I'm going to talk about health and food here. I am not a medical professional, nor do I play one on this blog. Please consult a medical professional before diagnosing or treating any conditions you may have.
It started, or so I thought, with persistent ingrown hairs. They were red bumps in my bikini line that often grew swollen and painful, but every search result told me to be more careful about shaving and to try warm compresses. No matter that I barely ever shaved the area, I took it as fact that these were just a nuisance, even as they grew larger and numerous.
Then I had an open wound on my stomach. It was during hot weather, so I wrote it off as some sort of reaction to the heat and sweat. I felt embarrassed, really, that apparently my stomach folds weren't letting in adequate ventilation, and pledged to keep the area drier.
Then I got a small open sore in one armpit. That sent me Googling. I didn't have a knee-jerk reason for wounds in my armpit, even tiny ones like this.
It was that small sore that connected all the disparate symptoms. I didn't have ingrown hairs and severe heat rash and mystery sores. I had an autoinflammatory skin condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa, which I will abbreviate as HS for ease of reading. (You're welcome.)
HS was initially considered to be an inflammation of the sweat glands that caused leaking wounds (hence the mouthful of a name, if you want to consider the root etymology of hidra/sweat + aden/gland + itis/inflammation + suppurativa/weeping). It's now more accurately considered to be obstruction of the hair follicles, but tomato-scientific-jargon-tomahto. Whatever the internal workings, externally HS presents as painful swollen cysts that ultimately break to the surface and expel pus and blood, recurrent open wounds, and resulting scar tissue. To avoid traumatizing you further, I won't post any photos, but feel free to do an image search if you haven't eaten recently.
Do you hate wandering aimlessly through the aisles, trying to remember which one has the salad dressing, peering at a hastily scribbled list and trying to decipher if that addition by a family member says beef or beer? Do you hate getting home, only to realize you forgot five things you needed for the week's meals?
I recently came up with an incredibly easy shopping list hack that I want to share with you. It's an ongoing shopping list that's targeted to our family and that matches the order of the aisles in our local grocery store.
Ta-da!
Allow me to elucidate.
I wanted this list to have five salient features:
Offline: My husband doesn't believe in new technology. His phone cannot handle a fancy app that syncs with mine. In any case, I actually do prefer to have a physical list on the fridge, because that's where we're thinking about what food we need.
Tracking all our regular purchases: We wanted to see at a glance what foods we normally buy so we could run down the list before a shopping trip as we checked our stock of essentials.
In aisle order: I wanted to walk from one end of our usual store(s) to the other, gathering our groceries in an efficient manner as I went.
Easy to mark: I needed this list to work well from a practical standpoint. It needed to be easy to see what we wanted to buy, what we'd already gotten, and any notes or additions we had.
One page: This isn't a manifesto, people! It's a shopping list!
I really, really had to convince myself not to make the title any worse of a pun by spelling it "tail." You're welcome.
I want to talk with you today about my cats — one fat, one skinny — and what that means. I think it's illustrative of what body composition is like for humans as well as felines.
We adopted our kitties from a rescue. They're purported to be Maine Coons (no idea if there's a mix of something else in there), which are a large and hearty American cat breed. They're not genetically sisters and are a year apart in age, but they were raised together, so we adopted them as a bonded pair.
The big one has the broad, strong frame of a typical Maine Coon, but then she's added quite a bit o' bulk to it. Her sister is petite, very small for her breed, and so thin you can feel her spine clearly when you pet her.
I think you can see the size difference. The little, darker one is so fluffy, it's hard to eyeball how skinny she is underneath all the fur. You can see the larger one hanging off the top of the scratcher.
This is the small kitty on the same scratcher, for comparison.
They both get the same food and the same exercise opportunities. I find this fascinating.
There's a current, overwhelming tendency for any talk of overweight to blame the (human) person for being fat. There's an overt messaging that being fat is a moral failing, an inability to curb decadent gluttony or "get off the couch once in awhile." It is so culturally ingrained that most fat people believe this themselves, even if they have personal evidence that it's not true.
I think my cats could help us shed some light on this one.
Raise your hand if you're sure you ate enough veggies today. How many hands are up?
That few, huh?
I love emphasizing whole, natural foods in my diet — but as a busy homeschooling, work-at-home mama of three, I'm lucky if I've remembered to shower this week, let alone had the wherewithal to ensure I've eaten all the fiber I need each day.
With just two tasty little gummies — chew, delight, swallow — I've added 5 grams of soluble fiber to my day. Done!
Fiber has a prebiotic effect on your gut.* It also, you know, supports regularity*. We all know that's important!
Not only that, but vitafusion™ FiberWell™ Fit includes 6 B vitamins, the kind that help your body metabolize the food you eat to create the energy you need to run your jam-packed life.*
You can easily take vitafusion™ gummy vitamins on the go!
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm rarely without something to do. I'm doing a load of laundry here, taking my sons to the park there, nursing the baby, working on our home business, amusing the cats, helping the kids learn … and, on top of that, I'm trying to fit in five miles of walking each day. I consider it my evolutionary right to walk a whole bunch, plus — well, I just plain love it.
So here's a fabulous bonus about vitafusion™ FiberWell™ Fit: I can take my vitamins on the go! You don't need a glass of water, or to try to swallow some huge horse pill. You just pop two in your mouth, and they're easy-to-chew gummies.
Did I mention, too, that they're delish? I've been limiting added sugars and grains, so I love that they're gluten-free and sugar-free, contain no high fructose corn syrup, and use only natural fruit flavors and colors derived fruits, vegetables and plants. And they're still totally yummy!
That's because vitafusion™ understands that being healthy can also be a whole lot of pleasure, and vitafusion™ is proving it through their philosophy of "healthy fusion." Try it out, and make taking your vitamins a satisfying, enjoyable part of your daily health routine!
Buy it!
You can find vitafusion™ gummy vitamins at club, mass, drug and grocery stores nationwide including Costco, Walmart, Target, and Walgreens. Find more information at www.gummyvites.com.
If you're looking for a brand for your kids, I highly recommend L’il Critters™ as well. My kids love them! L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins have no high fructose corn syrup or synthetic (FD&C) dyes, and they're gluten free.
You can find vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements from vitafusion™ and L’il Critters™ to meet your health needs through every stage of life. There are products tailored to meet the specific health needs of children, men, women, pregnant women, and those 50+.
Win It!
To enter for the chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, comment with an answer to this question:
How many servings of vegetables did you eat yesterday?
I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Entry Instructions:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
Two tasty little cherry-flavored gummies can give you your daily B12!
I'm on a quest right now to Get Healthy (I always think of it as a trademarkable phrase), so I was delighted when BlogHer and vitafusion™ gave me an amazing resource to try out toward that goal: vitafusion™ Extra Strength B-12.
These gummy vitamins are a yummy, enjoyable boost to my daily nutrition. Since February (we're a little slow on the uptake for New Year's resolutions), Sam and I have forsworn grains and also most refined sugar. For those of you following along regularly, we gave up grains about two and a half years ago at about 80-90% compliance, but we decided to be absolutely strict about it for a while, and for kicks, also see if we could do without added sugars. It's a challenge, but a worthy one!
That's why I'm always on the lookout for ways to ensure we're meeting our daily nutritional goals. I'm happy we're eating more whole foods and am confident that will help us meet our health needs, but I'm never sure what gaps there might be. For one thing, I don't eat the most varied diet. I like certain things and am not keen on others, so I tend to eat the same (delicious) meals over and over. Plus, I recently gave birth and am breastfeeding, so I know my nutritional needs are heightened. That's why supplements give me that extra boost of reassurance that I'm doing what I can to be complete.
Parenting my daughter for the last 12 years has tested my understanding of myself, revealing the hypocrisy and imperfections inherent in my feminism. It’s an uncomfortable place to be.
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 list of links to the other carnival participants.
A year ago, Sam and I gave up grains. In June, I recorded this video blog about our decision and my hesitance to talk about it, and I'm finally sharing it here.
We continue to be delighted with the inspiration and wisdom our Carnival of Natural Parenting participants share, and we hope you'll join us for the next carnival in November 2013! (Check out October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, January, and a summary of all our 2012 posts and 2011 posts if you missed any.)
Here are the submission details for November 2013:
Theme: Feeding Your Family: How do you keep your family nourished? Does your family practice a special diet or deal with food allergies? If so, how do holidays look different for you since starting a special diet? Do you practice baby-led solids or have tips and recipes to share?
Deadline: Tuesday, November 5. Fill out the webform (at the link or at the bottom) and email your submission to us by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: CarNatPar {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com
Carnival date:Tuesday, November 12. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on November 12 and email us the link if you haven't done so already. Once everyone's posts are published by noon Eastern time, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants' links to generate lots of link love for your site! We'll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.
I somehow got blessed with two kids on opposite ends of the growth spectrum: Mikko through toddlerhood was a happy 150th percentile kind of guy, and I just let him keep on growing. He was barely eating any solid food before he was two, so I knew it would all even out, and it did. He'll always be a tall and hefty kid (around the 80th percentile now for both height and weight), but that's his body type.
See how sickly he is? Sad.
Then Alrik came along, and he's wee. His height is puzzling though not particularly worrisome: 33rd percentile. His dad and I are tall, so it's strange to have a shrimp. But his weight is off the charts, the other way. At 2 years and 4 months, his 23 pounds doesn't even register.
This is not only weird — it is a trifle concerning. He comes from a family of generally larger-than-average people with a few skinny minnies. So he could just be one of those recessives, right? But his naturopathic pediatrician is cautiously concerned, because here's how nutritional deficiencies can manifest:
First goes the weight, then the height, then the development.
In other words, the weight's already gone. He's already demonstrating that he's atypically short (genetically speaking). So is his developmental progress next?
Butternut squash is the perfect fall ingredient. I love that Sam has found even more ways to make it for us! Sam crafted this recipe a year or so ago, back when we still ate legumes, but it still happens to be grain-free. If you've gone paleo, you can eat just the butternut topping and skip the bean underpinning.
Guest post by Crackerdog Sam
Years ago, I ate a butternut squash soup that I liked so much I researched how to make a similar one from scratch. The key: roasting the squash with apples and onion in the oven first, before blending.
Eventually, I decided I liked it even better if I skipped making it into soup and just ate it roasted. When serving it as a full meal instead of just a side dish, I started adding a layer of salted mashed pinto beans mixed with bacon pieces as a contrasting element. It's a nice blend of sweet and savory, refreshing and hearty.
Gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, nut-free, sweetener-free. Leave off the cheese and bacon to have it dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan. Leave off the cheese and pinto beans to make it paleo.
Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. This month, we celebrate Recipes from the Garden! Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you're welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you'd like to share, add it to the linky below.
Since the carnival is about using up our garden produce, I considered the elements we've always had in (over)abundance — tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and sweet onion — and had Sam share a yummy recipe that uses all four! Enjoy.
Guest post by Crackerdog Sam
A couple years ago, Lauren and I ate at a crepe restaurant where the star of the dish was something called "tomato coulis," which we'd never had before. I looked for it in stores, but couldn't find any pre-made, and when I looked up recipes online there was a vast array of options people were calling "coulis," from versions akin to chunky soup to versions resembling a smooth ketchup. Ours was more like a coarse pesto, which I couldn't find a duplicate for.
So after a great deal of experimentation, combining this and that technique, I have perfected my favorite version of coulis, which works equally well as a salad topping (presented here), a salsa (with chips), a sandwich spread (on patty melts), and a pasta sauce (over cheese tortellini). I also really like using it in a spicy version of tuna salad but using tilapia, a little mayo, and coulis. It acts just like a tuna salad would (you can do sandwiches, or casseroles, or eat it in lettuce leaves) but is much more interesting.
Coulis is a garlicky, sweet, salty and tangy intense flavor that's great to have on hand to liven up a dish.
Salad ingredients (serves 4):
9 oz spinach
a few drizzles olive oil
4 oz feta cheese
1 avocado
1 cup (or more) tomato coulis
Coulis ingredients (makes 2 cups, so store the leftovers in a jar in the fridge):
3 oz package sun-dried tomato halves, dry packed
about 24 medium-sized leaves basil (leaves from a 1.5 oz bunch)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup diced tomato
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup minced sweet onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Dietary/allergy notes:
Vegetarian, gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, nut-free, sweetener-free. Leave off the feta to have it dairy-free, vegan, and paleo.
Were these coconut-heavy cupcakes the cause of my most recent outbreaks … or not?
For those of you avidly following the saga of my face, here's a brief update.
Quick recap so far: I have persistent adult acne, for which I've tried pretty much every treatment a dermatologist can offer. At this point, I keep it relatively under control at home with over-the-counter medication.
However: When Sam and I gave up (most) grains and sugars in October, my skin got worse. Since it couldn't be lack of grains that made it flare up, I determined it must be an excess of something else I'd added to my diet.
What it did have was a high effect on my frustration level with elimination diets!
Whereas before giving up dairy, I adjusted surprisingly easily to not eating grains, once dairy went, too, all I could think about was cheating — on both counts.
After five weeks of No! Cheese!I saw no benefits to my skin and happily gave up.
On to suspect #2
I decided to move down the list of likely acnegenic suspects, based on reading through online forums, books on primal eating, and scholarly articles on acne and diet:
Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. This month, we celebrate Smoothies and Mocktails! Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you're welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you'd like to share, add it to the linky below.
This is one in a series of guest posts by other bloggers. Read to the end for a longer biographical note on today's guest blogger, my partner and husband, Crackerdog Sam. From his mighty kitchen arsenal, today Sam offers a dairy-free, sweetener-free summer smoothie containing only four natural ingredients that's sure to refresh both kids and adults.
Guest post by Crackerdog Sam
We were first introduced to watermelon agua fresca (which is simply watermelon liquified in a blender) at a local Mexican restaurant several years ago and fell in love with the simplicity and taste. I, of course, had to experiment with different variations, and I really like this one: The addition of the mango gives it a smoothie consistency.
Ingredients:
3 cups watermelon cubes (1/4 of a personal watermelon)
1/3 cup mango cubes (about 1/2 a mango)
1/2 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
6 ice cubes
Dietary/allergy notes:
Vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, nut-free, sweetener-free. Well, look at it: It's just fruits and herbs!
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
Mikko and I went downtown to attend the Science Expo and Mini Makers Faire (for mini-inventors) yesterday. It rocked. Since we're unschooling but inventions and science are not my bailiwick, I love that there are resources like this out there that can satisfy him.
This is his typical non-smile for photos, but he was super proud of the light-up pin
he's sporting that he soldered himself. I was proud, too! I've never soldered a thing.
And what do you think all that science-learning did for him?
My little scientist is also a conservationist. He volunteered to clean up
all the trash around the bus stop because it would be "good for the environment."
I hear about {affiliate link} this book from *everyone*, and I keep wanting/hoping we might implement these strategies. But also not wanting to disrupt my own bad habits. Hmm.
But, seriously y’all, I was skeptical at first about whether the tricks in this book would work for us. I have employed some aspects of attachment parenting, and one of them that I associate with the trend is to offer children choices and let them articulate their preferences and control aspects of their food world. If I had to pick one thing I’ve learned in the last week, it’s that the science does not agree; in fact, it suggests children aren’t capable of deciding what they should eat, and these decisions actually stress them out.
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
The birthday boys at their Chuck E. Cheese party:
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
I swear they actually did have an awesome time, photo evidence notwithstanding! Mikko told me later it was the best day of his life, and Alrik's still chattering on about tokens and tickets and cake-cake.
On the challenge, joys, and ambivalence of tandem breastfeeding.
Most times when you are having a hard time and you share your experience you get a supportive response. In my experience people are generally encouraging when I’m going through difficult times.
It’ll be okay. Keep trying. It will be worth it in the long run. You’ll get through this. One day at a time.
With tandem nursing or extended breastfeeding the response is different.
The very supportive people say, I don’t know how you do it, I couldn’t.
Everyone else says, Why don’t you quit? Cut her off. She’s had enough. If she’s old enough to ask, she’s too old to be nursing. If she’s potty trained she shouldn’t be nursing anymore. She doesn’t need it anymore. She needs real food.
I can’t think of any other challenge I’ve had in my life where, when I seek out support or need to vent about how difficult it is, people suggest that I quit.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living.
Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and Karsten (born October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.
Two tasty little cherry-flavored gummies can give you your daily B12!
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
