We Dare You to Take the Go Healthy Challenge!

We dare you... no we double dare you... okay make that a triple-double-plus-infinity-dare you... to take the Go Healthy Challenge!

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Here's Some Tips to be Active at Home and in Your Room

Not everyone is into sports or has a gym membership, and sometimes the weather makes it hard to get outside. Here are some great ways to be active without even leaving your house! There are activities for every person no matter what your abilities are—the possibilities are endless so be creative and find the activities that you enjoy!

• Dance! Turn up your favorite music and get your groove on! Don’t be shy, shut your door and boogie down.
• Work it. Rent workout videos or check some out from the library. There are all kinds of crazy workouts to try—find your style and then take it home.
• Clean it. Pitch in with the house cleaning. Not only will it score you points with your parents, but cleaning your room, vacuuming the carpets, or doing the dishes can get your heart pumping as well.
• Stair it. Turn your stairs into a stair master! Take 3 trips up the stairs in your house or do step-ups on one step to turn a normal activity into exercise.
• Pump it up. Try lifting something heavy like food cans or school books while you are sitting around. Add these weights to another activity like squats or crunches to add a challenge.
• TV it? Stay active during TV time. Use commercial breaks as a time to do jumping jacks, push-ups, or crunches. If you love your TV, you’ll have a six-pack in no time.
• Put your green thumb on. If the weather is nice, help out with the yard work. Mowing the grass and gardening can be fun exercise.
• Twist it.  Play games that get you moving, twisting and running. Organize the kids on your block to play a huge game of capture the flag!
• Stretch it.  Start your day off right with stretches or yoga to loosen up your muscles. 
• Shoot it.  Put up an indoor basketball hoop or create one out of a trash can. Challenge a friend or sibling to a game of one-on-one.

Getting Heart Healthy: Lifestyle Recommendations

Getting healthy is about making healthy changes in some areas of your life. Here are some tips, but remember to start slow and pick one change to work on at a time.

• Balance the food that you eat with physical activity to help your body grow
• Play or exercise 60 minutes daily and work up a sweat. Try dancing, swimming, mowing the lawn, or bicycling to start.  Add challenges like longer distances, weights, or an incline to pump up the intensity.
• Eat vegetables and fruits every day, and limit your juice intake.  The more colors in your fruits and veggies, the more variety of nutrients your body will eat!
• When you cook, use vegetable oils and soft margarines low in the bad fats, like saturated and trans fats, which can be found in fried foods, chips, cookies, and crackers.
• Add more fiber to your diet—eat whole grain breads and yummy beans.
• Try and skip the sugar.  Quench your thirst with water instead of soda or juice, and grab a banana instead of a cookie—you’ll feel better.
• Eat non-fat (skim) or low-fat dairy products every day.  Milk, yogurt, and cheese will give you the calcium you need to make your bones stronger.
• Go fishy, and eat more broiled or baked fish.  Fish that contain healthy oils like salmon, trout, and herring can make going fishy a way to go healthy.
• Stay clear of eating too much salty food.  Some soups, lunch meats, sauces, and frozen meals contain a lot of salt.

Eat Right: Know the Dietary Guidelines

According to the American Heart Association some of the best changes you can make to your diet to be heart-healthy are:

• Sugar... not so sweet. Reduce extra sugars, including sodas and juices.
• Size it up. Check the portion size on the side of the box to determine the right amount to eat.
• An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Try fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables and fruits at every meal but watch out for those with fatty sauces or extra sugar.
• Skin it. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey before eating.
• Don’t get too saucy. Try to use sauces like marinara and oils instead of thick sauces like Alfredo, cream sauces, cheese sauces, and hollandaise.
• Check your bread and cereal for the words “whole grain” and try replacing the foods that don’t list “whole grain” as the first ingredient.
• Try something new. Eat more beans and tofu in place of meat at lunch and dinner.
• Get Fishy. Try fish as a main dish—baked and broiled are best.

Overview: Healthy foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, low-fat or non-fat dairy products, fish, chicken and lean meats like round or loin cuts.

Source: Dietary Recommendations for Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Practitioners. (2005). Circulation, 112, 2061-2075.

Kick-Start Your Day

On your mark, get set... power-up!! Breakfast is an important part of powering-up your body for the day. Eating a balanced meal in the morning can help keep you alert, improve your mood and not make you too hungry before lunch.

Many breakfast foods contain a lot of sugar and not many nutrients. What does that mean? Try to avoid frosted and chocolate cereals, donuts, white bread and high-sugar breakfast bars. Instead of sugary juices, try 100% fruit juices or fat-free or low-fat milk. Eating a balanced breakfast will help get you going and give you energy until lunch time.

For great breakfast ideas, follow our ten tips for nourishing ways to kick-start the day!

Ten Tips for a Healthier Breakfast:

1. Oatmeal in an Instant
   Instant oatmeal is great on a cold morning and contains fiber and vitamins. Choose oatmeal that isn’t already pre-sweetened. Sweeten it with raisins or fresh fruit.
2. Smoothie Madness
   Blend frozen fruit (bananas and berries are great), low-fat or fat-free milk, and 100% fruit-juice for a quick, tasty breakfast smoothie with lots of nutrients.
3. Go 100% Whole Grain
   100% whole-grain, fiber-containing cereals served with low- or fat-free milk are a healthier alternative to sugary cereals. Whole-wheat muffins with smashed banana are easy and tasty as well.
4. Eggxactly!
   Boil, scramble, or poach eggs and serve on whole-wheat toast - they're packed with nutrition.
5. Toaster Treats
   Frozen whole-grain waffles take almost no time to make. Top them with berries, low-sugar apple sauce or sliced bananas instead of syrup.
6. Go Nutty!
   Spreading peanut or almond butter on whole-grain toast is a great to get both protein and fiber.
7. Go Fruity!
   A fresh fruit cut up with a dollop of low-fat or fat-free yogurt is a great way to start the day. Apples contain fiber and bananas contain potassium.
8. Try All-Fruit Spreads
   Instead of butter or margarine on toast, try all-fruit spreads, fruit butters, or even sliced bananas or strawberries.
9. Bagel Classics
   Try a whole-wheat or sunflower seed bagel with low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter.
10. Breakfast On-the-Go
    Don't have time to eat breakfast at home? Try whole-grain mini bagels on-hand or muffins, nuts and dried and fresh fruits that can be taken in the car (apple slices and bananas are also easy and not too messy!).