Me too! That's why I'm so excited to announce that I will be giving away a $25 Amazon gift card (no sponsors....just ME buying something for YOU) on the 4th of July.
Check out this video for details.
Join the free group today!
Best of luck in the raffle!
In good health,
Tara
I've been on a watermelon kick lately, because…Summer. Our latest creation involved the baby, the toddler, some fun cookie cutters, and MOST DEFINITELY a couple of baths afterwards. ;-)
Check it out:
I was approached by the Diabetes Council a few weeks ago to participate in an article about squeezing movement into our busiest of days. With a little preparation and a bit of creativity, you can rack up a good amount of heart-racing, muscle-pumping exercise right there inside of the daily grind…and fun!
Interested in these tips? Be sure to stop and read #26. ;-)
Acid blockers are some of the most frequently prescribed medications for GERD / reflux / heart burn. Do you or anyone you know take these? Although they can be helpful in certain situations for certain people for a certain (typically limited) amount of time, this is not what is seen 'in the real world'. Watch the video for some more information about acid blockers. As always, be sure to discuss ANY changes to your medication with your prescribing practitioner beforehand.
What types of lifestyle changes may help with your symptoms? Feel free to reach out to me for some more tips or strategies.
In good health,
Tara
"…but I don't like veggies!"
"My kids would never eat that!"
"The fiber…it's no good for my belly."
"I'm saving room for dessert." :-P
No matter the excuse, most of us know that the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, bioflavenoids (words that just mean plant magic), fiber, and perfectly-slow-digesting carbs that come packaged in food we know as "vegetables" are really important to our overall health goals.
So, put your big girl (or big boy) panties on and watch this video for 8 tips on increasing the amount of veggies you (and anyone you love or even mildly tolerate) consume in a day.
How do you make sure to get your leafy greens and rainbow-colored veggies in?
In good health,
Tara
A letter to my kiddos on Mother's Day...
Dear Mags and Jags,
Tomorrow will be my fourth year as a mother on Mother's Day. I want you to know that I waited (im)patiently for you for a long time! I dreamed that you'd join us, Earthside, during so many long nights and even more days than I can recall.
My life no longer resembles the life I had prior to 3.5 years ago. I signed up for that. My career has drastically shifted, I have bags under my eyes, and my coffee is always cold by the time it reaches my lips. It's hard to feel like a bada$$ - in business, in life - with various bodily fluids gripping onto my shirt threads. There's 40,789 daily toddler questions and mysterious scratches on my face (didn't I just cut your nails?!) Date night now consists of squeezing in 10 minutes of Shark Tank on the DVR before the first nighttime feeding. That's right - hot dates over here in the Allen household. ;-)
Then….THEN….the sleepless nights!
Sleepless on Long Island.
Sleepless in Love.
I signed up for this.
Ugh. You know what? The sleepless nights are HARD, but they're also WONDERFUL. There, I said it. This does not mean I can't use this against you in the future, by the way. Certainly I should be able to squeeze an extra chore or 2 out of you both in the future, right? Here's the truth. I kinda, sorta cherish the sleepless nights. (Shh - don't tell Daddy!) There's something about the blanket of darkness and silence that calms my hyperactive monkey brain. As I nourish your body with mine, my soul is overflowing with joy. You see, I'm not counting the loads of laundry I didn't get to the day before or worrying about completing a client email in a few hours. I'm present. I breathe you in. There's this bond that's so overwhelmingly beautiful, it's bone-shattering (the other mamas will understand what I mean).
I signed up for this.
I literally signed up for all of this.
That first appointment I had with the fertility doc happened to fall on a hot summer day. This was helpful as my tears were camouflaged by the beads of sweat.
I signed the consent forms - all of them - for every procedure, test, poke & prod. I'd do it all again. Times a million.
I signed up to be your mama. I'm a lucky, lucky mama.
Now that we're all here, I promise to keep my feet on the ground and my eyes on the stars - thanking them for the dream-come-true. I'm not perfect (truly, I'm not!), but I promise to do my best - as humans do. I promise to love you AND YOUR MOTHER. You see, this business, the food I cook to nourish our family, the active lifestyle we lead…it's for you. It's for us. You deserve a mama that's here for you; a leading lady in your life ready to spring into action when needed or help support you through your childhood and adult challenges - changing careers, parenthood, filing for AARP. Did I mention that I plan on being here for a while? ;-)
M & J, tomorrow is Mother's Day. You are 1 & 3 years old. There may be a card for me, a brunch to celebrate me and the other special grand-mothers in your life, even a period of time in which you see me sit back for a few to take it all in. Let me tell you a secret… I won't be celebrating me. I'll be celebrating you. I'll be thanking my lucky stars and wondering what I did to deserve the best.
Magnolia and Jagger, though I prefer "mama", it ain't so bad being your "mother" on Mother's Day. Thanks for the title. Thanks for the moments. Thanks for the memories and laughter and hugs. I definitely signed up for this.
In Joy,
Mama
We're at an interesting cross-roads in our health history as a species. Yes, it's true that younger generations will be the first ever to have a shorter lifespan than their parents - on the whole. Does that scare anyone? As a mama of 2, I will be darned if I just let this happen without putting up a fight.
Here's the deal: earlier generations typically had a MUCH less toxic start to their life. They only ate organically, because these neurotoxic pesticides weren't around generations ago. There weren't any plastics, microwaveable dinners, cleaning products with 20 ingredients, etc. Everything was more natural.
You and I may not have had the same start, but we are armed with knowledge now to make changes. Remember, you vote with your dollar! So just changing the food you eat and the products you use help to drive down the demand for the less-than-stellar options. :-)
In good health,
Tara
Meal prep your way to a lower grocery bill...
Are you looking to step-up your meal prepping game and lower your grocery bill while shopping for healthy food?
I will be sharing my favorite tips on this topic LIVE on Marie Claire's show, The Fix. We will be coming to you from a grocery store in Manhattan. Head over to the Marie Claire Facebook page this Tuesday, February 21st at 2PM EST and check it out! Ask your questions or just come say hello. I'd love to see you there! Here's the link to their Facebook Live page.
Not able to make it at that time? I will be posting the replay shortly after on my Facebook page, Tara Allen Health.
I hope you're all enjoying this holiday weekend and taking some tome to rest, relax, and breathe. :-)
In good health,
Tara
You know what I love almost as much as helping people for a living? I love, love, LOVE, the diversity in my days and weeks. I enjoy working one-on-one with my clients, and then heading to a corporate wellness event. With a parent expo, speaking engagement, and LIVE (what!?!?) show all coming up in the next week, taking the time to visit my friends at National Business Capital here on Long Island last week to STRETCH and RELAX came at a good time. Besides, it was about 12 hours after the Blizzard and everyone's tired backs needed the break!
We started with a silly little game to warm up our bodies, minds, and hearts. Followed that up with some deep breathing and full-body stretching. Topped it off with healthy muffins for everyone…"You get a muffin, you get a muffin, YOU get a muffin too!" (in my best Oprah voice).
Thanks for having me back, National Business Capital. You guys rock!
Tip for you all: Take a few minutes extra in your warm shower. As you're washing your body, take an inventory of how things are feeling. What's tight, what's achy? Then after you've shampooed (or do you shampoo first? Hmmm), do a little self-massage on tight areas and practice some range-of-motion right there under the warm stream of water. Your muscles will be looser and more forgiving when they are warm. Plus, it's a nice quiet place to get an uninterrupted minute or two. Well, unless you have young children. :-/ They follow us everywhere.
Let me know how it goes. Disclaimer: NO slipping allowed! We're not talking about big, sweeping movements that should leave you off-balance, but if you're a bit unsteady on your feet, do the stretching after the shower instead.
Happy Thursday, everyone.
In good health,
Tara
Ugh. Alrighty, sorry for the spoiler. If you are amongst the many millions of people that still drink soda on a regular basis, pay attention. And if you've kicked that habit long ago, I still want you to watch this video so you can become an anti-soda ambassador for your friends and family. :-D
In this video, I show you - teaspoon by teaspoon - how much of the white stuff is actually in one serving of this particular ginger ale. It's frightening!
Let's talk about something real quick that the giants in the food industry try to keep secret from us - the "bliss point". This is a chemically created "magic point" of sorts that results from a combination of sugar, salt, and/or unhealthy fat that turns on the pleasure sensors in our brain the same way cocaine does. This bliss point is actively sought out by the chemists that CREATE food-stuff in a lab. It leaves us with intense cravings and addiction to these products. Not cool! And guess what? The more you consume, the greater the sugar, salt, and/or unhealthy fats are needed to achieve the same "high". Doesn't this sound a whole lot like substance abuse? Unfortunately, it IS a very similar process. Here's the caveat… our bodies are really amazing and can buffer a lot of damage we do to it for quite some time. I know this sounds like a good thing, but think about it this way - you can be doing a ton of harm to your organs, digestive system, brain, cells, etc. and not know until wayyyy later in life.
If you have been diagnosed with Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances, an auto-immune disease, or anything else that you consider to be your 'wake-up call', there's a silver lining. Your body just does not want to let you get away with too much damage. Your body is asking for you to clean up your act earlier on. That's great news!
Watch this video and please let me know where you stand, currently, with your soda consumption. I want to be the catalyst for you to hold yourself accountable. I promise I won't be too harsh. In fact, I believe in very small and sustainable changes over time for lasting results. So don't give up your Coke cold-turkey (unless you feel confident that you can). Instead, how about ONE less soda THIS week? Drop me a comment or email and let me help you. :-)
Now, brace yourself for this… ONE serving of soda equals HOW much sugar?!?!? ...
It's October now. We've survived back-to-school and maybe even are feeling a little more on top of things with a return to schedules and routines. Gone are the Summer s'mores and unlimited Sangria pitchers. Now, we may not be perfect (and why should we be?), but let's not run the train off the tracks here with the upcoming holiday season. I know everyone is aware of the ridiculous overeating that happens at Thanksgiving and the weekly holiday parties and Auntie Anne's mall pretzels that jump in our mouths while shopping in December. But, can we stop for a minute to talk about the big secret here? HALLOWEEN is actually THE gateway holiday! Halloween is the start of the chocolate overdoses, candy highs, and resulting sugar cravings that won't go away. You buy 5 bags of candy to give out to the kids because you ate the previous 5 bags of candy that you bought to give out to the kids. Before October 15th. Because they were on sale. A few (handfuls) too many of these fun-sized treats leads to a not-so-fun-sized amount of bonus holiday pounds. Then what? Halloween's candy rolls right into Thanksgiving's pies which turn into Christmas' cookies before you can say "green smoothie". Oh, hello New Years! Now it's time to proclaim my resolution for a healthier me - the same one I've made the past 12 years in a row - over a few glasses of champagne. Hmmm.
Or…….
You can try some new options to hand out to trick or treaters this year. Not only will your neighbors thank you, but when you or the little people grab 1 (or 5) of these snacks for yourself, your body (especially your waist and immune system) and the kiddos (sugar-high tantrums, anyone?) will be much better off. Plus, what's cooler than being the healthy-ish mom on the block (says the health nerd)?
25 Alternatives to Junky Candy: Tricking and Treating your way to a healthier Halloween...
The items below follow just a few rules. They are all:
***With the rise of food allergies, it's worth noting that many of the listed items contain common allergens (nuts, gluten, dairy). These won't work for everyone. I recommend keeping a separate container of things like stickers, temporary tattoos, and glow sticks around for the children that need to be super careful of what they eat.
Here's to a boo-ti-ful October! ;-)
In health,
Tara
