These Legs

These legs. I love these legs. My husband calls them my “meaty German legs”. I'm not German, though somehow along the way managed to adopt “meaty German legs”.

I used to hate them, before I knew better. When I was little, I used to hit at my thighs and pout because they were so big and thick feeling. At one point in my life, I starved myself of food and of the joys of movement in an attempt to make these legs smaller.

Since then, I have worked for almost half a lifetime to embrace these legs, to make these legs strong, to take me places. 20 years later, I love these legs. These legs are strong and sturdy, quick, agile and coordinated, grounded and adventurous, humble and loud, sometimes heavy sometimes light as a feather, sometimes smooth and most of the time fuzzy, inked up and celebrated.

These legs can run, jump, squat, lunge, shimmy, pivot, tap, samba, salsa, grapevine, kick, swing...
These are my legs and I love them.

What about you do you love?

Why Barefoot? Strength From Your Foundation Up

Because I can.
In addition to barefoot training and barefoot running, my barefoot advocacy stems from research of human movement science, anatomy, physiology and personal experience.

Barefoot: Strength From Your Foundation Up

• Structures of: bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles and innervation

o The structures of the foot each work harmoniously to produce movement, decelerate movement, absorb shock, create a system of checks and balances by sending messages to the brain to aid in balance and serve as the foundation of the kinetic chain.

• Kinetic Chain and Arthrokinetics
o The “head bone’s connected to the neck bone, the neck bone’s connected to the shoulder bone….” All bones are connected and their articulations and movement influence the movement one another.

o What is the kinetic chain?
- Kinetic chain pertains to the body’s systems involved in producing movement (nervous, muscular and skeletal systems). If one of the components of the kinetic chain isn’t functioning properly, it will affect the other components and ultimately affect movement.

- Nerve endings (sensory receptors sense pain, pressure, movement to the brain causing an appropriate message to be sent to the muscles to dictate a physical response via movement. Increased use of those pathways, promotes efficiency and healthy function of the neuro-muscular systems. Barefoot allows the receptors to freely receive feedback, provide input to the brain and allow the body to respond in a way that produces safe and efficient movement.

- Nerves and proprioception. Proprioception is the sensing of your limbs during movement, important in keeping your spatially oriented, balanced, protected from faulty movement etc. The more sensory nerves you have exposed to the elements, the more messages are sent to the brain telling it what is going on with your limbs and the brain influencing the right movement at the right time. These neural pathways are important in adjusting gait to adapt to uneven ground, respond to a harmful stimulus (heat, pressure, tension etc).

- Blocking the sensory receptors can lead to delayed neural response, decreased neuro-muscular efficiency, decreased proprioception and decreased balance. The more your foot feels the more information is sent to your brain, the quicker it can send the right message to produce the right movement.

o How can weakness in the foot create low back pain?
- The muscles that support the feet and ankles are connected to and support knee movement, when there is weakness in the muscles of the lower leg, muscles of the upper leg also become imbalanced which can further contribute to faulty movement patterns and increased muscle imbalances of the knee, hip and ultimately spine.

o Raised heels and back pain
-When the heel is raised, the foot is put in a position of plantar flexion forcing the body forward at the ankle. In order to maintain eye level along the horizon and to avoid falling forward, the upper body is brought back into upright position at the hip, anteriorly tilting the pelvis and putting the lumbar spine in a position of hyper-extension which can ultimately lead to low back pain. Muscle imbalances ensue leading to more faulty and painful movement.

So, Why Barefoot?:
-Ankle, knee and hip stabilization
-Increased neuromuscular efficiency and balance
-Proper spinal alignment
-Increased body awareness
-Decreased impact and ground collision force
-It's fun
-It's empowering
-It's inexpensive
-It's natural

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2012 Time to Get this Ball Rolling Again BREATHE

I've decided to dust off the pages of my blog and get breathe a little life back into this thing with some tips on health and wellness. Breathe and breathe deeply, why and how can your breath influence your movement patterns?

~ BREATHE DEEPLY! Alterations in breathing patterns can directly impact how your muscles, bones and nerves work together to create movement. With negative stress, our breathing becomes shallow causing our bodies to use "secondary respiratory muscles (muscles of your upper chest, neck and back) instead of "primary respiratory muscles" (diaphragm).

Over-activity and use of secondary respiratory muscles c...an cause muscle imbalances (muscle tightness in over-active muscles and weakening of under-active muscles), leading to headaches, dizziness, light-headedness.

Shallow breathing limits your body's ability to take in adequate amounts of oxygen or rid itself of carbon dioxide leading to inefficient muscle function, decreased energy, muscle stiffness, anxiety, fatigue, poor circulation and poor sleep patterns. Remember to take some time to focus on your breath and what your posture does when you breathe. ~

My Zumba Services Available to you through Betterfly!

I have had wonderful success with bringing in Zumba friends to expand my crew! Betterfly is an excellent place for you check out the services I offer. Check here http://betterfly.com/katiebutton for updates and feel free to pass the link on to your friends. I look forward to having you in class!

Barefoot Mama's First Marathon...Barefoot of course!

For a bit of detail regarding Barefoot Mama's first marathon, visit Caity McCardell's "Yeah for Me" post on RunBarefootGirl. I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Caity a few weeks post race and put out her 5th podcast episode for RunBarefootGirl, a blog and podcast series aimed at empowering women barefoot runners and those curious about barefoot running.

More pictures and race info to come! Oddly enough, I've been a busy Mama since the race ;)

Whispering Windz Farms Does it Again: The BEST and SAFEST Deodorant EVER!

Pardon my over-use of caps in the title, but I am utterly speechless with this absolute wonder of a deodorant, Whispering Windz Farms: Deodorant Cream! For as along as I can remember, I've been plagued with misbehaving arm pits and have tried nearly everything to control their wrath. I've tried almost every brand of deodorant/antiperspirant both loaded with nasty chemicals and those that are "aluminum free", I've tried my own "natural" attempts at controlling my over-active armpits (including witch hazel, lemon juice, and baking soda). To no avail, nothing worked. I'd finally settled with clinical strength deodorant/antiperspirants swapping between Secret and Suave.

As a very active individual and someone who's work is in the fitness industry, I strive to maintain a level of professionalism even while sweat soaked...this includes attempts at smelling (relatively) fresh. This, in many ways, conflicts with my "keep things simple and natural" lifestyle as "Barefoot Mama" because though I knew that my chemically loaded deodorants/antiperspirants were keeping me somewhat fresh, I cringed at the idea of swipping any part of my body down with something that could ultimately do more harm than good.

I've had the absolute pleasure of doing business with Bonnie from Whispering Windz Farms on etsy.com. I originally had been pointed Bonnie's direction by the lovely ladies from NaturallyCurly.com in attempts to find a good sulfate free, paraben free, safe and delicious smelling shampoo and body wash. Over the past few years, I've ordered various scents from Bonnie's plethora of delicious mouth-watering foaming jar soaps to use for both myself and my children and for gifts...these are amazing for bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays or any other holiday, thank you gifts etc...

Bonnie and I had done some chatting about coming up with a yogurt based face wash...see this in post to come...She'd allowed me to test out her new mix and I was highly pleased with the yogurt face wash, so the asked if I'd try out her deodorant. With the lack of success I'd had with deodorants, I was skeptical though absolutely willing to give it a try being the mother of an almost 8 year old who is already needing to use deodorant. I figured I could at least get something for my babies that is more gentle than what's on the casual market. Two days ago, my goodies arrived and couldn't have come at a more opportune time---we were in the midst of a MN heat wave with heat indexes into the low 100's; Olivia and I were extremely anxious to try them out. I tried the deodorant right away, smoothing on a thin layer on my pits.

Smell...earthy and yummy with it's skin loving ingredients: clays, coconut oil, bergamont, sweet orange and peppermint to name a few. The scent of the oils fades from a more feminine scent to earthy and clean.
Smell test, I've had my husband, kiddos and friends (gawd I love them) smelling my armpits from the moment I put it on to right after teaching a 90 minute Zumba class! Yes, you heard that right, I had VERY little trace of normal strong armpit perspiration after 90 minutes of heavy duty sweating!! Success!

Texture...smoothy, a little bit gritty from the baking soda. The cream goes on very smoothly and feels great on the skin. It absorbs beautifully and leaves very little residue on the skin and clothing. I do find that I reapply 2-3 times a day in order to keep it working, though I've barely even put a dent in my sample jar, because so little is needed. Bonus...it's "little black dress" worthy with it's lack of nasty residue. Eat your heart out Degree!

Cost...while this is still being worked out, I can tell you that the 2oz sample that I have will last a good amount of time as very little is needed in order to be effective. So while the price may be a little steeper than what you'd find from Suave or Degree, it's more than well worth the price. To be using something that is natural, organic and good for your body that works much more effectively than the casual market brands gets two thumbs up from me!

Thank you Bonnie for your amazing products and impeccable customer service, you've been an absolute wonder to work with every single order I've made. AND I can't thank you enough for finding the miracle deodorant, I'm over the moon about this product!!

Fluffy Dairy Free Pancakes

Fluffy Dairy Free Pancakes

Max goes dairy free and we've been scrambling to still produce some of our favorite family food traditions (ie Pancake Friday, Pizza Tuesday--this is hard, Homemade Yogurt--still have yet to figure out a good recipe, ice cream day etc). So after a few attempts at making pancakes that please my family's palate, I whipped together something that scored a "those are some of the best pancakes you've made in a long time" from my relatively hard to please husband. If it's healthy, he's just not that into it, the more butter and grease the better so to have him rave about a healthy pancake is a good sign of success. So, here it is in all it's glory:

Fluffy Dairy Free Pancakes

Mix together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl:

2c flour (use whatever your family eats)
1/4c wheat germ
2T baking powder
1t sea salt

Mix in a separate mixing bowl:
1c almond milk
1/4c flax milk (or more almond milk if you don't have flax)
1 beaten egg
1T canola oil
water to thin to desired consistency (after mixing wet and dry ingredients together). Thicker batter=thicker pancakes, thinner batter=thinner pancakes.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir well until well mixed and slightly lumpy. Pour over heated griddle, I heated ours to about 325 degrees F. Flip when edges are slightly dry, bubbles start to pop and the bottom is golden brown (or to desired darkness).
Serve with your favorite pancake toppings!

Week Ending Jan. 22nd, 2011 Zumba Going Ons

All good things ZUMBA..

Regularly Scheduled classes:
Wednesday 10:30am Workout World South Zumba

Wednesday 4:30pm: Snap Fitness North (2571 Clare Lane Ne, Rochester -(507) 289-2124): Current promotion-FREE to the public! Come on down to try Zumba risk free!

Thursday 6pm: Rochester International Dance Studio (RIDS) Zumba. Registration open, contact RIDS to register 507-884-1375: Pre-registration prefered. Join with a friend and get 1/3 off registration!

Friday 9:30am:Workout World South Zumba (followed by 25min core strength)

Be on the lookout for Family Zumba, coming soon to Rochester International Dance Studio....details to come!

The BRS Run That Followed....

1-15-2011 was a big day. First was Vinyasa Yoga with Arah at Green Body, what a beautiful way to start the day. Wrapping up class I felt fresh, awake and aligned. Thank you Arah!
Then was the 90min Zumba Goes Green party, see previous post.
Later that afternoon, a handful of us from Barefoot Runners Society met at Minnehaha Falls Park for a ~10mi group run. Battling the cold...er, embracing the cold..we headed out of the park up and around Lake Nikomus, looping back to pick up another runner. We continued the opposite direction for an out and back.
Post run....

Zumba Went Green in a Big Way!

Zumba Goes Green class at Green Body on Jan. 15, 2011 was a great success. We had around 10 people show up to heat up the chilly MN Saturday morning. We spent the first 15 minutes getting acquainted with the various Latin rhythms and moves, Zumba and my mission statements regarding class.
For the next 60minutes, we shook are tail feathers, laughed and enjoyed fun energetic music. The energy was high and we all got a good sweat in, thank you all for coming, I look forward to upcoming classes with you at Green Body!
"Lose your inhibitions and you'll find your dancing hips!""You're the captain of your own ship, bring your desired level of energy and intensity"










"Empower yourself through dance!"

Better Late Than Never, Bringing in 2011!

The kids and I celebrated, welcoming in the new year with much delight!
Our festivities included:
Food! Of course, cheese, artisan bread, hummus, pita chips, and grapes. My friend Gerardo shared a tidbit on Spanish culture, explaining that 12 grapes are eaten on New Year's Eve to representing a prosperous 12mos ahead. We ate our 12 Grapes to represent both the 12 months past, recognizing the year's best and worst, and to bring hope and prosperity to the next coming 12 months of 2011.

Bubbly! The kids drank their "kid wine" (sparkling white grape juice) and I had my own bottle of the real stuff. Nothing fancy, but ooo I love yummy sparkling glass of champagne! And a little red wine paired with smoked gouda! Yum

Dance. What's a party without a boogie down! (Thanks to Dad who set up the speakers for us all, before heading to bed). We danced the first part of the night away, the kids must have played Gaga's Poker Face and Tao Cruz Dynamite over and over at least 50 times..reinacting some of my Zumba moves (I've incorporated both of these into my playlist for class).

Ink! We got inked (well, not really ink ink..but temporary was lots of fun! We used up all 50 of the tattoos in the package)

Games: Operation and The Lady Bug Game

Big Fish (excellent Tim Burton flick, highly recommended by everyone in our house)

and last but not least Dove Oven S'mores. We enjoyed the wrapper inspirations, using them as tools to help us with New Year's Resolutions and hope for the new year.

We partied ourselves out and made it until about 10pm before we had to drop the ball early (it was midnight somewhere in the world after all). Happy New Year my beautiful babies! May every year find you new inspiration, wonder and delight!

Week Ending Jan. 15th, 2011 Zumba Going Ons

This week brings good things Zumba
Tuesday 7pm: Rochester International Dance Studio will be putting on various demonstrations of dance fitness classes offered at the studio for local Mothers and More group. There will be Belly Dance, Latin Dance and of course my Zumba plug. Each demo will be around 15 minutes, we encourage Rochester, MN Moms to come and enjoy an evening out for some dance and good company.

Regularly Scheduled classes:
Wednesday 10:30am Workout World South Zumba
Wednesday 4:30pm: Snap Fitness North (2571 Clare Lane Ne, Rochester -(507) 289-2124): Current promotion-FREE to the public! Come on down to try Zumba risk free!

Thursday 6pm: Rochester International Dance Studio (RIDS) Zumba. Registration open, contact RIDS to register 507-884-1375: Pre-registration prefered. Join with a friend and get 1/3 off registration!

Friday 9:30am:Workout World South Zumba (followed by 25min core strength)

Saturday 10:15am: 90min Zumba Goes Green at Green Body studio in St. Paul, MN. Enjoy 15-20min warm up/intro to Latin Rhythms and coinciding dance moves and 70min Zumba party!Registration is still open, $10 in advance $15 at the door. Contact Dave at Green Body to reserve your spot! 651-225-9895

Thank you Crayola for your Trustworthy Washability!

Brush painting quickly turns to hand, and elbow painting with the kids. My kids have never been the kind to stick with a brush for too long while painting, the squishing of paint between their fingers is just a temptation too much to resist! We spent a great part of the morning painting away, sipping hot cocoa and telling stories about their artwork.

The kids waited patiently for me to get paint cups...aka old applesauce, yogurt and pudding cups ready. Olivia mans the camera..


Masterpieces

Priority Snow Removal

As promised, though not yet with pictures, I'm reporting in with a little bit about snow removal in a household with kids. December in MN 2010, brought us over 3ft of snow, blanketing heavily the earth and trees surrounding our house. We have a beautiful big white pine on the North side of our house, that collected heavy snow on it's branches..bringing the branches in contact with the 3+ feet of snow on the ground below it. Underneath these branches, remained relatively snow free of the newly fallen December snow (still a good amount of November's accumulation beneath providing well insulated flooring for a fort of forts. Adorned with icicles and a fallen icicle so large that it served as a quaint table that hosted a variety of ice/snow cakes and projects, this fort of all forts provided the kids hours worth of outside entertainment.
Now comes the subject of navigating ones way to the fort from the front of the house. The kids can venture out down the driveway, north on the sidewalk and travel through a newly shoveled path (with 2-3ft walls) through the front of the yard right up to the back door of the fort.
So it stands, the beautifully shoveled walkway cleared for kids and quests to make their way, trouble free, to the fort; and the driveway is still piled with a new layer of 6inches of heavy snow. Priorities.
Pictures to come....

A neglectful blogger's new years resolution....

keep blog up to date, at least weekly!
Hold me accountable folks, I've got ideas for new entries though seem to lose them by the time my fingers hit the keyboard, or don't have the fancy photos to pair with the words.
Blog of the weekend....Priority Snow Removal, stay tuned for details and pictures. Think, 3ft + of snow, a shovel, a path to a snow fort, and a snow filled driveway..

Oh the joys of a sack of potatoes....literally potatoes

Earlier this week, I took all of the kids grocery shopping and had a successful trip! Rarity. At any rate, thank goodness for car carts and mini-kid sized carts. They all took turns pushing the mini cart and riding/driving the car cart. The produce section set the premise for our trip, who would think that a 5lb sack (or two since they were buy one get one free) could bring such enjoyment. Immediately, Nyla claimed one of the bags as her baby (Olivia, playing with Nyla, followed suit...Max could have cared less, he had his eye on the prize, er free kids cookie over in the bakery section). Nyla immediately started talking every so softly and sweetly to her baby, carrying her baby around, buckling her baby in the seat and putting her baby in the mini cart and pushing her baby around. We had a bit of difficulty separating from baby long enough for the cashier to put the baby through the register, oh the relief to have baby back in her arms after that devastatingly long separation.
Baby rode in the carseat with Nyla on the way home, and was quickly welcomed into our house being showered with toys and more kisses and....well babies do need to eat, a sweet nursing session. They played under the fort together and read books, and baby was so thirsty that Nyla (good little Mother she is) shared her sippy cup of water with her baby (soaking the potatoes inside the bag). After about an hour and a half of baby potato sack enjoyment, it all ended peacefully and on Nyla's terms. We did have to let the bag of potatoes sit on the counter to air out for a good day or so. Let me conclude this by saying that no potato was injured during this production of imaginative play :)

3am Epiphany, Barefoot for Body Awareness!

After a brief 3am waking, Nyla needed an extra middle of the night snuggle, my mind immediately started racing into multitudes of thoughts that occupy my mind throughout non-sleeping hours (and are often translated into my dreams). I'm not exactly sure why I started to think about the importance of barefoot running, why shoes hinder a good wise run and how it's like swimming in a life jacket. False sense of security.

My thoughts were, running in traditional high tech, cushioned, stability, motion control etc etc shoes gives inhibits our natural tendency to become more body aware. Sadly, I think that our society has become so dependent on modern technologies that we lack the ability to build body awareness. We use Garmins and fancy watches to see what our pace is ( I challenge you to head out on a run, sans gear and pace yourself by how your body feels, by your breath and by your heart beating in your chest), GPS systems and online maps to map out exactly how far we are running and pillowy running shoes to "cushion the impact".

Is this really benefiting us, by not allowing us to learn more about how we're running in order to naturally cushion our own footfall with good running form? Lacing up a brand new pair of ultra cushioned stability shoes, will not help you learn how to run better no more so than putting a life jacket on to learn how to swim. Sure, it will keep you afloat and is an awesome safety device, I put my own kids in them, though it's much easier to learn to swim bare...without your life jacket. Likewise, learning to run without the shoes. Of course you're not going to jump right into the deep end of the pool and expect to crawl stroke your way beautifully to the opposite end of the pool. Of course you're not going to be able to take your traditional training shoes off for the first time and run a marathon.

It takes patience, a good bit of educating yourself, listening to and connecting with your body using feedback to better your run and your experience..did I mention patience. If you are not used to listening to your body and engaging in good "conversation-take and give" with your body, this may be frustrating and unmotivating. Be patient, it will come and the more you allow yourself to experience getting to know your body...the higher your body awareness IQ will become. Shoes are good, they're a means to providing protection on occasions when barefoot isn't most practical. Having learned and practiced the fundamentals of "barefoot running", at it's barest most pure form will become ingrained in your run and you'll then be able to put your shoes on when need be and still run wisely.

Baby Steps, Big Changes in 21 days. I Challenge, You, World...

This challenge to you all is inspired by a relatively recent (2 years ago, ok I said relative) weight loss. Who'd have thought that saving sweets and treats to weekends and eating only one snack (of portion size) between meals would support a 25lb weight loss and maintenance for years to come? Also in lieu of more recent goals of mastering myself in Exercise Science and Health Promotion in order to follow a passion for playing my part in creating a healthier happier world....I'm creating a challenge for people of the world (however big this world of mine is, surrounding my blog and my life) to make a change. 1 small change in their health. We all want to be healthy, fit individuals though getting there is daunting when you think about diets, nutrition, vitamins/supplements, stretching, exercising, sleep, low stress, good food, bad food, moderation etc etc. It's a LOT to think about and it's hard to put the right foot forward when trying to achieve so many goals in so many different places. However, while difficult, it's not impossible. it takes dedication, accountability, strength, knowledge, perseverance, hope, flexibility, a goal and a plan.

According to Florida International University, and various other research sources out there, it takes 21 days to form a habit (or in our situation, a lifestyle change) and conversely 21 days to break a habit. So, with this in mind, knowing that if we can dedicate ourselves to one part of our health...we can form a healthy lifestyle habit in just 21 days, 3 weeks.
How it will happen:
1) What 1 thing would you like to change. (don't worry, if there's more than one...there will be more challenges to come)
2) What exactly do you want to do with this change, what's your goal?
3) Make a plan, how will you do this?
4) Educate yourself on how to make the change, find a way that makes it happen for you. Not everything, every technique will work exactly the same for everyone. Be flexible to make it suit your lifestyle..though be consistent in making it happen. So you love coffee, want to ditch the caffeine, try decaff or try half decaff half caff. Save caff for special occasions. What have you. Educate yourselves on how to do it, what's worked for others, what will work for you.
5) Mark your calendar and journal
6) Find a means to holding yourself accountable. Find a friend, a group, someone or something that will keep you honest along your journey.
7) Don't beat yourself up. If you slip up, get back up on that wagon and look upward and onward. Failure is feedback, learn something from your slip up.
8) reward yourself, don't deprive yourself of things that make the world a happier place. If chocolate brings you to a happy place, why deprive yourself of that small pleasure. Find a special time to indulge yourself. Find enjoyment and control over your indulgence to avoid over-doing it.
9) Pass it on, spread the word. A healthy world is a happier world
10) Smile, it releases endorphins
So....who's in? You can do this!

MN BRS Group Run, 8 glorious miles in along Cannon River

http://www.barefootrunners.org/build2/story/featured-meetup-october-barefoot-runners-society-minnesota-chapter-saypay45

Sausage Tortellini Soup

In preparation for Leah's 30th Birthday Soup and Wine party, searching for some good soups trying to figure out what soup we could pair with her favorite Butternut and Sausage soup (thicker, creamier soup)' I found a multitude of yummy soups, this time of year is so good for trying new soups! I may just have to try a new soup each week, though pleasing all 5 palates in the house will post a bit of a challenge. I stumbled upon a Sausage Tortellini recipe and decided to tweek it a bit to suit our family, and to my surprise this tweeking produced a very delicious, loved by most (4 out of 5 of us, though Max loved the tortellini-which were covered in the broth of the soup).
Ingredients
1lb pork sausage (I'll cut it back to 1/2lb next time, this was more than enough). The original recipe called for Sweet Italian Sausage (so I doctored up the pork sausage with a bit of paprika, brown sugar, parsley and salt). You could probably get away with plain pork sausage, italian sausage (spicy) or sweet italian sausage, use what your family would like I say
2 medium zucchini diced (or sliced, depending on how you like your zuchinni)
2 medium carrot, finely sliced into circles
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
6c beef broth
fresh or dried basil and oregano
1 pkg frozen cheese tortellini
Directions
In a large stockpot, brown your sausage with onions, garlic, basil and oregano to taste (about 1tsp each). Add zucchini, carrots, tomatoes and toss cooking over medium heat softening up the veggies. Add beef broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low to simmer for 30min. After 30min, add tortellini and cook for another 10min. And there you have it, delicious Sausage Tortellini soup.