Blueberry Scones

Hungry Girl’s Snazzy Blueberry Scones
Nutrition Info: per serving (1 scone): 125 calories, 2.5g fat, 181mg sodium, 23g carbs, 2g fiber, 4g protein.2 points per scone!
For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
2/3 cup regular oats (not instant)
1/3 cup Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix
3/4 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
1/3 cup light vanilla soy milk
1 TBSP brown sugar, not packed (I used dark brown sugar)
2 tsp light whipped butter, softened1/2 tsp baking powder
Makes 4 scones.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine dry ingredients with butter and mix well.
Add soy milk and stir. Then fold berries into the batter. (I put the frozen berries directly into the batter without thawing them).
On a baking sheet sprayed with Pam, divide batter into 4 mounds. HG says to make sure you leave room between them, because they expand).
Bake for 10 minutes.
I thought these looked undercooked and not as golden brown as I wanted, so I cooked them for an additional 5 minutes. I have a gas oven, and it usually runs hot, so you’ll want to use the baking time as a guideline, but bake them to your taste preference.

My Friend Ashly talks about Green Monster Smoothies that she makes with her son....thought I'd give it a try this week...
Green Monster Movement.
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup Almond Milk
- 2 cups spinach
- 6 ice cubes
- A dash of Stevia

To BodyBugg or Not To BodyBugg

So...all of my in-laws are hooked on the Bodybugg...they've all lost weight and love the crazy contraption. I have to admit that the idea of it...it counts the calories you burn in a day...seems inspiring and motivating. I have been working out and trying to eat well. I got down to my goal weight before the holidays and have gained a few pounds since then. I've been working out with Chalene Johnson and love Turbo Jam...and then I read her blog. She loves the Bodybugg.

And, I just got my hands on one....so I think that I'm going to give it a whirl.

I'm starting a new fitness challenge (didn't I just do that???) But here we go again!

I'm going to record my activity levels and my food. I have a whole bunch a exercise videos I want to try out and discover which ones are the best. We have a foot or two of snow outside, and when it melts, I'll add in running (or jogging/walking in my case) and other outdoor activies...what works best for me??? I hope I find out...but that's the challenge for 2010!!!!

http://chalenejohnson.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-love-bodybugg-in-depth-review-and.html

Sunday, June 28, 2009

I love the bodybugg: in depth review and obsession confession
www.24hourfitness.com/training/bodybugg/ Enter discount code bbgcj24 and earn an additional $15.00 off the price of your purchase!

All lower case: bbgcj24

MY REVIEW:Let me preface this for those of you who might be just meeting me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always prided myself as being the “hot product” go-to girl. Thinking back to my middle school punk-rock days in Portland, Michigan (not exactly a fashion-mecca) it was ME who found a place where we (myself and my Go-Go wanna-be girlfriends) could mail-order the new wave sunglasses we saw on MTV. Mine were white cat-eyes like the ones worn by Belinda Carlisle! (I digress.) When I bought I my first George Foreman Grill in 1995, I began all my “step aerobic” classes with what I called a “public service announcement” about the benefits and ease of this little gadget. I still use a George Foreman Grill everyday, though I’ve gone through 2 or 3 models since that first one. You’d think I work for Nike the way I promote, love on, and generally obsesses over all Nike footwear, Shox, AirForce Ones, Old Schools, boots.. you name it. I’ve sold more Sleep Number beds than the store in the mall. Not only that but I love letting people know where they can find the best deal on the best bed in the world… (QVC.com) and when it’s on sale. Surely if you've come to my house in the last 6 months, you didn’t leave before trying one of my Shakeology recipes. I have no financial or even sponsorship arrangements with these products. I just love it when people come back to me and say…”You were right! It works and I love it!” Now, that is not always the case. After having his first Shakeology, my father rushed to the bathroom and exclaimed that his body was “rejecteing” the shake because it was “too healthy”. He also asked me where he could find the nearest donut shop was so that he could “make things right” in his system. (He might be a lost cause…**sigh**…but he makes me laugh.) I’ve just always been one of those people who likes to “stand on my soap box and tell everybody bout it”. My latest love affair is with the bodybugg®. Let me start by telling you what it is… WHAT IT IS: Bodybugg® is a calorie management system that uses an armband sensor (worm around the upper left tricep) and an optional (additional cost associated), but way cool wireless digital display that can be worn as a watch or clipped to your belt, etc which shows you in real time the current calorie burn, your calorie burn per minute during your current workout, your calories burned since midnight, and even the calories you burned yesterday! Unlike pedometers or heart rate monitors which don’t really tell you what you’re burning all day long, even when you sleep, the bodybugg® lifts the heavily shrouded veil from the mystery of your metabolism, the mystery of your personal and very individual calorie burn. The armband is worn as much or as little as you like. In my first week of owning one, I only took it off to shower. I slept with it on because I wanted to know what my metabolism was doing when I was sleeping. Sooooooo interesting! It even shows a spike when you have a heart pounding nightmare! Wow! The armband can than be synced to your computer to see a graphical display, minute by minute, hour by hour of your activity, steps, calories, etc. Again… fascinating to see! Fascinating to compare one workout to the next, to see what your metabolism is doing post-workout, while sitting at your desk and even just walking around the house! Amazing. THE DIGITAL DISPLAY:Now the Digital Display is not required, but for those of us who are “need to know now” kind of people, the digital display allows you to glance down and see exactly what’s happening RIGHT NOW! HOW IT WORKS: The bodybugg® armband uses 4 sensors, (an accelerometer, a heat flux sensor, a skin thermometer and a sweat rate sensor), which measure over 1000 body algorithms 32-times a second (don’t ask me what that means!). This is what I do understand…based on exensive questions you answer when you set your armband up including weight, height, activity level, etc., those four sensors talk to each other and very accurately determine what motion you are doing, how hard your working and how many calories you’re burning. This info is recorded in the brain of your bodybugg® sensors. Like an Ipod, you can plug it into your computer at the end of the day, or at the end of the week and see minute by minute what you’ve burned. From what I understand it will store info for up to two weeks, though I have only ever gone a few days without syncing to their website which stores and displays your data. However, if you have the digital display, you have instant gratification of knowing what you’re burning…in realtime! Body Media, a technology company, developed the revolutionary sensor, and partnered with Apex Fitness, a nutrition company, to develop the bodybugg® system. Originally used in a medical setting, this is by far the most accurate calorie monitoring device available today, other than spending some time in a laboratory. 24-Hour Fitness purchased Apex and many have become familiar with the bodybugg® from seeing the contestants of the "The Biggest Loser" use it to achieve insane weight loss. In fact, that’s where I first learned about the bodybugg®. Two seasons ago, I was contacted by one of the contestants who had been voted off late in the season. She had just a month left when she contacted me to see if I could help her lose those final pounds before weigh in! I offered to let her come and stay at my house and take several Turbo Kick workouts a day, weight training with the test group I was working with on ChaLEAN Extreme and basically just keep her moving all day long! Those final weeks for contestants are CRAZY…but that’s another blog! We spent every day together for a month. It was a blast. I was totally sold on the bodybugg® that she wore and raved about and had planned to get one ASAP. I went on line to do some research. I read a few negative reviews and decided to hold off. I forgot all about the bugg until recently a friend and fitness instructor told me how the bodybugg® had helped her lose the last 5 pounds that had been haunting her for years. I told her what I had read. That’s when we realized that in my haste I had read outdated reviews of the “old” model and all of the items which were “negatives” for me, had been fixed with this newest version (third generation)! I asked around and sure enough, everyone I could find wearing one loved the new generation! The concept was fantastic, and now the design and technology was even better! I was convinced and couldn’t wait to get mine! I bought mine the next day after my class at 24 Hour Fitness with my employee discount (thank you very much!!) For years I have preached the undisputable weight loss principle of calories in versus calories out. I have long encouraged…no…scrap that…I have been BEGGING people to keep track of their calories since I started helping people lose weight 18 years ago. It’s a weight loss/weight maintenance ideology that is sometimes unpopular. Why? Because it takes a bit of work. It’s an extra step, a calculation, a formula. Americans are desperate for fast and easy. We don’t want to think. Let’s face it, if there were a pill everyone could pop and go about our hedonistic ways, we would. Many weight loss experts like to simplify the process and suggest you eat a sensible diet and become more active. The problem with that is the unknown. What is sensible when you have no idea how many calories you’re burning? Just think…if you underestimate what you’re burning by just 100 calories a day, that would equate to a 10 pound weight gain over the course of next 12 months. Do you really think you can ‘guess’ at your calories consumed versus calories out and come within 100 calories? Really??? I’m considered an expert, and even with all the knowledge, formulas and information I have engrained in my brain, not until I started wearing my bodybugg® did I realize how OFF many of my calculations were! Wow! Some activities I had WAAAAYY over estimated what I was burning and others I had way underestimated. The good news is that my three favorite forms of exercise burn the most… Turbo, Hip Hop Hustle and ChaLEAN Extreme. Interestingly with CE the burn isn’t necessarily super high during the class, but it lasts for hours after my workout! Cool! Now that myself and 5 of my friends have bodybugg’s and have been comparing our calorie burn and though within just a few inches and pounds of each other (we’re all under 5’5”) and all doing the same workouts on the same days, at the same time, we are all burning drastically different calories, by as much as 800 to 1,000 calories! It makes me realize that when someone asks me how many calories they should consume to lose weight, which people ask me ALL the time, that I REALLY can’t answer that question with any kind of accuracy. I can certainly make an educated guess, and that’s about as much as I can do! bodybugg®'s armband calorie/mataboism monitoring device this is actually accurate! That's huge! Since I’ve started preaching about it’s many benefits, I’ve had many “heart rate monitor” owners ask me how it compares. No comparison. Its like the difference between meeting with a personal trainer one hour a day and having one with you 24 hours a day. World of difference! To lose weight or gain weight it really comes down to calories/energy in and calories/energy out. Create too much of a deficit for prolonged periods and the result is a metabolism that slows. There are sooo many factors that determine the number of calories you burn in one day, genetics, muscle composition, height, weight, age, dieting history, exercise intensity, type of exercise, hormones… you name it! This device takes the guess-work out! Create a deficit of 500 calories per day, report your calories on the web based food log accurately and when compared to your bodybugg data (which is proven to be 90% accurate or better) the result is a weight loss of 1 pound per week. Period. Done. End of story. I tested it myself. I strapped my on my arm. Filled out my on-line questionnaire, religiously recorded every calorie and monitored my calories burned with the data collected on my device. I set a goal to lose 3 pounds in three week. (I’m short! Three pounds makes a difference in my line of work ;) I applied the weight loss formula to lose a pound a week, i.e. 500 calorie deficit per day. I created an average daily deficit of between 500 and 600 calories and BAM…a pound a week, 3.5 pounds total in three weeks and it had never been so simple! (I never had so much fun eating!)Here’s the beautiful part….the food log! It actually breaks down the amount of carbs, proteins and fats you need each day and tells you where you’re off! That was huge for me! That’s a lot to try to calculate in your head. With the web based program it does it for you. Just by making some minor tweaks, I was able to drop my body fat at the same time! MORE PRODUCT DETAILS: bodybugg® armband is necessary. The digital display is highly recommended, but not necessary to operate the system. The current bodybugg®' is the third generation device. It is 50% lighter, 40% smaller and 20% thinner. The signal it sends to the digital display is apparently much stronger than original versions. Basically you just need to be with 5 to 10 feet of it to find a signal. Occasionally it loses connection, which you re-sync very simply by pressing a button on your armband. The digital display measures minutes of activity, steps, calories burned today since 12 am, during your current workout and even shows you your previous day’s calorie burn. It also contains a new rechargeable battery. The battery re-charges like an Ipod, when you plug it into the USB port of your computer! Yay! SUBSCRIPTION PRICING In my opinion the invaluable information is when you’re able to see minute by minute, step by step, activity by activity, hour by hour what your body is burning. That can only be done on the bodybugg web based program. The program is MAC and PC compatible. True, the web based data does require a subscription, but the cost is nominal (less than .25 cents per day when you buy a year at once!) AND great news.. you’ll get 6 months free and a 45 minute phone coaching session with your purchase (current promotion). Website subscription pricing: Online subscription renewal fees are: $9.95 for month to month, $49.95 for 6 month and $79.95 for 12-month.This is outstanding when you see what this program can do! You also receive a personal coaching session and access to Apex's customer service. I had a bazillion questions and their customer service team has been 5 Star! Kim Slover at bodybugg tells me a mobile application of the website is in the works, so you can track your food intake on your phone. Now, as someone who loves QVC and has been a guest on several occasions, I can tell you that the reason I love shopping with them is because they give you the “anti-sell”. In other words, they tell you what the product won’t do. In much the way I would tell my girlfriends the things I see at “negatives” about the product. I will do the same for you! I would lose my credibility as the self-proclaimed “Hot Product Go To Girl” if I wasn’t honest about the few features I wish I could change… THE NEGATIVES:1. The armband strap. It’s very comfortable and you don’t even feel you’re wearing it. But at first I was like, “Oh hell no! I’m not messing up my cute outfit with this big black strap on my tricep.” Certainly nothing a few rhinestones couldn’t cure as you can see from the photo at the top of my blog. Your package will come with two sizes. Bret and I both got one, so we swapped sizes. I gave him my large and he gave me his smaller band. Yes, it’s very sporty and basic, but it doesn’t have to be! ☺ In fact, I’m working on having a couple blinged out designs mass produced and sold on our website at http://www.turbokick.com for those of us who want something a bit more fashionable! Standby! Second, after about a week of wearing my arm band I realized the “ripe” smell was coming from my arm band. Duh! I don’t know what I was thinking, but obviously if you’re sweating, sleeping and wearing this thing as much as I was the first week, it starts to smell a little, shall we say… “funky”. Again, easy fix…hello…soak it, dry it, wear it! Of course I also bout several replacement bands so that I had several to match different outfits and I really had some fun creating different looks on each armband! Crafty fashion fun. 2. Web based food log. I have to say entering the food the first week was a pain in the butt. To do it right, you really need to know the nutritional facts of everything you consume. This takes some time and it seems their data based doesn’t identify items that should just be in their system. Again, I talked to Kim Slover about this. She acknowledged the systems short-comings and happily informed me that they are expanding the data based exponentially in the coming months for greater ease of use! Here’s my tip: During your first week, keep a small journal with you. Record calories, service size in ounces or grams, fat, protein, sodium, calcium, carbohydrates. This way you will have it all at your finger tips each day when you sit down and enter your food consumption. AND LET ME TELL YOU….accuracy is the key! When people don’t record or write down their calories, on average they UNDERESTIMATE their calories by as much as 40%! Another tip: When entering your food log… You can go through every single meal and actually enter what you at for breakfast, then skip to am snack, then lunch, pm snack, then dinner, etc. Time consuming. Instead, record all your food on a note pad or journal. At the end of the day enter all of your food as if you ate it for breakfast. The system doesn’t care when /where you enter your calories consumed. This makes entering food much, much faster. Then the next day, around dinner, I click on breakfast from the previous day and just one line at a time click on any item I’ve consumed that day. I recommend you do this in the evening before your final meal. That way you can look at what you’ve burned, what you’ve consumed and have some idea of how many more calories you can allow yourself and still reach your health and weight goals. 3. Obsession. Admittedly I do get obsessed with new toys and gadgets. The bodybugg® has a grip on me. I find myself wanting to buy them for everyone I know. But I’ve also learned that when you “give” people valuable items, they lose their value and importance. (That another blog) But I am totally head over heals for this thing. It’s just fascinating! My wheels are turning! I really think every kid in America needs to be wearing one. I think that we could save Billions on healthcare if we made bodybugg®’s mandatory! I’m obsessed. I suspect it will be a healthy addiction once I get used to this, but at the moment (on my fourth week of wearing it) I can’t stop checking my digital display! I find myself trying to avoid, “inactive” time and admittedly there were a few days that I just pushed myself to see how high I could get my calorie burn in one day and really enjoyed all those extra calories I was able to consume (and still hit my weight loss goal) Also, you don’t really have to wear the armband while sedentary (sleeping, showering, returning e-mails, writing blogs). Yet, every time I took it off, I sorta felt like I was disconnecting myself from a life support machine. I think I was holding my breath to take a shower. I speed-washed my hair, lightening fast body scrub, dried off like the house was on fire, strapped that thing back on and gasped for breath! Geeesh! Calm down already! I’m laughing thinking back on it now. Funny. Current promotion through June 30th is about a $100 savings! $249 with armband and digital display! www.24hourfitness.com/training/bodybugg/ Enter my discount code and earn an additional $15.00 off the price of your purchase! All lower case: bbgcj24Finally, if you have a third generation bodybugg, please share your thoughts and reviews here !
Posted by Chalene Johnson at 10:53 PM

What Can I Eat For Breakfast?

I've been doing some research on healthy eating. Something I've found, is that most health gurus recommend the same things for breakfast. Here are some ideas to experiment with:

*Oatmeal. 1 cup plain oatmeal. Add 1 Tbsp. nonfat milk and 1 Tbsp. honey. You can also add a scoop of protein powder.

*Cereal. 1 cup whole grain cereal with 1 cup nonfat milk. Add 1/2 a banana.

*Egg White Burrito.
4 egg whites
1/4 cup tomatoes or salsa
1/4 cup low-fat shredded cheese
1 6-inch whole wheat low carb tortilla

*Yogurt and fruit. 1 med size fruit and 1/2 cup lowfat yogurt.

*Cottage Cheese and yogurt. 1/2 cup of each. Add a 1/2 cup of fruit.

*Power Pancakes. I've been experimenting with some of my old recipes and have found that by switching some ingredients, I can increase the nutritional value and take away some calories without taking away from the overall taste and texture of my pancakes.
Here's some my kids have been requesting lately:

Applesauce Pancakes
1 cup mixed whole wheat/white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 applesauce
dash of cinnamon and sugar (don't over do it)
1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. In another bowl, mix milk, egg and applesauce. Add to flour mixture and stir just until blended.
3. Preheat griddle or skillet to med.-high heat and spray with cooking spray.
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle for each pancake. Flip.
5. Cook until golden brown.
These are low in calories at about 60 calories a pancake. 5 grams of protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, and 1 gram of fat.
Top with lowfat yogurt, fruit, and a small dollop of light whip cream.
Yum!

Good for You Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I've been experimenting with some different recipes. I came across this one and my kids and husband couldn't tell a difference from the cookies I usually make, so I had to share! One thing I've been trying to do to make things a little more healthy is mix half whole wheat, half white flour with some wheat germ thrown in for my flour.
Enjoy!

Good for You Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter (or 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce)
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

1. Turn on the oven to 375 degrees. Put oats in the shallow baking pan. Put the baking pan in the oven. Bake about 10 minutes or until toasted, stirring once with the wooden spoon. Use hot pads to remove baking pan from oven. Put oats in the food processor or blender. Cover and process or blend until oats are ground. Save until Step 2.
2. Put butter (or butter and applesauce) in a large mixing bowl. Beat butter with the electric mixer on med. to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, stopping the mixer occasionally and scraping the sides with the rubber scraper. Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stop the mixer. Stir in the oats and any remaining flour with the wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate pieces.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto the ungreased cookie sheet. Fill the cookie sheet with mounds of dough, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookie bottoms are browned. Use the hot pads to remove cookie sheet from oven. Use the wide spatula to transfer cookies to the wire rack; let cookies cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 60 cookies!

Tip of the Day: Be Fit as a Family

I want my family to be active and healthy; to enjoy life and all it has to offer. I want my kids to experience the world and enjoy and appreciate nature. I want my kids to have beautiful memories of family hikes and bike trips, sporting events, days at the lake, and just having fun with family and friends.
I found a website with some fun ideas for ways to encourage family activities: http://www.sparkpe.org/

Here's some of the suggestions they have:

13 Ways Parents Can Help Children Be More Physically Active
For optimal health, children should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (e.g., brisk walking) every day and do vigorous sports or exercise 3 times a week.

Frequently ask your child what physical activities they like to do, then help them do it!

Be a role model. Show children physical activity is important by enthusiastically participating in it.

Participate with your child (e.g., play catch, chop firewood, go on walks together).

Encourage your child to participate on sports teams (e.g., Bobby Sox, Little League, basketball, etc.).

Plan family events, including weekend getaways and vacations, that include physical activity (e.g., hiking, water sports, skiing).

Enroll your child in out-of-school physical activity lessons (e.g., martial arts, dance, swimming, gymnastics).

Transport your child to places where she/he can move and play safely.

Monitor television viewing and video game play. Have your child "earn" time for these "low voltage" activities by accumulating minutes of physical activity.

Select gifts that promote physical activity (e.g., a ball, a jump rope, a pair of in-line skates).

Write and speak with school administrators showing your support for quality physical education programs.

Encourage school officials to provide opportunities for students to be physically active before school, during lunch breaks, and after school.

Encourage school officials to offer assemblies, field trips, and special events that promote physical activity.

Advocate the development of neighborhood parks, biking paths, walking trails in your community.

Family Fun Activities for Children Ages 3-5

The following activities are intended to increase children's moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) throughout their day. This section includes games as well as lifestyle activities.
PROMOTIONAL SUGGESTIONS:Providing families with activities is a great first step in increasing physical activity for preschoolers. Implementing any of these promotional suggestions will increase the likelihood of families participating in movement activities at home.
Posters around your room
Handouts to families
Newsletters
Parent meetings
Family Activity Events
Others?
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES FOR PRESCHOOLERS:
Most children aren't ready for organized sports until the age of 6. Keep their activities fun and non-competitive.
Be an active role model by exercising and playing with your child. She will watch you and want to be just like you.
Get outside and play with your children whenever possible. There are limitless opportunities for play outside, and the fresh air is great!
Remember children need planned activity as well as free play.
Plan for your child to play with other children frequently.
At this stage of life your child may be able to do these activities:
Walking
Running
Sliding
Jumping
Hopping
Galloping
Tossing and Throwing
Rolling
Bouncing
Catching
Dancing
Climbing
Kicking
Skipping (by age 5 or 6)
LIFESTYLE ACTIVITIES:
Involve your preschooler in chores around your home. They may be able to help with:
Carrying laundry
Cleaning floors
Raking leaves
Taking out the trash
Washing a car
Cleaning windows
Making beds
Picking up toys
Dusting
Feeding and walking pets
Gardening
Carrying groceries
Whenever possible, take stairs rather than elevators or escalators.
Walk to and from places nearby your home rather than drive.
If you drive, park farther away from your destination to increase walking.
Turn off the TV and turn on some music for a little dancing.
Limit computer use, video watching, and video game playing and interest your child in more active forms of play.
FAMILY FUN ACTIVITIES:
BUBBLES
What you'll need: Liquid soap and a bubble wand. Blow bubbles with your child. Challenge him to pop the bubbles before they touch the ground. Call out various body parts for him to use to pop the bubbles.
Body Part Identification
What you'll need: Favorite children's books. While reading books, ask your child to point to body parts that you name in the pictures. As she masters this concept, point to body parts in books and ask her to name them. Body parts used with preschoolers might be: head, neck, ears, eyes, nose, leg, knee, back, arms, waist, chest, wrist, hips, fingers, bottom, foot, ankles, toes, elbow, shoulder, hand, and stomach.
Shake Your Body
What you'll need: Favorite music. Using fun, upbeat music, prompt your child to shake and wiggle various body parts that you name. Start with the head and work your way down.
Body Part Moves
What you'll need: Nothing. Call out a body part and ask your child to show you all the ways he can move it.
Stuck In the Mud
What you'll need: Nothing. Pretend your feet are stuck in the mud. Challenge your child to see how many ways he can move his body without moving his feet.
Farm Animals
What you'll need: Nothing. Name a farm animal (chicken, rooster, cow, pig, sheep, goat, etc.) and ask your child to show you how that animal moves and sounds.
Balance Walk
What you'll need: Nothing. In your neighborhood, at a playground, around your home, or anywhere you may be walking, find lines on the ground to use as a "balance beam." Challenge your child to move forward on the line without falling off. When she masters this, try sideways, then backward.
Freeze Dance #2
What you'll need: Fun music. Turn on music your child likes to dance to. Stop the music every 10-20 seconds. Challenge him to freeze in position until music starts again.
Roll The Dice
What you'll need: One die. Use a single die for this game. Create an activity for each of the six sides (or use the suggestions below). Allow her to roll the die, and then you all complete the activity it represents.For example:
1 = Hop on one foot 10 times2 = Jump on two feet 10 times3 = Skip around the room4 = Stand and hang your hands toward your feet5 = Act like your favorite animal6 = Roll on the ground like a log
Walk Like The Animals
What you'll need: Nothing. Ask your child to pretend he is an animal. He can move like the animal, look like them, sound like them, etc. Ask your child what he is doing that makes him like that animal. Allow your child to pick his own animals to imitate, but be ready to give suggestions.Here are a few examples:
Inchworm
Puppy
Elephant
Spider
Seal
Snake
Monkey
Eagle
Dog Be creative!
Dramatic Play
What you'll need: Favorite children's books, music, and colorful pictures. Encourage creative movement at home with books, music, pictures, etc. Ask her to act out what she sees and hears in various stories (provide examples of books).
Feel The Beat
What you'll need: Fun music with different tempos (slow and fast). Play music with a slow beat and encourage your child to move in slow motion. Then play music with a fast beat and prompt them to move quickly. It might look like a graceful ballet when using slow classical music, and rowdy rocking with contemporary music.
Traffic Lights
What you'll need: Nothing. When you are walking with your child, call out a traffic signal color.
When you say "green light," he should walk quickly.
On "yellow," he should move in slow motion.
Finally, when you say "red," he should stop completely. Change the movement each time you play. You can pick the movement, or ask your child to pick one. Examples are: Gallop, jog, jump, slide, hop, skip, etc.
Follow The Leader
What you'll need: Nothing. Play the simple game of Follow the Leader with your child when walking from place to place. Change leaders every 20-30 seconds so she gets practice both following and leading. As she masters these skills, add more challenges when you are the leader.
Mirror, Mirror
What you'll need: Nothing. Face your child and explain that he is to move exactly like you will be moving, like a reflection in a mirror. Begin with very slow movements and prompt him to follow you. For example: tilting your head to the side, raising and lowering your hand, sticking out your tongue. As he masters mirroring slowly, add more difficulty. Take turns being the leader. You can also use this game to work on areas of health your child needs work.For example:
Flexibility: Reach for your toes. Strength: Raise up onto the balls of your feet (heel raises), Stretch your arms high, Lunge forward and back, Bend to the sides, Do push-ups from a kneeling position Aerobic Fitness: Jog in place, Form a bridge with your body, Jump and move arms in place
BeanBag Balance
What you'll need: Beanbag or small, soft toy. Place a beanbag or small soft toy (stuffed animal) on your child's head. Challenge him to walk from one place to the other while balancing the beanbag on his head. As he masters this, challenge him to move in different ways: sideways, backward, crawling, crab walking, on tiptoes, etc.
Partner Tricks
What you'll need: Ball, beanbag or small, soft toy. Try the following with your child:
Twist and Turn: Stand back to back with your child (you may want to stand on your knees or sit on your bottom to make your heights more even). Pass the toy to her by twisting one way. She twists toward the toy to receive it from you. Then, she twists the opposite way to give it back to you. Continue for several rounds. Switch directions every 20-30 seconds or so. Try it with different toys.
Bend and Stretch: Stand back to back with your child, legs straddled to shoulder-width apart. Pass the toy to your child between your legs. She bends down and receives the toy from you. Then, she reaches up overhead to pass it to you. You reach over and down (it may be necessary to "cheat" and reach around to get it from your preschooler) and continue the cycle. Switch directions every 20-30 seconds or so. Try it with different toys.
Your Own Way: Come up with your own way to pass the toy back and forth.
Toss and Catch
What you'll need: Soft beanbag, ball or toy. Play catch with your child using a soft beanbag, ball, or toy. Use an underhand throw. As your child becomes more confident, increase your distance.
Jump Rope
What you'll need: Jump rope or length of rope. Hold one end of the rope and tie the other end to a stationary object. Keeping the rope close to the ground, challenge your child to jump over the rope. After each jump, she can run behind you and back to the other side to repeat. Challenge her by wiggling the rope like a snake or by raising it slightly off the ground (keep it low!!).
Hopscotch
What you'll need: Chalk and cement/asphalt surface. Create your own hopscotch court on a sidewalk, cement slab, etc., using chalk. Make it as long or short as you like. Be sure to include both single and double spaces. Use a rock, penny, beanbag, etc. to toss and mark your spot. Challenge him to hop and jump his way from the beginning to the end and back again. Helps develop leg strength, rhythm, and counting skills.
Snowballs
What you'll need: 5-10 balled up newspaper pieces, socks, or any very soft, light items to make "snowballs"Divide a small area into two sides. Your child will be on one side; you will be on the other, each with half of the "snowballs." When he says, "GO!" you both begin throwing "snowballs" to the other's side. Continue until he says, "STOP!"
Simon Says
What you'll need: Nothing. Play Simon Says with your child (you can call it "Mommy Says" or whatever is appropriate if you like). Include activities such as body part moves, flexibility, strength, and aerobic fitness to build on skills and fitness. Needless to say when you are playing with your own child, there is no elimination for doing an activity even if "Simon" didn't tell them. Great for body part identification, listening discrimination, and other fitness.
Dear Families,
This program is a fun and developmentally appropriate way to teach children about physical activity while attending. We want to share some of these great activities with you, and to help you encourage your child to be active. These activities are easy to do and you will have fun being active with your child!
We know that being physically active is only part of living a healthy lifestyle, so we also encourage you to eat healthy foods with your children and to help them learn to choose healthy snacks.
Here are some fun and easy things you can do at home to be healthy right from the start:
Limit "screen time" - watching TV, or computer time.
Have easy to grab healthy snacks on hand like yogurt, fruit, cheese, whole-wheat crackers and graham crackers.
Try to eat together as a family to model healthy eating habits.
Involve your children in meal planning and grocery shopping. This helps them learn how to make good choices.
Take walks together.
Let's work together to make healthy choices to give our children a healthy start in life!

Brain and Exercise

NEWSWEEK COVER: Health for Life -- Exercise and the Brain

In the March 26 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, March 19): "Exercise and The Brain." Newsweek examines the latest research and science that shows exercise can make you smarter. In addition to making your brain run more efficiently, there are clues that it can also stave off the beginnings of Alzheimer's, ADHD and other cognitive disorders. Also: what's next for Attorney General Gonzales and Iraq's Dora Farms, four years after the first U.S. strike. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK) NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES
Growing Movement in Science Shows Exercise Can Make People Smarter; May
Stave Off Beginnings of Alzheimer's, ADHD
Exercise Decreases Anxiety, Improves Resilience to Stress
A Simple Plan to Go From Couch Potato to Exerciser: Have 'Exercise Snacks'
-- Pace While on the Phone, Walk Around the Office
NEW YORK, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent and rapidly growing
movement in science is showing that exercise can make people smarter,
Newsweek reports in the current issue. Last week, in a landmark paper,
researchers announced that they had coaxed the human brain into growing new
nerve cells, a process that for decades had been thought impossible, simply
by putting subjects on a three-month aerobic-workout regimen. Other
scientists have found that vigorous exercise can cause older nerve cells to
form dense, interconnected webs that make the brain run faster and more
efficiently. And there are clues that physical activity can stave off the
beginnings of Alzheimer's disease, ADHD and other cognitive disorders.
General Editor Mary Carmichael, with Harvard Medical School, examine the
latest research and findings about how an active body is crucial for
building a strong, active mind in the March 26 cover "Exercise and the
Brain" (on newsstands Monday, March 19).
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070318/CLSU006 )
"People have been slow to grasp that exercise can really affect
cognition," says University of Illinois neuroscientist Charles Hillman,
"just as it affects muscles." Armed with brain-scanning tools and a
sophisticated understanding of biochemistry, researchers are realizing that
the mental effects of exercise are far more profound and complex than they
once thought, Carmichael reports.
Also in the cover package:
-- Researchers are learning more about how exercise affects mood: it
decreases anxiety, improves sleep, improves resilience in the face of
stress and raises self-esteem. All these benefits don't come because
you notice what you've lost around your waist. Rather, they come from
exercise-induced alterations inside your head, writes Michael Craig
Miller, M.D., editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.
-- If you are a couch potato, have couch-potato tendencies or just plain
dislike working out, there are more opportunities to exercise than many
people realize. Find the time with "exercise snacks" that last as
little as 10 minutes at a time. Examples are pacing in your office
while you're on the phone, taking the stairs instead of the elevator,
trekking up the stairs at home during a TV commercial break. Or break
up the day with two-minute walks -- to the mailbox, for example, or in
a loop around your office corridor.
-- General Editor Anna Kuchment reports that while moderate exercise is
good for you, vigorous exercise is even better. Specifically, it's more
effective at lowering blood pressure, improving insulin sensitivity
(which can reduce the risk of developing diabetes) and raising one's
aerobic capacity. And one way to stick to a high-intensity routine is
to participate in a competitive sport. Joining a team forces you to do
things that you might not otherwise do. Not only is it fun, but you
have an obligation to show up for practices and events. There are
teammates to work out with, and there's usually a coach on hand to keep
track of your progress, help set new goals.
-- Reams of research suggest that exercise -- an activity as old as the
human race -- substantially reduces the odds of ever getting breast
cancer, lengthens survival and considerably enhances quality of life
for women with the disease. Scientists don't completely understand why
exercise is so important, but they're actively looking for answers.

Yummy Recipe: Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Chocolate Chip Muffins
contributed by Celia Jolley of The I Do Cookbook for the Bride and Groom
idocook.com

2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup buttermilk (or use ¾ cup skim milk mixed w/2 teaspoons vinegar)
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup mini-chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 2 muffin pan cups lightly with oil spray.
In mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, with small electric mixer, beat the buttermilk, applesauce, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla until bubbly.
Mix liquid and dry ingredients together, just until moistened.
Stir in chocolate chips until mixture is blended. Do not over mix.
Divide batter equally among 18 of the prepared muffin cups.
Pour a small amount of water into any unused muffin cups.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and place on cooling racks.

My Beachbody Showcase Pack!!

I got my showcase pack last week and I've had an absolute blast going over all of the different programs and trying the new workouts. Six of Beachbody's most popular programs are included in the showcase pack, along with three super bands and a squishy ball. Hip Hop Abs, Turbo Jam, P90X, Power 90, Slim in 6, and Yoga Booty Ballet...over 35 workouts!!! I can do a different workout for each day of the month and still not repeat any...which for me and my easily burned out, easily bored self...is just what I needed to get me up and going.

Tip of the Day: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

One night while I was up at 3 o'clock in the morning with my dear sweet non-sleeping baby, I was watching this amazing program on PBS called Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. It changed the way I think about health! Everything I do, what I eat, how I interact with my family, and what I think affects the way I think and feel. Dr. Amen has some tips on his web site http://www.amenclinics.com/my-brain-health/brain-health-club/50-brain-dos-and-brain-donts/. These are all great reminders for me and things I'm going to start working on and incorporate with my family:

50 Brain Dos and Don'ts:

Brain Dos:
Wear a helmet in high risk situations
Drink lots of water
Eat healthy
Take gingko biloba, Vitamin E and ibuprofen everyday
Think positive healthy thoughts
Love, feed and exercise your internal anteater to rid yourself of ANTs (automatic negative thoughts)
Everyday focus on the things you are grateful for in your life
Watch the Disney movie Pollyanna
Spend time with positive, uplifting people
Spend time with people you want to be like (you are more likely to become like them)
Work on your people skills to become more connected to enhance limbic bonds
Talk to others in loving, helpful ways
Surround yourself with great smells
Build a library of wonderful experiences
Be nice to others
Exercise
Eat in ways specifically tailored to your brain
Learn diaphragmatic breathing
Learn and use self-hypnosis and meditation on a daily basis
Remember the 18/40/60 rule
Effectively confront and deal with conflictual situations
Develop clear goals for your life (relationships, work, money and self) and look at them everyday.
Focus on what you like a lot more than what you don’t like
Collect penguins, or at least send them to me
Have meaning, purpose, excitement and stimulation in your life
Do not be another person’s stimulant
Use brainwave biofeedback or audio-visual stimulation when needed
Notice when you’re stuck, distract yourself and come back to the problem later
Think through answers before automatically saying no
Write out options and solutions when you feel stuck
Seek the counsel of others when you feel stuck (often just talking about feeling stuck will open new options)
Memorize and recite the Serenity Prayer daily and whenever bothered by repetitive thoughts (God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.)
Don’t try to convince someone else who is stuck, take a break and come back to them later
Use paradoxical requests in dealing with cingulate people
Make naturally oppositional children mind you the first time (through a firm, kind, authoritative stance)
Strive for wonderful experiences
Enhance your memory skills
Sing and hum whenever you can
Make beautiful music a part of your life
Make beautiful smells a part of your life
Touch others often (appropriately)
Make love with your partner
Move in rhythms
Use a skilled psychotherapist when needed
Use an EMDR therapist to deal with trauma
Take head injuries seriously, even minor ones
Take medications when needed
Take herbal remedies when needed to optimize brain function
Look for underlying brain problems in substance abusers
Do full brain evaluations for people who do terrible things

Brain Don’ts

Isolate a developing baby
Use alcohol, tobacco or drugs or much caffeine when pregnant
Ignore erratic behavior
Lie around the house and never exercise
Ignore concussions
Smoke
Drink much caffeine
Drink much alcohol
Do drugs (NO heroin, inhalants, mushrooms, PCP, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines (unless in prescribed doses for ADD)
Eat without forethought on what foods are best for your brain
Drive without wearing a seatbelt
Ride a motorcycle without a helmet
Ride a bicycle, skateboard, roller blade, snowboard, etc. without a helmet
Hit a soccer ball with your head
Bang your head when you’re frustrated (protect the head of children who are head bangers)
Bunje jump
Hang out with people who do drugs, fight, or are involved in other dangerous activities (unless you are looking for brain damage)
Allow your breathing to get out of control
Think in black-or-white terms
Think in words like always, never, every time, every one
Focus on the negative things in your life
Predict the worst
Think only with your feelings
Read other people’s minds
Blame other people for your problems
Label yourself or others with negative terms
Beat yourself or others with guilt (very ineffective)
Personalize situations that have little to do with you
Feed your ANTs
Use sex as a weapon with your partner
Talk to others in a hateful way
Push people away
Be around toxic smells
Be around toxic people
Focus too much on what other people think of you (odds are they aren’t thinking about you at all)
Allow your life to just happen without you directing and planning it
Take the “stimulant bait” from other people
Allow thoughts to go over and over in your head
Automatically say no to others, think first if what they want fits with your goals
Automatically say yes to others, think first if what they want fits with your goals
Argue with someone who is stuck
Isolate yourself when you feel worried, depressed or panicky
Allow naturally oppositional children to be oppositional
Listen to toxic music
Blame substance abusers as morally defective
Refuse to take medications when needed
Self-medicate, when there are problems get help from professionals
Deny you have problems
Refuse to listen to the people you love who are trying to tell you to get help
Withhold love, touch and companionship to those you love as a way to express anger

Tip of the Day: Keeping Those Cavities Away

Because getting healthy isn't just about exercise and eating, I have a dental story! A few months ago I went to the dentist. I found a coupon and thought, "this is a good deal." So, I packed up the kids, and away we went. Upon a quick examination, the dentist declared that I had FIVE cavities. I'd never had a cavity before and now I had FIVE! "No Way!" I thought. I waited a few months and finally decided that I'd better get a second opinion. Well...guess what! I didn't have any cavities! Zip! Zero!
Moral of the story: buyer beware out there and if something seems out of sorts, get a second opinion. I saved hundreds of dollars by getting that second opinion and now I'm more determined than ever to have good dental hygiene! The dentist that I now go to recommends a few things to help keep those cavities at bay. Here's his suggestions:
* Floss at night with Glide Floss:
* Rinse in the morning and at night with Act Restoring Mouthwash:
* Brush at least morning and night with Colgate Total Toothpaste:

Tip of the Day: A Journey of 1000 Miles Begins With One Step

My mother-in-law has raised six boys and has always looked great. Here's her words of wisdom to get healthy and stay in shape:

"If you take it off slowly, you won’t gain it back immediately as you do with crash diets. A loss of 2 – 4 pounds a month doesn’t sound like much, but 3 pounds a month for a year is 36 pounds. I don’t think any of you young women have that much to lose! A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step at a time. ;)

The way I lost the weight that year was by writing down everything I ate so I could count the calories. I don’t do starvation diets. I ate my usual 3 meals a day, but for between meal snacks I ate only fruit…no processed fruit snacks…only real fruit. I stopped eating fattening sauces and dressings, butter, potato chips, and soda. If I felt a craving for chocolate, I ate a chocolate kiss or I stopped at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s and got a couple of the good chocolates to satisfy the craving. If you’re going to eat chocolate, make it the good stuff! Maybe that could be a Friday reward for every week that you eat healthy.

I didn’t make homemade desserts or rolls because I knew I would eat way too much of them. But I didn’t give up bread, potatoes, bananas, or avocados as so many diets recommend. If you feel too deprived, you won’t stay with it. My rule is if it’s real food, it’s ok to eat it…just don’t fatten it up with all the extras like butter and whipped cream. I never felt deprived – I felt very much in control of myself.

When I was wearing the body bugg a few years ago, I noticed that I burned tons of calories mopping or vacuuming the floor or cleaning the windows. I got just as good a workout as I ever did at the gym. Anything that requires movement is exercise. I get a good feeling about having a clean house and a good workout at the same time. I love to go outside on a nice day and clean the windows. Nothing brightens up the house so much as sparkling windows. In the old days, when Dad or the boys would complain that they had to go all the way down stairs to get a towel from the laundry room, I told them it was good exercise. Every thing we DO is exercise…sitting on our fanny only makes it bigger. (I am watching mine grow minute by minute!) I’m also on a soapbox about all the TV commercials that talk about “taking the work out” of cooking, cleaning or whatever it may be. While taking the work out, they are helping us gain a layer of fat around our middles! WORK is not a four letter word, no matter if it does look like it."

Thanks for the tips, Mom! Let's all get to Work!

Tip of the Day: Have a Smoothie!

Fruit Smoothies!

This is a tip from my beautiful, talented and brilliant sister-in-law, Angie. Here's what she says, "Lately, I've been making smoothies with some ice cream for my afternoon snack. It satisfies the sweet tooth, but gets the fruit in too. I'm starting a basketball league with my friends and I'll still be playing soccer, so that gives me 2 workouts a week!" Go Ang! Thanks for the tip.

I just have to add that we've been making fruit smoothies for breakfast in the mornings and we use yogurt, juice, milk, frozen strawberries and a banana.

Banana-Orange-Strawberry Fruit Shake

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

1 banana,

10 frozen strawberries

1/2 cup skim milk

1 heaping tbsp. high- quality protein powder (optional)

1 tsp. flax oil (optional)

In a blender, process all the ingredients until thoroughly mixed and serve.

Tip of the Day: Drink water!

Did you know that one can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar?

Do you have a soda habit? Here's some advice on how to cut back.
By Elaine Magee, MPH, RDWebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Expert Column

Soda -- it's everywhere! Even if you wanted to drink something else, you'd be hard-pressed to find it as prominently displayed in vending machines, at fast-food chains, and supermarket checkouts. You might not realize how ubiquitous Coke, Pepsi, and the like are in our society until you try to stop drinking soda.
For some people, drinking several sodas a day is a fierce habit. You know drinking soda is a habit when you find yourself going to the grocery store at 10 p.m. because your refrigerator is tapped out, or you feel like having a tantrum when the drive-through attendant tells you the soda machine is broken. If the idea of drinking one token soda a day is unfathomable, you just might have a serious soda habit.

Still, while Jacobson believes "less is better" when it comes to alternative sweeteners, he concedes that drinking diet soda is better than gulping down the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar -- which is what you'll get in a can of regular soda.
And just how do you go about kicking a soda habit? If you want to stop drinking so much soda, it basically comes down to four steps, according to the experts:
1. Make Up Your Mind. You have to make up your mind to give it up, notes Jacobson. Even if you're just trying to cut back on your soda consumption, it can take a firm commitment to make it happen.
2.Switch to Diet Sodas. Gradually make the switch to diet sodas, suggests Paul Rozin, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "Just make a small decrease at a time, like one sugared soda a day," he says in an email interview. If you're drinking much more than one soda a day, work toward decreasing the amount of diet sodas you drink as well -- eventually.
3. Go Caffeine-Free. Popkin and Jacobson believe that caffeine, and the fact that it is mildly addictive, is part of the reason soda is such a hard habit to break. Look for caffeine-free soft drinks, and gradually decrease the number of caffeinated drinks you have each day as you work toward kicking the soda habit completely. If you're addicted to the caffeine in soda, you're really kicking two habits -- the soda habit and the caffeine habit. "It takes a few weeks to truly forget the craving," Popkin says.
4. Stock Up on Alternatives. Keep plenty of tasty non-soda drinks on hand to make giving up soda as convenient as possible.
What Are Some Soda Alternatives?
Here is a list of non-soda beverage possibilities to consider. You'll notice the drinks that contain calories also contribute important nutrients like calcium or vitamin C.
1. Give Soy Milk a Chance. If you'd like to work in a serving of soy a day, give soy milk a try. Lots of brands and flavors are available. If calories are an issue, try one of the lower-calorie options.
2. Don't Skimp on Skim Milk. Skim milk is a great way to boost your intake of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and other important nutrients. One cup of skim milk has only around 85 calories. The Beverage Guidance Panel recommends up to two servings a day of nonfat or 1% milk and fortified soy beverages.
3. Pimp Your Water. To an avid soda drinker, water can seem a little unexciting. One of the best ways around that is to add noncaloric flavors to your water. A sprig of mint or a slice of lemon or lemon will do wonders. If you like subtler flavors, try a slice or two of cucumber or a frozen strawberry.

Get Healthy with Me!

I'm going to get healthy this year! Are you going to join me?