5 Mom Hacks to Feel Like You Are Winning at Motherhood
And let’s be honest, what mama isn’t looking for simplicity and efficiency? From one busy, driven mama to another, this is a busy season of life. From the end of summer where there is one last push to fit it all in to the start of the school year and a new routine, to what is sure to be a full and joyful holiday season, there is always something demanding our time and attention, in addition to the usual. My life is no different. So much has happened over the last few months and despite my best efforts, there was…
How to quit (some) sugar without depriving yourself (and 5 easy “no sugar” food swaps)
Let’s just get a few things clear before we get started: Some sugar is actually needed for your body to function (see resources below). As a modern population, sugar is in a lot of our food (especially added sugars), so it’s easy to consume more than you realize. Holidays and special events can increase sugar intake because of treats and candy. (and we are totally not against some indulgence once in a while!) The bottom line, living a completely sugar-free lifestyle is pretty difficult in this modern-day mom life, and just like any other health trend, if it’s not easy…
5 Things To Do Now for a Stress-Free Holiday Season
Let’s talk about those things to help you create a new tradition that leaves you feeling like your best self even after the holidays are over: 1) Ask yourself – “What do I want this holiday season to look like? Feel like? How do I want to feel?” When it comes to managing your personal energy and your stress levels, it’s important to set some intentions for yourself before you get into the thick of it. Other great times to set intentions are at the beginning of the day, before a workout, or going into a busy week, but…
Wellness Over Restriction on The Real Happy Mom Podcast
Before I jump into my recommendations, I want to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission for things you purchase directly from those links. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about health & wellness and keeping my coaching fees reasonably priced. Back to my conversation with Toni-Ann. Wellness is at the core of success when it comes to overall health because wellness isn’t just about your weight or how you look. Wellness speaks to your overall state of being – your emotional,…
What is Wellness?
What is wellness? Wellness is creating mindful awareness around all the things that impact your personal health, happiness, and fulfillment, and continually working towards creating your optimal scenario for wellness in that moment of time in your life. This means, your ideal state of wellness is in your life is always evolving. What may have worked to help you feel your healthiest, happiest and most fulfilled in your life 6 months ago may not work today. I often use having a baby as a good example. Remember before kids when there was no such thing as self-care? It didn’t need…
5 Things to Get Back to “Normal” When Life Feels Hectic
For me, my signal is when I start to feel exhausted by mid-afternoon. It’s usually caused by a beautiful mixture of not sleeping well (or enough), and putting my body into overdrive to get things done. It’s my signal to press “pause”, take a deep breathe, and allow myself to recover and get back on the right track before things get ugly. What would happen if the next time you started to feel run-down, exhausted, or burned out, you allowed yourself to recover before pushing forward? How might your end result for that work project, that big meet you’re running,…
25 Struggles All Working Moms Experience – Part 2
Before I jump into my recommendations, I want to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission for things you purchase directly from those links. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about health & wellness and keeping my coaching fees reasonably priced. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL, MAMA. In the last two weeks, I feel like my world has been chaotic, to say the least. We bought a new house, are selling our old house, dealt with sick kids during the move, sent a…
25 Struggles All Working Moms Experience – Part 1
Before I jump into my recommendations, I want to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission for things you purchase directly from those links. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about health & wellness and keeping my coaching fees reasonably priced. It’s kind of amazing how, as moms, we can feel so isolated and alone at times, but when we compare our biggest challenges with each other, we’re more alike in so many ways than we realize. I recently came across a…
Making Your Wellness Journey Your Own (Why I’ll Never Tell You What To Do & A Recent Podcast Interview)
Getting Personal About My Wellness Journey I was honored to be interviewed on The Mompire podcast where I chatted with Ashley Meyer about my personal experience with health and wellness and how it led to my intense passion for helping other moms live their healthiest, happiest and most fulfilled lives. I don’t often focus on my personal stories on the blog because I truly feel that wellness is a personal journey for everyone. So, sharing my story on a podcast always feels outside of my norm and honestly, a little uncomfortable. There are so many websites and blogs out there that…
How to Be More Productive With Your Time (and a time management technique that will change your life)
It’s taken me some time to find the right way to work through this day, and as I always say in coaching, everyone is different, so I really don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution to staying on task and being more productive, but I have found one particular technique that has worked wonders for my Mondays, and I thought it would be work-sharing with you. The Pomodoro Technique – A Time Management System If you haven’t heard of the Pomodoro Technique yet, you might be opening up a whole new world of possibilities for yourself. It’s a time management…
5 Simple Ways to Find Time in Your Busy Schedule
The Modern Challenge for a Modern Working Mom Every mom knows the challenge of working, whether it’s inside or outside the home, raising children and running a household. It always seems like there is never enough time in the day. However, taking the time to be intentional about the time you have can be a great way to make the most of the time you do have. When you know what you want to accomplish, it’s much easier to work towards that goal or end-state. By being intentional about how you spend your time, you are able to spend your…
What does setting boundaries have to do with wellness? (and how to start setting them today)
Feeling Guilty for saying “no”? Setting boundaries throughout your life is important, especially as a mom. We all know mom-guilt is a real thing, and without setting some much-needed boundaries, it can quickly get out of hand and start to affect your personal well-being. When we don’t set boundaries, it can be easy to overextend ourselves, drain all-out energy without time to replenish, feel extra stressed, and even start to get a little resentful. The next time you start feeling any of these things, ask yourself if there was a boundary missed somewhere. Start Setting Boundaries NOW As a new…
How to reignite your career after time off with baby
As you consider what’s next and how to return to the workforce after a baby in a way that works for both you and your family, here are a few considerations that will ensure the process is as painless as possible. You might even find that you love the challenge and the opportunity it presents. Compassion for Moms Give yourself a break. I sound like a broken record but this sentiment applies to so many situations, especially when parenting young ones. This is a big change and while you might not be 100 percent ready, know that the process…
Special Announcement for Moms Returning Back to Work After Leave
Upcoming Workshop for Moms Returning Back to Work After Parental Leave Are you a mom living in the Twin Cities and planning your return back to work after having a baby? Statistics are showing that more moms than ever before are choosing to return back to work after having a baby, but the support and resources aren’t necessarily following in that trend. Many businesses aren’t aware of the support that is needed for a mom to successfully transition back into her role in the workforce. If you’re planning your return back to work, you may be feeling overwhelmed or even…
3 Tips for Managing Your Time with Work and a Baby
How to Time Manage Work and a Baby for New Mothers Hint, hint – it’s about priorities. For those new mamas who feel the end of maternity leave and the return of early morning wakeups and daily showers returning too quickly, these tips will help you prioritize what matters and let go of what doesn’t (hopefully). 1. Planning is key. Spend a bit of time thinking about what your new routine will look like and how you want your day to go. Intentionality is key to setting expectations and managing stress in a new situation. Prior to parenthood, the only…
Stressed at Work? 15 Ways to Succeed Through the Day
The Spiral of an Overwhelmed Working Mom It feels kind of like a “chicken or the egg” scenario, and I get it. If you’re overwhelmed, adding something else to the daily list seems counter-intuitive. As moms, we tend to have this ability to keep pushing through until we quite literally break. Our ability to ignore our own needs to care for others in almost like a superpower. And like they say about all other superpowers, with great power comes great responsibility. As moms, it’s so critical that we stay in tune with how much we’re exercising the ability to “push through”. …
FAQ: What You Need to Know to Successfully Pump at Work
Returning to work after having a baby is stressful on so many levels. From leaving your little one for the first time to entrusting his or her care in someone else’s hands, and all the prep work that goes into being apart for a minimum of eight hours each workday. Often times, as women we don’t want to come across as demanding or high maintenance so we neglect to ask for what we need. But it’s not about demands. It’s about ensuring you receive the support you need to be successful as both a working woman and a mama. It’s…
Does a Gratitude Practice Really Work? 5 interesting facts that might convince you to ditch the diet and try this instead
Before I jump into my recommendations, I want to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission for things you purchase directly from those links. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you real information about health & wellness and keeping my coaching fees reasonably priced. Do you remember the last time you were really, truly, grateful for something or someone? Beyond the measures of saying “thank you” when someone hands you a napkin, when did you actually take the time to write a note to someone,…
How to Cut Mom Guilt From Your Life When You’re Going Back to Work
Feeling Mom Guilt vs. Feeling Mom Pride If it’s hard to even imagine what “mom pride” would feel like instead of “mom guilt”, think about this example. You just bought your first car and you are so stoked about it. You’ve been saving up for this car and working hard toward being able to buy it, so you feel so proud of your new car. Then, someone comes up to you and says, “Are you feeling sad that you aren’t riding your bike as much?” Are you going to start feeling guilty about not riding your bike as much? Probably…
5 Ways to Stay Healthy and Happy This Summer
Summer vs. Healthy Living – Which Will Win? Following a strict diet and exercise regimen is hard. First and foremost, it’s hard to socialize or even leave the house when you have a set menu and schedule for eating. And how does one feed a family in that situation? Second, the warmer months offer myriad ways to get active while enjoying the beautiful weather. An exercise regime that requires hours in the gyms or logging the miles makes it hard to truly enjoy the carefree nature of summer. It also hinders success. Finally, when adhering to extremes, getting off track…