There are many components to living a healthy life, but healthy eating and exercise are at the top of that list. So, what does it take to provide you and your family with healthy meals and regular exercise….with an already busy schedule? Here are a few tips to get you on the right track:
1. Drink water – Drinking enough water during the day will help you feel fuller at meals, clear out unwanted “junk” from your body, and can aid in weight loss. Aim to get at least 8 glasses (64oz) of water every day. Send a water bottle to school with your kids and also keep one with you throughout your day.
2. Get adequate sleep – Getting adequate sleep can be difficult with a busy schedule, but it is very important to provide proper recovery from exercise and to help manage stress and mood. It also helps keep you and your family focused throughout the day. Aim to get at least 7-8 hours of restful sleep a night.
3. Get moving – Try to get outside a few nights every week with your family. Exercise boosts calorie burn and promotes healthy bones, muscles, and hearts. Get active 30-60 minutes every day to maximize these benefits. Biking, walking, swimming, are a few ideas.
4. Prepare meals ahead of time – Grabbing fast food has become an easy way to fill up without spending much time doing it, but it is not a great option when it comes to overall health. Meal preparation is a great way to eat healthy while also saving some time during a busy day. You can control what goes into these meals, and will help cut back on eating fast food when in a hurry. You can also try batch cooking where you make a bigger batch of a meal, separate into smaller containers, and freeze. They are easy to grab and prepare in a pinch! Chili, casseroles, taco meat, and soups are great to try with this.
5. Spend time with healthy people – The people you spend the most time with have a large impact on your habits. Being around people with healthy habits will have a positive impact on your own personal habits. Along the same lines, your children learn from the examples you set for them. The habits they form now are habits they will have as they grow up. Make time to sit down and have meals together, engage in family activities, and involve your children in healthy living practices.
There are many pieces that go into living a healthy lifestyle and it is important for us to practice improving each one of them. Keep in mind that simple, small changes can lead to large benefits in the end! Focusing on lifestyle changes and improvements is key to success long term. If you would like more help improving you and your family’s nutrition, activity, and wellness, contact us today! -Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
It’s hard to believe school will be starting again in about a month! It can be a difficult transition for kids on many different levels. One of the hardest aspects of going back to school is getting up in the morning. With young kids getting out of bed can be hard and getting them into the car to get to school on time is even harder. However, just because you might be short on time it is essential that kids get a healthy and nutritious breakfast. When kids eat breakfast in the morning it is setting them up for success throughout the rest of the school day. With their little tummies full they will be able to focus on learning and have the energy to get through until lunch. Here are some simple ideas that are quick for those morning when you are running late to ensure you set your kids up for success. Getting back into the habit of a healthy breakfast is a good habit to get back to now, to help the transition to school go better!
Piece of toast with peanut butter and milk
Low-fat yogurt with some fresh or dried fruit or granola
Apple slices and peanut butter
Cheese stick and cup of fresh fruit or 100% fruit juice
Activity in the summer has challenges just like winter– we often use excuses like “we’re too busy, it’s too hot out, it’s raining, etc” to not stay active. Check out the ideas below to help you stay active in the summer and make the most of the nice weather while we have it! These ideas will help you get your 30 minutes of exercise in/day.
Swimming lessons or sports clubs are a great way for kids to get regular, scheduled physical activity.
Take in the zoo! You’ll get to explore and check out the animals, but also enjoy a nice walk. My son Corbin loves the zoo–the picture above is of him checking out the tiger. We get great activity in at the zoo!
Take a walk through the park! Many towns have bike trails or hiking trails that will keep you off the couch. Watertown has an awesome trail system–get out and use it!
Most yard work is great exercise that will burn tons of calories. Try using a push mower over a riding one for exercise!
Are you competitive? Join a softball team or go golfing. If it’s rainy outside, bowling is also a fun activity for indoors.
Sign up for a 5k race! If running isn’t your thing, you can always grab a friend and walk together.
If you don’t belong to a gym, try exercise videos at home when the weather is acting up.
Work your muscles if you’re on the lake or river! Waterskiing and tubing are great workouts.
There are always challenges to trying to exercise. But, even more, there are excuses. I have made plenty of them myself as well. You can try to come up with anything feasible, at least in your mind, not to go exercise. But I have found that once I get going, and then especially when I get done, I feel much better, and I am glad I did it! It needs to become a habit to get to this point. It can’t feel like a chore all of the time, or you will never do it. There are definitely those days when exercise feels like a chore. It is inevitable. But there are more good days than bad days. Yesterday was a good example. It was the Run Around Kampeska Half Marathon. It was delayed for an hour due to lightening, but then still rained through the majority of the race. That did not stop these people.
I am still coming back slow with the running, otherwise I would have been out there too. I was relegated to transport, water carrier, and photographer. I would rather be one of the runners! There are those other times when we have to contend with the heat.
You have to time your exercise, and go when it is cooler out. But, you also have to come up with creative ways to stay cool!
I could say Sarah was just going to help me cool off by throwing me in the lake, but I would be lying. I will never say no to her again!!! Hee Hee! But before you know it, it will be back to the cold and snow again!
You can still exercise outside, you just have to dress for it, and be more creative. Sometimes though, you just outright give up, and surrender!
One thing is for sure, it is always more enjoyable exercising with other people. It helps take your mind off things. It is still nice at times to work out on your own, but the group activities is much more fun. There are days when you just wonder why you even bother.
You can be so exhausted afterwards that you wonder why you even bothered. But, then later, when you are doing other activities, you have more energy, feel stronger, and have more endurance. Like I said, the good days still outweigh the bad days. We all want days when we feel like this:
So, go after it. If you are not exercising you are just falling back on another excuse. Make a decision, and go for it. Enjoy life to its fullest. Don’t take things for granted. I am finding out your health is not always going to be there. Control what you can, and then learn to deal what can’t be changed. You can still live your life to the fullest. Appreciate what you have when you do! Keep moving everybody!
Why Exercise Alone Might Not Lead to Weight Loss: Exercise is an integral piece to the weight-loss puzzle, but it certainly doesn’t stand alone. Eating right is just as important for weight loss as exercise alone. The best weight-loss prescription, of course, is to do both—watch what you eat and exercise regularly. These tips can help you get maximum results from your hard work and diligence.
Level of exertion: Make sure that your exercise gets results by working at your ideal level of exertion. The best way to do this is to check your pulse against your maximum heart rate. You can calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. You should have the ability to speak without gasping for air, but should work hard enough that you don’t really want to have to talk much. You will need to take in 500–1000 calories/day less than what you expend in order to lose 1–2 pounds/week.
Extra food: Avoid the tendency to eat extra food on days that you’ve exercised. Remember that all of those extra bites and spoonfuls can really add up.
Exercise routine: Doing the same exercise routine every day can lead to less energy expenditure over time, because you burn more calories when you’re first learning a routine. Interval training, such as walking fast for 2 minutes and then jogging or running for 30 seconds, is recommended to increase the number of calories burnt.
Sports drinks and supplements: Many sports drinks and bars contain nearly a meal’s worth of calories. They are more appropriate for a person who is running a marathon than for a person who is taking an aerobics class or going for a brisk walk.
Time vs intensity of workout: Rather than increasing the
length of time that you spend exercising, most experts agree that it can be
more beneficial to increase the intensity of your workout to promote weight
loss, while keeping the time spent the same or decreasing it.
If you are struggling with weight loss and need some extra help, please send
me an email or call! I would love to work with you and help you improve your
health and wellness!
This was our team yesterday doing the Kampeska Mini Triathlon. Team mates Sarah, and Paula Nurnburg. That is how we got our team name: “Burg”er Meister Meister “Bergers”, as there were 2 Reiffenbergers. It was a great time. We all got to participate, and this was the first time for us as a team. Usually we do the whole thing ourselves, but I have to not push it that much yet. We even got second place overall for teams competing!
We were a little worried at first, as the sun was out, and it was going to be hot! Paula was going to swim the 1/4 mile, Sarah would ride the bike 14 miles, and I was running the 5k.
The “Burg”er Meister was coming out of the water, and heading into the transition zone to pass off the chip timer to Sarah, the first of the Meister “Bergers”.
Then Sarah took off on her bike!
Then, I had to wait for her to ride around the lake, planning on anywhere from 45-50 minutes.
Then she came across, and it was time for the exchange between the two Meister “Bergers”! We had this down man! Then, I took off!
I actually felt pretty good on the 5k run, and it was my fastest time yet since everything has gone on for me in March. Finished in 24:30…over 4 minutes faster than the Freedom run 10 days ago! The clouds had moved in, and kept the sun away, which helped out with the heat factor immensely. It was still hot, but would have been much worse if the sun stayed out. I was smiling for the camera and giving the thumbs up coming in towards the finish!
Of course, Sarah had to come out the last 1/4 mile to run in with me, and make sure I was doing ok. I won’t be able to hide anything from her. It did feel good to have a good run again. Hopefully this keeps improving. I know for sure I will at least keep making forward progress as long as Sarah is beside me. We had a great race! And thanks Paula for helping to make up the rest of the team! The “Burg”er Meister Meister “Bergers” were a force to be reckoned with! Keep moving everybody!
