She IS The Biggest Loser....Again!

Even though I was worried that she wouldn't lose anything this week, she lost 4 pounds! This makes her total loss, in the 6 weeks of starting the program, 7.5 pounds! YAY!

Not only the weight loss, I have seen other changes in her.  When she does run, she is not totally out of breath as she was before, she does not have as big of an appetite, she is not always asking for seconds except when we have one of my really delicious meals :), she is starting to make her own healthy choices and think about what she eats, and I know her body is doing a happy dance inside.

Usually we don't find out their weight loss until the middle of the parent meeting but this time my daughter called me in because she was excited.  When she told me, I got really excited and told her great job. I also shook her head, which she hates loves. The nurse and exercise lady, as usual, looked at me like I was a little crazy. They should be used to my over excitement by now:)  I am the same way every time my daughter tells me something she does well. I think the extra encouragement is important.

So, after my pity party last week...we stayed on track and lost 4 pounds. Note: I only did the pity party in the post, not at all to her.

You know how on the "Biggest Loser", the people will have a few great weeks and then one week they lose nothing but the next week they lose 55 pounds? That's how it felt yesterday.

Since my daughter lost the most in the group and reached a 5 pound mark, she got a prize. She picked a water bottle. Also, the kids signed a contract in the beginning of April to not eat more than 3 "WHOA" foods a week and the parents would get them a reward.  She did this and now I have to buy her a doll.  Luckily it's pay week. LOL

I lost 3 pounds this month. I have to get it together. LOL

And we did do No Electronics Day yesterday but I will write that in another post.

I am sharing this post with Let's be Friends Friday at Bees With Honey!

No Electronics Today

 Today is the day of NO electronics. We wont start until after everyone gets home from school and work.  This is going to be interesting. My kids are not looking forward to it.  They will be fine and we will probably have fun.  We will go outside and play a few games. Pray for the children.  My son thinks he is going to die :) 

Since this is all I am writing, go over to my other blog that I have with my best friend. We are doing our first Mama Kat's workshop. Visit Moms Ask Why? and Why We Couldn't Be A Housewife Of Any County.

Also, become a fan of my facebook page, I need 25 "likes" to get my own url name. Thanks people.

Is anyone joining us for No Electronics Day or have you ever, purposely, done it with your family? I know there are some of you that don't watch a lot of TV in the first place but you have to work with me here. lol

TV Is Not Helping With Kid's Weight

This is not a surprise. 

At the parent class Thursday, the topic was TV watching.  The nutritionists discussed how much TV time time added to the obesity problem because of the media ads and inactivity. Some of the statistics she stated:

• Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
  
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
• Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV's in their bedrooms: 50
• Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66

This is listed on turnoffyourtv.com. She also had a slide that said that as much TV as we watch, by the time we are 70 years old, we would have watched 7-10 years worth of TV. Isn't that a waste?

The homework for the week was to:

• Try to cut TV/video games/computer down to 1-2 hours a day or at least half of what they are viewing now. This doesn't include active video games like the Wii.
• Play more
• Try to go at least one day without electronics
• No TV while eating

She suggested to reward the children if they could cut the TV viewing down. 

Suggestions to accomplish the homework:

• Afternoon routine of coming home from school, drink a glass of water, have a healthy snack, go out and play, either do homework and then dinner or dinner and then homework, and if there was time left, they can watch TV.   -With adding in showers there may not be much time for TV-
• Have a family game night
• Make a rule and stick to it, in regards to TV

I like the afternoon routine idea. She said the thinking of letting them play first is to clear their mind from school and also to get the exercise in first.  My kids always say they like soccer. I don't know why they say that but I am going to get a soccer ball and we can play that for about 30 minutes before coming in for homework and dinner. I can get out there and try to run around. *lol* No, there will not be any video or pictures of that. :)

 

Do you know what this means? Ugh, I am going to have to make a big effort to do some weekly cooking on the weekends. Sacrifice for the kids, I know.

She also suggested to tape some shows and fast forward through the commercials to cut down on some of the marketing images. Also, to explain to the children what marketing is why the advertisers are pushing products and how they aren't all good for us.

The kids don't think they can go a whole day with no TV. Shout, that would be very hard for me too but we are going to try it. Does that mean I can't use my beloved iPhone? Oh goodness! Maybe I need to rethink. :) The program will give the kids a reward if they do it for one day.

I remember, before I had kids, I said that I would not have a TV in there room. That lasted until my daughter was about 3 and I got tired of looking at kids programs all the time. *lol*

What do you think? Do you want to join us in the afternoon routine, no TV for a day and playing more? We are going to do the no TV and electronics one on Thursday. I counted and my kids watch TV/Computer/Nintendo DS for about 5 hours a day during the week and probably double that on the weekend. What about your kids? I am curious if I am a horrible mother for letting them watch that much TV. :)

Sorry for the long post but I thought this info was interesting and maybe useful to someone.

Smaller Size Jean Program

I read about the program in California, Downwithdenim.org, where they give the kids a free pair of jeans, a size smaller than what they wear at the time, so they can strive to fit into that pair. I know I have used that concept before. :)

When they do lose the weight and can get into those jeans, the program gives them another smaller pair. The program is mobile, on a truck, and the kids meet with professionals when getting new jeans and also meet with dietitians and trainers through virtual meetings. There is also an online community where they can track their food and exercise, keep in touch with their peer group through forums, photos, etc. They can receive a free pair of jeans until they get to a healthy BMI.  Isn’t this an interesting program?

When I first heard about it, I thought it was giving the wrong message if they were just giving a pair of jeans and pushing them off. But if they are actually keeping up with the kids and giving them positive reinforcement, it may be hitting them right where they are, with clothes and social media.  The press release about the program is here. There is also an article here. It looks like the main information site is just a Facebook page and doesn’t have a "typical" website but maybe when the kids sign up, they give them the site to go to. Unless, I just could not find it through my search.

What do you think about this program? I wonder if they get the parents involved?