Every December Neil and I take a trip to the mall and choose a child from the giving tree to buy a gift. The card has the gender, age and an item the child wants/needs. This is a tradition that I started with my mom when I was a child and Neil and I have continued the tradition since we started dating. Now that we have Edith this is a tradition that we plan to continue and have her participate in as well.
In a few weeks Neil, Edith and I will head to the mall, choose a child from the tree and shop for a gift. The one thing that will be different this year however is that you can help determine how much we will spend on the gift. All you have to do is take the survey below.For every person who completes the feedback survey we will put $1 towards the gift.
So in exchange for two minutes (or less) of your time your survey response can count towards a $1 donation for a child in need this holiday season.
I know I have had ad number of surveys on the blog over the years but with all these changes that have occurred in the last few months I feel like I need to do another on. I wasn’t sure what role the blog would play in my life once Edith arrived and how or even if I would want to keep up with it, but now here we are four and half months later and I realize I love having this blog because it is an outlet for me. However, I have found that I have lost a little bit of direction and what I should be posting here versus on Naturally Family. So now this why I am calling out to you to help give me a little bit of direction as to what you want to read.
I have done elimination diets a number of times in the past and I have come to the conclusion that a small amount of gluten doesn’t bother me however large amounts cause me to fell bloated, have a hard time losing weight and am often exhausted. As you can see from that list those are all things I DON’T want. That being said it’s time to make a change and reduce my gluten intake.
What I will be doing: Eating more gluten-free foods
I had the best intentions of posting a number of new Thanksgiving recipes but with a four month old and a busy, hardworking husband I am finding it more challenging to work on new recipes. That being said I have no new holiday recipes for you however my friends over at One Degree Organics have a tasty Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe for you.
Toast bread cubes on a large baking sheet until golden brown; set aside
Reduce heat to 350 degrees
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; sauté onions, garlic and celery until soft
Transfer the sautéed vegetables and bread cubes to a large bowl
Add parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and stir until well combined
Add 2 cups of vegetable stock, and stir until absorbed; add more stock as needed so that the mixture is moist and clumping together, but not soggy
Transfer to a greased, shallow baking dish, cover and bake for 25 minutes
Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes to form a crusty top
One Degree Organics uses only recognizable ingredients in its products—all of which are sourced from sustainable, veganic family farms. Veganic foods use only organic, vegetable matter to cultivate seeds and grains, this way farmers retain the integrity and nutritional value of non-genetically modified ingredients.
Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. I have sampled One Degree Organics Veganic bread and it was super tasty so when they sent me this recipe I decided it would be a great holiday recipe to post.
As I said in my original post about Becoming My Own Client this is a challenge with a four month old. I imagine that it doesn’t get much better until she moves out, so what am I going to do for the next 18 or so years?
So why is sleep important?
When you are tired or stressed, your body will crave energy. These cravings are often a result of being sleep-deprived, going to bed late, waking up early, for months and years on end. So getting more sleep would help with goal #3.
Sleep helps to improve memory, prevent weight gain, improve your mood, strengthen your immune system, and cardiovascular system.
Action Steps:
First off I need to go to bed when I am tired. Most nights I push myself to stay up later so that I can finish up freelance or coaching work, spend time with Neil, workout or just relax. Instead of pushing myself to stay up I need to go to bed when I am tired, even if that’s 8:30pm.
The second thing I can do is nap during the day when possible. E is getting to be a better napper which means that instead of running around doing 500 things while she sleeps I need to take a moment and sleep if I am tired. It really is true you do need to sleep when the baby sleeps.
Are you getting enough sleep? Challenge yourself to go to bed 10 minutes earlier tonight and every night this week.
So on Monday we took a deeper look into Goal #2 to increase my energy now lets move on to Goal #3: Break my sugar craving.
Sugar is addictive for 2 reasons. 1: eating a small amount makes you want more. 2. Suddenly quitting causes withdrawal symptoms like headaches, mood swings, cravings and fatigue.
I honestly was never a huge fan of sweets until my pregnancy and then something changed. I read somewhere that when you are pregnant with a girl you crave more sweets and for me this ended up being true. I wanted everything sweet especially fruits, coconut milk ice cream and chocolate. Unfortunately this craving has stuck with me postpartum. Now my goal is to kick the sugar habit.
I have already been making strides to improve this by not making Oh She Glows amazing chocolate chip cookies once a week, or should I say have Neil make them for me. It was awful at one point we were making them at least once per week. I am glad to say it’s been about five weeks since we made our last batch -win!
Although it has been five weeks since I enjoyed those yummy chocolate chip cookies it hasn’t stopped me from making a number of other baked goods, enjoying coconut ice cream and chocolate. I have been using natural sugars as much as possible and my cravings have been reduced but I am still craving a piece or two of dark chocolate most nights.
Action Steps.
Eat Balanced Meals. Make sure to create meals focus on vegetables and then have ¼ of your meal be a whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, barley, millet, bulgar, etc) ¼ should be high quality protein such as beans, tempeh, or tofu. Additionally, add 1-2 tbsp of a healthy fat (avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, nut butters, nuts, etc); this will help to feel satisfied and curb your cravings.
Replace processed snacks (anything with a long ingredient list or filled with sodium, sugar and HFCS) with whole foods such as fruits, nuts, veggies, etc.
Think before eating. When a craving comes on rather than give into it try to deconstruct the craving to figure out the actual cause.
Now that I’ve laid out my goals in my Becoming My Own Client posts it’s time to put things into action. I am purposely going to skip over, Goal #1: Lose Weight. I’d like to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by October 2013, because my action step to make this happen is to focus on working on goals 2-7. As you will come to see that all of my goals overlap with one or more other goals, to be successful I must find balance in all aspects of my life.
Increase energy by eating more greens
Goal #2: Increase my Energy.
en·er·gy/ˈenərjē/
Noun:
The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.
A feeling of possessing such strength and vitality.
Synonyms:
power – vigour – vigor – vim – zip – strength – pep
Action steps to increase my energy:
Reduce or eliminate caffeine. Caffeine can cause dehydration and the rise and fall of blood sugar which can cause mood swings and cravings. I don’t have a lot of caffeine, most days just one cup of coffee but more and more I am finding myself having a second cup of coffee to “make it through the day”. That being said my goal is to replace that second cup of coffee with a glass of water or herbal tea.
Drink water. If there is one thing that most people don’t do enough of it’s drink enough water. Most Americans are in a constant state of dehydration which can have a number of negative effects including cravings.
Eat dark leafy green vegetables. Greens a filled with vitamins and nutrients that make you feel refreshed and energetic. They help improve circulation, purify the blood and strengthen the immune system. I love greens but for some reason I don’t eat enough. My goal is to eat dark leafy greens, such as broccoli, collards, bok choy, kale, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, arugula and dandelion greens, 5 days per week.
Use gentle sweets. I am going to avoid processed sugars and use natural sweeteners like maple syrup, agave nectar, dates, and coconut sugar. Also I am going to increase the number of sweet vegetables such as yams, carrots and beets, that I eat to help reduce cravings for sweets.
Get physical activity. Simple activities, like walking or yoga, can help increase energy by doing as little as 10 minutes per day. I have increased the frequency of my workouts but now I want to do more yoga and increase intensity.
Get more sleep and rest and relaxation. A tired and stressed body craves energy and often we turn to food for energy instead of what we really need- a nap. Lately I have been staying up later at night once E goes to sleep but really I need to go to bed earlier so I get more rest.
Take time for myself. Finding activities that restore your energy, such as a walk, a bath, a museum, or a movie helps to increase energy. I haven’t been taking nearly enough time for me so my goal is to take 30 minutes per day to do something just for me.
While pregnant with Edith I developed a sweet tooth and an addiction to bagels with tofutti. Now 4 months postpartum and although I have kicked the two…err sometimes four bagels a week and I am only having coconut ice cream every 4-6 weeks rather than once per week. That being said I’m still far off from where I used to be and after thinking things through I came to an important conclusion.
For the last four months I have been completely focused on E and a little less focused on myself (diet and exercise included). Now that we have a little bit more of a routine (although still ever changing) I am ready to create goals to help improve my diet, fitness and energy levels. A few things I need to consider are making sure I am eating enough calories for nursing and increasing the foods that help my milk production (that’s a whole other blog post).
Okay so first things first I decided to fill out my very own health history just like I would ask prospective clients to do. So lets take a look at the first part.
As you can see my weight is quite a bit higher than I would like and that I put on a good amount of weight while I was pregnant and although I have lost a bit I am far from my pre-pregnancy weight. Goal #1: Lose Weight. I’d like to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by October 2013.
Another notable thing to point out is that my energy levels are lower than desired. I know you’re probably saying umm yeah you have four month old of course you are lacking energy and while that is true I know that I could improve upon this. Goal #2: Increase my Energy.
As I noted above I am a bread and sweets addict. The funny thing is although I have always been a lover of all things bread related I was never a huge sweets fan until my pregnancy. I too often gave into this craving during pregnancy and it has stuck with me. Goal #3:Break my sugar craving.
May 2011
Okay so lets evaluate the section above, as you can see starting at the top I need to get more sleep. E who was a good sleeper is suddenly sleeping from about 7pm-10pm, 11pm-1 or 2am, 2:30a-4a and then she wants to be up. Honestly I don’t know where I am going to get more sleep because I usually have dinner around 7/7:30pm and then I don’t want to go to bed immediately after so I usually stay up until 9:15-10pm. Napping during the day is difficult to do as well so really until we can get E back on a better schedule this is going to be a challenging goal but alas it’s still my Goal #4.
Next lets talk about the gluten sensitivity….yes I am addicted to bread and have a minor gluten sensitivity. I say minor because a small amount doesn’t bother me but there is a fine line between feeling fine and feeling bloated. So Goal #5 eat less gluten.
Goal #6 is to increase the intensity of my workouts. I have actually already started working on this my participating in the Best Body Boot Camp. I have been making an effort to increase the intensity, duration and get back to running. I’ll discuss this goal more as well as my others in follow up posts.
39 Weeks 3 Days (the day I went into labor)
Okay so here we are the last section and my final goal to improve my diet. During my pregnancy I ate really well with the exception of the first trimester when all I wanted were bagels and citrus. Then the baby arrived and if you’re a new mom you know how challenging it can be to make a good meal when you are home alone with a baby. I also hate that we end up eating dinner about 2 hours later than we used to because of Neil’s busy work schedule and E’s desire to go to bed at 6:30. That being said Goal #7 eat more fresh fruits, vegetables and raw meals and make an effort to eat dinner earlier.
3.5 Months Postpartum
Even though I’m a health coach and I know all the things I am “doing wrong” sometimes you just have to sit down and really practice what you preach. I plan to follow this post up with a more in-depth look at my goals and the action steps I need to take to accomplish these goals.
What are your health goals? How do you plan to accomplish them?
