Tag Archives: physical

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Staying Energized When You’re Stuck Inside

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Okay, as the summer heat really settles in, it gets harder and harder to get outside. Not to mention, there are many safety concerns for both you and your children when it is too hot. The last thing you want is for the kids to get in the habit of watching movies or playing video games all day. So, what do you do? You find fun, interactive ways to entertain the whole family. Since helping your family stay active is what we do, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite things to do when we’re stuck inside. Here it is!

Play Twister: A game like Twister provides the structure of a board game. But, it gets everyone moving and stretching. It’s not only important to get active. It’s also important to stretch your muscles and keep them moving. You’re entire body will feel better!

Clean the house: I know this probably won’t sound that appealing to your kids.  But, there are ways to make it fun. First, make sure that the entire family gets involved. Then, turn on some active music and have everyone show off their best dance moves while they sweep, dust and scrub the bathroom. You never know, it could become one of your favorite family traditions.

Find a fun kids workout DVD: We’re all familiar with Jane Fonda tapes and Tae-Bo. But, now we have fun DVD’s that have been made just for kids. These DVD’s will get your kids moving and burning calories. All while they are having fun! Here are a couple to get you started.

1)      Up, Down and All Around    2)   Yoga for Kids

Let the whole family cook dinner: This one isn’t as much about being active as it is about engaging your little one’s brains and teaching them about nutrition. Getting them in the kitchen gets them away from the TV and gives you a great opportunity to teach them all about the food groups, healthy foods and how to build healthy meals.

These are just a few of our favorites. But, there really are a lot of ways that your family can stay active in the heat of the summer. If you need some more ideas, be sure to check out our website at www.ncescatalog.com or visit us on Facebook. Plus, you can always give us a call (800 NCES BOOKS) or chat live with our dietitian.

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5 Tips for Setting Fitness Goals

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The month of May is National Physical Fitness Month. So, to recognize this, we thought that we might give you some tips on easy methods of working out, that won’t take a bite out of your daily schedule.

Current physical activity guidelines state that 150 minutes of physical activity a week is required to keep you fit and healthy. To put it plainly, a half an hour for five days out of the week, while paired with a healthy diet, is usually enough to keep you away from becoming overweight.

Fitness and physical activity are important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and it doesn’t always have to get in the way of your everyday life. By separating those workout periods into ten minutes, or even five minute blocks, you can spread out your physical activity enough to make the time easy to find.

But, fitness doesn’t happen overnight, and more than one of us have made a New Year’s resolution, only to watch it fade away within a month or two. Taking things gradually can help maintain a healthy lifestyle, and one way to partition your fitness into manageable chunks, is to set goals.

A few tips to follow when setting goals for yourself:

  • Make the goal challenging, but achievable. Too easy and you’ll become unmotivated, too hard and the same thing will happen.
  • Make it a variation of short-term and long-term goals. Being able to hit marks along the way to your bigger goals can be just as rewarding as the bigger goals themselves.
  • Have progression in your goals. Whether adding time or intensity, having progression built into your goals makes it more achievable and positively enforcing.
  • Set your exercises according to your lifestyle and what you’re comfortable with. Getting outside of your comfort zone is basic, to a point. If you don’t like it to start, you never will.
  • Reward yourself when you reach your goals. Avoid using food as a reward though. And make sure that the reward matches the goal. If it’s a big goal, give yourself a big reward!

These tips and more, along with short, easy-to-do exercises can be found in the book, “Fit In 5” by Greg Whyte.  This book, and many more can be found at www.ncescatalog.com and in our catalog.