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Summer means a change in season and routine for most families and individuals. Whether you are staying home all summer or going on long trips you still need to find balance and plan your time and resources.

So I was thinking I am sure we all have some timesavers or ways that we make our lives a little more "convenient". Why not share with other like minded people!

• brew up a big pot of green tea and put it in a pitcher in the fridge. You will always have nice refreshing cold beverage at your finger tips.
• when fresh fruit goes on sale freeze some to add to smoothies, salads, or as a nice cold afternoon snack for the kids or yourself.
  
• also with fresh fruit or veggies for that matter....cut it up and have it ready to eat for your kids in the fridge. If it is easy to find they will eat it!!
  
• remember those fun little individual containers of ice cream you got on special occassions growing up (maybe I just dated myself) well a nice alternative is putting your individual serving yogurt in the freezer. Just like those individual Ben and Jerry's but better in so many ways. I think there is even a place that sells those wooden spoons for the full effect.
  

Please share what you have found works for you so others can benefit. It can be exercise or food related...lets make our summer full of convenient healthy choices whether we are at home or at our villa in the South of France

Thinking outside the box again...

• you know those flavor packets that you can add to your water bottle to make them your favorite drink...well how about keeping one or two in your purse so when you go to a restaurant and order water you can add it to your glass of water...or your kids for that matter.

• if you find yourself using a prepackaged rice mix or helper type meal...try using half the season packet. This will cut your sodium in half. You might even be able to cut back even more than half on some of them and not compromise the taste. Save the seasoning to add to your own whole grain pasta or brown rice next time.
  

Don't use instant rice..it is processed....and always have brown rice on hand? you ask how with out the convenience of a rice cooker (which I do not own)  Brown rice and other grains can take 40 minutes to an hour to cook on the stove. So I cook up a  2 cup batch while we are eating dinner and put it in a container in the fridge for the next meal. Easy to add spice, salsa, or grated veggies or add to your favorite salad for healthy carb. We call it "making over the rice"....not left overs.easy to reheat in microwave with a little water or nice cold in the summer with your favorite diced veggies or fruits.  this works for barley too.

Fitting exercise into my summer schedule.... not always easy but very important!

• I plan when I'm going to exercise and stick to the plan!  Have modifications handy if you find yourself time pressed, injured, or whatever creeps into your week. Be prepared.
• Time pressed situation presents itself...this is where I push myself to get it done fast!  Last I checked you can still drive a car sweaty! Happened this week as I left the house 10 minutes later than I had planned to hike the hill and the boys needed the car at a certain time. I pushed myself on that hill to make up the 10 minute delay and made it with 17 minutes to spare! Produced some kick butt numbers and felt great!!
  
• on vacation I use the exercise rooms at the hotel ...anything that they have. Or I hike, run, walk the area and see what I can do in my new surroundings. I keep moving. I have a couple favorite workouts from the OTF that are easy to do wherever I happen to be.
• I make sure I get 2 intense workouts in a week...now I have a goal to reach by 9/9/09 and will get 3 intense workouts no matter where I am. This goes back to the have a plan and DO IT!!