Heart Healthy Family

Making time for a heart-healthy lifestyle can seem overwhelming. But the good news is that making a few small simple lifestyle changes can lead to heart-healthy habits that require little thought or effort.

Get creative and work heart-healthy habits into your family’s life and daily schedule.

Whether you’re a single parent or married, a stay-at-home parent or working, here are ways to make more time for the whole family to be more heart healthy:

1. Identify free times for activity.

Keep track of each family member’s daily activities for one week. You’ll get a snapshot of when you might be able to get the family together for physical activity. It can also help you see which activities you can cut back on.

Pick two 30-minute and two 60-minute time slots for family activity time. Weekdays are usually better for 30-minute activities and weekends are better for 60-minute activities. Try to spread out the time slots. Here are some ideas to get your kids moving that parents can join in.

2. Make time to plan a weekly menu, go shopping and prep your meals.

Keep track of how many times you grab food on the go for one week. Once you find blocks of time when you can do a little planning, it’ll be easy to learn healthy preparation methods, fix healthy snacks and eat fewer fast and processed foods.

3. Simplify your family’s schedule.

In today’s society we’re expected to do it all. But this type of non-stop lifestyle isn’t sustainable or healthy. Try prioritizing your activities and see what you can do without so you’ll have more time for the things that matter. You can also work on ways to manage stress.

4. Take baby steps, not giant leaps.

If you’re the head of your household, making sure that all the heads and hearts in your home are healthy is a lot to handle. The key is to take baby steps. Getting heart-healthy is a journey; you don’t have to do everything at once.

5. Ask everyone in the family to do their part.

Depending on their ages, kids can help prepare healthy meals and help around the house. Treat your family like a team and encourage everyone to work together.

6. Live by example.

We all need to do our best to walk the walk. If we want our kids to eat healthy and exercise, we’ve got to model that behavior. You’re not perfect, but if you’re determined and persistent, there’s not much that can stop you.

 

See source, https://healthyforgood.heart.org/Be-well/Articles/6-Simple-Steps-for-the-Whole-Family-to-be-Heart-Healthy

Easter Egg Hunting Ideas

1. Easter bunny tracks

A full-blown Easter egg hunt guided by the Easter Bunny himself? Surely there could be nothing more adorable. The kids will love waking up on Easter morning to find that the Easter Bunny has left them a personalized note and a few bunny tracks pointing them in the direction of the hidden eggs. These cute printables make setting up the bunny track hunt a breeze.

2. Easter egg garden

For very young children, this is as cute as it comes. If they’re too little to hunt well in the yard, you can make your own Easter egg garden that “grows” plastic eggs instead. Placing candy-filled Easter egg flowers in the grass or sand will make it easy for even the littlest ones to find their treats.

3. Indoor egg hunt

If you live in a part of the country where spring hasn’t sprung yet, all hope is not lost. You can turn a cold or rainy Easter day into an adventure when you tell your kids that they’re going to hunt for all their eggs and Easter trinkets inside the house. To make the indoor egg hunt even more unique, try hiding the eggs in a trail or with clues leading to one giant Easter basket.

4. Golden egg hunt

Little mateys at that pirate-loving age will get a kick out of this specialized Easter egg hunt. When kids know there is “buried treasure” involved — like a one-of-a-kind golden egg left behind by the Easter Bunny — they’re likely to take the hunt a little more seriously. Bonus points for putting some booty (read: money) inside or attached to the golden egg.

5. Letter hunt

Learning can be fun, right? For younger kids who are just learning to spell and read, they’ll enjoy hunting for Easter eggs that each contain a letter to spell out a hidden message. Kids can work together to find the letter-filled eggs and put together the Easter message (“Some bunny loves you,” for example) to earn their Easter prize.

Other ideas at http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/954159/easter-egg-hunt-ideas-you-havent-thought-about

Happy Women’s Day. Nutrients That Are Essential for Good Health.

8th March is universally celebrated as International Women’s Day. What started as a multitude of smaller events and marches in the early 1900s is today a global celebration of the modern woman.

This day is also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. As countries across the world unite and raise a toast to the continuing social, cultural and economic achievements of women; we at NDTV Food take a quick look at the unique nutrition needs of women.

Does your body need supplements?

Our body understands food and not supplements. The best absorption of most nutrients especially iron comes from natural and real food. The best way is to give the body nourishment from a wide variety of food. According to experts, the problem with supplements is that they come in isolation, which reduces its effectiveness. Eating wholesome, unprocessed food consist of complimenting compounds thereby increasing its positive effects on the body. The bottom line is poor eating cannot be compensated by vitamin supplementation.

Generally speaking, a balanced diet is what we should all aim for. Stay away from junk foods – they not only add extra calories to your diet, they have no nutritional benefit to speak of. Here are a list of everyday nutrients that must be a part of every woman’s daily diet, as per health Practitioner, Shilpa Arora.

Continue reading at http://food.ndtv.com/health/womens-day-2017-top-6-nutrients-that-are-essential-for-good-health-1667115

Effective Snoring Remedies You Need to Know

One in 10 Americans say that snoring has hurt their relationships. Don’t be one of them.

Learn completely here: http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/wellness/g2038/how-to-stop-snoring/

You are the author of your life!

I’m just gonna leave this here…

Stop being a victim and start taking responsibility for your life. What changes can you make RIGHT NOW that will start you on a new chapter in life? Are you willing to make those changes? Most people reading this won’t. But those that do find the freedom they seek. They find the peace they so desperately search for. They find the love they’ve longed for. They find confidence they didn’t know was possible.

It’s your life, MAKE IT EPIC!
-Jhon LeBaron

View source here: http://positivelifetips.com/post/142737507902

5 REASONS TO CONSIDER FASTING

Intermittent fasting (IF) has its pros and cons, and is not right for everyone. But for some, it can help lower the risk of heart concerns, cancer risk and more. Learn about intermittent fasting, how to do it, and who should avoid it.

Intermittent fasting, or IF, refers to repeatedly going without solid food for longer periods than is typical on a daily breakfast-lunch-dinner schedule. Variations are endless. Some proponents skip breakfast; others dinner. Others fast all day every other day, every third day, once per week, or once per month. Fasting periods accelerate the clearing out of waste left by dead and damaged cells, a process known as autophagy. A failure of autophagy to keep up with accumulated cellular debris is believed by many scientists to be one of the major causes of the chronic diseases associated with aging.

Positive effects of IF suggested by animal and human studies include:

1. Decreased cardiovascular disease risk.
2. Decreased cancer risk.
3. Lower diabetes risk (at least in animals, data on humans were less clear).
4. Improved cognitive function.
5. Protection against some effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Dr. Weil does not recommend IF for teens, nor pregnant or lactating women. Some health conditions – such as severe gastrointestinal reflux disease, or GERD – are easier to manage when food intake is more regular. But getting hungry now and then is clearly a healthy thing to do as long as overall caloric intake stays high enough to maintain a healthy weight. If you do fast, be sure to drink water or other fluids to stay hydrated.

View source here: http://www.drweilblog.com/home/2016/3/2/5-reasons-to-consider-fasting.html

Just Breathe!

Here’s your daily reminder to just BREATHE!

Take the next 30 seconds and take some big breaths in and out.

Let go of everything that’s stressing you out, causing you pain and not serving you any good.

May you be filled with peace!

It’s your life, MAKE IT EPIC!
-Jhon LeBaron

View source here: http://positivelifetips.com/post/141547404412

Stretches Everyone Should Be Able to Do

Most workouts involve a mix of strength and cardio. Maybe you do a dynamic warm-up, then a total-body workout or a quick HIIT routine, and possibly a quick cool-down. Sounds nearly perfect, but here’s the thing. There are three basic components to physical fitness: strength conditioning, aerobic exercise, and flexibility. You might be working on the first two, but chances are you’re not giving that last one enough attention.

The Need-to-Know

Flexibility is obviously important for some people (looking at you, Misty Copeland and super-bendy yogis), but what benefits does flexibility have for the average person?

 

“Flexibility leads to a reduction in injury as well as increased performance,” says Karena Wu, physical therapist and clinical director of ActiveCare Physical Therapy in New York City. When you gain flexibility, “your speed might be better when it comes to sports, and strength and endurance will be the best they can be,” Wu says.

 

But it’s tough to develop flexibility—especially when you’re stuck at a desk all day. “Even if you work out every day, but there’s only a three-minute stretch at the end [of your class], that’s not enough,” says Jackie Dragone, barre director for Flex Studios in New York City. Plus, age is working against you. “You lose water content throughout the body [as you get older], and if you sit all day, the muscles will shorten up,” Wu says. Tight hamstrings and hips, anyone?

 

Luckily there is a straightforward solution. You need to spend more time stretching. And that’s where this list comes in handy.

 

How it works: Just about everyone should be able to do these seven basic stretches, which Wu and Dragone developed. Use them as an at-home test to find your own strengths and weaknesses, then focus on the areas that need it most. Ideally, do all seven every day or at least during your post-workout cool-downs.

 

Try to hold each stretch (on each side) for 30 to 60 seconds, keeping your breath steady and slow throughout. The entire routine should take 6 to 7 minutes.

The 7 Essential Stretches

View complete lists and source here: http://greatist.com/move/stretching-exercises-how-to-test-your-flexibility?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Be grateful and be happy!

Credit Carson Ellis

TWENTY-FOUR years ago this month, my wife and I married in Barcelona, Spain. Two weeks after our wedding, flush with international idealism, I had the bright idea of sharing a bit of American culture with my Spanish in-laws by cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner.

Easier said than done. Turkeys are not common in Barcelona. The local butcher shop had to order the bird from a specialty farm in France, and it came only partially plucked. Our tiny oven was too small for the turkey. No one had ever heard of cranberries.

Over dinner, my new family had many queries. Some were practical, such as, “What does this beast eat to be so filled with bread?” But others were philosophical: “Should you celebrate this holiday even if you don’t feel grateful?”

View source here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/choose-to-be-grateful-it-will-make-you-happier.html?_r=0