Health and Sports

1. Gotta Keep Moving: Why drive two blocks? Walk there, if it's safe. Crowded parking lot? Forget it...park on the far end, and walk - if it's light outside. Talking on the phone? Walk around. Clean your room as you analyze what everyone said at the party. (Productive gossip, I call it.) CAUTION: Do get plenty of sleep at night, and DO NOT EVER EXERCISE OR "KEEP MOVING" TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION! 2. No Couch Potatoes, Please: Watching TV? Surfing and Chatting? Are you accompanied by a bag of chips? Watch out! Sitting and vegging occasionally is great - - but for many hours a day, it's no good.

Learn from the Bears and do a bit more hibernating. Increased hours of darkness make it easier for your mind and body to get into slumber mode a little earlier. Teens typically get way too little sleep. Your growing brain needs rest! The Heat is On. It's getting really cold outside, and your family has the thermostat cranked up to Maui levels. Cozy, maybe. But people who spend loads of time in a heated home without breathing real air are inhaling loads and loads of germs. (Some docs say that it's the lack of fresh air in a closed house that causes sickness in the wintertime - NOT the cold.) Anyway, make like Faith and BREATHE! Stressed? Do Less. Try starting that new project, new workout, whatever, for five minutes at a time.

I had always been one of the smaller kids in my class throughout grade school. In fact, it wasn't until my ninth grade growth spurt that I finally towered over the giants that are my mother and sister, standing five feet, two inches and five feet, no inches tall, respectively. To say my size irked me would be an understatement. Besides for being physically irregular (read: the size of an action figure), I was also painfully shy by nature, and the lack of attention from my peers didn't improve the situation.

Everyone wants their kids to eat more vegetables, right? Here are 10 tried and tested ways to do it. And no fair dipping them in chocolate fondue. By Ruth Lockshin 1. Convince yourself first - find out more about vegetables. Why do I want my kids to eat them anyway? How will it make their lives better? Short answer: Vegetables are really, really important for getting all kinds of vitamins and minerals that are difficult to get anywhere else. Long answer: Read books that can help you understand how vegetables make us healthier. Some of my favorite sources that answer my questions about this without going into organic chemistry are: * The New Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition, by Laurel Robertson, et al.