Our parents took us to see the dentist every six months and that is a tradition we plan on following with our children. Neither I nor my husband have “perfect” teeth but we know how mouth pain feels if you don’t pay attention to the pearly whites.
We have used many different toothbrushes and just started brushing with the GUM® Summit®+ Toothbrush. It works a.o.k. for us. It gets the job done and that’s all that matters when it comes to oral hygiene.
With the holiday season fast approaching, it never fails, the moment you walk into the grocery store, you are faced with special deals on sweets and items for holiday baking. I don’t know about you but it’s temptation central for me. Even if I had no intention of baking those six different Christmas cookies, I’m always suckered in once I see those bags of red and green wrapped Hershey kisses, Reese cups and bags of brown sugar.
I’ve never been one to follow a weight-loss program. I suppose that could be why I have the weight concerns that I do today. Although, I have become increasingly more interested in the Weight Watchers program. I recently discovered that they have some pretty neat online tools to make balancing your eating habits a pretty simple task. I’m all about the simple.
Weight Watchers now has this “Snack Widget” that you can get for your desktop or embed into your website, which allows you to simply type in a snack food that you want and the widget will produce a variety of Weight Watchers snacks to choose from instead.
You can find Weight Watchers on Facebook (I just became a fan) where they offer free recipes and great weight watching tips. You can also find a lot of great healthy eating information on their website HERE.
Like I said, the closer we get to celebrating the holidays, the harder it is to eat sensibly when you’re faced with all of those fabulous goodies. Keep Weight Watchers in mind when you head out to that next holiday party. Know that they have a great online resource that you can turn to when you need a boost in confidence and some healthy eating tips.
Yeah, I know this post comes a little on the late side, but there was turkey day and all last week. I do find myself asking why am I trying to do this around the holidays? Trying to do this amongst the eating and drinking extravaganzas otherwise known as Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good way to end up being miserable or getting frustrated and quitting. I know I often feel that way, but, at least for now, I’ve made it through. I took a few days off early in the week, but stretched out the rest of my runs and ended up with 12 miles jogged during week 3. It all, however, seems to be adding up to a whole lot of weight loss stagnation and frustration.
Even though I’m “trying” to eat “better” I’m not really doing such a good job at it. Heck, I had a whole bunch of Red vines today and that’s not helping anything. Do you have any tips for me and the rest of the readers out there? It’s not as if I don’t know what and how much I should be eating, I just don’t seem to be making it happen. Let’s give it another go in week 4. Anyhow, here are the totals:
Weekly Weight Loss: -2.6 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -5.6 lbs
Woah, I’m a few days late with this post, but better late than never, right? So the second week of Dad On the Run was a bit of a hectic week. I jogged only 12.02 miles (according to the treadmill) but (again) fell off the wagon in regards to eating good stuff again. I ate too much, drank too much, and took a few days off towards the end of the week. No worries though, this isn’t going to happen overnight.
Now Thanksgiving is on Thursday but it might present some problems. How to get around it? Just exercise some portion control and lay off the holiday drinks. That along with a hefty dose of pre-meal exercise should, hopefully, keep me on the right track this year. So after week two, things are as follows:
Weekly Weight Loss: -0.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -3.0 lbs
So yeah, I took my own advice and started slowly and actually made it through the first week of Dad On the Run with flying colors. I jogged a total of 13 miles in six days which really isn’t all that much, but it’s a start. Check back in six weeks and hopefully my weekly mileage will be almost twice that. The one place I fell a little short was in the “healthy eating” department, but there are two ways I can look at this:
“I can either get crazy and neurotic about everything I eat or I can take things as they are presented and not feel bad about eating the leftover Halloween candy.”
For the sake of my sanity and the sanity of those around me (yes, I mean Amy) I’m going with the second option. Sure, I probably won’t get to my goals as fast, but this isn’t about some crazy diet or unrealistic exercise plan, Dad On the Run is about a lifestyle change. So even with a little “cheating” here and there, I’m still resolved to eat stuff that is better rather than worse for me. Those pita chips I just ate aren’t (however) making me feel any better about all this.
Anyhow here’s where I’m at after week one:
Weekly Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs
Many of you may have read my previous post about how I lost 40 pounds in 6 months earlier this year, and if you haven’tfeel free to go back and check it out. This isn’t about that journey, however. Dad On the Run is about right now and what I’m going to do to lose those last few (okay, it’s actually more like 25) pesky pounds. This is when and where the clock resets and it all turns to zero again.
To lose the weight I did between January and June I focused on eating well and jogging/running . On January 16th, I jogged a total of 1.27 miles; a humbling start for someone who just over four years earlier completed the Chicago Marathon. On June 29th I ran 8.68 miles and continued jogging (although more sporadically) through July and August, but started eating all the stuff I knew I shouldn’t be eating and have been regressing since. No more!
During those “good” months, I ran over 450 miles in total and I felt good. By early September (however) I wasn’t really doing anything. So a few additional pounds later, here I am laying it all on the table that HTML built. I’m going to start slowly (again) and ease my way back into running even though I haven’t really been away all that long. I know that I haven’t really answered the question of, “What exactly is Dad On the Run?” Here goes.
Every week I’m going to document my progress and what I’m doing to get where I’m going. Simple enough, right? Although I “practiced” a few times this week, the endeavor all starts tomorrow in earnest. I welcome all comments, questions, suggestions, etc…
RADIUS is giving away a child’s and adult’s toothbrush of your choice, and a floss. Hello?! Perfect timing, what with Halloween just around the corner and the kiddies digging into loads of sugary candy. There’s just a little time to enter this one, as it’s ending by midnight TONIGHT.
Head over RADIUS, pick a toothbrush and enter using the form below. If you haven’t already, double your chances of winning over at What to do, Poopsy Woo? Cuz we’re chillin’ with the Blogtoberfest this month.
Just last week, I co-hosted a Method party with my girls, Steph and Arianne. We invited all of our Chicago land and NW Indiana girlfriends to get out for a night of delicious food, wine, crafts and fun! We hosted our event at non other than the Chicago Method pop-up store on Halsted. I couldn’t have picked a cleaner place for our party myself.
So, check it. I’m a long time fan of Method products. When approached by Brand About Town Marketing about hosting this party, it was a no brainer. Products that I dig and that I trust…of course I want to be involved!
We spent the night chatting with our friends and guests and hanging out with none other than Danny Seo, Mr. Eco Friendly. Apparently, there was also someone at our party from Apartment Therapy. Not to defer or anything but I DROOL over Apartment Therapy and CB2’s Fall Colors Contest each year (inspiration central, helllooo ?!?).
So, I arrived fashionably late (as always) and everyone was already mingling, eating, drinking and having a good time. So far so good! I love a lively party.
Look at the wall! And the owl on the couch! I should have stuffed him in my bag while I had the chance. Only kidding. There was a table set up for us to work on some craft projects. Danny has excellent ideas for reusing old dinnerware; we cut out shapes and designs using adhesive labels and stuck them to these plates. Then, we painted over the plates with porcelain paint. A couple of coats, let it dry, peel off your label design and voila! There you have a recycled dinnerware turned decoration/appetizer plate.
(That’s my plate before the paint)
We all milled about, enjoying our evening and of course, took way too many funny, yet strange photos of ourselves in the Method photo booth.
To top off all of the fun of the evening, we were sent home with gift bags of Method products. Snap!
Here is a line up of my all-time favorite Method products:
cucumber hand soap, pink grapefruit dish soap, lavender and lemongrass aroma pill and almond wood for good surface cleaner
There’s not a time when these four products are not in my house.
Some of my new favorites that I’m sure I’ll stock up on are these:
So there you have it. I think that Chicago rocked Method and vice versa. Method, you’re always welcome back to our city!
There will be another pregnancy in my life, when, one never really knows. It’s been three years since I gave birth and when I was pregnant for those eight months, I felt pretty healthy. I made a conscious decision to eat well for me and my baby.
I suppose if I would have had a copy of Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven back then, I would have eaten even more healthy. Just a warning to all of you who are newly pregnant and/or experiencing morning sickness; you may want to hold off reading this book until you’re in a better frame of mind…especially chapter 7. Chapter 8 rocks, with a four week menu guide. (Just what I’ve been searching for!)
The skinny bitches who researched and wrote this book, well, they’re not idiots. Rory Freedman has studied nutrition for fifteen years and Kim Barnouin has a Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition. So, they know a little something about healthy eating habits.
This book includes all-out, in-your-face reasons to become educated about smart, healthy lifestyles. In my opinion, going vegetarian or vegan is a process. You have to educate yourself. It’s not something that you can just flat out do in one day, especially when you’re pregnant. This is a great read for someone who is thinking about trying to conceive, just had a child or in-between children. It’s raw and it’s an eye-opener, hands down.
We’ve got a copy of Rory and Kim’s new book up for grabs. Enter by leaving a comment on this post (comment section located just under the post). Let us know what your favorite fruit, vegetable, nut or grain is. Giveaway ends on Friday, October 24th. A winner will be chosen at random and notified via email (check your spam!). We’ll announce the winner on this post.
As a parent of a young child, I know how important it is to watch for a rising temperature. When my daughter was just about 5 months old, she became very ill with Rotavirus (severe flu-like symptoms and diarrhea). We were taking her temperature every half hour to forty-five minutes. Believe me, when you have a very sick child, like she was, inserting a rectal thermometer into her very tiny and sore little bottom was no picnic. I wish I would have had a thermometer like this two and a half years ago.
Now with the Exergen TemporalScanner, it’s so easy to check her temperature with just a swipe of her forehead. Of course I was skeptical at first but in time, found out first-hand that it does work, as we have used it a number of times. Here is some more information on the scanner:
The TemporalScanner Thermometer is a totally non-invasive system with advanced infrared technology providing maximum ease of use with quick, consistently accurate measurements. Advanced, patented technology measures temperatures with a gentle stroke across the forehead.
The TemporalScanner Thermometer has been clinically tested for accuracy compared to rectal thermometers and temperature sensors inserted in the heart during course of patient treatment and accepted for use in major hospitals, making it the ideal thermometer for use with newborns, infants, children or adults.
The TemporalScanner has patented software, providing arterial heat balance. This unique process determines temperature by accurately measuring the balance between the tissues warming from arterial blood and tissues cooling (warming) caused by heat loss (gain) to the environment.
*The above three paragraphs were taken from the Exergen website.
Anyone with a young child knows how hard it is to get them to agree to have their temperature taken or to take medicine, for that matter. My husband and I sat down with our little girl and we each used the TemporalScanner on each other, so she could see how easy, quick and painless it was. Now, she ocassionally asks for us to take her temperature. I like products that make this job easier!
We’re giving away one EXERGEN TemporalScanner to a ParentSphere reader. To enter, leave a comment on this post (comment section below) and let us know if you have ever used or seen one of these scanners in use before and what were your inital thoughts on the thermometer? If you haven’t, that’s ok, you may still enter. Winner will be chosen randomly. Last day to enter giveaway is Friday, September 26th. The winner will be notified via email the morning of the 27th (check your spam folder!) and we will update this post after the winner has been chosen.
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Just last week, I co-hosted a 
I like products that make this job easier!
