320 * Sycamore

health journal: final week.

2012-02-24T08:49:00.001-06:00

Health journal: this is week 7 and our last official meeting. Are you sad? I am a little, but you are probably sick of me going on about my failures of the previous week.. :)

I am down 7 pounds and 4 inches. I wish it was more, but I’ll take it. I’m up to 3.5 miles with running without stopping and am thinking of entering a 10k. I’m starting level 3 with Jillian on Monday (gulp.) I can do 10 full manly pushups! I so, so, so, so want to keep going! I AM going to keep going. I have 12 more pounds I would love to blast off by summer. I don’t know why it makes me so nervous to type that? I don’t have any great pictures to show you, and you probably wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference, to be honest. Besides, I would much rather take pics of my kids and home stuff! :)

I can tell mostly with the way things fit. I promise I will show you a before/after picture if er, when I meet my goal!

Looking back on the past 7 weeks, there are a few things that come to mind:

* I talk to myself…a lot. I try to ask myself what it is I really want. “Do you really want to blow that workout this morning on that bowl of hot buttered popcorn and reeses pieces? (oooh, that does sound good right now, doesn’t it?) Girl, c’mon….you worked too hard to let that workout just be a null! “Melissa…are you really hungry or are you bored/stressed/excited/worried?? Let’s step away from the pantry, count to 44, drink a glass of water, brush your teeth and then see if you really want those nasty value chocolate chips..” it usually works, *if* I talk to myself. But sometimes I completely smother the voice of reason with a big spoonful of nutella. It just works better to talk to yourself…

* My friend Lynee taught me that it’s much better to plan your meals before you eat them, rather than eat and then record. I was eating and then writing it down… but if I was bad, I felt awful recording it….and so I didn’t and then just usually bagged it for the day! I’ve done so much better on the days that I plan out my meals and snacks before I start eating so I know where my calories are going. It’s kind of like money: if you know exactly how much you can spend on the bathroom, you’re going to budget much more effectively and make better choices than if you just blindly put it all on the credit card and then start to add it up and feel really, really guilty. right?

* do everything possible to exercise first thing morning. If I lay out my clothes, put my socks in my running shoes, mp3, etc. the night before and know I am going to go running right after Lauren gets on the bus, I have a much higher chance of actually doing it. If I wait until after she gets on the bus at 6:50 a.m. to get dressed and then maybe I check my google reader, or my email, and then I can’t find my sports bra, then I have to listen for Jillian to tell all you badbums out there to follow Natalie… it’s already 7:20 and time to get the second round of kids going and hopefully I’m going to squeeze something in later in the day. Is there anything better than starting the day off with that high?

thank you, thank you , thank you, thank you for beginning this health journey with me. I can’t tell you how much your comments, encouragement, tips, and personal stories have helped this girl. A special thanks to my heart health trainer, Alysa. Follow her and she will whip you into shape in no time! Let’s keep going…you can DO it! I know you can.

The Epione ClearTouch Matrix giveaway and the Olive Garden $100 gift card giveaway are still going on!

The winner of the Polar FT7 watch is Tammy~she said: “Anything that would motivate me to do SOMETHING would be good!” Congrats, Tammy!

master bathroom: details & pricing

2012-02-23T08:38:00.001-06:00

Thank you SO, SO much for all of the comments, pinning, sharing of the bathroom! Here is the post I promised with all the dirty details and pricing :)

We sold the cabinet above the toilet on Craigslist. (ahem…let me clarify. The cabinet is still sitting in the garage waiting to go on Craigslist) The shelves were from Home Depot~you can find them in the closet organization section. I liked them because they were a bit deeper than others I looked at, but not so deep that they stick too far out from the back of the toilet. $27 x 3 =$81 {more coming on these}

The wall paint color is Fossil Grey by Glidden. <------if you click on that link it will show you some close matches. It is an older color, but Home Depot and Ace Hardware (and most other places?) should have it in their computers. I can’t tell you how many other greys I tried and this one was exactly what I was looking for. Not too dark, not too light, not too cool, not too green, not too brown. Love it. $25

new toilet paper holder on side of the vanity= $6 at walmart

new garbage can from TJ Maxx= $10

We just went with a classic waffle weave shower curtain from Target $25.

I know you are shocked, but the silhouettes aren’t of us. I found them at a little thrift shop I stopped in at one day and was just kind of smitten with them. They were $11 for the pair and they are old. Like I was afraid the frames weren’t going to make it when I hung them. I’m just going to pretend they are family heirlooms. :) I would love to know the history behind them though…

hooks are from Home Depot $4 each = $8

white towels from TJ Maxx $8 each = $16

frame from goodwill .55 (not .50! but .55…gotta love their pricing) I love this quote and I decided I needed to hang it where I would see it often. I found it on Pinterest.

Light fixture from Home Depot for $29. It was one of the promos they had at the end of the year, re-do your bath, everything you need is cheap :)

The mirror was from Lowes on clearance $24. (Not THE mirror clearance, but just a random one this year and not as exciting) {more coming on how we removed the old mirror}

We kept the original vanity and painted and just replaced the counter and sidesplash.

The carrera countertop and sink were from Home Depot online: $387 + this sidesplash $38 = $425

The faucet was also from H. Depot: $117

Paint on cabinets: benjamin moore impervo in white dove. ( Leftover from my daughter’s room and the kitchen.)

the handles are from Home Depot $4 each = $8

The little frame was from the thrift store: $1 and I just printed off this quote. The towel holder was from Walmart $8.

The baskets were from Michaels on sale w/ coupon (of course!) 4 at $7 each, the small one was $4. = $32

The gold mirror was from the thrift store $2.95

The clock was from etsy: $15

The wire tp basket I have had for awhile~it was from a yard sale $1, the containers were from the goodwill, .55 and .95 each~one held used to hold chocolate, the other said “tea” on the label I tore off. The towels were from TJ Maxx, $8 each =$18.50

The magazine holder is from TJ Maxx. $15

The flooring is Allure flooring from H.Depot in Pacific Pine. It is only $1.99 a sq. ft, so it was under $100 (2 boxes, we used about one and a half.) We used it in our last home and in our bathroom downstairs and loved it, and since he’s a pro at installing it now, he put it in over his holiday break. When he installed the flooring, we removed the baseboards and painted them to freshen them up. {more coming on this}

The roller shade is just a simple one found at Home Depot for $3.85~look in their miscuts and you can usually find one that will work. Then I just covered it with fabric (Premier Prints chipper twill storm) from Fabric.com $7.48/yard 1.5 yards = $11.50 {more coming on this}

Our budget was $1,000 and we came super close:

Grand total: $995.90 for everything above, including the accessories, towels, etc. but I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Oh well…close enough?

Did I miss something? Feel free to ask questions in the comments! There are a few more little tutorials coming next week on some of these~thank you again for all of your kind comments and pins on this~

Epione ClearTouch Matrix giveaway

2012-02-22T11:14:00.001-06:00

This is kind of sad: The last giveaway from our New Year, New You program. And it’s a GOOD one:

The Epione ClearTouch Matrix: An innovative system that not only cleanses the skin of makeup and daily impurities, but also massages the face helping reduce the appearance of fine lines and discoloration.

Sweet! Let’s see:

Oooohh, what a pretty box:

Here’s what is inside:

1. First, you insert the batteries (not included!), then turn it on. The first attachment we’re going to use is the small brush head.

Simply apply your cleanser as you normally would, but don’t rinse it off. Move the Epione over the face using small circular motions. Make sure the brush is flush against the face, not at an angle.Do you know how hard it is to take pics of yourself while doing this?

You will definitely feel the cleaning action. It doesn’t hurt, but you will feel the bristles moving and cleaning out everything.

The next is my favorite: the face sponge. It’s soft and feels so good when you massage your face. Use it after cleansing with the small brush head. This little guy is supposed to increase skin elasticity and help improve the appearance of fine lines and discoloration. I’ve only had it a few days, so I can’t report on that, but I love using it.
I could definitely tell a difference afterward. The pores on my nose are usually pretty big and, well, have blackheads, but they were tight and clean after using the Epione. This is kind of gross, but I don’t know how else to say it? Usually, if I squeeze my nose, I can get some oil or blackheads out. I squeezed the heck out of it after cleansing with the Epione and nothing. Nada. It was awesome!

There is also a pumice attachment for your feet:

Simply immerse your feet in warm water for a few minutes (or use right after a nice hot shower) and it will exfoliate the rough skin right off of the bottom of your feet. This is my husband’s favorite attachment because when I put my cold feet on his, they don’t scratch him up anymore. :)

And finally, the large brush is for exfoliating the hands and body. This is perfect for before I want to apply sunless tanner and need to be smooth as possible.

My final analysis?

Pros: I LOVE it. Great cleaning (especially for those large blackhead pores!), feels good, my face is ultra smooth and soft.

Cons: You know what I’m going to say because I’m ~~cheap~~ a thriftress: the price. And I wish it came with batteries. It’s a luxury item in my book, but what a fun gift to ask for or give. It makes a beautiful presentation and would be a fun way to indulge someone you love. I’m definitely going to keep using it!

Of course you want one…and we’re giving one away!

To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you would love an Epione ClearTouch Matrix.

Good luck! Note to mobile version users: To be entered, you have to click over to the comments on the actual blog, not the mobile version. Otherwise, your comments won’t be included~thanks! Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see above)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/22 – 2/28. Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Best Buy Buyer’s Guide sweepstakes is here. Good luck! Have you taken the fitness pledge? Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

master bathroom after!

2012-02-21T15:12:00.001-06:00

Okay, here are the beauty before shots:I *love* that my husband remembered to take pics before he started on the floor when I wasn’t even there. He is the best.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Okay, that was ugly.

Now you can come in for the after! It’s tiny, but we just worked with what we had:

One more time:

I’ll share all the info: prices, buying, how-to, etc, but right now I just want to take a nap :)

**update: sources and prices for this bathroom can be found in this post.**

Happy Tuesday~

snow day!

2012-02-20T17:19:00.001-06:00

We got a gorgeous snow here…but I kind of hope it’s the last.

a list I found on the table(bowl=fun sledding hill)

Hope you had a wonderful Monday~

did your family have today off for President’s Day? My husband didn’t (booooooooo) but my kids obviously did! Did you get to do anything fun?

courage for the week 2.19.12

2012-02-19T00:02:00.000-06:00

health journal: inspire me.

2012-02-16T09:04:00.001-06:00

It hasn't been the greatest week, health wise. My baby (he's 3 now, but he's still my baby) had a double ear infection and we were up with him for 2 nights in a row, then a fever/cough for the night after that which means I skipped 3 days of exercise because I didn’t get up early in the morning and I didn't make myself go in the evening. I also had the "my body wants something, I don't know what it is", sooooooooooooo …. I'm just going to eat. Ever have that? I know I was tired, and I could have used a good nap instead of chocolate animal crackers and stale tortilla chips (with cheese), which were totally NOT worth the calories, but….they were there.

But this is life! And, I've got to deal, because circumstances will never be perfect for eating right or exercising. I picked myself up this morning and met Jillian downstairs and it felt SO good. It always does. When it's over, that is. That you DID it even when you really, really didn't want to. And let's be honest….who ever does? So, I'm going to get back on the wagon.

This week, since I wasn’t so motivational, I really want to share some inspiration from real women in my life. I love talking to people and hearing their stories and what worked for them. And by hearing them or reading them, they help me discover things that might click for me.

And do you know what? Not one is exactly the same, but they are all similar in one way: they decided it was time to change and they WORKED for it. None of them said it was easy.

* My sister-in law, Maryn, (32 years old) decided it was time for a new beginning when they moved to a new city. She lost 20 pounds by following Body for Life, exercising 6 days a week, weight lifting, watching protein/carb ration, and drinking lots of water. She's kept it off! Favorite snacks: chocolate mint protein shakes, clif bars, granny smith apples with peanut butter.

* My mom (59 yrs old) has lost 21 pounds over the past 5 years by joining Curves, walking, eating smaller portions, and listening more to her body. Favorite snacks: special k light chips with jalapeno yogurt dip from Costco, 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese mixed together with a small fruit cup, sesame rice crackers with laughing cow light cheese, light pudding cups, slice 1/2 of a banana and mix it with 2 Tbs. lite chocolate syrup some fat free cool whip.

my mom (in the middle) with my sil and sister {below}

* My friend, Cari (below, 28 yrs old) lost 57 pounds last year!! She cut calories, drank almost a gallon of water per day, and bought a treadmill. She slowly started walking for 30 minutes, and worked up to running over an hour. She didn't tell anyone in her family and they didn't even recognize her at the airport when she came to visit! Favorite snack: strawberries with a handful of spanish peanuts or a sugar free chocolate jello for a treat.

*my mother-in-law, Danielle, (60 yrs) lost had great success with weight watchers and using a 1/4 carbs, 1/4 protein, and 1/2 vegetables ratio on her plate. She had a knee surgery, so she really worked on her eating since she couldn't exercise vigorously. She lost almost 20 pounds over the past couple of years and tries to avoid white bread/rice/pasta and focuses on whole grains. She also makes the most amazing chocolate cheesecake, but I watch her and she just has a small slice and she's satisfied with that. Favorite snacks: nuts, sugar free protein bars, fruit, greek yogurt.

my mother in law, Danielle

Some more encouraging stories:

Amanda @ Kevin & Amanda

Jennifer Hudson on Oprah!

Shelley @ House of Smith’s

Melissa @ Melissa's Heart and Home

Aren't they inspiring? I hope they have encouraged you like they do me. What has worked for you? What keeps you going when your workout shoes and leftover chocolate cake are sitting there?

BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness page is here~you can join us on the road to health anytime.

The winner of the Personal MicroDerm is #53 ElyJordan. She said: “I would say drink plenty of water and moisturize!” I emailed you, Ely. Congrats!

Have you left a comment for a chance to win a Fitbit Ultra?

What about a $100 Olive Garden giftcard?

fitbit ultra giveaway!

2012-02-15T10:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, I said the ft7 polar watch was my favorite, maybe this one ties. Meet your new teeny, tiny best friend in helping you reach your fitness goals:

The FitBit Ultra .

I love this little thing!

First, you set it up on your computer with your height, weight, age, etc. Then, you clip it on to the middle of your bra, or your belt and GO.

That’s it.

You wanna know what FitBit tracks?

Calories you burn throughout the day: (these pictures are taken at the end of the day~a little fuzzy)

Flights of stairs you climb:

The time:

How many steps you take each day~this was a BUSY day and is actually my highest # of steps yet. I thinking I went on a cleaning/organizing rampage on this day and went like gangbusters. You get special badges online if you make it over 5,000 or 10,000 steps :)

How many miles you logged for that day. This has been so helpful when I’m running outside and not really sure of the distance.

And this little flower is my favorite~the more active you are, the more it grows. It’s nighttime…flower is fading.

Oh, and that’s not all.

You dock it on this little stand via USB and it will send all your info to your computer

where you can compare days, weeks, months, and most importantly PROGRESS.

Here is how it shows up:

SO COOL. You can make goals for yourself, log food eaten, how long you exercised, etc. so it can help you track even better.

It also can track your sleep! You clip it onto this little cuff at night on your non-dominant hand, press and hold the button, and it will start tracking your sleep.

Here is how it looks on the computer when it syncs~

This was a BAD night…my little one had a fever and cough. When is naptime for us both??

It also has a stopwatch feature if you want to see how long a particular workout is (or time your kids when they want to see how long it takes them to run down to the last mailbox on the street and back)

He’s also kind of sassy and sends you little boosts of inspiration:

Can you tell I’m completely hooked??
But oh YES, we’re giving one away. Just tell me in the comments which feature on FitBit you would love/use most!

Good luck! Note to mobile version users: to be entered, you have to click over to the comments on the actual blog, not the mobile version. Otherwise,it won’t include your comments.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see above)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will .be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/15 – 2/21 Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Here is Best Buy Buyer’s Guide Sweepstakes. Have you taken the fitness pledge? Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

happy valentines day!

2012-02-14T16:22:00.000-06:00

I hope your day has been a good one so far! Do you remember my sugar cookie fiasco from 3 years ago? Well, I like to *think* I’ve wised up since then and we attempted sugar cookies again today. And by “we” I mean, *I* mixed up the dough this morning, baked them this afternoon,

and I let the kids help me frost them after school. No fancy frosting or decorations, just a simple buttercream with red sugar sprinkles.

They were soooo good. We used this recipe, and it was divine (if you like big soft sugar cookies) Definitely a keeper, but we didn’t refrigerate the dough overnight, just a few hours in the fridge and I didn’t have any cream on hand for the frosting, so we just used milk. And they were still delicious!

For Valentines, the kids’ wanted to do the lollipop ones again. I actually begged them to just do the store bought ones to simplify this year, but they really wanted to do them, so we pulled out the camera on Sunday afternoon. I wasn’t smart about how I positioned the hands though~it was way too hard to get the hole punches to the middle of the picture. Hailey went for an upside down look this year, Spencer kills me how he scrunches his face up when I tell him to smile (I just want to hug him when I see this picture though) Logan had no leftovers..sorry, and Lauren said she is too old for Valentines {sniff.} She took some candy for her friends though. Landon scrounged for any candy scraps when they came home.

That’s about it~we’re having taco salad by candlelight tonight and then it’s basketball practices like normal.

Spencer said something so sweet just out of the blue today: “moms keep care of dads and dads keep care of moms.” I hope I do. I love my husband so much, but can be much better at showing it. He does so much for me every day.

I hope you get to give or send love to your dear ones today~

courage for the week 2.12.12

2012-02-12T00:02:00.000-06:00

health journal: healthy meal/snack ideas

2012-02-09T07:59:00.001-06:00

5 weeks down…wow! I really think what people have told me is true…if you can get through the first 3 weeks, you’ll start seeing a little progress and for me, there is nothing more motivating than jeans fitting better, or inches/pounds gone. You can start anytime! Alysa, our heart health trainer will help you get on track with your workouts~here is her latest post on staying motivated. This week I’m going to talk about FOOD.

I saw this sign on Pinterest, and I’m beginning to believe it:

So, I thought for this journal post, I’d share some of my favorite meals/snacks, and I would love to hear your favorites in the comments. I was really struggling my first 2 weeks and I came across this book in the Goodwill (I’m never in that store…).

and it spoke to me…because like I’ve told you before, I’m so not a salad for every meal girl. (I’m not in any way affiliated with this author or book, this is just my experience) So, I took it home and started reading. She focuses a lot on keeping your blood sugar steady so you don’t have the hunger, headaches, sugar cravings and eating a healthy proportion of protein, carbs and fat, eating every 4 hours, which was huge for me. You do a 7 day kick-start (that was the week I lost 3 pounds) and then can get a little more liberal from there if you want to. I love it, but the key is finding what speaks to you and what you can keep up with. Here are some of my favorite meals/snacks~some are from the book, some are not:

It looks gross, huh? But this is what I drink every morning:

Protein smoothie abt. 300 calories. 1 cup skim/soy/or almond milk, 1 frozen banana (get a bunch of ripe bananas, peel them, and put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer), 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, and 2 handfuls of spinach. I promise you can barely taste the spinach, and this keeps me completely full and going until lunch. I crave these things for breakfast and they are refreshing after a workout.

I also love this PB2 powder!It’s powdered peanut putter~they press the peanuts to remove the oil and fat, so you get the pb taste, but it’s only 45 calories and 1.5 g of fat per 2 Tbsp. I love it in smoothies as well!

In the book, there are also huevos rancheros (with potatoes!!) and spinach & feta scramble I love.

Some lunches that I love:

Egg salad in a pita pocket with about 8 strawberries 280 calories. 3 hard-boiled egg whites (half a yoke), 1 Tbs light mayo, green onion, and celery stuffed into a whole wheat pita pocket.

Cajun grilled shrimp with brown rice 250 calories: take 4 oz of shrimp (about 15 medium), cook it with some pam cooking spray, lemon, and some cajun seasoning, serve with 1/2 cup brown rice and some salad.

Tuna stuffed celery sticks with apple 270 calories : 2 oz chunk light tuna, with 1 hard boiled egg, 1 tbsp diced olives, 1 Tbsp light mayo, stuffed into 4 stalks of celery ~I eat with an apple or peach.

Bbq burger with 2 whole mandarin oranges 280 calories: Take a boca veggie burger, stuff it into a wheat pita pocket (or a wheat light bun) with 1 Tbs of bbq sauce and a cup of broccoli carrot slaw.

On Fridays, if I’ve been good, I love picking up some california rolls at Kroger’s sushi bar…yummmm. 280 calories

For my afternoon “meal”, I love a protein bar, (usually about 190 calories) with fruit.

or 2 light string cheeses with 2 slices of low sodium deli turkey (you can dip them in dijon mustard) with a big old grapefruit, sweetened with a little agave nectar.

I don’t trust splenda or equal. They are both full of chemicals~but Christine introduced me to natural agave nectar! Ooooh, but my favorite is this cinnamon cottage cheese sweet potato:

Take a small sweet potato (4-5 oz), steam it in the microwave, then slice it lengthwise, spread with 1 Tbs natural peanut butter, 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, cinnamon, and 1 tsp agave nectar. Mmmmmm, love it. It sounds a little weird, but so good to me. 360 calories, but a lot of times I’ll leave off the pbutter to save some calories.

For dinner, I try to fill up half my plate with a big salad and/or veggies, and a small serving of what my family is having~usually some kind of protein or soup, stir fry, etc. but I have been trying to make our recipes more healthy. I love asian chicken wraps and thin crust veggie pizza when we order pizza on Fridays.

Desserts? If we’re making cookies/brownies, I just try to budget it in~maybe just do a small afternoon meal or skip it all together to make up for it. If we’re going to eat out, I try to go lighter for breakfast and lunch. It’s all about moderation…right? After dinner, I usually chew on gum if I’m still craving something sweet or drink some herbal tea.

Wow~that was a lot, but I love hearing what others like to eat, because that has been the hardest part for me. I want to hear YOUR favorites: snacks, meals, books or programs that have been successful for you?? Help us all out and spill it :)

BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness page is here~you can join us on the road to health anytime.

The female Polar Ft7 watch giveaway is still going on here!

Polar FT7 fitness watch * heart monitor giveaway

2012-02-08T08:32:00.001-06:00

Okay folks, so far this one is my favorite: the Polar FT7 fitness watch & heart rate monitor. Here’s what you get: the chest band and the fitness watch. You initially set it up with your height, weight, etc. but after that, it’s pretty simple~let’s take it on a run to test it out, shall we? First you need to run the two gray parts of the strap under warm water, then strap the electrode-thingy on and strap it around your chest right under your bra. (Sorry, no picture of that one-ha!) It’s really quite comfortable and you get used to it in no time. Then, you get to monitor your heart rate AND what mode you are in: fat burn, or fitness. Do you know how tricky it is to take pictures while you are running? :) We’re starting to go uphill, watch my heart rate go up: Here is the hardest hill, suck it up…you can do it. We are most definitely in fitness now! you better believe it…. I’m getting such strange looks from other runners wondering why in the world I am taking pictures of my wrist while I’m running?? Can I say how much more I enjoy running outside than doing workout videos inside? Even in the middle of winter, I think it’s beautiful. Glorious fresh air! I love getting out in the morning, but if that doesn’t happen, exercising before dinner gives me the boost to get through the rest of the evening. When you are done, you can see how you did: nice Polar tells you how long you were in each mode. I better be blasting that fat off! Average heart rate and maximum heart rate throughout your workout: How long and how many calories: 258! Does that mean I get to eat 3 extra cookies tonight?? I kid, I kid. I can hear you yelling! It just means I’m that much closer to shedding another pound… right? One of you get one too!! To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you would love this Polar FT7 fitness watch/heart rate monitor. Good luck! Note to mobile version users: to be entered, you have to click over to the comments on the actual blog, not the mobile version. Otherwise, your comments won’t be included~thanks! Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see above)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will .be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/8 – 2/14 Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Good luck! Have you taken the fitness pledge? Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

a solution for the bathroom office

2012-02-06T13:26:00.001-06:00

We have a tiny master bathroom, so I have to make every available inch count. I wanted a spot to put newspapers and magazines that didn’t take any room on the floor. I loved this double pocket from Ballard, but it was horizontal, and I needed vertical. And it was $60. Booooo.

But my friend, TJ was reading my mind to the Maxx, because look what I found last week for $15!

I printed off my own numbers onto white cardstock, (the years we were born, using Engravers MT font)and it was the perfect solution for our bathroom “office.” Love that TJ.

We’re trying to put the baseboards on and caulk, hang a few frames and we should be there! More to come…

Do you have an bathroom office? Perhaps you read newspapers and magazines in a more refined location?

The winner of the Perfect Portions food scale giveaway, is #51 Kay She said: “I would love this scale. I just started logging my food earlier this month (boy, was that an eye opener) and my little scale is just pitiful” Congrats~I’ve emailed you, Kay!

courage for the week 2.5.11

2012-02-05T00:02:00.000-06:00

tidbits 2.3.12

2012-02-03T09:45:00.001-06:00

1. The winner of the Withings Body Scale is #29, kt7! Congrats! I’ve emailed you~

2. We were in Home Depot this week (of course we were.) and bathrooms are on my mind since we are in the middle of ours, and this vanity caught my eye for $299

It looks like their version of this PB one, but it’s about 80% less.

Do you pick out mickeys while you are there?

3. Gently: I like that word for driving.

4. trying fun new hats at Target on special time: they are putting out all of their spring stuff!

5. rainbow before school~it’s been gorgeous here!

6. This is my husband’s favorite shepherd’s pie recipe. Pure comfort food~don’t worry fitness girls…I only had 1/2 cup. I still eat the same dinner with my family, I’m finding it’s all about portion control. and filling half your plate with veggies. and drinking a full glass of water before eating.

7. I am over at Homemaker on a Dime talking about blogging, money, and balance~click here to come on over.

Have a wonderful weekend, you wonderful people!

health journal: keep going!

2012-02-02T09:38:00.001-06:00

We're still going and you know what? It’s getting easier! Hallu-loo-yer.

The first 2 weeks were killer getting back into exercising regularly and slowly reforming my normal eating habits, but it’s feeling more “normal” now, which is a good thing. Let’s talk about some more good & bad:

GOOD: In the first week especially, I would do great for about 2 days.

BAD: Then on the 3rd day, I would be eating great in the morning, get stressed out in the late afternoon, all of a sudden just say to heck with it and binge on whatever I could get my hands on in the pantry: coconut flakes, chocolate chips, graham crackers. Then I would feel awful, but think the day is wasted anyway who cares?

GOOD: BUT I came across this quote on Pinterest and it rang truth in my ears:

It has helped me get over my moments of weakness and not turn them into days of weakness. Love that Pinterest.

GOOD:Don't they say that it takes 21 days to break a habit? I can feel things changing, and that is SO good.

on pinterest One of the biggest things I’m noticing is that my cravings are changing. As in, when I drive past a McDonald’s now, I don’t all of a sudden want one of my favorite treats in the world: 3 of their warm, gooey, soft chocolate chip cookies with an ice water for $1.06. Or a Dairy Queen:an order of onion rings (with extra honey mustard, thank you) with a cherry dilly bar. That’s huge for me!! I drove past the other day, and thought, “that doesn’t even sound good right now... and that was awesome.

BAD: The scale didn’t budge the first week. So disappointing. Stupid program..why am I doing it anyway??

GOOD: But this week, I’m down a total of 3 pounds and 2 inches and that is VERY motivating. I’m starting to feel strong and healthy. What an awesome program BlogHer has put together!! :)

One last GOOD: I found these like new running shoes for $4 and then looked them up online to see that they are $120 new score! Run girl run.

So my 2 words for this week are: KEEP GOING!

Alysa, our heart health trainer is giving us some challenges each week, and she’s going to be switching things up from here on out to mix in some strength & flexbility training. Here is the first strength workout and flexibility will come next. She is awesome. BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness page is here~you can join us on the road to health anytime!

How are your health goals coming? What's been good and bad for you?

Some great giveaways going on! Here they are:

Personal Microderm giveaway

$100 Olive Garden gift card giveaway

Kirkland’s $50 gift card giveaway

Personal Microderm Review & Giveaway

2012-02-01T10:45:00.000-06:00

Another amazing giveaway: the PMD Home Microderm Abrasion Device.

I’m not a spa girl. I can count the number of pedicures I’ve had in my life on one hand. So I was pretty nervous about doing a review on something I normally wouldn’t look at, let alone buy.

Here is what comes in the box:

The PMD device, the cord, 6 different discs to choose from, and 2 caps to fit the coordinating disc. AND an 8-minute instructional video, which I would be completely lost without.

I have to tell you, I take awesome “before” pictures. Here is one my SIL Kristine took when we were getting MAC makeovers:

There ain’t gonna be no beauty shots in this post folks.

Here’s how it works (from my understanding, using my terms, and totally not endorsed in any way by the company)

Plug it in and choose a disc. The discs are different sizes and grits: the large ones are for larger areas of skin and the smaller ones are for hard-to-get areas, like around the nose. They recommend starting with the blue moderate grit and working up to the green course grit if you need it.

The discs are coated with aluminum oxide crystals which will help remove the stratum corneum. What in the heck is the stratum corneum, you ask?

It is the top layer of skin: the flaky dead skin cells that prevent lotions from penetrating deep into the skin and can make your skin look thick and dry. The PMD’s job is to remove the stratum corneum to make your skin look soft and supple:

(picture from the instructional video that comes with the PMD)

Place the cap over the disc (picture from the instructional video that comes with the PMD)

and start moving it like a vacuum across your skin. It exfoliates and then sucks the dead, white, flaky skin cells away.(picture from the instructional video that comes with the PMD)

Then you just remove the disc, wash the filter where all of your tiny, flaky, dead skin goes, and that’s it.

And here I am with my shiny, smooth, PMD’d bare nekked skin. Don’t laugh!

You may not be able to tell a difference, but my skin felt super soft & smooth, tingly, fresh, and a tad pink. It’s something I plan to keep up, even though I would have probably never initially dropped the $180 to buy it. My spa insiders tell me microdermabrasion treatments cost $80-$150 a pop, so this would be a great investment if you have it done regularly.

A few things to note:

*DON’T hover over one spot for more than a second or two, because then it will give you baby love bites (hickies?), and it won’t be pretty.

*your skin will be extra sensitive to sun for the first couple of days; be sure to wear sunscreen.

* they tell you to buy the lotions and toners, but I’m perfectly happy with my good old facial moisturizers.

*they recommend no more than once a week in the beginning, and then you can eventually taper off to once a month.

And now it’s time to give one away! To be entered for a chance to win, just tell me: what is your best skin care tip?

See rules below.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment:what is your best skin care tip?
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/1 - 2/7.

Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Good luck!

Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

Good luck!

quickie valentine banner

2012-01-31T19:26:00.001-06:00

Oh, I so needed a little crafty creative fix with all this healthy stuff and working on the master bathroom. This was just the thing.

These cute little heart clips were $1 in the Target dollar spot.

I printed out BE MINE (since there were six clips, a six letter phrase was perfect) in Ecuyer DAX font (free!) onto white cardstock. I think it was about size 200 font. I ripped apart a clear scrapbook page cover (ahem..since I don’t scrapbook anymore) and cut it into a triangle to fit over the letters and traced.

Amanda from Red Barn Candle Company shared how she uses $2 Walmart yarn for wannabe bakers twine in our favorite things party in December and I totally copied her!!

$1 for the clips, $2.xx for the yarn, and can I say the paper and ink are free since I already had them? Please?

thank you.

We’re planning on filling the bottom part with hearts that

say what you love about each member of the family (we got the idea from Shawni and did it last year)

SOOOO under $10 and SOOOO under 1 hour.

project master bed & bath + kirkland’s gift card

2012-01-31T08:03:00.001-06:00

Our next project?? The master bedroom and bathroom. Let the fun begin :)do you think I should choose one of these colors, or perhaps a mosaic all around the room? :)

The bathroom is COMING and we hope to finish it up this week. Here’s a little sneak peak:

For the bedroom, we got a fantastic piece to get us started, sent to us from Kirkland’s.

It’s the Weston mirror, for only $69.99. I think it will go perfectly over the bed:

They have a fantastic selection of mirrors, online and in their stores. Here are some of my favorites:

Kirkland’s is so kind and wants to give one of you a $50 gift card, good for online or in stores! Just go over and check out their mirrors and tell me which one is your favorite in the comments.

Official rules here.

Good luck!

$100 Olive Garden gift card giveaway!

2012-01-30T07:38:00.001-06:00

Well, that got your attention, didn’t it? Do you love Olive Garden as much as we do? With 5 kids, we hardly ever go out to eat. It costs a small fortune, and honestly, it just makes more sense for us to stay at home and order pizza. When the opportunity came through BlogHer for us all to go to Olive Garden, we were super excited. My kids: “You mean a real restaurant?”

I love that Olive Garden is very family-friendly but nice enough to feel “special.”

What should we eat??

Thank goodness for fun children’s menus to keep little ones entertained while we’re waiting for the best part: salad and breadsticks!!

Another trick I learned from my skinny friends: when the meal comes, ask for a box right away. Divide your portion in half and put half in the box so you won’t be tempted to eat the whole gosh darn thing. I loved the feeling of being satisfied, not stuffed.

I’m gonna use that trick again! I ordered the Grilled Shrimp Caprese and loved it. My husband really liked his Chicken Scampi.

This isn't the school’s chocolate milk! They said it was like melted creamsicles :) I love restaurants that give kids cups with lids. Do you think it’s more for the moms or the clean-up staff? Probably both, huh?

The pizza was a big hit from the children’s menu and so was the ravioli.

We ALL had leftovers, so thank you, Olive Garden, for lunch on Saturday as well!

Do you know what I did though?? I was so good about setting half my dinner aside, and guess who forgot her box on the table?

I was so ready the next day; my mouth was watering for Shrimp Caprese, and I started opening all the boxes and was SO sad. Don’t forget your box on the table, even though your 3 year old is throwing a tantrum, and you're trying to quickly distract him out to the parking lot.

If this post made you hungry, then you should check out Olive Garden's new 3 Course Italian Dinner special. For $12.95 you get three courses, the first course is soup or salad, followed by a choice of one of five new entrees and the third course is one of five Dolcini desserts! Check out the details here.

What could be better than enjoying a dinner out? Enjoying it for free, of course! Olive Garden and BlogHer are giving one lucky reader a $100 Olive Garden gift card. To be entered for a chance to win, just make our mouth water and tell us: what is your favorite thing to eat at Olive Garden?

Good Luck!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/23/12 - 3/18/12.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment (see question above in bold)

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!

courage for the week 1.29.11

2012-01-29T00:02:00.000-06:00

I loved these questions from Margaret S. Lifferth…full talk found here.

health journal: target heart rate & exercising

2012-01-26T09:28:00.001-06:00

Well hello, health journal. Here I am again to deeply ponder and analyze the previous week. If you’re new, I’m participating in BlogHer’s Inspiration to Fitness Program. You can read all of my previous posts here.

The goals for this week that I made with my heart health trainer, Alysa were:

1. Find my target heart rate zone, and be aware how my body feels at different levels while exercising.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 6 days a week.

For the first one, you can got to lots of different websites to find your target heart rate. I like WebMd~and my target heart rate zone is between 93 and 140 beats in a minute while I’m exercising, not to exceed 193. I have the coolest gadget I will share with you next week that helps me track this while I’m working out, but basically it’s good to be aware of how you are feeling when you are exercising, so you can know when to push harder, or take it down a notch.

I just hear Jillian’s voice in my head: “you’ve got to PUSH your body to adapt to change…it’s mind over matter…” or whatever it is she says. If I’m just la-la-laing my way through exercise and my heart rate isn’t being pushed up, I know my body isn’t changing. If I’m not feeling sore at all this week when I wake up, I know I need to change things up a bit. It has really helped me be aware of how my body is feeling and hard it’s being challenged during the workouts.

I made the exercise goal, but with a little “adaptation.” One of the days, I woke up late (we stayed up way too late catching up on some Downton Abbey), the kids were out of school and we had stuff planned, then it was too dark to go running, and then I was too darn tired to do an exercise video and didn’t feel like facing Jillian, so….I skipped that day and ate 4 peanut butter oatmeal cookies my daughter made for family night to round everything off. Bad Melissa.

he tries to do Jillian with me~my favorite is when we do high knees!!

I was feeling extra guilty, so I fit in 2 the next day~I went running in the morning and then did an exercise video in the afternoon. That’s basically what I do for exercise: run or do a dvd, because it can happen anytime: in the morning, afternoon, or at night. No excuses, right? I love getting out to run and that is my first choice, but winter weather can be tricky, so it’s good to have Jillian as my back-up. I’m actually kind of getting to the point where I miss exercise if I don’t fit it in. I *love* the feeling afterward, isn’t the hardest part just getting your buns up to go? It is for me…

So, my question for you this week is: what is your favorite workout dvd? I’m ready to switch things up a bit, and I would love to know which ones you LOVE and have had good success with.

The Perfect Portions Food Scale Giveaway is still going on here!

Perfect Portions Food Scale Giveaway

2012-01-25T10:26:00.001-06:00

So by now, you all know I’m on a journey to better health and well being. Take the pledge and join me!

For me, that includes tracking what I’m eating. Now, some of my friends have said, “Track every calorie/thing I eat? I could never do that!”

And I was one of them. But, it really shines light on your habits and portion sizes and has helped me see where I need change. It’s very educational, and it helps you make choices like, do I want this Almond Joy that will leave me feeling empty in half an hour or that big sweet potato that will last me for the afternoon and is loaded with vitamins?

A lot of my skinny friends say it was key to helping them at the beginning. It’s not something I’m planning to do hard core my whole life, because once you get the hang of it, you know things like that a fistful of almonds is around 160 calories, and you don’t have to weigh and measure everything (or so I’m told!)

Please meet my best friend in helping me with this: thePerfect Portions - Food Scale with Nutritional Calculator from Best Buy ~ Instantly adjust your food's nutritional facts to your portion size with this food scale and nutritional calculator in one. A touch of a button shows you how many calories are in food and also tracks the sugar content.

Here is what came with the Perfect Portions scale: 3 things, that’s all! I love simplicity.

I also love that it fits neatly into a skinny kitchen drawer:

and that it nicely hides my stash. :) Like I’m going to cut out chocolate!! I'm just trying to eat better chocolate and less of it.

Back to the scale~

First, you turn on the side button, then place the bowl, cup, etc that will hold the food (if you are using one) on the scale and press ZERO. Not the number 0 but the word ZERO. I was cursing this scale, pushing 0, wondering why it didn’t work, and then I finally saw that darn ZERO button.

Duh. You’ll be way smarter than me.

I am making sweet potato chips today. Well, they are supposed to be sweet potato fries, but let’s just say I’m not sophisticated with a knife, so I do slices because they are easier for me. (We love the OBB recipe!)

Once I figured out the zero thing, I have zero complaints. Honestly, I think it’s worth every penny of the $50 price tag if it lasts a good long time.

AND it’s entertainment; my kids love to throw random things on there to see what they weigh. In case you wanted to know, Rory weighs 136 grams.

And they told me I can’t eat him.

Of course, we’re giving one away! To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you would love this scale.

Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

courage for the week 1.22.12

2012-01-22T00:02:00.000-06:00

Southern Living Style book

2012-01-20T14:26:00.001-06:00

When I was contacted to see if I would like to review the new Southern Living Style book, I had to think about it for about 2 seconds. Yes, (ma’am!!) You know that I’m completely smitten with a previous Southern Living before & after magazine that was the inspiration for my living room tablescape.

Speaking of which, do you think they left that beautiful piece out?? Of course not:

It’s full of tips and quotes from homeowners and designers,

But the PICTURES is where it’s at!

Bedrooms,

(you just may be seeing my version of this orange dresser and driftwood mirror in my boys’ room…love.)

kitchens, dining rooms, and offices.

and great ideas for artwork.

do you like to take the dust jackets off of books to see what’s underneath??

I do.

Pinterest is awesome, but there is just something about having your own book on your nightstand or coffee table you can look through and pore over page after page of loveliness. And the best part? Bookmarking pages of ideas with stickies that no one else will see.

You can buy it on Amazon, or most bookstores.