empowerme

Visit your local public library and check out free fitness videos and books, to learn more great ideas for exercising both indoors and outdoors. You can also check out cookbooks that feature healthy meals and snacks that are easy to prepare.

Serve fresh, frozen or canned vegetables and fruits with every meal! If you are having a salad, watch out for high fat dressings.

Whole grain pita or crackers dipped in hummus make a great snack.

A great way to strengthen your calves and ankle muscles is by rising up and down on your toes 10 times and then repeating two to three more times.

Play or exercise 60 minutes daily and work up a sweat. Try dancing, swimming, mowing the lawn, or bicycling to start. Add challenges like longer distances, weights, or an incline to pump up the intensity.

Save some money by signing up for yoga or dance classes through your local recreation department.

Keep yourself moving by walking more throughout the day. Doesn't have to be all at once but a little bit at a time goes a long way.

Take your veggies for a dip! Try carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower or celery, and dip your favorites into low-fat or fat-free dressing.

Do you have a TV or computer in your bedroom? If you do, ask your parents to take it out. Kids who have TVs in their rooms watch 1 1/2 hours more than their friends-and that limits family time too.  

Crab Crawl. Sit on the floor with your feet flat on the floor. Lean back and place hands flat on the floor. Lift your bottom off the floor and put your weight on your hands and feet - like a crab.  Then crab crawl around your room from wall to wall.

Get others involved! Bringing more fruits and vegetables into your life can be a challenge. Invite your friends to get together and host an 'Iron Chef'-style challenge with recipes that include veggies. Create a cookbook of recipes and have everyone bring the dish they submitted so people can taste them.

Need a satisfyIng snack! Reach for crunchy vegetables like carrot sticks, broccoli florets, or red pepper strips.

If you're being vigorously active for a long period of time, you'll need plenty of water while exercising to avoid dehydration. How can you tell if you are getting enough water? The color of your pee! If it's clear or light yellow you're fine, but darker yellow means trouble. Start chugging!

Want to make your legs stronger? Try Wall Sits. Stand with your back against a wall, keeping your back to the wall, bend down into the sitting position with knees at a 90 degree angle, hold for 60 seconds.

Check your bread and cereal for the words 'whole grain' and try replacing the foods that don't list 'whole grain' as the first ingredient.

Try eating sweet potato instead of plain white potato. You can also add cinnamon to sweet potato to spice it up and make it yummy.

It’s all about balancing the food that you eat (energy in) with physical activity (energy out) to help your body grow.

Share with others what you learn about healthy living, and you can make a difference in making an impact on childhood obesity!

Need inspiration? Rent a workout video from a local library to learn some moves you can do on your own later.

Dish it out: You'll tend to eat more if you eat directly out of a container or box. Put a handful of crackers on a plate instead of reaching into the box, and put ice cream in a bowl instead of eating it out of the carton.