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Little Time, Big Reward
It doesn’t take much time to prep a meal or several meals for that fact, it just takes concentration and some dedicated effort. Once you get in the habit of prepping, you won’t be able to do without it. What you end up with is less stress about food and more items marked off your “to do” list.

Prep Steps for Success
Here are the steps that you will need to put in place to become a prepping master.

1. Decide what you are going to eat
Start with the next week or 7 days and choose what you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day. If your family is small, one meal can double as dinner and lunch. You’ll also need to decide on snacks. If you leave them out, you’ll be making trips to the nearest vending machine to satisfy that “hunger monster.”

2. Create your list
Now that you have the meals down, you’ll need to create your shopping list for the ingredients. Use coupons to help you keep down the cost and score even bigger savings. Also include the stores you’ll visit and what you will purchase from each store.

3. Mark the date to shop
Choose a day, date and time to shop for the food on your list. Leave the kids at home or give them their own list of specific items to pick up.

4. Cook ahead
Once you’re home, choose which parts of each meal can be cooked ahead of time. The meats can usually be prepared way in advance and then warmed up when ready to eat. The most important thing is to plan how much time each meal will take to fully complete, then you can break down the different parts accordingly. You don’t want to plan to have a crockpot meal that takes 2-3 hours to start cooking when you get home at 6:00pm.

5. Pack and go
Each morning you’ll wake up happy to know that at least food won’t be a stressor for you. Simply go to the kitchen, choose your meals and go.

Now wasn’t that simple, easy and productive? The only thing better is to do it again for the next 7 days and the next. After about 3 weeks, it’ll get easier and become more a way of life than a task.

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Good afternoon fellow fitness followers!

This is Carol Dunlop of Optimum Body Sculpting bringing you this Friday Afternoon Fit Minute. These fitness tidbits will help you focus on fitness and put your wellness back in your hands so that you ARE the boss.

In today’s Fit Minute we’re talking about: 5 Ways to Eat Better Today

A recent study showed that most people don’t follow the healthy advice they know that they should adhere to. Somehow life always gets in the way.

The solution:  By making just a few changes in your daily life, you can be headed towards the healthier lifestyle you were meant to live. Follow these simple suggestions for living healthier and get started today.

1. Shop for Colors: The next time you’re in the grocery store, make sure you pick up a couple of different colored vegetables. The various colors not only look good, they also provide needed nutrients. So go ahead, have a rainbow in your plate.
2. Keep a Food Journal: You won’t know how you’re doing with eating better unless you track it. Keep a journal so that you know when you’re on track and when you can use a little boost. You can do it!
3. Cut Back on Salt:  You need salt and sodium in your diet, but most people get way too much. Too much sodium intake can lead to bloating and can cause health problems like high blood pressure. When you are shopping be sure to read the labels and check the sodium levels. Choose low salt or no salt added seasonings. Better yet, allow herbs and spices to season your food; this will let the true flavor of the food come right out. One more trick, take the salt off the table, you’ll be less tempted to add more salt if it’s out of sight.
4. Cook Once, Eat Twice: Cook enough food so that you can eat leftovers for lunch. The best part about that is the great meal you cooked the night before can be enjoyed all over again the next day. And, you’ll save money by not having to buy lunch.
5. Count to 3: Make your last meal at least 3 hours before bedtime. This way your tummy will be empty when you go to sleep. This allows your body to concentrate on fat burning and rebuilding tissue all while you dose, instead of trying to digest all that food you just ate.

Do you have questions about how to live the Fit Life? Join me each Tuesday and Thursday on Fit4Life Radio at 1:00pm EST and get answers, tips and real solutions. Log on to www.optimumbodysculpting.com and click on the Fit4Lfe Radio banner at the bottom of the page. Each week we’ll talk about how you can be more fit next week.

That’s it for today; remember you can eat better today and tomorrow, so get started right now. See you next time with another Fit Minute.

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I have created a whole post’s worth of tips and information to help you do just that. So what are you waiting for, get your plate in shape!

Learn How to Cut Back on Salt from this video:

Use the posts below to help you help the whole family to eat better

• The Color Guide to Budget- and Flat-Tummy-friendly Grocery Shopping
• No Heart Attacks Here, Healthy Hearts Only
• Cook using fresh herbs

Have some fun while you learn about food and nutrition with Nutrition Sudoku, Word Searches and other healthy nutrition games

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Creating the Plan for Your Garden

First, you’ll need to decide what foods you will plant and grow in your garden. My suggestion is to create variety; plant vegetables that you like and some that you want to try. Also include herbs and spices; they’ll give your garden a wonderful and fragrant scent. If you team up with some neighbors, each of you can plant different things, then exchange and swap out at harvest time.

Commit to “Workin” it

Plan to work or tend your garden for 30 minutes every day. You’ll reap the benefits by having a bountiful harvest and build some strong muscles in the process. All that weeding, hoeing, picking and watering will strengthen your core, back, arms and shoulder muscles. Not to mention burning some serious calories. For 30 minutes of work, you could burn around 115 calories. You can burn more by either working your garden longer or more strenuously.

Spice Up Your Lunch

One of the best benefits of creating your garden is that you get to eat your results. Use this time to experiment with new recipes. Because you will be taking your lunch regularly, you’ll not only save money, but I bet you’ll lose some excess fat in the process.

Water, Weed and Pick

Make sure you give your garden plenty of water when needed. Conserve water by using a rain barrel to capture rain water and set up a drip irrigation system. Instead of using tonics to get rid of the weeds, pick them yourself. Be careful of your back and all that bending, but you will notice a stronger, flatter core before long. Pick edibles often. Be conscious of when your garden stares to bear fruit. You can prolong your growing season by keeping veggies from getting too large before you pick them.

Can Them for Later

Now that you’ve got all that great food, don’t waste it, can it! With the economy as it is, canning is coming back in style. You can purchase a kit or go on the Internet to search for all the info you need.

Good luck with your new garden and your new body!

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Let’s say you are trapped underneath debris, do you have the strength to get yourself out of that situation? What if you had to get a loved one to safety? Would you have the stamina to drag them, push them or maybe carry them out of harm’s way? No one really likes to think about what could happen in an emergency, but the only way to be prepared is to address the situation before it happens.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Our military, first responders and rescue units do it all the time. They run through drills, hypothetical situations and exercises that are created to prep them for the real “just in case” scenarios that happen in life. Granted some things may never happen, however, some of the situations really do come true, in one way or another.

A couple of years ago, I attended a self-defense class and the instructor said that in an emergency, you might not be able to dial 911. Why is that? Because you haven’t practiced doing it. With all the adrenaline surging through your body, you might not be able to think what to do or even control your hands enough to stop shaking and do it. Now that’s pretty scary.

Don’t get Caught, Get Prepared

So what do you do? Get prepared. You can’t anticipate some emergency scenarios, but others you most certainly can. Here is a list of things you can do to get yourself fit and ready to tackle the unknown situations so you’ll have a better chance of being a survivor rather than a victim.

1. Start Running: I suggest you start using that treadmill that’s propped in the corner with all the clothes on it. It’s really not a clothes horse; it’s actually a great tool to use to increase your cardiovascular capacity or stamina. Start with a walk three times a week for 20 minutes each session. Over the next 6 weeks increase your time to 30 minutes per session and end with running the full 30 minutes. This will expand your heart’s ability to pump blood to your body and keep you from getting winded so quickly.

2. Lift and Pump: OK, so you’ve got your heart on track, now you need to get your muscles in shape. I’m not trying to get you to look like a body builder, but in order for you to be any good to anyone—even yourself—in an emergency, you have to be strong. Strength comes from putting stress on your muscles and making them stronger. Start lifting weights, sign up for a bootcamp, kickboxing or strength conditioning class 2-3 times per week. Don’t worry if the first session is lackluster, keep at it, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your body starts to adapt and change.

3. Eat to Fuel Your Body: It’s not enough to start running and lifting, you have to fuel your body with the right foods or everything else you’re doing is for naught. Feed your body the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and fit. This includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. Eat often, 4-5 times per day and keep your sugar intake low. You don’t have to be a Spartan, just use your common sense and don’t overdo it.

4. Control Stress: In an emergency situation, cooler heads prevail. That means that when something does happen, you can’t be running around like a chicken with their head cut off. If you and your loved ones are to survive, someone has to control the chaos. Since you’ve been training to do it, it’s your time to shine. Learn to control both your stress levels and your reaction to them by engaging in Yoga and meditation. Also find or create a quiet space in your home to use as your “calm center.” Once you know what controlling stress feels like, you’ll be better able to summon that feeling in an emergency.

5. Create an Escape Plan: Physically you’re good, mentally you are on target, now you have to commit to memory the correct path or plan to take to survive the emergency. If your house is burning down, how will you know if family members are safe or trapped? This is only one scenario, but it could be a crucial factor when you decide whether or not to run back into a burning building. Even if you are strong and your stamina is in tip-top shape, why risk dying when you don’t have to? So make a plan, discuss it with everyone involved and practice it over and over again. Knowing that you have a plan and the people involved know their role makes it less stressful when you’re trying to take control. Less stress is a good thing.

6. Exercise Your Brain: The final step in being fit enough to survive an emergency is to make sure you know what you need to know.

• What supplies will you need if a tornado hits your home?
• What are the emergency routes to get out of your town, city, village or province?
• What are the emergency numbers? Sometimes “911” is not enough.
• Where is the nearest hospital? How long will it take you to drive there? Walk there?
• What is the chain of communication if you or your loved ones get separated?

I hope these tips and strategies will help you to survive an emergency situation. Get started today on making sure you are fit enough to survive.

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