Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

The average consumer wraps 20 gifts during the holidays. If just 3 of those gift were wrapped in reused paper or a paper alternative, the paper saved could cover 45,000 football fields!
Use decorative newspaper ads, colorful pages from magazines, old book pages, music sheets, old maps, calendars, or Sunday comics to wrap with.
Use children's drawings and paintings that you don't want to throw away for wrapping paper.
Cut wrapping paper or children's art to fit the top and bottom of a gift box and permanently attach it, so it may be reused.
Reuse old ribbons and wrapping paper (if wrinkled, press with a warm iron)
Use flowers, evergreen sprigs, rosemary, pinecones, yarn or reusable hair ribbons instead of plastic bows.
Use the fronts of old holiday cards as name tags for this year's gifts.
Create a scavenger hunt in your home by hiding unwrapped gifts and giving each of your family members clues to find them.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Give a unique gift that eliminates holiday clutter and makes a difference. Leave the wrapping paper on the shelf and give back in a philanthropic way. You can make a difference in your life, your family's life, in the life of your community and the world. Committing green towards charitable giving is a gift that truly gives back.

Consider: Healthy Child Healthy World, The Breast Cancer Fund, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Heifer International, The Nature Conservancy, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Sustainable Harvest International, UNICEF, Donors Choose

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

To help get us in a festive mood for the holiday feast, here are some easy decorating ideas, using what you find out on a walk.

Centerpieces: Pumpkins and other winter squashes, Native American corn, acorns, nuts, grapes, pears, pomegranates, and apples overflowing from a wicker cornucopia or heaped in a wooden bowl look abundant and beautiful in the center of your festal table.
Leaf coasters: Autumn leaves make great coasters to protect your furniture from rings and stains. Oak leaves are especially tough, leathery, and durable.
Natural napkin rings: Tie napkins with raffia and tuck in a pretty fallen leaf and an acorn, or a cinnamon stick or two. Guests can add their cinnamon to a pot of hot cider to sip on later.
Pumpkin vase: Hollow out a pumpkin and place a cup inside to hold fresh or dried flowers.
Decorated votive holders: Glue or tie the following around the outside of your glass votive candle holders: dried apple slices, cinnamon sticks, cornhusks, autumn leaves.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Buy food (and drink-ideally tap water) from local companies whenever possible. Each pound of local food you purchase prevents a quarter pound of global warming (CO2) emissions. Support your local Farmer's Market. If possible, grow your own fruits and vegetables using organic gardening practices. Find local resources at www.localharvest.org.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Set the furnace thermostat at 68 degrees or lower, and the air-conditioner thermostat to 78 degrees or higher, health permitting. Three to five percent more energy is used for each degree above or below these marks

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Consider this: If you're in a drive through restaurant/ business line or waiting for someone in your car, turn your engine off! Idling is linked to increases in asthma, allergies, heart and lung disease and cancer. Idling gets ZERO miles per gallon. Idling for 1 hour burns nearly 1 gallon of gasoline.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Fact: In a recent warning about lead exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specifically recommends that shoes remain outside the house. According to a report called the Door Mat Study, lead-contaminated soil from the outside causes almost all the lead dust inside homes and it notes that wiping shoes on a mat and removing them at the door cuts lead dust by 60 percent.
Action: Leave the dirt at the door. Wiping our shoes off and leaving them at the door reduces the amount of contaminated dirt tracked in. Think about this, your babies and kids are the ones who spend the most time on the floor of your home.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Fact: Personal care product companies are not required to test their products for safety prior to selling them and can put in virtually anything they want. Not surprisingly, there are many ingredients that have been found to be harmful.
Action: Reduce exposure to carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and reproductive toxicants, by purchasing products that do NOT contain: Parabens, Formaldehyde, Triethanolamine and cocamide DEA, PEGs, Isoprpanol, 2-phenoxyethanol, Benzethonium chloride, Talk, Phthalates, or Fragrance . Skin Deep safety guide is a great resource www.cosmeticdatabase.com

Keep Moving!!

Exercising during pregnancy can help with the physical challenges of pregnancy and help speed postpartum recovery. One other great point is that you mentally feel much better after exercise! I think that's as important as the physical benefits, and also a strong motivator. Another benefit of prenatal fitness is that it can improve your baby's ability to tolerate the stresses of labor and delivery. Research has shown that babies of exercising moms have fewer complications during labor and delivery (possibly as a result of a greater blood flow and fetal reserves resulting from their mother's exercise). Another study found that the placentas of exercising women had greater blood flow from increased blood vessel development than those of pregnant women who didn't exercise regularly. That may be one way that babies of exercising moms are better able to deal with reductions in uterine blood flow during times of stress. All great reasons to keep exercising during pregnancy!

This comes from: Catherine Cram, M.S.Owner for Comprehensive Fitness Consulting LLCAuthor of Fit Pregnancy for Dummies (Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2004)

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Protein provides materials for the growing tissues, including the placenta, the mother's blood and the baby. You can get more calcium into your diet with eggs, fish, poultry and beef, tofu and cottage cheese. It’s suggested to take 74 grams of protein daily during pregnancy

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Stay hydrated! More fluids are necessary for a multitude of functions including providing for the expanding blood volume that helps to carry nutrients to mom & baby. And when you’re nursing, you will need the extra fluid to maintain a healthy flow of breast milk for your baby. Drink about eight to ten 8 ounce glasses of non-caffeinated, non-caloric fluids per day. Caffeine in excess can be dehydrating and high caloric drinks such as soda and juice can add up extra calories. Plus the added bonus is that drinking a lot of water is the best way for your skin to get that healthy glow

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Omega-3 fatty acids are important in baby's brain and central nervous system development, as well as preventing low birth weight and premature birth. Some reports also say that it helps regulate your baby’s sleep patterns. Low-mercury fish is a good source of omega-3s. But if you’re looking for alternatives to fish, it’s easy to get more of it. Supplement your oatmeal or smoothie with flaxseed (oil, ground, or the entire seeds), always care around a container of walnuts for snacking, and look for eggs that are fortified with omega-3s.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

No one said that eating healthier would be easier. But here are some tips that will save you time in your quest for more nutritious meals.
When making dinner, make twice as much — keeping the extra for lunches the next day. If you are cooking two chicken breasts, you might as well cook four. If you are making salad, pull out a to-go container and throw an extra serving in it for the next day.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Fruits and veggies are fabulous portable snacks that will help you to meet your daily vitamin and mineral needs. As you're heading out for the day, be sure to pack two to three pieces of fresh fruit and some cut-up veggies for healthy snacking. "Ants On a Log" isn't just for kids; it's a good snack for you too. Spread some peanut butter on that celery stick and top it with a few raisins!
Dried fruits and nuts are also handy snacks to have around. Along with fruits, vegetables and whole grains, adding dried fruit and nut mix can help you reach the 20-35 grams of fiber recommended for each day and is a healthy source of non-animal protein.
And remember, LUNA Bars are a great snack for moms. Created especially for women, LUNA bars include calcium, iron, fiber, protein, folic acid and other vitamins and nutrients that moms need.

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Boost your energy with breakfast. In your morning race to start your day, breakfast may slip your mind. Skipping out on breakfast can rob you of so much energy you feel it into the next day.
Don't miss out on this stamina-building morning eating occasion! Think of your needs while meeting those of your baby. For example, as you fill your baby’s sippy cup, pour a glass of milk for yourself. Or, if you don't like milk, try a drinkable yogurt or flavored milk to get the calcium you need.
Because you can't get by on yogurt and milk alone, instead of grabbing that pastry at the coffee shop or while running errands, reach for whole-grain foods such as instant oatmeal, LUNA bars, or slice of peanut-buttered whole-grain toast to compliment your morning dairy selection.

Mother's Day

One of my favorite classes each year that I offer at Stroller Strides is a Mother's Day class. Throughout class I weave in small quotes, motherly advice, and interesting Mother's Day facts. The moms had a great time yesterday as did I. We had refreshments after class and the best part....chair massages for all the moms! It was great seeing everyone help out each other...watching each other's child while that mom got just 5 minutes of bliss, it was well worth it if I do say so myself!

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

Do you double your portions because you’re now “eating for two”? Not so fast. The recommended weight gain for the average pregnant woman is 25-35 pounds. It only takes approximately 300 extra calories a day to meet this recommended weight goal. Great, extra calories, you say? A snack equivalent to 300 calories is an 6-ounce container of yogurt and a 1/4-cup of raisins. So you can see while you are eating for two, you are not eating for two adults. You are eating for one adult and a fetus that starts off the size of a grain of rice!

Help Spread the Word!

HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
The Breast Cancer Fund depends on its community to be a driving force in helping to create awareness and change around eliminating the environmental causes of breast cancer. One great way to help spread the word is to send your friends and family a Breast Cancer Fund E-Postcard at http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/apps/ka/ecard/cardForm.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=44861.

Become an advocate: The Strong Voices Leadership Development Program is a nationwide network of women and men who share their personal stories while inspiring the public to take action to end the breast cancer epidemic. The Strong Voices Leadership Development Program was envisioned when the Breast Cancer Fund founder, Andrea Ravinett Martin, first spoke out on behalf of the environmental links to breast cancer. As a leader and strong voice in the breast cancer advocacy movement, Andrea created the path for the Breast Cancer Fund to take issue with the single most compelling public health issue of this century – environmental health.

To become a Strong Voice, please fill the Volunteer Form and indicate that you are interested in additional advocacy training. http://www.breastcancerfund.org/volunteer.

Visit the Strong Voices website to learn more about the program, access tools and resources and find opportunities for involvement in your region. http://www.breastcancerfund.org/strongvoices

March For Babies With Team Stroller Strides

Please join Team Stroller Strides on April 19th at Centennial Park in Nashville. Please help our goal of raising $500.

WHY?
When you walk, you give hope to the families of babies born too soon or sick. The money you raise supports programs in our community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the serious problems that threaten our babies. This has been going on since 1970 and they have raised an incredible $1.8 billion to benefit all babies.

Please join our team TODAY and help us fundraise, if everyone gives a little....every bit of it helps! Come out this day and have some family fun, there will be lots of fun things for kids and Stroller Strides will be sponsoring a Stroller Decorating Contest!!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/deenaprichard

Luna Moms Club Weekly Tip

DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF BREAST CANCER
While more white women get breast cancer than African American women, more African American women will die of the disease. There are environmental exposures that are unique to African Americans like the more common use of hormone-containing personal care products. Please help us spread the word about the challenges for African American women. Request copies of and help distribute The Environmental Risks of Breast Cancer in African American Women at http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4284207:5038358624:m:1:225139026:B5916FD491273A7087B5B8BEA0A5685D.
And while fewer Latinas get breast cancer than other groups, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in Latina women in the United States. Experts say Latina breast cancer is understudied and that we simply do not have accurate data to know just how hard breast cancer is hitting these women. Help us shed more light on breast cancer within these communities of color. Read more about the Latina experience in BCF’s 2006 newsletter http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4284208:5038358624:m:1:225139026:B5916FD491273A7087B5B8BEA0A5685D. If you would like to help distribute our print newsletter a few times a year, fill out a volunteer form and let us know! http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4284209:5038358624:m:1:225139026:B5916FD491273A7087B5B8BEA0A5685D.

Take a Stand!!

SUPPORT EFFORTS TO GET RID OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
Phthalates have been linked to breast cancer, early puberty in girls, reduced testosterone levels, lowered sperm counts, genital defects in baby boys and testicular cancer. These chemicals are also found in products marketed to children. Support legislation that would ban phthalates in children’s toys like BCF-sponsored Toxic Toys Bill in California. Learn how.

Also check out Environment California’s Report, Toxic Baby Bottles that identifies which baby bottles contain Bisphenol A.

Couple's Class on Valentine's Day!!

I was so proud of the moms for bringing their husband's and families out last Saturday for our Valentine's Day Couple's Class! It is always fun for me to meet the "other half" and see who baby resembles more! I loved hearing all the feedback from the husband's. Some said they wish they could come every Saturday! Well, you can!!

Stroller Strides on Fox's Tennessee Mornings Show, January 2. 2009

Watch the interview on Tennessee Mornings! It was so much fun to be interviewed in the studio with Kelly Sutton and Stacy Case! I was glad and relieved that Ellis was a happy baby the whole time.