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Get Support for a Healthier You

March 10, 2012 By

Mom’s In A Blog owner Tracy Roberts just launched an awesome new membership program designed to provide you with support and encouragement as you pursue a Healthier You.

I couldn’t wait to ask her some questions about it.

Where did the inspiration for A Healthier You come from?

Because I’ve always been a bigger girl – not always fat, just always larger than my friends :D – I had to figure out a way to be healthy in my body because I could never seem to get to the magic number that the doctor’s have on some chart.  I knew I had to keep positive, eat good food and move my body so I started reading more about mindset, nutrition & exercise and how they all work together to make a healthier me.

What sort of resources do you plan to deliver?

Because I think it’s important to have ongoing encouragement, my plan is to send a weekly email.

As an example, the very first email will include:

  • Introduction to Creating A Healthier You Guide
  • Positive Affirmation – Neutralize Bad Habits with Good Food, Exercise & Healthy Living
  • Motivational Wallpaper – A gorgeous graphic that says “Decide that you want it more than you’re afraid of it!”
  • Healthy Recipes – Eating Better: Choosing the Right Foods to Become Healthier
  • Worksheets/Checklists (Self Reflection, Overcoming Obstacles, Weight Loss Goal Tracker & Diary, Overcoming Food Addiction)

Each week following will have similar items and some additional goodies along the way.

Will there be opportunity for a lot of personal interaction?

Because weight loss can be so personal and potentially embarrassing, I have set up a private Facebook group – only for members of Creating a Healthier You, completely hidden from the world so that we can share victories,  defeats, dreams & fears.  A place where members will encounter support & accountability without judgement.

What do you think most people need to help them stay on track towards better health?

For me, it was realizing that I can’t do it without accountability and people urging me on but also being forgiving when I have a bad day.

It’s my hope that by sharing the resources via weekly email & interacting together in our group that we’ll all be able to achieve success.  And that success is measured by the individual and how their body feels not by a number on a scale.

Filed Under: Health & Wellness

Providing for the New Baby Need Not Break the Bank

February 25, 2012 By

This is a guest post by Christine Allen.

It is excited to have a baby, and being parents. Those little creatures are cute, cuddly, and loveable, but through no fault of their own, can be quite expensive. Unless money is not problem in your family, lifestyle changes are often necessary to keep household finances under control. Some of my coping strategies are given below.

Babies Have Such Simple Needs

Babies don’t require much out of life: clean diapers, adequate food, stimulation, social integration, and lots of love and cuddling. Only a few of those things cost money, and in most cases are financially manageable. The biggest outlay, for parents, is the cost of those items which are desired by the parent more than required by the baby.

Babies don’t care if their strollers are brand new with lots of neat bells and whistles. They care only that they are comfortable. Babies may enjoy a doorway swing, but no baby has ever selected the most expensive model. Cribs, baby carriers, and pack and plays need only be safe, meeting the current government safety standards. Babies don’t require that they be the most expensive models.

Many baby toys and items for use in the nursery can be purchased second hand from thrift shops, yard sales, and Craig’s list. Some nursery furniture can be acquired as gifts if you’re smart enough to list such items in a gift registry before the baby is born.

Baby Clothes Don’t Need to be Expensive

Clothes can become a considerable expense for some parents. It should be obvious that babies and most toddlers don’t care what they wear as long as the clothes are comfortable and appropriate for the weather. When parents buy expensive new clothes, it’s usually to show off their status through their baby’s attire. The baby would be perfectly happy with second hand clothes and hand-me-downs.

Babies grow so quickly that most of their clothes seldom show any wear at all. Shop at church rummage sales and at thrift stores. You’ll be amazed at how many excellent clothes you’ll be able to buy for a few dollars. Don’t buy only the sizes that fit at the present time. Think about savings in the future and buy larger sizes if the price is right. Toddlers clothing may be subject to more abuse, but there will still be excellent used clothing available, especially dress up duds for special occasions.

Save Big on Consumables

Saving money of baby food is a bit more of a challenge. Second-hand food is obviously not an option! High quality, nourishing, and trusted brands are the most important consideration. Formula and processed baby foods can be expensive depending upon where you purchase them. Never buy baby food at a convenience store unless it is a dire emergency. The price markup in most cases is outrageous.

Most large supermarkets maintain competitive prices on quality brands and often offer store brands of equal quality at lower cost. The big box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJs are excellent places to save by buying in quantity. If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you can save even more by processing your own baby food using the fruits, vegetables, and meats that you serve the rest of your family. All you need is a good food processor or blender, and you are in the baby food business.

Other major “must haves” for babies are diapers and baby wipes. Babies go through diapers and wipes as fast as they deplete the supply of baby food. If you’re not using cloth diapers, which can save money in exchange for considerable effort, buy the diapers in bulk from the big box store mentioned above. Always keep a good supply on hand. Why? Ask any parent who has ever had to improvise when they ran out of diapers!

Economize Using the Internet

Online stores like Amazon.com have changed the shopping culture considerably over the last decade. Almost every product available in the local big box stores is available on line. Most, when sufficient quantities are ordered, are shipped at no cost to you. These products include formula, processed food, diapers, wipes, supplements, and nursery items. You can save a lot by purchasing in quantity from online sources. Just make sure that the source in known and respected. There are many online scammers out there.

The major difference when ordering online, as compared to buying at a local big box store, is adequate planning. Plan well ahead and allow for shipping delays when you buy online.

Christine Allen, mama to two lovely kids from Livesnet, a site where you can find great baby gear reviews and some helpful parenting tips. She loves to write about her hunting experience of baby products and would definitely willing to give advice to new mommy hunters.

Filed Under: Shopping

Totally Legal Parenting Cheats

February 24, 2012 By

parenting cheatsAs an adult I had this recurring nightmare. I was back in college. It was finals time, but I had cut class all semester long since my teachers neither noticed or cared. I didn’t study at all for finals and had since I never went to class, I had no clue what any of my classes were about. Yikes! In this nightmare, I’m totally stressing, full of anxiety, and angry at myself for being so stupid and irresponsible especially since these educational choices were highly uncharacteristic of me given my actual record.

Those college final nightmares must have stemmed from all my strict childhood years when cheating was absolutely forbidden in schools I attended. You could get into big trouble and even kicked out of school for that sort of thing!

I remember what test taking was like back then…

  • No open book tests.
  • No notecards allowed.
  • No writing answers on your hands.
  • No talking during tests.
  • Teachers did not help you.
  • If you’re caught cheating, you automatically fail!

Remember that?

Thank goodness parenting isn’t like that!

If you don’t know the answers in the test of parenting you’re allowed to “cheat” and look them up.

Open books are allowed (I hear Meg Meeker is a great read for parents). Notes are allowed. You don’t have to memorize everything! Use notes lists and other written or electronic tools and reminders to make sure you get things right.

You can even write important information down on your hand if you’re so inclined and you won’t even get in trouble. Well except from maybe your mother if she’s anything like mine and always told you not to write all over yourself. But jotting down key reminders on your hand doesn’t fail you automatically nor does it get you kicked out of parenting.

You’re even allowed to talk with friends and ask them for answers. In fact you’re more than welcome to seek out the smartest people you know and copy, word for word if you wish, any and all answers they know. In fact, many online forums, blogs, and social media resources exists specifically for that sort of thing just in case you don’t have any smart parenting friends in real life. Hey, you’re here at Moms Talk Network aren’t you? On top of all that, professional teachers and instructors will help you if you ask. Life coaches, school teachers, sports coaches, and doctors are all there to assist you in various ways along your parenting journey.

Best of all, these “cheats” are completely legal, even encouraged, in the test of parenting. Thank goodness you don’t have to relive back-in-the-day school test rules or live my recurring college nightmare! Use the resources available to you to get the parenting answers you need. Many are free. Paid ones are often worth it.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With:

Smarter Shopping with CouponChief.com

February 20, 2012 By

Mom’s Talk Network received payment to review an give our honest opinion of CouponChief.com. 

As a busy mom with two kids, I barely have time to make myself a cup of coffee, let alone head to the store to pick out new shoes, clothes or even household items. Because of my hectic life – and the fact that my kids are masters at causing scenes and having meltdowns in the store – I do a majority of my shopping online. While I love the convenience of shopping online, I also love that I can easily find great deals and coupons with minimal effort.

CouponChief.com LOGOOne of the easiest ways to ensure that I am getting the best deal while shopping online is by searching for coupons and discount codes. There are tons of websites that offer this service, but I find that many feature out of date coupons and coupons that don’t actually work at all.

CouponChief.com is a members only site that everyone can join that really delivers.

Coupon Chief has the largest source of online coupons and store discounts for apparel, electronics, travel, entertainment and more!

Where to shop first?

After quickly signing up (there were only 6 lines to fill out!) for this free site, I was anxious to start poking around to see what type of deals they had to offer. With thousands of stores in their data base, and new coupons and discount codes added daily, there was a lot to check out!

I was very impressed that they had all of my favorite shops listed, and even more impressed when I saw the large number of active coupons available for each store. The site is very easy to navigate, and finding the stores that I was looking for was a breeze.

There are multiple ways to look up coupons for wherever sites you want to shop on. You can use the large search bar that is visible on every page, or you can search through the store lists to find your favorite shops or discover new one. You can also check out one of their helpful lists: the new coupon list, the popular coupons list, and the featured stores list.

Get Involved

One of the features that makes Coupon Chief such a valuable database is that it encourages an active community. Shoppers are encouraged to rate each coupon code that they use to help ensure that only active, working coupons are featured on the website. Plus, expired coupons are promptly taken down, while new coupons are added daily.

This makes it very helpful when you searching for a coupon code to use. You can see how many people have had success with it, how much they were able to save with it, and you can be confident in the fact that you aren’t going to pull up and try to use an expired coupon.

Share the Coupon Love

Unlike many coupon sites, Coupon Chief offers you a way to make money with their Pays-2-Share program!

With Pay-to-Share you simply sign up to become part of the program, upload coupons, and start earning money. Each time someone using the coupon that you submitted to the database, you will earn 2% of their purchase (up to $25 per month, per store). The more coupons that you submit, the more earning potential you have!

I love this unique option about Coupon Chief!

Ready to shop?

Online shopping has never been easier, and now it can be even more cost efficient with the use of Coupon Chief’s huge coupon database. With so many coupons at your finger tips, you will find yourself shopping for more and more online.

Filed Under: Shopping

Outdoor Games For Kids

February 17, 2012 By

Playing outside for most of the day, even in colder weather used to be the norm when it came to children’s activities in their free time. These days they are often spending up to 6hours on average watching TV and playing video games. We can’t blame this change in behavior entirely on TV, as our busy life’s sometimes get in the way, as well as our concern for their safety, since the world simply isn’t a safe place, and the fact that kids often don’t know what to play anymore. Old and classic outdoor games aren’t being passed on in the school playgrounds anymore, so it is up to those who still remember them to bring them back. There is a simple way to teach your children some great team building and reaction developing games in the safety of your own garden.

A group of 4 to 8 (or more, if you feel you can handle them) is ideal for these games, so consider inviting some of your kids’ friends round or the neighbors’ kids to make up the numbers. Once you’ve taught them the games, which are presented below, you can supervise the play for 2 or 3 rounds to make sure there aren’t any questions and then leave them to it. If there are any arguments regarding cheating or breaking the rules, let them try to resolve it among themselves and only step in if it seems absolutely necessary.

Bring out some refreshments for them. This will keep them energized and if you take the refreshments to them, then they won’t rush inside to grab them and then get distracted by their digital entertainment systems. Your garden shed can serve as their snack area, as well as a fun HQ for them to discuss the next game. Just clear out some room and make sure they know, that it’s part of the play area.

Presented are four of my own childhood favorites, which promote team building skills, tactics, balance and general motor skills.

Red Light, Green Light

Personally, I recommend starting with this game, as it starts off slow and then becomes more interesting, so it’s a good option of getting the kids used to the concept of playing outside. The rules are simple: One player, the traffic light, has their back to the group and shouts ‘Green Light’. The group takes slow steps toward the traffic light. The steps should be toe to heel to ensure the steps are slow. Imagining walking on a tightrope is a good way to make this style of walking clear. The traffic light faces the group and shouts ‘Red Light’. No one is allowed to move during a red light. If someone does move or wobble as they’re off balance, they have to return to the starting point. The first person to reach the traffic light wins, and becomes the next traffic light. The rules of when to walk and when not to walk are taught and highlighted in this game, as well as balance since the traffic light can catch you off guard whilst walking toe to heel.

Freeze Tag

Freeze tag is like your traditional tag, except that when someone is caught, they’re not ‘it’ instead they have to freeze where they are. They can be freed by another player, but whoever is ‘it’ can also catch the player trying to free the frozen one. Whoever is ‘It’ must play very tactically, as they are outnumbered and can be overwhelmed by the others. However, if they keep a frozen player in their sights, they can catch both the player doing the unfreezing and the player who was originally frozen. Likewise the players, who aren’t ‘It’

can develop a tactic to work together and plan unfreezing their team mates. One could
distract the ‘It’, while another frees a team mate.

Red Rover

Red Rover is a great team building game, and it also forces the children to all interact with each other. If groups have started to form in the previous games, and children being left out, then this game will ensure that everyone gets included. Divide everyone into two teams, each forming a long line, holding hands, and facing the other team. The distance between the teams should be around 20 feet, or simply enough space to be able to run from team to team without it being too easy. The teams take turns calling out, “Red Rover, Red Rover, let ‘insert child’s name’ come over!” The child called leaves their team’s line, runs as fast as they can toward the other line and tries to break through the held hands. If they break through the opposing team’s line, they get to take someone back to their team. If they don’t, they join the new team. When a team only has one person left, that person tries to break through the other team. If they do not, then their team loses. If they do, they gain a player and play continues.

Wolf’s Dinner Time

This game requires patience, good timing and a good attention span. One player is Mr Wolf, and the rest of the group faces him from a distance of about 15 feet. Mr Wolf has his back to the group. The group shouts ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’, and the Mr Wolf turns to the group and must answer with a time. If Mr Wolf says ‘6 o’clock’, then the group takes six steps toward him. The wolf then turns his back on the group again. He may only face them when answering. Once the wolf believes the group to be close enough, without looking in between his answers, his answer becomes ‘Dinnertime!’ and he chases members of the group. Whoever he catches becomes the next Mr Wolf. Both players and wolf must reign in their excitement. The wolf has an advantage as he dictates how many steps are taken, however, the players are aware of what will happen and should be ready for when the wolf strikes. Timing is everything with this game as if the wolf decides to strike too soon he misses his chance for an easy catch. If the players let down their guard and stop paying attention, then they are easier to catch. This then promotes keeping your concentration for a longer period of time.

These games are merely examples of some of the classic and still fun outdoor games. There are many other great outdoor games and kids love learning new things, so tell them your favorite games, too.

This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Tiger Sheds, garden shed and playhouse manufacturers.

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