Anyway I was thinking that mental health is just as important as healthy eating. I was also thinking about this school year just starting and some of the problems that kids and teens will be facing. I thought it might be both interesting and helpful to discuss school and teen related issues so I came up with Teen Tuesday. So as a test every Tuesday we will discuss teen and younger peoples problems and questions.

If it doesn’t work we’ll scrap it, if it does we will keep it.

It would be helpful for all of us readers and writers alike to have teens comment here to ask questions or bring out issues they’d like advice on. I can’t do this alone people so don’t be shy. No one needs your name or any personal information so feel free to write in and make this site somewhere for others to go for advice. Thank you!

They say that 4 sets of 4 minute hard workouts with a three minute rest is better than the half hour every day or every other day. The Olympic athletes came up with this as a training program and it works for them.

Does anyone else but me see a problem with this kind of advice? Of course it works well for them. They are in excellent shape to begin with!

The rest of us however, especially those who are obese and in terrible shape may need a little more convincing.

In fact those of us who are out of shape and fat could drop dead from starting such a routine just to save some time in our week.

You should always consult your doctor before you change your diet or exercise routine, especially to this extent.

If you haven’t seen it before it looks like a long metal dumbbell but when you use it it shakes back and forth. To be frank the women in the commercial look like they’re giving hand jobs. Some of them look like they’re practicing for marathon hand jobs. Once more they are happy and smiling, loving every minute of it.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, but I just find this so offensive as it obviously was invented by a man. Maybe by a man who wanted his women to be able to do this action non stop for a long period of time. I don’t know and I don’t want to know. If you enjoy it go for it. For me I just think I’ll skip it till they come out with the mens version.

Experts say that people who have been doing more preventitive measures have helped to lower heart and stroke risks by 35% in recent years. Doctors feel that by following these seven simple lifestyle changes they can further live longer and avoid some major health problems.

As this list is important I am going to quote them directly with a link to the article I’m quoting from.

• “Never smoked or quit more than a year ago.
• Body mass index, a measure based on weight and height, less than 25.
• Physical exercise — at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity each week.
• At least four key components of a healthy diet, such as fewer calories, more fruits and vegetables, and oily fish, such as salmon, four times a week.
• Total cholesterol lower than 200.
• Blood pressure below 120/80.

• Fasting blood sugar below 100.”

You can also find more information and explanation if you go to the American Heart Association

If you believe in a creator, imagine all the warnings he’s put here in regard to this. You would think we would learn from others mistakes, but human nature is to find out for ourselves, and usually when we are finally convinced, it’s too late.

Try a few days without using sugar, or salt, or red meat and processed and fried foods, and see how strange it is to go back to it, and how easy it was to go without it. It’s like a snowball that rolls down a mountain and winds up a boulder at the bottom. First you gain weight and as you age you may develope diabetes, which brings on kidney failure, loss of vision, and heart problems. All of that needless disease when a proper diet could have avoided all of it. Think about it and if you are a strong person, try it and see how you feel after a couple weeks or a month. It could change your life!

See articles at http://healthylifefoods.blogspot.com and http://dyingforfood.blogspot.com

Having said all that we come to the recent debate about young children and teens who follow such poor eating habits and inactivity that they have cholesterol readings that are so high their doctors are prescribing pills to lower it. It’s to this segment of our population that I speak to now. Young children don’t have jobs so where are they getting the money to buy fast food and junk food? How are they getting there? I assume they are not driving themselves. I doubt very much that they are doing the cooking and grocery shopping in the home as well. So who is responsible for their poor nutrition and eating habits and their inactivity? Could it be their parents?

It seems a real shame that a child has to take the same kind of drugs some elderly people take because they have parents who not only cannot set a good example but that can’t say no to treats being regular meals.

Is the attitude of the American people really “just take another pill”? If so we have a lot of parents that need some parenting themselves, before their children grow up to pay the price with their lives.