Embracing a Healthy Family: dance exercise
Showing posts with label dance exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dance exercise. Show all posts

My Top 10 Ways to Get Fit After the Holidays


My huge aspirations to lose weight BEFORE the new year tanked as quickly as I can down a piece of hot yeast bread or chocolate.  I'm a carb craver so it's hard to turn down carbs especially when I have to cook meals for picky eaters.  Even though I failed my own challenge to lose before Christmas, I can reflect back on the year and pat myself on the back for losing 26 pounds this year.  I'm gearing up for next year and it was perfect timing that EA and TwitterMoms teamed up for this perfect challenge to share our top ten ways to get fit after the holidays.  The best part, five random bloggers will receive the EA SPORTS Active™ Personal Trainer – the highest rated Wii™ fitness product to date for use on the Nintendo Wii system!
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I already have a Wii system but this is one of the fitness games I do not have which is why I jumped at the chance to win one.  I've seen many reviews on it and Twitter contests for it with proven results and it's on my Chrismtas list.  If I don't get one, here is my list of how I plan to get in shape after the holidays:
  1. In the mornings, with my oldest daughter, we will start up our Wii and workout fort 30 minutes four to five times a day.  The Wii is a great way to play and get in shape with just about any aged person as you choose the game and intensity.  I can challenge my six year old to boxing on Sports or cardio on my Cardio game.  I telecommute so I can allocate a certain time period every day for us to workout.  This way, my calendar will alert me it's time which holds me to be more accountable.
  2. Practice calorie counting and watching my carb intake.  Carbs and I don't get along and I'm a stress eater so I find myself grabbing up the breads, pasta, chocolate and so forth.  My strict journal recording will ensure I stick to the plan and control the intake.  There are also great resources online to enter your intake as well as automatic calculators to determine your fat, calories and more. 
  3. I bought a wagon last summer to encourage walking while exposing my children to sunlight (doctor's orders).  It started out good but then I found every excuse possible to not go on a walk.  When the weather turns nice, which in Georgia, we do have quite a few nice days, we'll take advantage of it.  I know I will find another excuse to get out of it but I decided I'll get a picture of a wagon and put it on the interior of the door.  Once I explain to my six year old what it means, she'll ensure I take her for a walk daily.
  4. Eat healthier is tip number 4.  Counting calories is only part of it.  Eating better foods is necessary to get in shape.  Vegetables and fruit are much better but protein is still needed.  Fresh is best but frozen is good too!  Watch out as certain fruits are not equal and can still give you a lot of sugar.
  5. Eliminate those harmful sodas and drink more water.  This sounds easier said then done but the amount of calories in one can is amazing.  Drinking other products like shakes, fruit smoothies and other vices such as that can pack on the pounds.
  6. PhotobucketProper sleep is essential to not only losing weight but maintaining a healthy life.  There have been numerous studies done on the impact of sleep and I'm a true testiment to it.  Right after my middle child was born, she had terrible colic and acid reflux so I didn't get much sleep and thus I packed on the pounds.  I will make sure I'm in bed by 10:00 pm every night or at least try.
  7. Create a grocery list is an amazingly easy way to avoid buying bad food.  If you are hungry, forget it!  Make sure you plan your meals and create a shopping list to only buy those foods you want. Impulse buying will kill you everytime.  I've resorted to sending my oldest grocery shopping to avoid buying all the junk I used to buy.
  8. Premake mini snacks for when you are hungry.  There is no need to go out and buy the expensive 100 calorie snack packs if you read the labels and store them in baggies.  If you have them packed and labeled for each day, it's much easier to follow and harder to cheat.  This is also cheaper than buying the convenience packs and less garbage. 
  9. Practice snacking slower and smaller.  If you have to have a snack, try to not eat it all at once.  If you can spread the snack out over the course of a couple of hours, it will go longer, you feed your munchies and your stomach will slowly shrink.
  10. Solicit help from others!  The buddy system is so critical to successful weight loss. When you have help from someone in the same position as you, you are more likely to succeed.  If you are highly competitive, check out the EA Sport challenges!  My oldest is ready to go so that helps!
If you want to take the EA challenge or stay up to date, become a fan on Facebook of EAs.  Join the fun and enter the EA and TwitterMoms Get Fit sweepstakes HERE.   I can't wait to post an update on my success! 

EA Sport Active



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MUVE Dance/Exercise DVD Review

Dance yourself to fitness at home with MUVE the first spontaneous dance/exercise method!

MUVE is a fun, new and unusual way to dance. It's a spontaneous dance workout that is a complete break away from the current complex and heavily choreographed dance exercise videos on the market. MUVE loosens up the body and relaxes the mind. It makes you feel at ease and shake off your inhibitions on the dance floor.

There are 2 DVDs now available: Mellow MUVE #1 and Family MUVE #1 that are sold at www.muve.com.

Each DVD features 17 original spontaneous dance actions with a colorful cast of everyday people from age 7 to 87. A "MUSE" (lead dancer) and dazzling animated graphics supply guidance. The viewers follow loosely or create their own dance. All instructions are given visually only, so the music can be enjoyed to the fullest. The DVDs feature original music by top artists from Hawaii and the Pacific: John Cruz, Sister Roby Kahakalau, Sean Na'auao, Willie K. and Eric Gilliom as Barefoot Natives, Don Tiki, Te Vaka, Jroq".

The whole family can spend quality time as they MUVE together, a healthy alternative to sitting watching others perform on TV. Children to seniors can exercise together with the Family MUVE or Mellow MUVE DVDs. MUVE is never too hard or too easy, because MUVE encourages individuals to tailor their movements to fit their needs, faster or slower, bigger or smaller, to be just right for them. With MUVE people of all ages, shapes and sizes can exercise together!

Maggie Kunkel, the creator of MUVE who has been teaching the method in Hawaii for over a decade says: "No memorization is required and you can't do it wrong. MUVE is versatile, you can do it nice and easy and you can do it rough and hard. We are not striving for perfection, but for energizing the body and giving our busy minds a break. There's magic in music, it can move you beyond shyness straight into physical and mental joy. And when the dance is over, you'll suddenly realize: "Oh, I just had a workout, and it didn't feel like work at all!"

Dancing is an effective, all natural remedy in the fight against diabetes, heart disease, obesity, aches and pains, and not to forget, mental and emotional overload. As Ka'imi, a long time MUVER puts it: "I can start off feeling down, even tired or achy, and as I start dancing, all stress melts away. I surrender to the music and I feel joy. It's so easy, so simple, so fast. And afterwards, my whole being is more alive, I am breathing more deeply, I am relaxed, energy is running through my body, my mind is clear, my outlook is bright . . . and all good things are possible. All this from dancing to a song!"

See sample videos at http://www.muve.com/.

The Review:

I liked the concept of the program as it's a concentrated effort to encourage do what you want but just move.  It's nice that it's not rigid in terms of conforming to the moves required to feel like you "belong" and accomplished the task of exercising.  The casual approach is fun and light but being that I used to live in Hawaii, I'm a little partial to this!  This is an exercise program that your toddler would probably love to "help you" with since it's colorful, has playful music and again, not rigid with the moves.

My six year old did not like it and prefers the Wii games to workout to. Perhaps it's the lack of dance culture in her life that didn't allow her to like it but it is definitely a great workout and one that would appeal to dance enthusiast, the young and playful.  I also think this would be great for someone with limited ability to have stressful routines as it's more casual, at your own pace.



 
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