Baby Brained for Life?

No Space for Thought

I've been wanting to write about a zillion different things recently, all positive and good and exciting. But somehow I'm not quite finding the time, or the impetus - in short, the energy isn't quite there. 


Internally it is - inside I'm zinging with ideas and positive goodness (mostly), but it's not making it out into the world somehow. I'm crabby with the kids too. Whilst inside I'm dying to do all kinds of fun things with them, when it comes to it I end up being Majorly Crabby Mum of the year (possibly decade if I'm honest) and that is NOT good. 


I think I know the problem though it doesn't make me feel any better. Despite our change in circumstances very much for the better, and our more comfortable lives, I'm still SO tired I feel I could just sleep all day long. I'm eating pretty healthily, the kids are sleeping well - still early risers but I'm getting a good solid block of sleep in the night - and I'm taking vitamins and supplements and exercising and getting out and about.... and yet my brain feels like a ship lost at sea on a still, foggy day. I can't think properly, I can't focus, I forget things at the drop of a hat and I tire so easily. It is all so VERY frustrating.


I remember feeling like this whilst pregnant but it's a year since my monkey girl was born and I should be feeling better by now, right?


Are women left baby-brained for life or is there an exit somewhere I missed due to the fog and the gazillion and one distractions that life with kids bring? Will it get better or am I to be a zombie forever more?


Is there a cure?! Any wonderful wise women out there to show me the way home.... to myself...?

Guest Post - Real Food Diets: Raw Food for Busy Lives, by Saskia from Raw Freedom

This last year I have been trying different ways of eating to try and regain some of my balance, energy and overall health since bearing and rearing our 2 tinies. Over the next few months I'm bringing you a whole host of wonderful guest posts on a variety of Real Food Diets, from Raw to Paleo. Join me in this series and find the best real food for your mind, body and soul.



This week's post comes from Saskia at Raw Freedom. Miss last week's? We heard from Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama on Fermented Foods. Go check it out!

Free up your life with Raw Freedom coaching!

Hello! I'm Saskia, experienced raw food and life guidance coach from Raw Freedom. I'm very pleased to be a guest on Mamma Earthly's fabulous blog and to be writing this post for all the busy folk who are interested in eating raw food but don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.

It's common for people to think that preparing raw food takes a long time and if you went by the majority of raw recipe books you'd be right! Most raw recipe books are created by raw food chefs. The recipes are delicious and exciting but also tend to be quite complex and time consuming to make. I love food and when I first started eating raw food nearly 5 years ago I bought the loveliest, shiniest raw recipe books I could find on the internet.  I was totally bowled over by the flavour and look of these super-fresh meals but totally under-whelmed by the amount of time it took to prepare them. I loved the idea of eating raw food and how it made me feel but I didn't want to spend my life in the kitchen.  

I'd always loved playing around with flavours and creating my own cooked recipes so I decided to turn my hand to creating delicious raw recipes that were super quick and easy to make. I pared down the complex recipes I'd found in those chef-written raw recipe books (with ingredients lists as long as my arm!) and refined them for my busy life without compromising on the sophistication and interest of the flavours. I'm pleased to say that my raw food meals quickly took less time to prepare than my cooked meals used to!

Of course there are tips and tricks to quick raw food so here is my list of must-haves for people with busy lives who want to experience the energy, vitality and great health that eating raw gives you:

1.  A good blender - investing in a good blender means you can whiz up raw smoothies, soups, sauces, pates and puddings in no time at all. Blenders range from good hand blenders to commercial blenders such as Blendtecs (my preferred high-power blender) and Vitamixes.2.  Quick recipes - although the chef-created raw recipes look and taste really exciting they aren't designed for people with busy lives.  Look out for recipes with a maximum of 15 ingredients (preferably with less than 10). I give my clients an army of soups, smoothies, pates and puddings that take less than 10 minutes to make, taste utterly delicious and save them from eating junk or from snacking on too many nuts.3.  Preparation - thinking one or two meals ahead will mean that you always have what you need when you're ready to make a meal (i.e. always soak a handful of nuts and/or seeds overnight because you can use them in a breakfast, smoothie or pate the next day and they'll keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, ready and waiting)4.  Stock ingredients - make a stock-items shopping list so you always have the ingredients for super quick recipes.  There's nothing slower than trying to make raw food from ingredients that need soaking and/or dehydrating!  My personal stock quick-recipe ingredients are avocados, spring onions, mineral salt, agave, vanilla essence and a few superfoods.  With these I can make something delicious straight away, or add whatever veggies or fruit I have to make a lovely soup, pate, smoothie or pudding.
5.  Stock recipes - get well practiced at about 5-10 recipes so that you can quickly put them together, hardly looking at the recipe itself.  Favourite stock recipes are my Spicy Tomato Soup, Hazelnut & Banana Superfood Smoothie,  Spicy Walnut Pate, Cashew Cheese Sauce, Marinated Mushrooms and Lime Mousse. You can't go wrong with these!
Here's a very normal example of the high raw food diet that I eat during a day in my busy and exciting life ...
Saskia's Raw Lime Mousse

Breakfast - A smoothie with fruit/veg and dark leafy greens (less than 10 minutes to make, including washing the fruit/veg and the blender afterwards)
Mid-morning snack - a piece of fruit 
Lunch - salad with raw pate and rice or oatcakes (15-20 minutes including washing the fruit/veg and washing up)
Tea-time - a superfood smoothie with nut milk and banana (less than 10 minutes to make, including washing the fruit/veg and the blender afterwards)
Supper - raw soup (less than 10 minutes to make, including washing the fruit/veg and the blender afterwards)

At the weekends you can make up a batch of raw chocolates or energy balls that you can snack on during the week. This is great if you've got kids too, because you can all make them together.

Before I started raw food coaching I worked away from home. I would make my breakfast and afternoon smoothie as well as my lunch before I went to work.  It was a lovely way to wake up as I chopped the veg and admired the colours and textures of the food I was preparing for later.  And of course I felt amazing and full of energy!

No matter what you're lifestyle it's very possible to eat a high raw diet that's quick, easy and packed full of the nutrition you need to be fantastically healthy, gorgeous and energetic.  It's just about having the right pieces in place to be able to make super-quick and deliciously vibrant raw food.

Saskia has made her life's work as a raw food coach, after discovering a turning point in her own life. At the age of 32 she tried a 2-week raw food trial. In those two weeks she went from suffering IBS, eczema, sore joints, bad skin, terrible memory and stress related emotional issues to being completely well again. Sold on the idea of raw food as a way of 'healing the body', she now wants to tell everyone else about it!

You can find Saskia on her blog, Facebook and Twitter.

The Big Secret and How it Affects You

"How long will it last, this peace I have found... It is all of life that I contemplate - sun, clouds, time that passes and abides. Occasionally it is also that other world, foreign now, that I left centuries ago. The modern, artificial world where man has been turned into a money-making machine to satisfy false needs, false joys." - Bernard Moitessier, The Long Way.

The Strangles, North Cornwall

In about 2 weeks' time, we will be gone from here. We will have given up our boat (the one that was meant to be our home for the next 20-30 years or more), our business (already being sold off as I type), and Father Earthly will have reduced his working hours by almost half. We are breaking with pretty much everything, in fact, in an attempt to change our lives for the better.

Fancy a boat? Have a look :)

These last 2 years or so have been so tough, and we have forgotten how to laugh properly, how to find joy in the little things. That is what we need to regain at all costs.


When we embarked on our adventures in our lovely green camper 3 1/2 years ago, it was to seek a much simpler life, a more spontaneous way of living, and quite frankly to have more fun. And by god so we did! But then our little sproglets came along and complicated things. Suddenly, even our simple way of looking at things became fraught with stumbling blocks and much weariness. Father Earthly's work and my business got in the way of enjoying our family and creating a home. Stress and anxiety and immense fatigue prevailed: this was not the way it was meant to be at all. And so something had to be done, but what...?

Our new home!

And then very suddenly, just as everything seemed to have gone dark forever, a chink of light appeared. It beckoned and wavered and lured us in. Father Earthly wasn't so sure - why should he trust this light? What if it was a hinkypunk? What was the light offering exactly? Did it have all the answers?


Gently, curiously and not a little warily we started to follow the light, to seek and know the source - Father Earthly dragging his heels a little reluctantly whilst I skipped eagerly ahead, stopping periodically to urge him on. Occasionally our path came to forks and crossroads and diversions, but on investigating these other ways, our light dimmed or was lost altogether. Once or twice, we very nearly lost our way entirely as the dark closed in on us.


Stay with me here, folks.


Today, this very moment, the light is beaming out strongly and bathing us, bright and glowing like a crisp Autumnal day. It feels good and it feels right. There are still many unanswered questions, but the most important have been satisfied. After our long darkness, I feel like a convalescent, letting the warmth and goodness seep back into my very bones.

The way things were...

There are of course some regrets and just a little bitterness. As I type I am sitting on our narrowboat (newly cleaned and tidied), the woodburner chucking out it's cheerful cosiness, and I'm surrounded by all our things, by our space. This was to be our home, and now we have to say goodbye: for financial (and practical) reasons, we can't even keep it on as an occasional outlet for adventures and hideaways. All of the work we have started, all of the special materials or pieces (such as our lovely stove!) that we chose or had planned - all seemingly wasted. That is very disheartening.


But I'm a philosopher and there's no point wallowing in the quagmire of regret. As a friend of ours likes to say "it's better to regret the things you've done than those you haven't".


And that's where you come in, dearest, most wonderful reader! Do you feel as though life has a strangle hold on you and you can't break free? Has all the light gone from your life and your mere existence is dull and grey, or worse...? Are you filled with regrets? Or dreams, passions, caged birds just waiting to be set free?


You know what to do my friends.


And if you need me, you will find me here.


xxx

Guest Post: Real Food Diets: The Raw Food Challenge, by Russell James

This last year I have been trying different ways of eating to try and regain some of my balance, energy and overall health since bearing and rearing our 2 tinies. Over the next few months I'm bringing you a whole host of wonderful guest posts on a variety of Real Food Diets, from Raw to Paleo. Join me in this series and find the best real food for your mind, body and soul.



Our first post comes from the wonderful Russell James, a.k.a The Raw Chef.

Maca Ice-Cream & Cacao Crackle Sandwiches

You know the drill: You realise there’s more options out there, there’s a different way of doing things. You embark on a healthier lifestyle, you embrace the lifestyle, you even think it’s a great idea to tell all your friends; you can’t understand why everyone doesn’t know about raw food, “it’s like, the answer to everyone’s problems, man.”

At work/college/home you start getting questions, and lots of them, followed by some very confused faces. The questions turn into a ritual dinner-time ridiculing, things start to get a bit uncomfortable. You find yourself compelled to start defending yourself, but you don’t; you just keep doing what you’re doing because you see the truth in it. You just know it’s right.

Like yourself, I’ve been the subject of some ridicule from other co-workers because of all the fruit and salad I bring with me everyday for lunch.

Sure, sometimes you may fall off the ‘wagon’ and get caught by the Food Police, to be told, “but you’re not allowed that, are you?”. But generally, you’re pretty ‘good’, people can’t help to notice that there might be something to this raw food thing.

Then the questions start to change, they become a little more genuine, people seem intrigued by what you’re doing. Not in a patronising way, but in a respectful way. You may even start to get compliments.

Imagine this: I’m standing in the queue for tea at where I used to work. I’ve just come back from a 1 week detox fast and I’m eating mainly raw foods. I’m queuing for some hot water for my peppermint tea, and I’m behind another manager I work with. This guy is a man’s man; he’s all about beer, women, football and the pub. He has a cigarette behind his ear, ready to light for his ‘fag break’ (I think the word ‘fag’ in this context may be an English colloquialism, so for the record, it means cigarette). So he turns to me, clutching my herbal tea bag and box of salad, looks me right in the eye and says, “your skin’s looking good, Russ”. It was the least most likely thing that guy was ever going to say, and I was amazed, if not very amused.

So what happened?

I have been inspired to write this blog post after a conversation with a new friend. My new friend had read, and commented on, my story and how he had experienced a similar scenario as I had, with his colleagues. I have to say he’s not the first to mention it either, so what’s going on?

A curious thing has happened, however, in that now many of them come up to me asking for dietary advice.

We’re tested everyday, no matter who we are and what we do. We’re tested by the Universe (or however that shows up for you) to see if we’re ready for the next phase, we’re tested by potential and current partners to see if we’re up to the job – to see if we’re ‘the one’. Hell, we even test others in this way too, c’mon… I know you do.

When you make the change to a different lifestyle, you are setting an example, so you will be tested to see if you walk your talk. Yes, we know that everyone would benefit from eating at least a little more raw foods, and most people that hear you talk about it know this on some level. That’s why it causes so much interest, but people want to see that you believe in it first, before they take it on board properly.

They want to see it’s not a fad, that it’s not a phase your going through. Raw food isn’t a phase, it’s a lifestyle. It’s not something you can un-learn when you know about it, even more so when you’ve experienced it – you can’t forget the energy, how much better you look and feel, how much more inspired, connected and loving you feel. That stuff’s with you for life.

My manager, in fact, comes up to me on a daily basis and asks if what he’s eating is alright. I try not to be too strict with him, but there have been a couple of times where I told him that what he was eating was atrociously bad, and he actually threw the entire thing out in the trash.

So when you walk your talk, when you’re non-judgemental (as much as you can be), and when you follow a path that people may not see the truth in (yet), you give them a gift. You give them the gift of example, and you make it easier for them to see the doorway, ultimately leaving it for them to decide whether they want to go through or not, because you can’t save someone who’s not yet ready to be saved – I’ve learnt this first-hand recently.

Kinda shocked me that my words could have such power, that another person would actually listen and believe the things I say.

You’re a pioneer, you’re maybe in the top 1% (that’s a generous estimate!) because you dare to be different. You’ve dared to ask questions of your own and you just won’t settle, you won’t settle for mediocre health, not for you or the people you love. That really is an amazing thing.

Russell James is The Raw Chef. Since turning 'raw' in 2004 he has become a passionate pioneer for raw food, it's enormous potential in revitalising body, mind and soul, and the endless possibilities it offers for a healthy, nutritious, delicious - and sometimes naughty food-lifestyle. Here he talks about the challenge of turning raw and what it means in the grander scheme of things...


Russell can be found on his website, blog, Twitter and Facebook. The above article originally appeared on Russell's blog here.

Home is Where the Heart is

Sorry for the silence of late everyone - life seems to have got in the way!  Above all, we recently came back from a lovely 10 days in soggy Cornwall, which was a much needed tonic for us all. Ok, it would have been nice if the sun had come out a bit more, but really the rain was just an excuse to don wellies and raincoat and splash around in puddles and go head to head with the wind on the cliff tops :)


And then we came back, and well, you know what it's like when you come back from hols… big downer, back to reality and all that. Except this time it was like coming back to a life which we hadn't quite realised was SO difficult. We knew things were tough, in many ways, but a break away peeled the scales away from our eyes and made us see things a little clearer. And with that, it has made us think a bit more about where we want to be in life.

Ooh big questions huh? Yep.

Amusingly, the lovely Lucy at Dreaming Aloud just posted a link which kind of sums it up (or some of it at least): Less Work, More Living, summed up in a nutshell as "Earn less, spend less, emit and degrade less". It's what we strived for right from the start of our adventure, when we set off in Rona (our camper) back in 2008. But life changes and gradually you sink back into the old ways, accumulate things again, strive for more and ultimately end up needing more money for it all.

With our boat we hoped to create a home for our family. But in order to achieve that we will be tied down to hard slog for the next ten years at least - and the irony is by doing that we also make a choice between making a home and making a family, because any time we do have (i.e. weekends) must be spent either working on the boat or enjoying time with each other. You could say we could try half-and-half, but believe me, it doesn't work out that way!

So, another turning point. In a radical shift away from traditional views of "hearth and home", we are now looking at creating a home within ourselves and carrying it wherever the wind blows us. Sure, it's nice to have pretty things and familiar things all around: bookshelves groaning, our trusty range bubbling away all manner of goodies; our own bed (which actually isn't so comfortable!) and so on. But at the end of the day things don't matter, do they? They just reflect what's inside us (or should). What if we were to look to the light within instead; the source of our personalities and dreams and feelings?

I hope we can learn to shine enough as individuals and as a family to be able to create "home" wherever we might require it, and at any time it is needed. They say "home is where the heart is" - and we're taking that in its most literal reading!

5 Things I Love About Breastfeeding

I may have said in previous posts (I can't remember) that I am not exactly a keen breastfeeder. I have certainly uttered the "h" word in relation to breastfeeding on more than one occasion - usually at 6am after a broken night's sleep and having spent the last 3 hours fighting for some bed space as well as some peace and quiet to close my own eyes and make some kind of job of replenishing my knackered body and empty milk ducts.


However, despite all this, I wouldn't have it any other way (well other than somehow sharing the task with hubby - I have it on good authority that partners can (and have been known to, somehow!) start producing milk for their offspring. How unbelievably and awesomely helpful would that be? 


In the meantime, here are 5 reasons why I love - yes love - breastfeeding:

1. I get a real kick out of knowing that I, and I alone (until solids are introduced) am responsible for my baby's growth and health. That is pretty darned awesome!

2. It's so easy! Oh yes, I've had my fair share of problems, from thrush to cracked and itchy nipples, and as already half-mentioned, I'm not so good at sharing my body and its personal space bubble every nano-second of the day. But if baby's hungry, anytime and anywhere, all I have to do is take my bra strap down and let her find a nipple: no sterilising, no bottles, no bags to carry lots of equipment when we go out, no having to decide which formula seems the best and healthiest choice, no warming necessary... I am ultimately lazy, and so for me, breast wins hands down!

3. I love the snuggling. Oh I know you can cuddle with a bottle too, but there's something so intimate and primal about baby nuzzling into your breast, her tiny mouth pouted and searching for the nipple - and finally, latching on and sucking contentedly away.

4. This is utterly vain, but it drops the post-pregnancy baby weight off fast! By 6 months post-birth for both my babies, I'd got back to my pre-pregnancy size and weight. If I hadn't breastfed I would have really struggled to shift that extra weight.

5. Father Earthly says "it's cheap"! Not free, because I have to eat more to keep up with the demand (including a lactating multivitamin), but certainly a lot cheaper than having to invest in bottles (though we did have some for expressing with boy Earthly - didn't bother this time round) and cartons of formula. Gotta love a bit of money-saving!

What do you love about breastfeeding?

Guest Post: 7 Things That Helped Me Survive Pregnancy. By Mampoekie

Laura Schuerwegen a.k.a. Mamapoekie is a Belgian expat mother and wife, currently living at the banks of the Kasai river in DR Congo. She has an unschooled three year old and a little one due December. She writes about Life, the Universe and Everything at Authentic Parenting.

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Pregnancy

A while back I read an article on Babble entitled just this. I was appalled to find that more than half of her pregnancy savers were either junk food or medication, both are things which your baby doesn’t need during gestation. Even though I'm not very fond of the title, since it makes pregnancy sound like the plague, I decided to write my own.

I must admit I do take the occasional antacid, as I have had serious reflux with my first pregnancy, and this time around had it from the moment of conception. I am still looking for natural alternatives (if you have any, please add them in the comments below), but so far no luck.


1. Pillows
On this point, I agree with the Babble author: pillows are a great way to create a comfortable sleeping and even sitting arrangement. I have one under the head of my mattress (against the reflux), and use a nursing pillow between my legs. Towards the end of my previous pregnancy, I had another one behind my back, and one under the back of the mattress, to battle heavy legs and fluid retention.


2. My Special Morning Sickness Brew
The first few months of this pregnancy I was attached to the hip to my teapot and special brew. First thing in the morning, my husband would concoct a ginger and lemongrass infusion, fresh from the garden. I would then drink the first two cups warm and the rest of it cold. This is the recipe:

- an inch of ginger, cut in pieces - for the morning sickness

- one stem of lemongrass, rolled up - this calms the nervous system, and at that time I was dealing with a lot of anger and frustration, plus it is super yummy.

Just pour boiling water over the lot and drink hot or cold. You can add some honey for taste. Some days I added the juice of one lime, for the vitamins.

3. Prunes
Dried prunes or prune juice help really well when you are constipated, which is a common symptom of the hormones and later the pressure of your bowel. Always keep some handy. They make a delicious snack. You could also make compote from dried prunes, by stewing a cup of prunes and a cup of water, mix or mash, as desired.


4. Water
Water is really the source of life, especially when you’re pregnant. Drinking a lot of water replenishes the amniotic fluid, wards of fluid retention, helps against constipation and lots more. I always have a bottle and glass next to me, specifically when I am writing.


5. Rest
I try to listen to my body and rest as much as possible. This is not always easy with a three year old around the house, but I arrange it so I either nap with her, or someone is around to take care of her during a nap. If I am really low energy, I will take a quick cat nap while she’s watching a movie.


6. Yoga
Right now I am doing Shiva Rea’s Pregnancy Yoga, and so far it has really helped me control my back issues. I feel replenished and relaxed after a session and my daughter loves to join. I don’t do it as much as I like, but end up doing the whole session at least twice a week.


7. Positive Thinking
Probably the most important thing in pregnancy is your thoughts. It is in your power to control them, and turn around negative thought. Pregnancy should be a time of contemplation, where you benefit from dealing with and healing your grievances, in order to be radiant and ready when that little bubble arrives.