We know that moms are busy; and it’s not always easy to eat right and exercise while juggling carpools and soccer practice.
That’s why we partnered with StrollerFit® founder and mom Mary Beth Knight to provide easy healthy-eating and exercising tips that work for Knight and her family.
So moms, read on for some helpful advice on how to keep the family – and yourself – healthy and happy all year round.
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Bounty of Fall Provides Simple, Healthy Joys
Cooler temperatures that encourage outdoor activities, beautiful fall foliage and seasonal fruits and vegetables make fall one of my family's favorite seasons. With a little imagination, common activities can become bonding experiences for your family and can also improve overall health and well-being while teaching young children to take care of themselves and the earth.
Though your children may be involved in organized sports, they need regular, unstructured physical activity to teach them that exercise is a fun part of their daily lives, no matter the season. While the temperatures allow, invest in your family's health by enjoying a few of these activities:
Take a 30 minute walk each evening. This is my advice to every family; get a little wacky and you'll get your heart going by trying different "modes of movement:" skipping, hopping, walking, running or side shuffling. The neighbors may wonder, but you'll be too busy smiling and laughing to notice.
Make fall yard clean-up a fun family activity. By dividing your yard into manageable sections for each family member (ensuring the size is age-appropriate), the job will be much more enjoyable. On a weekend afternoon, turn this chore into a game with a whistle and timer. Your children will take pride in a job well done!
Play an outdoor animal game. In your yard or local park, have each family member call out a type of animal they see. For a few minutes, move like the animal with the whole family joining in. Repeat this practice until several different animals have been named. Not only is this good biology practice for your children, but you will feel like a kid again.
Visit a fall farm stand for apple and pumpkin picking. Use the bounty of the fall harvest to fuel your growing family. Check out this list of fall farm stands and more to find one in your area.
Use this experience as a chance to get adventurous in your kitchen. Try classic yet delicious foods that might not often appear on your table: sweet potato fries, butternut squash soup, baked pumpkin seeds and apple slices drizzled with honey. When partnered with a lean protein from the Hormel® Natural Choice® line of meats, the flavors combine for a great-tasting meal that provides your family with the fuel it needs. I believe it is never too early to teach our children how to prepare and enjoy nutritious and delicious food. What better time to enjoy this "lesson" than the bountiful, beautiful autumn season.
In health,
Mary Beth Knight
StrollerFit® powered by mommymuscle®
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Moms: Celebrate Your Everyday
Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and warm winds are blowing - - it's the wonderful time of year when we honor moms. For most of us, every day feels a little bit like Mother's Day: filled with love, kindness and special moments with our family. But on that one very special day of the year, our endless nurturing is celebrated with flowers, cards and perhaps a little pampering.
Even though another Mother's Day has come and gone, imagine if you added a little of that special treatment to your life on a daily basis. To help celebrate moms for all they do, the makers of Hormel® Natural Choice® meats and StrollerFit® would like to provide you with a few ways to take just 30 minutes of your day to treat yourself like the incredible woman you are.
Mini Massage
A massage is a time-honored form of stress release. Since most of us don't have the time or money for a day spa, the good news is that you can get a fantastic massage using some everyday household items.
A golf ball is great to help ease heel or foot aches. Sit in your favorite chair and place the golf ball on the floor under one bare foot. Roll your foot back and forth over the ball with as little or much pressure as you prefer.
A tennis ball can help relieve aches and tension in your lower and mid back or shoulders. Start by leaning up against a wall, then take a tennis ball and place it between your back side and the wall. Move slightly from side to side. Start low, near your tailbone, and keep moving the ball up your back until you reach your shoulders.
Movement
Nothing reduces stress and clears the mind like a nice walk or jog. Being moderately active for 30 minutes will increase your serotonin (happy hormone) production while reducing the cortisol (stress hormone) level in your body.
Mix it Up
Variety is important for your well-being, and delicious Hormel® Natural Choice® products are great for kids and parents alike. A well-balanced diet is also one with a lot of variety, so don't forget to include a fruit or vegetable, whole grain and lean protein at each meal.
Though most of us can't be treated to breakfast in bed daily, take time to enjoy the most important meal of the day with my mommymuscle® recipe for the month - - a delicious breakfast that you and your family can make anytime of the week (pass it along to your family as a hint!) And don't forget: celebrate you every day and take time to rejuvenate yourself all year 'round!
In Health,
Mary Beth Knight
StrollerFit® powered by mommymuscle®
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Enjoy the Flavors of Summer
My three-year-old daughter Mazie's favorite food is blueberries – fondly known as "blues." If you ask her, she will tell you the best day of her young life was the one on which she "picked blues with Grandma and Aunt Mary." Aunt Mary took her niece to an organic berry-picking farm, and when Mazie returned, she explained to me why: "There was only good stuff there, Mommy, nothing bad for me or the dirt."
As apparent in Mazie's trip to the berry-picking farm, summertime adventures are an excellent way for children to learn, even while school is out of session. There are many summer-friendly activities you can embark on this season to teach your children more about the world they live in and the food they eat:
Local Fairs
County and local fairs are tried and true summer rituals. Take advantage of these open-air activities to create learning opportunities, discussion topics and fun memories for your family.
Take a Trip Back in Time
Living museums, where different eras in history are recreated in a living timeline, are an excellent daytrip for children. Staff typically dresses in period costumes and demonstrates how early inhabitants in the area lived. They explain their lifestyles in character while performing day-to-day activities such as cooking and cultivating the land, and young visitors can often join in the activities. Wikipedia offers a list of living museums across the country.
Plant a Garden, Watch it Grow
For a child, a garden can be a very rewarding and valuable experience. If the thought of plowing up a corner of your yard is cringe-inducing, create a container garden in a large pot or window planter. The lessons learned through caring for and eventually enjoying the fruits (or veggies) of their labor will last for years to come.
Teaching our children about their world, as well as the food they eat, is good for them and the earth. Preparing and eating nutritious meals with your children is the next step in the right direction toward raising healthy, fit families. Providing foods like Hormel® Natural Choice® products, those that are nutritious, delicious, minimally processed with zero preservatives and packaged in a sustainable way, enables you to begin a dialogue with your kids to help them realize that truly, we are what we eat.
When we began buying and eating the Hormel® Natural Choice® line of meats, Mazie noticed the difference. I explained that, like the blueberries, Hormel® Natural Choice® products wasn't filled with anything bad for her body or the environment. My daughter knows what good food looks like and even recognizes the eco-friendly packaging of Hormel® Natural Choice® meats. As a parent, I'm glad to have the option to feed my family natural and organic foods, and I'm proud to be raising children who recognize that what is good for the earth, is good for us, too.
In Health,
Mary Beth Knight
StrollerFit® powered by mommymuscle®
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Spring Back to Shape as a Family
Healthy moms raise healthy families, and with the rate of childhood obesity still on the rise, that message is more important than ever. Hectic schedules and mom's many priorities can make healthy eating and fitness a real challenge for families. But with a bit of guidance and a solid plan you can succeed.
What better time to kick-off a healthier you than spring? These fun and simple springtime tips can help you create a healthy living plan that works for your family now and throughout the year.
Involve Your Kids. Encourage your family to be involved in the planning and preparation of dinner by assigning each member to "dinner duty." Kitchen tasks can teach colors, counting, and basic food safety. Prep time is a great time to talk with your kids about the importance of healthy meals and the benefits of enjoying seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Mix It Up. For a colorful main dish your whole family will love, try these great tasting and nutritious Chicken Tacos, made with 100 percent natural Hormel® Natural Choice® Carved Chicken Breast. Create excitement about the meal by naming favorite recipes after your kids; for example, the above dish might be renamed "Tommy's Tacos."
Be Artistic! Portion control and variety are essential parts of healthy eating. Plan a family outing to your local paint-your-own-pottery store and each person paints a special dinner plate highlighting the four main food groups. Half the plate can be painted green for fruits and vegetables, a quarter of the plate red for lean meat and beans, and the other quarter orange for whole grains.
Go Walking. Set aside as little as 10 minutes each day for an evening stroll through the neighborhood. Walking will help with post-dinner digestion, improve homework focus and make for better sleep. Try a fun game of "I Spy" to get the kids engaged, or use this time to talk about a topic of your child's choice.
As the winter cold disappears and we feel the first wave of warm spring air, I encourage you to get active, eat well, and enjoy time outdoors with your family.
In Health,
Mary Beth Knight
http://www.strollerfit.com
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Meet Mary Beth Knight
Dear moms:
Fifteen years and 50 pounds ago, I had low self-esteem, zero energy and was feeling depressed. Then something happened that changed my life dramatically: a friend encouraged me to take a fitness class. For the first time in my life I felt strong and healthy, and I was hooked immediately.
Fast-forward several years later, I was pregnant and found myself filled with the fear of gaining weight that I wouldn't be able to lose. Were those years of hard work to get healthy going to go down the tubes as I gained pregnancy weight? How was I going to regain my personal health while handling the extraordinary task of caring for a baby? To add to these fears, I became pregnant again when my daughter was just 8 months old! Time was now at a premium and everything had to be done while juggling two babies, a business (or two), a husband and a home.
I know how it feels to be responsible for so much that your own health becomes an afterthought. But today I am fit, healthy and have more energy than ever before! This is a good thing, because I absolutely love my life and my line of work. As president of StrollerFit®, powered by mommymuscle®, I have had the opportunity to help other moms. You've heard the saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," and it’s true! Your health is truly vital for you and your family.
But as moms we are not just responsible for our own health; we have our families to consider, too. That's why I am proud to partner with the makers of Hormel® Natural Choice® meats, the award-winning line of 100 percent natural meats with zero preservatives. Hormel Foods cares deeply about the well-being of our families and they are active in educating parents about nutritious foods and healthy lifestyles. Hormel® Natural Choice® products are always in my fridge (my daughter refers to the honey ham as "Mazie's ham!"). Food that's ready in a flash AND good for you — Hormel® Natural Choice® meats are free of preservatives and have no artificial colors or flavors — that's my kind of meal!
I am very excited to begin my column here at HormelNatural.com and to get to know all of you moms out there. Check back for new recipes, ideas for family activities and fun ways to get fit with your family. I've included some thoughts here to get you started!
In health,
Mary Beth Knight
http://www.strollerfit.com
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Spring Back into Health and Wellness
They say the first step is the hardest one to take, but if you've made the decision to create a healthier lifestyle for you and your family, let me congratulate you and say you're halfway there!
Spring Back Into Health and Wellness