45Pounds Newsletter - September 1, 2010
School Lunches / Easy
Exercise
Welcome
By Mark Daniel
Welcome to the September newsletter for 45Pounds. It is our goal to
provide you with helpful tips and advice in your efforts to help your child
attain or maintain a healthy weight.
School is back in session, but what about those school lunches? See the
article below and learn how important it is for your child to take a packed lunch.
Does your child hate to exercise? Find some helpful ideas in our second
article.
Members - be sure to review the member benefits section below to be sure
you are getting all of the member benefits that are included with your program.
If you are not a member, come see our new program options at www.45pounds.com/program_options
And as always, please feel free to write us with any comments or
questions.
We hope you find some helpful tips in this month's newsletter.
Time to get to the good stuff -
Pack That Lunch!
Members - if you own the
program book you have seen this article and may want to skip to the next one.
However, it is a good refresher on the importance of packing a healthy school
lunch.
Many of you have busy,
hectic lives. That being said, packing your child's lunch is very important. You also need to
equip them with something to get them through the day without visiting the
snack machine. Take the extra 20 minutes to put a lunch together for your
child. It doesn't have
to be complicated, and if your child is old enough you can rely on him or her
to do this.
Below is an actual school
lunch menu pulled off the internet. These aren't the three worst days, just the first three
consecutive days that came up.
Day 1
Hamburger
French Fries
Lettuce & Pickles
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Milk
Day 2
Chicken Nuggets
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Hot Rolls
Milk
Day 3
Sub
Potato Chips
Lettuce & Tomato
Pears
Milk
The approximate calorie
value for each of these lunches (not including going back for seconds) is:
Day 1 - 750 calories
Day 2 - 950 calories
Day 3 - 935 calories
This is a
For a child who's trying to lose weight, or just trying not
to gain, this makes it nearly impossible to succeed. This should make clear the
importance of packing a healthier lunch. For example:
1 Turkey & Ham wrap
1 Low fat Yogurt
1 Butter Toffee rice cake
1 Apple
8 oz. PowerAde
That's a
Over a one week period,
packing your child's lunch
can save over 2,000 calories – more than one whole day's worth of food for most kids. So, you can
see the importance of packing a lunch for your child.
Members – you can find more
packed lunch ideas in the member section of the website.
Non-Members – Join
today and we will custom make packed lunch plans for your child based on
food he or she likes to eat.
School Lunches Still Fail
Kids: Study Finds Too Much Frito Pie, Not Enough Fruit
There's no way of knowing exactly what children across the
www.pcrm.org/news/commentary030930.html
Exercise
By Mark & Lisa Daniel
Owners, www.45pounds.com
Kids today spend too much time in front of the television, playing video games, and 'surfing the net'. This is not news. But how is this inactivity contributing to childhood obesity?
Our children are assaulted by many factors which do nothing more than add fat to their bodies. The consumption of high-fat, high-calorie foods is one. The lack of physical activity is another.
Exercise is not enough. We must also encourage a program of healthy eating. But exercise is important to the cardiovascular health of the child, and will have an impact on weight loss.
First of all, exercise does not have to be expensive. While you certainly have the option of exercise equipment, there are plenty of activities which provide just as much exercise value for little or no money:
- dancing to music
- jumping rope
- learning to rollerblade
- ball games at local recreation areas
- swimming
- walking
So what are the steps to building a meaningful exercise program that your child will actually be interested in?
1. Sit down and make a list of activities with your child, then have him or her pick three favorites and find a way to work them in to the weekly schedule. Don't over-do it, just start with three times per week. If you go to hard too soon, your child may burn out and give up.
2. Make activity part of the family lifestyle. Plan activities that involve everyone and promote family time and healthy exercise. This can be walks, visits to the park, walking a pet, flying a kite, visit to the zoo, yard projects. Again, sit down and make these plans with your child. Come up with five choices and then have the family vote on their favorite for the week.
3. Be a role model. It's hard to convince your child of the importance of physical activity while you're sitting on the couch. There is a good article on WebMD called ''Motivating overweight kids to exercise starts with their biggest role models: Their parents.'' Come see this article here: Motivating the Overweight Child
Work together with your child, make this a team effort regardless of his or her age. It will be a rewarding experience in many ways, and one that will have benefits well into the future.
Did you miss the last newsletter?
Come see the past three newsletters at www.45pounds.com/newsletterarchive
Program Update
From www.45pounds.com
If you are a member, be sure you are taking advantage of all of your member benefits:
Read the Book – If you have not yet read the on-line program book please do so as it contains information vital to your child’s success on the program. It’s only 24 pages and can be found here http://45pounds.com/Members/Booklet/1.html
Member Resource Center - this is where you can get all of your progress charts, exchange lists, food value lists, information on serving sizes, recipes, book recommendations, nutritional charts for some popular restaurants, links to helpful articles and government publications, and more. Again, all of this is free to members. http://www.45pounds.com/Members/membersonly
Password - You will need your password to access your member benefits. Go to www.45pounds.com/forgot if you have lost or forgotten your password.
Meal Plans - These meal plans are customized daily menus, built on your child's eating preferences and designed to help him or her eat healthy and lose weight. We do not sell program food, but help you build your own healthy program from foods you can buy at your local grocery store. If you are a member and have not yet filled out the form to receive your custom meal plans, go to http://www.45pounds.com/Members/buildplan. If you are a member and would like a fresh set of custom plans, you can buy them at http://www.45pounds.com/addedplans
Pen-Pals - The Pen Pal program has been very successful. There is no additional charge for this; it is included in your membership. We screen all applicants, and all Pen-Pals are confirmed members of the 45Pounds weight loss program. These Pen-Pals can be a great source of encouragement in the journey to lose weight. Sign up your child at http://www.45pounds.com/Members/penpal
If you are not a member you please come visit our website at www.45Pounds.com or review all of the program options at www.45Pounds.com/program_options
45Pounds, LLC