Genuine 2018: Thoughts on Moving

standard Stephanie September 6, 2018 Leave a response

Hi friends!

It’s been a while.

I knew when we moved that juggling transition and marathon training and a newly 1 year old and running a business and a blog would be a tough season. But I blindly pushed through thinking I would just build a new routine and move right along with everything.

Any of you with a toddler knows how realistic that is.

It took us two months longer than we thought it would to find a permanent home. We spent three full months in transitional corporate housing, where my daughter took her first steps, where absolutely nothing was baby-proofed, and where we had a beautiful view of the bay, but felt very isolated and unsure. I kept on with managing Celebration Nutrition, though I felt I was lacking a clear direction since life was taking me into a new season. And I kept up this space, albeit sporadically, to help make me feel some normalcy through it all. Goals and plans can help set the tone and mood for a new season, but they only work if you put them into practice.

After searching and searching, we finally found a place to call home here in California. I ran the Big Sur Marathon in April, we had family visit and help us move in May, and then summer hit full force. I was fortunate to have conversations with a few amazing women who helped me set the tone for where my work and my business was going in this new season. A new state, a new routine, a new everyday meant that I had to move my business to fit into my life, and as things grow and only get busier, some things have to get put aside.

In an effort to build and grow Celebration Nutrition, I simply am not able to also put in the time to this space that I have in the past. And instead of fighting that and continuing to put out sporadic and forced content, I’ve decided to just step back for now. Not for good. There is too much history here that I want to preserve. I am slowly starting to get the itch to create recipes and cook in the kitchen again, and this is the outlet for me to be personal and creative and athletic. But you will now only hear from me when I have something really good to say. In the meantime, I’m still writing! You can find nutrition information, plant-based resources, intuitive eating conversations, and wellness tips over on Celebration Nutrition’s blog. I’d love to hear from you over there as I grow that space. If you want to stay up to date when new posts are added, you can join our VIP email community here. I send out weekly emails with exclusive content and links to posts from the week as they are published.

Thank you for following along on this crazy journey! Life will continue to be an adventure, and I’m excited to see where the coming year takes me!

Goals, Neat

Genuine 2018: April

standard Stephanie April 4, 2018 Leave a response

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And just like that, it’s already April. February ended strong, with the best of intentions planned and scheduled and ready for a fun and crazy March. And then suddenly March was halfway over and there was no way to catch back up without going insane. So instead of trying, I gave myself the grace to just let it go. No guilt. No stress. Moving, selling a house, finding a new house, navigating a now walking one year old, AND managing a business through a transition was plenty going on. Let me tell you, living without baby proofing is a full-time job on its own! Add in stagers and tools and dust and dirt and high-rise apartments with lots of drawers and windows and you’re just asking for trouble. My child was kind enough to pull my hair out for me so I didn’t have to during this season. Thanks, girlie.

Looking all the way back to February, before the craziness began, momentum was building, a nice routine was falling into place. Even with the crazy, unscheduled, dance party filled days we are having now, it feels good to know I will eventually get back to that rhythm of working mom, business owner, marathon runner, and friend. Some days, I honestly feel like I’ll never get anything done. And then other days, I’m running 10 miles with the stroller, crossing of my whole to-do list, and making dinner on time. This season is about learning to see progress, even if small, and appreciating the slow days while we have them.

February In Review:

1. Create something (content) every day.

Even if it was something as small as an image for a blog post, this was really helpful in giving me momentum and progress as the month went on. Once things settle down, I’m going to work on getting back into this habit.

2. Connect and network online every day.

I didn’t manage this every day, but most week days were ended with great conversations with new people. I even have a few new collaboration projects that I am really excited about as a result.

3. Create 2 new client resources.

I have a really fun plant-based nutrition e-book in progress, but didn’t get it finished before the big move. Working on finishing it this month! I will be sharing it first with my email community, so be sure to sign up to know when it’s available!

4. Update Caroline’s baby book.

The baby book is still only half done, but I have started writing memories down in the Promptly Journal I got her for Christmas. Such a fun way to keep track of things that we’d otherwise not necessarily remember or make note of in a traditional baby book.

5. Practice Pilates every weekday.

This was so, so good for my race training and feeling stronger post-baby! Love, love, love The Balanced Life Sisterhood. If you’re looking for at home workouts and a great accountability community, check it out!

Consistency and Routine

This month’s focus is on being consistent. Building rhythms into our days, even in this season of transition and change. Work may look different. Some days we drop everything and go look at a house. Other days we spend building block towers and practicing Pilates (otherwise known as mama the human jungle gym). My goals are to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time each day. To focus ONE hour on work each day, instead of broken up 10-15 minute pieces throughout the day. We run during one nap, work during the other. Play and create memories in between. And on the days that everything falls apart, we just it all go. We are all confined to a small apartment space in a big city with few friends and connections. Some days we all just need to lose it and let it out. There is something about saying it’s okay to have those days that makes it actually okay. So let’s all give ourselves the freedom to let something go this month. Whatever has been holding you back, that you cannot control. Give into it on occasion. Let the mess be. Order takeout. Sleep in. Skip the workout. And see what memories you can make instead.

April Goals:

Complete 2 Celebration Nutrition projects (exciting partnerships coming soon!)
Run Big Sur Marathon (April 29th!)
Find a house.
Meal plan and prep each week.
Create new routine in this season.

Nutritious

Hello Fresh, Revisited

standard Stephanie February 26, 2018 Leave a response

As a dietitian, I was first introduced to Hello Fresh in a professional capacity, having received a complimentary box to try out and review. I have since signed up and purchased meals almost every single week since. It’s just too easy and uncomplicated for life with a baby and a business. I get a LOT of questions about Hello Fresh, and my original review gets a lot of views, so I thought I’d do an update on what has changed about the service since I signed up and how I feel about the meals now, after having used them for over a year. This post is NOT sponsored by Hello Fresh. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Meal Packaging & Delivery

Hello Fresh switched from using boxes to paper bags to hold each week’s meals. I was NOT a fan of this change when it happened, as I LOVED having the boxes. They were easy to store in my fridge and use as a clean up vehicle during cook time. However, the bags have grown on me. They take up more space in my fridge but are fairly slim so they can be stored in a variety of configurations based on the fullness of my fridge that week. And they still work well as a clean up container as I cook. I do love that everything for each recipe comes portioned out and stored in the bag. Other meal services I have used deliver all ingredients loose in the big shipping box and while that does slightly reduce packaging waste, being able to pull three things out of a box and into the fridge when they arrive and then one thing out when it’s time to cook makes things super simple at meal time. The individual ingredient packaging has also been changing, to minimize the amount of packaging and waste. Most produce arrives loose in the paper bag, and as much packaging as possible is recyclable.

Taste, Variety, & Nutrition

We get a veggie box each week, which means we get the three veggie meals that are on the menu for that week. There is no ability to pick and choose from a larger list of options like the classic and family boxes have. This is not a big deal for me, as it saves me time from having to go in to my account and choose recipes each week. We also really enjoy most of the recipes, and the ones I think we won’t like, I am surprised to find are actually pretty good. There is a fair amount of repetition, and popular recipes are recycled, so we are not always getting a brand new recipe we’ve never tried. I also didn’t think I’d like this, but it is nice to be able to enjoy a favorite meal on a regular basis. Other services we’ve tried don’t repeat any recipes within a year time frame, so if you love a recipe, you have to make it yourself if you want to enjoy it again. With Hello Fresh, they track customer favorites via a weekly survey, and keep favorite dishes on a regular rotation, mixed in with new meals for variety.

I also find myself very infrequently having to supplement or change a meal. As mentioned in my initial review, Hello Fresh does a fantastic job of using whole plant food proteins, minimal diary and eggs, and loads of fresh produce in their veggie box. While a fair amount of recipes that call for a sauce use sour cream, I’ve found it simple enough to swap for a homemade tahini sauce or omit with similar results. On occasion I will add baked tofu to up the protein content or vegan cream cheese to thicken a sauce, but it is a very infrequent swap. The variety of grain choices, vegetable combinations, and proteins used means we have a balanced, nutritious, whole food dinner. And everyone enjoys them. Myself, my omnivore husband, my 11 month old daughter, and extended family when they visit all love these meals.

Order Changes & Modifications

We have traveled for extended periods over the past year, had family visit for holidays, and needed to repeatedly cancel, hold, and change our subscription, and the process could not be easier. We spent the summer in California, and I logged in and updated our address for the time we were gone so we could still enjoy meals without the headache of filling a pantry. We had family come for a week at Thanksgiving, and swapped from a 2 person to 4 person box for the week, adding extra veggies to ensure we could feed 5 adults and 1 baby and always had plenty to go around. Once company left, I switched back to our usual order seamlessly. I have used the mobile app to make all these changes, but their website is also very user friendly for making changes quickly and with ease.

Challenges & Baby-Led Weaning

My biggest issues with Hello Fresh initially were the lack of a dedicated vegan box and the inability to switch between meal plans if I wanted a veggie meal for me and a meat dish for the husband. I have since found it to be extremely easy to take a veggie meal, omit any dairy that was used as a garnish, and add extra protein to the husband’s meal if needed. He’s also gotten used to more veggie-heavy dinners, which makes it much easier all around. And my daughter, who we’ve been feeding with the baby-lead weaning approach, has also enjoyed trying new tastes and flavors from the meals we have been making. I chop some veggies in larger pieces for her, and extra seasonings and any salt get added to our meals after hers has been portioned out, but otherwise she has been eating what we do and loving it! One meal to feed all three of us makes dinner time much easier than it used to!

A year after trying out Hello Fresh for the first time, I have to say that we will happily continue to use this service on a regular basis. As a new mom and business owner, it saves me so much time and effort planning meals for the week. Instead of thinking through 5+ dinners, I plan on Hello Fresh plus one additional dinner and a breakfast meal for the week. Grocery shopping is streamlined because we’re mostly sticking to our staple foods lists and buying what is in season.