You've Got to Move it to Lose it!

Surprise!  In order to maintain or lose weight you need to move your body and exercise. Find an activity that you enjoy.  I recommend at least 2 hours of exercise a week.  Mix it up.  Yoga, swimming, kickboxing, cycling, weight training, Pilates, jogging, and so on.  Most important, do something that is fun.  If you have to force yourself to go to the gym, you are gonna get burned out and quit. Here are some fun exercises and the amount of calories you can burn in an hour.

Ultimate Frisbee- 575 calories

Hula hooping- 400-600 calories

Salsa-400 calories

Rowing- 300-600 calories

Hiking- 500 Calories

Ice skating- 500 Calories

Here are a few reasons why you need to get moving now

Exercise controls your weight

It gives you more energy

Helps you prevent a wide range of health problems and concerns

Enhances your mood

Makes you feel sexy

Yummy snacks to eat after exercise (about 200 calories each)

Medium apple with Tbsp almond butter

Frozen banana with 8 chopped walnuts

Homemade granola

*1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
*1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
*1/3 cup raw sesame seeds
*2 cups organic rolled oats
*1-2 teaspoons organic ground cinnamon
*3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
*3 tablespoons organic coconut oil, liquified in a pan of hot water, if necessary
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/2 cup organic raisins
*1/2 cup organic dried cranberries, unsulphured dried apricots, or other dried fruit (chopped, if necessary)
*1/4 cup raw cacao nibs- optional, but highly recommended (70% dark chocolate chips could be substituted, if desired)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

2. Pour all ingredients except cacao nibs in a large bowl and stir well.

3. Spread the mixture evenly onto a baking sheet in a thin layer.

4. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

5. Remove pan from oven, toss granola around, rotate the pan, and bake for another 15 minutes. Repeat until granola is completely dry and light golden brown (about 1 hour total).

6. Allow to cool and then stir in cacao nibs. Store in an air-tight container.

Recipe is from healthygreenkitchen.com