Healthy Work at Home Tips For Homeschooling Families

This is part  four of a multi-part series on nutrition. If you missed the other parts, click back through the archives and read them. There are some really useful tips from a credentialed nutritionist and some lines to keep you laughing, as well.

The question for today is one that has come up in agriculture and organic food publications. Are we getting the same amount of nutrients from our food that we used to get?  I recently heard a story that  a study was done comparing the nutrients in a peach from 1955 (have they been saving it since then?) to a grocery store peach from 2007. The study indicated that you’d have to eat 50, 2007 peaches to equal the nutrient value in 1 1955 peach.

So is that story true? Who knows?  But what is known is that the big business of agriculture has moved far away from the ancient and well-proven system of rotating crops and allowing soil to regenerate. Instead, today’s conventional soil is almost dead and our crops grow in a mixture of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides. It’s hard to imagine that our peach or our corn grown in that manner has the nutrients of a peach or an ear of corn grown in rich non-depleted soil.

The question that naturally follows this line of thinking is, “so how do we get the nutrients we need?”  As Jen Laemmel mentioned in the previous post, choosing organic food it a first good step. Growing your own vegies as much as possible is another great option. There is a growing movement of local farmers and people supporting them with a goal of trying to eat food that is grown as close to home as possible. An apple picked two days ago is far superior to one grown in Chile and picked four weeks ago, in terms of taste and nutritional value. If you attempt to eat foods that are in season, you are more likely to find locally grown foods. When you buy from local farmers, even those who do not grow organically, you are still eating foods that are better for you than those grown on huge agri-industrial farms.

There is a place for supplements in todays diet, yet most of the pills that we wash down end up exiting our bodies in our urine. When looking at supplements, vitamins, minerals and herbs; look for liquids and those made from whole foods rather than synthetics. Companies like Shaklee have been delivering whole food vitamins for over 30 years. Then there are the new wave of scientifically formulated nutritional beverages. You have to do your research, as many are full of sugar. Yet there are some that are absolutely wonderful. They have true scientific backing and are not just a fancied up version of sweet fruit juice. I mentioned one of my favorites in the second nutrition post.  It’s called Monavie. There is a link to more information in the sidebar.

There is also a brand new product that is based on an ancient Ayurvedic formulation. Ayurveda is a type of medical healing that has been practiced in India for thousands of years. This product is endorsed by the Chopra Center for Well-Being, which is an internationally renowned alternative health facility in Californial. The combination of the amalaki berry and 6 other rejuvenating and detoxifying herbs, make Zrii a very unique product in the health beverage market. If you’d like to learn more, click here to be redirected to an informative alternative wellness website.  Since the benefits complement each other, I have personally begun drinking Zrii regularly in addition to my Monavie, which I’ve drank for almost a year now. This has been my healthiest year by far, in over a decade.

The article below was written by Jen Laemmel, a holistic nutrition and wellness coach. She available for consultation by phone and can help you with your nutritional needs anywhere in the country. Her contact information is at the bottom of the post.

Hello, my name is Jen Laemmel. I’m a Mom of an almost 6 year old daughter, a wife, I run three businesses and am in the throws of starting another (business that is.) I mostly work out of my home and wow is it ever a busy life. My expertise is in nutrition and I am constantly trying my hardest to practice what I preach! I have found myself famished in the afternoons and realize that I forgot to feed myself. I was so busy making breakfast, packing lunch for my daughter, cleaning up and heading right up to my office that I forgot to eat. Isn’t breakfast the most important meal of the day? That sure is what I was taught and what I tell my clients. So, I’m turning over a new leaf and it truly is making a difference in my days and my life. I would like to share with you some of the very basics of what we all need nutritionally as well as some of the tricks I have come up with to actually meet those needs.

We all know eating well is so important and that we will be much happier and healthier if we make better dietary choices. Unfortunately, we all have that “busy” thing in common and it oftentimes gets in the way. So, I propose that we all pay attention to a few things at a time, such as making sure we ALWAYS eat breakfast, steer clear of those simple carbohydrate kid snacks, add some healthy fat to our meals, take out the trans fats (aka partially hydrogenated oils), try eating three healthy meals a day with good snacks in between, stretch and meditate for 10 - 20 minutes each day, stop eating 2 hours before bedtime, get plenty of sleep, drink more water, eat 80% organic, eat less red meat, exercise at least 3 times a week, and so on. I have found it best to only pick a few things to start with. Do it for a month. Really FEEL the difference it makes and then gradually add a few more good-for-you things as time goes on.

Although all of us are unique, our basic dietary needs are similar. Seven to ten servings of fruits and vegetables is a great number to follow. Focus on a variety of colors and various cooking methods. Fresh raw and lightly steamed vegetables are best with fresh frozen next and canned last. I also strongly recommend organic due to the higher nutrient content in these foods amongst many other reasons. We also all need whole grains in our diet. My rule of thumb is to buy bread that has been the least amount processed and has the smallest ingredient list. Stone ground and whole grain bread and pasta are wonderful once you get used to them and so much better for you! Choose brown rice over white rice as often as possible with white rice as an occasional treat. We need around the same amount of servings of grains as we do of vegetables and fruits per day. Dairy and protein requirements are about 2-3 servings per day. I would suggest lean means, nuts and legumes for your protein requirement and organic dairy or dairy alternatives. Good fats (essential fatty acids) are very important as well. Don’t be afraid of fats, especially the healthy ones like olive oil, flax seed oil and avocados.

So how on earth do you cram all of those foods in during the day? Well, first of all it doesn’t leave much room for the bad-for-us snacks does it? I always make a giant salad each night so there is enough left over for myself and my husband to take to work the next day. I put them in separate containers so they are ready to go. I also always have a big bowl of fresh fruit on my counter. If I have time when I get home from grocery shopping I pull the stickers off the fruit and wash them before putting them in the bowl. Anything to make it easier to grab and go, right? Before I leave the house I try to pack a bag of healthy snacks for my daughter AND myself. I also pack water bottles for us. This is key to keep from grabbing quick non-healthy items from the convenience store. We all deserve to treat ourselves well and be healthy. We all deserve to take time out for us. We all deserve to feel good and enjoy a long quality life! With just a few changes, you can truly notice a difference in your wellbeing!

Jen Laemmel, BS. MS. is a holistic nutrition and wellness coach.
She lives at almost ten thousand feet in the Colorado mountain town, Crested Butte. She lives there with her husband and daughter and together they enjoy a life of recreating, hard work and peace. Jen gained her passion for nutrition several years ago when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. This journey with her mom made her more and more aware of how important diet and wellness are. She received her bachelor of science in food science, human nutrition and dietetics. She recently completed her master in holistic nutrition and is currently undergoing a PHD. program in philosophy of nutrition. She recognizes how important continued education is, especially in an everchanging field like nutrition. Education is also the main focus of her practice. By giving people the information and clearing up the confusion, clients are able to use these tools to make better decisions for themselves. Her practice also focuses on the positive. So many times, people worry about what they should NOT do, what they should NOT say, what they should NOT eat. Let’s focus on what we do well and what we can do and good things will come our way. So working with Jen will be positive, exciting, new, and a bit oovy groovy, but it will also be scientific and will provide the most current information available. Contact us today and get started on your path to wellness!

contact Twist Nutrition by clicking here

If you’ve ever been to Europe you may have noticed that the European’s relationship with food is very different than ours is here in the US.  Here, food is often whatever we can throw in our mouths easily while also doing something else.  In other countries food is about nourishment of both the body and the soul. Meals are prepared, tables are set and people eat sitting down (at a table, not in the car).  The eating of food in old world cultures is about more than just calories, it’s about social connection and taking time to honor oneself and be thankful for the bounty on the table.

When you think about it that way, our quick dash through the drive-thru or the toaster tarts we eat standing up for breakfast, begin to appear rather obscene. In keeping with the theme of good nutrition for busy moms,  how do we keep all of our balls in the air and also change our relationship with food?  To begin I think we need to change our belief system. You are worthy of a sit-down lunch. Many months ago I wrote a post about taking care of yourself. One of the ways to do that is to honor yourself with a real meal and time to eat it.

It may be a meal by yourself while your kids are outside or working on their schooling, or it may be one where you all sit down together. People are becoming more interested again in creating time for family dinners, I’m also talking about breakfast and lunch. Think of the message you are giving your children if they see you making the effort to cook a nice meal for yourself and then sit down and eat it without doing anything else at the same time. Isn’t that the way you want them to treat themselves when they grow up? As I’ve written before, modeling a type of behavior is the best teacher.

So start small tomorrow. Decide which meal it will be. Pick a menu. Have the kids help you cook. Arrange your business appointments with a block of time set aside for a meal. Use glass dishes and put flowers on the table. Chew your food and savor the flavor. You’ll realize that the extra 1/2 hour you just spent gives more to your day and to your life, than it takes away.

Even with the best intentions it’s often hard to get all the nutrients that we need. Watch this blog for an upcoming post by a Master’s Degree level nutritionist. She is will be writing an article about how to choose healthy foods and cover all your nutritional bases. In the meantime, there is a vast amount of evidence that shows the necessity of at least 7 servings of high quality fruit per day. High quality means fruit that is grown organically or wild, and in non-depleted soil. The fact is that this is not the fruit we purchase at the grocery store. Our supermarket fruit has often sat in trucks and warehouses for weeks before ending up in our homes. It is often grown with large amounts of pesticides, in soil that has not had a chance to regenerate in many years. There is a product that I drink every  day that solves this problem. Just 2 ounces twice per day gives me the equivalent of 7 servings of wholesome/organic fruit in terms of antioxidants and phytonutrients. I really love this juice. If I skip it for a few days I can feel my energy level dropping. The product is called Monavie. Here is a link to read more about it. You can also purchase it directly from the company, on this website if you would like to try it. Click here to learn more.

OK, be honest here…how many of you eat the bread crusts your children leave behind and call it lunch? Or what about the half eaten apple, or the very bottom part of the banana? I have a friend who makes beautiful box meals for her kids when they are away from home for lunch but she is lucky if she remembers to throw some almonds in her pocket when she is running out the door. At least it’s almonds and not M & M’s!!

Let’s look at the difficulties involved with eating nutritiously as a busy mom. Personally, I’m not a food lover so if I am really busy, feeding myself is the first thing I “forget”. I also have a child who likes to eat constantly. I figure that if I nibble on her small left-overs, that should be enough to hold me until dinner. Thank goodness my husband likes to cook, and likes to eat meals as well. No corn flakes and milk for his dinner. So every night he cooks us a nice meal and we all sit down and eat together. Family time and nutrition in one easy package.

I do not feel I am alone in this manner of eating. When we have a ladies night out, we often share stories about nibbling on the lunch box remnants in the car on the way home. Are we really that self-sacrificing that we cannot take time to nourish our bodies? Work at home moms are especially prone to this problem since we are often don’t spend much time with other adults. If you work in an office, at lunch time most people eat. They either go out, or sit together and enjoy the meal they brought from home. Lunch at the office is both nourishing and social. Office people also take coffee breaks. Even though excess caffeine consumption can be a concern, these breaks are primarily about snacks and socializing.

At home most of us do not do this. We are so focused on our children, our home schooling (if we are doing that), our home business and all the other responsibilities of caring for a family that we often do not create a schedule that includes breaks for ourselves specifically designed for eating.

So what’s a mother to do? Stay tuned to the next few post and learn some nutrition basics, some time savers and some healthy eating tricks. By the time this nutrition series is done, hopefully we will all be taking better care of our bodies and our health.

This might be helpful to some of you.  It’s a short website about relief from monthly cycle pain.  They will send you a really good article about inflammation and natural relief.

Click here to redirect to the site 

Feeling pain for a few days out of every month can wreak havoc with the best work and homeschooling plans.  Taking ibuprofen often help because it is an anti-inflammatory.  Over the years I’ve researched different natural substances that would potentially have the same type of effect. It appears that most women who add acai berry juice to their diets are finding relief. The natural anti-inflammatory properties of this particular brand of juice seem to be what is helping.

Everyone’s body is different, so one product that works for a friend might not work for you. On the other hand, the quote on this webpage is quite compelling. If I were presently dealing with monthly pain that interrupted my life, I would give this product a try.

Click here to see the website 

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OK, As those of you who have been reading this blog for the past few months know, I don’t susually pitch a specific company or business opportunity. I believe I did it only once before. But I just received a phone call and I was so stunned by the information that I  have to share.  I hoping by putting this information out there, we can all benefit.

Some of you may have realized that I am an Independent Executive with a new network marketing company called Zrii. Zrii is a health drink endorsed by doctors at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Dr. David Simon, who is the head physician at the Chopra Center (which he runs, along with Deepak Chopra), helped in the formulation of Zrii. The ayurvedic ingredients in Zrii…both the Amalaki Berry and 6 highly regarded herbs, has caught the interest of many alternative and mainstream physician.

On the business side, Zrii will be officially launched in May of 2008. Presently the company is in pre-launch, setting up their structure of Independent Executives and working out any kinks on the corporate end.

I learned tonight about a special compensation bonus that just floored me. I’ve been in network marketing for a number years and I have never heard of anything like this before. The company will give “one share” of their profits to each eligible distributor each month. All it takes to become eligible is to find 5 people who want to become involved with Zrii. In November every distributor who had enrolled 5 people that month received a check for $1400…in addition to their regular commission checks. A “share” is a percentage of the company’s profits for that month. It is divided between any people who have enrolled 5…just 5.

You can do it for one month, or two or three or more. You can even enroll, sign up five people and never do another thing with the company. I doubt you’d do that since this is a really amazing business opp, but you could. I had no idea that this bonus pool was open to everyone. I’ve been working this business for 3 months so far, and all my energy has been spent setting up my personal marketing campaigns for the future. I know that the long-term residual income will come over time.  Now though, I’m going to focus a little more on the present and benefit from part of that bonus pool. I hope you will too.

You can link to my Zrii web page by clicking here.  Most of us work at home and all of us could benefit from a bonus…especially when it’s comes from such a unique and nutritionally advantageous product… What a great way to begin 2008!!

We’re in that period of time that I’ve always loved. Christmas is over. The New Year is not here yet. It feels like a time that somewhat separate from real time. We all know that once New Year’s day is over it’s time to get back to business…whatever that means for you. But right now we still have the luxury of waiting, planning, even relaxing a bit.

When your year is spent more in a “school year” calendar than a regular calendar, this time of year is often a big exhale from the first burst of “school”. This is true whether you homeschool or not.  Twenty years ago when I was a teacher I recollect the ebb and flow of the energy of the school year being intimately connected to the holidays. From September until Christmas there were many holidays, culminating in the Christmas/New Years break. It was clear to all that coming back from break in January, it was clearly time to get down to business.

So here we are, December 28th…four more days before it’s time to get serious.  Four more days to prepare your mind, your curriculum, your bookkeeping…and of course your resolutions for a year of regular exercise and good health.  Writing things down tends to make them more real. When I work with clients we often write down goal, plans, promises and affirmations.  If there are things you’ve been thinking about incorporating into your day or your life…ideas for the kids, marketing for your business, a new workout routine for your body…write down. Here’s how:

Write it down as if it were true. Stay away from “I’ll try…” or “hopefully I’ll…” Make statements that are specific. “On Tuesday mornings from 10-11 my friend Mary will do an art lesson with the kids while I go to Pilates.”  Or, “I will learn how to advertise on the computer using Google Adwords and will have my first ad up and running by January 15th.” When you set concrete goals like this your brain is better able to wrap around them and take action. When you say, “I’m going to exercise more this year”, there is really no boundaries to work withing and you end up doing nothing.

So take out a nice new pad, or piece of paper or open a new file on your computer and write. Happy New Year to you and yours!!

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There was recently an interview on Fox News with Dr. Andrea Pennington, author of The Pennington Plan, which focused on the foundation of good health as the first step in becoming reconnected with oneself. Dr. Pennington talks about the importance for women (in particular) to be in touch with their passions in life. She advocates beginning with your physical health. Nutrition, exercise etc…are often neglected when a woman is focused on raising her children, caring for her family and often earning a living as well.

Dr. Pennington’s focus is similar to the main objective of this website. Homeschooling is a huge time committment, as is working at home. Structuring your life in a way that allows time and space for self-care is all the more important when demands on your time and space are high. You can view Dr. Pennington’s interview on Fox News by clicking here. (There is a link in the sidebar of this website, to the antioxidant juice that Dr. Pennington mentions in her interview.)

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Meditation is an interesting topic for this blog. The power of meditation for yourself, your children and your business can be quite amazing. As someone who has experienced that power from years of daily meditation I can highly recommend it for busy parents and their children.

Bringing children into meditation and allowing it to become something that they treasure and value can begin in a number of ways. There of course are families where the children have experience with meditating since newborn days…families where they rested nearby while their parents did their practice. These children may see a meditation practice as something normally done, like dinner or brushing teeth. Children who have not had this experience might love to start doing a type of family meditation.

Spending time with your children developing what your family meditation practice looks like, is a beneficial and also creative process. Your practice can be a simple as sitting together once a day and breathing, to a more elaborate ritual of chanting, breathing, prayers and blessings. If you as the parent have had no prior meditation experience, you will find it helpful to first read some books or listen to some meditation tapes. An author like Jon Kabat-Zinn is very accessible and easy to read. Once you have created a family meditation practice, the move to children meditating on their own as they mature, will be a natural one.

From the standpoint of a homeschooling parent working at home, meditation can be a lifeline. Ours is a busy day. Knowing that at some point in that day everything will become quiet, the focus will turn inward and we will have a moment to reconnect with our inner-self, can be all we need to push through the math problems or return that difficult client’s phone call. Meditation created space. A daily practice creates a space with no expectations and no demands. The breath continues inward and outward regardless. No matter what your day has wrought or what it’s about to bring, meditating allows you to spend time in this one moment. Doing so can allow you to re-enter with more patience, more motivation and more focus. That is truly a gift. A gift for yourself, your children and your business.

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