Avoiding childhood obesity is a lot easy to talk about than lead by leading by example. We have five children and our youngest did not shed his weight like our other children. Once we discovered the health problems that result from being overweight, my spouse and I made a conscious decision in avoiding childhood obesity in our youngest boy that I am going to share with you here!

Being the parents we had both worked out as a lifestyle when we were younger, but fell into a sedentary lifestyle once we started our family and focused on our careers. It is so easy to get caught up in the everyday stress of life and forget what is most important…the quality of life and enjoying it!

We first started with adding exercise by taking a walk after school to spend time chatting together. Listen to your child very closely like we did and probe till you find a physical activity that is of interest to them. This way you can encourage them, while their interest provides the motivation!

For our family we took up tennis at the local park with in walking distance and table top tennis during the raining days. You might think table top tennis doesn’t burn that many calories, but give it a try first before making that conclusion, loll.

The whole idea behind trying out different physical activities, was to find those interests that benefited everyone and it brought us closer in the end. I would find out my kids had homework and would share with them that I had work on my computer to do. Then Empower them by asking them, if they thought it would be a good idea to perform a physical activity and shower so we could then focus on our work before bedtime! Give it a try and encourage them by using their suggestions from time to time.

Once we made the decision to get active with our family in avoiding childhood obesity, it had so many rewards and then we slowly began making changes in our diets, but did it slowly. We would share how many calories were in Soda Pop and substituted flavored water in place of it or nature juices.

Health InFocus: Childhood Obesity from InFocus Christian News on Vimeo.

Just take your time in slowly making changes, it usually takes about 21 days before it becomes routine. If you have too many changes it is so easy to just stop everything and fall back into your routine. We did the adjustments for our benefit, but the kids did very little objecting when we made suggestions.

We did several things we will not cover here, but the main one was making fast food a one time a month reward, instead of the easy to fall back on that we are busy tonight thingy. It has been several years now and our kids, especially our youngest are doing their own thing and physically fit. We are so round of them and we have them to thank in us being able to reclaim our youthfulness. Both my spouse and I have more energy, are closer than ever and taking up Golfing lessons, give it a try!

NASCAR watch out Danica Patrick is coming!

There have been other females that advanced to the Sprint series in NASCAR, yet without the proper full time backing from a major sponsor and fan support. Danica Patrick will be the first female with credible background history in racing to take on the challenge!

NASCAR use to be a good old boy sport at the track each weekend, slowly giving away to College kids and families with enough money to back their sons passion in racing. Since the Nationwide and Sprint series has become main stream, we see Indycar drivers making the switch to NASCAR when an opening comes up in the drivers seat.

Patrick is already popular in Indycars and has one win under her belt. She will continue to race full time 2010 for Michale Andretti in IndyCars.

We forcast great success as Danica Patrick being the first female driver to eventually race full time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Let me share several factors below:

Why Danica Patrick Will Succeed in NASCAR!

• Has proven she has what it takes in IndyCar racing.
• Beginning with limited schedule in Nationwide to adapt to Stock Cars, beginning her learning curve.
• She has a built in Fan Support base from Indy Car that will follow.
• Most importantly she has backing from the most successful car owner today, Rick Hendrick which is co-owner with the most popular NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior, that seeked her out to race for them.

Now saying that above, she will no doubt inherit fans from Hendrick’s Motorsports and Junior.

Can you see it now in the next several years? Danica Patrick coming down the straight away in her first Daytona 500 race. Sponsors on her car Maybelline, Victoria’s Secret, Hane’s Alive Pantyhose, Weight Loss Product, Coach Handbags, Perfume Product, Spanx Shapers and feminine Products. The companies catoring to females have an incredible opportunity to reach a large female audience with the future NASCAR success of Danica Patrick!

Hurricane Ida Category Two

Tropical Storm warnings are up for areas just either side of the Hurricane Warning Area.

Any landfall is likely Tuesday morning, it is forecast to be a hurricane at landfall. If the NHC’s current track were to verify it would be very near Pensacola, but there is a fair degree of uncertainty either way.

A Spiritual Battle we must win! from Mike Evans on Vimeo.

Archive image of George Anthony

As of 7am this morning we do not have confirmation that his daughter held on charges of the homicide of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, has heard the news from lastnight. Police did say George Anthony was dispondent when picked up and agreed to go into custody peacably. From the start of this ordeal, the Anthony’s have not received any counseling and our prayers our with them!

Hurricane season over for 2008

Tropical Storm Faye was a hurricane temporarily while over the ocean, yet once she came ashore she lost her strength. Never the less she did billions of dollars worth of damage due to the flooding from her loitering over the east coast of Florida.

The numbers for Hurricane season 2008

Hurricane season 2008 devasted the Texas Gulf Coast in mid-September when the Powerful Hurricane Ike made landfall. After 2007 hurrican season, 2008 produced two more in total number of 16 for this year. Five of the eight hurricanes that formed for 2008 hurricane season reached “major” status with winds in excess of 111 mph or more.

Gustav during hurricane season 2008

The middle of Hurricane Season 2008 brought the season`s most destructive storms this year. The season`s most powerful storm, Ike, slammed into Galveston Island in the early morning of September 13. Hurricane Ike formed from a tropical disturbance that moved off of Africa on Labor Day weekend. This did weaken the storm as it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a 100 mph (Category 2) hurricane. Ike strengthened as it moved northwestward toward the Texas coast, and storm surges of 15 feet or more were forecast. These forecasts proved true as Ike slammed ashore in Galveston, Texas, with winds of 110 mph and waves that topped the 17-foot seawall.

Space Shuttle sees it from a different angle

Hurricane Season 2008 had everyone thinking of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 that struck New Orleans. Hurricane Gustav was on the same path to strike New Orleans as a Category 4 strength on Labor Day weekend. After a massive evacuation, Gustav veered to the west and making landfall at Cocodrie, La. Gustav produced $18 billion in damage, killing 43 people in the U.S. and 138 people overall.

Car with improper air conditioning added

Hurricane Season 2008 surprises everyone as Tropical Storm Faye slowly snaked back and forth across Florida on August 24 and 25, dropping up to 25 inches of rain near Melbourne, Fla., and more than a foot of rain across large swaths of central and northern Florida. Many believe there would of been less damage from a direct hit from a Category 3 Hurricane, than have Faye flood the Space Coast. Hurricane Hanna formed in the western Atlantic during Hurricane Season 2008 and moved south toward Haiti, stalling out near the island nation. The hurricane brought more than 30 inches of rain to Goncaives, Haiti, killing more than 500 people and causing “catastrophic” damage. The storm then turned toward the U.S. East Coast, moving through the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast, bringing the region 3 to 6 inches of rain

Tornatoes are in the NE section of storm cells

The end of Hurricane Season 2008 also brought intense hurricanes with tornatoes. Hurricane Omar reached winds of 140 mph as it hit the Virgin Islands, had formed in the Caribbean Sea in early October. In early November, Hurricane Paloma moved from along the coast of Central America and smashed through the Cayman Islands with winds of 145 mph. Once it made landfall on Cuba, she fell apart over the island.

The 2008 hurricane season produced more than an average number of tornatoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes. On average, 11 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes. Hurricane Season 2008 total was more active than WeatherBug had predicted for the season. The forecast had called for 10 to 12 named storms, with four to six reaching hurricane strength and two to four major hurricanes.

Do you know what the Best Blu-Ray Player is?

Blu-Ray was developed as the answer to the new evolution of high definition TV by Philips and Sony in partnership. Not only are they discovering the amount of information that can be stored on one DVD which is a feat in itself, but you have to possess the speed in which to access it quickly. Well, as eletronics keeps advancing at light speed it seems…for today, Dec 2008, we now know the best Blu-Ray Player to own or purchase for Christmas!

The best Blu-Ray player is

Now take your time running out to purchase a Sony Playstation 3 as your Blu-Ray DVD player, there are several things you must not forget to pick up with it. Make sure to purchase the high definition cable to hook up your Blu-Ray player to the TV and please do not forget the remote with adapter. No one touches eletronics anymore, now that everything comes with a remote. This is not your universal remote, you must have one designed for the Sony Playstation 3 or it will not work.

Excellent video above showing off the Blu-Ray

The best deal we have personally come across at a great price is at Block Buster believe it or not. Price out the different packages on the market at the various stores in your area, each is different. The one here in Florida for $399.99 includes: Sony Playstation 3 with 60GB hard drive, special remote, high definition cable, one game and one movie and 12 week Blu-Ray membership to rent all the Blu-Ray movies you want at Block Buster!

The Blu-Ray movies are way more expensive than your standard DVD’s today, you will be spending around $30-$35 each, so it might be better to rent, unless you cannot live without seeing the movie once a month, lol…

More related links you want to check out on Blu Ray:

Blu-Ray Player Bests: PlayStation 3, Panasonic DMP-BD35 & Sylvania … – We review Blu-ray players and pick the three best.

What Are Blu-Ray Players? – Blu-ray players will soon become a thing of the future with many people already becoming vastly interested in them and casting aside their DVD players. Blu-ray is basically a high definition alternative to DVD’s so you can watch films …

Read This Before Buying a Blu-ray Player | AV Guide – That might sound like a silly question—of course we want to hear soundtracks in high-res from Blu-ray discs. But the fact is that you don’t need a controller that “decodes” the new audio formats—but you do need a Blu-ray player that has …

Gizmodo UK : The Dark Knight Shatters Blu-ray Sales Records – We’ve seen how the cost of dedicated Blu-ray players is dipping regularly under the £200 mark and now it seems, certain movies are finally driving some serious Blu-ray sales. The latest outing for our favourite gadget-equipped vigilante …