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. ;-)
Whether you choose to REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, and/or REPURPOSE today, it's a great day to take a step back and enjoy Mother Earth in all Her glory. I'm looking out a big picture window right now watching the cold rain come down in New York, despite earlier reports of today being the dry & sunny part of the weekend. Luckily, we had no specific outdoor plans and I can just enjoy the coziness and warm-fuzzies that I get on days like this. Side note: I also LOVE to tell my toddler that it's good sleeping whether in hopes of a successful nap-time. I'm still testing this theory out with her. ;-)
Anyway, as the weather allows, I've been making more and more time to get outside with the kiddos. We ALL need the fresh air, sunshine, and adventure that only The Great Outdoors can provide. You know what I mean, right? Of course there's the all-important Vitamin D that our body needs from direct sunlight on our skin, but it's more than that. We now know that just getting the passing light of the sun in our eyes for a bit everyday actually helps us produce more melatonin at night (HELLO better sleep quality!), increases energy and productivity during the day, and helps to fight overall dis-ease. Score!
Here's how we (myself + 1 year old + 3 year old) spent our outside time this week so far:
That's it. Nothing too crazy and we had a few rainy days that we did pick indoor activities. Oh, and planted some herbs that we're (im)patiently waiting to sprout. What can I say, eating from the Earth with the fam makes me happy!
How are you spending your Earth Day? Any Spring cleaning or festivals or charity walks on the calendar?
In good health,
Tara
It's no secret that sleep has been a scarcity around here for….well, quite some time! As a breastfeeding mama, I'm "on call" every night - and that usually ends up being at least 5 or 10 night-time wakings (and feedings). :-O Yup, that wasn't a typo.
My daughter was the same way, so I'm sort of immune to how ridiculous this actually sounds. It's a path I'm more than happy to continue on until things happen to change organically. I'm not looking to sleep-train, cut him off from night feedings, ask my husband to give him a bottle in the middle of the night, or anything else really. No judgement to anyone else - this is just our choice. It's actually quite a sweet set-up - Jagger sleeps in our room and he has this adorable way of simultaneously kicking and punching me when he's ready to nurse. I swear it's much cuter than it sounds! There's usually no crying involved, just a gentle "Mom, I need you now please" type of nudge. At 9 months in, we've definitely gotten into a groove.
Magnolia is now almost 3 years old and those early co-sleeping and breastfeeding days with her are just beautiful memories now. I know all-too-well how quickly the weeks slip by, even as each night may seem to last forever.
With our days totally filled with Magnolia's stories, songs, activities, and boisterousness, I'm a-okay letting the wee hours of the night be reserved for one-on-one time with Jagger. The snuggles and sweet baby breath will be gone before I can say, "Sleep, child!". ;-)
So where does that leave me with my health and productivity? There's this whole work thing, house thing, wife thing….Well, I have my moments of dragging and clawing my way through each hour, for sure! However, I do like to think that a few of my good habits are responsible for keeping me as healthy and energetic as possible during this extended period of barely-any-sleep (and REM? Do I ever get into REM?!). I am typically rather fast-moving (that type A curse), happy, and feeling good and strong.
I started to record this video, as usual, without Jagger at first. But, my storage space ran out on my phone about 30 seconds in and after taking time to make more space on this device, Little Man was ready to join me. Perfecto! After all, the lack of sleep is just a liiiiiiiittle bit about him anyway.
'Til next time...
In health,
Tara
Ladies, listen up! Wanna hear something that is so true and also so unfair? Our biology is sexist! We may have come very far in the year 2016, but our bodies still think we should be barefoot and pregnant from an early age. Ugh! Accordingly, we are super-sensitive to energy deficits (too low-calorie, too low-fat, too low-carb) and nutritional stressors. The body sees this as a threat to reproductive success!
““Nope, no babies during a famine. Let’s make your hormones all funky, make you become resistant to weight loss, lower your metabolism, and make you fatigued”.”
Ok, so what does this mean for YOU? It means you have to make small, incremental, sustainable changes. It means you focus on the 'long game' just like your body does so it doesn't see the changes as a threat, but more like a new and comfy norm. It probably means the results you see won't happen as quickly as you'd like, but it's the only way you can make a lasting change. It also means your goals must creep into many different aspects of your life - nutrition, movement, stress management, relationships, self-confidence, feelings of fulfillment. ALL areas of your life affect your relationship to your environment, your food, and the way you treat yourself.
So, that's why you can't just cut soda out and lose 10 pounds like your husband did. (I actually get asked some version of that question just about every week).
Ladies - respect your biology, but please continue kicking butt and taking names in a very 2016-ish way. <3
In health,
Tara