tend to eat fewer calories overall during the day, but kids who eat breakfast are more alert, do better academically, and feel better all around.

Not everyone is a morning person, however, and not everyone is a breakfast eater. That can make getting a good breakfast into a child or teen challenging. One way around a reluctant eater is the smoothie. Smoothies can pack an enormous nutritional punch, are easy to make, and are simple for kids to grab and go.

Diet-Blog has the basics on smoothie-making for beginners, as well as a few easy recipes. Once you get the hang of making smoothies, it's easy to play around with flavor and ingredients. You might even be able to turn a tween or teen on to the process, and before you know it, they'll be whipping up their own smoothies!

If cleaning a blender scares you off of smoothies, consider a product like the Shake and Take blender, which allows smoothie-lovers to mix up a single serving smoothie in a grab-and-go cup with straw and lid.

My son attended summer day camp this year, so I haven't had a break from lunch packing. As kids are apt to do, my son and his friends liked to trade items. I was always amazed at the packaging waste that would come home with my son -- a lot of parents opt for those individually wrapped items. They're convenient, sure. But they're expensive, and they have an impact on the environment.

When packing your child's lunch, keep their health and the health of the environment in mind:

• Use reusable packaging. For example, instead of individually packaged pudding, make your own in small reusable containers. It's significantly less expensive and there's very little container waste. Also, look for options like the Wrap-n-Mat that reduce throw-away packaging.
  
• Go meat-free. Meat production is hard on the environment, so pack veggie lunches as often as possible.
• Don't over pack. If your child throws away much of what you pack, your green efforts are somewhat mitigated. Pack what they need and no more.

Some people might think we're a little nutty about our kids' early bedtime. I mean, we can be flexible. This summer, our boys enjoyed many a late night since they could sleep late in the morning. But mostly, and definitely when school is in session, Joey and Danny head for bed around 8 PM. That gives them 10.5 hours of sleep before we start the day with a rousing wake-up call.

Research says we're not so nutty after all, because getting too little sleep or not spending enough time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is associated with overweight tendencies among children and teens.

Compared to normal-weight children, one study found that overweight kids slept about 22 minutes less per night and had lower sleep efficiency, shorter REM sleep, less eye activity during REM sleep, and a longer wait before the first REM period. One hour less of total sleep was associated with a twofold increased risk of being overweight. One hour less of REM sleep was associated with a threefold increased risk.

What's the deal? It seems sleep loss causes changes in hormone levels that may affect hunger. Less sleep also allows for more waking hours in which to eat. In addition, sleep loss leads to fatigue, less physical activity, and fewer calories burned. A vicious cycle for sure. And one I plan to avoid for my kiddos. Bedtime tonight: 8 PM. On the dot.

We finally cleaned out our garage the other day and dug out from piles of debris a bunch of workout equipment. My husband bought it all not long ago, we used it for a bit, and then it somehow got buried. Boxes sat on the weight bench. Swimming towels hung from the pull-up bar. And the weights, well, they were painted with a layer of dust. No more is this the case, though. Nope, our garage looks more like a gym now than it does a storage unit and all four of us Donaldson folks are pretty inspired by the fitness potential lurking just outside our kitchen door.

Strength training has always been my weakness when it comes to exercise. I love to run, walk, and swim but I typically lack motivation for building muscle. Our new home gym is helping. Today, I ran a 3.5-mile loop around town and topped things off with a mini-garage workout. Did the same yesterday after my swim. Plan to keep on doing it. My husband, somehow lean and fit without much purposeful exercise, was out in the garage last night. I caught him doing loads of pull-ups -- how does he do them so effortlessly? -- and after his full routine, he was drenched in sweat. The most promising effect of our garage renovation, though, is how it's got our kids pumped up about pumping up. Five-year-old Danny tells us he wants to be a wrestler when he grows up. "That's why I'm working out," he says. And Joey, seven years old and a master at a perfect push-up, is working pretty hard too. His dad spots him on pull-ups, and I saw him cranking out some bench press reps last night too.

We're thinking evenings will be our family workout time, when we're all home and can work on a productive -- and healthy -- goal together. If this sounds like fun to you, why not clean out your garage? Oh, and be careful if you're including kids in your fitness follies. Our boys have rules. Number one: They can't touch any equipment without mom or dad present to assist them.

Remember how happy we all felt when Lay's introduced Baked Potato Chips? I do. It was a feeling of relief for me. I had given up chips in lieu of a hard fit body. Fair exchange I thought! But then, there was this company telling me that they weren't going to fry all of their chips anymore, and yes ... there would be a healthier version for people like me. Yahoo!

Once again, snack lovers get to rejoice. The LesserEvil brand snack company has created an amazing variety of popcorns and krinkle potato sticks to make just about everyone drool. Most single servings contain about 110 calories of which about 20 come from fat. Not bad!

The Classic Kettle Corn is the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and thank goodness my bag was a single serving. If it weren't, I could have devoured nine! It was better than any of the junky stuff they sell at carnivals for sure! The Black and White Kettle Corn made my children's "movie night" here at home an even more special event. Good news for me ... I didn't feel the slightest bit bad about giving it to them. The Zesty Pizza Krinkle Sticks were odd to my husband and I though. Why? Because we could not figure out how they made them taste exactly like pizza! It was both weird and wonderful at the same time.

Air travel with children pretty much defines the ultimate in stress. But upon touching down last night for our two-week vacation in our native California, my husband and I were marveling at how much easier air travel has become now that our daughter is 3. It's downright pleasant, in fact. No packs of diapers to haul or awkward toys. One change of clothes is enough. But then there's the stroller and that darn car seat. Seems the kids need them until they're 12 now. And we have to have one for the car once we come down from the sky.

Until the car seat is in its rightful place, lugging it around can be an awfully annoying chore. A handy carrying case with wheels has been our salvation during the past three years of nearly thrice yearly trips back and forth from the East to West coast to maintain family relationships outside of Facebook. There are many variations on the concept.

But of course there's something better now. Just like getting a new cell phone right before the newest, coolest one comes out, baby gear seems to get better just a little too late to be able to take advantage. Parents can now use one piece of equipment that does double duty as a stroller and a car seat. It tows car seat size kids around just like a suitcase on wheels in this very cool contraption. Just when I was feeling a little bit good about how much easier our airport lives had become, turns out we're way behind the times. I'm going to drown my sorrows in the pool now.

Quite a few years ago, a friend of mine had breast augmentation surgery. Nothing outlandish -- in fact, you could barely notice a difference. She just wanted to restore herself to the nicely-filled B cup she was before her pregnancies. She said that after her pregnancies and the subsequent years of breast feeding, she had "deflated." (Her words, not mine.) As a result, she felt self-conscious and didn't even like to wear t-shirts because she didn't feel good about herself.

Post-surgery she had two young kids that wanted their mom to lift them and play with them like she always did. She kept the explanation simple and just told them that mommy had an "owie" and wouldn't be able to lift them up for a while. When Jacki had her tummy tuck, she also had to find an age-appropriate way to explain her surgery to her young kids.

It can be scary for kids to see their parents hurting. And plastic surgery -- where a parent might end up looking a little different than they did before -- can be even scarier. A plastic surgeon has written a book called "My Beautiful Mommy" to help explain plastic surgery to kids in a positive, non-frightening, and age-appropriate manner.

Don't have time to exercise as a family? Try making TV a weekend-only activity.

Is your child heading back to school soon? If so, be sure to get an A on the healthy lunches you provide.

Good nutrition can improve kids' concentration and help them get through the school day successfully. If your child is lucky enough to attend a school with healthy hot lunch options, then your job is a bit easier. But if your child's school is like my son's, pizza and chicken nuggets just don't make the grade.

Foods that are high in fat and/or high in sugar will only lead to an energy crash later in the day. You don't want your kiddo zonking out in the middle of math class, so be sure to provide long-lasting energy with good nutrition. First, make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast. Oatmeal, fruit, eggs, and whole-grain (low-sugar) cereals all make good options. For lunch, pack lean protein such as tuna or turkey, whole grains such as whole-wheat crackers or pita, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and 100% juice.

My little guy loves brown rice salads. He cannot wait to see what "chunks" I have included in my latest recipe. If your kids (or significant others!) are plain rice eaters, why not help them branch out a bit by adding some nutritious "chunks" to their rice.

You may be dealing with picky eaters, so start slowly, adding things you know they'll love. Some pretty safe bets:

• corn kernels
• sweet peas
• steamed carrots
• raisins
• slivered almonds

Now you've been successful, so push the envelope a bit and try:

• chick peas
• chopped spinach
• zucchini
• broccoli
• butternut squash

Nearly every time my son and I go grocery shopping, he begs me to buy children's vitamins. I know parents tend to disagree when it comes to children's vitamins. Personally, while I don't think they're harmful, I don't think they're necessary. My son eats plenty of fruits and vegetables, he gets sufficient calcium from milk, yogurt, and fortified orange juice, and he eats a broad range of other healthy foods as well.

But my kid LOVES his candy. And I'm quite certain that is why he wants those gummy vitamins he sees in the store so badly.

Angie over at ParentDish recently wrote about a study regarding children's vitamins. The study reviewed 14 types of vitamins and found that only five of the reviewed brands had the 12 essential vitamins you would expect. Some brands had as little as four vitamins. The researchers state that the vitamins are little better than candy.