New Year’s Vision

 

At this time of year, just about everyone is banging on about New Year’s Resolutions – why you need them, how hard it is to keep them, how to keep them, some articles even go so far as to suggest what you should  resolve to do.

 

At the beginning of each year I try to map out my 20 year “plan”. After about the 10 year mark, it’s more a vision of how I’d like my life to be than a plan, but at least it does give me some idea of where I’m heading, and of course it’s much easier to get there if you know where you’re going, to use a well worn cliché. I also find it’s handy to check out my husbands 10-20 year vision. That way we won’t get to be 60 years old and find we’ve been heading down different paths for the last decade.

 

I stole some time yesterday whilst one of the neighbours hosted the school holiday mayhem for a while, to put some thoughts down on paper. It really is amazing what a difference writing something down actually does to strengthen your resolve.

 

So….. I thought I’d share some goals of mine with you, rather than tell you what yours should be, or how to stick to your new years’ resolutions. I’m sure someone else will be doing that.

  • Set a secret goal and don’t share it with anyone. Done. And I will be sharing it with you some time down the track, but it’s just one for me at the moment. Eases the pressure a little bit.
  • Take care of myself. Very often we pay lip service to this one. Lots of friends and clients assume that because I exercise more then the average person, then I’ve pretty much covered the taking care of myself goal. Wrong!! Exercising a lot, particularly when I’m in heavy training means I need to take some extra care. Something I have to admit I’m not all that great at. Stretching, sleep, eating well, sleep, massage, sleep. Guilt free time out!! Well, I’ve had a massage this morning, and I’m encouraging my nearly 5 year old not to run into my bedroom as soon as he wakes at any time between 5:15 and 6:15, and I’m really focused on the guilt free time out as well…. If only I were a man, that one wouldn’t even be an issue. Would it?
  • Travel – this will be firmly planted on the radar with some definite plans in place for the next 5 years. First up looking atHamiltonIslandfor the hilly half marathon in early May. I’d love to do this one with some of you. You can cover the entire ½ marathon yourself, or team with 2 other people to do a 7 km leg.
  • Racing. I might do one half marathon this year, but the focus is definitely on getting quicker over shorter distances, and maybe a few novelty events, just to put the fun back into fun running.
  • Hooked on Health. We have lots of goals for Hooked on Health this year. All of them centre on giving you more. More concise information about what you are interested in via use of our face book page (which has been sadly overlooked to date), a revamped website including a blog, webinars, and a running camp. We’ll also be asking for your feedback via questionnaire from time to time, so we’d really appreciate you taking the time to tell us how we’re going.  In the meantime, feel free to use the comments box below.

 

I have heaps more of course. This is just a snapshot of my thoughts, and very self indulgent, but now you know a little about what makes me tick. Basically, I’m just like you!

 

Use the comments box below to tell us of your New Year’s visions, goals or plans, or any unusual ones you’ve heard of. A great place to draw a line in the sand and state your commitment!

Running Aids Brain Growth

Recent headlines suggested scientists had “discovered” that exercise was good for the brain, however the recent study out of Cambridge University and the US National Institute on Aging is just part of a growing body of work on the subject.

 

Of course, our clients have been telling us for years that exercise makes them feel better mentally, from simply making them feel more alert, to increasing their sense of well being, making them nicer people to live with, and helping to keep depression in check.

 

This SMH article, Brain Cell Secrets Explored,  is reproduced in it’s entirety below.

 

THE health benefits of a regular run have long been known, but scientists have never understood the curious ability of exercise to boost brain power.

Now researchers think they have the answer. Neuroscientists at CambridgeUniversity have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and it has a big effect on mental ability.

A few days of running led to the growth of hundreds of thousands of brain cells that improved the ability to recall memories without confusing them, a skill that is crucial for learning and other cognitive tasks, researchers said.

The new brain cells appeared in a region that is linked to the formation and recollection of memory. The work reveals why jogging and other aerobic exercise can improve memory and learning, and potentially slow down the deterioration of mental ability in old age.

The research builds on a body of work that suggests exercise plays a vital role in keeping the brain healthy by encouraging the growth of brain cells. Previous studies have shown ”neurogenesis” is limited in people with depression, but that their symptoms can improve if they exercise regularly.

Scientists are unsure why exercise triggers the growth of grey matter, but it may be linked to increased blood flow or higher levels of hormones that are released while exercising. Exercise might also reduce stress, which inhibits new brain cells through a hormone called cortisol.

The Cambridge researchers joined forces with colleagues at the US National Institute on Ageing inMarylandto investigate the effect of running.

They studied two groups of mice, one of which had unlimited access to a running wheel throughout. The other mice formed a control group.

After training sessions the mice in the exercising group scored almost twice as highly as the other mice in a repeated memory test for a sugar reward, a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said. The sedentary mice got steadily worse at the test.

 

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/fitness/jog-your-memory-brain-cell-secrets-explored-20100119-mj77.html

 

School Holiday Activities

If you are looking for some low cost holiday activities to keep the kids moving, here are some ideas. I know there are loads more things to do out there, so please add any of your own ideas to the list.

 

Watch some aeroplanes. The street to park in to watch the planes is  KYEEMAGH Ave in Mascot. It is offGeneral Holmes Dr heading towards Brighton Le Sands.

Thanks to Merrin Dhond’t for this one.

 

Treetop Adventure Park

http://www.treetopadventurepark.com.au/home.php Highly recommended. I went with kids aged from 3 to 9 and they all loved it. A bit challenging for the younger ones in parts, and aLOT of patience required as a parent, but well worth it. Just checked the website again for pricing and the price has recently increased from $20 to $25 for 2 hrs for kids under 10, but if you go with a group of 10 or more you’ll received a 5% discount.

 

Take a train to Woy Woy , then a short walk down to the wharf and picnic with the pelicans. Someone in the wednesday morning group suggested this one.

 

Jump on the Palm Beach Ferry and go to Ettalong markets-apparently pretty good if you like markets. Not the cheapest day out as a return adult fair is $20, kids $10. Markets operate each weekend. See the Palm Beach ferries and Ettalong Markets websites. http://www.palmbeachferry.com.au/ http://www.ettalongmarkets.com.au/index.php?section=1

 

Go to the beach!! The water is really warm at the moment – I spent over 2 hours in the surf the other day-both with and without kids.

 

Make the most of local walking tracks. So many of us live near bushland. We took the kids through the bush down to Davidson park the other day (underneathRoseville bridge) and cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast. Got to say Saxon (nearly 5) was over it by the time we starting making our way back up the hill, but it was worth the complaints to see wallabies, blue wrens and a massive goanna in the wild, not to mention numerous wildlife species (at least 10- we had to count them for entertainment on the way back home) Take your running shoes with you and do a 3 km time trial along the road. Start at the parking metre at the boat ramp and stick to the river side of the road. You’ll find we’ve marked out 250m, 500m, 750m, 1km and 1.5km (all in yellow on the left side of the road).

 

Walk up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, accessed from the northern end of Palm Beach. Tours are conducted every Sunday at a very low price, but it’s probably better to go during the week when there are not so many people on the path. If you feel like a challenge, take your running shoes with you. The track is very easy now that it has been paved. It used to be one of my favourite runs from the southern end of Palmy up to the lighthouse and back, and the views never cease to take my breath away. Alternatively, walk around the headland, but make sure it is low tide and someone knows where you are and when you should be back –just in case.

http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lights/nsw/barrenjoey/barrenjoey.htm#Access

 

Boogie boarding in the sand dunes at North Palmy. Will cost you absolutely nothing. Go back after dark without the kids! A favourite haunt of Kerry Furrer (during the daytime that is)

 

Walk across the harbour bridge. It’s free!

 

Ride a bike. It’s free!

 

Fairfield CityFarm – a bit more pricey. $20 for adults, $12 for kids, under 3’s free. Vouchers available on website for one free child entry per transaction per day. Quite good for the under 7’s. It’ll be hot out that way though!

http://calmsleyhill.com.au/city-farm/colouring-in-competition

 

Amazement. Found in the Yarramalong Valley. Mazes, animal farm and a few other bits and pieces. Haven’t been there myself, but have heard good reports. $16 adults, $12.50 kids, under 3’s free. http://www.amazement.com.au/index.php

 

Add your cool school holiday suggestions in the comments box now.

 

Kids Won’t Eat Vegetables?

There’s nothing more satisfying than putting lots of love into a meal and having your children really enjoy it. Conversly, there’s nothing more frustrating than having the expectation that your children are going to love something you’ve cooked for them, and then have them refuse to eat it, or worse still, tease you by puttting it into their mouths and chewing, then spitting it out.

As parents, there are so many ways we can make ourselves feel guilty. Not feeding our children a balanced diet is just one more thing to beat ourselves up about! Ideally, children should be offered vegetables from a very young age, and be encouraged to eat vegetables by your example. If you don’t eat enough vegetables, it’s unlikely your children will. Research shows that the ‘number of foods kids like does not change much from the age of two or three to age eight’ and that ‘new foods are often more likely accepted at age two to four than at four to eight.’ That doesn’t mean that it is too late to get your older kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, but rather that they won’t do it on their own and that you are going to have to work at it.

 

Of course we’d all like our children eating vegetables, but the reality is, many children simply don’t go for vegetables by choice. That’s when you need to resort to vegetables by stealth. Use a food processor to chop vegetables very finely, and add to everything you eat. Curries, spaghetti bolognese, and nachos are dishes that lend themselves to vetetables by stealth. Use a large variety of vegetables including those which they would never eat on their own such as brussels sprouts. At the same time, you still need to be offering your children whole vegetables. They need to see them on their plate to get used to the idea of eating them. There’s no need to make a fuss if they don’t eat the whole vegetables on their plate. As long as they are eating the hidden vegetables in the meals you have prepared for them, you can just smile, satisfied in the knowledge that you have won the vegetable battle without them even knowing it.

 

Some other ides for getting your kids to eat vegetables are:

  • offer chopped veggies with a dip, such as hommous
  • serve vegetables as a stir-fry
  • let your child help prepare the meal
  • start a vegetable garden at home so your kids can eat the vegetables they grow or visit a farm or farmer’s market.

 

Vegetarian Nachos

Finely chop vegetables such as onion carrot brocolli celery (including some leaves) red capsicum spinach (small amount) brussels sprouts (no more than two as they have a strong flavour)

Add all vegetables to a frying pan, along with a couple of tins of organic tomatoes. Simmer. Note you do not need to fry any of the vegetables in oil.

Whilst the  vegetables are cooking, add in some garlic, a small amount of sugar and some tomato paste.

Blend one or two tins of kidney beans or canellini beans to a thick paste, and add to the mixture. Stir well, and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C

Layer corn chips, vegetable mixture and a small amount of cheese in a large baking dish, finishing with corn chips and a layer of cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese melts. Serve with mashed avocado and cherry tomatoes.

If you have any quick and easy vegetable rich recipes of your own, please share them by posting them below.

Reference: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/kids_vegetables.html

60 Minutes of Exercise For Kids

Kids Running St Ives

 The Hour of Power

 

Just how much physical activity should your kids be getting, and how do you encourage it?

The department of health and ageing recommends that AT A MINIMUM kids should be active for at least one hour on most days and should spend no more than two hours in front of the TV, computer games, internet etc on any day.( Personally I think 2 hours a day of screen time for young kids excessive, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

 

The American National Association for Sports and Physical Education similarly recommends

  • children get one hour or more a day of moderate to vigorous exercise,
  • participate in several bouts of 15 minutes or more of activity each day
  • do not have periods of inactivity lasting longer than two hours.

In short, it’s good for your kids to move.

Physical activity in kids builds

  • Muscular Strength and Endurance
  • Aerobic / Cardiovascular Fitness
  • Coordination
  • Confidence
  • Teamwork skills
  • Lays the foundations for a healthy lifestyle

Encouraging Physical Activity in Kids

  • It’s important for kids to the have the opportunity to be active each and every day. Keep lots of  games and sports equipment on hand. Keep it simple (and therefore inexpensive). Balls, skipping ropes, hoola hoops, chalk to draw hopscotch squares on the footpath
  • Be a role model. They need to see that you value physical activity and fitness. If you want your kids to be active, you need to be active too.
  • Brainstorm some ideas with them. What’s fun for them, what’s not.?Most kids will be happy to get their power hour  of activity(and more) if it’s fun, and if they feel it’s something they’ve had a say in.
  • Make it a family activity. Kids love to play with their parents. Try some backyard cricket, a family walk after dinner, bike riding,  walking to school or the shops, twister, or simply kicking the ball around in a park.
  • Leave time for kids to have unstructured play, and keep the screens away. I’m always amazed at the games our kids come up with when left to their own devices. The kids in our street organise themselves into handicapped foot races, bike races,  and “bus stop” – a highly complex game involving scooters and lots of rules – to name just a few. All the kids get into it from the two and half year old to the ten year old. So see if you can enlist some other kids to knock around with.

 

Organised Sport

Organised sport is also a great way for kids to get active, develop self confidence and co-ordination, and improve their skills.They meet new kids and pick up ideas from them, and develop a routine which involves exercise. Most of these activities require certain techniques/skills, and these can be experienced in a learning environment that is fun and sociable at the same time.

Hooked on Health offer a number of kids running training sessions. Find out more.  HOH Athletics.

 

Tell us what sort of activities your kids enjoy.

We Use Less Energy Than We Used To

We live in a world of inactivity and increasing obesity. Compared to our parents, we use less energy to do the same tasks, and it is taking its toll on our health.

This table compares the energy we used to complete simple household tasks in the 1950s with the energy we use for the same outcomes these days.

Activity 1950’s 2000’s
Shopping On foot: 2400 cal/week Car/supermarket 276 cal/week
Washing By hand: 1500 cal/week Washing machine 270cal/week
Heating Making coal fire: 1300 cal/week Turning on gas/electric heater:  almost zero cals
Making bed Blankets: 575 cal/week Doona: 300cal/week
Mowing lawn Hand mower: 500 cal/hour Electric/petrol mower: 180 cal/hour
Driving Without power steering: 96 cal/hour With power steering 75 cal/hour

Just looking at these simple household tasks, we are using about 5000 calories less per week these days than we did 50 years ago. That’s about two days’ worth of eating!!

There are many other examples of labour saving devices which reduce our energy output such as: automatic garage doors automatic car windows automatic driveway gates remote control on the TV

What can you do?

Use the stairs instead of the lift Get off the couch to change the TV channel – if you can find the buttons on the TV! Walk to the shops when it’s practical Park a little way away from your destination and walk some of the way Actively engage with your children rather than watch them play whilst you are on your phone Be prepared not to have it all – you can’t have your health and work yourself silly every day leaving no time for activity, be it formal exercise sessions or incidental activity.

Why does it matter?

It doesn’t really matter, unless you want to live a long and healthy life. That’s when all this stuff starts to count.

 

Working Harms Your Health

Research has found that sitting seems to increase your risk of death from heart disease and other causes, and this happens even if you follow the Australian National Physical Activity Guidelines exercise . It is thought that excessive sitting may undo the benefits of your daily exercise.

Many of us spend large chunks of our day sitting, especially when we’re at work. If we’re not glued to a computer screen or tethered to a phone, then we’re stuck in seats around tables in meetings. And that’s on top of the hours we spend sitting in cars, buses or trains getting to and from work. All this this sitting affects our body’s processing of fats and sugars in ways that increase our risk of heart disease and diabetes.

“When we’re idle, we’re not contracting muscles and muscle contraction is an important component of the body’s regulatory processes,” says Dunstan, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. In fact, one American expert, Professor Marc Hamilton, from Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has gone so far as to suggest sitting for most of the day may be as dangerous to health as smoking.

The researchers linked four or more hours a day of television watching with an 80 per cent increased risk of death from heart disease, and a 46 per cent increased risk of death from all causes. That’s compared to people who spent less than two hours a day in front of the box.

But it’s the fact we watch TV while sitting or lying still that’s the problem, rather than TV per se, Dunstan says. This clearly has implications for the highly sedentary workplace environment. The key is to avoid sitting as much as possible or at least break up your sitting time – even if only by standing, which uses more muscles than sitting. (This is not mentioned in the current national exercise guidelines but Dunstan and others believe they need to change.)

What you can do

Even little activities like getting up to make a cup of tea can make a difference.

“We’ve actually reported that people who break up their sedentary time throughout the day, regardless of their total sedentary time, have a better health profile,” Dunstan says. “It all comes down to moving the muscles.”

  • Standing when you use your phone (or use a cordless handset or headset so you can move around even more)
  • Moving your rubbish bin/printer further away from your desk so you need to get off your chair to access them
  • Taking the stairs instead of the lifts between floors
  • Walking to a colleague to talk to them instead of sending an email
  • Getting up to move around for few minutes or so every hour
  • Doing household chores like ironing or folding the washing while watching TV
  • Standing to watching children’s sporting activities.
  • Stand up on public transport
  • Lose the remote control for your TV

Put simply, just get off your backside whenever you can. And when you feel you can’t be bothered, think that you will be reducing your risk of heart disease and premature death from other causes.

The Australian National Physical Activity Guidelines

The Australian National Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that children and teenagers undertake 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day. According to the guidelines, exercise for 5-18 year olds should be fun and interesting and cover a variety of activities. It should present a challenge and suit their interests, skills and abilities. Children should undertake some vigorous activity which makes them “huff and puff”. Sounds like your typical session with Hooked on Health, doesn’t it?

However, the guidelines seem to assume that once you turn 18, most people see exercise as a boring chore which needs to be got through rather than enjoyed!

Step 1 – Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience
Where any form of movement of the body is seen as an opportunity for improving health, not as a time-wasting inconvenience.
Step 2- Be active every day in as many ways as you can
Make a habit of walking or cycling instead of using the car, or do things yourself instead of using labour-saving machines.
Step 3 – Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, day.
You can accumulate your 30 minutes (or more) throughout the day by combining a few shorter sessions of activity of around 10 to 15 minutes each.
Step 4 – If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness
This step does not replace Steps 1-3. Rather it adds an extra level for those who are able, and wish, to achieve greater health and fitness benefits.

 

I know that care must be taken when making general exercise recommendations, but come on! Why beat around the bush? You need to exercise to keep your body efficient, and unless a body has severe health problems every body should be able to manage to move for 30 minutes each and every day.  30 minutes a day – that’s just over 3% of your waking hours (assuming you are getting a good 8 hours a night!) Three percent of your time moving, and that’s the recommendation coming from the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Ageing! and yes, I hear you – you can’t make it seem too daunting or people will just give up, but my point is, what has life become, when we have to pussy foot around people’s sensibilities to try to get them to do something which used to come naturally? Something which (without trying to sound too freaky) is a spiritually uplifting and joyous activity. We all have days when exercise IS a chore, but for the most part, it’s great, and we should be singing it’s praises rather the prescribing it in these dour terms!

So do at least the amount of exercise in these guidelines and couple that with lots of standing and walking round at working rather than sitting for great big long stretches, and you should be able to ward off heart disease and other life threatening illnesses.