Lace up your shoes and be prepared for LOTS of Healthy Living ideas

Hawthorn Fun Run and Healthy Living Festival is April 27th.

April is right around the corner and we want you to plan now to attend our popular Fun Run and Healthy Living Festival.  We will have booths and information for you, your family, friends and neighbors to help you make some healthy habits.  Our Fun Run will take place in the morning and we invite everyone to participate.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

 

Has Norovirus visited you?

Norovirus BRAT Cookies

 

Our family has had a mild case of this Norovirus that seems to be flooding the state right now.  I just  assumed that since we all got the flu shot that we would sail through the winter without any illness......Wrong!   Today, our second child came down with the symptoms and has spent a good deal of the morning in the bathroom and complaining of stomach pain.  All motherly instincts kick in and I think BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast).  Well, this wonderful child doesn't like Bananas, Applesauce, or Toast.....but she does like cookies.  So, I came up with this recipe for BRAT cookies, and she liked them!  Actually, all my kids and even my hubby liked them.  So in case you need to feed your sick child or just want a healthy sugar-free cookie, here you go.  Good Luck!

"BRAT" COOKIES
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 banana, mashed
4 Tbls. Applesauce (no sugar added kind)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon (optional)
pinch ground ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make your own oat flour by putting your oats in a coffee grinder or blender and giving them a whirl until they turn to flour (about a minute).  Place oat flour in a bowl and mix in the banana, applesauce, baking powder, salt and other optional ingredients.  Once mixed place by heaping teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake about 7 to 8 minutes, until done.  Makes about 18 small cookies.  

FYI - These are not very sweet, the riper your banana the sweeter they will be.

Frostbite Checking for Frostbite Frostnip Video 2

Check out our Doctor's Tip Page for more Information on Frostbite and Frostnip!

Healthy Living = Healthy Life

Small Changes can bring Lifelong Habits

It isn't the major decisions we make that usually give us the thing we need or want the most,  it is the little daily decisions that add up in the end which make a difference.  When we talk about our health,  living healthy isn't determined by one major decision.   A lot of  people get on the "get healthy" bandwagon every January and will make some big decisions, like buying a gym membership, to help them improve their lives.  Major overhauls occur in the month of January and usually are forgotten by March.   Why is this?  Ask yourself this question, would I work 5 jobs at once to make a lot of money?  Would I take 12 classes in college this semester so I can finish my degree faster?  NO!  Why do we take ridiculous steps to improve our health only to feel like failures in a couple of months.  Slow down and make daily conscience choices that can change your health.  Did you know that cutting out the butter on one piece of buttered toast every day cuts a whopping 22,464 calories in a year?  That is equal to almost 6 pounds of body weight!  By making only a small change.  You may not like the taste of unbuttered toast but you would get used to it within a week and you would like that your jeans could be looser.  I think the benefits far outweigh the buttered toast, don't you?  Make small changes, they stick and are easier to take on.   Set a goal and be specific, for instance "I will cut out sugar".....This is a tough one!  But doable!  Take it slow and cut sugar out for a day then the next day eat some sugar, do that every other day for a couple of weeks.  Then switch to no sugar for two days in a row, then a sugar day, then back to two days without sugar.  Repeat for a couple weeks and then go to three days in a row with no sugar and keep going until you only have one day with sugar.  This is just an example of how you can incorporate a small change into a lasting habit that can benefit your health. 

New Goals and how to keep them!

Time for Change
As with some recent years, this year brings no exception to the number of people that want to make a change.  As I prepare to teach a Healthy Living Class I posed a couple of questions to the class for them to consider.  I thought this would also be a good opportunity to ask you the same questions.  Answer these questions about yourself:  1. What is your biggest obstacle in maintaining a healthy lifestyle?   2. What excuses do you use to not exercise or eat right?  Both of these questions will give you insight to yourself.  For most people the biggest hurdle they have to face to live a healthy lifestyle is themselves.    Sometimes we spend a greater amount of time making excuses than we would to just do what we need to do. 

You need to face your personal obstacles and excuses and then get specific about overcoming them.   Here is an example:   My biggest obstacle is eating chips after dinner.  My plan is to (now be specific)  Make myself some steamed edamame with sea salt to curb my after-dinner salt cravings and then brush my teeth.  When we get specific then we have a plan, and when we have a plan it is easy not to fall into unhealthy habits we have created for ourselves.  So, 1. Find your obstacles, 2. Be specific about how to conquer them, and 3. Follow a plan of attack.  Good Luck!

New Holiday Cranberry Recipes

We just uploaded some new cranberry recipes for the Holidays!  Check out our 'Rev You Up Recipes' page and see for yourself.  Do you have a favorite cranberry recipe?  Send it our way, we would love to post some of your favorites too!

Happy Holidays!

Just One Change!

With all the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season we hope you check in to our blog for some ideas on being Healthy.  Start thinking of ways you can make a change in your life to improve your health.  Just one change.  It can be as simple as having an apple after dinner instead of ice cream, or eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of cereal.  Make one change until it becomes a habit and then make another change until it becomes a habit, and so on, and so on.   Sometimes our best efforts fail because we try to take on too much change at one time.  So start small and stick with it.  Let us know what you plan on changing, when you tell someone else then it makes you more accountable.  Hope to hear from you!