Good-bye nourishMD. Hello get REAL for kids!

“The only thing constant in life is change.”
Francois de la Rochefoucauld

That’s for sure!

Little did we realize when we created the non-profit get REAL for kids, it would change nourishMD…but it did!

get REAL was born from our dream to give back to kids and get bigger than ourselves .

We are like two drops in an ocean… and we need a tidal wave!

We realized the best way to create the tidal wave was with a REAL food, health and parenting movement, a revolution – the get REAL Revolution™.

Ignite a community committed to changing the way we eat, treat illness, and parent and in the process give back to communities with the education, resources, and money to get REAL with food, health, and parenting.

Perfection!

But we are only two people, both moms, with busy practices helping others get REAL through consultations, coaching, and classes.

Decision time. How best to move forward? Keeping both nourishMD and get REAL proved beyond our ability to maintain our health and happiness and sanity!!!

So….nourishMD is closing it’s doors.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Good-bye nourishMD.com
Good-bye nourishMD Blog
Good-bye nourishMD Facebook
Good-bye nourishMD Twitter

But…we’re not going away – you’ll hear our same message on get REAL for kids!

Hello getREALforkids.com!

We’ve got our work cut out for us over the next few weeks!

We are busy moving articles and products over to getREALforkids.com so we can educate and raise money to turn millions of children around to health and happiness!

No small task, but we’re up for it!

What can you do to help us? Stick with us!

Join the get REAL Revolution™
Like get REAL on Facebook
Follow get REAL on Twitter
&
Share the get REAL for kids™ video with your friends and family so they can join us!

Together we can turn millions of children around to health and happiness!

Thank you for all your support!
We appreciate YOU!

Angelle & Dr. Sue

Share on Facebook

I’m enrolled in the Distance Learning Program (DLP) through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN).  Yes, I already went through their live program and became certified as a Holistic Health Coach in 2005, but when I was offered the opportunity to experience the DLP with all of the curriculum on an iPad I couldn’t refuse.

There is an endless amount of nutrition and holistic health content right at my fingertips – all on my iPad.  And, I can connect with other people going through the program as well as IIN staff.  I’m blown away by how much I am learning and relearning and how it’s already helping me make my health coaching with moms even more effective.

One of the foundational concepts that the program is built on is that there is no one right diet for everyone.  And, every person’s ‘right’ diet changes throughout life.  What worked for you as a child, didn’t necessarily work for you as a young adult or as a pregnant mom or as a mom of teenagers. And it certainly won’t work for you in the same way when you are grandma!

Which is why I love learning about different diets from all of the expert guest teachers  (including Sally Fallon-Morrel!).  What’s interesting is there is often there conflicting information and advice  – think David Wolfe’s raw vegan food message vs. the Atkin’s diet.  I remember the first time through the program I would come home after a weekend of learning and Mike would ask, “So are we meat eaters this week or are we raw foodists?”  I would nervously laugh, answering, “Well, let me go through my notes and I’ll let you know by tomorrow morning.”

A few years have gone by and lots of living and coaching experiences and I am much less confused.  So as I am learning from the teachers whose information sometimes conflicts with my beliefs about nutrition, such as those who say everyone on the planet should be vegan, I remember to listen with an open mind and an open heart – knowing there is not one right diet for everyone all the time. After all, there could be a time in a person’s life where following a vegan diet for fasting and detox could be beneficial.  It might be the right diet for a short period for certain people.  I listen for what wisdom lies within each person’s message.  I listen for common threads.  I listen for tradition, for science and for common sense.

So when you are confused about what to eat and what to feed your child – know that even the experts are ‘conflicted.’  But I can say with certainty that for the most part they all share this message:

Eat REAL food.

Filter all information you hear in the mainstream – or from your doctor – through that one rule.

My 2nd rule is to look at tradition.  What have people fed themselves and their children for generations that has supported healthy fertility and healthy children?  (Hint, hint – it’s always included some amount of REAL animal products with lots of Friendly Fats.)

Live your best life, it’s not a dress rehearsal.

Angelle
~Your Personal How-To Holistic Health & Parenting Coach

P.S.  If you are as passionate as I am about nutrition and holistic health and you want to help other people live their best lives – or you just want to fill your brain with as much information on these topics as you can – please do check out Integrative Nutrition’s Distance Learning Program.  The school is on the up and up, affiliated with some of the best experts in the nutrition world and their mission is to create a ripple effect when it comes to helping people be healthier and happier.  The curriculum is now on an iPad 3 and they are offering a $500 grant to anyone who enrolls between Tuesday and Friday of this week.  I can help you decide if it’s a good idea for you or not – just email me to set-up a time to talk.  angelle@nourishMD.com

Share on Facebook

As I write this post I am also listening to an interview with Amy McCready, the founder of Positive Parenting.  She’s being interviewed on The Great Parenting Show, which is a show I was invited to participate in last season.  The show is a series of FREE interviews with a wide variety of parenting experts and offers practical solutions as well as in-depth parenting information.

One of the ideas Amy is sharing is what she calls Mind, Body and Soul Time.  It’s two 10-minute times every day that you spend one-on-one time with each child.  Something that is child-directed and you are there in mind, body and soul – not thinking about our to-do lists or checking our phones when the ding comes through to alert us of a text message.

Some of the listeners to the call were chiming in saying that they feel overwhelmed by this idea – they have twins, or they have 5 kids or just feel like they have no time to connect individually with each child. 

I like to think of it like this.  Just like REAL food is a foundational component of REAL health, this Mind, Body & Soul Time (or whatever you want to call it) is foundational for a REAL relationship with our children.  It’s so easy for us to get into re-act-tion mode – reacting to our child’s poor behavior with a knee-jerk reaction as Amy describes it.  But, misbehavior is not the problem, it’s a symptom.  Just like in health we want to get below the symptoms to the foundation, when it comes to behavior we want to look beneath the behavior to the foundation.

Amy’s suggestion is that when your child is misbehaving – tantrums, yelling, back talk, lying, fighting – stop and ask yourself, “Why is this behavior happening?”  Is your child needing attention – those 10 minutes of one-on-one time?  Is your child needing a nutritious REAL food snack to smooth out the blood sugar roller coaster?  Is your child needing more sleep than he’s getting?  Is your child needing you to handle your stress differently so it doesn’t impact her so much? Is your child getting too much attention for misbehavior? Is your child needing more opportunities to be in control of his life?

The Mind, Body and Soul time – those precious 10-minutes of one-on-one time – help build the foundation that will lessen the misbehavior you might be dealing with every day.  I know personally this works and when I get off track my kids ‘remind’ me with their behavior that they need me to reconnect with them individually and not have that time be me ordering them to clean up or brush their teeth – that doesn’t count as reconnecting!

“You’ll never correct behavior unless you connect emotionally first.”  ~Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting, interviewed on The Great Parenting Show

Angelle

~Your Personal How-To Holistic Health & Parenting Coach

P.S. – Because being the mom you want to be means putting yourself at the top of your ‘to-do’ list and knowing how to manage your own energy you’ll want to join me on my brand new Facebook Page and get daily tips on doing just that!

Share on Facebook

Allergy season. Wake up a mess – itchy watery eyes, nasal congestion, constant dripping nose, sneezing and more sneezing. You know? My daughter Elle (5 next month) knows it well. She started with seasonal hay fever about 2 years ago –  just after we discovered her cat allergy during a photo shoot. All was well until she bounced up and down in a haystack of pillows (where minutes prior our photographer’s cat was relaxing in the sun). Within minutes Elle was rubbing her eyes (now red) and sneezing. Voila! New diagnosis. Cat allergy. Since then – spring, fall, spring, fall – always seem to bring up allergy symptoms.

But her mama is a holistic pediatrician with some tricks up her sleeve! She takes our 3 Must-Have Supplements consistently and took these Hay Fever Tests. She has also used these Hay Fever Solutions in the past. But mama has been a bit tied up these days (hint: launching a non-profit), so we fell behind on her daily supportive homeopathic remedies.

I’m always looking for solutions and picked up Boiron’s Sabadil for Allergies. Boy, am I happy I did. It’s MAGICAL! Nips Elle’s symptoms within a half-hour. I use it as well. It’s so easy!!!  You can follow the directions on the package – or try using it this way: 1 tablet (dissolves in mouth) every morning and drop a tablet into your child’s water bottle. Shake and sip throughout the day. Every sip gives a dose of the remedy. Frequent doses are KEY for homeopathy.

Hope that helps some of you out there with that constant itchy irritating nose. Works great for other allergy symptoms as well: runny nose, itchy red eyes, and sneezing.

Gesundheit – which apparently means “Good Health”, but will always mean “Bless You” in my book.

~ Dr. Sue

Share on Facebook

I love it when something makes life a little more manageable when it comes to REAL food.

Chef Jackie’s taco seasoning recipe is one of those ‘somethings’.

My friends sometimes laugh at me when I mention the Taco Seasoning recipe again.

“How can you be so excited about a taco seasoning recipe?”

Then, if they give it a try, they usually tell me, “I get it now.”

But I’m not sure they really do get it…yet.

You see, this taco seasoning recipe Chef Jackie created for our REAL Pantry eCookbook series is such a simple way to add in more REAL food each week.  More than once each week.  Delicious REAL food.  Extra health benefits from the amazing spices.

And, my family doesn’t seem to tire of it like they do when I sometimes ‘overdo’ a recipe.  At least they keep eating what I make with it.

Just a few meals and snacks using the Taco Seasoning:

*taco meat (okay, I know it’s a no-brainer, but I wanted to list it)
*seasoned kale chips
*mixed with sour cream and used as a spread or dip
*mixed with refried beans
*sprinkled on a salad
*mixed into an omelette

So, if you haven’t made Chef Jackie’s taco seasoning recipe yet, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for but this is the week.

If you are on our get REAL for kids™  mailing list you can even get the recipe for free in one of the follow-up emails you’ll receive. It’s actually one of our get REAL challenges.

I love that there are simple changes you can make that will help you easily incorporate more REAL food into your family’s diet.  Just give it a try!

Angelle
~Your Personal How-To Holistic Health & Parenting Coach

BTW – If you are a mom who would love to have more energy that lasts, you’ll want to ‘like’ my new personal health coaching for moms FB page.  You’ll get daily tips that will boost your energy and find out about upcoming live and online classes .

Share on Facebook

“I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I’d just been myself.” ~ Brittany Renée.  If I’ve learned anything on my life journey, I’ve learned it’s better to follow your heart (listen to your intuition), than to listen to what other people say.

Of course the voices of others grow louder when you reach critical crossroads on your life journey. I’m sure you can think of a handful for yourself! One that comes to mind for me is when I declared to a mentor physician during my pediatric residency that I’m going to pursue holistic medicine. Silence. Shock. Followed by his “words of wisdom” – the future of medicine is technology. (It’s true, technology is important – but so is balance – and treating a child as a whole (rather than a sum of parts) is also the future of medicine.) Another critical crossroad on my life journey came a year later after just finishing my pediatric chief residency year. Another mentor physician took me out to lunch, I shared with her that I was starting my own private practice (as opposed to what everyone else traditionally does – join a practice of others or pursue specialty training). Silence. Shock. Followed by “good luck with that.” Both these physicians LOVED me, they wanted the BEST for me. It’s just they couldn’t see through their rose-tinted glasses what God had already put so firmly in my heart – to help children heal as a whole – to heal from the inside out.

Parents often share with me the hurtful things others (who LOVE them) say, as they follow a different path to help their child heal from the inside out. It’s hard to tune-out or at least decrease the volume of other people’s voices. Sometimes the voice is someone you love and respect, who has never led you wrong before. Sometimes the voice is your own, the one that fears change – any change. These voices can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re struggling yourself to decide for sure if the path you’re taking is truly the BEST path for your child to heal. I hear ya. I do. Been there – read My Thoughts on Vaccines.

My suggestion: Sit under your tree of wisdom. What does your heart (your intuition) tell you? Hear that voice, and let it grow stronger. See how your child is doing. Improvement can be slow and subtle when your healing from the inside out, but usually there’s some hint you’re on the right path. If you have strong feelings and/or hints you’re on the right path – keep going! Allow yourself breathers as well. Realize sometimes even when you’re on the right path, you may need to take a break and sit on the park bench for awhile. Maybe you’re bringing a new child into this world, maybe your child isn’t taking well emotionally to the new path. Change can be stressful, especially BIG change. Allow yourself to breath. It’s a journey. Trust your heart will tell you when it’s time to get off that bench and start walking again.

Life is beautiful, especially when you make it your own.

~ Dr. Sue

Share on Facebook

As a mom one of the things I  often think about is how to raise a child who is self-confident, who has a healthy dose of self-esteem without being overly self-indulgent, or self-inflated. A child who is resilient, can be a leader and a team player. A child who grows into a generous, passionate life-long learner who makes the world a better place.

Parenting on a day-to-day basis in a way that increases the odds of having one child, let alone 3 children like I described and envision can be really challenging. I’ve had plenty of days when I’ve felt completely incompetent as a parent and wonder if I’ve done more damage than good when it comes to raising self-confident kids.

Show of hands if you question yourself as a parent when it comes to raising self-confident kids?

This week I spoke to a group of moms on this very topic.  It’s always interesting to talk about parenting while you’re still in the midst of it.  My kids are 12, 10 and 10, so I don’t know the ‘outcome’ of our parenting yet.  I get glimpses though.  And I know that along with my intuition and common sense, there’s some solid science behind some of the parenting advice out there.  Like increasing your odds of raising a self-confident child.

I shared a lot of information with the moms I spoke to, but for this post I want to share one very important bit of research.  If we all pay attention to this, which comes up over and over in the research, there will be a lot more kids with a healthy sense of self-confidence.  Kids who won’t always follow the crowd or hold back their gifts from the world for fear of how they might appear to others.

What is it?

Stop praising your child’s intelligence and attributes.

I can hear you now…”What could possibly be wrong with praising how smart or talented my child is?”

Well, as researcher Carol S. Dwek shares from just one study in her book Mindset …

“The children praised for their intelligence lost their confidence as soon as the problems got more difficult. Now, as a group, they thought they weren’t smart. They also lost their enjoyment, and, as a result, their performance plummeted…Finally, the children who were praised for their intelligence lied about their scores more often…We asked children to write something (anonymously) about their experience to a child in another school and we left a little space for them to report their scores. Almost 40 percent of the intelligence-praised children elevated their scores.”

You see, praising intelligence sends the message that high intelligence and talent are the most important things and are what makes you valuable. It tells your child that intelligence is just something you have and not something you develop.

So what should we do instead?

Praise effort.  Your effort is something you can control and it is directly related to how successful you can be in a given area.  You can get better at almost anything with effort.  We’re not all going to be an Einstein or a Michael Jordan or a Marie Curie, but even those people wouldn’t have been as smart and successful as they were in their fields if they hadn’t put in a lot of effort.

So, as a takeoff on the popular books, Eat This, Not That…

Say This:   “Wow, that’s a really good grade.  Tell me about how you earned that?”
Not That:  “Wow, that’s a really good grade.  You must just be good at reading.”

Or

Say This:  “Great game today.  Looks like all the time you’ve been spending practicing your ball handling is really paying off.”
Not That:  “Great game today.  You’re a natural.”

Or

Say This: “You figured out that math problem pretty quickly.  What strategy did you use to solve it?”
Not That: “I can’t believe you figured out that math problem so fast.  You’re really smart.”

If you’re in the habit of praising your child for everything she does, it may take a little time to catch yourself and retrain your brain!  In general less praise that is more specifically related to the effort your child puts into something is going to increase the odds of raising a child who is confident and willing to take risks and grow.

Angelle
~Your Personal How-To Holistic Health and Parenting Coach

Resources:

Dweck, PhD., Carol S. (2008) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success  How We Can Learn To Fulfill Our Potential.
New York, NY:  Ballantine Books.

Share on Facebook

“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.” (Ryunosuke Sataro)  I read that and smiled. The ocean terrifies me. I’m good with water, but the ocean is HUGE, vast, and strong. I remember riding waves and being terrified when I was swept under. Watch Laird Hamilton ride the biggest wave ever surfed! It’s craziness – the ocean is powerful!

I also smiled when I read that quote, because I immediately thought of getREALforkids.com  That’s EXACTLY why we created this non-profit. We realized quickly – despite our talents and time – we are mere drops in an ocean. Or as my husband says, 2 little fishes swimming upstream. (To which I reply, yes – but soon all the other little fishes will turn around and follow! LOL.) TOGETHER, we are an unstoppable collective force for change – a movement we call the get REAL Revolution™.

The get REAL Revolution™ is gaining momentum. Tune in this Thursday, March 8th at 1 pm EST – Selma Blair and I will be LIVE on the Good Health Radio Show talking about the get REAL Revolution™ - getting REAL for kids by changing the way we eat, treat illness, and parent. (It’s also my 40th Birthday – What a birthday present!)

Here’s 3 ways you can make my BIG 4-0 the best birthday EVER: (and yes, you can call me ego-centric.)

1. If you haven’t already, join us and millions of others on the get REAL Revolution™ and start making simple changes to help your child live his best life.

2. Before you finish reading this blog post, share our video with at least one person.

3. Last but not least, donate and help us get REAL and Give Back™  to school communities with the resources to build an organic school garden. We are 1,165 dollars shy of granting our first organic school garden. Can we do it by Thursday March 8th 11:59 pm EST? Yes, we can (with your help)!

Many of you have already made this birthday the best birthday ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We so appreciate YOU and your love for REAL food, REAL health, and REAL parenting.

~ Dr. Sue

Share on Facebook

Whether you are new to the REAL food journey or have been on it a while, there’s a good chance that preparing all that REAL food is not your favorite thing in the world. 

I actually like being in the kitchen and preparing food, but…not every single day.  Which is why I do my best to use our One Easy Sytem to help me prep food just a few times a week so we can just grab it from its prep box during the week at mealtimes.  Then it’s just a matter of heating something up or adding a side dish.  It’s a great system, but it’s still a lot of work.

What I’ve found is that there’s not really a way around all the cooking and food prep you have to do when you are committed to feeding your family REAL food at least 80-90% of the time.  So, even with the One Easy System which makes the whole thing more efficient, it gets tiring spending hours a week prepping food.  And let’s not even get started talking about all the dishes you are washing every day.  Which is why I’m a big proponent of having your family help you.  Kids can help.  Spouses can help.  You have to delegate, unless you love, love, love doing it yourself.

Some weeks I do a great job delegating and other weeks not so much.  On those weeks I have to remind myself why I am doing all this food prep and remember to have gratitude for what I know and what I’m doing for my family and not be resentful of the time and money it takes to feed my family REAL food.

I didn’t fully realize how much of a responsibility week in and week out of food prep is on one person until recently.  When I truly expressed to my husband that I need him to step up and help – really think about the planning, shopping and prep  – he did step up to the challenge and it has made a world of difference.  The funny thing is that, like many women (sorry to be stereotypical here, ladies) even though this is what I asked for it took me a week or two to let go of ‘being in charge’ of the One Easy System and let him step up.   I find myself asking him to make the burgers a certain size or to please mash the cauliflower a little more so it’s less bumpy.  But, in the end, I could really get used to having him take on food prep on a regular basis.  In fact, I summed it up in my Love Letter here… (If you can’t view the letter in your email just click the title of the post to read it in our blog…)

Angelle
~Your Personal How-To Holistic Health and Parenting Coach

Share on Facebook

I continue to be amazed that even the youngest of kids are computer and internet savvy these days.  I watch my own 3 kids – ages 12, 10 and 10 – and am in awe of how quickly they can navigate the internet.  It also adds one more thing to my ‘to be concerned about’ parenting list…as if there weren’t enough things on that list already!

Recently Jacob and Lucas saved enough of their ‘fun’ money to each purchase (with our okay) an iPod touch.  I loved that they set this goal for themselves and reached it, but I also knew when we gave them the thumbs up that it would open a whole new phase of parenting.  It was easy enough to set some screen time limits at home and allow them to use our one shared computer, but now they have these little ‘pocket’ gizmos that they want to carry with them everywhere and can use to access the internet.  I knew Mike and I needed to step up our game when it comes to screen time limits and internet safety.  And as the Universe always does when I’m open, it sends me just what I need when I need it.

The answer this time was at my local library…on the New Releases shelf.  The cover caught my eye.  And the title…Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded:  Stop Fighting, Start Talking and Get to Know Your Teen…was intriguing to say the least.  Written by ‘youthologist’ Vanessa Van Petten, I was immediately drawn to her story.  She started an award winning blog called Radical Parenting when she was just 16 and struggling with her relationship with her own parents.  She’s went on to win the Mom’s Choice Award in 2009, become an avid writer and national speaker.  Her mission is to help parents better understand and communicate with their teens and help teens better understand and communicate with their parents.  Because she’s an adult but not a parent, and still not too far from her teen years, she has a distinct perspective and skill set that you don’t get from most parenting books.  It’s a fascinating read that I highly recommend to anyone with a child approaching the teenage years or who is already in the midst of them.

I found Chapter 4:  What Happens Online, Stays Online super helpful with my new questions about keeping kids safe and healthy when it comes to screen time and internet.  She knows her stuff and really helped me understand just how ultra smart kids today are.  Putting in place basic house rules and safety nets on the computer are not enough.  On the other hand she also explains that over policing a child who has only been responsible up to this point, out of your fear, is not going to help your relationship at all.

The internet isn’t going anywhere so the key is to help our children learn how to use all the amazing aspects of it while being safe and healthy at the same time.  Van Peten shares her 5 ‘Cybercitizen’ Rules for teens and parents to follow online.  They may seem simple or like common sense, but apparently they aren’t  – sometimes she says not even for parents.

1. Do not steal.  Always pay for music and movies instead of downloading illegally.  Kids are watching what you do so model and explicitly teach what you want them to value and do.
2.  Always dress like you would at school. Seems obvious but have you seen FB or Twitter profile pics lately – kids and parents?
3.  Treat others the way you would like to be treated.  It’s easy to write things in texts, emails, online chat forums or virtual bulletin boards that you would never say to someone’s face.  If you can’t say it to someone live and in person or wouldn’t want someone to say it to you then best not to write it.  Or, use what Van Peten calls the Teacher Check – would you say this in front of your favorite teacher?
4.  Do not destroy public or private property.  Graffiti is graffiti and shouldn’t be done on wiki pages, other people’s websites or pages or in online forums.
5.  Do not talk to strangers.  We’ve probably all seen news videos of kids who’ve been instructed not to talk to strangers and in our amazement turn around and talk to them on the playground 5 minutes later.  Imagine how easy it is for kids to talk to random people in social networks, online forums, or virtual worlds.

From a parenting perspective it’s so important to be the kind of ‘Internet Role Model’  we want to be for our own child.  That includes how much time we choose to spend on the internet.  It’s so easy as a parent to get sucked in to a new app, favorite blogs or our Facebook ‘friends’ and lose track of time. Then we turn around and get upset to see our child playing Angry Birds again instead of riding his bike or reading a book.  (Maybe that’s just me…)

Angelle
~Your How-To Holistic Health & Parenting Coach

Share on Facebook