Health Family Tip #3

Exercise together.

You'd be surprised at all the ways to get in some physical activity. Just this weekend we did a bunch of yardwork together. It was one of the best workouts I've had in a while. And we all got some exercise out of it!

We also have a trampoline and occaisionally we'll all go jump together. Jumping is really good for your lymphatic system, and so can aid in weight loss (not to mention overall health).

Some evenings we put on some dance music and workout in the living room. Papai does push ups, sit ups, and some curls, and we all do jumping jacks and crunches. My two year old loves doing jumping jacks, and when our baby was just a few weeks old, she even started kicking her legs and flapping her arms when we did jumping jacks!

Exercising can be fun family time. So make a goal to get off the couch at least 3 times a week and get some physical activity as a family! You'll get family bonding time and a workout all in one shot!

Crazy Nachos

We made Nachos for dinner the other night. They were amazing. We piled them high with veggies and they were very delicious (AND nutritious!) I think we’re going to make these much more often.

(excuse the bad picture… our camera broke a few weeks ago, and now we only have a little $20 camera with no flash, so the pictures are a little… hmm… not so good)

time to go shopping

When my fruit bowl starts looking like this, I know I need to take a trip to the commissary!

Aerobic vs Anaerobic Exercise

I have been reading a book called Perfect Weight America. It's actually a really neat book. The author wrote it actually after gaining weight, not losing weight - his crusade is that everyone has a perfect weight, and eating right will help you get there - wether it means gaining weight, or losing weight. I don't think I've ever seen a "diet" book that has addressed BOTH issues. Incredible, really. And in the same breath he talks about conserving - water, energy, etc.

One thing that I found interesting was his section on exercise. He says doing only long-duration aerobic exercise is not good for you. And especially doing exactly the same aerobic exercise day after day. He quotes some doctor saying that doing repetitive aerobic exercise like walking on a treadmill dimishes our body's ability to produce quick bursts of energy. He recommends doing at least 20 minutes of anaerobic exercise each day.

He has a cool little chart in his book that say something like this:

1 hour of aerobic exercise: during workout - 210 calories burned, 2 hrs after workout - 25 calories burned, 3-15 hours after workout, 0 calories burned

1 hour of anaerobic exercise: during workout - 650 calories burned, 2 hours after workout - 150 calories burned, 3-15 hrs after workout - 260 calories burned

Examples of anaerobic exercise are jumping rope, sprinting, lifting weights, doing high-intensity step aerobics, and elliptical machines. Anything that is high intensity is usually anaerobic.

So add some anaerobic to your workout routine today!!

Healthy Family Tip #2

Fruit Basket!

No, I'm not calling you a fruit basket - I'm telling you to get one! It can be a bowl, a basket, a box, whatever works for you and fits your decor ;)

Make sure it is big. Think big salad bowl - and then get something even bigger. I got my fruit bowl at Ross for $8. It's a pretty big bowl (although once my kids start getting older I may need a bigger one... or just another one!) I can fit a 3-lb bag of apples, 6 bananas, 4 oranges, a few kiwis, 2-3 peaches, and a grapefruit in my bowl. I only keep the kiwis in the bowl if they aren't quite ripe when I buy them.

Keep this fruit bowl somewhere easily reachable by everyone. I love that our Little Guy will ask for a fresh piece of fruit when he wants a snack - "Apple!" "Banana!" Even if he can't see the particular fruit, he knows it is in that bowl.

What I keep in my bowl and why:

- I keep a 3-lb bag of apples in my bowl because apples keep the longest and are the most portable - you can always grab an apple on your way out the door and not have to wonder about how you're going to eat it.

- Bananas are next - almost as portable as an apple, but they don't keep quite as long, so I don't keep too many - I just make sure to buy 5-6 each week. (I also keep these on hand because Little Guy loves bananas - and apples, actually... ) If they do start getting overly ripe, I toss them in the freezer and make banana bread when I have enough.

- Oranges aren't always in the bowl, but I like them if I can find good ones. They keep almost as long as the apples, but they're harder to eat since you have to peel them, and then wash the sticky off your hands when you're done. But that citrus sure is good. I try to buy 3-4 each week.

- I usually only buy one grapefruit. It's a nice little zing in the morning when I want something light to settle my stomach before I eat a real breakfast. I eat half and then saran-wrap the other half and stick it in the fridge for another day.

- I usually don't buy peaches, because they haven't really been good here yet, but I bought some today because they looked great! I only bought 4, since I have so much other fruit already. They were a little on the hard side, but when I got home most of them were a little mushy - Little Guy was helping load the cart at the store, and I forgot that the peaches were getting banged with cans of beans and jars of peanut butter. Poor peaches - well, they're still good - just a little soft.

- I always buy kiwis (at least 3 or 4) because they are so darn cheap here. And I love kiwis - especially in a fruit salad, which I LOVE to make! Fruit salads are great and easy to make. The only hard part is not making it too big!!

- Right now I also have a mango in my fruit bowl because it was only $.50 - I couldn't pass it up. It was a little hard, so it's also softening in my fruit bowl!

So there is the scientific breakdown of our family's fruit bowl! It's not hard to keep a fruit bowl, and when you keep all the fruit out where you can see it, it's easy to eat it!

When you want a snack, just think fruits or veggies first! If you're still not satisfied, then go for the cheese and crackers - but getting those fruits and veggies in first will most definitely benefit your health.

Healthy Family Tip #1

I am starting a collection of easy things to do to keep your family healthy. Some of these ideas came from Zonya's cookbook, but they are things that we have implemented to keep our family healthy.

Here is Healthy Family Tip #1

Keep a tray of fresh veggies in your fridge.

- make it easy to get to; if it's hidden behind last week's casserole and the carton of eggs, no one will touch it, and the veggies will go bad.

- I try to replenish mine in the morning, and then again after lunch, if it needs it.

- put it out while you're getting lunch and dinner ready to encourage healthy munching - and really, who cares if your kids spoil their dinner by eating fresh veggies?!

- Some ideas of things to keep stocked on your tray - broccoli, carrot sticks, celery sticks, sugar snap peas, cherry/grape tomatoes, sliced bell peppers (of all colors), cauliflower, cucumber slices, etc. 

- If you're the type that is on-the-go (college kids, got a husband that works all day?, etc) make a sandwich baggie version of the veggie tray. When you slice up all the veggies, divvy them up into sandwich baggies. On the day you go grocery shopping, take a few minutes to slice up veggies for 3 or 4 days. Store them in a tupperware container (no lid) to keep them in place in your fridge. On your way out the door in the morning, grab a sandwich baggie full of veggies - think of it as your own portable vegatable garden!! You then have healthy snacking power all day long!

Zonya's Lickety-Split Meals

This cook book comes highly recommended by myself (it was highly recommended to me by a friend of mine). 

I have been cooking from it almost exclusively for the past few weeks, and thanks to being very influenced by this cookbook, I now have a full fruit bowl all week long, and a full veggie tray on the top shelf of my fridge. I'm a lot more serious about controlling portion size, too.

Zonya shares lots of great health tips in this book - there is only one other cookbook I actually "read" - my Fanny Farmer cookbook. The only difference is that I read Zonya to learn how to be healthy, and I read Fanny Farmer to learn how to cook :) 

Another thing I love about Zonya's book is how she organizes the recipes in her book. There are sections for 5 minute, 15 minute, and 30 minute meals, as well as an "Oven, Exercise, Eat" section - which I use on my Tuesday running day - pop a meal in the oven, go for my run, and have dinner on the table when I get back! It's fabulous. We do 15-minute meals on Monday so we can have lots of time for FHE. With the recipes already organized for you, it's really easy just to pick a meal and make it! Especially if you follow her grocery list in the back - then you always have the ingredients on hand to make anything in her book!

I have decided that this book is going to be our trademark wedding gift. If you get married, you will get this book from us. It's so fabulous, and makes cooking yummy meals SUPER easy. I enjoy cooking, and honestly, the cookbook is a little "dumbed-down." That's not a bad thing! I am able to substitute and tweak the recipes pretty easily to my own tastes, but if you follow the recipes word for word, you will be able to cook a really really nice meal.