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Category: Fitness, Health, Happiness

  • All Natural Relief for Motion Sickness and Morning Sickness

    All Natural Relief for Motion Sickness and Morning Sickness

    Nausea is the worst, whether it’s from morning sickness or motion sickness. Acupressure can help.


    I swear, gentlemen, that to be too conscious is an illness—
    a real thorough-going illness.

    -Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground

    I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

    When I was young I went on allllllll the rides.

    One time, I remember, my dad got on one too. Nothing too wild, mind, but maybe the pirate ship that just swung back and forth. 

    Just once. Afterwards, he told me never again. And he totally kept his word.

    I remember laughing at the idea that he would get such severe motion sickness from such a relatively mild ride.

    Getting old, friends. It kind of bites.

    I took the kids to Diggerland and they rode this thing over and over and over and over. Basically it just hurtles you in a fast, tight circle.

    I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

    I couldn’t even do this ride without wishing it would end soon. 

    Heck, last time I was on a merry go round I got a little bit of vertigo. I wasn’t even on a horse! I sat on a bench with one of my little nieces.

    I also can’t ride these windy rural roads with my husband driving. Reading in a moving car, even just to set the GPS or check an incoming text message? Forget about it. You’re on your own as navigator, I’m over here trying to keep my lunch in my stomach where it belongs.

    Riding on a subway or bus when it’s hot and crowded? I’m starting to psych myself out before the thing even starts moving.

    Acupressure for morning sickness and motion sickness relief

    Acupressure is a close cousin to acupuncture, but instead of using needles at certain places in the body you apply pressure. While I’ve never tried acupuncture myself, I know people who swear that it has worked for them. Acupressure is the same principle, but much more practical when on-the-go.

    To combat motion sickness (or morning sickness, or other forms of nausea) using acupressure, you’ll want to apply pressure to stimulate your P6 or “Nei Kuan” points. These are the easiest to locate and handle: on your inner wrist, three fingers down from where your arm meets your hand. You can apply pressure by pressing down with a finger, tapping on the point with a pen, or you can use a specially made wristband.

    ignore my chipping manicure.

    Using Sea-Bands to combat nausea

    Sea-Bands offer drug-free relief from motion sickness, morning sickness, chemotherapy related nausea and post-operative nausea. These are knitted elastic bands (you need to wear both for peak effectiveness) with a plastic bead placed just so so as to apply pressure to those Nei Kuan points. Since there’s no drug involved, they’re suitable for kids, pregnant women and those with medication sensitivities.

    Do motion sickness bands work?

    I didn’t get a chance to try my Sea-Bands on a spinny ride or roller coaster, sadly, but I did wear them while regretting letting my husband drive me on the back roads.

    The science is iffy on how much perceived effectiveness relies on a placebo effect (although a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study used Sea-Bands acupressure on post-op patients and found that the incidence of nausea was reduced to 10% – a two-thirds reduction). But as I’ve said before: I’m cool with the placebo effect as long as I feel better. Whatever works, man. 

    In any case, within a few minutes of wearing the bands I can definitely feel something happening, and it’s suitably distracting that I wasn’t psyching myself out and having to pointedly control my breathing in an effort to not get sick.

    Motion sickness and morning sickness are truly miserable experiences, especially since you can feel them coming a mile away and worrying about it just intensifies the misery. Sea-Bands might work for you— it’s definitely worth a try!

    Other ways to ward off motion sickness

    Along with the bands, try these tricks:

    • While in a vehicle, face front and try not to watch the scenery rushing by through side windows.
    • Keep talking if you can, to keep your mind occupied so you don’t start psyching yourself out.
    • Open a window and breathe that fresh air.
    • Don’t travel on an empty stomach, but don’t eat anything that’s going to encourage your stomach to do flip flops either. Graham crackers and saltines have been my lifesavers.
    • Some people do well sucking on a mint or other sort of lozenge. Sea-Bands offers these ginger lozenges; ginger is a popular anti-nausea remedy. They’re tasty.

     

    You can purchase Sea-Bands on their website or on Amazon, as well as in pharmacies and drug chains. Let me know how they work out for you!

  • Healthy Lunch Option: Veggie-Go’s Organic Fruit Snacks

    Healthy Lunch Option: Veggie-Go’s Organic Fruit Snacks

    It’s back to school time! Time to start stockpiling ideas for kids’ lunchboxes. Here’s one that kids will love: organic fruit snacks and fruit strips that include a full serving of whole fruits and veggies in each package.

    organic fruit snacks
    I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

    Fruit snacks are pretty much a lunchbox staple, right? They qualify as a treat without being a candy, cake or cookie (which many schools don’t even allow anymore in school lunches). 

    The thing is, a lot of fruit snacks really should qualify as a candy. They carry a “health halo” for being fruit flavored, or maybe having some fruit juice as a main ingredient, but they still hold a lot of sugar and not much else in a tiny package.

    You can make your own fruit snacks and leathers to control the sugar levels, and if you have a dehydrator you should totally go for it, they’re delicious. Buttttt they are also a lot of hassle if you don’t have a dehydrator, plus they’re best with done with fresh, in-season fruit. Not really practical for the school year.

    Enter Veggie-Go’s Organic Fruit Snacks

    Lisa— a certified nutritionist— and John, Veggie-Go’s founders, lived and worked on organic farms before they were inspired to create a new slant on snacking. Their snacks come in two varieties: strips (think fruit leather) and bites (think fruit snacks). All are USDA organic, non-GMO, and gluten free with NO added sugar.

    AND, each package contains one full serving of whole fruits and veggies. 

    To put that in some perspective, let’s compare a strawberry fruit roll-up to its closest Veggie-Go competitor (Strawberry, Chia + Beets). The ingredients of the roll-up are:

    Corn Syrup, Dried Corn Syrup, Sugar, Pear Puree Concentrate, Palm Oil. Contains 2% or less of: Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Fruit Pectin, Monoglycerides, Malic Acid, Dextrose, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Acetylated Monoglycerides, Natural Flavor, Color (red 40, yellows 5 & 6, blue 1).

    The ingredients of the Veggie-Go?

    Organic Sweet Potato Puree, Organic Concentrated Apple Juice, Organic Concentrated Apple Puree, Organic Concentrated Strawberry Juice, Organic Concentrated Beet Juice, Organic Chia Seeds, Citrus Pectin, Cellulose, Natural Flavor.

    The flavors

    As I said, Veggie-Go’s come as strips and bite-size snacks. And the flavors are sort of wild.

    Veggie-Go’s strips come in:

    • Berry, Apple + Spinach
    • Sweet Potato, Apple + Spices
    • Beet, Apple + Cinnamon
    • Carrot, Apple + Ginger
    • Tropical Fruit + Kale

    Veggie-Go’s bites come in:

    • Strawberry, Chia + Beets
    • Orange, Cocoa Nibs + Carrots
    • Berry, Rice Crisps + Greens

    Not something you would normally leap to grab off the shelf, right? But for the preschool set especially, it’s a more natural transition from all those wholesome baby purées and meals they ate as toddlers. I’m not one to shame anyone for giving their kids the occasional not-even-pretending-to-be-good-for-you snack, but for an everyday lunchbox item these are a fairly healthy option in a fun package.

    How do they taste?

    I will be honest and say I don’t really like fruit snacks of any kind, myself. I’m not into chewy/gummy candy or fruit. That said, I gamely gave all the flavors a try and I liked them fine. My favorites were the Strawberry, Chia + Beets and the Cocoa Nibs + Carrots. They have a bit of crunch to them reminiscent of strawberry seeds, which I sort of liked better than traditional fruit snacks. My husband, who does like fruit snacks but does not like things that are clearly good for you, liked the berry apple and sweet potato varieties best (he placed them in order by favorite here, from right to left). 

    I left all the boxes on the windowsill, first at home and then at the beach where we had several families visiting with us for the weekend. I didn’t mention to anyone that I was reviewing Veggie-Go’s, I just left them with the rest of the communal food.

    The result? I overheard one set of kids recommending their favorites to one of the adults as they all sat down for lunch. Another set of kids asked if they could take some to the beach as a snack. I think I came home with three left over. 

    So yes, kids will totally eat these and ask for more. And some adults, who aren’t restricted by “one treat a day” rules will maybe eat them all day long if you don’t chastise them.

    The verdict

    Seemingly rogue apostrophe aside, I really like Veggie-Go’s. I love that the cartons are fully recyclable and made from recycled paperboard, which is fueled by local wind energy in Denver. I love the designs on the wrapping and the fact that the cartons present themselves attractively like store displays. I think they would do well as natural energy boosters for hikers or when working out, or even just working— to get you through that afternoon slump. But especially I think they’re great for lunchboxes for littles. They look just like regular fruit snacks (cuter, even) but they sneak that little bit of extra veggies into a kid’s diet, which is a win in my book.

    Obviously, real fresh fruit and veggies are the best option, but they’re not always in season, don’t necessarily hold up well in a lunchbox, and most importantly you’re not there to wheedle them to finish up their meal. If you have a kid who doesn’t love their veggies, Veggie-Go’s are an easy way to incorporate some without a fight.

    Where to buy Veggie-Go’s

    I can buy Veggie-Go’s organic fruit snacks at Whole Foods, our local natural foods grocery and our co-op— enter your zip code in the store locator to find a physical store near you. Or, you can buy online at Amazon or directly from the Veggie-Go’s website.

     

  • Free Admission to National Parks for Their 101st Birthday

    Free Admission to National Parks for Their 101st Birthday

    “What a country chooses to save
    is what a country chooses to say about itself.”

    -Mollie Beattie
    Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

    Just last year we were celebrating the 100th birthday of America’s best idea. Without delving too deeply into politics, it needs to be said that our national parks are in need of support right now.

    • National monuments are being reviewed and may be revoked— opening those areas to possible drilling, mining and development.
    • The ban on plastic water bottles being sold was lifted, if not overtly encouraging littering and pollution then certainly making it a whole lot easier (fun fact: plastic bottles used to make up an estimated 20% of the Grand Canyon’s waste stream and 30% of the park’s recyclables).
    • Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke proposed that campgrounds on national land should be privatized— after Trump proposed cutting the Department of the Interior budget by 13%—moves that will surely necessitate a raise in admission prices.
    • And it appears that the National Park Service’s input is no longer desired on drafted legislation: their submitted objections to the “Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act” were basically crossed out and handed back to them. (This bill would prevent the NPS from regulating the hunting of bears and wolves in Alaska wildlife preserves, including hunters going into dens to kill baby bears and wolf cubs.)

    I know there’s a lot going on that requires attention and support and protest, but I’d like to add visiting your local national park to the list. As I am wont to remind people at every possible opportunity, we need to know a thing in order to love and want to protect it. It’s a lot easier to let our national lands slip through our fingers when we haven’t visited it— when the memory of bathing in blue skies, wide open spaces, and green canopies isn’t freshly imprinted on our souls. It’s easy to forget how the everyday awe of nature is a prescription for mental, physical and emotional health when we haven’t recently experienced its balm for ourselves.

    Side note: I know a lot of people actually had this sense of wonderment and awe this week as they experienced the solar eclipse, particularly in the path of totality. That’s a once or twice in a lifetime event. The parks are there for us all the time… let’s keep it that way.

    Anyway. On August 25th, you can visit our National Parks free of admission to celebrate their 101st birthday. The other remaining fee free days this year are September 30th (National Public Lands Day) and November 11th & 12th (Veterans Day weekend). The fee waiver includes entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees but obviously not things like camping, kayaking, tours, concession fees etc.

    Remember, any fourth grader can get a free annual pass through the Every Kid in a Park program, and on August 28th the price on an annual pass for senior citizens will be raised from $10 to $80. Active duty military and citizens with a permanent disability can also get free passes through the NPS website or in person at certain sites.

    Extra incentive for parents:

    “Data shows that adults who were introduced to the outdoors as children were more likely to participate in outdoor activities during adulthood than those who were not exposed to the outdoors as children. In fact, 37% of adults who were introduced to the outdoors during childhood grew up to enjoy outdoor activities as adults. Only 16% of adults who do not currently participate in any outdoor activities had outdoor experiences as children.” (source)

    Get outside!