For the Heart of It, Life's Simple 7

You only have one heart, take care of it. 

These are the current recommendations from the American Heart Association, Life's Simple Seven, to maintain a healthy heart and lifestyle. Following these simple steps can make a huge impact on your overall health and more specifically your heart. 

• Don't smoke: If you don't smoke, perfect. If you do, make a plan to STOP. I haven't heard a health claim yet that has convinced me that smoking is good for your health in any way. #badisbad
• Maintain a healthy weight: This does not mean you need to make a goal to look like a super model or hope for a frail stick figure. This means you need to focus on a size that make YOU feel good. #saynotohollywoodsideaofpretty
• Engage in regular physical activity: Get moving! Don't be idle. If you like to shop become a mall walker and window shop. If you like to watch TV series, do it while on a treadmill. If you like the outdoors, ride a bike. If you hate to exercise, find something you do enjoy and add some activity to it. Start small and when your goal becomes easy or second nature, change it up!
• Eat a healthy diet: Keep a food journal and start to identify your problem areas. Make better choices and choose wisely but still enjoy life. 
• Manage blood pressure: Check it! Numerous pharmacy's offer free blood pressure checks. Find out your numbers. If they are in a healthy range, periodically check it (every 3 months). If they are off: go to your doctor, clean up your diet and start exercising (don't try to run a marathon, start small and simple). Keep track of your numbers and how you feel. Knowing how you physically feel will help to identify when your blood pressure may quickly change. Know your body and listen.
• Take charge of your cholesterol: Get it checked! Know your number. If it is >200 you need help. Cholesterol comes from two sources: your body naturally makes it (we need it for several body processes) and from animal products we consume. So, every time you eat dairy products, meats, cheese or anything from an animal you are eating a cholesterol food. Plant based foods do NOT contain cholesterol. So how do you lower the cholesterol in your diet? Eat less animal products and MORE fruits and vegetables.
• Keep your blood sugar at a healthy range: Simple, check it. Either check it with a home glucose monitor (2 hours after a meal) or at a well visit with your doctor (they will check your glucose level when running basic blood tests). Visit HERE for healthy blood sugar ranges and to learn about your Diabetes Report Card.

Being the Prettiest

Quick Halloween Safety Tips

Trick or Treating is always a big deal in our family. To be honest, anything in the month of October is a big deal... One way we prepare our kids for Fright Night is by having a fun family safety lesson. Here are some of the highlights from our safety lesson.

 

1. Walk, Slither or sneak on sidewalks, NOT in the streets or you could end up DEAD MEAT! Look both ways for cars and watch out for flying brooms too!

2. Plan out where your group will be haunting and stay close to an adult, you wouldn't want any ghouls to grab you.

3. Carry a flashlight to light your way! You wouldn't want to end up falling into a GRAVE!

4. Only visit homes that have the porch light lit, wouldn't want to wake anyone in the crypt.

5. Accept your spoils at the front door, going inside a stranger's house is wrong to the core. People may offer you to come into their haunted house, but without a parent things could go south. Always say Thank You for treats and No Thank You for anything else.

6. Keep your treats hidden until your parents can check your stash, or you might end up choking and paying the hospital some cash.

7. Keeping these rules will make your Fright Night safe and complete. Now, Trick-or-Treaters go home, eat some candy and get some sleep!

And most importantly, don't forget to sing!

Second verse for the Teenagers

If you don't

I don't care

I'll pull down your underwear!

* I did not create these clever little rules, they were passed down to me.
**Image created using Rhonna Designs App & BubbleFrame

I Heart Pumpkins

Fall Giveaway!

Caption this photo for a chance to win this fun shirt! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Ends 10/10 (US only).

*FYI: Lettuce Turnip the Beet = Let Us Turn Up the Beat!

Fluid Needs for the Young Athlete

Currently, the recommendations for children ages 6 to 17 is 1 hour of active play per day.  For the young athlete this recommendation is easily met each week. What becomes next important after physical activity is fluid needs. It is important to remember that children are NOT young adults and that they can dehydrate very quickly. Thirst is a poor indicator of fluid need in children because they are typically to busy to recognize the need for water.

General Rule of Thumb:

• Drink every 15 minutes during activity
• Drink even if your not thirsty
• Parents job to remind/enforce/monitor (especially younger children)

Signs your child needs more water:

• Headache
• Tired, muscle weakness/cramps
• Dry mouth
• Urine color & smell
• Weather (heat, humidity, time of day)
• Skin tone (very flush)

Daily Fluid Recommendations for an Average, Healthy Child who actively plays one hour a day:

4-8 yrs: 5 1/2 cups
9-13 yrs, girl: 9 cups
9-13 yrs, boys: 10 cups
14-18 yrs, girls: 10 cups
14-18 yrs, boy: 14 cups or 1 gallon

If your child consumes the recommended amount of fruit and vegetable servings each day, their fluid needs are between 6 to 8 cups a day. Raw fruits & vegetables have a high water content, are rich in vitamins and are low in calories.

During Activity & After
It is VERY important that a young athlete stay hydrated during physical activity (practice, games, tournaments, etc). Every 15 minutes they should gulp down water, ideally, a cup or more at a time. Once activity is over it is important that the child eat OR drink a carbohydrate rich food within 15 to 20 minutes. For example, any fresh fruit (bananas, grapes, apples, peaches, pears, oranges) and/or a sports drink.

I referred to fluid as water throughout this post. Water is the best fluid replacement, however, there may be times when it is necessary to use sports drinks. Our rule for our kids: if they are excessively sweating during activity or will be active for multiple hours, then we pull out the sports drinks.

It is NEVER appropriate to give a child an energy drinks.

Favorite Taco Seasoning

This is a family favorite! Super simple, cheap and adds a nice flavor. I make about 20X this amount and store it in a glass container next to my stove. I use it when I make tacos, chili, soups & chicken salad. If you want a little more "kick" just double the chili powder to 1T.

Enjoy!

#saltfree #spiceisnice #cleanandsimple

Weight Loss Tip No. 1

Source: Pinterest

I just love Pinterest! The internet doesn't lie, right?

#putthecookiedown #weightloss #nutritionwithnat

Did You Eat Your Veggies?

The USDA has a great interactive website called MyPlate. You can type in your personal information and get feedback specific for your lifestyle. One of the standard tables that I refer to on this site is the minimum vegetables servings for each age group. When you first glance at the daily vegetable recommendations, you might think "that's not a lot" or "I get that daily"... Sadly, THINK AGAIN!

It is very common for children to eat NO vegetables for several days at a time. When your taste buds are repeatedly stimulated with sugary foods it's really hard for vegetables to compete. Below are the daily recommendations for vegetables (individuals who exercise less than 30 minutes a day). Remember, this is the BASIC recommendation... If you are physically active eat more! 

Children: 

2-3 years: 1 cup

4-8 years: 1 1/2 cups

Teens:

Girls

9-13 years: 2 cups

14-18 years: 2 1/2 cups

Boys

9-13 years: 2 1/2 cups

14-18 years: 3 cups

Adults:

Women

19-30 years: 2 1/2 cups

31-50 years: 2 1/2 cups

51 years and older: 2 cups

Men

19-30 years: 3 cups

31-50 years: 3 cups

51 years and older: 2 1/2 cups

*Eating the minimum recommended amount of vegetables daily will not meet your daily fiber needs. 

Obesity Pop! All Natural

image source: natural news

I stumbled across this clip art the other night and found myself cracking up, before you judge my lameness understand what got me...

1. I totally relate to that mother, with what appears to be a little slobber on the side of her lip and the screaming toddler in the front of the cart.
2. I have desperately bought those ADHD Flakes, cracked them open and handed them to my screaming monster so I could finish shopping. 
3. The Obesity Pops- All Natural cracked me up!!
4. Oddly, when I go down certain aisles I think this about SO many products... simply, we have a whole lot of CRAP choices at fingers length.

Juicing 101: Carrot Limeade

Simple & Sweet, this is my favorite juicing recipe!