There were over 30 submissions to The Twelfth Healthy & Fit Family and you’ll find the ten most practical, most family-oriented and that we just liked best at Wisdom of Healing.

Now that the weather is good, quite a few of the posts have to do with being outside and enjoying nature, but there are also a few posts of special interest to new and expectant parents. There are special notes from the adventure that is VBAC and the marsh adventures of a little baby and his parents.

The Healthy and Fit Family July edition will be hosted here at Babylune on July 3rd. If you’re interested, please read the guidelines and submit via out Blog Carnival form.

Post from: Babylune

Hosting it has certainly made me try to get back to my healthier habits. Not only did I find this site about Stroller Hikes inspiring, but I resolved to make daily walks more difficult. I calculated the number of calories in the sugar I was putting in my 3 to 5 cups of coffee every work day and realised I could lose 5 pounds over the year if I just stopped drinking it. So, I switched back to tea (I take it without sugar).

This week’s carnival is full of great entries for people who walk, people who use computers and people who like to eat? Is that everyone, yet?

Excercise

The benefits of walking were also a big theme at Raising 4 Boys where the biggest boy is counting every step with his new pedometer. It’s amazing how a little boy’s game can appeal to adult sensibilities. In my own pedometer experiments, I found that at-home motherhood made me take more than 10,000 steps before noon. Now that I am back at work, I am so conscious of moving less that I find myself pacing the commuter train platform just to get a little more excercise.

Aparna has been looking at slimming down in two posts this week. In particular, she shares tips and excercises for slimming the face. Obviously, these aren’t posts for the kids. In fact, they’re probably just for me so that I can work on the old cheeks and chins.

Nutrition

Thrifty Mommy sent us this post about foods that are good for your health. I think it’s interesting that some of the healthies foods, like dried beans, are also very inexpensive and come in a minimum of packaging. I guess good health is just as good for home economics and the environment as it is for families.

After all the studies about how beneficial eating fish is to health, I’ve bookmarked Eating Fabulous for Friday. Ruth tells us exactly which fish are safe to eat.

General Health

Phil for Humanity reminded me to keep my mouse skills sharp at the computer to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. I must tell you that Phil’s very positive blog has a very interesting colour-scheme and, when you read it to protect your wrists, you might also have to take measures to protect your eyesight.
I’m sorry! Was that a catty remark?

It’s purely for editorial purposes!

Last week, I told three or four people who submitted posts that they were just off-topic. The Mad Kane forced me to re-think all their posts about genetically altered cats with this limerick.

Medical Care

October was breast cancer awareness month. I avoided posting about it due to grief and the feeling that posting a pink ribbon (or pink candy) wasn’t a respectful enough way to remember the people I have lost to breast cancer. Nor does it adequately express my joy in the fact that I have seen many more women recover from breast cancer and get on with living.

Heina at Intensive Care, posted a number of resources for women in the middle of diagnosis and treatment. Resources that are applicable to any month of the year.

Genetics & Health ended the month with information about how the genetic complexities of breast cancer are being studied and discussed.

And, possibly the most hopeful evidence that women can make a complete recovery from breast cancer is the Breastfeeding 1-2-3 post on nursing after treatment.

Business

The next carnival is November 13. The ten spots for submissions are all open.

Is there anyone who would like to host? Last week’s carnival was a nice little traffic generator and I’d like the share the page views with any of our participants. Just drop me a comment and I’ll send you the posts and info for next week.

Post from: Babylune

I said that there would only be ten places in the carnival and there were easily twice as many entries, but keeping the number of links to a reasonable number was and is important to me.

To make decisions about who was in and who was out, I used a mixture of first come, first serve and my evil editorial power for deciding what was and wasn’t relevant to the topic. As a freelance writer, I did not especially enjoy wielding evil editorial power (at least not very much). Remember, my life is all about energy management and even blog carnivals have to be held on a scale I can manage.

Under the cut, you’ll find a select, elite, helpful and interesting mixed salad of posts on fitness, nutrition and general health. There’s something practical for everyone.

Fitness

Yoga is my activity of choice and I know I am not alone. Mother-baby yoga, toddler yoga, yoga for kids with ADD or ADHD, and family yoga are just a few of the courses available for families. That’s why I was intrigued by the Radical Hop post that asks Is Yoga a Myth?

Thankfully, the answer is no to the yoga myth because My Blog on Beauty has this very informative post on the anuloma viloma pranayama breathing asana, which is not at all as difficult as pronouncing its name.

Jogging is how many other parents to reduce stress, lose weight and keep healthy. I am pleased to report that My Name is Mommy who inspired this carnival got herself out pounding pavement too.

There are a lot of jogging success stories. In this one, Solo Mother explains how a combination of running and separation have helped her drop ten pounds.

One of the things I miss is the gym, but the time to go there and the money for membership fees just don’t exist for me right now. Luckily, the folks at Thrifty Mommy are there to remind us of Ten Ways to Excercise for Free.

Nutrition

One of the surprises I’ve had as a parent is that my little boy likes tofu. Really. OK, he likes it in a broccoli and red pepper stir fry and only when made by our local Chinese buffet, but that’s something. All Tricks and Tips says that there are six ways soybean products, like tofu, can improve your family’s health.

Of course, you may want to stick to organic soy once you read Wench Wisdom’s rant on genetically modified, sprayed ingredients in commercial babyfood. I like her reminder that babies with teeth can eat the same food as their parents once it’s gone through a blender. Afterall, I think a lot of parents would prepare their own food with more care if they know their babies were going to eat it too.

General Health

Over at Life in Isreal, we hear about changes to how flu shots have been cancelled after some unusual problems at a clinic.

Strong family ties influence everything about our lives from our levels of happiness to our health. It can also mean the difference between recovering from a loss and not really recovering, says Ann at Widow’s Quest.

For Parenting Tweens & Teens, strengthening family ties means taking the time to do some relaxing activities together.

Your Opinion?

I think there really is something practical for everyone in the First Edition of the Healthy & Fit Family Carnival. What do wou think? Which posts have inspired you to get out there and get active with the kids?

Nothing ring your bell? Why not submit something for next week?

And listen, my evil editorial power could just as easily be yours (It feels a bit like being Darth Vadar, I think)! Just leave a comment and express an interest in hosting the carnival on your blog.

In the meantime, the next edition of the Healthy & Fit Family will run on Monday, November 7th. So submit already!

Post from: Babylune