When you’re a parent, vacation seems like two four-letter words. If you have taken one recently, I’m not sure I can handle hearing about it. But tell me anyway. I have a friend who recently posted on Facebook a screen shot of her phone texting with a friend about what they should take to New…
nutrition
Food as family medicine: living gluten-free and beyond
Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Feeding Your Family This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared recipes, stories, and advice about food and eating. Please read to the end to find a…
Parenting in the land of compromise
Welcome to the June 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting in Theory vs. in Reality This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants are sharing how their ideas and methods of parenting have changed. *** The surprises…
Yoga as birthday gift
I turned 40 on Monday. On my birthday eve — last Sunday — I had the most beautiful yoga class with a small group of friends. I walked in anxious and grumpy and walked out grateful and open-hearted. This weekend, I am off on a retreat through Beloved Yoga at the lovely Kent Manor Inn….
A retreat and a reboot
Parenting really does make you tired. That’s the conclusion I reached after being away from my family for 32 hours and returned full of pep. For someone who’s had one of the toughest emotional months in her adult life recently and some physical challenges, it’s saying a lot to feel so good about the weekend….
Food for thought
I can’t stand it. After 27 days of writing poetry, I want to write about nutrition! Aside from the fact that tomatoes are out of season and that I didn’t preserve any local ones, and aside from the fact that I’d once all but banned even gluten-free pasta from our house as a processed food…
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…
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)…
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!…
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…
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…
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…
The transition begins: Waldorf to public school
Just how many different people can I be in my head in one day? Well, at least two solid positions are staking claim to my mental landscape. One is incredibly sad that yesterday was my son’s last day at his Waldorf school, and the other is very excited for our family to become part of…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Ten: “Party in the pose”
It felt like a graduation. I completed my 10-Day Yoga Challenge Monday yesterday, taking my fourth class with the Anusara-inspired teacher who told me and the other students that we were all ready to kick it up a notch. We’d all gotten comfortable with her repeated calls to isometrically draw our legs together and to…
Rally for Food and Farm Freedom brings a cow to the Capitol!
What a great day to celebrate food choice — and to protest the government’s efforts to curtail those choices. The sun shone brightly today at Upper Senate Park for the rally to protest the arrest of an Amish farmer selling raw milk. It was inspiring to see so many Real Food and raw milk supporters…
Talking Real Food with Robyn O’Brien
When Robyn O’Brien’s youngest child had her first allergic reaction to eggs, I had already — over two years earlier — given up vegetarianism and soy in a quest to regain my fertility and, a few months later, given up gluten and dairy in a quest to heal my gut and my body overall from…
Farm Rally coming up: Leave our milk alone!
I’m so excited about Real Food right now! I’m about to head to an event at Restaurant Nora (“America’s first certified organic restaurant”) with Robyn O’Brien, author of Unhealthy Choice: How Our Food is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It. And on Monday, I’m going to attend a rally to protest…