That's Fit

Sometimes I run. Sometimes I walk. Sometimes I bike. Sometimes I work out in a gym. Sometimes I try to get fit in my own back yard. Yesterday, I exercised in my living room. It all comes down to my kids and how to best fit in my physical activity around their needs, their wishes, their desires, their demands. The living room workout, all 22 minutes of it, well, it satisfied us all. I only hope we can keep up with it, making it a regular ritual at our house.

All it took to keep the three of us busy were one BOSU, two resistance bands, two six-pounds weights (for me, not them), and our own bodies. We did push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts, jumping jacks, and planks. I did squats, on and off the BOSU, and lunges, and a few arm exercises too. Danny (he's five) did a lot of creative work with the bands, and Joey (he's seven) became a master at BOSU push-ups.

I don't know about my guys, but I worked up a sweat during our group workout and judging by the enthusiasm of my kids -- "I really like to exercise," said Joey as he moved to the tunes he chose to blare throughout the house -- it seems I may get to keep sweating in this manner. Perfect for me. And for them too.

I don't know about you but I've never worried more about health issues than I do now that I'm a mom. My own health concerns cause me some worry but my kids' health issues -- they really cause me some worry. I remember freaking out the day my oldest child went to the doctor as a toddler and his pediatrician spotted blood in his urine. I wouldn't have been so bonkers about it all had the doctor not told me it could be a sign of kidney disease. It wasn't. But for a few days, I was sure my baby would face a life-threatening disease. I felt the same way when my youngest guy was sent through the tube of an MRI because trouble with his eye raised a brain tumor red flag. No tumor was found.

So I've established that I'm a worrier. Makes sense to me then to minimize as much worry as possible -- hey, worry isn't good for my health -- by taking appropriate action in the interest of my kids' health whenever possible. There are so many areas out of my control -- like kidney problems and brain tumors -- but for the areas I can influence, by golly, I'm going to take charge.

I'll be brief here -- believe me, I could go on and on -- but these are some of the health duties for which I've charged myself when it comes to the two little boys whose lives are in my hands: Feeding them well, making sure they exercise well, taking them to recommended well doctor visits, taking them for occasional sick doctor visits, ensuring their vaccinations are up to date, making sure they brush, floss, and see a dentist twice a year, keeping all household medications out of reach, teaching proper hand-washing and hygiene habits, slathering them with sunscreen, harnessing them in proper car safety seats, keeping our windows and doors locked at all times, even when we're home, and watching them at all times when they play at a park or in the front of our house -- our backyard is fenced and secure.

Summer is the perfect time for hot dogs at the family BBQ, big pretzels at the county fair, and cold treats straight from the ice cream truck. Although these foods can be less-than-perfect options for our kids who love them so -- think lots of salt, sugar, and fat -- WedMD says they can be not so bad, really. Check them out.

• Nachos & Quesadillas
• Hamburgers & Hot Dogs
• Ice Cream
• Frozen Yogurt
• Waffles and pancakes
• Marshmallows
• Popcorn
• Watermelon
  
  

Hot dogs? Healthy? I never thought so. Try light and reduced-fat dogs and you'll be OK, says Sarah Krieger, an American Dietetic Association (ADA) spokeswoman.

Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Who in the world ever thought of going to Disney and eating healthy? Crazy talk, right? Wrong! Your loving online Fitzness Expert (me) who has extremely high standards on what I put in both my children's mouth and my own can spend a day at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT and eat as well as I would in my own home. Disney has made grand efforts to improve the healthfulness of the foods they offer, and has even gone overboard with an abundance of fresh fruit stands located throughout each theme park.

I just spent a week at Walt Disney World in Florida and returned home half a pound less than I was the day before vacation. Want to eat right while enjoying the magic with Mickey Mouse? Read on.

• Mickey makes mealtime easy on the fitness fan. Every restaurant I ventured through offered several menu options based on lean grilled meat, veggies, and/or fruit. Even the children's meals come standard with side items like: grapes, carrot sticks, and unsweetened applesauce. They also come with bottled water or skim milk. Sweet! Parents would have to go out of their way to substitute french fries and soda for their children instead of the healthy stuff. Eww! You the fitness fan, certainly wouldn't do that!
• Sit down dining restaurants offer Egg Beaters cooked without oil in lieu of regular scrambled eggs. I enjoyed this perk while dining with Minnie and Goofy at Disney's Yacht Club Resort.
• Resort dining facilities offer endless refrigerators full of fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt, dried fruit, nutritious snack bars and more.
• Seek out healthier desserts. Anywhere they are served, Disney has made efforts to make reduced fat, low sugar or fresh fruit treats available.

My son is a picky eater. But, surprisingly, he likes a lot of vegetables. Carrots, celery, and cucumber rank as some of his favorite snacks. (Lucky, aren't I?) Even so, there are plenty of veggies that he shies away from. I think most parents struggle to get their kids to try different vegetables and, better yet, enjoy them. HealthCastle has some ideas on getting your kids to eat more veggies:

• Make it fun. Serve ants on a log or make a smiley face out of veggies. Let your child top their own individual pizza with their choice of veggies.
  
• Hide them. Serve cut veggies with ranch dressing for dipping. Add vegetables to casseroles, soups, and pasta dishes.
  
• Be creative. Prepare vegetables in different ways or even just slice them differently. Sometimes a subtle change makes all the difference. (For example, my son won't eat asparagus spears, but when I cut off just the tips for him he gobbles them down.)
• Don't give up. Don't force your child to eat their veggies (it's a sure-fire way to make them HATE vegetables). Instead, be prepared to offer the new vegetable over and over and over until your child is willing to really try it and give it a chance. It takes some kids 10-15 times before they'll really entertain a new food item.
• Buy a kid-friendly cookbook. There are several on the market that have sneaky ways of incorporating vegetables into meals.

I signed my daughter and I up for yoga class this summer. She's been doing the upward and downward dog poses since she was about 18 months, so I figure she's ready. And so am I, after practicing very sporadically throughout the 15 years since I took my first Hatha class in college.

At first, yoga for a 3-year-old might seem silly. Efforts to get my daughter to hold any pose for more than 5 seconds, let alone something specific that requires following instruction from a teacher, can be futile at best. My daughter has definitely hit a stage during which focused activity has become necessity to get through the day. Discipline has become more of an issue. But I'm hoping the novelty of the yoga class will play big. And listening to a stranger is always easier than listening to Mommy or Daddy.

But we might get more than that. Experts suggest yoga for kids can increase self-esteem and body awareness in a noncompetitive way and can even help children who suffer from hyperactivity disorder.

My five year old daughter's beautiful light blond hair has turned the most not-so-beautiful shade of green. Ugh! We swim a lot. We live in Florida, and that's what we do almost every day during the summer. Her hair has been pretty green for about two weeks now, and for about the same amount of time I've been looking for the special swimming shampoo that's supposed to get the green out. I checked three pharmacies, one Walmart, and two grocery stores with no success. How frustrating!

Fortunately, today I stumbled across the ultimate score in 'get the green out' shampoos at Target.. Suave has a cute little kids line of hair and body products that are tear-free, smell great, and sell for less than two dollars. And! They've recently added a special shampoo to the line which is designed to remove chlorine from cute little heads of green hair. It's called Suave Swim and Sport Flippin' Citrus 2 in 1 Shampoo for Kids. We've already used it, and we love it! So....if you are Going Green in a way that has nothing to do with the environment......give this stuff a try!

If your kid has a big neck, he or she may be more likely to develop a sleep-related breathing disorder, say researchers at the University of Virginia. Translation for big: Obese.

Of 215 children, ages 18 months to 18 years, who were referred to a pediatric sleep clinic, 37.3 percent were obese and snored more than not-so-heavy kids, says this Virginia study. Basically, neck size showed a strong inverse correlation with oxygen saturation and was an even better indicator of breathing problems than BMI, weight, or tonsil size.

One implication of this finding, says study author Dr. Pearl L. Yu, is this: "Children with bigger neck sizes for age should be queried about snoring, apnea, excessive sleepiness, and hyperactivity. Neck size should be considered in the clinical evaluation of children with a history of snoring and apnea."

"Mom, come here," my five-year-old Danny said to me the other day after summer school. "I have an exercise to show you." Clearly, I went running to see what my littlest guy had in his fitness bag of tricks. "You lie down," he said. "And cross your arms like this (across the chest)." Then he told me to sit "criss-cross-applesauce" -- that's elementary school speak for sitting with your legs crossed. He wanted me to sit on his feet so they wouldn't budge. So I did. And here's what he did: A sit-up. A perfect, so-very-cute sit-up.

Danny did four sit-ups and was so proud of himself when he finished. We exchanged high fives, and he moved on.

Danny and his older brother are spending three hours each morning during June in a summer enrichment program where they're learning a little, playing a lot, and reporting to PE class every day. Every day. I love it. During the school year, they go once per week for 40 minutes. This summer schedule is going to spoil me -- and them too. They love their gym time. Joey has been practicing new stretches, they both have been demonstrating "crab crawls," they're learning to do pull-ups, and now sit-ups are coming home. Thanks to "coach," who is teaching my boys their new moves, summer school is tops.

I love multitasking! Any opportunity I get to kill two or more birds with one stone gets me giddy. I'm a busy woman with far too much to do, and when things get done in an efficient and pleasing way...I feel elated. Where am I going with this, you ask? Women's Health recently published this Park Workout and I thought you may need to see it as well.

If you have kids, I'm guessing there is a 99.9% chance that they like to run around and play at the playground. If this is true, then I'm talking to you. Let your kids and their buddies have their fun while you get a workout. No use sitting on that park bench anymore....use it for a glute training! Utilize the swings, monkey bars, and more.

My little family of four and I have already blasted through 12 bottles of sunblock since early May. At nine dollars a pop ... the cost is certainly adding up. But then I think about the investment I make each day, and the price it will prevent us all from paying some day in the future. Here's a short list in no particular order.

• Painful Sunburns -- Ouch!
• Freckles
• Moles
• Leathery Skin
• Sunspots
• Flaking
• Chemotherapy -- Not cheap!

OK, readers, I need some help. Here's my dilemma: At my kids' elementary school, parents are expected to bring one bulk snack once each month, something that will serve about 20 kids. If every mom or dad complies with this expectation, teachers end up outfitted for mid-day snacks all year round. Simple enough. But I'm concerned with what I should donate each month. Last year, I tried to offer something not so terribly unhealthy -- mini bags of pretzels, for example -- but this coming Fall, I want to do better.

Here's my ideal: Fruit, maybe grapes divvied up into baggies, sliced apples, something whole and fresh and well, healthy. I guess I could plan with my kids' two teachers to pick a day each month where I show up and pass out my wholesome snack -- no way of refrigerating these snacks for later -- but I'm wondering if you have any kid-friendly suggestions I might use for this homework assignment, something I can deliver and leave with the teacher to use when appropriate. Most parents donate bags of chips, crackers, and cookies, but I don't want to succumb to these easy treats. I hate nothing more than seeing my kids walk out of school with Oreo mustaches. Not exactly fuel for the brain, you know. So help me, won't you? Leave a comment below and tell me what to do.

Here's to the good health of kids -- yours and mine.

Does your child decide what she or he eats for breakfast? Chances are they do, but letting them make the wrong choice can impact their health ... for life!

One of the biggest stress inducers for me lately has been finding enough activities to keep my young daughter occupied. Structure and focus seem to be requirements to prevent afternoons filled with whining and crying. Park and pool trips, walks, craft projects, Play Doh and coloring books, and when all else fails, TV. Usually Dora the Explorer.

And then there's her birthday party coming up. She'll be 3. And about 10 other 3-year-olds will be joining her to celebrate. An afternoon of whining, crying 3-year-olds would take more bottles of wine without the "h" than I can afford. So I've come up with the following ideas to get me through the afternoon sober:

• Strategy No. 1: A goal contest with a soccer ball and a Diego doll strategically placed as goalie. They can kick to their heart's content and everyone will get a handmade ribbon for their efforts.
• Strategy No. 2: Craft project. Ten foam sun visors in the same color to prevent fights for favorites. Foam stickers to decorate as well as foam letters to spell out names. Cost for supplies: $28. Value of a few minutes of peace at the party: priceless. Added bonus: the kids have a favor to take home.
• Strategy No. 3: Cupcakes. No ice cream. Save yourself from cutting and serving and scooping. Enough said.

More good news: The first two can be used any old time. And you can find more ideas here. So good luck. And hang in there until September!

When you're a parent, it's normal to worry about your kids. Summertime brings a whole new set of worries that we don't need to think about in the colder months -- bugs, wildlife, campfires, pools, lakes, bikes, and so on. We all want to keep our kids safe, but yet don't want to keep them from enjoying the warm summer weather.

CNN has a great article on what parents worry about in the summertime. Some of those things -- such as sun safety -- we really do need to be concerned about. Other worries, such as West Nile Virus, can be put on the back burner. That's not to say that you shouldn't be informed about them, but they don't need to be stressed over every time your child leaves the house.

What kinds of things do you worry about in the summertime?