The other day I was in Target and overheard a conversation between two moms. Mom #1- "Look at me buying frozen pizzas! Cheryl would say I obviously don't love my kids." This is when my ears perked up and I continued lurking in the frozen food section so that I could hear how this conversation would play out. Mom #2- "Oh yes...you are a horrible mom! Feeding your kids things you can't even pronounce. Seriously, if I have to deal with Cheryl and her condescending attitude anyone more I'm gonna lose it. We're all happy that you are perfect and feed your kids only organic everything. We can't all ..read more

How are you doing with your healthy eating goals? If you are anything like me, you've decided to start again tomorrow four tomorrows ago. Today I got to thinking about why I've been struggling with healthy eating lately and it's not just because of the holiday goodies. What I realized was that it's largely due to the fact that I'm not planning ahead. I'm waiting until I'm hungry or even starving and then eating whatever is convenient. I learned when I first started on my journey to become healthier that meal prepping was something that not only made my life healthier, but made my week run smo ..read more

"If my husband ever cheated on me, I'd put his crap in the front lawn and have the locks changed before he got home." Sound familiar? Maybe you've said something along those lines before or maybe you've heard someone else express exactly how they would handle a cheating spouse. I think it's really easy to look at someone else's situation and quickly determine how we would react if we were in their shoes. It's easy because it's just theoretical. In fact, I was one of those women who thought I knew exactly what I would do if I were ever to be cheated on. I would be eerily calm about it, but I w ..read more

Have you ever seen the mom shirts that say, "Fueled by coffee. Sustained by wine"? Yeah, that very well could have been my motto. I've loved the taste of coffee since I was a kid and wine, well, do I really have to make a case for it? That being said, I have been on a journey to be the healthiest version of myself while also enjoying my life to the fullest for about a year and a half. I had lost about thirty pounds and was feeling a lot better and stronger, but still had that last little bit of belly fat hanging on. In May I was talking to a friend about my journey and my struggle to lose sai ..read more

Lately, I've been meditating on the fact that everything is temporary. At first, it can seem a little depressing. We don't like to think of ourselves as temporary or the things and people we love as temporary, but the truth is that the only thing permanent is change. What does this mean for me? I can tell you that meditating on this the last couple of weeks has helped me keep perspective in a way that I never have been able to before. Obviously, I've known this to be true, but never really focused on it and reminded myself of it regularly.  While it's true that this means that laughter ..read more

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get in a chicken rut. Chicken is a great source of protein and I usually make three or four chicken breasts at the beginning of the week to be able to put in salads, eat with veggies or, one of my favorites, cut it in strips and dip it in hummus. But as versatile and easy as it is to make, it's also easy to get a little burnt out with the same recipes week after week. One thing that I have learned on my healthy lifestyle journey is that variety is essential for me to stay on track. These are some of my favorite healthy chicken recipes to help you spiced ..read more

Growing up it was understood that when someone said they were sorry, we were to say "I forgive you." It was practically required. I grew up in a religious home where the word forgiveness was very loaded. It was my understanding that since God forgave us, we were to forgive others. It was gracious and it was the "right thing to do". Unfortunately, of no fault of my well meaning parents, I was born a Libra and I am, by nature a peace keeper. My mantra could very well be, "Why can't we all just get along?" Because of my inherent desire to please, this idea of forgiveness manifested itself in, wh ..read more

In the current political climate there is a lot of talk about women's rights and the audacity of men to make decisions about what women can and cannot do with their bodies. All of this talk has gotten me thinking about how my son is raised. As an unapologetic feminist I have always had the intention of raising him to respect women's place in society as equal to men's, to see the importance of women in our global structure and to contribute to the fight for equality in his own way. But recently I have felt especially passionate about it and have really broadened my perspective as to what raisi ..read more

This is my busy, travel season for work and I would be lying if I said that I didn't indulge in some airport Auntie Annes pretzels here and there. The smell taunts me and sometimes I cannot resist. I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't let myself feel guilty about enjoying things like the occasional airport pretzel or an indulgent meal because I deserve it and because I adore food. I love to eat good food and sometimes it's healthy and sometimes it's not. Instead of feeling guilty or denying myself foods that I love, I just try to make sure that I keep things balanced. I live by the 80/20 ..read more

The other day, after fixing one of his broken toys all by himself, my four year old son exclaimed, "Mom, I did it! I'm soooooo smart!" I laughed and agreed with him that he was, in fact, very smart. Then I started to think about how I hoped he would always see himself the way I did. In an ideal world, he would keep that four year old confidence and boldness all through his life, but I know from working with teenagers for almost twenty years now that making it through those teen years and coming out the other side with self assuredness is easier said than done. I start to see the confiden ..read more