by Kami | Feb 16, 2015 | How to Get Healthy
At 9 months pregnant and plus 30 something pounds (sometimes 60 when holding my daughter), the extra weight about killed me. I had joint pain, fatigue, difficulty breathing, slept poorly, digestive issues, reflux, and struggled with basic actions like getting out of a chair or going up stairs. I felt self conscious, moody, and unmotivated. And it was miserable. According to the CDC, 69% of adults and 18% of children are overweight or obese with rates rapidly increasing. Houston, we have a problem! This is exactly why we need to stop focusing on losing weight. It’s obviously not working. When the goal is to ‘lose weight’, the majority get easily discouraged and quit once the scale doesn’t move southward. There are always new fad diets and weight loss products promising big results. If it worked for Jennifer Lopez, it definitely will work for me, right? Wrong. There’s no secret. There’s no mystery. The only successful way to lose and maintain a healthy weight is through healthy living. Here are 6 ways to stop losing weight and start living healthy for long, lasting results. 1 ~ Stop trying to be skinny. Say it with me now… “It’s not about being skinny! It’s about being healthy!” Can we move on from “the only reason to workout, eat healthy, drink so much water, etc. is to be thin” mentality? Reaching a healthy weight and being fit are only added benefits from healthy living. When you choose to be healthy, you have more energy, sleep better, improved mental health, decrease in symptoms (headaches, joint...
by Kami | Sep 29, 2014 | Healthy Sleeping Habits, How to Get Healthy
Nothing brings more love, joy, excitement… and pure exhaustion than a newborn. We welcomed our little (big) baby boy just 5 weeks ago at 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches. We are just in love with him although Mission Get-Baby-To-Sleep is in full effect. Although these tips are specifically for newborns, most of these sleeping tips can help any baby or young toddler sleep longer. Since you and I are watching the clock knowing our babies can wake at any minute, I’ll get right to my sleeping secrets. Because of these tips, our super-little-man last night slept from 10:30 pm to 5 am, ate, and then went back to bed until 8:30 am. These tips will help your baby sleep anywhere from 1 to 3 hours longer than they currently do. Every bit helps, right? ***Please check with your pediatrician on how long you should allow your baby to sleep between feedings. I was given the green light at my baby’s two week appointment to let him sleep as long as he would.*** 1) White Noise Machine Did you know that inside the womb is as loud as a vacuum? Have you noticed how vacuums, blow dryers, shhh-ing, and noise/vibration from the car are soothing to your baby? Your baby grew from conception to birth with sounds from mom’s lungs, heart, stomach, etc. White noise and not silence is very soothing to your newborn. White noise will save the day (especially night)! I now have two of these affordable white noise machines, one for my almost 3 year old daughter and newborn son. There are several sound options, but...
by Kami | Mar 5, 2014 | Healthy Eating Tips, How to Get Healthy
I love sneaking health and nutrients into refreshing, sweet, and dessert-like smoothies. As my sister says, “I feel like I’m indulging in something I should feel guilty about.” Smoothies can fool the pickiest of eaters… yes, I’m even talking about your 3 year old who will only eat chicken nuggets. In order to have success in making your smoothie healthy and creamy, here are some absolute must’s: 1) You must… uh hmm… must have a quality blender! I, myself, am a Vitamix girl. I know they’re a little pricey, but worth every. single. penny. Here’s a post on why I decided on a Vitamix. If you’re not ready to take the plunge on a Vitamix, others have had success with either a Ninja or a BlendTec. Whichever you choose, I promise it will be used daily. I’ve made baby food, puree soups, ground wheat and other grains, and of course made rockin’ smoothie recipes. Your health is worth investing in a quality blender! 2) Your vegetables and fruits pass through lots of hands, dirt, pesticides, and other contaminates before reaching your lovely home. Wash your vegetables! I don’t mean rinse under water. I mean scrub those bad boys. It takes 10 extra seconds and removes lots of nasty stuff from your fruits and veggies. I have tried numerous of vegetable washes and keep coming back to Fit: Fruit and Vegetable Wash. Here’s a post on why you should wash your vegetables. 3) Sneak at least one vegetable into every smoothie. You can play around with different vegetable and fruit combinations. If it’s too sweet, add another vegetable. If it’s not sweet...
by Kami | Feb 5, 2014 | How to Get Healthy
We’re about to get deep and personal here… if you’re my mom or mother-in-law, this would be a great time for you to check out my Banana Muffins recipe! They’re really popular right now and know you’ll love them. Really, I love you both but this post is not for your eyes. Okay… seriously… Mom and Julia please stop reading. Okay, first there’s a difference between sex and intimacy. The definition of sex is well… the same definition you learned in 5th grade maturation class. It’s purely the act of sexual intercourse. Intimacy though is a close, familiar, affectionate, or loving personal relationship with another person. A detailed knowledge or deep understanding of someone. Oh, I LOVE that! I know several people who have sex not intimacy in their marriage. Their perspective on sex or comments about their spouse quickly tell me whether or not they have intimacy. A little part of my heart breaks when someone makes a negative comment on marriage. There’s nothing better than having someone who deeply understands you and affectionately loves you anyway. We all have potential to achieve this in our marriages. My husband and I frequently re-evaluate or tweak or change or omit things in order to keep our marriage a primary focus. Work stresses, busy schedules, poopy diapers (sometimes taken off and thrown on the floor), tantrums, illness, and dirty dishes can easily distract us from spending energy or time on our marriages. Even through stresses of life, true intimacy can be found. Here are some ways we have increased intimacy in our own marriage. ***DISCLAIMER*** These are my own opinions established from my own experiences. None of...
by Kami | Jul 29, 2013 | How to Get Healthy, Kitchen Essentials for Getting Healthy
My husband is an amazing and patient man. How does this apply to you needing to purchase a Vitamix? Well, we have always loved making smoothies. Correction: HE has always loved making smoothies even when it took 20 minutes in our old blender. He would pack that thing full then spend FOREVER attempting to blend it all up with numerous of stops and stirs in between. It was exhausting, and I didn’t have the patience for the ritual. One year for our anniversary, we decided to buy a Blendtec as our gift to each other. Romantic, I know. BUT I was beginning to loathe and detest our old blender. That thing needed to go! I was over and done with the 20 minute smoothie making routine. SO, we purchased a Blendtec. We anxiously packed it full of fruits, veggies, and ice according to the directions. We put the lid on, looked at each other full of anticipation and excitement, flipped on the switch, and…. NOTHING! The engine was blazing, but none of the ingredients even moved! SO DISAPPOINTED! Since this was an expensive, high quality blender we were willing to give it a second try. Same thing. Third, fourth, fifth, and final try… same thing. Since Bed Bath and Beyond have an amazing return policy, we returned it for a Vitamix. We are in love with our Vitamix! I use it at least once a day. It blends anything and everything and has a tamper to stir ingredients while blending. I use it for smoothies, dough, soups, batters, and grinding whole wheat, flax seeds, and other grains. It’s a NDA kitchen essential and a must...
by Kami | Jul 15, 2013 | Choose Healthy Living, How to Get Healthy, Step-by-step towards HEALTH
There’s an unhealthy relationship going on in YOUR HOME! It’s leaving either YOU or YOUR SPOUSE or YOUR CHILD or YOUR LOVED ONE feeling anxious, depressed, guilty, unsuccessful, rejected and just plain miserable! This needs to be stopped immediately!Do you realize the severity of the situation since in the last couple of sentences I’ve used several EXCLAMATION!!! POINTS!!!?!?! Are you prepared to learn the truth about this horrible, emotionally abusive household item that’s preventing weight loss? YOUR SCALE. It’s not your friend. In fact, it’s your enemy and should be immediately tossed in the trash. Go ahead. I’ll wait…. No, I’m serious. Get that thing out of your home before you read another line! Okay, is it gone? Whew! Do you feel better? I know I do. Let’s re-cap your relationship with ‘the scale.’ Did it just stare at you whenever you got out of the shower or sat on the toilet? Did it always remind you of that last ‘bad number’? When you worked really hard to make healthy changes, did it just make you feel like a failure? Did the numbers displayed make you feel anxious, depressed, rejected, and/or unmotivated to keep living healthy? THIS ‘THING’ IS LYING TO YOU AND PREVENTING YOU FROM LOSING WEIGHT AND ENJOYING HEALTHY LIVING! Remember the beginning of this journey YOU and I started together? There were a couple steps to jump-start your healthy living… don’t forget about my eBooks for a more in depth plan. 1) Stop dieting. 2) Figure out your motivation for becoming healthy. Personally, I don’t think a ‘number’… like losing 30 lbs… is stronger enough motivation....
