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Dec 11 2014

The ultimate holiday gift guide for healthy living superstars!

by Marilyn McKenna

Oh, goody, goody gumdrops! The beginners and intermediate holiday gift guides were a great start and will definitely fit the bill for those who are just starting on their path to wellness, but I’m betting there are the folks on your gift list who are very serious about healthy living and already commit themselves to […]

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families, Weight Loss Tagged With: Healthy Holiday Gift Guide

Dec 9 2014

Gift giving for healthy living newbies

by Marilyn McKenna

Scratching your head about what to get that special someone who’s trying to live a healthier lifestyle? Here are some great, inexpensive gift ideas for a friend or loved one who’s ready to embark on a new fitness routine or wants to spend more time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals in 2015. Read more “Healthy […]

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families, Weight Loss Tagged With: Gifts for Beginners, Healthy Christmas Gifts, Healthy Holiday Gift Guide

Dec 1 2014

Let’s deck the halls! (but first, go help dad clean out the garage)

by Marilyn McKenna

Feliz Navi-dog from Stella! The days after Thanksgiving are a time of excitement as we begin the transition into Christmas or Hanukah mode (some of us faster than others). I’m not a shopper, so my idea of Black Friday is staring at the inside of my eyelids, leaving the lines and crowds to someone else. […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Comfort Food Makeover, Healthy Families, Recipes Tagged With: Close to Home, Deck the Halls, White Turkey Chili Recipe

Nov 27 2014

Gather ’round

by Marilyn McKenna

The tables are set, the stuffing and cranberry are sauce are made, and the star of the show is brining in the fridge. It’s Thanksgiving morning and I wake up to a house that’s quiet, but not “too” quiet, if you know what I mean. Three out of four of my kids are home (my […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families Tagged With: Thanksgiving

Nov 25 2014

Bite-sized Thanksgiving desserts to die for

by Marilyn McKenna

BAM! I have got this Thanksgiving dessert thing figured out! Let me just say up front that I am a dessert fiend. I love them all: tarts, crisps, pies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, trifles, flans, glacees, gelatos, truffles … you get the picture. I love making them, I love eating them, and I love the leftovers […]

Filed Under: Comfort Food Makeover, Healthy Families, Recipes Tagged With: Cheesecake Bikes, Dessert, Healthy Thanksgiving, Pecan Pie Bites, Pumpkin Pie Bites, Thanksgiving

Nov 21 2014

Happy Thanksgiving from the McKennas

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Videos Tagged With: Marilyn McKenna, Rob McKenna, Thanksgiving

Nov 18 2014

Entertaining imperfection

by Marilyn McKenna

Turkeys, eyeing farmer with cleaver headed toward them: “If we work together, I think we can take him.” Excerpted from “Holiday Horror” blog (original post November 29, 2012) My husband (aka “resident comedian”) has said for years that he can time the guests’ arrival at any family gathering by the onset of my nervous breakdown. Haha! Funny […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss Tagged With: Healthy Thanksgiving, Perfectionism

Nov 17 2014

10 kitchen gadgets you need for Thanksgiving (and 3 that you DON’T)

by Marilyn McKenna

Even those of us who don’t spend much time in the kitchen the rest of the year are dying to gather up our favorite tools to make the most-anticipated meal of the year: Thanksgiving dinner. Not hosting? Take a healthy side dish to share, or maybe bring one of these Thanksgiving-essential cooking tools for your […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families Tagged With: Close to Home, Cooking, Kitchen Gadgets, Thanksgiving

Nov 10 2014

Care packages from home

by Marilyn McKenna

I was having lunch with a friend the other day who told me that her high school senior had just made her college decision. It’s a nerve-wracking process every time, but this was my friend’s first time through; she was both nervous and elated. Her biggest fear was that her daughter had chosen a school […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families Tagged With: Care Package, Close to Home

Nov 6 2014

Halloween candy haunting you? Who you gonna call???

by Marilyn McKenna

It’s haunting to you, isn’t it? That damn bowl of candy that’s been sitting on the counter since Halloween night. Maybe even keeping you awake at night. You lay there, telling yourself you’re just gonna eat a piece or two a day, but as if possessed by Zuul the  Gatekeeper of Gozer, you end up with a mound of wrappers […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss Tagged With: Halloween Candy, Healthy Eating, Weight Loss

Oct 30 2014

Thanks, mom!

by Marilyn McKenna

I’m so grateful I had (still have!) THAT kind of mom. The kind of mom who made our Halloween costumes every year. (That’s me and my brother, circa 1965. I’m the flower. My brother was a monarch butterfly.) The kind of mom who threw elaborate-themed birthday parties. The kind of mom who tried desperately to […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Style + Substance Tagged With: Halloween, Mom

Oct 17 2014

Lifestyle change: buzz word or buy-in?

by Taryn Langlois

If you’re like most people, you’ve tried to change your health habits before. You’ve started and stopped diets and exercise plans at least once, if not many times in your life. You start each new plan or program with renewed zeal. You start out strong. You eat only 1200 calories per day (or less), you track your food, […]

Filed Under: Comfort Food Makeover, Healthy Families, Recipes Tagged With: Buzz Word, Lifestyle Change

Oct 6 2014

Close to home

by Marilyn McKenna

That’s my new house. At least, it will be in six to nine months. The exact date of completion is somewhat nebulous and depends on whether one believes the builder or the neighbors who have already moved in and found that their move-in dates that were moving targets. Nonetheless I am excited beyond words about this […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families Tagged With: Healthy Home, Home Life

Sep 30 2014

Find your adventurous spirit zip-lining!

by Marilyn McKenna

My long-suffering husband lives in fear of our wedding anniversary; hopefully not because he has any regrets, but because I use it as an opportunity enlist him in all kinds of adventures. It’s become our tradition now to try out a new exploit each year to mark the occasion. Earlier this month we celebrated 28 […]

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families Tagged With: Adventure, Zip-Lining

Sep 17 2014

N is for Nuts

by Marilyn McKenna

We all have our crosses to bear; mine’s covered in peanut butter. As my desperate tweet implied, I’d eat anything with peanut butter on it. If I was forced to choose just one thing I could take when stranded on a desert island, it wouldn’t even cause me to blink. Peanut butter. I suppose I […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Style + Substance, Weight Loss

Aug 24 2014

Ice Bucket Challenge

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Videos

Aug 8 2014

Planes, Trains & Automobiles: Healthy Living on Vacation

by Marilyn McKenna

Here’s the Week 7 “10-Week, 10-Pound Challenge” podcast. This week is all about maintaining your healthy living goals while traveling. I recap this week’s blogs and take some questions from the “Ask Marilyn” mailbag. Click here to download for offline listening.

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Podcasts, Weight Loss

Jul 25 2014

Family (Food) Matters

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Videos, Weight Loss

Jul 16 2014

Bad Habit Intervention

by Marilyn McKenna

Actual scenario: Connor (my 14-year-old son) stomps in the house after another inspiring day at middle school, throws open the refrigerator with an exasperated groan, grabs a bowl of freshly washed strawberries sitting front-and-center on the top shelf, and lets out a relieved, “Thank goodness!” He takes the entire bowl upstairs to his room and […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jul 7 2014

That was a blast!

by Marilyn McKenna

Where I live, summer officially begins on July 5th. Seattle weather is pretty predictable; you can bet money it will rain on July 4th. In fact, it is historically the rainiest day of the month in these parts. Here I am, taking cover on Friday night while waiting for the fireworks to start. Our family […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families

Jun 30 2014

Have Your Summer Parties and Maintain Your Weight Loss Goals, Too

by Marilyn McKenna

I gave serious thought to subtitling this piece “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” Just like the song of the same name, you get the idea: there’s always going to be a reason to overindulge if you’re looking for one. The summer holidays are upon us, including the 4th of July. We share picnics and barbecues with friends […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 18 2014

Teach Kids to Navigate the Food Carnival

by Marilyn McKenna

Though not technically an amusement park, I refer to our current food culture as a “food carnival” because it’s like a funhouse ride. Enticing foods assault our senses everywhere we go and we must learn to see through the attraction of it all and make sensible choices. As parents, it’s equally important that we teach […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 17 2014

Top 10 Foods You Think Are Healthy That Are Not

by Marilyn McKenna

It’s time for a “Top 10” list! Haven’t done one in a while and they’re always such a kick in the pants. Let’s take a look at ten foods you might assume are healthy that actually are not. It shouldn’t surprise you that most of the foods on this list are highly-processed. It also shouldn’t […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 16 2014

Screen Time and Childhood Obesity

by Marilyn McKenna

The kitchen may be the hub of the home, but wherever there are screens – TVs, computers, laptops, tablets, video games, smartphones or iPods – that’s where you’ll find kids. And truthfully, most of us grown-ups, too. The average American 8-10 year-old spends eight hours per day in front of screens. Teens spend closer to […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 13 2014

A Healthy and Delicious Father’s Day Menu

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Recipes, Videos

Jun 11 2014

Connor’s Story

by Marilyn McKenna

That’s my son Connor. He’s a happy, healthy 14-year-old these days, if a little on the snarky side. Gee, I wonder where he gets that?!? Ahem. If you’re wondering whether it bothers him that I use him as an example of what I’ve learned about children and obesity, it doesn’t. We talk about it all […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 9 2014

Kids Need Their Own Reason to Lose Weight

by Marilyn McKenna

Teaching your kids the value of eating healthy food and exercising evolves from very simple messages when they’re 3 years old to much more sophisticated conversations when they’re 13. The 3-year-old just wants to hang out with you in the kitchen, help tear lettuce, maybe sample the ingredients while you’re cooking. The 13-year-old already has […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 5 2014

Gatekeeper, Not Warden

by Marilyn McKenna

Childhood obesity is a societal problem, to be sure. We are all impacted by the repercussions of generations of young people who are conditioned to overeat for a variety of reasons: they are less active than older generations, they are more technologically connected but less connected to other people than older generations, unhealthy food surrounds […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 3 2014

Our Crazy, Mixed-Up Attitude About Food

by Marilyn McKenna

As I said in the introduction to “Healthy Grown-Ups, Healthy Kids,” obesity doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it happens in the context of families. Whether it’s the family we grew up in, the family we created or both, our eating patterns and food preferences, our exercise habits and body image are formed inside our family […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jun 2 2014

Healthy Grown-Ups, Healthy Kids

by Marilyn McKenna

Welcome to Healthy Grown-Ups, Healthy Kids! This is our month-long look at the impact of overweight and obesity within families. You probably already realize, weight problems don’t happen in a vacuum; they happen in the context of families. That is, our eating patterns, food preferences, exercise habits and body image all are formed within our […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 29 2014

Gear Up Your Garage for Weight Loss

by Marilyn McKenna

When you set out on a weight loss journey you need to survey your home almost as if you were a homebuyer going through a house assessing its strengths and weaknesses. You must evaluate each room with a critical eye, discerning how well it meets your needs. In terms of creating a healthy lifestyle, you […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 28 2014

One Meal At A Time

by Marilyn McKenna

You achieve success one decision at a time. You succeed at weight loss one meal at a time. It can feel overwhelming to contemplate losing 100 lbs. or even 20 or 30, especially if you’ve tried many times before. But if you commit to a healthy lifestyle one meal at a time, it’s more manageable. […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 26 2014

The Oxygen Room

by Marilyn McKenna

All month we’ve been talking about how to create a home environment that supports weight loss and healthy living. There was the “Pantry Purge” and “The Proactive Pantry,” the “Refrigerator Rehab” and “Refrigerator Reset,” the “Franken-Freezer” and “Frozen is Fabulous.” But what about the rest of your house? Is it set up to support a […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Fitness, Healthy Families

May 15 2014

Refrigerator Reset

by Marilyn McKenna

There are two forces at work in your refrigerator that you can use to your advantage for weight loss: foods that must be refrigerated are by definition perishable. Buy fresh foods and use them quickly! And second, the number of very healthy convenience foods has dramatically increased in the last few years. Now that we’ve […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 13 2014

Refrigerator Rehab

by Marilyn McKenna

It’s time to rehab the fridge as we continue our quest to create a “safe haven” in your home to support your weight loss goals. I’m really hoping we don’t have to call in a HAZMAT team to clean it out! Just like when we cleared out the hazardous foods in the pantry and cupboards, […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 8 2014

The Proactive Pantry

by Marilyn McKenna

I am probably the last person on the face of the Earth who will tell you to start canning all your food in order to eat healthier. I am, after all, the laziest (healthy) cook in North America. I will, however, tell you that once you’ve done your “Pantry Purge” based on the principle of […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

May 7 2014

Mother’s Day “Salad in a Container” Garden

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Recipes, Videos

May 6 2014

Pantry Purge

by Marilyn McKenna

You’re afraid to open the cupboard, aren’t you? It’s all gonna come crashing down if you open it … don’t do it! Maybe your pantry and cupboards aren’t overstuffed and disorganized to that degree, but sometimes it seems like we keep buying things because we forget what we’ve already got. Or, we’re just in the […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss Tagged With: Pantry, Pantry Purge

May 1 2014

There’s No Place Like Home

by Marilyn McKenna

Dorothy didn’t have to go looking for her heart’s desire over the rainbow because, as she learned by the movie’s end, it was in her own backyard all along. In fact as we all know, there’s no place like home. Throughout the month we’re going to look at how to set up your home environment […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Apr 23 2014

The Care and Feeding of Teenagers

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families, Interviews, Videos

Mar 20 2014

Vegetables: It’s What’s for Dinner

by Marilyn McKenna

Maybe you’re asking yourself, if dinner is roughly 300 calories and it’s primarily vegetables, what in the heck can I have other than rabbit food?!? In Tuesday’s blog I shared one of my all-time favorite salad recipes “Spinach Salad with Dried Cranberries and Gorgonzola.” It’s one of a half-dozen or so salads that I make […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Mar 12 2014

One Meal At A Time

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Videos, Weight Loss

Jan 31 2014

Interview With My Mom – Part 3

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families, Interviews, Videos, Weight Loss

Jan 30 2014

Establishing Boundaries for Time Wasters

by Marilyn McKenna

In Tuesday’s blog, “Ditch the Time Wasters” we talked about the activities that eat away at your precious time, making it less likely that you’ll have room in your day for healthy meals and exercise. The second big time waster is harder to identify and root out. There are people who intrude on your personal […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Weight Loss

Jan 29 2014

Interview With My Mom – Part 2

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families, Interviews, Videos, Weight Loss

Jan 27 2014

Interview with my mom

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Fitness, Healthy Families, Interviews, Videos, Weight Loss

Dec 27 2013

And Many Happy Returns

by Marilyn McKenna

A few days after Christmas my house still looks like a set for a post-apocalyptic movie. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but only because my long-suffering husband is so tidy. Truthfully, there are neatly stacked piles everywhere: things to go upstairs, things to get returned or exchanged, things to go off with the […]

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Style + Substance, Weight Loss Tagged With: Many Happy Returns

Dec 24 2013

Merry Christmas from Rob & Marilyn

by Marilyn McKenna

Filed Under: Healthy Families, Videos

Dec 23 2013

A Christmas Gift to Yourself

by Marilyn McKenna

I won’t keep you today; I know there are a lot of things you’ve still got to get done before the caroling and wassailing can begin. Hopefully you don’t save all the wrapping until the last minute like I do, but if you do, put on your favorite Christmas album and enjoy a cup of […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families Tagged With: Christmas Gift to Yourself, Health for the Holidays

Dec 19 2013

Visualize what’s on your table

by Marilyn McKenna

I love the visual of the two tables because it so clearly defines for me what I have proactively chosen to eat (my table) vs. every possible food choice (the other table). I use this visual constantly when I’m confronted with a new food or need to remind myself which table chocolate chip cookies belong […]

Filed Under: Close to Home, Healthy Families

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