February 28th, 2011

Kellogg’s Share Your Breakfast

My Breakfast This Morning

National Breakfast Day is this week, Tuesday, March 8th, during National School Breakfast Week. It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of breakfast.

However, I wanted to share a cool breakfast initiative that is going on right now to bring attention to a critical breakfast plight.

While most of us know breakfast is an important meal in overall weight loss, nutrition and energy, many kids still don’t get breakfast because their families cannot afford it.

Yet, there is a neat crusade where you can help just by sharing your breakfast. (Not in the way you think, so keep reading!)

In partnership with Action of Healthy Kids, Kelloggs’s has a Share Your Breakfast program where you take a photo of your breakfast and share it on their website (or you can text your breakfast, with the word ” Share”, to 21534). The goal is to get to 1 million texts or photos by July 31, 2011. Note: on Tuesday, March 8th only, you can also tweet your breakfast details using the #shareurbreakfast hashtag.

Each time you share a photo or description of your breakfast, Kellogg’s will donate to the Action for Healthy Kids, which provides funding directly to school districts (even here in Massachusetts) to expand the National School Breakfast Program. So that every child can have a nutritious breakfast at school if they want one.

You can do it everyday (even if it is just a picture of your cup of coffee), but get the kids involved, as it is a great teachable moment. Explain what you are doing and why, and then have them take a picture (or help you take a picture) of their breakfast. Encourage them to think about a new breakfast everyday. Maybe today is cereal and orange juice, and tomorrow can be toast and milk. Maybe they can draw what they had for breakfast. Encourage them to figure out what else they can do to help.

So share your breakfast and help a great cause. What a great way to start the day.

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February 25th, 2011

Over 30 and Making New Friends

Is it ever too late to have new friends? Especially if you are over 30 years old?

I find it harder to make new friends now that I am older. I have tried to reconnect with old college friends, tried to reach out to people in new Moms groups, and introduced myself to neighbors. But to no avail. It is like they have their network of friends and have no interest in adding another. (Though they may have a gazillion friends on Facebook.)

At what point does one say, “You know what, I have enough friends in my life that I don’t need another?” Granted with our busy lifestyles, it is hard to have a cup of coffee or spend a couple hours shopping, but when does having too many ‘real’ friends seem like a bad thing?

Each day, I watch my son foster new relationships. He walks into a room, checks it out and starts playing with another kid like they have known each other forever. It is easy for him because he does not have any preconceptions, nor does the other boy or girl. He is not thinking, “Well, I already have Lisa and Mary as my friends, so I don’t have time to make John my friend.” Nor is he thinking, “Well, John only wants to be friends for me because I have nice Old Navy jeans” or “He is just trying to know me so he can be popular.”

As I drop my 16 month old off at his school, and he runs to play with his new friends, I have to say….I’m a bit jealous.

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February 22nd, 2011

Poll Question of the Week

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February 16th, 2011

Fitness Setbacks

There are times where you can’t catch a fitness break. Maybe something keeps coming up that prevents you from your goal of running a 10k (like Working Mom Fence). Maybe you were on a streak and have come to a crashing halt (sick kids). Don’t dismay.

It happens to everyone at some point (and often at many points). I can’t begin to tell you how many injuries I have had during marathon trainings that landed me on the couch. Even now, just as an ordinary Mom trying to lose some belly fat, I am back to square one.

I finally got back into a running streak, after several fits and starts since my son was born. As soon as I fell back into my running groove, I went away for a week to a conference (set back #1), came home to ice dams that required copious hours of shoveling on the roof (set back #2) and then I got myself a lovely UTI (set back #3). For three weeks (and counting) now, I have been sidelined. Yet, here are some tips if you find yourself in a similar situation.

1. Don’t dispair. It happens. Just because you can’t start a new fitness routine or had to put your 5k on hold doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Maybe you can’t start a spin class series (bummer), but try a yoga series instead. Can’t run the 5k in March? (Boo hoo.) What about April?

2. Don’t giveup. Just because you can’t go to your spin class or for a run doesn’t mean you can’t do something. Depending on why you are sidelined, you can usually find an alternative to keep active. Can’t run due to a knee injury, lift weights. Can’t go to the gym because you have to meet the insurance company for the ice dams (I digress), go for a walk around your neighborhood. That way when you get back to what you were doing or wanted to do, you have had some sort of groove in the interim.

3. Don’t think you can’t do it. I often found myself not running, even though I was able to run, because I didn’t think I good at it anymore. Or I wouldn’t want to go to the gym because I felt I wasn’t in shape anymore, and everyone would stare at me. Don’t let those negative vibes stop you. You will get your groove back sooner than you think and no one cares anyway, other than you.

The saying “When life gives you lemons”… applies even in fitness. But you need to roll with it. Just have a glass of lemonade after the Ab class you are taking while your stress fracture heals. (I speak from past experience on that one.)

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