Month: September 2016

parenting

Taste the rainbow!

Katrina Russell

OK, I may get a little flack on this one, and I’m alright with that.I’m sure you’ve all seen the post about the mom who was “snack shamed” for sending her kid to school with Oreos, and I get that as parents we have the right to feed our kids what ever we want. But here’s the thing. School is a place where we go to send our children to learn things, and fist of all, learning good nutrition is also important, but on top of that it has been regularly proven that we learn better when we can concentrate. When our blood sugar levels are all over the place we can’t.

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I’m not saying that an Oreo now and then is going to kill you, but these teachers are dealing with 20 kids in their class, and the last thing they need is 20 maniacs running around from a sugar rush, and then crashing and not being able to focus or listen.

And yes, I understand that the new cool thing is to accept everyone no matter how unhealthy they are, but learning good habits as a child will help them become a more healthy adults, who may actually live to see their own children grow up. Obesity is real people. Diabetes, heart disease these are not made up conspiracies by the fruit and veggies market. These are real diseases that are killing people.

Now I understand that fresh fruits and veggies can be expensive for some and that buying the cheaper chips and cookies are easier, but let’s think about that for a moment. I’m not willing to put a little extra away to buy even raisins to help my child stay healthy… in other words KEEP MY CHILD ALIVE LONGER.

Sugar really is evil. There is study after study about not just how it affects our moods anddownloadjf energy levels and concentration, but also our long term health. Sugar is worse for our bodies than most fats, and most of the cookies and other junk foods aren’t even made with real sugar and natural fats, they’re made with high fructose, partially hydrogenated garbage that increases cholesterol levels, plays havoc with our blood sugar levels and even gives us acne… as if health problems weren’t bad enough!

Cutting sugar isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either. There are plenty of places to go for help, and plenty of real snacks to take the edge off. In fact, research shows that as one starts to cut out the sugars and salts from ones diet they crave it less, and I have found that my taste buds have grown so that real food’s flavor actually intensifies.

So the next time you get all bent out of shape because someone dared to put your well-being  before your wants, try to remember what your job is as a parent, and be as good to yourself too.

parenting

Please pass the bread

Katrina Russell

I was at a wedding last weekend and I was sitting next to a friend of the bride’s that I remembered a few years back was on the chubby side. Now he was REALLY SKINNY. I could just tell by looking at him that he had made dramatic changes to his eating… but not necessarily healthy ones.

When the bread came around he passed it by and I commented, “you look like you haven’t had bread in a long time”. I was right. Hpaleo_food_pyramid_ireye is on the Paleo Diet. I know this is the new fad thing and EVERYONE must try it and you lose all kinds of weight, but the problem is, it’s not particularly healthy. Our bodies need a certain amount of carbs and calcium, and though dairy is not necessary for calcium, one has to be very careful when one cuts out an ENTIRE food group.

The funny thing is in most cultures food graphs (they take on different shapes) grains is always very high on the list, and carbs is one of the main macro nutrients that people need. So why is it that low carb diets such as the Paleo, gluten free and Atkins are so popular and seem to work… It depends on the carbs that you eat.

56f08dc3150000ad000b2beaIn Japan where carbs are the main staple, people live longer, have less cardio vascular problems and in general are healthier. The thing is the carbs they eat aren’t processed concoctions with barely a nutrient to be recognized. They eat whole grain, mostly rice.. and veggies. Italy is another country that loves it’s carbs. Pasta, pizza, and all the other goodies get eaten in huge portions, but again, they don’t chemically treat all the grains before eating them, they don’t load them down with hydrogenated…. anything.

The problem with the new diets are that people start cutting things like pizza and chips, which is great, but they lose out on the good carbs, like whole grain rices, pastas, and yes, bread. Which is the main macro nutrient needed to give us energy. No wonder coffee and naps are so popular.

parenting

How do you talk to yourself?

Katrina Russell

I had an interesting conversation with a friend recently. This is one of those friends who is an amazing person but has extremely ow self esteem about everything. He’s the type who loves to make self deprecating comments and jokes and thinks that he doesn’t deserve anything good.

We were discussing my 3 year old son and how big he’s getting. I told him that everyone from other moms to his pediatrician comments on how strong he is. How he is very muscular even at his age. I said that he gets that from my side of the family, as his father’s side is slim, and tone, but not really bulky muscular.

His response was, “wow, that’s not cocky at all”. I was so confused by the statement. My comment wasn’t cocky, it was a biological fact. My side of the family is very broad and muscular and my ex’s is not. My brother is 6’6″ and did wrestling and football all through high school and college… that’s just the way it is. My ex is 5’9″ and wears a small-medium sized shirt. He’s not scrawny, just not bulky, and I’m not cut and defined, I just have a high muscle build. In fact, the high muscle concentration has been a problem for me as a girl and now as a woman. My scale and BMI are very misleading, as even when I was thin, my numbers said otherwise. It took me years to understand the difference.

8392d6b5d575384417308b7ac7a83413I started out a little offended by what my friend had said to me, but then I realized that it wasn’t about me at all. It wasn’t about my son. The comment was about my friend’s own person self esteem issues. He had been trained, either my himself or parents, or others, that complimenting any aspect of yourself is a fault. That you mustn’t “pretend” that you’re better than others, or point out or even accept your good qualities.

This friend has been looking for a new job, and myself and others have been telling him to go for this one or that one.. and he won’t. He doesn’t feel he is good enough, even though he is plenty qualified. He spends his time hoping for a brighter future, while constantly talking badly to himself about himself. I feel bad that he treats himself that way. He is a great guy and deserves better. The irony is that if he ever heard anyone speak to me the way he speaks to himself, he would probably knock them out.

People have to understand that self talk is the most important talk. We need to feed ourselves GOOD messages about our strengths, our bodies, our souls. We create our own lives. If we hear of a parent verbally abusing their child there is outrage and we understand the parent is creating havoc with that child’s self esteem. How come no one ever thinks the voices in our own heads do the same?… only we can’t walk away from that.

Uncategorized

It’s so not my fault

Katrina Russell

So… it’s official. I have a thyroid condition. Ugh… I’ve never had a “condition” before. At least I never knew that I did. Apparently my records indicate that I was tested a decade ago for hypothyroidism, but the doctor never told me or did anything about it. Anyway, now I have it and now I am… ON MEDICATION… as previously mentioned this is not a thing that I wanted, but also nothing that can be controlled by diet and exercise (according to my doctor, if weight-loss-diet-with-juicing-toning-plans-up-for-gym-56403you know of anything otherwise… please let me know).

The one thing that I will not do is blame my poor health choices on a gland. Yes, it may make things more difficult, but it doesn’t tie me to the couch or shove ice cream in my mouth.

I have an appointment to go back in a couple months to see how I’m doing. So far I haven’t noticed a real difference in my energy levels, but I’m starving all the time. So… yeah, not helpful. I’ll give it the couple months and then re-evaluate at that time. I also need to research how this condition can affect me if not treated. It doesn’t seem to be life threatening, so if it’s just that my metabolism is a bit slower and I’m kinda tired.. I got coffee to handle both of those things.

I’ll keep you posted….