Is Signing Up for a Boot Camp Right for You and Your Family?

Fitness boot camps provide women with an opportunity to lose weight and get in shape in the company of other women and they’ve proven to be an extremely popular variety of fitness camp the world over. These camps are held regularly and range in length from a morning or afternoon to a week and sometimes even longer, with many held in exotic locations like Portugal and Spain.

Whilst these camps are an excellent way for women to shed a few unwanted pounds in the company of other women – one of many reasons why they’ve proven so popular – there are considerations to take into account before signing up, most of which are health considerations. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that signing up for a camp is right for you and your family.

Health considerations – Make sure you’re capable before signing up

Whilst the reason for joining a camp is to improve your fitness and lose weight, it’s important to ensure you’re in the physical condition required of you to do so. The worst thing that you can do here is to partake in physical activities that you’re simply not ready for and injure yourself or exacerbate existing health conditions. Many women who simply weren’t prepared for intense physical exercise have experienced health problems due to unpreparedness and the consequences are often very serious.

Whilst you might be in serious need of physical exercise it’s always advisable to start off slowly. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you and your family shouldn’t sign up for a camp, but rather that you might need to set yourself some exercise goals to achieve before the camp begins.

Prepare yourself

Too many women make the mistake of assuming that they’re going to be able to adapt to the exercises on a camp despite not having exercised in a long time. This could not only result in injuries and health complications, but it also often has the effect of discouraging them from trying again, which is often worse.

If it’s been years since you engaged in exercise and the camp you’re looking at joining concentrates on cardiovascular exercise, perhaps you should set yourself cardiovascular goals, for example, comfortably jogging two kilometres without a rest. If the camp you’re considering joining concentrates on core exercises to strengthen your core (midriff) and attack belly fat, then maybe you should set yourself some goals with exercises like planks or crunches.

Check with your doctor  

Due to the potential consequences of joining a camp when not adequately prepared for the workout that will follow, it’s recommended that those over the age of 40, those who are clinically overweight or obese and those with known heath conditions contact their doctor prior to signing up. The potential consequences are simply too great to risk and you could find yourself in serious trouble by overlooking your health.  

Your doctor will advise you whether or not you should join a camp and you must adhere to their judgement because your health, and in extreme cases your life, is at stake here and that’s not something that you can play with; you have to be sure that you’re ready for the fitness regime you’re signing yourself up for. 

Basically the point being made here is to prepare yourself for the camp, all it takes is some mild exercise in the weeks leading up to boot camp and to make sure the camp you and your family joins is suitable. Bear these considerations in mind and you’re sure to have the time of your life on a camp held locally or at an exotic location overseas.

About the Author:

A company that has been in business since 2008, Prestige Boot Camp offers a number of boot camps for helping people meet their fitness and weight loss goals.

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Setting Good Sleep Habits for Your Child

I know from personal experience that if a child is left alone, without any parental supervision over when to go to bed, when to wake up etc, he or she can end up having spent their entire teenage years feeling sleepy during the day and active during the night. This can have a profound influence on their young, fragile minds; so much so that it took me years to get my sleeping schedule in check. Teaching your child proper sleeping etiquette is a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly. But to teach, first one must learn, and in this article we are going to talk about the basics behind teaching your child healthy sleeping habits, and maybe learning a few things yourself.

 

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/107/7/3/sleeping child by smv84.jpg

Understanding the Circadian Rhythms

We have all heard of the so-called “biological clock”, or the mechanism our body uses to measure time and regulate its internal processes accordingly. Without it, our hormones will run amok and force our bodies into bizarre states of sleep deprived madness. All living organisms adjust their bodies in harmony with the day/night cycle; and young children are not exception.

Establish A Sleeping Schedule

When it comes to good sleeping habits in a healthy and young growing body; sleeping according to a fixed schedule is the best option. On average, children between 3 and 6 years of age, should sleep between 10 and 12 ours per night (and from 7 to 13 at least 10 – 11 hours). Assuming your child goes to kindergarten or school, waking up early in the morning is a must. In that case a good time to go to bed would be around 8-9 PM; giving your child ample time to get ready for the upcoming day.

Limit Caffeinated/Sugary Beverages

Caffeine and sugar act as powerful stimulants to the young, still growing brain. All major soda brands contain at least some caffeine and sugar; making carbonated beverages the worst enemy of any “good night sleep”. Ice-cream, chocolate and candy are also unacceptable during the later parts of the afternoon as well. Instead, why not substitute sugary drinks and desserts with healthy fruits and juices. Herbal tea is also good, as long as it doesn't contain any black or green tea.

 

Avoid Big Meals Right Before Bed

Don't allow your child to get full on junk-food and big course meals right before going to bed. Not only are you risking ruining your child's metabolism; but sleep is also affected negatively. Two hours are enough for the body to work through its final meal in peace. Add a healthy snack about an hour before bed to make sure that your child doesn't go through the night hungry. An oatmeal bar or some mixed nuts will provide an excellent, slow burning sustenance that won't affect your child's sleeping patterns.

Make Sure Your Child Gets Plenty Of Exercise

Playing in front of the computer all day might seem like “harmless fun”, but the truth is that the lack of regular exercising can lead to a variety of different health problems; like obesity, insomnia, irritability, poor concentration; difficulty learning etc. Sports might provide a quick fix that would also encourage young people to seek healthier lifestyles in the future. Also, make sure you child is not in front of any light-emitting devices, such as computers, the TV, tablets or smartphones – the light from such devices interferes with the circadian rhythm; making falling asleep more difficult.

Author Bio: Jessica loves to spend time with her family. She works a part time job at http://www.endoftenancycleanerslondon.com/se14-new-cross/ and has a lot of free time.

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Candid Shots

Happy Monday to all blogger friends!

I feel lazy to write today so I just share photos captured candidly in different times and places.

 

A beggar woman on pedestrian street that taken from moving public vehicle last Sunday. I didn’t know why she’s laying there -during the hot and shiny afternoon. I was interested in her outfit and accessories :)

 

Captured at a bus terminal early in the morning. Two men were sleeping on the blue chairs. Were they homeless or just passengers like us who arrived too early?  The one who's covered by two sarongs had a good sleep :) 

Blue Monday

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I Love this Blog’s Domain, I don’t Want Selling it!

It’s my first time to write a post about this blog. Lately I’ve received several mails that asked me whether I’d like to sell this domain and how much I would sell it. The last mail came a few days ago and this guy invited me to discuss the opportunity.  I haven’t yet sent a reply until now.

I love this blog so much. My reasons are:

1.   It’s my first blog. I started blogging –with blogspot.com- since June 2009.

2. I changed the domain into 1sthappyfamily.com since May 2011. At that time, my desire was to have happyfamily.com, but it was beyond my reach. I just checked the current domain price at Domain Power. The price of happyfamily.com is already $ 245,000 now! Wow!!! Anyway, who’s willing to buy an extreme expensive domain?

I’m curious now, my blog’s domain almost alike, right? Are those coming offers related to this? They want my domain at much cheaper price, I think.

3.   This blog has more than 1600 posts. For me, it’s a great achievement.

4.   Though this blog has no PR anymore (down from three to zero), I still love it. In the past few months, I got busy with my worsening health condition, doctor visits, surgery and health recovery. I made mistakes such as not setting the comment moderation. When Google hit down the PR, I checked the broken links. It turned out that this blog had more than 700 broken links, mostly came from spammers in comments at old posts. Sigh. It took more than a week to delete those broken links.   

5.   Many posts are personal ones though I accept guest posts nowadays. This blog is also a place for me to share my family’s stories and photos, my thoughts, sadness and happiness.

It’s too hard for me to see anyone else using this blog’s domain. I’ll keep this blog -as long as I can.

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