I have a new favorite quote.  I heard it from Colleen of Compassionate Cooks.  She says it in favor of being Vegan.  I think of it often in regards to eating healthy and even exercising:

Don’t do nothing, cause you can’t do everything.

Do something, ANYTHING!

FRIDAY: Exercise

My husband Wade and my 10 year old have been exercising together for the past month.  Wade wrote this post today about their experience:

About 1 month ago I noticed that my oldest son had stopped playing with one of his friends, so I asked him “why don’t you play with Fred anymore”.
“Cause sometimes he is mean to me” he reluctantly told me.

“How is he mean to you?”

“Some times he calls me names” His chin started to quiver and you could hear a crack in his voice that he saves for when he was on the verge of tears.

“What names does he call you?”

“He calls me unathletic.” He was almost in full blown tears.

Do you think you are unathletic?”

“Yes!” He said, And he began to sob.

I realized he was very fragile at the time and I thought I could go 2 ways; I could try to validate him and tell him he was athletic and try to build his self esteem through words, or I could try to help him realize you can choose to become what ever you want in life, and you can change, to a certain degree, anything you don’t like.

Do you want to become more athletic?” I asked

He stopped crying and said “Yes” Looking relieved.

We sat down at the table, and using some semblance of a scientific method, we took his problem and wrote it down. We developed a plan of doing a routine of Plyometrics, core exercises and some kick boxing 3 times per week and the other 3 days we spent playing a sport of his choice. We chose to rest on Sunday.

As our control to measure improvement we chose to run a set of ladders in the back yard and his maximum amount of push ups. His start time on ladders was 24.89 and he did 6 scraggly push ups. He then set goals to shave off 4 seconds on the ladder run and do 14 push ups and gave him self 1 month to affect the change.

During the execution of the plan we added push ups daily and occasional ladder practice runs. All the children participated in their own way and it became really fun as they all tried to best each others times in the ladder run.

After 1 month our reassess day was met with excitement as I think he realized he was stronger and faster than just a few weeks ago. As I wanted him to succeed I mowed the lawn to make the track faster and he put on his soccer cleats to help with traction on the grass.

He warmed up with Ketchup boy and flip flopper and they all dropped to do push-ups.

He pushed out 15 strong pushups and 5 more for good measure. We then went to the back yard and set up the ladder course. After 3 tries he bested his goal by more than ¾ of a second coming in at 20.02 seconds. He was beaming, smiling from ear to ear.

Thursday: Healthy Ideas

Don’t forget to enter the crockpot giveaway! In the meantime, here is a guest post by Kat Sanders

If there’s one thing that’s a parent’s nightmare, it’s a child who is sick and laid up in bed. While some parents are able to remain rational and hold off ringing the alarm bells, there are others who tend to panic and rush their kids immediately to the emergency room at the sight of a mere runny nose. They badger the doctor till he or she is forced to tell them in no uncertain terms that all their child has is a mild cold. Yes, you must be concerned if your young one is not doing too well, but that’s no reason to go overboard and ring your doctor the moment you think your child is ill. A fever and a cold are the most common ailments that children suffer, besides being prone to bumps, cuts and bruises from falls and accidents. You’ll need to take your child to the doctor’s office:

• When the fever is accompanied by other symptoms such as vomiting, intense headaches and severe body pain.
• When your child’s body temperature rises beyond 103 F (if he/she is over a year old) or beyond 101 F (if he/she is less than a year). When the fever persists for more than a couple of days and does not respond to medication or other home remedies.
• When there is a rash along with the fever
• When your child is unresponsive to your ministrations and communication
• When he/she is irritable and crying continuously.
• When they don’t answer the call of nature in a long time or drink enough fluid.
• When they feel uncomfortable because of a scratchy throat and a runny nose
• When a cold is accompanied by a fever
• When your child coughs uncontrollably
• When the coughing disturbs his/her ability to sleep 
• When your child is unable to sleep because of the nature of his/her illness.
• When the bleeding does not stop after a minute or twp.
• When the cut is deep and may need a suture or two.
• When your child may need an anti-tetanus shot if he/she has been injured because of contact with rusted iron

A word of warning – these are not the only situations in which you must call the doctor. A parent’s intuition is the best alarm when it comes to a child’s health. So don’t hesitate to seek medical attention for your child when you think they need it. If you think a fever reducer or other home remedies are enough and that you would rather wait a day or two before subject your child to antibiotics and other stronger medication, don’t send him/her to school and aggravate the illness. Enough rest and the right diet are sometimes all that your child needs to get back on his/her feet again.

By-line:

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of radiology technician programs at her blog The Heath Tech’s Blog. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.

Wednesday: Beans, seeds, nuts, etc.

Here is a lesson in being flexible.  I made this delicious spanish beans and brown rice in the slow cooker for dinner.   When we sat down to eat, no one wanted to even try it.   But to be honest, I didn’t think it looked that great either. 

But, instead of getting offended, or mad, or frustrated by my kids, we put our heads together.  We decided it would be more appetizing wrapped in a tortilla.  “Let’s eat it like a burrito!”  So for the kids, I added a few shreds of cheese and the beans and rice.  They loved it!

Then for me, because its OK to add yummy healthy things to your own meals, even if your kids aren’t going to… I added Avocado.  I love avocado on anything.

CROCK POT GIVEAWAY

There is a new online community on Blogher called The Juice (sponsored by Tropicana Trop 50).  On the site, women can exchange practical ideas and tips on how to get more of what they want and less of what they don’t. The Juice is all about the “good stuff.”  Members will be taken on a holistic journey that touches on nutrition, fitness, time management, mind & body, relationships – the “good stuff.”  This week the focus is on meal planning and slow cooking. Check out this video about crock-potting

Now, the giveaway!!  Do you want one of these? (and PS, this is exactly the same crock-pot I have)

AND one of these?

Leave a comment, and I’ll pick a winner by Sunday, June 7th.  Also, they have offered  a coupon for $1.00 off this new Tropicana Juice with 50% less sugar and 50% less calories!    http://tropicana.com/#jointrop50tout

Tuesday: Whole Grains

I can’t stop singing this:

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!” 

Seems like just yesterday that 1980’s commercial was on.

Last nights dinner AWESOME!! Crock pot Sloppy Lentils from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I borrowed the cookbook from a friend, but someone posted the same recipe here.  Here were the reactions:

Ketchup boy, “These are good sloppy joes mom,” And he had TWO! Two full size sloppy lentils (and he’s 6!)

Wade (my husband), “These would be really good with some pork in it.“  You can feel sorry for him. He made me promise to add animal protein to 10% of every dinner, and yet I have a tough time keeping my promise.   If anyone wants to bring this poor guy some meat, you have my blessing.

Flip-flopper and cereal boy ate a full sandwich virtually in minutes, no complaints.

The buns:  I never buy buns anymore. I use the same recipe, for buns as I do for bread. I will never buy store bought buns again.

Monday: Fruits and Vegetables

I gave my kids watermelon homework for the holiday (Memorial Day).   Sounds mean I know, but they like homework sheets, I sware.  And of course, they had to EAT watermelon to do their watermelon homework!   We love watermelon.

Did you know there is a National Watermelon Association? Did you know they have a watermelon BLOG? And that there is a National Watermelon QUEEN?  This reminded me that I had a mission companion that was the 4H Beef queen!   Anyway, to be the watermelon queen, you must possess great knowledge of watermelon’s.

As for the Watermelon homework, there are some printable homework sheets here!  Perfect for summer learning activities.

I’m cutting up the watermelon for a Memorial Day neighborhood BBQ.  This way we can be sure to have something healthy and sweet to eat.  We also like Watermelon smoothies, and slushies.

My simple menu planning (of eating the same 30 meals each month) needed a little shaking up.   Today I chose 2 cookbooks (I used a Vegetarian Crockpot cookbook I borrowed from a friend, and a cookbook my mom picked up, written by Costco, from Costco).

I flipped through the cookbooks.  Using small post-it notes, I tagged the pages of things I want to make this week. Not only dinner, but salads, breakfasts, and snacks too.  For the dinners, I added the day of the week on the post it note so I have a menu for the week.  The whole process only took a few minutes.

Here are some things that we are trying this week.

Dinner

• Slow cooker spanish beans and rice
• Citrus Walnut Pasta salad
• Chicken and avocado skewers
• Burritos
• Sloppy Lentils

Lunches

• Berry Spinach Salad
• Avocado sprout sandwiches
• Fruit kabobs with cinnamon cream
• Apple salsa
• Harvest spring cranberry walnut salad

Breakfasts

• Smoothies
• Sweet bread
• muffins
• energy bars

Pictures and recipes will follow this week. Also, look for an AWESOME GIVEAWAY (maybe Tuesday)

Go outside and play!

Playing outside is an integral component in ensuring your children remain healthy and don’t become sluggish or too content in remaining inside playing video games.  Parks are a good way to expose kids to sunlight and running around without imposing too many restrictions on them; neighborhood parks are additionally an important method through which to make new friends for your kids as well as meet other parents in the area.  However, if there are multiple parks in your neighborhood, it is necessary to go to different parks every other week in order to allow your kids to experience different environments instead of growing bored of the same park.  Different seasons also require different types of outdoor events; summertime is the best time to encourage your kids to go outside and play: there are tons of water games to play!  Up to a certain age, many kids are enraptured by any means in which they can get wet, from water balloons, to hoses, to swimming pools, and it thus becomes easy to lure them into the warm air and away from the air conditioner.  Certain winter states can also produce fun winter pastimes such as snowball fights and sledding; not every state has snow, but most also have ice skating rinks to test your abilities on.

Approach playtime as a healthy activity

There are also many indoor activities that can be used for rainy days; dance offs are a fun way to encourage your kids to get some exercise without the usual methods of running around.  Music is an integral way to introduce your kids to a number of timeless songs as well as encourage their individual musical growth.  Additionally, it is one activity in which the entire family can participate, from babies to adults.  

Healthy snacks and foods

Keeping mid-meal snacks healthy is often a tedious task for many parents due to the fact that most kids do not enjoy eating healthy foods.  Organic and natural foods have helped in this predicament by offering a wide array of foods that are free of outside additives and are grown under special conditions.  There have also been a slew of cookbooks written that encourage healthy cooking for kids by “hiding” healthy vegetables like squash into cakes, cookies, and dinners.  This is a revolutionary way in which to expose your kids to needed nutrients without forcing them to eat the vegetable by itself.  It thus becomes your own little cooking secret. 

Regular doctor appointments

Keeping up to date with doctor’s appointments and checkups is also a good way to ensure your kids remain healthy.  Additionally, keeping an eye on recent health emergencies (such as the recent swine flu scare) is helpful in determining where your child can visit and play.  Kids have a growing immune system and their exposure to many other children aids in procuring viruses; this is a healthy endeavor though, and it is good for them to gain this exposure rather than sitting at home without any kind of interaction. 

Monitor environmental safety measures

The recent environmental safety precautions have infiltrated from big cities to smaller towns and it becomes important to keep up with news of these stories.  The air quality of your community might be worse on some days, and while there is little you can do about this, it is worth noting so that you don’t take your children on any strenuous activity.  Outdoor activities on days where air quality is poor can lead to heightened health conditions such as asthma and behavior problems.

This post was contributed by Kimberly Peterson, who writes about the masters in healthcare. She welcomes your feedback at KimPeterson2006 at gmail.com

I’m getting a bug to blog!  I’m excited for summer.  As soon as the kids are out of school, I plan to post many more pictures of what they are eating and what we are doing for exercise.  Here are some personal updates:

I just got a paid position with Gold Medal Schools.  This is the perfect job for me. It starts in the fall, when all my kids are back in school. Its only 10 hours a week. And I get to work with local schools writing policies and implementing programs to teach healthy habits to elementary age kids!  I’m really excited for this, considering I’ve been doing it as a volunteer the past year anyway.

Also, I am starting the pre-req’s for the Coordinated Masters of Nutrition program at the University of Utah.  I need 3 chemistry classes, so I started the first one Independent Study and will work on that this summer. I hope to apply to the program in January and start fall of 2010. 

Blog updates may be more frequent this summer, so if you haven’t subscribed in a feed burner yet, you can here.  I twitter SOMETIMES.  And you can subscribe to my newsletter  (by going to my homepage) that I have only used once, but you never know.

Friday: Activities and Exercise

I purchased sidewalk chalk with the intention of drawing fun pictures on a sunny warm day.  My kids couldn’t wait however.   It rained for a whole 30 minutes the entire week, right when they got home from school. But they couldn’t wait for the clouds to clear.

Ketchup boy and flip-flopper grabbed the bucket of sidewalk chalk to see what it would do on a wet sidewalk, and they had a blast.  Each one drew a line to follow.  Ketchup boys line was full of twists and turns.   The flip-flopper drew a very careful, but straighter line.  Then they had a contest between the two of them who could follow their lines exactly and get to the end first.  Of course the flip-flopper, being older and wiser, knew a straight line would be faster to follow than a twisty crooked line… so she won.