January 1st is fast approaching and you are probably thinking about your New Year’s resolutions.  The new year can be a good time to “wipe the slate clean” and get started on new, healthier habits.  And burning more calories through increased physical activity can be a good step toward better weight management as well as reduced health risks in 2009 and beyond.

To make your resolution stick, you need to do more than vow to “get more exercise.”  Research shows that to be successful with nearly any behavior change, you need to set realistic, specific, and measureable goals.  Goals  are statements that answer the questions, “Where do I want to go?” and “How am I going to get there?”.  The answer to first question becomes your long-term (one to three months) goal.  And the answer to the second question becomes your short-term (one week to one month) goal.  You will likely have more than one short-term goal for each long-term goal.  Below are examples of long-term and short-term goals.

Long-term Goal

• “By the end of the next three months, I will have walked at least five days each week, for 30 minutes each time.  I will know that I have reached my goal by my physical activity calendar.”

Short-term Goals

• “By the end of the month, I will have walked at least three days each week, for 10 minutes each time.  I will know that I have reached my goal by my physical activity calendar.”
• “By Friday of this week, I will have walked at least twice (once on Monday and once on Friday), for alt least 5 minutes each time.  I will know that I have reached my goal by my physical activity calendar.”

But goal-setting is just one of many behavior change strategies.  Other strategies such as planning rewards, tracking your progress, getting support, and thinking through problems and barriers are also critical for adopting healthier habits.  You can learn these tools and other important information in the Stand Up & Eat “Get Active Program.”  The Get Active Program is a 12-week program designed to help people who are inactive start moving more.  Each week, you will receive an email message with information about a physical activity strategy.  Most weeks you will also get a worksheet that will help you put the strategy into action in your life.

There is no charge to join the Get Active Program and a new program is about to start in early January.  To sign up, click here to go to the Stand Up & Eat home page and look for the “Get Active” box on the right side of the page, about halfway down.

Let us know what are your active living or healthy eating resolutions for 2009 in the comments section below.

New York Gov. David Patterson (D) thinks so. By 5%, in fact!

Just last week, the Financial Times reported that the governor proposed a 18% sales tax on sales of all nondiet sodas and fruit drinks with less than 70% juice, including sports drinks. While a number of states currently impose sales taxes on non-essential foods like soft drinks, snacks, and sweets, this would be the first in the U.S. to make a distinction between regular (sugared) and diet (artificially sweetened) soft drinks.

Some health experts think the tax may discourage excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, as it has worked for cigarettes. But others (including the American Beverage Association, of course) argue that rising obesity rates should not be seen as the responsibility of a single food category. Instead, Americans need to learn that all foods in moderation can fit into a healthy, active, calorie-balanced lifestyle.

What do you think?

Who says the holidays have be a sedentary time? Here are 15 ways to burn calories while you enjoy time with your family and friends:

Calories Burned in 30 minutes

• Dashing through the snow (on foot, not in a sleigh!) = 330 calories
• Jumping for joy = 330 calories
• Sawing down the Christmas tree = 270 calories
• Sledding = 270 calories
• Chopping wood = 240 calories
• Shoveling snow = 240 calories
• Shopping on December 24th = 150 calories
• Decking the halls = 120 calories
• Caroling = 90 calories Shopping = 90 calories
• Trimming the tree = 60 calories
• Wrapping gifts = 60 calories
• Kneeling in prayer = 60 calories
• Kissing under the mistletoe = 30 calories
• Reading holiday stories = 30 calories
• Baking cookies = – 250 calories (calories burned minus calories eaten!)

What are ways you like to enjoy an active and healthy holiday season?

In last week's blog we provided many great ideas for healthy holiday gifts at no cost, low cost, and more cost. This week, we're providing a list of specific book titles that promote health and calorie consciousness.  

• "Cooking Healthy Across America" by The American Dietetic Association and Kristine Napier, MPH, RD. Provides 350 region-specific recipes with easy-to-follow instructions and helpful cooking tips.
• "The Calorie King: Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter" by Alan Borushek, RD. Contains up-to-date calorie, fat, and carbohydrate counts for just about any home- or restaurant-prepared food.
• "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think" by Brain Wansink, PhD. Explains many of the triggers that encourage eating when not physically hungry - and how these triggers can be tamed!
• "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook" by Nancy Clark, MS, RD. Sound nutrition suggestions for any adult or adolescent athlete (or active person).
• "The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories" by Barbara Rolls, PhD. Packed with ideas for incorporating low energy density foods into meals and menus.
• "Steps to Better Health" by The Cooper Institute. Give with in combination with a step counter to motivate your friends and family to achieve 10,000 steps a day.
• "Walking Handbook" by The Cooper Institute. Anyone can get fit with these seven steps for planning and implementing a walking program - no gym membership or trendy workout clothes required!

All of the books described above can be purchased from amazon.com or The Cooper Institute Bookstore.

Go for a walk, take a hike, play tennis, and work in the garden are all worthwhile ideas for burning calories by moving more. All it takes is a little time. For most people, this time comes is carved from their leisure – or non-working – time. Researchers have known for decades that leisure-time physical activity is strongly associated with lower risks for many chronic diseases and early death.

Now a new study has shown that the time people spend in non-leisure physical activity is also linked with reduced death rates. More specifically, non-leisure activities are typically physical activities done while on the job. The study published in the December 2008 issue of Annals of Epidemiology reported that for people aged 35-59, moderate and high non-leisure activity significantly reduced death rates by 26% and 37%, respectively compared to people with low non-leisure activity. Similar results were found for people 60-74 years old.

This study is yet another confirmation that all physical activity counts no matter whether it is done during play time or work time. The latter will likely become more of a challenge as more and more people find themselves tethered to a desk by the telephone and computer. Unless, of course, they use a walking workstation as we described in an earlier blog.

 What are ways that you can stay physically active at work?

Arrieta A and Russell LB. Effects of leisure and non-leisure physical activity on mortality in U.S. adults over two decades. Annals of Epidemiology. 2008:18(12):889-895.

• Fast food is quick.
• Fast-food restaurants are easy to get to.
• Fast food tastes good.

According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, these were the most frequently reported reasons for eating at fast-food restaurants by a group of adolescents and adults who often eat fast food. Do you agree? If so, here are some ways you can quickly cook up tasty, calorie-controlled meals in your own kitchen. How can it be more convenient than that?

1. Top store-bought whole grain pizza crust with marinara sauce, part-skim mozzarella cheese, and sliced vegetables (onions, mushrooms, red/green peppers).
2. Pan fry (with a little oil) marinated chicken breasts (5-10 minutes on each side) and serve on a whole grain bun with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
3. Top salmon filets with dijon mustard, salt, and pepper and bake on a foil-lined pan at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes per inch of salmon; serve with a small microwave-baked regular or sweet potato.
4. Stir fry frozen Chinese vegetables with chopped rotisserie chicken (skin removed); serve with black bean sauce and instant brown rice.
5. Boil frozen stuffed shells, ravioli, or tortellini and top with marinara sauce; serve with bagged salad.
6. Toss a 2-3 pound pork loin in the crock pot with 1 24-ounce jar of unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and tablespoon of cinnamon; add a few handfuls of chopped potatoes and baby carrots and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Do you have any "fast-food" recipes to share?

Rydell, S.A. (2008).Why eat at fast-food restaurants: reported reasons among frequent consumers. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 108, 2066-2070.

Looking for gift ideas for the holidays?  How about something that will burn calories, improve health, and maybe even extend life?  Anything that gets people moving has all these benefits. 

No Cost

• Create a gift certificate – Write out a unique card that invites a friend for a walk, bike ride, or other physical activity that you can do together.
• Walk an elderly neighbor’s dog – This can be a big help to your neighbor and the dog.
• Clean up a park– For those who are environmentally focused, burn calories while volunteering your time to pick up trash, repair trails, and other park maintenance activities.
• Start a family fun day tradition – Make a commitment to go for a walk, play in a park, or take a hike once a week, once a month or whatever time interval works for your family.  You’ll look forward to burning calories together.
• Burn a physical activity CD – Put your favorite upbeat music on a CD for your walking, biking, running friend.

Low Cost – less than $30

• Do a local fun run – Treat a friend or family member to the entrance fee for a walk or run for charity.
• Give a step counter – research shows that step counters work to help people get moving.  Check out an earlier blog on step counters.
• Give tickets for educational activities where you walk – zoos, museums, and nature centers are places where you can learn and burn (calories).
• Give an exercise video/DVD – there are hundreds if not thousands of videos/DVDs for just about any exercise activity.  Click here for a link to a exercise video clearinghouse.
• Give a physical activity book – yes, reading is a sedentary activity, but books can be a great way for you to help a friend learn how to get active or fun ways to stay active.  If you need a suggestion for the former, check out Active Living Every Day, a book that is based on research conducted at The Cooper Institute and has been used in hundreds of communities around the country.

More Cost

You can obviously spend a lot more money on exercise equipment. Sales on treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary bikes, and other equipment abound as the  time for New Year’s resolutions approaches.  But to make sure it is money well spent, heed these tips:  

• Know your motivations – Are you giving the gift because your friend or family member said they wanted it or because you think they should exercise more?  If the latter, reconsider your gift selection.  Your good intentions could end up being an expensive clothes hanger.
• Make sure it fits –Find out more about the intended user’s fitness goals, physical activity interests, home layout, and other relevant information.
• Do your homework – Once you have narrowed it down to the type of equipment, check out the consumer magazines for reviews and ratings.  Read the user discussion boards for signs of problems.  Talk to the sales person in the stores.  Find out all you can about the warranty and the store policies on returns or repairs.
• Try it out – Giving exercise equipment as a surprise gift is not a good idea.  Mainly, because the user should try it out before getting it home.  What might feel right to you could be totally wrong for the user.   So take them with you when you go shopping.

What ideas do you have for giving the gift of exercise – and calorie burning – this year?

In a previous blog, we described how technology can be both a friend and a foe of physical activity. In this blog, we'll explore a novel way to use technology to keep on track with physical activity and healthy eating goals.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently published results from a study that examined whether kids who used short message service (text messaging) to keep track of their step count (based on a pedometer worn daily), minutes of screen time (TV, computers, etc.), and number of sugar sweetened beverages each day were more likely to continue tracking for an 8-week period than kids who logged using paper and pencil.

What did they find? Kids in the text messaging group had a significantly greater adherence to keeping track than kids in the paper diaries group (43% vs. 19%). What was also great about the text messaging group was that immediately after sending their text message, the kids received tailored feedback based on their behavior for the day. For instance, if a child reported taking 5,000 steps, spending less than 60 minutes in front of screen, and drinking several sugar sweetened beverages, he/she may receive the message, "Wow, you met your step and screen time goals  - congratulations! What happened to beverages?"

While the researchers weren't able to determine if the text messaging actually improved eating and activity behaviors, they hope to do so in a future study. This study did show, however, that new technologies may improve kids' (and adults'!) compliance with key strategies for improving behaviors. Self-monitoring, or keeping track of foods eating and physical activities done, is an extremely helpful tool in making and maintaining changes.

Give it a try! Ask your kids (or a spouse or friend) to send you a text message of what they eat for lunch for an entire week. Give them feedback each day by sending a message back to them about whether the choices they made were good ones. Follow-up the following week by discussing together whether the logging and feedback reminded them to choose healthy foods for lunch. Post what you found to this blog. 

That was my reaction when I saw this video clip.  This new invention will definitely go down in calorie burning infamy.  It just might trump the Hula Chair contraption that we shared a laugh over in an earlier blog.

OK, we know that one downside of using a treadmill for exercise is that the view never changes.  But come on!  This is taking the need for scenery a bit too far. 

For one thing, it can’t be very safe.  Can you imagine hopping on this and sharing the road (it’s too wide for sidewalks) with semis, SUVs, and school buses?  Not everyone lives on a quiet country lane as shown in this promotional video.

And what if you live in a hilly area?  How do you brake the thing?  Maybe you just run backward!  And going up hills?  The big strapping guy in the video looks like he is straining to make it move on level terrain.  Imagine a sedentary person  trying to make this go up even the slightest incline!

Also, judging by the video clip, treading on this treadmill could be a biomechanical accident waiting to happen.  Notice how the guy is leaning so far forward as he runs?  Can you say, “Ouch, my lower back is killing me?”  Maybe he is driving the treadmill to the chiropractor.   Ha ha!  Also check out how he is pushing off with his toes at all times.  I see overuse injuries to his feet, hamstrings , quads, and knees in his future.

I give the inventors credit for trying to find a way to help people burn more calories.  But if you are looking to buy equipment to get you moving more, you can do better than this.    Tune into next week’s blog where we will focus on tips for selecting exercise equipment this holiday season.