Muscle Twitching BELOW the Eye: What this Means
Do you ever get twitches right below the eye, just above the cheek?
This kind of twitching can appear out of nowhere and be persistent. (more…)
Can You Tell a Child’s Health by Their Size?
With all this talk about not being able to tell someone’s health by their size, what about children?
Can fat kids be healthy too?
Is childhood obesity blown out of proportion?
It’s no secret that the health of an obese child usually isn’t as bad as it is for obese adults.
Next, very overweight children are more mobile and have more stamina when compared to proportionately overweight adults — especially those over 30.
However, how easy can you picture the child in the above image running around during a game of tag, let alone sustaining this without giving out early on?
Can you picture him leaping over a puddle or effortlessly climbing on playground equipment?
The campaign of “You can be fit and fat” doesn’t seem to include children.
“My guess is that intuitively, we all know that being overweight or obese is simply not healthy,” says Richard Kelley, MD, a practicing physician in Texas for 20+ years, and author of “The Fitness Response,” “The Three-Hour Appetite” and the ebook, “The Fitness Response ‘Diet’ for Women.”
“The overweight and obesity trend in children is particularly disturbing on a number of fronts,” says Dr. Kelley.
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“Because children, adolescents and teens are in the process of growing and often the growth plates of their bones have not completely ceased the process of growth, excess weight can lead to bone malformation.”
Obesity in childhood increases the demand on joints. This “may lead to a lifetime of arthritis and impaired mobility,” says Dr. Kelley.
And keep in mind that childhood chubbiness can be a gateway to morbid obesity in young adulthood.
Dr. Kelley adds that obesity and overweight in children put them at a higher risk for type II diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea, all chronic and potentially life-threatening conditions.
“It is one thing to make a choice, as an adult, which may not be in the best interest of one’s health, but it is irresponsible to promote something to children and young adults, which could be detrimental to their overall health and wellbeing,” says Dr. Kelley.
“Maybe on some level, this is why the HAES movement has not pushed their philosophy more heavily with younger individuals.”
If children can’t be healthy at any size, then it’s reckless to apply this idea to adults.
Richard Kelley, MD, is an author, speaker, fitness expert and transformation coach.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Tony Alter from Newport News
Why Exercise Should NOT Be Enjoyable
Exercise should not have to be enjoyable. To expect working out to provide fun may backfire.
Here are solutions to trying to find an exercise that’s fun.
I was inspired to write this article after reading in a weight loss forum a post by a woman who had not done any exercise for 11 years (but had been dieting — and unsuccessfully, for weight loss).
Her excuse for not exercising was that she couldn’t find something she could “enjoy.”
Really! LOOK, one of the biggest saboteurs of sticking to an exercise program is believing that you must enjoy exercise!
If we expected brushing our teeth, cleaning the house and balancing the checkbook to be “fun,” how many of us would actually stick to these important tasks?
How long could you hold a tedious job if you expected it to be enjoyable?
Go to a gym. Look at the hardbodies, the buff bodies, the people with the physiques you’d die for. Watch them work out. Are they having a good time?
Don’t confuse enjoyment of exercise with admiring one’s physique in the mirror.
There’s a huge bodybuilder at my gym who frequently pulls his shorts up super high and flexes his quads in a mirror. He just loves looking at himself.
But you should see him when he’s actually working out. He looks far from happy. He hates every second of it. He never looks sad when the set is completed.
You’re Not Supposed to Enjoy Exercise
• Where did this myth come from?
• I’m going to guess it came mostly from people who have a hard time sticking to exercise…though I’ve heard this mantra spill out of the mouths of fitness experts.
• Well, I’m a fitness expert, former personal trainer for a large health club chain, and I never told my clients, “You’re supposed to enjoy exercise.”
That’s a pretty tough burden to carry — believing you should love running hard and gasping for breath; straining to push a weight over your head; or trying to endure 30 seconds of squat jumps or stair dashes with a smile on your face.
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When you’re not able to live up to the expectation of enjoying exercise, you fail.
- You lose hope.
- It becomes despairing.
- You feel like a FAILURE.
- You give up.
- You think something’s wrong with you because everyone else seems to enjoy their exercise regimen.
Hah! I bet they hate it just as much as you do — but the difference is that they have a more realistic perspective. They realize that exercise is not supposed to be fun!
Don’t Confuse Exercise with Enjoyable Physical Activity
There are physical activities that yield fitness results, including weight loss, such as scenic hikes, rock climbing, power volleyball, pickup basketball games, martial arts training, tennis, skiing and many more.
These activities can be quite fun and exciting to some people.
I love ascending talus slopes and running down tundra hills. I love climbing walls.
But geez, whom am I trying to kid when I say I love deadlifting heavy barbells?
I love that I’m able to. But that’s not the same as doing it. Whom am I trying to kid when I say I enjoy dashing up hills and being breathless at the top?
I dread the way it feels at the top. I love being able to, but…need I say more?
I enjoy the RESULTS. I love what exercise does for my body. But to love the actual exercise? Are you kidding?
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How to Stick to an Exercise Program if You Hate Exercise
• Stop trying to find an exercise you enjoy. This is a high expectation that may never come true.
• Accept the fact you’ll always hate working out if that’s how you’ve always felt.
• Once you bury this absurd myth, you’re on your way to sticking to a fitness regimen for life.
• A realistic approach is to find a workout plan that’s the least unpleasant.
For example, I hate lunges so much that I won’t do them at all, never.
But I do another exercise that yields the same results: squats.
And I don’t like them. But I enjoy that I can do them without knee pain. I enjoy that they give me results.
• Focus on what a workout program can do for your body; focus on the goal, the reward.
Stop trying to enjoy exercise any more than you’ve ever tried to enjoy changing diapers, cleaning the bathroom, pulling weeds or cutting up and rinsing vegetables.
This myth will defeat you if you’ve always “hated” working out.
There are things in life that are not meant to be fun while you’re actually doing them.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer for Bally Total Fitness.
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Top image: Freepik
Why Doesn’t Knee Replacement Surgery Fix the Elderly Gait?
Since osteoarthritis impairs an elderly person’s walk, why doesn’t total knee replacement surgery usually correct this even though the pain is gone?
Does a Loud Noisy Knee Mean a Future Knee Replacement?
A loud, noisy crunching knee, especially with pain, definitely means there’s a problem.
Can Weight Loss Substitute for Knee Replacement Surgery?
If you’re obese with knee pain, it’s crucial that you lose weight if you’re wondering if fat loss can make a total knee replacement no longer necessary.
10 Ways a Tall Teen Girl Can Feel Great About Her Height
Here are ways that a tall teen girl can feel great about her height, even if she feels despair about it.
Teen girls cannot change their height. But they can change the way they think. That’s the one thing you CAN change.
And by changing the way you think, you can actually change the way other people think of you.
#1: If a teen girl stands tall and confident, she’ll appear a little older and command more respect, including from teachers. Try it if you don’t believe me.
#2: Your height is equal to most of the boys and taller than many of the boys. Now, you’re probably thinking, “WHAT? Why should THAT make me feel great about being so tall?”
It should make you feel a little safer than if you were only 5-2.
A boy who wants to push around a girl is less likely to attempt this on one he’s eye-to-eye with and especially if he must look up at her.
#3: You may not be thinking about this now, but some day, you’ll REALLY be thinking about it: what you’ll look like in old age. A body that’s getting old will shrink in height.
If a teen girl is tall, this means that after old age shrinks her down, she won’t be a “little old lady.”
Little old ladies look more helpless than tall or medium height old ladies.
#4: It’s a well-established fact that tall people are more likely to get promoted in the workplace when compared to short people, and they also tend to earn more money than do short people.
So if you’re a teen girl feeling despair about your height, picture yourself just coming out of college and trying to get ahead in the business world:
You’ll be eye-to-eye or taller than the men you’ll be trying to gain respect from. They will see you more as their equal, rather than as their inferior.
Picture yourself at a “normal” or petite height, standing among men at that high-powered business meeting.
You are looking up at all of them. They are looking down at you.
Maybe there’s five of them, all around six feet, and you’re like 5-3 or 5-4, or if you’re wearing heels, you’re topping out at 5-8.
But these men are still looming over you. You feel you must speak up to be taken seriously. You must clomp your heels when you walk to create a presence.
Now, if you’re very tall, well gee, all you need do is just square off your shoulders and proudly smile to create a dynamic presence and command respect. When you talk, the men will listen!
#5: If you play sports, you can make height work for you. Extra height is an advantage in many sports.
#6. You don’t have to ask people to reach things for you. I’m 5-8 and more than once, I’ve had to ask taller people at the grocery store to get something in the back of the highest shelf.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been only 3-4 inches away from reaching something, and nobody else was around to reach for me.
This includes changing the light bulbs in a light that hangs above my staircase, and clipping off dead leaves of a philodendron that climbs my walls. I must drag out the stool.
#7: If someone’s really angry at you, wouldn’t you prefer that they be looking UP at you, rather than down at you or even eye-to-eye with you?
#8: Tall teen girls have a sight advantage; you can see over peoples’ heads. This comes in handy in the school auditorium, at movie theatres, concerts, etc.
#9: If you marry a short man, it’s less likely (though not guaranteed) that your children will be “too short.”
#10: “Being tall is just as acceptable as being short or being the average height,” says Renee Sunday, MD, an anesthesiologist who’s 5-10.
“But young ladies have to be made comfortable in their stature. And how can this happen? Mindset, connections and personal affirmations.
“Whether it’s good or bad, you are what you believe that you are.” Yes, this is so true. A classic example is the two salesmen.
One thought he couldn’t sell anything. The other thought he could sell anything. Who was right? BOTH!
Dr. Sunday continues, “So if we can get young women to change their mindsets and viewpoints about self, we can get them to appreciate who and what they are.
“That comes with being connected to the right people and finding other beautiful persons who have walked the path you’re walking.
“Believe that you’re amazing, connect to those who are amazing, and affirm that you are amazing.
“When I was younger, I was bullied and always picked on for being tall and skinny.
“I was intelligent and had a great sense of humor, but people paid more attention to my height.
“So I had to become comfortable with it. And now, I love my heels and my makeup. I love my short skirts and my beautiful long legs.
“But I had to learn to love me. No, I didn’t ask for the height. But since I was trusted with it, I had to accept it.”
So there you have it, 10 ways a tall teen girl could feel wonderful about her height!
Dr. Sunday is a board certified anesthesiologist in practice for 20 years. Her site is reneesunday.com.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
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