There it is again – exercise at the top of the list of New Year’s Resolutions. You know it is living large in my mind as I raced to Fleet Feet on December 31st for my first pair of running shoes in seven years! Feeling extra committed to moving more in 2012, I even treated myself to a fancy sports bra.

Who wouldn’t want to exercise knowing daily workouts can lift spirits, shrink waistlines, keep hearts healthy, AND create increased energy? Most moms would happily take help in any of these categories. Targeted stretching and strength training can also help ease body pain and tension – two other common complaints for parents. Still, many of us struggle to make daily time for fitness.

So… how are we going to change things in 2012? Local mom and personal trainer Anna Dufloth says she’s got the key ingredients to help you sustain your fitness resolutions: 1.) Value Yourself. 2.) Get Fitness on the Family Schedule 3.) Build Support 4.) Enjoy the Benefits.

Valuing Yourself

Anna will tell you that she has a typical busy mom’s life wrangling her two little ones into the van in time for school, waging war on the dust bunnies, and finding energy to stay on top of her career.

Only… Anna does all of this and manages to train for marathons by running several days a week.

“I started doing personal training to answer the question of ‘Who am I?’ after becoming a mom. I found I didn’t recognize my own body, I’d left behind activities I used to be passionate about, and I had these new goals of being tuned into my kids. I needed to find a way to get back to the Kinesiology career path, and I wanted my body back. But I also wanted to keep my kids close. So, I opened a Baby Boot Camp franchise. When my kids got too big for the stroller, I closed the franchise and started my own family fitness classes.”

This go-getter knew that she needed to feed her own soul in order to maintain her strength as a mom. Opening Baby Boot Camp helped her get outdoors and moving – and it helped other moms to do the same.

“My kids grew up with me leading a trail of moms and strollers up and down hills.”

After taking her first steps to get fitness back in her life, Anna found her passion rekindled. “It felt great to work my body, and I realized how much I missed it.” Soon, she found herself dreaming of taking her workouts to the next level.

“I asked my husband to set aside Sunday mornings for the kids, and I put on my running shoes. While I am out running, James figures out how to create some quality time with our little ones. Lately, they’ve been making breakfast together. I get my time and they get time with their dad. And I come home happier, more patient, and with more energy.”

This past year Anna put in 1,016 miles over 185 hours. This translated to 120,500 calories burned (or 34.4 lbs of fat calories). She’s gained muscle and lost 10-12 pounds in the process.

Get Fitness on the Family Schedule

Anna says that today’s fitness research calls for an average of 30 minutes a day of exercise – or 180 culminuative minutes per week. “You can do three big workouts or spread out your workouts to just a half an hour 6 days a week.”

I thought about where I could fit in those 180 minutes. I could try to hop on my bike more often and join the kids in zooming around our court each afternoon. I could try to make sure that we walk downtown every week… However, I often do these things rather casually and don’t break a sweat. I asked Anna, “How I could make these activities count?”

“The goal is to move hard enough and fast enough that you are breathing more quickly and your heart is pumping. You don’t want to over do it, but you don’t want to stroll either,” explains Anna.

With some intention, I think I could exert myself a bit more. But then I asked, “What if I miss a few days of working out? Bryles could get sick, the weather might dissuade us, or something else might come up and get us off our groove.”

“You just find a way to do a little something,” suggests Anna offering a few choice examples, “If your kid is lying on the couch recovering from the flu, you get down on the floor next to them and do some sit-ups or leg lifts. Or if you end up with a long list of errands that could dominate your afternoon, try walking to each of your destinations — one day my kids and I put in 3 miles walking to the bank, the grocery store, and the mall. Get creative and work it in.”

Anna also offers a 90 minute “Outdoor Family Fitness” class every Saturday of the year. This gives me a once a week opportunity to get at least half of my mandatory exercise in! I hit the court for a good circut training, while Bryles and the kids play in the park or join us for cardio activities like line tag. These workouts engage my full body and definetely get me breathing harder! We also have a lot of fun – look at Anna’s son working this balancing ball and broom during our Halloween workout.

Anna says working out through Outdoor Family Fitness might actually save time by bringing the whole family together rather than trying to fit in several different personal activities:

“One of the main reasons I designed this class was to show people that it is not only possible, but also extremely fun to get in a great workout as a family. Too often these days, fitness activities are done as individuals. Each parent has their own activity preference, each child is involved in one or more sports; but why don’t most families incorporate a fitness activity that they can all do?”

Finding Support

If you need someone to notice if you miss a work out, will meet you on the asphalt, and who will give you feedback, you can sign up today for one of Anna’s child-friendly family work outs. At less than $15 per family per class (and first class free for Sono-Ma readers!) , you can’t pass this up:

Upcoming Schedule of Classes & Events
All classes are held on the Basketball Court unless otherwise noted.

Date	Time	Event
1/7/12	9:30 -10:45 am	Double Strength Day!
1/14/12	9:30 -10:45 am	Upper Body Class
1/21/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	No Equipment Necessary Class
1/28/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	Butts & Thighs Class
2/4/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	Core Class
2/11/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	In honor of Valentine’s Day, it’s Partner Class! Bring your significant other, or a friend/family member to class; or have Anna pair you up with someone in class.
2/18/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	Full Body Class
2/25/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	ALL ABS!
3/3/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	Progressions Class
3/10/12	9:30 – 10:45 am	All Bridges Class
3/17/11	9:30 – 10:45 am	Favorites Class! Email Anna you favorite exercise(s). The 10 exercises with the most “likes” from all of you will make up the class workout for today!

* Schedule is subject to change.

*In light rain, class will be held under the gazebos.

Enjoying the Benefits

“Being active and eating better leads to more energy, weight loss, increased muscle tone, a stronger immune system, and best of all, an increase in self confidence and self image. So do yourself a favor this year and make health and fitness a priority!” says Anna.

Anna shares some of the own benefits she’s experienced during her past three years of rediscovering her commitment to fitness, “I moved down dress sizes (from a 14 to a solid 6), and I am holding firm at a great weight. My PMS symptoms have disappeared. I feel strong and happy – even given some tough circumstances this past year.”

Anna feels much more confident about her body, and feels like she can fully engage with her family as she has found time to feed her soul. Her spirits are up, and even her husband is happy to report that she has more energy for him.

And I must add that since Sono-Ma’s last story on the Dufloth family, James stopped suggesting fastfood. Anna says her commitment to health and fitness is really rubbing off on the whole family.

Need I say anything more convincing?

Load up the kids and join us next Saturday for health, fitness and fun, with Anna D. and Outdoor Family Fitness! Mention Sono-Ma and get your first class free!

Breakfast quiz:

Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal contains how much added sugar by weight?

a) 10%

b) 20%

c) 30%

d) 40%

Answer: Sorry, trick question. The correct answer is ‘none of the above’, because Honey Smacks is actually more than 50% added sugar by weight.

Now, you’d probably expect that from a cereal with the somewhat misleading word ‘Honey’ in its name. (Remember when they used to be called ‘Sugar Smacks’? Ah, for those simpler, more bluntly marketed times of yore…) But Honey Smacks is far from alone in turning breakfast into dessert.

In a study recently released by the Environmental Working Group, two-thirds of the 84 popular cereal brands surveyed exceeded federal guidelines for sugar content. And that includes 25 cereals manufactured by General Mills, which was a “Premier Sponsor” of the recent annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association.

Absolutely unsurprisingly, cereal manufacturers are fighting the federal guidelines–which are voluntary, by the way–tooth and nail. I don’t have a quote from the manufacturers to give you, but if I did it would no doubt run along the lines of cursing the socialist nanny state the U.S. has become, and reasserting the God-given right of American parents to turn their children into diabetics before they are old enough to vote.

Yes, parents can certainly read the nutrition facts printed on the cereal box and make intelligent nutrition choices, but wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t have to wade through a minefield of unhealthy choices (masterfully marketed to their kids) in the first place? The sad fact is that cereals such as these are mainstays in the diet of many American school kids, and in many areas of the country it’s not easy to find healthy alternatives.

Unfortunately, the Environmental Working Group didn’t include a list of low-sugar cereals, which would be a helpful aid to harried and hurried parents at the market. I’ll try to dig one up and report back.

Do you have a healthy cereal alternative you’d like to recommend?

Mark Sloan, MD has been a pediatrician and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics for more than 25 years. His book, Birth Day was named a finalist for the 2010 Northern California Book Awards in Creative Non-Fiction, and named one of fifty notable Bay Area Books of 2009 by the San Francisco Chronicle. Read his complete biography here. Also, find more Dr. Sloan via his new blog here.