The Little Stepmom

Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle for Families

Not Just a Day in the Park

Halloween was just a few days ago, we trick or treated in a snow storm. Everyone jokes about how we have 4 seasons in one day here in the Midwest, but this week has been extra crazy!

The snow didn’t stop our kiddo’s they all dressed up and took off running. I made it about half way through the neighborhood before I declared I was frozen and went home! The kids finished up before returning home to pour heaps of candy out!

The snow melted the next day, but the temperature was 27 degrees. By the weekend we had a heat wave of 55 degrees! 😆 no better weather for a day in the park!

We packed up 3 children, the dog, myself, and my husband and headed to our local park. Funny I have 1 stepdaughter but, children seem to multiple around here. The more the merrier.

They have an awesome fitness trail that I frequent but, today was about letting the kids play aka burn off extra energy from the Halloween candy and being confined to the indoors while the Arctic temps blasted us.

We played freeze tag which burned more calories than any cardio workout at home! Then hide-n-seek followed by an impromptu photo shoot of the girls acting silly which my husband and I joined into.

I look forward to playing with the kids unlike the way I sometimes dread a cardio workout and I burn tons of calories laughing, running, climbing the equipment, getting stuck in the slide, and attempting the monkey bars. Even the dog was beat when we got back home.

The grown-ups took nearly 20,000 steps just playing and laughing! We lost some unwanted calories and the girls made some great memories with us! Bonus I got some hilarious pictures to remember the day with.

What unexpected workouts have you gotten in this week?

15 Foods That Can Increase Your Metabolism

I look at food as fuel for my body. If I want my body to perform like a Jaguar then I can’t fill my tank with shit fuel left over in the gas can from last year. I have to give it the good stuff! There are some foods that help our body to burn calories better or take more energy to digest than the calories they contain. I aim to eat more of these foods especially when I need a snack.

Here’s a list of food that can help increase your metabolism

1. Broccoli

2. Avocados

3. Spinach

4. Water

5. Green Tea

6. Coffee

7. Full Fat Real Yogurt

8. Grapefruit

9. Apples

10. Beans

11. Cinnamon

12. Soy Milk

13. Almonds

14. Oatmeal

15. Turkey

Try eating these foods when your hungry or needing an extra snack. They will fill you up and help you burn some calories. Have you heard of negative calorie foods? Check this post out to learn about some of my favorite negative calorie foods to eat.

5 Ways For Your Family to Give Back and Get Your Sweat On

5 Family Friendly Ways to Workout While Giving Back

Have you ever hidden veggies in your kids dinner? Maybe carrots and zucchini in muffins or broccoli in the meats balls? I mean if your don’t hide something in your pasta sauce are you even a parent? Just kidding, not every mom has to deal with a picky eater (insert eye roll). My point is, as parents sometimes we have to hide workouts into our day to keep everyone active, you know the kids, husband, and yourself.

I am always looking for ways to give back to my community and workout so duh, why not combine the two. Here are a few of the things my family has done to keep active and help others.

Walk the Dog. Sometimes life gets busy and we forget that our 4-legged friends need some exercise too! Grab the dog’s leash and get moving! Better yet, walk the neighbors dog too.
Arrange a Park Pick-Up Day. Get your friends and family together for a day at the park. You can play and pick-up the litter left laying around. Sort the garbage and recycle what you can. We only have one earth let’s help keep it clean!

Beach Clean-Up. I found a company, Mermaid Straw, though a family member. They do a monthly beach clean-up. We went to as many as we could because, what’s more fun than cleaning up the beach followed by playing in the water and sand! We worked up a major sweat and helped save some turtles.

Mermaid Straw Beach Clean-up! Photo credit: Mermaid Straw Staff

Do Some Yard Work For Your Elderly Neighbors. Yard work can be hard work making it an awesome workout for you and your family. You can pass on some kindness by helping your elderly neighbors with some of the harder chores like, mowing, raking, landscaping, and tree trimming. It feels great to help others!
Habitat For Humanity is a non-profit organization that helps to build and improve the places people call home. We have recently started looking into helping with the upcoming build in our area. We haven’t started yet, but I know it will be hard work and very rewarding to help build someone in need a new place to call home. This has long been on my bucket list and I can’t wait to update you with how it goes.

I am always looking for new ideas of way to give back and keep my family active!

Comment below with your ideas.

Weight Loss Accountability Partner & Why You Need One

I was a season pass holder to the weight loss roller coaster park for many years. A lot of my weight fluctuations were based around the seasons of the Midwest. When it was warm out I was active hiking, running, walking, doing yard work, anything to be outside in the warm sunshine. When it cooled off or dropped to sub-zero, like it does here in the lovely state of Indiana, I became a recluse hiding from every snowflake that fell. I didn’t want to set foot out in the cold weather that included trips to the gym. So, I made monthly donations to my favorite gym establishment and rarely visited.

I used the cold weather as my excuse not to workout all while I ate Thanksgiving treats, Christmas cookies, pies, cake, and candy and became more and more insulated. Spring would roll around and I would start working out again. It was a horrible cycle that really abused my body.

I’m sure the world noticed my ups and downs, but no one really said much about it.

Until, I met one of the best friends a girl could ask for – Melanie aka Mellie Bean. We worked together and became instant friends.

Mel was also unsatisfied with her weight when we became friends. We started working out together and more importantly holding each other accountable for our actions. It’s much harder to skip workouts when someone else is counting on you to show up for them. Our friendship was exactly what I needed to push me in the right direction YEAR ROUND!

Here’s a before & After of us. I don’t even recognize those people!

Melanie and I have both accomplished great goals together and nearly 10 years later we are still holding each other accountable and pushing each other to always meet our goals. We don’t get to workout together anymore thanks to life getting in the way and changes in our schedules, but we do talk nearly everyday and keep each other motivated. When I am eating a brownie and I see Mel eating a bag of peppers I tend to make better choices, even if I do finish my brownie first.
I know not everyone will be fortunate enough to have a best friend/workout buddy walk into their life like I did, but there are tons of places to find people who have similar goals. Melanie might be my closest friend, but I have lots of other people I chat with out fitness and healthy choices. I found some of my other accountability partners on-line. Here are some of the places online you can find other like minded friends.

Facebook– Weight Loss Motivation Tips
Facebook Group – Weight Loss Buddies
Facebook Group – Weight Loss Accountability
Meetup.com is a great site to find groups in your area and actually meet up. I was part of a running group for many years that I found here.

Need an accountability buddy? Haven’t found one yet? Feel Free to email me!

 

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