First, so sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been traveling a lot lately and something had to give. But if you’ll forgive me for that, I’ll give you the good news: I’ve hit the 25-pound mark!

Nutrition Facts for Parents – a Guest Post by Alex White

In light of the shocking news of Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy, a lot of women are probably thinking about getting their mammograms a little earlier this year.

Ms. Jolie recently announced in a New York Times op-ed article that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

During the last week there has been more attention than normal paid to breasts, if you can believe it.  The focus, however, hasn't just on anyone's tatas.  Rather - it has been on mamas' tatas.  

Yesterday was the second Mother’s Day without my mother. It’s been a sixteen months since she passed away, yet it often seems as if I just saw her a moment ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her.
So on the day that we showcase our love and appreciation of our moms, memories of my own mother took a front seat. There are an endless amount of experiences that I shared with my mother. But as I sat with my husband at lunch, with a variety of dishes in front of us, I realized how much of these revolved around food.

Last Friday evening I became aware I was allowing someone I was working with to have too much say over how I was feeling. I was giving this relationship–a relatively new one–too much weight, too much power. And I didn’t like how this was making me feel: rushed, speeded up and unsettled.

I recently read an article featuring celebrity moms like Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum and Angelina Jolie who drank herbal teas for it’s many nutritional benefits and it made me pause.  When I recovered from my momentary mental break, I realized that celebrities held the key to success when it came to great health.  They have access to some of the top health professionals, nutritionists, fitness experts, and culinary chefs in the world.  So, I figured us not-so famous moms could glean a bit of knowledge from them as well.  

Even if that college happens to have a campus dotted with real marble columns and ivy covered walls, rather than one that simply exists in cyberspace, do we learn everything we need to know professionally there? Many professionals may in fact come away with a great deal of debt, and many high level skills, but not always the brimful he or she had expected to acquire. Luckily, many non-profit organizations support continued career development. I noticed that my own town’s Chamber of Commerce offers an empowering “W.O.W.” meeting each month.

There’s been a lot of belly button gazing in our house this past week.

The feeling of control is so important when working on losing weight. The feeling of being out of control is really a yucky feeling to have (to use clinical terms) J. This is important to think about when you notice that you are “sneaking” food. It is hard to really enjoy something when you feel you are “cheating” or “sneaking.” It is so much more enjoyable to have something when you know that you planned for it, factored it in, worked for it and are consciously choosing the food (rather than feeling like the food is choosing you).