"Y'all kids eat your snack and then go outside and play." This is what my grandmother told us every day when we were at her house in summer. Her idea of a snack was fresh apples, oranges and pears that her neighbor would give to her from his pear tree. My cousin's and I thought fruit was the sweetest thing on earth until we started buying candy. Once we where done eating we would run outside to our bikes, jump ropes and hula hoops. We had a ball playing with such simple toys. Ahhh the good old days.
Little did we know that grandma was teaching us how to stay healthy and active by eating right and getting a little exercise. What happened to that basic concept of eat and play? Well, as I grew up I would still eat and go outside, but I moved away jumping rope to break dancing. I had some pretty good moves too, but the basic concept of eating and being active was still a part of my daily routine. School made it a little easier to stick to this routine because I had gym class after lunch. We played basketball, volleyball, softball and any other game you can think of that has the word ball in it. Now I didn't do too good with these games because I didn't want to sweat, but I did real well when our gym teacher decided to teach us the dance routine from Michael Jackson's Thriller video. That was so much fun I didn't even think I was working out.
I think what changed for me was when I went off to college and became responsible for feeding myself. I began to eat junk food and hang out with my friends. The next thing I know I had packed on the freshman 15. Well, I think mine was more like the freshman 20. This is that extra 15 to 20 pounds you gain in your first year of college. If you didn't go to college it could be those extra pounds you put on after you moved out on your own and had to start cooking for yourself. I also feel that the whole concept gets watered down over the years with people telling us to grow up or we just don't make time to eat right.
So how can we get back to the basic healthy principles that grandma taught us? That's easy; we just make up our minds to prioritize our health and fitness. With childhood obesity on the rise and school physical education programs being dropped due to budget cuts, we have to be an example to our youth when it comes to eating right and getting plenty of exercise. My plan is to continue hitting the gym for my basic strength training and cardio workouts, but I'm also going to try to find more fun things to do so I don't get bored with the gym.
I used to love roller skating as a kid, so I think I'll try that again soon. I still love to dance, but I don't hit the night clubs like I used to, so I just stay at home and dance in front of the mirror for about 20 minutes a day. What fun physical activities did you do as a kid? Did you play tennis or badminton? Maybe flag football was your game. No matter what it was, find something physical that you used to do as a kid that made you feel good and just start doing it. Remember, you're never too old to go outside and play.
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