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Exercise Ideas
Making
Active Choices: Minute by Minute, Day by Day
Making some
simple changes in your house and yard is just one way to encourage burning
fat. Making new choices within
each day also greatly contributes to your child�s level of activity and how
many calories your child burns. Here are some choices you can make on a daily
basis:
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Whenever you go shopping with your child, park at
the far end of the lot and walk to the store.
If you�re shopping for groceries, ask your child to push the shopping
cart, then both of you can return it to the store when you�re finished.
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Allow your child to watch her favorite television
show on one condition: she has to
stand up and dance or move around for the duration of every commercial.
If she refuses, turn off the TV. If
she�s watching a video, tell her you�ll pause it every 30 minutes so she
can walk around the block or do her abdominal crunches (page 00).
If there�s an argument, no more video.
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If your teenager is a telephone talker, tell her
she can talk as
long as she walks. This may require a cordless phone, but it�s a worthy
investment. The moment she sits down, the conversation is over.
Although you can�t necessarily monitor her, you can make surprise
visits to make sure she�s moving. Or, direct her to walk the length of the
house so she�ll keep popping up on your end of the house.
Remember, if she sits down, it�s over!
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Have a garden? Ask your child to help plant, water,
and weed it. If it�s a vegetable garden, choose the juiciest tomato or
reddest raspberry and present it to your child as a thank you for his
contribution. A pretty flower expresses appreciation, too.
These may seem
like insignificant choices, but they are not. All
activity burns calories. Sitting
burns only 30-50 calories per hour, while standing burns twice that much at
60-110 calories per hour. Just
walking slowly burns 120-200 calories per hour. Even shaking the salad
dressing or beating eggs will use more energy than being a couch potato.
Companies that
make video and computer games spend millions on advertising.
Their goal is to see your child sit (motionless) before their
merchandise all day long. We�ve
had clients who could do amazing things on the computer, but who had never
learned to ride a bike or swing a bat! Remember, you don�t have to wait for
holidays to purchase toys, games and equipment that encourage movement. Start rewarding your child with fun new things as soon as he
begins meeting his goals.
Aerobic Activity: Aerobic Volleyball
Gather the
family or a group of overweight neighborhood kids and set up a volleyball
game. You�ll need some music to make it complete�along with these few
additional guidelines:
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When the opposing team scores a point, the
receiving team has to do 10 aerobic moves to the music such as aerobic dance
moves (like side jacks (page 97), the twist, the grapevine, and the cha-cha)
while the ball is retrieved.
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When the serving team gets a �side out� (they
lose the point and the serve to the opposing team) they have to do 10 dance
movements to the music.
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It�s also fun to ask those who fumble the ball to
walk, jog or dance around the court.
See
the MPEP Prep (page 358) for ideas on other moves. (The Trim Kids
book has many more exercise ideas like these).
Designing
a Formal Exercise Routine
We have
discovered that just telling
families to be more physically active is just not enough.
Most overweight kids need weekly structured exercise goals.
As she does in casual fun and play, allow your child to choose the
exercise activities she most enjoys to make up her formal exercise routine.
Otherwise, she probably won�t stick with it.
We�ve found there is an enjoyable exercise for every
child�even bookworms or computer addicts.
It may take time to discover, but the greater variety of activities she
is exposed to, the more likely she is to find one she likes.
Every child who
participates in the Trim Kids Program will engage in a tailor-made exercise
program. And each child will
succeed in reaching his goals. How
do we know? Because it�s designed that way.
In the beginning, we make absolutely sure that the goals each child
establishes are easy to accomplish. Some
parents are concerned that the workout is too
easy. But ten years of laboratory
research have shown that every child is metabolically unique, and that they
will continue the program only if they:
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have fun
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start off slowly and easily
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feel safe
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experience initial success.
It�s
that initial success that motivates the child to keep going. And each child
has his own level of ability, which parents and children must respect. Refer
to the exercise safety rules in Week 1 on page 00 before you begin.
Severely obese
children will have a more difficult time exercising than moderately or mildly
overweight kids. Consequently, they should start out doing less, at a slower
pace, and fewer times per week. It�s perfectly all right to begin with one
or two days a week of approximately 20 minutes of exercise, and increase the
amount of activity weekly as the child sheds pounds. The Trim Kids Program
will automatically do this for you � you�ll learn how in Week 1.
And your child doesn�t have to do all 20 minutes in one go.
Ten minutes in the morning and ten in the afternoon or evening will
still burn the same number of calories.
It�s best for
seriously obese children to start out doing exercises that support their extra
body weight, such as swimming or riding a bike.
The water supports the child�s bodyweight while he moves his arms and
legs to burn calories and strengthen muscles; a bike supports his upper body
while his leg muscles rotate the pedals to burn calories.
After he�s lost some weight and improved his fitness, he can
gradually move to weight-bearing activities like walking, dancing, and field
sports.
Moderately
overweight children should begin with non-weight bearing exercise first, and
gradually alternate with weight-bearing activities.
They can participate in walking or playing tag, for example, or
basketball, as long as they take frequent rests when necessary.
Again, they can gradually
work up to longer walks and fewer rest stops.
Mildly
overweight kids can safely participate in most activities, but even that
little bit of extra weight may slow them down somewhat, so pacing is
important. If the activity seems too challenging, encourage her to slow
down but not to stop moving. Gradually work up to higher speeds, harder
movements and longer duration.
Consider
enrolling your child for one or two afternoons a week in some kind of
structured dance, martial arts (such as karate), gymnastics (only for chubby
or mildly overweight children) or similar activity. This will help foster
friendships with other children who are active, and it will give you a break
from having to supervise her entire exercise program.
Make sure you speak to the coach or teacher beforehand to discuss your
child�s special needs.
Remember, even
if your child is just slightly overweight, she may be at risk for becoming an
overweight adult. If you
introduce more activity in her life now, she�ll have a better chance of
staying trim when she�s older. The
activity patterns she learns as a child will follow her well into later years.
Seek every opportunity to provide her with active playtime. Refer to
Week 1 for specific exercises geared especially to your child�s needs and
level of fitness.
Inside
Adventure: When the Weather�s Bad
Have you
refurbished your house yet so your child can stay active during rainy, cold
and snowy months?
There are
plenty of places to take your child when cabin fever sets in.
Sign her up for weekly indoor activities or just go for a one-day visit
when the mood strikes.
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Gyms/Fitness Centers: They offer a variety of
calorie-burning fun including gymnastics, tumbling, indoor basketball,
wrestling, kick boxing or other martial arts, wall-climbing, track, badminton,
volleyball, ping pong, and swimming. Don�t
forget indoor tennis.
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Dance Studios: Kids are welcome in all kinds of
classes including ballet, tap, modern, jazz, hip-hop, line dancing, ballroom
dancing, yoga, free movement classes and other music/dance combination
classes. (The Trim
Kids
book has many more ideas like these).
Another great
option is to create an �imagination station�. You can create one in a room
in your house, where you set up areas for your child to try different
activities. Here are some ideas
for older children:
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A plastic tub filled with costumes, dress-up
clothes, and accessories like crowns, wands, toy shields, armor, masks, vests,
belts, shoes, hats, grass skirts, scarves, play jewelry, wigs, and so forth
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Boom box with various dance music tapes or CD's
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Microphone, drums, toy musical instruments, stage
curtains
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Puppets, marionettes, magician kits, various
stuffed animals
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Batons, small flags, pom poms, streamers, hula
hoops
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Foam mats and wedges, indoor tents, large building
blocks or cardboard boxes, bean bag chairs, soft pillows, old blankets,
sheets������(The Trim
Kids book has many more ideas like these).
For
younger children, try:
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Small pull/push toys or plastic wagons
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Toy household cleaning items such as
brooms, mops, vacuum cleaners, feather dusters��(The Trim
Kids book has many more ideas).
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