Get Out There and Play!

When you were little, you didn’t worry about creating an exercise program to stay fit! When you weren’t in school, you woke up with the sunshine, ate breakfast, and then ran outside to play. You were doing what came naturally. You didn’t think about how many calories you were burning playing kick ball, you were just having fun!

Your body still wants to move like that, and being fit is still just that easy. It’s tough to remember that sometimes because we’re grown up, and the world has changed. Now we won’t walk down the street to say hello to a friend. We don’t even have to speak! We can text or email anyone we want without much movement at all. The more that machines move and our muscles don’t, the more we’re hurting our bodies by not allowing them to do what they were meant to do.

It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we have been more active than we actually have. “Whew! What a busy day,” we say. We feel drained, and caregivers are drained – mentally, even emotionally – but physically we may not have done much of anything, at least not consistently. We wonder why our hips are sore, why our shoulders hurt, why we have headaches. We buy fancy supportive office chairs to make us more comfortable. We bunch up pillows this way and that to make us more comfortable.

You know what would make us more comfortable? Getting up off our butts and moving around!

Scientists have spent years analyzing the mechanics of the human body, and exactly like a machine, our joints were created with motion in mind. When we don’t move, we get rusty. We put on weight and this puts us at a higher risk for many serious illnesses, including:

•Heart Disease
•Diabetes
•Certain Cancers
•Asthma

Because of the demanding lifestyle of a caregiver, we are already at increased risk for these things, which is why we need to give special attention to make regular exercise a priority.

Now I know very well that when you’re burning the candle at both ends, the thought of starting an exercise program can seem downright nuts…but listen, we’re not training for the Olympics here; we’re not waiting for Sports Illustrated to call about the next Swimsuit Edition. All we want to do is feel better and be healthier. You don’t need flashing neon lights and glitter to announce that you are going to start (cymbal crash, please) An Exercise Program. Working out doesn’t have to be flashy or overwhelming or expensive.

Here’s what a doctor I know tells his patients who feel they don’t have enough time for exercise:
“Give me 30 minutes a day.” When the patient claims she could never carve out that kind of time he says, “Then give me three ten-minute chunks, or six five-minute chunks, or ten three-minute chunks, or thirty one-minute chunks!” The point is, any movement is better than no movement, and medical research has proven that our bodies and brains get the same benefits of exercise even if we break it into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Ten minutes seems to be the magic number:
• Psychologists at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff found that ten minutes of exercise improved mood, increased energy, and encouraged mental alertness and clarity.
•Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University found that ten minutes of activity a day can provide immediate benefits, especially with heart health for people who haven’t been doing much exercise at all.

Here’s why: Ten minutes is enough time to increase your heart rate, get your blood pumping and oxygen flowing through your body and your brain. Within ten minutes your brain will release endorphins, those chemicals that make you feel happier and calmer. Exercise works faster than any pill. And by working activity into your day in smaller chunks of time, you won’t burn out. Let me give you some tough love here: “I’m too tired” is not going to fly as an excuse to get you out of this. Chances are you’re too tired because you are not getting enough exercise!

After just a few ten-minute sessions, you’ll notice that you’re not so out of breath when you get up out of a chair or walk up a few steps. You’ll have more energy throughout your day. You’ll have better brain power and mental clarity and focus. You’ll be taking baby steps down a positive path toward a healthier, stronger you!
So, get out there and play! Just ten minutes will make a difference – you’ll see!
j.

Multi-Tasking Walking

I love to walk.

There you have it, plain and simple.

Sure I like to try other exercises. I’ve shaken things I probably shouldn’t have shaken at Zumba classes. I’ve done steps, and cycles, and weights, and hula hoops…

It’s all fun, but when it comes right down to it, I always go back to walking.

It’s best for me if I walk first thing in the morning. If I wait too long, the day sucks me in and it gets too easy to say, “I don’t have time.”

So, going early ensures I get it done, but I also like it because starting the day with a work-out sets me up mentally for making better, healthier choices throughout the entire day. Lately I’ve been walking in a cemetery near my home. Geez, how fun, right?! I know it might sound a little gloomy at first, but it’s not at all!

Cemeteries have great, paved, private walking paths, and some challenging hilly areas! No worries about any heavy traffic. Pets aren’t allowed, so getting a shock from a barking dog isn’t an issue. The paths are tree-lined, which creates some nice shade and peaceful, playful shadows on the pavement. The back of the cemetery near me has a fairly large military burial area, speckled with little American flags.

It’s a quiet, reflective, place where I get a lot of good thinking done, along with a good workout.

Because there’s nobody around who cares, I walk with my little hand weights. I do bicep curls, and tricep presses, and movements for my shoulders and chest while I walk. Holding the weights, extending my arms out in front of me and slowing lowering them and raising them to chest height hits my ab muscles, too.

My good friend Leslie Sansone is the ultimate walk-a-holic! She loves it so much she created a program that has become the #1 indoor walking program in the world! She talks about the total body and brain benefits of walking at jenniferTVshow.com.
I drove the path I walk through the cemetery and know that three laps equals one mile. Most mornings between walking through the cemetery and back around through my neighborhood I get about three miles in!

I’ve lost weight. I’ve toned my muscles. I’ve strengthened my heart and lungs. I also end up with a clear mind. Great business ideas pop into my head. I feel grounded, and centered, and balanced.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about! In our busy lives, we NEED to find ways to maximize the time we can find for ourselves.

Start your day with a walk around your block and let me know how you feel!

j.

A Gym In Your Purse – Literally!

So many of us are on the go – moving and grooving from office, to home, to our children’s school and sports events. Who has time to stop by a gym? If you carry the right tools with you, then you can sneak a quick workout in no matter where you are.

I love being able to carry my own personal gym right in my purse- no gym fees, it’s light weight, and makes life real easy!

Special FREE offer from Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home!

I’m very excited to pass along this Special Offer for jennifer Viewers: 1-Month FREE in Leslie Sansone’s online Walk Club! This is the program that I used to walk away extra weight after becoming a mom (five times!). I used it in my home and loved that I could do it whenever I wanted, wearing whatever I wanted! It was easy to fit this kind of fitness into my busy life. I’m hoping you’ll find it works for you, too!

You’ll love all of the weight loss and health information, FREE online walks, 15% off of anything in the walk store, and more! Plus-I just went there, click on the Walk Talk video message to see Leslie’s favorite ab exercise! There’s absolutely no obligation to take advantage of this generous offer from my friend Leslie, but it is a limited time offer, so don’t miss it!

Get 1-Month of Leslie’s Walk Club FREE

Sign up and please come back and let me know what you think!
j.

Real Fitness Profile: Alaina Frederick’s Lifetime Challenge

Alaina Frederick is a wife and mom of three little boys. She also runs her own business as a web designer and Mommy Blogger. Alaina has decided to make a commitment to herself to lose weight and get healthier.

Wanting to look good for a family wedding sparked her desire, but she soon realized that it wasn’t just about a wedding—or any one event. Alaina decided to embark on a lifetime challenge to improve her own and her family’s health.

How will she fit fitness into her busy day? How will she have the energy she needs to tackle healthy meals that she—and the family—will eat? Alaina’s blogging about it and we can follow her journey here.

What about you? How do you struggle with living a healthy lifestyle? What works for you? How can we help with the tough parts? We’re all in this together! Let me know!

Weight Loss & Wellness

I had the craziest dream that I did a TV show in my pj’s. And, that in another segment of the show, I took my pants off! When I mentioned it to my husband in the morning he said, “uh…that wasn’t a dream!” Have you ever been so excited about sharing something that it caused you to act a little, well, strange? I think that’s what was going on when we taped our Weight Loss and Wellness show at my house!

I am happy to say that I was recently able to lose 36 pounds in just two and a half months! And, on this new show, I introduce you to the women and the programs I used to do it…PLUS a beautiful Work At Home Mom/Mommy Blogger on a mission to make healthy changes in her life!

I’m wearing my pj’s in the first segment [see below] -what do you think about those leopard jammies?!?- to prove the point that with my friend, Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home program, you can get an incredible workout in your home anytime you want–wearing anything you want! In this segment, we get to meet Leslie’s brand new Walk Leader, Brittany Ullrich—the energetic host of WALK NOW!

For the second segment I’m more normally dressed, but it’s not long before my pants come off (!) again, in the name of a helpful demonstration!!! The pants I walk out of are the pants I wore the first time I interviewed Dr. Bridget Chufo of Healthy Performance on my show. Now, they look like clown pants on me…so big that I can put them on over pants that actually fit and slide them right off without unbuttoning or unzipping a thing!!! It’s a great feeling! Dr. Chufo explains how the nutritional supplements and the protein shakes I used work in the body to bring it to a healthy place where the extra weight can come off!

Then in the third segment I stay fully clothed to talk with my friend Alaina Frederick. She’s a wife and mom of three boys who decided to make taking care of herself a priority (yay)! She’s started a lifetime challenge to lose weight and feel better–for an upcoming family wedding—and beyond! We’ll be able to track Alaina’s journey right along with her by following her Lifetime Challenge blog posts.

If you are looking to lose weight I hope you can watch the show on Father’s Day—this Sunday morning at 11 on WTAE-TV, Channel 4 (ABC) Pittsburgh. If you’re out of the Pittsburgh viewing area, no worries! The clips will be posted on jenniferTVshow.com after it airs.

Leopard pj’s…oh man…

Easy Activity: Family Walk!

My whole family and I got to join some of Leslie’s Sansone’s most popular walk leaders to present a fun, family walk for a great crowd at the WTAE-TV/American Diabetes Association Healthy 4 Life Expo at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
It was a great reminder to me, and many people who came up to talk to me after our program, that it’s possible to SMILE and still get a fantastic workout–in this case, with your family!
Simple walking is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to work out. In just a few minutes of walking, you can get your blood pumping, raise your heart rate, get the oxygen flowing to your brain, and work all of the major muscle groups. Walking is wonderful for stress relief, too. It helps you to feel better right away.
My friend Leslie Sansone’s style of walking makes something already easy, even easier for you…because with her DVD’s, you can walk in your home! Don’t worry about the weather, don’t worry about the neighbor’s dog getting in your way. Keep your pj’s on if you want, slip on your tennis shoes, pop in a DVD and follow along!
Here’s a little bit of our demonstration:

I interviewed Leslie for the chapter on fitness in my new book called Take Care! , which features 101 Ten Minute Tips for How to Care for Yourself While You’re Taking Care of Others. One of my ten minute tips is a ten minute walking workout!
Find out more about Take Care! (you can preorder now!)
Find out more about Walk at Home DVD’s (Family Walk is now less than $10!)

j.

Zumba in the Streets

You know you’re pretty hard core when you take your passion out into the street, and that’s exactly what more than 100 of us did for our love of aerobic fitness with a latin twist last week! We did Zumba in the Streets to benefit a local volunteer fire department. One of my favorite Zumba instructors, Connie Tinsley (that’s her up on the stage) represented Keystone Health Club to organize this big sweaty dance party in the street! It gave people a chance to see what this crazy Zumba thing is all about. Take a look…even better, stand up and join in…It’s fast fitness, and fast stress relief!

Zumba in the Streets was also a warm-up for a big Pittsburgh appearance by Beto Perez, the creator of Zumba. I’ll have more on that for you in just a bit.
j.

Do You Zumba? It’s fast fitness!

When we had Zumba people in the audience for a show taping recently, I jokingly called them “Zumba Freaks”. Turns out I was mocking what I didn’t understand…now I’m a Zumba Freak! It’s addictive!
Zumba is an aerobic form of exercise that uses Latin music and dance moves. It’s high energy, it’s definitely a workout (people in my classes who wear calorie monitors burn between 600 and 800 calories in one one hour class!)… but I love it most for the stress relief!
If you’re looking for a fun way to get fit fast, give it a try. I go to classes with Maria at Club One, (You can see a class on our show this Sunday at 11. Watch a clip here). Connie at
Keystone Health Club, and Dani at Latin RhythmZ. Zumba’s creator, Beto, will be in Pittsburgh to host a Master Class this summer. I will have the opportunity to introduce him and to interview him (watch for clips here). In the meantime though, we took a road trip to a studio in Wintersville Ohio to see Beto in action. Watch the clip below to see what it’s all about and to hear a special hello from Beto. Please try to ignore the finger wiping the camera lens from time to time—the studio was steamy!

I went to Connie’s early Zumba class this morning…such a great way to start the day…and before she ran off to do a Zumba demonstration at the Monroeville Expo Mart, I asked her some questions I though you might want to hear the answers to. Watch!
j.

Girls Run to Build Self-Esteem

I was with hundreds of girls and their families in the rain early this morning for the 6th annual WonderGirls 5K at Sandcastle waterpark. The event goes on in other cities across the country as part of a national program called Girls On The Run, which helps pre-teen girls to develop courage and a commitment to stay true to their own ideals and values, and develop a strong sense of self; so that they can keep on a healthy, positive track as they grow.
I asked local Girls on the Run Coordinator Meredith Colaizzi what she would want to say to girls to and their parents to encourage them:

j.

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