Better Health: One IronKid Gummy at a Time {Giveaway}

What could possibly be worse than a house full of sick kids? A sick mother too!
The past couple of weeks in our household has been a hot pot of vomit, headaches, allergies and fevers. Not pretty at all.
No exaggeration when I tell you that week after week, when one sickness goes away, another comes creeping right back in and bouncing from one family member to another.

Here I thought labour pains to be one of the most painful things I've ever experienced (albeit one with positive and happy conclusions), have you ever got an adult ear infection before?
Holy Excruciating Pain Batman!
Never do I hope and pray that I ever experience that again.
Aside from the fact that I can be somewhat of a melodramatic hypochondriac when sick (yes, the world is ending!), this ear infection that I contracted after recovering from a horrid flu virus was extremely uncomfortable and painful to say the least.

Which is why it pained me to see my 8 month old baby go through his first ear infection as well after also recovering from a bad flu virus. Poor, poor baby.
To make things even worse, he then got a bad allergic reaction to the antibiotics he started taking to clear the ear infection. I wish I had known that it's best to let a little one's ear infection clear naturally on it's own then resort to antibiotics right away. The plus side to that awful experience is that we now know he is allergic to penicillin.

My 4 year old daughter who thankfully got the better immune system from her father (knock on wood), rarely gets sicks but when she does, she gets really sick. And this nasty bug that has invaded my home made sure not to miss my little girl either.

What worries me about my (very active) daughter getting sick is that she also is going through a slightly picky eating stage at the moment too. She eats well but the balance in food groups isn't so great.
On top of that, I'm also concerned that she isn't getting enough sun as she should (especially considering the really disarrayed weather as of late).
One day your enjoying the warm sunshine in flip flops and shorts, the next day sitting next to an open fire with hot tea seems more appropriate.

If you've already read, I am a big fan of the Adult Essentials Gummies Vitamins (what my husband and I take every day), but did you know that they also have a line strictly for kids?

*Click on this image to see close-up*

PTPA-Winning IronKids Gummies are specially formulated to support the health, growth and development of your children. Not only are they all-natural Canadian-made products you can trust, but they really taste yummy!
My daughter LOVES her gummies!
I have to remind her that she can only have a certain amount per day (I also have to remind myself that when taking my own Adult Essentials Multi-Vitamins) -- they taste so much like candy!

IronKids are sold in Real Canadian Super Stores, Loblaws, Shoppers, Rexall, Metro, Sobeys, Target, Walmart and you can find the Omega 3s in Costco.

To learn more about IronKids Gummy Vitamins, visit them at www.iron-kids.com.

She was super excited to receive a generous new supply of her favourite gummies (we were running out!) and I'm even more excited to share this with my readers!

One of my readers will win this awesome IronKids Prize Pack which includes: 4 IronKids Vitamins, 1 water bottle and Coupons.

*Open to Canadian Residents only.
Contest Ends 6/16.

To Win, leave me a comment below giving me what you do to keep your child/ren healthy and active in the Summer months.

Good luck!

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Take Control Over Your Health: Small Steps to Success

I usually like to start the New Year with a few resolutions just to make myself feel somewhat motivated -- whether or not I stick to them is ambivalent but what matters is I took the first small step towards a goal.

So far I have probably broke 2 resolutions which include staying away from sweets and minimizing the yelling in the household...
the first week of the New Year is a trial, right?

Well, I figured baby steps to success has always helped me most in my endeavours and I think truly the best way to go about achieving your objectives.
This year, one of my main goals isn't to "lose the baby weight" or "exercise more!", I initially wrote these two on the top of my list but then quickly crossed them off and changed them to this: Focus on my Health.

One of the best and easiest ways to attain your goal to a healthy start to a new you for this year would be to start taking a multi-vitamin.

Adult Essentials has quickly become both mine and my husband's (and now my parents and siblings) choice of vitamins.

They taste good, instead of forgetting to take your daily vitamin/s, in this case you have to be careful not to actually surpass the daily amount you get to chew on.

I've always been bad with remembering to take my vitamins each day but have never had this issue since introducing these gummies into my life.

Try them today and let me know what you think!

If you follow them on Facebook or Twitter, you will always find they offer amazing discounts and deals on their products. And of course, you can learn more about them online at: www.adultgummies.com.

You can find them at most major grocery stores and pharmacies in the vitamin aisle.

If you're a busy mom like me, sometimes my quick food choices in between mount washmore of laundry, getting baby to nap while making sure my four year old learns her lower case a,b,c's for the day can be more bad than good for my health. That's not an excuse.

On top of a multi-vitamin, I am now stocking up on fresher and frozen food items that I can quickly whip up into a filling and healthy meal alternative.

 Check out this easy recipe for a delicious Simply Strawberry Green Smoothie that I found on Pinterest (via excellent-eats.com).  

Ingredients: 2 cups frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 2 tablespoons flaxseeds, 3 cups fresh organic baby spinach, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 

Small steps to success! That's the key.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2013!

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Beat the Winter Viruses with #Adult Essentials

This season is the perfect opportunity to spend lots of fun quality time with family, especially your little ones.
Ski trips, tobogganing, snowboarding, winter hikes along the beautiful trails, skating followed by a cup of hot cocoa.
Another thing that my family loves to do during this time of year is head out for a brisk walk around the neighborhood after dinner with home-made hot chocolate all cozy and bundled checking out the gorgeous Holiday lights up on the houses.  It's amazing how much effort our wonderful neighbors put into lifting the
holiday spirits with how they decorate their homes for this festive time of year.
Being a mom, what I've come to realize though is that the common cold virus has a knack for visiting intruding my home and all the members in it starting with the kids most often during this time of year.
This makes for miserable moments combating runny noses and sore throats and time wasted in taking in this beautiful season outdoors.

Prior to taking my daily vitamin, I use to get sick quite often.  Let's just say I have a poor immune system.
I would avoid any and all that have come in contact with a virus like a plague but now that I'm a mother, that's very hard to do.
I can't stress enough the importance a daily vitamin is in your lifestyle.  We think we eat healthy enough, work out, etc. but we are always lacking a little something and could use a little boost.

First and foremost, start your day with a decent breakfast and a multivitamin, making sure to have a decent amount of Vitamin C as well, either derived through orange juice or a similar beverage, or an additional vitamin if necessary. Ensuring that your body has the necessary energy and nutrients to fight against the germs that carry the common cold is perhaps the most important step in attempting to have a healthy, cold-free winter. Your immune system must be kept at its peak during these months in order to stave off more debilitating illnesses like the flu.
Stay nice and bundled up as an external defense and they say consuming a cup of black or green tea daily is good for their antioxidants.

The germs that cause the common cold are actually most easily transmitted through the hands, so it is very important to take the necessary steps to wash and clean your hands several times a day in order to reduce the risk of catching a cold when in public places.  I like to keep antibacterial wipes and/or hand gel in my car and my purse when heading out.

It is still entirely possible you will catch a cold this winter, but if you follow the above tips daily and avoid contact with sick people when possible, then you will have significantly reduced the risk of getting sick yourself.

You can check out Adult Essentials line of Vitamins here.
You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

You will be able to find Adult Essentials Gummies at any of your local pharmacies and grocery stores in the vitamin aisle.  If you're having difficulty, you can check here for a list of retailers that carry them.

They are a Canadian brand the understands our Canadian Winters and the creator is also a Mom, just like you and I. If there's a brand that I can trust, it's definitely Adult Essentials.

How do you battle the ugly winter Viruses?


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Disclosure: I am participating in the Adult Essentials Blogger Outreach program by ShesConnected.  I received a supply of vitamins and compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my very own.

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Mission Accomplished: ShesConnected with Adult Essentials Gummy Vitamins

I use to think taking vitamins daily was such tedious task. Having to remember to take pills every day (which mostly are massive in size and ready to bring out a sudden gag reflex) and also reminding and "forcing" my family members to take it, was also a challenge in it's own.

It wasn't until I was introduced to Adult Essentials and Iron Kids Gummy Vitamins that my whole outlook on vitamins changed. Truly!

We love the taste and texture of the gummies and taking them each day was a treat.  Felt like we were having gummy candies as opposed to vitamins.
Adult Essentials only uses natural flavours and colours -- nothing artificial no sugar coating, Gluten, Nut and Dairy-Free!

Oh, and did I mention they are a PTPA award winner? :)

This was especially reassuring for me having a fussy-eater 3 and a half year old daughter and also a hubby that thinks having a burger with lots of veggies in it + fries and a milkshake was considered a complete meal. *sigh*

Because of my new found love for these gummies, I jumped at the opportunity to be a Brand Ambassador for Adult Essentials with Shes Connected and absolutely delighted to have been chosen as one!

Look who was as excited as mommy and daddy was to receive some new vitamins courtesy of Adult Essentials and She's Connected.  She got to sample the new Iron Kids calcium vitamins too!

Before Adult Essentials and Iron Kids, heading to the pharmacy or grocers Vitamin aisle was daunting, to say the least.  Staring for minutes upon minutes (what seemed more like hours) at the copious amount of vitamins they offered, reading the ingredients, etc. trying to ensure that I introduced the right vitamins for me and my family.  Can I tell you how much money I wasted? Most often, they end up being hidden in the back of our medicine cabinet collecting dust or being constantly spit out.

I headed to my local grocers (Fortinos) during a typical grocery run and decided to pop on over to the vitamin aisle to see if they carried our beloved Adult Essentials and sadly they did not.  However, I was happy to see they carried Iron Kids!

My next usual spot that I frequent often is the local Shoppers Drug Mart, and *tada*...
They carried Adult Essentials! Woo-hoo!

Now I know that I don't have to worry about where to find our favourite gummy vitamins.
Have you tried them yet?

Visit Adult Essentials online for more infomation at: www.adultgummies.com.
And for great tips, specials, and updates, make sure you are following them on Facebook and Twitter!

You can find these delicious gummies including their line of Iron Kids Gummies at many local grocers and pharmacies including these:

They are also available online at Well.Ca.

Let me know what you think of them and most importantly, take care and stay healthy!

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Disclosure: I am participating in the Adult Essentials Blogger Outreach program by ShesConnected.  I received a supply of vitamins and compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my very own.

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Dads Deserve to be Healthy with @AdultEssentials #Giveaway

The men in our lives deserve to be as healthy as they can be and Adult Essentials can help them do that!

My husband is a big snacker -- what man isn't? Still a big kid at heart with his love for gummy bears and gummy worms.
As much as he tries to eat well (thank God for wives!) and exercise (he takes Mixed Martial Arts classes and goes for walks & yoga with me as often as we can), I'm constantly concerned about his health and that he's getting the right vitamins. He is my big kid after all. :)

My husband works very hard, mentally & physically he does get exhausted and I notice it.
On top of being the sole provider of our household right now, he also helps me tremendously around the house (housework and with my daughter) and many, many other things that slowly gnaw at his health.

And I have to admit - he's not a big fan of vitamins. He has this thing about having to swallow them and also just the issue of remembering to take them daily.

I was so happy to have been introduced to Adult Essentials/Iron Kids Gummy Vitamins at the Shes Connected Conference last year.  They not only provide the essential nutrients your body needs but they taste like real gummies! My picky toddler instantly loved them and it's the only vitamins she will honestly take but my concern was... will this work on my husband?  Sure he loves his gummies, but will they taste good enough for him to remember to take them everyday?

I was given the opportunity to receive these delicious vitamins for that special man in our life and see what he had to say about it, because after all Dads deserve to be healthy too, right?

Instead of telling him they were vitamins, I just handed it to him saying, "Yum! Try these!" 
He took them without question and chewed at it as if enjoying your typical candy.
"Yeah, they are. What kind of gummies are they?" 
I handed him the box and was he ever impressed.  He was actually enthusiastic about it. He's been looking for some good new vitamins to take and after the countless times I've mentioned Adult Essentials!, he finally is a believer.
"Will keep a bottle of Adult Essentials at home & in my office at work as a daily treat." 
Woo-hoo! Love that he looks at them as a daily treat (because they are!).
A healthy, guilt-free dose of yummy.

Adult Essentials are pectin based gummy vitamins that are:

• gluten free, nut free, dairy free
• approved by Health Canada
• made with natural flavours and colours
• delicious

*GIVEAWAY ALERT*
Adult Essentials along with Multi-Testing Mommy and a group of amazing and influential bloggers (including yours truly) are co-hosting a Dads Deserve to be Healthy Giveaway to celebrate Dads in Canada being healthy.
Would you like to enter to win a handsome monogramed black gym bag FULL of Adult Essentials for that important Dad in your life? Enter the Rafflecopter Form below.
Giveaway is open to Canadian Residents only and ends on June 17th 12:01AM.








a Rafflecopter giveaway

Adult Essentials are available online at Well.ca and at most Rexall Pharma Plus, Metro, Sobeys, Loblaws/Real Canadian Super Stores, London Drugs and now at Shoppers Drugmart. 

 To learn more about Adult Essentials, feel free to visit them: Adult Essentials Website @AdultEssentials on Twitter Adult Essentials on Facebook.

I'm sure that Dad in your life will absolutely love it -- if not, send them over to mine! He's a big fan! :)
Good luck! 

**Disclaimer: I did receive products to compensate for participating in this review; however all opinions expressed are my very own.

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