A Season of Giving

Give Back

Doing things for others is one of the best ways to feel good. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I asked my boys to choose a charity that THEY would make a donation to during this season. Yes, I said them not me. They would earn allowance throughout the year, and they would have to set aside 10% of their allowance to go to the charity of their choice. Yes, at times, like around February,  they would mumble when they would have to do chores and knowing that a percent of their allowance would go to someone else, but I would remind them on how good they felt giving a gift to someone who didn't expect anything, ( as parents we would always match their amount at the end of the year so they could contribute a little more.)

My son, Addison always gave to the ASPCA, he loved it when it came time to donate his money, he would call the local ASPCA and ask them what they needed, then we went shopping for the animals in the shelter. On the day he delivered his gifts, the ASPCA would allow him to take a dog bone, or cookies, whatever he bought that year and allow him to go around to each cage and feed them a treat. ( *Special Note: Before you do this call the office first, some ASPCA's have restrictions on what to feed the animals.) I still get goosebumps when I remember how important and proud he felt offering these treats to the animals. It still makes me cry, I am so proud. He would then share his story with his friends and family the entire holiday season, believe me its a gift that keeps on giving long after the treats are gone. To this day, he still makes a donation and volunteers occasionally at a shelter.



As a family we always "Adopted a Family" during this time, this was set up through our town, to help other families enjoy their holiday too.  I would go to City Hall, and they would select a family for us to buy presents and food for during the Holiday season. My children and I would would head to the store and buy the things our "adopted family"  list. Usually it was things like, athletic shoes, clothes, basketball, small things like that. The parents usually asked for table cloths, pillows, bed linens, and food.

Think about others this season, if you don't have money to donate  perhaps you can use your talents or gifts in other ways. There are always ways to use your gifts for good. For example, grow a garden and donate some of the produce to a local homeless shelter. Or donate your time to build a website for a small non-profit. your children can draw Christmas Cards to give to your local Senior Center. Be creative.

[rad-hl] Let me know how your family gives to others during this season and beyond, so we can share your ideas with other families. [/rad-hl]

 

Kids + Water Exercise = Fun

 

Water is a great environment for kids to stay healthy. Kids will burn up calories, tone muscles, strengthen their cardiovascular system and have so much fun. At Fit American Families we offer our Books 101 Cool Pool Games also in Spanish and we offer our Splash Cards for Kids.

Splash Cards for Kids© can also be used for:

 

Ÿ         Interval Training: Add a cardiovascular activity in between each card.

 

Ÿ         Partner Training: What better way to spend quality time with your kids and exercise at the same time? Choose a group of exercises and enjoy some active play.

 

Ÿ         Personal Training:  In the beginning introduce your child to these exercises/movements one card at a time. Be sure to read the description thoroughly, eventually your child will be able to look at the illustration and know exactly how to perform that particular exercise. Choose 5 exercises per day then add on 5 new exercises the following day.

 

Ÿ         Obstacle Course: Create your own obstacle course by placing a series of cards around your pool. Families must navigate their way through the challenging series of exercises while being timed.

 

Ÿ         Relay Races: If you have more than one child in the pool, you can use the Splash Cards for relay races. Have the children line up at one end of the pool and you are at the opposite end of the pool. Choose one card and have the children perform and travel this movement down to your end of the pool.

 

Ÿ         Flash Cards Free Style: Just like when we learn our multiplication tables, have a supervised adult flash each card and have partner. Combine water and land cards for a challenging workout.

 

Ÿ         Pyramid Style: Start with one card, then add two more, repeat from beginning and add on three more repeat from beginning.

 

Ÿ         Choreograph: Link the moves together to have a choreographed routine. You can even add music to your workout.

 

Ÿ         Birthday Party Games: Create teams or use cards for individual challenges.

 

Ÿ         Family Challenges: Make a goal for each family member, use Splash Cards for the workout challenge and watch each family member achieve their goal.

 

Ÿ         Splash Olympic Games: Take a group of Splash Cards or choose individual ones to create an Olympic Challenge. Award medals for “The Best…”

The Power of Strength: March 2013

 

Being strong is more than big muscles. Get involved in this four week workshop, you will receive hands-on strategies for your body, mind and soul.

Sign up now for the Free E-Course.

Restaurant Portion Control

Here are some restaurant tips from Fit American Families

In a sit-down restaurant, plan on eating half of the food on your plate. To keep yourself honest, you might even get a doggie bag before you start eating and pack up half your meal as soon as it is served.

Tell the waitstaff not to put down a bread basket.

Order from the appetizer section.

Split an entree.

Don't eat a buffet.

If you order an appetizer do not order a dessert.

[rad-hl] what are some restaurant tips your family uses when dining out?[/rad-hl]

Walk Boston!

Do you live near Boston? If so, have you heard of Walktoberfest?
The nonprofit advocacy group Walk Boston recently led a walk from Boston to Cambridge. The main mission of the event was to show residents how easy and safe it is to move around the city.
“It’s really more getting people out to see how easy it is to walk around,” says Wendy Landman, executive director of Walk Boston. “Every way we can, we’re always sort of thinking about how we get this message out there.”
Since 1990, Walk Boston has dedicated itself to improving walking conditions in cities and towns across Massachusetts. While Walk Boston works with local policymakers, business leaders and professionals on pedestrian access projects, it also trains local residents to be advocates in their own neighborhoods.
This weekend will be beautiful weather to get out and walk Boston. For more information go to http://www.walkboston.org/

Outsmart the Food Industry

 

Food makers are required to list all the ingredients in a product in descending order by weight. The most abundant ingredient is listed first, the next second, and so on. If a product is chock-full of sugar, you would expect to see sugar listed first, or maybe second. But food makers can fudge the list by adding sweeteners that aren't technically sugar—that term is applied only to table sugar, or sucrose—but that add sugar all the same. Such sweeteners include agave nectar, brown sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and molasses. The trick is that each sweetener is listed separately.

The contribution of each added sugar may be small enough so it shows up fourth, fifth, or even further down the list. But add them up, and you can get a whopping dose of added sugar. Take General Mills Oatmeal Crisp Crunchy Almond as an example. (1) According to the package, it is "Great Tasting & Heart Healthy" and "Whole Grain Guaranteed." Yet more than one-quarter (27 percent) of this cereal is added sugar. You'd never know that from the ingredient list:

Whole grain oats, whole grain wheat, brown sugar, almond pieces, sugar, crisp oats (which contain sugar), corn syrup, barley malt extract, potassium citrate, toasted oats (which contain sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and brown sugar molasses), salt, malt syrup, wheat bits (which contain sugar), honey, and cinnamon.

But add together brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown sugar molasses, barley malt extract, honey, and malt syrup, and they add up to a hefty dose of empty calories.  Listed below are some of the sugars that you'll find on food labels.

The Nutrition Facts Label isn't much help. By law, it must list the grams of sugar in each product. But some foods naturally contain sugar, while others get theirs from added sweeteners, and food labeling laws don't require companies to spell out how much sugar is added.

Industry-sponsored labeling programs can also be confusing. One such program, called Smart Choices, drew scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for calling Froot Loops—which is 41 percent sugar—a "Smart Choice." (The Smart Choices program has since been suspended.)

So, here is a list to help you identify the different forms of sugar in your food:

Barley malt

Beet sugar

Brown sugar

Buttered syrup

Cane juice crystals

Cane sugar

Caramel

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Confectioner’s sugar

Carob syrup

Castor sugar

Date sugar

Demerara sugar

Dextran

Dextrose

Diastatic malt

Diatase

Ethyl maltol

Fructose

Fruit juice

Fruit juice concentrate

Galactose

Glucose

Glucose solids

Golden sugar

Golden syrup

Grape sugar

High-fructose corn syrup

Honey

Icing sugar

Invert sugar

Lactose

Maltodextrin

Maltose

Malt syrup

Maple syrup

Molasses

Muscovado sugar

Panocha

Raw sugar

Refiner’s syrup

Rice syrup

Sorbitol

Sorghum syrup

Sucrose

Sugar

Treacle

Turbinado sugar

Yellow sugar

reference: Integrative Nutrition. For more information go to www.integrativenutrition.com