Category: General Wellness

Better 4 U Banana Nut Bars

Better 4 U Banana Nut Bars

Posted on by Monica

There just ain’t enough time in the day. Amiright? So being able to whip up a healthy snack you can munch on all week long is fab. And these dairy free, gluten free banana nut bars really fit the bill. 

So, I don’t know about y’all but every morning I wake up with 57 things in my head that I want to try and get done that day. I’m lucky if I get to a handful of them.

And those beautiful little babies of mine are giant time suckers. I joke that two-thirds of my day is spent making them food, feeding them food, or cleaning up their food. Honestly, that might not be a joke but in fact pretty accurate. 

Thank goddddd for nap time. For the mamas that have littles that refuse a nap my heart goes out to you. I like to play a little game of “how much can I get done during nap time”. It’s fun. Depending on the day it’s usually a little exercise, maybe a little cleaning, and a lot of meal prep. 

And I work 10 hour shifts Tuesday through Thursday so on Sundays and Mondays I really try and get most of my cooking done for the week. I chop up veggies for dinner, wash all my fruit, prep smoothie bags, make 3 of the same exact salads for my lunches, and often make some sort of snack to eat all week long.

So as I have mentioned in an earlier post I like to make a lot of my own food. A perfect example of this is granola bars. Store bought granola bars can have a lot of extra crap; sugar, preservatives, etc. And when you make your own you can customize them to be what you want. Maybe you are gluten free, dairy free, vegan, nut free, whatever free, these Banana Nut Bars can be customized to fit your diet. These banana nut bars are delicious, healthy, easy, and best of all can be eaten with one hand. 

Because that’s how most your meals are eaten when you’re a busy Mom.

 

Better 4 U Banana Nut Bars:

Ingredients: 

  • 2 ripe bananas mashed
  • 1 cup rolled oats (gluten free for GF)
  • ½ cup pre rinsed quinoa 
  • ⅓ cup raisins (or any dried fruit)
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • ¼ cup almonds
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tsp cinnamon 
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup nut butter 
  • 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper and cooking spray. 

Mix together mashed bananas, oats, quinoa, raisins, chia seeds, almonds, pecans, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. 

In a microwave safe dish add nut butter (I use peanut butter) and microwave 20-30 seconds until runny. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla. Add peanut butter mixture to dry mixture and stir until combined. 

Press mixture into the baking dish. I like to press a couple raisins, almonds, and pecans onto the top (because it looks pretty).

Bake for 25 minutes until edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove and let cool in the pan. Remove and cut into 9 squares. These can keep covered on the counter for a few days but I like to wrap tightly and store in the fridge. Enjoy throughout the week!

Substitutions:

  • GF: Use gluten free oats
  • DF: There’s no dairy in recipe! 
  • Nut Free: Sub peanut butter for sunflower seed butter; omit nuts 
  • Vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey

Hope you enjoy!

-Monica

Basic Baby Body Mechanics & Ergonomics

Basic Baby Body Mechanics & Ergonomics

Posted on by Monica

What Are Ergonomics?

Ergo what-ee? Ergonomics. The study of people’s efficiency in their working environment. From a physical standpoint it’s setting up the space around you in order to prevent injury to the body. And body mechanics is how you move and carry your body. So I want to share some basic baby body mechanics and ergonomics. By just making some small changes you can promote good physical health in your working environment (aka your everyday life) and your back will thank you…and me.

 

Basic Baby Body Mechanic and Ergonomic Tips 

So, if your baby eats, poops, and wants to be held then check out these four everyday activities that you want to be sure you are performing with good body mechanics in an ergonomically friendly environment.

 

1. Diaper changes: 

Bad body mechanics

Don’t: Bend over at the waist to change your baby’s diaper. Bending over at the waist puts massive stress on your low back muscles placing them at risk for muscle strains. Commonly this occurs if changing diapers on a low surface like a couch or a pack N play.

Good body mechanics

Do: Use a changing table that comes to waist height. If you must use a low surface come down to your knees so you can still be low but your back remains straight.

 

2. Picking baby up: 

Bad body mechanics

Don’t: Try not to bend over at the waist with straight legs when picking your baby up from a low surface, such as the crib. Our back muscles are not meant to be put on massive stretch while contracting (what happens when we return to standing). Doing this repetitive type of motion is a recipe for a sore back.

Good body mechanics

Do: When picking a baby up from his/her crib try to stagger your legs and bend your knees while trying to keep back straight. If picking baby up from the floor try to squat down by bending your knees and keeping your back straight. Use two arms to pick up baby and bring baby close to your body center.

 

 

3. Holding car seat: 

Bad body mechanics

Don’t: While the car seat is great at protecting our babies it’s not great at protecting our backs. The car seat can quite possibly weigh more than your baby. So baby + car seat = VERY heavy. Don’t hold the car seat in one arm or too far away from your body center.

Good body mechanics

Do: Hold the car seat with both arms as close to your body center (your belly) as possible. Don’t carry baby in the car seat more than is necessary. Baby wearing is far more kind to your body but more on that in a later blog post.  

 

 

4. Holding baby while seated or nursing: 

Bad ergonomics

Don’t: It might not seem like this could do any damage but remaining in any position for too long when your body is not supported and in good alignment can cause a lot of pain. Do not sit unsupported or in an uncomfortable position. Avoid prolonged sitting (or nursing) with your shoulders rounded forward and head and neck flexed.

Good ergonomics

Do: Support your arms with pillows (the boppy pillow is clutch here). Use a small pillow at the base of your back for lumbar support. Keep the baby held close to your body. Try to keep your shoulders down and back. Make sure your feet are supported on the floor.

 

 

You can read more about lifting and carrying body mechanics in my post avoidance and treatment of caregiver neck pain. And obvioussssslyyy I know that true parenting life is wild and crazy and sometimes things are out of our control. Like when you have to pick your toddler up with one arm after changing his diaper on a low park bench at the zoo because your other arm is holding your 50# diaper bag because two kids come with a lot of sh*t. Both literally and figuratively. But just do your best. 

If unfortunately you still find yourself suffering from back pain, knee, neck, or foot pain check out theses posts below:

Prevent Neck Pain 
Stretches For Low Back Pain
Treat Your Knee Pain
Avoiding Foot Pain

 

Good luck!

-Monica 

How to Pick Up your baby

 

Top Posts & Pages
How I Eat Healthy (& My Go-To Green Smoothie)

How I Eat Healthy (& My Go-To Green Smoothie)

Posted on by Monica

My food thoughts from kale to cake and everything in between

I am no nutrition expert but I like talking about food. And what we put into our bodies plays such a huge role on how our bodies feel and function that I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about food. Plus I’ll jump at any opportunity to share recipes (like my Go-To Green Smoothie) or think about what I’m going to eat next. 

I just want to share some of my general thoughts and principles about cooking and eating. 

healthy eating

Food thought #1: 

I live loosely by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time I try to make good choices and eat things that I know are good for me and will nourish my body and the other 20% I shove cake, chips, donuts or mac N cheese down my pie hole. Again this is a loose rule. I have good days and bad days. So much of health (and life for that matter) is about balance. I find that the extremes don’t work.  I’m all about doing what makes you happy, helps you feel good, and is sustainable. So if some days you don’t eat a darn thing that isn’t the color beige. So be it. 

Enter food thought #2:

I try to eat a lot of colors. And nooooo, I’m not talking about my 2 year old’s fruit snacks. I’m talkin red apples, orange sweet potatoes, yellow peppers, green kale, green spinach, green celery.  Honestly, when I’m feeling kinda just blah a green smoothie can really perk me up. Heck, it could just be a placebo effect but I swear when I suck down a handful of kale in liquid form I honestly feel better. 

Tips for healthy eating

Food thought #3:

I try to make small substitutions or additions to my recipes to pack a good nutritional punch. This looks like lentil noodles instead of wheat noodles, greek yogurt instead of sour cream, blending up spinach into my pasta sauce, or when a soup recipe calls for 2 carrots…I throw in 6. Because I’m crazy like that. Also, I feel that if you put anything on a bed of something green and leafy your meal instantly rises in the nutrition ranks. Hot dog salad anyone?

Food thought #4:

I’m a huge fan of making my own food. Honestly my husband and I almost never pick up food or buy anything premade. When you cook your own stuff you know exactly what’s in it and how it was prepared. Homemade pizza dough, marinara sauce, granola bars, salad dressing, are a few things I make on the reg. I know life is crazy busy and it may feel way too time consuming to always be whipping up your own food but I promise it can be super fast and easy.

healthy apple muffins

Food thought #5:

Ok, I  debated sharing this one because I don’t want to seem like a giant hypocrite when I’m chowing down pizza on a friday night but I figured I might as well. I generally  cook gluten free and somewhat dairy free. By no means do I have allergies to either but I just find I feel better if I lay off the gluten and don’t overdo it on the dairy. These days it’s sooooo easy to find alternatives to gluten and dairy that again it’s just a matter of performing a little swap-a-roo to help make something a little healthier. Now, dairy free cheese sucks. There is no replacement for Wisconsin cheese. Sorry. 

Final thoughts:

While I’d love to say that my toddler also eats what we eat including a variety of vegetables and chickpea pasta, that just aint the case despite my best efforts. Most of my recipes and food principles are aimed at adults unless you are blessed with an amazing child that eats anything. But if you want the recipe for my son’s dinner 3-4 nights out of the week here it is:

Ingredients:

  • 1 tortilla
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Spread peanut butter on tortilla. Roll tortilla up. Serve.

Boom. Peanut Butter Roll-Up. 

There are so many other things I want to talk about related to eating and nutrition. Like how to avoid the Eating-Your-Toddlers-Left-Overs diet, nutrition during nursing, and proper nutrition for running but I’ll save those for some later posts. Again, to me it’s all about balance. Drink your smoothie in the morning so you can have your cake in the evening. 

Below is my recipe for my Go-To-Green smoothie. My husband and I have a smoothie most mornings and I meal prep by making around 4 smoothie bags at the start of the week. That way I just have to pull one bag out of the freezer and pop it in the blender and presto. Smoothie. 

Go-To-Green Smoothie:

(makes 2 smoothies…and sometimes enough for another mini toddler sized smoothie)

  • 1.5 ripe banana
  • 1 apple
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 big handful of spinach or kale 
  • 1.5 tablespoons of peanut butter
  • Squeeze of lemon

Optional add-ins depending on what’s in my pantry:

  • Chia seeds
  • Flax seeds
  • Medjol dates
  • Maca powder 

Put all ingredients in a blender (or in a quart size freezer bag if making for later). Add 2 cups of water and a few ice cubes (omit ice cubes if pulling from the freezer). Blend until smooth. Drink. Feel like a million bucks.

– Monica

More of My Favorite Healthy Recipes:

Healthy (ish) Sausage Kale Pizza

Sausage Kale PIzza
Sausage Kale Pizza with Spinach Sauce

Healthy Stuffed Acorn Squash

stuffed acorn squash

Zucchini, Corn, and Chicken Chowder

Zucchini, Corn and Chicken Chowder
Tips for eating healthy

Hi and welcome

Hi and welcome

Posted on by Monica

I know what you’re thinking.

“Greeeeeat, another fitness blog”. Nope. I’ll never have the six pack abs or bootylicious hindquarters to compete with those ladies. Mad props to them. And while I do my fair share of dabbling in Instagram workout routines I unfortunately like cake and beer too much.

“Another Mommy blog?” Not exactly. I’m often the one seeking advice and by no means have the experience or confidence to dish any out. Like a lot of moms I simply do my best to get by. Are my kids alive, mostly clean, and happy? If yes, it’s a good day.

My blog is about sharing what I know as a physical therapist or what worked for me as a mom to stay active and address any body pains during pregnancy, postpartum and beyond. Being a mom is hard A.F. and we are really hard on our bodies. I would bet 99.9% of you could think of an ache or pain you have experienced at some point in motherhood (or prior) that really just kinda ruined your day, or week, or year. Furthermore, sometimes these musculoskeletal issues prevent us from doing the things we enjoy or make us feel good.

I know from personal experience how much it sucks when you hurt your back or your neck and that is literally all you can think about because every little movement hurts so you lay on your family room floor and cry because all you want is for the pain to go away. Been there. Done that.

So why the blog? Because over the past few years I have had countless mom friends ask me questions about pelvic pain, back pain, neck pain, wrist pain, pain with running, incontinence, running during pregnancy, running after pregnancy, how to exercise safely and honestly I LOVE talking about it. LOVE. IT.

The number one question I get asked by patients is “Why did you become a physical therapist?” 

My answer. “Because I love the body.”

It’s fricken amazing. The things it can do are crazy. And if you strengthen or stretch the right muscles you can basically make it do whatever you want. So cool, right? But it’s also important to be aware of the everyday activities and positions we are putting our bodies in because if you are doing it wrong your body is gonna let you know. Cue persistent back pain.

Annnd, I like helping people. I like building relationships and helping others feel the best they can so they can do the things they want in life. Maybe you’re a mom-to-be, a new mama, an old mama, a grandma, a dad (stay tuned for future blog post about my husband’s wrist pain), or heck, maybe you just have pain (cuz who doesn’t) then I want to help you with some tips to help you take care your body and to just generally feel good. I mean it’s your body and you only get the one.

So here goes nothing. Me, doing my best to navigate the blogosphere, use appropriate punctuation (not gonna happen) and give you content you all find helpful or informative. I have a lot of post ideas but would love to hear what you would like to see. Feel free to send me an email with any questions or comments. 

Sincerely, Best wishes, Regards, Cheers,

(Working on coming up with something catchy)

–Monica

Working out with kids