Save the date!  Life is good festival.

http://www.lifeisgood.com/festivals/2010-festivals-info/default.aspx

The festival is a two-day celebration of music and optimism, featuring three stages of diverse live music, hands-on games, interactive arts activities and the "Good Kids" zone — home to the top acts in kids entertainment. The Life is good Festival is a unique music event that every age group can enjoy.

100% of Life is good's profits from the Festival will go towards The Life is good Kids Foundation, helping kids overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness and extreme poverty.

Good music, fun time, great cause.

Did you ever want to experience first hand working a farm?  Check out Farm School.

http://www.farmschool.org/programs.html

The Farm School
Sentinel Elm Farm
488 Moore Hill Road
Athol, MA 01331
978.249.9944
Children as well as adults can take part in learning what it takes to be stewards of the earth.

Multi-day residential school-year and summer programs for the over 1,500 young people and their teachers, a year-long program to train adults in practical sustainable agriculture, and an on-site one-room middle school.

Young people work the land and take home the cultural history, vital experience, and personal identity that farms nurture. Teachers work alongside their students and leave with new insights into their craft and children they teach. Adults learn to farm and carry essential knowledge from one community to the next.

Spartan Race
Saturday, August 28
Amesbury, MA

The Spartan Race is an international running series that revives the spirit of an adventurous age. The race is designed to test your resilience, strength, stamina and ability to laugh in the face of adversity. This unique 5k includes 12 crazy obstacles and will demand every ounce of your strength and ingenuity.

Check it out:
http://www.spartanrace.com/

I always wear my heart rate monitor in conjuction with using perceived exertion while
teaching classes and for my own workouts.  I read an interesting article about the heart rate formula.
As with nutrition, there is  no cookie cutter formula with heart rate..it is a guide to start somewhere.

New Heart Rate Formula May Improve Program Design for Women

The use of heart rate to predict and monitor exercise intensity is common amongst exercisers of all types, from endurance athletes to cardiac rehab participants. Although heart rate remains the best option available for gauging intensity there remain questions regarding the validity of the many equations available to predict target heart rate for training. The maximum heart rate (HRmax) formula that currently serves as the foundation for prescribing intensity is 220 minus age. Two studies over the past decade address both gender and age-related drawbacks to this formula.

First, approximately 8 years ago, researchers at the University of Colorado reported that the HRmax formula was not valid for individuals over 40. They determined that the predicted decline in HRmax that occurs with age is considerably slower after the age of 40 than before. Hence, they developed the following formula which is believed to offer a more accurate prescription for an older population: 208 – (Age x .7).

This past month it was reported that the traditional HRmax formula results in an inflated exercise heart rate for women. In this study of over 5,400 women, participants completed a maximal treadmill test after which they were followed for a period of 16 years. The data collected from the project determined an association between risk for heart attack and abnormal heart rate readings during the previous treadmill test. Moreover, it resulted in a new formula to calculate maximum heart rate in women:

206 – (Age x .88).

Researchers determined that women who were programmed based on the original max HR formula were unable to sustain predictably manageable intensities (i.e. 65-85% max HR). The new formula predicts a lower max HR and thus lower relative HR’s for women.

This study presents an interesting challenge to fitness professionals. Although it is acceptable, should you choose to incorporate the new formula, which results in a lower relative intensity, do the client's results suffer? If so, it may be more appropriate to first use the newer formulas, continue to incorporate HR monitoring, but to include perceived exertion to modify intensity on an individual basis.

Tara Parker-Pope. Recalibrated Formula Eases Women’s Workouts. NY Times Health Update. July 5, 2010.

Do you wear a heart rate monitor when you work out?  What do you do to monitor intensity levels of your workouts?

I have had a few clients comment about choosing organic because they felt that would mean low calorie...interesting article concerning the influence of the term organic...

Consume Confuse "Organic"
with "Lower Calorie"
Just because a food is labeled "organic" doesn't mean it has fewer calories - but a "tendency to over-generalize health claims" may lead to that mistaken conclusion, according to University of Michigan researchers. They conducted two studies with college students to test whether people "assume that foods produced organically contain fewer calories than their conventional counterparts, despite the fact that the 'organic' designation entails no such claim." In one study, 114 students were shown two nutrition labels for cookies, both clearly marked as containing 160 calories per serving; nonetheless, the cookies "made with organic flour and sugar" were perceived as having fewer calories. A second study asked 215 students about a story in which a character who wants to lose weight skips exercising. Students were more forgiving if the character chose an organic dessert than a non-organic dessert - and even more than if she had no dessert. The influence of organic labeling on notions about calories was strongest among those who also otherwise most highly valued "organic" as an attribute of healthy foods. - Judgment and Decision Making

Did/do you think choosing organic means the product is healthier? What organic processed products do you eat?

 

Do you want to take charge of your nutrition?  Take some classes at Mass Bay Community College this summer.　
Visit:

http://www.massbay.edu/uploadedFiles/Corporate_and_Community_Ed/Summer_Semester_2010.pdf

EATING HEALTHY for BUSY PEOPLE- GOOD NUTRITION Do you know what carbs to eat? Do you know how to figure out how much to eat to fuel your body and your mind? Learn how to choose health foods no matter where you are.

Class One: Learn the basics of nutrition, covering macronutrients and their importance. Carbohydrates, Protein, healthy fats. We will discuss the important balance of hydration, sleep, stress, exercise, nutrition.

Class Two: Reading a food label, tips on eating healthy no matter where you are, ordering out, how to stock up on staples and what to have in your pantry. 2 days    

 

 

Framingham campus $75

 1919 WK385 TUE 7/20, 7/27 6:00PM-8:00PM

I hope to see you there!!

 

 

1 out of 3 children are obese.  What can we do about it? 
It is not just about nutrition, kids need to be active too.

What do you think we can do to help the upcoming generations with their
nutrition and fitness?  Especially with the numerous cut backs with physical education and activities....


Listen to wbur program that aired this morning. 
http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/07/childhood-obesity

Check out the Trustees Reservations for family fun this summer.

These Trustees offer children's gardens and family programs:

Weir River Farm, Hingham, MA
75 acre working farm.  You can visit a barnyard, volunteer in the market garden or check out the beautiful flowers that border the farm.

Appleton Farms, Ipswich and Hamilton, MA
1,000 acre working farm includes a 500 members community supported agricultural program.  You can take part in the Farm Field School and perform real farm work such as planting and harvesting the fields or meet the cows.

Long Hill, Beverly, MA
114 acre hillside farm, known for its gardens.  There is an apple orchard, children's garden and agricultural fields as well as a two acre organic vegetable farm run by the Food Project.   Check out the children's gardening workshops.

Boston Natural Areas Network Community Gardens (BNAN)
BNAN owns 40 gardens and helps coordinate activities related to all of the Boston area community and school gardens.  Community gardens are communally cultivated and cared for.

Powisset Farm, Dover, MA
110 acre farm includes 250 member community supported agriculture program.  Pick your own gardens or enjoy a picnic on the farm.

So get into the soil with some hands on experiences at any of the local farms listed. Dig in. Plant a seed.  Get dirty.

Berries!  My favorite.  Nutritious and Delicious!
Berries are soon to be ready for picking at your local farms.

Here are a few sites that are helpful in finding pick your own farm and locally grown farms:

www.pickyourown.org
www.massfarmstands.com
www.farmfresh.org
www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/pick-your-own.htm

A favorite of mine is Tougas Family Farm in Northboro.
Call before you pick 508 393 6406.

I have been hearing a lot about the Chocolate Milk Diet lately.  I just read the suggestion for kids to be on the diet by nutrition expert David Zinczenk.  The diet for kids suggests individuals drink three 8-ounce glasses of chocolate milk each day.  Each bottle delivers a package of micro- and macronutrients that can help you shake off body flab and replace it with firm muscle.

What about non-flavored milk?  There is half the amount of sugar in it compared to chocolate milk.  An 8 ounce glass of chocolate milk has approximately 26 grams of sugar per serving compared to approximately 12 grams.  Kids could replace that extra sugar by eating something like a piece of fruit to get the benefits of fiber needed in their diet.

What do you think about the chocolate milk diet for kids?? 

P.S. And I don't like to use the word diet for kids.