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USING FOOD AS MEDICINE

Disclaimer: I’m what you may consider a “crunchy” mom. I co-slept, breastfed, made my own baby food, etc. I firmly believe that there are many solutions to problems that we, as a society, tend to overlook because there is now a medicine or cream or solution that is faster. However, many times, when we look into the history as the human species, those quick fixes may not always be the best solutions. So basically, if you don’t believe in the benefits of practices like yoga and chiropractic care, you   may want to stop reading now!                 Now, to jump off my soapbox and rewind a few years to when my oldest daughter was in 3 rd grade and she was given homework assignments that were supposed to last us around 20 minutes to complete. Well, unfortunately, this task ended up taking us closer to 2 hours, due to lack of focus and, well… because doodling was more fun! The more I fought with my child to focus, the more I began looking for reasons and solutions as to why this was
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My Family, My Fitness, My Life...

I haven't blogged in almost 2 years, and last year I completely took down my House of Glutes Facebook page. It all just became too much. Too much homework. Too much responsibilities. Too much of everything!!! For years, I blogged, worked out, trained, and even studied Exercise Science at UCO. It was my life. And then things changed. For starters, I had a third baby. And not just any baby... a holy hot mess baby! She was a handful, to say the least, and wore me smooth out, especially when it came to breastfeeding and various other Mommy demands (like ya know... sleep and whatnot). However, I stayed the course and kept powering forward. Then, I changed my major. I was no longer immersed solely in fitness, nutrition and exercise. I started studying business and finance instead, in an effort to provide my family with a more stable and lucrative career choice for myself in the future. All of my UCO super fit friends fell by the wayside, and it just got harder. Then.... we moved to
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How to feed a family healthy food on a budget

  One of the biggest misconceptions about eating healthy is that it has to be expensive. Granted, you can get more calories with $20 spent on junk food than you can with $20 spent on healthy food, but those calories also come with tons of added sugar, fat, etc. I decided to take on a challenge for my family of 5 and see how low I could get our food budget. Now, taking into consideration that this family consists of: 1 baby, 2 picky children, 1 nursing mother and 1 large husband with a hearty appetite, this challenge was no easy task! Here, I will break down my process and explain how I was able to feed my whole family for roughly $400 for a month’s worth of food. Now I will preface this post by saying that this isn’t a gluten- free, organic, paleo, whatever trendy, expensive diet is out right now. This is simply feeding regular family normal, healthy foods. Yes, I would love to be able to buy some of those things, but unfortunately, shopping at Whole Foods isn’t in this bu
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Diastasis Recti: Fighting Back Against the Mommy Pooch!!

What is Diastasis Recti??? Ah, Motherhood. It's hands down the greatest thing to ever happen to a woman. We give up our minds, souls, (and mostly) our bodies for our children! But what about the aftermath? What about when the baby is born and all hell has been ravished upon our insides??? Almost everything goes back into place within about 6-12 months of delivery. But I'm going to discuss something that may be a permanent change after childbirth: diastasis recti. Some of you may or may not have heard of this, but all women experience it during pregnancy. Diastasis recti (also known as abdominal separation) is commonly defined as a gap between the two sides of the rectus abdominis muscles, or the "6-pack" ab muscles. These are the most external of the abdominal muscles. For a woman to carry a child, these muscles must separate in order to accommodate for the growing baby. After childbirth, these muscles are supposed to grow back together. And for me, they did so a
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New Year, New You!!! Or.... some cheesy cliche' like that :-/

Ahhhh New Year’s... the time to evaluate our lives, set goals and start over. Did you know that 66% of New Year’s resolutions include setting fitness goals? Whether that be losing weight, stopping smoking, or simply maintaining a current healthy lifestyle, many people use this time to achieve something greater in their lives. However, only 8% of resolvers actually attain their New Year’s goals. That’s less than inspiring. Personally, I don’t set any resolutions. I never have. For me, if I want to attain something or reach a goal, I will do it no matter what time of year it is!!! This is why I kind of take New Year’s resolutions with a grain of salt. If you want to change your lifestyle and be healthier, then do it!!! Just do it… everyday... period.   Being healthy shouldn’t mean reaching a certain number on the scale. It also doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself, or setting unrealistic expectations. When I work with clients who want to lose weight, I make sure and express
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My Life with 3 Kids

The new little peanut Well, it’s been exactly 3 months since I last wrote any blogs and my life has been nothing less than chaotic since then! We welcomed our third baby girl on August 18 th and she is everything we had hoped for, and sometimes several things we had NOT hoped for! Having three girls under the age of 8 certainly has had its challenges, but we are all doing our very best to adapt to the changes. My oldest has really stepped up as the big sister and helps me A TON with the little ones and while my 4 year old loves her baby sister… she doesn’t always love not being the “littlest” anymore. My 2 big girls started school the day after the baby was born, setting off a whirlwind of changes (…and diapers, and cheerios, and hair bows, and everything else associated with little ones!)   at our home within a matter of 24 hours. Needless to say, all this excitement has left very little time for me to care for myself. This is a time in a woman’s life when our needs are witho
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My Round, Firm Glute Series: Part 2

Alright folks, are we ready for round 2 of my butt blasting series?!?! The first post was a huge hit so I’m hoping this one will be too. Now, just because this is my second entry DOES NOT mean that these workouts are secondary to the previous workouts I mentioned. In fact, these are some of the best moves for complete isolation of the glutes! So without further ado, let’s get to it: •              Leg press (narrow stance): This is one of my favorite exercises!!! And arguably the one that I’m the saddest about not being able to do while pregnant. The leg press is an excellent weighted machine for lower body work. With a traditional leg press movement, the legs are about shoulder width apart and the focus is on the quads. However, with a narrow stance, the focus shifts to the glutes and hamstrings. I prefer to place my feet right next to each other and put my feet high enough up that my heels are in the very center of the platform. That way, when you press up, you’re pushing
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