Wow — Is it 2008 already?

January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. January 1, 2008. Can it really be 2008 already? Seriously? Yep. Here we are. It is 2008, in Hollywood, the writer’s strike continues at full swing and my daily viewing for my workouts is severely hampered. Closer to home, my little girl turned 7 and my husband and I celebrated 8 years of marriage and we’re looking 12 years together total. 2007 was the Year of a Million Dreams at Disney. It was the year of overexposure for Paris and Britney. 2007 started out with my husband recovering from an emergency appendectomy and I … Continue reading

A Type II Diabetes Journey: The Chicken or the Egg?

My diabetic education specialist says that people don’t get diabetes because they’re fat; they get fat because they’re diabetic. This would be a lot easier to swallow if it wasn’t coming from someone who weighs 350 lbs. Is the diabetes due to the fat or is the fat due to the diabetes? Yes, to both questions. That may seem a contradiction, but the truth is that each contributes to the other. I’m fat because I’m diabetic, and I’m diabetic because I’m fat. Not all fat people will get diabetes. Genetics definitely plays a role. I’m going to go out on … Continue reading

Blog 2000 & Roller Skating: Check It Out!

This is my 2000th article posted here at Families.com. I started with the first batch of bloggers back in 2005. Fitness was my primary blog and I’ve since taken on Marriage and Baby, but my first love – fitness, remains. I thought about doing a retrospective here for my 2000th blog, but instead, I wanted to talk about a new passion that I’ve got and spend some more time exploring it. So I hope you’ll join me here for my 2000th blog and Roller Skating. The Fun Way To Get Exercise As many of my regular readers may know, I’ve … Continue reading

The Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle

  For 6 days only, more than 75 widely-known bloggers and authors in the homemaking sphere have joined together to offer 97 of their most popular eBooks and eCourses, valued at just over $600, for the incredibly low price of $29.97! More than anything, the goal for this sale was for it to be, well… ultimate! We firmly believe that you will not find a more comprehensive collection of homemaking resources anywhere on the web, and particularly not in this price range. For this low price, you gain access to every single one of these resources, so that you can customize your own collection to contain … Continue reading

Meet a Families.com Blogger – Lisa Pietsch!

As the former Community Manager, Lisa was the first person I met when I became acquainted with Families.com, and has become a good friend. Lisa, how fun to interview you today! How long have you blogged for Families.com? I’ve been with Families.com since September 26th, 2005. I believe we had about twenty-six members back then. When management announced they would be hiring bloggers, I applied for the topics of Food, Weight Loss and Disney. When they launched the blogs here in early December 2005, they hired me for all three topics as well as the position of Community Manager. Eventually, … Continue reading

The Day a Lump Entered My Marriage – Part I

For National Breast Cancer Awareness month, I thought I’d share an experience that affected Wayne and I deeply. The Find In 2001, I kept experiencing a series of sharp pains in my right breast. I first noticed it as I was raking leaves and then chasing Murph through them. Whenever I bounced, I’d feel a piercing stab through my nipple. In general that breast had seemed more tender than usual at the time, but any kind of jolting movement suddenly brought on that lancing hot sensation. I went inside and felt around the area and couldn’t believe what I was … Continue reading

Two Studies About Protein

Dr. Wayne Campbell and his colleagues at Purdue’s University Laboratory for Integrative Research in Nutrition, Fitness, and Aging conducted a weight loss study of 46 overweight or obese women. The women were instructed to follow one of two reduced-calorie diets. Protein was 18% of the caloric intake in one group’s diet; it was 30% of the caloric intake of the second group’s diet. Each group consumed six ounces of lean pork per day for twelve weeks. It was their only meat source. The result was that the women who ate a higher percentage of protein were better at maintaining lean … Continue reading

DDR: Exergaming to Lose Weight

The next time your child wants to turn on the game system you should join in the fun. Plug in a dance mat for Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution. It’s a music game that will give you an aerobic workout. The dance pad has four or six arrows: up, down, right, and left (sometimes adding left and right diagonals). Arrows on the screen prompt you to follow the rhythm of a song. There are various levels of intensity. You can calculate the amount of calories burned or calculate your total running distance when the game is in workout mode. In addition, … Continue reading

Menopause and Weight Loss

Aging is an inevitable factor of life and so is menopause. This passage of life can occur when a woman is between the ages of 35 and 60. The age range is so wide because this natural occurrence is unique to the individual. It is believed that a woman will experience menopause close to the age that her mother went through it. Outside factors like a hysterectomy or radiation treatment can bring about menopause early. This life event can take more than a decade to run its course. There are three stages: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. When a woman has … Continue reading

Remembering 9/11

This year marks the fifth anniversary of 9/11. I have noticed an increase in media references and even conversation about the event. This is a good time to talk to your children about fears that they might have concerning terrorism and also reaffirm the most important things in life. Terrorism is a real thing. You only have to turn on the news to be reminded of that. Your children might have questions and it is hard to know how to best respond. To be honest it depends on the child. There is no need to discuss the tragedy and current … Continue reading