Tag Archives: vegetarian

It’s good to be fit

Posted on by Natural Mamma

I was 32 and feeling really good about myself. I got a new bicycle and started riding it to work every day, about 7 miles each way.  Despite the occasional angry drivers who tried to run me over (what do these people have for breakfast?), it was a extremely refreshing ride.   On weekends, I enjoyed taking my doggies on hikes along the beautiful Northwest trails. These were long, strenuous walks rewarded by the amazing views at the top.

I had lost quite a bit of weight even though I was eating more than ever: I felt great about that because I figured my metabolism was kicking in, putting all those calories to work.  I was always craving apple juice and was drinking tons of it, thinking it was helping me to stay hydrated.

I took a week off to join my family in China. It was very exciting to meet them there, although being a vegetarian it was hard to find things I could eat, so my diet consisted mainly of white rice and not much else. While I was there I was getting very painful cramps on my legs, which I attributed to the many hours sitting in the plane. My sister, who hadn’t seen me in a few months, mentioned my hair seemed to be thinning. Since I had noticed that myself, as soon as I returned home I went to see a dermatologist  to check what was going on. He told me it was alopecia and said I could try some Rogaine but not to worry about it. I did however passed on the Rogaine because I don’t like to take medicines if I can avoid them.

Around that time I started getting frequent yeast infections which I’d never experienced before. My ObGyn prescribed some very strong suppositories which I reluctantly tried, but they were not much help as the infections kept coming back. So I started eating more yogurt, hoping that it was just a phase and it would pass soon enough.

Little did I know that all this was the beginning of a new life,  and not one I would have ever imagined for myself.

 

Babies just want to be held

Posted on by Natural Mamma

When my DH and I got married, 12 short years ago, I didn’t think I ever wanted to have children. It was not that I didn’t like children, but I cherished my life the way it was and probably deep down I felt like I had all the time in the world to change my mind.

So I went on to enjoy my carefree life, and any motherly instinct I had was satisfied by giving love to my shaggy dog. I had him since I was a teenager, and he actually moved across the globe with me, so he was pretty much my first son.

At the beginning of our married lives, DH and I attended a preconception workshop offered by a local hospital. I  wasn’t ready for kids, so maybe I thought that the workshop would help scare the baby thoughts away from my DH’s mind, since he felt ready to take the plunge at that time. The only thing I remember about the workshop was the speaker telling us how important it is to hold our babies, because all of the tools that parents nowadays deem as necessary for babies are simply things created to take “the load” off of them (swings, bouncy chairs, etc.) and that was why many babies had flat heads. Nothing much changed after that workshop, and we continued our journey of 10 more years as a couple.

In hindsight that would have been a perfect time to get pregnant: we were both much younger, but most of all I did not have Type 1 Diabetes yet, so it would have been so much easier to go through pregnancy.

Welcome to my blog

Posted on by Natural Mamma

Welcome to  my new blog!  yes, it is yet another blog…but it’s mine, so that alone should make you want to read it.

I will talk about allot of different things, and the reason you should read my opinions is because, well, simply put I’m always right – just ask my husband.

Also, this year I turned 40, and that’s quite a milestone. I feel like I should still be 25, however I do recognize that I’ve matured quite a bit since then. I’ve always considered myself pretty healthy (I’m vegetarian, I exercise regularly, I hardly ever get sick…) however I have improved my diet quiet a bit since my twenties. I have allot more knowledge now about how food is made and processed, and I try to eat only organic. I can probably count with my fingers the amount of times I’ve eaten at fast foods in my life. In fact, I’ve never liked fast foods. I do like to cook food from scratch, and even more I enjoy eating the food that my hubby cooks for us.

I was born and raised in Italy, so that has definitely left a big imprint on my taste and very opinionated ideas.

I am a mom to a toddler, whom I’ll call Little M, who has obviously completely turned my world upside down (that is some big change after 39 years of having to just think of myself).  I also have two dogs, the “big one” who is a 10 years old big long haired guy and  the “little one” who is a 9 years old Jack Russell who effectively controls our household.

I also have type 1 diabetes, which I got as an adult at 32 years old. Nobody in my family has it, so it was quite a surprise, but I’ve learned to live with it and its ups and downs.

I love nature and all animals. I also love to travel, as much as I can, and I believe that there is nothing more relaxing than laying on a beautiful beach,  that’s therapeutic to me. Now I just need to find a way to be able to live as if I was always on vacation…any suggestions?

piedi