Functional Friday: 10 Things You Should Never Stop Doing

1) Never stop "gettin' a move on".

Here are a few ideas and minimum exercise recommendations:
30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise five days a week or
20 minutes of vigorous cardio three days a week,
add weight bearing exercise twice a week, 
Yoga or Pilates for strength and flexibility,
dancing for fun (we won't tell you it's healthy if you don't want us to), and
taking long walks.

2) Never stop wearing sunscreen.

There's no doubt about it, ladies, using a moisturizer with sunscreen daily on sun exposed skin helps you look younger and stay healthier.  (And, men, there's nothing appealing about skin cancer, slather it on.)  Concerned about "chemicals" in sunscreen? Do your research, there are natural versions out there.

3) Never stop reading and learning.

Study results are beginning to pour in citing many lifestyle components in an individuals healthful longevity. I recently read The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauch, and I have literally changed several of my personal habits based on what I learned.  Good to know that just reading the book and mulling it over may be good for my brain. (She covers many of the topics listed in these 10 things as well.)

4) Never stop taking pictures.

Make sure there are people in most of your photos.  (If you are not an adept photographer, make sure there are people's heads in most of your photos.)  Sure, an occasional landscape or a particular point of view is apropos, but in ten years (or ten days) it will likely be the people in the photos you treasure the most.

5) Never stop trying new foods.

Try a foreign restaurant (Thai, Indian, African, etc.)  The staff should be accommodating of questions and requests (eg. - no hot spices.)  Take a cooking class. (Make a week-end of it with your spouse, your child, or a friend and go to the bity if you need to.) Find the weirdest thing at your grocery store and make it.  (Department managers ought to be delighted to help you get started.) If you're reading this blog, google a recipe (type the food name or ingredient and the word recipe) or try foodily.com.  If your daughter printed it out for you cause the printer never does what you tell it to (or even if that's not the case), go to the library and have someone help you find the cookbook Easy Exotic by Padma Lakshmi. Buy the ingredients and go!

6) Never stop enjoying nature.

A squeaky porch swing and a glass of iced tea, a checked picnic blanket in the city park, a breezy tent at a state park, or a well stocked day-pack at a national forest preserve... get out there and enjoy the birds and bugs, the trees and terrain, the boundaries and breadth, the turbulence and tranquility of your world.

7) Never stop helping others.

There are people all around us with needs we can meet every day.  People like you and me with needs for food, medical care, school supplies, babysitting, home repair, yard work, reading help, hugging, caring, talking, and smiling.  How can you meet a need today?

8) Never stop telling people you love them.

We all have different parameters concerning who gets this message.  Some of you only tell your family that you love them.  Personally, I have a circle of friends that get this message all the time.  Whoever it is for you, keep telling them and showing them how you feel (even when you don't feel like it.).  A favorite song of mine says, "Love isn't love till you give it away."

9) Never stop preparing.

A task like preparedness is never done.  Don't look at it as a chore, but take it on like an adventure.  Once you've got the basics down, you can enhance what you want at your own pace.  Purchase a cool gadget.  Take a class.  Try a recipe (by candlelight.) Have a barbecue. Update your plan. Join a group. Include your family. Talk to your boss.

10) What are you never going to stop doing?  Click here and email to me know!

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