Frequently Asked Questions

Because my first choice was taken... kidding! I believe that "wellness" encompasses all aspects of health, not just the physical ones, and is (or should be) the goal, rather than ascetic goals. As a mom, I realize that it is important to focus on my children's (and my own) physical, mental and emotional health, and "wellness" encompasses this. I'm a mom, and the majority of my readers are as well, so "Mama" seemed appropriate.

For the most part, it can be summed up by "Eating and using natural, organic and real foods/products  in as close to their state in nature as possible and avoiding toxins and harmful substances." My Wellness 101 page has a list of some of my favorite posts to help accomplish this and these are my favorite real food and natural living resources.

Because I said so? Just kidding! Don't just follow my advice (or anyone else's) just because I say it. WellnessMama.com is a compilation of the best health and wellness resources I've found and I post with the hope of helping others achieve their health goals, but I highly encourage doing everyone to do their own research as well! I do have a background in nutrition and make every effort to carefully research and cite my posts, but all nutritional theories are just that: theories. As shown by the dismal failure of the lipid hypothesis... sometimes following nutritional advice just because it is widely accepted can have dire consequences, so head to a library or to "the google" and research for yourself! :-)

I'm not a doctor or medical professional, and you should always consult with a medical professional before taking any new supplements. Personally, I take these supplements each day. I take these when I'm pregnant/nursing and give these to my kids. I also "eat my sunscreen" by taking these supplements and haven't burned since taking them regularly! (Which is saying something since I'm a (formerly) fair-skinned Irish Lass :-)... I've also been able to reverse cavities in both my mouth and my husbands' with this regimen. Definitely do your own research and find the best fit for you, but those have been the biggest help to me! Happy pill popping :-)

I'm assuming you're speaking nutritionally, and the answer is definitely yes. For the most part, I try to stick to a Wellness lifestyle as much as possible, and I am 100% strict about 90% of the time... When I do "cheat" I still try to avoid grains, vegetable oils and sugars for the most part. My cheats usually involve dark chocolate, cheese, red wine, homemade cheesecake, or grain free chocolate chip cookies, with the occasional margarita thrown in.  If I eat out or am somewhere if I'm not sure if foods contain the trifecta of bad nutrition (grains, vegetable oils, sugars), I'll either fast or eat the safest looking options and take some extra probiotics and Fermented Cod Liver Oil to minimize the damage.

I offer a meal planning service to my clients and occasionally offer them to readers as well. These are the same meal plans that I use myself and that I customize for one-on-one clients. All meal plans are grain free, dairy optional and follow my nutritional suggestions. They are currently full but I'm working on being able to open them again soon. My email subscribers are always the first to know, so if you're interested, make sure you're on my email list. (I never spam and only email once a week with a roundup of posts and if there are great deals or events.)

Haha... you haven't seen my house! I do try to keep a pretty consistant routine, which allows me to get all the vital stuff done during the day. [Here are some of my organizing printables] I blog at night after the kids go to bed, which is funny, since I've often written posts like this one about the importance of getting enough sleep at 2am.  I don't watch TV and I taught myself to speed read so I could get research and book reviews done quickly. The book A Mother's Rule of Life (which was one of my top books of 2011) was also a tremendous help in getting my home, life and schedule organized. I highly recommend it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have wet clothes probably getting moldy in the washer, kids playing beach ball on the couch, and dinner to cook! :-)

With four kids, attempting to keep the house "clean" with four kids under 6  is like shoveling snow in a snowstorm, but I try to minimize the mess when possible. I stopped using chemicals to clean several years ago and have used only natural products since. For the most part, natural homemade alternatives clean much better than the comercial versions anyway and I don't have to worry about the chemicals around the kids. Lately, I switched to microfiber and now use it almost exclusively. (Here's why I think it is so amazing!)  If microfiber isn't your thing and you want to switch to natural cleaners, here are a few of my favorite homemade options: Natural Stain Treatment Reference Sheet [Printable] Natural Homemade Laundry Detergent Natural All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe Natural Oven Cleaning Natural Homemade Glass Cleaner Recipe Easy Homemade Scouring Powder Recipe

I'm definitely biased, but I eschew the treadmill in lieu of lifting heavy weights and swinging kettlebells. Both of these will do more for your physique than hours of monotonous running, and they are more functional too... (plus, did you know that running a marathon will only burn 3/4 of a pound!) Lifting heavy weights, when done properly, is excellent for posture, muscle formation, bone strength and overall fitness. Kettlebells are a gym-in-one and are an incredible workout (I once trained for and ran a triathlon by only using sprints and kettlebells for training. I'm not a doctor/chiropractor/personal trainer/physical therapist but that is my $0.02.

These are always the toughest questions to answer... like when you get asked to describe yourself in one word during a job interview. Let's see...I'm a wife, mom of 4, amateur chef, real food crusader, kettlebell junkie scuba diver and coffee addict who can finally do a pull-up (according to my twitter bio). I'm also a chronic abuser of ellipses... (and asides) and dorkily enjoy reading medical journals in my free time. I love creating new recipes, DIY projects,  and gardening. I do not love dishes, laundry and paying bills. Enough about me... I want to know about you! Come say hi on facebook, twitter, Pinterest or Google+! (all places I spend way to much time!)

Unfortunately, most Nutrition programs, including the one I went through are geared toward low-fat, high grain, no--red meat suggestions, and if you've read my blog much, you know this is definitely not what I suggest. I'm yet to find a good program that I can recommend, though I'm hopeful that there will be a great resource for this soon! If you have a passion for healthy and nutrition, I'd definitely encourage you to start blogging. I began blogging to help my own clients have easier access to recipes and advice, and I am humbled daily by the amazing community that has developed at WellnessMama.com. I am incredibly grateful to have been able to help readers achieve health goals and getting an email from someone who has made health changes because of something I"ve written literally makes my month! :-) The reason I'd encourage you to start blogging (besides that it is fun!) is that you can start right away and begin making a difference. You don't need a degree or license to share your recipes, experience, or workouts, and there are people out there who could benefit from what you have to say... errr, type. Even if you decide to pursue a degree program at some point, blogging while you are learning will help you learn the material and will provide you a great platform to start a business when you finish. If you are interested in blogging, I was able to negotiate a deal with the amazing web guys at Spears Marketing to get you set up and blogging (or migrate you to self hosted if you are on blogger or wordpress.com. It's not an affiliate link, I just like these guys. Here's the blogging package they set up for my readers.

Because I'm a glutton for late nights and answering emails... Just kidding. My blog is my small stand against the nutritional misinformation out there that is leading to rapidly rising rates of obesity and disease. As sappy as it sounds, I love hearing from readers and (hopefully) being able to make a difference in someone's life. My blog has also been able to contribute to my family's income a little bit each month, which is really helpful with four little ones! Full disclosure: many of the links on my site are affiliate links and I will earn a small commission if you choose to purchase something through my links. Thanks for supporting my blog! :-)

For several reasons actually. I want WellnessMama.com to be about heath, wellness and YOU, not just about me. I've also had a few weird incidents where disgruntled people have tried to find out personal info and call/send things to my home (who knew food could be so divisive ?!) At some point, I may include relevant pictures in different posts, but for the most part I'll just stick to blogging about wellness. :-)

I've been blogging for a couple years, though only as a full-time hobby for the last year or so and I do make a small amount from my blog, mainly in the form of affiliate commissions. Many of the links on my site are affiliate links and if you've ever purchased through one of my links, thanks so much for supporting my blog! I love blogging and would do it for free, and when I calculated one time I was making less than minimum wage from my blog when I factored in the hours i spend on it. :-) It is important to me to keep WellnessMama.com free of paid ads, so you'll never see any in my sidebar. If you like what you've read on my blog and are ever planning to order from any of these sites, I'd be super grateful if you'd use my link! I also list some of my favorite supplements, health products and kitchen gear in my amazon store.

Glad you asked! The brilliant minds at Spears Marketing did my original site and my recent re-design (which I LOVE!). I can do the research/writing/staying on pinterest all night/never sleeping aspect of blogging but am all thumbs when it comes to the tech side, so I'm glad to have someone else handle that side of things. If you're thinking about blogging, I'd highly recommend their blogging package which will get you up and running in style and will also take care of the security/responsive/plugins/techy side...  Also, Colin Tierney Design did my new logo and I'd highly recommend him as well!