Moving and Grooving

Five months after Parker I can say I'm feeling like myself again. I don't really feel postpartum anymore and I'm riding the awesome motivation train that comes from 46 weeks of restricted activity. As I've noticed in the past, the more I work out the more I want to workout more. It's been great getting out to Stroller Strides with the boys or giving myself a mommy break by going on a run or going to yoga.

As technologically savvy as I am (or think I am, anyways), there is still something about writing down my workouts by hand on my workout log. It's like giving myself a little pat on the back. As you can see below, I don't go into depth. But by writing my general workout it's like I'm checking off that day - done and done. Here is how December is shaping up so far (coloring done by the striving, young artist, Landon):

One thing that I've noticed is that I am working out more days a week than I ever have. Before I was content with working out MOST days of the week... And I do still follow that theory. But now it seems that I get antsy when a day has passed without a workout. One day of rest seems to be working for this girl. But believe me, if I need more, I'll take it.

One way that I think I'm having such success with getting in my workouts (I am a mother of two) is scheduling. I can tell you right now that Thursdays I have indoor soccer, Saturday I do a Yoga 2 class, and Sunday I get my long run in for my half marathon training (other parts of the year, I have outdoor soccer on Sundays). By having these things "scheduled" my husband knows he has the kids for an hour or so and I already have three workout days checked off my week. My other days are a little less scheduled but generally Mondays and Wednesdays are allotted for Stroller Strides and Tuesdays I get another day of running in.

As I said, I'm feeling good. Running and yoga have been a great "mental break" from the demands of being home with the kids all day and I really could never give up my love of soccer.

I hope everyone has a great, safe and healthy holiday. We all know it's hard to not partake in the many treats.. so try and focus on getting moving :)

Baby Food Makin' Mama

Now that Parker has approached the exciting age of eating solids, I have decided to do something I didn't do with Landon - make all of his baby food. I am happy to say that he is yet to have a single store-bought food, and boy is he eating up everything that comes his way.

There are so many reasons why I decided to make his food. With Landon, I did make him a couple of things, but because it was after he'd had only store-bought, the natural texture that comes along with homemade food proved to be too much. Also, I was SO AFRAID I would do something wrong, or that the foods I would use wouldn't be up to the quality of the "professionals." Fortunately, I see things very differently this time around.

Making Parker's baby food means giving him the best ingredients. It means that I am in control and he will not be getting any of those unnecessary additives that can come in jarred foods. It means saving money; always a bonus. And it means that I get to train his palate to accept the real textures and tastes that come along with the healthy foods that I love.

As I've gone about making his food, two things have become very clear: it is much easier than expected, and I enjoy it.... LOVE it, in fact. The difference seems to be in thinking about his food not as "baby food," but REAL food. Foods that I love, too, and now get to share with him. It's so fun to take vegetables and split them up, half for Parker, other half for our dinner that night. And, thanks to my vegetable steamer and trusty Vitamix, it really has been easy. Here's a step by step of the carrots I made a couple weeks ago:

Delicious organic carrots:

Peeled, chopped and in the steamer:

A quick blend:

Voila! My happy customer couldn't get enough!

What I don't serve that day gets frozen for another day :)

Something else that has become very apparent is the beautiful, rich color and flavors that come along with making baby food. I remember tasting Landon's food and it having NO FLAVOR. Homemade is flavor-packed. Again, this is just preparing Parker to love the REAL foods and flavors he will eat later, in their true form. Have you ever seen store-bought peas? They are usually a darker murky green color. Check out these peas I made - I love the color:

 

Now, I'm not saying that making baby food is right for everyone. What I am saying is that I absolutely love picking out, preparing, and making the food for my little (big) man. And now, a couple more pics of my littlest man eating.... because who doesn't love seeing that?

 

In case you're wondering, here are the three books I've been using. The first Cooking for Baby is a great recipe book for the little ones from baby to toddler-dom. Feeding Baby Green is more of the theoretical approach to making homemade foods. It did a great job of explaining the "why" and, also, making me see how simple and enjoyable making your baby's food should be (it reaches from womb to toddler years). First Foods is another recipe book and what I like to think of as "Making Baby Food for Dummies."  I actually picked this up with Landon... it's getting more use this time around :)

A Happy Sight

Today when I was picking up some groceries I realized that the organic apples at Vons were only $0.20 more a pound than the non-organic. It's a simple equation of supply and demand; the more people choose organic, the lower the cost will go. Things they are a-changin'. Yesssssss!

Why this Household is Going Organic

I've mentioned that my house has chosen to go organic. And while I've brushed on some of the reasons why, I thought I'd delve into it a bit more. So, why go organic?

Isn't it funny that we all have a sense that organic is better for us, but we are not quite sure why? Well, slowly over the last couple of years I've been dabbling in buying organic. After having Landon and starting him on solids, I was adamant - ONLY ORGANIC!  Well... Landon grew up. He no longer was eating out of a jar, but eating right along Nate and I. I started questioning more and more what "extras" I was feeding us by not going organic.

Alongside this, I've gotten more and more into cooking. I would say that I went from cooking a lot of our meals to now cooking most every one of them. The thing about cooking is that you are hands-on with the ingredients that are making up your meal, so shouldn't we know exactly what we are eating and where it is coming from?

And finally, a major switch happened when I attended the Stroller Strides conference awhile back. Speaker after speaker said it loud and clear, if we want ourselves and our children to grow up healthy and eating the best quality foods, we need to go organic. Now don't be scared off.  Life is never black and white, and neither is eating organic.  But when possible, eating organic is best.

Here is what I've learned about going organic. Dr. Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, pediatrician, and one of the amazing speakers at the conference, tells us that the nutritional quality of  conventional agriculture has deteriorated over the last fifty years. Because of this, when comparing organic versus conventional crops, "Organic produce... averaged 25 more healthful nutrients per serving." 25 per serving! He also writes that "by choosing organic produce across the board you can slash pesticide exposure by about 97 percent." Isn't that crazy?  This is also why my biggest change in going organic has been focusing on produce (remember the list from the last post?). It's definitely a good place to start, I think.

Along with produce, McKensie Hall says your best bets when going organic should also include dairy and meats, as well. One benefit to buying organic dairy and meat? Higher amounts of Omega 3s. Our house buys only organic milk, and we try and get organic yogurt when possible, but I'm yet to really see organic cheese options.  Switching to organic meat is probably the hardest. Why? It really is more expensive... okay, a lot more expensive. We are buying our organic chicken from Costco, but as for other meat - I'm still learning.

I hope this has been helpful in giving answers to the "Why?" in going organic. As I've said, it's a learning process for me, too. I don't think change happens overnight, and in fact, I don't think it should. But if you can make organic work for you, I say go for it :)

When We Can't Go Organic All the Time

As I've said before, my household is trying its best to go organic. In a nutshell, going organic means you will be getting foods that are higher in nutrients and contain less pesticides (promise to go more in depth about this soon). In other words, you get more nutritional bang for buck. But speaking of buck.... going organic can be expensive.

In San Diego, we have an amazing place called "The Fruit Stand" where they keep a warehouse full of local [mostly] organically grown fruits and veggies and sell them for a reasonable price. It's an amazing place, but I can only get there about once a week. So what about the other days of the week when you need to pick up some goods, but don't have time to hit up "The Fruit Stand"? Or, what if you don't have a "Fruit Stand"?

Fortunately grocery stores are catching on to the craze and offering more and more organic options. Even our Costco is surprising us every trip with more organic products. BUT they are more expensive.  Therefore, I wanted to share a list given by McKensie Hall, RD of the most and least contaminated fruits and veggies.  I'm trying to learn and memorize, so I know which fruits and veggies are more important to buy organic, and which, if need be, will do less harm to buy regular.  So here we go:

Fruits & Veggies on the MOST contaminated list:

• apples
• celery
• bell peppers
• peaches
• strawberries
• nectarines
• grapes
• spinach
• lettuce
• cucumbers
• blueberries
• potatoes

 Fruits & Veggies on LEAST contaminated list:

• onions
• sweet corn
• pineapples
• avocados
• cabbage
• sweet peas
• asparagus
• mangoes
• eggplant
• kiwis
• cantaloupe
• sweet potatoes
• grapefruit
• watermelon
• mushrooms

Hope this helps!

"Diet is a Four-Letter Word"

- McKenzie Hall, RD

Recently I went to the 2012 National Stroller Strides Conference where I was introduced to amazing people doing great things in health and fitness.  It was so motivational and influential, I want to share some of the information I learned.

One of the speakers I listened to was McKenzie Hall a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Counselor.  What I liked about Ms. Hall was that I really felt like everything she said was exactly how I felt about, and approached nutrition (said with more eloquence, of course). It was a nice feeling, and gave me a sense of confidence that there was a method to my madness.

While she had many things to say, what I wanted to share about today was her idea about "diets."  As the title of this blog alludes (words from Hall, herself), diets are not the way to approach or improve one's health. Some of you may be rolling your eyes right about now. Like, "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before. Life changes.. blah, blah, bleh." But here's the thing... I totally agree.

In the past I tried restricting things I ate - no desserts, little to no carbs, and don't even think about eating that cheesy pizza you want so bad. But it NEVER worked. As soon as I told myself I couldn't eat something was the moment that thing became number one on my list of things I WANTED to eat. I remember about 6 years ago when I had a go at South Beach and "couldn't" eat sweets. I'm not even a sweets person, but because I couldn't have it, all I wanted was sugar. I remember the need became so much that I bought sugar-free candy and tore into the bag on the way out of the store. It didn't take more than a candy or two for me to realize that obviously this "diet" was not something I could keep up and am happy to say I chucked the candy and the diet, then and there.

As Hall says, "Diets set you up for failure." Instead she says she allows all foods in moderation. She even went so far to say that if you have to have a cupcake, eat that cupcake and get on with your day.  Anyone who knows me knows that I will never miss out on a food I really want. One day it may be a quesadilla, another day it may be might be some delicious frozen yogurt from the amazing Bogurt Yogurt, but I eat it and get on with my day. As I like to say, I eat very healthy MOST of the time.

Along with these insights she gave an informal list of why diets don't work and I wanted to share. So, here they are. According to Hall (along with my commentary), "diets" are linked to:

• disordered eating behaviors - maybe we've all seen this one
• low energy - yup
• suppressed immunity - Why, you ask? Because when following a diet you are most likely restricting some foods. Restricting foods means restricting nutrients, and that ain't coo'.
• reduced self esteem - "I need to lose this weight because I am a big ol' fat pig, and no one can stand the sight of me." I don't know if that's a direct quote, but I'm sure old Nikki has said that somewhere down the line.
• Irritability - Sooooooooo true
• Social Isolation - Hall made a good point here that eating is such a cultural thing. Removing yourself from social outings because of food isn't healthy. Or, for me, even worse, you're missing out.
• Depression
• Increased Risk for Obesity - Sad, really.

Now do we see why Hall says that diet is a four-letter word? I hope so.  Just say no ;)

I will be doing more posts on things discussed at the conference, including more from McKenzie Hall, RD, but if you would like to see more from her, you can check her out on NourishRDs.com

Awesome 80's 5k

Last Saturday I ran the Awesome 80's 5k in San Diego. This was something that mamas from Stroller Strides got together and ran. Technically, this was my first "race" since having Parker, but I didn't run it like a race... which I'm happy about. I really had fun with it and used some of my extra energy to help motivate mamas to run their first/best 5k.

I usually am always going for a PR, but this time it was great to sit back and enjoy (as you can imagine, there was amazing people-watching). The race did do what I had hoped, though. It gave me a reminder of how much I love to run and gets me in the right frame of mind for the half marathon I'm about to start training for. Half marathon, you ask? Yes, I signed up for the Surf City Half on my 30th birthday, February 3rd. I'm nervous coming off of pregnancy and completely excited for the challenge. A bag of mixed emotions that I have to use to catapult me into training which officially starts next week.  I'll keep you updated on how it's going.

Now for your viewing pleasure, a few pics from my Awesome 80's run:

Sometimes it's fun to be a goofball and not take life (or 5k's) too seriously :)

I Do It For OUR Health

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've been on here and so much has happened in that time. For example, I now have two children. That means that, once again, I was prego and, once again, I gave birth and, once again, here I am with the "aftermath."  Here's the good news: I really truly believe I did well in pregnancy. I ate well, I exercised more and managed to stay within the "healthy weight gain" spectrum.  At three months postpartum, I still have some weight to lose, but I'm trying not to focus on the weight as much as I am focusing on my altogether health. This brings me to my next point.

I've gotten really into health (fitting, since I have this blog). Maybe it's been a slow climb to becoming the healthiest person I can be, but I feel like I've taken one more step in the the right direction. And I'm happy about it. More than ever, I want to know what I am eating, where it comes from, and how it can affect me. I'm taking steps to eating (mostly) organic and/or locally grown foods. I don't want to consume pesticides or genetically modified foods. And I don't want my family eating them either.

This brings me back to this post's title - I Do It For OUR Health. I want to learn more about what we eat and how it affects our bodies. I want to cook more and prepare meals that my family can sit down and eat together. I want to give my children the gift of a healthy and adventurous palate. And I do it all because in the long-run it will be what's best for all of us. 

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I'm excited to share on here what I am learning as I do continue this never-ending path to a healthy me. As always, what's right for me does not mean it's right for you. But, to be honest, I think that my worry that someone may find what I write to be "preachy" is the reason I never consistently posted on this blog. But after two friends asked me why I wasn't ever posting on here, I realized that maybe people were interested. So here I go again on my own! Just kidding. But keep checking back for updates, interesting info, recipes, and all "other stuff."  I'm excited to share this path with you.