Happy Start Walking Day!

I bet you didn't know that today is a national holiday. Yes, it is. It's National Start Walking Day. So if you don't currently do any kind of exercise- this is your day! This is the day you are going to resolve to get your body moving and get in shape. The experts recommend 30 minutes a day and even if that is in 3 x 10 minute chunks, it still counts. Your heart will thank you. Check out the AHA website for more info on this campaign. This website has so many great links and a lot of good information. They are trying to raise a million dollars by the end of the day in an effort to reduce physical inactivity and obesity in America.

On the theme of getting healthy, I read about this white board you can buy for your kids called Snacker Tracker. It allows the kids to keep track of foods they eat by marking them down on the white board so they can see what they're consuming. (I could be wrong, but Laurie B, this totally seems right up your alley) The man who rated it said that his 3 year old couldn't wait to eat more vegetables so that he could mark it down. He said, "Frankly if a dry erase board gets a kid to eat more vegetables, I'm willing to wallpaper my kitchen with it." I thought that was funny. Sounds cool to me. It would be easy to just copy the idea and make your own chart with spaces for each food group and then total the servings at the bottom. Give the kids rewards (not desserts!) for eating well. Let them choose an activity to do with you, a movie, a game rental, buy a new ball or jump rope, etc. Just an idea to get the kids learning about health too.

Speaking of kids, I also saw in the paper that the UT dept of health sponsored a kids' fruits and veggies recipe contest (What a great idea!) and the whole recipe contest cookbook is available at Heart Highway.org" There are 77 entries created for and by kids! Why not check it out and get cooking with the kids?

Ok, my last little clip is from Usa today's "Better Life" column. It mentioned a study that was done over a period of 25 years on 88,000 women. They examined their food choices and how many had heart attacks and strokes. Those who fared best had eating habits most similar to the government's DASH plan (for lowering blood pressure) which favors fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat milk, and plant-based proteins over meat. Women who ate this type of diet were far less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those eating a typical American diet. Gee, what a shock... excuse my sarcasm. Is anyone starting to see a trend forming here? Finally the research is backing up what some of us have known for a long time. I am glad the general public is starting to listen. Not so many years ago, someone eating a vegetarian diet had to endure a lot of persecution. Now suddenly, so many of the experts are recommending 'mostly vegetarian' diets. I like it.

I had a great lunch today. I made a Boca burger wrap. It was so fast and easy. I first cooked the burger (you can nuke it or grill in a skillet) then heated up a tortilla with some cheese and added the burger to the middle. I covered it with spinach, chopped red pepper, avocado, lentil and alfalfa sprouts, then added a little ranch dressing. Yum. It was so delicious. It felt so indulgent! The funny thing is, the kids saw me eating and both said, "I want one!" I was a bit shocked, but acted normal (as you do when your kids actually ASK for something healthy!) then proceeded to make them their own. Austin didn't want all the veggies (no surprise) but had the burger with cheese and some salsa. Baby steps, right? It's still progress. Olivia wanted spinach, tomato, and ranch dressing with hers. Sometimes they'll surprise you!