Chicken Soup for the Soul - Runners

Fitness Week continues with my review of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Runners. If you're a jogger or someone who likes to run, this book is definitely for you. Check it out :)

Chicken Soup for the Soul has once again put out an awesome read with their newest addition, Runners. This book is filled with inspirational stories that reflect the three E's - Energy, Endurance and Endorphins. Plus, the introduction is written by the "ultramaratoner" Dean Karnazes.

Here's what you'll find inside, Chicken Soup for the Soul - Runners:

~ Part 1 ~ Starting Out

~ Part 2 ~ Running Therapy

~ Part 3 ~ Camaraderie

~ Part 4 ~ Comebacks

~ Part 5 ~ Everyday Adventures

~ Part 6 ~ Family Ties

~ Part 7 ~ A Step at a Time

~ Part 8 ~ Fortitude

~ Part 9 ~ Interesting Places

~ Part 10 ~ Moving on to Triathlons

Even if you're not a runner, Chicken Soup for the Soul - Runners is filled with 101 wonderful stories of courage, strength and of course, inspiration.

Look for Chicken Soup for the Soul - Runners anywhere books are sold or on Amazon.com

or check out their web site at; http://www.chickensoup.com/

Healthy "Wellspring" Eating Tips for Families

With the every day challenges of life—heading to work, taking the kids to school, and doing the laundry, eating healthy can be an added stress. We hear from thousands of families who say picking up take-out from their local fast food restaurant is simply easier.

Wellspring, the leading provider of weight loss programs for children, teens, and families, offers these tips to get your family off to a healthy, stress free start.

Meal planning is a must; make a daily meal plan including breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner items. Many families take 20 minutes on Sunday nights to plan the meals for the week. Basically, take out the “thinking” throughout the week.

When your weekly meal plan is made, make a grocery list that coincides and go to the store when you aren’t hungry. This approach prevents grocery shopping rushed, hungry, or unprepared. We want to steer clear of shopping for snack items and stay focused on meals.

Meals should be balanced with fruit, vegetables, grains, fat free to low fat dairy and lean meats. Make this easy on yourself by purchasing some healthy items that are prepackaged and ready to eat, for instance: Egg-o whole grain waffles, hearty wheat English muffins, whole grain popcorn snack packs, pre-portioned low fat Greek yogurts (higher in protein), and turkey or beef jerky are all great options.

When preparing meals, particularly meats, consider ways to use ingredients for more than one meal. Use prepackaged boneless skinless chicken breasts for a particular dinner but cook extra grilled chicken for sandwiches or to top your favorite salad. A lean tri tip roast can be used as a dinner and great for left overs.

Make your grains possible by using practical items like whole grain rice pilaf, cous cous, pastas, and breads.

Buy produce. If you are spending most of your time in the frozen section in the grocery store, you are doing something wrong. There is no better “prepackaged snack” than fruits and veggies. Wash an apple and eat—that’s just as easy as opening a bag of potato chips. Buy the fruit, immediately wash them and put them in a bowl freely accessible to your family.

Hide the veggies in the meal. Put romaine lettuce and tomatoes on sandwiches, chopped veggies like green zucchini, onions, and carrots, in ground meat for burgers, tacos, or spaghetti. There are no excuses for your family NOT to eat their veggies when you can easily hide them.

Make extra so you have healthy meals you can freeze for later or you can eat for lunch or dinner again later in the week. Just make sure you don’t double the recipe and eat double! Once the items are made immediately separate and put out of site.

After the meal planning, grocery list and staples list is complete, think time management. Let’s face it—simplistic and realistic is ideal when you’re a working Mom or Dad. Buy a crock-pot, rice cooker, and non stick pans. The morning or night before place the roast and vegetables in the crock-pot put it on med heat all day, let sit and cook without you being home. Your balanced dinner is cooking while you’re working, running errands, and taking the kids to practice. All you have to do is prepare a salad and serve. Rice cookers are a great way to allow you to cook your grains without being home.

Finally, get your children involved in all of it—the meal planning, the shopping, even the meal prep. This may add a few minutes on to your daily routine but in the long term it’s well worth it. If your children are involved at a young age in the cooking and preparation of healthy meals the odds of them taking all the knowledge with them will increase.

Cooking a balanced meal is never impossible it just takes thought. Good luck!

Helpful tip* create a rolling staples list that your family will use, incorporate fat free cooking sprays instead of butter, fresh flavor enhancers like garlic, herbs, seasonings, and spices along with plenty of broth to use instead of your oils in recipes.

Tips are provided by Dr. Bishop of Wellspring Camps at; http://www.wellspringcamps.com/

Mike Bishop, Ph.D, is Executive Director at Wellspring. Mike is a clinical psychologist who has more than 20 years experience working with adolescents and families in a variety of clinical settings. A weight controller himself, Mike has lost more than 80 lbs following the Wellspring Plan. In addition to clinical training Mike has an MBA from the University of Maryland and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Wind River Wilderness Course.

Kids' Fitness Week Begins

The weather is warming up, it's time to shake off the winter blues and those few extra pounds; the kids are no exception. But where do you start? Right here...

To kick off our kids' fitness week, Dr. Dolgoff, author of Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right, has generously contributed a wonderful article on;

Using Your Child's Fitness Personality to Create a Fun Exercise Regimen!

Personality traits, genetics, and athletic ability combine to influence kids' attitudes toward participation in sports and other physical activities. Help your kids figure out their fitness personality based on their overall personality to ensure a lifelong love of exercise!

If your child is very social, encourage team sports, dance classes, biking, or skateboarding with a friend. These activities will keep your child active and entertained for hours.

For the introspective child, try exercises such as yoga, swimming, jump rope, jogging, or working out with an exercise video. Team sports might be too much pressure to perform in front of an audience. The suggested exercises allow your child to exercise at her own pace.

If your child is adventurous and likes to be outdoors, suggest exercises such as rock climbing, hiking, snowboarding, surfing or even mountain biking. These sports will keep your child motivated each time he hits a new trail!

For the creative child, suggest exercises that they will allow your child to express herself, such as dance classes, yoga, gymnastics, ice skating, dancing around the house, running, fast walking or even using exercise equipment at home with music she loves.

If your child is competitive at heart, encourage as many team sports as possible, such as tennis, hockey, or soccer. Try to encourage running sports so she is able to benefit from the great cardiovascular workout!

Creating a Workout Regimen:

When creating a workout routine, choose the sports or exercises that fit your child the best and make it fun. Try adding music to each routine or creating a playlist; music is a powerful motivation tool and makes everything more enjoyable! Below is an example of a detailed workout regimen:

First start with a warm-up to allow the muscles to wake up and get ready for the work ahead! A warm-up should last between 4 to 10 minutes. Do exercises that focus on the major muscle groups of the body. Try walking around the block or up and down the stairs, lunges, squats, shoulder rolls, and raising and lowering the shoulders.

Next, start working on increasing the heart rate for the cardiovascular (aka “cardio” portion of the exercise. Try to keep your child’s heart rate up for at least 30 minutes to get the most benefits. Try running/jogging, jumping, skipping, jumping jacks, biking, swimming, dancing, and kick-boxing or even surfing when it’s nice out!

Now, try working on strength. This does not mean body building or even lifting weights; muscle strength can be improved using your own body weight and is very safe for children. Try doing at least two of the different exercises for at least 5 minutes each. Try push-ups on the floor or at the wall, plank, stomach crunches, wall squats, throwing and catching a weighted ball, lunges, or even jumping squats.

Of course we must end with the cool down! The cool down is just as important as all the other parts of the exercise routine but is usually skipped. After working out, muscles can start to tighten up, leading to injury. Be sure to stretch the muscles that were worked out during the exercise routine. Try doing at least two different stretches for 3 to 5 minutes each; try neck rolls, shoulder rolls, quad stretches, hamstring stretches, butterfly stretch (sit on the floor with the soles of feet touching and lower upper body, nose to feet), or sit on the floor and forward bend, trying to touch your toes while keeping your legs straight.

Try as many different exercises as possible to keep your child moving. Kids who exercise often are less likely to become overweight or obese and have a decreased risk of developing type II diabetes and heart disease. They also sleep better and have an all around positive attitude about life. Regular exercise, along with a balanced diet will lead to a lean body with strong muscles and bones, allowing for a long and healthy life!

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Dr. Dolgoff completed her Pediatric Residency training at Columbia Presbyterian's Children's Hospital of New York. She has previously worked as a private practice pediatrician and is a Board Certified Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Dolgoff’s Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right practice boasts a greater than 90% weight loss success rate. There are offices in Manhattan, N.Y. and Roslyn Heights, N.Y. There is also a national online component (http://www.drdolgoff.com/) to the program which children all over the country have been using to lose weight.