And, or just be strong in general…..or do yoga or play soccer or something!!!

In my experience, those children who are involved in extra curricular activities that involve sports, are much more inclined to be self- confident, fitter, and on the whole just a healthier/happier child. And, I mean children who are ages 12 and under. I didn’t start running seriously until high school and although that made a huge impact in my high school career, I think it would have been even huger if I’d gotten to start earlier in my life. And, if we were to use me as an example, I am still working out, competing and feeling good in my body. I’ve always loved sports and I encourage it highly to everyone!

Yes, I think children need to be given the opportunities to climb trees, swing from branches and in general get dirty outside. But, I also think they need to be involved in a special activity that’s just for them, that they love to do and are excited about going to! My child loves to climb ropes, so every time we drop in to cross fit, he gets to climb the rope and tries to set a new personal record! From what I’ve seen in kids, if they have a special talent or skill, they act and seem more confident and steady when it’s time to do difficult work at school. It gives them just that little extra boost of confidence.

Who feels that having their kids involved in a sport/karate/yoga…whatever is beneficial for them? Anybody disagree?

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New Blog Post on Read Breathe

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First of all, I want to give a huge shout out “thank you” to Santa Cruz Organics for sending my kids and I applesauce, peanut butters and fruit spreads to try just in the week before school starts!

Next, I’d like to preface this post with the thought that at our school, all the elementary aged children are expected to make their own lunch. At age 6, they have been asked to make a list, go shopping, as well as do the actual making of the lunch. For me, this can become complicated as the requests come in from my kid that he wants a cheeseburger for lunch, ha ha ha!! Yes, he gets cheeseburgers in this fit family- just not very regularly! Anyway, he’s given me a list, that looks like this…

I hope you can read this!! Pickles, Chocolate Milk, Oranges, Carrots,and Meat (eggs)! We’ve since started working on making lunches daily (we are on day 2) and although it doesn’t completely look like his list, he does get a fruit, a vegetable, a drink and a main dish that he picks out daily.

Here’s where Santa Cruz Organics comes in. Or went out, so to speak! We received two boxes of applesauce last week. And, I would have saved them for their lunches except that my children loved them so much that they each ate 2 a day until they were gone!! As well as the peanut butters!

As a mother of two boys, I buy organic when it’s affordable and I’d definitely repurchase any product of Santa Cruz’s Organics because my children loved them so much!

For more info and photos on kids’ lunches, please read this post on Read Breathe today.

P.S. For purposes of the review, Santa Cruz Organics provided us with samples and we loved them. This is obviously my opinion and nobody is paying me to write this.

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In continuation with my last post, here are some examples of things we’ve seen on kids that we don’t recommend!

This helmet is situated too far back on the child’s head. It is not secure around his ears.

This helmet is on backwards!



This helmet is snug around his ears. The front of the helmet is going to protect the frontal part of his head, and it will not slip around his head.

I may be preaching to the choir with this post, but, I just see too many silly parents running after kids on bikes with no helmets! Let’s be responsible adults and suggest a helmet to the parent. And, I can honestly say that we have done this on more than one occasion…to the extent of donating our old ones so that heads can be safe!

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In my lifetime, I have climbed many mountains- both physically and personally.  I have climbed Mt. Whitney, San Gorgonio, Mt Baldy and many other local mountains with my dad.  These are experiences that are burned into my memory like tiny little photographs in the back of my head.  All of these mountains have elevations that are over 10,000.  Nowadays, I climb mountains in other ways- namely in some of the ridiculously hard cross fit workouts, in being a mother, a wife and a full time employee.  Sometimes, I feel sorry for myself.  Sometimes, it just feels like it’s SO MUCH that I just can’t handle another minute.  And, then there are days when I feel like I could climb any mountain no matter the height.

Recently, several of my very close friends have been given VERY LARGE MOUNTAINS to climb- not physically, but, emotionally.  Some are marital problems and some are incurable diseases of their loved ones.  Tonight, I am incredibly grateful for what I have and I am so sad for them.  My friends all are incredibly smart resilient people whom I know will climb their own mountains….just wishing they didn’t have to.

Let’s all be sincerely grateful for what we have!

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Instead of the boring old “globo gym” hit the park and try this workout with your kids in tow:

Challenge yourself and your kids to race you 50 meters!

Then, let one of the lighter children sit on your back while you perform as many push-ups as you can.

Sprint back to starting point and have one child sit on your feet while you perform as many sit-ups as possible in one minute.

Crab walk with children to a tree/stump/ approximately 10 meters away and then complete as many flutter kicks (lying on back and flutter your feet 1 inch above the ground) till you get to 50!

Bear Crawl 10 meters away and then perform either log rolls or forward rolls with your kids!

They’ll love it!!

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Fit Mommy’s “Rest Day” Play with Kids is now published!

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This weekend we had the amazing pleasure of learning a new skill on Big Bear Lake.  It’s really simple, but tons of fun and family friendly…It’s called Stand up and paddle. These boards are 10 feet long and fairly wide. To learn how to paddle, we just got out there and made mistakes. It was a great way to spend time with the family, enjoy the outdoors and get a little exercise at the same time. (Note: could be LOTS of exercise if there is a wind issue!)

Amazing workout buddy, Penny. Check out those abs?!?!? You want those at almost 50?! I do.

Daddy and youngest son…..

Family friendly paddles hold two kids easily!

The dads are taking the kids out in this photo!

These boards were found at Costco for $429 each including the paddles (although this is not an ad for Costco or anything)!!

Again, it’s a great way to spend time with the family!

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is now published on Read Breathe!

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Here is the goal: To maintain some semblance of a ZONE diet while away from home.


I am now currently away from home, so I thought it’d be a good idea to post what I eat and pack while on vacation.

Please consider that I am far from perfect!

I love my sweets and wine as much as the next person, so I plan my days around what I’d like to indulge in, ha ha ha!

Pictured above is protein powder, apricots, nuts, chicken breasts, cheese sticks, and Fage yogurt.

Sample Meals:

1 serving of protein powder, a handful of nuts and apricots is equivalent to one zone meal.
1 cup of 0% yogurt mixed with a handful of nuts and fruit is another zone meal.
1 3 ounce chicken breast, plus nuts and fruit is another zone meal.
1 cheese stick, 3 nuts and 1/2 an apple is a small snack.

I plan to eat these meals during the day and then indulge in a nice dinner tonight with the family!

Please ask me questions as I’m happy to answer them!

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