Exercise | Faith and Family Reviews

Archive for Exercise

Ice Cream Wear

Posted by 278Wife on February 24, 2016
in Exercise, Sportswear

I would call myself a pretty active person. I workout 5-6 days a week, depending on the week. I’m also a busy stay at home mom of two. Being fashionable is not at the top of my list. Comfort and versatility are important in my life. 90% of the time my hair is in a ponytail, so I try to “look cute” by changing up my headbands.

I was really impressed with the headband I received from Ice Cream. Not only was it super stylish, but it was extremely comfortable. I put it on in the morning to run my errands, and wore it throughout my PiYo workout. It didn’t move, and it kept the hair out of my eyes. I loved how vibrant the color is, and how soft the material is. The headband was made from 80% Nylon and 20% Spandex. It’s also machine washable which is a huge plus!

Their website offers a ton of choices ranging from headbands, to workout pants, and fitness tops. They will custom make their clothing to fit you. What I absolutely love about this company is their commitment to helping women achieve and maintain their body weight. When you lose inches and your Ice Cream Wear is too large for you, they will alter it for you, free of charge. How amazing is that! For more information and to see all of their products, check out

www.icecreamwear.com

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Fit Chic Headbands

Posted by 278Wife on January 13, 2016
in Clothing, Exercise, Sportswear

Working out has really become my passion. It’s been a little over a year that I have been really and truly committed to exercising consistently. Over the past year I have done everything including intense cardio workouts like T25, weightlifting like 21 Day Fix and P90X3, powerlifting like Hammer & Chisel, running, yoga, and PiYo. Since I’m working out everyday, I’ve been trying to find clothes and accessories I can wear to run errands in and workout in that are also cute and fashionable.

I was so happy to stumble upon Fit Chic Headbands. These headbands are handmade and come in over one hundred different colors and designs. Solids, animal prints, stripes, polka dots, camouflage, and more. The material is super soft and gentle on your head; I could barely feel it. My favorite part of Fit Chic Headbands is how they are versatile. I liked wearing it wide, right at my hairline when I was working out.

I folded it a little and wore it more on the top of my head when I was running my errands.

Fit Chic Headbands offers headbands, hair ties, kids headbands, shirts, and more. If you are looking for a stylish way to add a little fun to your fitness wardrobe, check out Fit Chic Headbands. You won’t be disappointed!

http://fitchicheadbands.com/

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How To Pick The Perfect Swim Instructor

Posted by html404 on January 23, 2015
in Contributing Writers, Exercise, Family Stuff, Health and Fitness, Kids Stuff, Parenting, Seasonal Stuff, Sports, Uncategorized

How To Pick The Perfect Swim Instructor

by Kaitlin Gardner

When we started a family, I wanted my kids to learn how to swim. It was a skill that they would use for a lifetime, and our family would be around the water many times. Just going to the local pool and signing them up for classes didn’t feel right for me. I did homework to find the best instructor I could for my kids.

Ask around. I asked a number of parents with older children about their swim instructors. I heard some good things, and some parents steered me away from programs where they didn’t feel satisfied with the results. I was glad I took that time, because it helped me narrow down the choices before I went any further. I’ve found some great resources with more detail about swim programs for kids:

Photo attribution: Yatmandu

● Learn To Swim: The Importance of Swimming Lessons

● What Every Parent Should Know About Choosing A Swimming Instructor

● Swim Lesson Plans

A personal visit. Once I narrowed down my options and had a list of swim schools that sounded the strongest, I made visits. I talked to the manager of the school, to get an impression of how professional the person was, because I felt like his approach would filter down through the school. I wanted someone who took the job of teaching my kids to swim as seriously as I was approaching it. I was really impressed by the commitment of the school managers, and knew I was on the right track.

What’s the plan? I wanted to know how the teaching would be handled – would they just have the kids jump in the shallow end and start showing them the Australian crawl? I wanted classes that would work through a plan where the kids learned basics and moved forward building on that foundation. I found several schools that had similar lesson plans, and I felt really good about the thoroughness and approach of the lessons.

Check instructor credentials. I asked the school managers what certifications were required for a swim instructor. I had looked online and found the required levels of certification, and in every case, the swim schools followed those standards. I was feeling really good about the schools at this point. Some people might think I was going a little overboard, but with the lives of my kids at stake, I was willing to take extra steps.

Watch a class. I asked the managers of the schools if I could watch a class. I had read that if they don’t want you to do that, it’s a warning sign that the school is not a good one. In every case, the schools I was considering encouraged to watch their swim classes. I sat and talked with other Moms who were watching their kids in class. I got a couple of names of great instructors from them, so I made sure to sit in on those classes. I had narrowed my choices to a couple of instructors by this point.

How’s the attitude? I didn’t want my kids to be taught by somebody who was just going through the motions, so watching the class, I was checking for the attitude of the instructor. I was amazed at how calm, caring and thorough the instructors were. They made sure each child demonstrated proficiency with what was being taught before they moved on. I was astonished by how well mannered and orderly the kids were. When I made my final choice, I was confident I had found the perfect instructor for my kids. It made me smile to watch them learning how to swim, and how their confidence in the water grew with each lesson.

Kaitlin Gardner started An Apple Per Day to explore her passion for a green living lifestyle, and healthy family living. She and her husband have just moved to rural Pennsylvania, where they enjoy exploring the countryside to discover interesting and out of the way places. She is also learning how to paint watercolors.

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Falls at Victoria Park Nova Scotia – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on January 7, 2015
in Exercise, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Hiking, Travel, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

We traveled to my native province Nova, Scotia, Canada for a month in November/December 2014. It has been nearly ten years since we have been back “home”. We had an awesome visit. It was sooo good to reconnect with my sisters and have them meet our three younger children. It was wonderful to see my family bond with my children and visa versa.

Two of my three sisters each took us hiking. C took us to Victoria Park. Victoria Park has walking trails up a mountain, stairs to offer a more challenging hike, falls, picturesque views, a playground and pool (open only in the summer). Our older children had been there on our last visit in 2005, but our younger children had never been. This is a photo of most of the children overlooking the falls at Victoria Park Nova Scotia. Our oldest son stayed home with hubby to take care of the animals.

Nova Scotia received an inordinate amount of rain while we were home, especially my hometown. Farm fields were flooding, the rivers were high, lawns were saturated and as you can see, the falls at Victoria Park were roaring. Can you believe we were without jackets almost in the middle of December?! We have never been hiking in December, let alone hiking twice in the span of a week and a half!

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Shefit Revolutionary Sports Bra Review

Posted by Brande on May 9, 2014
in Clothing, Exercise, Fashion, Products for Mom, Reviews, Sportswear, Uncategorized, Women's Health

This bra is an active woman’s dream! It’s adjustable for everyone’s comfort. I’ve wrestled myself into many of the spandex sports bras in my day. They are uncomfortable to put on and never fit well. Then after you exercise, trying to get them off when you are sweaty…it’s almost impossible to roll off your body. Shefit Revolutionary Sports Bra is here for you. No more grunting, groaning, and working up a sweat just to put on your bra before your workout!

It’s as easy as a zip and an adjustment of Velcro. You put the Shefit Revolutionary Sports Bra on like a jacket, zip up the front, adjust the Velcro on your back and the 2 Velcro straps on your shoulders and you are ready to go. It’s that easy.

This is a remarkable product. It’s very easy to put on and it is so comfortable. During my workout Shefit Revolutionary Sport Bra worked wonderful. I wasn’t sore and it was easy to remove after my workout. I machine washed this bra and let it hang to dry and it is ready for the next workout.

To purchase your own click here or visit www.shefitsportsbra.com.

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Get Healthy with Insync Probiotic #NaturalProbiotic #shop #cbias

Posted by html404 on January 19, 2014
in All Natural Products, Exercise, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Fitness, Health and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Recipes, Uncategorized

Our family really strives to live a healthy lifestyle, but I want to preface that by saying we don’t do it perfectly and we are still on our journey to better health. Always room for improvement, right? Though I have to say we celebrate our two year anniversary of being cold and flu free next month! One of the ways we live healthy is taking a natural probiotic and a daily multivitamin.

Insync Probiotic

Insync Probiotic is a natural probiotic I have been taking for the past three weeks. It is available at Meijer stores in the “condition specific” section. It contains doctor recommended B. infantis’, which is a healthy probiotic bacteria that has been found to help women with irritable bowel syndrome (Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine). I have found it easy on my digestive system.

Four Things to Stay Healthy

Here are four other things to do to help maintain a healthy digestive system balance in addition to taking a natural probiotic.

1. Eating the right foods. One of my favorite fall and winter time foods is soup, especially Potato Kale Soup. It has lots of yummy veggies that keep your digestive system going.

It looks wonderful in the above photo with all its brightly colored vegetables, and it’s how the children prefer it, but I prefer to blend it together as the recipe calls for, which makes it look not quite so appealing. It is oh-so-yummy though!

2. Getting enough sleep is an important part of staying healthy and giving our body the rest it needs to function properly.

3. Get enough exercise. I struggle with this one because I like to get my exercise naturally rather than go to the gym or get on exercise equipment. One of the reasons I want to live on a farm! The thing is I have so many children that usually what’s left for me is weeding the garden which no one else enjoys. Before my older two boys took it over, one of my favorite things to do in the winter was shovel snow. Exercise aids in regular bowel movements.

4. Laughter. We are all probably familiar with the old proverb “Laughter is good medicine”, but it rings true. Exercise, laughter and having fun gets the endorphines going and reduces stress in our life. Less stress promotes good digestion and promotes good health.

For more information about Insync Probiotic, please visit:
http://www.insyncprobiotic.com
Twitter – @insyncprobiotic
Facebook – insyncprobiotic

Do you and your family take a natural probiotic to stay healthy? Have you ever heard of or tried Insync Probiotic before reading this post?

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PROBAR Review

Posted by Professor on March 28, 2013
in All Natural Products, Exercise, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Organic, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Reviews

The PROBAR Company’s goal is to change how the world thinks when it comes to real, whole food. PROBAR products are proof that a food maker can wholeheartedly commit to quality, sustainability—and sheer deliciousness. Part of the Simply Real® promise is sourcing the finest all-natural, 100% vegan organic ingredients from growers who believe in these things as well. As you check out their products, they all have one thing in common: they start with only the best raw ingredients.

There are 4 PROBAR products to choose from:

PROBAR Meal ~ This PROBAR weighs in at a solid three ounces of fruits, nuts and seeds with enough nutrition to make a fresh, tasty, satisfying meal replacement. It’s rich in raw ingredients and the right nutrient-dense calories for lasting energy and nourishment.

PROBAR Core ~ Looking for a protein bar that resembles nature rather than a science experiment? Good…because they have packed 20 grams of plant protein and plenty of real, recognizable ingredients into this bar. And it does more than build your strength – it boasts chia seeds for hydration and recovery too.

PROBAR Bolt ~ These organic chews step up your game right when you need it. They’re packed to power you from morning workouts to race days. Plus, they’re loaded with electrolytes, B vitamins, antioxidants and complex carbs for fast fuel-ups that last through the home stretch.

PROBAR Fuel ~ Go ahead, dig in and fuel up with this gluten-free bar’s superfruits, cashews and oats. It’s soft, chewy, and it’s a full serving of fruit – a scrumptious snack for action packed days. We balanced this blend with chia seeds to regulate hydration and raw oats for easy-to-digest energy.

PROBAR Halo ~ Satisfying your sweet tooth with zero grams of guilt. Introducing PROBAR Halo™, the delicious between meals treat that’s designed to do your body good. With natural whole food ingredients and heavenly taste, these bars have such big flavors they take on a personality all their own.

Our PROBAR Review:

We received the following products from PROBAR: PROBAR Meal (Superberry and Greens), PROBAR Core (Peanut Butter Chocolate), PROBAR Bolt (Raspberry).

These are VERY good bars. I enjoyed the flavor and quality of each type of bar.

PROBAR Meal (Superberry and greens)

This bar goes beyond what I thought it could do…it REALLY fills you up! When they say a meal replacement they mean meal replacement! I was surprised when I opened the package and saw how green the bar was…I was glad because I know I do not eat enough “greens” and this bar is packed full of vital nutrients! As for taste… I enjoyed the flavor of the bar… for some it might be an acquired taste if you have never had a meal replacement bar. But, if you have had meal replacement bars before this one stands out in quality and flavor. The texture and balance of the ingredients was very nice on the tongue! This product is NON-GMO product verified.

Check out the ingredients and nutritional information here: PROBAR Meal Replacement Superberry and Greens

PROBAR Core (Peanut Butter and Chocolate)

These are EXCELLENT! I am a chocolate lover… so I was pleased to see a protein bar in my favorite flavor! I have tried other protein bars before and these surpass the other brands in quality and taste. They are very flavorful and pack a punch of 20 grams of protein. I was not disappointed. This product is Gluten-Free!

Check out the ingredients and nutritional information here: PROBAR Core (Peanut Butter & Chocolate)

PROBAR Bolt (Raspberry)

This was a very nice alternative for fast fuel ups for workouts! I enjoyed this flavor immensely! These are not a bar but a “chew” reminiscent of a “gummy bear”. These are wonderful performance aides. Since I am not an avid runner or workout aficionado … I gave some samples to my brother who is a power lifter and he attested that they are a great way to boost a workout!

Check out the ingredients and nutritional information here: PROBAR Bolt (Raspberry)

OVERALL… I was delightfully surprised at the taste and texture of the products along with the nutritional values contained in the product. I do also have to add that the products are 100% Vegan ORGANIC … how wonderful!

To learn more about the PROBAR company and their products, please visit their website www.theprobar.com

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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STRIDER Bike Review

Posted by html404 on March 19, 2013
in Exercise, Fun Stuff, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Reviews

Our boys love their bikes. And the Strider Bike is a perfect product for introducing toddlers and young children to the biking world.

The Strider Bike is very easy to put together. My husband did so quickly and easily in a few minutes. Nookie had a ton of fun helping him as well.

The overall quality of the Strider Bike is impressive. It’s sturdy and perfectly safe for even the youngest toddlers. The seat is soft and has a nice little cushion for those little tushies.

My youngest two boys have been riding the Strider Bike indoors since it’s still too cold to use it outside, and they love it. It’s the perfect size for them and even my older kids thought it was cute. Although we did have to explain to them why it didn’t have any pedals.

We wondered if the lack of pedals would make Nookie go through some adjustment, but he was easily able to ride the Strider Bike! And our youngest son has also been using the Strider Bike and because of that, he’ll be so much more ready to ride a bike with pedals this summer.

We highly recommend Strider products. Not only do our boy’s love their brand new Strider Bike, but they get two thumbs up from us as well!

You can find all Strider Bike products as well all the other styles of the Strider Bike at:

www.striderbikes.com

Strider also has the Strider Life forum, which is a community to share stories and photos of your children enjoying their Strider Bikes.

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Aurorae Yoga Tank Top Review

Posted by Brande on March 16, 2013
in Exercise, Products for Mom, Reviews, Uncategorized

Aurorae Yoga Tank Top Review

If you ever taken yoga you know you come out more positive and relaxed. Aurorae products make you feel even more comfortable and relaxed with their wonderful products. The Aurorae Tank I received is made in the USA and very comfortable!

It’s made of 93% micro modal and 7% spandex. It also washes up great! This is the type of tank that will move with you, no chafing or that’s tight feeling like you can’t breath. Great Product!

In addition to this tank, Aurorae also has yoga pant, cropped pants, and mats. Heck, they have everything you need to start yoga! Go to their page now! Aurorae Yoga Products!

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Self Improvement Month and CoolSculpting

Posted by html404 on September 30, 2012
in Exercise, Health, Health and Nutrition, Weight Loss

I don’t know if you knew this or not because I didn’t until last week, but September is self improvement month. I want to talk a little about my own goals in that department as well as self improvement and Cool Sculpting. While today is the last day of the month I can honestly say that I did work on my own self-improvement when I participated in Mamavation’s 2-Week Challenge.

However, for the the last two weeks since the challenge ended I have not been doing well at all in the exercise department. If you remember I had really wanted to keep up with my daily exercise. I have failed. My eating habits have gone a little downhill too.

I need to come up with a plan of action, like having a set time to exercise each day and sticking to it or else I don’t think I’ll ever get back in the habit of regular, daily exercise. It use to be so easy and now it’s such a struggle.

I really think exercising right when I get up is going to be the key or else it just won’t get done because I’ll start work and won’t stop until late at night. I tried exercising right before bed and it was brutal because I was doing it when I was exhausted and not when I was full of energy first thing in the morning.

That’s my goal, get up, exercise right away, at least 5x/week because it’s the only way I’ll reach my weight loss goals. Along with the exercise, I want to reach the goal of 10K steps every day too (measured with my pedometer).

Self Improvement Month and CoolSculpting

What is CoolSculpting?

It is a new FDA approved, non-invasive procedure for fat reduction. It involves no knives, no suction hoses, no needles and not even lasers are used. CoolSculpting is a procedure that freezes your fat cells without harming your skin. After your treatment, you get on with your busy day. According to their Facebook page, people see an average of 20% reduction in fat after one visit. If it’s necessary, you and your doctor may decide on more treatments at which time more fact reduction is to be expected. No pills or supplements are required as long as you maintain your weight with normal diet and exercise, your long-term results should remain stable. Hello, you again.

Sounds pretty cool, eh? I don’t know about you but it sounds a lot more appealing than undergoing the knife.

Have you ever considered weight reduction surgery of any kind? I never have…until I started watching the past season of Extreme Weight Loss. That’s when I realized how it almost seemed necessary for people who lose a lot of weight to do something with their excess skin.

In honor of Self-Improvement Month, CoolSculpting is hosting a Self-Improvement Instant-Win Challenge inviting you to make one small pledge on how you will improve your health and fitness routine this month (and future months since the challenge goes through the first week of October). If you do make a pledge to improve something, you will be given the opportunity to win one of 10 instant win $50 Amazon e-cards or the grand prize of a $500 American Express Gift Card. Who couldn’t use an extra $50 or $500 right now?

Enter the pledge on CoolSculpting’s Facebook sweepstakes page.

You might also like to connect with them at their website: http://www.coolsculpting.com, Facebook and Twitter @CoolSculpting. To find a CoolSculpting provider visit: http://www.coolsculpting.com/find-a-center

This is a sponsored post for CoolSculpting by ZELTIQ.