Miscellaneous

Holistic Cough Medicine

Magnolia has a cough.  Magnolia requests honey about 2,406 times a day.  How are these things related?

We mix up a quick "cough medicine" for her when she's sick or something else is going on that may be compromising her immune system (like when she skips too many naps or happens to have a few dairy-heavy days in a row).  The best part?  Make a bunch and leave it, covered, on the counter.  Honey is the ONLY food that doesn't spoil.

**Please note: honey is not recommended for babies under the age of 1 due to their lessened ability to fight off a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum - which can cause botulism in young babies.**

Here's the "recipe": mix together raw honey, turmeric, and cinnamon.  Feel free to add some powdered probiotics if you'd like for an added immune boost.

  • The honey contains antioxidants, is antibacterial and anti-fungal, soothes a cough and sore throat, and aids in fighting allergies if using a local, raw honey.
  • What does the turmeric do?  This is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant!  Therefore, it helps relieve pain and promote healing.
  • Cinnamon not only helps to mask the strong taste of the turmeric, but it helps stabilize blood sugar and insulin responses (which an important player in our health and immunity.  It is also anti-microbial and contains antioxidants (see a pattern here?).  Oh, and it aids blood circulation so your little one's own defenses can get to work!
  • Probiotics boost the health of our "gut".  Think of these as soldier reinforcements…more good guys to help fight the bad guys.  :-)

This is a safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive staple to keep in your household this Fall / Winter to give to any child or adult over the age of 1 as prevention or as an extra boost when a cold or cough appears.  1-3 teaspoons spread out throughout the day works well!  I hope your kiddos request this "medicine" as much as mine does.  

In health,

Tara

Abstainers vs. Moderators

You know you WANT to change something.  You can practically feel / taste / smell the results and you've made 25 vision boards with your dreams plastered all over them.  Then why, oh why, do you end up feeling as though you've self-sabotaged?!

In this video, I get into one of the most basic and foundational questions you should be asking yourself before beginning any type of behavioral change.  I use chocolate in my example, because, well who can't relate to chocolate?!

Are YOU and abstainer or a moderator?  How will this help you moving forward in wherever you're at in your health journey?  Drop a comment or shoot me an email.  I'd love to hear more and send you some encouraging words!

Bathroom Magic

Come on….come into the bathroom with me!  

Weird?  Sort of.  Helpful?  I hope so!  In this short video (read: SHORT - have I mentioned I need A LOT more storage on my phone?  I got 99 problems…and mobile storage is #1)...

…Anyway, in this short video I share 3 products I use daily that I swear by.  These are not affiliates of mine, I'm just a believer in their health benefits!  If you work with me, these may sound familiar to you already as I suggest only the best for my clients.  ;-)  Each of these items are under $10 or $15, last a while, and won't take more than 45 seconds (total) to implement.  

Have I piqued your curiosity?

Ahh, guys…I see my viewership numbers growing here and I'm so excited!  Please let me know what you'd like to see more of.  Leave comments below so I can say hello.  I'm a mama of an infant and toddler - you know that means I need more adult conversations in my day, right?

In health,

Tara

Sleep-deprived and Staying Healthy

It's no secret that sleep has been a scarcity around here for….well, quite some time!  As a breastfeeding mama, I'm "on call" every night - and that usually ends up being at least 5 or 10 night-time wakings (and feedings).  :-O  Yup, that wasn't a typo.  

My daughter was the same way, so I'm sort of immune to how ridiculous this actually sounds.  It's a path I'm more than happy to continue on until things happen to change organically.  I'm not looking to sleep-train, cut him off from night feedings, ask my husband to give him a bottle in the middle of the night, or anything else really.  No judgement to anyone else - this is just our choice.  It's actually quite a sweet set-up - Jagger sleeps in our room and he has this adorable way of simultaneously kicking and punching me when he's ready to nurse.  I swear it's much cuter than it sounds!  There's usually no crying involved, just a gentle "Mom, I need you now please" type of nudge.  At 9 months in, we've definitely gotten into a groove.

Magnolia is now almost 3 years old and those early co-sleeping and breastfeeding days with her are just beautiful memories now.  I know all-too-well how quickly the weeks slip by, even as each night may seem to last forever.  

With our days totally filled with Magnolia's stories, songs, activities, and boisterousness, I'm a-okay letting the wee hours of the night be reserved for one-on-one time with Jagger.  The snuggles and sweet baby breath will be gone before I can say, "Sleep, child!".  ;-)

So where does that leave me with my health and productivity?  There's this whole work thing, house thing, wife thing….Well, I have my moments of dragging and clawing my way through each hour, for sure!  However, I do like to think that a few of my good habits are responsible for keeping me as healthy and energetic as possible during this extended period of barely-any-sleep (and REM?  Do I ever get into REM?!).  I am typically rather fast-moving (that type A curse), happy, and feeling good and strong.

I started to record this video, as usual, without Jagger at first.  But, my storage space ran out on my phone about 30 seconds in and after taking time to make more space on this device, Little Man was ready to join me.  Perfecto!  After all, the lack of sleep is just a liiiiiiiittle bit about him anyway.

'Til next time...

In health,

Tara