No one has to convince me not to try to be perfect. Okay, I do have perfectionist tendencies in some areas, but when I read about mothers having epiphanies that they don’t need to keep the house spotless, I feel like I am living on some other planet. One with lots of spots. My floors…
Healthy Eating
Let them eat lunch, from home
Eating close to the source is something I’ve been working toward for several years, ever since I started trying to get my health on track in the face of major digestive issues, infertility, and Graves’ disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism). I was almost embarrassed to request Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life…
The pull of escape, the pull of retreat
This time of year is always good for smacking me around. Even on a sunny day like today, when the quince and camellia are blooming and you swear it can’t be January it’s so warm, winter is in my bones. And my mom’s too. Right around this time in 1995, while I was doing my…
Now is the time for now
The instant I read the words, I regretted picking up my BlackBerry that one last time before going to bed. A well-meaning relative of mine had read my recent post about my health and my leaky gut problem and told me: “This is not the time to volunteer for things.” She intended to point out…
My gut, she leaks
I wouldn’t have even bothered to do the test if I didn’t think I had digestive problems. I know I do. But some of the information I got from my labs this week was information I didn’t even know could be found. It’s been 11 months since I went on the GAPS diet, which has…
Staying healthy this winter (with a giveaway!)
For me, food is medicine. If health is a priority, take out foods that don’t work for your body — because of allergies, because they rev you up (like caffeine or sugar), because they draw you down (like alcohol) or because they add to inflammation (like sugar and a lot of the Standard American Diet)…
On eating, blogging, and parenting
Being one of some 1500 traditional food enthusiasts here at the Weston A. Price Foundation Wise Traditions conference is humbling and exhilarating. So many people have regained health or healed their children through real food. The stories at the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS diet) lecture alone were amazing. It’s easy in mainstream circles to…
Kids in the kitchen (better late than never!)
I did not get a post written in time to participate in the November Blog Carnival of Natural Parenting in part because I feel like I no longer do such a great job at getting “kids in the kitchen,” this month’s theme. We were great at it when my son was two and three, and…
Raw Milk Mommies rock!
What a great turnout at yesterday’s rally to protest restrictions on the sale of raw milk. Here are some photos from the reporter mom perspective! For full coverage, check out my article at The Washington Times Communities Family Today Also visit Kimberly Hartke’s blog post about the rally. Or check out all this great coverage!…
“Raw Milk Mommies” to demonstrate at FDA
Moms do not appreciate the government telling them how to feed their children and restricting their access to what they feel is a healthful food. On November 1, 2011, mothers from around the country will protest outside the Food and Drug Administration building in Silver Spring, Maryland to protest the FDA’s restriction on the purchase…
A weekend of holistic health and blogging
A tale of two conferences I’ve had a split personality this weekend. Much of my time has been spent at the wonderful blogging conference, Blogalicious. Since I first arrived at the conference Friday morning, I’ve met great people, caught up with friends, and learned a ton about social media and media resources in general. A…
Real Food heals: Blog Action Day
When my nutritionist friend suggested I try integrating some animal protein and animal fat back into my diet, I was offended. Didn’t she know how bad it was for the earth to waste all those resources on raising animals instead of vegetables and grain? Didn’t she know that a low-fat diet was healthier? Since I…
The dental-health connection
I’d always been intrigued by the lectures I saw Dr. Felix Liao giving about the connection between dental health and whole body health, but his Whole Health Dental Center just seemed too far away. Then I noticed someone posting on the Northern Virgina Families for Natural Living list that his office had moved inside the…
Holistic Moms to host “Traditional Diets” guru
The first time I heard of the Weston A. Price Foundation was the day after Thanksgiving 2003. My face was full of acne, my belly was full of gas, mind was muddled, and I hadn’t had a period in almost three months. Not exactly the picture of health. But I was still offended when the…
Seeing the light, in the dark
It was a day when every hour looked like 5 p.m. Grey. Rain. Then rainier, and windy. So why am I feeling better than I’ve felt since, like, June? One guess is the yoga. I did about 20 minutes alone upstairs in my bedroom this morning, after 5 minutes using the chi machine. Post-juice, pre-breakfast….
On the road again
Once upon a time, I could go on a road trip without making all my own unprocessed, organic, starch-free food. Once upon a time I could go to my parents’ house without drooling over idea of family-provided childcare so that I could enjoy some time to catch up on all things computer — email (professional…
Interview with nutritionist Dr. Keith Ayoob
I was invited to participate in an interview recently with Dr. Keith Ayoob, a nutritionist who appears regularly on “Good Morning America,” CNN, and ABC news and who writes for SchoolMenu.com. One of my favorite articles of his is called “D Pressed;” it highlights the importance of Vitamin D to mental health. Anyone familiar with…
Gluten-free expo comes to D.C.: win free entry!
Going gluten-free in 2004 was part of my holistic effort to bring my body into balance and heal my thyroid from Graves’ Disease, autoimmune hyperthyroidism. My goal was to get off anti-thyroid medication and get healthy enough to get pregnant. Although I also hoped to go off anti-depressant medication, I didn’t really expect that a…
Up against a wall (or a booster tray)
Most of my the time my daughter is sleeping or not lunging toward an electrical cord lately has gone to looking for childcare. The baby is into everything, and while she’s hilarious and funny and it’s a delight to hear an 11-month-old play the kazoo, there has to be some balance. And when there is…
D.C. to host world premiere of film about war on family farms
If you consider yourself a locavore, a supporter of family farms, or just a parent concerned about your children’s health and the future of the planet they will inherit, be sure not to miss the world premiere of Farmageddon–the Unseen War on American Family Farms, a mom-created film that documents the FDA’s raids on small …