As spring blooms around you with longer and warmer days, it’s the perfect opportunity to plan a little vacation…in your own hometown. Sometimes all it takes is a little outside help and inspiration to make us see our same old world in a whole new way.

A great way to get a fresh perspective on your town is with walking tour. Most major cities offer tours based on a variety of topics, including location, history, special interest, and local color. When we lived in New York City, we took a tour of the filming locations of popular movies with Gotham Walking Tours. A quick search online, or even a call to your city’s tourism office or Chamber of Commerce, will provide you with many more guided tour options in your town or a major city nearby.

If you’re interested in exploring your world on your own, try a self-guided itinerary or even a podcast. Frommer’s Travel Guides offers free walking tour itineraries on their website for cities all over the world. You can also download audio tours to your mP3 player from a number of different sites. AudioSnacks offers tours of cities and sites across the globe, many of them for free. You can get a private audio tour of the Boston Public Garden or the Wyoming Pioneer Museum for free. For about $10 you could download their tours of Downtown Denver or even Downtown Disney. Don’t forget to check out the Web site of your local travel and tourism board, too. Texas Tourism, for example, offers free downloadable audio tours of the major cities around the state, including San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Fort Worth.

So while that much-needed vacation may still be months away, it’s the perfect time to recharge with a little exploration of your own backyard. Who knows? Without the hassles of planning, packing, unpacking, driving or flying, it just might be the perfect destination.

Have other tips for becoming a tourist in your own hometown? Let us know!

photos istockphoto

So to help you solve the how-to-get-in-shape-despite-my-busy-life dilemma, we chatted with Lisa Druxman, an expert in pre/postnatal fitness and founder of the mommy-and-me fitness franchise, Stroller Strides. A published author, certified fitness instructor and personal trainer, Lisa is a wife and mother of two who is encouraging other moms to take “me” time. It’s her belief that “fitness will help energize and invigorate women for motherhood.” We couldn’t agree more.

To overcome the challenge of fitting fitness into your day, heed Lisa’s advice. “Fitness does not have to be a traditional hour workout in a gym. Fit it in anywhere–on the playroom floor with baby, lunges in the kitchen, squats while brushing teeth.” And of course, be inspired by Stroller Strides and head outside for a workout with your kiddos. When it comes to healthy eats, Lisa emphasizes preparation. The toned mama suggests having bagged veggies, pre-cooked chicken breast, washed lettuce and more on hand. “Make double batches of healthy meals and freeze half so you are always ready,” she added. “The key to healthy eating is to have lots of healthy choices readily at hand.”

She makes it sound so easy, we know, but it starts with baby steps: some crunches here, 20 lunges there, a game of tag while outside with your kids. Get creative, get inspired, try a Stroller Strides class or simply gather a couple moms and tote your tots together–you’ll get fit, gab with friends and get your kiddo some fresh air … even we can make time for that!

www.strollerstrides.com

photos Lisa Druxman

Editor’s Note:  Join us this month as we take a look back at some of our top posts from the past!

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I’ll be honest with you, I spent a full week wrestling with the topic of texture. No matter what angle I used, nothing would come together for me. How to work with your hair’s natural texture? Top texture fashion trends for summer? How to add more texture to your workout? How to pamper yourself with…texture? Everything felt a little overdone, dull, or ridiculous. On a whim, I headed to dictionary.com and entered the word “texture.” Among the other more conventional definitions, I also found this:

tex·ture –noun. An essential or characteristic quality; essence.

Another definition says:

tex·ture –n. Distinctive or identifying quality or character.

It’s easy to think about the best way to style my hair based on its natural texture. Or, if a chunky tweed is too heavy, I can pair it with a light cotton skirt. But in the middle of my everyday child-rearing, meal-preparing, husband-supporting, house-cleaning, playdate-hosting life, I tend to lose sight of my personal texture – my essential, distinctive, identifying qualities. Basically, what makes me me.

So how in the world do we reclaim something of ourselves in what is often an others-focused day? I believe there are two key steps: you must identify your own personal texture – those qualities that are essential to you – and you must figure out how to nurture them and work them into your everyday life.

For example, I am a people person who needs connection and meaningful relationships to thrive. While we were still living in New York City after the birth of our first son, I was completely isolated. I didn’t have any other friends with children, so I spent every day by myself with my new baby. I was miserable. However, since we moved to our new town last summer, I have connected with lots of other women in our neighborhood, through our church and through community organizations. This change alone has made a huge and positive difference in my life.

Maybe you’re a more solitary person, but find yourself surrounded by people all day. How can you fit more alone time into your day? Maybe artistic expression nurtures your soul, but you work in a corporate environment. Where can you find an outlet for your creative side? Perhaps physical activity invigorates you, but you’re stuck at home with children all day. How can you carve out space to run, dance, swim, or climb – whatever energizes you, body and soul.

Making the time for the things that are essentially you, that define who you are, isn’t always easy. But doing what it takes to reclaim your personal texture, the very essence of who you are, is always worth it. And not just for yourself – you will often find it makes you a more fulfilled wife, mother, daughter, employee and friend.

What is your personal texture, and how do you find the time to nurture what makes you you?

If this seems a little overwhelming to your already packed schedule, there is hope. According to the March 2010 issue of Parents magazine, The International Journal of Obesity reports that women who did three 20-minute sessions of interval training a week lost three times more weight over a four month period than those who worked out at a steady rate for twice as long.

Interval training combines short, intense bursts of exercise with longer, lower intensity recovery periods. Along with the physical benefits, it helps add some variety to your standard workout when it starts to get stale.

Interested in adding a little interval training spice to your workout? Ingrid Marcum, championship bodybuilder and member of the US bobsled team says, “The easiest way that I tell people to do it is to start off at a good pace for 5 minutes. Then take up the intensity on the machine and go as hard and as fast as you possibly can for a minute and then bring it back down for a minute or two — however long it takes for you to recover enough to do it again. Another easy way to introduce yourself to this kind of cardio without killing yourself right off the bat is simply to keep changing your speed and intensity level every two minutes or so — go up and down — challenge yourself.”

Maybe hitting the gym three times a week isn’t for you. Here are a few examples of moderate and vigorous exercises, as categorized by the CDC:

Next time you go out for your morning walk, add several intervals of jogging to help boost your heart rate and challenge your body. If you already jog or ride a bike, add a few hills or sprints to your route for a harder workout. If your weekends include mowing the lawn, pause periodically for a little one-on-one basketball with your kids.

Whatever you choose to do, the key isn’t working out longer, it’s working out smarter. It’s taking the time you carve out for physical activity and making it both more efficient and more effective.

photo istockphoto.com