Posts tagged tips
Back to School – Top 10 Tips to Stay Calm, Cool and Collected
Sep 1st
Well, it is “Back to School” time. With sun-kissed vacations a warm memory of the past, along with the change of season and new routines thrust upon us, “Back to School” takes on a very new life of its own. With all of the change coming at us at once, I have always thought that we should change our Gregorian/Civil calendar to one that has the first day of school as the true “New Year”.
Amongst all of these changes, it can be a constant struggle to stay organized and feel like all is under control. But with a few simple tips, it is possible to keep calm, cool, collected and….smiling
1) Get the Kids on Board. Make sure your children (and partners) know what the new routines will be. Get the alarm clocks set and ensure that they understand the school rules, times, and any new courses or classes they are enrolled in. If they know what to expect they will be much more willing to “get with the program”.
2) Meal Plan. Try these easy to implement ideas:
Dinner: For the initial month of September pick a couple of your favourite and easy recipes for dinner meals that are nutrient dense and stick to it. Make things that can be frozen or made ahead of time. Also, those that keep well in the fridge and can be reheated are great options for extending out the dinner meals. Check out the Better Being Recipe section for great ideas.
Breakfast: Opt for a nutrient rich smoothie to jump start everyone’s day. Buy some cups with built in straws and tops so the kids (or YOU) can drink it on the drive in or carry it around the house while getting ready for the day if pressed for time. See the recipe section of this blog for great smoothie ideas.
Lunch: Make the school lunches the night before and have the kids help. If they make their own lunch they are more likely to eat it (or anything else for that matter).
3) Review Children’s School Year . Get the school planner and take the half hour to get it into your own calendar planner or blackberry. That way you will be prepared for key school events and will avoid scrambling for the entire year!
4) Stake a Place. Take the hour or two to organize key items and explain to all in the house why things need to remain (and be put back) into the right location. If the umbrellas are always in the basket in THAT corner, the rainy days will be much easier to deal with. Baskets with taped on headings can save lives (ok , maybe not lives, but definitely sanity!). Also have homework done and set out in ONE place.
5) Checkpoints. Regulate the mornings with timelines (X has to happen by Y) time that are realistic and work for all. Be sure to give the children and slow risers enough time to get ready and prepared. Sometimes that extra 10 minutes of sleep can result in an extra 20 minutes of lateness!
6) Family Calendar. Having everything that relates to key dates on one calendar in the kitchen can help to keep the household all informed.
7) Communicate. Talk to each teacher about what is specific to each child’s term – know when library books come back, any special dates for in classroom events. Also, take the five minutes each night to go through backpacks for school notices so that any special needs for the next day are dealt with at night and not in the morning’s scramble.
Bedtime Booster. Establish a routine for you and the children that is easy to follow. Set out clothes for the following day, get to sleep at the same time and take the time to relax. This will help all to get better sleep which leads to better mornings.
9) Think ahead. Easier said than done! But try to get things done ahead of time so things can flow. For example, set the breakfast table the night before, fill up the car on the way home not on the way TO, buy in bulk for core items and keep the staples stacked.
10) Have FUN. Enjoy what this season truly offers: new beginnings, new routines and a wonderfully refreshing time of the year. No one is perfect so don’t worry if the occasional morning is full of chaos and spilled milk. Try to laugh when wiping it up and just pour another.
Good luck!!
The Top 10 Easy and Cheap Ways to Get Fit
May 17th
To get moving there are some simple steps you can take to get on the right path. To give you some ideas, I have set up my top 10 easiest and cheapest ways to get fit:
1. Sex
You have to love something that feels great, costs no money and will help slim you down. A woman weighing 160 pounds having five minutes of foreplay and 20 minutes of sex loses approx 110 calories. Not only is sex a great exercise, but orgasms also release endorphins that make you feel happy and positive about yourself! So have a good roll (safe sex always) to get a good workout in and feel perky.
2. Walk
Simple and cheap, this is a great way to get in some quality time with your partner, friends or kids or just have some you time. You can get in a cardiovascular workout without even breaking a sweat! A person weighing 62kg (or 137 pounds) and walking an hour at an average speed will burn about 260 calories. Not a bad return for a walk and talk! So grab a walking partner and make it part of your daily routine.
3. Supermen
This one is super easy, can be done anywhere and brings relief to your back while strengthening it. Lie down on your stomach on the floor with your eyes looking at the floor. Point your toes downwards and elongate your body to get a good stretch in. While holding the stretch, bring your arms out in front of you (raised about four inches from the ground) and point your thumbs up towards the ceiling. Take a deep breath, pull back your shoulders and start to slowly raise your arms towards the ceiling while bringing your shoulders and then your chest off the ground. At the same time, slowly raise both legs up off the ground. Your arms and feet should both be heading for the ceiling at the same time – strive to have your body looking like a semicircle. Squeeze your butt muscles and exhale and slowly return to starting position. Repeat as many times as you can but aim for 20 a day to get good returns. If this is too tricky with both arms and legs then simply alternate between opposite arm and leg. Make sure you avoid jerking your neck and you don’t tuck your head into your shoulders.
4. Wall Push-ups
This is an easy way to get the benefits of push-ups without the pain of doing it on the floor. I could never do a full push-up even at the height of my “fit self” because it always hurt my toes. Pick any wall and stand facing it with your toes two feet away. Extend your arms out and place your hands, shoulder width apart, on the wall in front of you. Keep your body straight and pull in your abdominal muscles. Bending only at the elbows, slowly lower yourself forward towards the wall. Then slowly push yourself away from it. Pick a spot in your home that you walk past frequently and plan to stop and do one every time you walk past that spot. You won’t believe how much of a difference this one makes. Aim for 20 a day.
5. Squats
This one is easy – if you do this every time you are about to sit down for a meal you will be fit in no time! Grab a kitchen chair and stand about 1.5 feet away from it. Place your hands on top of chair. Point your feet towards the chair and keep them shoulder width apart. Keep your torso straight, abdominal muscles tight and slightly arch your back. Slowly bend your knees while keeping them over your toes. Squat down as far as it is comfortable, hold the position and then slowly raise yourself by using your leg muscles. Do 20 a day.
6. Standing Calf Raises
This one is a great way to get nice summer legs and have them year-round. Pick some stairs or get out an old thick phone book. Stand on the edge of the step/book with only the balls of your feet on the step/book. Keeping your knees stiff, body straight and tall, lower your heels down slowly towards the floor. Only bend at the ankle. Go down as far as you can until you feel a strong stretch in your calves. Reverse the direction – don’t bounce – and then push up as high as you can. Start by doing both feet at the same time and then go to one foot for greater challenge. Do this while talking on the phone and you can get your workout in without even thinking about it.
7. Arm Twirls
This one requires a bit of room, but is a great way to get tighter arms and get an upper back workout. Stand straight with your tummy tight and your feet shoulder width apart. Extend both arms out at shoulder height with fingers pointed straight. Start to make small circles the size of a doughnut (the one you will never eat again) in a clockwise motion. Speed up your circles and do 50 of them. Then reverse and do them counter clockwise. After completing the doughnut-sized ones, start to make huge circles (the size of a bike tire – the one you will soon be riding everywhere) clockwise and then reverse. You will have a toned upper back and arms in no time!
8. Just Sit There
This is the easiest thing you can ever do to stay fit and aligned. Whenever you are sitting (at work, in a car or in front of the TV or computer) make sure you do the following:
- Keep your shoulders back, not rolled forward. This will keep your chest muscles stretched out and your neck and upper back as well.
- Sit upright. This will force your lower back to stretch and will give your abs a little stretch as well. During every set of commercials on TV or every 15 minutes at your desk or in the car, contract your ab muscles; release and repeat 20 times. This will give you more success than doing sit-ups once a week.
- Raise your heels off the ground and go up and down with your heels quickly so as to jiggle your entire leg. This will keep circulation going and will exercise your leg muscles. P.S.: don’t do the “jiggles” while driving the car – only as a passenger!
9. Balance
While standing for any reason, try to stand on one foot and balance for 30 seconds. The other can be 1 inch off the ground or higher. Alternate your feet. This will help to develop your core strength and is a great way to exercise in those “unused moments” like waiting in line, waiting for public transit or talking on the phone. Do this 10 times for each foot.
10. Laugh!
Research indicates laughter can be the best medicine for weight loss. While studying adults watching film clips, the researchers discovered that laughing increased the heart rate and calorie expenditure of all participants by up to 20 per cent! The longer they laughed, the greater the effects. Using the results, the researchers calculated that with 15 minutes of laughter a day you can burn 10 to 40 calories (depending on the laughter’s intensity and the person’s weight), which is enough to lose a couple of pounds a year. So keep on laughing!
