Now that the winter is in full swing, the Southeast Minneapolis Council on Learning contacted Doug Brown, a teacher at Seward Montessori School, to ask his sixth-grade health class students at Seward Montessori three questions about how and why they stay fit, especially this time of year. The students had fitness on their minds, Brown said, because at around the same time period, they kept journals for four days, recording their sleep, exercise and food intake, and then summarized their findings to draw conclusions about what they needed to work on. (Perhaps we adults could do the same.)

Is fitness important? Why?

Fitness is important because if you’re not fit, it is not likely that you will be healthy. If you’re not fit if is more likely you will develop heart problems. If you’re fit, you will have a longer life and will feel better through it.

Flexibility, strength and endurance are all equally important and very important. If you [are] not flexible it will be more difficult to move around and it will be more likely to pull or hurt muscles. Strength is important because it allows you to do more in your every day life without damaging your body. Endurance is important because it allows you to keep going for a longer period of time. If you’re fit, all these areas will be good and you are less likely to damage your body and more likely to have a long, happy life.

If you are not fit and you do a stringent physical activity, it is more likely that you will get hurt. If you are fit it is likely you will be able to perform the task without [too] much difficulty and it is unlikely it will hurt you.
— Devin Williams

I have my own personal definition [of] a physically fit [person] made by the information and experience I have gained from it.

A person that is physically fit does more than exercise (though it is a big part of being fit). They [need] to eat well and to do so they would need to adapt to healthy eating habits like eating a well-balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One thing that I find useful is when I [am] really hungry its better to eat a full meal than a lot of snacks. Boredom is what turns me toward eating so instead of finding something productive to do like playing outside or reading a book I eat because it tastes good.

Another part of the definition of a physically fit person is exercising. I think people should try and fit in at least 45 min. of exercise time a day because it keeps you healthy and helps you sleep which is also very important to get so you have enough energy the next day.

This is my idea of a physically fit person. I try to do all these things.
— Hazel Bryan

I think that fitness is very important, to both your health and yourself. If you don’t exercise or eat right, you can become overweight and/or sick. Also, if you’re fit and healthy throughout your life, you are more likely to live longer. Exercising and eating not too much junk food will also make you feel better, more energetic and happier. If you’ve ever eaten too much chocolate, too many chips, or stuffed your face with marshmallows, you’ll know that it makes you feel really full, and, after a bit, really horrible. That’s why fitness isn’t just important for your health; it makes you feel good too. If you’re not moving around enough you won’t feel good either.

To me, fitness is important because it helps you get stronger and better at sports/activities, is good for you, and makes you feel better and happier. Fitness is also important because it helps you succeed and live a happy, healthy life.

People can be fit in different ways. Like, one person might lift weights daily and try to eat enough healthy stuff, and get enough sleep to function properly, an another might work out an hour five times a week at the gym, eat a carefully planned diet, and have an exact sleep schedule. Both can still be fit. Fitness means different things to different people, but to me, it’s pretty important.
— Olivia Strebe

Fitness is extremely important. If you are fit, you are stronger and less likely to get sick. Being fit keeps your body running in the proper way.

If you are fit when you are younger and continue to stay fit for the rest of your life, you could run a marathon at 60. If you aren’t fit when you are young you might have a bad back when you are older, or something in your body could go wrong and you could end up very sick. If you are not fit, meaning you don’t exercise at all and you don’t have a balanced diet, you are much more likely to become overweight or even obese, which is obviously terrible for your health.

So what is fit? To me, being fit means exercising a reasonable amount (like not once a week but not like three hours a day), eating the right foods (like maybe eating some junk food, but more veggies and fruit), and getting enough sleep. For somebody who wakes up at four in the morning, goes to work, comes back home really late, throws some food in the microwave and goes to bed, this may be very hard. But you could still maybe bike to work, take a walk on your lunch break, and watch what you eat (cut down on the potato chips and eat more greens!)

Being fit is very important if you want your body to run in a proper way.
— Sophie J. Downey

Fitness is very important. It helps you from becoming really fat and it helps you feel good. If you didn’t exercise or eat well you would probably not feel good and get sick. You could have some really bad diseases and have to take shots everyday for the rest of your life and have a shorter life. If you don’t exercise you will become unhealthy, especially if all you do is watch TV in the winter when you can’t do the sports you usually do in the summer, spring and fall. It also helps you have a longer life. That’s why fitness is so important.
— Julia Sjodin

Fitness is very, very important. It helps you maintain a healthy lifestyle, and many other things. Like food, and sleep, fitness is an essential part of life. Here are a few reasons of why fitness is important.

Fitness is usually what motivates people to exercise. By achieving fitness through exercising, you not only help your body, but it helps you:
-Feel less stressed
-Boost your self-esteem
-Feel more ready to learn in school

When you are good fitness, you usually are low in obesity. Obesity can cause many diseases, such as heat disease, Blount’s disease, arthritis, SCFE, Asthma, Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Gallstones, Fatty liver, PCOS, depression, and Diabetes. It puts stress on the bones, and can cause emotional problems and severe headaches. Obesity is bad!

Now, let me state the obvious. Fitness helps your body stay healthy, and improves your circulation. It also helps you live longer and appreciate yourself more. Fitness is also easy to achieve, just exercise at least 30 minutes a day and follow the food pyramid.

Aside from these reasons fitness helps you look, feel, and do your best. It helps your life both physically and emotionally. Fitness is one of the most important things in life.
— Annika Myers

Yes, fitness is very important because otherwise you get fat and that could shorten your life considerably. Staying fit is very important for your body because if you become obese you could get heart problems. Staying fit mentally is also important because you could end up doing something you wouldn’t normally do. Ways to stay fit physically and mentally are things like playing outside for at least half an hour every day. Try to challenge your mind every day to keep it in shape. Staying fit not only helps your body, it also can make you feel better about yourself and help you stay content.
— Evan Knep

What do you do to stay fit in terms of exercise, eating well, etc.?

I play 3 sports. These are all of them.

Basketball: I play basketball because it’s fun, athletic, and it’s one of my favorite sports. I also like it because the game almost never stops, and everyone is good sports.

Skiing: I ski (downhill and cross-country) because it’s a sport in the snow, outside, and it’s really fun to feel the wind whipping past your face.

Hockey: I don’t play on a team, but I just like to grab my skates and hockey stick, and go to a park to play with friends.

I like all of these sports as things to do in winter, because they are athletic, fun, and challenging. I think exercise is great, so that’s why I play so many sports. THE END.
— Sam Wegner

In the winter exercise flips around. You do new things that you couldn’t do in the other seasons.

In the winter you can sled, skate, and ski, and these are some of my favorite things to do. It is amazing that exercise flips around with just a simple snowfall. If you ever try to do a simple run you will actually get more exercise. That is what I have to say about exercise in the winter.
— Miles Melton-Mraz

Some people find that it’s harder to exercise during the winter than during the summer. I find that it’s easier to exercise during the winter and often times more fun. Some things I like to do and encourage you to try are skiing because it helps you to stay strong and you feel that if you could just go a little faster you could fly; swimming because it helps me stay flexible and it feels like I’m floating; skating because it helps keep up my endurance level and because I rollerblade every day possible skating just comes naturally, that is if I remember to take off my blade protectors. And last but not least, sledding. I sled because, while it might not be very easy to come up, when I get to the top, I get to come down again.
— Sam Coady

In the winter I go skating, sledding, and I dance.

I go skating because it is a fun activity, and it is much easier to find a place to go sledding in the winter, for obvious reasons. I enjoy skating because once you really get going you don’t have to worry about the cold, and it’s just really fun.

I go sledding because it’s really fun to go down the hill, and even though that doesn’t really count for exercise, then you have to walk up that steep hill with all of your heavy clothing, and if that’s not exercise, I don’t know what is.

I dance because if you really put some energy into it, you get a lot of exercise. Another reason why I dance is because, in the winter, I’m not very lively because sometimes it’s cloudy and slushy, and dancing makes me much more lively.
— Shona Kramer-LaBorde

What do I do in the winter for exercise? I run in the snow, like run up the hills with my sled and sometimes like my friend’s sled or three because I do crazy tricks. Like once I had my skis on and my friends and I went to Powderhorn Park. My dad took us and he was video recording all of us and I have a bicycle jump and we put it at the base of the hill and covered it with water and snow, and it was very smooth and I was going really fast, and I went down and I hit and my friends were laying down and I flew about 20 feet in the air. And I kept doing that for about an hour and every time I walked up the hill with my skis on. I also build snow forts with my dad and friends. My dad doesn’t really help when my friends are over but when they’re not he and I are out making a huge castle thing with windows, peep holes, wood things, and last year it was just a dark room with a door.
— Khalali Johnson

What do I do in the winter? I go ice skating, swimming at the YMCA or YWCA, go running, or I walk by dog Baby. I also enjoy having snowball fights with my friends and family. I go sledding because I have fun going down the [hill] and when I walk up the hill I exercise my legs. When I go ice skating, I exercise my legs and it makes me feel graceful and beautiful. I go swimming because after I go swimming I feel really tired, then I know that I got a very good exercise. I go running with my mom and my dog and when I’m at recess playing man on sand. Walking my dog [is exercise] because it gives him and me exercise. Snowball fights [are exercise] because you have to run away from the snowballs. These are all the things I do for exercise during the winter. They are all very fun, I really enjoy doing them.
— Tesla Petersen

In the winter I do lots of stuff, like indoor soccer, hockey, sledding, skating and walking to school and back. I do these things to keep myself fit.
Why I do indoor soccer [is] because it is healthy to run around, because in the winter you can’t play outdoor soccer, also it is very good for your lefs and keeps you physically fit. I do hockey and skating for exercise and to get outside and to give my legs a work out.

So really I do all these to keep myself fit and healthy for the summer.
— Riley Siewert

In the wintertime, I would go to the big hill by my house to go sledding. I would go and ask my friend next door if he would come and play in the snow with me. We would build a snow fort, shovel snow or have a snowball fight.

When my friend isn’t home, then I would ask my dad if we could go to a ski resort like Wild Mountain or Afton Alps. Occasionally I would ask him if I could go down to lake Nokomis and skate around on the ice, or I would ask him if he could give me a ride to the Depot downtown. I would also ask my dad if we could go to an indoor batting cage, so I could practice batting in the winter. Sometimes I would even go and snowboard with a few friends at the big hill down my block on a Friday or Saturday night.

I do these activities because it is a fun and easy way of getting exercise in the winter.
— Zach Turfuesson

In the winter, I do lots of exercise.

I cross country ski, I have a snowball fight, I build snow forts, I shovel walkways, [and] I even get out of bed in the morning!!! But mostly I play basketball. I’m on 2 basketball teams so I’m always at practice. I shovel walkways ($10.00-$15.00) for neighbors. When I don’t have practice, finished my homework, finished video games, and practiced my saxophone, I get to go to a friend’s house and play in the snow.

I don’t know what I would do without snow, but I know I wouldn’t like it.
— Josh Johnson

I usually like to build igloos in my back yard or in the lot next to it when the snow is moist. If it’s not I go sledding. I also like to have snowball fights. When spring comes I jump off my swing set into the remains of my igloo. I also like to shovel snow for my family and friends and use the snow for a giant snow fort or just a pile to jump in. After a while when I’m getting cold I go in and grab a cup of cocoa, sip it down and get back to the great outdoors.

Another outdoor activity I like is rolling down the big hill at Mathews Park. Also I like to bury myself in snow and bury my friends, too. Then we dig tunnels through the big pre-made snow piles.

Pretty much everything I do in the winter depends on what texture the snow is and how much there is. For instance, if there’s a little and the snow is moist then I have snowball fights; if there’s a lot and it’s moist then I build snow forts. If there isn’t a whole lot and it isn’t moist then I go sledding.

I usually go out every winter but if I don’t have my warm winter wear yet then I would stay in and wait very impatiently for us to go and buy coats and hats and stuff for going outside. Once I have my warm clothes, it’s nothing but play outside.
— Gabe Lueck

I do indoor soccer. The reason I do it is because I need to stay in shape for the soccer season so that I do not become a bench warmer. And so that during the season I do not lag behind in skill level. It is also a good way to stay fit. Some of the things we do are: killers, run back and forth without dropping the ball; super power, try not to get hit in the foot with the ball or try to hit people with it; snake, the back person weaves between people. You will have a skill coach, a game coach, and a scrimmage coach; you switch off every [time]. Another thing I do is futbol, it is soccer played in a small gym. What you do is play soccer but there aren’t cards so you can check and push people, otherwise it is the same thing as soccer. It is Brazilian soccer.
— Noah Hansen

What do you do for exercise in the winter?

What I do to exercise, eat right and relax or sleep is:
Exercise:
I try to run a mile every day in 7:17. I also try to do tennis and basketball. I try to stretch, do push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups.

Eating:
I am a vegetarian, soon to be a vegan. I try not to eat [too] much or too little of anything. I usually don’t eat hydrogenated oils or white flour: my parents don’t allow it in the house.

Relax or sleep well:
OK I must admit this category of being healthy is not an easy one for me. I usually get home around 5:00, then I do homework, run, play piano and guitar, have dinner, then still more homework. After I’ve done all that it’s already 9:00. I wake up at 6:00 to get to school on time. During the week I seriously look forward to the weekend.
— Etta Harbar

In order to stay fit, in terms of exercise, I exercise for 60+ minutes a day. Exercising is good for creating a positive self-image and keeping my moods higher. It burns calories and it is fun and good for me. I have to associate exercise with food and sleep, or I can be hurt.

I sleep for 9-12 ½ hours per night. I sleep a lot because it refreshes me for the coming day and also puts me in higher spirits. When I sleep longer, I work and think harder. Sleeping also prepares me for exercise, without sleep I would get too tired when I exercise and therefore be too tired for anything else. It is good to get a lot of sleep.

I eat three meals a day and some snacks, usually. I eat enough protein, veggies, fruits, and carbs. I try to stay away from fatty foods, but a little bit is okay. Eating right helps me to stay fit and energized for exercising and the rest of the day. Proper food proportions are important for staying at a healthy weight and otherwise staying fit.
— Laura Turner

There are several things I do to be a healthy individual. For example (in terms of food), I have a healthy and well-balanced diet. I eat 3-5 helpings of fruit and vegetables each day. My mom tries to serve fish/seafood 2-3 times a week. I limit my junk food by going to fast food restaurants only 6-8 times a year and I [am] always eating healthy food before junk food. But trust me, I get my sugar intake. :e)

In terms of exercise, I do not have a sedentary lifestyle. I have a limited amount of TV each day, and there is not a single video game in my house. I take fencing and swimming lessons, and spend 2-4 hours outside (on average) each day. In winter I shovel snow, build snow forts, walk around the block, play games, or go sledding/tobogganing with my brothers and friends. I tide my bike a lot throughout the year (weather permitting). In warm weather months I play soccer and also like building, sculpting, and digging something-or-other.

In terms of sleep, I usually get an average of a good 8 to 11 hours of sleep (depending on the time of year). Judging on all of this, I would say I’m pretty darn healthy.
— Eamonn Casey

There are many ways of determining how fit or healthy you are. You can look at a lot of different things, but it all comes down to what you do. You need to do healthy things to be healthy. Everything comes down to your actions. So since I’m already talking about actions, why don’t I tell you mine?

In the winter I play basketball, in the spring and summer I play baseball, and in the fall I play soccer. I have a sport to play every season, so I know I’m getting enough exercise on Saturdays and Thursdays. I walk my dog every day around the neighborhood so I get enough exercise every day. Okay, exercise is done, now on to sleep/

I get 8 hours of sleep, so down to the final one. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and rarely eat fast good. These are the things I do to stay fit.
— Frank Badertscher

Here is how I stay fit and what I eat. For exercise, it depends on the weather and the season. In spring, summer, and sometimes fall, I rollerblade, play football, play tag with friends, and bike. In the winter, there are more things to do than you realize. For instance, snowball wars take a lot of dodging, and learning new moves ice-skating is tricky. In terms of eating, well, I never stop. My usual diet consists of microwavable pizzas, pears, homemade garlic bread, and spaghetti. That was how I stay fit and what I eat.
— Jack Hedberg

To maintain a healthy lifestyle you should exercise at least 5 times a week and eat a variety of foods.

Exercise will burn off fat and strengthen muscles. Less fat and stronger muscles will lead to better stamina that allows kids like me to play sports and do physical activities.

Eating right also helps. Eating something from each food group every day will set you on the road to a healthy diet. The food groups include: grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk and meat and beans. The less fat you eat the healthier you will be! So remember exercise and healthy eating are the steps of success to being healthy.
— Sadaf Pruitt

last revised: March 31, 2008

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