As a high school senior, Kimmarie Pond had never even considered cycling to get fit. That changed after she participated (参加) in Soul-Cycle’s program called Soul Scholarships.

The program teaches healthy lifestyle lessons to teens from New York’s suburbs, where healthy living isn’t always discussed in schools or the community.

The 17-year-old girl was asked if she thought she was too old to learn about living a healthy lifestyle. “I would say that you’re never too old to learn anything,” Pond replied. “I don’t think cycling is that hard,” she added.

Like Pond, Brown said his favorite part of the program came after they got off the bikes. “We take nutrition classes, where we learn about alternative (可供替代的) food choices, healthy options that encourage us to be more healthy,” he said.

“Adapting (适应) to change,” he added, “is not something I’d necessarily do, but I did it, and for me that means everything.”

Early results are positive, and not just for Brown. About one third of the participants did not exercise before joining the program. Now, 95 percent of the participants are working out regularly. The participants are also reported to have cut back on soda, which can have high sugar content, by 46 percent.

“We have never expected that the kids would be so energetic and devoted to the program,” said Ashley Mashihi, a cycling instructor.

Small steps can mean big change for these teens. Maria Caban says she feels different now. “When I walk out,” she says, “I walk with my head up. I feel a lot of pride in my participation.”

Running is the best way to get fit.

There’s no best method to get fit. You have to enjoy your exercise or you will find reasons to quit. Nobody can get fit or lose weight or build a muscle in an instant. Fitness requires time and patience, and you get rewards as you go along. If you are looking only at running or at instant success, you are looking for trouble!

If you don’t exercise an hour a day, six days a week, you do nothing.

Don’t believe in this all-or-nothing way. Even if you exercise as little as three times a week for half an hour you will benefit from it. However, if you want to get fit for sport, you may have to work out five to six days a week.

Warming up before working out isn’t necessary if you’re careful.

Warming up is a must before you exercise. Warming up and stretching not only help you avoid injuries but also prepare your heart and body to accept the shock of an increased workload.

No pain, no gain.

Pain means that the body is showing that there is something wrong. If you feel painful when exercising, either slow down or stop the exercise. To gain from exercise, you may have to make do with a bit of discomfort, but pain is different. If you continue exercising with pain you may damage a muscle or tendon forever.

Taping (用绷带包扎) an injury prevents further damage.

If you are injured and you tape it for support, chances are that you will aggravate the injury further. What’s more, you may injure other joints because of the limited flexibility (灵活性) that the taped knee or ankle allows.

   Easy Ways to Reach and Keep a Healthy Weight

Weight loss is most likely to be successful when people change their habits, replacing old, unhealthy ones with new, healthy ones. Here are 5 ways to make that happen.

1.Exercises.

【小题1】 Walking the family dog, cycling to school and doing other things that increase your daily level of activity can all make a difference. If you want to burn more calories, increase the intensity of your workout and add some strength exercise to build muscles. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even when you aren't exercise.

2. 【小题2】

One reason people get less exercise these days is an increase in screen time-- the amount of time spent watching TV, surfing the Internet or playing video games. Limit recreational screen time to less than 2 hours per day.

3. Watch out for sugary drinks.

One key factor in weight gain is that some people drink lots of sugary drinks, such as soda, juice drinks and sports drinks. 【小题3】

4. Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

【小题4】 They're also packed with fiber, which means they can fill you up. And when you fill yourself up on fruit and vegetables, you are less likely to overeat when it comes to high-calorie foods like chips and cookies.

5. 【小题5】

Breakfast can promote your metabolism(新陈代谢), burning calories and giving you energy to do more during the day. People who skip(跳过) breakfast often feel so hungry that they eat more later on. So they get more calories than they would have if they didn't eat breakfast.

I used to have the same problem! _____________________________________________________________

Wish you success!

Yours,

Peter