10 ways to get in shape with your kids
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I have 3 young kids and I know what it’s like to try to combine taking care of them with taking care of myself. For some reason they always come before me. This leaves me very little time to, for example, exercise.
I thought a lot about what to do about my basically non-existing fitness schedule. And I’ve found that the best way to handle the problem to find fitness activities that I can do together with my children. This will help me get in shape and it will benefit them as well by:
- Keeping them active
- Showing them that exercise is an important part of life
Kids love to spend time with their parents. In our house it can be a pain to get the kids of the couch and away from their precious video games. But I found a couple of words that do magic and they are:
Anyone who wants to go out and jump on the trampoline with me?
It is not the trampoline itself that is so much fun, it is the fact that we do it together. And it’s a great and fun way to exercise. I love it.
Here are some ideas on activities that both you and your kids will benefit from:
- You run and your kid bikes
- Play soccer together in the garden
- Put on some fun music and dance
- Get a Nintendo Wii or use a dance pad and play active fun games together
- Go to the swimming pool together once a week
- Go to a parent-child class of eg gymnastics
- Join them when the play at the playground
- Get an exercise DVD and 2 balance balls (one for you and one for your child) and exercise while you kid plays with the ball
- Get up the trampoline and have fun together
- Do active family activities like roller skating, ice skating, bowling, cycling and skiing
Kids love to play, climb, run and use their bodies. Why do we as parents sit on the bench and just watch? Playing with your kids is not just a good way to exercise it is also a great opportunity to learn something new. So instead of thinking of it as you taking care of your children think of it as what it really is:
A great opportunity for you and your child to have fun and get exercise.
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Easy Exercises To Improve Your Memory
August 13, 2007 by Carolin · Leave a Comment
Do you forget where you put your car keys?
Or maybe you’re like me; I forget people’s names.
Maybe you’re worried about getting dementia as you age.
Either way our mind needs to be challenged just like the rest of our bodies. Scientists have shown that exercising the brain can prevent dementia.
Neurobics, by professor Larry Katz, is brain exercise to help prevent mental aging. Neurobics challenges all our senses as well as the communication between the right and the left brain.
One thing I really like about neurobis that you do not need to set a lot of extra time aside. Nope, these exercises will not take a lot of time, just implement them in your daily routine.
Here are some exercises that fit right into your daily schedule:
- Listen to music and smell something unusual at the same time
- Choose a different route when you go to work our to the grocery store
- Do you grocery shopping at the farmers market instead of in your regular grocery store
- Take a shower and wash your hair with your eyes closed
- Take another seat at the breakfast table
- Get dressed with your eyes closed
- Feel the different textures of your clothes with your hands before you get dressed
- Brush your teeth with your other hand
- Use ear plug during dinner (something I highly recommend if you have more than 2 kids)
- Read to somebody
- Have sex
- Learn a foreign language or sign language
- Do sudoko or play chess
- Do diagonal exercises like yoga, juggle or walking with poles.
- Be socially active
Our brains need stimulation through our whole lives. If we don’t challenge our brains it stagnates, just like the rest of our bodies.
But it’s not only us 30+ers who need brain stimulation. Children have to learn a lot. Stimulation between the right and the left brain (like neurobics) can be helpful and improve their learning curve.
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Sweat away the stress
August 8, 2007 by Carolin · Leave a Comment
Physical activity is a very good natural cure to relieve stress. Here are some good reasons to go for a run to blow off steam:
- Clear your mind
- Makes you feel better. Exercise increases the level of endorphins in your brain. Endorphins are neurotransmitters in you brain that makes you feel good. Sometimes referred to as runners high.
- Lower level of stress hormones
- Decrease your levels of blood sugar and cholesterol. Of which high levels increase stress.
- Release of relaxing substances in the body
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2 in 1: Trim waistline and everyday body detox with 3 min Yoga
August 3, 2007 by Carolin · Leave a Comment
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Apparently I’m very much in the detox mood right now. And while I’m at it I thought I’d share with you this great Yoga exercise.
I really like Yoga. It gives you strength, flexibility and peace of mind. Ever since I started working (spending a lot of time in front of the computer) I’ve had problems with back ache. For long periods I could not do any workout since I had too much pain. This was until I found Yoga.
Anyway, back to the subject. This is a really easy exercise to cleanse you intestines. Basically it’s a colon cleanse. It’s good for everyone and especially if you are suffering from constipation or irritable bowel syndrome.
And the best thing about it is that it is also a very effective way to build stronger abs, shrink your waistline and loose your belly fat. This type of exercise is known to be one of the most effective way to trim your waistline and loose belly fat giving results in only a couple of weeks.
It’s best performed in the morning before breakfast. You can do the exercise later during the day but it must be performed on an empty stomach.
Read and understand the exercise before you try to perform it:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your legs and sit down just far enough to put your hands on your thighs. Keep you back straight.
- Take a deep breath in and then breathe out and exhale as much as air as possible. Hold your breath.
- Nod your head slowly forward, bringing your chin toward your chest. This is the throat lock.
- Now bring your stomach in as far as you possibly can and hold. Visualize trying to touch your navel to your backbone.
- Hold this position for as long as you can. It won’t be long as you are holding your breath.
- Release you stomach, release the throat lock and then start breathing normally again.
- Repeat another 2 times.
You might not be able to pull in your stomach in very far the first time. But this exercise is really easy, fast and has a great payout. You’ll soon see the results.
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Health benefits of walking
June 18, 2007 by Carolin · 2 Comments
Did you know that regular walking can halve your risk of a heart attack?
Our bodies are made for walking. Walking builds long-term health and well-being.
Walking is free, almost everyone can do it and it can be done almost everywhere. Walking is a low-impact exercise, with a low risk of injuries and accidents.
If you are not used to exercising then walking is one of the best ways to get started. It is so easy to adapt the tempo after your fitness level.
Start at a level that makes you feel good. You should feel that you are exercising but you not supposed to be exhausted.
Medical studies have shown an association with walking 30-60 minutes daily with reduced risk of:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Type II diabetes
- Gall bladder disease
- High blood pressure
- Bowel cancer
- Alzheimers disease
- Arthritis
- Anxiety and stress
Walking is also associated with:
- Natural weight loss
- Increased longevity
- Decreased risk of hip fracture in those over 60
- Better blood circulation
- Lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Improved flexibility of joints and muscles
- Stronger in muscles and bones
- Reducing insomnia
- Effective breathing
- Good immune system
- Good confidence and mental well-being
Also exercise increases our metabolism which means that we burn fat more efficiently. Not only when we exercise but for hours after. Every time you walk at a fast pace so your heart rate increases you’re also increasing your metabolism and loosing weight.
Why sit when you can stand?
Why stand when you can walk?
Get up and start moving. It will not take long before you feel the positive effects.
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How to measure fat
Body composition is the breakdown of your body make-up, ie fat, lean muscle, bone and water content. The percentage of body weight that is “essential fat” is around 4% of body weight for men and 10% for women. Beyond that, there’s a somewhat wide range of what is considered a healthy percentage of body fat. Most recommendations show a healthy range for men as 10-25 % body fat and for women 15-30%. Keeping track of your body composition is an important tool to monitor your wellness.
Do muscles weigh more than fat?
No, muscles do not weigh more than fat, any more than lead weighs more than feathers. A pound is a pound and a kilo is a kilo. However, muscles are much more dense than fat, so, by volume, a muscle seems to weigh more. So by increasing your muscle mass you will look thinner.
Muscle is also active tissue, in that any muscle you build from exercise will be active all day long in burning more calories.
So how do I know if I carry too much fat?
A body composition scale tells you just that.
Your total weight is a combination of bone, ligament, tendon, organs, fluids, muscle and fat. This is what a traditional scare will measure. A body composition scale tells you your “body composition” which is defined as the relationship between all the lean tissue in the body and fat. It is not uncommon that a person who starts a new exercise program will not see any effect on the standard scale but a great difference on the body composition scale.
Body Mass Index
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 years. BMI will give you an indication if your weight is normal of if you’re overweight.
A BMI between 18,5 and 25 is considered as normal weight. This table shows the classification:
| 18.5 or less | Underweight |
| 18.5 to 24.99 | Normal Weight |
| 25 to 29.99 | Overweight |
| 30 to 34.99 | Obesity (Class 1) |
| 35 to 39.99 | Obesity (Class 2) |
| 40 or greater | Morbid Obesity |
This is how you calculate your BMI.
English BMI Formula
BMI = ( Weight in Pounds / ( Height in inches ) x ( Height in inches ) ) x 703
Metric BMI Formula
BMI = ( Weight in Kilograms / ( Height in Meters ) x ( Height in Meters ) )
Waist circumference
Waist circumference is the distance around your natural waist (just above the navel). This measurement is very important since body fat that accumulates around the waist and stomach area poses a greater health risk than fat stored in the lower half of the body. Waist circumference can be useful for those people categorized as normal or overweight in terms of BMI.
Your goal for waist circumference is less than 40 inches or 101 cm if you’re a man and less than 35 inches or 89 cm if you’re a woman.
Skin fold measurement
Another way of tracking body fat is through a skin fold measurement. The measurement is taken on 3 to 9 different sites around the body. The waist is of course one of them. For consistency the right side is usually only measured. The tester pinches the skin at the appropriate site to raise a double layer of skin and the underlying loose tissue, but not the muscle. The calipers are then applied to make the actual measurement. The mean of two measurements should be taken. If the two measurements differ greatly, a third should then be done, then the median value taken. A skin fold measurement is best to be use to track the progress in body composition during an exercise/diet or weight loss program. The same measurements are done and recoded on a regular basis to track results.
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