Healthy Choices at Schools

I also read this article from the Oregonian which I thought offered a very healthful approach of encouraging healthy habits by offering buffet-style fruit carts and walking buses. They also offered cooking classes for parents and kids. This to me is the best way--instead of saying "no" to junk food, give them other options.

Overweight...

I recently read this article from the San Jose Mercury News about a new study requiring an hour of exercise for women as they get older to maintain a healthy weight. What got me is that they didn't say one word about the risks of being overweight. I'm not sure it's even a risk. I read one book that found several studies saying that women in the overweight category of BMI actually lived longer than their normal counterparts. So what's the big deal?

The one redeeming aspect of this article were two small sections at the end:

"Still, Lee emphasized that the benefits of exercise extend beyond what you see in the mirror, helping keep the heart healthy and protecting against chronic disease even if you don't get enough activity to lose weight.

"I think an hour a day is hard, but I think you can do it if it's for your health," said Beth Orso, 45, of San Jose. "As it is, I squeeze in what I can five days a week, and it's certainly not for an hour. I hope to just be active and feel good."

These two non-weight focused sections follow the FunFitFoodie philosophy. The rest are too focused on weight on for me to be intrigued. What do you think?

Once a Week Exercising is Not Enough

After exercising at least four days a week in Chile--three days biking to the top of cerro san cristobal, two days at the gym (yes I know it's five but normally I miss one of these somehow)--not exercising as much comes with some serious side effects.

I went to a three hour dance class/rehearsal last Saturday which was beautiful and fun. But I was sore, sore, sore all week long after. Then this week, I skipped the class but went running and same thing--sore, sore, sore.

Plus, my ability to emotionally handle some hard decisions that are coming my way (do I stay in the US or go back to Chile?) seem insurmountable when I haven't exercised. When I have exercised, they seem difficult but not overwhelming (and here's the other thing, walking which used to help doesn't anymore--it's got to be a hard workout!).

Why do I take off these weeks from exercising if I KNOW that I emotionally I'm a wreck without exercising?

Cuz I'm human. And humans aren't robots. They don't always follow schedules. They don't always do what they're supposed to do.

So, I guess my lesson today is to be a human. If you'll feel better exercising, do it. If you won't today, don't. Be human. Don't be a robot.