Guest Post By my friend Julie Burton …

Taking care of yourself is one of the most important gifts you can give to your child/ren, and of course, yourself. As a mother, taking care of your children is one of your highest priorities, and sometimes, taking care of yourself gets put on the back burner. Putting others’ needs in front of your own may work for a while, but eventually, it won’t, and most likely will carry negative consequences. The hazards of neglecting yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally can include health problems, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues. These issues will not only have an adverse effect on you, but your children will feel them and most likely be affected by them as well. Therefore, taking care of yourself is an integral part of taking care of your children.

Self-care is a daily struggle for so many busy moms today. Some moms develop the habit early on in their motherhood journey, and intrinsically understand that self-care is an essential component of being a competent mom. Other moms are more apt to become swallowed up by the pressures of motherhood and find that taking care of themselves continues to slip down on their priority list. It is essential to realize that the sacred time you need to nurture yourself, will take effort, planning and even some creativity to make it happen.

Many moms feel that they have to fight too hard to carve out time for themselves. Between jobs, spouses, children and other commitments, it is not easy to find spare moments in the day. Sometimes you may have to miss a baseball scrimmage or leave the house even when your toddler is crying for you to stay with her. But the importance of establishing “me time” is as important as spending time with and nurturing your children. As one mother of two children recently shared with me, “I’ve had to realize that sacrifice is a normal part of parenting, but there has to be a limit. I must set boundaries and set apart time that is just for me in order to be a healthy enough person to parent well.”

To be a clear-headed, strong mom, who can be a good role model for your children, you need to be healthy in mind, body and spirit. The only way that is going to happen is by making sure you are nurturing all aspects of yourself, which involves carving out necessary time for YOU.

The zillion-dollar question that so many moms ask is, “How in the world am I going to take care of myself when there are some days that I barely have time to go to the bathroom?!” There is no clear-cut, fail-proof way to do this. Yet very single day, you must simply ask yourself, “What am I going to do to take care of myself TODAY?”

Here are some helpful tips for you moms struggling to carve out time for yourself:

1. Figure what kind of self care you need most today. Do you need exercise (would be great if you could do some kind of movement every day), extra sleep, time alone, with a girl friend or with your partner?

2. Figure out how you are going to make at least one of the above ideas happen.

3. You may need to be creative:

• Ask for help. Call grandma, a neighbor, a friend to come over to watch your child/ren so you can sleep, workout, meet your husband for lunch, or do whatever you need for you (not run errands for the kids!)

• If you work outside the home, plan a walk with a girlfriend over your lunch hour or during a break.

• Take the kids to the childcare facility at your gym to so you can workout and/or enjoy a nice long, hot shower without the fear of a child interrupting you.

• Go for a jog or walk when your spouse gets home from work, or get up early to meditate or get to an exercise or yoga class.

• If you have young kids and it is too difficult to leave the house, make sure you have a few good meditation or exercise dvds for you to do when your baby or toddler is napping.

• Do you have a flight of stairs in your home or apartment building? Use them!

• Keep some hand held weights by your desk at your office.

• For additional tips on exercise, nutrition and overall self-care, check out Chris Freytag’s Live Fit: 101 Tips for Your Fitness.
There is no doubt that as a mother, taking good care of yourself requires you to be intentional in making sure you will have that time to do so. And even with good planning, you still may encounter grumbles from your spouse or tears from your child when you leave to go do something just for you. The big picture? There is no question that doing so will make you a happier, healthy woman and mother, and a wonderful role model for your children.

Julie Burton is an experienced writer specializing in any and all aspects of parenting, relationships and finding balance. She also teaches yoga at Core Power Yoga in Minnetonka, Minn. She is a wife and mother of four children ranging in age from 9 to 18, and soon-to-be author of a tell-all book for mothers. You can find her at unscripted mom.

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Kale is in. It’s the IT vegetable. The coolest green you can eat. And it’s now showing up on restaurant menus, it’s probably in your green smoothie or in the new way you make salads and it’s your new kind of healthy chip. Whether you eat it raw, roasted, steamed, braised or baked, kale is a super food full of fiber, antioxidants and vitamins.

1.     Kick start your day with a Kale smoothie. This kale smoothie has two greens, kale and spinach but it tastes like pineapple. You can buy frozen kale in the freezer section at your local grocery store or add fresh kale. Either way, this smoothie won’t disappoint!

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 small banana

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup coconut water

2 cups kale

2 cups spinach

2. Spruce up the same old salad and have a Kale salad instead. Toss those stems, rinse off the leaves and slice them up. You can mix the kale leaves with lemon, Dijon mustard, olive oil and a little salt for a delicious salad. Or add some olive oil and garlic with a dash of parmesan cheese. If you start with kale, your salad will be a nutritional powerhouse. Add a handful of walnuts or pecans to dial up the protein. Here’s another delicious salad you can try.

3. Kale stir fry.  A kale stir fry doesn’t have to be complicated. Wash the kale, pull off the stems, chop up, and add olive oil, garlic, some onion and breadcrumbs and use a wok or a regular pan. A kale stir fry can be a side dish or the base to a main dish. Add some other greens to the mix for added nutritional punch like spinach.

4. Skip the potato chips and try my favorite—Brad’s Raw Leafy Kale chips. Coated with red bell pepper, cashews, sunflower seeds, lemon juice, chickpea miso, and Himalayan sea salt, these kale chips are good for snacking or you can sprinkle them on your soup or add extra crunch to your salad.  Thanks Brad!

5. Go healthy with Kale juice. Try this Pineapple Kale juice recipe from Dr. Oz:

Ingredients

• ½ cup pineapple
• 4 cups chopped kale leaves (no stems)
• 2 large cucumbers
• ½ lemon, squeezed
• ½ cup mint
• 2 artichoke hearts (from can or jar)

Directions

If you don’t have a juicer, use a blender on high; just add 1½ cups water and remove the pulp with a strainer.

Pineapple contains digestive enzymes. Kale is rich in compounds that support enzymes in the liver. And artichoke can improve bile flow.

When it comes to eating healthy, kale might be the closest to being called a miracle food. Make sure you add some kale to your meal plan this week!

Heart rate monitors are popular workout accessories. While not necessary for everyone, it is a great tool for those who:

A) need to stay in a specific heart rate zone due to a medical condition …

B) are competitive athletes and use it for effective zone training …

C) are fitness enthusiasts who thrive on and are motivated by feedback …

Most heart rate monitors come with a chest strap that wirelessly transmits to the wristwatch. (There are strapless monitors, but I don’t think they are as accurate.)  A heart rate monitor (HRM) is basically a high-tech gadget that does lots of technical stuff. So how do you pick the right one?

It all depends on what you will use it for. Do you just want to get active? Improve fitness? Maximize performance?

Here are a few websites I suggest checking out for learning about and purchasing heart rate products.

Polar USA    Probably the best recognized brand and for a good reason, they sell quality product. They make it easy on their website to determine which HRM is right for you with their product finder area which asks you questions about how you will use it. They offer everything from the most basic watch to the most technical watch. They have watches that specialize in cycling, triathlons, running, etc. The cool thing about their website is you can compare products and features and make sure you are paying only for the features you would use. My HRM is from their fitness line. I have the FT40 and it does what I need it to do – measures my zones, calories burned and tracks my workouts over the course of a week.

Garmin When it comes to GPS, Garmin is the king. They offer watches that measure heart rate, elevation, distance and even your golf swing. Known for their mapping capabilities, they have an array of HRM’s. Again, they have a user-friendly website that lets you compare devices and figure out which features are important to you.

MOTOACTV This Motorola product is getting lots of attention lately in the fitness world. It seriously covers GPS and heart rate; can play music; connects to wifi; and measures your pace, distance, speed and elevation. For Golfers, the GPS gives you precise distances to the front, back and center of the green as well as hazards. My husband is all about his golf game and he has this watch.

Instant Heart Rate App If you just want to check your heart rate randomly, when you wake up to get your resting heart rate; during exercise or while sitting at your desk, check out this free app. Instant Heart Rate app allows you to place your index finger under the camera flash light and it reads your heart rate within a few seconds. Great for getting a handle on your heart rate every so often and it’s free.

No matter what your reason for using heart rate monitors, they are an effective tool. So track your heart rate and get your heart beat up with one of my music mixes from Workout Music!