Healthy Snacking Tips for Holiday Dieting

The holiday season wouldn't be the same without cookies, candy, cheese balls, dips, ham, alcohol and calorie-laden goodies, right? From Thanksgiving to Epiphany, the holidays mean overindulgence. If you're dieting or watching your weight, holiday foods can pose real stumbling blocks. And if I stop dieting for the holidays, it seems all the harder to restart in January. Why not try these tips to tame the taste for decadent desserts and delicacies with these healthy alternatives? read more

Skip the Winter Flu Vaccine with Vitamins, Herbs, Good Nutrition and Common Sense

In fall, everyone jumps on "flu shot" bandwagon, it seems. The FDA, CDC, doctors, schools and pharmacies breathe down our necks to get vaccinated, I feel like David against Goliath. I refuse the flu shot; I'd rather stay healthy with herbs, vitamins, supplements, good nutrition and common sense. Why would I not get the flu shot and have my children vaccinated? Several reasons: first, I don't submit to any unilateral dousing of drugs and I'm certainly not going to expose myself or my kids to a live strain of flu, when they've shown no reason to need it. Second, my husband discussed the flu vaccine with his employer's company nurse. She made a cogent point. Once a person has received the flu vaccine, they are likely to need it again every year from that time going forward. I'm not ready to start down that road and I'm certainly not subjecting my children to a possible lifetime "addiction" to the flu shot. When they are of age, they can make that decision.

There's also the concern that it only vaccinates against a few strains. It's a guessing games which ones will be prevalent. Also, my oldest daughter was wrongly give the H1N1 in 2009 when she was ALREADY ILL with it! She was deatlhy ill for weeks. Her doc later admitted they shouldn't have pushed it. Rather obvious to me and I'm only a lay person. From a medico, it's reprehensible.  Instead, I use these tips. read more

Sibling rivalry: Parenting tips to help kids get along

I'm always saddened when I hear parents say that their kids don't like each other. I'm not bragging (well, not much), but our four kids all get along great and always have. I don't say that to be self-righteous. I don't know exactly why our family has so little sibling rivalry. We may just be lucky. If it had anything to do with our parenting, here's what we did. Sibling rivalry: Parenting tips to help kids get along