Last year I took AJ sledding after preschool several times a week just to get his “wiggles” out and it did wonders for him. It is a great proprioceptive workout for kids and the slopes are empty on weekday afternoons.

Just watch out for those icy spots…I broke our saucer on an ice patch (and hurt my bum!).

Post from: Blisstree

Get Fit Friday: Sledding

The three of us played outside in the snow for several hours, walking in the deserted streets, building a snow fort, and truly enjoying being a family. It was the most perfect family holiday.

Enjoy your holiday and please, do something outside AND together.

Post from: Blisstree

Get Fit Friday: Snow Forts

So, make it a Saturday afternoon (or Thanksgiving Day) tradition on your block and host a Tag Football Game in your backyard (or on your street…it’s okay not to tackle in tag). It’s a lot more fun than watching other people tackle each other and everyone gets some exercise (even the cheerleaders on the sidelines!)

Get everyone into the spirit by making team shirts, cheerleading outfits (for the boys and girls who are not playing) and have a blast!

Post from: Blisstree

Get Fit Friday: Tag Football

There is nothing wrong with getting the camera out either, is there? Overcast days make for the best outdoor pictures but with beautiful leaves sometimes the shadows playing on the colors make gorgeous pictures.

Post from: Blisstree

Get Fit Friday: Leaves are Made for Jumping!

Here are some tips to keep your children active during the cooler season of autumn:

(FIRST) Right after school, give a light protein-packed snack. It staves off hunger and prevents over-eating, but also gives them a little more energy for the physical activity.

1. Get them involved outdoors while it’s still daylight and warmer. Walk, bike, stroll the neighborhood, play hoops, jump-rope, anything to get their blood going, for at least 15-30 minutes.

2. If you choose to do homework first, everyone can head out right before dinner (or daddy can lead the troupe while mommy is cooking). A brisk walk or exercise will give them appetite too.

3. Get up early on Saturday and enjoy the neighborhood, but wear a light sweater and headgear.

4. Take walks at the mall, indoor park or gym. The community center is also a great place to get blood going.

5. YMCA, Boys/Girls’ Club offer classes and lessons, or enroll the children in some indoor lessons like taek wondo, dance/ballet.

The cold weather shouldn’t stop our children from getting exercise and physical activities, so while they’re at it, let’s join them too.

Post from: Blisstree

Get the kids to stay active in the fall

80 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD HEALTHY

HELP KIDS STAY ACTIVE:

1. Bike to the library together.
2. Walk or bike to your children’s sports events to cheer for them.
3. Have your children come to your sports events and cheer for you.
4. Celebrate special occasions—birthdays, anniversaries—with something active, such as a hike, a volleyball game, a Frisbee™ match.
5. Train together for a charity walk or run.
6. Walk the dog with your children.
7. Exercise while you watch TV.
8. Park farther away from your destination.
9. Plan social activities involving exercise.
10. Plan a party with physically active games and activities for your family and your children’s friends.
11. Develop new friendships with physically active families and children. Join a group, such as the YMCA or a hiking club.
12. Schedule physical activity for times in the day or week when you feel energetic.
13. Make physical activity a regular part of your family’s daily or weekly schedule and write it on a family activity calendar.
14. Enroll your children in community sports teams or lessons, or swimming, gymnastics, or tennis.
15. Develop a set of regular activities for you and your family that are always available regardless of weather, such as indoor cycling, aerobic dance, indoor swimming, stretching and strengthening movements, stair climbing, rope skipping, mall walking, dancing, and gymnasium games.
16. Look at outdoor activities that depend on weather conditions, such as cross-country skiing, outdoor swimming, and outdoor tennis as “bonuses”—extra activities possible when weather and circumstances permit.
17. Take a family walk after dinner.
18. Replace a Sunday drive with a Sunday walk.
19. Do yard work. Get your children to help rake, weed, plant, etc.
20. Work around the house. Ask your children for help doing active chores
21. Use an exercise video with your kids if the weather is bad.
22. Play with your kids 30 minutes a day.
23. Dance to music. Play your favorite dance music for your children and have them play their favorites for you.
24. Make a Saturday morning walk a family habit.
25. Stretch, do yoga, lift hand weights while watching TV.
26. Go out and enjoy the sun, but be sun-protected.
27. Challenge the family to see who can do the most push-ups, jumping jacks, or leg lifts during commercial breaks, or switch to an exercise tape during commercials.
28. Provide other alternatives for them to spend their time, such as playing outside, learning a hobby or sport, or spending time with family and friends.

(Keep reading, there are 52 more ways…)

HELP KIDS MAKE DEVELOP EATING HABITS:

1. Make eating together a priority and schedule family meals at least two to three times a week. Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
2. Eat GO foods almost anytime: lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
3. Eat foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.
4. Substitute the low-fat and fat-free versions of foods as alternatives to the full fat items.
5. Have SLOW foods sometimes or less often. SLOW foods include: vegetables with added fat, white refined flour bread, low-fat mayonnaise, and 2% low fat milk.
6. Have WHOA foods only once in a while or on special occasions. And, when you do have them, have small portions. Examples of WHOA foods are: whole milk, cheese, fried potatoes, croissants, muffins, butter, and creamy salad dressings.
7. Stays within your calorie needs.
8. Grill, steam, or bake instead of frying.
9. Flavor foods with herbs, spices, and other low-fat seasonings.
10. Keep to a regular eating schedule.
11. Eat before you get too hungry.
12. Don’t skip breakfast.
13. Get into the habit of eating breakfast, even on weekends and holidays.
14. Stock your kitchen with easy-to-prepare, healthy breakfast options.
15. Stop eating when you are full.
16. Snack on fruits and vegetables.
17. Top your favorite cereal with apples or bananas.
18. Include several servings of whole-grain foods daily.
19. Don’t take seconds.
20. Eat sweet foods in small amounts.
21. Try a new fruit or vegetable (ever had jicama, plantain, bok choy, star fruit, or papaya?)
22. Eat half your dessert, or choose fruit as dessert.
23. Don’t encourage late-night eating, or snacking.
24. Substitute the following :
    • olive oil for dipping instead of butter or margarine
    • fat-free or low-fat milk rather than whole milk or cream in coffee or in other drinks
    • food without butter, gravy, or sauces
    • salad dressing “on the side” and request light or fat-free dressing
    • steamed vegetables or a fruit cup as a substitute for french fries
    • “hold the cheese” or “cheese on the side” when ordering sandwiches or salads so you can decide how much cheese you want to eat.
    • unsweetened beverages, such as water, unsweetened iced-tea, or sugar-free or diet iced-tea and lemonade.
25. Drink water before a meal.
26. Drink diet soda instead of regular soda.
27. Drink water or low-fat milk over soda and other sugary drinks.
28. Instead of giving your child or yourself an entire bottle of fruit juice or soda, pour a small amount (1/2 cup) into a cup. Better yet, choose water or small amounts of 100% fruit juice over soda.
29. Use tall, narrow glasses instead of short, wide glasses. You will drink less.
30. If main dishes are too big, choose an appetizer or a side dish instead.
31. Order foods that are steamed, broiled, baked, roasted, poached, or lightly sautéed or stir-fried. Select an appetizer that is low in fat and includes a fruit or vegetable instead of an entrée at a restaurant.
32. Put a smaller portion on a smaller plate; it won’t look so skimpy.
33. Share a portion with a family member or friend.
34. Avoid food portions larger than your fist.
35. Order a medium pizza instead of a large. Everyone gets the same number of slices as before; they’re just smaller.
36. Before you eat your meal ask the wait staff to put half of the meal in a take home bag for leftovers to eat the next day.
37. Skip buffets.
38. Don’t bring hungry kids with you to grocery shopping.
39. Choose a checkout line without a candy display.

HELP KIDS MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES:

1. Help your children with time-management skills.
2. Consider limiting the number of activities they do, such as setting the number of hours or types of after-school work.
3. Make the bedroom dark at night and bright in the morning. It will encourage better sleep.
4. Make sure your child gets enough solid sleep each night. 7-8 hours is ideal for children to teens.
5. Set a house rule that your children may spend no more than two hours a day of screen time. More importantly, enforce the rule once it’s made.
6. Do not put a TV or computer in your child’s bedroom.  It encourages junk sleep.
7. Turn off the TV during family meal time. Better yet, remove the TV from the eating area if you have one there.
8. You need to be a good role model and also limit your screen time to no more than two hours per day. If your kids see you following your own rules, then they will be more likely to follow.
9. Don’t use TV to reward or punish a child. Practices like this make TV seem even more important to children.
10. Refrain from watching violent TV, especially for boys under 9.
11. Be a savvy media consumer. Don’t expect your child to ignore the influences of television advertising of snack foods, candy, soda, and fast food. Help your child develop healthy eating habits and become media savvy by teaching them to recognize a sales pitch.
12. Build a positive self-image in your child.
13. Spend time – in quality and quantity – with each child.

Post from: Blisstree

80 ways to keep your child healthy

Make a video of how you and your friends take small steps to be healthier, and you could WIN cool cash and prizes from the NBA.

It’s real easy, and the contest runs until October 7.

• Step #1: Create a video no longer than 3 minutes showing us how small steps can help you and your friends get healthy.
• Step #2: Submit your video on YouTube^® between September 10^th and October 7^th and tell your friends to post theirs too.
• Step #3: Motivate your friends to take small steps by sharing your video with everyone you know from October 8^th to October 28^th and have a chance to win up to $2,500 in cash and prizes from NBAstore.com.

NBA is sponsoring some of the prizes and SmallStep spokesperson/NBA Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas encourages you to be as fit and healthy as this star.

Official rules are found here. You can also get more details at the SmallStep.gov website.

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Small Step video contest: $2,500 in cash and prizes

image used with permission by Newscom

Well, coz now you can!

2008 Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalists Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson are teaming up with Secret Deodorant to help other female athletes achieve their own dreams by offering $100,000 in scholarships. Secret is hosting a Webinar on Monday to announce this program and has invited GroundedFitness readers to come and listen, and have the chance to ask Nastia and Shawn a question, LIVE.

Head to www.groundedfitness.com for more details.

Post from: Blisstree

Ask Olympians Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin a question, live!

Soccer goals with net squares measuring 5 inches on each side are part of the recall, which include the MacGregor Folding Soccer Goals, Mitre Folding Soccer Goals (see images below). For details about the recalled product, and contact information, visit CPSC here.  

images: CPSC.gov

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Recall: Regent Soccer Goal nets cause strangulation death

GoTryBe.com is an online fitness community where kids and teens can get active, learn about being healthy and have fun doing it. Watch this promo video to get an idea –

Now the coolest thing – Grounded Fitness is giving away a one-year free membership to the community! Check it out and join.

Post from: Blisstree

Contest at Grounded Fitness: 1-year membership to online fitness