Note from SDBM:

I want to take a moment to share with you someone whom I have great respect for and who has had a great impact on me, and that is Lisa Druxman (@LisaDruxman on Twitter), founder of Stroller Strides and a noted authority on pre/postnatal fitness. Not only has she been a great mentor in assisting moms achieve their entrepreneurial goals, but a role model and spokesperson for moms taking care of our physical well-being - something that many of us tend to place last on our priority lists.

A few months back Lisa included me and a handful of others in an intense (this was no pansy-type program-lol) pilot physical training bootcamp that lasted for two full months. My intentions were not to see a huge before & after difference, but what I did want was a lifestyle shift...a new way of thinking about health and well-being - most importantly a fresh approach to making room for a consistent routine in my daily life. Not only did I leave with that ingrained in my psyche, but I also did lose that excess weight that was not about to come off without some serious work (also found the task of shedding that so called "baby weight" was much harder a task than when I was younger).

This entry is to thank Lisa, once again, and to encourage any other mamas out there who just do not feel up to par to consider doing a little something for yourself by adding a regular fitness/diet program into your routine, coupled with a solid support system that encourages you to stick with it. It was one of the most empowering achievements in my life. No matter where we are at fitness-wise or how much weight we might have to lose, we just need to start where we are at and trust that with devotion our hard work will pay off! Powerful stuff, ladies. Please enjoy this blog post by Lisa that reminds us that...well, we really "are what we eat"!

Bet You Don’t Know How Much Fake Food You Are Eating! by Lisa Druxman:

What if I told you that 90% of the foods you eat are FAKE? I bet even those of you who think you are eating healthy are actually consuming a ton of artificial, processed and preserved foods.

Breakfast – frozen waffle made up high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors? Top it off with a fake syrup.

Lunch - deli meat on processed bread?

Dinner – pasta, filled with preservatives and jarred sauce with high fructose corn syrup?

I have been preaching eating whole foods for a long time. But I don’t think you are getting what that means. Today, 90% of the foods Americans eat are processed! You need to eat foods that are grown, fished or killed (sorry to be brutal here). Here’s another way to think about it. Are the foods you are eating something you could make in your home? You wouldn’t bake yourself a bread with transfats, articial colors and additives would you? Let’s face it. Food companies are in business. They make $ by making foods cheap and making them last and last on the shelves of the grocery store. It’s tricky. For instance, you think when you get sliced turkey from the deli that this is a healthy low fat protein. MOST deli turkeys are totally processed. They take the scraps of meat that are left over from cutting up the premium meat cuts, grind or dice them up and form them into a “consistent” product. Most are filled with sodium nitrate, artificial colors and flavors. Why? You can buy a good quality turkey from markets like Trader Joe’s and Whole foods and the ingredients will read Turkey (and maybe salt or honey or another natural flavor). It’s true it won’t last as long and it may be more expensive, but it will be REAL food!

I just read Jillian Michael’s book, Mastering Your Metabolism. She confirms everything I have been teaching about health but truly helped ME understand why it’s important from a scientific point of view. In her book, you will understand how these processed foods and toxins in our envrionment are destroying our bodies and our world. It’s a definite MUST-READ in my opinion if you value your health and the health of your children!