We’d love to have your feedback about your experience at the farmers’ market.
Staying Active as a Family
Staying active as a family can be challenging, but it is very important to encourage healthy activity early on in life. Physical activity is not only a great way to spend your family time, but it also yields benefits that couldn’t be more timely, including decreased stress, improved sleep, and improved physical and mental health.
Consider the following tips to make physical activity a family affair:
- Make it part of your routine.
- Try new things.
- Create an exercise toy box.
- Make it fun.
Make It Part of Your Routine
It’s important to demonstrate to your kids that physical activity is important, and the best way to do that is to make it a natural and consistent part of your routine. An after-dinner walk – including the dog can reinforce the routine and make it more fun – or a trip to the park to play soccer on the weekends are healthy additions to your family’s lifestyle.
Try New Things
The key to sticking with a physical-activity regimen over the long haul is to find something you and your family enjoy. Take those after-dinner walks to a local hiking trail or park and turn them into nature discovery hikes. Train for a local charity event, like a 5K. (Our Couch to 5K program will start at the end of December.) The options are limitless.
Create an Exercise Toy Box
Choosing items to include in an exercise toy box can be a fun and creative experience for kids of all ages. At our house, we have two coat closets off the foyer. One contains several outside play things. Here are some suggestions:
- Sidewalk chalk can be used for outdoor workouts to draw agility ladders, four square or hopscotch. Or create a “balance beam” or mark a path through an elaborate obstacle course. Painter’s tape can be used to mark hardwood floors in the same way.
- Household items can be used as resistance equipment. Be careful to ensure the weight is appropriate for the person (adult or child) who is going to use it. Suggestions include canned veggies, plastic milk cartons and laundry detergent containers.
- Paper or plastic cups can be used in lieu of cones to create obstacle courses or relay races. (Yet another use for red solo cups!)
- Pillows can serve as unstable surfaces to incorporate balance exercises.
- Chairs, tables, boxes, blankets and towels can be used to create tunnels and things to climb over and under as part of indoor obstacles courses.
Make It Fun
This is arguably the most important tip of all. Physical activity does not have to be structured or regimented to be beneficial. You can simply play, garden, go swimming, have a scavenger hunt or have a dance party.
Letting your kids lead the way can help ensure that they’re engaged and enjoying themselves and will help reinforce the idea that physical activity can be a fun part of their everyday lives.
Save the date: Christmas is coming!
November 27, 2021 | 9 am to 3:30 pm
The theme for 2021 is Christmas Through the Years, and we are delighted to bring you a wide range of homes and properties on the tour. Starting with the oldest being built in the 1860s all the way to one that is less than 5 years old, you’ll see a range of differing architecture, building materials, and decorations. Those are merely part of the tour though because the owners are truly unique as well, and they have graciously agreed to open their homes to you for the tour.
If you’re here, you probably want more information about where to pick up a ticket book. Tickets will still be just $15 each or 2 for $25. With a limited quantity, you’ll want to get a ticket as soon as possible. They are available at both locations of First State Community Bank in DeSoto, the DeSoto Public Library, Pogolino’s, Heartland Realty, Cherished Memories, Drummond Florist, Cottage Grove Quilt Company, and Books Galore!
Merry Christmas!
How come my foot hurts?
I recently finished reading a book by Christopher McDougall titled Born to Run, a Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. It’s a long title, but the book is a good one. It’s a story that starts out with the question, “How come my foot hurts?”
The author, a runner plagued by injuries, wants to know why he is plagued by injuries, and he makes a valid point that “antelope don’t get shin splints”. The physiology of the antelope is very different, and the book delves into the search for why humans are built the way we are. The author explores why being a biped is such an advantage, when we aren’t particularly fast runners on our two scrawny legs. All of the physiological adaptation discussions in the book fascinate because they explain some of the reasons humans are such weird looking creatures, and how that has helped us get to the top of the food chain. It also makes a lot of sense considering how slow we are.
The story in the book though is even more fascinating. More on that in a moment though. For a proper book review, I need to tell you a bit about the cadence of the story. The beginning of the book starts strong. It grabbed my attention and held it through about Chapter 9. At that point, it wasn’t that the story wasn’t interesting; it just met a fork in the trail. If you have a hard time keeping up with side stories, especially some that take a while to circle back around to the main story, it can seem disjointed. (I am a casual reader, so I might have a span of 4 days when I don’t pick up the book. Side stories mean I have to remember where I was four days prior.) Stick with it though because the full story is worth it, and the ending is fascinating.
Early in the book, the injury-plagued author goes for a consultation with Dr. Joe Torg, a renowned expert on running injuries. McDougall had been running short 2-3 mile distances and had incredible foot pain. Dr. Torg’s response: “The human body is not designed for that kind of abuse, especially not your body.” At this point, let me give you an example of some of the humor in the book.
I knew exactly what he meant. At six feet four inches and two hundred thirty pounds, I’d been told many times that nature intended guys my size to post up under the hoop or take a bullet for the President, not pound our bulk down the pavement. And since I’d turned forty, I was starting to see why; in the five years since I’d stopped playing pickup hoops and tried turning myself into a marathoner, I’d ripped my hamstring (twice), strained my Achilles tendons (repeatedly), sprained my ankles (both, alternately), suffered aching arches (regularly), and had to walk down stairs backward on tiptoe because my heels were so sore. And now, apparently, the last docile spot on my feet had joined the rebellion. The weird thing was, I seemed to be otherwise unbreakable.
As a casual runner, I totally understand this. It speaks to me in more ways than I would like to admit, and probably will to most runners. Most of the book takes place in Mexico in the Copper Canyon region, aka: Barrancas del Cobre, a pretty rough area of the world with some remarkable runners. McDougall doesn’t just describe the remarkable runners, but also gives a lot of history of ultrarunning, some of its more colorful characters, and athletic shoe knowledge that I didn’t know I even wanted. For example, one of the characters discussed is the Dipsea Demon, whose is known to say, “You don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running”. By the end of the book, I was totally sold on that idea.
The book also touches on finding joy in running. Yes, it very much exists. The author talks a lot about the community of runners and their generous spirits. If you’ve ever run in a race, especially a small local race, you’ll see the camaraderie that exists between runners, not because they know each other, but because they run.
I recommend the book for a casual read. It isn’t incredibly long, and there is enough science, anthropology, and stories about people overcoming obstacles to be enjoyable to those who run and those who do not. Check it out at your local library.
2021 Vendor Awards
The voting is now closed. Thank you!
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