strength and fitness

My fitness routine lately has been slack.  Let's be honest, it is non-existent.  I searched quickly through some photos, looking for examples of exercise and couldn't find anything that is recent. Oh, there is the odd family hike or walk on the trail or in the woods, but that is it.  I'm becoming aware of a loss of strength, endurance and health due to a lack of fitness, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

August 2012

I hope to not be depressing, just honest!  I honestly feel better when I work out. I honestly don't know how to fit it into my life in a practical, affordable way. When I reflect on the time that I felt the most in shape, it was when I was regularly attending Goodlife, a local gym within walking distance to our townhouse, lifting weights, attending the Body Flow class and also, taking a class on Nordic walking as well.  I was preparing myself to hike Mt. Katahdin and using my poles, walking all the way up Smythe Street to work and then often walking at lunch with the poles too. (I can't really believe I had the guts to do it at the time, I was the crazy pole walking girl, but I didn't really care!)

July 2007

Oh, and did I mention that was before kids?  

I am in this weird place right now, of trying to eat enough and not lose weight.  The restricted diet (no gluten/dairy) combined with breastfeeding makes for a tricky calorie balance.  I would love to learn about about nutrition and the best way to feed myself and my family.  

July 2012

I think health is a combination of many factors.  We have never had a scale and it is not about the numbers for me.  It is about food, exercise, sleep (?!), strength, outdoor pursuits and cultivating a sense of peace in life.  I have a few pieces in place, but it is always a journey.  But that fitness/exercise/strength piece is just not there at the moment.  I have experimented with working out at home before, with Leslie Sansone's Walk At Home program and the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.  Videos aren't motivating to me lately, it seems every time I sign a workout video from the library, I never even open it before it is due back.  Our living room is our business office, play room, music room, and more. There usually is no space to work out!  If there are any suggestions out there I'd love to hear them.  If I come up with a plan, I will share it, and continue to share my journey!

Healthy skin - gluten free

Living on a gluten-free restricted diet is not uncommon anymore.  The "Wheat Belly" book is very popular (I have not read it yet) and I had many recommendations to try gluten-free eating while on the dairy elimination with Lila.  Those with Celiac disease have to take eliminating gluten very seriously, often restricting their food from coming into any contact with glutinous products or crumbs (including toaster, peanut butter containers etc).  

What is gluten exactly?  Gluten is a term that is derived from the Latin word for "glue".  "Gluten is not one protein but a type of protein.  In wheat, the specific term is gliadin.  Rye has secalin, and barley, hordein.  There are loads of gluten substances and cousins." (95, Dorfman, Kelly. What's Eating Your Child)  The book, "What's Eating Your Child" deals with case studies and provides a great resource for troubleshooting the connection between food and childhood ailments.  It also gives suggestions for proper dietary supplements and how to work with picky eaters.  

The first resource I read was "G-Free Diet" by Elisabeth Hasselbeck.  It is a great resource as well, it amazed me how varied the symptoms were for Celiac disease.  Much of this book is geared toward Celiac disease and it is not a resource for good recipes, but it is a great introduction, especially to dealing with the social aspects of a restricted diet.  Hasselbeck does recommend pre-packaged gluten free foods and you can find many of such items at the local grocery store now.  These are convenient, however may not be the best option for health depending on the ingredients they contain.  

So what have we eliminated from our diet?  All wheat and wheat flour products: bread, baked goods (cake, cookies, muffins), bagels, pizza crust, crackers, pretzels, pasta etc.  Also, glutinous products that are not wheat based: barley, rye, kamut, spelt, etc.  I have also replaced our baking items as they run out, for example, gluten free baking powder.  I have not replaced all of our spices (which often contain gluten as a de-clumping agent).  

What can we eat?  We can eat rice (I try to eat primarily brown rice now, using white or white Basmati as a "treat"), corn, millet, amaranth, quinoa, kasha (buckwheat), potatoes, legumes, meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.  I do not use millet or kasha often, and we have tried popping amaranth which is a fun topping for salads, but I don't use it often!  

In reality, eliminating gluten is not easy when it comes to snacking at home and throwing easy snacks for the girls in the diaper bag.  I have used a few replacements which work for us in moderation.  Experimenting with baking has not been really fun for me, but I have had a couple of recipes that worked.  In the summer, I would rather mix up a smoothie than bake muffins, but perhaps in the fall/winter I will start to experiment some more.

Here are some replacements that I have used:

Udi whole grain bread is expensive compared to other gluten free brands, but it is the best bread I have tried at the supermarket.  It comes frozen, and I keep it in the freezer and grab it for a quick lunch when I have days that a cashew butter sandwich comes in handy!  (We also are keeping peanuts and almonds out of our diet.)

Glutino gluten free crackers are something that I don't always have on hand, but they are good with a guacamole spread!  Lila doesn't love them, so they are mainly for me when I feel like I need something crunchy!  (They have a warning of "may contain milk" but we rarely eat them, so I find it doesn't bother Lila or me.)

I love Bob's Red Mill products and their pizza crust is a yummy, easy way to have homemade pizza that is gluten free.  

The corn bread mix is great to have with soup or stew.

For a treat, their gluten free, dairy free chocolate brownie mix is so yummy!  It doesn't taste grainy at all (a lot of baking I have done tastes grainy because of the rice flour I think) and I have made these and packed a one or two pieces for Lila when we have gone to birthday parties so she can have some "cake" too!  I also use their all-purpose baking mix, which I get in a large bag from our local health food store.  I use that for baking and primarily, for pancakes!

Corn chips are something I grab for snacks sometimes, with a jar of salsa.  I like the Que Pasa brand.  Not the most healthy, but a nice alternative at times.

Rice cakes with cashew butter are another easy option for snacks and lunches, I really enjoy Lundberg rice cakes.

The best brown rice pasta product by far that I have tried is Tinkyada.  It does not turn mushy when cooked (as long as you don't overcook it too much) and it is great for all pasta options.  I use it almost exclusively now (instead of cooking a separate whole wheat pasta for Tim and Charlotte). 

I don't find that eating gluten free has made a huge difference for me personally health wise (however that may be a different story if I try to introduce it again and notice the effects of eating gluten laden food) but Lila's eczema is pretty much all cleared up.  She has one small spot on her arm, and when she does have exposure to gluten or dairy by accident (or I do), she itches her arm in that spot. We have come a long way as she used to scratch herself until she bled, we would constantly be applying cream, including steroid cream when necessary and wrapping her arm with bandages every night before bed so she couldn't scratch all night.  When she was much younger she had eczema on her face as well.     

I am so surprised that eliminating dairy and gluten made for a healthier and happier little girl!  I am not an expert in these matters and it is still a learning and planning process when it comes to making healthy meals and snacks.  If you have any dietary suggestions or meal/snack ideas feel free to share in the comments!

Healthy skin - dairy free

Lila deals with eczema.  It is an ongoing process and like anything to do with health, skin and diet it is complex with experimental trials and mistakes.  We first started with eliminating all dairy products, including products that contain whey and casein (milk proteins).  I've written about it a bit before and since then, Lila and I have eliminated most gluten from our diet as well.  (Not completely gluten free, I did not replace my spices or other baking items right away.)  Although I don't crave wheat at all (like I craved cheese at first) it is a bit harder to replace because bread/crackers/tortillas/baked goods were so prevalent in our diet and often used for snacking items.

I thought it might be useful to share the products we use in replace of dairy.  I have changed the way we cook, so we really do not use dairy products very much any more, but they come in handy sometimes and we like to have a little option for milk on our oats and GF cereal.

I love So Delicious products and have used their coconut milk, coconut yogurt, coconut ice cream and Soy milk ice cream.  Although I do not drink this milk by the glass (it is sweet and thick like whole milk) it is delicious in (gluten-free) cereal, oatmeal coffee, and smoothies.  I started out with almond milk (arguably a healthier choice) only to discover that I have an allergic reaction to almonds.  So almond milk was not an option any more.  Someday I would like to try and make my own raw cashew milk, but for now, raw cashews are a popular snack!

I also use rice milk and hemp milk for baking, pancake making etc.  Rice milk is more affordable, however it does not contain very many calories or fat.  I continue to take a prenatal vitamin, sometimes an extra calcium pill while trying to get the extras from eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains and meat.

Also, please note that I have not replaced Lila's milk source with Coconut milk.  Lila is still breastfeeding every couple of hours (sometimes more) so that is her main source of milk!  I feel much less anxious about her getting the appropriate amount of fat and nutrients because she gets a lot of that from me!

                                           
Pure butter is actually considered much easier to digest than milk but I decided to go all the way with the elimination and replace our butter source too.  Pure butter will probably be the first thing I re-introduce.  Because I don't bake very often anymore, and we don't eat toast or sandwiches often, I don't use very much of this product.  However, we love making (gluten-free) pancakes and the odd cake or cookie recipe so Earth Balance is what I use.  They make a butter stick which is fabulous for baking and we use the soy free spread (to try and limit our soy intake a bit).  The ingredients include soybean (in the stick) palm fruit oil, canola oil, olive oil  and others.  

Oh cheese... how I craved thee!  Cheese is known to be addictive (found lots of sites when I googled it!) and it was a difficult one to cut out of cooking... homemade pizza, casseroles, snacks etc.  It helps me to have a really large breakfast every day (I cook 2/3 cup dried oats, load it up with fruit most mornings, and I've started adding raw pumpkin seeds as well).  Filling up first thing helps curb the snack craving throughout the day.  However, sometimes a little sprinkle of Daiya cheese goes a long way!  Daiya cheese was created in Vancouver, and it has received lots of attention for it's product!  As far as non-dairy cheeses, it is the best that I have tried.  It does melt, although my suggestion is to use less than you would normal cheese.  I reach for their mozzarella cheese every time I feel like making homemade pizza and garlic fingers!  The first two ingredients are filtered water and tapioca and/or arrowroot flours. 

So that's my list of dairy alternatives!  I do not use sour cream or cream cheese anymore although sometimes I reminisce about Great Canadian Bagels with cream cheese...

Yes, the alternatives are more expensive.  Honestly, because I rarely use them (except for the Coconut milk) I may end up saving money.  Blocks of regular cheese are hardly cheap!  We have been dairy free since mid February 2012.  It made a difference in Lila's skin and continues to do so.  I had some dairy by mistake recently and her skin flared up, she was itching like crazy the next day.  Her skin healed quickly after that though, and I am often shocked and amazed by how well it works for us.  Charlotte and Tim still drink whole cow's milk and eat the odd bit of cheese.  Also, eating dairy free did not completely heal Lila's skin... it was only a partial part of the journey.  

Babywearing and sling safety

You may have heard the updates in the news lately regarding safety with certain types of slings such as "bag" type slings. There have been a number of infant deaths which is causing a bit of an uproar regarding baby wearing in general. I thought I would post some relevant links for those who are interested, and concerned about baby-wearing.

Here is a great article which helps clarify what you need to watch out for when wearing your baby, and that baby wearing in general is not necessarily dangerous. You need to make sure that your infant's face is not covered and visible to you at all times.

The above article links to this one which has helpful images (for those visual learners!!) that explain the potential dangers of bag slings. (Note, it was written in 2008.)

Here is a recent CBC news article which warns against the baby being in a C-like position, curling from head to toe, and how that is dangerous.

And here is a special report from Mothering magazine with many different links on this topic.

On a personal note - I love wearing Charlotte and although my pregnant belly is getting in the way a bit now, it is a wonderful way to "wear" her with her weight distributed evenly and lots of support from the wide cloth over my shoulders. I never really mastered the over the shoulder sling and found them uncomfortable for longer periods of time. I think that it is tragic that babes have suffocated in slings and grieve for those families. It is great that the general public is becoming more aware of the dangers, although important not to realize that not all baby-wearing is dangerous. Here is a picture of Charlotte and I at the lake last summer! I look forward to wearing our new babe in the same wrap this summer :)

Vaccine update

So Charlotte had her 18 month vaccines almost 2 weeks ago now, and I've been meaning to post on it all this time. The nurse was extremely open to my questions and brought out the pamphlet that comes with the vaccine to give me the most accurate information. And when she saw I was taking notes she offered me the pamphlet to keep! (I guess each vaccine comes with a pamphlet, so if you are interested... ask!)

All of the vaccines that contain aluminum (that I was worried about) are grouped into one vaccine shot called "Pediacel". It contains 1.5 mg of aluminum phosphate which is 0.33 mg of aluminum. Because it is such a small amount, I went ahead with that vaccine (Pneumococcal, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Haemophilus Influenza Type B) as well as the 2 others:
Polio IPV, and Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

Charlotte was upset... it definitely stung her and she was so much more aware of what was going on. We had waited in the waiting room alone for 45 minutes and she was getting quite antsy by the end of it. She slept A LOT that night and was fussy during the day. Basically, all she wanted to do was nurse and sleep, so I put everything else on hold, and so that's what we did!

Now she is set until she enters Kindergarten (or we homeschool!!) Another post for another time.....

Vaccines part 2

I wrote about Charlotte's 12 month vaccines here. We ended up deferring her chicken pox and I wrote about struggling with that decision here. Now we are facing a whole onslaught of vaccinations..... the 18 month ones. Here is the list for 18 months:

Pneumococcal (Pc Vaccine) - contains aluminum
Diphtheria
Pertussis
Tetanus (DTaP, three vaccines in one) - contains aluminum, mercury in Tripedia brand
Polio IPV - contains animal tissue
Haemophilus Influenza Type B (HIB Vaccine) - may contain aluminum (PedVaxHIB brand)
Measles
Mumps
Rubella (MMR vaccine, three in one) - contains animal tissue, may have some serious side effects, live vaccine

(The information in italics is generalized from "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears. I am definitely not a vaccine expert and as science changes all the time, I could be mistaken in some of these statements. Different brands of vaccines contain different substances and are made in different ways.)

Yikes. That's all in one appointment. Of course many of the vaccines are lumped together in one needle, which is good for the babe in one way (9 needles would be insane) but not so good if she has a reaction. You would never know what caused the reaction.

It is time for me to go back to "The Vaccine Book" (by Robert Sears) and figure out which ones to request right away and which ones to defer. (Or whether to get all of them together.) Besides the Hep B at birth and the Chickenpox vaccine we have gotten all the other ones according to the recommended routine. The other thing is, she has gotten all of these vaccines at one time or another in the schedule. My main concern is that so many vaccines that contain aluminum are given in one appointment. My plan is to request that she only gets one aluminum containing vaccine at a time and defer what is possible to defer to another appointment. (Some vaccines, if they are on the second or third dose, have time limitations.) I hope to have a chat with my doctor about it and I'm really hoping they will be understanding. It is going to depend on what vaccines they put together in the needles (I heard yesterday that they only have three needles) so I can't really pick and choose in advance.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes! If you are interested in reading about Aluminum in vaccines, check out the mothering.com website and in particular, this article by Robert Sears.

Decisions

H1N1. Chicken Pox vaccine. Doctor's visits. I should probably be disinfecting my doorknobs, but need to write at the moment!

Charlotte was sick this week. Started with cold symptoms on the weekend, runny nose and cough. Ended with a fever that sky-rocketed at night. Well, I should say ended with a fussy baby that would not stop crying until I carried her around and tried to make supper and do dishes and disinfect doorknobs all at once. She's sleeping, and I should be too, probably, but I had way too much coffee today and feel like my head is spinning!

Anyway, I coped this week by co-sleeping and breastfeeding (pretty much constantly for hours at a time) and a lovely meal that a special auntie made for us.

Every morning I faced the decision of whether to take her to the doctor. Every morning I phoned the wonderful receptionist who wrote down Charlotte's symptoms and consulted with our family doctor. (The nurse was out sick.) She said, "sound's like the flu that's going around"...
Charlotte managed to get over it with some Tylenol, and loads of breastmilk. And lukewarm baths. That helped a lot.

Now I am faced with more decisions. H1N1? I've done so much reading and every time I come to a decision regarding the vaccine, I question it. Someone asks me pointed questions, and I just don't know what to do. Live in a box? Sometimes I feel like it.

Charlotte is scheduled for her deferred chicken pox vaccine on Monday. Again, so much reading and so many questions. I'm really not sure what to do.

I guess being a grown-up and mama means that you are responsible for these decisions. And they directly affect another life. And that's scary. I don't want to mess it up, you know?

Hopefully some rest (who am I kidding........ cleaning the house?!?!) will clear my head.

diaper rash

Yesterday I was fraught with mommy guilt. I had gone to the accountant's office for a meeting, came home and changed Charlotte right away. Then Tim's mom offered to help with the salsa I have been meaning to make now for two weeks. The tomatoes were slowly going bad on the counter and I knew it was a good opportunity to get this job done! Plus she had experience bottling things, and I had none (except for one jam experience with my mom a few years ago). So, away we went, chopping and stirring and sterilizing. What a job! (And the salsa turned out AMAZINGLY good, but only 6 jars out of 15 sealed.)

In the meantime, Charlotte was fussy (as she has a cold) and needing lots of attention and love. She also spit up all over herself and me, which required new outfits and a diaper change. When I went to change her, it had been about 2 hours, I was horrified to see that she had been dirty (probably for a little while it seemed) and I hadn't noticed. Her bum was bright red. I almost started bawling as it hurt her to be changed. I held it together (mom-in-law was still in the kitchen after all) and cried that night while giving her a bath!

We have had almost no diaper rash at all with Charlotte, and I think it is probably due to the frequency that I change her. I honestly can't remember the last time we had to use diaper rash cream. I try to keep her dry as much as I can. Plus the cloth diapers help, because I can notice right away when she is wet. (With fitted, anyway.) Ugh, I felt so horrible about this, because of me she has to deal with a sore bum on top of a nasty cold :(

I guess I need to count it as experience and move on. Any hints for dealing with mommy guilt out there???

milk

I've been thinking about milk lately. When should I introduce cow's milk? Should I go with organic? Should I research local farms and get it straight from the cow? (If that's even available here?) Should I look into goat's milk?

What did you do?

She still breastfeeds... a lot... and I believe that's best for her! But should I give her something else besides water in a cup?

(Now I need to stop perusing the internet and focus on the kitchen... and supper...)

vaccines.....

Charlotte had her one year doctor's appointment this week. The good part is... she got weighed and measured! As we don't have scales at home, it is so interesting to see how much she has grown when we visit our doctor. She now weighs 21 lbs and 5 oz and is 30.3 inches long! She is slightly under the 50% line for weight and high on the charts for height. Another good part of the visit.... we have a wonderful nurse and family doctor! The nurse was all smiles and words of support when I said I was still breastfeeding... yes! She said, "you must be very busy!" Which is true, because breastfeeding does take up many hours in my day. The doctor asked me if I had gone back to work, and I said that I was staying at home and working with my husband on his new business (more on this later!!) and she said... "Charlotte is very lucky! It's wonderful that you can stay home."
It is so great to hear this encouragement from professionals and I left the appointment feeling very good about my life choices! I know I have made the right ones for our family, but with most of society raising questioning eyebrows, it is encouraging to hear positive feedback from people!

The bad part about the visit.... vaccinations. They are never fun for parent or babe. She had two vaccinations this week... MMR and Meningococal C. At one year, they are scheduled for three, the thid being Varicella (or the Chicken Pox vaccine). Personally, I wasn't comfortable giving her that vaccine without doing some more research and I wanted to separate this vaccine from the other two. If you separate them, you have to wait one month or more for Varicella. She is scheduled to go in, in two months.

Vaccinations are one of the most controverisal topics in parenting circles right now. I am neither totally pro, or totally against vaccines (obviously, because Charlotte has gotten hers!). I am pro education about vaccines though. We delayed Charlotte's first Hep B and she did not get it until 2 months. This was kind of a last minute decision in the hospital, without a whole lot of prior research. After doing some reading online and in my Mothering magazine, I have decided to look into vaccinations in more detail. I purchased "The Vaccine Book" by Robert W. Sears as Chapters yesterday and I am looking forward to getting into it. It is supposed to be full of information, without pushing parents one way or another.

The Momversation video regarding vaccines is more pro-vaccine, check it out here. Check out this article on mothering.com regarding aluminum in vaccines which is an excerpt from "The Vaccine Book".

What do you think? Have you thought about vaccines at all? Did you vaccinate your child? I know this is an extremely senstive and controversial subject, so let's be sensitive in our discussion!