My Broken Delorean.

(The Delorean time machine from the movie "Back to the Future")

It has been a FULL summer. A busy, running, driving, chasing, swimming, butterfly-catching summer.

It's racing.

And sometimes I feel like I can't catch up. 

Some days I dare say I feel like I'm in a time warp. As though I wake up with 24 hours to my day and somewhere between breakfast and lunch, my time machine gets a flat tire and I'm suddenly cooking dinner and getting the kids ready for bed.

When did that happen?

I'm sure we all feel a sense of the "I can't fit it all in" conundrums (right?). But some days, I feel it more than others. Really.

These thoughts are culminating as I look back and realize that this month officially marks my three month anniversary of living a healthier and more holistic lifestyle. Since the beginning of my journey, many of my friends have asked me "Marilyn, what does holistic even mean?" It's a question I have asked myself before and wrote about in an April post called "Holistic-ish". The bottom line? We're trying to make healthier choices in our nutrition and lifestyle and incorporate more natural ways of living to better ourselves and the environment.

For me, this lifestyle is ever-evolving. It's also not as black and white as I thought it would be. It's a delicate dance. A slow, steady salsa of compromise. I'm ok giving a little of this, but not ok giving some of that. And sometimes I'll take a little of this...but I'm not ready to take any of that.

Regardless of whether or not we've mastered natural nutrition, home-life or health, these changes have certainly marked a difference in my day to day life.

This brings me back to my broken Delorean. Did the day really just fast forward? And then I wonder...
Are my lifestyle changes to blame? Lets take a look at the other day for example.

I worked from home with my little "moo-moo" (that's Mia). We needed to pick up Daniel by 3:30 pm because we all had a visit with our chiropractor for our regular check-up. This is new and something I would have never done before, but having incorporated this into our lives for three months, I've seen huge improvements in our health. I've learned that regular, quality chiropractic care can boost your immune system, reduce proneness to injury and keep your body working properly.

Before picking up Daniel, I packed a cooler of snacks and dinner for the kids. Some organic fruits, cheeses, sandwiches and milk. In the past, I would have just gone through a drive-thru. Now, I almost always pack a cooler whenever and wherever we go. It just amazes me, now more than ever, the limited food options at a lot of supposed "kid-friendly" places. Amusement parks, pools, beaches to name of few. You will find plenty of fried goodies but not much in terms of anything fresh or organic.

After our appointments, we headed home. Baths and bed for the kids and kitchen time for me. I find that most weeks I need to plan in at least one night of "bulk" cooking or baking, where I'll batch cook time-consuming meals that I can freeze and later re-heat or serve for other meals during the week. A typical batch cooking night for me will include one or more of the following: granola, breakfast muffins, bread, pizza dough, tomato sauce, fresh beans and pureed vegetables that I can use to add to dishes (typically squash or carrots).

So I wonder...
Were my days always this full? Or have I just not quite figured out how to master my time with these lifestyle changes? Whatever the case is, I know it's worth it.

At the end of my day, I'm optimistic. I know that the next months will bring even more learning and my slow salsa will be a little more smooth. Yes. I won't be tripping over my own feet. In fact, maybe I'll have enough time to ride in my Delorean without a flat and have a little more time to spare!

Absolute Craziness with Dr. Oz...

Ok, so I began my little holistic journey as a concerned mom for the sake of my kids' health back 3-4 weeks ago today. And as part of my journey, I subscribed to a bunch of "healthy" Facebook pages, one of which included Dr. Oz. I've seen his show, respect his views, and thought I could certainly learn a lot reading his posts. So I do just that. Log onto his page and fill out some information hoping to get tickets to his show. Lo and behold, the producers of the show call me and ask me to be on the show. Not in the audience. In the show. In a segment about immunity boosting foods! How crazy and ironic is that?

I did a small supermarket challenge segment along with two lovely girls yesterday, Kasey from Jersey and Jen from South Carolina. Poor Jen. She seemed so out of her element. It think she flinched every time a taxi cab drove by. Kasey went first, then Jen, then me! They "mic" me up (the term they used) and gave me clear instructions. "We will hand you an envelope. You will open it and look surprised. Show the camera your letter and rummage through the supermarket trying to find an immunity boosting food that begins with the letter."

"Ok, that sounds pretty easy", I thought. I walk in very confident and look into the camera, smile big and slowly open my envelope. W. The letter W. What in the world is edible that begins with the letter W, forget about the immunity boosting part. I scurry through the tiny-NYC-one lane aisled natural supermarket with a camera in my face and begin the hunt. The first thing I found was the only thing I could think of that would make sense...wheat grass juice. It's green. Looks gross. Must be healthy. We wrap up the shot and I return to the studio the next day to shoot the actual show and results with Dr. Oz, along with other guests.

After shooting most of the show, it was my turn to get on stage with Dr. Oz and reveal my fabulous choice of wheatgrass juice. I hand him the juice and smile big into the camera. Buzzzz...the buzzer goes off as Dr. Oz says very boldly "Sorry. You're wrong. It's Watermelon." Watermelon? I thought that was dessert. And isn't it made up of water and sugar?

I learned a few things today. One, Dr. Oz looks older in person. Two, I love being on camera. And three, watermelon is healthy! Just so bizarre how life can be. One day I'm scarfing down donuts and chocolate and the next, I'm appearing on the Dr. Oz show learning about healthy food choices. Absolute craziness!