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Family fitness attempts are working!!!

by Jen Creer (Subscribe to Jen Creer's posts)
Sep 17th 2006 10:03AM

4Comments

Filed under: Teens, Activities: Babies, Nutrition: Health, Development/Milestones: Babies, Day Care & Education, That's Entertainment

I have written here at Blogging Baby, on and off for the past year and a half, about my family's fitness efforts, and my oldest son in particular. Sam, almost 13, started running on his own this summer, and then swim practice started up again. This fall, he was moved up to a higher swimming group, and my youngest son also joined the team. Christian, my middle son, declined to join the team. Christian gets a lot of exercise on his own though: He dances, runs, and hums, and does a lot of self-stimulating exercise because he has Asperger's Syndrome. But he ends up swimming for an hour several times a week during swim practice anyway.

Sam reports that because he is now in a higher level swim team, that his workouts have become much more intense. So, we have not pushed running during the week. He runs on the weekends, instead, usually with my husband or me. My husband and I ran together yesterday, but I was so tired that it wasn't a great run, so he went back out later with Sam.

I don't know whether it's because Sam is entering a growth spurt, or whether it's because the intensity of his workouts have increased. We have also cut way down on the kind of snacks available at our house: We are just as likely to sit down with a bowl of edamame as have crackers on hand-- this also provides extra protein because Sam has been a vegetarian since February. Sam also packs a lunch every day, with yogurt and fruit in it. But whether it's one of these things or the entire combination, it's working. Sam is looking and feeling much healthier and stronger. His stamina has increased. His clothes fit him better than ever. He walks with more self-confidence, and sits with a group of boys at school during his lunch hour. Last week, our babysitter saw him for the first time in a few weeks and she said, "Sam, have you lost a bunch of weight???" Sam just shrugged and said, "I don't know." But I know he was pleased. We are trying to emphasize fitness and health over a number on the scale, but I am sure others are also noticing the changes in his appearance.

Because we aren't sure exactly what it is that's working, we're just going to continue all of it! I'm so happy for my son, and also thrilled that we are now, all of us, an active family.

Tags: asperger's, fitness, health, middle school, MiddleSchool, running, snacks, sports, swimming, team sports, TeamSports, weight

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