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Have you ever done a fast? I’ve done a few. I’ve done the “Master Cleanse” Vince Vaughn is rumored to be on, the one where all you drink is water mixed with lemon juice, molasses, and cayenne pepper. Which is disgusting. It wasn’t fun and I didn’t last.

I’ve done the one where you drink un-iodized salt mixed in water, which cleans you out in a matter of hours. Do NOT leave the house if you do this. But the drinking part is also disgusting, and it has actually made me throw up.

Like I said in my first Ab Diet post, if I’m going to embrace a new eating plan, which is my definition of a diet, it needs to be easy, painless, and quick. I’m not going to act like I’m a super-human with the ability to motivate in a single pound (er, single bound). I have to build up to getting there. We’re talking about changing habits.

So when I followed a fast that recommended I do a pre-fast, I was able to complete the actual fast. If you don’t know what a fast is, it is where you basically do not eat but consume liquids, like water and freshly-squeezed fruit juices. They can last 24-hours or as long as 10 days.

The pre-fast had me eating fruits and vegetables one day, fruit smoothies and veggie soups the next, and then just fruit juices and veggie broth. By the time I reached the actual fast day where all I was supposed to do was drink water, I was able to do it.

That is why I recommend my Pre-Abs Diet for Women. It starts with eating awareness.

• Definition of Eating Awareness: As I mentioned in the first post, I became aware, or attracted to, the effort of splitting my 3 meals a day into 6. I also stopped and sized-up food before I just ate it, using my own personal values and present motivation to make a decision about whether or not I really wanted to eat it.

It’s not the plan, but it is something. I want to change eating habits for life, not go on some wonk diet or personality change. As a society, we’re always waiting for that right moment to do something, when all the stars are aligned and the weather is perfect and house is clean and the holidays have passed. Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.

Ask yourself, What can I be aware of today and be interested enough to engage an eating change? I’d love to hear about your progress.

Did you know that August is one of my slowest months for swim lessons? Sounds hard to believe since it is still summer. But it is slow because many families are on last-minute vacations, dealing with the transition of starting school, and are generally burned out. Such are the secrets you need to keep in mind when creating consistency and results for your SquidKid.

• Know thy busy seasons. June and July are my busiest months. If parents want lessons in these months, you have to start calling swim programs in February or the second you see ads.
• Find instructors or pool programs that offer a consistent schedule for long-term planning. I cannot expect to be booked by families if I don’t offer a schedule that can be counted on. My entire yearly schedule can be viewed here.
• When kids are off from school, instructors should be off too. Families go on ski trips during Ski Week, a Hawaiian Break during Spring Break, and Grandma’s at Christmas.
• Don’t plan any lessons 2-3 days before or after any holiday or major event. There is nothing like beating the crowd when going somewhere during busy holiday weekends, as well as not having to rush home. Even just having an extra day to prepare for a party without cramming in a lesson is nice. Yes, I feel the same way, which is why I plan days off around holidays. Kids don’t much like to show up to swimming on Halloween either, when they’d rather be wearing a costume with face paint.
• Book as much as you can so as to keep on schedule. Planning removes doubt — if you know when the kids are out or when you have vacations, you should be able to see where you are in the long-term scale of things.
• Know the cancellation policies of the program. Kids get sick, as do instructors. Is is a 24 or 48-hour notice in case of cancellation? How do they reschedule? Is there an extra fee for doing so?
• Plan a break from swimming. Every family needs one. Take a month off.
• If you want a refreshed instructor at the top of their teaching game, find one in the Fall. This is when I have fully recovered from the summer and my load is very small.
• The more “together” a swim program or person is, the more you have to keep planning ahead. I used to get booked for summer by April. I get requests and calls in January now for summer lessons. Stay on your instructor or swim connections.

The headline is my preface for taking on any new exercise regime or eating plan. If you are anything like me — or if I am anything like you — if I am going to modify my eating and exercise plan or change these habits, it needs to feel easy, it needs to not take up my time, and it needs to net results rather quickly. Hence why I picked up David Zinczenko’s The Abs Diet for Women. He claims that the plan is easy to follow because:

• Every part of the eating and exercise plan is quick, simple and flexible
• Every goal is attainable
• Every claim is supported by scientific research

I’m not a diet kind of a person AT ALL. But I am healthy kind of a person and I am also reasonable. The author Zinczenko, who was chubby as a kid and now at the top of his game as an editor at Men’s Health, promises to take into account a female’s lifestyle as well as her hormones, including prenatal to post-menopausal women.

Nutrition is a major focus on the Abs Diet. It works around 12 Power Foods high in fiber and protein that will help build muscle, which speeds up the fat-burning process. It focuses on eating 6 meals a day. The food idea goes like this:

ABS DIET POWER Eating List

A = Almonds and other nuts (not sugared nuts!)

B = Beans and legumes (not refried beans — they have too much bad fat)

S = Spinach and other greens

D = Dairy (fat-free or low-fat stuff — and watch for the high-fructose corn syrup in flavored dairy!)

I = Instant oatmeal (unsweetened, so don’t buy the flavored stuff)

E = Eggs

T = Turkey and other lean meats (yes, you can east steak still and ground beef; just choose lean)

P = Peanut butter (not Jiffy or Skippy, which is filled with sugar and stuff)

O = Olive oil

W = Whole grain bread and cerels (no white bread or packages that just say ‘wheat’ — must say whole wheat)

E = Extra protein, which is whey and can be found at the health food store

R = Raspberries and other berries (sprinkle on oatmeal to bring back the flavor of lost additives!)

If you look closely, the food plan isn’t limiting you on weird foods you’ll get sick of. Actually, the focus is more geared to get rid of fake foods. And the list is a lot more extensive than what you see above. If you want a bigger eating list, go here. Ketchup and mayonnaise are included.

The book is somewhat dense, so if you’re not into reading it yourself, I’m going to gleam the most important information from The Abs Diet for Women and post entires here on Squidkid. Apparently is it a super-popular book and has been on The New York Times Best-Seller List; I just know that Men’s Health (along with Women’s Health) are very credited health magazines and thus credited editors, so I trusted the author when I picked a copy up.

So, have I been following the Abs Diet Power? I’ve been eating six smaller meals, and that’s going fine, although I feel kind of hungry more. On Sunday at a dinner, party, I skipped dessert. They were cupcakes. I lOVE cupcakes. But I passed only because I stopped to consider if it was totally worth it for me to have a lot of high-fructose corn syrup. In the past, I’d just shove one in without thinking twice. My real weakness is cheese and I haven’t been able to stop eating that. I just don’t want to say no to stinky, good cheese. Oh, and stopped with the coffee thing and I’m drinking green tea — the author says green tea, water and milk are the best things to drink.

I’m a naturally svelte person, so if you know me, you’re probably wondering why I’m bothering to do this. Because I care about my health! Because there is always room for improvement! And because I represent exercise, I need to live the part inside and out.

Great comments came to SquidKid the other day from reader, teacher, and swimmer Alexis D. when asked about her opinion regarding the differences between adults verse children learning to swim. Here is what she had to say:

“I’ve worked with many a non-swimmer adult in my tenure, and I find that although adults tend to be more apprehensive about what they’re going to do, that in the end, they’re more willing to do it.”

Alexis goes on to discuss phobias, which by definition is an irrational fear, such as not knowing what will happen when you put your face in water. Adults are far more emotionally and mentally equipped to rationalize and tackle a water fear than children — but adults have also had more time to internalize or grow them. This can be a challenge if you are an adult trying to learn how to swim for the first time.

I find the hardest part about teaching an adult to swim is their ability to exercise freewill, defined as having a choice to show up to class or not. Alexis comments:

“Children, on the other had, often have no choice in the matter. They may have a HUGE fear, but it is mommy or daddy who has told them they have to learn to swim. They aren’t old enough to go through a rational thought process and come out the other end saying, ‘OK, I’ll live through this experience’.”

Motivation for children being force, motivation for adults being personal desire. Old or young, same overall results come from learning how to swim: A feeling of achievement and safety.

Water fears are typically the fear of the unknown, meaning the child just has their imagination to shape a negative perception about swimming. These are easier to work through than a water trauma. A water trauma is caused by the child being in a real-life water experience that in someway felt dangerous and thus brought on a case of lasting emotional fright.

Water trauma is caused accidentally. If your child topples into a pool, it’s an accident. If an inexperienced swim instructor takes your child underwater before they are ready, it’s still an accident. If you show heavy emotion because you are scared for your child in the water, it’s an accident. No one forcefully tries to give a child water trauma, but if they have it, the hard part is it stays with your child for a very, very long time. What can you do to help overcome a water trauma?

• Take a short break before you tackle the issue. Then create a positive swim experience (swimming with a friend and another mom? Backyard party? Ice cream after a short swim?) before you look into lessons.
• Don’t settle for a cookie-cutter, cram-’um-in kind of swim school. Programs that pop up only in summer are great for kids who love water and instructors who do this for college money. I hate to say it, but a lot of trauma can actually happen in these environments.
• Forget the group environment & do private one-on-one lessons. You want to give the instructor every advantage to helping your child build a positive experience in the water.
• Be forthright with your swim lesson history. Don’t exaggerate or downplay the bad experience. Just relay the facts (as opposed to subjective opinions) to the next instructor.
• If something negative does happen, roll with it in a calm, calm, CALM manner. I know a mom that when her 2-year old fell into a pool, she jumped in after her and began playing with her daughter in the pool, as if the accident had all been intended.

For water fears, you can follow the same advice, and implement a plan of education rather than one of healing. Water trauma requires more patience and support on behalf of the parent or instructor –the child needs to be alloted more control in order to make peace with the water.

Ever dreamed about competing in a triathlon, where you swim, bike and run all in one race? After I saw a triathlon the first time, I did, and I made it happen. Triathlon season is upon us, and I’m telling you that you can make this happen too. All it takes a small amount of time to sign up and you don’t have to be in top shape to compete in a triathlon.

It’s Not As Hard As You Think: Sign Up for A Mini-Triathlon

The Ironman type of race, where you are obligated to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run 26.2 miles back-to-back, is not the only type of triathlon out there. There are mini or sprint triathlons. Try these figures on for size: A quarter of a mile swim (about 18 laps), 9.7 mile bike, and 2 mile run. Sprints can also be as big as just half of the Ironman distances listed above.

If you are in California, a good site to see all the different triathlons in the state is at Tri-California Events here. Cost are from $35-70. To find one in your state, go to The American Triathlon Calendar.

Triathlons Allow People of All Shapes, Ages & Abilities

If you’re looking to know the in’s and out’s of what takes, go to Beginner Triathlete. It can be strange to swim in cold, foreign and cloudy water for the first time. You’ll want to practice. Many races do require you bring a wetsuit. You’ll want to figure out how a triathlon is put together, and it varies depending on the venue. You can be extremely serious about it, or just do it for fun. You can be in shape, out of shape, slightly old, slightly nervous, slightly tired, slightly imperfect. Lots of events even have a kids race.View this Post

I don’t plan on picking up triathlons again until I’m really, really, wrinkly old. I want to have some kind of an interesting story about me … I don’t want to be just another svelte figure going for the gold; I want to give the crowd something to talk about.

If You Cannot Do it For Yourself, Do it For a Cause

Motivation comes in different forms. You’ll find all the strength you need to workout when you swim for scoliosis or run for world hunger. In fact, this entire entry was inspired by a lifelong friend of mine, Pee Bee Van den Toorn, who will be competing in the South Africa Ironman event on April 13th to help raise awareness and donations for Project Concern International. Pee Bee knows a lot about the organization, because she worked with them in India after the Tsunami hit. If you’d like to learn more, go to Project Concern/Race 4 Children, or to donate it is Project Concern/RaceDonate. Funds are going to go to efforts to help street children in Zambia.

If You’re Better at One Skill, Create a Team

It’s totally possible to cajole your friends into creating a triathlon team for a race of any size. Maybe you’d love to do the swimming portion, but don’t run because of the impact. Maybe you just don’t own a bike without cobwebs and bent rims. I’ve done a triathlon as a team, and we did so well because we were able to focus on what sport we did best that we WON for our division (age and gender).

At any rate, don’t deprive yourself from getting involved or chasing down a dream because you don’t know how to do it or think you’re not in good enough shape. It’s such as feeling of accomplishment when you participate in a triathlon, no matter if you’re first or last to the finish line!

I had a busy swim day. I started off teaching a high-intensity water aerobics class for an hour, then jumped right into the pool to assist with the over 60 kindergarners and first-graders that come from a nearby school to attend our swim program twice a week, and ended it with my usual Friday private one-one-one lessons.

Amidst the organized chaos, two situations stand out in my mind today. Both share a lesson about using positive reinforcement to get kids to do what you need them to do in the water.

Don’t Say ‘Can’t, Don’t, Won’t’ — Say ‘I’ll Try’

When helping out with the school kids today, I was placed with a few 5-year old beginners that had some reservations about trying.

“I can’t put my face in the water,” one little girl let me know right away.

“I don’t like my goggles, ” another small one warned.

“I won’t know what to do,” complained the third when I asked her to jump out to me.

I needed to go over some mental ground rules. I told them they aren’t allowed to say ‘can’t, don’t, or won’t,’ but they could say “I’ll try.” Bringing attention to positive vocabulary choices usually works as an effective tactic for small children. Pointing out the fact that they could be missing out on something peeks enough curiosity to overshadow fear. It takes awhile to correct this issue; kids revert back to the can’t~don’t~won’t lingo out of habit as do us adults, but you just keep correcting them. Soon I had all three little girls clamoring to be next, shouting out “I’ll try! I’ll try!”

Would You Like a Compliment?

Later, during my private one-one-one sessions, I swam with 4-year old *Max. Max does above and beyond what he should be doing for his age, primarily because his mother is an active lap swimmer and they have been swimming together at the community center a few times a week since he probably was about 6 months old. Because Max is so comfortable in the water, he kind of has a hard time wondering why he would want to do these strange new skills or strokes with me, like the freestyle or breast stroke or back stroke. Max’s excelled physical ability in the water doesn’t match his current cognitive state, so he is in between swim stages. His mom and I ponder, how do we get Max motivated to learn strokes?

Today I decided to use positive reinforcement as a motivating tool. I explained and showed Max the freestyle and asked him to show me. Instead he did a sweet little dilly-dallying routine that you’d expect from a 4-year old who already knew how to swim.

Hmm, I told him. I really wanted to say nice things to you about how well you did the freestyle, but I can’t because you didn’t show me. Would you like the chance to try again?

Max’s ears had perked up when I told him this. He wanted to hear good things about himself. On his second chance, he honestly did his best to mimic what I had showed him. I showered him with compliments. This worked with the breast stroke, too. We went back and forth for fifteen minutes like this, Max understanding what got him a positive verbal reward, and Max understanding the reason when he wouldn’t get one.

I say if you’re going to point out something someone is doing wrong, give them a positive replacement.

*I always change names to protect the innocent

It’s a comfort thing. A comfort thing that begins with your own.

Taking your infant or toddler between the ages of a few months to almost 3 years of age underwater might first feel like you’re going against an instinct to protect a child from danger. Or maybe it feels extremely natural to you.

What Exactly Happens When You Take Your Child Underwater?
We touched on a recent post here about how babies naturally conserve oxygen when their face is underwater. This is called the “diving response.” The circulating blood utilizes oxygen efficiently, mostly to the brain and heart and can do so for as long as 30 minutes. Then the babies also do what is called the “gag reflex” or a laryngospasm.

• Gag reflex: When water gets into a baby’s mouth, a spasm of the epiglottis shuts the trachea (windpipe) so water cannot enter the lungs. However, the esophagus which leads to the stomach remains open. Water intoxification is when a baby swallows too much water. Some babies have a stronger gag reflex than others. Cuing and swift submersions help stop water from entering, along with lifting and blowing in the face (both cause babies to hold their breath slightly).

Exactly How Do You Do Take Your Child Underwater?
Mind frame and body language needs to be in confidence mode on your end. Ever heard of the saying, Fake it until you make it? Put on your best face, get your child’s attention, give the cue 1~2~3! and with no hesitation, swiftly take your child under and back up. No matter the reaction — crying, look of surprise, laughter, coughing — your response is positive with smiles and congratulations. Repeat until you feel you both are getting it. A few quick submersions each session is the least-riskiest path.

What if My Child is Not Really an Infant, But a Toddler or Older? Talk to them about what you want to do. Show them how you do it by holding your breath and get them to mimic. Use cuing. If they understand and you get a verbal “no,” measure the intensity of that no. Are they saying “no” because they don’t really know what to expect yet, or is it a tearful “no” developed from a traumatic water experience? If the former, understand they are still young enough that you can get away with trying it. I feel it is only appropriate to control/force submersion to children younger than 4 years of age; however, maybe once a year I force a submersion for a child who is 4 or older, and you should read the exceptions post here.

The older a child is, the harder it is to get them to do a forced submersion with you or even get their face in the water. Regardless if you are not going to start your child on lessons before age 4, you need to start getting them used to their head and face being wet in the pool or the bathtub.

For those of you who have been following the infant posts as well as all the Parts and Pieces about the pro’s and con’s for starting your child early, thanks for hanging in there and reading. The topic is ladled with controversy and opinions, especially having to do with the statement the American Academy of Pediatrics made found here about children not being developmentally ready for swimming lessons until age 4. And so the topic goes around and around …

I’m going to keep it simple today by listing 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Increase Your Little One’s Water Safety. We are defining Little One’s as any child under 4 years of age.

1. If you own a pool, buy a 4-sided secured gate and keep the gate closed.
2. If your neighbor owns a pool with a gate, ask them to keep the gate closed. This idea was brought up to me yesterday by a swim client. Unfortunately, the mom cannot get the neighbor to close the gate. Go figure. In this case, make sure your backyard fences are more secure.
3. Don’t leave toys around or in the pool. It encourages attention.
4. Always enter the pool first. Then allow your child to get in after you. I understand if they are so young you need to hold them.
5. Always leave the pool last.
6. Encourage climbing out of the pool. If age appropriate, of course.
7. Use cues. No one jumps or swims to you until you say 1~2~3! or Ready~Set~Go!
8. Learn infant CPR. You can learn this on-line in an hour for $30. Go to CPRtoday.com.
9. Practice back floating.
10. Practice submersion, or going all the way underwater.

I started a new Mommies-in-Motion class this week with a wonderful group, and we began the first class by talking about all the infant swim controversy. I was asked by one of the moms if I agreed or disagreed with what the American Academy of Pediatrics philosophies.

Obviously, I understand where the academy is coming from. But obviously, I also agree with parents becoming very involved with swimming lessons at an early age. A safe water plan is a lifestyle agreement the family lives out together on a daily basis. An instructor might only get 20-30 minutes of your time twice or perhaps just once a week, depending on the type of lesson or class you sign up for. To quote the academy, Remember, teaching your child to swim DOES NOT mean your child is safe in the water.

I also received a well-written comment about this issue from Cheryll Boissevain, who is the Aquatic Program Manager at the Osher Marin JCC and owner of the swim school, Swim with Cheryll. Check out the comment here.

What a timely topic for us SquidKid readers: The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a big story about the controversy behind teaching infants to swim last Friday, which included interviews from the very popular La Petite Baleen infant swim school and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The article can be found here.

Basically, the Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in 2006 that concluded children are not developmentally ready for formal swimming lessons until after their fourth birthday.

A neurodevelopmental pediatrician, Dr. Marilyn Bell, who chaired the academy’s committee, made some interesting and hard-to-argue points in the article:

“Teaching swimming [that] early gives parents the potential to assume their children have become drown-proof. Do they really want to reduce their children’s fear of water at that age? If there’s one thing we’ve learned over time, parents tend to overestimate their own child’s cognitive skills and underestimate their physical abilities.”

Thank you, Dr. Bell, for being so forthright. I’ve been doing a nice job dancing around these issues, because I am a swim teacher and it is my job to teach. Recap for your newbies: We have been talking about the Pro’s & Con’s of starting your child swimming early, found in Part 1, Part 2, and then I wrote another entry about starting way young (younger than six months).

The very reason I approached the SquidKid posts on the subject using the term Pro’s & Con’s is because from an instructor’s perspective, the trepidation is caused from exactly what Dr. Bell sited: An inability for parents to see the depths of the dynamics behind swimming, water, and safety. Parents for the most part aren’t experienced swim teachers or even water parents/people.

Before you agree or disagree, I have to ask if you get into the pool with your child on a regular basis. Not just summers, either, but at least two times a week for exercise or family fun. By looking at the issue from inside the water, you can better understand where all sides are coming from, including your own. If you better understand all the angles and perspectives, you’ll have a better, safer swimmer. Isn’t that the goal?

Obviously I’m for schools like Le Petite Baleen. No matter who uses it, the term “drown-proof” is a false one in my opinion, as if you can stop any person of any age from ever drowning. I could drown tomorrow, and I’m a swim instructor. The issue is more if you can “panic-proof” a person. I don’t feel small children can be panic-proofed; they might calmly turn over onto their backs if they fell into a pool, but not be physically able to climb out of one. That is why I personally would not let my child go to a pool party without me (but with adult supervision) until they were about 8 years of age.

In general, I think this is an issue that parents want to have a complete sigh of relief about, and I question whether or not it is an issue you can ever have a sigh of relief about it. You can just know more about it, including your little swimmer and how he/she ticks (or swims). This you cannot do from the pool deck.

As always, I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say — especially after reading the Chronicle article!