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Eat these 4 things to build your immunity

3/26/2020

Practice the 4 S's

Build your Immune System with these foods everyday.

Smoothies-make sure to fill them with colorful fruits, veggies, seeds, and healthy fats like nuts, or avocado.

Salads-eat one for lunch or dinner everyday. Make sure to add some crunch for texture, and again the more colorful you can make it the more antioxidants you are getting.

Spices-play around with spices and herbs for different flavors. I l
ove adding herbs into my salad and cinammon into my coffee. Get creative!

Salmon-eat wild caught fish at least once a week for those healthy Omegas.

Eating more foods like this every day and less processed foods you will be building your Immune system, decreasing inflammation in your body and living healthier.

Build your Immunity

3/23/2020

Let's confront the elephant in the room...

Right now more than ever, it is important for you to make sure you are building up your Immune system so that if you become sick you will only suffer minor symptoms and recover sooner. Our body is able to produce its own medicine, and this medicine is custom made just for you. By eating the right food and exercising you are supporting a healthy endothelium (the lining of the blood vessels), which releases chemical messengers called nitric oxide, and in turn prompts the body to make its own medicine.

So to help our body start making its own medicine we need to make sure to:

exercise every day-you can go for a walk, do one of my YouTube videos, join one of my fitness classes, or do one of your own workouts
de-stress-practice breathing exercises, use meditation (I like the free app Insight Timer),
hydrate-drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces each day-here's a tip of how I get more water into each day
sleep-make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep, if this is difficult it is ok to add 20 minute naps into your day to help you get the recommended amount of sleep
healthy eating-make sure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables into your diet; I try to eat 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetable each day and also take my fruit and veggie capsules to ensure I'm getting the antioxidants that I need.

By practicing these habits on a daily basis you will begin to build your immune system, decrease inflammation, and begin to feel better inside and out.

Welcome mom

3/1/2020

Please help me welcome our Welcome Mom and Activities Coordinator!

My name is Joelle and I was born and raised in Denver, CO. I have lived in FL for almost a decade now. We moved back to this area about 6 months ago.
I have 3 kiddos that keep me busy, busy! I enjoy working out, playing at the beautiful beaches, sunsets, shelling and basically anything outside.

There are so many things that I love about Form Fit! You can be at any fitness stage or just starting out and Courtney will make sure you have the right form to get a great workout in. She is very knowledgeable and very helpful!

We are so excited to have her to help welcome new moms to the program and provide fun events for the littles!

Take time to stretch

2/6/2020

mom and daughter stretching

Stretching is so beneficial to your workout, so please make sure you take the time at the end of each workout to stretch!

1. Increasing flexibility is imperative to mobility as you age; if you lack flexibility than your joints can't move like they are designed and you will begin to lose the movement in those areas as you get older.

2. Increases blood flow to your muscles-the more parts you are able to move within an area the more blood flow to those parts which is imperative for a healthy circulatory system.

3. Better posture-when you stretch and strengthen you are encouraging proper alignment. Make sure to change up the stretches so that you are moving through different movement patterns.

4. Stress relief- stretching encourages and requires you to slow down and breath, which is a form of meditation or calming of the mind.

Picky eaters

1/27/2020

picky eater ideas

If you have picky eaters it can be tough to get them to eat the meals you prepare which is extremely frustrating as a mom since you have taken at least 20-30 minutes to prepare the food after you are already exhausted from the day and now your kids are sticking their tongues out or whining about how this is gross and they aren't going to eat.

So, what do we do? We stop fighting and we succumb to the-mom is a short order line cook and makes 2-3 different meals each night so that we don't have to listen to

any more whining!

but yet again, we remain exhausted, frustrated, and guilty that our children are not getting the nutrients they need into their body.

After many years of doing this, I have come up with a few solutions that have worked for my family.

1. De-constructed night: this is usually some sort of bowl or taco night where I have rice, taco shells, or a bed of romaine lettuce as the base in a bowl. I then cut up different ingredients and place them out on a platter (the more color, the better) and let them fill it with any of the items they want. The key with this is, do NOT tell them that they need to add anything specific. I have noticed that in time they will begin to try more items and add them to their bowls.
(pic above is a deconstructed sushi bowl that they were able to place over their rice)

2. Something familiar on their plate: Most of our dinners consist of a salad and vegetable, some sort of whole grain or potato, and then some meat on our plates. I always make sure to place everything that we, the parents, have on our plates and I do ask that my children taste everything on their plate. If they don't like it, they are not required to continue to eat it, but they must taste everything; even if they KNOW they don't like it. I then will also place some fruit, yogurt, or sometimes even something like goldfish on their plates (when they were younger), so that they had a couple of things that I knew they really loved. This allowed for less grumbling at the dinner table and also made sure that they had enough in their bellies if they didn't eat the other items.

3. A favorite meal: I always try to make one meal each week one that they love! Now with three kids, and varying tastes, this doesn't always work out where they all get a meal they love; but for the most part they don't mind eating something that their siblings love so it works out. Some of the famous go-to's in our house are Spaghetti and meatballs, homemade chicken tenders with rice and roasted broccoli, tacos, mac & cheese, or even grabbing their favorite dinner out. So you can guarantee one of these meals will be on our weekly plan each and every week.

4. Help in the kitchen: This truly does work and is so funny to me. My daughter loves green beans, and I think this has to do with this was one of the first things she helped me in the kitchen with, she would snap them for me. Another son, loves asparagus and yet again, he used to snap the bottoms off of these before I would roast them. The more they can help in the kitchen the more likely they will be willing to try what has been set before them; and if you are able to grow those items in your back yard even better. We have a growing system that we use to grow greens on our back porch.

How do you ensure you are helping your kids to eat healthier?

outdoor workouts are good for us

1/9/2020

Get outside, it does amazing things for your health.
It is absolutely beautiful this time of year in Southwest Florida so take advantage of it. It also can help you live a healthier life when you take that workout outdoors.

1. Vitamin D-the fat soluble vitamin that is essential to strong bones and healthy immune systems can safely be attained by the morning sun.

2. Gives your eyes a rest-our eyes look at so much close up which requires the muscles in your eye to work more. By looking at things outside and far in the distance it allows the muscles in your eyes to relax which is important for overall eye health. (Katy Bowman-Movement Matters, Alignment Matters)

3. Less anxiety and stress-green spaces have shown to decrease stress and increase mood of those who spend time outdoors and provide for mental well-being.

4. Boosts white blood cells: interacting with phytoncides (airborne chemicals emitted from plants that protect them from rotting and insects) help to boost white blood cells and reduce stress in our bodies (Katy Bowman: Movement Matters, pg 79)

Drop that indoor gym workout and join us. Do you workout outside? If so, what benefits do you notice for yourself?

Happy New Year!

1/2/2020

Are you noticing a trend?
I'm seeing it and I can't be happier!

It's a New Year and instead of trying to change yourself, its time to surrender to who you are right now and begin to love that person.

Stop feeling like the New Year is a time when you need to make big changes. You have been through this before and you know that all of these plans and goals you are setting for yourself may start to fall to the wayside because life is busy, you made to many goals for yourself, or you are to hard on yourself and wanting to change the way you look/are for ALL the WRONG reasons.

Take a moment,

breathe,

now:

decide on one thing you can begin to do today for yourself or your family because you want to be happy and healthy and you love that you are able to move, eat, laugh, cry, play and be!

Once you have determined that one thing that you are going to do, I want you to be able to hold yourself accountable; so I would love for you to join our Mom's Healthy Living Group and let us know what is the one thing you are going to work on changing.

Make it something that pushes you a little but is reachable (maybe by setting some mini goals to help you get to your bigger goal). Understand that there will be some hiccups along the way; this doesn't mean that you give up and throw in the towel,

NO

this is what life is all about. Access the situation and decide how you are going to move forward. Believe in yourself and know that by making one simple change you can accomplish big things!

healthy holidays

12/12/2019

With all of the EXTRA things we have to do during the Holiday it can be really tough to get that workout in. I am not here to tell you to wake up an hour earlier during this time of year, because I get it; you may have been up late the night before wrapping presents or going to a Holiday event.

No, I'm here to help you find ways to make the most of the time you already have and get a little extra movement throughout your every day.

First tip: Keep moving! Try to move as much as possible throughout the day (this should come fairly easy if you are out buying gifts to put under the tree), get on the floor to wrap presents to change up the position your body is in, go for a walk around the neighborhood in the evening to look at all the Christmas lights. Take the kids to the mall to see Santa and try to park on the opposite end so you get some walking in that way as well.

Tip #2: Get in the holiday spirit and play that Christmas or seasonal music. It is so hard not to sway, move your hips, or have a little more pep in your step when holiday music is on. These little bouts of dancing around add up to big calorie burn (steps made) during the season.

Tip #3-Convenience is killing you! Do not rely on the convenience of packages delivered to your door and sitting in your car outside of Target while they conveniently bring your packages to you; unless of course you have little eyes in the back seat. I understand it is easier but think about all of the extra time you are just sitting in your car waiting for someone else to get their movement in while you wait. If you live an active life, than this is not a big deal; but for those that sit at a desk all day and then drive to and from work, and then have everything delivered so they can relax and watch Netflix, this is not helping you live your healthiest life.

Tip #4-Get together with family or a friend to workout with you. We always think about getting together for lunch or coffee with friends to catch up, but what if you asked to go for a walk instead? You get to catch up with a friend and get your exercise in. It's a win-win! Looking for other mom's in your area? Look into stroller friendly fitness classes to meet other moms. Working out with friends is always more fun!

Tip #5-Consistency is Key! Try to make it a daily habit to perform some sort of fitness regimen into your life. Even if you don't have a lot of time, most people have 5 minutes to devote to something. Do a Sun salutation at the beginning or end of your day, follow along with any of my 5 min workouts; the key is to set aside at least a little time each and every day for consistency and then it will become a habit. Once it becomes an every day thing, you will start to find more time to commit to it as you will probably start to see the positive effects it has on your life.

How are you getting in your exercise this holiday season?

Eat the rainbow

12/10/2019

Eat a rainbow of colors!

Your liver is designed to detoxify a lot of the chemicals that are now in our environment, but there are a few things you can do to help it.

-Give digestion a rest, you shouldn't be eating all day long; you can do this by doing some intermittent fasting or drink a smoothie in place of a meal each day since these are easily digestible.

-Listen to your body, take a lot of the higher inflammatory foods out of your diet so that you can determine what hinders your digestion.

-Take care of intestinal flora, avoid antibiotics and processed foods that can mess with the natural flora and bacteria in your intestines.

-Eat more fruits and vegetables and the more variability you have within your diet of these fruits and vegetables the more variability you will have in your flora and the more they will thrive.

-This variability of color helps the liver get the nutrients it needs to detoxify the body.

This information was gleaned from The Model Health Shows Podcast #386 if you want to hear more.

One way that I make sure to get the rainbow of color with fruits and veggies into my diet is through fruit and vegetables powders that have been encapsulated for ease and convenience. If you are interested in learning more, email me.

Have you thought about becoming vegetarian?

12/4/2019

So...

My husband watched The Game Changers on Netflix a few weeks ago and ever since then he has pretty much eaten a plant based diet, save for Thanksgiving dinner; which I must say has been interesting.

I am all for Plant based diets and I definitely am one to promote eating more veggies and fruits each and every day; but have found making meals completely vegetarian rather difficult and time consuming. The chopping and prepping has doubled, trying to figure out what dishes will taste good together, and then making sure the foods we are eating will satisfy us. So the meals have been a salad, some sort of flavorful vegetable main dish, a healthy starch which usually is some sort of wild rice or roasted potato/sweet potato but am noticing I'm really missing the animal meat on my plate.

So I have decided for my children and I, we will practice more of a flexitarian diet, which is eating mostly plant based and use meat as a garnish or have a few meatless meals and enjoy the meat from time to time-this makes more sense to us as a family. This ensures that we are getting our Iron as needed, since its imperative for us who workout and are growing. (Iron helps our muscles to take in oxygen from the bloodstream).

This is much more manageable and I have to say it has been fun to try a lot of new recipes this past month and these are some of my favorite places to go for delicious vegetarian options.

The Forest Feast-I have two of her cookbooks already and have asked for the other two for Christmas. They are absolutely beautiful and are worth looking at for just the pictures.

Pick up Limes- I have tried a few of her bowls and they are delicious; her YouTube videos are beautiful and I truly have gotten lost just watching her create these exquisite dishes.

Chloe Coscarelli-oh my goodness, she is the cutest thing and she has beautiful cookbooks as well that I love. My son loved her vegan meatballs, and said he might just become vegan after eating these

I would love to hear if you have ever tried going vegetarian and your thoughts on it; or did you determine a more flexitarian diet was the way to go? Any recommendations for vegetarian/vegan cookbooks or blogs would be greatly appreciated as well since I love to find different ideas for inspiration.

In health and wellness-Courtney