In these times, MINDSET MATTERS more than ever before…
This week, I’ve done a lot of worrying about the world my kids will grow up in. I’m not worried about what you might think I am, though.
Well, I was… I was worried about this election and the outcomes for awhile… Now I’m worried about something much more disturbing.
Continue reading “6 Mindset Tips for these Political Times”
Forgiveness is such a tough word for everyone – both in understanding what it means and in its practice.
And that’s just in thinking about applying it to forgiving OTHER people.
But ya know what’s even harder? Forgiving ourselves.
And given that we are all quarantined in our homes right now – life can be beautifully wonderful – but it can also be incredibly tricky.
Continue reading “Finding Forgiveness Within”
Hi everyone!
I haven’t had a new post on the blog in SO LONG! Life has been so busy in so many amazing ways – but that’s made it really hard to carve out the time to sit down and do some writing. But today, what I wanted to share with you was too long to fit in an Instagram caption, so I had to move over here to tell you about the kitchen cleaning hack I tried yesterday. It’s not only quick and easy… but it also uses natural products so it can be part of reducing toxins and creating a healthy home! Amen to that, right?
First the backstory to this: When my husband and I moved into our current home it needed a total makeover. For several years prior to our purchase, the house had renters in it. And, I don’t know if they just didn’t care very much or didn’t notice – but let’s just say that the house was incredibly dirty.
One of the worst areas was the kitchen. I feel like every surface had a layer of caked on grease. Two girlfriends and I spent an entire day with that awful commercial degreaser cleaning what turned into pretty white cabinetry. But, that degreaser is scary stuff… who knows what is in it… but I digress.
Fast forward to this past week when the sun finally came out in the ATL and cast a pretty glow into my kitchen. While enjoying that glow, I noticed that the cabinets just above my microwave, once again, were starting to get a layer of grease on them. Our oven and stove don’t really have a vent so when you are cooking, the fan just blows grease up to, you guessed it, the cabinets.
My husband mentioned he had tried to clean it off a while back, but nothing we had in the house seemed able to wash it off. And I thought – there has to be a way to do this without going out and buying that awful neon colored degreaser. I honestly don’t want to work with or expose all of us to that stuff. So I got to work researching…
I came across a YouTube video (link here) that suggested creating a paste from baking soda and a little bit of oil (I used vegetable oil). They recommended using your fingers to rub it into the cabinets and then, apparently, you could just wipe all that greasy residue right off!
I figured it was worth a try… But…
I also though I could make it better because I know there are DoTERRA oils that are known to cut grease. So I did a little more research and settled on 1 drop of lemon oil and 1 drop of lime oil.
Not only did this mixture completely remove the grime from the cabinets and leave them looking beautiful, but it also smelled fantastic. Total win.
(p.s. I forgot to take a before and after photos of the cabinets. I’m working on editing a photo of the halfway point so that you can see the difference. I’ll have it up soon!!)
I cleaned one whole cabinet plus one half of two other cabinets that are near to the stove in about 15 minutes.
With that said, there are a couple things to keep in mind:
At any rate, this little cleaning hack is definitely one I recommend trying! If you do, let me know in the comments below! And also, if you need some great essential oils, feel free to click over to my DoTERRA essential oils page to learn more and/or purchase your own!
As always, Stay Healthy as Heck! KH
And just like that, I’m back!! I hope you all had a fabulous summer, because the chilly, pumpkin-spiced, fall weather is definitely upon us! I thought I’d start of this new year of Healthy as Heck with a fall beauty favorites rundown in honor of my favorite season!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have caught a glimpse of a rare selfie that I posted last week:
I’m not really a selfie kind of girl… but sometimes I get into playing with new products and when I find some that I like, I feel that it’s important to share the details with other Mama’s like me!
(p.s. if you are interested in any of my other favorite products – be sure to check out my Favorite Things Page!)
Quick disclaimer: I am not a makeup artist nor am I the most knowledgeable person when it comes to make up.
What I am is a super busy Mama who spends most of her days in a messy bun, under-eye concealer and mascara (maybe even mascara from yesterday?) while running around in workout clothes from her own activities to those of my kiddos. When I do actually put myself together, I like products that are easy to apply and look effortless.
And that brings me to all my current favorite products!
Scroll through the below lists to find the products that I relied on for this look and that I use for any other rare occasion when my husband gets to see me showered and dressed in anything other than my leggings, sports bra, and t-shirt!
So let me be real honest before I give you these products. I am horrible about taking care of my skin. Always have been. I was blessed with a great complexion and that has made me horrendously lazy when it comes to my skincare routine (hello girl that goes to bed with all her makeup on and who may or may not just retouch it the next day… yikes! I know).
BUT, since I am now pushing 40 and those years of being slack with my routine are catching up on me, I decided that I really needed to crack down on my skincare this year. I’ve done lots of searching, talking to friends, and trial and error before landing on some products that I currently can’t live without.
Right now, I’m obsessing over:
I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning this Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer Hot Air Brush. It’s not a beauty product… really… but if your hair looks good, doesn’t everything else? My best friend had been using this forever and I kept telling her how gorgeous her hair was looking. I think she told me to try this out multiple times before, months later, I finally decided to break down and purchase one.
If you are looking for a salon-looking blow out that you can actually do on your own (without rollers and round brushes and straining to get to the back of your head and sweating like you just ran a marathon…), then you need to try this. It actually cut my styling time in half and requires significant less use of my straightener, which is a huge plus for the health of my hair. Oh and… it’s currently on sale! Run, don’t walk to your computer and let Amazon deliver this little angel to your house tomorrow. You will not regret it!
Happy Shopping everyone! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! And if you try any of these products, send me a message on any of those platforms or leave a comment below and let me know what you think!
As always, Stay Healthy as Heck, KH
Today we are going to talk about how to engage in some mental self-care. This post will be a shorter one, but don’t let the length be an indicator of its importance! I see a lot of information about self-care strategies come across my desk as a psychologist turned health coach/fitness instructor. Many of them are physical – meaning they are generally focused on one of our five senses. Some examples include listening to music, taking a bath, lighting your favorite candle, painting your nails, etc.
I think they are all absolutely incredible acts of self-love.
However, what I want to talk about today is mental self-care.
How do you challenge the negative voice in your head that tells you that you aren’t good enough or that you are failing as a Mom?
If we are all being honest, there is not one mother who makes it through this motherhood journey without seriously questioning what the f*** she is doing. Most moms, while loving their role, face incredible challenges during motherhood and maintaining their mental health is often the lowest of their priorities – even though it is the single most important thing you can do for yourself and for your children.
With that said, we are often strapped for time and energy as moms. Self-care that requires lengthy exercises just won’t do. I mean, how is one supposed to take a nice long hot bath when she can’t even go pee by herself?!
Here is a great video for using your breath as a mindfulness practice (and the whole video is only 7 minutes!!):
I also LOVE these printable cards from The Military Wife and Mom Blog! Be sure to check them out if you are looking for some more go-to affirmations!
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter – leave me a comment and say hello so I can get to know you!
As Always, Stay Healthy as Heck, KH
I don’t know why I’ve never written this post before. If I’m being completely honest, I’m an expert when it comes to feeling unmotivated. I say that because I am a HUGE procrastinator. There may be several reasons for that, some more convincing than others, but sometimes it’s simply because “I just don’t feel like it.”
A lot of people don’t talk about the struggles they experience (for thoughts on some other people you shouldn’t be taking advice from, click here). Just look around – there are a lot of bloggers/social media influencers who choose only to share the high points. The things that other people look at and wish they could be/do/have.
If you were looking for that, I’m sorry that you won’t find that here. I’m a big fan of reality. And one of my realities is that I’ve long faced the challenge of working against tendency to put things off.
The tendency to cave to lack of motivation is a huge stumbling block to success. I mean how could one become successful if they allow the thought of “I don’t feel like it” to control what gets done? You can’t.
For example, if you follow me on social media you would have seen this post yesterday:
That’s because I woke up yesterday to find myself in one of those moods. My whole day was a little out of sorts. My daughter had a Mother’s Day event at her school, and while it was super sweet, it threw off our schedule. That means the the things that usually help me get going (like getting my workout in first thing) were not present and my day just all together felt off. I just didn’t feel like doing much of anything.
I sat down at my computer to write this post and my brain was mush. I had no idea what to write and no real drive to figure it out. And so, I did what I often do when I’m in these moods. I procrastinate…
BUT, the punchline here is that I have learned how to procrastinate productively
Productive procrastination… is that a thing?
It is now!
I’ve found that instead of letting the urge to do nothing take over, you can honor that feeling and then utilize some simple self-care strategies to move through it.
BONUS TIP – diffuse some energizing essential oils into the air while you do any of the above. Our sense of smell can be a powerful ally in getting ourselves ready to take on the world! Essential oils are quickly absorbed by our smell receptors which have a direct link to your limbic system. That’s the part of your brain that stores memories and emotions. Using oils that have an uplifting or energizing effect can be a great addition to any of the steps I listed above. I typically love to use citrus (lemon and orange are my favorite!) or peppermint oils when I’m trying to give my motivation a boost! Click here to learn more about essential oils!
If you notice, none of the tips I gave you suggested you should just force yourself to do something. Yes, sometimes we really don’t have a choice and how we feel is irrelevant. Those are not the moments I’m speaking about. I’m talking about the moments when we do have the option to not do something. It’s these moments that often throw people off track with their goals.
I’m a firm believer in rolling with our emotions rather than fighting them. So I encourage you to ignore the voice in your head that tells you that productive procrastination is lazy. That the only solution is to keep going, keep pushing, keep grinding… pushing out half-hearted work until you are completely burnt out.
Instead try one of my productive procrastination ideas and see if it doesn’t allow your emotions to move through you effortlessly, leaving you ready to take on the world again… once that pull of procrastination has passed of course!
Leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts on these tips! I always love hearing from my readers!!
And as always, Stay Healthy as Heck, KH
A while back, I wrote this post and this post about how much I love the FitBod app and how it has absolutely become my favorite workout app. (I also posted an awesome Fit Bod Promo Code so you could get a discount on your membership – more information on that can be found at the bottom of this post!) Since then, I started doing Pilates regularly and got away from using my app as frequently as I used to. But all the festivities of this Easter weekend made my normal routine hard to manage, so I pulled out my FitBod app and got to work at home.
If you’re like me, you struggle with finding fun things for your kids to do that also teach them a little something. My daughter attends a weekday school (see my post on my experience of her first ‘First Day of School’ here!) and has done amazing things with learning letters, colors, and all sorts of words. As summer is approaching, I’ve been worried about how I would continue her learning while she is on summer break. And then inspiration came in an email…
I was contacted by education.com, who sent me the most adorable, FREE,Easter Themed maze worksheet to share on the blog (see attachment below). I thought it was so cute and wondered what else they have on their site so I did a little digging and wanted to share what I found
(Disclosure: I do not receive commission from this post – just sharing my honest opinion and the worksheet they provided!).
Continue reading “A Fun Way to Keep Learning Alive at Home”
Several weeks ago, I published Part 1 of my tips for exclusive pumping success only to have Spring Break completely derail my plans of getting Part 2 to you. #momlife, right? But it is finally here!
Today, I’m going through my last set of tips to make exclusive pumping easier and more stress-free for you. I found exclusive pumping to be a huge learning curve and learned several things late in the game that would have made the whole process easier – if I had just known them from the beginning!
I hope these tips make your exclusive pumping journey immensely easier and help make you feel a little less overwhelmed by the process. If you find any of these tips helpful, don’t forget to let me know in the comments below!
I used to pump in a lot of different places. The “joy” of exclusive pumping is that you often are forced to be creative and flexible… hello, pumping and driving. But when you do get to be at home, I think it’s helpful to have an area that you regularly use for your pumping. Here are a few items I suggest keeping stocked in your pumping station:
remember that breast milk doesn’t stay good in your freezer forever. I tried to use mine within 6 months or so (here is a handy guide for breast milk storage). When you freeze your milk, be sure to order it so that your oldest milk is most accessible. I did not do this and ended up having to empty my freezer and reorganize it when I realized I couldn’t access the milk I needed to use first. Rookie mistake that you hopefully won’t have to make!
Again, I hope that the tips above combined with those that I provided in Part 1 give you the tools you need to successfully pump for as long as you decide to! Let me know below if there is anything I left out or give me your thoughts on how these tips worked for you…
And as always, Stay Healthy as Heck, KH
In last week’s post, (Defining Success on Your Own Terms – Part 1) I left you with a question – what is success? What does it look like?
And the answer is: whatever works for you.
No really, that really is my answer.
In years of doing psychotherapy and then listening to people as I worked with them in the dance/ fitness business I have learned many things, but one of the most consistent things I have seen is that everyone is truly unique. There is no one-size fits all version of successful living. That means, that whatever journey you’ve taken and wherever you happen to be heading is fantastic as long as that journey, generally speaking, brings contentment, joy, satisfaction, and peace.
I think it’s ignorant (yup, I said it) to assume that our journey is somehow better than anyone else’s – because what is better exactly?
Continue reading “Defining Success on Your Own Terms – Part 2”