October Update – Healthy Halloween

So, in the spirit of the changing seasons, I’ve got some fun announcements. First, my family and I are moving back to Colorado the first week of October. We’ve been wanting to return to the mountains almost since we moved back to Minnesota (sorry gopher state!). When we moved back to MN in early 2013, we quickly realized that we missed the quality of life in Colorado. We love the outdoors, especially hiking, biking, and snowboarding. We also realized that long winters are difficult when you have little ones…I recall being especially bummed this April when we had to blizzards and my friends in Colorado were taking Easter pictures in the green grass.

While we are really excited to be going back, we’re also under lots of stress and I’m feeling it. As much as I’ve tried to mitigate the effects by deep breathing exercises, meditative walks in nature, and some strategic supplements, I’m still having trouble with sleep and have been feeling fatigued. I’m doing my best right now to keep it together until later in October when things settle down. Once that happens, I plan on doing a 4 week diet reset, as well as some testing on myself. I’m taking the same approach with myself as I would any client that works with us. I’m also enlisting the help of some of my practitioner friends since it’s not always the best idea to treat yourself. There are also a few issues I wanted to address that I never could because I spent the greater part of the last 6 years either pregnant or nursing. I will keep you updated!

If you’re a client in our practice, this next update is for you. I’m excited to announce that Jaclyn will be helping us with customer service and eventually health coaching. She’s just finishing up her coaching certification and will be bringing her skills to us. She’s also an eczema suffer as well so she can relate to the ups and downs of the condition. We’re really excited to have her on the team!

I encourage you to check out this article on how my toddler showed me how to heal my adrenal fatigue. I’ll be revisiting that one too since I’m in serious need of some TLC!!

I hope you all have a wonderful fall and Happy Halloween!

How do I navigate Halloween with food sensitivities and allergies? Also, how do I just make healthier choices for my children?

This seems to be tough on the surface, but really doesn’t have to be. There are many ways to navigate this dilemma and here are some options.

1. If you still want to let your child have candy, let them go Trick-or-Treating and then openly switch it out for “better” options. Yes, it’s still candy and sugar, but made with higher-quality ingredients. You can find options at Target, Whole Foods, and online from brands like: Annie’s, Yum Earth, Enjoy Life (allergen free chocolate), Wholesome, Unreal, Black Forest Organic, and Equal Exchange Chocolate.

2. You can give out little toys instead. Costco and Target are selling them in bulk at a good price.

3. Sweeten the deal by having the “Switch Witch” come once the treats are collected and your kids are in bed. You can take the bag of candy away (preferably pitch it in the garbage) and replace it with a gift of some sort that they really want.

4. Organic pouches are always a good option for babies and toddlers. We usually get a box at Costco.

5. Know that houses with turquoise/blue pumpkins or door hangings are typically allergen friendly. These houses are interesting because you could get anything from raisins or carrots to pencils or allergen free candy.

In our house we opt not to take all of the fun out of the holiday even though we want to keep the kiddos healthy.? This year will be particularly tough because I just did food sensitivity testing on my 5 year old son and he came back dairy sensitive ?. Our plan is to let him trick-or-treat, come back and have a couple dairy free treats once we do a very small candy swap. Then he’s going to leave his bag out for the Switch Witch… and she’s going to leave him a small Lego Ninjago set? (for the kid that’s going to be a ninja for Halloween and also wants to dress his baby sister as one).