I'm a big believer in probiotics. I have taken various ones over the years and have definitely felt better when I'm taking them consistently. And if you do any research, there are plenty of studies out there that confirm the potential benefits of probiotics, such as supporting gut health and vaginal balance. But the hard part is figuring out *which* probiotic actually has the right strains in the right amounts. Seed probiotics takes care of that for you. I recently got the chance to join up with Seed as an influencer. I'd been considering trying Seed for a while as Mamavation had done a report on the best probiotics and they were one of the few that stood out in her study. While I am fortunate enough to be generally healthy, I was … [Read more...]
Cleaning up my diet + a Kohls Giveaway
We all know that I love to run. And lately (well, until Snowzilla arrived), I've gotten back into my old gym habit of elliptical and weights. But judging by the way my jeans are fitting and the number on the scale, the saying "you can't out exercise a bad diet" is definitely a fitting one around here. It's not necessarily that I'm eating unhealthy foods, it's more that I'm eating too much in general and far from a balanced diet. Marathon training definitely played a role, but what has really brought the issue to a head is being busier in the evenings. Two to three nights a week I am out at dinner time for practices, rehearsals and social activities. I'm eating at odd times and I'm grabbing whatever is convenient, which usually … [Read more...]
Be ready for anything summer throws at you
Summer is a lazy time for us. Or more specifically, for my kids. They don't wake up early. Pajamas make up a large percentage of their wardrobe choices. Not every week includes a camp. Etc. (We aren't going to talk about the fact that I'm up and out the door running early every morning when I'd rather be sleeping in too...) But even though we are taking it easier this summer than many summers, that doesn't mean we aren't out there doing things. We've hit the zoo, we are going white water rafting soon, we are hitting various state and county fairs, we go to the pool, Shoo has soccer practice twice a week... We are just less tied to a schedule than we usually are. So, here are my tips for those days when you actually … [Read more...]
Keep your kids healthy and safe this summer #ReadySetCamp
Disclaimer: I received promotional consideration from Minute Clinic to discuss keeping kids healthy at camp, but all opinions are my own. School's out for the summer!!! Finally. Finally we made it through the last few days of school. (OK, we aren't completely there, but Jones is done and Shoo has a short day today.) Now it's time to focus on summer fun. Pools. Hiking. Visits to museums, zoos, and amusement parks. Camps. Sunburns. Poison Ivy. Bug bites. Yeah, I know those last three things aren't fun, but they often go hand in hand with summer fun, especially summer fun outdoors and at camp. So here are five tips for keeping your kids healthy and safe this summer. Get your camper (or you!) a camp physical. … [Read more...]
Emotional First Aid Kit
Last night I sat down after a long day of running around and happened to read Carla Birnberg's post. She is one of my favorite people I've gotten to know in the blog world and her posts often make me think. Yesterday's post was about what she and her daughter would put in their "emotional" first aid kits. I loved how her daughter immediately knew and that it was totally different from Carla's choices. It got me thinking. What would I put in my emotional first aid kit? Running shoes - This one is kind of a no-brainer. I suffered from postpartum depression with my first child and running helped me turn the corner. To this day, anytime I'm struggling a short, easy run can put me back in a place where I can cope with whatever is … [Read more...]
It’s definitely Monday
It’s Monday and my kids are in camp this week. And I've already taken the "scenic route" on my way back from dropping off Jones at camp in DC. This is the only week they are in camp all summer. As you might guess, I’m trying to accomplish more this week than all the other summer weeks combined. I’m taking my car in for its annual inspection. I’m taking the cat in for her physical and rabies shot. And I’m scheduling my mammogram. I know, I really know how to party. I’ve been getting mammograms since I turned 40, even though there is some controversy about how early to start. I have a (recent) history of breast cancer in the family, and even though my very first mammogram led to an extremely stressful month, … [Read more...]
The Comparison Trap – do you fall into it?
Everybody knows you shouldn't compare yourself to someone else. I mean there are tons of quotes on Pinterest telling you not to compare yourself. In face, you can find the quote "Comparison is the thief of joy" with dozens of different design options. But Carla AKA MizFit recently raised the question of whether you should compare yourself to yourself. Again, if you check Pinterest, you'll see that you should only compare yourself to the you of yesterday. But really, should you? Is that really any healthier? Should I compare myself to what it looked like when I was younger? Look! No grey hair! No wrinkles! No under eye bags! When I hadn't had kids yet? Or even after I had kids when I was super skinny from nursing? Legs like … [Read more...]
One Small Change part 3
Marcia over at the Healthy Slice is advocating making one small change each week to better your life. I have been far from consistent about blogging about "one small change", but I've actually been doing a pretty good job with the changes. I blogged about my steps towards managing stress. I continue to do fairly well with that. For the next week or so, I attempted to deal with another thing that is stressing me out: the disarray in my house. It seems like there is just stuff everywhere. I did pretty well with that until last weekend, but with the two half marathons + extra kids in our house, I just got behind again. I need to stay more on top of random items that come into the house and keep reminding my kids to help with the … [Read more...]
One small change
Marcia over at the Healthy Slice is advocating making one small change each week to better your life. I've been meaning to join in for a while, but finally decided this is the week. My change for this week (and part of last week) is to stop letting exaggerated worries stress me out. I have a bad habit of freaking out before I know the exact extent of a problem. I am highly anxious. I finally reached the point where I either need to learn to cope or go see someone about either therapy or drugs to cope. I haven't ruled out getting help, but I'm trying to see what I can manage to do on my own. The first thing I had to realize was that the lead weight feeling in my gut was both a feeling of my own making and that I didn't have to … [Read more...]
#WhatsBeautiful Wrap Up
For the last 8ish weeks, I've been participating in the sponsored Under Armour campaign as a part of FitFluential. As you might recall, my goal was "I will step outside my comfort zone: run harder, try new things, say yes when I want to say no. " I'm not sure I did something every single day that scared me, but I did a lot of things that made me step outside of my normal comfort zone. I ran my first trail race. And in a "go big or go home" style, I not only ran a half marathon trail race, but it ended up being 14.6 miles! I drove in DC. For an added bonus, I even parallel parked my Honda Pilot. (In a very small spot. That's a bit like parallel parking a tank.) I raced a 5k. Something I hadn't done in quite a while … [Read more...]
Self-Indulgence
Generally speaking, self-indulgence is a pretty negative term. Definitions include the words excessive, selfish, greedy, decadent. I can see where being completely self-indulgent all the time would be truly negative. Yesterday, I took a day for myself. A day where I did what I felt like doing (not much), ate what I wanted (too much), and generally put off everything I didn't feel like doing. Now, I have two kids. A husband. A house. A gecko. I can't exactly pretend they don't exist. In fact, being woken out of a dead sleep by a kid yelling that he has a tummy ache and having to immediately jump of bed is absolutely not covered in the definition of self-indulgence. But I did the best I could. I read this book... And … [Read more...]
The last five pounds
I've never really talked about weight loss. I don't have any tips on how to make lifestyle changes or increase your calorie burn. In fact, except for pregnancy, I haven't had huge weight swings. Instead, I've spent much of my life fighting the "last 5-10 pounds". When Shoo was a month old, I looked like this: (There aren't a lot of pictures of me from the first few months and I'm not brave enough to share the one that really shows how big I was.) 7 months later, I looked like this: I have to admit I like the way I looked in picture 2 much better. In fact, if I could look like that again, I'd be over the moon. I didn't work hard to lose the weight. I lost it all by breastfeeding a child with allergies. (Yes, giving up … [Read more...]
