Moving Right Along

Round 12 - July 23 to August 5

Congratulations! You have made it to the last exercise round! So, if you have an exercise routine, but are wondering what else is out there, here are some suggestions for adding variety to your usual workout:

1. Want to try swimming, but don't know what to do? Brendan Hansen, Olympic gold medalist, captain of the 2008 Beijing Olympics U.S. Swim Team and Director of Training & Performance for PureSport, designed this moderate swim workout .

2. If you are wondering if your workouts are overlooking a certain aspect of fitness, like strength or flexibility, check out: Outside Magazine's Fitness Challenge .

3. Outside Magazine also has a helpful article on fitness for improving skeletal system health:
Exercise for strong bones .

4. Many everyday activities burn calories, so if you can't make it to the gym, plug in the vacuum!

5. Quick Tip - log your workout on a calendar.

6. And finally, Donna at Manchester designed the following 30 Day Fitness Challenge:

This 30 day exercise challenge is a solid commitment to yourself to take one step forward each day to improve your health. The goal? A healthier YOU by the end of the Challenge.

You Pick your type of exercise and mix it up with variety.

1. Commit to doing exercise for 30 Days
2. Build in rest days 1-3 days per week
3. Plan a variety of activities to always have options
4. Increase your time/reps each week
5. Post your result daily after exercise

Good luck, and remember to just keep on moving!

Round 11 - Keep Moving!

We are about halfway through the Health & Wellness Challenge! We started our journey on February 19. We only have ten more rounds to go.


So, this round's exercise activities will focus on how to overcome an exercise slump, or what to do if you are having trouble getting started.

If you wonder why you should bother with exercising at all, this article from SparkPeople highlights an often overlooked benefit of physical activity: better sleep habits.

Exercise on a Budget: Want to get in shape, but your budget won’t allow for a gym membership? This site offers a variety of low or no-cost options, such as renting exercise DVDs from the library or doing exercises that require no equipment.

Low Back Exercise Program: If you’re concerned about starting an exercise program due to lower back pain, take a look at this site, which provides a list of exercises that can help.

Have you ever decided to take up running again, actually done some running, and gotten up the next morning in horrible pain? You might want to ease into the whole running thing with the Couch-to-5K-Running-Plan, an easy to follow, step-by-step plan that will have you running 3 miles in two months.


Zen Habits is a blog chock full of advice on all kinds of aspects of life. The secret to this blog is that information almost always comes in the form of lists - small chunks of ideas that you can quickly skim and pick and choose from. Check out "Top 42 Exercise Hacks" and try one or two of the suggested activities.

Round Ten: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

June 25 to July 8

No, we are not taking a vacation from the Wellness Challenge. We are going to take the Challenge with us on vacation!

You can still work on staying fit while you are having fun. The links below offer fitness ideas for all kinds of vacations. They also provide ideas on how to do basic exercises when you are away from home. While we’ve already focused on conscious eating and stress management, it is important to continue our health and wellness challenge even when we are enjoying ourselves on vacation.

Read at least one article and then think about how you can incorporate it into your summer vacation plans.


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=108
Easy Vacation Exercises


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=231
The Healthy Vacation Guide


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=109
Exercise for Different Vacations


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=839
Active Vacation Ideas

Stress Eating - You're Not Alone

Yahoo! News recently posted an article about stress eating:
Tough Times Mean Tighter Pants For Stress Eaters

I'm sure many of us can relate!

Round 9 - Exercise at Work

Do you want to exercise more, but don't seem to have the free time at home to do it? Try squeezing some exercise in at work.

The Office Diet blog has some helpful advice on "healthy living for busy people". A recent post focused specifically on Staying fit at your Desk.

Here are some more tips for getting active at work:

*Start a file at your branch with exercise, and nutrition, ideas.
*Form a walking buddies group at lunch. Interested in starting a walking program but not sure where to start? Take a look at this government publication: Walking: A Step in the Right Direction
*Have a monthly branch activity: share a healthy food such as healthy desserts, souper lunch or fun breakfast foods.
*Include the sharing of health and wellness tips in your monthly branch staff meetings.

Try exercises at work during your breaks. Find some good exercises at:
Fitness 9to 5 by Shirley Archer Get Fit While You Sit by Charlene Torkelson
Prevention.com Webmd.com/fitness-exercise inklingmagazine.com/articles/neat-and-trim/

ROUND EIGHT - Exercise

"Exercise, exercise, come on everybody, do your exercise!" Remember that ditty from 1970's children's television? If you can name the show it appeared on, send an email to:

oclwellness@gmail.com

The first correct answer from an OCL employee will receive a small gift for playing.



The next several rounds feature exercise. You need to choose one or two activities from the list below to get started on this round.


1. Check out fitness magazines such as : SHAPE, YOGA JOURNAL, REAL SIMPLE, HEALTH, BODY & SOUL, COOKING LIGHT, PREVENTION

2. Explore exercise sites such as; exercise.about.com, yogajournal.com, sparkpeople.com

3. Sparkpeople.com is a free website where you can read articles, get health information, share recipes and watch exercise demonstrations. You can also track your daily exercise and food intake.

4. Another helpful website is https://www.caremark.com/wps/portal. Under Health Information and Tools is an Activity Tracker that includes tools to get you started like body fat calculator, other helpful tools like a daily nutrition calculator, and a list of exercises.


5. Set a goal to get moving. Some possibilities include dance, exercise class, bike riding, swimming, yoga, tai chi or a walk around the block. It is okay to start small. You can add to your goals in future months.

6. Try a new piece of exercise equipment. This can be as simple as using soup cans for weights.

7. Remember the 90/10 Rule of Good Health. 90% of the time you eat correctly and do your best to maintain an exercise program. 10% of the time you can miss exercising and eat what you want without feeling bad about it.


8. And don't forget to mark your calendars for the library staff field trip to Manasquan Reservoir.
Date: June 20, 2009 - Saturday
Time: 11:00
Meeting Place: Visitors Center – Manasquan Reservoir
We will meet at Manasquan Reservoir at 11:00. Bring a picnic lunch to eat. We will be hiking (an easy, flat picturesque trail of 5 miles, with a nature center in the middle for a rest stop and environmental information.) Walk at your own pace. Picnic Tables and restroom facilities available

Recipes UPDATE

***UPDATE*** There is still time to submit your favorite healthy recipe. We need more entrée, soup and dessert recipes.
Share your favorites with everyone. Send them to Michelle B at the Brick Branch. The recipe collection will be available at the Wellness Cafe at Staff Development Day.
DEADLINE: May 22 (One extra day!)