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Showing posts from March 31, 2020

Why I Quit Orangetheory

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Hey there! I wanted to hop on here and talk about my recent experience with overtraining and why I quit Orangetheory. If you’ve been following along for a little bit, I’ve been kind of beating around the bush about it, just because I was trying to figure things out and what exactly was going on. I was also waiting to get some test results back. I want to preface this post by saying this is very much my individual story, so I don’t want to assume these things are happening to everybody. And I don’t want to scare anyone or anything like that. With my health background and everything that was going on in my life at the time, the type of activity (i.e. intensity, duration, frequency) I was doing was much too much for me. I have an autoimmune disease, to start with, so my body is already stressed out. So, me doing high-intensity exercise is already not the best. I’ve managed up until this point, doing CrossFit, Orangetheory, and all my favorite things, but living the way I was living, m

Learning Through Play: 101 Ways To Keep Young Minds Occupied At Home

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Parents, right off the bat, let me say that there is no right way to be feeling about the current situation. Relief, anxiety, excitement, dread are all normal. We’re all figuring this out as we go along and doing the best we can. Virtual high-five! This is not a homeschooling post per se. This is about the importance of play as learning, and letting our kids play to restore some balance we don’t always manage in our typical over-scheduled lives. Here’s the good news if you’re stressed about making sure your kids are still learning why they are at home: they are. I recently attended a workshop with a local homeschool coordinator. The biggest thing I took away was a reminder that all play is learning . Why Kids Need to Play Play is how kids learn about the world. Theoretical and Applied Playworker Bob Hughes (awesome title!) lists 16 different types of play that are central to physical, mental, emotional, and social development. By manipulating objects and trying things out (“I w

5 Tips for Keeping a Clean House with Kids

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As we navigate the new normal of having our kids home all.the.time. we must adjust our systems and rhythms for tidying up as well. Keeping a clean house with kids around is no small task. I know I’m not the only one who feels like for every one toy, crumb, or misplaced item I pick up two are placed in its spot. Here are some of my tips for minimizing the daily mess and cleaning as I go. 5 Tips For Keeping A Clean House With Kids 1 // Teach them to pick up as they go One of my house rules is that we must tidy up one room before we move to another. If we’ve been playing in the living room, we have to straighten it up before moving to the basement. Occasionally we leave toys set up (like our trains) if it’s something elaborate, but all small pieces must be picked up. I believe that modeling is the best tool here. This might take 10 years but every bit helps. I always offer to help the kids clean up their toys when they’re finished playing, but I don’t do it all for them. We sing the

Natural Egg Dye For Easter Eggs

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Natural egg dye is one of the simplest, most natural and clean way you can dye eggs this year (or any year!). Naturally dying your Easter eggs is the best way to make this fun Easter tradition environmentally friendly as well as conducive to a clean eating lifestyle.   After all, dyes and chemicals are something I avoid in my life and on this blog. So why would dying eggs be any different? With Easter so close to Earth day this is a great opportunity to make, clean, eco-friendly choices when celebrating by reducing your family’s exposure to harmful chemicals and artificial food dyes. Not only is dying easter eggs naturally the best option for your family and the environment it is also very easy to do. How to get natural egg dye to stick The trickiest part about using natural egg dyes for Easter is that sometimes the dyes do not want to stick to the eggs. Just like with dying fabrics and yarn it is best to prepare your eggs for dying so the dye is likely to stick. Giving your eg