Summer Fun Ideas

We are almost a full month into summer here are our house. How is your summer going, have you heard the dreaded words, "MOM!, I am so boooored!"?  I thought today I would share some ideas that I have collected and some that we do here at our house to burn off that summer energy and to keep from hearing the most annoying kid complaint of the summer.

* I make my kids read everyday. We do it right after lunch during the heat of the day (and before we head out to classes / errands or to the pool).  Take advantage of your local library and any summer reading programs they might have.  If you think you don't have a reader, you just haven't found what they might be interested in yet. I had a son who hated to read and we explored some different types of books until we found something he really likes. Now that he is getting better at it, he really enjoys it.  If you have an e-reader (like a kindle or a nook or a tablet / ipad) let your kids use those to read a book, or better yet, find an audible program that would read a classic to them. Do you remember having those read-along books when we were kids? You can still get those from the library if you have the equipment to use them.

* We wouldn't survive a day in the summer without water. Water always equals fun! If you have to water your lawn and run the sprinkler, let the kids run through it. Let them play with the hose and stay in the area of the grass that needs to be watered.  We go to the pool a lot, if you are able to buy a punch pass it is usually cheaper and here where we live there is an awesome outdoor community pool, and that makes the indoor pool much much cheaper. (and I don't have to worry about sunburn).  And nothing burns off energy like kids swimming. We picked up some super cheap water toys like pool noodles and dive toys at our local dollar store, as well as a pair of goggles and flip flops for everybody.  We keep it all in a giant mesh bag and we are always ready to grab and go. It is a special treat after working hard in the yard or when they are especially energetic and need to burn off their wildness. Look for specials with groups that you are a member of, - bank customer appreciation night, school sponsored nights, or coupons in the local paper.

* Do some crafts if you need quiet time and engaging activities. The internet is chock full of ideas for free, fun frugal crafts for kids of all levels. We don't have too many crafters here at our house. It usually ends up just being a big mess that I get to clean up after it has dissolved into a fight. But if you have crafters, I suggest you spend some time on the internet because there are a bazillion ideas out there.

* Check out local free events in your area! The big home improvement stores have free workshops for kids.
One  of the major craft stores has free kids classes, and another has them for half price with the coupon available on their website. I mentioned the library reading program but there are other reading programs like This one from Barnes and Noble, This one from Think Stretch, and This one from Scholastic where kids can read for the world record! Visit your city's official website and see what they have planned for local parks, zoos, museums and other local attractions.

* If you are looking for some things at home to just burn off bursts of energy, I recommend a mini trampoline. We couldn't live without ours. We bought it locally off a classified site for 15$ and there isn't a day that goes by that my kids don't use it.  I have the little ones jump on it while they try and count to 100, I have the big ones jump on it and listen to their ipods. It gets used in all the obstacle courses that they make. I think we need another one. :)

* Lastly, put your kids to work in the kitchen, I mean.... Let your kids help in the kitchen. Teach them how to make macaroni and cheese or pancakes. Let them experiment with recipes that they think they might want to try. This will end up being one of the greatest things you ever teach your kids. It will help you both out.

7 Easy Ways to Eat Healthier This Week

How are you doing on your New Year's Resolutions?  Have you burst into a ball of flame yet? Have you turned into Cindy Crawford?  Me Neither, but that is mostly because I didn't actually make any New Year's Resolutions - that's one way to be wildly successful, isn't it?!

The way I feel about things, is that living a healthy life takes life changes. Things that you do forever and ever, evermore, and not just for 30 days or until you reach a goal weight or until you stumble across that sleeve of stale Oreos in the back of the pantry.

In my life, I try and make the best choices that I can in the moment. That means Meal Planning when I can (because I know that makes me successful). Prepping food and snacks "before" instead of saying that I will get to it later. And making the little things count - and not giving up the whole show when something doesn't go right.

Maybe this week - Try Baking with Some Healthy Substitutions.  It is much easier than you think, and you don't have to go all out - You can cut the sugar in half, or substitute half the flour for a whole grain flour. You don't have to give up chocolate chip cookies and only eat carob. You don't even have to be so brave as to add or cut half, do half or a half. One little step in the right direction, is Still in the right direction.

Try an in-season fruit or vegetable that you’ve never had. If you like summer stone fruits like peaches and plums, you’ll probably love persimmons, too. Have you eaten fresh cranberries, or tried a new citrus fruit - what about artichokes? Eating in Season not only is so much better for you, but foods taste better when they are fresher and they cost quite a bit less.

Stuck in a Rut with Pasta or Rice - Eat Well Utah - has some amazing information and recipes on cooking with whole grains. Use quinoa instead of rice, add barley or groats to your menu. What about making some veggie "noodles" with zucchini or rocking it old school with spaghetti squash!

Make-Over a Comfort Food - Instead of frying chicken, bread it and bake it in the oven. Try a creamy macaroni and cheese recipe, you can find recipes that are for beginning healthy eaters all the way to recipes that use cauliflower to make the "cheese" sauce. Use a substitution that is better for you than heavy cream to thicken a soup, use something besides mayonnaise to make a salad creamy.

Choose Your Beverages Wisely -  One of the best things that we can all do for our bodies is to Stop drinking soda.  Choose to drink more water, eat whole fruit instead of drinking juices, make low-fat and skim milk part of your healthy habits.

Change Up Your Breakfast - Start your day by making a choice to take better care of yourself.  Start your day with a whole grain - or how about adding some veggies to your breakfast.  If you aren't someone who regularly eats breakfast, start a new habit that will make you feel great. Lots of us feel like we don't have time to make a big healthy meal in the morning, and that makes weekends great for preparing freezer breakfast burritos or sandwiches to put in the freezer. You can pop something in the microwave and have breakfast made in less time than it takes to brush your teeth.

Choose Fruit - When those late night snack cravings happen, Choose Fruit. When you get that afternoon slump or those terrible 10am "how can it NOT be lunch yet?!" feelings. Choose a piece of fruit.

Try just one way to be healthier this week, or try each time once. Try something else that you have had on your list of things you want to do - Keep being brave, keep moving forward!

My Favorite Foods to Always Have on Hand

I have a few foods that I always try and make sure I have in my pantry. I thought I would share some of them with you, because I ran out of one the other day. Joseph and I were shopping at Costco and he asked, do we have peanut butter. I replied that of course we had peanut butter and so we didn't get any.  But last week, I used up the last of the jar of peanut butter and went to the pantry to get a new one....  and I couldn't find one.  I went downstairs into storage to get a jar, there wasn't one there either. Not to be deterred, I went back upstairs and began to search the pantry for peanut butter, I just couldn't imagine that I had actually let us run out of my go-to ingredient. But no, there was no peanut butter. 

I got me thinking, I need to clean up the mess that is my pantry, so I can actually find things, and I needed to share with you my favorite foods to always have on hand. 

Peanut Butter -  You bet we eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches around here. But peanut butter is the main ingredient in my favorite Thai peanut noodles.  It is my go-to pantry meal, everyone in my family eats it and it isn't spaghetti, so I can serve it the same that I serve spaghetti (WAHAHA evil laugh)  To make this ingredient as healthy as possible. check your label for added sugar. Ideally your peanut butter should have peanuts and a little bit of salt. 

Brown Rice -  We love rice at our house. Some people are much bigger fans of white rice than brown rice, but we are trying to slowly make the transition to just eating brown rice. We aren't there yet.  I love rice because it goes into and with nearly everything. You can add it to soups, casseroles, skillet meals. You can cook it and saute up some veggies and have a delicious stir-fry. And my family finds rice very non-threatening. When I say that dinner is chicken and rice. I have a sure hit on my hands, no matter the form that I have made it in. 

Quinoa -  I wasn't that big of a couscous fan until I began toasting it. That changed everything for me. I know that a lot of people use it as a swap for rice or grains, but it is too expensive for me to do that. When I make quinoa, I always use it as my protein.  That makes some quinoa and frozen veggies an amazing for you dinner, packed with nutrition and very filling. 

Lentils - these are another one of my favorite cheap and quick proteins.  I love beans, but cooking them from dry honestly takes more time that I have 90% of the time.  Lentils only take 20-30 minutes and since they don't look or taste like beans, the bean haters at my house eat them. 

Pasta and Jar Sauce -  This is one of my dinner emergency kits. My kids love noodles and white sauce, and they love spaghetti, so on those nights when practice runs late or I forgot to get food out of the freezer, this is our backup plan. We have found a few prepared sauces that we really like and I feel good about eating and feeding my family. And a jar of sauce and a package of pasta can feed a family for less than 3.00$. It can feed me entire family for less than 6$. 

This is a wonderful list from Food $ense that has quite a few pantry foods that are great to have on hand.  

And they have put together a list of what you can eat and make with those foods you have on hand.  Enjoy!!

Easy Wellness Tips for a Busy Life

I am the guiltiest person in the world of saying, " I am just too busy to ___" (insert work-out / activity here)  I'll be honest, I don't really enjoy it, and it is pretty much the last thing that I want to do with my free time.

But I am trying to change that. I remind myself that I feel So Much Better when I am being active.

Every little bit does count, and the more activity you can get into your life, the more you will be able to do. Even when you feel your busiest, take a few minutes to do something for yourself.

Something as simple as parking the car far away from the entrance and taking a few minutes to yourself as you walk into work, try each day to be more active than you were the day before. You'll enjoy how strong, happy and energized it makes you feel.

Here's some Tips -

Try Out Interval Training.
Nobody feels like they have extra time in the day, so make those active minutes count. You only need 20 minutes to get a great workout with short bursts of high intensity exercise. If you don't feel like you can spend a lot of time, spend just a little bit of time and work extra hard. The energy boost, better sleep and increased productivity will have you thinking that 20 minutes is totally worth it.

Desk - ercise.
Just because you are sitting doesn't mean you just have to Sit there. You can get all kinds of movements and stretches in while you are waiting for email replies, files to download and thinking deeply about work projects. You might feel a bit self conscious at first, but getting your body moving can beat that 2pm run to the snack machine for increased energy.

Workout Your Body With Your Body.
For me, getting out of bed early can be a monumental task, if I add to it, getting to the gym, that a mountain that I just can't climb first thing. So at home workouts using my body weight are good for me. A few sit-ups, crunches and lunges means I can still do them in my pajamas in my bedroom. Starting my morning with a 15 minute yoga workout is a great option for me, when having to drag myself to the gym was an easy excuse not to do anything.

Walk it Out.
From driving to work, sitting at our desks, commuting home, sitting down for dinner and relaxing on the couch, we spend an awful lot of our day sitting. Some studies say 70% of our day! Take every chance you can get to stand up and walk around. Take the stairs at the office, park a little farther away. Taking advantage of every opportunity to move a little bit can really have those steps adding up.

Turn Your TV time into Active Time.
I know I don't want to miss out on the newest episodes of my favorite shows. When faced with the option of indulging in a few episodes of your favorite show or heading out to the gym, it takes some serious will power for the gym to win. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you are watching at home, do some body weight exercises or stretching while you are watching your show. If you attend the gym, most machines have TVs right in front of them or you can always watch on your phone.

Take Advantage of Full-Body Moves.
If you don't have all day (and who does) to be working out individual parts of your body, go for the whole body moves and get it all done at once. Swimming is a great exercise for this, as well as yoga and Pilates.

Reduce Stress Immediately.
Stress in our lives leads a lot of us to deal with it in unhealthy ways. Try and reduce the stress in your life, and manage the stress that is inevitable. Learn some breathing exercises, try some gentle stretching or take a calming walk around the block.

Stay Hydrated.
One of the best tips to getting well and staying feeling that way, is to be sure that you are getting enough water. Most of us spend a lot of our days drinking our calories and filling up on sugary drinks, fancy coffee and avoiding water. But getting plenty of water can help you recognize real hunger, feel energized and stay focused. Start by replacing some of the other things you are drinking with good old water.

Meditate.
You don't have to sit on a the floor with your legs crossed but taking a few minutes each day to gather your thoughts and focus on yourself can make for more productive days and better sleep at night. Use this time to connect with your life goals, your daily goals and give yourself some love for all the positive changes that you are making in your life.

Turn off  the Technology.
I have had to do this one myself and it has been a struggle. The constant pop-ups and notifications had me checking my phone every few minutes and spending scrolling though other people's lives and neglecting my own. Examine your own use of phones, tablets and laptops and set limits for yourself. Is being connecting causing you to disconnect to your life and the people around you?

Easy Nutrition Tips for a Busy Life

There probably isn't a single one of us that doesn't feel busy. That doesn't feel at times, like we are too busy or too tired from being busy to make the healthy choice and instead we opt for the easy choice.

We've all been there, chances are 99% of us will be there again at some point. That's okay, but if we make some of the easy nutrition choices when we can, it doesn't make the easy unhealthy choices our lifestyle.

And having good food in our body, makes our bodies feel better and we are able to get more done and feel better about it.

Don't worry about making ALL healthy choices at once, try adding one or two a week.

Make friends with your Microwave -
If you are cooking in the microwave you aren't limited to a scary frozen dinner. We like to scramble eggs,  and make oatmeal. You can also cook Salmon or Tilapia. I always defrost the chicken breasts that I forgot to get out. It is also easy to cook the rice and veggies that I want to serve with that chicken.  Microwaves do a lot more now than just heat up items that you buy on the frozen food aisle.

Make Simple Meals - 
Peanut butter and Jelly might spring to your mind, but there’s an million easy and delicious combinations out there. There in a whole internet full of three-ingredient-meals. Make a baked potato or stuff sweet potatoes, breakfast for dinner, or chili, (or almost any soup!)

Be Sure You are Getting Your Nutrients -
If you are filling your body with empty calories with no nutrition, you aren't going to feel your best. For example, not eating enough iron can cause fatigue and even depression. Don't assume that morning multivitamin is going to make up for all poor choices that you might make in a day. Get your iron naturally by eating oatmeal, lentils, and lean meats. You can also get iron from spinach, so go ahead and add a handful of the green stuff to your morning smoothie. Whole foods are the very best way to nourish our bodies.

Turn to Soups and Stews - 
I love making soups, you can make them ahead of time and put them in a slow cooker, or you can open a few cans and throw them together at the last minute. You can pack them full of veggies and beans. And they can be on the healthiest comfort foods out there, who doesn't enjoy sitting down to a hot bowl of soup?  You can make a large batch and freeze servings for later, you can arrange a soup swap with friends. They make great lunches to take to work.  They can be very inexpensive with lots of added veggies, beans and potatoes. And don't worry that you'll get bored, there are a zillion healthy soup recipes on the web. Try a new one this week.

Like a Scout, Be Prepared - 
Choose a time that works best for you, grab a helper (or two) and meal prep for the week. Chop  your fresh veggies, cook large batches of brown rice, roast a chicken or put enough chicken breasts for several meals in the slow cooker and then separate and store in portions that you need. Making a meal plan that uses ingredients multiple times and cooking several things at once while you are in the kitchen can make for easy weeknight assembly at dinner time.

Be A Smooth Operator - 
Smoothies are a great way to fill up on tons of nutrients with minimal effort. To make them quick and even easier, We prepare smoothie bags at our house. Add to a ziploc bag berries, bananas, sliced fruit and your spinach or other greens. When you're ready to make a smoothie, just take a bag out of the freezer and add your water or yogurt and you're ready to blend. This is also a fantastic way to use up that last bit of fruit that is getting a bit too ripe, but isn't going to be eaten - save it for a smoothie.

Eat Mindfully - 
At one time in my life, I kept a food journal, and I was shocked to realize all the food that I had eaten and hadn't even realized it. I hadn't enjoyed it, I had just consumed it. Sitting down and enjoying a meal or even a snack mindfully helps you to feel more satisfied, to relax and enjoy the food and the experience and take time from our busy lives to reconnect with the people around us.

Embrace your Slow Cooker - 
It seems like there isn't anything that this multi-tool can't do, from meats, soups, breads and oatmeal, all you do is add the ingredients and give it some time to work its magic. Talk about being a kitchen  dream come true.

Spice up Your Life - 
Spices do more than just make things taste amazing. One of the hidden benefits of cooking with amazing spices is that you use less of the other (not so good for you) things that make food taste amazing... like butter, fats and salt. Instead of cheese on your eggs, try some Tabasco, instead of mayonnaise on that sandwich, try some mustard or a dash of oil and vinegar. Experiment with new seasonings and see what new flavors you can fall in love with.

Let Someone Else do the Shopping -
Almost as long as we have been married Joseph has been our grocery shopper. I am very lucky. But now, the rest of you can be that lucky. Most huge grocery stores and lots of the the smaller ones are now offering free grocery pick up. Making a menu plan, creating a shopping list and letting someone else do all that wandering through the store can save you a ton of money.  It also can free up your time to do things that you really enjoy - unless you really enjoy grocery shopping.

Add Veggies to Absolutely Everything -
Adding some salsa to your scrambled eggs or spinach in a smoothie is a pretty common thing. But what are other ways that you can pack more veggies into your day. Add them to your omelet, or pile them onto your sandwiches. Make them your snacks and you can even add them to dessert. This is one tip all nutritionists agree one, Eat More Veggies.

When Kids Eat Healthy, So Do Parents

I would be willing to bet that almost every parent has uttered the phrase, " I am not running a restaurant" - I would be willing to bet that even the parents who actually run a restaurant, do not feed their kids that way.  It is impossible to run a family and cook each person a different breakfast, a different lunch and a different dinner. 

" You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit" probably originated at the dinner table. 

But studies are finding that children who eat better have parents who eat better.  On this journey to love a healthier life, I have been the one lagging behind, I am the one with doubts, the one with weird food hang-ups and the one who resists change the most. It is probably because I have had my bad habits the longest. 

Our kids are open to trying new things, they are brave and adventurous and if we didn't put all our anxiety on them, they'd lead us the way into healthy lifestyles.  Kids love to play, when did we as adults stop playing? When I take my kids to the farmer's market, they want to discover everything, they want to feel it and smell it and taste it. I am the one thinking, " I have heard that ____ is really bad / strange / yucky" 

Not only are our children great examples to us, but they inspire us.  I want my children to leave long lives, full of health that allows them to be anything they want to be.  By choosing to provide them food that is unhealthy, I am not only depriving their bodies of nutrition that they need, but I am planting the seeds for bad habits that will last a lifetime. 

I struggle still in my quest to be a healthier person. I struggle with being active and having a piece for fruit instead of an ice cream. But I am motivated for my children. There are lots of things I won't do for myself, but I will do for my children. These choices aren't easy ones, and I am certainly not always perfect, but the people that I am doing it for are the most important people in the world and they are helping me to be a better person for myself and them. 

10 Healthy Tips Almost Everyone Can Agree On

Can you believe that I just typed "Everyone Can Agree On" and "Healthy" in the same blog title. 

I actually can't think of too many things that more people seem to disagree on (and feel really strongly about) than food and nutrition. 

There is so much confusing information out there, so many studies, big ones and small ones, and most of them seem to completely disagree with each other. 

So what are you suppose to believe, even people with the very best intentions to make healthy lifestyle changes can hardly know where to turn with arguments coming from all sides. 

Nothing is true 100% of the time. - and nothing is perfect for every single body, body type, situation and budget, But these tips are pretty accurate most of the time, for most body types, most situations and most budgets. 

Mostly, the Most. 

* Start Your Day With Breakfast

Eating is much better for you than not eating. It's that simple. 

 * Eat Less Fast Food

The portions, the fat, the salt, the chemicals, the eating on the run. Nobody could argue it was good for us - we should do it less. 

* Eat Real Food

This one is a compromise for almost all of us. Yes! you can grow every single thing you put into your mouth yourself, but most of us don't do that. Buy things that are as "real" as you can get and read your labels. And then make the decision for yourself and your family, "what is the best choice that I can make here" - do that, and you'll be doing just fine. 

* Listen To Your Body

We all start out as babies, eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are full. Along the way, we get really confused about when, why and how much we are eating. Get back to listening to your body. Learn to read your own cues, are you thirsty and not hungry, are you bored, are you eating because you just need something to do with your hands? Listen to your body tell you what it needs. You'll be surprised at how smart you already are. 

* Eat More Vegetables

This one is about as 100% as we are going to get. There isn't anyone that doesn't think you should be eating your veggies - Including your mom!  Follow this pattern : Fresh, Frozen, Canned - any veggies are better than no veggies. 

* Drink Water

There isn't a single thing that is better for you to hydrate with than water. Sports Drinks, soda companies, energy drink makers - they're all trying to sell you something that you don't need. Your body needs water, it doesn't "need" any of those other things. 

* Don't Skip Meals

There are a lot of different reasons behind this one, Metabolism effects, binge eating later, being hungry messes with your brain .. and on and on.  But it all boils down to the fact that our bodies need fuel to run. Fuel your body the best way that you can - and you'll be just fine. 

* Snack If You Need To 

This could be a whole argument all on its own, but it just comes down to the truth that eating healthy food is better than not eating.  Joseph gets to work early in the morning, so he has breakfast before 7am, that makes him hungry for lunch around at 11 (and really hungry by 12) - he gets the 3:00 slump and isn't home from work until 6:30 - From 11:00 to 6:30 is a really long time if you are Hungry.  Kids who come home from school are in exactly the same situation, eating something healthy is always always better than not eating at all. 

* Avoid Soda

Sugar, I don't think I need to say more. 

* It is Okay Not to Eat Perfectly

Being healthy is a journey, it is a process and it changes as much year to year as it does daily. Every single body, and every lifestyle and every situation have different needs.  Maybe you are a man who works long hours at a very physically demanding job, perhaps you are a mom with young kids and running on no sleep, hormones, activity levels, budgets and time - they all have an effect on what we can and do put in our bodies. 

Don't beat yourself up because you aren't Perfect - perfect according to who, to what standards, in what situation. Make the very best decision that you can in that moment and keep on making that best decision in that moment that you can. 

Those best decisions still aren't going to add up to a perfect way to eat, because that doesn't exist (and people who are telling you it does aren't being truthful) so be kind to yourself, you are here and that means you want to be healthier and choice by choice you'll be moving in that direction. 

Little Changes to Make Your Pantry Amazing

Wouldn't it be nice to have a dream pantry?  Perhaps one with lots of walk in space and cute little boxes and tubs and containers with chalkboard labels.  

I am pretty sure that I would eat really healthy and that the meals would almost prepare themselves if my pantry was really beautiful. 

Sadly, it is not. That means I have to make the very best of what I have. Here are some ideas and tips that have worked for me, I want to share them with you. 

Put Things Within Reach: I have cabinet climbers are my house, and it drives me crazy. I keep all the snacks, on the lowest shelf so the small kids can help themselves. I put all the things that my teens can use to make quick meals at their height. I put the heavy things like appliances on the floor and lighter things like foil pans bags of chips (that I don't want them to snack on every second) on the very top. 

Go Vertical: I started using the space on the back of my pantry door and it have been life changing. I put all my spices up on the back of the door with a basket from the dollar store and some double sided tape. I put up hooks to hang lunch boxes and plastic bags. There is a lot of wasted space between that closed door and the shelves, use it. 

Trash the Boxes: Newsflash, that giant cardboard box that is holding your bag of cheerios is doing zero to keep them fresh. Throw that huge box away and get a clip for the bag. You can also put granola bars in baskets along with other snacks - I put my homemade oatmeal packets in a container as well as bags of trail mix. Then I put them down low so my kids can see what they have - not having boxes also eliminates the, "I want what I see on TV" problem. 

Use Your Floor Space: But be sure and use it wisely. Never put your food on the floor. Use that space for appliances, paper towels, and kitchen items that you don't use frequently. 

Put Like with Like:  This sounds like common sense, but all too often when we finally get home from the grocery store, get all the bags carried into the house and unloaded, a lot of times the cans and items just get shoved anywhere there is shelf space. This leads to me buying 3 cans of coconut milk when I already had some just because it was shoved over by the chocolate chips.  This takes a while to train your family where things go, but it is worth it. 

I have all my baking goods on one side of a shelf, all my cans of fruit on the other side of the shelf. I stack my beans all together and all my tomato sauce, puree and diced all together.  It makes things lots easier to find and it puts thing front and center when I am standing there with the door open thinking, "what should I make for dinner" 

 

Nothing works for everyone, but some of these ideas might spark something that will work for your family. Finding a system that helps you cook at home and has your family eating more healthy food is worth trying a few new things.

8 Reasons Why You Should Go on a Walk Right Now

Walking can do wonders. Walking is almost always accessible, it doesn't cost anything to do, there isn't even a specific time you can and can't do it. You can do it alone or with a friend, you can take the whole family or just the family pet.  Here are some reasons that you might not know yet, why you should go on a walk right now. 

1. Walking Just Make You Happier - According to a study done by researchers at Duke University, being active outdoors was proven to boost your mood. They recommend at least 30 minutes - three times a week for happiest results, but I know I have felt the effects of walking outside on my mood, and I often recommend it to my kids, "just take a walk" 

2. Walking Reduces Stress - Anytime your body is active and moving it increases the flow of the hormone cortisol through your body. This helps your whole body manage stress better, not just your brain. 

3. Walking Gives Your Brain a Rest - Or in other words, walking can clear your mind. This is especially true if you can find a place to walk that is more natural than an urban area - like a park or a hiking trail or perhaps a rural road. You don't have to be a vigilant and you can just enjoy the scenery and let your mind turn "off" for a bit. 

4. Walking Makes You More Creative - this reason goes hand in hand with letting your brain take a rest. When you let your brain take a break and it doesn't have so many worries or thoughts racing around you are open for creative thoughts, for new ideas and solutions to problems that you may not have thought of before. 

5. Walking Improves Concentration - A study was done on children who walk to school and adults who walk to work and it was found that both felt like they were better able to concentrate. While that is medically official. It stands to reason that all that fresh air, movement and brain resting can get you ready to focus use your brain better when it comes time. 

6. Walking Makes Your Bones Stronger - Any type of movement is great for your body, but exercise that you can sustain long term and do regularly will benefit your overall health the most long term. This means stronger bones, a stronger heart and less risk of chronic diseases. Start now and keep it up for the best results to your overall short term AND long term health. 

7. Walking is FREE - You don't even need a special kind of shoes to start walking, just head out your door and you've already begun. 

8. Walking Builds Relationships - This can be with the person that you are walking with, the people that you meet in your neighborhood or community or even people that you meet on the trail. I know that walking for Joseph and I just enables us to connect with each other without the business of our home around us. Even when we take the kids, they run up ahead or fall asleep in the wagon and it ends up being just the two of us talking.  When I walk with my teenage son, being able to just walk and talk side by side means we can talk about complex issues that are more awkward to talk about when you are looking at each other. Taking that time to walk with a child can help connect them to the world around them  -- and even just walking alone, you can connect with yourself, with that place in you that a lot of times get drowned out by the noisy world around us all. 

So many reasons, all pretty good ones too,  How about we both get off our screens and go take a walk. 

How To Become a Meal-Prepping Genius

The truth of the whole Meal-Prepping matter is that you both love it and hate it at the same time. 

Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen chopping and washing and cooking and storing, but on the other hand - nobody wants to spend every single night battling the dinner time demon with nothing started, and no idea what you are going to do. 

I have just spent 3 times as long looking for a picture to put with this post than I did writing it. All the picture of people in the kitchen and preparing meals are so ridiculously fake and staged, I don't dare share them with you, and a few were people in screaming kitchen disasters and while they were funny, I didn't want to scare you away. 

But let's get on with it ...  I meal-prep for the same reason that I meal plan, because it saves me money, and then it saves me time, and I would much rather spend my money and spend my time on stuff that I enjoy and not stuff that I "have to" do. 

You probably aren't going to be amazing at it the first time, probably not the second time either. But you'll find your groove, You'll find what works for you! 

Currently, our house runs like this - 

• We get the store ads in the mail on Tuesday and Wed,  
• I make a meal plan and a corresponding grocery list on Thursday (hopefully, Sometimes I don't get it done until Friday).  
• Joseph does all the grocery shopping early on Saturday morning. (This works for us because he is a no-nonsense shopper, he's fast, he doesn't have to take kids and our local store has A LOT of Saturday morning special sales - and they are jammed packed and way early *I Hate That!)
• When he gets home from the store, I do all the food prep, cooking, and lunch making for the week. I also prepare as much as I can for the upcoming dinners during the week. 

Yes! that doesn't sound like a lot of work and confusion and it usually doesn't run as smoothly as I would like it to - but it is something that our family HAS to do. 

This plan takes advantage of all the major ways that I have found to save money on a grocery bill. 

1. Plan your meals 

2. Shop the ads

3. Don't waste food

** So although I can think of quite a few ways that I would rather spend a good chunk of my Saturday, I remind myself that meal-prepping is worth every second that I spend in the kitchen - times 5. 

So the first thing you need to do is -  Plan Your Menu. You can't prepare for meals that you don't know what they are. Meal planning is hard to do, at least a lot of people think so. How do I know... because there are 100's of people making money doing it for you.  Save yourself some cash and do it yourself. I have bought the meal plans and you never use them. They suggest things your family won't like, you won't feel like eating this or that, or it just doesn't fit your style. Pay yourself to do it, that is honestly how I started motivating myself to do it. I certainly don't love it, but I do it because I know that it helps. It will get easier, I promise.  There is lots of help at Food Sense and on my blog. 

The second part of the plan is to Shop the Ads, buy things that are in season, but them on sale and keep track of how much things cost "normally" so you aren't fooled by big yellow signs and the store claiming that the prices are reduced. I used to keep photos on my phone of how much things cost, because I couldn't remember for the life of me and I hated feeling like the stores were tricking me into buying things that weren't really going to cost that much less. 

Don't Waste Food is my last bit of advice. This can include lots of different ways - I am a huge fan of cooking once and eating "twice".  It also can include storing things in the proper way so that they don't go bad in your fridge. In my family, it also involves putting food into a form where it can be eaten. - that sounds silly doesn't it! But I swear to you, I can buy cantaloupe, which everyone in my family LOVES and it I don't cut up that melon and put it in the fridge in a tupperware, that melon will sit on the counter until it goes back. But once I cut it up, it won't last a day. That may be a step for you family, to put food in a form that it can be eaten. - that is why there is a whole world of pre-cut bagged veggies and single serving packages of crackers and cheese. 

When I post photos of myself meal-prepping on social media, I get lots of comments on "teach me how" "you need to show us how to do this" - lots of websites make millions of dollars trying to do it for you, having you subscribe to their sites and making it all sound like there is a super secret way to do it that is going to make it easy and pain-free. 

The absolute truth is that you'll get good at it by doing it. - Not a single one of us would expect our kids to be able to play soccer by reading about soccer on the internet, watching soccer videos or having someone tell them how they play soccer.  You learn by doing it.  You just have to do it. You'll not be great at it the first time, it will take a bit before you find what works for you. and after you find that, you'll probably still have to adjust it. But doing it, is what makes you a genius at it. Doing it and not giving up and keeping on trying, that is what makes it look so effortless and easy.  

* and now that you've read this, and I just told you that you won't get any better at it by reading this, thanks for letting me be so awkward and strange. I love you all. 

Health Advice I am Giving You Permission to Ignore

As I have been learning from my Food $ense classes and experiences, I have learned so much about nutrition, I still have a lot to figure out, but I feel like I have a good handle on what is true and what is not true.

That has given me a new desire to focus a little more on getting my body active and moving, I am learning there too.

It is shocking how much misinformation and just lies there are out there. If you have believed any of these, don't feel alone - I have believed them ALL. But that is the beauty of making changes, you learn and then you do better. We make better choices together.

And I give you my special official permission to no longer believe any of these myths!

1. Carbs are making you fat

While it’s true that most carbs are high in calories, they’re not the real problem—overeating is! You can still lose weight even if you eat carbs. The key to being healthy and being at a weight that is good for you is controlling calorie intake.

So instead of eliminating carbs from your diet, reduce simple carbs and switch to whole grains!


2. Exercising more is better

You don’t have to run on the treadmill for two hours to be fit. Or spend hours in the gym, or give up sitting down to watch and enjoy a movie.

You can get the benefits of a one-hour workout in 20 or 30 minutes. You just need to reduce the rest period between sets, do full body exercises and avoid distractions while exercising.

Don’t wait until you have time for a one-hour workout to start exercising—do short workouts when you have time.

3. Eating at night will make you fat

There are some many diets out there that recommend eating at certain times. But health is determined by how much and what you eat, not when you eat.

Yes, there are studies showing that late night eaters gain more weight. But this is based on the fact that late night eaters binge eat and munch on unhealthy foods. 

4. You’ll burn more calories if you exercise in the ______

There are all sorts of claims on the best time to exercises—morning, evening, afternoon. But exercising at a particular time won’t help you burn more calories.

But ultimately, exercising consistently and progressing is what will transform your body. Set your workout time based on your schedule, not on how much fat you’ll burn.

5. A certain type of food is evil. 

In recent years, carbs have been blamed for weight gain, while proteins and fats are considered the key to weight loss. Well no specific type of food is all good or all bad. You need Carbs, Fats and Protein in all your meals everyday. Visit ChooseMyPlate.gov to see how best to balance your diet and make sure you are getting some of everything your body needs to be the best.


6. Strength training makes women bulky or is just for men.

Some women avoid strength training because they’re afraid it’ll make them look too muscular. But it can be more difficult for women to be muscular due to low testosterone levels. For a woman to be extremely muscular she has to do intense strength training or use drugs.

Strength training is important for men as it is for women. It’ll increase your bone density, enhance fat loss, boost metabolism and much more.

7. Eating frequently will boost your metabolism

First off, food has a very small effect on your metabolism. The thermic effect of food accounts for only 10 percent of the total calories you burn in a day.

Secondly, the body release energy depending on the amount of food consumed not how frequently you eat.

The key to boosting your metabolism is to increase lean muscles mass. Having a healthy body just runs better - that will increase your metabolism.

8. No pain, no gain

While it’s okay to push yourself to do a few extra reps, don’t train until you feel pain. While it might be "a Pain" to get up and make those habits or changes, You should NOT feel pain when you are being active.

********

For the most part, being healthy and fit is common sense. Avoid advice that goes against eating unprocessed foods and exercising regularly, and do what feels good and challenging for your body.

... For When You See Me at The Drive-Thru

Years ago when I was asked to start this Food $ense journey and share it all with you. I had so many emotions. I was scared and excited and I was incredibly motivated to change my life.

In the first three months, I attempted to give up any grain that wasn't whole, sugar entirely, and in a whole separate universe of giving stuff up, I was going to give up my Coke.  - all in three months. 

I was obviously going to sprint my way to good heath, and hopefully get it done in under... oh say, 6 months at the max, at least for sure before Christmas and the holidays rolled around. 

It was a new world, I had all the tools, I had all the support, I even really really wanted to succeed. 

..... and then....  life just got so normal. 

And while I had made great changes, and I was moving forward in my journey. I began to compare myself to every food blogger, every nutrition expert, every before and after photo. And there wasn't a single time that I didn't come up short. 

It suddenly didn't matter that I had switched to a fresh bread made by my local bakery. I was still eating bread. It didn't matter that I was having more meals with my family. I wasn't having ALL meals with my family and some members were still pretty grumpy about it. I felt better, but I certainly didn't look any better. Where were my victories that I could post on Facebook about. 

How were people supposed to know all the changes that I was trying to make if I didn't look completely different?

I started to feel so self-conscious in my own skin. I analyzed every part of my life and worried constantly that it wasn't going to be enough. That I wasn't going to be enough for you. That my story and my hope to inspire you and take this journey with you would be invalid because I wasn't perfect. 

It sounds silly to type that and say, I want to be your friend and help you through this really hard journey, but since I haven't gotten it perfect 100% of the time, I can't be your friend doing it. 

Something deep inside us makes us not want to struggle, to have it be hard, to have to earn it. 

And I personally have such a hard time with there not being a Perfect 10 diet. For every person and every different body and different daily situation there are different needs - how can I know that I am doing well at this, if I don't realize where gold medal / world record is. 

And here is the answer -- To Honor the progress.  Honor All forms of Progress. 

I'm just gonna let that sink in for a bit. 

If you feel like you aren't measuring up on the scale, or with the weights or the times on the treadmill, look for other victories. Emotional, Mental, Behavioral and not just physical. Step a few steps back, maybe quite a few, so you can see the whole big picture - the great big wide - across a lifetime picture.  I bet you're doing better now than you were. If for no other reason.. that because you are HERE and you WANT to do better. 

Don't just acknowledge that progress, I want you to honor it. 

And if you see me at the drive-thru, you can be sure I'll smile and wave and not give up on myself or my goals or my family. This healthy lifestyle is a long journey and the most important part is that we don't give up and perhaps even enjoy this process that is making us so much more than we could have been.  Drive-thru's, missed days at the gym, birthday cake for breakfast and All. 

Beginner Steps to Eating Your Best

The Ultimate food trigger word right now is "Clean"

Clean Eating - everyone is doing it, the rest us think we should be doing it, some of us (me!) aren't even sure we know what it means. 

I have done some pretty scientific internet searches and I have come to the conclusion that no one can agree on what it means at all.

That leads me to believe that somebody is trying to make money off all this confusion. But that isn't the point of this post - so don't get me started. 

So, Let's drop the Clean title and let's talk about some really basic ways that we can start to eat better. If you are already doing some of these, Great! take on another one, then another.

• Get Rid of Added Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners - I don't even have to throw any crazy facts or numbers at you. We both know that sodas, packaged cookies, chemical sweeteners and basically ANY nutrition label that has "sugar" as one of the first ingredients isn't good for you.  We might still crave them, enjoy them, and really want to consume them, but it we want to start eating better, we need to cut down on them and eventually quit them entirely. 

• Read Your Food Labels - I am so guilty of not doing this. Sometimes I am in a hurry, sometimes I am lazy (it seems overwhelming and So confusing), and to be honest, sometimes, I just want to know the bad news. But if any of us hope to make changes for the better, we have got to start knowing what we are putting in our body. There are so many levels of food label reading, but for starters, just begin with the ingredients. What is IN your food. The more ingredients that you recognize and can pronounce the better. The more you know the better choices you can make. At least with starting to read labels, you can make the actual choice to put something in your body or not. 

• Think Vegetables and Fruits First - Are you feeling like a snack, got a craving for something sweet - looking for a crunchy something? Try fruits and vegetables first. Keep the ones that you really like on hand - We always try and have snap peas on hand, my kids will eat them by the handful and I really enjoy them when I am looking for that crunchy something I usually try and satisfy with chips. We also keep lots of canned fruit around. It isn't a snack that I would choose but my teenage boys eat more canned fruit that I can even know what to do with. Pears, peaches and oodles and oodles of mandarin oranges. If you haven't found something that you like yet, just keep trying new things, frozen blueberries, freeze-dried corn, there are so many ways to eat them and so many of them to eat. You're sure to find ones that you really really enjoy. 

• Balance Your Plate - Choose My Plate One of the first signals that a diet is to be avoided is that it eliminates entire food groups. Anyone telling you to completely give up Carbs or Dairy doesn't have the interest of your best health in mind. There are exceptions - that you Dr. can help you with, but most of us, most of the time, should be choosing foods from All the food groups. Keeping your diet balanced is the best way to keep your health and your body that same way - balanced. 

None of those were too scary, some might be a little bit harder than others, especially if you like an ice cold Coke as much as I do. But I am learning to drink more water and use something like a coke as a rare treat instead of beverage that I consume the most of.  

I always want to encourage us (me included) to keep making steps forward. To try and do a bit better each day, don't give up on ourselves and our families. We are absolutely worth the effort, the challenges and the rewards. 

Beginner Menu Planning Basics

It has been a really long time since I wrote about Menu Planning.  To be honest, I struggled with it for a long time and I was really disappointed in myself. I knew how much easier it made my life, dinner time ran more smoothly, our food budget was a lot lower, and we are a lot healthier. But I kept putting off doing it and the more I did that, the harder it was to get started again. 

It wasn't as bad as when I learned and began menu planning the first time, I had lots of skills and knowledge to pull from. But getting into the habit of doing it was just as hard this time around. 

So how to begin, or begin again. 

First, you need to go to Food Sense, if you don't know anything about menu planning, this is a wonderful place to start.  Lots of information on why it is such a good idea, how it can help your family, and good ways to get started. 

The next thing you need to do - and this is the most important part --  You just need to do it. 

That's really the most important part. You will need to find out what works for you and for your family. I have had my menu planning methods change a lot since I first started. Sometimes because I needed to find a way to do something better, sometimes because our schedules changed. You find what works for you. 

When I first started, I had an old spiral notebook that my kids had used for school and so it was all bent and ripped up.  I took it to church with me on Sunday and while I was sitting waiting for the meeting to start (That's my story - not when talks got boring) I would write my menu plan.  It was as simple as listing the days of the week on one side of the page and then just filling it what I was going to make for dinner.  I would try and remember what I had in the pantry and then I would make a grocery list on the next page of things I would need. 

I tried downloading the adorable planning sheets, I thought about buying a chalkboard, I know there are people that do it on their phones or ipads or computers. Find what works for you. 

I used to do all my menu planning on Sunday, now I do it on Wednesday when the store ads come out. And because I can order my grocery pick-up on Thursday, pick it up on Friday - and then on Friday and Saturday (when Joseph can watch the little kids), I cook almost all the meals for the week, make lunches for Joseph and Jarren to take to work, and do all the cooking / recipe testing for the blog. That is a pretty big change in routine, isn't it. 

In summer, we'll be changing our routine again. We get a CSA basket that we pick up on Tuesday. That always means that dinner on Tuesday is a sandwich and veggies because I spent the whole night washing, chopping and prepping the fruits and vegetables for the upcoming week. Then I go through the ads on Wednesday and plan the rest of the week - using the bulk of our groceries from the CSA box.   * you might have a very similar experience if you are going to be doing a lot of shopping at the farmer's market. It changes the whole routine from plan first then shop to shop and then plan. 

I have never been one to plan theme nights, but I know lots of people who do and it works for them, maybe it will work for you. Sure Taco Tuesday and Pizza Friday can be great things. But think out of the box. Maybe you love to try new recipes, but find it hard to find time to do it. What about Saturday evening, plan that to be your new recipe night. On busy practice nights, plan to have breakfast for dinner or salads / sandwiches. 

If setting limits like theme nights works for your family. I am all for it! and Themes - don't have to mean you only cook tacos on Tuesdays.  Since I have 4 boys that are quite old enough to cook for themselves, we have tried nights where they are each in charge of a night, they select a recipe they would like to learn how to make and we make it together. They get to add the skills of making actual food and that is three nights a week that I don't have to think of something to make and I get a bonus helper in the kitchen. 

There are almost endless ideas online and probably with your friends - of what works for them. If you think it might work for you, I suggest you try it.  If you think that a new pen or notebook is going to make meal planning work for you, I think you should do that as well.

But I do know this, It doesn't work unless you do it.  You can buy all the online meal plans that other people make for you and you can subscribe to all the dinner services that you can find, but you still are going to have to find what works for you. And the only way to discover that is to do it, to begin. 

So head on over to Food Sense, get a few tips, find out why it is so important and then sit down with a scrap of paper and a pencil and begin.  You'll get better next week, you'll find your groove after a few weeks, you'll be a pro before you know it. But it all begins in the same place, by just starting.