Kristen's Guide Updates

Spring is Coming! Get your running shoes. How to Start Jogging / Running.

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:31:32 PDT

Spring time is a great time to start jogging. The sun is coming out, the air is warming up, and the scenery is blooming. If you want to start running, I've updated my "How to Start Jogging" article based on feedback I've received from readers. (I've also included a couple of my own favorite personal running photos that I'm very proud to share.)

See it at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Health/Exercise/how_to_start_jogging.asp

Don't forget to leave your feedback, so I can add more updates for you.

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen Brooke Beck

Waist to Height Ratio Fixed on the Weightloss Profile Calculator

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:35:20 PST

For those of you waiting for me to fix the waist-to-height ratio calculation on the Weight Loss Profile Calculator... it's done!

Waist-to-Height Ratio (also known as Wt/Ht or WHtR or W/Ht) is very useful in predicting health problems from obesity. Current studies show that for ideal weight-related health, you should keep your waist circumference less than 1/2 of your height while maintaining a healthy BMI range.

It sounds complicated, but it's easy to find out your ratio (and a bunch of other stuff) using my handy calculator.

Go to http://www.kristensguide.com/Health/Weight_Loss/weight_loss_profile_calculator.asp to check it out.

I've been learning a lot about physiology, psychophysiology, fitness, and weight loss. I'll be sure to let everyone know the helpful information I find, so you can get healthier and happier. Sign up for the updates to get notified when these articles and tools are available.

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen Beck

2012 Exercise/Fitness Planner Now Ready & Available

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:52:32 PST

If you're planning on including exercise into your 2012 lifestyle, this fitness workout planner is exactly like the one I posted yesterday, but this one has the dates for 2012 filled in. It's perfect for coordinating your exercise routine with your busy 2012 schedule.

Plus, since it is separate from other planners and schedules, each family member can have a worksheet for his/her own exercise routines without taking up valuable space on the family calendar, so now you're whole family can plan for a healthy new year!

Get it at http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen Beck

New Menu and Exercise Planners for New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:10:20 PST

That's right, it's time to plan out the details of your New Year's resolutions! I've been getting lots of email requests for health-related calendars for everyone trying to improve their fitness and lose weight or to just spend more time taking care of their bodies to improve their brains (a healthy brain improves mental health and happiness). I played with lots of designs and these seemed to be the winners.

The first is a 2012 weekly menu planner. You can plan each meal, including snacks, and note any nutritional goals you'd like to achieve (e.g. calories, fat grams, etc.). This is great for anyone who needs more room than a single box (which is in many of my other planners) and wants a more detailed plan without having to fill in spaces for every tiny detail.

The second is a weekly workout / exercise / fitness planner. This will allow you to plan the various components of a well-rounded fitness program (e.g. endurance, strength, agility, balance, flexibility, power, recovery, etc.). This planner is not dated, which allows for greater flexibility, and will integrate well with most fitness plans. (Please note, to record workout details, such as reps and sets for strength training, you will likely want a separate sport training specific log sheet. This planner worksheet is more generalized.)

To get them go to http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

More to come! Keep sending me your requests!

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen Beck

More 2012 Calendars Still to Come

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:59:58 PST

I was hoping I'd finish all of the calendars by December 31st, but some unexpected last minute family needs required me to change my schedule. (Vida de chaos!) So I'll be dedicating myself to getting as many calendars, schedules, and planners done tomorrow, January 1st!

Thank you everyone for all your emails, suggestions, and requests. I've got so many new ideas. And thank you for being so patient and understanding. My website fans rock!

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen Beck

2012 Value-Focused Task-Based Weekly Planner/Calendar Is Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:40:58 PST

I know I've been slow to get the 2012 calendars up this year, but I've got one done! The 2012 Value-Focused Task-Based Printable Calendar and Planner is ready.

To get it, just go to
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

There's more to come.

Please let me know if there are other schedules, planners, calendars, printables, etc. that you would like to see. I prioritize these projects based on demand, so the more feedback you give me, the better chance there is that you'll see the printable you want sooner.

Wishing you a happy day,
Kristen

2012 Calendars and Planners

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:51:32 PDT

I've been getting LOTS of messages from Kristen's Guide fans wondering when I'm going to get the printable 2012 calendar, planners, schedules, etc. out.

First, I have to say how proud I am that so many of you are getting yourself organized and taking control of your time. It really does make life less stressful when you're not juggling chaotic to-do lists filled with free-floating tasks that occupy the back of your mind. There's something wonderful about being able to let go when you get to tell yourself things like, "No problem; I've got that task scheduled for Friday, so I don't need to worry about it today" or "I know I'll make that appointment because I've scheduled enough time to get there early." Bravo to all of you!

Second, I've scheduled myself to work on the 2012 items during the last couple weeks of September. That means if there's a specific printable that you're waiting for, you have to let me know now. Items that have the highest demand will get made first. Items with low requests may not get made at all if I run out of time. So tell me what you want. (Teachers! Instructors! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for changes to help you with your class and/or students.)

The NEW best way is to just go to the Kristen's Guide Facebook fan page and post a message on the wall: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristens-Guide/305553156154

You can also get contact information, fill out contact forms, and post comments the good-ol' way at http://www.kristensguide.com

Wishing you all a happy day,
Kristen

What's New at Kristen's Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:25:23 PDT

I know it has been a long time since I've updated Kristen's Guide, but I certainly haven't forgotten it. I've been working hard on my Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling and my post-grad certification in Clinical Psychophysiology, which has taken up lots of my time, but my educational growth has also taught me a lot about how I can help my readers and site visitors, so it's worth the wait. I'm also in the process of starting a new site, called All Together Wellness, that will incorporate articles and tools from a variety of authors, not just me, about mental and physical health as well as social health (aka relationships) and will have an additional focus of helping people in my local area. Kristen's Guide definitely isn't going away though. In fact, I could use your help in making it better.

I'm hoping you can let me know what you'd like to see on Kristen's Guide, especially with regard to printables and topics for articles and worksheets. I'm planning on getting an early start on the free printables this year. That way, the education related printables will be done by the end of the summer and the 2012 printables will actually be ready by 2012. :-) So let me know what you want to see!

Wishing you all a happy day,
Kristen Beck
http://www.kristensguide.com

Happy New Year Calendar Lovers

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:22:26 PST

Alrighty, the top 3 requests I received were for the free printable calendars and planners were for the Weekly Planner for 2011, the Value-Based Weekly Planner for 2011, and the 4 Column Planner for 2011. So here they are.

Get them at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

Keep sending me your suggestions and requests. I'll make more in order of demand popularity, so the more people ask for a certain printable, the sooner you'll see it posted.

Also, I'll be removing the links to the 2009 printables to make room for new ones. Grab them if you need them.

Happy day! :-)

Calendars/Planners on the Way!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:24:58 PST

I've had lots of emails from Kristen's Guide fans (love ya all) who have been wondering if I'm going to make more calendars for 2011. YES!

I'm trying to fit the project into my extremely busy schedule right now, so patience is appreciated. I normally start working on them toward the end of the year, but because the calendars and planners have become so popular, I think I'll have to start working on them in the summer! I never knew the demand would be so big! Thanks everyone!

Check http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp to see if the updated one you want is already there. If you're looking for student planners check http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/student_schedule.asp too.

Please let me know which calendars you want, and I'll add it to my to-do list. Just scroll to the bottom of the printables web page, and add a comment (I just added the comment box), or send me an email feedback@kristensguide.com

Please include the title of the calendar/planner printable you'd like in such requests. That makes it much easier for me to figure out which one you're talking about rather than trying to describe it. If you don't see what you want, and hence don't have a title for it, then feel free to describe it in as much detail as possible.

Also, I love suggestions, so feel free to send them in!

Thanks everyone!

Free Articles & Printables for Non-Profit Organizations

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:16:00 PST

As a participant in multiple non-profit organizations, I know how difficult it can be to work on a limited budget. To help support organizations that are providing beneficial services to the community, I often allow non-profit organizations to republish/reprint articles and printables for free in their newsletters, classes, and programs, and on occasion, I will write customized articles or make custom printables for free. I also know how important it is to find get the word out, so to further support these organizations, I'm putting together a list of the wonderful organizations that have used articles and printables from Kristen's Guide. This list will be available online with link to the organization websites to help promote them, their causes, and the services they provide.

If you would like to use a printable or article for your organization's newsletters, clients, services, operations, etc., free-of-charge, please contact me to request permission. http://www.kristensguide.com/Contact_Me/contact_me_reprint.asp

Also, check out the wonderful organizations that have used my articles and printables so far (and please be sure to visit their sites to learn more about the great things they do).
http://www.kristensguide.com/reprints.asp

Excellent work everyone!

New Weekly Calendar/Planner Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:52:41 PDT

If you're looking for a printable weekly planner that will allow you to plan your tasks and appointments by time-of-day (e.g. morning, afternoon, evening, late night), then this will keep you on schedule. Blank and 2011 versions available.

Get the new calendar/planner in the "Weekly" section at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

MORE COMING SOON! Keep sending me your suggestions and requests. (Or just drop me a line to let me know how you're using my printables; it keeps me motivated!)

Happy day,
Kristen
feedback@kristensguide.com

Student Planners for 2011 (and the end of 2010) are READY!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 17:35:31 PDT

Here you go teachers, students, and home-schoolers! By popular demand, student planners dated for 2011 and the last three months are now available for downloading and printing. If you're using them for personal use, educational use, or youth/young-adult programs, you don't need a reprint license, but I would appreciate if you dropped me a line just to let me know how my calendar-making hobby is helping the world. (It's just a little ego thing that keeps me motivated :-) ).

Get them at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/student_schedule.asp

If you have any suggestions, find any mistakes, or want to request other versions of planners with the dates/times/etc. filled in, just let me know. Go to http://www.kristensguide.com/Contact_Me/contact_me_printable.asp and send me a message, or email me at feedback@kristensguide.com.

If you're still waiting for the other calendars, schedules, planners, etc., I promise the 2011 versions will be available before 2011 actually gets here. Be sure to let me know which ones you're need. Those with the highest demand will be worked on first.

Thanks everyone!

Calendar Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:44:31 PDT

OK everybody! It's time to work on the calendars for 2011. The current quarter of school is wrapping up (I'm getting my M.S. in Mental Health Counseling), and I'm finally going to have some time to get all the calendar work done!

So here's your job. Let me know which calendars, schedules, planners, etc. you want for 2011. The ones with the highest demand by all of you will get made first. I know that many of you have been asking for 2010-11 school planners, so I'll get started on the basic student planner first. What do you want me to work on after that?

Also, got any suggestions for improvements or requests? TELL ME!

Just send a message to feedback@kristensguide.com

Why Babies Cry and How to Help Your Baby Cry Less

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:24:39 PDT

To help all my friends who have become new parents I'm updating some of my baby articles starting with one of the most stressful situations when taking care of babies -- crying.

My husband and I were very proud to have learned how to reduce our babies' crying, and now that we've graduated from the early years of our children's lives, I'm sharing what we learned from our experiences.

If you have a baby, are going to have a baby, take care of babies, or know somebody who does, then read about how you can help your baby cry less at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Family/Babies/why_babies_cry.asp

The Best Place to Start a Weight Loss Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:00:17 PDT

I've been talking to lots of people about weight loss lately. They've been noticing that there's less of me to see these days (quite literally) and my clothes are getting baggy. When I tell them what I've been doing to take off the pounds, I keep hearing the same old excuses. My response, empower yourself, and I wrote a little something about it.

Check it out at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Health/Weight_Loss/best_place_to_lose_weight.asp

My Weight Loss Journal Update: Down 50 lbs! 20 more to go :-)

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:43:21 PDT

I've been busy trying to get healthier. In 2006, when I started the weight loss journal, I weighed 200 lbs. Today, I weigh 150. I've lost 50 lbs. so far. Yay me!

My highest weight ever was 230 lbs., which means in the course of my life, I've lost 80 lbs. (OK, so that high weight was while I was pregnant, and my highest non-pregnant weight was 215 lbs, so technically I've lost a total of 65 lbs. of fat, 10 lbs. of baby, and 5 pounds of pregnancy "stuff." But in all fairness, I had to work VERY hard to get out those babies, so I'm giving myself credit for it.)

Recently I've put my fitness efforts into high gear, and it's been giving me so much more than just a smaller waist size.

Read the journal entry at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Health/Weight_Loss/Weight_Loss_Journal/2010_june.asp

How to Allow Yourself to Have True Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:03:04 PST

I am a happy person. When everything in life is going along as I've planned, I'm happy. When things fall apart, and I know that my life will never be the same, I'm still happy.

I wasn't always a happy person. I didn't always understand what happiness was, so instead of being happy, I tried to chase happiness. It wasn't until I learned about true happiness that I finally became happy.

Happiness isn't about the things that happen to you or the things that you do. Being a happy person is a state of mind, and you can become happy right now.

To learn more about true happiness, visit
http://www.kristensguide.com/Happiness/true_happiness.asp

Kristen's Guide is now available in multiple languages

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:12:31 PST

If you prefer to speak a language other than English, you can still read all the articles on Kristen's Guide. Kristen's Guide is now using Google Translate. Just go to http://www.kristensguide.com and select the language of your choice at the top right corner of the page. Then, browse as usual.

Supported languages include
Afrikaans
Albanian
Arabic
Belarusian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Galician
German
Greek
Haitian Creole
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malay
Maltese
Norwegian
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Welsh
Yiddish

Kristen's Guide Is Now on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:44:04 PST

You can now become a fan of Kristen's Guide on Facebook, where you can make suggestions for the site and get updates conveniently on your FB home page. Plus, you can meet other Kristen's Guide fans just like you. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristens-Guide/305553156154 and become a fan (Facebook account required).

Two New 2010 Weekly Calendars/Planners are Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:41:50 PDT

Number 2 and 3 on my list of most requested items is up. The 2010 Weekly Planner (a basic, simple design) and the 2010 Weekly Planner for Value-Focused Tasks (to help you focus on your priorities).

If you were waiting for them, come and get 'em at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

New 2010 Calendars 1 Month per Page

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:17:19 PDT

Another printable calendar is ready. (I'm trying to produce them in the order of popularity.) Here is one of my most requested ones, the simple 1 month/page dated calendar for 2010.

Get it at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/calendars.asp

More Stuff to Do in the Portland-Metro Area

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:35:12 PDT

For those of you in the Portland/Vancouver Metro area, this update is for you. I've updated my favorite stuff to do, all within a day's drive from home. Perfect stuff for entertaining the kids, taking that special someone out on a date, or just having a good ol' time with some friends.

Check it out at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Travel/Oregon/portland-metro.asp

Come and Get It! 2009-10 Weekly Student Planners / Calendars / Schedules are Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Brooke Beck) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:37:20 PDT

For those of you who were waiting for the 2009-2010 weekly planners for students (yes, teachers, homeschoolers, students, and counselors, that means you), they're here!

One week per page
August 2009 - August 2010
Weeks start on Monday
Daily schedules from 6am to 9pm
Room to write down assignments for each class or activity every day (one version is blank and one version has math, science, language arts, and social studies filled in with room for more subjects)
Back of each page has room for writing down goals, to-do items, and notes
Clean design to reduce distractions

I know, I know, I'm at least a month behind on getting these things ready, but I'm trying, and today I've got the most requested ones done. Hallelujah!

Get them at
http://www.kristensguide.com/Printables/student_schedule.asp