TOTD

Nutrition Tip of the Day
Eat More Frequently
Okay, don't get too excited! I didn't say to eat sweets and junk food more frequently, but studies have found that people who eat 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day have a healthier weight than those who only eat 2 or 3 large meals. The reason believed is that you keep your metabolism going throughout the day. It is just like gas mileage in a car. We all know that if we take a longer trip on the highway our gas mileage is much better than if we are driving around the city all day running errands. Our metabolism is much like this: the longer we keep it going the better.

But, it needs to be kept running with good fuel! Make sure that you are eating healthy snacks throughout the day: not potato chips, chocolate, and other processed foods. If you are craving that salty sweet combination, try an apple dipped in peanut butter (or, to reduce calories try almond butter). If you really need some chocolate, make sure it's dark chocolate, but eat it with a few almonds to give yourself some protein. Not only will eating more frequently help our metabolism, but it will boost our energy as well. And we all know that a mom who has more energy is a happier mom :)

Exercise Tip of the Day
If you only want to own one piece of workout equipment...
This is completely my personal opinion, but if you only own one piece of workout equipment, I think it should be a balance ball (aka Swiss Ball). I know they may seem scary at first, but they are such a versatile and incredible tool. Even if you only have 5 feet of space to allot to working out in your home, you can get a great workout in about 30 minutes. There are a lot of books and websites dedicated to using balance balls, and I would recommend that you find a few exercises to try at your level. Unlike dumbbells, which you have to keep buying as you progress, with a ball you can continually make the movements more difficult without buying more equipment.

I used to run balance ball classes, and we would do completely different hour long workouts three times a week! The balls provide so much variety, and they really do give a fantastic workout. Again, this is just my personal opinion, but if you are thinking about investing in just one piece of equipment I think it should be a balance ball!