Health and Fitness: Grown-ups should have recess, too

Recently I was talking with my 6-year-old son Tyler about his day at school. He told me about his math and spelling work, art class and lunch. But what he was most excited about was his day at recess.

"Guess what I did at recess today daddy," Tyler asked in his happiest voice. Before I could even guess, he jumped back with, "We played soccer and I scored two goals."

We talked for a while about how he did it, what the final score was and how proud I was of him. This is actually a fairly common conversation we have after school, but what made this day different was what he asked next.

"Do grown-ups have recess at work?" he wondered.

That's a great question, and one that I'd like to discuss today. For most Americans, recess ends at childhood. Once you get to big-boy school and into the workforce, the idea of taking time out of your busy day to stop and play is a thing of the past.

Recess shouldn't be just a distant memory.

Part of our country's obesity problem is the loss of physical activity, so it's important to keep moving all day long.

And here's the honest truth: if you're creative, you too can still have recess. You may not be able to go out and score two goals, but you owe it to yourself to do something physical during the day.

If you get a lunch hour, take a walk around the block or a stroll through the park. If you don't get time for lunch, take a few minutes every couple hours to walk around the office, stretch at your desk or even do some push-ups.

Although the thought of stretching or doing push-ups at your desk may sound silly, remember that even a couple minutes of exercise here and there can add up and make a difference.

I know it's not the most exciting recess activity — if you're like me you'd rather be acting out the World Cup game-winning goal — but with the right mindset, you can still have fun and enjoy yourself.

Easy-fit recipe of the week

For this week's easy fit mini recipe, try these whole wheat blueberry pancakes.

For those in a hurry, use a whole wheat pancake mix and stir in a cup of fresh blueberries. Heat your skillet and coat with a non-stick spray or butter substitute. Pour the mix onto the skillet and wait for it to bubble. Once bubbles begin to show, flip the pancake and continue to monitor the bottom.

When it's golden brown, breakfast is ready. The great thing about fresh fruit pancakes is that you don't even need butter and syrup, the berries are sweet enough already.