Approximately 1.5 years ago I started seeing a nutritionist along with an Endocrinologist. I had been diagnosed with PCOS in the past and wanted to finally take the steps to work with a specialist to try to alleviate my symptoms and do whatever I could to keep my health in check. Unfortunately one of the many effects of PCOS is weight gain and the inability to get rid of the weight. 

I am still not convinced that PCOS is what I actually have but I do know that I have a terrible hormonal problem and I most certainly know it was the main cause of a slow yet steady weight gain over the years that suddenly decided to spike and cause me to gain 40lbs in one year. After such a large weight gain I was ready to take control of my diet and my body and get my life back.

Although I did learn quite a bit from the nutritionist what really happened was that I got back to my roots. Everything you learn in school is almost all you need to succeed in changing your habits, exercising regularly and eating right.

I’d like to share with you 10 tips that helped me shed that initial 40lbs and then after my son was born helped me once again to get rid of some of the baby weight (I was in the process of losing it when I got pregnant again). Most of these things I do/use every day or intend to get back to once this new baby is born.

• Bake It – Don’t Fry It – Lots of foods taste just as good baked as they do fried. For instance, potatoes. One of my favorite foods ever. If you use high heat such as 475 and very thin slices they crisp up just as well and they’re still delicious enough to fool yourself into thinking you’re eating them fried.

• Non-Stick Cooking Sprays – There are non-fat and low fat versions that you can find that have NO calories but even the traditional Pam has only 7 calories per 1 second spray. I use it for spraying on those delicious mock fried potatoes above and many many other things such as fish or baked chicken.

• I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray – I rarely use butter unless I absolutely know a recipe has to have it in order to work or if I’m cooking a traditional meal that calls for it and it’s mainly for other people in the family.  After I found the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray I was ecstatic. I use it on homemade garlic bread for spaghetti night, I use it on bagels, I sometimes “cheat” just a little and use it on things like hash browns (which is a treat for me).

• High Fiber Breads Instead Of White – I love white bread, let me tell you and yes I do still eat it BUT if I want toast in the morning I will now choose something high in fiber. There are breads out there that have 15 grams of fiber per serving. Fiber really does help fill you up. It does take some getting used to for certain things but in the end I actually found for toast and certain things I love the high fiber bread even more than white. You just have to actually give something a chance before deciding you don’t like it.

• High Fiber Cereals – If you must eat cereal there are many choices out there that will help you get the amount of fiber you need each day. What’s amazing about most of these cereals is that they don’t taste horrible like you’d think they would, you end up eating the correct serving size (not a full bowl!) and because it is so crunchy and takes so much work to eat, it actually makes you feel like you’ve had a workout lol. You end up getting full instead of looking for the next bowl… which when I’m eating my favorite sugary cereals that’s what I’m going for. I don’t think there’s ever been a day I’ve sat down and ate 1 serving of ANY sugary cereal. So get yourself out of that habit and reach for the high fiber stuff. Kashi has a great selection.

• Replace Eggs With Egg Substitute – Long gone are the days that Egg Substitute tastes bland and disgusting. Products such as Egg Beaters, which are actually made from real eggs are a great substitute for things that call for whole eggs. They have several varieties also, like southwestern which taste great as an omelet.  High cholesterol is an epidemic in this country just like obesity and it’s something that you have to work at fixing or keeping under control. Eggs have a ton of cholesterol in them and they’re about 90 calories a piece. Egg beaters have no cholesterol and about 30 calories per serving if memory serves me right.

• Eat Your Veggies – And no I’m not talking about starchy potatoes. I’m talking about delicious colorful veggies like broccoli, carrots, and leafy greens. You can use clever tactics to hide them. When making that omelet I was talking about in the prior tip add a cup of broccoli. No salt needed either because broccoli tends to be very salty and has tons of flavor. You’ll get a serving of veggies and protein first thing in the morning and you’ll have plenty of energy for the day. Trade your iceberg lettuce salad for baby greens or even make cauliflower puree instead of mashed potatoes. Don’t have time to cook cabbage? Try brussel sprouts. They’re delicious, full of iron, really flavorful and filling.  You have to get creative but you can do it!

• Eat Fresh, Not Canned and Cut Out The Salt – I know there are some things that we have to or need to eat that is canned but there are a lot of things that we don’t, a good example would be sloppy joes. Most of us love them. Why don’t you go ahead and check that can for the sodium content. WOW right? You can easily make that recipe at home and have about 1/10th the salt and most of that will just come from some of the ingredients you are adding, not actual table salt.  Canned veggies? Yuck. They taste so much better fresh or even frozen with no salt added or at least where YOU are able to control the salt content. If you’re buying stock in a can make sure you go for low sodium stock instead of full flavor. You won’t notice the difference, trust me. It’s just a matter of getting used to it.

• Naturally Low Fat– Popcorn!  – Yum. I love it. I go through stages with it where I could eat a bag a day… well, guess what? You can. It’s a healthy snack so long as you’re not adding extra butter or buying the move theatre version.. and most of all what I found was you do NOT have to buy the single bag servings. Make sure you check the back of both boxes, regular size and single serving size. You’ll see something funny. Most of the time you’ll have less calories if you eat a full bag of regular popcorn than if you eat the single serving size. My personal favorite? Salty and sweet kettle corn. It satisfies all my cravings in one and guess what? Popcorn has fiber!  Last but not least, check your bag of popcorn against a single serving size bag of chips. 150 calories for that little bag of chips and tons of sodium.. it’s an easy choice.

• Portion Control/Servings/Food Pyramid– This is probably the biggest hurdle you’ll need to cross when trying to get healthier because when you first start out you tend to really feel hungry. You need to realize that you don’t have to have tiny servings all the time, although it is better to eat small meals a few times a day than just 3 big meals.  Once you start measuring out your veggies you’ll see how much you’ve actually been denying yourself of the right foods. Consult the food pyramid (which we all learned in school) and use that as a guide for your fruit and veggie intake. Less fruit, less juice, more veggies, correct portions of meat. It’s all laid out for you and it can be your best friend.

To sum things up. You don’t need a nutritionist to tell you how to make correct choices because in reality that’s what they’re getting paid for. Mine literally made $200/hr and all she did was give me a printed out food pyramid and a lot of suggestions for snacks such as lara bars, atkins bars.. well… mostly bars! lol. She didn’t plan meals for me or come up with recipes she simple gave me a few hints here and there like switching out regular yogurt for Greek yogurt in order to get more protein. I do that on occasion but what I really do is I follow the food pyramid and I go back to what I learned in school as a kid.

Somewhere in time I got lost and distracted by all the commercials and peer pressure of eating fast. Why cook when you can get a full meal in 5 minutes for $5?? Seems like a good choice until you start packing on the pounds. 

My final piece of advice. Don’t deny yourself. Everything in moderation. You don’t have to give up fast food or desserts or anything else delicious.. Get control of your diet, your exercise routine and your health and you can still indulge on occasion.  Good luck and I hope these tips help.

This post was inspired by Twittermoms and Weightwatchers Smart Ones. 

About Heinz WeightWatchers SmartOnes:

From breakfast to lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks, Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® has a variety of great tasting, good-for-you meal options to help you manage your weight. So start eating smart, today.

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and WeightWatchers SmartOnes blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here

After I became a mother I quickly realized that I needed to change the way I did a lot of things. Because I live in a very small house the first thing I discovered was that I was unable to use bleach. The smell permeated the whole house and the thought of my little baby breathing it in scared me. That’s about the time I started thinking about ways I could change my old habits into more earth friendly, green ones. 

Although not everything I do can be considered green  I am always striving to learn more. If you have any tips that you can offer me I would be grateful and if you can learn from any of the following that I am offering, that would be wonderful.

I’d also like to let you know that this post was inspired by Twittermoms and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products. You can find more tips on the widget in my sidebar.

Recycle

Many cities nowadays have recycling centers or bins that they distribute to residents. I know that for me it was a bit of an issue for years because I lived in a city that only had recycling centers so you actually had to save up your recycling and take it there yourself. So it’s really just a matter of finding a place to store your recycling until you can drop it off or have someone do it for you.  Luckily the city I live in now, each resident has a bin that they can set out to the curb each week so as far as I’m concerned there is NO excuse not to recycle.

Over the years the amount of things you can recycle has increased. For instance you can now recycle old batteries (which you shouldn’t be leaving around the house anyway, they’re a choking hazard) and almost any type of bottle or jar, even the brown and green ones. If you’re unsure how to recycle most cities have a website that you can refer to, or call them they may have a pamphlet that shows you how.

Simply make it a habit and teach your children and family how to recycle and you will be absolutely amazed at how much less waste you put out to the curb and don’t forget the little things like toilet paper or paper towel rolls! Every little bit helps our planet and it helps your city save money.

 

Energy Usage

• Unplug – One of the quickest things you can do right now is to unplug all your appliances, chargers, and other energy hogs that you are not currently using. They usually call these things “vampires” because they still suck energy even though you’re not using them. For example I never keep my toaster plugged in. I don’t use it every day but when I do I wait for it to cool off and then I unplug and put it away. For me it’s also about fire hazards and just being extra careful because I have a toddler in the house. There are tons of other things you can unplug that you do not need to use while sleeping. Here are just a few examples
• Digital frames
• Cell phone chargers
• TVs, Vcr’s DVD players, stereo’s – plug them all into one strip and click it off before bed or work.
• Computer, printer, lamps, speakers – Same as above. 1 switch and they’re all off.

Switch Over To CFL Light Bulbs – According to the Energy Star website: “If every American home replaced just one light with a light that’s earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.”

For me this was a no-brainer a while ago. After each old bulb in my house was used up I switched over to CFL’s. They create a much brighter light, they use less energy BUT you have to be careful because not all are created equal. If you find some on sale for sale $1 you have to be aware that they’re probably not the best quality. So don’t be scared to spend a few bucks because in the end you’re really saving.

Water Usage

• Flush Only When Necessary – Some people will find this really disgusting but I can tell you from personal experience that it saves a TON of money on your water bill. I think you can probably only get away with this one if you live alone or you’re not very shy. I only do it during the week when my husband is at work because I know it would make him uncomfortable.  First of all let me tell you that I’m pregnant and I use the toilet A LOT. Maybe up to 10 times a night. Am I going to flush every single time? No way! Call me a cheapskate, call me weird, but I can’t bring myself to do that. It just creates so much waste. My water bill? around $40 every 3 months. No joke.

Laundry

According to the U.S. Dept of Energy appliances account for about 17% of your household’s energy consumption, with refrigerators, clothes washers, and clothes dryers at the top of the consumption list. With just a few small changes you can save money and energy.

• Wash in cold water – Most of the energy your washer uses goes towards heating the water.  I personally wash all my clothes in cold water except for 1 load each week. I wash socks and other whites such as underwear, bras etc. in hot water. I use a oxygen whitener and let the load soak overnight, the next day I rinse them in cold water.
• Line Dry Your Clothes – I know some people really love wrinkle free clothes and you can still have that when you line dry your clothes. Yes it can be hard in the winter time if you live in a place like we do, Michigan but there are tons of racks you can buy to hang your clothes on. As long as their is good ventilation in your house they should dry within a few hours or so. When you take them off the rack THEN throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes or so to get the wrinkles out.
• Get rid of multiple detergents and softeners –This one is just a matter of choice because I know there are a lot of people who would like to go “even greener” by buying special laundry soaps etc. I personally buy Purex laundry sheets. Since I’ve started that I’ve had far less bottles going in the recycling bin and I get softener right in with my detergent. When I throw my clothes in for those 10 minutes they’re nice and soft. I then re-use the sheets to put in my dresser to keep my clothes smelling fresh.

Cleaning

Making your own cleaning products doesn’t have to be a hassle. There are several of them that are so simple you probably never realized it.  Now I’m not one for the whole “use newspaper to clean your windows/mirrors” I just never could get the hang of it and always created more than of a mess. But here are a few that I use myself and that are tried and true.

• Vinegar Is The Way To Go – I’m not going to go into ALL the uses of Vinegar but it’s extremely versatile and you can find tons of info online. My biggest use for it? Pour some on a wash cloth or paper towel and wrap it around your shower head to loosen calcium, lime and rust or wrap it around your faucet handles, leave it while you’re cleaning the rest of the house and you’ll come back to find your faucet super shiny and clean. No toxic chemicals needed and it works better than most commercial cleaners!
• Disinfect and clean wood cutting boards – Rub with vinegar to disinfect and clean or better yet, soak it to make sure it gets into all the grooves and cuts.
• Clean Your Drain – Dump 1 cup of baking soda down your drain, then 1 cup of vinegar. When they mix, they foam and expand, cleaning your drain. Flush with hot water after about 10 minutes to half hour. Do this on occasion and you won’t have to be as worried about plugs.

Thank you for reading and I hope that this post helps you get started on your way to living a cleaner, greener life. Best of luck to you and Thank you for loving our planet!

About Mrs. Meyer’s:

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day makes household products for people looking for a better way to clean. Our natural, plant-derived essential oils are powerful against daily dirt and grime, but leave your home smelling like a garden, not harsh chemicals.

Our refreshing scents include cool and crisp Basil, soothing Lavender, invigorating Lemon Verbena and uplifting Geranium. We also make a line of Baby Blossom personal care products specifically formulated and dermatologist-tested for little ones.

All of our cleaning supplies are earth friendly — biodegradable, phosphate-free, and not tested on animals. Cleaning is something we all have to do. So why not make it just a little more enjoyable?

More info: http://www.mrsmeyers.com

Join Mrs. Meyer’s on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mrsmeyerscleanday

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Mrs. Meyer’s blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link to: http://mrsmeyers.twittermoms.com/about)

Deal Of The Day

Heads up! September 1, 2010 only Tropicana will be offering the chance to win a 1 hour massage from Massage Envy with your Tropicana Juicy Rewards. Who doesn’t need a massage after a long hot summer? The cost to enter? 2 pts but as always there is also NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. See Official Rules for details on how to enter by mail without purchase.

Need points?

Read my original post: Tropicana Juicy Rewards – 20,000 Ways To Save – If you haven’t already signed up read this post FIRST! because you will find codes that can be used but only within 6 hours of signing up. You’ll also find lots of info about how the program works.

If you’re out of points you can also buy a carton of Trop50 which will net you 6 points total.  Or you can use a shoppers card when you input your code from a regular carton of Tropicana oj and you will receive double points (6).

The offer begins at 12:01 a.m. CT on Sept. 1, 2010 and ends at 11:59 pm CT on Sept. 1, 2010. So go pick up your juice right now or get your points entered so you’re all ready!

_______________________________________________________________

Connect With Tropicana Online

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post in any way.

It’s the final countdown.  Doo doo doo doo.. doo doo doo doo doo. 

Yep, that’s right. I can’t believe it.   I am officially 25 days from my due date. Apparently having a 2 year old at home makes your second pregnancy just fly by. Except for the last few weeks which have not been fun at all.

Kidney Stones How I loathe Thee

I had planned to post this 5 days ago but since then I’ve come to the conclusion just like last pregnancy I am suffering from a kidney stone. I’ve been miserable and in pain for days. I considered the possibility I was having back labor but when the pain stayed focused on my left kidney I knew what was happening.  To survive this without narcotics has been an extreme challenge. I can handle A LOT of pain before I actually start complaining, I did have a 10lb baby after all, but right now it’s all I can do to stay sane.  2 times now I’ve considered going to the hospital but now my husband has gone back to work until Friday so I’ll try to stick it out until then.

Bed Rest? Yeah Right

This pregnancy has been filled with all sorts of surprises. From the start when I had awful morning (all day) sickness to the fact that I only gained 16lbs until 2 weeks ago when I went up 11lbs in 13 days! Then came the death of my Grandma and the high blood pressure, the preeclampsia scare, iron deficiency, weekly office visits that I was told I was no longer allowed to bring my 2 year old to (wow how convenient), the big-time hormone fluctuations and now finally the kidney stone(s) and hip/back pain because I’m approaching the weight I was when I was pregnant with my 1st son.. which we won’t discuss. All I’ll say is I gained 54+lbs.  Oh yeah and then there’s the bed rest.

Mommy’s Sick

My poor baby boy has really missed out this summer on a lot of things. We did make it to the zoo and played a lot in the beginning at the park etc. but for the majority of this time all he’s heard is the lame excuse “mommy’s sick”. Yeah, mommy’s not only sick but mommy’s sick and tired… of all those people who had promised to stop by and check on me or to call. Not one person has lived up to their promise. I’m sure some would even be annoyed if they read this but it’s true. Not one person has stopped by my house for the simple task of just asking a friend if they need help. I’ve had to pay all my help. I know for some it’s only fair that I pay them because they have had to miss work in order to help out but I still wonder where the friendship part comes in? When do someone unexpectedly drop in just to say hi or see if I’m alright?

I guess that’s all part of my life changing. Most of my friends don’t have children and those that do are busy 24/7 with work and other things.  Sometimes I ask myself though.. what’s my families excuse?  We’ve all heard that it takes a village but unfortunately around here that doesn’t apply. I got 1 hours help from my brother this pregnancy. Granted he’s only 18 and he don’t get it but my sister does and I have only seen her once in the past year and that was at my Grandma’s funeral.  I’ll never forget her last words to me. “you’re not alone”. I haven’t seen or heard from her since. Other people… we won’t get into specifics but they’re not here.. they’re not stopping by and they’re not calling. They return MY calls but they’re not calling…..and the thing that hurts the most…. they’re not spending time with my son and they’re missing out on things that none of us can ever experience with him again.  I log on to Facebook only to see that from sun up to sun down people are busy playing games and it just amazes me that people would choose that over a real life flesh and bone person that loves them, cares for them, wants to play and have fun with them and who talks about them non-stop. How many times can you tell a 2 yr old that EVERYONE is working when they’re really not?

Great Grandma – High In the Sky

With the moon and the stars. She watches us every day. At least that’s what my 2 year old son tells me. I haven’t talked about it much and it’s been 2 months now but the death of my Grandma has really been hard for me. I hadn’t seen her in person for 3 yrs and the last time I did she cried so hard her whole body shook. I don’t think anyone has been that happy to see me since then. I don’t know.. I don’t want to start a long drawn out story because I’m already crying now.. I guess I just needed to get it out. I miss her. I miss picking up the phone and getting advice and hearing her witty comebacks. I miss knowing that someone on this earth besides my son loves me unconditionally and would never stop speaking to me if they were mad at me. Would never abandon me out of spite. Would never just give up on our relationship. She truly loved me and she kept the most important promise she ever made me until the day she died. I just thank God that every day I have my son to remind me that she’s still around. It’s just really hard some days to get up knowing that everyone you lived with in your house is now gone. It’s just you…and you constantly wait around for others who don’t have time.

I think I’ll end this post now. I don’t write much personal stuff these days but I guess I just wanted it out there. I’m going to have another baby soon and things can happen that you don’t expect. Hopefully it will all be positive but in the case that it isn’t… at least someone will know how I felt. That’s what this blog was supposed to be about to begin with. Real life. Although I love doing giveaways and even as hard as it can be sometimes I still love my life. We all have bad days. This is my way of getting it out and moving on. Hope you understand.

P.S. I am a big fan of art. Since I haven’t had time to do my own lately I thought I’d start sharing more here in my posts from wonderfully talented artists from Deviantart, which I’ve been a member of for many years. This piece here is so absolutely fitting when I think of my Grandma. My son always tells me he can’t reach the moon or Great Grandma and since she’s up there now this piece is just so fitting. I tell him “Someday baby, when we’re very old and we’ve lived a long happy life we’ll reach Great Grandma again.”

The Stars Shine Down by *damaskangel on deviantART

There is a common misconception that eating well means eating bland, boring foods. Not true! There are many ways to jazz up your meals without using a lot of salt. Whether you use tricks like "oven frying" instead of deep frying, sauteeing in low-sodium chicken broth instead of oil, or incorporating fun herbs and spices, like Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning blends into your dishes for extra flavor.

Twittermoms and Mrs. Dash are asking us to share our favorite recipes and tips for low-sodium meals. In the end you’ll be able to find a ton of recipes at: http://mrsdash.twittermoms.com make sure you check them out! A mom can never have too many recipes on hand.

Dealing With High Blood Pressure

During this pregnancy I have had bouts of high blood pressure even though for the past 2 years I have made a conscious effort to lower my sodium intake (sometimes it just happens) but usually it’s brought on by our own actions. I have to admit that I have slipped once in a while, who hasn’t. I find the most important thing you can do when you’re watching your sodium intake besides eliminating table salt is to read labels. You’d be amazed all all the things you consume that actually contain salt. 

Eliminating Salt From My Diet

Let’s go back to eliminating table salt for a moment. When I first started doing this it really annoyed my husband. Now he will never admit it but he used more salt than anyone I know. He just didn’t realize it I think. I was going through a regular size canister of salt that usually lasted me years (yes years) in a matter of 6 months. How? Because the number one thing he did was add it to pasta when he’d cook it and he’s a big pasta lover. Well I took that over and no more salt. Guess what? He didn’t even notice unless he was watching me! Mmhmm. I know people crave salt but as far as I’m concerned most of it is in your mind.

After removing salt from our pasta I started doing it with everything else. Eggs and potatoes were big ones. I moved over to egg beaters for less cholesterol and I stopped adding salt and added more pepper. For the potatoes I added other herbs and spices and I started slicing them and baking them in the oven instead of frying. They were just as good.

It’s Just A Matter Of Getting Used To It

As far as vegetables, there are very few instances where I will add a minimum amount of salt. After learning how much salt is naturally in a lot of vegetables, such as cabbage I knew what I was doing was absolutely ridiculous. I don’t even make soups anymore with added salt unless I absolutely need to for taste and even then it’s very very little. Make the same changes and when you’re craving that bag of potato chips (which you won’t as often) you won’t feel as guilty!

Here Are A Few More Quick Tips For Eliminating Salt In Your Diet

• No Canned Food but if you have to, rinse it beforehand.
• Read up about how much salt is in vegetables, it will deter you from adding more.
• Use Low-Sodium foods when you can. Ie: Broth etc.
• Eat Fresh – Cut out the processed foods, especially things like noodles.

Here is a recipe I regularly make that includes absolutely NO salt, is quick, easy and very colorful, which makes it more appealing to children.

Low Sodium Chicken Fajitas

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders

Cut into thin strips the following peppers and onion:

1/4 red bell pepper

1/4 green bell pepper

1/4 yellow bell pepper

1/4 orange bell pepper

1 medium onion

4 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning

2 Tbsp oil or margarine

1/4 – 1/2 cup water

Cut chicken into small pieces, cook until no longer pink. (I steam my chicken to make sure it’s well done)

Remove chicken, set aside

Add peppers, onions and oil to your pan and cook for approximately 5 minutes. Return chicken to pan and let it get slightly browned.

Add Mrs. Dash and water. Depending on how much “sauce” you like, use less or more water. I like mine saucy. Carefully stir together and cook for approximately 5 minutes.

Serve in low-fat warm tortillas.

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here (make sure to link to: http://mrsdash.twittermoms.com/about)

Trident and TwitterMoms have teamed up and are asking us twittermoms to share what 5 simple things you can do for your child to help keep their smiles healthy and bright.

If you’ve read my blog or you know me well you know that this is a hot topic with me. In fact the last time I blogged about something similar it caused a ruckus in my extended family, who apparently was offended that I thought parents should be more proactive in their children’s dental health. Even if that includes not sending your adult child large chocolate bars after they told you they just had a root canal, crown, or anything else that costs a ton of money.

So before I share my tips with you I’d like to share some facts provided by Twittermoms and Trident.

Did you know that each year, more than 51 million school hours are lost as a result of problems related to tooth decay, the most common chronic childhood disease in America [1]? In fact, tooth decay affects approximately half of all second graders and nearly 80 percent of 17-year-olds[2]. That’s why Trident® has partnered with Smiles Across America® to help underprivileged children get the dental care they need.

It’s no surprise that education can play a large role in preventing cavities. Nine in 10 (92%) parents believe cavities in children are preventable, yet a majority of parents (86%) struggle to get a child to take care of their teeth[3].  So how can parents get involved and convince their children to take proper care of his or her teeth?  It is no easy task, but there are simple tips and reminders to keep in mind.  For instance, clinical studies have shown that chewing sugar free gum, like Trident®, after meals helps fight cavities.

My tips obviously only apply to children 2 years and younger and even though Mommy loves Trident and it’s a part of keeping my own teeth clean, my child is just now learning what gum is.

• Parents Need To Start Good Habits Early – As soon as baby get’s their first tooth you are able to use a little gum massager with infant toothpaste that does not contain fluoride. I know it takes patience and time but it’s a must in order to keep babies teeth clean. Remember, by the time they’ve gotten teeth they’re usually eating table food.
• Start Your Child’s Good Habit’s Early – Yes, as parents of toddlers and infants we need to help our children brush their teeth but once they are old enough to hold a toothbrush you can get them started on brushing their own teeth. My son was roughly one years old when I bought him his own little toothbrush. We continued to use the infant toothpaste that lacked flouride until he was comfortable learning how to spit out paste with flouride. Which was around 20 months.
• Sugary Treats Only For Special Occasions, In Moderation, and Never Before Bedtime – You might think I’m talking only about things like pop, candy and suckers. I’m not. I’m talking about fruit juice too. Around here my toddler NEVER drinks full strength fruit juice. Ever. He is limited to a small amount each day. But, we know that it’s not just fruit juice that’s the problem. It can be milk too. Although it can be hard and I had my own issues avoiding it with my son it’s best never to leave a bottle in bed with a child at night, or if you absolutely must, let it just be water (if they’re old enough). Anything that sits on the teeth long enough will eat away at the enamel. So when it comes to things like Cola and candy, you have to be extra vigilant. Personally pop is outlawed here for my child and candy is reserved for potty training (m & m’s). Now if it were up to me my son wouldn’t have even known what that was but leave it to Dr’s offices to offer your kids candy when they’re visiting and commercials to familiarize them with what it is! Haha. Yeah I’m not perfect, my kid eats candy BUT never before bed time, and never after brushing our teeth.
• Be The Model Of Good Behavior – If you tell your child to brush their teeth but you don’t brush your own, or you tell them they can’t eat candy at bedtime but they see you doing it, what does that say? For me it says “when you’re old enough you can behave like this to”. Well to be quite honest I don’t want my child to do those things when they’re small and when they’re an adult. I want them to have healthy teeth and gums and develop good habits that last a lifetime.  Get in there and brush your teeth with your child. Keep candy out of reach (if you have to keep any in the house at all) but most of all, don’t be a hypocrite! Remember, children watch every thing you do.
• Make Brushing Fun – I think the best thing you can do to encourage your child to brush is to make brushing fun. We have bought cute little toothbrushes, given in to using tooth paste with special characters on it that our child is familiar with and we brush our teeth together and have fun while we do. We say “ewww” and “yay” and we get excited. There is a routine. We do it in the morning and we do it in the evening. You’d be amazed how short of a time it took before my 2 year old was the one telling ME it was time to brush MY teeth and you know what? That’s ok because sometimes mommy needs a reminder too.  Just don’t yell and don’t force the issue. Make it a family affair and make it fun. Talk about how happy the dentist will be when they visit and how happy it makes your teeth when they shine. Just a little imagination and more patience is all it takes!  Good luck.

About Trident® Sugar Free Gum

Trident gum has long been a pioneer in providing oral health benefits to consumers.  Trident was the first gum brand of its kind to undergo testing in 1967 with studies showing that people who chewed Trident experienced significantly fewer cavities.  Trident is available in 11 great-tasting flavors:  Original Flavor, Bubble Gum, Spearmint, Tropical Twist, Watermelon Twist, Wild Blueberry Twist, Minty Sweet Twist, Passionberry Twist, Wintergreen, Strawberry Twist and Cinnamon.  All flavors can be purchased in 18-piece packs and 54-piece multi-packs (three 18-piece packages).

About Smiles Across America® (SAA)

SAA is a signature program created by Oral Health America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to care, education and advocacy around oral health.  SAA improves the health of elementary school students by supporting oral disease prevention services in school-based or school-linked settings, and demonstrating to communities that healthy mouths are integral to overall health.  For more information, visit http://www.oralhealthamerica.org.

Footnotes:

[1] Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, May 2000

[2] National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III

[3] Trident: Oral Health perception survey, June 2010

[4] Deshpande A, Jadad A.  The impact of polyol-containing chewing gums on dental caries:  A systematic review of original randomized controlled trials and observational studies. JADA 2008; 139:1602-1614.

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Trident blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (link to: http://trident.twittermoms.com/about)

Fracture is looking to get the word out about its new one-piece picture and frame made from printed glass that mounts directly to your wall quickly and easily. Twitter Moms and Fracture are giving an opportunity to 100 bloggers. Each will get a code to order a customized Fracture for review (for free). If I am one of the 100 chosen I will be be writing a follow-up post about Fracture with my feedback after testing it out.

If you know me you know just how into photography I am so I really look forward to being able to review this. It looks awesome and after checking out prices, it’s totally affordable! You really need to check out their site to get a better look.

Printing Can Be Costly

Printing and framing pictures is often a huge hassle and can become really expensive really fast. Between getting your photos printed, finding a suitable frame, and figuring out how to mount them, the frustrations (and dollars) have mounted, and the magic has gone away.  However, you now have a contemporary, affordable, and practical way to show off all your favorite family pictures — Fracture.  Fracture is the fastest, easiest, best way to get your pictures from your camera to your wall.

What Exactly Is A Fracture?

Fracture’s introductory product lets you print your digital pictures right onto glass!  There’s no paper, film or anything involved.  Simply ink and glass.  We have effectively combined printing, framing, and mounting into one simple process.  You upload your photo to FractureMe.com, we print it on glass, and send it on it’s way with everything you need to mount and display. It’s a one-stop, complete photo decor solution.

* Fractures are very safe: all sharp edges are removed, and they are completely okay to touch and handle. 

* Fractures are durable: the prints are shatter proof (unlike traditional glass frames), and the images will not fade for years beyond average prints.

* Fractures are very practical and elegant: you can use them for any occasion, from Christmas and graduation gifts, to simple "Thank You’s". 

* Fractures are for everyone: from avid photographers to snap happy point-and-shoot lovers, anyone can get Fractured!

___________________________________________________________________

Fracture On Line

Check out their site to find out more: www.fractureme.com

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post in response to a TwitterMoms RAMBO alert, making me eligible to get a Fracture picture frame for review. You can learn more about Fracture at http://www.fractureme.com.

Please disregard this post as I’m just updating my Digg feed.

Once again, Twittermoms is inspiring me to blog. It’s funny because this couldn’t have come at a better time. I sound like a broken record but I am expecting my 2nd son next month and something I have thought about extensively since my first son was born, is all the very important lessons he needs to learn before he flies the coop here at home, even if that is 18 years from now.

Yes, I am a firm believer that mom’s (and of course dad’s too) play an integral part in shaping their children’s minds and their future. Of course we can’t control every aspect of our child’s life along the way but we can teach them how to posses some very valuable qualities that I really do personally believe everyone should have.

5 Things Every Kid Should Learn (or – 5 things every parent should teach their kids)

• Please and Thank-you -   Most of us as parents try to ingrain these simple words into our children’s minds when they are young. However, you’d be amazed at the amount of people who simple don’t bother. It all starts at home I believe.  A simple “please” and especially a “Thank-you” will get you farther in life than you think.  I can think of a couple of instances right now in my own life where I took extra special time to be kind to a child and never received a Thank-you. When they’re two or three you expect that but when they’re 10 or 15, it really is inexcuseable.
• Send A Card (with thought) – To me there is nothing more memorable or special as when I receive a card that was thoughtfully chosen just for me.  One that directly pertains to the circumstances at hand. Of course Christmas cards can tend to get generic but simply adding a “I love you” “I’m thinking about you” or writing the person’s name in the card that it’s directed to, means a lot. It especially means a lot when you include the first suggestion “THANK-YOU” with a card.  In a time of emails and text messages it’s nice to have something to put away in a memory box for your future generations and coming from a child only makes it more special.
• Clean Up After Yourself – I cannot tell you how many men, and some women in my life for that matter, I have met that are incapable of cleaning up after themselves. It’s amazing. They have never done dishes or don’t know how to properly, They leave towels on the bathroom floor, crumbs on the counter, they leave their laundry for someone else to do or simply don’t know how to do it at all.  I have seen grown adults over 30 yrs of age that have these problems. It really is amazing and well… I sort of feel that it’s the parent’s fault. If you continuously pick up after your children and teach them no responsibility how will they be happy later in life? The majority of them won’t. We have a 50% divorce rate in this country and in many others. Ever wonder why?  Respect others, clean up after yourself. It’s a simple task and if you start teaching it early enough to your children, maybe 20 yrs from now we’ll have a lot more respectful people in this world.
• Perform A Kind Act– It’s one thing to send $20 every month to sponsor a child, it’s another to meet a child or elderly person who needs your help and actually get involved and help them hands on. Some people don’t have time and that’s understandable and I do commend those that sponsor children and support other charities.. but if you just look around in your own neighborhood, at your own school, at work, or at the supermarket I bet you’ll see someone who needs your help. You may notice an old lady trying to load groceries into her car, a busy mom who looks tired, who just needs a quick joke or smile to pick her up, an elderly neighbor who’s lawn needs mowing AND I bet if you look even closer to home you’ll find someone you love who just needs you to visit or even give a phone call.  Helping someone in need doesn’t always mean money is involved. Teach your kids to be selfless and proud.
•  Have A Great Work Ethic– Unfortunately I know far too many people who don’t fall into this category and it’s a shame. You’ll only get as far as the effort you put in to something.  A lot of kids these days grow up to think they don’t have to start at the bottom. Well, everyone (most of us) start at the bottom and we work out butts off until we make it where we want to go. It just takes ambition, motivation and dedication. If you don’t have those things and you don’t have encouragement from your own parents and family it’s hard to get far in life.  Encourage your child to work and EARN their money from a young age. Help them open a bank account. Teach them the value of money and that it takes hard work to make it.  Teach them not to be lazy but to strive for what they want in life and go for it!  Don’t hold your children back by encouraging them to stay at home and do nothing just because YOU need or want them there. Don’t be an enabler once again. Teach them to fly on their own and they’ll come back better than they left.

Good luck on your parenting adventure and here’s to raising wonderful children with wonderful manners!

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Nanny McPhee Returns blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

Since I was recently put on bed rest this has been my first opportunity to announce the fact that I was selected as a Pearista.  What is a Pearista you ask? Well, as a Pearista for Pear Tree Greetings I’ll be reviewing their products, occasionally holding giveaways and offering coupon codes here on my blog. You can look forward to at least one post each month.

This month I will be participating in a Pen to Paper challenge by writing a hand written note with note cards provided by Pear Tree Greetings, once a week for four weeks. I’ll then be posting about each note and sharing my experience. Since a lot of my family and friends live out of state and my in-laws live in Europe, I’m sure to find plenty of people who’d love to receive a hand-written note instead of a regular old email and of course since I’m expecting my next baby sometime within the next month I’m pretty sure I can find something to talk about!

So although I won’t be offering a giveaway this month from Pear Tree Greetings I do have an awesome and oh so appropriate coupon code for you!

Month Of August Pearista Coupon Code

Throughout the month of August, enjoy 15% off anything and everything BABY! Birth Announcements, Baby Shower Invitations, Baptism Invitations and more!

Use code PEARAUG10. Shop Pear Tree Greetings’ Baby Collection

Here are a few birth announcements I’m considering!

Connect With Pear Tree Greetings Online