A Girl's Guide to Fitting in Fitness

By Jennipher Walters and Erin Whitehead

Whether you’re the MVP of your basketball team, an occasional jogger, or a self-acknowledged couch potato, A Girl's Guide to Fitting in Fitness has practical advice that you can really use. The book shows how easy it is to wake up earlier and sharper (using yoga and relaxation techniques), eat healthier foods, and use the little in-between moments of your day—like the commute to school, or the time between classes—to incorporate a little bit of physical activity that will make a big difference. Fitting in Fitness is sure to help even the most devoted TV-addict lead a fitter, healthier, and happier life—without the need for a gym or fancy exercise equipment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Aug 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541581661

Jennipher Walters

Jennipher Walters is a personal trainer, lifestyle and weight management coach, and health and fitness specialist. She has written for online publications including Shape and Yahoo! Shine, and cofounded FitBottomedGirls.com and FitBottomedMamas.com with Erin Whitehead.

Book preview

title

First published in 2013 by Zest Books 35 Stillman Street, Suite 121, San Francisco, CA 94107 www.zestbooks.net Created and produced by Zest Books, San Francisco, CA

© 2013 by Zest Books LLC

Typeset in Trade Gothic Teen Nonfiction/Health & Daily Living/ Fitness & Exercise

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012943314

ISBN: 978-1-936976-30-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher.

CREDITS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/BOOK EDITOR: Daniel Harmon CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Hallie Warshaw ART DIRECTOR/COVER DESIGN: Tanya Napier GRAPHIC DESIGN: Marissa Feind MANAGING EDITOR: Pam McElroy PRODUCTION EDITOR: Maija Tollefson

TEEN ADVISORS: Amelia Alvarez, Ema Barnes, Anna Livia Chen, Huitzi Herrera-Sobal, and Felicity Massa

Manufactured in China LEO 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 45XXXXXXXXX

title

DEDICATION

This is for all of the teen girls out there. There’s more to life than working out, but being active sure makes life more fun.

INTRODUCTION

When we first set out to write this book about teen fitness, we asked ourselves one question: "If we could go back in time, what would we want to tell ourselves back in high school about living a truly healthy lifestyle?" Turns out, we’d tell ourselves a lot—about eight chapters worth of goodies, in fact.

Right now, you may think working out and eating right are just about helping you look better in your swimsuit or improve your tennis swing, but the healthy habits you build now will have a huge impact on your life going forward.

From tennis and cheerleading practice to cooking healthy dinners with our families, we were lucky enough to grow up with pretty healthy role models for parents. However, even with that, we misstepped, trying a crash diet here and under-or over-exercising there. With all of the unhealthy messages out there to look and dress a certain way, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype that you are your dress size or that a boy will never like you unless you can rock a string bikini. But, believe us, that’s a bunch of hooey.

You are beautiful as you are, right in this moment. And you deserve to take care of yourself— to be healthy and strong and confident. Not because a celebrity selling a new kind of makeup tells you so, but because deep down you are worth taking care of. Not to be a certain weight, but to be your best and healthiest version of yourself.

As you flip through the pages of this book, you’ll see we’ve shared our top tips on how to do just that. We’ve laid out a plan for you to easily and sanely fit fitness and healthy eats into every aspect of your everyday life.

In the first few chapters, we’ll introduce you to all the fitness and health fundamentals you need to know. We’ll help you with getting motivated and getting started, and teach you how to properly fuel your body for everyday life. Then after that, we’ll get more specific with workouts you can fit into your already busy schedule, like a quick morning workout, a walking routine you can do after school, and a dance party that will get you sweating. Once you’ve gotten hooked on fitness, we’ll show you how to pump up those workouts to get even more of a challenge! It’s not all fitness either; we’ll share our tips on eating better, busting stress, and getting plenty of recovery time, too!

Throughout the book, we investigate (and often expose) common fitness myths, share pitfalls to avoid, and highlight tips from real teens who have made fitness and health a priority. Be sure to check out our resources, too, which will give you tons of great websites for all of your fitness and health needs.

Whether you’re hoping to start working out, or looking to take your fitness level up a notch, we’ll help you get there. All we ask is that, in doing so, you pay attention to your body, and treat yourself with respect and love. For us, that was the missing piece to our teen-fitness puzzle: It took us too long to realize how awesome we already were!

So now, without further ado, let’s get to it!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: WHY GETTING FIT MATTERS

Chapter 2: BASICS OF A FITNESS PLAN

Chapter 3: EATING WELL

Chapter 4: WAKING UP TO FITNESS

Chapter 5: BEING FIT AT SCHOOL

Chapter 6: ON WEEKENDS & DURING THE SUMMER

Chapter 7: NEXT-LEVEL FITNESS

Chapter 8: STRESS-BUSTING TECHNIQUES

Chapter 9: CONCLUSIONS & RESOURCES

CHAPTER 1

Why getting

fit matters

You’ve heard it repeated a million times: You should eat right and work out. Diet and exercise, diet and exercise, diet and exercise. Simple, right? But between news of another new superfood and all the celebrity diet fads out there, it can get pretty confusing. And most people would rather watch a movie than spend their day munching on carrot sticks and sweating it out at the gym. Well, we’re here to tell you that even though fitness can be a lot of work and take a lot of time, it doesn’t have to. In fact, exercise can actually be enjoyable. (We swear!) Being just a little more fit can make you healthier, happier, and more confident—maybe even confident enough to ask that senior to the homecoming dance.

You don’t have to do sit-ups for three hours a day or make a million trips to the gym to reap tons of feel-good benefits. There are a number of little changes you can make to your routine that will bring out your inner Jillian Michaels—starting today.

In the following pages, we’re going to tell you everything we wish someone had told us back when we were teens. From avoiding the latest crash diet (been there, done that—sadly), to finishing the mile run in gym class without having a near-death experience, to valuing being healthy instead of just looking skinny, we’ll reveal the ins and outs of getting fit without sacrificing any of the other things that you already love to do. In fact, we’ve put together a chapter with get-healthy tips and tricks for each and every part of your day. We’ll show you how to make a healthy breakfast, squeeze activity into your school day, unwind and de-stress at night, and even get your friends and family involved with your fitness efforts on a year-round basis. Each chapter also includes a sample workout, so that you can start getting fit today.

With just a few tweaks to your lifestyle, even the busiest of girls can be fit!

Why I Work Out:

I exercise to stay in shape and because it makes me feel better. I enjoy staying active because I have fun doing it.

— Allie Vandeneberghe, 16, Junction City, Oregon

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Sure, fitness is definitely about looking good (and confidently wearing that swimsuit at the community pool), but it’s also about feeling good. By adding just a little bit of activity here and there, you too can cash in on these five sweet benefits.

1. You’ll love the number on the scale. Exercise has been proven to help with controlling weight—meaning that as the years tick by, working out as a healthy habit (and not as a dreaded chore) will help keep you at your healthy and happy best.

2. Your mood will improve. Ever heard of a runner’s high, where you experience a rush after going for a jog? It’s real, and almost all forms of physical activity—not just running— have been shown to boost mood and energy. So instead of relying on that energy drink to get you through study hall, try taking the long way back to your locker after lunch for an afternoon pick-me-up.

3. It will make going to the doctor a breeze. Getting at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week is linked to lower cholesterol levels, better blood pressure, improved heart health, and a decreased likelihood of getting diabetes. While that may not mean a whole lot to you now, believe us, you’ll be thrilled later!

4. You’ll improve your grades. Research shows that active teens tend to study better, have better focus, and get better grades. Imagine how thrilled the ’rents

Reviews for A Girl's Guide to Fitting in Fitness

[moonlitshadow_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Growing up is hard enough as a teenager, but for those that didn't get the luck to have the perfect body (like myself) we have to work hard, and this book shows girls a good path to set out on to achieve this goal.

The book itself is an easy read, and the layout definitely helps keep the readers interest. The author included a section on diet as well, thankfully, since what good is working out for a half hour if you are going to head right to a cheeseburger and fries afterwards.

That being said, I do with the author would have put more into this book about finding time between the every day activities for fitness: the title "Fitting In Fitness" led me to believe that there would be more about finding the time and space in a busy lifestyle for fitness, not just finding the motivation and the means to work out.

[sparemethecensor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A cute, quick read that teenage girls may enjoy. (I'm too old to be the target audience, so I sometimes found the tips a little condescending, but maybe they won't.) Sometimes the attempts to appeal to young teens were a little heavy handed -- too many references to Justin Bieber, for one thing -- but they bring the message of healthy eating to a tricky population without emphasizing the wrong things, like poor body image or inconsistent habits. Too many books for teenagers focus exclusively on diet, leading to eating disorders, so this was a nice change from that.

I do wish there had been more tips for "fitting in" fitness -- that's the reason I requested this book. A set of tips for making the most of the extra ten or twenty minutes you manage to find in your day would have been more welcome!

[ansate · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Probably my main problem with this book is that I am not the target audience. Somehow from the description, I thought it would be a collection of small workout tricks you can do in short periods of time. It is not.

It's aimed at teenage girls, and maybe they won't find it as condescending as I do. Most of the material (in the half that I read) is not completely objectionable, but is presented as total truth instead of a goal to work towards, or any language about how not every exercise or diet is going to work for every body. I did deface the yoga page to explain that you never ever do tree pose with your foot on the side of your knee, so that I don't feel bad about donating it to the library.

I feel like someone gathered up most of the current fitness rules of thumb (and jammed diet in there just to make me angry) and spat them out with too many exclamation points. Advice for getting picked last in PE classes like "Try to be the team captain on occasion" shows how little empathy the authors have for awkward teens.

[booklizard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got this book through the ER giveaway. It's designed to give teen girls an overview of fitness and some tips to get started or step it up a notch. I like that it focused on fitness and not weight loss. It goes over exercise, nutrition, and stress relief, but also talks about the importance of getting a good night's sleep. Two things I didn't like: 1. It talks about "boring Algebra class" - stereotype that girls don't like Math. 2. The "How Exercise Makes Me Feel" Mad Lib in Chapter 1 must have been written by a dog lover, because it doesn't work for cats - ". . . after you start doing it a lot, you'll be as energetic as a cat. And seriously, who doesn't want to feel like a cat?" Um, yeah, if I got 15-20 hours of sleep a day, I'd have more energy for those few hours I was awake.

Overall, it was a good, brief introduction to fitness.

[nebraska_girl1971 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Even though I did not realize when requesting this book that it was geared toward teens (and really pre-teens) I did find the information refreshing and a good reminder about working out, techniques, and just gettting into that mindset. Overall, I would recommend this book to 12-15 year old girls, but also their mothers to read jointly with their daughters.

[megtall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a helpful guide for teen girls. It has so much to offer in a single, small package. The book covers many topics about getting and keeping fit and knocks down some of the myths teens seem to believe about health. It's got easy-to-do, but effective, workout routines, tips for eating healthy, and more. This is definitely something I'll be purchasing for my library. Thank you!

[mamzel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author managed to avoid the "all you have to do is..." type of language with this book and acknowledged the problems of trying to maintain a good regimen. I really liked how she approached a fitness program by starting with a good night's sleep and inserting excercise and good diet at appropriate timesduring a typical day. Another excellent section was how to add music to excercise with suggestions, though this could date the book in no time. The author gives many useful links, such as MapMyRun.com, that will support and add interest to a fitness program. Beginner to advanced levels of exercise are offered so that the book will continue to challenge. I liked how the authors recommend trying out for teams as a way to meet new people and get away from high school cliques.

[stefaniegeeks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a great mini resource for busy Teen and Young Adult women offering information from equipment needed to get going to tips on basic exercise and resources for further use and study. It also helps get you into the mindset of working out and eating healthier. My only criticism is that the sources offered are not cited well (only by title) so it is often difficult to tell which title (ex. there are a billion "AM and PM Yoga" DVDs) is recommended by the authors. Overall, I highly recommend it for the aspiring healthy girl in your life.

[eheinlen_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well-written and easy-to-read. This book is accessible and, I think, would appeal to the teen and 20something audience. It's broken out into nice, simple chapters that bring you the information that you need without a bunch of extra information. Overall, I liked it.