We’ve all been there, no matter how peaceful and calm things may look on the outside, being a mom sometimes (or often) includes a lot of stress. Recently I was introduced to Darlene Berkel, creator of the Ultimate Stress Relief Toolkit and owner of Natural Stress Relief Tips for Women. Darlene graciously agreed to answer my questions so that I could share some great “de-stressing” tips and solutions with all of you.

Be sure to check out the amazing giveaway at the end of this post. Darlene has offered her Stress Relief Toolkit for a few lucky A Frog In My Soup readers.

Interview

Shera: What is the number one thing you see moms do that contributes to them feeling stressed in life?

Darlene: Trying to do it all alone. The number two thing is aiming for perfection. Many moms are struggling and trudging towards their life goals all by themselves. We place such a high value on independence that we often forget something: success does not require either co-dependence or independence, but interdependence. Often, achieving success in any area of life is just a helping hand away.

You can’t do it alone; nobody can. No need to feel weak just because you * sometimes * need other people’s help to get through tough times. A kind word, some encouragement, serious butt kickin’, practical advice – we need a little of all this to keep us going.

This program will really open moms’ eyes to new ways of productively dealing with my stress. One important thing that mom’s will be reminded of is this: ‘It’s essential to practice acceptance. Perfection is not necessary and moms need to watch out for setting the bar too high, which often contributes to feeling stressed in life.

Shera: Stress is definitely not a stranger to me and I really know what it’s like to feel life is really too overwhelming. What is the one thing you would say to a mom like me to help me through those moments?

Darlene: I would tell you to take ten minutes to relax. That’s all it takes to get through those tough moments. When you feel life is really too overwhelming you are already in a stress danger zone. If you can find even a few minutes for peace and quiet, you can use them to relax and rejuvenate yourself to get through those moments. Even when you have children, a home, a job, a relationship, hobbies, classes to take, friends to pay attention to, a lawn to be mowed and dishes to wash, you still need to grab time for yourself to relax, unwind and refresh yourself. It’s amazing how just ten minutes of “me-time” to nourish your mind, body, and soul could turn a bad day into a much better one.

Shera: What inspired you to create a stress relief toolkit for women?

Darlene: A terrible loss (my fiancé succumbed to cancer in 2007) reminded me of just how precious life is. I was inspired to stay in the Caribbean, leave my stressful office job and build a balanced life that is focused on the things that are most important in life: spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical well being.

I am still a grieving survivor. But my pain has propelled me to work with women to help them manage stress effectively and live a more balanced, happier life.

I’ve created a website exclusively for women because we need to support each other in “virtual sisterhood.” I love creating products and programs to help women grow personally, emotionally, mentally, and financially. The Internet is an exciting place to be right now. Not only can we reach so many with very little effort and expense, but we can also support each other, no matter which corner of the globe we live in.

Shera: Most of us go looking for a product like yours when we are in the midst of a crisis and the stress is taking over, when would you recommend that a mom actually use your toolkit though?

Darlene: My grandmother always use to say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So it’s best that moms arm themselves with the knowledge and tools that can help them cope effectively with stress triggers before the stress starts to take over.

Rather than wait until a crisis arises and stress takes over, I would recommend that moms actually use the toolkit in advance. Regret is a sad and negative emotion. The good news is that there are things you can do to help prevent regret in the first place. If you should find yourself feeling regretful, there are also ways to overcome those feelings. You’ll find plenty of tips in the toolkit to help you live a regret-free life.

Giveaway

This week, several of you (5 to be exact – WOW) will have the opportunity to experience the Stress Relief Toolkit for yourselves (each kit is valued at $47). Be sure to use the lovely entry form below to gain lots of chances at your very own Stress Relief Toolkit! This is an 8 week program that gives you all the tools you need to naturally get and stay stress free. I’ll give you more details on how the program works over the weekend, in the meantime, start entering and tell all your friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: As with all features, product and/or compensation was received in order to present this post. All opinions expressed are honest and exclusively those of the author. For our full disclosure policy please go here.

Making a more conscious decision to work out isn’t always easy, but the great thing is that the rewards for doing it are phenomenal. After joining the MapMyFitness challenge I have been a lot more consistent with my workouts and when I do workout I feel amazing afterward.

Have you joined yet? If you haven’t be sure to check out MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge for all the details. No, they won’t police your workouts but knowing that it’s there and that you set goals can mean a better chance that you’ll feel more driven to work out each day.

There’s nothing that will knock me out of any kind of workout routine more than illness. I have been fighting a cold for the last few weeks and my energy level has been exceedingly low. So, although I have absolutely not worked out as often as I had intended in my goals for the program, I feel pretty darn good about the fact that I still did work out fairly frequently. All things considered that’s a big win in my book.

The idea is to get and stay motivated. Being part of a program like MapMyFitness challenges us to do just that in a real way. I even downloaded an app to help me stay on track and even update my progress. 

Did you know that February is National Heart Health month? Even if it’s only 5 more minutes a day, what extra step will you take to stay fit?

For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Heart health is a big deal around here. Several years ago we discovered my husband had high blood pressure, so we began making adjustments to our eating habits then that we have tried to improve upon over the years.

General health and the need to lose some weight has had me focusing a bit more this year on finding ways to work out more consistently so I recently joined the MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge.

The basic goal with this great program is to work out 15 times in 30 days, which is totally doable (yay). I plan to do more, but what’s great about this is that I can still deal with the unexpected in daily life as a parent (illness, events, etc) but be able to easily reach that goal.

This program is totally free (though they do have some premium membership options that are completely up to you) and simple to use. Just map your workouts as you go to track your progress. Be sure to hop on over to sign yourself up today and get started toward better health!

Joining the MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge is my first step towards becoming healthier. It’s your turn to join the conversation and tell me what motivates you to stay healthy?

For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

I thought I was the only one. That every other mom out there somehow had it figured out but me. I sometimes question my ability to be a good parent simply based on how easy it can be to get so very overwhelmed with the endless list of things I need to do. I sometimes can’t help but wonder if at any moment my competency as a parent will be called into question because of my forgetfulness or organizational difficulties.

It’s no secret that things are often chaotic in our teeny tiny house filled with 6 growing busy boys. There are few that don’t immediately question my state of sanity the moment they find out how many children I have. It amuses me when I can just see them trying to imagine what would transpire if they were to spend several hours cooped up in a little room with said number of boys. But I digress…

The age difference from my 16 year old down to the 5 year old twins seems monumental right now. The idea that I have to be able to smoothly transition in the course of a millisecond from “don’t break that” and “what on earth are you doing up there?” to worrying about the cost of adding the 16 year old to our insurance (can you hear me scream?), and talk to him about his future is all likely to happen in the course of a normal moment for me.

I have children in three different schools. For the first time ever all 6 of my sons are attending school, though the Twinks only have morning Kindergarten. The few hours that they are at school should feel like a time to breathe and rebuild, but I end up spending so much of that time tackling Mount Laundry, picking up, running errands and generally recovering from the whirlwind that is 6 boys, the time is gone before I have even taken a single breath.

I could go on and on… but I think you get the idea here. This may not be everyday life for the next mom, but the point is that I have spent the last several years simply surviving, and lately I’ve been trying to take a step back and evaluate whatever I can to help move past mere survival. As a mother, as a woman, as a wife, as a human being I want to be happy and healthy, even in my present circumstances!

I can’t tell you how many times I have not only thought that I am alone in feeling overwhelmed, but that I am a horribly incompetent parent because I can’t always just roll with every single spontaneous and unexpected thing that is thrown my way. Admittedly, I do have a few more than the average number of children, but I have discovered that so many other moms feel exactly the same way I do. We share the same or similar struggles, frustrations, feeling overwhelmed and so much more.

This year, the theme at A Frog In My Soup is Healthy Family, but that means taking a look at each individual part of that family to make sure that they are healthy in more than the physical sense.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be taking a deeper look at motherhood and I have a few thoughts on the demystification of certain aspects of motherhood. There are no perfect parents, but we can all be capable and equipped parents that still make mistakes.

Today, I want any mom who feels overwhelmed to know that you are not alone. We all experience it at one point or another, it’s how we face it that makes the difference.

Happy Friday, A Frog in My Soup readers!

First, let me take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Nancy and I am the new Product Review Coordinator here at AFIMS. Pretty much that means that I have the BEST job ever!! I get to try out all kinds of fabulous products and then share them with you, and most of the time I’ll even get to give one away! Pretty cool, huh?

We have such an amazing giveaway for you this week to kick off the New Year!

So, let’s get this party started! This week I wanted to tell you about Stages of Beauty. When we were contacted about trying these customized skin products, I was thrilled! Shera and I wanted to focus on keeping ourselves and our families healthy this year, but at my house, sometimes my health and beauty routines are last on the list. Stages of Beauty has made it easy for me to take care of my skin and feel good about myself in just a few easy steps.

I have to say that the first thing that got my attention was the packaging of the products I received. They were seriously beautiful, and it was really fun to open. Plus, they use 100% recyclable packaging at every stage in production from the glass jars, to the crinkle paper that fills their boxes! I love that!

I received the Radiance Treatment Cream and the Radiance Antioxidant Serum. Radiance is the name of the line that is specifically formulated for skin in its 20s. I love that the lines are so age specific because most skin care lines don’t take that into account. Many deem their products to be “anti-aging” but what my skin needs at 28 is much different than what it will need at 38 or 48 and Stages of Beauty considered that when creating their formulas.

Need a few more reasons to love this line? Well, all of the products at Stages of Beauty are fragrance free, safe for sensitive skin, and not tested on animals. The serum and cream help your skin decrease redness, improve the evenness, hydration, radiance and elasticity of your skin, and of course treat and prevent wrinkles – all in a few short steps.

One of the things I noticed immediately was that my skin didn’t feel heavy. After cleansing, I applied a few drops of the serum, and then the cream on top. The cream does not contain SPF, so I made sure to throw on a little SPF 20 during the day. (I definitely went through a phase of sun worshiping in my teens and I am paying for it now!) Even with all of these layers, my skin was soft, smooth, and felt refreshed.

I have only been using this for a few days, but already I feel like the general health of my skin has improved, especially in the hydration department. I have a hard time with this during the winter and have found that some products leave me with a layer of grease on top of the dry skin, but not with Radiance!

I am thrilled with what I have had the chance to try and can honestly say that this will now be a permanent part of my beauty routine! I am going to have to get my hands on some cleanser and scrub next!

So, do you want to try Stages of Beauty too?? Well, their wonderful people have agreed to give one of our readers a cream and serum that will work for their skin’s age! That is a value of over $80! Here’s how you can win!

Each of the following count as one entry. A separate comment must be left bellow for each entry.

• Visit www.mystagesofbeauty.com and tell us what product you want to try and why.
• “Like” A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Become a follower of A Frog in My Soup on Twitter.
• “Like” Stages of Beauty of Facebook.
• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook and tag A Frog in My Soup.
• Tweet about this giveaway and mention @afroginmysoup.

That’s a total of 6 possible entries! Remember, each comment is it’s own entry, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each of these that you do.

This contest will end Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 11:59 pm and a winner will be announced on Friday, January 27th, 2012. You will have 72 hours to respond to afroginmysoupinfo @ gmail dot com or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck and Happy Entering!

Disclosure: I received these products free of charge to review, however Stages of Beauty did not compensate me in any other way. The opinions expressed in this post are mine. You can read this site’s disclosure policy here.

Do the holidays leave anyone else feeling just plain tired? Maybe it’s just me, but I know that I’ll spend pretty much this entire week getting everything and everyone back in order after the holidays.

Laundry is no worse (thank goodness), but it’s no better either, even after a full two holiday weeks of no break from it. Mount Laundry is still a formidable giant.

It’s always challenging to try and keep on top of the needs of 6 boys, but at the end of the holidays when sleep deprivation has set in (either due to insomnia or children waking at 5am… or both), suddenly everything seems foggy and a little more difficult to grasp than usual.

Today, although a nap is sounding lovely to me even at 8:30 am, I have a busy day so I am going to make the best of it. For me this means having a few moments of quiet, a nice hot cup of coffee and just get moving.

If you’re fighting post-holiday fatigue, here’s a few tips…

Get up and move.

Getting outside, even if it’s cold or a little dismal, can do wonders for your attitude, brain fog, etc. It’s a great way to clear your mind and although it tends to make me sleepy at first it definitely puts me in a better mood and makes me feel far more able to tackle whatever I need to do that day.

Make a plan.

Have a purpose, especially this week. Make a to-do list and just whack away at it this week to see how much you can accomplish. Keep it realistic, it’s a great motivator if you know you can actually accomplish it.

Take time to rejuvenate.

Make a few moments each day to just be alone and unwind. This might not be everyone’s thing, but I love silence and it’s definitely more than a rarity around here. I like to cozy up for a few minutes and either read or just sit and relish the moment with a cup of coffee or tea.  For some of you it might be taking a bath or even just a long hot shower. Whatever it is, try to find that 10 minutes where you can just breathe!

Take your vitamins.

Make sure you’re taking a good quality vitamin. This is the time when a lot of us are run down physically (not eating the same, stress, less sleep or not sleeping well, you get the idea) among other things and making sure we have plenty of B and C vitamins in particular is essential to keeping our bodies healthy.

I always love when a brand gets behind real nutrition for families! I know it seems like all major food brands should be, but alas, that often isn’t the case. Sacrificing nutrition for the sake of cutting costs and “improving” flavor (really?) is what most brands are all about.

As you all know I’ve been a big fan of Horizon for a long time, the fact that they now offer their milk with DHA (in the Omega-3 family) is a great option for families who are trying to find ways to provide more nutrition for their family.

Often kids love milk but are also picky eaters and not as likely to consume the variety of foods necessary for the optimal diet so this is a great way to offer that extra nutrition.

Before I bore you completely with my nutrition soap box, let me just say that adding Omega-3 to your family’s diet doesn’t have to be difficult and can actually be amazingly tasty!

My kiddos LOVE granola! When I found out that Flax Seed is one of the best sources for Omega-3 I immediately started adding it in when I make our homemade Granola.

Granola is an amazingly versatile food. We eat it with dried or fresh fruit, as cereal, with yogurt and the list goes on.

Homemade Granola

6 Cups Oats
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (or substitute if desired)
1/2 Cup Flax Seed
1/4 Cup Powdered Milk
3/4 Cup oil (we use Extra Light Olive Oil)
3/4 Honey
1 Tbsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. On a cookie sheet mix the dry ingredients. Put the honey, oil and vanilla in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute (should only be warm not hot). Pour the liquid mixture over the dry mix on the cookie sheet and blend until all dry ingredients are coated. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool to warm then immediately transfer to an airtight storage container (if you wait too long it will harden and stick to the cookie sheet).

Fun Tip!

My favorite thing about this recipe is… when you go to rinse your hands after mixing, put just a little warm water on your hands and scrub….makes the most AMAZING sugar scrub and leaves your hands feeling great!

Chance to WIN!

Did you know that if you share how you sneak Omega-3’s into your family’s diet you can be entered for a chance to win a $500 Grocery Shopping Spree!

DHA belongs to a category of healthy fatty acids known as Omega-3′s. DHA is a major structural fat in the body, and has been shown to support brain, heart and eye health. Not only is DHA found in foods like salmon and eggs, but it can also be found in Horizon® Organic Milk enhanced with DHA Omega-3. Learn more about Horizon’s commitment to healthy families at http://www.horizondairy.com/everyday-nutrition/dha-omega-3/

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Horizon Organic brand.

Yes, I’m definitely milking the whole Honey month thing, but as I have mentioned to you all so many times, it’s probably one of my favorite staples to keep on hand. Yes it’s great for cooking, and {as you learned last week} in beauty products, but have you ever wondered why?

Ok, so maybe I’m the only one that’s crazy enough to actually wonder. Either way, today I’m going to share with all of you what the big deal about honey is.

It’s far more than a sticky sweet substance that we use on our food (or faces even)! Few people realize the true benefits of honey.  For starters, let’s be clear, you don’t need to consume barrels of it, small amounts are sufficient. It’s not the cheapest sweetener out there, so be creative where you look for it and stock up when you find a screaming deal.

Please do NOT forget that it is absolutely not ok to feed honey to infants under 12 months old! Botulism is present in a lot of honey and an infant’s system cannot fight this off, making it potentially deadly!

I grew up drinking Honey-Lemon tea whenever I had a sore throat or cold and it always made me feel amazing while I was drinking it. No, it wasn’t an instant cure, but the amazing properties in both the honey and lemon work wonders on the common cold…and many other things.

Not only does honey coat the throat soothing those irritating cold symptoms immediately, but is also has some pretty incredible antibacterial and antimicrobial properties! It’s even been suggested that honey (Manuka in particular which is actually a Medical grade honey not available on store shelves) is capable of shutting down MRSA which is a drug resistant staph (see this article).

So far we know it’s antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, but it’s also been shown to have enzymes and antioxidants that actually fight off cancer and tumors (see articles here and here though there are many others).  Be aware however, that as mentioned before, not all honey is created (or processed) equally and there are medicinal and food grades of honey.

In the case of cancer treatment, honey is not meant to replace traditional methods, but rather to compliment it. As with anything using it in conjunction to your physician’s recommendations is always best.

At this point, I definitely believe that honey qualifies as a superfood! Keep plenty on hand for everyday cooking and even some beauty products, but you might want to even do a little more research and invest in a bit of medical grade honey and give it a try .

Note: Did you know that you can double click on any word in any of my articles and then choose the “define” option to pull up a dictionary screen for that word? It’s a fun feature and as I get into some of the more informative, teaching type posts you may find plenty of opportunities to use this option .

Disclaimer: Ladies and Gentleman, this information is provided as purely informational. It is in NO way intended to be used as medical advise or to be used in the place of a physician’s care. Please use this information wisely, do your own research.

If you’ve been at all inspired by the recent homemade health and beauty recipes, then it’s likely that you’ve been left with a desire to change but few tools and little information to make that happen.

Today, I want to issue a challenge. Pick the amount of time you want to spend on it, but this week I’d encourage you to spend even 10 minutes researching the vast array of health benefits of Tea.

Now, in all honesty, I was actually tempted to leave the “tea” part out of today’s title. Why? Because there are people who have such an aversion to it that it’s likely they won’t even click on the title when they see the word.

I’ll get more in depth about the vast array of amazing benefits you can get from simply drinking tea and why another time. Tomorrow’s post is quite lengthy and very educational, so today I wanted to keep it simple.

Spending only a few minutes researching it will barely scratch the surface, but it will show you quickly and simply some of the truly amazing reasons to incorporate drinking tea into your daily regimen. Check out your local supermarket’s natural foods section for some amazing teas that are conveniently packaged.

There’s even some super fun ones just for kids that they love and that comfort them! I could go on and on, but I won’t so that you have time to leave here and take part in this week’s challenge. If you feel really inspired by what you find, feel free to come back here and leave a comment.

One year ago, all 6 of my sons had serious respiratory illnesses. The severity of their illnesses and duration of recovery was phenomenally challenging. Needless to say, since then my way of approaching my family’s health has changed drastically.

In the midst of it all, a simple yet astounding fact hit me like a ton of bricks…. in the process of everyday cooking and caring for our family, we as moms are in fact, nutritionists for anyone we care for. This became a blazing reality quite possibly because of the extent of the illnesses and all the meds that were required to get my children well.

A Drastic Realization

I often found myself thinking, “there has to be a better way”. There has to be a way to be more proactive in keeping my kids healthy not just treating them when their health deteriorates to the point that they need serious medical intervention.

As I began the turn toward finding ways to cook and nourish my family in a healthier way I began a journey in natural nutrition. As I wade knee deep through so much amazing information, I felt compelled to share a bit of what I learn with all of you.

Yes, I’m just a mom. No, I’m not a medical professional. No, this information is never to replace the advice and care of your regular physician. Yes, you should do your research and find out ways to learn and grow in your own knowledge in nourishing and growing your family.

A S.A.D. Nation

The fact of the matter is that the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) keeps us full but also keeps us very malnourished. Honestly, it absolutely never occurred to me that in the midst of having plenty my family is still struggling with deficiencies in so many areas.

Let me make it clear right off the bat, I personally do not believe that the recommended daily allowances or many of the suggestions out there about how we eat from the government are even close to home base for most of us. The fact that most of us don’t even think to question whether or not what they recommend is good for us or even sufficient for us is actually a bit disturbing.

As a mom, in every other area of raising my family, caring for them (and myself and hubby), I have to mold and change and flex with the needs of each of my children. Yet, since it’s all laid right out there for us by the government and various agencies, I never questioned that what I was eating was not only just empty calories, but was actually creating deficiencies that affect my everyday life more than I ever could have thought possible.

Has She Lost Her Mind?

If this sounds a little extreme to you, I encourage you to really do a little research on body function, malnutrition and vitamin/mineral deficiencies and the results thereof. You may still believe that I’m off my rocker, and that’s ok, but there’s also a good possibility that your eyes will be opened and you may find yourself thinking twice about the breakfast cereal you pull out of the cupboard in the morning.

My life changing realization went deeper than the long, horrible illnesses all of my boys endured a year ago.

It was an absolute show-stopping discovery that my body cannot and does not absorb vitamin B12. This was a long process to figuring out, but while using it to eliminate one problem (Angioedema – hive-like swelling under the skin), it actually worked for my issues with depression. Not saying this is a common side-effect, but it was too drastic to ignore. I chose to embrace it, learn from it and move forward to see what else I could discover.

My intent here is not to tell you that you’re doing it all wrong!!! Please don’t think that, I still serve sub-par meals to my family, we have not yet made the full switch to whole foods, but I am educating myself more and more each day and making one single change at a time.

The Gradual Change

This brings us to a huge point. With going green in your home I have always made the suggestion that you choose one thing at a time. This could be one thing per month, one thing per year even, but one thing that you are committed to changing. With nourishing your family I will recommend the same.

I’ll be posting ideas, and likely even challenges that I invite you to join me in. These will be intended to help you to actively make a difference in your family’s every day health!

But I’m Just a Mom

No, you’re never ever just a mom! I know all you do, the parts of yourself that you have so completely given to your family and even your friends. Not all moms have time or the desire even to study to become a nutritionist, though that seems to be exactly what all of us need.

I’ll be sharing Homemade Healthy articles from time to time here at A Frog In My Soup. These are intended to simply inform you. Basic facts about great foods and nutrients and bits of information that I have learned and feel compelled to share.

This information is in NO way intended to be taken as medical advice or replace the instructions of any physician.

So next week, our first Homemade Healthy article will be published. I truly hope you find these articles and information helpful in your everyday routine!