Me Time branded apparel is where fun meets fashion, and where you can identify with the important me time message among our many fashion top designs. From shopping to sunbathing, wine to dog walking and everything in between, we have your favorite me time activities covered. Our tees make a statement and will draw comments and smiles.
Brought to you by
Me Time Contributor
Debi Silber themojocoach.com
Feeling a sense of control is important to your health, self esteem and well being. It helps us feel strong, empowered and in charge of our lives and the way it’s unfolding. While a sense of control is beneficial, too much control often leaves us micromanaging everything and everyone in our path. Are you micromanaging? Do you need to oversee everything and make sure it’s all done your way? Is it unsettling for you when things aren’t done to your exact specifications? Besides taking on an enormous amount of extra stress, you’re probably making things more difficult for everyone in your path. If this sounds like you, it’s time to stop micromanaging, learn to delegate and let it go. First of all, consider it from your children’s perspective.
Let’s say you ask them to make their bed. The cover may be pulled up but it’s not tucked in with military precision by any means. You’ve asked them to handle the bed making task, it doesn’t meet your approval so you decide to remake their bed. What message are your children receiving while you’re satisfying your need for a perfect house? They’re probably feeling like their efforts aren’t good enough which discourages them from trying harder while diminishing their self esteem. Here’s another example.
You’ve asked your husband or partner to go food shopping in an effort to share the workload. So far, this is a great plan. He comes home with every concoction of sugary, fatty junk food that can be found on the supermarket shelves. What do you do? Maybe you decide that he simply can’t get it right so it’s yet another job you’ll have to do. Who are you punishing here? Yes you’ll bring home some healthier options, but how about providing him with a specific list and hoping for the best? Your first option only leaves you with more work, frustration and unhappiness while he’s off the hook and wishing you could simply ask for what you want.
This next example is something way too many moms can relate to. What happens when your child comes home with a complicated project that’s due in a few days? Is it really their project, or has it become yours? Of course you want your child’s project to be completed, nicely done and timely but many moms feel that if their child’s work will be seen in or outside the classroom, it needs their decorating touch. There are a few things going on here.
The first thing worth mentioning is how does your “involvement” affect your child? Sure the project may look award winning by the time you’re through but consider the long term consequences. Your child will be doing hundreds of projects during their school career. As they grow, the time involved, difficulty and requirements will only increase. If they’ve never had an opportunity to take full responsibility for their work, their effort and their time, how will it affect them later on? Picture your child in college. If he or she never had to take responsibility for their own assignments during school because you were always on hand to help, think about how this abrupt change of events will affect him or her now. Chances are, it will be a rude and uncomfortable awakening, leaving your child frustrated, overwhelmed and anxious.
Next, take a look at how it affects you. First of all, if you have more than one child, multiply the extra project time by how many children you have. If you have a few children, you’ve just given yourself a part time job!
The trick with ending micromanaging is to delegate the task and then let it go! Sure it may not be perfect or exactly the way you want it. But try to ask yourself this very deep, spiritual and philosophical question which can only be answered after careful though and consideration. Ready, the question is…..who cares? Chances are, no one cares but you. So for your health, well being and sanity, stop micromanaging; learn to delegate then let it go. Not only will you be happier, but so will everyone else.
Debi Silber, MS, RD, WHC Debi is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s degree in Nutrition, a Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach, Lifestyle Expert-just for moms, speaker, President of Lifestyle Fitness, Inc. and author of The Lifestyle Fitness Program: A Six Part Plan So Every Mom Can Look, Feel and Live Her Best and From Mom To Wow: Your Ultimate Body, Mind and Life Makeover Guide. Debi’s branded The Mojo Coach TM because for nearly 20 years, she’s inspired unfit, overweight and overwhelmed moms to “get their mojo back” through gradual lifestyle change. www.themojocoach.com
As Mother’s Day approaches, I’m reminded of the importance to take a little time out for myself. I encourage you to do the same. Below are some ideas on how you can spend your “me time” beyond the bubble bath!
Send your Mind on Vacation This economy doesn’t always support a fly-away vacation to white sandy beaches where your troubles are washed away in the rolling surf. Carve out 5 minutes and think of a place you have visited that brought you peace and tranquility. Close your eyes and visualize all your muscles relaxing. Picture yourself in your favorite spot and take in all the sights, smells, and sounds of that wonderful place. Enjoy the feeling of pleasure that comes your way from “visiting” your vacation destination!
Embrace your Youth! Think of all the things that you did as a child that gave you joy! Go to a park and swing, climb a tree or play dress-up. Grab some friends and go to an amusement park, do cannonballs in the pool, have a squirt gun fight, or grab your bike and go! Find something that brings you cheer and laughter… giggling is GOOD!
Shake Things up and Push your Boundaries Stop saying “I’d like to do that someday” or “I don’t think I could do that” and JUST DO IT. Jump out of a plane, scale a cliff, go bungee jumping, set a goal and start training for your first 5K, 10K or marathon.
Take a Step into the Past Looking at old pictures of family and friends can give you comfort and take you back to happy times in your life… so dig out those old photo albums and thumb through them. If you are one of those ladies that has stored bins of pictures or have a portable hard-drive of digital pictures that haven’t been printed – GET TO WORK SCRAPBOOKING. You can do this in the solitude of your home or enjoy this project in the company of friends or family.
Take a Walk of Gratitude Grab your sneaks and head out the door to re-energize! With every step repeat “I’m thankful” in your head and tell yourself something that you are thankful for in your life, whether it’s family, friends, relationships, work, health, reaching your goals etc. You’ll be shifting into a positive energy gear in no time!
Enjoy a Girls Night Out Create a GNO experience! A girls night doesn’t have to equal dinner, cocktails and dancing… Try something different! Attend a professional sporting event, go visit an art gallery, museum or theatre or attend a wine/cheese tasting.
Host a Girls Night In Although you can enjoy the latest chick flick and wine etc… Think out of the box! Enlist the help of a local expert and try something new! Learn to make jewelry, host a scrapbook class, have a clothing and accessory swap or enjoy a low-cost spa/makeover party.
Remind yourself all year long of the importance of “Me Time” by purchasing a Me Time tee… check out special deals via our Me Time Matters eNewsletter, our Facebook Fan Club page and Twitter @metime
It’s that time of year again – back to school – which means families everywhere are heading out, stocking up and forking over fistfuls of money on everything from pencils to peanut butter. According to the National Retail Federation, the average family spends more than $500 on school supplies each fall, making this time of year second only to Christmas for total consumer spending. Here are ways to save big bucks for back-to-school and throughout the year.
>> http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com: It’s a good idea to know what you need to buy and how much is available to spend before you go shopping. The site helps create a budget. The site also has a handy Back to School Calculator designed to help you and your kids determine school-related expenses, make necessary adjustments to stay within budget, and then hit the stores.
SURF AND SWAP FOR FREE STUFF
>> http://www.swaptree.com: Swaptree lets you trade used and like-new books, DVDs, CDs and video games with other people online for FREE. You pay shipping and handling.
>> http://www.zwaggle.com: great for musical instruments. You pay shipping and handling.
>> http://freepeats.org: great for sports equipment and other stuff. You pay $5 for freepeats, but they are a good network in 25 cities (including SF)
AVOID COUPON CLUTTER/LAYER DEALS One of the hardest parts about trying to save money is spending hours scouring fliers and websites for coupon deals, but some stores have really gotten smart about this.
>> For instance, you can go to safeway.com (click on a link, load online coupons directly onto your Safeway Club Card – and all the best deals are automatically redeemed at checkout time.
>> Another secret here is that you can layer on savings: find something already on sale. Then if you can get an even deeper discount – you’ve successfully layered some big savings.
DO NOT PAY RETAIL!
>> http://www.retailmenot.com: For clothes, shoes, things like that, always try to Double Dip on Savings. Sometimes you can even combine coupon codes online and double-dip for bigger savings. Go to this site to find coupon codes for more than 30,000 online stores. Often times there is more than one code per store – so you can double dip and end up with 50, even 75 percent off.
>> Google search with the name of the retailer and type in “coupon code.”
>> http://shopittome.com: Sign up for free – this site sends you “salemail” to your email inbox whenever what you want goes on sale. I bought my daughter this Ed Hardy shirt – got it for 75% off, these sparkly converse shows, I saved 50% — paid about $25 total for these hot finds.
http://www.billshrink.com: Most of us don’t put much thought into how we’re going to pay for these back-to-school purchases – just throw it on any credit card that has space? Use our debit card? If you use the wrong credit card, you might end up eating all these great savings by paying too high of interest and fees. Billshrink.com can help people find these low interest credit cards. If you don’t pay your bill off every month, BillShrink can likely find you a better rate than you’re paying now. If you do pay your bill every month, make sure you use a card that earns you cashback. They have several listed on their site.
LUNCHBOX LESSONS
>> Don’t buy juice boxes or bottled water – use a re-fillable water bottle and save as much as $400 a year!
>> Stock up on basic ingredients for your kids’ such as meats that can be remade into a variety of kid-friendly lunches. For example, grill up some chicken breasts on Sunday and pack them a healthy chicken sandwich on Monday, chicken strips with bbq sauce dip on Tuesday, a grilled chicken wrap on Wednesday and so forth.
>> Look for family-pack portions of poultry and meat at your local grocery and you can freeze individual pieces to last you weeks for an entire month of budget-friendly lunches.
About Jennifer Jolly Jennifer has been deeply embedded in consumer and lifestyle media for the past 15-years as a broadcast journalist, TV Host, guest columnist and PR advisor. Her popular TV segments, print and blog articles cover the very things most moms (and just about everyone else) are talking about today: Fabulous Freebies, How to Live Large on Less, No Sweat Workouts, Simple Tech to Save Time and Money, Valentines: Free Love, Spring Break Specials, More for Mother’s Day, The Skinny on Workout Wear, Summer Savings, Hi Tech Fitness Gadgets, Living Limber, and much, much more!www.jenniferjolly.com
Towards the end of summer, moms begin to think about the upcoming school year. While the summer may have meant lazy days without schedules or routines, the school year brings about something else entirely. Shopping for school supplies, instilling earlier bedtimes and a few last sleepovers are all being crammed into the next few weeks but at some point, new schedules, routines, clubs, play dates and commitments will all begin.
Brought to you by
Me Time Contributor
Debi Silber themojocoach.com
Think about how things went during the last school year. Were you stressed, overextended and overcommitted? You can follow the path you took last year and if it worked for you, that’s great. If it didn’t work for you however, you have another choice. The choice is to reevaluate the decisions you made previously, keeping what worked and changing what didn’t.
Each time you stop and reevaluate, you give yourself an opportunity to come up with a better strategy. You give yourself a chance to think about your values and what really matters most to you. Most importantly, you send a powerful message to yourself and those around you that your happiness matters too. So let’s say that you were overextended and overcommitted last school year. How can you make a change?
First take a look at when you say “yes” and “no”. Chances are you’re saying “yes” to a task you’d rather not do leaving you to say “no” to things that would bring you greater joy, passion and purpose. Here’s an example. Your daughter has a classroom performance and she’s counting on you being there. In order to get there on time, you left work early, ate in the car and returned phone calls during the drive. You race through the doors of school where you’re stopped by an acquaintance who asks you help out at the next PTA fundraising event. Your thoughts are on your daughter and the look she’ll have on her face if she doesn’t see you this minute so you end the conversation quickly with, “yes.”
After the performance you hug your daughter, race back to work and realize that you just added a few extra hours to your already overly extended lifestyle by saying “yes” when your mind, body, and soul were all screaming “no.” Why did you say yes? Maybe you felt guilty that you haven’t participated as often as some of the other moms. Maybe you were afraid that you’d be accused of “not being a part of the team.” Maybe you felt you’d be disliked, rejected or perceived as selfish if you didn’t say “yes” and finally, maybe you just don’t know how to say “no.”
What are your priorities? While they may include many things, spending time with family is often found somewhere near the top of the list. If quality time with your family is important and taking on another commitment will only leave you with less time for those you love, is saying “yes” in the best interest of you, your family, your values and your priorities? Saying “yes” to another time stealer leaves you saying “no” to something else that could have been fun, enriching and fulfilling.
Many moms feel when they say “no” to a request they are rejecting the person who has asked for the help. You aren’t rejecting the person, merely the request. We all know what rejection feels like and hope to spare anyone from the pain it causes. However, by assuming the person is personalizing the request is an assumption and unnecessary burden on our part. The person asking simply wants to know the responsibility is taken care of so they can check one more thing off their to-do list if you say “yes.” Saying no to their request is nothing personal, it’s just another opportunity for them to ask someone else to do the job they’re asking of you.
Many moms say “yes” to avoid the confrontation or look of surprise they may receive if they say “no.” For these moms, it’s easier to take on the extra work than deal with the perceived unwelcome response or “wrath.” Here’s a thought. Yes it may be uncomfortable for a minute or two. You may feel tense, stammer and wish you were anywhere else. But that feeling is fleeting and the freedom you’ve retained by staying true to your values lasts much longer.
Many moms believe they’ll be perceived as mean, selfish or “above it all” if they say “no.” First of all, if someone is going to criticize, judge and critique you and your behavior, do you really care what they think? Secondly, is it mean or selfish if you use that extra time to cuddle with your kids, go on a “date” with your husband or catch up on some extra sleep so you’ll have more patience, energy and clarity? Lastly, you are your children’s greatest role model. They look to you to see how to feel, act and behave. If this extra commitment leaves you feeling stressed, overwhelmed and overextended, is this the way you want your children to always see you?
Many moms just don’t know how to say “no.” Maybe it just sounds too harsh or severe for you so a more subtle approach may work better. If this is the case, how about something like: “I need to think about it and get back to you.” This is a great way of buying time so you can make a clear decision after thinking it through. Another option may be: “I’d love to, but I have too much on my plate right now.” This is a straightforward, honest response that few moms can argue with. A final option may be: “Now’s not a good time but when I’m able to help, I’ll let you know.”
This approach keeps the door open for future requests while remaining true to your priorities and yourself. As the kids go back to school they will have another year to learn, grow and evolve. If we choose, we can use the opportunity to “go back to school” and take some lessons in self growth and development ourselves. This school term, let’s work on reevaluating old habits and unhealthy behaviors in order to help ourselves, improve our relationships and become the empowered moms we’d always hoped we’d be. It’s time to go back to school. Let’s make it a great year!
About Debi Silber, MS, RD, WHC Debi is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s degree in Nutrition, a Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach, Lifestyle Expert-just for moms, speaker, President of Lifestyle Fitness, Inc. and author of The Lifestyle Fitness Program: A Six Part Plan So Every Mom Can Look, Feel and Live Her Best and From Mom To Wow: Your Ultimate Body, Mind and Life Makeover Guide. Debi’s branded The Mojo Coach TM because for nearly 20 years, she’s inspired unfit, overweight and overwhelmed moms to “get their mojo back” through gradual lifestyle change. www.themojocoach.com
When warm weather arrives dining al fresco is a popular activity. Give your backyard barbecue a break and pack a picnic for your local park or campground. Often synonymous with summer, a picnic is a perfect way to kick back for some me time.
Whether you’re picnicking with the family or turning a sunset picnic into date night with your spouse or significant other, there are a few key elements that will make your outing simple and satisfying. You can even save preparation time – and use that extra half hour for a second glass of wine.
Rain, Rain, Go Away: If an unpredicted afternoon shower rains on your parade, don’t let it bring you down. Spreading a blanket or mat on your living room floor can be just as fun and spontaneous as a picnic in the great outdoors. If you’re entertaining the kids, dim the lights and take turns telling jokes or ghost stories. If you’re picnicking indoors with a special someone, light a few candles for a romantic atmosphere.
Plan Ahead: If you’re making your meal from scratch, do the prep work at home. Wash and chop fruit and vegetables and assemble sandwiches ahead of time.If you’re preparing picnic for a large group, websites like GoPicnic.com offer a variety of shelf-stable, ready to eat boxed meal combinations made with organic and all natural ingredients – the next best thing to a homemade picnic. Healthy meals made up of ingredients like couscous, Wild Alaskan Salmon, vegetables, organic crackers and dried fruit.
Don’t Sweat It: If you’re spending the afternoon outdoors, be sure to dress for the weather. Though a picnic can be a special occasion, some parts of the country grow quite hot during warmer seasons. Wearing loose cotton clothing and drinking plenty of water can help prevent dehydration and heat exhaustion – and leaves you with plenty of energy for a game of Frisbee.
No More Brown Bagging: If you’re picnicking in a mountainous area and expect to be climbing some hills to or from your destination, there is no need to haul a heavy picnic basket. Instead, an insulated, eco-friendly tote like the Neela bag (pictured) can fit as many items as the average picnic basket and comes with a convenient shoulder strap for easy lifting.
Play it Safe: Outdoor dining can be pleasurable, but also leaves food susceptible to unknown germs and bacteria. “Pack plenty of ice in your cooler or picnic basket to keep cold foods cold, “ said Rebecca Houseal, registered dietitian. “Foods left out in the hot temperatures longer than one hour are likely to spoil and are best discarded.” And of course, practice handwashing as you normally would before meals.
Pass the Bubbly: If you’re sharing a picnic with a significant other and want to sip something a more special than cola, don’t worry about packing wine glasses and a corkscrew in your picnic basket. Some brands of wine and champagne are available in single serving bottles – and some in cans! Perfect for portion control, Sofia Minis from Francis Ford Coppola come in a petite pink container, offering ¼ a bottle of wine per serving ($15). They even have wrapped straws for sipping – perfect for a day in a park where glassware may not be permitted.
Maris Callahan: Since graduating from Susquehanna University in 2006, Maris has worked in the world of PR. While she began her career in the fashion/beauty industry, she now works in the consumer sector. She maintains a personal blog, In Good Taste, primarily about cooking, food and life. In her “me” time she enjoys running, knitting, yoga and a good latte.
Towards the end of summer, moms begin to think about the upcoming school year. While the summer may have meant lazy days without schedules or routines, the school year brings about something else entirely. Shopping for school supplies, instilling earlier bedtimes and a few last sleepovers are all being crammed into the next few weeks but at some point, new schedules, routines, clubs, play dates and commitments will all begin. 
No More Brown Bagging: If you’re picnicking in a mountainous area and expect to be climbing some hills to or from your destination, there is no need to haul a heavy picnic basket. Instead, an insulated, eco-friendly tote like the 
