Akron Today Magazine

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Fitness Bands

Winter is coming and the reduction in outdoor activities will soon add up to extra pounds around the waist for many people.

It makes sens that you will not be doing yard work, walking to as many places or doing things outside.  Even if you are not a fitness oriented person, the Winter months make it easy to let steps be reduced.

If you want to combat the reduction in movement, then start by getting one of the many fitness bands available on the market.  They can be found in most places now, or purchased online at Amazon, as well.  I saw one at Target just recently and it is no surprise they are showing up everywhere.

Some of the more popular brands include Nike Fuel and Jawbone Up.  I have been using the Jawbone Up for several months and it has made me keenly aware of good days and bad days.

A couple of things you need to keep in mind.

  1. If you can get the same kind as a friend, it is much more effective to share data and compete with each other as well as motivate each other.
  2. Even if it says it is water resistant, do not get it wet if you can avoid it.  Many people have them fail and it is usually related to water.
  3. Some need to plug into your phone to sync while others use Bluetooth.  If you want it to happen automatically, pay attention to that feature when shopping.

This Winter will be my first tracked Winter – and I expect to use the data to keep on top of my fitness effort.

How about you?  Have you used a fitness band and did it help you?  Comment below.

Milk – Dairy, Soy, Almond and Coconut

Growing up, we drank our milk.  Our parents had lots of choices.  There was the whole milk, the 2% milk, the 1% milk and the fat free white water.  Then, occasionally there was the chocolate milk which we loved.

Today, the idea of milk has changed.  Plant-based milks are extremely popular but as soy got mixed reviews on health benefits, other options started to appear.  Now, you not only can choose from the many dairy milks but also from various plant substitute “milks.”

I think the origin of these may be from Mexico actually.  Over 20 years ago I drank and loved Horchata– sweet rice milk, in Mexico.  But I never put it on cereal.

Flash forward to today – my kids drink all kinds of milks.  They sometimes have soy, but mostly drink almond milk.  But they will put coconut milk in a tea or coffee sometimes.  It is a complex shopping formula.  Each week we need 2 almond milks, one coconut milk and if they are out of almond milk I will buy one soy milk and check back later in the week to see if they have almond milk back in stock.

Then I came across this comparison of soy versus almond milk by Prevention Magazine. Very interesting and I can see that we are making a good decision.

And as for that traditional cows milk I grew up drinking?  No one misses it.  When we travel, they will drink it with cereal when they have to, but just not part of the equation.

How about you?  What is your preferred milk of choice?