A Mommy Story

Thanks to Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water for sponsoring today’s discussion.

Do you ever think back to those sage words of advice your mom may have given you when you were younger and you now realize she was right? OK, mine still delivers her advice on a weekly basis, but much of it is the same that it was when I was younger, with some additional parenting advice thrown in there, too.

My mom is one of those people who believes natural is best. She grew up on a farm where they raised their own animals and veggies for food. What they didn’t raise, they bought locally. They had dairy cows for milk, pigs for meat, and chickens for eggs and meat. Meals were prepared in a house without running water. If she wanted a drink, she used the pump in the yard to get herself some water. If she wanted a treat, she’d go walk into the fields near the edge of the woods and look for any berries that had ripened, bringing back extras for her family to share.

And fishing. She did her own fishing, too, on her own with just the family dog.

When I was a child, she wanted me to eat more natural, but she was also dealing with an extremely picky eater and was very limited in time and resources. So she’d often fall back to boxed meals, which were quick to prepare and something I’d eat, while still telling me that I needed to try more natural foods. Her message persisted as I got older, warning me that no good would come out of eating so much fast food and processed snacks. By that time I was a teen and had a job, so I bought many of my own unhealthy treats.

You know what? She was right.

How am I now 80 pounds lighter than I was when I graduated from college? Well, it’s not from continuing to eat nacho cheese corn chips, I can tell you that. It took an entire overhaul of my eating habits to lose that weight, and in making that change I discovered that not only do I feel better from eating more fresh, natural foods, but I also really like how they taste.

That doesn’t mean that I have a model diet by any means. I could use more veggies in my life. I probably need less grain. And while I still have processed foods and treats, I must be very cautious and mindful when eating them. It’s one thing to have a couple of Thin Mint cookies. It’s totally different to zone out as you devour the entire box, licking the chocolate from your hands in a sugary junk food high.

And I’m only a few days away from my three month anniversary of giving up soda. I’ve had half a glass or less three times since making the decision, and all three of those times I found I didn’t like the taste anymore. For basic thirst, water is my drink of choice now, and I drink several glasses of it throughout the day. If I need a caffeine boost, fresh-brewed coffee or tea are my preferred options. Drinking my calories (or in the case of diet soda, drinking my chemicals) is not an option any more.

My mom’s advice about natural living was spot-on. I feel better now than I did ten years ago, even if my hair has some silvery highlights and I creak a little more in the joints. Despite working a physically demanding job for over 30 years, my mom is in relatively good health for her age and credits much of her natural diet for it. Since retirement, she found a local farm that she bought a share in, and now has local, organic meat, eggs, and raw milk, just like she had as a child. (We get some of the meat from her, and I can tell you it’s the BEST I’ve ever tasted!)

I’m now putting her advice to use in my own family, hoping these lessons will create a positive impact with my own daughters. We’re slowly removing their dependence on drinking juice and instead encouraging water between meals. We’re asking them to try new foods as well – just recently we discovered that they liked green beans, and Mira has developed a taste for carrots as well.

Some folks have asked me to “share my secret” for losing weight. I wish I had some magic bullet to tell them, but the truth is I did it through baby steps over several years. Making one little change, and then focusing on that change until it becomes habit before making another little change, was the method that worked for me. Which is why I love so many of the challenges I see online, encouraging people to make just one small change on the path to better health.

(Yes, this is me getting ready to ask something of you. Aren’t challenges fun?)

One campaign that I’m currently involved with is the Nestlé® Pure Life® Hydration Movement challenge. Last year, over 100,000 fans joined the Nestlé® Pure Life® Hydration Movement by pledging to swap one sugary beverage a day with water for a year to cut up to 50,000 calories from their diet. This year, starting in late July, Nestlé® Pure Life® is asking fans to take a simple online pledge to drink more water. That’s one of the first steps I took towards losing weight, and it’s a good place to start.

Nestlé® Pure Life® also wants to know what wise things your mom has passed on to you. Hop over to their Facebook page and share the best lesson you’ve learned from your mom, and don’t forget the hashtag #momwisdom. (Yay, Facebook hashtags!)

But really: I care about your health, and the pledge to drink more water is one I hope you’ll all make. We are an under-hydrated culture, and most don’t realize the stress we’re putting on our bodies by not staying properly hydrated. The 2013 challenge isn’t posted yet, but if you go to the Nestlé® Pure Life® Facebook page, you can like the page so you’ll get updates when the new Hydration Movement challenge launches in July.

Bonus: habits are more likely to stick with some positive reinforcement, right? Those who take the pledge will be eligible to enter a sweepstakes for lots of great prizes – how’s that for motivation?

So grab your largest glass or water bottle, go to the tap (or filtered pitcher or bottled water, depending on your water source) to fill up, and join the Hydration Movement. One cup of water is eight ounces, so surely you can fit in one extra serving of water, right? Right?

Also? Thanks, mom. I hope I can pass on your wisdom to my girls.

This post is part of a sponsored promotion from Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water and Linqia, but drinking more water is a cause I’d get behind, sponsored or not. All opinions stated here are my own, including the opinion that my mom wasn’t quite right about everything. Sorry, mom – my face, in fact, did NOT freeze like that.