ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program is providing a grant for a summer intern for Girls in Motion.

Hooray for Girls in Motion! ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program is providing a grant for a summer intern for Girls in Motion. Over 170 agencies applied and 75 were chosen. There were only 7 new agencies (including Girls in Motion)! Way to go!
If you are a full-time college student or know one that would be interested in interning for us this summer, please email me at girlsinmotion@gmail.com or check out our website at www.girlsinmotion.org.

Recipe Monday-Ground Turkey Tostadas

This recipe is a great healthy winter or spring recipe. The kids love to make the tostadas themselves. Just line up all the ingredients of the tostadas on a counter and let each child assemble it themselves. Encourage them to try and experiment with different combinations. This recipe is great with shredded chicken or lean ground beef also. If you are vegetarian or kosher, this recipe also works great with veggie crumbes. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes , with or without with jalapeños
1 medium onion , thinly sliced
8 corn tortillas
Canola or olive oil cooking spray
1 avocado , pitted
1/4 cup prepared salsa
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese


Recipe Directions
1. Preheat to 375°F.

2. Bring can of tomatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Add turkey and cook until browned throughout.
5. Coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray.
6. Divide the tortillas between 2 large baking sheets.
7. Bake, turning once, until crisped and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
8. Mash avocado in a bowl. Stir in salsa, sour cream and cilantro until combined.
9. To assemble tostadas, spread each crisped tortilla with some of the avocado mixture. Top with the turkey mixture, lettuce and cheese.

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions, new year's resolutions, new year's resolutions; almost everyone I know makes a new year's resolution, or talks about making a new year's resolution. In fact, studies show the majority of New Year's resolutions have to do with dieting, healthier eating and/or losing weight, and getting more exercise. How about this year, instead of making a New Year's resolution for yourself, why not challenge your family to make one together-something you would like to improve upon as a family. Need some ideas??? Try one of these ideas below or, like I said, come up with one together.
1. Have dinner together at least twice a week.
2. Share "Highs and Lows" together at the table.
3. Plan one family activity during the weekend that everyone can participate
4. Each member of the family pick and make a dinner (or help with depending on age) each night.
5. Have a family breakfast once a week, during the week, not on a weekend!
6. Fit in fitness for everyone. Make a plan for the whole family to increase fitness.
7. Make volunteering as a family a regular habit.
8. Eat more veggies.
9. Everyone vows to treat their body as the gift it is!

These are just suggestions. Really the process of thinking of and picking out the resolution should be fun, relevant, and make a difference in everyone's lives. If every family member participates in the planning, they are more likely to buy in to the plan. Figure out a way to keep track and reward the family for keeping the resolution periodically. I hope you and your family have a wonderful 2010 and make the most of it!

Girls in Motion Year of Review

It is hard to believe it is 2010. Goodbye to 2009! This year has been a tremendous one of growth for Girls in Motion.
*We started the year with our new Friends of Girls in Motion speaker series. We were all privileged to hear from 4 great speakers about relationships, internet usage, kids and sports, and communication. All were such relevant topics and hopefully we are all putting to use many of the tips we received.
*We expanded our summer camp programming. We went from facilitating 6 weeks of camp in 2008 to facilitating 16 weeks of camp in 2009! Ten of those weeks were completely underwritten for underserved areas of Dallas. We served close to 300 girls. Whew! It was a crazy, yet extremely rewarding summer!
*This fall we hosted our third annual kids trick or treat triathlon. We had over 185 kids participate, and close to 100 volunteers help us! What a fun event it was for everyone involved.
Thanks to everyone who helped make Girls in Motion what it was this past year! Truly exciting!

Kathleen Fischer to speak at December Friends of Girls in Motion Meeting

Kathleen Fischer will be the guest speaker at the December 10th Friends of Girls in Motion Meeting at the home of Gilian Baron.
Kathleen Fischer, longtime Dallas resident, author and mother of three, is a registered nurse and holds a master's degree in health education. She is the author of two books: Bringing our Boys Through the Second Decade, & Simple, But Not Easy.
She will present:
"Simple, But Not Easy...Communicating with your Preteen/Teen"
Her presentations are always popular,informative, uplifting, and enjoyable.
Don't miss this enlightening talk! Her books will be available for purchase.

If you have not joined "Friends" yet, you can attend this event and join for next year (2010) for $125.00. Questions? Want more information about "Friends of Girls in Motion"? Go to our website at www.girlsinmotion.org.

I'm Back...as a doctor!

I apologize that I have not been busy with "the blog" but I have been busy with THE DISSERTATION! I am now officially Dr. Golman. I have to say that it feels great to have those little letters before my name (or after..Ph.D.). So much to share! My dissertation topic was evaluating the Girls in Motion program and its impact on body satisfaction in the preadolescent participants. I also compared the participants by ethnicity. I am happy to report that I had statistically significant findings in the study. Participation in the Girls in Motion program had a significant effect on the body satisfaction of the participants. Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness was significantly reduced in the participants. In addition, I also found that out of all of our participants, the African American girls had the highest body dissatisfaction before the program, and the lowest after the program. The fact that the African American girls had the highest body dissatisfaction compared to Caucasians and Hispanics is interesting. Typically, but not always (as we see here), African American girls report higher body satisfaction then other ethnicities. It is a reminder to everyone that body dissatisfaction is not limited to just certain groups but all ethnicities are at risk. If you are an African American woman reading this, I would love to hear your thoughts about these findings. Thanks!

PE in Schools in Jeopardy

This alert was sent out by the American Heart Association, and the Dallas Coalition for Preventing Childhood Obesity, which I am a part of:

There is a movement to set Texas back in its fight to combat childhood obesity. A proposed law would strip PE requirements for all high school students. Now is not the time to reduce physical education in schools and lawmakers need to know this is unacceptable. Please take action today and tell your elected officials to preserve PE in schools.

Obesity is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke and a risk factor for diabetes, cancer, and many other chronic health problems. Now is not the time to take PE out of school, if anything we should be increasing it.

We are asking lawmakers to change the portion of SB/HB 3 that removes PE requirements. Your message will go to your State Representative and State Senator as this bill is in both the House and Senate.

Please do not hesitate to contact your State Representative and State Senator! If you have questions, please email us at girlsinmotion@gmail.com

Thanks,
Mandy