Would “Wall-E” Recommend A Weight Loss Camp?

October 30, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

Pixar’s “Wall-E” was a favorite of my kids this summer, and I have to say it was my favorite film of the summer as well.  I loved the message about connecting with others and the importance of having each other.  Wall-E and Eve may have been robots, but they were a lot warmer than any of the techno savvy humans in the bunch.

Did you think about that at all as you watched?  I mean, it’s kind of crazy to think that we could all end up on a spaceship someday doing nothing but drinking our meals and relying completely on technology for communication and transportation… or is that crazy?

If you look at the direction our society is taking, the movie doesn’t seem so far fetched.  People’s lifestyles are much more sedentary today than they were 25 years ago, and our increased use of technology certainly plays a role in that.  Unhealthy living is commonplace today and fitness camps are springing up all over the country to help fight the heath concerns we face today.

Think about it:  How did you get to work or school this morning?  If you walked or rode your bike, you’re one of the people in the nation that does that anymore.  Good for you!  Do you talk face to face with your friends more than you text or IM?  If you do, that’s fantastic also!  After school, do you play outside with your friends or interact with fellow forum members on the internet?

Board game or Wii?  Okay, Wii’s pretty cool, especially Wii Fit!  I’ll give you that one.  The point is that we all, parents included, spend far too much time with the world of technology than we do with the world of humans.  Remember how things were for the people on the spaceship?  They  were all so unhealthy that they’d actually begun to evolve into humans that didn’t require bone structure!

Remember the two humans that Wall-E inadvertently forced into direct communication?  Remember how happy they were when they were in the pool together?  And the captain of the ship?  Remember how excited he was when he began to learn all about Earth?  It was simply fascinating to him that so much life once existed… so much connection, emotion and individuality beyond the computer monitor!

Stay connected with your friends and family!  One great way to connect with new friends and learn healthy living habits is to attend a weight loss camp.  Ask your parents about it.  As well, you might consider blowing the dust off the Monopoly box and have a no tech family game night!  And don’t worry, even if your dad wins and becomes obnoxious, you can bring him back down to size the next time you challenge him to a Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

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Snack Box Dilemmas

October 23, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, my Kindergartner had the “Snack Box” for the first time.  Now, the snack box is a big tub with a lid that you fill with snacks for the following day for all of the kids in class.  Naturally, I wanted to gain an idea of what had been sent previously by other parents to make sure that my child’s first snack day cuisine was a hit with the class.  Little did I know, I was up against some pretty stiff competition.

It turns out, my son had previously had cookies, chips, candy and chocolate for snacks at school.  Of course, wanting to make sure that he wasn’t pulling one over on me trying to get me to send something like that, I called my friend whose son is in the same class.  She concurred saying that her son had reported similar snacks.

I was simply shocked!  I realize that not every parent on the planet is trying to undo pervious mistakes because they have an overweight kindergartener, but even I had never allowed my child to dine on such snacks throughout the day.  It doesn’t matter whether your child is overweight or not.  Those refined sugar products are simply terrible for our children’s health.  Okay now and again, sure.  But five days a week, twice a day?  No.

So, what does one do?  How do you convince other parents to send healthier snacks?  How do we send healthier snacks?  Understand that “home-made” is out anymore because of the potential for food borne illness.  So, the snacks need to be store bought.  And, they need to be something that 5-year-old’s enjoy (which of course is the biggest challenge).

So, I brainstormed with a few other moms that shared my concerns.  Through my experiences with children’s summer fitness camp, I’ve learned a ton of great snack ideas.  Implementing them for an entire class was a bit difficult, but once we figured out how to do that, we printed up a take home sheet that the teacher was more than willing to send home with the kids.  She too had been battling the sugar snacks (what teacher wants 20+ five year olds hopped up on sugar all day?).

Here are some of the ideas: (obviously, some of these won’t work for classrooms with peanut allergies, check with the teacher)

Kinder Mix — Yogurt covered raisins, cashews, soy nuts

Strawberries and Creme — Plain vanilla yogurt, sliced strawberries or unsweetened frozen strawberries for simplicity.  Call a local restaurant and ask if they’d be willing to donate disposable “take-home” ramekins with lids that you can easily put the yoghurt and strawberries in separately and allow the child to mix.  Your local deli might donate a bunch of those little tester spoons as well.

Toffee/sugar coated nuts (true, there’s sugar involved, but more protein, vitamins and even omega 3 fatty acid in some nuts as opposed to sugar through and through) & grapes (rinse the whole bunch and snip little clusters of five grapes or so)

Turkey cheese rollups — Take one piece of mild cheese, one piece of lean turkey from the deli and roll it up!

And remember:  These are snacks, not meals.  They may seem like a small amount, but 5-year-olds have small stomachs too!  Let’s keep it that way!

For more ideas and ways of dealing with all of the challenges of parenting an overweight or obese child, check out some of the fabulous weight loss camps for children!

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Weight Loss Camp Lessons: How to Pack a Healthy Lunch for Kids

October 16, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

It can be really hard to come up with healthy lunches for kids.  There are so many products out on the market that claim to be healthy but really aren’t.  That coupled with a child’s likes, dislikes and level of convenience and it can be nearly impossible.  No worries!  We’re here to help.  One of the main focuses of our weight loss camp for kids is teaching them how to eat healthier foods.  Lunchtime at school is one of the biggest challenges that overweight children face.

Packing your child’s lunch is loads healthier than the usual school menu.  I’ve eliminated the “fillers” such as chips, white bread, cookies etc.  Nuts are far healthier and most kids like them especially if they are doctored up a bit with a sweet coating.  Just make sure you only send a handful even if they are plain, raw nuts.

It should also be noted that many of the kiddo usuals for lunch such as the sugar filled kid’s yogurts (instead opt for grown up low-fat yogurt or even Yoplait Kids yogurt with Omega 3′s for brain function) or “fruit” snacks (roll-ups, etc) are devoid of nutrition and chocked full of sugar, additives, and calories; pretty much chemicals in a colorful container!

And drinks!  Stay away from juices, sodas, chocolate milk or whole fat milk, and some sports drinks.  Water is always great.  You can throw some small water bottles in the freezer the night before.  By lunchtime,they’ll be thawed, icy cold and refreshing.  Sports drinks that are better than most are G2 or Power-Aid Zero, though I haven’t found the Power-Aid Zero in the smaller containers.

You don’t need to eliminate all fun from the lunch.  Instead of sending a pack of cookies or other dessert item, send a couple of Hershey’s kisses or  mini-sized candy bars.  There are a plethora of good old favorites that are now in mini sizes.

Here’s some ideas to get you started:

Ditch the Bread Sandwich Lunch

2 ounces lean turkey breast, lean ham or lean chicken from the deli (good quality)
1 low fat string cheese
Fruit
Veggie (something your child likes with no dip!)
1 small handfull of nuts (honey roasted or crunchy sugar coating is fine)
2 Hershey’s Kisses or mini-candy bars
Small purified water bottle

Yogurt Pack

1 low fat yogurt (see above note on types to choose)
Granola sprinkles for the yogurt (mix a little flax seed in the granola sprinkles… they’ll never notice!)
1 Apple (Gala reigns supreme!)
Flavoured rice cake mini’s
2 Hershey’s Kisses or mini-candy bars

Eggstatically Terrific

1 hardboiled egg (peel the egg for them, they don’t have enough time at lunch these days)
Carrots (Green Giants Baby Supremes are kiddo favorites)
Fruit
Spicy trail mix (small amount)
2 Hershey’s Kisses or mini-candy bars

Be creative and explore the healthy snack aisles at the market.  It’s amazing what kids will learn to like if given the chance.  A great way to empower your child to make healthier choices is to have them attend a weight loss or fitness camp geared towards kids.  The key to great health for your kids is knowledge and empowerment so that they’ll carry this attitude throughout their lives!

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Weight Loss Camp for Kids and Grandparents’ Impressions

October 9, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

Chances are if you have a child that is overweight or obese, you also have a set of grandparents or two that offer up advice constantly.  Though the advice may be well intentioned, it can most certainly be troublesome as well.  Usually, the philosophy of grandparents is one of two extremes and then sometimes a combination of both.

Maybe they don’t understand today’s philosophy about self esteem and not using terms like “fat” or “fat camp” that have become almost taboo.  To them, it might not be an insult.  They probably just want what’s best, but they don’t understand that by guilting your child about his or her weight problem, they are doing more harm than good.  After all, we know that it’s best to talk to our kids about weight in terms of health, not appearance.

The flip side is the grandparent who tolerates almost anything.   Grandma or Grandpa may be of the opinion that you shouldn’t worry so much about your child’s weight.  We know a lot about obesity these days and the health ramifications.  We know that this is serious, but your parents may think or say things like “Well, he’s a growing boy” or “It’s just baby fat.”  Grandparents also have a tendency to spoil.  They may overindulge your child out of sheer love and affection.  Grandpa may love to take the kids out for ice cream.  Grandma might love to bake and send home the goodies.

So, what do you do?  How can you tactfully help your mom or dad help their grandchild?  Educate them.  Rather than making it a personal situation where you are telling them to do this or not to do that, let them figure it out.  The above problems are one of ignorance, not stupidity.  They want what’s best for your child too.  Taking them to a class or to a parent day at your child’s summer weight loss camp may be all it takes to get them on the right track!  Ask the counselors at the camp or your dietitian/physician for advice in this matter.

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A Review of “Eat This, Don’t Eat That”

October 2, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

“Eat This, Don’t Eat That” (by David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding) is getting rave reviews.  Is it a book that can help you and your overweight or obese child?  Mostly yes, maybe a little bit no.

The book is put together quite well with some really fantastic practical advice.  My favorite chapter is the first which explains the eight rules of childhood nutrition.  The advice is geared to teach parents and kids about the general problems in today’s diets.  One of the problems today is misinformation.  While most of us have a general understanding about proper diet, we tend to fall into the traps of modern day society.  This book quickly points out the problems we have with super-sized portions, hidden sugar and the lack of family meal time and structure.

Another great aspect of the book is some very surprising comparisons between popular kids foods.  Spaghettios versus Mac & Cheese… Spaghettios wins out with fewer calories and fewer fat grams.  What should your child eat at Chili’s?  Not the Pepper Pals Country-Fried Chicken Crisper meal with a staggering 1110 calories!  That’s more than half of most kids’ daily caloric requirements in one sitting!  Instead, the Pepper Pals Grilled Chicken Platter with Cinnamon Apples was recommended.

There are only two minor problems that I can forsee with the book:  1.  Misuse and 2. Not enough emphasis on fitness

It’s not enough to use the book as a guide to eating out right or making convenience purchases.  Make sure to read the book thoroughly and understand the concepts it is teaching so that you can incorporate this into your child’s daily life.  It doesn’t matter if you are making healthy restaurant choices once a week and feeding your child too much of the wrong stuff the rest of the week.  That would be the equivalent of sending your child to fitness camp to lose weight and teach them healthy living styles only to let them return home to the same unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle they had before they left!

A huge portion of the childhood obesity problem lies with the sedentary lives that we all lead.  I think the book should have placed a bit more emphasis on this aspect.  There is a chapter at the end with some great ideas for family fitness as well as a few mentions in the rest of the book, but we really, really have to get our kids moving if we want them to be healthy.

Overall?  A great buy if used properly and if the parents reading the book take it upon themselves to incorporate more exercise into their children’s lives.  A great way to do this is through one of the fun weight loss camps for kids that will help you and your child make exercise a regular part of his or her daily life!  Give it a shot!

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