Friday, July 30, 2010

Healthy Popsicles?

Skip the fruit juice with all the added sugar - and make a healthier version at home.

Take your favorite fruit, berries, mangoes, watermelon - cut into chunks and puree in the blender. Add a little water if it looks too thick.  Sweeten to taste if you like.
Then pour them into store bought Popsicle moulds and freeze.

Or try just filling your moulds up with yogurt and freezing them.  Yummm.

These ones look like they have a slice of kiwi!
If you dont have popsicle moulds you can use paper cups. After you fill them cover with tin-foil and then insert a popsicle stick.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Quick Tips

To move more and boost your metabolism by keeping your muscles active throughout the day.

1. Walk when you talk - when you're on the phone, walk around, or pace back and forth.

2. Walk down the hallway to speak to a co-worker rather than emailing. Standford Research Prevention Center found that emailing rather than talking will result in a 10 pound weight gain over 10 years.

3. Lift while you watch - get yourself some weights and do arm exercises while you watch TV. Try bicep curls, tricep curls, shoulder press, shoulder fly..

4.  Fidget More - shaking your foot, bouncing your leg, tapping your fingers, doing calf raises - it all adds up and studies show that fidgeting actually burns a lot of calories.

5. Laugh more - and I mean laugh - laugh til your belly and your cheeks hurt. Belly laughing 100 times is an aerobic exercise similar to 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

-All these tips and more can be found in the Best Health Health Weight-Loss Revolution summer edition.  On stands now

Friday, July 23, 2010

want stronger legs?

try these 4 moves




Step Ups

Leg Swings







45 Degree Lung





Bridge



For more information, including how to do each exercise, click here






Thursday, July 22, 2010

Osteoporosis

The loss of bone tissue can be detrimental to your health. With weak, brittle bone tissue, bumping into a table, or tripping and falling can be life threatening.
While most people associate osteoporosis with women, its important to remember that men are susceptible too.  Women are more likely to break a hip from a fall, but men are more likely to die from complications if they do break a hip.

There are two things you can do now to help prevent the disease.
1. Getting enough vitamin D and Calcium.  Bone tissue is alive and constantly being broken down and built up depending on your blood calcium levels. Talk to you doctor about supplements
2. Exercise. Weight bearing exercise - such as weight lifting, or running because of the impact puts stress on the cells in your muscle and bones.  We know this helps build up muscle, but did you know it also helps to build up bone. The stress causes a response in your bones to get stronger, and therefore your body builds more dense bone tissue.

Exercise guidelines:
under 18 - 1hr x day
19-50+ - 1hr x 3 days a week

Women over 50 should get a  bone density test and younger women should be tested if they have 1 major risk factor, or 2 minor risk factors ( listed below)

Major:
• A family history of the disease
• Long-term use of steroids
• Loss of menstrual periods in younger women
• Having had a low-trauma fracture (a fracture that results from a fall from standing height or less—usually the wrist, arm or hip)
Minor:
• Body weight of less than 125 pounds
• Low calcium intake
• Drinking more than four cups of coffee a day
• Drinking more than two alcoholic drinks a day
• Smoking

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

this mom ran her first marathon at 43

Lee-Ann McLean from Halifax, decided to run a marathon after her 4year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and because she was frustrated by the 5 pound fluctuations on the bathroom scale.

She joined the Running Room online marathon clinic and ran the Dublin Marathon to raise money for diabetes research.

Read the whole story here.
To find a running room near your, or to sign up online go here - http://www.runningroom.com/hm/

Monday, July 19, 2010

eat at home

The average Canadian household spends about 30% of their food budget on eating out.  People who eat out more often tend to eat less-healthy foods and be heavier.
Want to try saving some money and maybe cut back on some calories? Eat at home.
besthealthmag.com suggegests keeping track of how often you eat out and how much money you are spending at restaurants and then cutting back gradually.

Interesting fact:  the rise in obesity over the past 30 years has fallen closely inline with the decline in cooking meals at home.

to check out 9 otherways to drop a few pounds or be healthier click here






{image from whig.com}

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Outdoor Workout

Now that summer is here why not get outside to do your workout?
Here is a fitness routine you can do at your local park, or when you take your kids to the playground.
So get your shoes, a light resistance band and a bottle of water and head out!

Start by jogging to the park - make sure to set an appropriate pace or start by jogging one minute, walking one minute and repeating

Once you are at the park find a bench. Do;
Dips, Step Ups, and Incline Push ups

Jog around the park for 10 minutes

Then using your resistance band do:
Rows, and Bicep Curls  then do Squats

Finish by jogging home and stretching.

-For a more detailed description - including how to do the exercises check out this link
http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/fitness/the-ultimate-outdoor-workout
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