Health & Exercise

As a mom trying to stay fit and healthy so I can be around for my kids and future grand-kids is a MUST. Before I become a mother I had just graduated from CSU Chico with a Teaching Degree focusing on Kinesiology (or PE for you old school folks) and would have considered myself in the best shape of my life. I took this information I had just learned, on how to educate young minds about how to stay healthy and I used this knowledge to remind myself how to maintain my health. Here you will find some trick and tips to help you always feel your best and some tips for when you don’t. Some of these you might think “Oh well Duh, who are you enlightening” but have you ever tried it, hmm? It’s not always realistic to fit in that hour long workout a couple times a week when you have multiple little ones, and I have found ways to keep myself feeling my best. I hope you find something here that either inspires you or maybe you see a routine you can fit into your crazy mom schedule too.

My Tips I try to do regularly

  • Mood Regulating: Ever since I stopped taking birth control about a decade ago I have had a hard time regulating my moods, especially with the ups and downs of hormones while pregnant or breastfeeding. Over the years I have tried just about every supplement or exercise trick and have finally found some good ones that work for me. I take a twice daily supplement called Natrol Mood (Stress & Anxiety) and it is safe for you while carrying as well as after baby comes and let me tell you it works. I have to make sure I don’t take the nighttime formula too early because within about thirty minutes after taking it I find myself ready to crash but am still alert when I wake and still wake to baby’s cries during the night for feedings, so if you are looking give them a try. I also switched my vitamins because I did not like taking 12 supplements daily (yeah yikes!) and just didn’t feel like anything ever really worked. Then I found GEM vitamins and am amazed at the difference I have seen since taking them. My energy is higher, and considering I only get about 4 hours of sleep that is a win in itself but I also find myself not losing my patience (with 4 under the age of 7 another win) as often and am just feeling better. So if you are looking give these a look-see they have helped a lot. https://www.dailygem.co/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CPRFUMO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • Parking: When it comes to parking I might be an odd duck out but I try to park as far away from the store front as possible AND park right next a cart return. Why in the world would a mom of three do this to herself you might be asking. Well here is my logic…. Right next to a cart return is ideal when you are a mom because you don’t have to go anywhere after loading up your groceries, you just have to roll that cart right on in. You don’t have to leave your precious cargo in the car while you go run your cart back to timbuck-tu to return it. Also, if you are right next to the return then that means only one other car can park next to you. So if you have toddlers who like the door completely open when getting in and out it’s nice to be able to do it on one side without worry you or they are damaging someone else’s vehicle. So for me it’s a no brainer, it’s a win win to park far and by the return. Plus you can get a coupke extra steps into your day and that never hurt anyone.
  • Stairs: I know I know…I can feel the eye-roll through the screen, BUT hear me out. KIDS LOVE THE STAIRS! I do not know why this is but my kids and all other children I have had the pleasure of being around, all love the stairs. Everyone knows what a great workout the stairs are and if you are a mom you get to do the stairs with kids totally different. Sometimes I am carrying one shoo-ing the others. Other times I am trying to wrangle them all up or down the stairs but however we do it, unless we have luggage we are stair masters.
  • Got a Dog? So if you have a dog there is one thing that I do that might be easy to incorporate into your day with your fur baby. Every morning I get my two legged kids settled in for breakfast then head outside to our fur babies. We have a Lakeland Terrier-Stanley Sqaurepant and a German Shepherd-Titus Von Holton-Nagle who we love and I tend to daily. I start by going out and waking them most mornings from their dog house. (AND before anyone freaks! It is heated, insulated, has multiple huge dog beds, food, water and their toys…so don’t start on them being outside) I do my usual feed and water and brush, then I will walk the property and do “duty patrol.” This is what my eldest and I have dubbed it and yes we do have a song to go with it that we sing and yes it is to the Paw Patrol tune. Then I feed my neighborhood ravens and play fetch and chase with the boys for about 15-20 minutes. This whole endeavor takes about half an hour and really wakes me up in the mornings. Some days are shorter then others but I get the kids out in the afternoons and that’s when our eldest get to have his “duty patrol” turn. Walking a dog is another great way to sneak in some exercise without really thinking that is what you are doing. Our big guy is young and still learning but old Stanley Grandpa dog is great for getting our kids ready to walk larger ones; as well as just good to teach our kids how to interact with our dogs on and off a leash and getting our dogs ready and willing to listen and take commands from our kiddos. So we use our fur babies a lot to get our own exercise while making sure they get theirs.
  • Sun Salutation: In my videos section you will see the sun salutation that I try to do every morning, try being the operative word. I take two breaths for every pose that I do, holding the pose a bit longer then a typical Salutation which has you change pose for every breath. I find that when I add a breath it helps to stretch my muscles that much more as well as really help to wake myself up. The poses that you will see are pretty standard: plank, warrior, cobra, downward dog, touching toes as well as what I call the monkey hang-where my arms dangle while my back is straight. When I get myself up and going with this routine I can notice a change in my body and mind, it really does help set the mood for the day. So if you have a few minutes in the morning give it a whirl, I usually try to complete 2 cycles, basically doing it twice. *Added Bonus* If you have kids you can have them be your coach and help you keep your form, or let me be kids and you got something close to the new trend of goat yoga 😉 *
  • Ab Routine: Just what everyone gets excited about, NOT! Haha….but seriously I have a great little 5+ minute ab routine that kills my core while tightening my glutes at the same time…AND it targets the bottom of the belly! if you are like me and have that stubborn below area this is great. All you need is a floor with some open space, carpet is best for your lower back or a yoga mat, and a few minutes of time. Start with your body flat and straight on the ground, like a corpse pose, then with your arms on the floor by your hips, and while keeping your legs straight lift both legs up to a 90 degrees (or close to it). Slowly lower one leg towards the floor, when close bring it back up towards your other leg (about halfway or 45 degrees) and back down, do this 3 times then bring both legs together and push you hips off the floor with your legs straight like you are trying to touch the ceiling with them. Then switch to the other leg. Do this 3-5 times on each leg. When getting my ab routine back in my schedule I will start with 3 cycles on each leg then slowly work my way up to doing 5 each. *I’ve added a few new moves to my ab routine since having baby number four. Easy enough plank for 30 seconds, followed by a rotating plank move where you go from planking to rotating your left hip to point to the floor then back to center then right hip rotating to point to the floor 15 times or for 30 seconds, then I round it out with the half boat pose and I rotate my upper body-tap hands by left hip on the floor then center to the knees then to the floor by the right hip 15 times or 30 seconds. (A video demonstration is on the video tab)
  • Sore/Tight Muscles: This might sound crazy but I found out this trick when in physical therapy for my knee. The lacrosse ball that you can get at any sporting goods store can double as a massage ball!! She has lost her mind you say, nope not yet but close. This small hard little ball you can use on your shoulders, back, legs, arms, stomach, butt, anywhere basically that is giving you pain. For me with my tight mom shoulder muscles, I take the ball and place it directly in between my shoulder and the wall and I roll that ball over and over the sore or tight muscle or ligaments giving me hell and I give them hell. It sounds a little weird but that little ball works just like the therapy foam rollers, I swear it! I also get “mom-thumb” which is caused by ligaments tightening that go through your arm. I can take this little ball and use it on these ligaments to help with my wrist pain and discomfort. For some instances I will use the wall-like for my shoulders, or a table-to help with my wrist and arm ligaments.
  • Fighting Cellulite: Use one of the muscle rollers (pictured below) to break up those fat pockets of cellulite then hop in the shower with your exfoliating scrub and scrub scrub scrub. The little nodules break up the fat pockets that you see as cellulite and then the scrub helps to smooth them out evenly and give the smoothed skin look you are trying to achieve.

Quick Health Recipes & tips

So firstly I want to say what works for me may not necessarily work for you, there is no one cure all but you might find something that works or something you can tweak just a bit. I am a firm believer in tweaking things to make them better suited for your personal needs.

  • Cough Tips-If you or a anyone in your family is suffering from a cough then there are a few things that you can do to help them. If the cough is a dry cough with no wet sounding mucus then you can open the window (if you live in a relatively wet climate or it’s your wet season) and allow some of the cool moist air to come into the room. You can also add a small humidifier to the room to add some extra moisture if you don’t live in a relatively wet climate or if it’s your dry season. If the cough is wet sounding you can make a Vick’s like rub for the chest, back and feet. Mix coconut oil with eucalyptus or menthol oil and add a bit of lavender to tone down the menthol smell, breathing it in should help break up the mucus in the chest and nasal cavities. You can also make a similar spray for the bed linen and curtains. Just fill a small spray bottle with distilled or super filtered water and add eucalyptus/menthol oil, chamomile and lavender. How many drops of each depends on the size of your spray bottle but less is more if using good pure essential oils (Young Living, DoTerra or RarEssence are the best I have found).
  • Mucus – Sounds crazy but it works…a sip of Coke Cola. I know yuck right but there is something about the fizzy bubbles from the carbonation and all their other ingredients that will immediately break apart throat mucus. My mom was an avid Coke drinker and I hate soda but this really does do the trick in a pinch.
  • Throat Spray- This one you might not want to give your kids or at least lessen the amount you give them, but this is almost exactly like Cloreseptic Spray. Get a small spray bottle and fill it about 3/4 full of filtered or distilled water. Then mix in Thieves oil (if you don’t have it, it’s a Young Living only blend, you can use Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary. You can see why just having the blend is easier), Lemon oil and 1/2 a shot of vodka. The vodka is what makes you not want to give it to your kids but that is totally up to the user because the amount of alcohol you get per spray is extremely minimal. But just swirl this together and then spray.
  • Sick Mom Hack- If you are super sick with the flu or a cold try this before bed…take an onion yellow or white and slice it up in good sized slices. Next grab a pair of thick old socks. Now take your onion slices and put them on the bottom of your feet and put your socks over them, crawl into bed and get some rest. In the morning you will be AMAZED at how well you feel and how nasty those onions look. What happens is as you sleep the onions are pulling the toxins out of your body through the soles of your feet. First time I hear it I thought yeah right then I got very sick and mom’s don’t get sick days so I gave it a whirl and now it’s in repertoire sicky hack.
Trying to get rid of visible cellulite? This works really well… use a muscle roller like this one before hoping into the shower and using a rough exfoliating scrub (like the one I have in the recipe section)