Mom Life
Little Bits of Exercise Add Up
July 6, 2011 by Tonya · Leave a Comment
Just move it; even if it’s a little bit!
We’ve all heard the recommendations for being active: 30 minutes on most days of the week! However, over half of adult Americans aren’t reaching this goal. In my work as a health educator, I run into lots of people that think if they can’t reach the recommendations, they might as well not try…WRONG! Every little bit adds up to increase your health benefits. It’s like putting coins in your piggy bank; it might not seem like much, but over time it adds up! The other great thing is you can break your physical activity into 10 minute bouts: 10 minute walk before breakfast, 10 minutes at lunch and another 10 minutes in the evening.
Also, new research is not only based on your exercise and physical activity times, but rather your amount of sedentary time! So, the more you are sedentary (think facebook, TV, desk job, etc.) the more it affects your disease risk. Even if you aren’t meant to be a gym rat, there are several ways in incorporate physical activity into your day: go dancing, walk in your neighborhood, join a sports team, try a fitness video game, play chase with your kids, push-mow your yard, the list goes on! The main thing is to find something you enjoy and just move it!
Since becoming a Mom, I have struggled with the guilt of wanting time to exercise and focus on myself. What I’ve learned is, I’m a much better Mom, Wife and friend when I get to exercise. Even if it’s just a quick walk or jog around the neighborhood. It’s like a magic pill to help me stay strong, happy, healthy and ready to tackle life’s demands! And my daughter is seeing me as a healthy role-model, which is important to me.
As for me, I love group fitness classes, exercising outdoors and training with friends! Also, it always seems easier if I’ve got someone counting on me to be there. And it makes the hard days bearable when you can chat with a girlfriend or two. On days when my exercise routine gets put on the back-burner, I try to incorporate calisthenics at home such as: squats, lunges, push ups and crunches.
Do you have a favorite way to increase your exercise and physical activity? We’d love to hear how our busy Moms make time to just move it!
I Can’t Sleep
March 9, 2011 by Mecca · Leave a Comment
And my crappy diet is to blame.
I haven’t been sleeping, or more accurately I have been sleeping and then waking up 3ish and unable to fall back to sleep. It’s been one of those crazy periods: huge charity project, work changes, new school for my 2 and half-year-old (a M-W-F morning program), the list goes on and on. It wasn’t surprising I was having sleep issues and I figured it would get back to normal once my life calmed down.
But it didn’t. Instead I would wake up and physically feel uncomfortable. Stress? Not so much. Like a lot of people when things get hectic my healthy eating habits fall by the wayside. Usually I stay away from highly processed food, and eat natural, raw, and organic as much as possible but the past few weeks of late nights and not-a-second-to-spare days it’s been nonstop munching out of pizza boxes (at least twice a week!), fast food (so sick of Chik-fil-a) and even microwave meals (highly processed and cooked in plastic!).
Unfortunately instead of getting right back on the good-eats wagon when things calmed down, I let it slide, “Next week,” I thought, “We’ve still got half a box of frozen TGIF snacks to eat”. In the meantime my sleeping habits did not improve. The stomach ache and early-morning jitters I attributed to stress were still there. It was my husband who linked my diet to my sleep, “You’re body isn’t used to so much processed foods and all the chemical junk and additives.” Now that he mentioned it, my 3 am wakings did have a sort of ‘tweaked’ feeling to them. And I felt so lethargic, gross, and bloated.
Even worse it wasn’t my own diet that had suffered, as the meal-maker, so had my family’s! After my restless nights I hated to think about my 2 and half year-old’s body trying to process all that junk. For the most part since I wasn’t cooking meals we relied on the old standbys like the organic and all natural Earth Best frozen foods for my son. But those still count as processed foods and we try to use them sparingly (plus they are EXPENSIVE).
Three nights into fresh veggies and unprocessed meals, I’m sleeping through the night. I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t put it together sooner but I bet a lot of people don’t link their sleep, or even moods and happiness, to the foods they are putting in their body. I feel like I stumbled into my own “Supersize Me” experiment, complete with the rushes, weight gain, and immediate adverse health effects. I’m happy to get back to healthy eating habits!
Now off to bed for a great night of sleep!
Free Hugs
February 9, 2011 by Tonya · 1 Comment
Big Hugs to all our LGB readers!
Just because. I found this video and boo-hoo’ed watching it; simple yet extraordinary. It’s amazing what the power of a hug can do, or in this case watching someone else get a hug. It’s easy to get knocked down by all the stress and sadness in the world. I hope this video brings a ‘little bit’ of hope to your day!
New Mom Miranda Kerr Promotes Breastfeeding
January 26, 2011 by Mecca · 1 Comment
The famous model releases a snap shot of her new baby breastfeeding.
Proof celebrity gossip is more than just a time-suck! This photo made me bowl over with aw’s. So sweet! New mom Miranda Kerr (and wife of actor Orlando Bloom) is happy to encourage breastfeeding:
“The photo was one of the first photos Orlando took. We both loved it and we wanted to share it. The pleasant surprise was that it also had the added benefit of promoting breastfeeding which to me is the most natural thing in the world and I love it and the bonding time we have during these precious and beautiful moments.
“Everyone has a right to choose what they feel is best for their own baby and some people cannot breastfeed and/or do not want to and I totally respect that each person has that right to choose… don’t abandon breast feeding because of any ‘social’ stigma (perceived or real) that might be attached to breastfeeding in public. Honestly, I for one can say there are more breasts being shown on a daily basis around the world in swimwear and low-cut dresses and tops than there are from breastfeeding mums.
“I intend to breastfeed for as long as I can. My breast milk will give our little Flynn the nutrition he needs for his continued healthy development.”
And kudos to Kerr for supporting every woman’s decision. Kerr and Bloom’s son, Flynn, was born January 6th. Click here to read about Mecca’s and Tonya’s breastfeeding adventures!
Morning Flip Out
November 5, 2010 by Mecca · Leave a Comment
Mecca saves some time by flipping over the peanut butter jar.
Some days it’s the little things that make all the difference. Like on the days I am already 15 minutes late for Mom’s Morning Out drop-off and I still haven’t made my two-year-old’s lunch. This is the third time in a month he’s missed weekly ‘music class’ (10 minutes of sing along to weird songs I’ve never heard of about going to church). Back in the kitchen, slicing fruit for his lunch at dangerous speeds, I imagine the teachers’ conversations, “Well I just hope his mother doesn’t completely stifle his musicality at such a young age…” I then scoff over the imagined use of such a fake-sounding word like musicality.
Fruit is done and my imaginary conversation petered out – time for that oldie-but-goodie lunch box staple: PB&J. We eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all the time at my house. Of course our recipe has been modified just a bit since I was a kid: I use Earth Grains sandwich rounds and all-natural or organic peanut butter and jelly. My son has never been a big bread eater and when he was still a little guy, big thick slices of bread were too much for him to get his tiny mouth around. The sandwich rounds are 100% whole grain and super-easy for him to handle. Read more
Recycled Costumes
October 27, 2010 by Mecca · Leave a Comment
Awesome homemade costume ideas from recycled materials.
Still haven’t got your Halloween costume together yet? Me neither, but I plan on scratching ‘adorable homemade costume’ off the list tomorrow. My 2 year-old wants to be a bee, meaning black sweat suit with whatever yellow scraps I can find to stitch around the belly. (I’m going as a bee keeper, meaning hat with netting draped over it.) If you’re not bee-inclined check out these other great ideas using recycled materials to craft your own homemade Halloween costumes!
Next year we are so going as a family of robots. Click thru Daily Green’s slideshow to also see my second favorite costume, a bat using an old umbrella as the wings.
