At a recent Mom It Forward #gno Twitter party, sponsored by the National Pork Board, Tweeters gave tips and tricks for making time for meals together and getting the most out of it.

9 Ideas for Family Meal Time

• Make meal time a special time, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all of the above. “We schedule things around the meals because it’s important we have that time alone,” said @ohsweetbasil.
• Get rid of distractions. Make this a time to focus on one another. @TamaraBenningto suggested eating outside to avoid distractions. “We started eating together at the dining room table, no TV. Made a difference in the quality of time spent,” said @aMusingFoodie.
• Get talking. Meals can be a great time to get to know one another and become closer as a family. Take turns asking questions to one another. “We hold hands and take turns saying something before our meal,” said @CraysMom.
• Prepare early. “Meal planning at least a couple days in advance has really helped us eat together,” said @Lizinka2001. “We precook a lot on the weekends,” said @TamaraBenningto. “Freeze for an easy meal during the week.”  @thirtymommy suggested frozen lasagna as a delicious and quick weeknight meal. “I love prepping veggies, sauces, mixes in the morning if I can,” said @BudgetGourmetM who, along with many other moms, also suggested a slow cooker as a way to have meals ready when you are. “We set up breakfast the night before,” said @mom4everandever. “It’s a time to say hey, I love you, positive thoughts.”
• Go for simple. Your meals don’t have to be elaborate or take all day to make. The idea is the quality time spent with family. You can even joke over how bad the food is if it turns out that way. @MimsyYamaguchi suggested pork carnitas and tortillas. “Put cheese, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, and guacamole in a muffin tin,” she said. “Taco bar!” @jylmomIF suggested poached salmon, “takes 10-12 minutes under the broiler. My go-to quick and easy and healthy recipe.” @TamaraBenningto said, “Stoke up the grill, relax on the patio, use paper plates, no clean up.”
• Find new recipes to mix up your family dinner time. Many Tweeters suggested online sources as a way to find new recipes. @TamaraBenningto likes twitter parties, blogs, company websites, and Pinterest. Ask family members and friends for their best recipes, @marilola33 gets new ideas from her mom and grandma. “Everyone has a special way to cook something and I like to change it up a little,” said @fowler121600. @BudgetGourmetM suggested @Ziplist. “It allows you to save recipes from favorite sites, create a menu, and a shopping list.”
• Pulled pork makes a great family meal and is a staple in many households. It is such an easy dish for large family gatherings and there are lots of sides to go with it. “We slow cook in the oven overnight then shred it for a big crock pot of BBQ sandwiches,” said @TamaraBenningto. @allaboutpork said to cook with a little liquid, such as apple juice or water as well as seasonings. “Don’t peek!” Try this pork from @ohsweetbasil and follow @allaboutpork on Pinterest for delicious pork recipes and ideas.
• Eat your leftovers. Make enough food for multiple nights or leftover night! Some favorites include turning rotisserie into enchiladas from @ohsweetbasil, eating meatloaf in sandwich form from @busyVAmom, and pork in salad from @christielomb.
• Reach out to extended family and friends. Meals are something that everyone has in common and can be a great way to strengthen relationships with anyone and everyone. Throw a dinner party with your neighbors like @ohsweetbasil or hold a barbeque. Grilling is another great way to get to know people. You have to stand around and wait for the meal, so why not talk?

“It is true that a family that enjoys or eats meals together is a happier family,” said @MWill1980. A tradition like this is a hard one to start, but the long term benefits are rewarding to the family as a whole and to the individuals residing with in it.

What are some things you do to get your whole family together for meals?

Feature image courtesy of Flickr.

The post Tips and Tricks for Eating Together and Staying Together appeared first on Mom it Forward.

But for many, emotional eating has become a struggle, and I believe the main reason for this lies in the label itself. We have used “emotional eater” as a self-definition that implies weakness and deficiency. This perspective has led to weight gain, low self-esteem, and shame, which leads to an even stronger desire to eat for comfort or stress release. It’s a vicious cycle that can become both a self-fulfilling prophecy and an excuse.

And instead of getting to the root of the problem, most women try to “fix” it by pouring their energy into ineffective strategies, like restrictive dieting and willpower. The trouble is, what you resist, persists.

I’d like to suggest that the most powerful way to transform emotional eating may be to change your thinking about what it means. We are emotional beings! We bring emotion to everything we do, so why not eating? What if, instead of being an “emotional eater” by the old definition, you were simply someone learning about yourself and your needs through your relationship with food? Drop the disempowering label and you begin to reclaim your power around food, and your life.

Plus, when done the right way, eating emotionally can aid metabolism and weight loss. Positive emotions create a state of relaxation in the body, which enables you to digest, metabolize, and burn calories at a higher level. You do the math!

How to Shift From an Emotional Eater to an Empowered Eater

Here are three very simple strategies you can use to shift from an “out-of-control” to an “empowered” eater:

Make Eating Fun

Choose one meal a day and set the table with nice linens and china. Turn off the TV and negative distractions. Instead, light a candle, play some music, make it pretty, and really savor the food. (Added bonus: awareness is also a powerful metabolism-booster!)

Be Curious

Cravings are clues as to what you may be missing in your life. Craving sweets? Perhaps you are feeling deprived of pleasure. Craving salty, crunchy snacks? Maybe frustration is building and you need to release some tension. Instead of defining yourself as weak and powerless, get curious around what it is you really need more (or less) of. Then take one step to meet that need in a more effective way.

Embrace Your Feelings

Emotions can feel overwhelming, but they always pass. Even the painful ones move through when you acknowledge them. Start a journal to express your feelings in a safe place. Even just 5 minutes a day of journaling can reduce your urge to eat for emotional reasons.

How do you avoid "eating emotionally" and take control of your eating habits?

Michelle Leath is a coach, mentor, speaker, and the founder ofwww.unlockyourpossibility.com. She teaches women how to harness the power of possibility, permission and pleasure to create the lives they truly want and deserve. She specializes in helping women create a relationship with food and their bodies that works for them, so that they can release unwanted weight or food habits without dieting or depriving themselves, and so they can show up like the rock stars they are in their businesses, lives, and relationships! Having found recovery from an eating disorder herself, Michelle is passionate about helping others heal their food issues, and she also authors a blog on eating disorder recovery at www.michelleleath.com.

Michelle is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute, a Certified Food Psychology Coach, and has a degree in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has helped women connect with their potential in various ways for over 20 years. 

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This is because we’ve bought into the myth that all it takes is self-control to achieve your goal, and conversely that our inability to achieve our goals is the result of a personal deficiency of strength or determination. And so we continue to try the same things over and over and hope for different results.

The Truth About Weight Loss

But the truth is, lasting weight loss is not as much about willpower as it is about awareness.

Awareness

First of all, it’s important to understand the physiologic factors that impact our eating behavior. Your body is smart, and if it doesn’t receive the right nutrients at the right times of day, the brain will signal “hunger,” and will drive you to eat no matter how much willpower you attempt to muster. Also, when you neglect to be present and aware while you are eating (for example multi-tasking or eating on the go), the brain misses the meal entirely and continues to signal hunger, overriding even the best-laid plans. Both of these scenarios can lead to irresistible carb and sugar cravings and evening overeating as the brain attempts to right the ship. The good news is that when you learn to work with your body’s physiology rather than against it, you dramatically reduce the need to exercise willpower.

Avoid Labels

Secondly, it’s critical to bring awareness to the subconscious factors that drive eating behavior. We all have these little things I call Possibility Bandits—namely limiting beliefs that hijack our possibilities and potential. For example, when it comes to eating and exercise, many women buy into disempowering labels, such as emotional eater, stress eater, fat, lazy, sugar-addict, etc., and we don’t realize how these labels subconsciously drive our choices. You see, all of these labels come with a predetermined set of rules for how a person of that label behaves. And when you look more closely, virtually all of these labels are masks for an even deeper label—weak and powerless. (Even “not enough willpower” is one of these!) And they can very quickly become excuses and self-fulfilling prophecies.

So, if you’ve been struggling with a perceived lack of willpower, I encourage you to stop and ask yourself two questions: 1) Where can you can bring more awareness to your eating?  2) What labels or limiting beliefs might you be buying into, and what choices might you be making if that belief weren’t true? Challenging the belief is the first step to transforming it.

Ultimately, your life experience is a direct reflection of what you choose to believe about yourself. When you choose things like capable, powerful, wise, and deserving, you’ll soon start to see them reflected in your experience and your results!

What are you doing to achieve your weight loss goals?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto.com

Michelle Leath is a coach, mentor, speaker, and the founder ofwww.unlockyourpossibility.com. She teaches women how to harness the power of possibility, permission and pleasure to create the lives they truly want and deserve. She specializes in helping women create a relationship with food and their bodies that works for them, so that they can release unwanted weight or food habits without dieting or depriving themselves, and so they can show up like the rock stars they are in their businesses, lives, and relationships! Having found recovery from an eating disorder herself, Michelle is passionate about helping others heal their food issues, and she also authors a blog on eating disorder recovery at www.michelleleath.com.

Michelle is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute, a Certified Food Psychology Coach, and has a degree in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has helped women connect with their potential in various ways for over 20 years. 

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1. Move more.
Get extra movement in any way you can. Turn the music on and dance. Park at the far end of the parking lot. Run up and down the stairs more. Studies have shown that adding extra steps to your day will burn more calories and keep your metabolism higher.

2. Get a support group.
Find a group of women that will support you in your healthy goals. If you are in need, we welcome all moms to the Mamavation Sistahood. You only need to have a desire to learn about healthy living and a positive attitude. We can be reached any time of day on twitter by using #mamavation.

3. Offer to bring a food item to the party.
Whether it’s a preschool party, family get-together, or office party, offer to bring a healthy alternative. Then bring something you can eat, like salad, fruit, or a low-fat appetizer.

4. Do your food research.
Know what it is you are eating. Do research and find out what the average calorie/fat count is to a certain food you like. Then ask yourself what you want to eat and what you want to skip. Don’t cut out everything, but cut out things you know aren’t worth the calories. For instance, did you know you will have to do over 2,000 jumping jacks to work off every cup of homemade stuffing?

5. Don’t drink your calories.
The holidays bring the best drinks of the season, but It’s very easy to drink your calorie allowance for the day without even knowing it. Check the nutritional count on what you are drinking BEFORE you drink. Wouldn’t you rather blow your calories on food instead? Dropping soda for the month is an easy way of cutting out a grip of extra calories. Stick to coffee, tea, red wine, and water. And for the diet soda lovers out there, studies have shown diet drinks actually make you gain weight, not lose weight. So don’t bother.

6. Control your portions.
Don’t get out of control. You can eat your favorite foods by using sensibility and portion control. Sometimes it is better to eat what you want and limit it, rather than deny yourself and overeat later.

7. Get a shoe that supports your needs.
Get a shoe this month that allows you to burn more calories as you are walking, like Earth Footwear. With a tool like this, you will be able to go about your life and the shoes will do a lot of the work for you.

8. Have a plate strategy.
When you load up your plate, fill half with veggies, ¼ protein, and then samples of whatever else you want. That way you aren’t depriving yourself and will feel full at the end of your meal. Another strategy is to use a smaller plate. You might be eating less, but you will feel more satisfied.

9. Add in more fruits and vegetables to every meal.
Make a conscious effort to eat more vegetables and fruit this month. Think about more ways you can incorporate them into every meal. Filling up on veggies will keep you satisfied and full and the end of your meal.

For more tips on how to live a healthy lifestyle and incorporate that in your family life, join the Mamavation Sisterhood.

Picture courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography.

The post How to Avoid Weight Gain During the Holiday Season appeared first on Mom it Forward.

Looking to find a stylish steal of a deal and have fun while doing it? Don't take it from me, learn a few tips from the pros, my USFs—Allison from Petit Elefant or @petit_elefant, Carina from Jet Set or @jet_set, and Melissa from Isly or @melissapher.

Here is what I learned this past weekend while thrifting in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah!

1. Get Organized and Connected!

While the actual shopping was fun (yes! I admit it!), the whole thrifting experience would have been void without friends. Sharing your finds is half the fun, so having one person organize the event—invite people, create a schedule, e-mail information—was extremely helpful. Before the outing, I loved knowing who was going, getting pre-shopping tips, organizing carpools, and chit chatting back and forth on e-mail to generate excitement.

(From left: Allison, Marie, Emily, Carina, and Melissa)

2. Prepare an Itinerary.
Receiving a schedule of the thrifting events was awesome, because it gave us a play-by-play of the day's activity. That way, if we had to arrive late or leave early or only had a certain amount of time we could be there, we could plan accordingly.

3. Provide Pre-Shopping Tips.

For non-thrift-shopping gals, receiving a few helpful pre-shopping tips like these made the whole experience easier:

• If you're looking to buy furniture, measure the space in your house and bring the dimensions with you so you don't buy a piece that is too large or small for the space.
• If you're looking to buy clothes or shoes, wear clothes that can easily be removed and put back on.

4. Choose Vintage Stores Close in Proximity But With a Variety of Products.

When shopping with 10+ gals, especially on a snowy day, make sure to schedule your stops close together. We went to several stores within walking distance and then drove to another two also within walking distance. I loved the diverse mix of products in each of the stores. I bought a red hat in Retro Rose and a cute silk dress at The Green Ant. Other stores sported bottle collections, furniture, a vintage Jack-in-the-Box, and extensive jewelry collections.

5. Tempt the Palate.

What's an outing without food? Starting and ending on a delicious note not only kept everyone's tummy's full and happy, but also provided an extra opportunity for socializing.

Choosing the eateries also played a role in both setting the tone and wrapping things up in savory style. We went foreign for breakfast with Belgian Waffles from Bruges and to Gormandise Bakery "famous for its spectacular desserts" for lunch.

6. Open Your Mind and Your Pocketbook, But Not Before Haggling.

Being a non-thrifting gal myself prior to this event, part of its success for me was simply being open minded. I didn't think the silky number would fit and wasn't in the mood to try things on. Peer pressure got me into the dressing room and out of the store with a cute dress perfect for me at a great price ($20 folks!). Of course, I had to be willing to pull out the pocketbook. Frugal isn't free! But, I did learn the price is always up for negotiation—a little friendly haggling!—one thing I wouldn't dare do at Nordie's.

7. Capture the Event!

One of the funnest parts of the experience was taking pictures as we went from store to store. Check out the entire activity on Whrrl by clicking here!

A seasoned thrifter? New to the game? Leave a comment with your tips, questions, or advice.

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Introducing Guest Author: Erin Chase! She blogs about healthy eating and frugal meal planning at 5DollarDinners.com. Besides saving money and cooking, she enjoys running, scrapbooking and yes, the occasional truffle!

I Love me some chocolate. I do.

• I love the dark stuff (healthy, right?).
• I love the milky stuff.
• I love truffles.
• I love it in coffee.

In fact, it's the only way I drink coffee; heavily "choco-lated!" I love watching it bubble and cascade in a chocolate fountain. I enjoy dessert fondue with angel food cake and strawberries dipped into perfectly rich chocolate dipping sauce. If it's got chocolate on the label, chances are I will not be able to say no!

Here is a little glimpse into my love affair with chocolate:

1. Chocolate makes me HAPPY. Biting into a raspberry filled truffle fills my mind and body with thoughts and feelings of jubilation. Just thinking about my favorite truffle makes me salivate. The flavor, the texture, the whole experience of eating my favorite piece of chocolate makes me Happy. In moderation, chocolate makes me Happy.
2. Chocolate makes me MAD. Occasionally the "need" for a peanut butter cup or a chocolate kiss turns into a bag full binge-fest. I will be the first to admit it. I have eaten an entire bag of chocolate chips. In one sitting. With no raging hormones involved! Not eating chocolate in moderation makes me Mad.
3. Chocolate REWARDS me. It really is a beautiful thing to treat oneself to something enjoyable. Chocolate can be very rewarding. A way to congratulate yourself for a job well done. I am thankful that I can be Rewarded by chocolate.
4. Chocolate CONFUSES me. I am befuddled by my "need" for chocolate. When both mind and body are taken over in a powerful hormonal wave, leading you WAY out of your way to get your hands on some. Even just one little piece. Or better yet, an entire bag. Your body screaming at you for more. Then the craving is satisfied. The guilt sets in. Why? Why did I just eat that entire bag? Shame. My body craved just one piece, but would not be satisfied with nothing short of an entire bag. I'm left Confused.

Why is it that chocolate can affect us in so many different ways? With yet another "chocolate" holiday just around the corner, I hope to eat just 2 or 3 truffles and feel HAPPY. And I hope you can too!

Photo Credit: FoNgEtZ

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Emily Hill guest posts today for Mom it Forward. By day she is the mother of four children; by night (okay, and day too) she is the co-owner of georgie tees and a contributing writer for Boutique Cafe, Polliwogged and her company's blog, freshly baked. She also does freelance communications work for a variety of clients including Rain.

In my opinion, if you have to ask yourself this question then the answer is "no." Those of us who have a true addiction to love affair with chocolate don't stop thinking about it or indulging in it long enough to question our relationship with it. I have no idea when the affair first started but I'm sure I was underage when it happened. When other kids were sucking on their Now and Laters and chomping on that disgusting individually wrapped bubblegum, I was hitting the chocolate Charleston Chew pretty hard. I then moved on to 3 Musketeers, Twix , Almond Joy (I switched to Mounds later in life when I grew to appreciate dark chocolate) and those tasty Junior Mints. And that's just candy.

I've managed to keep this love affair going for over 30 years now. My secret? The same secrets to keeping any relationship strong:

• trying something new (still not a fan of white chocolate);
• mixing it up (from scratch or the box, either will do when a brownie craving hits);
• even experimenting a little here and there (braving chocolate-covered potato chips was SO worth it!).

Oh, and I almost forgot about the all-important date night.
Chocolate and I try to have at least two—okay, who am I kidding—seven date nights a week. The one-on-one time is a great way to reconnect with each other and for me to wind down after what is usually a very long day with the kids.

Chocolate is there for me even when my tastes start to change. I used to be big into milk chocolate but as I matured so did my palette. Somewhere in my 20's I started making my way over to the dark side, and that was before all the health benefits about dark chocolate came to light. (Antioxidants are one of my favorite ways of justifying the affair.) Treats like Dove Dark Chocolate squares and Costco's Truffettes de France (French truffles) have only strengthened my desire for all things dark...chocolate. But before you think I am just a candy kind of girl I want you to know I'm very open minded when it comes to my love affair with chocolate. I'm happy to indulge in decadent fudge-filled layer cakes, triple chocolate brownies, Breyer's Brownie Mud Pie ice cream (I could eat the entire carton), chocolate mousse pie and even the occasional chocolate cheesecake. Did I mention low-fat Oreos (low fat means you can eat more, right?),Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies and s'mores?

I could go on and on but I like to keep some parts of my love affair private; it really is better for everyone involved. One thing I am sure about, my addiction to love of chocolate didn't skip a generation. Just look at how excited my youngest daughter was on her first birthday just before she covered herself in her chocolate-drizzled birthday treat. Yep, she gets that from me.

Photo Credit Coolmitch

The post Do You Have a Love Affair With Chocolate? appeared first on Mom it Forward.

With Valentine's Day just over a week away, many are thinking of gifts and many of those are going for the class stand-bys: flowers, jewelry, and chocolate.

While I love receiving any of the three, it's the latter that I get excited about the most. Chocolate has been one of my best friends for quite some time now and I'll take it any way I can get it: milk, dark, swirled with caramel, in my coffee, chipped, truffled, and mint. (My favorite? Dark, the darker the chocolate the better.)

So it's no wonder that social media does the same for me that chocolate does.

You know those boxes of chocolates with all different shapes and sizes? It's the type of box with a "map" of the contents, a guide to the delectable fillings and nuts inside? Sometimes I study the different flavors and deliberately choose which confections I'll try that day. However, other days I'm feeling adventurous and I pay no attention to the inside top of the box. Sometimes diving in, eyes practically closed, and risking a flavor you're unfamiliar with is the way to go. In fact, you might discover that if you had looked at the box and saw "Cayenne Pepper Jelly" you would have thrown that chocolate out with disdain. But because you took the risk, took a blind bite, it's now the one chocolate that you seek out.

The same idea applies to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Sure, if you're a cake baker you'll naturally seek out other cake bakers and people that like to eat cake. However, you might find that the snake charmer that just started following you on Twitter the day before is the one that makes you laugh more. This could result in you stressing less, sleeping more, and ultimately being able to make more cakes!

Like chocolate, social media can brighten your day, give you a boost, comfort, and inspire. The jury is still out though if too much can give you heartburn.

photo credit wikipedia

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Chris Perrin Guest Posts Today for Mom it Forward. He is a professional food writer who lives and writes in Overland Park, KS (a suburb of Kansas City.) His passion for food began when he cooked in the kitchen with his father who still is a wonderful cook. He uses the kitchen as classroom, therapy, science lab, and a way to connect with his wife and son. (He's also our first Male Guest Post!) You can check out his writing at Blog Well Done.

The answer to this question is more important than you might think. I knew I was going to marry my wife shortly after she told me that loving me was slightly better than eating Oreos. I had recently come to the decision that I would rather be with her than watch Star Wars, so, too, had come to realize what we had was Real. Still, the fact that we could watch Star Wars together and eat Oreos made us both feel a lot better about the journey ahead of us.

But I digress.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, millions of people in the Western World (not just Americans like me, but French, Dutch, Swiss, English, and so on) will be hitting the stores looking for the perfect chocolate gift for their significant others. This search will be undertaken by guys because showing up without chocolate is grounds for sleeping on the couch and by the gals so they can eat what they got their guys.

It’s also important because chocolate and love just seem inextricably linked. It’s partially a cultural thing. It’s just tradition for Westerners to give chocolate to the ones they love. It’s also a culinary thing. Think of the most decadent, rich, creamy dessert you’ve ever had and nine-times-out-of-ten, it’s made with chocolate.

You may have already heard, but it’s a biological thing, too. You ever eat chocolate and feel better? That’s because chocolate releases endorphins in the brain, chemicals responsible for your sense of well-being and happiness. They’re the same chemicals released during sex (and also when you do heroin and eat dill pickles, too.)

Most importantly, though, chocolate is a girl and a guy thing. It something that couples can enjoy together as a fondue, something to dip strawberries in, a must-have for cookies, or an ice cream. Since, I’ve always believed that couples (and families) who cook together stay together, a rich chocolaty cake or even a basic chocolate chip cookie is great relationship glue: something that can be made, and then devoured, together.

So now that you’ve had time to think about it. Which is better love or chocolate? Maybe it’s love, maybe it’s chocolate, and maybe it depends on the day. Chocolate can’t break your heart, but it has had difficulty saying “I love you” since the 60s. Love is a blessing, but it’s difficult, too.

You know, either way you answered, this Valentine’s Day and for every day the rest of the year, I hope you have lots and lots of both.

Photo Credits
Jovike, MichealAllroy, pussnboots, islandjoe

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