Back from China!

If you ever have the opportunity, China is an incredible place to visit. The people, culture, history, food, and (last but not least) shopping are absolutely outstanding. As we explored Beijing and Shanghai, I also had my eye on their approach to wellness.

In 2 weeks, I saw one obese Chinese person. It certainly was a combination of factors – activity level, food and culture. A few observations….Due to traffic and costs, the typical Chinese person walks or rides their bike everywhere. That’s right – forget about the drive-thru, carpool and searching out the closest parking spot. Exploring Beijing with our local guide, I walked my booty off. It was actually refreshing not to be so dependent on a car. How would American wellness be impacted if there were full bike lanes (the same size a normal car lane) on every road and highway? How incredible would it be to have the option to ride our bike to the dentist or the bank?

According to our guide, the Chinese retire in their 50s. Then they spend their days at the park exercising and socializing with friends. The parks even have exercise areas with "park versions" of exercise eqiupment seen at your local gym. I found it hilarious that other "exercises" include singing and clapping. I saw many, many Chinese practicing Tai Chi, Kung Fu and flying kites. Interesting because not customary at all for adult Americans to hang out at the park. What a wonderful social outlet for adults, especially those retired and older. If we saw some guy at the park flying kites, we'd assume he was some kind of freak!

Also, it is not customary to eat dessert. Now I have to admit, I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth, so I wasn’t real excited about this one! At most restaurants, it doesn’t even appear on the menu. And when there was a dessert menu, forget about the chocolate lava cake, tower of cookies, or hot apple pie with ice cream. It was typically fruit or some type of gelatin concoction. On the popular, new shopping streets, we did see Haagan Daz stores popping up. Will this be the start of a sweets addiction? With dessert almost out of the equation, how many calories and fat could we eliminate from our diets?

How many obese Americans do you see in a day or sadly even an hour? After a few days of recovering from some serious jet lag, we took the girls on a zoo outing. The number of overweight zoo-goers (parents and children) was shocking and sad. Just another powerful reminder that we moms need to get ourselves and our families moving. Are there ways that you can add more activity to your daily schedule? Maybe as simple as walking or riding bikes to school?