New Blog and Book: Carrots 'N Cake

I've been reading this Boston based blog, Carrots 'N Cake, for a couple of weeks now. I really like the author, Tina Haupert's approach to balanced eating and healthy living. Tonight I'm going to a reading of her new book at the Brookline Booksmith.

This will officially count towards my goal of 'doing more thought-provoking activities' (just typing that kind of makes me feel like a douche.)

Try Something New- February 2011

So I kind of blew it on my January Try Something New. Or perhaps I did do something new but my feeble mind can't recall. For this month, I will aim to cut out processed foods for 7 days in a row.

My friend Suzanne just started a foodie blog. Her posts have renewed my interest in what we put in our bodies. Our eating lately leaves something to be desired. I need to do a bit more research on exactly what defines processed... I'm thinking anything that's coming from the center isles of the supermarket or anything that's in a cardboard box. Does bread count as processed? This site has practical advice on improved health and eating so I'll jump in there.

The spring like weather today is making me long for farmer's markets and fresh tomatoes and basil. Soon enough...

What new things have you tried this month?

Try Something New-December 2010

I am a couple of weeks late on posting this but better late than never. My try something new for December was Pilates. My sister and I bought a great deal on buywithme.com for 3 Pilates sessions at a local pilates studio, Modern Pilates.

Have you ever done Pilates? It's fantastic. Now I know why all of the celebrities are addicted to it. It's a great workout, not the kind where you are sweating bullets, but the kind where you really target muscles you never even knew you had. The movements are varied and unique and you have a trainer there walking you through everything so an hour goes by in a flash.

If I ever hit the lottery, I would do Pilates every day.

Try Something New- November 2010

This week I resurrected last year's short-lived Try Something New Project. A couple of nights ago, I kicked off November with a Zumba class at my gym. A good idea in theory. Supposedly you dance your buns off and sweat and don't even know you're doing cardio. The catch is that this theory includes a participant who must have rhythm and/or the ability to put two dance steps together. For those people that say, "You don't even have to know how to dance to do Zumba" you are full of shit.

Things started off OK then got challenging when the chubby Indian guy showed up about 10 minutes late and parked himself directly in front of me. I was having a hard enough time concentrating on the mambo moves but all rules flew out the window when I saw my man get down to that song that goes "Shorty got low, low, low, low..." The best part of the class came during cool down when we busted out to "I'm Too Sexy," sashaying to the front of the room then moon-walking to the back. My man did this with such rhythm, all the while mouthing into the mirror "I'm too sexy." I think I'm in love.

The next day I was telling my Fat Camp participants about it and one of the gals asked if he was in the class. She had been in the class a month earlier with him and he had to be taken out by the EMTs. I'd say he has come a long way.

So, sufficed to say, this Zumba craze is not for me but I am glad I tried it once. Never again. This body is not meant to move that way.

Try Something New- October

So I failed during my first month of "Try Something New." The month is coming to a close and I never took a Zumba class. I will put that back on the list for future months.

So, hmmm, what did I do that was new this month? Well I did go to a seminar on raising independent children. It was definitely out of my comfort zone. It was at a local Unitarian church. Our nanny takes Beatrice to playgroup there. The talk was very interesting and the women were very nice. There was some God-talk but not enough that I felt uncomfortable or too out of place. (I am not devoutly religious.)

The only bad part was the icebreaker. I hate icebreakers. I realize that while I am a chatty person with my friends, I am not really all that good in a group where I don't know anyone. It felt very 'first day of a new school. '

It was ironic that the topic for discussion was Raising an Independent Child because my little miss was not so much into being independent when I dropped her off at the day care there. There was crying. Lots of crying. More like wailing. But she did eventually calm down with a nice caretaker who took her for a walk. By the time I picked her up all was forgotten. Let's hope she does better at next month's session. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I did learn a lot in the seminar. Often times, we as parents (I do this especially) age our children. We think that by 2 they should be off on their own, running around without a glance back at us. Some kids will do this but others most certainly will not. You need to gauge your child's independence and see what they're comfortable with and you need to work with their innate personality. It definitely made me feel better because Beatrice is not one of those kids who'll jump into a new situation feet first. It takes her at least 20 minutes to warm up. That's just her nature. I think she'll always be like that but as she ages and matures, she'll come up with coping mechanisms (let's hope crying isn't one of them.) I think our job as her parents is to expose her to new situations little by little, to encourage her to be comfortable with new people, but above all to let her know that she's always safe and loved.