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Do You Have A Healthy Holiday Action Plan?

December 18, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

If you don’t have a plan to keep your health on track this holiday season, you’re not alone! Busy holiday schedules can make it feel almost impossible to maintain even the simplest healthy routines.

Try keeping a simple list of your top health goals for the winter. Make sure to write it down on paper where you and your whole family can see it and track their progress. Start with simple goals- achieving something small can give you the boost you need to stay motivated! Need some goal inspo? Keep reading for my top 5 healthy holiday goals.

My Healthy Holiday Action Plan Goals:

1. Try a winter-friendly workout

• Why not beat the winter exercise slump with a new workout tailored to the colder temperatures? If you’re someone who typically gets active outside, try an indoor activity like aqua aerobics, indoor rock climbing or an indoor group exercise class. Challenge yourself to find one new workout a month, or list your top three and cross them off once you’ve given them a try!
• Don’t be too hard on yourself if a cold temporarily puts a wrench in your workout goals. Just make sure you get back on track once you’re rested and recuperated. If lingering nasal congestion is an obstacle, try a nasal saline-spray to clear your sinuses. hydraSense® Daily Nasal Care products are100% naturally-sourced seawater that is clinically proven to reduce and relieve your nasal cold symptoms. hydraSense® Daily Nasal Care products can be used alongside your other oral cough and cold medications.

2. Focus on fruit

• Ok, this one should be on everyone’s list this winter! Farmers’ markets and apple picking orchards may be closed, but that’s no excuse to cut back on those l vitamin-packed fruits. Eating a variety of fruits is fun, so why not challenge yourself to eat the rainbow?
• Frozen fruits are an easy-option if you struggle to keep fresh in the house, but make sure to check for added sugars. While it’s easy to track your own fruit intake, it can be harder with kids. Not sure if your little ones are finishing their apples and getting their vitamins? Try supplementing with FLINTSTONES® multivitamins. You’ll love that they’re the #1 brand choice of pediatricians. They’ll love that they come in delicious chewables or gummies!

3. Drink more water

• You know water is important, but it can be harder to remember in the winter when you’re not feeling hot and sweaty. There are many great apps out there these days to help you log your water intake. If you’re looking for something with a fun twist, try Plant Nanny. When you drink water, you help an adorable plant friend grow!
• Don’t let this one drop when you’re not feeling well. Getting enough liquids is especially important when you’re sick. Try adding a vitamin-C tablet to your water. Redoxon® Tablets give you ten oranges worth of Vitamin C*, which should motivate anyone to drink up!

* Redoxon® is not meant to replace food.

4. Schedule your sleep

• Bedtimes aren’t just for kids. The best way to get your sleep back on schedule is to pick a consistent time to hit the pillow. Write it down so you can track how often you’re making it to bed on-time. If you’re consistently going to bed too late, think critically about what’s making you miss the mark.
• One of the major bedtime derailers is your cellphone, so limit screen time one hour before sleep.

How will you challenge yourself and your family to take on healthy goals this winter?

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Do You Celebrate Healthy Workplace Month? Here’s Why You Should!

October 17, 2017/61 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

A lot of you may not have known this but on top of being the month where we get to dress up as our favourite childhood cartoon characters, October is also Healthy Workplace Month! You do want to contribute to a healthy work environment, right? We’re not monsters! Healthy Workplace Month in Canada is about making an effort to create a healthy work environment and I wanted to share some ideas to get you started! I am also giving away a sweet Cold & Flu Essentials kit from Bayer!

The Rule of 20’s

For many of us, a day at work means long hours in front of a computer. According to the Ontario Association of Optometrists, excessive screen time can lead to blurred vision,headaches, tearing or dry and irritated eyes. If you’re feeling the strain, try the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break from your screen and focus on something at least 20 feet away from you. To treat the symptoms of dry eye, keep eye drops handy. hydraSense® introduced three new products for dry eyes this year that are worth a second look. The eye drops are preservative free and give you long-lasting relief that’s also gentle on the eyes.

No Play For Mr. Grey

The colours and images around us can affect how we think and feel. Try adding some colour or some family photos to your workspace to spruce up your mood and get away from that grey, dreary feeling that can often take over. Dressing up your surroundings can help your mind gear up for work, de-stress or bring joy to your day.

Move Your Butt!

Breaking up your routine is a great way to clear your head and relieve stress. You may be stuck at work for 8 hours, but you don’t have to take it sitting down! Get up during the day to bounce ideas off of a coworker, take a walking meeting with your team or even get up and do a little dance if you’re feeling brave. If you work from home, a change of scenery may give you new perspective on a tough project. Try hitting a coffee shop or even renting a shared workspace for a few days a week.

C’mon, Get Comfy!

Do you spend a lot of time in an office chair? A few simple tweaks to your workspace can help you cut down on back pain. Keep your spine straight by raising your monitor up to eye level and positioning your knees at a 90-degree angle. If you need fast relief to get back to work, ALEVE® lasts up to 12 hours with just one caplet or liquid gel capsule. It’s no fun trying to get work done when your back hurts, so keep some ALEVE® on hand.

Step Away From That Pizza Pocket!

Proper nutrition is an important part of staying alert and energized at work. If you’re finding it difficult to pack healthy food and snacks throughout the week, share the burden with a few close friends by starting a healthy lunch club. Take turns putting together the next day’s lunch for your group. It’s a great way to share your positive new habits with your coworkers.

GIVEAWAY!!

As mentioned, I am giving away a Cold & Flu Essentials kit from Bayer and all you have to do to enter is fill out as many of the Rafflecopter entries you’d like and I’ll choose a winner in 2 weeks! Good luck and stay healthy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

The Curious Case Of The Flintstones & Other Tidbits

September 18, 2017/1 Comment/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

As my kids were arguing over their daily Flintstones vitamin the other day, it occurred to me that it was funny how the Flintstones have seemed to outlast their competition from back in the day. Seriously, think about it. My kids have no idea who the Flintstones are and will likely never see an episode of it in their lifetimes, yet here they are, fighting over the orange one, Barney I believe, as though they’ve watched the show their entire lives! I also wonder how Barney got the best tasting one and if that bothered Fred at all. It must have, right? In any case, we bought the FLINTSTONES Active Kids® Gummies to try to curb the arguing, so we’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, summer seemed to end a little too quickly this year but we’ve been lucky over the last week or so to have summer-like temperatures back in Ottawa, so we have been taking full advantage. We had an amazing day apple picking at Mountain Orchards today, a yearly tradition, and only got lost in the corn maze 4 times, a new record! Being the ~~prepared~~ fly by the seat of my pants dad that I am, I completely forgot to pack the sunscreen but my beautiful wife had my back and happily let me know that she grabbed a new bottle of Coppertone® Clearly Sheer® sunscreen at the pharmacy right before we left. Did I mention that she is beautiful and talented?

Speaking of corn mazes, they should look into getting Claritin® or AERIUS®, or both, to sponsor those things because the amount of sneezing, itching and crying that was going on could keep them in the allergy relief business for an eternity! In fact, the only reason we escaped the maze was because the guy in front of us kept sneezing into the wind so we switched directions. He could still be in there for all I know!

Now I’ve talked myself into a circle and have no idea where I was going with any of this! I guess the point of this story is that while I’m sad the Flintstones ended because Fred got jealous of Barney, the important lesson here is to make sure you do something that gets you turned into a vitamin so you will live on in children’s lives forever!

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Summer Is Here & It’s Time To Get Outside!

June 21, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

“This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.”

In the age of electronics, we’ve been pretty lucky when it comes to making sure our kids get enough outdoor time. Both kids ended up loving sports, which keeps them outside from morning until night and makes this dad a happy camper. I figure if the only downside to this is that they sometimes don’t want to come inside, that’s a trade-off I’ll take.

While we aren’t much of a classic outdoors family, with the camping and hiking and whatnot, we love spending time outside together. With that said, here are a few of our favourite summertime activities!

1. Baseball

I can’t tell you how happy I was when my son decided he wanted to try baseball as one of his activities. I played competitive fastball my entire youth and while I purposefully didn’t push my son into it, I’m excited that he discovered a love for it on his own. That means I get to coach, which also means I’m using muscles I hadn’t used in a looooong time. Luckily for me, I have discovered ALEVE® Back & Body Pain, because I’m not sure how else I’d be able to get through running up and down the baselines for 5 tournament games in one weekend!

2. Soccer

While my son chose a sport I was familiar with, my daughter has gone in the opposite direction. As if 16 hours of gymnastics a week wasn’t enough, she also decided to excel at soccer. I will admit that when I was a kid the baseball kids were trained to dislike soccer, I really love watching her fly up and down the field like a bolt of lightning. It’s also kind of nice to not know anything about a sport because I can pay more attention to my daughter and worry less about the rules.

3. Glamping

I mentioned earlier that we are not a campaign family, but that doesn’t mean we don’t hit a campground for the weekend on occasion. In our case, however, we choose to book a cabin at nearby KOAs so it feels like we are camping without the uncomfortable feeling of a deflated mattress at 2am! The only real downside to this is that my wife is an allergy sufferer and occasionally needs to pop one of her Claritin® Allergy tablets to get through the day’s events, but then we are back on track!

4. Water Fights

Whether it’s just us with water balloons or the entire neighbourhood with water guns, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a good water fight! That is, as long as the people getting soaked know that they are in said water battle…

5. Trampolining

We are officially a trampoline family now and I have never seen the kids want to be outside more in their lives. Seriously, they wake up and before I can remind them to brush their teeth they are outside jumping in their PJs. Even on the hottest days of summer so far they are out there, jumping and melting in the hot sun. You can imagine how eager they are to stop jumping to come and get their sunscreen on… Luckily we found the Coppertone® Sport Sunscreen Continuous Spray SPF 30 which not only gets them back on the trampoline in minutes but also handles the sweat with ease and holds its SPF for at least 80 minutes of activity.

There’s so much more we love to do in the summer but this covers the major items on our yearly checklist! How about you? I’d love to hear what your favourite summer activities are, so feel free to go ahead and leave them in the comment section!

“This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.”

Spring Is Finally Here! But So Is Something Else..

May 16, 2017/0 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

This post is sponsored by Bayer.

“Dad, when is baseball season going to start?!”

This was the question my son asked me over 2 weeks ago, when we were scheduled to begin our spring baseball season. It seemed like spring was never going to get here this year with all the snow and rain and flooding we’ve had, but things appear to be looking up as the sunshine and blue skies are starting to break through!

There is something extremely therapeutic, for me at least, about stepping out the door in the morning and taking in a big breath of that cool spring air that I look forward to every year. It almost makes me wonder why we continue to live in a place that has such harsh, long winters, but that’s a story for another time!

Unfortunately, having spring in the air also means that allergy season is here for a lot of Canadians and while that is a major bummer, it doesn’t have to ruin the entire season for you! Here are some tips to get you ready for allergy season.

1. Have your allergy medications handy at the first signs of symptoms. Antihistamines can help decrease sneezing, runny nose and itchy-watery eyes. Claritin® Allergy + Sinus Extra Strength gives you 24-hour non-drowsy relief from bothersome allergy symptoms caused by pollen, ragweed, grass, dust, pets and moulds.

2. Air conditioners are your friend. If plants (trees, grass, pollen and ragweed) are at fault for your allergy symptoms, control the air inside by keeping the windows in your home and car closed. Turning on the air conditioner is a better way to keep cool while keeping your symptoms in check.

3. Brush those pets! Dogs and cats that have been outside can track pollen into your home. Make a habit of brushing your pet before you head back inside to keep pollen out. It’s also a great idea to give yourself a shake before you step in to avoid tracking pollen throughout your home.

4. Clear your head. For some allergy sufferers, like myself, symptoms can include sinus pressure and sinus congestion. Make sure you’re picking up the right allergy medication for you. AERIUS® Dual Action 12hr is an antihistamine that delivers multi-symptom allergy relief for 12 hours, including relief from nasal congestion and stuffiness.

5. Take yourself off lawn duty. Keeping the grass short is a good idea for reducing grass allergens – but don’t cut it yourself! Call in a favour from a partner, family member or friend. C’mon, who doesn’t want to cut their neighbours lawn for them?

6. Hit the treadmill. Running outside, especially when pollen counts are high, can be a recipe for sore eyes. If morning runs are part of your routine, consider hitting the gym or a home treadmill instead.

I’d love to hear what other strategies you have for combating allergy season. Leave a comment below with your best tips!

Here is a little more information on the products mentioned above:

Claritin® Allergy + Sinus Extra Strength 24 hours

– Claritin® offers effective, non-drowsy 24-hour allergy symptom relief
– Allergy
– Pollen, ragweed, grass, dust, pets and moulds
– 24h Symptom Relief
– Nasal congestion
– Sinus pressure and congestion
– Post nasal drip
– Itchy, watery eyes
– Sneezing
– Runny nose
For more information: https://www.claritin.ca/en/products/allergy_sinus_extra_strengh_24_hours/

AERIUS® Dual Action 12hr

– AERIUS® Dual Action 12 Hour combines the AERIUS® antihistamine multi-symptom allergy relief to the effect of a decongestant.
– AERIUS® provides relief from symptoms associated to seasonal allergies with a specific extra action on nasal congestion for up to 12 hours.
– AERIUS® Dual Action 12 Hour effectively relieves all of the following allergy symptoms; nasal congestion or stuffiness; sneezing; runny nose; itchy nose; itchy ears; itchy palate; itchy, burning, watery, red eyes.
For more information: https://www.aerius.ca/en/products/dual-action

This post is sponsored by Bayer. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

Matters Of The Heart

February 7, 2017/11 Comments/in THE BLOG /by Chris Read

**This post was written as part of my partnership with BAYER, however it’s as open as I’ve been in awhile.**

In the last week I have eaten ribs, cheeseburgers, fried chicken, chips, soda, more chips and pizza. This is not the path I had set out for myself a year ago when I decided to start taking my health more seriously. That venture had actually started out pretty well, too, as I had been going to the gym regularly and started eating healthier at work.

So what happened? The truth is that I have no idea. While I was doing those things I was feeling great about it. I was enjoying competing in the Fitbit challenges with my friends, my running was bringing me a lot of joy and confidence, and I even hired a personal trainer for a little while. I can’t even remember why I stopped. Usually it’s either because I get sick and derail very quickly or get too busy with work and then get complacent afterward. You can’t deny that it feels good to curl up on the couch to binge watch through your favourite series. I just happen to take that to the ultimate extreme and give up on fitness altogether.

The reason I keep coming back to it though, is that now I have a family to raise and who look to me for a positive example of how you are supposed to live. I should mention at this point that most of the eating of junk I mentioned of the top is done either at work of when the kids are in school as I try not to let them see that side of their dad’s behaviour. Yeah, I know, that’s kind of sad in itself but I share it with you only so you know that through all the happy photos and moments I share, there is also a deep struggle.

I recently had my yearly physical and let’s just say that, outside of this week’s debacle, I have been slowly taking steps to try to reverse the damage I have caused over the last couple years. The aches and pains have started to creep up on me and as a closet hypochondriac, it’s only a matter of time before the anxiety starts kicking in again. With February being Heart Month in Canada, and due to the aforementioned hypochondria, I spent some time reading about the heart.

I found this very cool infographic that showed 11 Fascinating Facts About The Human Heart that’s worth taking a look at. Also, while you may not like to think about it, but it’s also important to be able to recognize a heart attack, which is what happens when a part of the heart muscle isn’t getting enough blood flow. Symptoms vary by individual; common ones include:

• Chest discomfort
• Upper body discomfort (including discomfort in the arms, jaw, neck and back)
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating and nausea
• Light-headedness

Another interesting thing I read is that in the case of a heart attack, the longer you wait, the more damage to the heart muscle can occur, so you should make sure you seek immediate treatment. If you think you are having a heart attack, call 911 then crush or chew two ASPIRIN® 81mg tablets – it could save your life. ASPIRIN® 81mg is approved in Canada for emergency use during a heart attack. To make sure these products are right for you, always read and follow the label.

So here I sit, tired and overweight, realizing that I’m googling “symptoms of heart attack” and wondering if this will be the wake-up call I need to get my butt in gear. Time will tell but I have a good feeling about it.

**Disclosure. I was compensated for my participation in the Bayer Bloggers program.**

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