Speaking from the Heart

Our family has never maintained a healthy weight. Because of my poor eating habits and lack of exercise, I am suffering from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I want my kids to be in better health when they are my age. For the next twelve weeks, Our family lifestyle (dining and recreation) is going under construction. Hopefully, this change will last a lifetime for dear husband and me, as well as for the kids.

I have been doing some research, and have found this book to be very helpful.

by Melinda S. Sothern, T. Kristian Von Almen, & Heidi Schumacher

Note: This review is taken from keepkidshealthy.com

Parents can usually recognize when their kids are overweight and they basically know what they have to do to help them reach a more healthy weight, namely eat healthier and exercise more.

And when they see their doctor, that is the basic advice that they get. Diet. Exercise. No more fast food. No more snacks. No soda.

But making those changes isn't usually easy and they are even harder to stick to, so overweight kids usually stay overweight, eventually becoming overweight adults who might have to try The Atkins Diet or South Beach Diet.

Trim Kids, The Proven 12-Week Plan That Has Helped Thousands of Children Achieve a Healthier Weight, is the perfect book for parents of overweight kids. The only thing better would be if your child could particpate in a Pediatric Weight Management Clinic, like the ones the authors worked in as they developed their program and wrote this book.

Like other weight management books, Trim Kids talks about healthy nutrition and encourages exercise, but it adds an important component that is missing from many other books, and that is behavior modifcation. By learning to modify the behaviors that led your child to become overweight, you will help him lose weight and keep it off.

Before starting the program, you will learn about 'basic rules for healthy eating', including:

• eating fewer high calorie snack foods, fast food, sodas, and fruit drinks
• not overeating
• consuming less sugar
• avoiding foods high in saturated fats and hydrogenated fats and eating only moderate amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
• increasing the amount of fiber in your child's diet
  buying healthier foods and not keeping 'temptation foods' in the house

You will also learn 'fun' ways to get your kids to be more active, such as dancing around during TV commercials and only talking on the phone while she is walking around. Trim Kids will also help you to come up with a 'formal exercise routine' for your child and help you get him motivated to be more active.

And you will learn about gradually 'making behavioral and lifestyle changes'.

What I liked best about Trim Kids is that it describes a formal program with step by step instructions on what you should be doing to help your child lose weight. In the first week, you will learn some 'rules of eating' and how to set your goals for the program.

Each week, you will also start some new exercises and starting in week 2, you will get weekly menu tips and recipes to help plan what your child will be eating.

Other great resources include:

• an activity diary
• a portion control table and list of portion sizes to help you control the size of your child's meals
• a list of the amount of calories burned during various activities and exercises
• instructions on how to record your child's resting and active heart rate
• advice on improving your child's self image and self-esteem
  tips on increasing your child's physical activity level

Trim Kids is a great book for parents of overweight kids to help the whole family adopt a healthy lifestyle of healthier eating and regular exercise. Unlike other 'diet' books and fad diets, the Trim Kids program teaches 'lifetime weight management'.

Since weight management clinics for children aren't widely available and many Pediatricians don't have a lot of training in helping kids lose weight, Trim Kids will likely be your best alternative if your child is overweight. If you don't think that you can do the program yourself, you might ask your Pediatrician for help. Visits every one to two weeks, reviewing the Trim Kids' Weekly Checklists, Report and Goal Sheets, Aerobic Activity and Food Checklists, and Strength and Flexibility Workout Charts, can help both you and your child stay motivated and stick with the program.