A happy, healthy holiday season is right around the corner. Take time to care for yourself, reduce stress, practice good germ free habits, and maintain a well balanced diet during the holidays.  Your special report to guide you can be downloaded here:
www.naturallydelightful.com/reports/healthholidays.pdf
Print it and read it at your leisure if you like.

Cold Weather Is No Excuse To Stop Exercising

It seems inevitable that as soon as winter arrives we settle in for the long haul and forget about exercising. While understandable, all of the work devoted to a good diet and exercise program, which most of us have been on prior to the winter months, has all but dissipated.

Exercise is not relegated to a specific season. It is important to continue an exercise routine no matter what weather conditions prevail. With obesity already established as a pandemic, especially among children, it is vital that we as adults teach children the reasons behind exercise and prepare them for a healthy lifestyle from early on. The only way we can teach proper nutrition and exercise is by example.

Thus, while we look forward to the winter months for a variety of reasons, we have to remain vigilant in our determination to continue the program we have been faithfully executing during the other three seasons.

In addition, with the holidays soon upon us it would be beneficial to begin an exercise program now, especially if there has not been any regular activity, in preparation for the occasions to come.

The fall would be the perfect time to begin preparing an exercise regimen for the entire family. In this way, when the winter comes everyone will not only be in better condition, but will be able to carry out different forms of exercise no matter what the winter holds.

We are content with sitting around a cozy fire and indulging in snacks and high fat foods as we watch Sunday night football or our favorite TV shows. The evidence shows that we are especially vulnerable to weight gain during the winter.

Therefore, if you have been exercising during the spring, summer and fall it would be a shame to stop during winter especially since it is considered a time when weight gain is almost certain. Make a promise that neither snow, nor rain, nor sleet will prevent you from carrying out your appointed exercise rounds.

There are plenty of ways to keep your routine indoors.

Here are a few ideas:

Know it or not we exercise every day while at home. Walking up and down stairs, cleaning, lifting or other house chores can all be considered exercise.

However, there are 10 exercises that can be done at home. These focus on specific muscle groups that will help even more than the aforementioned general exercises.

They are:

Workout to an exercise DVD, whether it’s an abs workout or cardiovascular.

Curls can be done by lying on your back, putting hands behind your head, and raising the upper body.

Leg exercises can be achieved by standing while holding on to the back of a chair or lying down on your side and lifting each leg for a number of repetitions.

Work-at-home moms who sit for hours at the computer desk can perform this exercise to keep the circulation flowing in their legs. Simply press down on your toes in an up and down motion. Any activity that can be accomplished while sitting down will prevent muscular pain later.  Or check out this ball chair, it's real funky looking.

Stretching exercises are essential. Stand with both hands against a wall and move your right leg back so that your foot is flat against the floor. Hold for a few seconds; then repeat with the left leg.

Arm exercises are important to improve muscle tone. Use an exercise band and place both feet on one end and with each hand raise and lower the band; first with your palms up then down.

Put on a CD and dance for about 20-30 minutes. This is a great cardiovascular workout.

Use 5 or 10 lbs. weights to exercise your arms. You can even do this exercise sitting in a chair.

Incorporate sit-ups, jumping rope and push-ups into that daily routine.

Another great stretching exercise to perform is to lie on your back, bring up your right knee to your chest with your right hand and roll the knee to your left side so that it touches the floor. Keep it in place with your left hand.

There are many exercises available on DVD which can be incorporated using bands and other inexpensive exercise equipment for indoor routines. Always stretch before starting any exercise routine to prevent injury.

Why not create a whole new routine devoted just to winter? It would be something new and exciting to look forward to with our cold weather..

Seventh Generation Kitchen Cleaner
submitted by Ka

likes and dislikes: I really like the beliefs and morals of Seventh Generation. It is a great company, and even though I occasionally find their products just a little over priced, I have used many of their cleaning and housekeeping products, from paper towels to laundry detergent to dishwasher detergent. The Kitchen Cleaner spray is by far my favorite product! The Natural Citrus scent is very pleasant, and because you can see the foaming action of the hydrogen peroxide, you know that your kitchen counters, sink, and other surfaces are really getting clean! Since Seventh Generation is committed to producing non-toxic, biodegradable, chlorine and petrochemical-free products, you never have to worry about harming the health of your family or the planet while keeping a clean home! The Kitchen Cleaner comes in a convenient 32 fl. oz. spray bottle and is excellent for a variety of your cleaning and deodorizing needs in and around the kitchen as it is especially formula
created to work on those tough, greasy spots in the kitchen without leaving any residue. As an added bonus, the staff at Seventh Generation is available by phone and email and always friendly and ready to assist you with any questions you may have about any of their products.

Some Seventh Generation  products can be purchased online at  www.gaiam.com

 It's What the Cowgirls Do Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds beef stew meat
4 potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (28 ounces) baked beans in barbecue sauce

Instructions:

Place stew meat, potatoes, onion and pepper in your crockpot. Pour beans over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until beef is fork tender.

Nutritional Information (approx):

Calories 370; Calories from Fat 110; Total Fat 12g; Saturated Fat 5g; Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium 1030mg; Total Carbohydrate 46g; Dietary Fiber 8g; Protein 28g; Vitamin A 26%; Vitamin C 12%; Calcium 8%; Iron 42%

Get more healthy recipes at Naturally Delightful Recipes