Eating Right in a Hurry: 9 Meal Prep Tips for Busy Parents

Eating Right in a Hurry: 9 Meal Prep Tips for Busy Parents



As a busy mom, I know how challenging it can be to prepare healthy meals with 3 hungry boys wanting to eat right away.  This offers some great tips!  I do love my Tower Garden which I'm preparing to bring inside for the fall and winter.  It's so convenient to always have fresh lettuce for salad! Once I figure out where to put a second one, I will be ordering it :)

Do you want to feel rich??

Meditation

Meditation has so many benefits and it's doesn't cost a dime.   There are so many ways to meditate and all are beneficial.  I personally found that when my mind is racing it is easier to do a guided meditation than simply to try to quiet my mind.

Listen to this Relaxation Meditation and let me know what you think.  If you like it, please subscribe to my channel.  I will continue to add new meditations including some for kids.

Hugs for Health

Are you feeling down?  Did you get your hugs today?

For a long time, I didn't initiate hugging people because I didn't know how they would respond but then I just started.  I'd hug people when I'd see them in the office.  I'll admit some people found it weird but more people looked forward to my daily hugs and even started hugging other people, too.  It completely changes the mood of the office.  Try it.

I also will hug other parents at my kids sporting events.  Again, at first they don't know what to make of it but soon, they look forward to it and even seek me out to give me a hug.

Try it and let me know what your experience is with it.  I think you'll find that you are happier and the people around you are, too.  And magic begins when we are all feeling happy and loving!!

Don't forget to report back.

Smile

Remember to smile.  Smiling releases chemicals in your brain that actually improve your mood.  In addition to that, smiling at others makes them happy and they tend to smile back which also improves your mood.  The ripple effect of one smile can make a world of difference.

So today, make an effort to smile at everyone you see.  Let me know how you feel and how your day goes!

February - Focus on Love and the Heart

Okay - so my focus for this month is going to be love and the heart.  I'll share some heart healthy nutrition, focus on self-love, and loving your life and everything in it.

The first and most important type of love I want to focus on is self-love.  Not in the egotistical way people often think of self-love.  In fact, when we are vein and talk about ourselves constantly, it usually means we are actually lacking in self-esteem, self-love, and self-confidence.  Because of that we often "brag" in order to get recognition.  Who doesn't want recognition?  We all do but when we don't give it to ourselves along with love, we focus on getting it from the outside and anyone who will give it to us.

So, for the month of February, I challenge myself and each one of you to make a daily commit of self-love and recognition through a mirror exercise.  I want you to look yourself in the eyes every time you pass a mirror and say, "I love you, ________, I really, really love you.  I appreciate all you do and I accept you exactly as you are right now!" (Insert your name where the blank is.)

If you are in a private location, say it aloud. If you are in a public restroom, you can absolutely say it to yourself since I may get a lot of funny looks.  :)  If you want to still say it out loud you can use that as a conversation starter and teach others the importance of loving themselves.  When we all are completely full of love, there will be no aggression toward ourselves or others.  When we recognize that we are all connected and all more similar than we are different, we will find peace and compassion.  We all have feelings and emotions, we all crave love and recognition, we all have positive and negative experiences that affect us - we are all here living life on this planet and experiencing many of the same types of things although the specifics may be different.

The second part of the challenge is before bed go to the mirror and tell yourself aloud how much you appreciate all the things you did well during that day. It could be anything.  If you are having a particularly bad day, it may simply be that you got yourself out of bed and went to work.  Nothing is too small to acknowledge.  If you made a healthy selection of food or drink, if you acknowledged someone else and made them feel good.  If you got your kids to school on time.  It doesn't matter what it is - only focus on the good.  And finish up by saying, "I love you, ___________, and I really appreciate you.  I forgive you for all the things you feel need forgiving.  I forgive you for not giving yourself enough credit.  I forgive everyone who doesn't recognize what you do.  I love you!!  You are amazing.  I really, really love you!!"

Try this for the month - please tell me how you feel.  Do you notice any differences?  You may even want to journal about this so you see the difference.  Can you look yourself in the eyes when you say these loving words to yourself? Do you want to cry?  Do you notice a shift?  Please do share.  This can be transformational if you commit to it.

This month know that you are loved.  And focus on feeling the love from others put most importantly from yourself.  I love you!!  Namaste!!

January Challenge

Happy New Year!!

As the new year begins many people make resolutions for change.  The problem is that resolutions are notorious for not being kept.  I believe that is because we think of them the wrong way.

I gave up making resolutions but I do make goals both short and long term every year!  One of the important aspects of goals is to known and articulate why you are making them.  To say you want to lose weight is great but to say how much weight, by when, and why give it much more power.  Why do you want to lose weight?  Do you really want to or is it something you think you should do?  Have you given any thought to why you want to?  How will you feel if you do and how will you feel if you don't?  Is there a difference?  The deeper you can go into the reasons you want to do something, the better.  If the reasons are really important to you and you keep those in mind you are more likely to actually follow through on what is need to achieve your goal.

I have created a challenge for myself.  I believe in planning to make a change for 30 days.  We can do anything for 30 days.  If it feels good, we can continue it and if not - release it.  It's done.

I invite you to join me in this challenge at whatever level feels good to you. I will report back at the end of the month to let you know how I did and I'd love to hear how you did, too!

Every day in January I'm planning to do the following:

1. Meditate
2. Run or Walk (3 miles minimum each day)
3. Nature - get out in nature and enjoy the world around me
4. Mirror Exercise - before going to bed every night I will look at myself in the mirror and compliment myself on my achievements for the day (big or small) and tell myself "I Love You!" ***
5. Goals - review them morning and night
6. Inspiration - read inspiring books at least 5 minutes
7.Sit-Ups - Do at least 30
8. Push-Ups - Do at least 15
9. Fruits/Veggies - each at least 5 servings

*** The mirror exercise sounds "weird" to people at first but people who have done it have had wonderful results.  Often people may not even know that they have low self-esteem or harbor some inner anger or guilt that is actually holding them back.  In doing the mirror exercise, we allow ourselves to have unconditional love from ourselves which is the most empowering gift we can give ourselves. We deserve it.

Please share your thoughts, comments, and results with me.

Thursday Thigh Day

How'd yesterday go?  Did you try the workout?

I created a different one for today :)  I'm so used to singing the days of the week with my kids that Thursday Thigh Day just seemed to fit.  Variety is the spice of life, right?  Let me know what you think!

Tuesday morning workout routine

So I said I'd post my workout plan for today so here it is...

30 jumping jacks
10 push ups
30 crunches
10 mountain climbers
30 second side plank (each side)
30 high knees
15 sumo squats
10 lunges (per leg)
30-second plank

Repeat.  I may try to sandwich my run in between but depending on how things go, I may do them at different times :)  I'll keep you posted!!

Kids and play

The other afternoon I was watching my son, Dylan, play basketball for fun, rather than competitively, with kids of all levels all ability.  Watching these kids, I am even more touched by his service project to help raise awareness and funds for childhood obesity.

Let me tell you a little about Dylan.  He is a natural athlete and every coach at every level has said that to us and to him.  He wants to be a professional athlete which I'm confident that if he really wants that when he gets older, he will do it.  Much to my chagrin, many of his coaches have told them whole team that Dylan is the best player and they need to play like him and yet he maintains his humility.  He is and always has been a complete team player and makes sure everyone in his team has a chance to shine.

Dylan has never had a extra ounce of fat on his body and yet he picked childhood obesity as his service project.  His reasoning is that he loves sports and being active and while he knows that not all kids are interested in competitive sports he sees those who want to play but don't because of their weight or fitness level and feels bad.  He sees the kids who do want to play competitively (or did) but began to feel insecure, ashamed, and basically miserable because they couldn't keep up and would get picked last on the teams - or not picked at all.  He has seen how kids compare themselves to others (even to him) and give up because they don't feel "good enough" rather than always striving to be the best them they can be.

When this happens in childhood, we often bring those feelings of insecurity and lack of self-esteem with us. Once we've been carrying it for 30 years or more it becomes even harder to let go of, it's like that security blanket of days gone by that we hold onto for dear life. It becomes who we think we are. We may begin to look in the mirror with self disgust and self-loathing. We may forget to practice self-love and self understanding. When we don't love ourselves, we often find that replying to other people as well. We find ourselves more judgmental and misunderstanding just because were unhappy with ourselves.We identify with these traits and don't let go until something makes us!

While this happens to people who are not obese or overweight, by raising awareness and funds towards helping childhood obesity, we will get rid of one of the big factors of low self-esteem!

I am committed to making a difference in the lives of young people. In doing so,my life will be enriched beyond my imagination. And by getting fit myself, I will show myself that I can do anything that I put my mind to. I will be an example rather than someone who just has all the textbook knowledge and is not applying it to her own life. Please join me on my journey and let me know how I can help you on yours!

Running to combat Childhood Obesity (and adult obesity by running!)

So today I put in a little over 4 miles on Saucony's Run4Good app for "Team Dylan."  When he first picked 5,000 miles as the target goal, I thought that was very doable. We haven't seen as many miles logged as I would hope in order to reach that goal but I'm hoping people will spread the word and help out.  I may need to go out and do another 4 miles tonight.  This will force me to train for that marathon :)  If you know of anyone who wants to help us out, that would be wonderful.

Do you have any specific running goals? Other fitness goals?  Do you have someone holding you accountable to them?  Feel free to comment here and I'm happy to act as an accountability partner.  We can reach all of our goals!!  Don't forget it and don't give up!

It's also lots of fun to run with other people and that also keeps you accountable.  Are you part of a running/walking club?  There are so many free clubs and I highly recommend being in one.  I just started a local chapter of Moms RUN This Town - Metrowest, MA so that I will have the support I need and I will gladly help others to achieve their fitness goals, too.

Childhood Obesity - Run Miles to Decrease It

I wanted to ask for your assistance. My son, Dylan, is in 8th grade and doing a capstone project to raise awareness about and funds to decrease childhood obesity.

There is a free app called Run4Good by Saucony that donates money based on miles logged. He has a form to "pledge" miles to walk in December and a team on the app called "Team Dylan".  I wanted to ask you to join his cause by filling out the form and using the app while committing to walk or run a certain number of mile in December under Team Dylan.  It is great motivation to keep or get active during this holiday season and it is for a good cause.

If you would share this, too, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!!

The form can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1A_kEYuQnHdoylfIL5ikAEBs6OMM72WrSgBN3IdAd194/viewform

Together we can make a difference!!  Also, by pledging miles, we are all getting more active and keeping ourselves healthier at the same time.  And for some us, this may lead to lowering the number of overweight and obese adults in the world :)

The following is taken directly from Saucony's Run For Good page (http://www.sauconyrunforgood.com/facts-about-childhood-obesity/).

CHILDHOOD OBESITY FACTS

• Government statistics show that over 30% of children and adolescents are obese or overweight. Almost 20% of children ages 6 to 11 and 18% of those 12 to 19 are considered obese.

• Obesity most commonly begins in childhood between the ages of 5 and 6, and during adolescence.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years. It has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years.

• Studies have shown that a child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has a 70 percent chance of becoming an obese adult. This increases to 80 percent if one or more parents are overweight or obese.

• Doctors agree that the two primary factors in creating obese children and teens are poor food choices and less exercise on a daily basis.

• Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children and adolescents. Overweight and obesity are closely linked to type 2 diabetes.

• Researchers have found that overweight children are at a greater risk of school absenteeism than their normal-weight peers.

• According to the CDC, children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Aerobic activity, such as brisk walking or running, should make up most of this daily activity.

• Doctors and other health care professionals are the best people to determine whether your child or adolescent’s weight is healthy.