Parents...

An Important Message for You!

Most parents lead busy, hectic lives. Nevertheless, a parent should never underestimate the importance of sending his or her child to school with a healthy lunch. A good lunch includes enough food to get the child through the day without needing to visit the snack machine. While the extra 15 minutes may seem like a lot when you’re trying to rush off to work, it will help your child begin taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle. In fact, if your child is old enough you should rely on him or her to do this. If not, making the lunch the night before can help save time in the morning.

Below is an actual school lunch menu pulled off the internet. These aren't the three worst days, just the first three consecutive days that came up.

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This is a great deal of calories for a youngster who is trying to lose weight and represents as much as half of his/her total recommended daily intake. School lunches can totally derail a healthy eating program, especially when kids go back for seconds, or when they get chocolate milk or a canned soda. In fact, even 2% milk is 180 calories per cup, which is more than even a soft drink.

This also doesn’t take into account tater tots (259 calories for a regular size), fruit cocktail (181 calories for one cup), chocolate cake (104 calories), or pizza (230 calories per slice); all common fare in a typical school lunchroom. For a child who's trying to lose weight, or just trying not to gain any, this makes it nearly impossible to succeed.

For Example:

   1 Turkey (2 slices) & Ham (2 slices) ½ Wheat Pita

   ½ cup Shredded Iceberg Lettuce, 2 slices Tomato, 1 Kosher Pickle Spear

   1 tb sp. Mustard

   1 slice (1 oz) Cheddar Cheese

   ¼ cup Almonds  

   1 Orange

    8 oz. Apple Juice (unsweetened)

That's a great deal of of food, and only about 475 calories. You can do even better using yogurt with Splenda, or drinks with no calories, but we wanted to give you an example that used no artificial sweeteners. Over a one week period, packing your child's lunch can save over 2,000 calories - more than one whole day's worth of food for most kids. Hopefully from these numbers, one can begin seeing just how important packing a lunch really is.

Our Why Weight DVD - Studies have shown that in a typical elementary-school gym class, where the bulk of daily exercise occurs, each kid engages in moderate to vigorous activity for only about 3 minutes. During the years in which physical education has declined, the nation has seen increases in not only obesity, but also attention-deficit disorder and childhood depression. It should not be so surprising that low physical-activity levels would have adverse effects on a child's emotional health. Exercise is not only a way to lose weight, but benefits one’s overall sense of well-being. Just 15 minutes of exercise a day has shown measurable improvements in a child’s fitness. Physical activity also helps the body use calories more efficiently, thereby helping in weight loss and overall physical fitness. It increases one’s basal metabolic rate, reduces appetite, and helps in the reduction of body fat..

Our workout videos will not be just a WORK OUT, but will include fun games, dances, and combat kick exercises. These are great exercise routines that are so much fun your child will want to do them over and over again!

Exercise is important for most people, but it is especially important if you are trying to lose weight:

   To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat. Exercise is the best way to do this.

   When you exercise regularly, you build stronger muscles, even if you do not work out with weights. Muscles use more calories than fat throughout the day, even while you are resting. This contributes to what is commonly called a "faster metabolism."

   Aerobic exercise gets the heart working to pump blood through the heart more quickly and with more force than normal. As blood is pumped faster, it must be oxygenated more quickly, which quickens respiration. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart and boosts healthy cholesterol levels.

   Warming up before exercise and cooling down after are just as important as the exercise itself. By properly warming up the muscles and joints with low-level aerobic movement for 5 to 10 minutes, one may avoid injury and build endurance over time. Cooling down after exercise by walking slowly, then stretching muscles, may also prevent strains and blood pressure fluctuation.