Our October 10, 2012 Facebook Coffee Clutch was so informative and more than a little inspiring.

Here are the links to the five questions I asked Teresa Smolinski of Pre-Wrap.com. You can see her answers and all of the conversation that followed.

• Question #1:  Teresa, you were diagnosed with breast cancer this past March.  A MTN member wants to know “When did she find out she had it? Also how do they check for this, is it routine or do you have to have symptoms?”
• Question #2: Teresa, tell us about your treatment so far. Have you tried anything outside of ‘traditional medicine’?
• Question #3: Teresa, what is the prognosis? How long will you be fighting this?
• Question #4: Teresa, you own and run Pre-Wrap.com, how have you managed to keep up with the whirlwind of treatment and all the related side effects?
• Question #5: Teresa, what sort of support have you found in the ‘Breast Cancer Community’?

Remember, you can come along and add to the conversation anytime!

Shop for a Mug or t-Shirt

You can show your support for Breast Cancer Awareness and the need for a cure by shopping for a mug or t-shirt with this graphic on it:

Check out the Find a Cure items here.

Do you know a mom we should feature via a Facebook Coffee Clutch? Shout out about her

The Boar’s Head Bold Advertisement makes me want to run to my local grocery store and buy some!

Getting My Family Eating

I am interested to try Boar’s Head Bold with my family.  I think that it could spice up my Kids’ meals and make sandwiches more interesting.

Sometimes I can’t get my girls to eat anything and I think that adding a little flavor to their plain grilled cheese or sandwiches would definitely make family meals enjoyable.  Even my husband might enjoy more flavorful sandwich experience, and I am looking forward to trying Boar’s Head Bold to do just that.

Authentic Ingredients

The Boar’s Head Bold Ad also makes me feel good that I am serving my family authentic ingredients and that they take the time to look for the best .  I worry, like other parents, about what I am feeding my family and I really think that Boars Head is trying to convey that they are serving a great quality product.

Yum!

Are you excited to try Boar’s Head Bold with your family too?

This post is sponsored by Boar’s Head.

I remember those days.  Sixteen and not a care in the world.  Sitting there baking my skin to the point of it turning purple. I also remember my mother’s voice in the back of my head saying “Wear your sunscreen”!

I didn’t listen to my mom.  I was a sun worshiper and it didn’t help that I worked at the beach every summer after the age of fourteen and until I graduated high school.

I frequented tanning beds when they became popular and I didn’t worry about it at all.  I loved the summer and loved having a tan.  That was pretty much all that mattered to me.  I just never thought about how it truly could cause me any issues, even though I was told about them.   I guess I wasn’t the only one that didn’t listen, as the Green and Clean Mom describes here.

And then I had a scare.

A Phone Call

I was driving home with my husband from a visit with his parents.  It was summer and I had a pretty great tan.  I was looking over at my shoulder and noticed a strange spot that looked unique in color and shape.  I got nervous.  I knew it looked funny and I knew that I had to get in to see a doctor as soon as possible.

I went to the dermatologist who also thought that there was something wrong with it and it had to come off.  I was told that I would only get a call if there was something wrong.  A week went by and I didn’t hear from them, so I figured nothing was wrong.

Then about two weeks later my phone rang and it was the dermatologist’s office.  I was sort of shocked but answered the phone call.   Turned out it was a precancerous mole.  Thankfully, just taking it off took care of the issue, but this scare changed my thoughts on tanning forever.

Effects of Tanning

I have some pretty fabulous pictures of me in my teens with a great tan, but now I have some pretty awful ones of skin that has been greatly damaged by that same sun that I worshiped at one time.

It wasn’t worth it and I figured with all of the new information constantly coming out about the effects of getting sunburned and sitting out in the sun without sunscreen, that the youth of today would finally be listening.

Turned out that I was wrong.

In this article by Fox News it reports that getting sunburn is on the rise again.  The article points out that in a 2005 study done by the CDC there was a decrease in the amount of young people, ages 18-29, that got sunburned.  However, the study done in 2010 showed an increase.  The article also points out the harmful effects of tanning beds and that even though the public is much more educated on protecting themselves from the sun there is still a long way to go.

Now That I Am A Mom

So what are Mom’s to do?

By now most of us have heard about the Mom that allegedly took her daughter tanning, as reported here by the Today Show, which she later denied.

However, as parents it is important that we educate our children about proper sun exposure.  Tanning can cause long lasting health problems and those lazy days at the beach without sunscreen can change your life forever.

Living in the South, I am very aware that the sun beats down on us all year long, even when we are driving in the car.  Therefore, I wear SPF 15 every day and a higher SPF if I am going to be in the sun an extended period of time I wear a higher SPF rating. 

My girls always wear a very high SPF rating when out in the sun,
as well as bathing suits and hats that protects their skin.

It scares me that something I did when I was a teenager could cause myself and my family a lot of heart ache in the future.  This is something I think that many young adults and teenagers don’t understand yet.  They don’t realize the impact that such decisions can cause.

Protecting Our Children From the Sun

My girls are young right now but I hope that I can educate them on the harmful effects of the sun in the future and that they will listen.  I try to tell my younger siblings about it and show them my wrinkles and spots that the sun has caused.  I just don’t understand why they just keep on doing what they always did, wanting that great tan.

Another problem that parents run into is that we are concerned about how the sunscreen that we are putting on our children’s skin and whether it is safe or not.  Thankfully, the sunscreen industry has come a long way and there are many products out there that can protect our children without causing other harms.  Blogger, Doreen from Mom Goes Green, has some very important points on how to pick the best skin protection in her post entitled Picking Safe and Effective, Chemical Free Sunscreens.

The Sun Isn’t All Bad

The sun is a beautiful thing and yes it can make you feel better and yes it puts a smile on all of our faces, but we just have to take precautions when we are enjoying a day at the beach or the pool.

How do you plan on educating your children about the harmful effects of the sun?  How do you protect them from the sun now?

Two of the most common obstacles that hold busy moms back from staying fit include money and time. Many mistakenly think they need to join a gym, use a fitness program, or buy all kinds of expensive fitness equipment in order to workout.

None of that is true. I know this for a fact because I haven’t been a member of a gym for more than a decade. I’ve never joined a fitness class and while I do have some exercise equipment under the house, our weight machine thing is not even completely put together and the fancy Schwinn exercise bike I bought hasn’t seen my butt in almost 5 years!

Despite all that, I do manage to stay in shape and have actually gotten in the best shape of my life simply by exercising at home with whatever “tools” I have available.

The trick is to…

1) Do a high intensity workout which saves time and provides great muscle building, fat burning results.

2) Use core training exercises which require you to control your own body weight and usually require you work your total body at once instead of one muscle at a time. This trains and strengthens your body in ways that you’ll actually use, not just ways that make you look good.

10 Free Exercises to Use

There are a number of free, simple exercises you can do just about anywhere. They don’t require equipment or very much space. All you need is you. Here are 10 exercises you can do practically any time, any place.

• Jumping Jacks
• Push Ups
• Squats
• Squat Jumps
• Burpees
• Planks or Bridges
• Dips
• Step Ups
• High Knees in Place
• Pull Ups

Okay the pull ups might require some equipment, but I’ve been able to find one of those pull-up bars you put in your doorway for $5 on craigslist so don’t let that hold you back.  Other ways to get a pull-up exercise done include using resistance bands or utilizing playground equipment at your local park (plus playgrounds help keep your kids occupied while you get your sweat on!).  A railing does the job as well.  Just stand close to the railing.  Hold on to it with your hands.  Lean back until your arms are straightened out, then pull yourself back to the railing.  You just need something that allows you to work the back side of your shoulder and, as you can see, there are lots of ways to get this done.

How to Use These Exercises

The best way to get a quick, highly effective workout into your day is choose 4 of the exercises listed above and do a warm-up round with them. Do each exercise at a comfortable page just to get your blood flowing. Do your first exercise for 15 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds. Do the next exercise for 15 seconds, rest for 15 seconds. Do this until you get through all 4 exercises until your warm-up round is done.

Next do 2 workout rounds in the same fashion. Do each exercise of the 4 exercises for 15 seconds with a 15 second rest period in between. That’s 1 round. Repeat once more for your 2nd round. That will take you 4 minutes.

Get as many repetitions in as you can for each exercise.

How Customize Your Workout

If you want a tougher, more challenging workout, you can simply:

• Double or triple up the rounds to increase your workout time to 8 or 12 minutes
• Add challenge to each exercise (i.e. hold weights or bottles of water or even your kid when you squat, lift one leg when you to pushups, hold your arms straight out to your sides while you do your high knees, etc)
• Shorten your break time.  Instead of doing the exercises for 15 seconds then resting for 15 seconds, do the exercises for 20 seconds and only rest for 10 seconds.

A 4 minute workout with just 4 exercises may not sound like much, but this simple workout strategy really doesn’t get your heart pumping and your fat burning!

If you’re just starting out, you can even modify the exercises or workout easier to do.  For example:

• Do the exercises for 10 seconds and rest for 20, then build up as the weeks go by.
• Do push ups on your knees or even put your hands on the couch with your feet on the floor to do them.
• When doing pull-ups, put something under your feet or use a bar low enough so your feet can still reach the ground so you can “help” yourself up with your legs.
• Hold on to something, like the back of chair, while doing your squats.

Just about every exercise can be modified to suit your needs and make your workout work for you. Even better, these workouts are free, fast, convenient, and effective.  So no more excuses, get moving!

Do you dream of attending the London 2012 Olympic Games, watching the athletes swim, run, jump, and perform their way to gold? Well, Crest® and Oral-B®want to make your dreams come true! From now until May 31st, you can enter the Pro-Health Clinical Olympic Games Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to the Olympic Games!

To enter the sweepstakes visit this link between March 15 and May 31. You can also enter into a weekly drawing to win the full product line there.

You can win the entire line:

• Oral-B Pro-Health Clinical Pro-Flex Toothbrush – Received the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval! Has flexing sides that individually adjust to teeth and gums to clean areas where plaque growth begins
• Crest Pro-Health Clinical Rinse – A clinical breakthrough that helps keep your teeth 91% clean of plaque for up to two months after a dental visit
• Crest Pro-Health Clinical Plaque Control Toothpaste – Clinically proven to help keep plaque from coming back by killing plaque germs and slowing down their ability to generate new plaque
• Oral-B Pro-Health Clinical Protection Floss – Clinically proven to help reverse gingivitis in two weeks as part of a comprehensive dental health routine

Like Mom’s Talk Network on Facebook and leave a comment below telling us you did for a chance to win the package we have to offer you as well.

A winner will be drawn at random on Monday, March 26th.