Author Archives: Carmen

About Carmen

A busy mom of six who's maintained an 80 pound weight loss, Carmen helps moms and families navigate a realistic healthy lifestyle. She's also training for a Muay Thai black belt.

Parents, You Can Raise a Healthy Child With Diabetes

If you are a parent of a child who has diabetes, you know that dealing with the illness can be a full time task. Even more difficult than dealing with insulin, sugar counts and keeping track of exercise can be the reality that your child just doesn’t care or can’t  be bothered. Further compounding these issues, maybe you don’t know enough about diabetes yourself to be well informed. How can you help your child without becoming a nag?

Dr. Sarah G. Khan, resident pharmacist for Diets in Review, shares, “The biggest hurdle for children, I think, is understanding what is going on in their bodies. Parents should be very educated and give them a generalized picture. “Your body doesn’t produce as much or any insulin. Insulin helps the body when we eat something. That is why I need to give you this shot everyday.”

Focus on moderation in their diets. Often, children hear that they need to modify their diets and perceive it as an “all or nothing” type of scenario, and most of us don’t like to be told that we can’t eat certain foods. By helping your child to learn moderation and the reality that a treat can be incorporated in to the diet, you are teaching your child a valuable lesson.

Dr. Khan is a fan of Bayer’s new blood glucose meter known as the DIDGET. “The more the child tests (their blood) they get special codes to Nintendo DS games. It plugs right into a Nintendo DS or DS lite. Once they become more advanced with their blood sugar control it gives them a second level where they can monitor their sugar levels before or after a meal.”

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Posted on November 14, 2023 by Carmen

The Most Frustrating Aspects of Weight Loss Focus on Time Commitment

So you’ve decided to lose weight. Congratulations! Often, making the decision, as well as actually getting started, can be one of the most difficult aspects of weight loss – but not always. I recently asked on Twitter what the  most frustrating aspect of weight loss was for our readers, and was surprised at the number of people who had an answer ready.

Kalisa Hyman from The One in Heels – Those first several lbs. Once I’m down several lbs I am highly motivated to do more.

Shae from Skinny Shae – Working hard and not seeing body changes when losing weight. So sad to be so jiggly.

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Posted on November 11, 2023 by Carmen

Thanksgiving Fun with Your Family Takes the Focus off Food

I love Thanksgiving. It’s my very favorite holiday ever. Lots of friends, lots of food, no gifts to buy – it’s just about the perfect holiday, in my mind. There’s just one small problem – the food and the festivities tend to make one a bit, shall we say, sluggish. After filling your belly with a week’s worth of calories, you feel like taking a 3 hour nap. Instead of doing that, why not try some of these fantastic, family friendly options that will help you not only enjoy the day but end it feeling as if you’ve done something good for you?

Start the day off right. This year, all of my kids are finally old enough to participate in a Turkey Trot and I hope to make this an annual tradition. Even just running a mile, first thing in the morning, gets the blood flowing and gets everyone off on the right foot. Knowing you’ve done even a tiny bit of exercise makes it less likely that you’ll fall, face first, into the pecan pie.

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Posted on November 8, 2023 by Carmen

Ellen Degeneres Announces Plans to Open a Vegan Restaurant

One of the funniest women comics around thinks that her new restaurant is the breath of fresh air the restaurant industry needs.

Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia De Rossi have teamed up with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders and film producer Steve Bing to open a vegan restaurant. The unnamed eatery will be located on Ventura Boulevard in San Fernando Valley, California. The menu will be designed by Tal Ronnen, who is best known for catering the wedding of DeGeneres and Rossi. Ronnen was also the chef responsible for the food for Oprah’s Vegan Cleanse and cooked the first vegan meal for the U.S. Senate.

Vegans do not ingest any animal products. They avoid all forms of dairy, meat, honey, and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals.

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Posted on November 1, 2023 by Carmen

Halloween Party Eats That Won’t Haunt Your Waistline

Halloween is a fantastic holiday. There’s no pressure to buy just the right gift, no cleaning or decorating, no resolutions or 100 degree picnics. It’s a day devoted to getting dressed up, scared out of your mind and filled up with candy. Well, maybe the last part isn’t the greatest idea, but how can you avoid it? One way is to serve healthier alternatives at your party. Make ’em fun, and chances are, the kids won’t even miss the junk.

Pumpkin is quite possibly the most well-known Halloween fruit. Take advantage of the orange globe’s popularity and serve Mini Pumpkin Muffins. To reduce the fat in the recipe, substitute applesauce for the oil. An additional choice of  Butternut Squash Muffins will round out the (delicious) options. Stir orange food coloring into low-fat cream cheese for a yummy spread.

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Posted on October 24, 2023 by Carmen

Creating a Healthy Dinner in 10 Minutes or Less

I try, as much as I can, to have dinner plans made well in advance of the evening hustle. It’s my goal to, at the very minimum, know what I’m making for the evening meal, and many times if I have time I will prepare the dinner in the afternoon. Last Tuesday, life had a very funny way of getting ahead of me and I found myself at 5:15pm scrambling for something to feed my family.

We’d left an afternoon workout and were headed home, and I knew that we had just about 45 minutes before we needed to leave the house for a different class. Everything that could have created a meal was still frozen, and there was precious little in the way of fresh produce. I did not want to stop at a fast food restaurant, didn’t want to resort to sandwiches or breakfast for dinner, and so I stopped at a grocery store. Walking around, I spotted the traditional last minute dinner choice – a rotisserie chicken – but I wanted something new and different. Happily, there were many choices available and we grabbed a fast and nutritious dinner that gave us energy to complete the evening.

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Posted on October 17, 2023 by Carmen

Velveeta Shells and Cheese Cups Recall Caused by Wire Bristle

My kids are huge lovers of macaroni and cheese. I’ve tried to get them hooked on homemade, healthier versions, but they still beg for the boxed, orange dust variety. Even more than the regular cups, though, they love the microwaveable single serve cups, and I will buy them once in a while. They aren’t a great source of nutrition; in fact, I don’t equate them with a healthy choice at all, but I’d rather they eat a cup of pasta and cheese than a bag of chips. Today’s recall might be enough to change my mind, however.

Alaska state officials have announced the recall of three varieties of Velveeta Shells & Cheese microwaveable cups due to the fact that they might contain small bits of wire bristle.

Kind of gives the idea of “iron-fortified” a new meaning, doesn’t it?

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Posted on October 4, 2023 by Carmen

Join the Anderson 5 Day Family Dinner Challenge

On a recent episode of Anderson Cooper’s daytime talk show, the personable host talked about his own issues with food, and brought up a topic that has been much discussed of late: the family dinner. He began a 5-Day Family Dinner Challenge. What’s the challenge? For 5 nights in a row, cook and eat dinner together as a family. He set the following ground rules:

1) No one can be late
2) No TV or cell phones
3) Everyone has to try everything
4) Every night during dinner, play one game.

For busy moms and dads out there, this type of challenge can seem overwhelming. Many of us struggle to get a balanced meal on the table in a timely fashion, never mind making sure that each member of the family is present and accounted for. Also, Norman Rockwell paintings aside, I’ve yet to see a family with teenagers that doesn’t include at least one sullen face, accompanied by short, terse answers. It’s not exactly a formula that cries out success, is it? Don’t despair – the challenge is not as tough as it seems, and it can be downright fun! Here are some great idea to get you started, and if you’ve decided to take the challenge, let us know!

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Posted on September 29, 2023 by Carmen

Is a Vegetarian Diet Safe for Babies?

Celebrity Bethenny Frankel has said that she’s raising her new baby as a vegetarian. Many people flock to “follow the stars”, but is this a case of an action that could harm your baby?

One of the most oft heard concerns about avoiding meat products in your baby’s diet is that if you don’t feed a baby meat,  he won’t get enough protein for proper growth. Many people feel that meat, particularly red meat, is the only real source of protein. This is false. There are two main sources of protein; meat and plants. At face value, though, you might see why people would think that – the main element in meat that is essential would be all nine amino acids, and no one plant offers all nine. However, by eating combinations of vegetables and grains, you can combine the amino acids to form a complete protein. 

It’s important to realize, though, that many of us overestimate the amount of protein needed for proper nutrition. Current recommended values are approximately one gram of protein per pound of body weight during the first year of life, with the ratio dropping to half a gram of protein per pound in the second through fifteenth year.

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Posted on September 27, 2023 by Carmen

Limiting Potatoes in School Lunches Not a Smart Idea

If you heard that schools were limiting their potato offerings, you’d probably be in support. After all, when you think of potatoes in a school lunch you probably imagine French fries and tater tots, yes? In fact, when children are given a choice, 75% of the time they choose the starchy vegetable – i.e. French fried potatoes over any other vegetable. New proposed federal standards would like to trim the number of times per week that potatoes can be offered on a school menu to just two, but this may not be such a smart idea.

The USDA has proposed increasing the amount of fruit, leafy vegetables and whole grains served to school children every day while limiting corn, lima beans, peas and potatoes, but not sweet potatoes.

Not so fast, says Colorado Senator Mark Udall. Not only would reducing the servings of potatoes negatively affect potato farmers, but potatoes are actually a very nutritious vegetable. One medium-size potato, skin on, contains 110 calories per serving, with more potassium (620 grams) than a banana, and almost half the daily value of vitamin C (45 percent). In addition, a potato is high in fiber, and potatoes don’t contain fat, sodium or cholesterol. It’s only when potatoes are fried, coated in butter or served with sour cream that they become a nutritional nightmare.

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Posted on September 26, 2023 by Carmen

Pumpkin Patch Relays and Other Active Fall Games

In many parts of the country, it’s finally cooling off. Fall weather is just around the corner, and one of the most enjoyable and traditional fall activities is a visit to the pumpkin patch.

Instead of just walking around this year, why not take the opportunity to incorporate some fitness into your pumpkin selecting? Mix it up, have some fun and get your cardio in while having fun at the pumpkin patch!

  • Run sprints to the farthest pumpkin. Walk back. Repeat.
  • High knees to the scarecrow. Have a race with your kids.

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Posted on September 19, 2023 by Carmen