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Mar 27, 2014

Udi’s Makes Gluten Free Living Tasty

By ·

Disclosure: I participated in this program on behalf of Udi’s and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

It was about a year and a half ago that Aaron went gluten-free. At the time, I had first learned about Udi’s Gluten Free foods, and they suggested we try a two week gluten-free challenge. Aaron and I both tried it, completely eliminating gluten from our diets for two weeks. At the end of it, we felt pretty good, but the true test was to see how we felt eating gluten again. I had no trouble going back to gluten. Aaron, on the other hand, discovered just how badly his body handles gluten, and after a few days of extreme pain, realized that maybe gluten-free would have to be a necessary lifestyle change.

This isn’t an uncommon path for many with gluten intolerance, I’ve found. Udi’s reports that only 10% of those who go gluten free are medically diagnosed, while 37% are self-diagnosed and discover through elimination diets. Although in our case, Aaron went to his doctor after this and was told to remain gluten free due to gluten sensitivity. It’s possible he’s had this sensitivity all of his life, although it’s also possible to develop it later in life after a major change to the body or traumatic event.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Aaron, healthy living, Sponsored-AF ·


Sep 21, 2013

Jawbone UP Review: An Accessory For A Healthy Lifestyle

By ·

Thanks to Best Buy for supplying the product for this review. No other compensation was received.

Live Better. Start Now. Jawbone UP. Track your sleep activity, steps, calorie intake and more with the Jawbone UP wrist sensor and free mobile app. UP gives you meaningful, personalized insights so you can make lasting improvements to your everyday life.

I love living a quantified life. Seeing my daily habits and routines in numbers and charts is often one of the best motivators for me, either to keep doing what I’m doing or make changes. If it wasn’t for websites and apps that helped me log my food and activity, I wouldn’t have been as successful in losing 80 pounds.

But just logging food and activity after the fact is old news. Now there are new devices that can track your movement and steps in the moment, providing an accurate log of how long you’re moving and how long you’re sitting still. Some go even further by tracking your sleep, food, vertical steps and more.

Jawbone UPRecently, Best Buy invited me to try out the new Jawbone UP. It’s a wristband style tracking device that is designed to be worn day and night. The device promises to provide insight into all aspects of your life. It uses sensors to keep track of every step you take, it monitors your sleep, including detecting when you’re in deep sleep or light sleep, and through the app you can log your meals and how you’re feeling throughout the day.

I’ve used other motion tracking devices before this one. I first had a Fitbit Zip, followed by a Fitbit One that I picked up at BlogHer. You could say I’m a health/fitness device junkie. So the day the Jawbone UP arrived in the mail was an exciting day for me. I had heard rave reviews from others and wanted to see how the Jawbone UP performed compared to the other devices I’ve tried.

Getting started with the Jawbone UP

Setting up the Jawbone UP is simple. Included with the wristband is a small cord to connect it to your computer for charging the UP. You can go online and create an account on Jawbone’s website, but the fastest way to get started is to download the Jawbone UP app to your mobile phone, plug the band into your phone’s headphone jack, and follow the onscreen setup.

 Jawbone UP setup

It took me about five minutes to go through the screens and read the tutorial to learn how it works.

Jawbone UP tutorial

I also took the time to set up goals for myself. You can choose the recommended goals or set your own. I chose a goal of 6,000 steps a day (I know 10K is recommended, but I’m setting the bar low at first) and seven hours of sleep each night. Those seemed like reasonable goals to accomplish.

Tracking activity and sleep

I received the Jawbone UP right before Aaron and I left for DragonCon in Atlanta. I immediately thought – perfect! What better way to try it out than to start with a long weekend where I’ll be doing a LOT of walking!

My first quick taking-it-off moment was at the airport, when I needed to take it off to get through security. This was much easier to do with the UP than when I had to reach under my shirt to unclip the Fitbit Zip from my bra for a TSA agent when traveling to Blissdom in the spring. (Oops!) I was worried I’d bend the wristband too much when I fumbled to get it off quickly, but it held up well as I unwrapped it from my wrist.

The first day involved two airports, a walk to the hotel, and then a lot of walking around the hotel. As you can see, I started my test with the Jawbone UP with a bang:

Steps data

That’s a lot of steps! Each day, the UP examines all of the data you’ve gathered and provides insights based on that data. I didn’t have a lot of information in there yet, but it was still interesting to know that I could have walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and back again with the number of steps I took.

Of course, the Jawbone UP only tracks steps, so it’s not going to count the exercise when you’re riding a bike or taking a yoga class. In these cases, you can manually log your workout to get credit for the estimated calorie burn.

One activity feature I really love is the Idle Alert. You can set the band to vibrate if you’ve been idle for too long as a reminder that you need to move more. I’ve got mine set to remind me if I’m idle for more than an hour between 8am-5pm. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in work and forget that I need to move more. If the UP vibrates, it’s a clue that I need to get up, go out to get the mail, walk the dog, or do some walking around the house.

Each night, right before I go to sleep, I push the button on the wristband to switch it into sleep mode, then press it again when I’m up for the day to let the UP know it’s no longer bedtime. This lets the band track how long I sleep, as well as the quality of my sleep. It can detect if I’m in deep or light sleep based on movement, or if I wake up at all during the night.

Seeing the patterns each night has been fascinating, although I have yet to figure out which patterns result in better sleep. Here’s an example of a night where I had larger blocks of sleep, but woke up once:

 Sleep data part 1Not my best night of sleep, either. Ugh.

And I slept through the night here, but I’m confused by all of the super-short bursts of deep sleep:

Sleep data part 2

I’ve only been using the UP for a little more than three weeks, so I’ll be curious to see the long-term trends with my sleep. I’m hoping the data can help me determine which sleep patterns result in feeling my best.

Other cool sleep-related features:

  • Smart Sleep Alarm – this feature lets you set an alarm time and a window around that time (like 20 minutes before or after), and the UP will vibrate to wake you when you’re in a state of light sleep to reduce grogginess when you wake up.
  • Power Nap – this feature uses your sleep data to determine how much sleep you need to feel refreshed, with the UP vibrating to wake you at the end of your nap. You can also use advanced settings to define your target nap length and maximum sleep time.

Other features

You can use the app to log and track your food for the day, too. It has a large database of foods you can search, or you can use the handy barcode scanner to input your food. It has yet to fail me for any food I’ve scanned – the scanner has recognized every barcode.

If you’re already comfortable with a food app or exercise app that you already use, there’s a good chance that it’s compatible with the Jawbone UP app. The app recognizes many other health apps and can be set up to import the data from those apps to give you all of your information in one spot.

The Jawbone UP is lightweight enough to wear even when sleeping, but is also water resistant and can be worn in the shower. It comes in three sizes, and it’s important to get measured for the right size so it fits comfortably on your wrist and is easy to get on and off. The idea is to wear it nearly all the time, of course, and the only times you need to take it off are for charging, syncing, and if you’re going to immerse yourself in water, like a bath or swimming.

The battery life is good, too. The documentation says the battery lasts about ten days before needing to be recharged. My UP has been closer to eight or nine days between charges, but that’s still not bad.

The big question: is a wristband tracking device as accurate as one that is worn closer to the core of your body? I was concerned that the UP would pick up all of the arm movements from when I’m sitting still and fidgeting, or that it wouldn’t pick up steps where I was holding something in that hand and not swinging my arm as I walked. The best way to find out? A head-to-head comparison.

For our trip to Cedar Point last week, I decided to wear both the Jawbone UP and the Fitbit One, comparing their performance for activity.

Results:

Jawbone UP vs Fitbit

For the most part, they were fairly close. I’m not sure why there was more of a difference on the second day. I was holding a stuffed bear in my left arm for a lot of the time on Saturday, so maybe holding my arm still while I walked did make a difference?

Final thoughts

Overall, I like the Jawbone UP. At first I worried it would be too awkward on my wrist, since I’m not used to wearing a lot of accessories. However, after the first couple of days I stopped noticing it. It doesn’t get in the way at all, and it’s secure enough to not fall off. (Even when riding roller coasters.) I do have to remember to put it in sleep mode each night, but I’ve only forgotten to do it twice in over three weeks.

Things I like about the Jawbone UP:

  • The battery life is long, with a once-a-week charge taking only an hour or two before its ready to go again.
  • Wearing it on the wrist is super simple and easy. Put it on and forget it.
  • The app is very cool and the insights it provides from studying your data are useful to help make changes to better your health. I’m already trying to find ways to work in more activity based on what I’m seeing.
  • I absolutely love the Idle Alert to remind me to stop sitting so much.
  • Unlike some of my running apps, it still tracks step distance even on the treadmill.

Things I don’t like so much about the Jawbone UP:

  • You really need the app to go with the device. Not a big deal for me, since my iPhone is always with me, but could be a problem for some.
  • The only way to sync the band is to take it off and plug it into your phone. I wish it had a Bluetooth option instead.
  • Going along with that point, the small pieces with it are easy to lose. You have to take off the cap to sync or charge the wristband. I’ve already had to fish it out from between couch cushions once, and worry that some day it’ll be dropped or fall somewhere I can’t reach. The charging cable also isn’t very long and could be easy to misplace.
  • There’s no way to see your stats on the device – it has to be synched with the app to see your progress. Even a simple series of lights that could show you where you are towards your daily goal would be helpful.

The Jawbone UP comes in several colors, giving you the chance to express yourself with your favorite color. I was sent the black band, which works for me, cause I’d rather have a color that goes with nearly everything.

If you’re a person who is motivated by seeing your day presented as data to study and learn from, the Jawbone UP might be worth considering. The ease of wear is a big benefit and the way the information is laid out in the app is fun as well as informative. There are also social media sharing options and you can have friends join your team to share your data with each other and cheer your teammates on.

The Jawbone UP is available at Best Buy for $129.99, and the app is a free download to go with it.

Filed Under: healthy living, reviews ·


Sep 9, 2013

Checking In On My Healthier Living Goals

By ·

I realized I haven’t provided any updates on my weight/healthy living goals lately. I’m proud that I’m still mostly soda-free, and hoping to keep it that way. We haven’t bought a 12-pk of soda since March, meaning our home has been soda-free for over six months now!

I’ve had, on average, one or two fountain drink sodas each month, usually when I don’t have any other options I’m happy with, and I had a soda with lunch each day at BlogHer because I needed the cold caffeine. Had our hotel’s refrigerator actually let us put our own drinks into it – rather than making it a pressure-sensitive mini-bar stocked full with no room for our own stuff – I would have made it through the conference with Starbucks Refreshers instead. I still didn’t like the taste of soda as much as I used to, and really don’t like the taste of diet soda anymore.

My weight is holding steady, usually between 161 and 165 pounds. I’m a little bummed that I haven’t been able to get back down to my goal weight that I reached last year, but at the same time, I’m mighty pleased with myself for not having a massive gain, even when I wasn’t closely watching my diet. Which means I’ve maintained this weight for over a year now – and that’s worth repeating – OVER A YEAR NOW! That’s without constantly tracking every calorie or working out regularly, too.

I’m not saying that my current habits are good, though. While I’m trying to eat less processed and artificial foods, I do find myself saying yes to junky food more often than I should. With the holiday season looming in the distance, this is the month to crack down and get those best practices into shape again.

I strongly believe that part of the success in maintaining my weight has been cutting out artificial sweeteners as much as possible. The diet soda was the worst offender, but certainly not the only. I think the diet industry is (possibly on purpose) sabotaging efforts by including artificial sweeteners in so many of their products. There are studies linking artificial sweeteners to increased weight gain, so there’s no reason for many people to continue using them.

We’ve been eliminating artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and cutting back heavily on processed foods. If we can pronounce every ingredient on the label, and say all the ingredients in a single breath, it’s generally a good start.

One food I changed my mind on is yogurt. I used to eat the “light” brands of yogurt all the time – yogurt is healthy food, but lower calorie/fat yogurt is better, right? Not quite. I stopped when I realized they weren’t doing me any favors by substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar. So I eat the full calorie, full fat stuff now.

I especially like greek yogurt (extra protein!), and also yogurt with real fruit in it. I don’t like plain yogurt, but I also don’t like “fruit-flavored” yogurt, either. Give me yogurt with real fruit chunks in it (and not just at the bottom, either!), or blended together in a smoothie.

Yoplait Fruitful is a new favorite of mine – no artificial junk, and 1/3 cup of real fruit blended in each serving. Full disclosure: Yoplait provided me with complimentary samples, but I’ve already purchased plenty more with my own money since then.

Yoplait Fruitful yogurt

Looks good, right? Tastes good, too! And it’s even safe for Cordy to eat, since there’s nothing artificial in it.

Yoplait Fruitful ingredients

Mix a little granola in with it, and that little cup of Yoplait Fruitful fruit and yogurt is a powerful snack or breakfast. They come in five flavors: pineapple, strawberry, peach, blueberry, cherries & red berries (my favorite!) and mango pineapple & orange.

They’re only available in the Midwest at the moment, but should be nationwide in coming months. I found mine at Meijer. You can snag a coupon for Yoplait Fruitful yogurts on the Yoplait site like I did – it’s on the right side of the page where it says “enjoy with a coupon.”

I’ve found these make great single-serve smoothies, too. Empty one container of Fruitful yogurt into the blender, add a scoop of protein powder if you’d like, add four or so ice cubes, and blend.  If it’s too thick for you, add a little water or juice when blending.

This has become one of my new favorite mid-morning snacks. It fits in well with my calorie goal for the day and tastes like dessert. Win!

We also recently signed up for a local produce delivery called Green BEAN Ohio. They provide us with a box of fresh fruits and veggies every other week, many of them locally grown, placed right on our doorstep. This has made it easy to get some of our favorite staple items from local growers: red potatoes, green beans, berries, cucumbers, spinach, corn, fresh cilantro, zucchini, and now apples. Having it delivered every other week forces us to use more produce because we don’t want to let it go bad and waste money.

I’m especially excited about having zucchini again. I’ve already made zucchini muffins once, and need to make another batch this week. The kids love taking mini-muffins to school for their lunch dessert, and I don’t feel any guilt over what they’re eating. If you’d like my zucchini muffin recipe, one of the few things I am skilled at making in a kitchen, you can find it in this post.

And finally, we’re getting moving again. Aaron and I signed up for the Color Me Rad 5K in October – we did this one last year and had a lot of fun with it. In June we did a different type of color run, but I still had some restrictions on movement due to the incision on my back, so I walked a lot of it. It was hot, too. No excuses this time – I want to give it my full effort. Locals – want to come run with us?

I’d like to find a workout to do at home, too. I have my treadmill, but I need to find a workout video or series of exercises that are exciting for me again. I can’t do the 30 Day Shred anymore because my knees can’t take the abuse, so it’s time to try out some new routines. Any favorites out there?

So that’s the current plan: eat less artificial junk, eat more fruit and veggies, and get more exercise. I can do that, right? Maybe this will even move the scale back to my goal weight again, too. Although at this point I think I care less about the scale numbers and more about how I feel and look. If I feel good and like the way my clothing fits, that’s really all that matters now.

Anyone else feel like a new season is a time for reflecting on and updating your goals? I’d love to hear any goals others are setting for Fall.

**Thanks to Yoplait for sponsoring this post and introducing me to their Fruitful yogurt! 

Filed Under: healthy living ·


Jul 31, 2013

Gluten-Free Breakfast With Udi’s

By ·

It was not even a year ago that we discovered that Aaron couldn’t eat gluten. I had suspected it for quite some time, but it took two weeks of eliminating it from his diet entirely, followed by a visit to the doctor, for us to confirm that eating gluten was damaging his insides and his health.

Having one family member need to be gluten-free was quite a shift for our mealtimes. We had to read the labels on everything at the grocery. We had to buy separate peanut butter and cream cheese containers to prevent cross contamination from a knife leaving crumbs behind. Aaron couldn’t even order pizza with us, or have a fast food cheeseburger.

We’ve navigated the GF (gluten-free) world as best we could so far, along with some mourning of Aaron’s favorite foods. He misses the crackers he used to have as snacks. Cookies and cakes still tempt. And he really misses his breakfast baked goods. Of all meals, breakfast is probably the hardest to recreate without the gluten.

So it’s no surprise that we’ve tried a LOT of gluten-free baked goods and snacks over the last nine months. There have been a few hits and many, many misses. We’ve found many GF baked goods are often dry, flaky, or lacking in flavor. Some have odd textures, too.

Udi’s Gluten Free recently sent us some samples of their foods for Aaron to try. Some of the foods are items he’s tried before. The cinnamon rolls, for example, are a frequent grocery request. When prepared according to the instructions, they’re really moist and tasty, and the icing is just sweet enough to be decadent without being cloying.

Udi's Cinnamon Raisin BreadAaron also found a new favorite breakfast item with the Udi’s cinnamon raisin bread. His quote: “Toasted with a little bit of cream cheese spread across it, you have a nicely filling breakfast that has sweet, tangy and savory flavors. The raisins also help to keep the bread itself moist.”

We also discovered that for our slower mornings – when we’re not rushing out the door – the Udi’s millet-chia bread is a great substitute for regular bread when making french toast. And some scrambled eggs, peppers and cheese tossed together and wrapped up in an Udi’s tortilla makes the perfect breakfast burrito.

(If you’re looking for a recipe, well…you’re probably new here. There’s no recipe to be shared. Scrambled eggs are pretty standard, and our french toast recipe comes from searching Google. I never said I was a cook.)

For days when we’re on-the-go, or just need a snack, the new soft-n-chewy chocolate chip granola bars are convenient and easy to take along. I don’t find them chocolatey enough for me, but they’re still sweet.

And even though Aaron’s the only one who needs GF food options, I’ll admit I snack on the Udi’s cranberry granola. Yum.

Udi's granolaNo, really – just pour the entire bag of cranberry granola right into my bowl.

Finally, the Udi’s snickerdoodle cookies? OMG, amazing. Dude, even if you’re not gluten-free, you’ll love those cookies. (They weren’t included in the samples we received – we just regularly buy them as treats.)

I didn’t expect us to find such a wealth of GF items that are just as delicious as their gluten counterparts. Udi’s has shown why they are one of the biggest names in GF foods based on the samples we’ve tried. We like most of the Udi’s baked goods we’ve tried, and they help my husband live a more typical life with all of us gluten-eaters. I’m grateful to Udi’s for their focus on quality, delicious gluten-free foods that help those who must live without gluten to still enjoy their baked goods.

Full disclosure: We received samples of several Udi’s items for review, although we’re regular Udi’s consumers as well. No further compensation was received and all opinions are my own. (Well, some are Aaron’s, too.)

 

Filed Under: Aaron, food, sponsored · Tagged:


Jul 1, 2013

Cleaner Air Inside The Car With FRAM (Giveaway!)

By ·

When I was picking the kids up from their first day of summer camp (for real this time!), we were stopped at a light on the way home and Mira noticed a huge dust cloud go across the road as the cross-traffic went by. “Mommy, why is there so much dust?” she asked.

“Because it’s summer in Columbus, sweetie,” I replied.

I wasn’t kidding. We have four major seasons in Columbus, with several minor variations within each major season:

1. OMG, Leaves Everywhere!
2. Gray and Cold
3. Gray and Wet
4. Construction

The Construction season is a little bit of a misnomer. We have construction in Columbus year-round, but during this season when the weather gets hot and sunny, our orange barrels reproduce like bunnies and traffic slows to a crawl when three lanes are reduced to one.

The result? Dust clouds mixing in with exhaust from cars and trucks crawling along at the mercy of the orange barrels. It doesn’t exactly make you want to roll the windows down.

But is the air in my car any better? I recently learned that air inside the car’s cabin can be up to six times dirtier than the air outside. Seriously? And then I looked a little closer at my interior. There’s always a fine layer of dust that I’m forever trying to get rid of. If it was coming from the outside, I wasn’t doing us any favors by keeping the windows closed and letting the dust in, but not giving it a way out.

I had the chance to try replacing our cabin filter with a new FRAM Fresh Breeze® filter a few weeks ago. To begin with, I didn’t even know my car HAD a cabin filter! I thought the air filter that they recommend changing with every few oil changes was the same thing. Nope! FRAM Fresh Breeze cabin air filters filter 98% of dust, dirt, and allergens and are the only cabin air filter that uses ARM&HAMMER® baking soda to remove odors from the air entering your vehicle through the ventilation system.

When I received the filter, I wondered how hard it would be to install. I don’t change my car’s oil – putting air in the tires and using the vacuum at the car wash is about as complicated as it gets for me. However, the FRAM® website makes it easy to figure out with step-by-step instructions, and video installation instructions for many vehicles.

For my SUV, this involved unhooking the glove box (not as hard as I thought it would be), and then reaching past it to unclip the filter assembly and pull it out.

Cabin filterThe rectangle in there is the cabin filter.

When I pulled out the filter that had been in there since the car rolled off the assembly line in 2006, I suddenly wondered why this wasn’t covered in routine maintenance:

Old filterOld filter next to new one. Notice the old one is black and full of icky stuff.

Disgusting.

The hardest part of the entire process was having to touch that nasty old filter. The new filter popped into place in the frame, and within a few minutes the filter was back in the car, the glove box closed again, and all was ready to go.

So, how well does it work? I’m happy to report that the air within the car is fresh and I don’t notice as many of the odors coming from outside. But how do I really know it’s working? I’m not seeing that layer of dust come back on the dashboard as quickly. I haven’t needed to wipe the dust from the console in over a week.

Going back to the visual of the dust cloud in front of us on Monday – less dust, dirt and allergens coming in means I feel much better about the air that my kids and I are breathing in the car on our daily trips through the traffic and construction. I’m completely sold on changing the cabin air filter regularly now, and wish I had known sooner that this sort of thing existed in my car and needed to be changed.

FRAM Fresh Breeze cabin air filters can be purchased online at Amazon, or at your local Meijer, O’Reilly Auto Parts, or Walmart. FRAM is currently offering a $3 mail-in rebate on their filters – find the rebate form on their website. To learn more, follow FRAM Fresh Breeze on Twitter and Facebook.

Giveaway!

Now that you’ve read why I love FRAM filters, how about a $100 VISA card to get you started on buying new cabin air filters for yourself? (And plenty of other goodies for yourself, too!) I’m giving this awesome prize to one lucky reader, but you have to enter to win.

How to enter, you ask? Easy! Leave a comment below with the answer to this question:

What are your favorite simple tricks to keeping the air in your home and car healthy, clean, and fresh?

Good luck!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 7/1/2013 – 7/31/2013

Be sure to visit the FRAM brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Filed Under: healthy living, sponsored · Tagged: ,