Veena Goel Crownholm's blog https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm en Sleep...How important can it be? https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/sleephow-important-can-it-be <div class="field field-name-field-article-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/sites/default/files/preschoolers_and_sleep.jpg" width="600" height="386" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sleep is something that I pass on when life is hectic. There aren’t enough hours in the day to cook, clean, laundry, work, take care of my family, my health, etc. Something always has to give...and sleep is the easiest one to take off of the list. Laying in bed for eight hours sometimes feels like I wasted a huge chunk of time when I could get a head start on the next day or finish up the prior day. Add in a writing deadline and there is no time to sleep. I like to think that sleep is a bank, you add in extra hours sometimes and other times you deplete it. Some how, some way it all balances out. And honestly, a nice pot of coffee in the morning seems to fix any amount of sleep deprivation from the night before. I know I am not alone with this idea. I can’t say that I have always thought this was a good idea, but I am young and if there was a time to do it, it would be now. We have all felt that pressure of paying our “dues” now so we can enjoy our hardwork later. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Well, after hearing Arianna Huffington speak a month ago about her wake up call of too much work, travel, etc and the need for sleep. In her words, “sleep your way to the top!” So what does this mean? My first thought was of course Arianna Huffington can say, we need to prioritize sleep above all else in our day well because she was Arianna Huffington. What about those of us who are still trying to make our way into a place where can see ourselves as successful. Arianna was already named of Forbe’s Most Influential Women as well as the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, of course she could take time to sleep. She had made already made it in my eyes. But according to Arianna, money and power make up only two of the three legs on a stool. Yes money and power can sustain us for a long while but eventually we fall over. Our health is the other key factor to success. Stress and stress-related illnesses are literally killing us. She also made a point to say that the way society defines success and the way we remember an individual’s success are very very different. Society reveres the resume and financial successes of an individual whereas when we speak about a loved once we eulogize the passions, love, laughs and memories shared with that individual no the long hours he/she spent working, missed soccer games and family events. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">So as I thought about what Arianna Huffington spoke about, I came to realize that burnout, which I felt like I was on the verge of, would never lead to where I want to be. Lying in a hospital bed exhausted would definitely take me away from my family and away from my dream television gig. I was starting to think that if I kept putting off sleep, relaxation and time to daydream and I would be putting myself farther from dreams and goals. By taking care of myself, I would be thinking more clearly, be more efficient and exude better energy out into the world and in some way that would take me more closer to my dreams. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">So I decided to practice some of the ideas that Arianna spoke about. I am making more of an active effort to put away my technology at night and go to sleep, not scroll through my social media apps randomly during the day and spend more time present. In the two weeks that I have done this, I am feeling more fulfilled, happier and more able to get things done during the day and my writers block is starting to lift. While it was strange to prioritize sleep, there is something very profound and true to Arianna Huffington’s Thrive....join me in my journey to sleep more!</span></p> </div></div></div> Fri, 15 Aug 2014 05:59:44 +0000 Veena Goel Crownholm 47595 at https://www.kidsinthehouse.com https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/sleephow-important-can-it-be#comments Beauty Is... https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/beauty-is <div class="field field-name-field-article-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/sites/default/files/screen_shot_2014-05-29_at_9.41.38_am.png" width="600" height="265" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="p1"><span class="s1">At a recent conference I attended, Dove posed an interesting question...how do you define what #BeautyIs? This seems like a simple enough question and then I tried to answer it. I struggled with it for a moment, so I thought that since pictures are worth a thousand words, I could define it with a picture. Nope! I could not find just one picture that defines beauty in my life. Beauty is having a picture of my mom where she is smiling and for a minute forgets that she is in one of the last stages of Parkinson’s Disease. Beauty is a video of my 3 year old laughing uncontrollably about something simple and silly. Beauty is the triumph I feel after climbing what seemed like an insurmountable mountain with my husband and then staring at the most amazing view of nature around us. There just isn’t one way to capture beauty in a photo. I thought to myself, I could put together a picture collage but that was not the assignment. Was it possible to define what “beauty is” in words? </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Over the last 3.5 years, since having had my son, I have struggled with feeling beautiful. Losing 60 pounds of baby weight has felt nearly impossible at times. I have tried everything to make me feel better on the outside while still trying to lose the everlasting muffin top. Getting dressed every day (which is a personal meltdown activity) is stressful and confidence shattering, I mask my face with make-up in hopes that I will feel better about myself. Truth is, all I have is a well concealed face with a self-esteem that is in pieces. The muffin top that flops over my jeans is a constant reminder that I don’t feel confident in my own skin. On top of that, I don’t feel healthy. I know the longer I have the extra weight the harder it will be to lose. The muffin top is a reminder of how frustrated I am with myself for not being my pre-pregnancy size years ago. Let me clarify that it is not so much the size and the extra weight I am carrying in my mid section. I have had every blood test, done every exercise video from Zumba to Jillian Michaels to Insanity. They all help me goal in being heart healthy but none have solved the belly fat issue. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Ultimately, there just isn’t a lot you can do for yourself when all you see in the mirror every day is imperfections. It is so easy to focus on the flaws. The muffin top, the bags under my eyes, the stretch marks, the scars. Every time you pass a window and see your reflection you cringe. You only post the photos on Instagram and Facebook that are taken at the right angle and decently flattering of your face only. I  am sad now looking at the first 2.5 years of my son’s life because I am missing from so many pictures because I did not like being in the pictures because of the way I look. I neglected to think outside of myself to my husband that constantly tells me I look beautiful and a son that thinks the same. Over time I have learned that they are not telling me these things to be nice but because they truly believe it. It’s me who does not believe I deserve to be told I am beautiful because I feel that bad about my body.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">So in the past 6 months, I have come to realize that it is entirely up to me to shift my exercise and eating habits in order to lose the weight. The days that I don’t feel like exercising, I have to. The stressful days I feel like indulging in comfort food, I shouldn’t. It is the shift in my choices that have helped my drop the last 10 pounds of “baby weight” or my weight.Losing the weight is a snowball effect because the more weight I lose the better I will feel about myself which will increase my confidence and ability to see the beauty within myself. Through this thought process, I finally realized that I had defined what beauty is to me:</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Beauty is:</span></p> <ol class="ol1"> <li class="li1"><span class="s1">The sounds of genuine laughter from my 3 year old</span></li> <li class="li1"><span class="s1">Being in the moment with family and friends. </span></li> <li class="li1"><span class="s1">Most importantly, beauty is being comfortable in your own skin</span></li> </ol> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The first two ideas are pretty straight forward, but being comfortable in my own skin has been quite the undertaking for me especially the last few years. Before I had a kid, I always thought that losing weight post baby would be easy. You breastfeed and the weight literally melts off. With my formerly high metabolism, in no time I would look like my pre-pregnancy self. You eat right, work out and have pretty good genes...and BAM that would be the recipe for post partum weighloss success. I could not have been more wrong, well at least for me. During my pregnancy, I gained 60 pounds somehow. No, I was not indulging one craving after another. I think it had something to due with being on bed rest for 10 weeks and getting my appendix out as well as having an emergency c-section. After giving birth to my little man, maybe 15 pounds came off. I recall sweating off the next 10; however, 3 months later I still looked 6 months pregnant with 35 pounds of weight to come off. Over the last 3+years, I have explored every option of losing the baby weight. I am a fairly active person who watches what they eat for the most part but the weight was not budging. Every day I felt my self esteem go down a notch. I did not feel comfortable in this new body. None of my clothes fit but I could not let go of what I used to look like. Getting dressed everyday was a disaster and could send me into a tailspin. It was so frustrating to see friends of mine post their “hot” bodies post birth. I was happy for them but so green with envy. I tried every supplement (Garcinia Cambogia, Rasberry Ketones, Yacon syrup, etc), juicing diet and still nothing. I was so uncomfortable in my own body that going to the gym was difficult. Everything was difficult. I did feel beautiful and I could not feel comfortable in my own skin. Some how, some way I managed to start running and revisiting my weight workout from my Miss California days coupled with a vegetarian diet (no dairy, no gluten) that was portion oriented. And within a couple months, every last pound is gone. Do I look like my pre baby self? No. Will my stomach ever be flat again? No, but a couple pairs Spanx might be my new best friend. Do I feel more confident? Yes. Do I feel healthy? Yes. Do I feel comfortable in my own skin? Yes. So if you ask me what #BeautyIs today, I would be able to answer you. To me, #BeautyIs feeling healthy, comfortable and confident in your own skin which allows you to radiate from the inside out. Thank you Dove for making campaigns that remind me of what is important in life.</span></p> </div></div></div> Thu, 29 May 2014 16:47:15 +0000 Veena Goel Crownholm 47099 at https://www.kidsinthehouse.com https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/beauty-is#comments Pressure to have the Perfect Life: Part 1 https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/pressure-to-have-the-perfect-life-part-1 <div class="field field-name-field-article-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/sites/default/files/img_1414_0.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Why is there so much pressure to be perfect as women? Why is there so much emphasis on having the perfect body, makeup, outfit, job, home, spouse and/or child? Do we put this pressure on ourselves? Where does the pressure come from?</span></p> <p class="p2">Even though I question and try to fight the pressure to “perfect” in so many facets of my own life,  with social media it feels nearly impossible to escape it. It seems that every where I look, I am inundated with what the perfect body, home, marriage and child looks like. Shouldn’t I be more concerned with living a healthy lifestyle, having a roof over my family’s head, a spouse that is my best friend and having a well-balanced child? </p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">I have come to the realization 3.5 years after having my child that I will never have the body I did pre-baby. Although I have finally lost all the “baby weight,” my belly has loose skin, stretch marks galore and war wounds from having an appendectomy while pregnant and then an emergency c-section. Over the past few years I have come to embrace my belly’s imperfections as rites of passage into motherhood, but that does not stop me from having an internal meltdown every time I see a news piece or tabloid showing how another celebrity mom’s body bounced back 6 weeks after birth looking hotter than ever (it’s true they all look pretty amazing). I always wonder if celebrities deal with what seems like the norm in my mommy world of having loose belly skin, stretch marks and other scars from pregnancy? Do they have confidence issues with their bodies post baby? Difficulty adjusting to parenthood? It seems that the every day moms that I encounter have similar experiences of life after baby.  Some of the most popular topics include sleepless nights, problems nursing, colic, difficulty getting back into exercising, cooking fresh meals and did I mention sleep??? There isn’t enough concealer in the world to cover up the bags I acquired after my son was born. No, not everything post birth is difficult and negative. There are not enough words in the world to describe the love a parent will feel toward his/her child after they are born. It is a love like no other. I feel blessed every day to be able to experience it. Back to the topic at hand, I will admit that I have been a little (or a lot) green with envy of my girlfriends’ whose bodies have bounced fairly quickly a few short months after giving birth...I am genuinely happy for them yet simultaneously bummed it didn’t happen to me. Some people have told me that I need to embrace my new body, I just can’t and I am glad that I didn’t. 3.5 years later and I am back in most of my old clothes and it feels good. The road back to my pre-pregnancy weight has been a long and difficult one, but the most rewarding. I am proud of myself for changing my eating habits and sticking to an exercise regime that is conducive to being with my son full-time. I know how hard I have worked and  know that I am setting a good example for my son. I will never take for granted again being able to get dressed without a meltdown and not avoiding being in pictures because I didn’t feel comfortable with how I looked. So now I am looking to you to help me answer some questions that still remain...Becoming a parent is hard enough with sleep deprivation and adjusting to parenthood, so why do we feel pressured to have the picture perfect life on our social media outlets? Is there a way to portray a more accurate snap shot into our lives without becoming a negative nancy when we are laden with a string of unfortunate days with our kids and life events? How can we as parents instill confidence in our youth who are inundated with images of the “perfect” body and life? How can we set a better example of how a confident adult acts, eats and lives like on a daily basis? It is truly up to us as parents to create every day ideals and norms that create healthy and well-balanced youth. Youth who embrace their differences. Youth who define personal perfection by being happy, eating healthy, exercising and being authentic to themselves. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">How do you instill confidence and individuality in your own children? How you teach them to love their differences? How do you set examples in your own life? Can’t wait to hear all your suggestions! </span></p> </div></div></div> Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:58:13 +0000 Veena Goel Crownholm 46994 at https://www.kidsinthehouse.com https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/pressure-to-have-the-perfect-life-part-1#comments Navigating Life https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/navigating-life <div class="field field-name-field-article-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/sites/default/files/474992629.jpg" width="600" height="689" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Navigating adulthood is difficult all on its own. Choosing between professions, relationships and when or if to have children. After a good amount of thinking and planning about these huge life altering decisions, life around us continues to happen as well. You might be wondering what I am getting at...for me it is coming to terms with my parents getting older and the issues that surround that idea. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">My mom has had Parkinson’s for about 15 years, which feels like an eternity. Now that she is in a more advanced stage of that disease, I find myself in a unique place. During the day, I am navigating meltdowns, teaching my kiddo how to read/write and what socially acceptable behavior is and general safety while at the same time taking on a more authoritative position with my mom. The former being a little easier for me since I have grown into the motherhood role over the past few years; however, the latter poses a lot of issues for me. In many cultures this rings true, being Asian I was raised to respect my elders at almost all costs, to not talk back while caring and honoring for them. As a child, this is fairly easy to accomplish, but over the last decade I have found myself struggling. </span><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">On one hand I want to respect and listen to my mother’s wishes; however, on the other hand I am concerned for her well-being and safety. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">My dad and mom get used to the small changes that happen every day with Parkinson’s that they may overlook some of the dangers of their home. It has been a struggle to argue with them over needing small changes to start like Life Alert, safety rails, general help, finding a support group, exercise classes that may fit her current status, etc. With my child, my husband and I can ensure safety whether our child likes it or not, with my parents that are still able to resist change and there is nothing I can do about it. I know we are just at the beginning of this, but it is challenging and emotionally overwhelming. I just want my mom to know that all of the suggestions and frustrations come from a loving place...</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">For more, please follow my journey with my mom at www.aparentwithparkinsons.com</span></p> </div></div></div> Tue, 11 Mar 2014 18:52:26 +0000 Veena Goel Crownholm 46710 at https://www.kidsinthehouse.com https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/blogs/veena-goel-crownholm/navigating-life#comments