When I drop my kids off at school in the mornings, I see a lot of the other kids and it makes me sad to see how many of them are overweight. I know that overweight teens turn into even more overweight adults. It is just not healthy.

 

Being overweight leads to all sorts of medical issues whether it be Diabetes, Heart problems, High Blood Pressure, trouble with Knees or Ankles, or other medical problems. When I go into a store, the people that are using those motorized shopping carts are getting younger and younger. It has to stop somewhere.

 

But how to we stop this? How do we help people become healthy again? How do we convince them that just losing 10 lbs will help them? How do we convince them that it is just as easy, if not easier, to fix meals at home that are healthier than fast food? How do we convince them that any exercise is better than none?

 

It is not an easy task. There are no quick fixes or magic pills to make you healthy. You have to want to be healthy and you have to do the work. But just to be clear, that does not mean that you can never have things you love to eat like pizza and ice cream and such. I eat pizza and I eat ice cream and I eat a lot of other things that most people think you can't have when you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle. But the thing is, it is a lifestyle, and it is all about balance.

 

So if you have read this far, I thank you. Here is what I would like to do to help. I will be running a couple 7 Day FREE groups to help change habits or get ideas about how to do things in a healthier way. So here is the breakdown.

 

*Monday, October 10 through Sunday, October 16 -- Kick SODA to the Curb! This group will focus on cutting Soda and other soft drinks out of your diet. Your body and wallet will thank you.

 

*Monday, October 17 through Sunday, October 23 -- Dump the DRIVE THRU! This group will focus on making healthier versions of Fast Food. You can still get the flavor without all the extra fat and calories.

 

You can join both groups or just join one. If you think these groups can help someone you know, please share this with them.

 

There is one thing I have to ask. I am a Beachbody Coach and because I respect my fellow Coaches, to join my groups you cannot already be working with another Beachbody Coach.

Sleep. We all need it, but it seems that many of us don't get enough sleep. Some struggle to get to sleep, some struggle to stay asleep, and still others struggle with how much sleep, or how little sleep, they get. I am in the group that gets too little sleep.

 

Why is sleep so important? According to The Harvard Women's Health Watch, here are 6 reasons to get plenty of sleep.

 

      1. Learning and Memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation.

 

      2. Metabolism and Weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

 

      3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and other mistakes.

 

      4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

 

      5. Cardiovascular Health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

 

      6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body's killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer. 

 

The amount of sleep that you need varies from person to person, but a good rule of thumb is between 7 and 8 hours a night.

 

In my case, I have noticed a difference when I get more or less sleep. Over the summer when the kids were off school I got into the habit of sleeping until 6am and generally I would go to bed around 10pm. So that was a good 8 hours of sleep. But now that the kids are back in school, I get up at 4am, but even though I try to get to bed earlier, I often don't get to bed until 10pm. Because of this, I see changes in myself. I am tired during the day more often for sure, but I also notice that I have been gaining weight, not much, but it's also harder to lose. This, I believe, is due to the increase of cortisol levels. To correct this, I just have to once again find the balance. 

 

I encourage you to take a look at your sleep habits and see if you are getting enough sleep. Could you adjust your routines somewhere to get in an extra hour of sleep? Your body will thank you!

Water is a super important part of a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it quench your thirst way better than a soft drink but it also helps regulate body temperature, flushes out waste, lubricates joints, cushions the brain and spinal cord, helps in digestion, and transports nutrients to the cells. Wow, that's a lot!!

But how much should you drink? A good guideline to follow I drink half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150, divide that by 2 and you get 75. You should be drinking 75 ounces of water a day.

But I don't like water! So what? Do you want to be healthy or not? You can filter your water to make it taste better or flavor it with things like lemon or berries. As with a lot of things, making drinking water a habit may take work, especially if you have to undo bad habits. But you can do this!

So drink up!!

Green Beans and Potatoes

2 lbs green beans (I used fresh from the garden)

12-15 small red potatoes, cut in half

5 strips of bacon

1 onion

4 cups of chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Clean green beans and potatoes. Cut green beans into bite sized pieces. Cut potatoes in half. Put in crock pot. Cut bacon into small pieces and cook until crisp. Drain bacon pieces on paper towels. Cut onion into small pieces and cook in a little bit of the bacon grease. Add bacon and onion to crock pot. Add chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all up. Cook on Low for 6 hours.  

Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas

 

10 oz bag dark chocolate chips 

Approx 2 Tablespoons coconut oil 

3-4 bananas 

 

Slice bananas and freeze on a parchment paper covered tray for a couple hours. Melt dark chocolate and coconut oil together in microwave. Check and stir every 15-20 seconds. Dip frozen bananas in melted chocolate and return to parchment paper covered tray. Freeze to set. Enjoy. Store in freezer. 

 

These are so good!!

Welcome to my Blog! This is a huge step for me. I've never done anything like a Blog before so I am sure there will be a few bumps along the way, but if you bear with me I'll get the kinks worked out.

So let me introduce myself. I am Cyndy Wise, Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur, Adventurer, Photographer, Health and Fitness Gal, and Beachbody Coach. What the heck does all that mean? I am married with children. Along with my hubby, I own and operate a specialty hardware store. I love adventures: hiking, canoeing, camping. I am an award winning amateur photographer. I mostly photograph things in nature. Recently I decided that I wasn't getting any younger and I needed to take better care of myself so I started doing Beachbody workout programs and I enjoy them so much that I became a Beachbody Coach. My passion for a healthy lifestyle grows every day.

By the title of this Blog you can probably tell the focus will be on Health and Fitness. But I will also toss in anything I think is Fun as well. This could be anything from adventures I've been on to crafty things I've made. You really just never know!! And isn't that the Fun part? Not knowing what you might find?

I hope you will enjoy the time you spend here at my Blog. If you ever have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. If you would like to join me in my journey of Health and Fitness, please send me a message and I will be happy to help you.