Obesity is the in thing, an eye opener at Disney

You know how you hear about something on the news or on the Internet, but it really doesn't hit home with you? Well, I always knew there was an obesity problem in the US, but I don't go out a lot so I really don't see too many people. I mean I do go to the playground with the kids, I go to the library with them and I will go food shopping, but most of the time I place an order online and pick it up without having to leave my car.  So my day consists of very little face to face action.

When I was doing more personal training, my clients weren't in bad shape. They might have had 15 or 20 pounds to lose, but nothing that I would say fell under the definition of obesity.  Even while teaching classes at the gym, most of the people who took my classes were in shape.  I guess a lot of people who are obese feel self conscious about the whole gym environment.  It can be intimidating with all of those mirrors and people walking around with just a workout bra and shorts.

During our very recent vacation, I was shocked to see the amount of obese people and families at the resort we stayed at.  I'd have to say that I counted only 6-10 adults that seemed to be within a healthy weight range at the pool.  These in shape people were some of the same people I would see at the fitness center every morning.  And let me tell you, the most people at the fitness center when I was there was 3 including me.

It was pretty sad to see people riding scooters to go down the corridors of the resort because they were suffering complications from obesity. Then when we went to Magic Kingdom, the numbers of obese people increased even more.  I'd have to say that obesity was the majority there.  Did you know they say the average size American woman is a size 14?

I find it sad that most Americans know what is good and bad for them, but they still continue to make bad choices because its easier than making good choices.  I'm not talking about making a bad food choice on occasion, we all like to indulge a little bit now and then.  But more and more Americans are eating foods that used to be an occasional treat every day, every meal.  More and more Americans are choosing not to exercise at all. They'd rather sit in front of the computer or TV.  Hey, its okay to relax. Relaxation is very good, but you need to burn more calories than you eat. So if your day consists of a lot of sitting and driving around, you need to adjust your calories accordingly. 

What's the point of me writing all of this? Well, it renewed my passion to reach out and help people stay in shape or get in shape.  I'm not suggesting that everyone get washboard abs, or super skinny, but just get to a healthy weight. Its not easy to change habits.  Its especially hard when you seem to have the whole nation pushing for you to become super-sized.  You need to have the desire to change.  You need a good support system and have a plan.

I know this might seem overwhelming, but there is hope.  You have me and a whole community at Team Beachbody to offer help for free.  If you or someone you know is having a hard time sticking to a plan, let me know.  I would love to help you.

I'd also love to hear from you.  Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

My vacation and staying fit

Vacations, we all love them,cherish them and eagerly await them. We even diet and exercise right before our vacation in order to look good, maybe even hot, and to perhaps feel great while on our retreat.  But most of the time we will throw all of that hard work out the window when we go away, only to feel bloated, guilty and maybe 5 pounds heavier when we return.

I don't know about you, but I can still have a great time on my vacation if I take the time out to squeeze in exercise and plan some healthy meals and snacks.  I know this isn't a very popular idea, but trust me, if you give it a try you won't be disappointed.

Recently, my family and I had the opportunity to take some time off and travel to Florida to visit with my mom and also my dad. We stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village.  First off, we were blessed to stay at this amazing resort.  It made it very easy to keep up with eating right and sticking to my P90X routine (at the time of my vacation I was in week 11 now in week 12).  We stayed in a room with a fully equipped kitchen. I know there are a lot of people who don't find cooking on their vacation fun, but with 4 kids it really saves us from a lot of headaches and spending too much money on food.  Knowing we would have the kitchen, I packed my vanilla whey protein and Shakeology, along with things like plain oatmeal, whole grain bread, beans, brown rice and other healthy goodies.  Once we got down there I hit up Wal-Mart for the rest of our pantry. 

You can save a ton of money, time and calories by just eating breakfast in your room. With a dishwasher right there all we had to do was prepare, eat and stack dishes. Then we were ready to hit the pool.

We did indulge a few times and ordered private poolside dining, but we tried to stay healthy with that too.  The resort made it easy to pick healthy choices such as Tandoori chicken with chickpeas.  But for most of the days, I just ran up to the room to blend up (well my husband did that) a chocolate and peanut butter Shakeology.

Exercise wasn't a problem and I really looked forward to that part of the day. I woke up around 6:30 am (I know, I'm crazy), every morning to stretch and then take a walk to the fitness center.  I know this doesn't sound like something to look forward to, but the walk to the fitness center was so beautiful, relaxing and peaceful. The sun would just be coming up, there were flowers everywhere and cool little lamps to guide your way.  I really enjoyed this sacred time to myself every morning and felt this was truly one of the best parts of my vacation.

I stuck to my P90X schedule as closely as possible. Since I was on vacation, I didn't want to spend too much time in the gym, so I adjusted my routine to include 25 minutes on the treadmill or stepper and then 25 minutes of a strength routine.  Then on my scheduled cardio days I did 35-40 minutes on the treadmill or stepper and then 10 minutes of abs.  I feel like even though it was a quick routine, I worked really hard.

Again, I know most of you might find this not fun at all, or maybe even slightly crazy, but I didn't gain any weight while away and no feelings of "why did I eat that much?" type guilt.

I've got lots more to blog about, but will wait until later on.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com.