Alright green mamas, are you ready for a challenge? I know I am, so that's why I'm signing us up for the "Body After Baby Challenge"!
Oh, don't look at me like that...this is going to be fun, I promise ;)
This weeks question from the challenge's host MamaNotes is simple:
what motivates you?
Do you want to fit in your pre-baby jeans again? Be fit and trim in time for bikini season? Or just plain ol'feel good?
As for me, what motivates me the most is whether of not I feel healthy after my meals. I don't particularly care what I look like - fit, thin, trim. Yes, I do enjoy fitting into my pre-baby jeans, but I'm not obsessed about how I look at this point of my journey. I'm not posing for any centerfold anytime in the near future.
But what I do care, really care about, is how I feel.
If I eat pre-packaged, processed foods that contain wonderful ingredients such as HFCS, MSG, and the like, I feel like I've been hit by a Mack Truck the following day. No joke, and no pun intended (my last name is Mack ;). So my constant challenge is to find good healthy food choices for every meal, every snack, every day.
And this is no easy challenge since I'm a stay at home mom, make no extra income, and live in a high dollar area. And while I've chosen this lifestyle of frugalness with pleasure - as I love consignment shops and being thrifty in general - when it comes to food...there isn't much wiggle room when you want the good stuff.
But in order to feel the best I can feel, I need to eat whole foods, preferably organic, and totally fresh. This motivates me to find local markets, even in the winter time, where I can buy fresh produce, eggs, breads, and grass-fed meats and dairy. To find local markets near you, check out LocalHarvest.org. They've got a listing for everything.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to get on and blog. My little family traveled back East for Christmas and with the holiday's time just got away from me. We got to introduce our little miracle to Aunt Lia and the rest of the family, it was a great trip however since we've been back we've all been sick. Those darn airplane germs!!! We are finally all on the road to recovery and I decided I needed to get back into the habit of posting blogs.
My daughter is now 5 months old, which I still CANNOT believe. It has gone by so fast, I have enjoyed every moment. Everyday is something new, she is just getting so big and my life is finally complete.
I was thinking back to when I was expecting and all the advice (wanted and unwanted) I would get from fellow mothers, other pregnant women, or just random strangers who for all I know have no children. One of the things I heard a thousand times was "how HARD cloth diapers were going to be." I still remember mentioning cloth diapers to the nurse at the hospital the day my daughter was born, and she said "Well good luck, it's going to be way too much work." I just smiled and nodded, that was my response to most of the "unwelcome" advice I would receive about everything from breastfeeding to the sleepless nights.
I knew even before I was pregnant that we would use cloth diapers, I was NEVER worried that it would be too much work. And guess what, I was RIGHT! It's been so easy. Seeing that these are the ONLY diapers my daughter has worn since the minute we got home from the hospital we took them on our week long vacation. Yes, that's right! We took cloth diapers on an airplane and used them for a whole week away from home. Crazy I know!
I wanted to do a quick calculation to see how many diapers we've used on our daughter since she's been born, the number is astounding. Roughly 1,200!!!! I can't even imagine having thrown away 1,200 diapers. Instead I have an endless supply that just go into the washer, then the dryer, I fold them and they're ready to use again. I never have to run to the store to pick up a new pack of diapers because we ran out, or because she grew out of the size we had. I love knowing that these same diapers I am using on my daughter right now will also be used on all of my future children.
I find with most things regarding having and raising a child the advice you get is typically filled with horror stories. I remember how people told me I'd never sleep again once I had a child, I'd never get to do the things that I've always enjoyed doing, how it would change my life. And you know what, it has, it has changed my life, but for the BETTER. I am the person I have always wanted to be, from the moment I gave birth to my daughter, I became empowered.
The following list is by Cara Bergman, a Licensed Acupuncturist specializing in fertility. Visit her website at www.StillwaterFertilityClinic.com.
1. Bone Broth - old fashioned chicken soup made with the bones. Add a splash of vinegar to the water so that the nutrients come out of the bones and into the broth.
2. Liver - especially from grass-fed animals. Eating liver once a month provides nearly the same nutrients as eating red meat every day of the month.
3. Lacto-fermented Vegetables - If you haven't tried these, read moreabout my favorite brand Fab Ferments
4. Fermented Cod liver Oil
If you only take ONE supplement ever, it should be fermented cod liver oil in my opinion. It is an excellent source of Vitamin D among other things.
5. Wild-caughtSalmon high in Omega 3's
6. Red Raspberry Leaf TeaGreat uterine tonic. Good to drink throughout pregnancy.
7. Greens - especially wild greens like dandelion.
8. Kefir both yogurt and kefir have beneficial bacteria. The difference is that the bacteria in yogurt is transient - it will do good things and then leave your system where as the bacteria in kefir colonizes and continues to fight off pathogens in the gut.
9. Nettles tea- look for this in health food stores. It supports the adrenals and helps your body build blood.
10. Grass-fed meat Animals need to be outside eating a natural diet to be healthy.
You're at the bank and the kids are being well behaved, acting as cute as ever, because they know what's coming...the bank teller, after she and mommy finish their transaction, will hand them over something as well...
A sucker!!!
The same holds true for a slew of other places: the pediatrician's office, teachers at school...even the dentist for crying out loud.
Although candy is fun and sweet (and I know most of us moms have a chocolate soft spot, so we can't blame our little ones) there are so many preservatives in candy (when does that stuff ever go bad??), high fructose corn syrup (a dangerous highly processed additive that has been linked to heart disease), and my favorite, food coloring (paint!).
When you get down to it, that sweet treat starts to look more toxic than yum.
Good thing there are sweet alternatives. Even some healthy ones!
I personally love Yummy Earth's Organic Lollipops and Vitamin C Pops and can get then at my local organic market. They come in small resealable pouches that you can easily stow away in your purse and car. On occasion I also add a single Vit C organic lollipop to my kid's lunch boxes, especially in the cold months. Any little bit helps them fight against all those germs!
Keeping a stash readily available in your purse - Vit C Pops in fall & winter, assorted organic lollies in spring & summer - makes it easy for to say, "No thank you," to well meaning bank tellers and the like without your children having a melt down.
They'll already know mommy has the good stuff in her purse.
Happy New Year, Green Mamas!!! Hope you had a great time bringing in the new year last night :)
I don't know about you, but I was actually glad to see 2009 go. It was a mentally exhausting year for my family.
True, a lot of good things happened in the course of that year that I am thankful for. I became an Aunt two more times, a new niece in August and a new nephew in December. I love babies. Plus it gave me the opportunity to watch my beautiful sister-in-law become a mother. And a beautiful mother she is.
However, watching my wonderful mother-in-law go through chemotherapy for breast cancer, helping to take care of her almost every week from January to June (whenever she'd let me help! ;), and watching her spirit drain out of her was how we started off 2009. Thankfully she made it through, has been doing good since, and had enough hair by Christmas to do it up nice. She's a spirited high energy woman that I want around for a long time. Yes, you heard me. I like my mother-in-law!!! :) How many people can say that? I hope and pray her 2010 is a healthy one!
The year also saw some of my best days. In the beginning of July, my husband and I celebrated our ten year anniversary! And our relationship is like a fine wine...as the years pass, it keeps getting better. Then a few weeks later I got to go to sunny southern California and run on the beach every morning, eat fresh local organic food each and every day. I felt fantastic! I've been having some of my own health issues and for some reason I didn't feel them while on vacation.... Fresh food, fresh air, beautiful vistas...Think I might have to make Del Mar my home sometime soon! ;)
Then I flew back to Maryland two weeks later that July...and not even two days passed before I experienced something that I hope and pray no one ever has to experience, ever. I watched a little boy die. Finding him. Calling 911. Watching them work on him. Holding his little hand, saying good-bye...
And for no reason. It was unexpected, unexplained. It happened just like that and the only reason the doctors and examiners can come up with is unexplained natural causes. Absolute horse shit.
Although we've become even closer to his mother and father, our good friends already, due to the tragedy, I'd rather have become better friends through something else. Like going on a week long vacation together, them with their kids and us with ours. We were planning something like that. Going to do it sometime in the future, not sure when. Don't we all plan something and take forever getting around to it, simply because we think we have time?
Why did this have to happen to little Andrew? How does a two year die for no known reason? One minute he was dancing with my daughter in the living room, playing with toys, and running around the house having a good ol'time. The next minute he was tired, laid down for a nap..can't wake him up. It wasn't SIDS. He was breathing, alive. But only faintly there...then gone.
It was SUDC - Sudden Unexplained Death in a Child. I agree with Andrew's father. The acronym should really be SUCD, because that's exactly it. It sucked. I hope no one has to live through that ever ever ever ever ever... The only thing I can pray for now, for Andrew's parents, is that they find peace and love in 2010. I know it has been hard for them. I know it'll never be the same or easy ever again. Anything that will bring them some peace of mind to help them through each day is what I hope for them for their new year.
My hopes for my own 2010? That it is an uneventful year. Sorry, but I just want it to be a quiet, low key year. Sure, I'd love to see my book finish it's edits and find an agent who wants to publish it. But I'll trade all of that for a year where nothing major happens. No one gets sick. No one dies.
So...Knowing that the Universe - God - gives you what you give, I'm getting all of this off my chest now so that I can start anew. Start this year on a good note, a happy note, a positive note. And you should do the same if you have any lingering angst against 2009. I am purging my negativity towards last year in hopes for a wonderful prosperous new year. I am filling up my heart, mind, words, thoughts, and spirit, with love, good things, peace.
Here's to a wonderful 2010 for everyone ...
Good health to all ... Peace of mind to all ... Love boundless to all
Alright green mamas, are you ready for a challenge? I know I am, so that's why I'm signing us up for the "Body After Baby Challenge"!
