Michelle Obama has had a tremendous impact on American families with her push for living healthy and goal of eliminating childhood obesity in her role as first lady. She announced recently that her new initiative aimed at targeting childhood obesity is under way, and adds that her feelings on the program crystallized when she was faced with a less than favorable report from her daughters’, Sasha and Malia, pediatrician.
“We went to our pediatrician all the time,” Obama said, via ABC News. “I thought my kids were perfect — they are and always will be — but [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.”
Mrs. Obama says that she was too close to really see the changes in her girls and when the doctor suggested that Mrs. Obama look at her daughters’ BMI numbers, she made small diet changes. Those small changes that she made in their daily habits helped to pull the numbers back into balance.
Instead of being applauded for her efforts, Mrs. Obama has been the subject of controversy for her use of the word “diet.” Reports have said that by using her daughters as an example, she may have harmed their self-esteem. Some critics have said that she should have focused more on lifestyle change, instead of weight loss.
Just about a month ago, we were celebrating the beginning of a new year, and a new decade. Did you make a New Year’s Resolution? Did you decide that with the new year would come a new you? Did you resolve to lose weight, develop an exercise habit, or change your diet? How is it going for you?
Many people who make these types of vows struggle with maintaining their forward momentum. Maybe you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you’d like, or you feel stifled and tired of even trying. Relax and take heart, for what you are feeling is normal and natural and literally everyone goes through it. How do you get past it, though?
Ask any woman who has had a baby and she’ll tell you that her body is never ever the same. Varicose veins, wider hips, extra weight, even bigger feet – nothing is ever the same. It’s worth it, though, when you look at that little bundle of joy. (I’m trying to remember this as I look at my 6′ tall 17-year-old son.) One area of your body that suffers especially, and gets very little mention, is the pelvic floor. The area of the body that carries the child experiences tremendous stress and often becomes weak. With this, women experience urinary incontinence. That’s where kegel exercises, named for Dr. Arnold Kegel, come in.
Kegel exercises help to restore and strengthen the muscles that surround and support the bladder, uterus, rectum, and urethra – the pelvic floor muscles. These muscles are also known as your pubococcygeal muscles.
On December 14, 2009, Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Mason Dash Disick. She is quoted as saying that she gained 40 pounds – an entirely reasonable and typical amount for a normal, full term pregnancy. On the cover of the January 11, 2010 issue of Life & Style, OK! magazine displays a heavily Photoshopped image of Kardashian, and claims a “Kourtney’s Body After Baby Exclusive” on its cover, saying that she lost all of her pregnancy weight just a week after giving birth. Looking at the side-by-side photos, it’s clear that the magazine cropped Kourtney’s stomach and replaced her face with a slimmer one to illustrate her speedy weight loss.
Kardashian has come out in denial of this cover, reporting on Twitter, “One of those weeklies got it wrong again…they didn’t have an exclusive with me. And I gained 40 pounds while pregs, not 26…But thanks!” She was quoted in Women’s Wear Daily as saying, “They doctored and Photoshopped my body to make it look like I have already lost all the weight, which I have not.”
When I was a kid, I never developed a taste for milk. Well, no, that’s not strictly true – I loved CHOCOLATE milk. I never had it, so, consequently, I didn’t drink milk. I heard all of the horror stories that were linked to non consumption of milk – the broken bones, the osteoporosis later in life – but I chose to ignore all of them. I mean, really, who wants to think about the things that might happen fifty years in the future?
Me. Now. I’m thinking about it now.
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