Bright Families

Friction Logs

What are the sticky spots in your day? Track them and solve them with a little help from your friends.

Insulin Resistance Story

Becoming aware of insulin resistance at 13 and experimenting with macros in college

Two Ladies Calming their Nervous Systems - 13 minutes

A couple of quick examples of women looking at signs that their nervous system is overacting, what steps they are taking to calm it down, and the results they have seen so far.

Resources, Constraints, Commitments

Everyone has a different mix of obligations and resources available for their health and family needs. This is a framework to think about what you can use to help meet the needs, and more clearly determine what is possible.
A good friend can help you see opportunities and options that you might not, and ask good questions. We also do this in Moms Club when we share our experiences and what we learned through trial and error. And of course this is key for 1:1 Coaching - asking questions to get a sense of my client’s day, what her obligations are, and where she has time and energy to send in a different direction.

Adrenal Fatigue?

Is it Adrenal Fatigue?
No matter what call it, we all hit the wall sometimes. If you’ve been drawing on your resources for months or years, it time to rebuild, and it will take time!
You need to give your body the signals that the crisis is over, and the resources to put back wheats taken out. Sleeping more can, paradoxically, cause you to feel more tired than when you were going full tilt. But really, you are now feeling the fatigue that was there all along. It can take a few months of better sleep to feel a significant lift in energy, but by that time your mental state should be much better!
Resting in little bits throughout the day is a key signal to your brain to make less cortisol - if you keep powering through fatigue it’s much harder to rebuild.
Supplements for minerals, especially iron, should give you a lift with a few weeks. Don’t worry about missing a day, your body will be happy for whatever it gets!

Your Health as a Legacy

A legacy most importantly is an idea, story of who you are in the context of family, culture, faith etc,…and thus who your children can become as a result of your investment of time and energy.
Just as we know that living in a house with stability and affection sets children up for success, living house with reasonable food choices and habits saves them years of figuring things out the hard way
We look to our parents to see what’s possible and likely - will I struggle with my weight? Might I be prone to depression, alcoholism, or addiction of other kinds?
No matter how we feel we “failed” ourselves or our children in the past, the connection between you and your children exists in the present. If you succeed after many tries, they will tell a story of perseverance. If it was a struggle for you to find time to exercise, sleep, and get the help you needed, they will respect you even more as they are able to reflect on your creativity and determination.
A college friend shared his perspective on his mother figuring out her health in her 40s:
“My mom had tried different diets that kind of worked but didn’t last. Then she had her 25th high school reunion coming up and she was really committed. We teased her that it wouldn’t work but she stuck with it and we watched the weight come off, first her arms and legs and then everything. It took about six months and by then she had her system down and she’s looked great ever since.”
You could hear the admiration in his voice, and he owned his lack of support for her work.
Nothing succeeds like success. And once she figured it out, she had figured it out!
Most women will make little adjustments over time, but the big victory is figuring out what is key for you.
Our online programs, weekly Zoom calls, and peer-to-peer coaching are different ways to find your key actions and build a long-term set of options for your best health throughout your 30s and 40s.

Clear Communication 19 min

Are people not hearing what you say? Are you feeling frustrated trying to communicate and get an answer? Listen to this

Is Consistency a Problem Goal?

“I just want to get in a consistent routine “
“It’s so hard to be consistent “
I hear this in every nutrition consultation.
And it’s true. It’s hard to be consistent. AND it doesn’t matter nearly as much as we think it does.
Long term, when you’re in your 60s and trying your maintain mobility and strength, there’s a greater case for consistency in exercise and nutrition. And you may also have more time.
But it’s sad to see women get demoralized because they don’t walk every morning or eat the ideal breakfast. “ I only walked one morning this week “ instead of “I walked one morning and deep cleaned the house before my in laws came and hauled 300 pounds of groceries in and out of the car”
One walk a week is better than none. One walk a week reminds you how nice it is to be out in the morning air alone. It reminds you why you want to do this even if you haven’t figured out the logistics. One walk a week is not a failure of consistency; it’s a demonstration of your commitment to figuring things out.
Maybe you realize that you’d rather be prepping dinner or reading a novel. Maybe you hate being out in the cold and you really like walking mid morning when both you and the kids need a break.
Years ago a student mentioned that his mom gave them smoothies and a 1-hour break in the middle of every morning. “She needs a break by then and we’re hungry and after the smoothies we go play outside for an hour “. Most of us think of morning as golden time - it seems more efficient and seems to go more slowly - and therefore we should dedicate it all to our children. But what if we took some golden time for a walk? Maybe you rotate which kid comes along, to change the dynamics and simplify for the one supervising.
Maybe you’re a teacher at your kids school so your day starts early and goes long. Can you sit outside to grade during your free period? Eat lunch outside even if you don’t feel up for walking? Order groceries for pickup on the way home? Journal ?
Let’s reframe our relationship with consistency. Studies about exercise show significant benefits in just a couple of days per week. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough.
To join our Moms Club, enroll in classes, and find great ideas for ladies with full days, visit brightfamilies.com

Postpartum Tips - 28 min

An overview of all the little things and big things to keep in mind, so you can enjoy this time as much as possible and recover well!

How to be a Hot Mom

It’s ok if you don’t like the word “hot”, just listen for a compilation of all the key tips. It’s not about exercising more and eating less - looking good starts further back with boundaries, setting aside time for sleep and rest, and other ways that you resist the nonstop.