Teen Fit Club... not just for teens

A couple of weeks ago, one of the women who works at the club approached me, asking for help. She had recently been to her physician, who informed her that, at 367 lbs, she had to lose weight and suggested two potential paths to weight loss: either gastric bypass surgery or completely change her life. Being the strong, slightly stubborn person that she is, she automatically turned down the idea of gastric bypass, instead relying on the "old-fashioned" method of healthy diet exercise. In talking to her, I soon realized that she was 100% dedicated to the incredibly difficult task at hand. She already had changed her diet dramatically, eating primarily lean protein, fruits & vegetables. Where she needed help was in the exercise department and we sketched out a basic exercise program for her, incorporating aerobic and strength exercise into her daily schedule. Last week she attended my Teen Fit Club sessions, taking on any exercise that I threw her way and with more dedication and vigor than I have yet seen from any of the teens! I am fully confident that she will be capable of losing the necessary weight and being there for her daughters for many years to come.

While I am certainly impressed by the dedication and single-minded vision that this woman has, it does strike a contrast with some of the teens that attend my sessions. When I was a teenager, I certainly didn't dwell on the long-term prospects of my health. With the arrogance of youth that I see in my kids, I assumed that it would always be easy for me to be fit and trim. The hard truth is that the older you are, the harder it gets. As the years progress, your muscle mass decreases and your metabolism slows down and you no longer have the svelte body of a 16 year old. My goal in working with teens is to get some of the healthy diet and exercise habits deeply instilled in them now. By getting into the habit of a healthy lifestyle sooner, perhaps they will not have to face the difficult challenge of drastic weight loss faced by the woman I am helping. While I realize that my influence on their lives is a bit limited, I hope that some of the lessons that I teach the kids will stick for years to come.

Yay for flexibility!

Through my volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, I've learned the value of flexibility. As the club is incredibly busy and staff is occasionally overworked, there have been times that I've shown up at the club at our scheduled times and found out that the kids are sick or busy with a previously scheduled activity or that none of the staff members can join us off-site (club policy). In the case of the latter, I've turned to indoor activities which must be held in the limited space of the teen center.

This week and next week, my flexibility is being put to the test while the kids are on Spring Break. This results in a very different set of parameters for my fitness club. During these two weeks, the club is held from 3-4 pm in the Teen Center and with a group of kids almost completely different from my usual characters. On Monday, I held a class with a group of teens and only two were familiar to me, the rest being male football and basketball players. We started off with some yoga, did some circuit training and finished with some more stretches and core exercise. While the group dynamics were different, I was pleasantly surprised by how receptive the boys were. In fact, they were the ones clamoring for more yoga! I promised to do more yoga with them today. I guess that my flexibility is being put to the test in multiple ways!