Healthy Life Lessons

Can you have happiness without health? I'm inclined to think you cannot. It is well documented in academic literature that chronic pain and illness is associated with mental health problems. Just having a bad cold or the stomach flu for a few days is enough to convince me that you need your health to be happy. Big A passed the stomach flu to Little A who passed it to me. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, I threw up last night, got up at 4:30am this morning to go to the bathroom and fainted on the way back to bed, banging my head on the bedroom door. After feeding Big A her breakfast this morning, I threw up again. I am sure that I will feel better by tomorrow but I am still miserable today. I can't eat, I can't exercise and I can't enjoy playing with my kids. Some of the things that give me the greatest pleasure in life are taken away, even momentarily, and it is hard to be happy. I am thankful that Sherma, who doesn't normally work for us on Mo...

On Wednesday the doctor was not overly concerned about Big A's potty issues and felt they were likely psychological/reaction to having a baby in the house. But she took a urine sample anyways just in case. I dropped it off yesterday and they didn't call us yet so I am assuming all is well in that department. By Thursday Big A had her usual appetite again and seems to have bounced back from the stomach flu. Unfortunately, Little A threw up yesterday and had some diarrhea so she obviously has it now. Sigh! The timing couldn't be worse as my 91 year old grandmother and my uncle are visiting from NYC, and were so excited to spend time with the kids. Little A is still sleeping so I'm hoping when she gets up today she's better. Otherwise all of our weekend plans will be mixed up. Nevermind that Adam is going to Montreal for a conference tomorrow so I'll be alone with the girls until Wednesday. I just hope I don't sick with the flu. I wonder at what age ...

You can make this using chicken, tofu, beef, seafood or black beans. Easy and yummy. 1 lb boneless chicken or beef or 500g tofu or 1 can black beans 750 grams frozen stir fry veggies (in a pinch) OR your favorite mix of veggies such as: 1 broccoli, cut in bite size pieces 2 red/yellow/orange peppers, cut in strips 2 dozen mushrooms, thickly sliced 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced Sauce: 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate or juice and zest of 2 oranges 1/2 cup rice vinegar 2 tbls soy sauce 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder 1 large knob ginger, grated 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbls corn starch Hot chili flakes, to taste (optional) For sauce, whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Stir fry protein and veggies in a wok or large skillet(with a bit of peanut or canola oil if it is not non-stick). Add sauce and cook, stiring frequently, until sauce has thickened. Serve over brown rice.

I don't usually do much "low carb" cooking as we love our carbs in this house. But Adam is always looking for new filling breakfast ideas as he eats at 5:30am and ends up ravenous throughout the day while he is at work. I saw this recipe on the Oxygen magazine recipe forum and thought I'd try it. I altered it just a tiny bit and it still turned out. I have to say, it worked out really well...definitely better than the last recipe I tried from this forum (cottage cheese pureed with sugar free jello into a protein "mousse". It almost made me barf). Heavy-duty, weight-lifting, fitness buffs have some weird diet ideas! But these muffins are pretty good and Adam says they are very filling. 2 bananas, mashed 1 cup vanilla whey protein powder 1 cup egg whites 1/2 cup hot water 1 cup natural wheat bran 1/2 cup natural oat bran 4 packets stevia, Splenda, or other low calorie sweetener (I used organic Erythritol, brand name Organic Zero) 1 tbls baking powder 1 t...

I am the first one to admit I am a chronic worrier, but this time I am REALLY worried about Big A. A few weeks ago she started having accidents at night. At first I didn't catch on because she would say mommy my underwear is wet because I was so sweaty and I believed her because I am a sweaty sleeper and she generally is warm all the time like I am. But then I smelled her sheets and realized that was no sweat, that was pee! Then she had a poo accident at daycare one day last week...even the teachers were shocked since she has been toilet trained since she turned 2 (she was wearing underwear at her second birthday party). This weekend she had accidents Saturday and Sunday night and today while napping she had another and later while awake she had another (in a pull-up because we finally got tired of cleaning up). Now, granted, she came down with a bad stomach flu this weekend, but I don't think bed wetting is a typical symptom of gastroenteritis. My friends told me to Goo...

P1: It looks like I will just have to fill out some confidentiality agreements in order to get permission to counsel at Mount Sinai...as well as the small task of passing our research proposal through the hospital's ethics board. Anyone who has tried to get a research proposal approved by an ethics board will know I'm being sarcastic there. I had some unsavoury dealings with the ethics board at the University of Toronto while doing my PhD and I've heard that those at other universities are similar. I was simply administering a paper-and-pencil survey to adult volunteers about body image, and eating and exercise attitudes and behaviours. But from the reaction of the ethics board, you'd think I was proposing to administer cocaine to babies. Anyhow, hopefully we will get our project approved without much trouble. P2: Big A has been behaving MUCH better the past two weeks. One thing I am trying hard to do is make time for just the two of us. Now that Little A is walk...

I made this for dinner tonight and couldn't wait to post it. Mmm! I got the curry powder blend in Kensington Market at House of Spice, I can't say where you'd find it in another city. One of the benefits of living in Toronto! You could probably make this one with tofu or shrimp if you don't want to use chicken. I couldn't find my Kaffir lime leaves so I made without, so don't worry if you don't have any. I wonder where mine could be??? 1 tsp peanut oil 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, breasts or ground chicken 1 large onion, diced 1 large knob fresh ginger, grated 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 tbls Malaysian curry powder 2 roma tomatos, diced 2 tbls fish sauce 2 Kaffir lime leaves 1 can light coconut milk Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional) Brown chicken in oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic and cook until onion is tender. Add tomatoes and curry powder and cook for another 5 minutes. Add fish sauce, lime leaves an...

P1: So after going nuts this weekend and writing up almost the entire research proposal, including consent form and questionnaires for Mount Sinai, Dr. M sent a message saying she has to check with a few people to ensure that we are not violating any patient-contact rules. Yikes! What if we can't do it? What if they won't even let me have any contact with the women? That will be far worse for me than if they won't let us go ahead with the research piece. Blech! P2: Big A has been so much better the past few days. Adam thinks she's turned the page but admits we will likely have many more down turns. But for right now, things are pretty good. Although, she did call me a big fat pig last night. Adam and I were shocked and wanted her to tell us where she heard that. If kids at daycare are saying that to one another, we want to know! She admitted hearing it at daycare but wouldn't say from who. We told her it was very mean to say bad things about someone'...

This is tonight's dinner. After a week of crappy weather it was beautiful and warm today, making a springy meal seem appropriate. I usually use walnuts for pesto because I hate pinenuts, but I had none today so I used almonds instead. I can't add cheese to my pesto since Adam hates it, so I have to add mine to my pasta afterwards. Pasta with Asparagus, Portobello Mushrooms and Pesto Pesto 142g (5oz) fresh organic baby spinach Big bunch fresh basil leaves, carefully washed and stems removed 1/2 cup walnuts or roasted almonds 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh or pre-grated 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice or juice and zest of 1 lemon 2-4 garlic cloves (depending on your tolerance for garlic) Salt and pepper, to taste Throw everything in blender until you pureed. Add more oil as needed to reach desired consistency. Place any leftover pesto in ice cube tray in freezer over night. Place cubes in ziploc bag and remove whenever you need some pesto. Pasta 1 lb whol...

I am so excited right now I could burst! I had my meeting with Dr. M today at Mount Sinai to discuss my volunteer position at the hospital. It went better than I ever dreamed it would! She actually wants us to work together on making my position (and the issue of providing support resources to women following miscarriage) into a research study! She is going to get me appointed as her research assistant, rather than a volunteer, and we are going to try and get the data published in a peer reviewed journal. She also connected me with Andrea, the head of first trimester care at the hospital, who is often one of the first to see women who have just been told they lost their pregnancy. She said there was a high demand for my services and was very excited to have me on board. She was also eager to collaborate on the research side of things. Of course now I feel incredibly under pressure because I have to write up the research proposal and ethics board submission and I also feel like I ...

I promised myself that if I ever had daughters, I would do everything possible to make them believe that outer beauty doesn't matter, that it's only what's on the inside that counts. Ha! Like so many other parenting goals I've had, I think I've failed. Big A has watched me a hundred times in the morning applying my makeup. She often asks why I put it on and I really don't know how to answer. I'm not going to say, "Because I think I look ugly without it." Disparaging ourselves can be almost as harmful to our children as disparaging them. So I haven't quite figured that one out. The other issue is that, let's face it, the unfortunate reality of our world is that our outer appearance DOES matter and it matters a lot. We are judged by our appearance, and as parents, we feel we are judged on the basis of our childrens' appearance too. Big A could be the best dressed 4 year old on the planet due to the generosity of her grandparents...

P1: Things are going relatively smoothly with my work these days. I got an A+ in my Theories of Personality course, I am working away on my current Psychological Assessment course and I begin my Infertility counselling course through UofT Continuing Ed tomorrow. I have also just finished a third (and hopefully final!) draft of the presentation on fitness I am giving for Proactive Movement on June 29th, the corporate fitness company that hired me to give seminars. Most importantly, I am meeting with Dr. M at Mount Sinai to discuss setting up my volunteer position. I am still worried she'll cancel on me or when I come to talk to her she'll have decided that it's not going to work out. But hopefully that's just me being my usual crazy-worrier self. I am so excited to begin the volunteering but I have realized that once I begin, things are going to be even MORE hectic than they are now. Nevertheless, this is probably one of the most important things I can do for my f...

So after advising all my readers to replace your athletic shoes regularly, I have not been taking my own advice. I usually replace my shoes every January but I somehow forgot this year. Since my parents were here this past weekend, Adam and I were able to sneak out after the birthday party on Saturday and do some errands and I finally got my new shoes. What a difference they made for my treadmill walk this morning! Never underestimate the importance of your feet. Where would you be without them? I've also been falling behind in providing an exercise of the week. So here's one of my favs that doesn't require any fancy equipment or a gym. Heck, if you don't have free weights, just use soup cans (preferably a nice thick, heavy soup like lentil or something. It's excellent for strengthening the rear shoulders and upper back. Try to do at least 2 sets of 15 reps. Start with 5 lbs and try to increase from there as you get stronger. Reverse Fly Oh, and here's...

Well it was quite the weekend...there was good, there was bad and there was just plain ugly. My parents arrived Friday to help us celebrate the girls' birthdays yesterday. Big A was very excited about her best friend Grace coming for the party. Unfortunately, she was so excited, she decided she ONLY wanted to play with Grace and she wouldn't let my niece, Sofia, play with them, because Sofia is 18 months younger and not yet a "big big girl". This led to many tears (it still breaks my heart to think about my poor, sweet niece's hurt feelings!)and my brother and sister-in-law were not at all impressed. but Big A was unwaivering in her stance. She only wanted to play with Grace and her dolls in her bedroom. These situations are always so ackward. We feel our children are a reflection of ourselves, so, of course, we are embarrassed and ashamed when they exhibit poor behaviour. But what I realized later is that she was only willing to pull this stunt because she...

I let Big A choose what kind of cupcakes she wanted for her party this weekend. To my surprise (and delight!), she chose a very healthy recipe. My friend Nicole made it as a cake for her son's birthday a few months ago and when I brought some home to share with Big A, she decided it was what she wanted for her cupcakes. Nicole got the recipe from my friend Liv and made some modifications and I made quite a few bit more (since I always tinker with recipes...). Big A and I made them tonight and they turned out great (We tested one and even Little A, who barely ate anything today, really liked it!). We are going to add cream cheese icing to them, which I think will make them even better. Big A did a great job of helping me make them, aside from spilling some of the oil and mashed bananas on the counter. She filled the Winnie-the-Pooh paper muffin cups and made almost no mess! Healthy Cupcakes 3.5 cups organic spelt flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 ...

This first week following the end of my mat leave has zipped by. Probably because I am so busy and there has been zero down time. I had my volunteer orientation at Mount Sinai hospital and Adam and I did our CPR recert course. I have been furiously working on my course assignment for school and I taught the Brazilian Butt Lift class on my own for the first time (and was in complete agony the next day in my lower half!). Wow! The good news is that Little A seems to have adjusted to Sherma watching her very quickly and already she seems more independent. I guess she's finally realized that mommy and daddy can go away and they will always come back again. I think she's also just having a great time with Sherma. They're a good match. Unfortunately, Big A has been very challenging this week. The mornings have been especially hard. Yesterday in particular. This brings me to the topic of wasting. If there is one thing I hate, it is wastage. Adam and I are both pretty ...