MamaManagement

This post is as much for me as it is for you. I am just beginning my journey into the land of Body Positivity and #BellyLove is my next big step. As many of you saw in my last post about diet culture, I've recently been inspired by a #BodyPositivity movement that came to my attention through Instagram. This movement is all about loving our bodies just as they are, in whatever shape they are in. It's about ditching the pervasive diet culture and body shaming, and seeing the beauty in every body...especially our own. This Body Positivity movement is connected to another movement called # HealthatEverySize . Which focuses on being healthy and doing the best for your body regardless of what size you are. Not worrying about what the scale says or whether of not you have washboard abs and a thigh gap, and instead focusing on eating foods that make your body feel good and doing movement that promotes good mental and physical health AND feels good...without caring at all abo...

I have subscribed to the pervasive diet culture that exists in the United States for my entire adolescent and adult life. As a one hundred and fifteen pound teenager, I believed myself fat. My body, though I see now in the rearview mirror of age, was beautiful even by society's standards, became a loathsome enemy very early on. I compared myself to magazines and movies and friends. Everyone was always thinner and more beautiful. Everyone had clearer skin and a skinnier waist and thinner thighs. I was an attractive enough girl...and then woman. I wasn't "ugly" per se, but I was less than. Within each decade of my life, there seemed to be some magical (and unattainable) number on the scale that held the holy grail of "enough". If I could just get to that number...120, 125, 130, 135...then everything would be great. I'd be thin enough, pretty enough, fashionable enough... I'd be enough. As I got older, especially once I had kids, that "...

photo from pinchofyum.com It's been a while since I shared a recipe and this one was so good, I knew that it would be my next post. Sadly, I did not realize this until after we'd devoured the entire batch...so I have no pics! I'll likely make it again next week, so I'll come back and add some pics then. So, this quinoa salad is pretty simple; it's nice and light, making it perfect for spring/summer; it's healthy, so you can feel good about eating; and, of course, it's delicious! Let's get to the recipe! Spring Pea and Quinoa Salad with Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette * For the salad: 1 cup uncooked quinoa 3 cups frozen, organic peas 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 6 slices turkey-bacon, cooked and chopped 1/2 cup raw almonds, pulsed in a food processor until crushed (or super finely chopped) For the dressing: 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/3 cup olive oil 2-3 tbsp raw honey (or to taste) 2-3 tbsp basil paste (or to taste) or 1/2 cup f...

Hey friends! It's that time of year again! New year...New you! Last year at this time I was gearing up to start my first Danette May 30 Day New You Challenge. I completed that, went on to join her Forever Fit program, and have stuck with her eating, workout, and meditation plans ever since. (If you want to read about my experiences from last year, you can click on Danette May's name in "Tagged Stuff" in the righthand column. Or start with this post here: https://mamamanagement.blogspot.com/2017/02/30-days-to-new-me-danette-mays-30-day.html ) Buuuuuuuut... November and December were kind of crazy months with Nanowrimo and the holidays and some anxiety (insert dramatic eyeroll here) and, well, let's just say that I fell off the Danette May wagon (don't tell her). I almost completely stopped my workouts and meditations and I'd say I was eating on-plan about 60% of the time. And my belly will tell you...not so good an idea. So, here I am at the st...

A pic from shortly after the 30 Day Challenge So, September 9th was my 8-month anniversary with Danette May. (Yes, I realize that's sounds a bit like we're dating in high school, but I assure you, this is so much more serious that all that.) In case you haven't read my other posts on this: Eight months ago I pretty much dropped everything and decided to focus on my health (right on the heals of dropping everything for a month to focus on the holidays and everyone else...which wasn't super successful in the "make me happy" department). I began changing lots of things, but the biggest change I made at the time was joining Danette May's 30 Day New You Challenge. And in the eight months since then, so much more than weight loss has happened. (Click here: https://mamamanagement.blogspot.com/2017/02/30-days-to-new-me-danette-mays-30-day.html  to read more about my 30 Day New You Challenge experience.) The photo above was taken shortly after I complete...

I've shared with you my overall experience with Danette May's 30 Day Challenge. I've shared with you a more detailed look at both the clean eating and the exercise involved in the program. The last key component to the 30 Day Challenge is meditation. So that's what we're talking about today! The meditations included in Danette May's program are short, guided meditations that focus on positive affirmations with a little visualization. (Think: listening to a relaxing, 5 minute audio recording and repeating positive statements like "I am enough" and "I love my body as it is today and will be tomorrow.") If you've read my post on Danette's workouts, you know that she incorporates affirmations and intentions into many of her workouts as well, and it's one of my favorite things about how she works. Here's what I think... We spend WAY too much time saying negative things to ourselves and absorbing negative messages from the...

What do I love about Danette May's workouts for the 30 Day New You Challenge and Forever Fit Programs? Here's the short version: - They are fast. - They are easy to do every day. - They are effective. - They are positive and uplifting. - They make me feel good. Before I break it down in a little more detail for you, you might be wondering what her workouts are like. Well, I'll tell you this...they keep you on your toes! Each workout is different. Some are very pilates-focused and some are more burpee-bootcamp. Some feel gentle and all about peace. And others leave you lying on the floor sweaty and panting for breath. It's a little bit of everything. Each workout is defined by a mantra (think: I am strong or I can do hard things or I am peace), which I love. Some of them are 18 minutes straight through, but many of them consist of a 6-8 minute workout set that you repeat three times. And each day, each week, she keeps you mixing it all up. And I can tell you, ...

Hi everyone! After my last post about my experience with Danette May's 30 Day Challenge, I thought I'd share with you all what a typical day of clean eating on Danette's program looks like for me, and a little about some of the biggest changes I've made in how I eat. I have been amazed by how much less I'm eating and that I'm not starving all the time-- you'll be amazed too! One of the biggest changes in the way I eat is that I no longer graze on random food throughout the day. I am much more conscious about what I'm eating and when I'm eating it. And that makes a big difference. I have set meals and snacks that I plan out in advance and that's what I eat. I used to plan family dinners for every night each week...now I also plan my breakfast, lunch and snacks in advance. Big change. During the 30 Day Challenge, Danette does all that menu planning for you. All you have to do is shop, prep and eat. So, how do I handle the planning now tha...

 A little more than 30 days ago I was in despair. If you read my last post, you already know that I found myself in a post holiday/start of a new year funk. And I knew that a big part of that funk had to do with how I was (or in this case, wasn't) taking care of myself. I had let the holiday season take over my life and my better judgment. I had given up good eating and exercise habits. I had stopped writing. I hadn't had a moment to myself. It was not good. But one part of where I was mentally, emotionally and physically wasn't just holiday backlash. It was part of a bigger problem. Since we moved to our current home over three years ago, I had gained weight. A lot of weight, for me. (As of January 1, I weighed the most I had ever weighed outside of pregnancy.) I had tried many, many times to lose that weight, as I was gaining it, over the last few years. I used the same methods I had always successfully used to lose/maintain weight or increase fitness--stepping ...

Go big or go home. When I launch into something new, that tends to be my mantra. Go big or go home. I'm not much of a half-asser. So when I decided, after my annual January soul-searching extravaganza, to make 2017 The Year of Health and Wellbeing, I went after it with gusto! Here's how it all started... When 2017 began (and when 2016 ended) I found myself buried beneath a big ol' pile of funk. 2016 had been a pretty great year--as most of the years of my life have been. But something about that run from Thanksgiving to New Years had left me drained and lifeless. So, as I do at the start of every new year, I began to assess. I sat down with my "Life Notebook" (the same one I brainstorm in every January) and started capturing ideas--what was I unhappy with, what were my goals, where did I want to place my focus and attention (and intention) as this new year dawned? (I really do love-me a clean slate.) Well, I generated a pretty lengthy list...

Spring had finally sprung! Hurrah! Time to move more and eat lighter. Which means...it's SALAD TIME! Soooooo..... Here's a yummy salad recipe. It's my new Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Yogurt Dressing. And it would be fantastic enjoyed as a nice, light dinner on a warm evening while relaxing on your back patio. It's pretty simple, maybe 15-20 minutes to prep. Feel free to tweak your salad ingredients with what you like-- though I really recommend the creaminess (and healthfulness) of the avocado, if you like them. You could certainly add chopped tomato, just get rid of the watery insides so it doesn't get soupy (or use grape tomatoes). Also, tweak the dressing as you like it. The way I've written the recipe, you'll end up with something slightly sweet (because of the honey) and with a little southwestern flair (because of the cumin and cilantro). If you like more bite to your dressing, decrease the honey and up the cumin and maybe throw in som...

I have been, off and on for most of my adulthood, a pretty heavy workout video user. Though there have been times when I worked out at a gym or only ran or walked for exercise (or was a couch potato), much of the time at-home workout videos have been a mainstay in my workout diet. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites from over the years…as well as this one little tip: if you have a great local library where you can check out dvd's (like I used to Ohio), the library is a fantastic place to tryout workout videos before you buy them…or just to mix up your workout routine--challenging yourself and your muscles and staving off boredom, with regular workout change-ups. I would simply research workout videos and create a list of ones I was interested in. Then I would put a couple on hold at my local library. I'd check them out and use them, then, as I needed to return them, I'd add others to my hold list or just randomly pull something off the shelves. It was great...