Summer vacation. I have a love/hate relationship with it. For my children, summer vacation symbolizes freedom, fun and testing my patience. Without the structure of a school day routine, it can be easy for children to fall into bad habits, such as watching too much TV, playing countless hours of video games and reaching for those infamous sugary snacks. While children might enjoy this freedom, spending too much time engaging in sedentary activities like these can quickly lead to unhealthy lifestyles. To prevent this unhealthy lifestyle here are a few tips on how I keep my children healthy over summer vacation and save my sanity at the same time!

Imagine you’ve just been to your doctor for your annual physical and he or she tells you that you have prediabetes.  Don’t let the “pre” in prediabetes fool you into thinking it’s not really a problem now.  Eighty-six million Americans have prediabetes—that’s 1 out of 3 adults! Of those 86 million, 9 out of 10 of them don’t even know they have it.  Without intervention, 15% to 30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.  With numbers like that, it’s important to learn about prediabetes and take action.  

The holidays are right around the corner - that means celebrations with friends and family, holiday parties, and most of all, delicious food! However, if you’re not strategic about how you indulge this season, you might end up with a bigger New Year’s resolution than you were hoping for. On average, people gain 5-10 lbs. between November and January, and typically don’t lose this weight the following year. 

In recent years, there have been many changes to the school lunch program. We have seen the “food pyramid” changed to “my plate.”  Locally, there have been recipe and staff changes.  The most significant change has been the move back to the “good ol’ days” of from-scratch cooking – and it is happening right here in Mesa County D51 schools! 

Wednesday, October 14th is Walk to School Day! (We hear the groans already.) You might say… Why do I have to walk to school? Why should I walk or ride with my child to school? And we say… Because it’s fun, it’s healthy, and it’s good for the environment.

What’s so fun about walking or riding to school? Are you kidding me?

On a recent Sunday morning, I took a leisurely jog along the Colorado Riverfront Trail with my dogs and gained a renewed appreciation for the variety of ways locals enjoy our rivers.