Did you know there is now officially a recommendation for infant/baby activity?!?

I was sooooo excited to see not only what is recommended, but how it is recommended for children between the ages of 0 and 4!

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) has published these guidelines!

In a nutshell:

- Move more, sit less…for moms and tots!

- 180min of physical activity throughout the day!!  (PS that is 3, yes 3 hours!!!) at any      intensity

Active infants (<1 yr old) means floor play and tummy time, reaching and grasping at toys, crawling and rolling around the floor.

Active toddlers (>1 yr – 4yrs) means anything that will get them moving! Crawling, moving, dancing, active play,active songs, playing outside, skating, bike riding, running, walking, playing at the park, ect.

The older the children get, the more energetic the activity needs to be!

The Mommy and Me bootcamps that I do, not only get moms moving, but since all children are welcome, everyone gets moving!!  All the classes incorporate active baby songs throughout the class to get babies moving and to teach moms new active play songs!

Come check out a class soon!

There is so much talk about how much to eat or how much NOT to eat!  When we look at resources like the Canada Food Guide, we can often get confused about how much is a serving.

Here is a quick picture of some potatoes we pulled from our garden to see different sizes! Which one do you think is the correct portion size for a serving of vegetables?  I’ll give you a hint…its not on the left side of the picture!!

A quick reference for serving sizes!

Your Fist = 1 cup

Your Thumb = 1 Tablespoon

The Palm of your hand = a serving of meat, chicken or fish

A Tennis Ball = an ounce of cereal

A great rule of thumb for making your plate at any meal is 1/2 of the plate should be Fruit &/or Veggie, 1/4 of the plate be a protein and 1/4 of the plate be a starch!

Download this PDF for a quick reference guide for your fridge!

I really have to get back to blogging!  I am still trying to get used to my husband being home as much as he is!  He started working away from home about 2 months before we got married….that was 5 years ago!  When we finally got transferred back to Edmonton, he has had most weekends and almost every evening off work!  It is great for us, our family and our kids, but it is a lifestyle change!  I am so used to having so much time to do things, that now, I put something on hold for what feels like a day or 2, and ends up being a month!!

Anyway, this winter has been amazing!  I have had hubby home on the weekends, which means my kids have daddy home to do things.  The weather has been AMAZING, well except that 1 week in January, and activity in our house has been GREAT!!

Here is a quick snapshot of some of our weekend fun!

Its a new year and I am excited as to what 2012 will bring to everyone!

How is everyone?  How has 2012 been so far?  For me…it has been a great 7 days so far!  We have wiped sugar out of our house, nothing I make has sugar added, and the amount of sugar used from already made food is watched and calculated!  Why?  because I have found it is in EVERYTHING!!!  We are a family that likes to cook from scratch and eat as close to whole as possible, but there are little things like sugar in coffee, sugar on oatmeal ect that were adding up….so now it is GONE!

Let me tell ya, the first day was tough, no sugar in my coffee!  But by day 3, when I was back at work and had ordered a double cream but ended up with a double double…that was some SWEET coffee…I actually took it back!  We made some of these which help curb hunger, meet the sweet tooth craving and are as small as a timbit, so easy for little hands!

What are you doing to kick start 2012 off in a healthy direction??

Whats more important…the weight or the inches?

I get asked this all the time.  I personally say a little of both and a little of neither!

How do you feel?  Are you a happy healthy confident size 10? 12? 16? 6?

or are you an unhealthy can not keep up with your kids size 4?18?10?12?

When most people start on weight loss journeys, I try to stress to them that inches (tale of the tape) is more important than the numbers on the scale…why is that?  Well….let me tell ya!

As women, sooooo many things can play a factor on what we weigh!  It SUX!  But for the most part, when our comfy jeans dont fit today, but did last week, its usually because of something like:

- that wonderful time of the month we all love so much

- that extra soya sauce we put in the stirfry

- the extra glass or 2 of wine we had the evening the kids drove us NUTZ

- the fact that maybe we were too busy to eat or drink enough water yesterday

Whatever the case maybe, some women, if they step on a scale, would be devestated by a 2lbs weight gain since yesterday, but if the pants dont quite feel right today, they will simply take them off and try them in a couple days.

When weight is coming off, sometimes the body will rid water, lots of it, right away, but sometimes, especially if one has done a few too many yo-yo diets, the body will hold on for sometimes weeks, just waiting for this yo-yo to be over! Once your body sees it’s not going to be starved, but will actually be fed, nourished, and treated like the well oiled machine it is….both will come off, in a healthy happy successful way!  All while renovating the inner you to be the healthy confident women that we can all be, at whatever size we are happiest, healthiest at!

So both are important if you are at an unhealthy you, but neither are important when the goal is to be a healthy happy fit you!

Night all

MB xoxo