• Some say avoid fruits in the morning, others say to eat fruit in the morning.
• Some say eliminate grains, others say eat whole grains.
• Some say carbs only in the morning, others say eat carbs at night.

How are you supposed to practice good nutrition habits with so much conflicting information being thrown at you? Honestly, I don’t know the science behind any of it. I’m not interested in trying to figure it all out either. What you’ll read below is NOT scientific or professional advice. If you have health issues and concerns, please get nutritional advice from an actual professional (not from me).

That said, here are the common sense guidelines I follow when it comes to food and nutrition.

1. Eat when you’re hungry, not when you’re bored, sad, happy, thirsty, or simply in the vicinity of food.
2. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat.
3. Minimize sugary treats.
4. Try to eat foods that have an actual nutritional value for your body, stuff that nourishes it.
5. Eat more real food and less chemical imitations of food.
6. If it has ingredients that are longer than the alphabet, don’t eat it.
7. If it’s “best by” some date that occurs some time after you die of old age, don’t eat too much of it if any.
8. If it can spoil it’s probably a decent food choice.
9. Drink enough water.
10. Stop eating on the run or while you’re multitasking. Sit down and take the time to actually enjoy your food.

I hope that helps!

Like this post?  Please feel free to share it with someone you know!

Click to tweet: Not sure what nutrition advice to follow? Here are 10 common sense tips to help.

Click to tweet: The Common Sense Diet, keep nutrition simple with these 10 tips

I saw this posted on facebook by the Raw for Beauty Fan Page and thought it was awesome!  Even though my thumb is any color but green, some of these look fun to try.  I know I wouldn’t mind growing my own avocado, sweet potatoes, ginger, or garlic.  Oh and carrots (for my kids) and cabbage (for me).  Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to buy as much of your produce anymore?  You may have better luck than me though, so I thought I’d share. Here’s the post…

Various plants (in no particular order) that you can regrow from the food you already have!  Woot!  Way to reuse and recycle!  I constantly have green onions and celery growing. (And potatoes/sweet potatoes but that just because they decided to do that in my pantry)

Do you guys regrow any of your food?

Apples-> http://www.ehow.com/how_2135774_grow-apple-seeds.html

Tomatoes-> http://www.ehow.com/how_5581958_grow-tomatoes-fresh-tomato-seeds.html

Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes-> http://www.gardenguides.com/117543-plant-cuttings-potatoes.html

Green Onions-> http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/how-to-grow-green-onions-indefinitely.html
http://tipnut.com/nifty-food-plants/

Leeks-> same technique as green onions

Carrot Tops-> http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/children-in-the-garden/grow-carrot-tops.htm

Pineapple-> http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm

Celery-> http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/growing-celery-indoors-never-buy-celery.html

Romaine Lettuce-> Same technique as celery

Cabbage-> Same technique as celery

Avocado-> http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/09/09/how-to-grow-an-avocado-tree-from-an-avocado-pit/

Lentils-> http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/02/19/how-to-grow-sprouts/

Pumpkin-> http://pinterest.com/pin/98375573080950437/

Ginger-> http://www.gardenswag.com/2011/12/5-foods-you-can-grow-from-kitchen-scraps/

Garlic-> http://www.gardenswag.com/2011/12/5-foods-you-can-grow-from-kitchen-scraps/

Bonus: Bok Choy – http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/how-to-regrowing-bok-choy.h

source : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=342544409154898&set=a.289445977798075.66910.284822361593770

I know that feeling. I used to be a slave to it. But I’m working to change that!

How do you start your day?
Before, I used to grab my phone and check email and social media before I even rolled out of bed. After all, I work from home. My customers and clients may have sent me something overnight, especially since I live in Hawaii and am hours behind the rest of the US. It’s super tempting to see what the rest of the country is already up to.

But now? Now I leave my phone alone until after I’ve had a chance to freshen up and take care of other things I’ve deemed more important.

My husband once asked me, “Is it so hard to send me a text message as you start your day?” He pointed out that when he wakes up in the morning to go to work, one of the first things he does is tell me good morning. Could I not do the same in return? He may not be with me, but him asking to come before my phone, email, social media, customers, clients, etc is what made me stop and think about how I start my day.

Since then, I decided to actually get up, get out of bed and freshen myself up before worrying about everyone else in cyber space. I decided to text or call my husband before I interacted with anyone outside our family. He was right. He should be one of the first things I think about as I start my day. I decided to take a moment and take a good hard look at my kids, smile, and be thankful (they’re usually still sleeping) before I check to see what cool photo someone posted online or see what update-worthy thing someone else’s kid did.

Before email, before Facebook, before twitter or instagram (all of which I have right at my fingertips on my handy mobile phone)…

My family and caring for myself well now come first. This choice makes me feel more connected with my family. It makes me feel like I’m taking better care of what really matters most. It also makes my day feel less hectic. I’m choosing what to do with my time and when vs responding to the every whim (aka notification) of phone. I feel less scattered, more organized, more relaxed, more balanced.

I’m not prefect.

I do still look at most notifications as they come through, but I choose not to jump at each one unless they truly are more urgent and more important than what I’m already doing. Otherwise, there is a time for interacting online.

What about you? How do you start your day?

Do you make conscious choices about what you do right after you wake? Or are you just reacting to things happening around you?

Last week, I picked up a bunch of REAL food from the grocery store. No packaged stuff. No waiting until meal time to the grocery store and try to figure out dinner while I shop.  I actually, hoped to avoid the grocery store for a few days, but that didn’t quite work out.  I DID, however, manage to stick to buying ONLY what was on my grocery list when I went. No impulsing on unnecessary and unhealthy snacks. That’s a bad habit for both my waistline and my wallet!

Baby steps to eating healthier
I’m not expecting myself to eat perfectly overnight.  Last week was the first week I started taking baby steps to eat better and spend wiser again.  I’m choosing small, do-able, actionable steps and executing them including…

• buying main ingredients for 3-4 days worth of meals before the week started
• no figuring out meals at the last minute while shopping for them
• when making those “extra” trips to the grocery store, stick with only the ingredients needed and what’s actually ON the shopping list
• shopping with a calculator and adding as you go so you know how much you’re spending before it’s spent! It’s tougher to trim back and stay within budget when you’re already checking out.  It really is nice NOT to be surprised at your total at the register instead of standing there thinking, “Oh my gosh, what did I buy?”
• minimizing daily temptations by avoiding the urge to buy packages foods and snacks (aka, shop the perimeter of the store vs in all the aisles)
• reducing trips to drive-thrus!!!

Easy paleo chicken breast stir fry
The first meal I made for the week was a super easy chicken stir fry recipe (pictured above). It sure smells yummy when you cook it! Turned out a tad more spicy than I expected, but that’s mostly because I’m unfamiliar with what different spices taste like.  Now I know that cayenne/turmeric = spicy taste.  I also could’ve added more ginger. I never cooked with ginger before and I didn’t want to overdo it so I erred on the side of caution there. But overall, not a bad dish!  Note: your chicken ends up looking yellow-ish as you can kind of see in the picture.

Here’s what I included in the stir fry:

• previously frozen chicken breast
• a sweet onion
• frozen chopped spinach
• grated ginger
• cayenne
• turmeric
• sea salt
• black pepper

Get the full recipe at tiffanyleegaston.com

What’s on your menu this week?

That said, it’s nice to have some simple guides and reminders you can look at to help keep you on track.

Here are 3 great Paleo Cheet Sheets you can grab free:

1. Paleo Cheat Sheet brought to you by Paleo Plan

2. Simple Paleo Diet Flow Chart

3. FastPaleo.com Paleo Cheat Sheet

BONUS: Living Paleo for Dummies Cheat Sheet

Enjoy!

Share this…
Click to tweet: 3 paleo cheatsheets to help you get started.

When asked what I loved most about playing sports, I always said, “My teammates.”

Winning was cool. Being an all-star was cool. Being a champion was cool. Being in the newspaper and on the news was cool. Getting a college scholarship was cool. But the BEST thing about sports were the PEOPLE.

I think that’s true for just about anything we spend a large chunk of time doing. We don’t just do it for the thing. Yes, the thing is great. The thing we probably enjoy tremendously, otherwise why spend so much time doing it?

But what makes those things even greater, what sticks with you long after you may be done with those things, are the people.

Even with all the athletic accomplishments I have, my teammates, friends, and even family probably don’t remember half of them. More than what I did, they probably remember who I was.

I know that’s true for me when I think of my teammates. I don’t remember a specific game winning play they made, through a number of them probably made a few. I don’t remember the specific accolades they got, though many of them were all-stars too. I DO remember the people they were, how they made me feel, and what inspired me about them.

This doesn’t only apply to sports. This applies to just about everything, friends, family, even business. When it comes to your kids, don’t forget this!

You cannot replace yourself and time missed with them by buying them cool stuff. They need and want YOU.

If you run or manage a business, don’t forget this. Your product is just a part of it. How you make your client feel, what kind of thoughts you put in to the kind of experience you give them, it all matters if you want to stand out in their mind.

People matter.  YOU matter.  Having good people in your world is invaluable.  Take care of them!

But this year Stephenie Zamora introduced me to the guiding word concept. She had some good success with it last year and is doing it again this year. So I want to give it a try.

Stephenie actually goes over exactly how a guiding word works as well as a nice explanation of how to choose one for yourself here. The short and long of it is that instead of setting goals or resolutions, you choose just ONE word for this next chapter of your life. Not one sentence, not one phrase, just one word.

For me, that word is…

CREATE

This year, I want to CREATE

• beautiful memories with my family
• space for more of what I want and less of what I don’t
• sections in our house that are more organized and less cluttered so we can begin enjoying this place we come home even more
• healthier HABITS in nutrition and exercise
• new expectations and habits for self and home care for our family
• awesome cool stuff for my followers and customers from the things that have been floating around in my head but never brought to life
• stronger relationships with friends and in business
• more income for our family
• regular date nights with my husband
• more space for generosity and giving as a regular part of life

What about you? What do you want for this new chapter in your life? What is your guiding word going to be?

I saw this on
zulily and thought is was such a cute idea for kids. It’s a cool looking, fun bike that helps them transition from a tricycle to a two-wheeled bike. BUNZI offers different colors and created this video to show you how it works.

Click play to watch…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-r-dO0zwGI

It’s part of Marcus Buckingham’s Career Intervention as featured on Oprah’s website. Hearing Marcus discuss these 4 commonly believed myths that can undermine your happiness and keep you from living the life you want, were very powerful for me to hear. Some of them certainly challenge “normal” thought. Others, if you can wrap your mind around them, really do empower you, which of course, is super cool.

We all need a little empowering every now and then. I thoroughly enjoyed this video (and Marcus’ take on strengths) and watched it over and over and over again. I think you’ll like it too.

One word of warning: If you have a teenager who you’re constantly on about grades, you may want to make sure they’re not in the room when you watch this video. They will never let you forget one particular part of it, which wouldn’t be terrible, except that your teen may miss the important point and may not use the bit of information they do remember in the most responsible way.  It’s the part when Marcus asks, “Which grades deserve the most attention from you?” The answer goes against what most parents say and do.  His explanation was very interesting and really hit home with me because I sorta knew it, but just not at that level or applied in that way.  Just watch and you’ll see what I mean.

Click on the image below to watch the video

• When you eat like sh!t you feel like sh!t.

 

• Drink more water.

 

• Make sure you have lots of good food around for before and after workouts…and all day for that matter. Otherwise you feel like puking before you even get to the actual workout part of class and flat out have less energy.

 

• And try to get more sleep. This whole yawning throughout warmup thing is just not cool.

 

• Did I already mention eat better?

Ok, I think that’s it.

On the up side…
In spite of all that, I still set a 10# PR (Personal Record) for my back squat since two weeks ago. I also did more in the 10 minute workout today than I did two weeks ago, and with heavier weight! I guess I am “stronger than yesterday.”

Also my form and technique felt much better today and I learned a little trick from my coach which really did work and helped me do the lift easier while maintaining form. Yay!

So cool how this working out things works when you show up consistently and just do the work. Then again, that’s true for just about anything! You will makes improvements if you just keep at it, day after day, week after week, month after month. You will get better. You will make improvements. Baby steps work.

It’s so strange. As difficult as CrossFit looks (remember I’ve been watching for almost a year) and as challenging as it is, I found myself looking forward to going back. One twitter pal of mine mentioned, it’s not Kool Aid, it’s more like crack – highly addictive! I think he may be right, but there are certainly worse things to be addicted to.

I never intended to do CrossFit.  My husband was looking for something, that little extra push, to get back in shape.  He decided CrossFit would be perfect for that.  He was right. My husband lost 43lbs so far and is unquestionably healthier and stronger than when he started.

Me?  I didn’t need that.  I could get back into shape on my own after baby.  I’ve already done it a number of times.  I didn’t need a “gym” or trainers.

What changed?

Well… 1) it wasn’t happening fast enough for my liking AND 2) all my girls, including the one that just turned 5, can do a pullup and I can’t.

Up to this point, I’ve been the most in shape person in our family. I’ve been the most regularly active.  When I saw that just about my whole family passed me by, I got fed up and decided to get going.

Thankfully, my husband is supportive. Okay, maybe supportive isn’t exactly the word considering he’s been wanting me to join him for months.  I think he was more excited about me starting than me. lol

But I’ve always known it’s not something I can do because someone else thinks it’s good for me. It had to be my choice otherwise I knew I’d never stick with it.  That’s why I waited so long.  I never wanted to start because someone else wanted me to.  It doesn’t work that way.  With a new baby around, you can imagine, my focus was elsewhere.  I had no interest in rocking it in the gym.  I had other major mom life adjustments to focus on and get used to!  So I waited.

But now it’s time and I’m happy for the space starting CrossFit created for me. Yes, I can exercise at home for free. In fact, I distinctly remember thinking, “I don’t need to spend $100+/month to get in shape.  Other people might need to, but I don’t.”

However, those involved with CrossFit know it’s not just about the exercise or the workouts. It’s about the community. It’s about the environment.  The experiences and people in the CrossFit world are amazing.

Aside from that, signing up for CrossFit meant…

Mommy HAS workouts 3x per week at this time. No questions. No excuses.

There’s NO putting it off for other things. Now the pressure is off me to “find” the time. It’s set. The schedule is decided for me and the whole family knows it and respects that time in a way they (and I) didn’t when I tried to do it on my own.  That’s a BIG deal.

The other interesting development involves sleep.  I’m not a morning person and yet I’m up early 3x a week to workout at 6am. Who does that?

I LIKE my sleep. I LIKE to sleep in. I prefer staying up late to waking up early. In fact, years ago my husband asked me to get up with him before work to exercise and I basically said, “HECK no!”

Now, I’m doing it and he prefers the later workout times. lol

I LOVE getting my workout in and done first thing in the morning. My kids are still sleeping and there’s nothing to get in the way or distract me or take my focus off what I’m going to do. It’s much tougher for life, or other excuses, to get in the way with my workout scheduled first thing in the morning.

Side benefit: it forces me to sleep at a decent hour 3x a week when before I could easily stay up past midnight every night.  In other words, this forces me to take better care of myself. Good stuff.

After a month of CrossFit, I’m already feeling stronger and re-shaping my body.  Man have I missed my muscles! I’m also finding more and more daily movements becoming easier like they were before baby #6 and #7. I’m no where near my husband or my kids as far as fitness level, but this is not a race. I’m not training for some competition with a deadline. This is a lifestyle choice which I can continually get better at over time.  I’m loving it and looking forward to the journey!

About Teenagers
Here’s something than ran through my brain this week. Can you relate?

Dear darling teenager,

You’re totally and completely free to make your own decisions about anything you want…

So long as they are the ones I approve of.

Love,
Your mama

Completely reasonable right? I hoped this way of thinking would end as my kids became adults, but then a mama with adult kids said she still finds herself wanting to tell her kids that. *ugh* Okay, so maybe it won’t go away, but I sure do hope it fades lots!

Set it and Forget it
I saw this on Amazon. It’s a Hamilton Beach “Set ‘n Forget” 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker. What a mouth full. Anyway…as soon as I saw the that title, my first thought was. I wonder what would happen if I actually did set and forget it? Does it really work? Or would be dinner look forgotten?

I’m sure it would be fine. It’s just that my slow cooking adventures typically don’t go well when I forget them. Then again, could be because I don’t have THIS “Set ‘n Forget” model. Minor detail.

What do you think? Do you have experience with this? Can you really set it and forget and not end up with food that looks forgotten?

/mamapondering

I admit, I love it that my kids think exercise is FUN!

Room accommodations have been made, our oldest daughter will earn her entry fee by end of this week, and it looks like airfare will be worked out soon as well.

Again, so blessed with so much, with wonderful friends that we’ll be able to share the experience with, with just so much working itself out around this event. So, so thankful this morning.

If you’d like to contribute and help our 15-year-old and our 13-year-old get to their first CrossFit competition, there are two Paleo cookbooks available for $27 each. Your purchase of either one helps! At least 50% of the proceeds go to the girls’ competition fund.

The first has more recipes in it including some desserts. The second seems to be a bit more strict as far as ingredients. Grab the one that fits you best!

Option 1: 70% of your purchase goes toward the girls

Option 2: 50% of your purchase goes toward the girls

Side note: Both my 15yo and my 13yo want to enter their first CrossFit competition on the Big Island of Hawaii next month. Of course, there’s the matter of raising the money to enter and get there! Any purchases made at this zazzle store will help. Thanks

Baby boy made 6 months today.

Happy 6 months my son!

I’ve really been in no rush to start him on “solids” or supplement his feeding in any other way.

But now he looks interested in food when we eat. He watches more intently and actively reaches for whatever we hold in our hands.  I almost lost my drink a few times, but thankfully my hands are still a little faster than his.

His two front bottom teeth came in and I think he’ll get more teeth soon.  All this makes me think he’s just about ready for trying new foods.

But I’ve been thinking about what to feed baby since our family is working on eating healthier (eating more real food, less salt, less sugar, less processed junk).  In fact, I asked my oldest daughters, ages 15 and 12, what they thought babies ate before Gerber existed.  While that made for interesting conversation, they didn’t really contribute any useful information for the pondering in my head. 

The thought of feeding baby bottled baby food while the rest of us are going LESS processed just didn’t sit right with me.

So what do we do? Make our own baby food?

I thought about it, especially now that we own a Ninja 1100, but then I heard about baby led weaning. I always thought that phrase meant letting your baby decide when to stop nursing.  Well, after some googling I realized I knew nothing about baby led weaning! lol It turns out the word “wean” in other countries means something different than in the US.   It also turns out baby led weaning is not just about when to end breastfeeding.

I learned a lot just by reading the home page at BabyLedWeaning.com.

Did you know the word wean in the UK means “adding complimentary foods?”

The tag line at BabyLedWeaning.com is “The mush stops here” because baby led weaning doesn’t involve purées or food processors.

Wow!  I’m not sure I totally buy into the whole think yet (I worry about choking!), BUT I am sure I want to avoid bottled baby food as much as possible with my little guy.

With that in mind, I’ve since let baby boy nom on a banana and watermelon. He LOVED both.  Yes, it’s kinda messy, but babies learning to eat normally are.  And yes, I realize HE’S supposed to be holding the food, but the banana was too slippery!

Today I gave him some chicken but instead of just letting him nom on it himself, I chewed it all up first and let him suck little bits into his mouth when he put his mouth to mine (which he does often…not all my kids did this, but he does so I went with it).  I love watching the expressions on his face when he tastes new food.  So cute! 

I know, I know.  I’ve got a lot to learn about baby led weaning.  If you’re interested, BabyLedWeaning.com provides helpful tips on their Getting Started Page.  My favorite tip?

(Slightly bitter) experience suggests that the more effort you put into making something special for the baby, the less likely they are to eat it. Give them what you’re having. If they hate it, fine, they’re getting their calories from milk anyway.

Have you ever done baby led weaning? If so, how did you start and what did your little one love most at first?

Leave a comment and share!

Press play below and watch baby boy chomp on his first ever banana…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC4oy8dpRCM