Top Ramen

So a few weeks ago I was helping my son’s Cub Scout pack get ready for the upcoming camp-out.

The comment that one parent said to me I really didn’t believe at first. I’ll have to admit that I gave him a deer in headlights look for at least 10 seconds.

This is what he said to me: “My son only eats Ramen Noodles”.

No kidding.

So let’s fast forward a few weeks and it was time for the camp-out. Sure enough when everybody else was eating this little boy was running around playing. After the meals his father fed him his Ramen Noodles. Yeah, I’m not joking.

This little boy is about 6 years old and looks to weight about 35 lbs. He makes most kids look like Hulk Hogan. Man his guns were like 2 inches around. He was a tiny, tiny kid. Well, if you only eat Ramen noodles I can see how THAT would happen.

Before I go on let me remind you all of something. We eat why? Why do we chew and swallow? Really. It’s a serious question. Do we do it because we enjoy eating and we like what we eat? For most people that is the answer. For kids it’s almost ALWAYS the answer.

That is not, however, why we eat. We eat to nourish. We eat to survive. We eat to grow and develop. We eat to live. Eating for the pure pleasure of it is selfish. Kids do it because they don’t know any better. Parents feed them this way because sometimes they don’t know any better either.

OK, let’s see exactly what this little be is being fed three meals per day.

This comes from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Ingredients_in_top_ramen

NOODLE

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)

Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Canola Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Palm Oil)

Salt

Sodium Tripolyphosphate

Potassium Carbonate

Sodium Carbonate

Sodium Alginate

Chili

Paprika

Tocopherols

T-BHQ

SOUP BASE (Picante Beef)

Salt

Hydrolyzed Soy

Corn & Wheat Protein

Monosodium Glutamate

Soy Sauce Powder (Wheat, Soybean, Maltodextrin, Salt)

Chili & Other Spices

Caramel Color

Autolyzed Yeast Extract

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Dehydrated Cliantro

Beef Powder

Beef Fat

Disodium Guanylate

Disodium Inosinate

Dehydrated Leek

Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten

Sugar.

Uhhhhhh…. I don’t even know where to begin on this list of chemicals. It’s ridiculous. Dehydrated Leek?? Really?? WTF is that?

Beef power and beef fat? Why not just use, I don’t know, BEEF!!?? I don’t know either.

Other spices?? Why not name them?

This article isn’t about the ingredient list of Ramen Noodles. That would be fun and all. I’m sure you’d never let your kid eat them again when you found out the effects of MSG on a little boys brain.

My subject matter today is more along the lines of the choices we make for our children.

Why would you allow your child to eat one thing and one thing only? Never mind the fact that one thing is VERY unhealthy and will totally damage this young boys body. Why would you do that to your kid?

I had a dentist friend years ago that used to yell at parents that brought kids in with nasty teeth. He said it was child abuse not to brush your kid’s teeth a couple of times per day. I think this is the same thing. Kids don’t want to brush their teeth and they don’t like certain foods. It’s because they don’t know better. Kids actually think that they eat because it’s fun and it is for enjoyment. It is OUR JOB to teach them that this is not the case.

It drives me crazy.

Should we make our kids eat brussel sprouts every meal? Not a chance. Should we make them suffer with foods they hate? No again. But should we allow our kids to go through life simple eating one food because they REALLY like it. What if we allowed our kids to run around naked because they didn’t like cloths? What if we let a 6 year old drink beer or do crack? Same thing here; same EXACT thing.

So I say this to all of you. Be a parent. Show your kids what is right from wrong. Don’t let them hit and don’t let them walk around naked. Teach them that drugs are bad and that smoking is stupid. For the love of God PLEASE teach them they what they eat is the most important of all these things. If they only like Ramen Noodles then let them have Ramen Noodles after 3 bites of broccoli. Next time make it 4 then 5 and so on….

Do they like chocolate cake? Tuesday nights let them have chocolate cake. Start weaning them off the crap and start making them eat good things. Going without dinner or lunch a couple of times will help them to learn.

By the way, I do believe that it is a mistake to reward a kid with sweets. BUT sometimes when they are addicted and so used to them it is the only way to wean. EVENTUALLY they forget. It’s alright to have Ramen Noodles every so often.

I went to college…I ate my share of Ramen.

PLEASE understand the point of this article.

The point is this: It is your responsibility to educate your child about eating right. If you don’t do it then guess what…someone else will. Who is that?

Sit down with them and watch their TV shows for an hour. Watch the commercials. Do you see broccoli advertised?? No, you do not….

The Tearful Call

Got a tearful call today.

"I gained 5 lbs".

When you are trying to lose weight this could be a stressful event. OK scale time. Feeling good! Working out! Eating right! GAINED 5 lbs!!

Holy crap! What the.....

Relax. Let me explain. Weight will always fluctuate. Try weighting yourself all the time. You will see that number go up down and around. I've lost 15 lbs in a day before then gained it back in two. It happens. It's nothing to worry about; as a matter of fact that could be part of the problem. Exactly. Again, I shall explain .When you are worried, frustrated, stressed out... you get what I mean..... you can not and will not lose weight. This is just a fact. So, yes the problem will compound it's self. You get worried and frustrated that you can't program the scale yourself and BLAM! Now your REALLY not losing weight and likely going to gain some!!

Another thing is that your body will cycle. Sometimes your burning fat like it's no tomorrow and sometimes you are adding muscle. The body does what it is going to do! Don't worry about it! It happens! In the end you will win of you are doing the right things!

The stress factor is more than you even know. If you aren't getting the results that you want the FIRST thing you need to look at is your stress level. What is going on in your life? What can you eliminate? Who you you cut out of your life because they are infusing toxic levels of stress into your day?

Something to think about. Stress = acid = fat = death. Is that a simple equation?

What can you do to eliminate stress from your life?

A Day at the Springs

It was such a beautiful spring day in Florida on Saturday. So nice in fact that my girlfriend and I packed a lunch, threw the kids and my guitar in the car and headed out to DeLeon Spring near Deland.

What a wonderful and perfect day!

While I kids were playing in the water Teresa and I sat in the sun while I played my guitar. After a while we started talking about fitness and the wellness and the sad state of health of most Americans.

I’m not one to judge but I couldn’t help but notice one lady sitting with her husband and their toddler a little ways from us. It wasn’t very hard to see why she wasn’t healthy.

This lady was very over weight.

Again, I’m not judging hear. I am observing. It’s a fact that she was overweight. We started talking about WHY this lady was overweight.

I don’t know her. I don’t know her genetics or her habits or her lifestyle or anything. I really have no idea exactly why she was overweight. I have my suspicions though…

The two biggest factors in why people are overweight is of course how you move your body and what you put into your body. I have no idea if this lady workout out or did anything. All I know is what I saw.

So what did I see?

Of course she was smoking. Does smoking make you fat? No but most people that smoke don’t lead very active lifestyles. That is just a fact. Smoking is so amazingly destructive to your body. This lady and her man smoking while they held there toddler make me more than a little annoyed.

She was drinking a Pepsi.

Some would argue that soda is just as destructive if not more destructive than smoking.  Soda will literally rot your body from the inside out. The sugar, the caffeine, the chemicals, the toxins…the carbonation; all these factors can cause cancer and a host of other problems.

She was eating Little Debbie snack cakes.

So there you have it. Here is a morbidly obese lady at the springs smoking, drinking soda and eating sugary snacks. REALLY??

Sometimes I actually do have blinders on. Really. Sometimes I think that all people that are heavy are trying to lose weight and will eat well and try to exercise;  this is just not the truth.

If this lady were to seek me out for advice to turn thing around I wouldn’t bombard her with “don’t do this and don’t do that”. That is not what she needs.

I would tell her to come to one class.

I would tell her to right down everything she ate for 4 days.

I would look at her food journal and have her ad a piece of fruit at breakfast and a serving of veggies at dinner.

Yes, simple and small changes.

Some help and encouragement and accountability is really what people need.

I do feel bad for people like this lady. I’m sure she has tried in the past to lose the weight and get healthy. I’m sure she got overwhelmed and confused by hype, marketing, half truths and scams. I really do feel bad because it happens all the time.

In my program I ask people to simply try one workout; then another workout, then a small change, then another small change. A couple of small goals. An extra walk…an extra workout.

It is a process and a progression. No one has results overnight but virtually everyone expects that.

I have been doing this job a long time. I live and breathe fitness 24 hours per day. I know exactly what people need to do to get fit. If you want to be a d live fit then I will make the same suggestion to you.

Take it one step and one workout at time. Come see me. I will help you. Let me guide you down the path to your new you….