Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research
Parents are always hearing about the importance of exercise for children. From emotional development to physical coordination skills, exercise can build healthy habits that have lifelong benefits.
A healthy diet isn’t just about looking your best, it’s about feeling your best. Eating well provides the body with essential nutrients, energy, and can boost your immune system. A well-rounded diet has been linked to decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and memory loss. What you eat can also affect your brain functioning and help with weight loss. There’s no doubt about it, a healthy diet is essential for living your best life. While these logical reasons for eating healthy may appeal to you, it’s very common to face pushback from family members as you transition to a healthier diet. Don’t let this discourage you! We’ve got 12 ways to help get your family on board with healthy eating this year! Start small Making drastic changes may seem like a good idea, however, they often don’t last. Instead, start by making small changes, such as swapping one or two ingredients (a good example: replacing butter with olive oil) and work your way up to brand new recipes. Focus on the Why Often, family…
Staying Active at Home (Plus Free Workouts Online for Adults and Children) Have you ever seen a dog get outside after a few straight days of rain? That same electric energy is how you and your family might feel after a few days of social isolation! Physical activity is essential for both your mind and body. In fact, the recommendations for weight loss/weight management in children is 60 minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity per day. For adults, it is 60 minutes per day for weight loss. If this sounds like an impossible feat, we are here to give you ideas and resources for hitting those activity goals each day from home! Activity GoalsMix it up- Challenge yourself to do a different exercise each day of the week! Try yoga on Monday and running on Tuesday…can you make it all the way through the week with no repeats?Be creative- Turn cooking into a dance party and get active all day long. No-one said you need to be “traditional.” Use what’s around the house to make fun…
Imagine running a marathon. If you ran hard at the start, you might reach exhaustion too quickly. Likewise, if you try to store all your energy until the very end, you may never make any progress (think of a turtle here, people). The key is setting an even pace that you can maintain throughout the entirety of the race. Now, imagine this same strategy for your caloric intake. Instead of eating meals in huge chunks, think about the benefits of maintaining your energy levels at a consistent rate across the day. By scheduling your meals and snacks, and building a healthy diet, you can maximize your digestive health while preventing the development of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Let’s take a look at what a healthy eating schedule looks like for the day.Within one hour of waking up, your body has processed all the nutrients during your sleep and is ready to build energy. Choose high protein and low sugar and carb options to provide long-lasting energy without crashing mid-morning.About 3 hours later,…
One of the most frustrating aspects of the current COVID-19 outbreak (aside from feeling a bit stir-crazy and cooped up at home) is that the information and advice pouring in seems to continually change and be conflicting at times. Constant change increases the anxiety levels in both adults and children, and many people may find themselves using any means necessary to manage their stress. Stress affects each person differently, but the CDC is reporting that common manifestations during this outbreak include increased fear for familial health, changes to sleep and eating patterns, worsening of chronic health problems, and increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. For this reason, emotional eating in response is a likely reaction many families will be facing in the coming weeks. So, how can you positively manage your own stress, and the stress of your family, during the outbreak? Confront the Feelings– When you notice you or your family slipping into unproductive patterns associated with stress management, such as binge eating or constant movie marathons, it’s probably time to take…