Hurricane tips from your friends in Florida

As Hurricane Irene bears down on the East Coast it occurs to me that our friends up north may be as prepared for this as we would be for...say...an earthquake. So here are some tips from all our years living in the hurricane-weary State of Florida. These may be similar to some steps you take for a winter storm, but it never hurts to go through a quick refresher.

Water! Lots of Water!
First, you need to stockpile drinking water. Hopefully you've already considered this, because store supplies are being gobbled up as we speak. If you have a purification system (Brita pitcher, purification tablets, etc.) you'll be in even better shape, because you can clean your water as you need it.

Another VERY important task is to gather water for non-drinking purposes. When the storm hits you are likely to lose not only power, but water service. We fill up our bathtubs and use a capful of bleach to sanitize it. This provides you with clean water for brushing teeth, flushing toilets, washing dishes and quick, camp-like showers. If you don't need it, great. If you do need it, you'll be very glad it's there.

Food - Play it Safe
It's always good to stock up on non-perishables like peanut butter, canned vegetables, tuna, crackers, etc. Make sure you have a manual can opener to open the cans! But honestly, most of us have plenty of food in our houses to last a few days. The key is to keep that food fresh.

When your power suddenly goes out, many people's first instinct is to hit the food. Be it nervous energy or boredom, it's reality. Keep in mind that every time you open your fridge or freezer after the power goes out, you're releasing valuable cool air and if you're not careful your food will go bad. So KEEP THE DOOR SHUT as much as possible.

If you keep the door shut, your refrigerator should stay cool for about four hours. Keeping the door shut on your full freezer will keep that going for about 48 hours. Another tip is to freeze containers full of water ahead of time. If the power goes out, this ice will help keep your freezer and refrigerator cool for a bit longer.

Since it won't keep forever, you may want to eat the food in your refrigerator first and save your perishable items in case the power outage persists.

For more tips on food safety read this Fact Sheet from the USDA.

If you have a grill you might want to stock extra propane or charcoal, so you can safely cook your food. During storms we always lose power and water but have maintained our gas service, so we could still use our stove. Consider that if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Shelter
Once the storm passes you may be curious about the new state of your neighborhood. Please resist the urge to go outside! Heavy wind and rain may have toppled power lines and other electrically-charged devices as well as trees. This is a huge hazzard. Not only could standing water be charged, but you could find yourself trapped and not able to get back to your home. So STAY INSIDE!

Try stocking these items to keep yourselves occupied - books, magazines, playing cards, board games and crossword puzzles. Make sure you have flashlights or lanters instead of candles, which can quickly turn a bad situation into a blazing one.

Stay Safe Friends - Hopefully you won't need these tips, but in case you are in an emergency situation we hope you stay safe. Hang in there everybody!

Hey Moms: Want to win $5,000 and have fun doing it?

Looking for a fun way to get your kids up and active? Here’s an idea! Submit a dance video to the Family Dance-Off Competition sponsored by Primrose Schools!

All you have to do is shoot a 30 second video of your family throwing down their best moves and post it at http://danceoff.primroseschools.com/. It’s great fun, good exercise and it can earn you some super, fantastic prizes!

Participating in the Family Dance-off is easy:

1. Record a 30-second video of your family's best dance moves. Don't be afraid to let loose and be silly!

2. Visit the Family Dance-off site and upload your best take by March 19.

3. Share your video with your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

4. View and vote daily (you can place five votes per day) for your favorite family dance video!

Primrose Schools is providing prizes that aren't only great for your family but for your whole community, with $65,000 in donations to local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Grand Prize: $5,000 and Primrose will make a $30,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

2nd Prize: $3,000 and Primrose will make a $20,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

3rd Prize: $1,500 and Primrose will make a $15,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

All 14 Finalists will also receive a FLIP camcorder.

Visit The Family Dance-off site for details on how to take part in the fight against childhood obesity, participate in the competition, and view past competitors! Learn more about Primrose and their educational child care facilities at www.PrimroseSchools.com.

Papa’s Grilled Cheese French Toast (Don't worry...there's no syrup!)

The We Walk the World Challenge is cranking along and our latest count has the total at over 17 million steps!!! Congratulations to all of you that are making positive choices for you and your families. Keep up the great work. Remember to send us your step counts on Twitter or Facebook (pictures and comments are even better!)

We received several good tips on our last nutrition post. In case you didn’t see them here’s a recap.

@JodiRd says: The closer something is to its natural state, the healthier it is! (So true! Enjoy nature’s bounty as it was intended to be!)

@DinDinsFood recommends: Model good eating habits for your children (No doubt. It’s hard to encourage your kids to eat well when you’re eating chips and candy.)

@RMNutrition says: Keep few (if any) calorie-containing beverages in your house, except milk. Get your fruit servings from fruit, not juice. And eat together as a family as often as possible, even if you're just sitting down together to peanut butter sandwiches or leftovers! (Those are such fantastic tips! Not only are kids that eat together as a family usually healthier eaters, but the bonding time you gain gives you many benefits beyond your waistlines.)

Our last response was from @ElisaZied and she sent a recipe from her book Feed Your Family Right! This is one that the whole family can enjoy (making and eating) and we certainly hope that your family does.

We made these sandwiches last weekend and beyond filling our kitchen with the most divine scent of eggs and cheese, they filled our stomachs with happiness. We can’t wait to hear what you think of it, so don’t forget to post your responses.

Papa’s Grilled Cheese French Toast
When my dad, otherwise known as Papa, comes for a weekend visit, he makes this recipe for his grandsons, Spencer and Eli, who devour it. Not only does it taste delicious, but it’s a great way to incorporate high-quality protein (from the eggs), not to mention fiber and whole grains from the whole-wheat bread.

Nonstick cooking spray
2 eggs (1 yolk removed)
2 teaspoons trans fat-free margarine or vegetable oil spread
4 slices whole-wheat bread
2 slices American cheese

Spray a griddle with the nonstick cooking spray. Set on medium heat. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl, remove one yolk, and beat. Spread the margarine on one side of each slice of bread. Then dip the bread, one slice at a time, until completely coated with egg. When the griddle is hot, place the bread on it. After about 2 minutes (flipping sides to cook), add 1 slice of cheese to two of the slices on the griddle. Take the two pieces of bread without the cheese and flip them onto each slice of cheese to make two sandwiches. Cook for 2 more minutes and flip until both sides of each sandwich are light brown. Cut them into fours and serve.

Cook’s Tip: For even more flavor, you can use cheddar cheese instead of American cheese. This dish tastes great with a cup of skim milk. It can also be served for lunch with a side of fruit salad.

Total preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 290
Fat: 14 g
Saturated fat: 5 g
Cholesterol: 125 mg
Sodium: 740 mg
Carbohydrate: 28 g
Fiber :4 g
Sugar: 4 g
Protein: 15 g

Source: Feed Your Family Right! How to Make Smart Food and Fitness Choices for a Healthy Lifestyle (Wiley, 2007), by Elisa Zied, MS, RD, CDN with Ruth Winter. For more information, go to elisazied.com; Feed Your Family Right! available at http://amzn.to/9aEP7X or wherever books are sold.

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Mary Owen - Founder - Fit Factor Kids - Kids Exercise DVD

We Walk the Tworld Update and Inspiration

Thank you to everyone that sent us your steps. We're starting to pick up steam and see some real progress against our team goal. The current count is 10,344,469 steps, so please keep up the great momentum and keep on moving friends!!! And to keep you motivated, we have an inspiring story from one of our challenge participants - Melissa from Jacksonville, FL.

When she heard about the We Walk the Tworld Challenge, Melissa responded by saying,

"I'm totally digging this BECAUSE over the course of the last year, I have taken on a more active lifestyle. I was inspired by some running friends, and here I am - 35 pounds lighter, a half-marathon under my belt, and training for a marathon. If I can inspire someone to take their first step, then I have come full circle."

That response really intrigued us. We're hoping that more people will take such positive steps in their lives, so we asked Melissa if we could interview her about her experience and she agreed. Here is her story.

Fit Factor Kids: Your story about training for a marathon is so impressive. I'm curious about how you decided to make such a drastic change in your workout habits.

Melissa: I decided to make changes in my workout habits because I was very unhappy with myself. I was at my heaviest weight ever. Standing 5 feet tall, the weight increase was drastically noticeable. In March 2009, I just couldn’t stand (it) anymore. They say a picture is worth a thousand words – and that was the turning point for me. I saw a photo of myself with my son on his 3rd birthday. I didn’t even recognize myself. After having a little pity party, I got mad and decided it was time for a change!! In March 2009, I joined a gym and started a walk/run program that gradually increased your running time to 30 minutes.

Fit Factor Kids: I don't know about you, but running can be intimidating to many people. Me for instance...I have no problems walking, doing an elliptical machine or a cardio workout. But running scares me. Did you feel intimidated when you started running?

Melissa: YES, I absolutely felt intimidated at first. I knew there was no way I could just start running for 30 minutes straight. I had to ease into it! I actually started out running for one minute and walking for two minutes. I did that 10 times for a total of 30 minutes. In the beginning, that one minute felt like forever!! The next week, I ran for 2 minutes and walked for one minute. You get the idea, the program gradually increases your running time and decreases your walking time. I met obstacles right away in the form of shinsplints. I had to take a break from running, so I would pick up the elliptical machine. I chose the elliptical because it had the same motion of running without the impact on my shins. Eventually my shinsplints healed, and I started running again. In August, I ran my first race ever with two girlfriends. It was a 5 mile run on the beach. I wasn’t very fast, but I wasn’t last!! It was a great experience, and afterwards I was sooo proud!

Fit Factor Kids: I know that you're a working mom and we all know how difficult that can be at times. How do you find time to train with all of your other responsibilities?

Melissa: With everything else that working moms have on their plate, it is very hard to incorporate time to workout. It worked best for my schedule to go after work. The gym was literally 2 minutes away from my job. My husband was very supportive and watched our son while I worked out. I was also fortunate enough to hire a trainer. She would come to my house 3 days a week for an hour. She taught me different exercises for each muscle group. After my sessions with her, I was confident enough to go into the gym and workout with weights.

Fit Factor Kids: Have you noticed any positive changes within your family, since you started your healthier lifestyle? How does your son feel about what you're doing?

Melissa: I have noticed a difference in my family. My husband was inspired to start working out as well. We had a Bowflex in the garage, and he dusted it off, and started using it. At first, my son was VERY jealous about me exercising. He did not like it when my trainer came over. In fact, he used to pretend like he was Spiderman and spray her with webs (sound effects and everything). I think he felt like she was taking away some of his time. I bought him a pair of one pound weights (the kind with the Velcro straps) and let him work out with us. He used to call the weights his ‘muscles’. My son eventually he came around, and accepted that this was part of my life now. I’m trying to be a good role model for him, and he’s definitely watching me. One day he picked up his muscles, and started doing tricep-kickbacks. It was so funny. He’s also taken an interest in which foods will make him big and strong.

Fit Factor Kids: Do you have any advice for people who are just getting started with running (or getting started with exercise for that matter?)

Melissa: My advice for runners who are just getting started is to start slow, and gradually increase the distance and speed. It doesn’t matter how fast you go, and it’s absolutely alright if you need to take a walk break. The distance and speed will come with time. Whether you’re walking or running, you’re still burning calories and strengthening your heart. Music always helped to keep me motivated, and it’s a good idea to invest in a good pair of shoes. Stay positive, believe in yourself, and surround yourself with positive people! I had a great support group, and could not have gotten this far without them!

So there you have it. One positive story that we hope turns into many more. If you would like to share your experience with us, please write to us at information@fitfactorkids.com. Keep up all the great work. Together, we can reach the goal of 100 Million steps and raise awareness for healthy lifestyles!

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Mary Owen - Founder - Fit Factor Kids - Kids Exercise DVD

Can't Walk the Tworld Without Good Nutrition!

We're a few days into the We Walk the Tworld Challenge and already we're seeing great progress on our mini-goals.

1. Participants kicking up their activity level - CHECK
2. Getting kids and families involved - CHECK
3. Forming groups, using positive peer pressure to achieve the goal - CHECK
4. Spreading the word to the social media community - CHECK

Hmm...nothing about nutrition yet, eh? We know that good nutrition is a key component to healthy living and achieving our fitness goals, so let's add a check to that mini-goal too. We're certainly no experts in this area, but we know that many of you are. Reply to this post with your best nutrition tips, so we can all learn together.

And...the even better part of this post is that we have a prize that can make good nutrition even easier for you! The Skinny Gene Project and Fit Factor Kids are giving away a FREE nutritional analysis. Entering the giveaway is easy. All you have to do is follow @SkinnyGene and @FitFactorKids on Twitter and post this on your Twitter feed.

I'm taking a step toward better health! Hope I win a free nutritional analysis from @SkinnyGene #WalkTheTworld http://bit.ly/Zyxda #Health

The contest ends May 24, 2010 at 11:59 pm ET. You get one entry each time you post this on your Twitter feed. There is no limit on the number of entries per participant.

About the Skinny Gene Project
The Skinny Gene Project is a division of the J. Moss Foundation that addresses the environment-based issues, or social atmospheres, that affect a person's ability to prevent diabetes. The organization shapes an individual's environment so their decision to improve their health is met with guidance and encouragement, and their first step forward is not their last.

The Skinny Gene Nutritional Analysis
The food you are eating may be igniting your taste buds but diminishing the effectiveness of your metabolism. Just like other parts of your body, your metabolism is unique and its ability to function properly depends on multiple factors. (E.g. food, age, gender etc.) The Skinny Gene Project will provide you with an in-depth analysis of what you are, or are not eating, that decreases the performance of your unique metabolism.

Here's how it works!
1) What, When, Where, and How much - Keep a detailed journal of what you're eating
2) Looking For Answers - A member of the Skinny Gene nutrition team will input all of your info
3) Ignite Your Skinny Gene (a.k.a Metabolism) - A Skinny Gene Registered Dietitian (RD) will analyze your results to determine if you have been working with your metabolism, or against it.

You'll get the answers you’ve been waiting for - what you can do to ignite your metabolism! Good luck!

P.S. Don't forget to send us your steps. We all need to work together in order to reach 100 million steps this month. Let's do it!

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Mary Owen - Founder - Fit Factor Kids - Kids Exercise DVD

Gettin' Our 100 Million Steps On

So we kicked off the We Walk the Tworld Challenge yesterday and it's already an eventful adventure. By Noon my pedometer was broken into three or four pieces. But I rigged it up and by the end of the day my family was able to collect over 35,000 steps. We went to a baseball game, which gave us lots of walking opportunities.

What's more exciting is hearing all of your stories! We have over 100 people signed up already and many of them are participating in groups, which is even better. We've got:

• People taking steps with co-workers and friends
• Tweeps walking with their weight loss groups
• Moms and dads exercising with their kids (this one is our fav)

We want to hear from you!
Let us know how the challenge is going. You can post your comments, pictures and videos on our Facebook page.

Some of you have shared great stories with us about how fitness has changed your lives and for us that's the best part of this challenge. We want to highlight your stories in future blog posts, so feel free to contact us at information@fitfactorkids.com if you want to share.

Feeling shy about sharing your step counts?
There are tons of ways around that! You don't have to send in your step count every day. You can collect them for a few days and then send them to us. Believe me when I say our "system" isn't sophisticated enough to know how often you submit. ;-) Or you can collect numbers for your group and send us the total.

Help us spread the word
100,000,000 steps is quite a goal and the only way we can make it there is with all of your help. Please help us get the word about by posting this challenge on your Twitter and/or Facebook feeds. Here's a suggestion to make it even easier.

I'm helping #WalkTheTworld take 100 Million steps to raise awareness for healthy living! See how you can too http://bit.ly/aMbZqe #health

How it works
For the month of May, we're asking you to record your step counts and send them to us. You can send them daily, weekly, whenever it works for you. And for the record running and exercising on an elliptical machine count too. If you capture it on a pedometer, that's good enough for us. Just send your counts to us:

• By replying to this blog
• As a reply to @FitFactorKids on Twitter
• As a direct message on Twitter
• On our Facebook fan page
• In an email to information@fitfactorkids.com (for those of you that want a little more privacy)

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Mary Owen - Founder - Fit Factor Kids - Kids Exercise DVD

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

We've heard the proverb many times and you probably have too. Here at Fit Factor Kids we really believe that no matter what our current fitness level is, we can all take that first step toward even better health. And with your help, we're hoping to inspire the Twitter (and Facebook) world to take that step with us...thus the FFK walking challenge, "We Walk the Tworld."

That means, we want to gather a team to walk 100,000,000 million steps - one step for every Twitter user. (Man, that's a lot of steps, isn't it!?!) Then by getting the word out about what we're doing, hopefully we can inspire others to take their first step.

How it works
For the month of May, we're asking you to record your step counts and send them to us. You can send them daily, weekly, whenever it works for you. Just send them to us:

• By replying to this blog
• As a reply to @FitFactorKids on Twitter
• As a direct message on Twitter
• On our Facebook fan page
• In an email to information@fitfactorkids.com (for those of you that want a little more privacy)

We'll keep a total of everyone's numbers and let you know how we're doing against the goal. Can we do it? Honestly, we don't know. But we sure are going to try.

So, what's better than sending us your step counts?
Sending us step counts for your group! The great thing about walking is that pretty much everyone can do it - parents, kids, friends, co-workers. We're walking with all of them...and can I say that our six year old son is really excited about it! See how many people you can recruit from your inner circle, because we all know that success is that much easier when you have a team around you for support.

This is no contest
Trust us when we say, we're not here to judge. No matter how many steps you take in a day/week/month, EVERY step helps us get closer to the team goal, so please send them to us. We promise, we'll be happy to accept whatever you can give. (Did we mention we're trying to get to 100,000,000 steps???)

So what do you say? Are you with us?

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Scott and Mary Owen - Founders - Fit Factor Kids - Kids Exercise DVD