Welcome to the category of my blog simply called ‘Healthy Tips.’ Many times, when I write articles for various publications, I need to find sources for the story as seen in Yahoo Shine (click here) or PBS (click here) about staying healthy. I was looking for experts and non-experts to chime in and give their favorite ‘tips’ to help kids and adults lead a healthy lifestyle.

The feedback for various stories was amazing. The sources had some fantastic points of view that could not be ignored, and I thought their opinions should be viewed on the Your Health Journal web site.

So, enjoy my new series, with some ‘great’ insight from some ‘great’ people giving exceptional and educational points of view.

I am a mom, a Health Coach and an avid proponent of families exercising
together.

As soon as our kids could walk for a good distance, about 3 years of age, we started taking strolls through our neighborhood and to the local park. As they got older, we would ride bikes, take hikes and notice birds, smells, the colorful trees, even trash that wasn’t supposed to be on the trails!

Now, my children are 5 and 7, and they can go on 2-mile bike rides while my husband and I run. We spend a lot of time outdoors when the weather is nice, but in the winter, we bounce on our mini-rebounder. It’s right in front of the tv in our basement and we jump while we watch our favorite programs! The kids love it.

These days families are so over-scheduled with afterschool activities that evenings are rushed and dinner is usually fast food or a convenience item. This year, we made a vow to give up afterschool activities and focus more on us as a family and play together after school. We kick the soccer ball around, throw a football, hula hoop and more!

– Cindy Santa Ana is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition