20 Million Under the Age of Five are Obese

Here is some more information backing up some of my last blog entry. Another study finds that eating fast will contribute to someone becoming over-weight.

"People who eat quickly until full are three times more likely to be overweight, a problem exacerbated by the availability of fast food and the decline of orderly dining habits, Japanese researchers said on Wednesday. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, highlight how eating styles, and not just what or how much is eaten, can contribute to an obesity epidemic fueled by the spread of Western-style affluence in many parts of the world."

Around 400 million people are obese according to the World Health Organization (WHO). What is really disturbing is that 20 million of them are under the age of five. Being obese raises the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart problems. One way adults can help children not become over-weight is to encourage them to eat slowly and provide a calm atmosphere during their meals.

The child obesity problem is a very said fact. Children should be out running around having fun. When I went to school I can only remember two kids in my class that were considered over-weight, one was probably obese. Now it is normal to have a class full of over-weight kids.

My exercise program, along with monthly coaching tips, can be imnplemented with children. None of the movements are complicated and there is no equipment needed. It combines cardio with strength training using body weight. This program is not for body builders. They need a special program. It is for everyone else who is looking to live a better, healthier life.

Stay tuned for more information on becoming part of this monthly coaching session. If you are over-weight or looking to loose a few pounds, I guarantee you will loose weight with this program. It can be a family event on a daily basis for 10 to 20 minutes. You will feel better after the first month and will want to keep going.

Exercise Can Prevent Bone Disease

Osteoporosis, or bone disease, is a condition where bones become brittle and break easily. It is most common in women but can also affect men. There is an estimated 10 million Americans that are affected by this disease. A strong family history of osteoporosis is a big risk factor.

Peak bone mass is achieved in your 20's. From childhood up to about 30 years old weight-bearing exercises such as jumping and running can help build sronger bones. After 30 you should avoid smoking and excessive drinking. You should also get good nutrition including calcium and vitamin D. Studies show that weight-bearing exercises help prevent bone loss, maintaining your current bone strength.

Exercise must be weight-bearing to stimulate the bones to become strong and dense. Perform weight-bearing aerobic activities like running, jumping, racquet sports, dancing, basketball, hiking and high-impact fitness classes. My "Journey to 300" routines utilize body weight or dumbbells along with aerobic activity that lasts between 10 to 20 minutes per session. Low or no-impact activities such as cycling and swimming are good for overall fitness but don't help bone mass.

Older people should also perform flexibility and balance routines to avoid bone-breaking falls. Statistics show that one in two women over 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture, most commonly of the hip, spine or wrist.

Unfortunately there are no guarantees that this will prevent osteoporosis. It can help it from getting worse so don't delay another day. Start exercising and you will have a long and productive life.

Keep an eye out for my monthly newsletter coming soon. It will have nutrition information, great tasting receipes, my "Journey to 300" exercise routine (a new routine every month), sport specific exercises and much more. I guarantee you will lose body fat and start to feel better within the first month. I am going to launch it with a special offer of $9.95 per month. You would be locked into this rate for as long as you continually subscribe. The price will go up for new subscribers after the initial offer but you will receive even more information for the same low price of $9.95. I will also be throwing in a special report for free. Details to come soon.

What Exercise and Drug Abuse Have in Common

There is a study that found that youngsters and teens who reported exercising daily were half as likely to smoke as thier sedentary counterparts, and 40% less likely to experiment with marijuana.

Now if that isn't motivation to get your children away from the TV and outside getting some good ol' fashion exercise, than I don't know what will. That is definetly a big relief for me because my son is very active playing sports. He still loves his video games but we monitor the amount he plays and so far so good. I know this doesn't get me off the hook as far as drugs are concerned but it should keep the odds in our favor that he will never touch them.

But it is not just children this applies to. As you have heard from me and probably countless others, exercise is good for your weight, your heart, your bones and many other things. But now there is some evidence that it could also help to prevent addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Exercise is already being used in drug treatment clinics as a distraction to the cravings. To this point there has been little formal research on the effects. Research is now starting to determine the effects on preventing addictions.

Brown University has done some research where they took smokers to the gym three times a week as part of a smoking-cessation program. What they found was that this doubled women's chances of successfully kicking the habit.. They also gained half as much weight as women who managed to quit smoking without exercise.

Here are some other benefits from exercise performed with lab animals and people:

• Rats were less likely to ingest amphetimines if their cages had running wheels.
• In people, exercise acts as a mild antidepressant and relieves stress.
• Baby monkeys who do not play enough in childhood have problems controlling aggression when older. They also tend to bunge-drink when offered alcohol.
• In rats, physical activity increases production of growth factors and stem cells in key brain regions important for learning and mood; increases formation of blood vessels; and strengthens communication networks between brain cells.

With all of these benefits and so many more, why isn't everyone exercising? There are lots of excuses but they can all be overcome. I am creating a monthly coaching newsletter that will give instructions on what you should accomplish during the month. There will be work out routines that require no equipment and little space. The routines will take between 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Anyone can do this in the morning 3 to 5 times a week. You WILL lose weight and feel better. Your children will even be able to perform these routines with you. Stay tuned for more information on how you can be a part of this.

Coaching for a Healthier, Happier Life

I have a lot of followers of my blog according to the statistic reports but I don't get too many comments. That is not a bad thing. I am hoping that people are getting some good information that has helped them. A few have commented that they are using some of my tips which is definetly good.

There is a poll on my blog that I would like everyone to consider taking. It is very simple. Would you like to receive a monthly newsletter to coach you to a healthy lifestyle?

My idea is to have an exercise routine that you would perform 3 to 5 times a week for the entire month. There would be progression tips so you can vary the intensity. My routines that I have developed and use can be done anywhere. All you need is a 6 foot by 6 foot area (a little more if you are taller). It can be done in your bedroom, livingroom, hotel room or even cruise boat cabin! (I am going to try and get some sailors to try out the program. If they can successfully use the program in a submarine with their busy schedules then this would work for anyone - stay tuned)

The newsletter would also have a healthy, easy to prepare meal. No tofu or turkey burgers! This would be everyday meals that can be prepared easily. I do not believe in diets. I have never dieted and I never will, nor will I advocate to a client to diet.

There will be other tidbits of information such as new health studies, supplements and other items in health news. It will be written for the every day average Joe and Jane. No fancy medical jargon or show-off fitness terms. Just plain english.

In general, I would like to provide coaching tips through a monthly newsletter to help out as many people as possible. If I can make even a small difference in a lot of lives, wouldn't that be a good thing?

Take the poll and leave me a message on this post telling me what you think. Also, sign up to be a follower of this blog. That is another new item I have added.

Till next time, be happy, live healthy.

Keep Children Away From Flame Retardants

I don't think many of us realize the dangers of flame retardants, especially for children.

The following is a short clip of information from the Environmental Working Group (ewg@ewg.org):

We just finished the first investigation of toxic fire retardants (called Deca) in parents and their children, and we found toddlers had 3 times the levels of Deca in their blood as their mothers.
That means young children in the U.S. bear the heaviest burden of flame retardant pollution in the world. Deca is a neurological and hormone distrupter, and children are more susceptible to its effects than adults.

What's a parent to do? Take these steps to protect your family:
* Inspect foam items and replace any with ripped covers or misshapen/breaking-down foam
* Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter
* Don't reupholster foam furniture in homes where children or pregnant women live
* Carefully remove old carpet because the padding may contain PBDEs.
* Have small children wash their hands frequently so they put clean hands in their mouths!

I add:
* Do not put children to bed in flame retardant sleepware
* Help babies and toddlers avoid direct contact with carpets by placing them on blankets on floor.

All these things do and will affect the health of individuals and especially young growing children. We can take better measures to eliminate the exposure.

For your best health,
Erleen Tilton

Unbelievable - another reason Why Not Milk or Meat!

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a luncheon. One of the attendees shared some recently shocking news coming from an associate of hers. Her second grade daughter had started her menstrual cycle! At second grade?

Amazing it seems! But the truth of the matter is that with each generation, girls (and boys) are beginning their hormonal cycles and changes younger and younger. Why? One big fat cause: growth hormones used in producing animal products for human consumption.

Most of us can read the histories of our grandparents and find that they:
1) grew their animals on their family farm, or bartered with a neighbor
2) ate meat sparingly - killing a chicken or two for Sunday dinner, and/or hunted, dried, prepared other meats on different occasions
3) had their own milk cow or traded with their neighbor
4) all animals ate grass, insects, garden scraps, whole grains, etc.

Animals raised in these conditions are more difficult to find today. You have to go to specialty stores, health markets, or request the grocery stores to carry them for you - and they are much more expensive than the main stream market meats (understandably so - they are allowed to grow naturally with better food and without the speed of hormones). But you must remember most milk and meats products found in grocery stores:

are from animals grown with hormones - for quick growth which means more profits
these products (milk, cheeses, meats of all kinds) now contain the growth hormones
the growth hormones are passed onto the consumer
which results in: people putting on extra weight, children coming into puberty earlier, and people growing taller and have longer extremities (shoes & clothes sizes have increased dramatically)
So what can you do about it?
1) Quit eating main stream meat and milk products from: grocery stores, fast food restaurants, any restaurants
2) Limit your meat and milk intake - eat them sparingly or infrequent
3) Shop for grass-fed or non-hormone produced meat or milk products
4) Realize that what you eat really does make a difference
5) Care about today's and tomorrow's children by stepping up to the plate and demanding the best or nothing! Our children really do depend our knowledge and decisions!
6) Get into the habit of creating your own good healthy menus for yourself and those around you. Get some great cookbooks that are created for this very reason: see http://erleentilton.com/store.htm

For your best health,
Erleen Tilton

Miracle Weight Loss? NOT!

I have heard a lot about gastric-bypass surgery and have even attended training seminars on how to train people who have undergone this process. There is a "menu" of bariatric operations to chose from. But this is not the miracle weight loss solution that everyone should be looking at. In fact, 4 in 10 patients develop complications within the first six months! I was hesitant to undergo shoulder surgery to repair major damage so there is no way I would consider someone cutting me open and messing with my intestines and stomache.

One procedure actually sections off part of the stomache to limit food consumption and then shortens the intestine so that less is absorbed through your system. Guess what? This means you have to learn how to eat differently. So what is the difference between having an invasive procedure to just eating better on your own? Both are creating new habits but the surgery is adding risk, not to mention the cost of the surgery and post-operative care.

After the suregery, they teach you how to eat tiny, frequent meals. A good trainer or nutritionist can do that without lifting a knife. You also have to take supplements to get the vitamins you are not receiving because of the quick passing through you intestine. You can take supplements without surgery ( I recommend a good multivitamin at a minimum, even if you are eating properly).

One woman profiled had lost 160 pounds after 15 months. That is 2 to 2 1/2 pounds per week. You can do that with a proper diet and exercise too. This same woman also said that after 7 months from the surgery, she had developed an agonizing ulcer on the new inner seam bewteen her stomache and intestine that required another operation. You wouldn't get that with a proper diet and exercise.

She was also rushed into emergency surgery one day when she doubled over in pain. She had an intestinal hernia. Her bowel had snagged on a slit in her abdominal wall. That wouldn't have happened with a proper diet and exercise.

She had to have a fourth procedure to ease the pain of the abdominal scarring. The gastrointestinal pain had become so severe she could barely eat. One day she couldn't flex her right foot then within weeks her limbs began to tingle, her energy evaporated and her weight plummeted. She stopped menstruating and she felt like dying. She had a disorder called bariatric beriberi. A new term based on extreme thiamine deficiency caused by the surgery. That wouldn't happen with a proper diet and exercise.

There is a general perception that this is a shortcut to being thin. It is not. It takes just as long as if you had a proper diet and regular exercise, yet all of the risks are eliminated. The media hypes this surgery and it is deceiving. They even go as far as to say that this surgery can help type 2 diabetes. Well dah...! If you loss weight you reduce the risk and can even reverse it in some cases. Why are they associating this with the surgery when it is the weight loss? They also say in one study that obese people who have the surgery extend their lives up to 7 years over those that don't. Again...dah...! Weight loss does that too. it is a sales pitch and a very dnagerous one at that.

Here are some more sombering statistics. The death rate for gastric bypass surgery is between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 200. Other problems patients have had after surgery include vomiting, diarrhea, infections, hernias and respiratory failure. Up to 40% can suffer nutritional deficiency, potentially resulting in anemia and osteoporosis; siezures and paralysis have been reported in extreme cases. Some have even had bizarre neurological problems.

Here is the summary on gastric-bypass surgery. You can shed up to 70% of excess weight within 18 months but will gradually regain 20 to 25% of what was lost (because you haven't learned to exercise). If you are extremely obese (BMI > 40) you merely shift to obese. Obese can drop to overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9). Only 10% ever drop to a normal BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. You risk all of the probelms listed above. You have to relearn how to eat properly as a lifetime commitment.

Here is exercising and proper diet. You can shed ALL of your excess weight within 18 to 24 months (depends on how much you need to lose). You relearn how to eat properly without starving yourself. You get more energy. You feel good. It is a lifestyle change that is easier and pain free if done correctly with a good trainer.

Final word here is to stop looking for the easy way because there is none. Human beings are meant to exercise and eat balanced, natural foods. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Cut out sugars and processed food. Trust me. You will be better off and will live a longer, healthier and more productive life.