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NIFS Healthy Living Blog

Tips for a Healthy Halloween

GettyImages-1267397092Halloween is a day full of fun, costumes, treats, friends, and family! With all the food and candy, is it even possible to be “healthy” and still enjoy the festivities? The answer is YES. Take a look at these SPOOK-tacular tips to keep you and your family in good health.

Find a Balance

Halloween comes around once a year. It’s a time to feed your social and mental health, which may require easing up on the physical health guidelines for a moment. Remember, any decision you make for your physical health that comes at the expense of your social and mental health may not be all that great after all.

Let’s be honest, Halloween is FUN. The candy is FUN. Trick-or-treating is FUN. All this feeds our mental and social health. Plus, think about it: daily nutritional choices consistently over time have the greater impact on your health than nutrition choices on one holiday.

What does this “balance” look like? Keep reading.

Use portion control and omit the “off-limits” mentality.

All foods in moderation can fit into a healthy regimen. Instead of making candy off-limits, work it into your established routine. Still have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Make those meals nutritious, including fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins. At each meal, offer one serving of Halloween candy to everyone. Instead of the full-size pieces, make them like the “fun-size” or “snack-size.” This allows everyone to enjoy a sweet, while filling up on the nutritious foods that are important for physical health.

Make festive, healthy options.

On the day that you all go trick-or-treating, really get into the spirit! Make nutritious meals that are Halloween themed. Some examples include:

  • Green-goop smoothie with Halloween straws: Include low-fat Greek yogurt, spinach, chia seeds, pineapple, and low-fat milk of choice. Try this recipe.
  • Monster teeth: Slice a green apple. Smear peanut butter on one side of a slice (bottom lip of the mouth). Stick yogurt-covered raisins in the peanut butter. Smear a little more peanut butter on another apple slice and place on top of the raisins for the top lip.
  • Boo-nana pops: Cut bananas in half and place a stick in the end as a handle. At the tip of the banana, add two chocolate chips as eyes. Serve frozen, cold, or at room temperature.
  • Devil spiders: Make deviled eggs. On the top, put an olive in the center for the spider’s body. Then put slices of olives around the outer edge of the egg for the legs.
  • Cute pumpkins: Peel Cuties/clementines/mandarins. Slice celery into small sticks. Place a celery stick at the top of each mandarin for the pumpkin stem.
  • Yo-yo graveyard: Scoop nonfat Greek yogurt into cups. Crumble some chocolate cookies on top (just a thin layer to cover the top) for the dirt. Write “Boo” on graham crackers for tombstones. Place one tombstone in each yogurt cup.
  • Spider sandwich: Make a sandwich of choice. Cut the sandwich into a circle. Place chocolate chips as the eyes (use peanut butter to help them stick). Use pretzels as the legs, sticking them into the bread or middle of the sandwich, with the tips sticking out.
  • Ghost cheese sticks: Get individually wrapped mozzarella cheese sticks. Take a sharpie and make black dots for the eyes and a block dot for an open mouth. These make perfect snacks while you are out and about trick-or-treating.

This ensures everyone is filling up on nutritious options high in fiber and protein, which leaves less room for tons of candy. Now, do not mistake this for “NO ROOM” for candy. There is still room, but not as much. You are just making sure everyone is properly nourished and still having fun in the process.

When you get home that night, enjoy a few pieces of candy with the kiddos, then put it in a non-accessible place. You are in control of when and how much the kids get. You are also in control of when and how much you get as well. Refer to what I said about portion control to plan your approach here. Remain consistent so that you and the kids both have a clear understanding of when candy will be served. For example, one individual piece will be served with each meal. It gives both you and the kids something to look forward to and does not make candy off-limits, but instead teaches proper portion control and provides a positive relationship with all foods. In the long run, this reduces binging or obsessing over any one food.

Stay active.

One of the best things you can do is to get everyone moving and active. Be sure to get in a workout on the big day, even if it is a quick 20-minute HIIT session at home, or try this spooky workout. Get the kiddos moving with you! Walk from house to house instead of driving during trick-or-treating. Go on a walk in your costumes if you are not trick-or-treating this year. Or just go on a walk in your regular clothes and enjoy all the house decorations. You can also play games:

  • Monster Tag: The tagger is a monster and anyone they tag becomes the monster.
  • Monster vs. Ghost Freeze Tag: If the monster tags you, you become frozen until one of your ghost teammates unfreezes you. The goal is for the monster to freeze all the ghosts!

ENJOY HALLOWEEN!

Have fun with your family. Soak in the moments. Laugh a lot. Feed your mental and social health, knowing it will benefit your physical health in the long run and that choices you make consistently over time matter the most. Stay safe.

As always, reach out to your NIFS Registered Dietitian if you need some holiday nutrition support.

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This blog was written by Sabrina Goshen, NIFS Registered Dietitian. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

 

Topics: staying active healthy eating holidays kids sugar halloween

Spooktacular Outdoor Halloween Workouts at NIFS

GettyImages-1307733923The month of October, also known as ROCKTOBER or SQUATOBER and famous for Halloween, is here. I thought I would put together two workouts—a fun workout, Pumpkin Partners, and a challenging workout, The Hell Bridge—that everyone can enjoy this October! Both are great for outdoor training in cooler weather

The fun workout requires one large pumpkin between partners. If you don’t want to bring a pumpkin to the gym, there are plenty of med-balls to use instead to do the trick. The challenging workout requires good running shoes and a couple of trips across the bridge between the NCAA and the Indianapolis Zoo. 

Fun Workout: Pumpkin Partners

This workout is a two-part AMRAP workout (AMRAP means “as many rounds as possible”). 

Part 1

Pair up and complete as many rounds as possible of the circuit in 12minutes. Partner #1 does the exercises below while Partner #2 is resting. Switch roles, alternating partners, after completing the circuit.

  • x15 yds Traveling Overhead (MB / Pumpkin) Lunges—Traveling Down
  • 20x Thrusters (MB/Pumpkin) Squat to an Overhead Shoulder Press
  • x15 yds Traveling Squat Jumps with (MB / Pumpkin) [Swing MB/Pumpkin as you Jump]—Travel Back to Start
  • 20x Mountain Climbers with Hands on (MB / Pumpkin)

Part 2

Another paired-up AMRAP of 8 minutes. Again, Partner #1 does the exercises below, while Partner #2 is resting. Switch roles, alternating partners, after completing the circuit.

  • 5x (MB / Pumpkin) Push-ups [Close grip for harder variation, one hand on/one hand off for easier variation]
  • 10x (MB / Pumpkin) Sit & Reach Crunches [Crunch with an Overhead Press as You Sit Up]
  • 15x (MB / Pumpkin) Half Burpee OH Presses [Burpee with no Push-up to a Pumpkin Curl and Press Overhead]

Finisher

Partner who completes the most work during both workouts gets to Pumpkin Toss:

  • 1x Reverse (MB / Pumpkin) Toss for Height… Throw as high as possible and smash that pumpkin!

I suggest you do this outdoors to avoid a big mess. If pumpkin does not break on the first toss, repeat between partners until it is destroyed. HAVE FUN!

Challenging Workout: The Hell Bridge

Head out to the bridge between the NCAA headquarters and the Indianapolis Zoo. (It’s the bridge with all the art installations in the middle.) The workout is run SHORT to LONG, starting at the blue art installation next to the NCAA side of the bridge. Your goal is to do the exercise listed below all the way to the break in the grass/sidewalk. Each lap will get progressively longer. Follow with a run back to the start (the blue art installation) at the break in the grass/side walk. Essentially you will be making big circles/loops that progressively get longer until you have finally made it all the way across the bridge. 

  • Lap 1: Burpee Broad Jumps (Leap Frog + Push-ups) + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 2: Zig-zags (Line Skaters) + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 3: Lunges (change any direction—FWD/BKW/Side) + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 4: Sprint (as fast as possible—middle of the bridge) + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 5: Power Skips + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 6: Lateral Shuffles (stay low, no galloping) + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 7: Back Pedal + Run Back to Start
  • Lap 8: Sprint (all the way to the Zoo—as fast as possible) + Run Back to Start—FINISHED!

Whichever workout you choose (or possibly both), please get a good cool-down and stretch. You’ve earned it: go trick-or-treating after you’ve completed these workouts!

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This blog was written by Michael Blume, MS, SCCC; Athletic Performance Coach. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Topics: fitness center workouts holidays fall outdoor exercise halloween

Thinking About Diabetes During the Halloween Candy Season

GettyImages-500664508It’s Halloween time, and that can only mean one thing: sugar, lots of sugar! Toward the end of summer, stores start to taunt us by placing all of the Halloween candy out on display. What’s worst of all is that the candy is in tiny, easy-to-eat servings. By the time the actual day of Halloween rolls around, we’ve already been thumbing through fun-sized candy the entire month.

Each holiday has its traditional treats we enjoy, but Halloween takes the prize for being the most focused on candy. And no matter how hard you try to avoid it, the temptation of it all might possibly get the best of you.

Can You Fight the Temptation?

While one piece of candy won’t make or break your health, very few of us stop at just one. In fact, most see Halloween like we see other festive holidays from Thanksgiving and Christmas, to cookouts in the summer: a perfect reason to indulge in whatever kind of temptation is available.

But those temptations can eventually start to take a toll and contribute to the current epidemic of type 2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of Americans, or more than 100 million adults, are living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Without significant changes, as many as 30% of people with pre-diabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes.

What Is Diabetes?

Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use as energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugars to build up in your blood.

Why Put Down the Halloween Candy?

The more sugar you eat, the harder your pancreas has to work to produce insulin and keep your blood sugar within in a safe/healthy range. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce any insulin, when the pancreas produces very little insulin, or when the body does not respond appropriately to insulin, a condition called “insulin resistance.”

How Can You Prevent Diabetes?

Perhaps you have learned recently that you have a high chance of developing type 2 diabetes. You might be overweight or have a parent, brother, or sister with the condition. Here are some ways you can lower your risk.

These simple lifestyle changes are what will send type 2 diabetes out of your life like a kid running out of a haunted house. Choose future health over present pleasures.

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This blog was written by Ashley Duncan B.S., ISSA-CPT, Nutrition Specialist, ACE-HC,
NIFS Weight Loss Coordinator. To read more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Topics: nutrition weight loss healthy eating holidays NIFS programs diabetes sugar dietitian halloween

Get into the Exercise and Healthy Eating Mindset Before the Holidays

GettyImages-638686220It’s coming…the holiday season! Many people tend to give up or have the “I’ll start fresh next year” mindset when it comes to exercise around the holidays. Don’t let that be you this year! Halloween is over and before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here. Parties will start, normal schedules will be crazy, and more food will be added to your life.

Three Tips for Staying on Track with Workouts and Food

This season, let’s go into the holidays with a different mindset. We know what’s coming—it happens every year! Here are three tips to keep you on track.

  • Schedule time for your workouts. If you know you have a party or family gathering, plan ahead. Write your exercise time on your calendar each week just like you would anything else. Scheduling time for fitness should be a priority.
  • Something is better than nothing. Gym time cut short? Don’t just blow it off! Just get into the gym and move. Getting 30 minutes of exercise is better than getting 0 minutes. Don’t let your busy holiday gatherings keep you from your exercise routine. Even if you have to do bodyweight exercises at home or portable exercises on the road, don’t just skip your workout.
  • Do a little bit better next time. You overate, you missed your workout, you have another party today. It’s okay; you didn’t lose the battle of fitness. You don’t need to overeat at the next party. Just do a little better than you did at the last. Healthy eating and exercise don’t have to be all or nothing. Just do better every day. Move a little more, and eat one less holiday treat than the day before.

Change Your Mindset—and Ask for Help!

The holidays don’t have to be a time to let it go and start over during the New Year. This year, make it different! These three tips will help you change your mindset as we enter the season of craziness and delicious goodies!

If you need help on a quick workout idea, stop by the track desk and ask a NIFS HFS to help you out!

Remember 30-minute workouts are proven to be just as beneficial as longer workouts. If your short on time or just feel 60-minutes is too long, try one of our 30 minute Group Fitness Classes such as Tabata, or Extreme Core. Check out our Group Fitness Schedule below.

Group Fitness Schedule

Happy Holidays!

This blog was written by Kaci Lierman, Personal Trainer. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Topics: NIFS exercise healthy eating holidays Thanksgiving bodyweight mindset christmas new year scheduling halloween