empowerme

Keep yourself moving by walking more throughout the day. Doesn't have to be all at once but a little bit at a time goes a long way.

Spend Valentine's Day with your friends and family. Instead of sitting around snacking - get moving, run, skate, play, bowl and have fun!

Treat Yourself. Go for low-fat frozen yogurt, fruit popsicles, sorbets, and sherbets rather than ice cream or cookies. Sprinkles are also better than caramel or chocolate sauces.

Create a cookbook with all of your favorite healthy recipes and make copies for your family and friends.

Enroll in an instructional group class. Try dancing, gymnastics, martial arts, fencing, indoor swimming lessons - anything that will get you excited about staying active.

Choose foods that are low in saturated fat - take a look at the food labels to know what you're eating!

Roast Away. Try roasting vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, onions, carrots, tomatoes, or eggplant. Long exposure to high heat will cause the vegetables to caramelize, which both enhances their natural sweetness and reduces bitterness. That's sweet.

Turn off the TV during family meal time and ask your family members to tell you about their day.

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.

Sometimes packaging can be misleading! Just because a product has a fruit image on the package does not mean it is healthy! Make sure to read the label and see what is really in the foods you are buying.

Pick your favorite music and dance away! Dancing is a great way to burn calories and have fun at the same time!

Climb 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.

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.

Don't skip meals!  Skipping breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner may cause you to overeat at holiday meal times.  If you have to skip a meal, replace it with fruits and veggies, otherwise keep to your regular meal times.

Different foods provide different nutrients so remember to explore all the types of food out there!

When watching TV, try and do as many jumping jacks, sit-ups, or push-ups as you can during commercial breaks.

Create a Cook Book. Have all your friends get their favorite healthy recipe from their parents and then put them together. Have copies made of all the recipes for your friends to try. Try having a potluck dinner at your house and have everyone bring the dish made from the recipe they gave for the cookbook.

Dance Your Heart Out! Pick any music you like, crank it up and then dance away! March, box step, bounce, spin, shake it. Dancing is a great way to burn calories and have fun at the same time!

Take the Challenge . Challenge your friends to try all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Have everyone keep track of the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that they eat and see how many you can all try. Make it a competition and the winner gets a meal made for them with their favorite fruits and vegetables.

Make a Difference. Work together to think of healthier food choices that students would like to see in the cafeteria. Once you have come up with a meal plan, go together to meet with your principal to discuss trying the new, healthier foods in your lunchroom.