Tag: health | Baby Doodah!

Guest Post: Traveling With a Loving, Happy Family

Posted on July 22 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I’d like to introduce Kendra Thornton, she will be doing some guest posts on my blog from time to time. Kendra is a travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, proud wife and mama of 3. She’s a long time travel expert who has been packing her bags and traveling the world since she was 3 months old! She’s found her utmost desire in life is right in her own home. She has mixed her excitement for travel by bringing the taste of authentic cuisine to her own home with some of her unique recipes and sharing some of her personal traveling tips. You can follow Kendra on Twitter here or visit her website Thorton Public Relations.

I love my family, and I love to travel, but I will be the first to admit that the two do not always go together at first glance! When you are trying to make the plane while hauling a crying toddler or you need to deal with another chorus of “are we there yet?” from the back of the car, you may want to tear out your hair, but listen to these tips instead!

Tip 1: Eat Before the Amusement Park

Everyone knows that the food at the amusement park is terribly expensive, and on top of that, it is not good for you. Take a moment to eat a good breakfast before you go in. To prevent nausea, leave the fast rides for later in the day and spend the morning seeing the sights and opting for the smaller, slower rides. This ensures that you can see the park without worrying about finding food that your child needs to eat.

I use Gogobot to always check their reviews for family-friendly hotels. When we went to Florida, I scanned through their list of Orlando hotels and found a great spot that had both a quiet hours policy at night and a free continental breakfast for kids.

Tip 2: Buy Some Bottles of Water at the Airport

Children can get dehydrated and cranky about it without even knowing, and this can be a problem on the flights. If you are getting ready to board a long flight, make sure that you pick up a few bottles of water at the airport after you go through security. This can help ensure that you and your family are comfortable during the flight.

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Tip 3: Wash Your Hands, A Lot!

When you go traveling, you are going to be confronted with a lot of germs that are foreign to you. Teach your kids to keep their hands away from their faces, and encourage them to wash their hands whenever they get a chance to. Bring along a bit of lotion to prevent chapped skin, but washing your hands with antibacterial soap can keep everyone much healthier. There was an SCA survey conducted that found 40% of adults do not wash their hands after sneezing, coughing and leaving restrooms!

Tip 4: Audio Books

If you have a lot of driving or dead time to deal with, make sure that you download some audio books onto your phone, your media player or your iPad. An audio book will not trigger any sort of nausea or headache from the motion of the car, and you will discover that it can help your children stay entertained for hours.

Tip 5: Consider a Red Eye Flight

Red eye flights may seem a little extreme, but they can be fantastic for your kids. Keep your kids up until the flight is ready to take off; in many cases, they’ll love the late night treat! Then they can sleep through the discomfort of the flight and they will wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you get to your location.

Traveling with kids can be a little trying, but the memories that you make are typically worth it! Take a moment to think about what you need to do to keep your family happy!

Filed Under: Family, Guest Posts, Traveling

30 Day Vegan Challenge – Week 4

Posted on July 20 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

This a week late, I apologize! There’s just a million things going on and that I want to write about, trying to get through them all leads to some articles being delayed.

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As you can probably tell from my most recent food posts, I’ve gone back to my old way of eating. Well, that’s not technically true, I’m aiming to eat less meat and dairy and stick to a cleaner (that is fewer processed foods) diet, but I have added some meat, dairy and definitely eggs back in.

You’re probably wondering if I feel any different or if it made me feel better or worse, right? If I’m being honest, when I stuck to the vegan diet religiously without any slip-ups, I felt really great. I could tell my blood pressure was normal (lack of a racing heart when I’d get stressed) and any excess water weight I’d been carrying around had disappeared. My clothes fit better, my rings circled around (I love when this happens) and overall, I felt really positive.

My guess is that you’re probably wondering why I decided to stop eating vegan and go back to regular eating if I’m talking about all those positives. That’s simple, I felt myself starting to slip. Towards the end all I could think about eating was an egg with a runny yolk being soaked up by bread. When I start getting consumed by those thoughts, I know I’m losing control and in order to maintain a healthy(ish) diet, I need to add those foods that I’m craving back in, just in moderation.

Do I feel like I gave my all to this challenge? In a word, no. I definitely did not give this challenge my all, my husband can testify to that. I complained constantly about not being able to have the delicious smelling chicken he had made for him and Emmett or about how I was getting bored of beans (though, I love beans and could eat them everyday). So all I could think about for pretty much the last 2 weeks was being done, and resuming my regularly scheduled diet and that’s not really fair to the challenge. The issue wasn’t with the challenge itself but with my inability to stick with anything.

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I want to try again, but I want to take a different approach this time. Cutting these items out cold turkey may work for some and maybe even the majority but I don’t succeed that way. I’m currently in the midst of reading Vegan Before 6, by Mark Bittman. From what I’ve read so far, the concept is pretty simple, you follow a whole foods plant based diet until 6 pm, and then for dinner you enjoy whatever kinds of foods you want. Just a side note, the time 6 is just a number, basically you follow a vegan diet until your dinner and then eat whatever you want. I will do a full review of the book once I’ve completed it and have put the diet into practice for a few weeks. While following VB6 (as it is often referred to), I won’t put a time limit on it. If I follow it and love it, then I’ll just keep on going. By putting the 30 days on something, I am telling myself that I can quit in that time-frame rather than sticking with it until it either becomes habit or doesn’t work any longer.

Do I recommend the 30 Day Vegan Challenge? Absolutely! I learned a heck of a lot through the entire month and I also experimented with different foods that I previously would have never tried. If you do well with cutting foods out cold turkey, then this will absolutely work for you and I 100% endorse the challenge and you giving it a try.

I wish I had a more positive final post for this challenge, but I’m working on it and little by little I will get to where I want to be. I’m just still finding my path.

Have you given any new challenges a try?

In case you missed it, you can read Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3 here.

Filed Under: 30 Day Vegan Challenge, Food & Recipes

30 Day Vegan Challenge – Week 3

Posted on July 5 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

Wooo… Has it really only been 3 weeks?!

So I’m going to be brutally honest right now and tell you how much I really REALLY miss eggs! It’s not even that I’m craving them, I just miss the convenience and ease of them. They were my breakfast of choice almost every morning and could be enjoyed a million different ways so I never got bored. Being unable to eat them has been super tough! I’ve come up with a bunch of different breakfast ideas and they all taste good, but none seem to satisfy me like eggs did. Two eggs in the morning, scrambled, hard boiled, sunny side up or poached, and I felt nice and full until at least 9 (I typically eat breakfast around 5 am), when I’d have my smoothie. Finding something that works as well has eggs has been a challenge all on its own.

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For those of you who have been vegan for an extended period of time or those of you who never were into eggs to begin with, you likely won’t understand my lament, but eggs are seriously such a perfect breakfast (or any meal) food.

Overall, the challenge is going pretty well. My meals still remain vegan but I have a mental battle with myself before almost every meal, where I have to convince myself to eat the vegan meal I brought and not go out to get something. I realize this is perfectly normal and this wouldn’t be considered a challenge if it were easy but still I want to share my struggles with my readers. I want them to understand what I am really going through (mainly mentally) so that they don’t assume this is a cake walk for me.

I have found and eaten so many different foods, items that I never would have even thought to eat, not because they grossed me out or seemed unappealing, I just found no reason to eat them. This has been a huge benefit of going vegan. I’ve also found that I am eating so much healthier even though I am struggling. The foods that I am eating overall are so much better for me and mostly veggies that my body has to be happy. I won’t lie and say I haven’t eaten some convenience vegan foods, but the majority of the foods I eat are whole, nutrient dense foods and that feels good. I want to overcome my crap eating so that my son is raised in a house where healthy foods are the norm and junk is a very rare occurrence.

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You’re probably wondering whether my cravings have subsided for junk food. In a word, no. As I mentioned earlier, I miss eggs terribly. It hasn’t bothered me not having cheese or meat, but what I am still craving is the greasy food of McDonald’s or Burger King. I was really hoping that those would go away. Maybe they will in the last week?? Here’s hoping!

As I embark on my final days of this vegan challenge, I want to let you know that I will be giving it my absolute all. I want to finish off with a bang, knowing I tried my best and made a concerted effort.

Has anyone been inspired to try something new recently?

Filed Under: 30 Day Vegan Challenge, Food & Fitness, Food & Recipes

30 Day Vegan Challenge – Week 2

Posted on June 27 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

(This is almost a week late, life has been crazy!)

I’ve made it through the second week of vegan eating!

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs with my menu but overall the transition hasn’t been that difficult. Admittedly, I’ve slipped a couple times and had eggs, dairy and meat, but the large majority of my meals were completely vegan.

My biggest challenge has not been finding vegan foods that I enjoy; the biggest hurdle has been fighting the cravings. I (sadly) love junk food, chips, cookies, fast food, pizza, you name it, it has been part of my diet. Every time I get in my car, I have to fight the desire to stop and fill myself up with that junk. I know that might seem silly to some, you’re thinking, make the decision skip to unhealthy foods and stick to that decision, but for some reason my brain doesn’t work that way. It is a constant struggle.

Israeli couscous, red pepper, raw pistachios, shallots and tofu… pure deliciousness in a bowl

I want to conquer this, which is part of why I started the challenge. I’ve tried a million different methods and still I struggle. I don’t blame those other programs, the problem absolutely lies within me but I can’t seem to conquer my junk food fetish, while still eating it. Because of that I decided that cutting it out completely was the best decision.

Honestly, it has been going pretty well. Within the first week, I lost a ton of weight, my pants were fitting better and my rings were swirling around my finger again. It was likely all water weight, but it felt good to feel more comfortable in my skin. Then mid-way through the second week, the cravings were hitting me hard and I hit a bump and stumbled a bit. I didn’t let it stop me though, I got right back on track and am proud to admit that I am still following the vegan challenge.

I’m considering expanding the challenge a few days, for each of the days that I ate “off plan.” At this point it would an additional 4 days, tacked onto the end. I see no reason not to, so right here and now I am making the decision to continue on after the original 30. The original 30 would have ended on July 9th, but that instead will be expanded to July 13th.

You’re probably wondering how I’ve been feeling, whether I have felt more energy or if my mood has changed. I am more than happy to report that when I follow a vegan diet very strictly, I feel so much more energy. I don’t feel like I’m crashing mid-day or like my blood sugar is going haywire, I feel good! At this point, I don’t know whether that’s because of the vegan diet or just eating healthier, but either way, I am enjoying the additional bursts of energy.

What changes have you made to your diet lately?

Filed Under: 30 Day Vegan Challenge, Food & Recipes

Emmett’s Baby Led Weaning

Posted on April 5 by Jillian416 • 3 Comments

Around four months of age the topic of solids was broached at Emmett’s doctor’s appointment but we let his pediatrician know that we had no plans of introducing solids until he was 6 months old. We wanted his stomach to be as developed and ready for solid foods as possible. Plus I knew that he could sleep through the night without a “midnight snack” so solids seemed unnecessary for that reason. I will admit that he didn’t always sleep through the night but I knew that he was physically able to.

I have previously mentioned and did a book review of, Baby Led Weaning, you can see my review here. When I came across this method of introducing solids, it seemed like the best decision for us but I still had to convince Seamus that it was the right thing to do for our baby. I’ll be honest, I was concerned it would be tough to convince him but with my solid level of knowledge and armed with answers to all of his questions, it was pretty easy to sway him.

There’s nothing magical that happens on the exact date that a baby turns 6 months but we wanted to wait until that specific date. Well, unfortunately it had to be postponed for a couple extra nights because our power went out on his 6 month birthday and then again the next day. I was disappointed but also it just prolonged the excitement of giving my baby his first solids.

The book talks about what foods are best to start with and the one they recommend most frequently is broccoli, so we went with that. I was really curious on how Emmett would react to his first taste of food, he’s been breastfed since birth so he’s not used to the exact same flavored drink like formula fed babies are, so I wasn’t nervous but I couldn’t wait to see his facial expressions.

Seamus cut the head of broccoli into long stalks and we roasted it plain for about 10 minutes. Once it cooled, we placed a couple stalks in front of him; he almost instantly picked one up and put it to his mouth. He sucked on the florets and his face was instantly covered in the little buds, it was adorable but there wasn’t a single funny expression. He didn’t cringe or look grossed out, he just ate. I was shocked! I truly expected him to have even a slightly negative reaction but there was none. At that moment, I knew I had chosen the correct path for Emmett.

We continued to have success with each of the new foods we introduced to him. He didn’t turn anything away until we gave him plain chicken breast. I’m not sure whether it was bland or he just didn’t like it but he just would have nothing to do with it that night. The next time we gave him chicken we seasoned it and he was fine with it. Who knows, maybe he just wasn’t in the mood for chicken; I know I’m not always in the mood for chicken. 🙂

There were a couple of times where I almost called it quits with BLW because the gagging and choking was making me nervous. Seamus, being a wonderful and supportive husband, encouraged me to skim the book again to look for any tips on how to handle gagging and whether it was normal. Being the nervous first time mom I was, I had read AND HIGHLIGHTED the section all about how gagging was normal, but had forgotten I’d done this. After rereading and see that it was completely normal and even expected, I was right back on the BLW bandwagon. That has pretty much been my only time faltering.

We did hit a few roadblocks with Emmett eating this way while at day care, but we overcame them with the help of our center’s director. This was the first time they had ever heard of a baby being fed this way and because they needed to remain compliant with many different standards they were leery of how things would go. Seamus and I met with the director to explain the process and the reasoning behind Emmett eating this way and after a couple of weeks things were up and running smoothly. They ensured us that someone would sit and watch Emmett while he. As he’s become more and more proficient with food, they’ve begun feeding him while watching other babies at the same time. Not all day care centers may be willing to work with you if you choose this method, but I encourage you to at least check with them and fully educate them before completely writing the idea off. I promise you, that feeding a baby this way is as easy as feeding them pureed food with a spoon and sometimes even easier.

This method may not be right for everyone but it has been nothing but successful for us. Emmett eats pretty much everything and we rarely have to make a separate meal for him, so it saves time in meal prep. Plus, Seamus and I are able to eat our food when it’s hot since Emmett is feeding himself and we don’t need to take extra time to feed him separately. The benefits of a baby eating this way are pretty much endless and I absolutely would recommend this to any parent who will be introducing solids to their baby soon.

To date, Emmett has tried and enjoyed (in no particular order), broccoli, sweet potatoes, corn bread, bananas, rolled oats (prepared), plums, red potatoes, chicken, mini-meatloaf, mini-quesadillas, mini-hamburgers, sweet peppers, apples, avocado, spaghetti, yogurt, mum mums, pierogi, pickles, ham, sausage, eggs, bread, cheese, pizza crust (with a tiny amount of sauce and cheese left on it), asparagus, tomato, peaches, strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, pears, cabbage, corned beef, pork tenderloin, grilled cheese sandwiches and applesauce (which he surprising did not like at all). There very well may be more but this is all that I can recall at this moment.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me!! Go ahead and use the ‘Contact Me’ button at the top of the page.

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes

March Goals

Posted on March 4 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I know many of you read my blog for the baby updates but for those who might be interested I want to start sharing more of my weight loss journey. I’ve shared throughout the months that I struggle with my weight and if you’ve seen pictures of me, you also know the extent to which I struggle. I am so very tired of being fat, tired of feeling sluggish, tired of being anything but my best and this needs to change.

I shared my March goals in yesterday’s post and I’d like to give some background surrounding those goals.

My first goal was:

Get in 16 workouts for the month

I’m setting my goal to 16 because that is 4 workouts per week, which is achievable and manageable. I know I need to be more consistent in my workouts and what a great way to do it! I WILL get to 16 but getting above that number is even better. Annnnd I’m already down to 15 workouts, after Saturday’s run!

My second goal was:

No fast food for the month, allowing for 4 meals eaten out or ordered in for the month.

This one deserves an explanation. As most people who are overweight, I’ve followed one diet after another and my weight has gone up and down (by my own accord) since forever. However, every single time I’d lose weight, whether it was WeightWatchers or just eating healthy, I’d always allow myself to eat whatever I wanted on Fridays after I weighed in. I’m talking going back 7+ years that I’ve been doing this (talk about an ingrained habit) and it needs to stop. This is not a healthy mind set and is not a mind set of a naturally skinny person, so going forward I will not allow myself to eat anything but healthy foods except for 4 meals in the month of March and the 4 meals that I may eat out should be healthy choices. I shouldn’t lose sight of my goals and let loose and have greasy, bad for me foods.

My hope is to break the junk food cycle because I enjoy fast food (aka: McDonald’s) a little too much. I’ve read numerous blogs over the last few weeks, written by folks who cut fast food out of their diets, and they claim they no longer crave that food and find the thought of it disgusting. This is exactly what I want and I am willing to try anything to achieve it!

I don’t care about being skinny, I care about being healthy. The weight should come off naturally but if it doesn’t and I’m eating healthy, clean foods and working out hard, I will accept that I am built to be heavier (this is not likely). So far, 4 days in, I am feeling so much better, more energetic and ready to take on new activities.

My third goal was:

Spend more time doing things that make me feel fulfilled and less time being a lazy lump.

Everybody wants to sit on the couch and do nothing and I will allow this to happen on occasion but I want to use my time more wisely. I’m considering reading the book, “168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think.” The book dives into how to track your time so that you know how you’re spending the time you have and can then adjust and have better time management. I don’t have terrible time management but I do wonder where my evenings go because one minute I’ll look at the clock and it will be 6pm and the next thing I know it is 10:30. There are so many things I want to do that I am not currently doing, ie: make jewelry, workout, blog and read.

A Pair of Earrings that I Made in the Past

All three of those items are ways that I use to spend my free time prior to baby. Now that my life has leveled off and I have learned how to handle being a mom, working and having free time (though, this is ever-evolving), I need to get back into each activity. I honestly feel like this will be THE hardest goal in March. I need to spend some time trying to figure out how this will look.

Emmett is usually asleep by 8:30 and I usually head to bed by 10 or 10:30, so that leaves me an hour and a half to spend how I please. I do need to share this time with getting my clothes and lunch for the next day ready, so realistically, I have about an hour a night. I’d like to use 3 days making jewelry but I can also spend time doing that on weekends, so maybe my best use of time during the week is to read, blog and workout.

Hmmm… That gives me something to think about.

Thanks for reading and keeping me honest!

Filed Under: All About Me, Food & Fitness

January Joiners

Posted on January 20 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

A January Joiner is someone who, joins a gym or commits to being healthy in the New Year, a term coined by Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point.

As I had mentioned in my New Year’s resolution post, for the past several years I have not made resolutions and I have also not been completely successful with losing weight and getting in shape, so I decided this year I would try something different. I decided to be a January Joiner! I was fortunate enough to be one of the few people that Caitlin decided to feature on her blog as a January Joiner (head to her blog to check it out) which is highly motivational because I know I will need to report my progress to her and her blog readers every few months.

I have someone else watching me too!

There are so many things that I want for myself that I am just not able to provide at my current level of fitness. Not only do I want to lose weight but I want to be fit, this is tremendously important since I have a young baby boy that I’ll be chasing around, eventually. It is hard to stick to healthy foods when there are so many other greasy options available but as my husband reminded me, I am in charge. If I want to say ‘no’ to ice cream at night all I need to do is say no and stick to that decision. I need to take charge of my life that I have let get out of control for so long.

You might have noticed that I haven’t been posting my Friday Fitness posts. Before you assume that I just gave up, let me set you straight. 🙂 I actually have been doing really well, tracking everything that goes into my mouth, even the worst items and I’ve been walking again. The thing is, I haven’t decided how I want to share my progress with you yet, I’m still working on this part.

I want this to be the year that I finally get my head on straight as far as eating and fitness are concerned. I don’t expect to be at my goal weight by the end of the year but I would love to be very well on my way. I can do it too, there really are no excuses! There are plenty of people who have kids, full time jobs, a spouse and still find time to workout, so I can too.

I want to thank Caitlin for including me on her blog because not only is it fun to be “kinda famous” by being featured on her blog, but it is also helping to lead me in the direction of better health, which is so important for me, Seamus and of course Baby Emmett.

Filed Under: All About Me, Daily Updates, Food & Fitness