Truth from a four letter word?

It's absolutely amazing how many books you can find online and on bookstore shelves about the evil four-letter word: DIET.

Cookbooks, exercise plans, lifestyle methods and counting books line countless shelves with the idea that it will save our lives.  It is fantastic that we have all these varieties to choose from; however, there are too many varieties to choose from!

There are raw, vegan, clean, meat, dessert, bread, slow cooker, BBQ, ethnic and countless other cookbooks to choose from.  There are also too many exercise books to choose from.  There are also countless lifestyle books that aim to change almost every aspect of your life from food and exercise to psychology and the specific health issues that you may have. 

So, how then, is a person to figure out which one (or two or three) books to buy that will teach them the tools necessary to continue to choose the right food and exercises after they close the book?

And, what, may I ask (or demand!) is a Mom to do when there are many mouths to feed, yet different needs to be met??

To answer this question for myself I have decided to figure out what it means to "go back to basics" nutritionally speaking.

You see after having three kids I have a few tires and a couple of saddle bags to un-tether from my frame.  I have one child that hardly eats and when he does his variety does not equal a balanced diet, and another child that finally eats well, but has a protruding belly that (moderately) concerns me.  I say moderately because he is growing taller and it will slim down, yet I wonder if the eating habits he has will cause this to be a lifetime problem unless I help him learn differently.

And then there's hubby, with his intensely burning metabolism which causes him to lose weight and become light headed and dizzy when he doesn't eat every two or three hours. 

I then have to consider our health histories from our families that we are susceptible to: heart disease, diabetes, high and low blood pressures, stroke, blood clots, and cancer which we would love to avoid if we can. 

My next step then, is to learn what to eat to avoid as many health concerns as possible without favouring one method over another to cause an imbalance.  Not a good thing to cause one problem while trying to fight against another!!

I have bought  500 Low Glycemic Index Recipes by Dick Logue  with the idea that it will keep everyone balanced for now and will research more steps later on.  Wish us luck!!  I will post the recipes every once in a while to encourage you to try something different too!

If you are eating a healthier diet....what cookbooks do you favour?  Please share them with us as we can help each other sort thought the thousands of cookbooks by recommending our favourites.

Hey! What's your dream?

What amazes me most about my life is the seemingly random things that are brought to my attention, when I don't think  I'm looking for them. For example...my hubby and I have been on a long journey of self-discovery.  We  are attempting  to discover  what we truly want and were put on this earth for.
That being said I was extremely excited to see a familiar name to blogging come back on the  scene with more of her humour, insight and a good strong dose of inquisition.  Lerner has created a new outlet with a fantastic angle that  is  helpful as well as entertaining.  


So, as I attempt to  figure  out my dreams I get to read others' answer to the same burning question everyone has...Hey! What's Your Dream?

Thinking Things Through

Many of you may remember  a post I made months ago about the all natural diaper rash product I wanted to develop...right?  If not, catch up here.   Well, I have not dumped the idea, nor will I ever.  But the question has come up about credentials.  To make this product with essential oils should I have an aromatherapy certificate/ degree?


What do you think?


Would you buy from a Mom inventor that has learned on her own what will work...or from a certified aromatherapist who has learned what will work?


Tell me... I need to know!

My Third Birth Story

I can't believe how long it's been!  I wanted to spare all of you loyal readers the day to day tirade of pregnancy, hence the lack of posts.  When all you are thinking about is baby and delivery there seems to be no point in trying to come up with something clever for an original post idea.


However, I thought I would get this last post on what seems to be a a series of birth stories coming from me and I swear it will be the last!  It is a short story though, as I didn't have any of the nightmare situations come to me as they did the first and second time around!  Thank whomever!!


I was chatting up a storm with my homeschooling-Mom friends and was completely convinced that the best way to NOT have another nightmare was to "hire" a midwife.  Here in Ontario midwives are completely covered by the OHIP medical coverage that enables us free medical care.  Yippee!!  After some minor research I found an office that had literally just opened in my area of town that week!  Even better!  They had been working out of a West-end office and had been midwives for years!  Hallelujah!  They convinced my hubby of their credentials, who then helped me try to convince my in-laws....which were never convinced of the safety of this "method", oh well...to bad so sad! 


I had a different pregnancy this time compared to the last two in that I was the traditional basketball belly bearing mom!  How exciting!  Yes, I can be considered a sadist, I thoroughly enjoyed the swelling, the difficulty in tying my winter boots(and even being able to put them on at all) , the lack of closing jackets, and even the repulsions of certain foods that drove my hubby nuts!
But, other then that...all was incredible!


After searching through my friend Nancy's website:  www.yourbirthcoach.com I realized there were incredible options that I had never known before!  I decided then and there that I was going to have a home birth.  In fact I wanted a water birth.  Yup, a great big pool in my living room.  I was even contemplating renting my friends pool, which was in fact a horse trough! Heehee...Try to get the In-laws on board now!!


May 7th started very early for me....430 am in fact.  My midwife came by around 6 am and found me in the bath tub.  I am so very happy that I hadn't rented any tubs or pools for this process because I was incredibly uncomfortable in the water.  Not nauseated per se, but slightly dizzy by the sloshing around the water was doing.


I will spare the intimate details, but we had our third baby boy at 845 am on May 7th....the day AFTER my birthday, at home with  my family with me.  I was relaxed, happy and fully in charge to what was happening to me and around me.  I can't tell you how much that has made the difference for my recovery.  It is now 9 weeks later and I am coping better than I ever have before, even with all the lack of sleep! 


How??  It helps to know what my weaknesses are. 


I know that I can't take care of everything and everyone right away. I know that there are things that are just not going to get done today, and I have given myself permission to let it go until tomorrow or the next day.  I have given myself permission to feel the emotions that are inevitable (especially for two bouts of post-partum depression teach you alot about yourself), and because of that permission those emotions are not being fought against, held back or ignored (which makes them worse in the end).  I have also given myself permission to ask for help and not be ashamed or embarrassed for it. 


Now that I have that off my chest, on to another adventure....because I am not busy enough!