You may have noticed that I have been neglecting my blog for the last several weeks. There has been a really good reason for that: I’m pregnant! Not that pregnant ladies can’t write blog posts, but really sick pregnant ladies who are supposed to be writing about fitness but who can barely get out of bed, don’t write very good blogs. That has been my situation.

I knew going into this journey, it probably wouldn’t be easy. With West, I was sick 24/7 for 4 1/2 months. It was awful. With this baby, I’ve been sicker. I honestly didn’t think that would be possible, but that has been the case so far. So through the day I have been saving every little bit of energy I can find and simply “sucking it up” to get out and play with my son. It’s times like this when raising an active kid can backfire on you! I may want him to watch tv all day so I can remain horizontal, but he isn’t having any of it. He still wants to ride bikes, go swimming, play in the park, and play “tennis racket.” Most days I managed to live up to his standards, even if I was only going through the paces while anxiously awaiting when my husband would get off work and take over play duties.

Feeling sick all of the time is hard on anyone, but I think it is particularly hard on a very active person. My body was longing for exercise, but most days I considered it a good day if I was able to keep up with West. On the days I was feeling a bit better, I’d manage a 3 mile walk. Yippee! And then there is the guilt that goes along with not exercising. Am I not being healthy for me? For my baby? I even called my doctor and asked if it was ok. She told me that feeling the way I did, it would only be worse if I pushed myself to exercise. Besides, carrying a basket of laundry up the stairs felt like a 10K, so that must count for something, right? Now that the pukey feeling seems to be easing somewhat, I’m trying to work out again. I even went for a run on Tuesday and plan to go again today. And I hope that I’ll get back to blogging more regularly too. Wish me luck!

Be sure to watch the video of us telling West that he is going to be a big brother. He is going to be awesome!

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Now You Can Turn Workouts Into Playtime Too
• Jump Squats for the Kids & You
• Stability Ball Squats

A few interesting articles I have found recently that you may want to check out for your healthy family.

A new study says BMI may not be the best measure of a healthy body for children. Neck circumference may be a better measure. Measuring neck circumference is also easy and reliable. As with adults, BMI can be skewed if you are very muscular, but it is very unlikely a child will have a very muscular neck. Talk to your child’s pediatrician about this new study at your next appointment.

A little inspiration for all you pregnant moms out there. Paula Radcliffe, an accomplished marathoner, is seen here in this article running with her daughter in a 10K race while 7 1/2 months pregnant. Although the headline describes her as “heavily” pregnant, I’d have to say she hardly looks pregnant at all. Nothing like I looked when I was that far along .

Now there is evidence that children exposed to PCB’s have a reduced immune response to vaccinations such as tetanus and diptheria. Just one more thing to worry about, unfortunately.

But let’s end with some great news! Breast feeding your baby can help prevent respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.

I hope you found some interesting information here. See you next week!

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Jump Squats for the Kids & You
• Crazy Kid Doing Pushups for Fun
• Encouraging Active Kids

Summer is finally here! It took long enough where I live. When visiting my parents last week, we pulled out the slip n slide, which by the way, we bought for an obscenely cheap $5. We used to live on an old-school version of this thing when we were kids, and it is just as much fun now that I’m a grown-up. It can also be a great workout for you and the kids, of course, which is why I’m reminding you of it. Not only will you keep cool in the heatwave, you will have no excuse for not working out because it’s too hot!

Have a contest with your kids to see how many times you can go down the slide in one minute. You will have to keep moving the entire time, running to the top of the slide, which will really get your heart rate up. Have fun and stay cool!

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Run A Mile Day
• Now You Can Turn Workouts Into Playtime Too
• Barefoot Running: Should You–or Your Kids–Be Doing It?

YAHOOO!!!!!! It’s done! After thinking about writing a book about fitness for moms and their kids for over a year now, I finally did it! It all started back when my son, West, was just learning to walk and suddenly it wasn’t as easy to work out with him as it was when he would sit so nicely in his bouncy seat and watch me. I thought I’d just run down to the library…then the bookstore…then search Amazon…and find a book about working out with my son. There were books about working out with a baby, but my baby wasn’t a baby anymore. There were books about yoga and kids, but I have never been a yoga kind of girl. There weren’t books on how to exercise with a young child. So I just started experimenting. West had a lot of fun “playing” with me, and I had a lot of fun “strength-training”. That’s when I thought about writing a book and sharing some of my ideas.

To be honest, I wanted to go BIG TIME. I wrote a book proposal and talked to literary agents. The answer I got didn’t vary much from agent to agent, “What a great idea! But if you aren’t already famous, fitness books don’t sell. Good luck!” Fortunately, I didn’t sit around feeling sorry for myself for too long. I decided that I could still write a book, it just might look different than I planned since there was no big advance to pay for professional photography, a designer, and editor. So I did! I relied on family and friends to help me (thank you, thank you, thank you!), and I was able to finish my ebook to fulfill my goal of helping create healthier families.

I put a lot of effort into creating workouts you can do at home with your child without the use of any equipment. The book contains 30 exercises combined into 7 different workouts so you will never get bored. Now you can have a great workout while playing with your kiddo. I really want to help the frazzled moms out there stay fit and raise healthy kids, and I truly hope my book will help.

I hope you will check it out! Turning Workouts Into Playtime! 7 Fun & Effective Workouts for You & Your Preschooler is available for $9.99.

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Jump Squats for the Kids & You
• Stability Ball Squats
• Crazy Kid Doing Pushups for Fun

As usual, a round-up of a few things I’ve found this week that I think you may find interesting.

A recent Washington Post article highlighted the findings of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in encouraging kids to select better food in the cafeteria. They found that presentation of the food had a major impact on how much healthy food is selected. When apples were displayed in attractive wire baskets with a light shining on them instead of in a steel bin, sales of the fruit went up 54 percent.

Your child works hard both during practice and her game, but they still lose. What do you say to them after the game? Here are several ideas to make your child feel supported without being falsely optimistic.

And finally, a little fun with nature in Oregon (that’s where I live). The Hatfield Marine Science Center now has a webcam streaming live video of their octopus named Deriq. Tune in for his 1 pm (PST) feeding!

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• That’s Me on the Flying Trapeze!
• Run A Mile Day
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I was a bit slow to jump on the barefoot running craze. Mostly because the term “craze” has been attached to it, which is an instant turnoff for me. Afterall, the Thighmaster, parachute pants, and the grapefruit diet were all crazes that I am glad passed me by. But over the last several months I have found myself drawn to the topic. I read every article, talked to every runner, and of course, read  Born to Run. I started to remember how I used to run barefoot occasionally, but would always feel weird like I was doing something wrong. I also remembered how I used to be horribly jealous of my cousin, Tammy, who could run across the sharpest gravel while I hobbled along behind her. It may sound like a strange thing for a young girl to envy, but alas, I have always wanted strong feet! Once I saw some recent videos and analyses showing the lower loads barefoot runners joints are subjected to in comparison to shod runners, I finally decided to give it a shot and bravely bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers. I knew to take it slow, but no one really said what that meant. I overdid it. Running even a mile every other day was too much and one day, after a run, I could barely walk. Fortunately, I recovered quickly and was able to restart, even slower this time, and I have love, love, loved it ever since!

Me after my first trail run in my Vibrams. Don't I look happy?

About a month ago, I was able to attend a barefoot running talk given by Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee of Run Bare.  I was so excited to go and hear from experienced barefoot runners, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. One of the most surprising things I learned from Michael was his suggestion that a newbie start truly running barefoot, NOT in a minimalist shoe, that way your tender skin can be your guide of when you have run enough. Oops. Well, at least it was a good motivator to start running truly barefoot, which I have increasingly been doing and am still love, love, loving it!

After the talk I spoke with Michael for a long time (I may have been one of those obnoxious people who selfishly monopolizes the speakers time) especially about children and barefoot running. I think all of us parents remember reading when our kids were babies and just learning to walk that they should be barefoot or at the least have very soft-souled shoes because their feet are still developing. But what happens after they are a couple years old? For some reason, I started insisting West wear shoes outside. Why? His feet were still developing, so why did I think it was ok to insist on shoes now? I guess I just didn’t want to hear the cries from stickers and stubbed toes. I bought Sandler and Lee’s book Barefoot Running, and went home and read the chapter on children’s feet first. I was dismayed to find many studies cited that find shoes start deforming kids feet by the age of 3. So of course, now I feel like a horrible mom! Since learning more about this, I’ve begun encouraging West to be outside barefoot much more often. Although he was at first rebuffing my encouragement, he has slowly started to go shoeless more often. I hope his feet start getting stronger and stronger as I feel mine are. Barefoot Running also contains several foot games you can play with your kids to strengthen their feet, which I hope to feature in a few upcoming blog posts.

So should you and your kids be running around barefoot more often? I definitely think you should consider it. Get informed by reading Born to Run and Running Barefoot, talk to people who are doing it, google it. Then take it sloooooow.

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Too Hot to Exercise? Try the Slip n Slide
• Run A Mile Day
• Now You Can Turn Workouts Into Playtime Too

A weekly round-up of items I’ve come across that are of interest to healthy families.

Whooping Cough is beginning to make a comeback. In California, cases have more than doubled since last year. I think this illustrates the importance of vaccinations. I had a friend whose newborn contracted whooping cough in the hospital after being born. It was a terrifying experience, but thankfully, their daughter survived. I hope with the recent debunking of the autism/vaccine link study, more people will consider getting vaccinations for themselves and their children.

Using text messages to help reduce infant mortality in the US. Will you sign up?

I always thought my mom had super powers. Now I know it is true! A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that mom’s soothing can affect her child’s oxytocin levels even talking over the phone. Pick up the phone and give your kids a call. I’m pretty sure it works even when they are all grown up!

Random Posts

• Why Aren’t You Running With Me, Mom?
• I Am Going to Circus School!!!
• Xtreme Chase

Matt & West hiking the Storfjord

Hello Everyone! My poor blog has been terribly neglected the last few weeks due to a crashed computer and a family vacation. I hope to make up for it with some stories from our recent trip to Norway and Sweden.  My husband and I wanted to have an active vacation exploring new areas so we decided to head to Norway and Sweden. Norway was chosen because it is one of Matt’s favorite places, Sweden was picked because I have friends who live there that I wanted to visit. We started our trip on the Skorfjord, which is about 30 minutes from Alesund, Norway, which is considered one of the coolest art-nouveau towns there. But we didn’t want to spend time around people, we just wanted to get out and hike and see the beautiful scenery.

Our first hike was up the Storfjord. The scenery was absolutely stunning. Part of the hike was up a gravel road, then the trail went nearly straight up the side of the fjord. What was amazing is that we couldn’t really see the trail, it would just reveal itself with each step up we would take. West (who is 3 1/4) did great with a few pushes from behind from either Mom or Dad. When we got to the top, there was a small stream and West hopped from rock to rock in the stream as we rested and enjoyed the views. Past the stream we found a gorgeous old, dead tree, which we helped West climb. I was amazed to find such beauty in dead things! After chilling in the tree, it was back down the trail to enjoy a phenomenal meal at our hotel. By 11 pm we closed up the drapes to make the room as dark as possible so we could sleep. I never did see it dark in Norway! Perhaps it is just too beautiful for the sun to go down.

West climbing tree

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Encouraging Active Kids
• Even Kids Can Benefit From Fitness Goals
• Too Hot to Exercise? Try the Slip n Slide

Interesting fitness information, medical findings, and blog posts I have found in the past week that you should check out.

A fascinating new study to be published in the June issue of Pediatrics finds that breast fed babies develop cues of when to stop eating that bottle fed babies do not. Some of the theories behind why this occurs are fascinating. A must read.

Running in the Family is one of my favorite blogs for running families. For Mother’s Day, a great list of family fitness resources was compiled.

Want to turn your walk with your young child in the stroller into more of an upper body workout? Try Love Handles! It’s certainly an intriguing idea. Basically, Love Handles are long poles that attach to the stroller that you pull back and forth as you are pushing the stroller. I would love to hear from someone who has tried them. Check them out and tell me what you think.

Have a wonderful, active week with your family!

Random Posts

• Teaching Kids to Ski
• Cross-Country Skiing with Kids
• Jump Across the River: Toning Your Lower Body

One of my favorite family fitness exercises! The jump squat is an amazing lower body toner, and it will also rev up your heart rate. I do these a lot when I am out on walks with West and he is meandering or inspecting yet another ant on the ground. Have fun!

For Mom: Jump legs wide apart and squat down, pushing butt back like you were about to sit in a seat, bringing elbows to knees. Jump up, landing with feet together and squat down, pushing butt back and bring elbows to knees.
For Child: Jump with mom. Don’t worry if your child isn’t jumping exactly as you are–remember, they are just jumping around having fun!
Repetitions: 10-15

Read more fun training ideas and stories

• Now You Can Turn Workouts Into Playtime Too
• Crazy Kid Doing Pushups for Fun
• Stability Ball Squats