SparkPeople Community Director and Fitness Coach
Jen Mueller left her first career in corporate finance to earn a master's degree in health education. She is a busy mom of four and holds a number of fitness certifications (including ACE's Health Coach, Personal Trainer, Medical Exercise Specialist and Behavior Change Specialist). She is passionate about helping people reach their health and fitness goals. In her spare time, Jen loves running, kickboxing and spending time with her family. Jen enjoys blogging about raising healthy children and how small behavior changes can impact health and quality of life.
Read More of 's Blogs:
Want to Lose Weight? Keep It Simple.
I've always been an advocate for learning to eat healthy instead of learning to "diet". Diets teach most people to eat in ways that they can't sustain forever. It can be easy to lose weight, but as soon as you go back to eating normally, the weight comes right back. Learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet means that you make good choices most of the time. You learn what kinds of foods are important parts of your daily nutrition, and which ones should be eaten in moderation. When you first start eating this way, it can take some time and label-reading. But eventually, it becomes an easy way of living.
For years I've tried to convince my mom to adopt this style of eating. But she says she's someone who needs structure and something that tells her specifically what she should and should not eat. She's always gone the route of dieting (which is probably why she's always struggled with her weight), but it seems that not all diets are created equal. New research is looking at what makes some diets more successful than others, since weight loss isn't quite as simple as just eating less.
Posted 6/4/2010 2:19:49 PM By: : 238 comments 36,467 views
Your Genes Could Make You Want To Exercise
I have a friend who loves to scrapbook. She meets a group once a week to scrapbook and is always asking me to come along. She talks about how fun it is to work on a project and socialize with your friends at the same time. While I appreciate the invite, scrapbooking is not my thing. I've tried to explain to her that although that activity is enjoyable for her, it would be very stressful for me. I'm not a crafty person, I'm not very creative, and so it's not my idea of a good time.
Running is my scrapbooking, which my friend does not understand. I don't run to lose weight or keep my weight in check (although it is a nice extra benefit.) I run because I love the challenge- it helps relieve stress, makes me feel good and I just can't imagine my life without it. Being active and exercising regularly is just like brushing my teeth. It's something I have to do and I want to do. Growing up I was involved in sports, but that was only because my parents made me participate and not because I was good at it. My dad was always active, but my mom was not. So it's not like my desire to exercise comes from a lifetime of example. Could it be in my genes? Research set out to determine whether our desire to exercise is genetically determined.
Posted 6/1/2010 8:12:15 AM By: : 83 comments 19,830 views
Want Bacon On That? I'll Pass, Thanks.
I'll admit it: I'm a total snob when it comes to processed meats. I like the taste of hot dogs and salami as much as the next person, and I used to eat those foods frequently. But when I got pregnant 4 years ago, I became much more conscious of the foods I eat and what is in them. Now I'm a label reader, and if something has a long list of strange ingredients in it, I won't eat it. Consequently, I won't serve it to my kids, either.
My friends and family always raise an eyebrow when they see me take the pepperoni off of my kids pizza, or politely decline breakfast sausage at a family brunch. Then they chuckle because it's just "Jen being slightly crazy about the foods her kids eat." My kids don't even notice. If my daughter wants to try a piece of sausage, I'll give her a bite. But I'm not going to load up her plate with it, because I just don't believe that foods like that have much of a place in a healthy diet. New research suggests I might be right.
Posted 5/28/2010 6:25:49 AM By: : 124 comments 21,874 views
Putting Foods Off-Limits Can Sabotage Your Diet
Do you ever notice that as soon as you decide a certain food is "off-limits", it's the food you crave more than any other? For me, it's cake- specifically, yellow cake with lots of white icing. My husband's birthday is coming up, and I always make his favorite cake (which happens to be yellow cake with white icing.) He's content to eat one or two pieces, and then be done with it. I tell myself that I shouldn't eat any of it, because the less I have, the less I'll want. But as soon as I do that, I find myself thinking about how good it would taste, and usually I end up caving in and indulging more than I should. A new study shows that restricting certain foods increases the positive feelings associated with those foods. The more you make a food off-limits, the more tasty and delicious it sounds.
Posted 5/25/2010 4:13:36 PM By: : 255 comments 58,029 views
Give Kids More Veggies and They'll Eat More. Is it Really that Easy?
The message is clear: All kids need veggies, and most don't get enough. So we've started coming up with all kinds of clever ways to get kids to eat more. Puree the veggies and hide them in foods. Cover them with cheese, dressing or other toppings. Cut them into the shape of cartoon characters. But could it really be as simple as just giving them more to get them to eat more? A new study says "maybe".
Posted 5/18/2010 11:19:44 AM By: : 115 comments 28,695 views
Extra Helpings: Out of Sight, Out of Mouth
Eating dinner as a family is very important to me. I grew up in a home where we sat down for dinner together for dinner, and I've carried that tradition on to my own family. I also grew up in a house where the food was left on the stove, you served yourself and brought your plate to the table. That's a tradition I've also carried on, although it's been more of a habit than an intentional practice. New research shows that practice could be saving my family from eating more than we really want or need.
Posted 5/14/2010 8:28:24 AM By: : 102 comments 18,554 views
Obese Children are More Likely to be Bullied
I don't have fond memories of grade school. I was a quiet kid who didn't get in trouble and got good grades. That meant I was picked on by some of the "cool" kids, which wasn't easy. It made me insecure about myself, and I still carry some of that with me today. But the bullying I experienced was really nothing compared to what you see in the news today. I worry that my children will see even a small portion of what some kids have to go through on a daily basis.
There are lots of reasons kids get bullied. They don't wear the right clothes, they don't act the right way, or they don't look like everyone else. A new study of third through sixth graders shows that obese children are more likely to be bullied, regardless of things like class, race or academic achievement.
Posted 5/11/2010 6:51:06 AM By: : 111 comments 21,395 views
Confession: I'm Breaking My Sugar Addiction
My love affair with sweets goes back many years. I enjoy foods like French fries and chips, but if I never had them again that would be okay with me. However, if you take away my cookies, candy and cake, we've got a problem. The more I eat sweets, the more I want them. And usually I end up feeling guilty afterwards, knowing that I could have opted for the small dish of ice cream instead of the giant sundae. Too much sugar makes me feel sluggish, and for a long time I've wanted to break my sugar addiction but felt like I didn't have the willpower to do it. Recently I had the opportunity to make a serious commitment to cut back on sweets, and so far it's going better than I expected.
Posted 5/4/2010 1:00:00 PM By: : 177 comments 36,577 views
5 Good Reasons to Make Your Own Baby Food
When I was pregnant with my first child, I read all of the books new moms are "supposed" to read: the ones about sleep, discipline, eating, and anything else that could possibly happen during their first year. I really wanted to be the mom who used cloth diapers, never used a pacifier, and had their child on a schedule within the first two weeks. Those things did not happen for a variety of reasons. But one thing I was serious about was making my own baby food. It's something I was successful with for both of my kids, but why did I want to go to all of that trouble? It's not really as much trouble as you might think, and there are definitely some good benefits.
Posted 4/27/2010 10:00:00 AM By: : 117 comments 33,896 views
There's Only So Much Multitasking You Can Do
I spend the majority of my day multitasking. The more productive I am, the better I feel about the day. I never sit quietly and have breakfast (my only quiet meal before my kids get up) without doing work or reading or getting something else done while I eat. Sometimes it's a good thing because I'm very efficient and able to get a lot done. Sometimes it's not so good because I tend to live life at a frantic pace, staying busy all the time.
I've always been like this, and it's something I know I need to work on. But it's gotten even worse since I had kids. I'm always trying to get a million things done at once. And because of that, my memory has become terrible since becoming a mom. I used to have a great memory, but these days, if I don't write things down, I forget them. Now I know it's not just me. A new study shows why your brain will not allow you to easily do more than two things at once.
Posted 4/23/2010 6:18:02 AM By: : 116 comments 23,248 views
Controlling Kids' Portions Could Create Future Food Issues
What my children eat and how much they eat is a source of stress for me, as it is for many moms and caregivers. Both of my children (ages 3 and 1) have gone through periods where they don't eat much. It usually lasts for a week or so and then things go back to normal. For that week, I'm constantly worried about whether or not they are getting enough of what they need. But many dietitians follow the philosophy that children should eat when they are hungry and stop when they are satisfied. Instead of controlling portions (or forcing them to eat just because it seems like they should), the idea is that they need to learn to regulate their own appetites.
Posted 4/20/2010 1:10:45 PM By: : 114 comments 25,519 views
Decreasing Calories Can Increase Stress Level
Let's face it: Dieting can be stressful. Especially when you begin to change your eating habits, there are lots of things to think about. It can be hard to count calories, track food, read labels, and do it all with a "lifestyle change" instead of "diet" mentality. New research is showing that it's not only mentally stressful, but can also be physically stressful on the body to restrict calories.
Posted 4/16/2010 3:00:00 PM By: : 92 comments 32,844 views
Exercising While Pregnant: Good for Mom, Great for Baby
I'm a strong advocate of exercise during pregnancy. I ran through most of my pregnancies, which helped keep my weight gain in the normal range, made labor and delivery much easier, and also helped me bounce back into shape more quickly after birth. I used to get some funny looks from neighbors as I ran, and eventually waddled down the street, but I didn't mind. Although the benefit to mothers is well-established, new research is showing that exercise can also benefit baby.
Posted 4/12/2010 10:00:00 AM By: : 69 comments 49,931 views
Diet and Exercise May Prevent 1/3 of Breast Cancers
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. A woman's chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Although genes and heredity are a huge risk factor for developing the disease, new studies are highlighting the large role that lifestyle plays when it comes to breast cancer risk.
Figures from the International Agency on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization), estimate that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more regularly. In a 2006 British study, obese women were up to 60% more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women. So we're starting to see that lifestyle changes (like wearing sunscreen, exercising regularly, quitting smoking and a healthy diet) can have a significant impact on a woman's risk of developing all different types of cancers.
Posted 4/9/2010 6:10:43 AM By: : 61 comments 30,395 views
1 Hour: Amount Women Should Exercise to Prevent Weight Gain
We all know that regular physical activity has a variety of health benefits and can help with weight loss. But wouldn't it be nice to know how much you need to exercise daily in order to prevent weight problems in the first place? According to a new study, an hour of moderate-intensity exercise each day could be the magic number.
Posted 4/6/2010 5:45:39 AM By: : 128 comments 36,763 views
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