This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of HealthyTuna.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

As a child, I wasn’t a very big fan of eating fish… of any sort. But since living in Japan, I’ve grown to love many types of seafood. One of my favorites being tuna. It’s so easy to use, and it’s a great source of protein, Omega-3 (which is a good type of fat) and Vitamin D… and I’ve just recently found out that it’s been part of a couple of scientific studies with pregnant women!
I took a look at these studies with tuna and pregnant women, and was quite impressed with the results.

First, a study at Harvard Medical School, that was published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that they studied over 25,000 Danish mother/child pairs to determine the overall effect of maternal fish intake during pregnancy on child development. They found out that based on their interviews the women with the highest intake (2 oz per day on average) had children 25% more likely to have higher developmental scores at 6m and nearly 30% more likely to have even higher scores at 18m. I’m sure that these results are probably not typical, but if it’s even remotely true… I think I’m very glad that I ate my fish when I was pregnant with my girls!
The second study I read about was regarding depression in women, especially pregnant women. They stated that they found moms-to-be who ate no seafood were 50% more likely to have symptoms of depression than those who ate seafood at least three times per week. Not a good statistic! Recent science is suggesting that depression during pregnancy can increase the risk of

• Having a caesarian section
• Delivering prematurely or a low birth weight baby
• Lowering cognitive test scores and babies’ brain & behavior development
• Having depression following pregnancy.

It sounds like seafood is healthier than many people think.. and it’s so easy to get those recommended servings into your diet, especially with tuna fish!

We sometimes make a simple green salad and add in some healthy tuna on top of it. We’ll add in carrots, red onion, olives, some cheese, and then only a light sprinkling of some red wine vinaigrette dressing. It’s perfect as a side dish or make it a larger salad, and it’s a meal! For snacking, I’ll often grab a handful of whole grain crackers, and put some tuna on top. It’s healthy, and good!

For more information about the benefits of Tuna, or seafood in general, check out healthy tuna.com!

Future bestselling authors from North Carolina (WOOHOO!) and New York

On January 15th, 2010, MrsP.com announced the names of the two Grand Prize winners in its first annual “Be a Famous Writer” contest.  Gabrielle Fuller, 8, from North Carolina, takes top honors in the 4- to 8-year-old category with her comic fairy tale, “Pretty Princess and Funky Frog.” In the 9- to 13-year-old category, Isabella Penola, 12, from New York, charmed the panel of famous judges with her poignant tale of an elderly gardener, “Spattered Mud and Crushed Petals”.

“Like everyone, I’m concerned about the state of education in America.  But based on the quality of writing for my contest, I’m happy to say a lot of teachers out there must be doing a wonderful job,” said TV star Kathy Kinney, who portrays Mrs. P and is one of the creators of the website.

The Grand Prize winners will have their stories produced as videos featuring Mrs. P, which will be presented on her popular free, interactive digital website. Original artwork by award-winning illustrator, Robin E. Kaplan, will help bring the stories to life. The videos will be posted for a limited time on the website (www.MrsP.com) beginning in March for viewers all over the world to watch and enjoy. In addition, each winner will receive an actual bound copy of the story and illustrations as a keepsake to treasure for years to come. Powell’s Books (www.Powells.com), the largest independent bookseller and the sponsor of the contest, will provide the Grand Prize winners as well as the 8 other finalists with gift certificates to its store.

The judges for the writing contest included four top professionals in the writing field: Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and author of dozens of bestselling books; Andre Bormanis, writer and producer of the popular fantasy series, Legend of the Seeker and author of Star Trek: Science Logs; Craig Ferguson, host of the CBS Late Late Show and author of the acclaimed novel, Between the Bridge and the River; and Diana Leszczynski, author of Fern Verdant and the Silver Rose, a comic adventure recently selected as a Smithsonian Notable Children’s Book and currently being developed as a motion picture.

The MrsP.com writing contest is an annual event and runs every September. It was created along with the website to encourage a love of reading.

Next year…. my girls are so totally entering!!! Your children should too!!

A very dear friend and colleague just found out this past weekend that her very beautiful 4 year old daughter has leukemia. Thankfully, it’s a more common and more cureable form of childhood leukemia called A.L.L. (Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), but it’s still going to require a great amount of treatment and doctor visits, and God only knows what else. They found out that she’ll have an 85-90% cure rate, but among the blessings, there’s also a down side. They don’t have medical insurance.

Her husband lost his job a few months ago, and she is self employed.They were in the middle of applying for the state children’s medical insurance, but it didn’t come through in time, and now there’s nothing they can do but bear the weight of the impending medical bills.

I’m going to add a chip-in widget to my sidebar (campaign created by Jenn of Frugal Upstate), and I ask that you do chip-in if you can. Skip your morning coffee at Starbucks and bring in your own from home for a couple of days, or brownbag it and donate what you would’ve spent that day… Anything you can donate no matter how little will make a HUGE difference in this family’s life.

To find out more about my friend Jennae and her family, please check out her site: Green Your Decor

To donate, please use the widget in my sidebar. Thank you!

And I need you!!!

If you’ve been on Twitter, or keeping track anywhere around the fitness blog, you have probably heard about an awesome program called #Mamavation. It’s an awesome support system started by Leah Segedie, or as many of us affectionately call her, @bookieboo.
This program has helped several moms kick start their fitness goals and lose amazing weight, and now I want need to be one of those moms!
I’ve been trying to lose weight for several years now, and have not been able to do it as well as I could be. I’ve gone to the gym. I’ve walked at home. I’ve even worked out with my Wii. I have lost some weight but it’s not enough. I need more help! I need to know what I’ve been doing wrong all this time. I want to make lifestyle changes that will help me lose the weight, and keep it off. I want to know more about good nutrion and exercise that I can pass on to my girls, and my husband to get them fit and excited about it!
Here’s where I need YOU! I need your support!
Please watch my video below. Know that this isn’t something I’m doing just for myself, but for my family. My girls are my motivation, but I need your support more now than ever!
If you are on Twitter, awesome. If you are not, I ask you to join now… it’s free, I promise. I NEED you to tweet this phrase

“Hey @bookieboo! I want @MommyBrain to be the next #Mamavation Mom. She has my support!”

…. and tweet it often! Once, twice, three time daily… even more if you feel so inclined. I need @bookieboo & the Mamavation crew to see that I have your support… I need to see that too… Thank you so much!

If you are a parent that formula feeds your baby, and you’re looking for ways to save money in 2010… then listen up.

As I’ve posted before, I used Parent’s Choice infant formula when my girls were babies. We saved so much money, and were very pleased with how our girls did with it. I know there is some debate among consumers about whether or not store brand infant formula is just as good as the national name brands, and something happened last month that should let anyone who has thought about switching to store brand formula put their mind at ease.

Early December, Federal Court found store brand formulas to be nutritionally equivalent to and confer the same developmental benefits as the more expensive national name brands. This is a huge deal! PBM Products, LLC, the parent company to many store brand infant formulas, such as Parent’s Choice (Walmart), as well as Target, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Walgreens, and several other retailers, filed it’s 3rd law suit against Mead Johnson & Co. (Enfamil) several months ago, claiming that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s store brand infant formulas, suggesting that they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands. US District Court Judge James R Spencer (and jury of the people) awarded PBM Products, LLC $13.5 million in damages, one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising campaign.

“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning.  “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”

Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM’s infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that “It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development,” and “there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition.”  The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM’s store brand infant formula.

The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:

• http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf
• http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf

What Mead Johnson’s ad did was pretty surprising. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development.  Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil.

PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil.  PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®.

So there you have it… There is no such thing as a “generic” infant formula, there are no substandard infant formulas. Just because they cost less doesn’t mean they’re not as good! Store brand formulas are an excellent way to save money for other important baby items! Even though my girls are way out of the infant formula stage, we still buy other Parent’s Choice items when needed. I still check the labels, and still see the same nutritional facts, and ingredients lists when I compare. It’s pretty much an easy decision. Save up to 50%, and still give your baby the nutrition they need!

For more information, or to read theofficial Press Release from PBM Products, LLC go to http://www.pbmproducts.com/press.aspx?ID=310

For more information about Parent’s Choice infant formula: http://www.parentschoiceformula.com

**Disclaimer: I work with PBM as a Social Media Consultant, this post was not solicited. Opinions are 100% mine. I did use Parent’s Choice and write based on my personal experience with the product.

I “heart” Eye-Fi… I really do.. and here’s why.

I love taking pictures of my girls. I am a picture taking geek. My girls are always doing something cute, silly, funny, and sometimes obnoxious, and troublesome, but no matter what they are doing, they are almost always worth of a photo.. Since moving to my iMac a couple of years ago, I lost the built in card reader capabilities my previous laptops had. Now I have to hook up the camera via a USB cable in order to transfer photos into my computer for editing and/or sharing. It’s a pain because I’m almost always missing the USB cable that’s supposed to be in my desk drawer!

Earlier on this year, at SXSW, I met up with a couple of guys from Eye-Fi, and they showed me what a neat thing it is. If you haven’t heard of Eye-Fi yet, it’s a small SDHC card that you use in your camera, and when you take your photos, they’re automatically uploaded to the storage place of your choice. I have mine go straight to my computer! Check out this quick video from Erin Manning to learn more about Eye-Fi:

I’ve used my Eye-Fi for a few months now, and really do love it. I just wish my Nikon accepted it. While it is an SD card, you can’t use it on just any SD camera. Your camera has to be compatible with SDHC cards, and my older Nikon D50 does not accept them. My newer Canon SD1100IS does work with SDHC cards.. which is fine because most of my home photos are done with the Canon. I use my Nikon when I’m out and about and trying to get more portrait like shots.

Eye-Fi is great.. especially for parents who are shutterbugs like me! Some more great facts about Eye-Fi and how they can make life a little easier!

• The easiest way to get what’s in your camera out of your camera. Saves time and hassles.
• Automatic backup of your memories and automatic organization (by date) of them on your computer.
• Effortless sharing while your memories are fresh, not after they’ve sat in your camera for months.
• Eye-Fi is a wireless SD memory card with up to 4GB of memory PLUS built-in Wi-Fi. Just turn your camera on to effortlessly transfer photos and videos from your camera to your computer and favorite web sharing site (like Flickr & Facebook).
• Eye-Fi automatically backs up and organizes your photos and videos on your computer in date-based folders.
• You can also share your photos and videos on your favorite sharing site without even having your computer on. All you need is a SDHC capable camera and a wireless router.