A couple of months ago, I read this article about how complaining damages the brain. An excerpt: When we complain, our brains release stress hormones that harm neural connections in areas used for problem solving and other cognitive functions. This also happens when we listen to someone else moan and groan. “It’s as bad as secondhand smoke,” […]
Archives for 2015
When Gluten Free Isn’t a Fad
First there’s a backlash, then a backlash to the backlash. Once, wheat was considered the staff of life. But in recent years, research has been pointing out that more people nowadays actually do have bona fide Celiac disease than in years past, and among many others, a condition called non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Noone is quite sure […]
The folly of envy
A few years ago, I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook. We talked on the phone, attempting to cram nearly 20 years of history into a one-hour conversation. My friend, a beautiful, athletic blonde, had an amazing sense of humor. We would hang out in her living room eating mint chocolate chip ice cream […]
When blogging is difficult
For weeks now, there have been many things I wanted to say here. My head is very loud with all the things. But when I sit down to write a post (if I get that far, even), they all seem so silly and unimportant. I don’t want to bore people with tales of my feelings. […]
Recent Reads
Despite the fact that I set a goal to read “fewer books, with more intention”, I managed to read a ton these past few weeks. Although to be fair, I believe a couple of these were titles I simply forgot to list last time. How To Be Parisian Wherever You Are – Longtime readers know I […]
Postpartum weight loss: low carb, month 2
(Update: after learning that low-carb diets that exclude moderate carbs are a bad idea for me, I began a diet called TrimHealthyMama and blog about it here. I absolutely love it and have been on it for over a year now. I don’t eat sugar and won’t ever go back.) About 7 weeks ago I […]
Postpartum Weight Loss (After the 7th Baby)
Once again I find myself having to lose weight after a baby. I wrote about how I did it with the last one here, and for the most part, I’ll use the same strategy. In a nutshell: Move every day (take a walk, jump on my rebounder, lift weights) Eat on a small plate No […]
The Things That Don’t Kill Us
I’ve been thinking a lot about adversity lately. This week I read the book Unbroken (likely, I’m the last person in America who didn’t know it was a true story until the movie came out.) Calling it un-put-down-able is an understatement. I read it in an afternoon. I found an interview with Angelina Jolie, who […]
Pumping For Your Preemie: increasing supply and pumping output
Pumping for your preemie isn’t for the faint of heart. I started off this series on breastfeeding a preemie in NICU by talking about why doing so is crucial to the health of the premature baby. And the many barriers having a preemie presents to starting off breastfeeding. Yet after spending many hours reading preemie parenting […]
Recently Read
I made a goal this year to read “fewer books, with more intention“. This means that I’m hand-picking titles that really meet a current need in my life. (I abandoned 3 books that I started because they didn’t make the cut.) Here’s what I read in January and February. I reread these two parenting classics: […]