PARENTING - Advice from a former obese kid

“I know that recognizing the joy of the outdoors at that early age was probably the biggest reason that my major fitness overhaul wasn’t something I have had to start from scratch since,” says Max Greenberg. (James Brosher-AP) 

As a kid, I took solace in food and led a mostly sedentary life. This landed me well north of 200 pounds sometime after middle school. Year after year, my parents plied me with rewards, begged, occasionally threatened — to no avail.

It eventually took many hours of focused exercise (and countless uneaten cupcakes) to shed that dangerous weight. But a much subtler change in behavior ensured that, while I might periodically struggle in years to come, I wouldn’t get myself...

Unstructured outdoor play is an important complement to more focused exercise, building habits where youth soccer practice — which usually ends when one’s youth soccer career ends — might not. A study published in the September edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed adult supervision may actually lower the likelihood of physical activity (adult safety concerns tend to put a damper on kids and inhibit freedom) and that, for the youngest children, more organized play may mean less total activity. Read More

Article Link: Advice from a former obese kid
By Janice D'Arcy

12 Ways to Grow Younger in 2012

Wouldn't it be nice to feel younger as you get older? You can, and it isn't the stuff of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." From taking vitamin D to watching your blood pressure and managing stress, these 12 anti-aging strategies will help you live younger in 2012.

Want to grow younger in 2012? Pump iron a few times a week.

1. Take vitamin D. YOU Docs Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., and Michael F. Roizen, M.D., call vitamin D "the ultimate anti-ager." That's because it nourishes your memory, skin, heart, bones, and arteries, and it helps fight off cancer. Getting enough vitamin D daily (1,000 mg; 1,200 mg after age 60) can make your body think it's 9.4 years younger.

Here's the best time of day to take your vitamin D.

2. Care for your teeth and gums. A healthy smile looks lovely -- and helps keep your arteries and immune system in top shape. Flossing and brushing daily can prevent periodontal disease and tooth loss, which can make you feel 6.1 years younger.

3. Watch your numbers. Keeping your waist size, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol in the healthy zone dramatically reduces your risk of many problems, including cardiovascular disease. The combined effect can make your body think it's as much as 19.8 years younger.

4. Keep stress in check.Stress comes in many shapes, sizes, and strengths. Some stress is good, but the bad kind ages you inside and out. Reducing bad stress with meditation or other meditation techniques can help you feel 1.7 years younger.

Use these 12 steps to conquer stress.

5. Stay in touch. Reach out to family and friends through e-mails, phone calls, and, whenever you can, face-to-face visits. Staying connected can make you feel 8.5 years younger.

6. Pump some iron. Working out with weights does your muscles and... Read More

Article Link:  12 Ways to Grow Younger in 2012
By The Editors at RealAge | Healthy Living

Stop Dieting and Start Living

Have You Made the Change?

You’ve heard it so many times that you probably say it in your sleep. "Diets don’t work; if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to make a lifestyle change." 

Here are the main ways a diet differs from a lifestyle:

1. A diet is all about numbers—the number on the scale and the number of calories you eat and burn. Success is defined in terms of how well you stick to your numbers.
   
   A lifestyle change is all about you. It’s about lining up your eating and physical activity with your real goals and desires. Success is defined in terms of how these changes make you feel about yourself.
2. The diet mentality assumes that reaching a certain weight is the key to finding happiness and solving other problems. That’s why messing up the numbers on any given day can be so upsetting—it means you’ve messed up on just about everything that really matters.
   
   The lifestyle approach assumes that being overweight is usually the result of other problems, not the cause. Addressing these problems directly is the best way to solve both the problems themselves and your weight issues. This means focusing on many things, not just the numbers on the scale or the Nutrition Tracker. Numbers only tell a small part of the story, and “bad” numbers often provide good clues into areas that need attention.
   
3. Going on a diet involves an external and temporary change in eating technique. You start counting and measuring, and you stop eating some foods and substitute others, based on the rules of whatever diet plan you are using. Maybe you throw in some exercise to burn a few extra calories. You assume that it’s the technique that produces the results, not you. The results of a diet are external; if you’re lucky, you may change on the outside—but not on the inside. Once you reach your goal weight, you don’t need the technique anymore, and things gradually go back to “normal.” So does your weight—and then some. And, of course, all the problems you hoped the weight loss would solve are still there.
   
   Making a lifestyle change involves an internal and permanent change in your relationship with food, eating, and physical activity. You recognize that the primary problem isn’t what you eat, or even how much you eat, but how and why you eat. Eating mindlessly and impulsively (without intention or awareness) and/or using food to manage your emotions and distract yourself from unpleasant thoughts—this is what really needs to change. Learning to take good care of yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually—so that you don’t want to use eating to solve problems it really can’t—is a lifelong learning process that is constantly changing as your needs and circumstances change.

This doesn't mean the surface level things don't matter. Clearly, controlling how much and what you eat is vital, and caring how you look... Read Article 

- By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert

Christmas Eve Cowles Mountain San Diego

... more on lifestyle, climate and prime time real estate!

Cell phone photos taken by Mike Ginn

Perfect weather!

Coronado Islands & Lake Murray

Trail head, Cowles Mtn in the distance

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders Loses 94 Pounds - Men's Fitness

San Diego residents looking for inspiration to lose weight don't need to look any further than their mayor, Jerry Sanders.

JERRY SANDERS
Hometown: San Diego, California
Age: 61
Height: 5'10"
Weight Before: 276 lbs.
Weight After: 182 lbs.

With all the lifestyle changes, the pounds didn't really start to come off until his trainer, whom he works with twice a week, started making him take accountability for his progress. "He thought I was working out hard, but I wasn't losing weight fast enough, so he started weighing me every Friday and that's what turned the table."

Beyond the health benefits (his blood pressure and cholesterol dropped with his pants size), he gets constant motivation from how much he loves walking (his rep tells us his music of choice during these epic walks is Pink Floyd) and the response he's gotten from everyone around him. "It's been kind of amazing. People are really focused ... Read More

By Elizabeth Yun

Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat

"In New York, an orange was a common Christmas present because it came ALL the way from Florida."

"How we got to this place, is the history of food in the United States. And I'm going to go through that, at least the last one hundred years or so, very quickly right now."

"Margarine didn't exist. In fact, when margarine was invented, several states passed laws declaring that it had to be dyed pink, so we'd all know it was a fake. There was no snack food, and until the 20's, until Clarence Birdseye came along, there was no frozen food."

20 Unusual Uses for Coffee

Can you imagine life without coffee? We'd all stumble around like drones for hours every morning, lost without our precious fix. We love coffee for its flavor, its aroma and of course its pick-me-up, but there are at least 20 more compelling reasons to stay stocked up. These tips will give you surprising and unusual uses for fresh coffee beans or grounds that have gone stale, the pounds of used grounds you toss out every week and the dregs at the bottom of your cup.

Kill fridge odor Wouldn't you rather smell coffee than two-week-old leftovers, half-rotten produce and spoiled milk? If your fridge is a nightmare of foul odors, place a bowl of fresh, unused coffee grounds inside and leave it for a day or two. The coffee will absorb the odors and you'll crave a cup whenever... read more

Reduce cellulite Pricey cellulite creams almost always have one major ingredient in common: caffeine, which supposedly enhances fat metabolism, reducing the appearance of these fatty pockets under... read more

Erase smells on your hands Garlic, salmon, cilantro - there are some things that smell delicious when cooking, but aren't so pleasant hours later when they linger on your hands. Get rid of them by rubbing a handful of used coffee grounds on your... read more

Make rich compost There's a reason so many gardeners swear by adding used coffee grounds to compost. The grounds are rich in phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and copper, they release nitrogen into the soil... read more

Get shiny hair Who doesn't want shiny, healthy-looking hair? Coffee is often recommended as a simple, natural treatment to make hair extra-glossy. Brew up an extra-strong pot, ... read more

Article Link:  20 Unusual Uses for Coffee

By Stephanie Rogers

San Diego among Top 10 for best winter travel

The view from Cabrillo National Monument on Monday, Feb. 28, 2011. — Andrew Kleske

San Diego once again scored well in Travel + Leisure magazine's list of "America's Best Cities for Winter Travel," climbing from 13th place last year to the No. 6 spot this year.
The magazine called San Diego the survey’s weather champion since 2009, and noted readers picked the city as one of the safest and cleanest for travelers. San Diego ranked first place in the magazine's recent surveys for Spring Break cities and best Weather, and ranked second in the best Family Vacation, best Fourth of July and best Summer Destinations categories.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, ranked No. 3 last year, landed in first place for its beaches and weather, but also earned high grades in the cultural and food categories.
The top 10 ranked in order:
1) San Juan, P.R.
2) Honolulu
3) Phoenix/Scottsdale
4) New Orleans
5) Houston
6) San Diego
7) Miami
8) Salt Lake City
9) Orlando
10) Savannah, Ga.

By Andrew Kleske

San Diego is Prime Time REAL ESTATE...

... for year-round, outdoor fitness and adventure!

Why?  CLIMATE


La Jolla, CA - Weather




This message has been approved by San Diego's Personal Trainer / Bootcamp Instructor, Mike Ginn.

Artist Unknown

Find Out How Many Calories You Burn After Exercise

We’ve always heard that the positive benefits of physical activity continue long after your workout session is over. More energy, less stress and those “feel good” endorphins are some of the immediate effects. But what about the mysterious “afterburn” that a lot of people talk about? Do you really continue burning more calories after the workout, or is it really just during the workout that matters? A new study finds that it’s possible to burn more calories throughout the day--in fact, up to 14 hours later.

The study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, took 10 healthy males and examined... Read More

Article Link:  Find Out How Many Calories You Burn After Exercise
By Jen Mueller

11-11-1969 Celebration of San Diego Arrival!!!

A commemorative, the song upon arrival to celebrate my Parents beginning here in San Diego while crossing Mission Valley on this date, November 11, 1969. They were driving a four speed yellow Plymouth pulling a U-Haul trailer. "San Diego we have arrived!" 

Song:  Get Together Now

Veterans Day - Thank you Vets!

Aging Well Through Exercise

Dana Edmunds/Getty Images

“They suggest strongly that people don’t have to lose muscle mass and function as they grow older. The changes that we’ve assumed were due to aging and therefore were unstoppable seem actually to be caused by inactivity. And that can be changed.”

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Video on TED.com

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed | Video on TED.com

The new Nordic diet: the next big weight loss trend?

Arctic fish, cucumbers, grains, fresh herbs and yogurt are staples of the New Nordic Diet. (ThinkStock Photos)

Move over cavemen and Mediterraneans, Vikings are the new diet gurus.

Claus Meyer, co-founder of the Danish restaurant Noma, twice named the best in the world, has been collaborating with nutrition experts to combat...


Eat the food grown in your region Meyer believes in eating locally, and getting creative with the food growing in your area in season. Not only does it challenge the cook to be creative but there's historical evidence that our species thrived on our regional foods long before we had processed starches in our pantry and produce shipped from across the globe.

Home-cooked meals are key He suggests preparing simple meals from scratch for between 30 minutes to an hour a day, to help rethink diet as more of a lifestyle, or hobby of sorts. Adding a cultural, familial element to food, rather than a grab-and-go notion, can psychologically change the way people think about their diet.

Eat more side dishesThe more, the merrier and the healthier, according to Meyer. Side dishes are key to long-term healthy eating, so long as they're simply prepared vegetables. "Toss yesterday's leftover boiled or steamed vegetables with a little vinegar, capers, mustard, broad-leaf parsley and olive oil,” he suggests. “Boil some red beets and put some quality salt, grated horseradish or mustard, and vinegar on the table. Use the pulse button on your food processor to mince the remainder of a portion of boiled legumes with some cumin, yogurt, lemon, mint, sugar and chili to create a cohesive and luscious thick mass, pour it into a bowl and add a splash of a high-quality virgin olive oil.” It’s the opposite of portion control, but he believes the lack of simplicity and the bevy of flavors will lead to less binge-eating out boredom.  ... Read More

Article Link:  The new Nordic diet: the next big weight loss trend?
By Piper Weiss

In-Your-Face Fitness: The pull to Exercise Outdoors

There are advantages to the treadmill, but running in the open air can be a powerful motivator.

Running on a treadmill when it's beautiful outside? Why? (Siri Stafford / Getty Images / October 28, 2011)

On a recent beautiful and sunny day, I strolled into my local gym to lift some weights. The gym is near Nose Hill Park, which is one of the largest municipal parks in North America. It has majestic views of the city of Calgary and the Rocky Mountains, which can be seen from endless miles of paths and trails.

As I made my way toward the room full of heavy things I intended to pick up and put back down, I spied the double line of high-tech treadmills. Most of them were occupied.

I looked at the indoor running enthusiasts and thought, Are you people on dope?

I hate treadmills — the view doesn't change and they make me feel like a hamster on a wheel. Even when it's cold enough to get the beginnings of frostbite on a valuable part of my male anatomy (that really happened — not my best day), I still prefer to go outside.

And it turns out there is a reason, but it's psychological, not physiological.

Much has been written about the biomechanical and metabolic differences between running on treadmills and running outdoors, and the general consensus is that both types of workouts are essentially... Read More

Article Link:  In-Your-Face Fitness: The pull to exercise outdoors

By James S. Fell, Special to the Los Angeles Times