Tag: family

Walking Fun Fact

Adding 150 minutes of brisk walking to your routine each week can add a little over three years to your lifespan.*

Happy Valentine’s Day.

I love my jump rope(orange and yellow with knots by handles). Do you see it?

With so much love in the air on this day, why not take your valentine on a brisk walk today, so you are able to enjoy a potential three years or more healthy time together?

That is what I am doing today. I just can’t resist the bright sunshine and cool, fresh air, even though the temperature is sub freezing with a decent wind chill factor. The air is ever so refreshing and the sunlight is extra inviting on a February day in the Pennsylvania wood lands.

Now, what constitutes a brisk walk? That is different for all of you. Brisk, as a reminder, is somewhere in the middle of your RPE chart. Once again, this is different for all of you; because, you are all on a personal fitness level with personal goals.

A brisk walk could also be done with your HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) program. Just be sure to stay within your safe RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) that we talk about, while doing enough work to raise your heart rate.

Enjoy your nice long Valentine weekend.

Best of health to you and good bye.

image by Natalie~Personal Trainer~NAPS 2 B Fit…~Health Coach.

*source: American Council on Exercise.

Youth Activity

Today, less than one out of seven children walk to school. In 1970, two out of three children walked to school.*

I remember someone telling us at a back to school night, that children adjust better than adults. Yes, I will agree; but, that is because the children are not parents and lack life experience.

Does the mama bear jump to her child’s rescue when needed? You bet your life she will and does every time. Is not the same true for us as parents? You bet your life it is and is every time.

So, how do we get more children walking to school, again? There are many concerns to be addressed, which, just may benefit us all.

Is it possible for a parent to adjust their schedule so they can walk to school as a family? I enjoyed walking our children to school and then back home at the end of their day. We made a hiking conference adventure out of our walks and took in all that nature has to offer. During a path construction project we even had the chance to gingerly walk on a log traversing the stream, which also led to making new friends. We were disappointed when the project was finished; because, our balance beam log was removed.

Is it possible to coordinate schedules with other responsible, trusted adults? We all have different schedules that just may work out in your favor. You don’t know until you ask and I bet the other parents are in the same boat, or mama and papa bear cave.

Is it possible to form a walk to school group? This is a great way to make new friends and you have the safety in numbers working for you. This could also be your group exercise session, serving double duty. We would stop along the way to play on swings, slides, etc. Being active will get your children to open up to you, too.

Is it possible to form a walk to school watch group? Talk to people along the walking path to have their eyes and ears open during certain times of the day to help keep an eye on the children. I would nonchalantly do my chores outside with a friendly “hello” and everyone is happy, well and safe.

The benefit for us all? A windfall just may be your best health with a closer family and neighborhood relationship. How great is that? 🙂

Best of health to you and goodbye.

(image: unsplash)

*source: American Council on Exercise

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and are continuing the celebrations throughout the weekend. 

We all had a great time sharing the labor of love as well as the meal.

I see Black Friday sales and Small Business Saturday sales are going well. Thank you for your patronage and enjoy your outings.

It is actually a great idea to go out after feasting. Remember reading all the Walking Fun Facts?

It is recommended that we walk after every meal; therefore, get up and go out on your errands, shopping, strolling, or whatever else you are doing. Moving around will get your digestive system moving properly, too.

Best of health to you and goodbye.

(images by Natalie ~ Personal Trainer ~ NAPS 2 B Fit)

Reflection of a Personal Trainer

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

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(image by Natalie~Personal Trainer~NAPS 2 B Fit)

Not true in my world. I can and do teach the older generation new tricks; both human and animal.

First, what do you consider to be an old dog? Second, what do you consider to be a new trick?

Maybe the older the dog, the more the dog has learned and there are no more new tricks to learn. Hmmm.

All it takes is patience and perseverance with the right cues, communication and understanding to learn a new trick. That’s all, time and practice.

Time could be one day, one week, one month, one year or more; that is just fine.

Practice until you get it, practice some more, continue practicing until it becomes second nature to you. Then practice some more and you will be a pro.

The same holds true for all of us. Just keep up with what you have learned to maintain what you have accomplished. Believe it or not, I need to do the same thing with my own customized health and wellness program.

By the way, I like my white hair. I also like the gray and white hair on you and our pets.

🙂

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(image: Unsplash)

Best of health to you and goodbye.

 

PHIT Will Help You Stay Fit

Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act

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What does that mean? Here is the take away from the news I have been following for you:

“ In a huge victory for America’s health, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act, which would allow the use of pre-tax savings accounts for physical activity-related expenses.”

Click on the following secure link to read the full article:

“PHIT will help families with various activity costs, including pay-to-play in schools, organized team sports, individual activities, camps, clinics, classes, tournaments and qualified equipment. PHIT will also help adults’ activity, as it includes gym memberships, fitness classes, personal trainers, recreational sports/activities and other eligible activity expenses.”

Yes, we are on our way. The PHIT Act may be passed by December 2018. You will be able to use pre-tax savings accounts to pay for your personal trainer, health classes and other physical activity expenses. This will give you a discount of up to almost 40% off your health and fitness costs.

Yahoo! 🙂

Best of health to you and goodbye.

(image by Personal Trainer, Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit)

 

 

Loving and Supporting Neighborhood

Our community is the kind where everyone pulls together at a moment’s notice.

Someone I like to call our neighborhood philanthropist spread the idea to help celebrate the life of a child who passed away too young. The child is the daughter of a pillar of our neighborhood. The idea is to hang an orange heart on the mailbox and if you need the orange heart, to go to their mailbox and take what you need. This person cut innumerable heart shapes and pounded pavement to get the businesses on board, who are more than happy to help support their fellow business owner who is the father of this sweet little angel.

Overnight, everyone scrambled to find something orange, the child’s favorite color, and display it for all to see. I saw orange: ribbons, hearts, balloons of all shapes, bandanas, towels, and mostly orange heart shapes attached to business signs, mailboxes, vehicles and even the people themselves wearing orange and carrying orange plants. The family is going to plant a garden in their daughter’s memory.

These are the news stories I want to read and hear about in the media. This is a great example of how social media can and will be used for good reasons. The overwhelming community support is possible by posting one message and letting it go viral. We have lots of love to go around and just need the media to help us spread the good stories for copycat good deeds.

I now see why orange was this girl’s favorite color and I will never look at orange anything the same way ever again. Orange to me reminds me of the peaceful Orange Revolution and now it also means love and community fellowship with this sweet little angel’s face in the front leading the way.

It is amazing how people came up with homemade signs cut/sawed and painted so quickly, among other things. This just goes to show you that anything is possible when we put our minds together and go after that goal. Embrace the challenge to reach the goal.

Anything is possible when it comes from love. I love my neighborhood.

Best of health to you and goodbye to you and this family’s sweet little angel. The entire family is in our thoughts and prayers.

(photos by Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit, crafts made by the people in my neighborhood)

Safety Tip

Ear bud in only one ear, please.

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Please be safe and careful when you are using your devices. Always be aware of your surroundings by keeping both eyes open and at least one ear on. That means you should only use one ear piece so you can hear what is going on around you. Thank you. I feel better knowing that you are safe.

Best of health to you and good-bye for now.

(image by Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit)

ACE Walking Fun Fact

“Walking is good medicine: it can help you improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels.”

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Wow, who knew that walking can be that powerful? Only everyone since the beginning of time.

Hippocrates, ~400 BC, knew that environment, activities of daily living and diet are the deciding factors of our health.

Plato, ~300 BC,  knew that God gave us education and exercise to work together for our best life possible.

Look at the ancient practices of China and India, which have been keeping their people healthy for 4000 to 5000 years.

This makes me love my walks that much more; how about you?

Best of health to you and good-bye for now.

(image by Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit)

 

Exercise is Medicine

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Walking dogs is the best all around medicine

Who can argue that this is the best type of group exercise?

Just look at those loving eyes and faces. The best part of my day is when I get to walk the dogs and spend quality time with them and other pets, too. It brings me back to the days I worked in a dog kennel; one of the best jobs I ever had. Puppies and kittens forever.:-)

So you can imagine my excitement when a client has dogs; because, I will do whatever it takes to help the client achieve their results. I am able to show you some dog training tips right along with your personal training session. How cool is that? That way your dogs behave while you do your own session.

Truly, happy dogs and happy clients equals the best health possible. Think about it, doesn’t the unconditional love from your pet motivate you, put a smile on your face and in your heart? It does for me.

Now off to go play with a girl’s best friends, my dogs. Thank you, my four-legged, adorable, loving, behaved pooches, who help keep me in shape, happy, healthy and balanced.

Best of health to you and good-bye for now.

(image by Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit)