bike – Jenna Jamieson, Author

There’s an {exercise} app for that!

By Jenna Jamieson | October 16, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Each weekend my boyfriend and I go on some type of walk, jog, hike, or outdoor workout to get some steps in. At first, it started as taking the dog for a walk, but it quickly turned into a weekend routine. Now we go nearly every weekend. Our weekend walk or jog has evolved over time. We both have phone apps that track our steps which caused us to begin to pay attention to how many steps and how much distance we were covering for fun. It has now turned into a friendly competition whereby my boyfriend and I ask each other several times along the walk how many steps the other has done. Why you ask? We now compete against each other to see who has more steps. I usually win! 🙂 That’s mostly because I take smaller steps. Not intentionally though, I have shorter legs! He usually covers more distance then me, but who’s counting? We both are to see who can claim “winning” the exercise race. Of course, there is nothing to win other than saying you win distance or you win most number of steps.

So why am I telling you this story? Because using a pedometer or some type of fitness app that makes you accountable for what you are accomplishing each day is a great way to ensure you are moving your body and getting exercise. This is a great alternative to Fitbits and other fitness tools or devices that people often use for a short period because phones are always with us. Lastly, I would encourage you to put together a work team or social team that can help motivate you. I am positive my boyfriend and I would not get as much exercise during the weekend if it weren’t for the competition we have created with each other. It goes as far as when I get up or he gets up to do something we take our phones not to use them, but because we want to make sure the phone is registering every last step that might put us ahead of the other! While we exercise regularly during the week, it is important to also get some exercise throughout the weekend!

Another reason phone apps are great is because you can use them anywhere and anytime so there’s no excuse for no workout! You can do a quick workout in a hotel room if you are traveling for work or traveling for fun. You can grab your phone and download an app that has fitness and nutrition inspiration, has workouts that target specific areas of your body, or you can find an app that has group exercise routines that you can follow.

Now it’s time to go to your app store on your phone to find an app that will help you achieve your fitness, nutrition, and health goals! 🙂

~jj

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#AlwaysChooseKindness

Stay-cation or vacation, just make it an active one!

By Jenna Jamieson | January 7, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Sorry for the almost-a-month long hiatus. I took a short break to spend time with family over the holidays, enjoy some relaxation, and go on vacation with my boyfriend to Europe. Our time in Europe was quite lovely and what I liked most about it was that it was an active vacation! After walking mile after magnificent mile going from place to place in Europe I realized how much I absolutely love it there. I have always dreamed of having a job where I can either walk, bike, or bike/walk to work. That is something that was a majority in Europe (biking and walking everywhere and by everywhere I literally do mean everywhere, everywhere, everywhere 😉 ) and is probably one reason why you don’t see many, if any, obese people there. I would say Americans could learn a thing or two from them! I found it to be refreshing and fun, and a little exhausting, too! My point is that whether you go on a vacation like me or enjoy a stay-cation at home remember that you can always make it an active vacation, which is my favorite kind! You can go to Europe where staying active will not only be easy, but also unavoidable 😉 You can go on a beach vacation and take walks or jogs along the beach or you can go on a mountain vacation and go skiing. Just remember that when you go on vacation, don’t just throw your workout out the window. Consider small workouts, walks, and exercise routines that will keep you moving. If you’re enjoying a stay-cation, consider hikes, organizing and cleaning to keep you busy, or other small routines that keep you active.

Once I got home and gave myself a few days to recover from the vacation and get back into the correct time zone after the jet lag, I got myself right back into my workout routine. The week I would be starting back my workouts just happened to be Christmas week, but after taking 9 days off it was important to get myself back into the groove of life. I got up Christmas morning and decided to hit the workout room before any Christmas festivities got under way. Plus, all my Christmas fun is typically on Christmas Eve. Anyway, back to this Christmas workout when my mom decides to semi-jokingly and semi-sarcastically say, “You just have to workout, don’t you?” As if somewhat sickened, yet proud that I hold the will and motivation to workout on Christmas Day when many people do not hold the same discipline or expectations. I know she knew in her mind that either way no matter what that I was going to workout because we had no plans or restrictions that would prevent me from fitting in a quick 30 to 40 minute workout. Not to mention, for me, it is important to stay true to myself and my health, meaning I make it a priority even during the holiday season. As I expressed to my mom, it’s the time of year when we all tend to eat a little more, eat a little less healthy, and eat until we feel like we might pop because we are so full.

My point? Remember that you should try to keep the promises you make to yourself and goals you have for yourself, even during the holiday season. That means sticking to your workouts, taking walks, and doing short exercise routines in-between holiday parties, festivities, etc so your friends and family understand that health is very important to you. This keeps you in your normal routine and rhythm so that come January you are already in your same workout routine and schedule rather than taking a long hiatus from Thanksgiving through the New Year when you eat more calories and can easily slip into the winter slumber of not working out. If you take a hiatus be prepared for a difficult time when you start back up again. It makes it that much harder to get back into the swing of things, get your body and routine back in sync, and fulfill new resolutions that you should have never given up or done away with for a month to begin with. Don’t feel guilty if this is what you did, but consider making changes next year to keep your healthy lifestyle routine all year round!

So whether you are going on vacation, enjoying a stay-cation, or intertwining the two as I did during my holiday season, make it an active one that keeps you moving, gets you going, and helps you maintain a healthy lifestyle in the process!

Happy New Year, may 2015 be the year for exercising, good eating, and healthy lifestyle choices for you and yours!

~jj

A {healthy} routine…what foods do YOU feed your family?

By Jenna Jamieson | August 14, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Whether your family consists of kids, you’re a newly married couple, or you are a baby boomer near or in retirement, a great way to keep up with your health is by using those around you to keep you in check. It doesn’t mean that they hold you accountable for what you put in your mouth, but it might mean that the reason you serve healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables with meals is to be a mentor to inspire and provide an example to the people in your life (kids, sisters/brothers, cousins, spouse, etc). It means YOU care enough to help show those around you that through healthy eating and regular exercise you decrease your chances for diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Consider making health a daily family event or routine. For example, make dinner an occasion where you make a protein, carb, and vegetable side. You can help your kids learn about their food choices by placing foods in categories that are easy to understand such as “Go”, “Slow”, and “Whoa” which is used in school heath curriculum. For example, fruits and vegetables in their raw form are usually “Go” foods (eat most often, almost always) while canned fruits in light syrup or frozen vegetables would fall under “Slow” foods (eat less often, sometimes) because a lot of the nutritional value in these foods lessens once they are altered. Examples of “Whoa” foods (eat least often, once in awhile) might include donuts, cake, cookies, chips, and other foods that are high in sugar and sodium. Help teach those around you how to categorize their foods. Make this a fun activity for kids (or adults) by cutting out foods they love and asking them to place each picture under the correct category. This helps them learn while providing a great chart to hang on the refrigerator as a reminder. We all need a reminder every now and then and what better place than on the front of the refrigerator so you are constantly reminded every time you open it?! 😉 Once you understand the idea of categorizing individual foods such as breads, cheese, meats, pasta, etc. into “Go”, “Slow”, and “Whoa” you can take it a step further by combining food groups (as we often see when we make meals). For example, a bagel pizza or English muffin pizza made with low fat cheese or vegetable lasagna/pasta made with a red sauce would be considered “Go” meals while macaroni and cheese or pizza would fall into the “Slow” meals group and deep dish sausage pizza or fried chicken with gravy would fall into the “Slow” meals group.

Remember that your attitude toward food, nutrition, exercise, and fitness impacts your children, your spouse, and those around you so make sure you are the positive influence that helps them stay healthy! For example, take a 30 minute walk in the evenings with your spouse or take a family bike ride. Think of fun activities that allow you to make memories and are fun so that your children, spouse, and family have a positive experience as it relates to exercise. Making a positive association with exercise and healthy foods is very important, if not vital. This helps you, your children, your spouse, and family recognize the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise while also making them feel like it is easy, fun, and stress-free. After all, remember that health starts with family and friends because children, friends, and family often echo the behavior of people they are surrounded by. Be the difference in your family and group of friends to show those around you how to make health a priority through regular exercise and healthy eating.

~jj

Extra steps…make the most of your day!

By Jenna Jamieson | June 3, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

I was visiting Chicago over the weekend and one thing I love about being in the city is all the walking that it allows. I also learned that they have a new bike program in which the city has biking stations all over the city. For example, you can pick up a bike at Navy Pier and ride it for a half hour and get to where you need to go and then turn it in and hop on another bike for your ride to the bus station or wherever your next stop may be. For a relatively cheap membership, you can utilize this biking program. Point being, that the city helps make biking and walking two great forms of exercise! So, consider biking or walking to work or when you have errands to run (if this is an option that might work for you)! I know that many of us are not fortunate enough to do either as we live too far outside of town or it is unsafe to do so, but if by chance you can bike or walk to work, try it! It doesn’t mean you have to do it everyday, start with once or twice a week and see how you like it! It’s a great way to get in your workout since schedules tend to be busy and time seems to be scarce during the week!

Another great way that my boyfriend and I get extra steps when we are vacationing is to use the stairs when we are in hotels. Rather than using the elevators, we use the stairs to get extra steps into our day. I suggest you do the same. You can also use the stairs at work and any other stairs you encounter throughout your day. Other quick ways to get your steps in that may seem out of the ordinary are walking to the mailbox to get your mail rather than pulling up to it in your car, jogging in place or doing some type of exercise when you are pumping gas, and not parking close to the store doors so you can walk farther.

While I realize that exercise and vacation don’t tend to be two things we associate together or two things we like to put in the same sentence, I am not suggesting that you hop on the treadmill or do a run, but that you allow yourself to utilize the quick and easy exercises that might be at your fingertips. Often times vacationing means extra calories because we eat foods with higher calories, splurge and have dessert, or even just eat more than we might usually. Meals tend to be less structured as lend to less healthy choices. Hence, it is important to consider quick steps you can get during the day to help counteract the extra calories being consumed. While I realize that a break from working out is a great way to refresh and revitalize your body and mood, exercising on the beach such as beach yoga and beach jogs can also be rejuvenating and relaxing. Next time you think about your day – vacation or at home – think about the things you can do to make the most of your routine and day! You may be surprised at how many extra steps and exercises you can fit into your day without much thought or change.

~jj