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In my previous post I shared a press release reporting the results of the 2011 F as in Fat report on rates of obesity in America. In a nutshell, the trends are depressing, and a lot of great thoughts were posted in the comments section, many of which I agreed with strongly. Based upon the response to that post, I wanted to share my thoughts on the topic – let me be clear at the outset that I am neither an expert on nutrition nor a particularly shining example of someone who has an ideal diet.

Weight control is a constant battle for me. I have a moderately large framed body type that seems to build tissue very easily – this applies to both muscle, and unfortunately, fat. I have found throughout life that I build muscle very quickly when I do strength training, but I also seem to lose it quickly when I slack off. Same goes for fat. If I let my diet slip, I can pack on the pounds seemingly overnight, but if I maintain control, I can take the weight off pretty quickly as well. My suspicion is that much of this is genetic – for example, my brother is a weight lifter, and his biceps are the size of my quads!

Given my apparent physiology, I have to be very careful about balancing my food intake and exercise output in order to maintain or lose weight. I fluctuate a lot, and typically go through an annual cycle where I gain a few pounds in the winter, and take them off as I get more generally active in the summer. Last summer into early fall I reached a post high-school low of around 162 pounds (I’m 5’10”), and I attribute my Boston Qualifying performance at the Smuttynose Marathon last October in large part to the fact that I was running pretty light compared to any of my previous marathons. Much of the energy expended while running is involved in supporting and propelling body weight (74% by some estimates), and shedding pounds can make a big difference in your efficiency. Right now I weigh in around 170, which is still almost 20 pounds under what I was when I became a serious runner back in 2007 (I’ve run on and off throughout life, but never with the regularity or intensity that I do now).

For me, running has surely played a part in my ability to lose weight, particularly when I first started running big miles. However, nowadays it seems to play a bigger role in weight control, and tweaking my diet is the bigger factor when it comes to gaining or losing pounds. Running serves as a counterbalance to my dietary lapses more than anything, and has helped prevent me from reverting back my condition of 4-5 years ago.

Putting all of this into the context of the obesity epidemic that is gripping this country, the big question seems to be why we are gaining so much weight. Many are now pointing the finger at refined carbs as the big evil via their role in spiking insulin and stimulating fat deposition – if you haven’t read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, it’s an eye-opening book. My wife is a staunch advocate of the Michael Pollan, whole-food approach to eating – I’m working through Pollan’s In Defense of Food right now, and it’s another fantastic read. She has a dietary willpower that I could only dream of – in our 15 years together I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat a french fry or potato chip (the two biggest dietary offenders according to a recent study out of Harvard).

Personally, I think the amount of refined carbohydrate in our diet is a huge culprit, and a lot of the blame can be place in the hands of the government’s dietary recommendations from the 1970’s and subsidies provided for corn production. However, from a personal standpoint, I think it unwise to simply point the finger at carbs and not continue to emphasize that many of us simply tend to eat too much. From personal experience, my greatest successes when it comes to weight loss have been when I have actively counted my calorie intake. There’s a great app called Lose It! for the iPhone that allows you to track your intake by inputting the caloric value of everything you put in your mouth. I don’t use this regularly because I lack the discipline to keep up with it, but I find that doing it for a few days every now and then really helps to get me back on track with my intake. When you are completely honest (and I mean completely and brutally honest!) with yourself about just how much you put in your mouth, it’s amazing to find out how quickly your intake can add up. It’s very easy for me to accumulate several hundred additional daily calories by finishing off my kids’ table scraps or having a second helping at dinner, and this can quickly negate or even outstrip the several hundred calories that I might burn on a run. More than anything, portion control seems to be my bugaboo, and I constantly need to remind myself that every scrap of food I eat counts.

The national obesity epidemic is a problem with a fairly easy solution – eat less, eat better, exercise more. The problem is these things are incredibly hard to implement, and all of them take immense effort for most people. I’m pretty well convinced that lifestyle change is the answer to the question of how we combat the obesity epidemic, but how we get there on a broader scale is the challenge. Each of us can start by trying to be the best example that we can, and I finish this post with a renewed commitment to eating better – I simply can’t continue to keep relying on my running to save me from my lapses.

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I spend a lot of time writing about topics like running shoes and running form here on Runblogger. Ultimately, though I enjoy the scientific debate involved when discussing research, as well as the fun I get to have when testing out new shoes, my primary motivator for writing this site is a simple desire that people run happy and without injury.

I am a strong believer in the health value of physical activity and exercise, and I developed an Exercise Physiology course at my College in order to better educate my students about the benefits of being active. At the end of each semester I finish that course with a series of lectures on exercise, obesity, and health. One of the reports that I reference in those lectures is the F as in Fat report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The report details obesity and health related trends in the United States, and the 2011 data have just been released. I wanted to share the press release here because I think it’s important, and the trends that we are seeing here in America are not good.

I encourage you to share this report widely, as those of us who have seen personal health transformations resulting from getting active are among the best advocates for lifestyle change. If you have a blog, tell your own story (I have shared my own story of transformation here), or go to the Trust for America’s Health website and copy and post the press release (you can find it here). Spread the word, be an advocate for activity and a healthier lifestyle, and be an example for your friends and family.

Without further adieu, here is the press release containing a summary of the results from F as in Fat 2011:

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011

Adult obesity rates increased in 16 states in the past year and did not decline in any state, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America‘s Future 2011, a report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).  Twelve states now have obesity rates above 30 percent. Four years ago, only one state was above 30 percent.

The obesity epidemic continues to be most dramatic in the South, which includes nine of the 10 states with the highest adult obesity rates. States in the Northeast and West tend to have lower rates. Mississippi maintained the highest adult obesity rate for the seventh year in a row, and Colorado has the lowest obesity rate and is the only state with a rate under 20 percent.

This year, for the first time, the report examined how the obesity epidemic has grown over the past two decades. Twenty years ago, no state had an obesity rate above 15 percent.  Today, more than two out of three states, 38 total, have obesity rates over 25 percent, and just one has a rate lower than 20 percent. Since 1995, when data was available for every state, obesity rates have doubled in seven states and increased by at least 90 percent in 10 others. Obesity rates have grown fastest in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Tennessee, and slowest in Washington, D.C., Colorado, and Connecticut.

“Today, the state with the lowest obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of TFAH. “There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last twenty years, and we can’t afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending.”

Obesity has long been associated with other severe health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure. New data in the report show how rates of both also have risen dramatically over the last two decades. Since 1995, diabetes rates have doubled in eight states. Then, only four states had diabetes rates above 6 percent.  Now, 43 states have diabetes rates over 7 percent, and 32 have rates above 8 percent. Twenty years ago, 37 states had hypertension rates over 20 percent. Now, every state is over 20 percent, with nine over 30 percent.

Racial and ethnic minority adults, and those with less education or who make less money, continue to have the highest overall obesity rates:

• Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states, and 30 percent in 42 states and D.C.
• Rates of adult obesity among Latinos were above 35 percent in four states (Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas) and at least 30 percent in 23 states.
• Meanwhile, rates of adult obesity for Whites topped 30 percent in just four states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia) and no state had a rate higher than 32.1 percent.
• Nearly 33 percent of adults who did not graduate high school are obese, compared with 21.5 percent of those who graduated from college or technical college.

More than 33 percent of adults who earn less than $15,000 per year were obese, compared with 24.6 percent of those who earn at least $50,000 per year.

“The information in this report should spur us all – individuals and policymakers alike – to redouble our efforts to reverse this debilitating and costly epidemic,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A, RWJF president and CEO. “Changing policies is an important way to provide children and families with vital resources and opportunities to make healthier choices easier in their day-to-day lives.”

This year’s report also includes a series of recommendations from TFAH and RWJF on how policymakers and the food and beverage industry can help reverse the obesity epidemic.

The recommendations for policymakers include:

1. Protect the Prevention and Public Health Fund:  TFAH and RWJF recommend that the fund not be cut, that a significant portion be used for obesity prevention, and that it not be used to offset or justify cuts to other Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) programs.
2. Implementing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act:  TFAH and RWJF recommend that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issue a final rule as swiftly as possible regarding school meal regulations and issue strong standards for so-called “competitive” food and beverages – those sold outside of school meal programs, through à la carte lines, vending machines and school stores.
3. Implementing the National Physical Activity Plan:  TFAH and RWJF recommend full implementation of the policies, programs, and initiatives outlined in the National Physical Activity Plan.  This includes a grassroots advocacy effort; a public education program; a national resource center; a policy development and research center; and dissemination of best practices.
4. Restoring Cuts to Vital Programs:  TFAH and RWJF recommend that the $833 million in cuts made in the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution be restored and that programs to improve nutrition in child care settings and nutrition assistance programs such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children be fully funded and carried out.  If fully funded these programs could have a major impact on reducing obesity.

“Creating healthy environments is key to reversing the obesity epidemic, particularly for children,” remarked Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey. “When children have safe places to walk, bike and play in their communities, they’re more likely to be active and less likely to be obese. It’s the same with healthy food: when communities have access to healthy affordable foods, families eat better.”

Additionally, for the food and beverage industry, TFAH and RWJF recommend that industry should adopt strong, consistent standards for food marketing similar to those proposed in April 2011 by the Interagency Working Group, composed of representatives from four federal agencies – the Federal Trade Commission, CDC, Food and Drug Administration and the USDA – and work to implement the other recommendations set forth in the 2005 Institute of Medicine report on food marketing to children and youth.

Report results for individual states can be found here (scroll to bottom of the page).

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“Wow, my heart is beating really hard!” Those were the words that made this one of the best days that I have had in quite some time, and they were uttered by a 5 year old boy. Before I elaborate, let’s step back a bit for some background…

A few weeks ago, my wife informed me that I was going to be the coach of my 5 year-old daughter’s soccer team. I think her actual words we “we are going to be coaching her team,” but with an infant in the family who needs Mom for one of his essential needs, I knew what this statement really meant. She told me that the Recreation Department had called and said that they were desperate for coaches, and that as yet our daughter’s team had nobody to fill the role. Given that my wife and I both played soccer in high school, she volunteered, figuring that we could manage despite our lack of any form of coaching experience. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I knew that it was time for me to give something back, especially since so many other parents have volunteered their time to coach my kids in other sports that they have played.

One of my biggest sources of apprehension was that although I played soccer for many years and know the rules well, I wasn’t sure how to translate this experience to a group of 4-5 year-olds. Thankfully, my son is also playing soccer this Fall in the next higher age group, and I was able to watch his practice earlier in the week in order to get some ideas. The other thing that I have going for me is that although I tend to be quiet and low-key around other adults, being around kids turns me into a total goofball, and I have no problem horsing around and making a fool of myself if it makes a kid laugh. When I’m with a group of kids, I can shut out all of the adults who might be watching, and truly be myself.

This morning was my team’s first practice. My philosophy was simply to get them moving and laughing, with the only real goal being that they have a lot of fun – it turned out to be far easier than I anticipated. The thing I love about kids is that they live to be active – they spent nearly the entire time running, laughing, and having a blast – it’s a lesson that many adults could learn a lot from. Kids are also so free with their emotions. They wear their joy on their faces openly, and when they are upset about something (like when someone has taken their pink ball), you can tell immediately. I had one little boy who was extremely shy, so his dad helped him out, but eventually he started to get a bit more comfortable. It made my day when he was willing to give me a high five at the end of our practice – it’s funny how such a small gesture can mean so much.

We adults expend a lot of effort in attempts to teach and guide our children, but sometimes, if you take the time to stop, watch, and listen, they can teach you lessons as well. The 45 minute practice went by in a flash, and as I gathered them together at the end I asked them if they had fun. All seemed to have had a great time, and it was at that point that one of the boys made the statement that I opened this post with. His heart was beating hard because he had played hard. In that simple statement, he taught me more than I could ever teach myself about my own exercise habits. After beating myself to a pulp last week out on the road and suffering the consequences of pushing too hard, I decided to run home from soccer practice, about 9.5 miles, and to do so at a slow pace so that I could digest the experience of being “Coach Pete.” Even more, I simply wanted to feel the joy of being outside on a beautiful day, and to experience completely the satisfaction that comes with listening to my heart beat hard because I was having fun doing something that I love.

I’ve recently been listening to a podcast by a friend and fellow minimalist and dailymile runner named Ted Beveridge (@AirForceTed on Twitter – see picture at left). Ted is an amazing runner with an inspirational personal story of weight loss accomplished by getting active and changing his eating habits. His podcast, You Don’t Have to Run Alone, details his running adventures, his love for military aircraft, and lately, his thoughts on food and the epidemic of obesity currently occurring in the United States.

I was listening to one of Ted’s “Food Rants” on a recent episode of his podcast (Episode 19 to be exact – here’s the Itunes link), and was impressed by his willingness to express his emotions on the topic of childhood obesity as forcefully as he did. He is a guy that truly cares about the welfare of our nation’s young people, and he gave a passionate explanation in that episode regarding why the obesity epidemic is potentially even a problem from a national security standpoint.

I felt compelled to send a message to Ted regarding his rant, and he was kind enough to place it as the opening segment to his latest episode (#22), in which he and Megan from the Run Vegan Run podcast discuss their thoughts on nutrition and obesity. Ted’s podcast is well worth your subscription, but at the very least I recommend that you check out episode 19 and episode 22. I’d love to hear what you think!

About six months ago I published a post about the 100 Pushups Program. The program was developed by my friend Steve Speirs (of the Run Bulldog Run blog), and I’m now on my third go around with it. Both previous attempts ended in failure on my part (it gets hard in weeks 5 and 6!), but I’m happy to say that I’m now officially one day into week six of the program. With any luck, I’ll succeed in completing 100 consecutive pushups sometime next week (that’s the end goal of the program)!

Given that I don’t have the luxury of getting to a gym or a the patience to mess around with my adjustable dumbbells, I can’t say enough about what a great program this is – all you need is your body and the prescribed number of pushups to complete on a given day (the program breaks things up into 5-7 sets). I use the iPhone app, which is very convenient, and my upper body strength has improved to the point where I just managed to do 220 pushups after my run today (not consecutively) – this is more than I have ever done in one day in my entire life!

If you want to learn more about this program, you can read my much more detailed review of 100pushups published last year.

Download the 100 Pushups app for $1.99 (I think it’s on special for $0.99 right now) on

The One Hundred Pushups book can be purchased from Amazon.com by clicking on the box to the left.

First, here are a series of maps showing obesity rates (BMI >30) by state from the years 1985-2008. This is not an encouraging trend (light blue = good, red = bad).

Obesity in the United States – CDC Maps from 1985-2008 from Runblogger on Vimeo.
CDC Maps Showing Obesity Trends in the United States from 1985-2008. For these maps, obesity was defined as a BMI of greater than or equal to 30. Maps are from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State.

Next, here is a map showing CDC data on obesity rates in the United States by county in 2007 (click the image to view a larger version):

Next, here is a map showing CDC data on diabetes rates in the United States by county in 2007 – notice a trend here (click the image to view a larger version)?

Now lets take a look a CDC data on heart disease death rates by US county from 2000-2004 (click the image to view a larger version):

And we’ll finish up here with a CDC map showing the percentage of adults by state who meet minimum government recommendations for physical acitivity in the year 2007. These recommendations can be met by:

i. Participating in moderate-intensity activities for at least 30 minutes/day, at least 5 days/week.
-these activities include brisk walking, bicycling, vacuuming, gardening, or anything else that causes small increases in breathing or heart rate

ii. Participating in vigorous-intensity activities for at least 20 minutes/day, at least 3 days/week.
-these activities include running, aerobics, heavy yard work, or anything else that causes large increases in breathing or heart rate

Here’s the physical activity map (click the image to view a larger version):

As someone who teaches about the positive health benefits of exercise, but who also has seen firsthand these benefits to my own body, these maps concern me greatly. It seems pretty clear that the least physically active areas of the country are also the most obese, and most prone to diabetes and death from heart disease. There are certainly socioeconomic factors involved here that complicate things, but these data are still compelling. It is for this reason that I encourage anyone reading this to be an advocate for exercise. Set a positive example for your families, your neighbors, and your community by getting active – it will benefit you, and it will benefit them. Even if its as small a thing as lacing up a pair of shoes and heading out the door for a walk, all of us have the ability to be the positive examples that this country needs. Be that example.

To meet some people who have set amazing examples by getting active, check out this post: Losing Weight Through Exercise and a Healthier Lifestyle – Stories of Personal Transformation

About three weeks ago, just a few days after my son (third child) was born, I posed the following question to my friends on dailymile:

“Help a new parent!!! As a father of a newborn, I’m looking for suggestions of how to handle training with a baby in the house from those who have been through it (mom advice wanted too!). I’d love to hear ideas from all of you about this. If you have suggestions (for both mom and dad), you can leave them as a comment here, or send me a message.“

Clearly, this was a subject that people were interested in, and I received a number of great suggestions from my fellow dailymilers. I’ve already posted an extensive list of exercise tips from Christina H. as its own post, but thought that I’d post the other responses that I received as well. Here they are:

• Paul S. – I trained for my first marathon with a newborn in the house and just had to get up before anyone else was awake and put in the miles; this meant some really early mornings.
• Humberto R. – The most important thing is coordination with your wife – create a schedule and stick to it. And early mornings are better to train because less things are happening. In my case, I didn’t have enough energy in the evening to train.
• Linda A. – As a mom of five children (who at one time were all under ten), and with a husband who was always deployed, I had to get out before everyone got up. Also, as soon as you are able to, get the baby out in a jogging stroller. When we were in Germany, I used to push the two little boys (who are now 18 and 19) in a running stroller. Rain or shine (used the rain guard), I was out. I would pack a snack in a baggie (cheerios, Life), a water bottle each (with sipper lids), small toys (like bubbles), etc.
• Teri S. – I didn’t train like I do now, but I would get up about 5AM, put a run in, come back and shower, and then go back to bed while my husband got up and got ready for work. The jogging stroller helped too. And sometimes I would have to leave for a run while one of them was crying – that was tough, but my husband would always say that they were fine once I was gone. It gave them an opportunity to bond. I was home with them all day, and I needed the break. I think it helped me to be much more patient and balanced.
• Israel R. – It will require lots of dedication. Sit down with your wife and map your day, and find those spare times and decide when it will be the best time for you to train without causing anyone any inconvenience. You have to make the best out of that free hour. Or, like Paul said, suck it up and get up extra early so you’ll have time for your training and the rest of the day for the most important thing in your life…family. We have a 3 year old who goes to daycare. Last year and part of this year I was the only driver so I had to drive everyone, leaving me very little time to do much. The day was all rush rush… so I opted for running during my lunch hour. On occasion, I would coordinate a night run with my wife. Now my wife drives us to daycare and work leaving me with no car, and waiting for her for an hour after work to be picked up, so rather than sit and wait, I run during that hour. Like I said,. you have to make the best out of every single spare moment you get during the day.. and having an understanding wife also helps, but remember, the understanding part works both ways.. ;-)
• Justin T. – Open dialogue with your wife that running is still important to you and that you need to find some time here and there, but recognition on your part that running is low priority and you’ll be able to train more seriously again in the years ahead.
• Greg S. – Flexibility is paramount – nothing is predictable about a newborn’s schedule, so you have to take advantage of free time when it comes (and not count on it lasting). Just make sure that you communicate with each other on what you plan to do, so you continue to support each other’s goals.
• Chris – My wife and I communicate our time commitments through synced calendars on outlook and blackberry. This helps us know what our expectations are when we don’t have time to discuss them in detail. This can also be accomplished through google calendar and Iphones if you so choose. I think communication is huge. As is Greg’s note about flexibility.
• Ultrastevep – It’s been 30 years since I went through this, but I got up real early and ran….or ran to and from work. I also ran sleepy tired a lot ;-) Good luck!
• Sean L. – for me it was letting go of the idea that you have to be rested to get a run in – I always run in the morning.
• Tom W. – All these posts have one thing in common… lack of sleep! It’s a challenge, but it can be done. Running at night when everyone is in bed helped me a lot. Good luck.
• Jeff C. – Only way for me, is first thing in the morning…. I have 3 girls 6 and under… The Youngest just turned 2… If you try at the end of the day, between older kids, wife, and the desire to see your new born, it will be impossible … at least it is for me. I feel like I’m taking time away from my family if I do it after I get home from work. My long run on Saturday is my only compromise, but I’m still out the door at the latest by 6…. (5 mostly during the week)….
• Brad B. – I don’t want to be the negative one of the bunch here, but you need to be realistic with your training goals and timeline as well. You’re going to miss a lot of workouts, can’t be helped, so don’t expect to PR any races or try on any new distances for the next 6 – 10 months. Your fitness will probably fall off a bit, you might gain a little weight. Get the workouts in when you can and don’t lose any sleep over the missed ones.
• David H. – I ran a half marathon a little more than four months after my son was born — it was the most rewarding experience ever to prove so many people wrong. All I have ever heard are some things I’m seeing on here that you’ll miss this or that and don’t do this or that. As your baby gets on a schedule, you make your schedule around the baby. As we got a fairly regular routine going with my baby, he would go down around 7 p.m. So I made the switch to becoming an evening runner and ran/worked out after 7.
• Juryduty – The best thing you can do is communicate with your spouse about when you want to run (preferably before everyone’s up) so they can get on board with you. But then realize there will be mornings she’s had only a couple hours of sleep and she just needs you to stay there and take the kids. And if there is any way you can take a child or two with you (jogging stroller, etc), that should really help make it smooth too. Just don’t forget, the first year is ALWAYS the hardest. It will get easier! :P
  PS – Don’t forget that mom will probably be wanting to exercise, too. If you can make a specific time for her to get her exercise time in, it’ll me motivation for her to do the same for you!
• Nick P. – I had to do this all winter as my son was born in January. I ran very early in the mornings or very late at night or whenever he napped. The sleep deprivation doesn’t help, but the running reduces the stress. Overall, my best advice is when your baby is napping, it’s the ideal time to squeak a run in
• Susan D. – I have 3 children and was best able to get in the runs in the early morning hours, before anyone got up…and I was definitely half asleep during lots of those runs!
• Kmc – I’m 6 months pregnant with my 3rd, I have been thinking about this same question myself – thanks for asking it! I’m so amazed at all the responses. My cavaet will be nursing the baby. Fortunately for the baby and my husband, I won’t be able to run after the c-section until 5? weeks postpartum. But, then, I am off and running. I never ran with the other two, but after talking with my husband a lot, we agreed to ask family to buy us a BOB stroller. I’ve been working 2 jobs for 4 years, so he and I agree that compromising on a schedule that works for both of you is best. On the days that I cannot find time to run, I get up at 5AM while everyone is sleeping…my fear with the new baby is waking it up by accident when I leave and then the whole house will be up at 5am :-). Best of luck working it out. ALL families are different, and you will figure it out!
• John K. – I’ve been getting up at 4:30 since my second was born. Not easy, but neither is going without a run.
• Curt F. – I fit my runs in commuting to work. 4 miles each way got me on my way to doing a 50 miler. Not for everyone’s situation but it sure helped me.
• Dan R. – I agree with many others here. schedule, routine and the expectation from your spouse as to when your run will occur is huge. Of course, it won’t be perfect. Maybe a slight perspective change as well that your #1 goal right now is not running, it’s that little bundle.
  I always run at night the moment after I put my boys to bed. My weekend long run is the only time I sacrifice family time.
• Jacky C. – Sorry this is late but ORGANIZATION is the key. Get a huge calendar and just plan your runs. Obviously if baby or mommy are not “well” it might have to be postponed but planning ahead should help fit your runs in! Good luck and congrats on the new baby!

As you can see, dailymile is a great resource for getting helpful information like this, and if nothing else, it lets me know that others have gone through exactly what I am going through right now. I’ve found myself implementing many of these suggestions – for example, I’ve been mostly running at night lately right after I put my “big” kids to bed. I also try to not let it get to me if I miss a run – as was mentioned above, it’s important to put the needs of the family first, and although at times it can be hard to not have the freedom that I did just a few months ago, I’m managing the best I can. I’ll probably try to put either a post or podcast together in the next few months outlining more of my own approach to getting my runs in during these hectic times.

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A few weeks ago I posted a question on dailymile asking how people managed to stay active with a newborn baby in the house (my current challenge!). In addition to the great responses I got in the comments after my post, I also received a very thoughtful message from my dailymile friend Christina H. of the See Mom Run Bike Swim blog (Christina’s dailymile profile picture can be seen to the left). She put together a great list of “stay-active” tips for parents of little ones, and she graciously allowed me to edit and re-post her tips here on Runblogger – here they are:

1. SLEEP! We ALL want to train and sometimes we try to fit it in when the baby is napping. However, sometimes naptime for baby should also be time for mom/dad to at least catch a 15-20 min nap. We all need rest.

2. Moby Wraps (am I advertising? Sorry, but this is a LIFESAVER). Unlike many baby carriers (which work as well) the Moby wraps the baby nice and warm to your chest. They are warm and close, but you are hands free and can still go for a walk. Do some exercise!

3. Get a Jogging Stroller. There are carseat adapters for most all jogging strollers nowadays. INVEST. Look on Craigslist if price is a concern. DADS – baby loves MOVING (as do we!), so give mom some ALONE time. Take that baby for a run, keep close to the house just in case there is a meltdown. MOMS – same as above, get out there walk/jog/run with the baby. Even if you can get only 20 min in it will clear the mind.

4. Stroller Strides (totally had to throw this in since I’m an instructor). Go to www.strollerstrides.com and find a class near you. Total body workout for the PRE and POST natal body. DADS – dont be scared or think you’re too cool to do this. I have plenty of dads come out and get a GREAT workout in. They are always surprised!

5. SCHEDULE. Sometimes with little ones schedules get thrown out the door. I encourage you to schedule two times in your day to get a workout in. If one fails, the other might pull through.

6. CYCLE. If you need to get out there, just GO. Keep your rides to 30 min. Remember that there is a mom or dad at home with the baby. Baby down for at least 30 min? – try hopping on an indoor trainer. Remember that being on a trainer is the equivalent to time and a half on the road (that’s the rumor and I’m sticking to it!). The baby might like the sound of the wheel, or lock yourself in another room with your baby monitor and SPIN SPIN SPIN!

7. SWIMMING. This can be a hard one, but my husband and I switch off. We go with the kids and each swim for 30 min. Then we let the older one jump in the pool with us at the end as a reward for being good while we swam.

There are so many options out there for staying active. MOST IMPORTANT of all is being open and talking with your partner. Let each other know that you would like to train, and sit down and work out a SCHEDULE. Not pointing fingers, but there are some dads and moms who neglect to make time for their partner to get some exercise in. SHARE time. Exercise helps ward off post-partum depression. No one wants the wifey going off the deep end (personal experience http://seemomrunbikeswim.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-happened.html). Also, moms need to recognize that dads take on alot as well, and we need to remember to let them breathe and run so they can have the strength to come back and relieve us.

In my house there is A LOT of passing children back and forth. But we work it out, we include the children in our workouts, and we remember to support one another. We have a 2 year old and an 8 month old and we are BOTH training for Ironman Cancun 70.3 in September. Things can get hard with all of the training, but it’s something we both NEED. It’s what we live off of. I spend my mornings at Stroller Strides and afternoons on the trail biking or running or in the gym hitting weights and swimming. REMEMBER there IS time. Its IS HARD, but my FAV quote and what I live by is: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.”

Christina H.
See Mom Run Bike Swim

I am both a longtime user of a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS watch (2+ years) as well as an active member of the social training community on dailymile. Together, I’d count my Garmin and the dailymile community as two of the most essential parts of my running toolkit, and when I first joined dailymile about a year ago I was disappointed that the site didn’t support syncing/uploading of data from the Garmin devices. I’ve gotten along just fine entering data manually (I actually kind of enjoyed doing it that way), but after a lot of hard work on the part of the developers (thanks Kelly and Ben!!!), Garmin Sync on dailymile has finally arrived!

If you’re not familiar with the Garmin Forerunner line of watches or the dailymile website, here’s a quick overview:

Garmin Forerunner Fitness Watches

The Garmin Forerunners are a line of fitness watches that operate by tracking GPS signals while you run. They have highly customizable data screens, and allow you to track things like distance, pace, elevation, grade, your GPS route track, etc. in real-time and with great accuracy (far better than the Nike+ – you can read my Nike+ review here). You can use them to create workouts (for example, I’ve used mine to do interval workouts on the roads instead of a track since it measures distance), and the best part is that they store your data for later upload onto a computer. I’ve been using the free PC-based program SportTracks for uploading and storing my Garmin data, and it’s a program that I highly recommend (I’ve posted a detailed review of SportTracks, and a SportTracks plugin for dailymile is in the works!).

My Garmin has played a huge role in helping me to improve as a runner, and the accurate pacing data that it provides has now helped me survive through 5 marathons and numerous shorter races. In fact, my Garmin is probably the only thing that rises above the shoes on my feet in terms of its importance to my running, and if you know me, that’s saying a lot. There are a number of Garmin models out there, ranging from the top of the line Forerunner 310XT, to the more watch-like Forerunner 405CX, to my trusty Forerunner 205 (check out my review of the Garmin Forerunner 205/305) – I’ve heard good things about all of them, but if I had to make a choice right now I’d probably buy the Forerunner 305 – it has the perfect combination of features at a fairly reasonable price (it’s like the 205, but with the added ability to track heart rate and sync with a footpod for use indoors on a treadmill). Below are links to the Forerunner watches on Amazon.com (Amazon has consistently had among the best prices on these devices):

dailymile: Social Training Website for Logging Your Miles

dailymile is a social training site for posting workout data, and has an interface that is kind of similar to Facebook, except that it’s geared directly toward active people who value exercise as a part of their lives (runners, swimmers, cyclists, walkers, etc.). I can’t begin to explain how much this site has meant to me and my training, and through dailymile I’ve met some truly inspirational people, many of whom have become good friends. To get a feel for what dailymile is all about check out this post that I recently wrote on the dailymile Community Blog (in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’m now part of the dailymile Team and the editor of the dailymile Community Blog).

At its heart, dailymile is a place to post your workouts and share that data with a group of on-line (and often real-world) friends. The site is filled with a great group of very positive people who are always there to cheer you on when you when you run a great race, or give you a kick in the pants when you’re in need of a bit of extra motivation to hit the road/trail for a run. Now, with the ability to sync your Garmin, posting of data has gotten even easier. After a relatively painless setup process, uploading data from your Garmin is a snap, and dailymile currently pulls your distance, time, calories burned, and optionally can include a GPS map of your running route (this can be turned off if you have privacy concerns). With a simple syncing process, you simply click a button, fill in a journal entry on the workout and add a few other details if you’d like, and then publish your workout. Friends can then comment on what you’ve done, and you can do the same on their workouts, which appear in a news-stream similar to what you’d find on a Facebook home page. It’s a slick interface, and a beautifully designed site. Having gotten to know the developers a bit over the past few months, all I can say is that the site is in great hands, and there are lots more goodies to come!

So, if you have a Garmin and are looking for a site to log your workouts and meet some great people, I urge you to give dailymile a try – you won’t regret it. Sign-up is free, and you can click the banner below to head over to dailymile and start logging your miles!

I’ve talked quite a bit on this blog about a website that I belong to called dailymile. In a nutshell, dailymile is a social training site for posting workout data, and has an interface that is similar to Facebook, with the major exception being that it is geared directly toward active people who value exercise as a part of their lives. I can’t begin to explain how much this site has meant to me and my training, and through my membership I’ve met some truly inspirational people, many of whom have become good friends. To get a feel for what dailymile is all about and the type of people you’ll find there, I urge you to check out this blog post that I recently wrote documenting members’ weight loss resulting from adopting an active lifestyle.

It was with great pride, therefore, that I recently accepted an offer to be part of dailymile’s Team of ambassadors. The dailymile Team is a group of 36 site members (at the time of writing this post) who have contributed significantly to the life of the site and who enthusiastically share their passion for exercise and living an active life. Our Team mission is to “Grow the community of active dailymilers and promote the activities we love by inspiring and motivating others.” Inspiration and motivation are what dailymile is all about, and I’m excited to be part of the Team that will help to guide this rapidly growing site as it continues to develop into the future.

What I’d like to do here in this post is introduce you to some of my friends on the dailymile Team by re-posting a series of introduction videos that were recently posted on the dailymile blog (thanks to Kathy S. for putting these together!). Before I get to these, I’d like to again ask that if you haven’t tried dailymile yet, you should give it a shot – it’s free, easy, and there is no obligation to stay if you don’t find that it suits your needs. Simply click on the banner below to give it a try:

Now for the videos – I’ll start with the one that I’m in (you get to meet Jack!), and then follow with the videos for the rest of the Team:

And then there were more from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

Dailymile Team introductions Round 1 from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

dailymileteam | east coast too from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

Last but not least from dailymileteam on Vimeo.

So there you have it – not all of us are featured in these videos, but I think you can get a good feel from these for the type of people that we are.  We represent a cross-section of the dailymile community, and it is our hope that we can help motivate and inspire you as you strive to achieve your health and fitness goals. For more information about the dailymile Team, and to friend anyone that you met in the videos seen here, please visit the dailymile Team webpage.

And once again, if you’d like to give dailymile a try, click here and it will take you to the sign-up page – my suspicion is that you’ll love what you find on dailymile.

Quick post here to alert you to a great article recently posted on the New York Times website.  The article, written by Olivia Judson, and titled “Stand Up While You Read This!,”discusses the negative health impacts of sitting for long periods of time during the day, even if you are a regular exerciser (I’m guilty!). Here’s the opening paragraph from Ms. Judson’s article, which gives a good feel for where she goes with it:

“It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting — in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home — you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you.”

What I appreciated most about this article is that it was clearly well-researched, and the author provides a wealth of references to the scientific literature to support her claims – a refreshing change of pace from most mass-media articles on health and weight-loss. While I’m not likely to purchase a desk treadmill like that shown in the opening photo to the article (didn’t even know such things existed!), I am intrigued by the exercise-ball-as-chair idea – if anyone has used these and finds them beneficial, I’d love to hear some feedback.

You can view the article here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/

Last October I wrote a post on this blog about my personal story of weight loss achieved through running. In that post I mentioned a controversial article that was published in Time Magazine in early August of 2009 that questioned the efficacy of exercising to lose weight (“Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin,” by John Cloud). The basic premise of the article can be summed up by the final paragraph, quoted below:

“In short, it’s what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain. I love how exercise makes me feel, but tomorrow I might skip the VersaClimber — and skip the blueberry bar that is my usual postexercise reward.”

Reading this article made me angry, and not just because it was contrary to my own experience. I have seen many people who have made dramatic changes to their bodies and health by starting an exercise program, and any article that makes even the slightest suggestion that people skip exercise is ridiculous, and even borderline dangerous. My goal in this post is to provide examples of those who have used exercise as a tool to get healthy, and if you are just beginning this journey yourself, inspiration that if they can do it, you can too.

Over the past year I’ve become a huge fan of the website dailymile – it has served as a phenomenal source of support, motivation, and most of all friendship. About a week ago the theme for the day was Before/After photos – people were posting “Before” pictures of themselves before they started exercising, and “After” pictures to show how exercise has changed their health for the better. I have to say, the pictures and stories that were posted were amazing, and they reaffirmed to me more than ever the power of exercise to not only allow people to lose weight, but to in many cases contribute to a bodily transformation that is nothing short of astonishing. The pictures below are a sample of those posted on dailymile that day, and I hope that looking at them will confirm to you the positive benefits of exercise and a healthier lifestyle. You can view the dailymile profile of any of these people by clicking on the link below their photo – I’m quite sure any of them would happily accept a friend request, and all are great role models for the power of exercise to change one’s life.

 

  

 

 

 

Adam B. – dailymile Profile

 Bharani S. – dailymile Profile

 

So there you have it – everyday people like you and I who have done some absolutely amazing things for themselves by getting off the couch adopting an active lifestyle. So when articles like the one in Time Magazine say that exercise won’t make you thin, I have but one response – look at these pictures, they speak for themselves.

I’ll finish with this – all of these people are members of dailymile, which is an amazingly supportive community of like-minded people (kind of like Facebook for active people). If you’d like to give dailymile a try, click on the banner below and sign up – it’s free!