Year: 2018

Podcast Review: Are You Still Recovering From Pregnancy Years Later?

As previously mentioned, I will be publishing an abbreviated collection of themes, ideas and direct quotes from podcasts and books that I find impactful. I hope it will be especially useful for those who can’t find the time to read a book cover-to-cover or dig through a two hour podcast. I will be titling them “reviews” but it is helpful to understand they are not necessarily “critiques”; they are simply notes with which to re-view the material in a concise manner. ••••• Source: Goop Media: Podcast Title: Are You Still Recovering From Pregnancy Years Later? Who: guest Dr. Oscar Serrallach + Goop CCO Elise Loehnen Listen to the full episode: goop.com/the-goop-podcast/are-you-still-recovering-from-pregnancy-years-later Themes covered: postpartum supplementing, sleep deprivation, Leptin resistance, motherhood support Please note, in transcribing this conversation, I have made minor edits for clarity.  ••••• [3:20] Serrallach: …There’s this gaping hole in medicine when it comes to the physiology and the workings of a woman’s body in the time after the birth of a baby. That was my starting point. Why a hormone panel can be insightful [7:07] Serrallach: I …

[Book Review] The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Are you ready for a heaping dose of Monday motivation? The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari was recommended to me by my sister. If memory serves correct, I read it at a point in my life when I was in career crisis. I was working my first post-university job in an office that reeked toxicity. It was bad. Like, bursting-into-tears-in-the-wine-aisle-of-a-liquor-store-after-work kind of bad. Talk about un-happy hour. After two years, I had had enough. This was not an easy, nor comfortable decision; leaving without having another job to step into is financial insecurity. (When your colleagues ask where you’re going and you say, “Nowhere,” it really means you literally can’t stand to be there even a minute longer.) Anyhow, whether you’re looking for some sage wisdom or just a little up-lifting, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is hardpacked with inspirational, meme-able quotes. Enjoy! *Apologies in advance that I wasn’t able to include corresponding page numbers.  ••••• Foreward As previously mentioned, I will be publishing an abbreviated collection of themes, ideas and direct quotes from …

Podcast Review: Resetting Hormones, Weight & the Conversation Around Women’s Health

 As previously mentioned, I will be publishing an abbreviated collection of themes, ideas and direct quotes from podcasts and books that I find impactful. I hope it will be especially useful for those who can’t find the time to read a book cover-to-cover or dig through a two hour podcast. I will be titling them “reviews” but it is helpful to understand they are not necessarily “critiques”; they are simply notes with which to re-view the material in a concise manner.  Did you miss my first “review”? Find it here: Podcast Review: Postpartum Anxiety & the Motherhood Shift If something resonates with you, let me know by dropping a comment at the bottom of this page. Or, go ahead and make a recommendation if you think there’s a book, documentary or podcast you think I’d like and I’ll check it out.   ••••• Source: Goop Media: Podcast Title: Resetting Hormones, Weight & the Conversation Around Women’s Health Who: guest OB-GYN Sara Gottfried, M.D. + Goop CCO Elise Loehnen Listen to the full episode: goop.com/the-goop-podcast/resetting-hormones-weight-the-conversation-around-womens-health  About the …

Podcast Review: Postpartum Anxiety & the Motherhood Shift

Wellness hasn’t been a topic I’ve covered in the past, but recently I’ve been craving a way to amalgamate some of the health-focused materials I’ve been consuming. I’ve always had a habit of taking notes so I can revisit ideas that resonate with me at a later date. It occurred to me that I might launch a project within my website, whereby I’ll publish an abbreviated collection of themes, ideas and direct quotes from podcasts and books that I find impactful. I hope it will be especially useful for those who can’t find the time to read a book cover-to-cover or dig through a two hour podcast.  If something resonates with you, let me know by dropping a comment at the bottom of this page. Or, go ahead and make a recommendation if you think there’s a book, documentary or podcast you think I’d like and I’ll check it out. ••••• Source: Goop Media: Podcast Title: Postpartum Anxiety & the Motherhood Shift Who: guest Psychiatrist Catherine Birndorf, M.D. + Goop CCO Elise Loehnen Themes: mothering …

Tahiti: Is paradise all it’s cracked up to be?

Truth be told, I never really expected to find myself travelling Tahiti. Of course I’ve dreamed of Tahiti – who hasn’t?! – it’s just that when the travel bug bites, Greg and I prefer to visit more far-flung, less developed countries while we’re “young”. You know, chickens-on-the-roof-of-the-bus type places. Not coincidentally, these destinations also tend to be easier on the wallet. (See what we did there?) It just makes sense that we’ll travel spendy countries with better infrastructure (Europe, Oceania, USA) when we have kids (hey Hank!), fatter bank accounts or in our golden years. Tahiti isn’t traditionally backpacker-friendly nor thrifty to travel, so it never floated to the top of our bucket list. (Revelation: you can travel Tahiti with a Champagne-on-a-beer budget – I reveal how here.) But when the invitation to visit French Polynesia crossed my desk, of course I jumped all over it; no one says “no” to Tahiti. French Polynesia is widely considered a dream trip for many: turquoise waters, white-sand beaches, lush jungle and overwater bungalows are the stuff of fantasies. Yet …

Tahiti: for the Champagne-on-a-beer-budget traveller

This article was originally published in the spring 2018 issue of Canadian Traveller. Click here to subscribe.   In the heart of the South Pacific lies a collection of islands where beauty and spirituality intersect. Pristine nature, French cuisine, Polynesian hospitality, and captivating creation legends lie in wait. Spoiled for beauty, French Polynesia also has the reputation as a playground for the jetset. JENNIFER HUBBERT travels to idyllic Tahiti bent on proving that there is a place in paradise for the budget-minded traveller.   I’M WAITING TO TAKE MY SEAT ON AIR TAHITI Nui fight TN1, boarding pass in hand. Papeete is listed as the final destination but it might as well be the moon. Tahiti: vacation Valhalla; subject of numerous screen savers and wall calendars – the textbook definition of paradise. Truth be told, Tahiti was one of those bucket list items I wasn’t confident I’d realize, fled somewhere between Antarctica and learning to speak Italian. It wasn’t for a lack of wanderlust, either. That corner of the globe seemed oh-so-far-away. How many weary …

Taj Mahal: The World’s Best Reason to Travel

  In the early 2000s the world set out to determine the New7Wonders of the World. Of 200 monuments, the seven finalists were determined as follows: Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, Taj Mahal, and the Colosseum. I’ve had the great fortune to visit a handful of these new world wonders – the Colosseum (2007), Great Wall of China (2012), Machu Picchu (2016) and the Taj Mahal last March. And if you’re asking me, when it comes to monuments and attractions, the Taj Mahal is the world’s best reason to travel. Put otherwise, if you’re going to plan a trip around a bucket list-worthy place, this is it. What makes the Taj Mahal so remarkable? It’s hard to grasp that a building could be described as beautiful. Architecture can be handsome, inspiring or jaw-dropping but somehow the Taj Mahal is delicate, intricate, soft, feminine.  What you can not appreciate until you visit in-person, is the way the marble changes colour depending on the position of the sun, the delicacy of …