Summer, summer, summertime!

Every Summer Words to Sweat by closes up shop to enjoy the blue skies, the hills, the water, and the open roads.

This year, the shop is closed from June 10 – June 25, 2013.

Any orders placed during this time will be processed starting June 26th and will be dropped at the USPS within 3 – 5 calendar days.

Be sure to check back in July because there will be some exciting new and exclusive Words to Sweat by CrossFit  and running-inspired jewelry.

I hope that you and yours will be able to enjoy some beautiful Summer days doing the things you love.

There are countless recipes to liven up your bowl of oatmeal, but for those of you who still aren’t fans, there is another option to ‘cook’ some oats and eat them too.

Enter the chewy, no-bake granola bar! Not only are these a cinch to make, but there are endless possibilities to the combinations of ingredients.

The recipe below is a combination that I’ve found to be delicious and pack a powerful, nutritional punch.

Recipe: Chewy No-bake Granola Bars

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats OR 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup multigrain cereal (or something of that sort)
1 cup brown rice cereal
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 walnuts
1/4 cup pretzels
1/4 cup chia seeds

Directions

1. Place all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix them up so that everything is well blended. The chia may fall to the bottom, but once you mix it with the binder, it will be stuck (literally) to the rest of the ingredients.

2. Combine the honey, butter, and brown sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes) and then remove the mixture from the heat.

3. Pour the binding mixture into the bowl, and mix the dry ingredients and the binder so that everything is evenly coated. Move the the mix into a 9 x 13 ungreased baking pan and press down firmly with a non-stick spatula to pack the ingredients tightly.

4. Place the pan in a refrigerator for 30 minutes and then cut into whatever size bars you’d like!

Adapted from Rachel Ray’s No-Bake Chewy Granola Bar recipe

It’s Earth Day which means we should make sure to appreciate all that nature has to offer as well as continue to find ways where we can minimize waste and consider the impact our choices make on the world at large.

Last year, I did a whole series on earth day inspirations that included donating your old running shoes, ways to upcycle your old t-shirts, and how to make your own deodorant and dryer sheets.

This year, I’m hanging out with the Fit Bottomed Girls over at Fit Bottomed Eats where I share a tutorial on how to make your own zero waste, reusable bulk food bags.

Enjoy and happy Earth Day!

Get health and fitness tips at Greatist.com

March is coming to an end, which means that it’s the last of the March Madness giveaways and this is the big one!

The prize?

Four people will win a $50 gift certificate to the Words to Sweat by shop.

Just like with the other three giveaways, entering  is easy.

I want to end March with a laugh and a smile so, please leave a comment with the worst health or fitness advice you’ve ever been given.

You know there has been plenty of bad advice so think through it all and share the one that still makes you shake your head in disbelief.

Bring it on!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Recently, a Facebook fan named Julie commented that she was waiting to buy the “Healthy. Strong. Happy” necklace I posted to celebrate meeting her goal and it got me thinking.

There are a lot of posts that suggest ways to celebrate your weight loss goal or fitness achievement; you can find some here, here, and here.

What there aren’t, however, are companies that are offering specific ways to make that celebration a little bit easier on your pocketbook.

So that’s what I’m setting out to do with a one-time use 30% discount off your favorite item in the shop.

Don’t Just Set A Goal, Set A BHAG

After the success of Jim Collins’ book, “Built To Last,” the business world adopted the idea of setting a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (aka BHAG) and I’m going to carry it over into the fitness world.

I know that each of you has a BHAG (whether or not you’ve said it out loud to anyone). It could be something as straightforward as choosing healthier eating options 80% of the time, running your first half marathon, or working out at least 3 days a week.

It may also be something less quantifiable – changing your lifestyle so that you have more energy to play with your kids, improving how you manage your time so you can do more knitting or reading or…you name it.

How To Earn The 30% Discount

Since each of us leads such different lives, what is big, hairy, and audacious to one may not be to another so the only requirements to receive this discount are as follows:

1. Set a goal that feels just that little bit overwhelming or hard to reach, but you know that, with the right focus, can be met.

2. On a piece of paper, write down the goal and the reason why it’s important to you and put it someplace that you can pull it out when you need a reminder of why you’re pushing yourself.

3. Comment on this blog post that you’ve set your BHAG. If you feel comfortable sharing the BHAG that you’ve set, I’d love to hear it! Otherwise, you need only comment here to qualify.

4. This whole offer is on the honor system so when you’ve met your BHAG, send an email to info [at] wordstosweatby dot com letting me know that you’ve met your goal and the item that you’d like to purchase and I will send you a one-time use personalized coupon code.

BHAG Beware!

So, stop over thinking the goal that’s been nagging at you and put your BHAG on notice! After all, 30% off your favorite Words to Sweat by product is waiting.

New Jewelry Designs

Springtime means new beginnings and since yesterday was the first day of Spring I thought today would be the perfect day to introduce some of the new jewelry designs that will be available starting in April 2013 (four of them are picture above).

* The Stronger Every Day necklace is a 1 x 1 square charm paired with a dumbbell in red, green, or blue.

* The Beast Mode key chain is a great gift for both the women and men in your lives.

* The Transform necklace is a domed and hammered charm paired with three tiny dyed jade beads.

* The Live Past Parallel necklace has each word on a a separate charm and it’s paired with the NEW barbell design or, with the dumbbell color of your choice.

In addition to the designs pictured, new bracelet mantras will include:

*Run Far

*Run Fierce

*Set a PR

And because sometimes the time, distance, or goals don’t matter as much as just moving, these mantras will be included as well:

*Just run

*Just ride

*Just swim

*Just lift

New Words to Sweat by motivational mantra necklaces will include:

*Grace (bead pairing TBD)

*Endure (bead pairing TBD)

Giveaway Details

I’m excited to grow this line of jewelry and very much appreciate your continued feedback and support.

So, of course, we’re at #3 of the March Madness giveaways where three winners will be able to choose a piece of jewelry from the new or existing designs!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me your favorite new jewelry design and, if there are some new types of beads you’d like to see included in the necklace designs, I’d love to hear more.

This giveaway is open to people worldwide. Please leave a valid email so that I may contact you if you win and, once notified, the winners must contact me within 24 hours with their selection or a new winner will be selected.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spring is so close, I can smell it. And with the arrival of Spring, it’s time to put away the bulky sweaters and long sleeve shirts and break out your wardrobe meant for warm, sunny days.

Every time I get through my t-shirts this time of year, I think about a friend I had years ago, and her straightforward hierarchy of t-shirts. It went something like this:

Outside t-shirt

“Outside t-shirts” were allowed to be worn outside to casual gatherings and the like.

Workout t-shirt

“Workout t-shirts” were allowed to be seen in public, but only if you were working out (and preferably some place contained, like the the gym.)

Comfy t-shirt

“Comfy t-shirts” were deemed too far gone to be seen by anyone but your partner and family within the comfort and confine of your own home. To be seen in a “comfy shirt” outside of the home, well, it was the biggest fashion faux pas.

Giveaway Details

I still chuckle as I remember her animated face as she explained her system (that had specific cubes and labels, even!).

So, in the hopes that one day a Words to Sweat by t-shirt is so well loved it becomes a “comfy t-shirt,” as part of March Madness 2013, I am giving away a t-shirt of choice to two lucky winners.

Just leave a blog comment telling me how long you’ve had your most favorite t-shirt and why it is so special to you to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scrumptious!

Like most people, I have my “go to” cookie recipes, but I have also been wanting to play around a little bit with different flours and non-butter options.

So, I was super excited to find this oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe from Cheeky Kitchen. As you know from the mantra workout towels, I love a little sass so it was fun to read Brooke’s post because she lives up to her “cheeky” moniker.

Plus, the the recipe not only includes spelt flour (yes, that is spelled correctly), but also coconut oil instead of butter.

SCORE!

After making it several times, I have adapted it slightly and my version is below.

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar (haven’t tried Ideal Brown No Calorie Sweeter (xylitol), but may)

1 cup spelt flour (used Bob’s Red Mill)

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp real vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a medium-size bowl, beat the coconut oil, egg, and brown sugar together until completely mixed and it has an overall smooth texture. In Brooke’s recipe, she uses a standing mixer, but since I don’t have one, I have been doing it by hand and they turn out just fine (fortunately).

Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt to the wet mixture and stir them into the mix. Add the oats and spelt flour and mix them all together.(If you want to throw them all in together that’s fine too.)

Getting everything blended takes a little while because you want to get all of the dry ingredients combined with the the wet ones. Enjoy the arm workout! (Oh and this is probably where the standing mixer would have made it all very easy.)

You can tell you’re finished blending it all once the mixture looks like dough and there aren’t clumps of oats or flour on the side of the bowl.

Throw in the chocolate chips and mix it all again. There will be chocolate chip stragglers, but you can blend them in once you’ve started making the cookie balls.

Use a cookie scoop or your hands to form 2″ balls and place them on a cookie sheet. This should yield about 12 – 14 cookies.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes or until the cookies look like the once round tops have flattened slightly and the cookies have ‘set’. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container and hope that they last longer than a couple of days.

After you make them, leave a comment and let me know how they turned out!