Be Active
Your Health Matters
Adding Physical Activity To Your Routine
Tip of the Week
Add Regular Physical Activity To Your Daily Routine
Along with a well-balanced eating plan, exercise is important for losing weight and maintaining your overall health. With planning, you can easily fit 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity into your routine most days of the week. Aerobic activity includes walking, riding a bike, inline skating, ice-skating and dancing. It is important to your health because it strengthens your heart, lungs and blood vessels. To increase your levels of aerobic activity, first decide which activities you enjoy and look at your daily schedule to see where you can fit these activities.
If you're starting from little or no daily physical activity, plan for five to 10 minutes per day. Once you achieve that level, increase it every week by 10-minute increments until you're up to 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. For maximum cardiovascular health, try to engage in all your aerobic activity at one time. But if your schedule doesn't permit it, you can break up the time throughout the day.
Granola
Ingredients:
- 4 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup honey
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup toasted wheat germ
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Directions:
In a large baking pan toast the oats in a 350 degree oven stirring every 3 minutes, until golden (about 9-10 minutes). In the microwave or a small saucepan, heat the honey just until it liquefies. Pour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the cinnamon and almond extract. As soon as the oats are toasted, add them to the honey mixture. Stir quickly to coat everything well. Spread the mixture into the baking pan again and return to the oven for 5 to 6 more minutes, stiffing once or twice, until just starting to brown. Allow the oat mixture to cool in the baking pan then stir in the wheat germ
and dried cranberries. Package in airtight containers.
Nutrition:
Serves 12. ¼ cup per serving. Calories: 244; 6g fat; 4.5g fiber.
Information adapted from the following sources:
American Dietetic Association and Food and Health Communication, Inc.
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