Choosing the right foods for your family
If you’re a busy mom with limited time to research individual foods, then making use of online tools is a no-brainer. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supports a comprehensive and credible website on nutrition and health (for everyone), including topics on label reading, healthy snack ideas and more at
Stability ball (Swiss ball):
While a stability ball is best known for engages multiple muscle groups during abdominal training, that is only the beginning. It offers the same benefits for upper and lower body toning. Adding controlled instability to your workout promotes muscular endurance and challenges your body’s ability to balance itself.
Resistance tubes:
A lightweight total body shaping aid ideal for the space challenged and/or for those new to exercise. Unlike Therabands, resistance tubes resemble jump ropes and feature triangle-shaped handles on each end for grip comfort and stability. Recommended by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), they vary in length, thickness and color. Usually, thicker, shorter, darker-colored tubes provide more tension.
Dumbbells:
Equipment that adds includes external resistance in the form of weights, such as dumbbells, is essential for muscle growth or hypertrophy. Ideally, you need several sets of dumbbells as certain exercises require heavier weights while others require a lighter set. Consider opting for adjustable dumbbells as they offer multiple resistance levels while saving space.
Other options for strength training at home include medicine balls, Bosu trainers and kettlebells. Even household items can double as fitness accessories. Remember, your own body weight, working against gravity, provides resistance for many challenging exercises, such as the military-style push-up.
One important step towards eating healthier and watching your calories is to eat one meatless meal per week. What to do? It’s easy. I enjoy eating meatless meals because it keeps my diet varied versus boring and stale. Here one tip I use myself that will get you started!
Try tofu and soy crumbles.
While tofu can be an acquired taste for some, it comes in many varieties and flavors, and can be grilled, sautéed, scrambled…even fried or stir-fried. Tofu comes in firm and soft textures (soft is a great protein addition to smoothies) and is often used as an ingredient. I bought an all-tofu decadent chocolate cake from a gourmet bakery. It was completely all natural and vegan. Guess what? My non-vegetarian, hates health food brother in law didn’t know the difference! They used silken tofu in the cake, and yes, it can be that good.
A meat-lover wouldn’t even know the difference, with soy crumbles that is. They used to be packaged as a grain-like product that needed to be re-hydrated to take form.
“Now, frozen, bagged, re-hydrated soy crumbles (textured vegetable protein) can be found in the frozen food section and poured into your favorite spaghetti sauce or chili recipe.”
