Importance of Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs

Many heart attacks happen after people finish a vigorous activity such as running, jogging, tennis, etc., because they do not take the time to warm-up or cool-down properly. Slowly decrease your activity until your heart is at a normal beat. Never quit abruptly when you heart is beating rapidly. Give it time to decrease its rate before stopping an activity. Your heart and circulatory system needs time to adjust to the change in activity.

Make Nutrition a Priority for Your Children

Preparing and serving nutritional foods to your children reaps many rewards. You will not only be protecting their bodies from illness now, but also in the future.

Bicycling for Beginners

To reap the benefits from bicycling, you should bicycle for at least 30 minutes three times a week. Beginners should start out with 10-20 minutes. If you cycle 20 minutes one day, try doing 30 minutes the next day, then back to 20 minutes the following day so you do not overdo it.

Ummm-It Is So Good

Always have vegetables available for your children to eat and make sure they see you eating and enjoying them too. If they notice you enjoying its taste, they just may decide that they like it too. If they observe you forcing yourself to eat vegetables you don't like but eating them to be healthy, it is unlikely they will want to eat them either. Children are great imitators of their parents and remember you are their role model! Emphasize how good it tastes, not how good it is for their health.

Make Nutrition a Priority

The choice is simple: Spend time on nutrition or spend time being ill and the resulting medical bills. We can derive immediate benefits from practicing good nutrition now-for ourselves as well as our family.

Better Nutrition Means Healthier and Slimmer Bodies

Many singles consider their body as part of his/her physical attractiveness to the opposite sex. Therefore, a healthy weight and slimmer body will increase your perceived physical attractiveness. Of course you can´t base a relationship upon physical attributes, but it can help get someone´s attention.

Save Money by Eating Healthy

Let´s face it, eating out gets expensive. It may be convenient, but it can ruin your budget quickly, not to mention you and your kids´ waistline. You´ll save money by bypassing the fast-food convenience stores and preparing nutritional meals for yourself and your family. Plus if you prepare extras, you have leftovers to pack for lunch the next day, saving even more money by brown-bagging it.

Learning to Rollerblade

You will want to start out slow and work your way up. Don't hit the paved roads and recreational trails until you have conquered your patio or driveway. And I use the term, hit, literally. If you are like many adults who haven't been active physically for several years, it may take some time for you to get your balance on skates, so be prepared. But it is like riding a bicycle, you will eventually learn how to balance and control your speed. Away we go!

Work Off Stress

The next time you feel stressed out, forget the chocolate bar or ice cream and hit the fitness trail instead. Work that frustration and/or anger right out of your system. Then you will be better able to deal with the corresponding situation that caused it. Not to mention the improvement in your body and health by getting rid of that negative emotion. Studies have proven that stress weakens the body's immune system, so get rid of that stress and keep your body pumped up and ready to fight against viruses and diseases.

Better Nutrition Enhances Energy

One you begin eating a regular diet of nutritional foods rather than fast-food junk, you should notice an increase in your energy level. High-fat foods and sugars not only add additional weight, but they also tend to sap your energy. The more energetic you feel, the more apt you are to lift those weights, ride that bicycle, or do that aerobics workout, all of which will keep you on the road to better physical fitness and health.

Tea for Your Health

If you and your kids are avid soda drinkers, try switching to brewed iced tea for some of your meals. Recent scientific studies have revealed that brewed tea has antioxidants that can help prevent cancer. It is not only much cheaper than canned beverages and soda, it can actually be good for you. Forget the instant kind. Brewed tea tastes much better. It can be easily brewed in your coffee maker if you are not a coffee drinker, or even prepared with some boiling water in a small saucepan.

Cut Health Care Costs with Proper Nutrition

A recent study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that educated, middle-class, white women are leading the pack in the malnutrition of today´s youth and paving the way for an alarming increase in health care needs and costs. It is time to reverse this trend and return to preparing and eating the wholesome foods that are at the bottom of the food pyramid, not the junk at the top. Providing proper nutrition for your children is part of your responsibility, and is just as important as ensuring their safety and providing shelter.

Social Activities Can Affect Your Health

The Center for Disease Control conducted a study to examine the relationship between the level of people's social activity against such behaviors as diet, exercise, smoking, regular physical exams, etc., that affect the risk for heat disease. Interestingly enough, those persons who had limited social activity were less likely to participate in physical activities, and were less likely to maintain proper eating habits or have regular medical exams. Our social interactions with other people correlates with how well we interact with our health. Get out and socialize and you will soon adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Keeping Fit – Getting Started

After making a decision to become more active physically, be sure not to try doing too much too soon or you will burn out and quit. Try one new activity at a time to get yourself, and your body used to the routine. You may need to start out by taking the kids on a long walk. Once you have gotten into the habit of one extra activity, try adding another one. As your children see you getting more involved, they will be motivated to join you, or you can join them in their activities. Yes, you can ride a bicycle, ice skate, play volleyball, or learn to roller blade. It's not just for kids. So get off the couch, vegetating time is over.

Hearty Breakfast for Supper

Who says bacon and eggs is only for breakfast? Try preparing some of the more hearty breakfast items for your evening meal such as omelets and other egg dishes. If your mornings are too rushed to cook and breakfast consists of cereal or a breakfast bar, you and your kids will welcome the chance to get some “real breakfast foods,” even if it is in the evening.

Adults Need Sleep

Parents are among the most sleep-deprived people in America due to the ever-increasing demands on their time. Even small deviations from the standard 8 hours of sleep can significantly impair your performance for several days. Lack of sleep affects your memory, learning, coordination, mood, concentration skills, and ability to tolerate stress. Make sure you are getting your 8 hours a night. It is important for you and your family.

No Force Feeding

Never force your children to eat their vegetables. When children are forced to do something it automatically sets a resistance within them and you have lost the battle before you even start. They may eat it, but they will probably throw it up later. If not, they will certainly avoid that food in the future when they can.

Healthy Kids Is Your Responsibility

Single parents have an enormous job and sometimes it can be overwhelming. But don´t sacrifice your children´s health for convenience. Providing proper nutrition for your children is part of the your responsibility, and is just as important as ensuring their safety and providing shelter. The nutrition children receive while growing up affects their health when they become adults. Consider their healthy today and don´t cheat on their futures. You want them healthy and strong so they can take care of you when your body starts falling apart!

Your Health and Well-Being Is Important

Tip from Shellee Darnell in article entitled Single Parents Raise Good Kids Too! “It is critical for your children's well being for you to take care of yourself. There are times when you feel like you need a break. Ask other single parents to trade babysitting or hire a mother's helper. Pay special attention to diet, exercise, stress management, and getting a good night's sleep. . . . Take a walk, read a book call a friend, take a nap. . . . A stressed out parent results in stressed out kids.”