Fitness Week in Review for Week Ending May 24

Love these end of the week reviews where we can see what articles we talked about this week and catch you up on articles you may have missed. We launched our Olympic series this week in an effort to let you, the readers, get to know the Olympic hopefuls and athletes before they head off to Beijing this summer. We kicked off our series with a look at the chosen cyclists and the swimmers. Focus on the Olympics This week’s Olympic series began with Focus on the Olympics: New Series which addressed the goals of our new series. Athletes we … Continue reading

Dear Heather … I Have Been Unhealthy

Hello Heather. I have been very unhealthy for years now due to severe depression. I am now getting my life back on track and have been going to the gym for the past month now. Now I am (as embarrassing as it is to say it publicly) 22 years old (male), 362 lbs (I am thick and most don’t think I am that big), 5’11” and I walk the treadmill every morning (before I eat Breakfast) usually at 3.0-3.4 at an incline at 3.0 (for 55 mins/+5min cool down so 1 hour)…any idea about how many calories I am burning … Continue reading

Dear Heather .. I Was Diagnosed with Diabetes …

Dear Heather, I went to the doctor recently because I’ve been tired all the time, I got the shakes and experienced a few other troubling systems including incontinence and severe thirst. During the course of the general exam, she asked me a lot of questions and I’ll admit it, I’m overweight and I could probably stand to lose about 75 pounds or more. She recommended a few tests and when all was said and done, she told me I had diabetes. It’s Type II, the kind you get when you’re in bad physical shape like I am and when you’ve … Continue reading

Fitness Week in Review for Week Ending May 17

Love these end of the week reviews where we can see what articles we talked about this week and catch you up on articles you may have missed. This week let us explore old and new ideas in fitness from getting the exercise you need on a shoe-string budget to the types of excuses we use to get out of doing the exercise in the first time. Fitness on a Shoe-String Budget is important to keep in mind when you consider the rising cost of gas, travel and fitness clubs. One of the best things about fitness is that it … Continue reading

Dear Heather … Summer Fitness Vacations

Dear Heather, I remember reading in your blog a while back about fitness vacations. I was actually thinking that this would be a good plan for my family (we have 4 boys ranging in age of 5 to 15) and I think a fitness vacation might inspire my sons to stay active while spending some time with their Dad and I. But I’m not sure where to start my planning. Any ideas? -Mom on the Move Dear Mom on the Move, First let me say hats off to you, I have a hard time keeping up with 1 girl, I … Continue reading

Dear Heather … Hiring a Personal Trainer for Your Child

After a brief hiatus, our weekly Dear Heather … feature is returning to the fitness blog here at Families.com So if you have fitness questions, concerns or just want to know something, feel free to send it my way and I will do my best to get your questions answered. Dear Heather, I am very worried about my daughter. She’s 9 years old and she’s already much taller than most of the kids in her class or her age. But over the summer she started putting on weight and I know she is getting teased at school. I’m concerned about … Continue reading

Dear Heather … A Question

A reader asked the following question on my blog Coach Mom: Making Up Your Game Plan and I thought I’d put it up front so I could answer it. The question is from Families.com member Tckteacher: A question rather than a comment. Our days of homeschooling our own children are long over, but I now find myself in a position of schooling a 3rd grade child overseas in a situation where there few available resources and no community sports activities for her to join other than dance – which she is involved in. I am trying as her teacher to … Continue reading

Dear Heather …. Where Have You Been?

Dear Heather, I enjoyed reading your Dear Heathers when you published them, but it seems like it’s been a while since you posted one. Also, I have been doing my own workout at home for a few years now, I alternate strength training and cardio and it seems to be a good system. But I do sit-ups every morning before I shower (I know they are strength training, but I have a phobia about my middle) and even though I can do 50 at a time and it’s easy, I still do them. Is there a way I can make … Continue reading

Q is for Questions

Fitness questions are something we all have, whether you are asking about how to do an exercise or how to get into shape or how many exercises to do. Questions are a great way to teach and to learn. How else do you figure out what to do and when to do it? How else do you get the information you need? You ask questions or you listen as someone else answers a question that you may not have thought to ask. Who Best to Ask the Questions To? Asking questions may not be the problem, figuring out where to … Continue reading

What is the Fitness Blog About?

You know, it’s been 18 months since the Fitness blog launched here at the Families.com. When I first began writing for it, I didn’t want it to be just another ubiquitous blog that told you how to exercise. I didn’t want to just post perfunctory entries each day that fulfilled some generic idea of what a fitness blog should be. I wanted to stamp my personality on it and I wanted to write the blog I wanted to read. I have no quixotic ideas about fitness. Exercise is a simple thing and we hear day in and day out how … Continue reading