Work at Home Moms Articles – WAHM Articles

Last month I came back from my Hawaii vacation and didn’t gain a pound. Strangely, I lost a pound. I’m not on any diet and I don’t need to lose weight, but I strive to eat well and live healthy.

If you have been working on losing weight, it’s easy to fall off the wagon when you’re on vacation. Yes, you’re going on vacation, but your diet doesn’t have to.

Here are five helpful tips to avoid weight gain while on vacation.

Planning
Research your vacation spot and look for accommodations that have a kitchen or kitchenette so you can prepare your own meals. Knowing a bit about your vacation destination will help greatly. I visited Hawaii and it’s an expensive place to live and visit. It was an easy decision for us to make our own evening meals and dine out about three or four times during the 10 days we were there. Lunch time was a bit different, but we found quaint eateries that were inexpensive. You can certainly pack lunches and snacks before you set out for your days of adventure.

Groceries
If you can find a farmer’s market around your vacation spot, buy some fresh fruits and vegetables as they are cheaper than going to a supermarket. They are great snacks while you’re on the go or relaxing in your hotel room.

If there’s a Costco in your area, buy nuts and dried fruits, but be careful of the sugar content. Depending on how long you’re staying and if you have a kitchen, you can buy your meats and other food items. What we did was plan what meals we could have. If you think buying bulk is too much, it’s not considering you can make different meals out of one item. For example, we bought hamburger patties for burgers and for spaghetti. We didn’t, but you could also make tacos or sloppy joes.

Beverages
When you’re on vacation, it’s nice to indulge in some alcoholic or non-alcoholic tropical drinks or foreign beer and wine, but they all have calories and some have more than others. You’ve heard it before all in moderation. Drinking alcohol or iced coffees causes dehydration so water is absolutely the best drink and it has 0 calories. We bought bottled water after we went through airport security and kept the bottles so we could refill them whenever we went out. It also saved us money from buying bottled water each time. Plus, water helps you lose weight by making you feel full.

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One of the hardest things a WAHM will have to handle is her weight. Working from home makes it difficult to stay out of the kitchen and when you don’t have someone standing over your shoulder to remind you of your deadlines you may find yourself in there eating everything in site.

While it’s difficult to do this, you must find a way to make it happen or the weight will continue to pile on and that’s not healthy. Finding a way to stay out of the kitchen is very important, but it’s also important to exercise.

While searching WAHM-Articles this morning I found an article that made working out easy and I can’t wait to start implementing the suggestions. I just know it will help me to take this weight off and keep it off. Click here to read this article and then make sure you comment below to tell us how you exercise each day.

The benefits of walking are two-fold! Have you ever really thought about them?

Brisk activity is excellent for the heart, brain, muscles, blood flow, digestive tract, and many, many other things. A brisk walk every day is just a nice healthy thing that you choose to do for yourself and your over-all health. Even just walking at a normal pace is highly beneficial.

Walking does a body good at any age and it’s never, ever too late to start doing it on a daily basis.

Warning Tip: Of course if it’s summer time and the temperature is in the triple digits (right now for us), or even 85 and above, one should use caution. This goes double for the elderly. You could walk in the very early morning hours or in late evening to avoid the heat and sun.

You could also invest in a good treadmill and do the walking indoors.

Another Tip: Before you start on a walking regimen, always do light stretching exercises before and after. This decreases the risk of any injuries.

Below are the 30 benefits of walking.

(You are encouraged to add to this list by comments. However, please don’t post spam)

I’m looking for real, additional benefits of walking to be added to the list.

Weight Control
Improves Blood Pressure
Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Decreases Depression
Releases feel-good endorphins
Good for the heart
Good for muscles
Improves blood flow
Aids with a healthy digestive tract
Improves memory brain cells
Helps melt abdominal fat
Walking is good for your bones
Walking helps prevents type 2 diabetes
Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer
Walking improves fitness
Burns calories
Improves sex life
Helps skin complexion and glow
Reduces stroke risk.
Improves sleep
Gives you more energy
Improves self esteem
Helps heal and good for your joints
Helps socialize with friends and family
Helps to diminish the cabin fever feeling
Helps you catch some rays
Helps Arthritis
Walking is anti aging
Improves your mood
Improves sense of balance and focus

Can you add to this list?

You can find more articles and tips by Tammy at Grandparenting Articles and Tips

Summer time brings shorts and swimsuits, but if you don’t look fit you may not want to wear those types of clothes. This leaves you with clothes that won’t keep you cool and an activity less summer. Who wants that to happen? I know I don’t want that to happen.

If you’re in this situation, it’s not too late to get your weight under control so you look great when you go on vacation or out to the lake. Here are a few things you can do to make it happen.

1. Eat right

What you eat will control how you look, so if you eat out all the time or you eat donuts for breakfast, the weight isn’t going to come off. While breakfast is one of the most important meals in the day, it’s also the one most people have the hardest time with, so it’s crucial to do it properly. You need high protein foods such as eggs or a protein drink. It’s also important to have fruits and vegetables and limit your snacks. Portion eating is something else you must do each time. If you eat 1 ? or 2 portions of something, you’re overeating and that’s going to put the weight on or make it difficult to take off.

2. Exercise

Exercise is something else that’s very important. You must do some sort of exercise at least five times a week. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours of exercise, but 10 or 15 minutes won’t cut it either. It depends on what you plan to do as to how long you need to do it. For example, if you plan to do a high intense aerobic workout, 30 minutes may be all you need, but if you’re going to take a walk on the trail with your spouse, 30 minutes won’t be enough. You’ll need to extend that out by an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

To continue reading this article, click here.

A friend of mine on Facebook put up a new status a few weeks ago that went like this. “NIKE has the best slogan. JUST DO IT! Seriously, stop making excuses, and they are all excuses, trust me! If we have time to sit on Facebook or any other sedentary thing we definitely have time to MOVE!”

The definition of sedentary is this: A Sedentary lifestyle is a medical term used to describe a type of lifestyle with no or irregular physical activity. A person who lives a sedentary lifestyle may be known as a couch potato. Sedentary activities include sitting, reading, watching television and computer use for much of the day with little or no vigorous physical exercise.

What is your excuse? I’ve heard a ton of them…from I don’t like to workout in front of people to I just don’t have the time. I’ve even said some of them myself. My biggest excuse was that I didn’t like to have people I didn’t know watching me sweat. So I bought an elliptical machine for my home. Problem solved!!

To continue reading this article, click here.

Today’s Free Book is on health and fitness. It is called Be Healthy (52 Brilliant Little Ideas). I always like seeing the number “52″ in an advice book. There are 52 weeks in a year. That means you would be able to focus for a week at a time on one area in your life. In my opinion, it makes change easier. You aren’t trying to do it all at once. When you do that, I believe you set yourself up for failure.

We all know how important it is to keep our bodies healthy by eating right and exercising. This book covers that topic, but it also goes one step further and helps you keep your mind healthy. It gives advice on eliminating the stress that we all have in our lives.

If you want to make a change in your life, Be Healthy (52 Brilliant Little Ideas) is a must read. One reader,”Maau”, gave this review: ”It is the Best book I have ever read regarding the health, fitness ideas. I made some real serious changes in my lifestyle after reading this book and those changes are helping!”

Click here to get your copy of Be Healthy (52 Brilliant Little Ideas) now while it is still free. The price is subject to change without notice.

When it’s cold outside it’s easier to workout than it is when it’s warm or even hot. Exercising in the winter will help you warm up and stay warm. When it’s hot outside it’s harder to do what’s necessary. That’s why these tips will help you to get your exercise in each day and stay cool at the same time.

If you enjoy taking walks outside as a way to get your exercise that can be difficult in the summer time when it’s hot. One way to still make this happen is to do it early in the morning or later in the evening. When the temperatures are cooler you’ll find it’ll be easier to do it. Look at the forecast and decide if it’ll be better to do it in the early morning hours or later at night.

If exercising outside is not your cup of tea, you need to consider your options inside. This will give you the ability to work out with a fan or air conditioner. This will make it more comfortable for you to work out and get the job done and you’ll have control over the temperature so if you get too cold or too hot you can adjust accordingly.

One thing to remember when you’re working out is the more you sweat the more fat you’re burning and that’s where your weight will come off. Even though it’s hot and you’re sweating, it’s still better, but you don’t want to get too hot, so it’s a good idea to use a fan aimed at your face or upper body.

If you choose to workout at home you have control over the temperature. You can use a fan, an air conditioner, swamp cooler or ceiling fan to control the temperature while you exercise. This will help make it more comfortable during the time you’re working out.

To continue reading this article, click here.

Work at home jobs or home businesses has many benefits, that is a given. However, like many have experienced; working from the comfort of your home office has a few cons attached to it. Among the many work from home cons include non-school age children home with you all day, isolation, interruptions by family members and friends, no employment benefits and balancing your family and social life with your work life.

And those are just for starters. There are others depending on your situation and lifestyle. However have you thought about the health risks that go along with working at home? Yes, there are indeed many!

1. Your Eyes – Have you thought about your eyes while staring at a computer screen 8 to 10 hours per day? I’m affected, and my last eye exam proved it. My eye doctor could tell (just by my examination) what I did for employment. My eyes paid the price with me needing bifocals. I can imagine what my next appointment will be like. It will probably be trifocals. I can sure feel it …I have to strain more while tilting my head backward; and my eye doctor told me I’d be doing that more and more as time went on.

There is something you can do for this, and I can tell you it works. My eye doctor told me to take several small breaks each day, he said at least 4 times every day that I work. He told me to stop working and walk out on my porch and look out as far as the eyes can see. This gives the eyes a nice break several times a day. Your eyes are important to you, take the short time it takes to do this, and you will feel the affects of it more than you might think.

2. Exercise and Circulation – Sitting in your office every day is not good for your circulation, or your brain for that matter. You need some kind of activity to keep your muscles and joints moving and active. I start out my days with an aerobic video workout. It’s a 48 minute workout (including a warm up and cool down). I follow that workout with abdominal crunches. I feel awesome after my workouts. Walking is also good to stay fit. It would be a good idea to take two separate breaks from your online work to take short walks outdoors, (weather permitting of course). Also a treadmill is something to consider when the weather is bad.

3. Isolation – Isolation is often something that many of us experience when we decide to work from home.. For the most part, you are alone while working unless perhaps one of your kids are home from school on a holiday or he or she is sick. Although for many moms out there, it’s normal to have your kids around you. You need to get out with friends and family for various activities, even it it’s for a lunch or dinner. It can also be just for a cup of coffee and a good talk.

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We all know that exercise is important for maintaining a healthy weight or getting your body into shape, but not everyone knows that there are other, little known benefits of it. Here are five:

1. To let off steam after a bad day: One of my favorite times to go to the gym is when I have had a bad or stressful day. I always say “The treadmill will never complain when you take your bad day out on it!” ‘Nuff said!

2. Increased energy: Yes, I said “increased energy”! Try running the stairs at your office instead of taking the elevator. You will be out of energy when you first start out, but over time, you will find that it’s no problem running them anymore. The same applies at the gym. Yes, you will be worn out and sore, but eventually, you will have more energy…even after a tough workout!

3. Healthy Skin: By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them vital. “Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to working cells throughout the body, including the skin,” says Ellen Marmur, MD, author of Simple Skin Beauty: Every Woman’s Guide to a Lifetime of Healthy, Gorgeous Skin and associate professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. To read the article where I got this information on exercise and skin care, click here.

4. Helps keep families together: Any time you spend time with your family, you will become closer. We all read about having family dinners together, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Go to the park and play tag with your kids. Go to the gym and have a race on the treadmill with your spouse. You’ll have fun and get your exercise in too!

5. Improved sexual function and better sex life: First of all, since exercise is proven to help you lose weight and get a toned figure, it is obvious that it will change the way you feel about yourself! You will have increased confidence and be less worried about your body! You will also see impovements in your endurance and heart function, which all will enhance sexual functioning.

So there you have it! 5 additional reasons to exercise! What are you waiting for?

Amy Royce has two children and has been married since 1995. She is an affiliate marketer and a Virtual Assistant. She enjoys helping others through the programs she markets and the tasks she performs as a VA. To learn more about Amy and what she offers, visit her site by clicking here. Also visit her new Health and Fitness blog by clicking here.

Today is Thankful Thursday and I’m so thankful for my husband, Kevin. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be down 3 1/2 pounds today. Early in the week I was ready to quite, but he was there to help me. He’s encouraged me, reminded me of the reasons I want to lose weight, and he’s celebrated with me when I had good days. He’s the best and I love him for that.

Losing weight isn’t easy by any means, but it’s just a little bit easier when you have someone going through it with you and encouraging you to continue working at it. It makes it easier when you have someone to stand by your side and tell you you’re doing great and it’s going to pay off. It’s nice to know you have that.

I’m always thankful for Kevin because he always supports me no matter what it is I’m doing. He’s there to hug me when things don’t go my way and he’s there when I get bad news and begin to worry. That’s what I love about him. He’s always caring, understanding, and supportive. Who could ask for anything better? I know I certainly can’t, because he’s the best.

Kevey, I love you with all my heart and I’m so thankful for you today. I’m the luckiest girl in the world and I’m so glad God told me to go with you. I’m so thankful I listened because I know my life wouldn’t be as good as it is right now. You’re the best and I love you with all my heart!