How Fit Are You and Your Family

By Priscilla Yao
Undoubtedly, the vast majority of people in this country are way below real physical fitness. We misuse our bodies by letting them get 'rusty'. Watch a healthy child for a while: on the go all the time; bending, stretching, hopping, running, tumbling and then sleeping soundly at night. A healthy adult should be the same.
Ask anyone who has ever embarked on a course of exercises or who has joined a Keep Fit class, and they will tell you the same tale: of the agonies of initial stiffness, of the realization of how out of condition they were, and of how they felt much better for it later.
Exercising will trim you into a better shape, it's really a case of redistribution. Give yourself this little test: stand on your scales in front of a full-length mirror. Now, pull in your tummy and your bottom, hold your head well and make your back straighter. You won't have lost any weight but you'll look much better. Exercise will help you to achieve this look.
What is needed is sensible and regular exercise, preferably a combination of some formal exercise routine and an active participation in some sport. Have you got a swimming bath near your home? Try a family swim on Saturday morning. If one or more members of the family can't swim, all the more reason to go. Tennis, Badminton, squash, golf, and indoor bowls are all increasing in popularity, and many Local Authorities provide facilities for these, in addition to the more expensive private clubs. Getting your body into good shape is a form of life insurance.
Encourage the children to play active games outside, unless the weather is really dreadful. Make sure they have toys for their activities: roller skates, a football, a rubber ring, a child-size badminton set, skipping ropes, a bamboo `bar' for high-jumps, etc. If they get bored, send them out on a Scavenger Hunt to find - for example - the prettiest leaf, the roundest stone, the most twisted stick. Always take a ball with you when you go for a picnic or a walk in the park; as a general rule the children who are encouraged to be active are the ones who get into the school team.
Men, especially those who have sedentary jobs; should try to take some form of exercise at least three times a week. There's no reason why a man shouldn't start with the exercise routine starting for `bust' read 'chest'! Later on a subscription to the local Health Club or Tennis Club might make a good Christmas present. To find an ideal set of simple exercises for home, we enrolled the help of the Westside Health Club in London, where the very fitness and enthusiasm of the staff is a tonic.
Priscilla Yao is a cooking lover, who enjoys thoroughly been teaching in food industry almost 15 years. Currently she has involved teaching in Healthy food, the Miracle Diet for Fast Weight Loss and The completed Low Cholesterol Cook Book, The Lazy Lady's Easy Diets, A Slimmer Way of Life and Healthy Kids Diets.