Giant Crepe Paper Rose from Green Wedding Shoes
1/31/2012
Inspiration to Fitness - Week 4
When I started Ashley's 5K program four weeks ago, I really only had one goal for myself. If I was going to run, I was going to run the entire distance. Now, I wasn't crazy enough to think I could actually run without stopping, so I worked out a system. Anytime I needed to walk I would turn around and walk in the opposite direction for a while. Then I would retrace my steps and when I got back to my stopping point I would have to start running again. This method was also a great way to track my progress. If I ran past the spot I had stopped to walk a couple days earlier, I knew things were improving. This little trick has allowed me to walk when I feel like I need to walk, but still still feel that I am successfully running the distance.
Last week was my best and worst week all in one. It started off really rough with sick kids, bad weather, and a serious lack of motivation. I didn't run on Monday. I did go out walking with my favorite walking partner and we got a good 4 miles in, so I didn't feel too bad. When Wednesday's run came around I was feeling a bit under the weather and skipped that run too. I was zero for two in the running department. Not a great start to the week.
Now typically this is where I would throw in the towel, at least for the rest of the week, and just convince myself that I would start over next week. But in real life you don't always just get to start things over. Thick and thin, good and bad, you just have to push your way through them. I got up Saturday morning to go running. It was cold. 36 degrees cold. I went to the track that I use every Saturday morning and I was completely alone. I didn't even make my son come with me. The combination of lack of running, cold weather, and no one to help keep my pace up meant I was running slow. I mean really slow. But I was running.
And I kept running.
I finished the entire 2.25 miles without stopping to walk. Now believe me when I tell you that it was a really slow pace, but it was my pace. It is a pace that I feel I could maintain for 3.1 miles if I decided to run a 5K. Now they may close the course before I finish, but I wouldn't have to stop to walk.
So this week I was reminded that just because you have a bad week doesn't mean you have to start over. Just keep going. And even more important, I was reminded to go at my own pace. I am not in this to be better than anyone else, I am just in it to be a better me.
Here is to having 2.25 mile behind me.
How is your Inspiration to Fitness Journey going? Remember you can roll over the Best Buy logo at the top of my blog to see a full calendar of content to help keep you motivated on your fitness journey. And if you want to enter to win some fun tools to help you along the way, make sure to check out this weeks giveaway for a Perfect Portion Scale.
Last week was my best and worst week all in one. It started off really rough with sick kids, bad weather, and a serious lack of motivation. I didn't run on Monday. I did go out walking with my favorite walking partner and we got a good 4 miles in, so I didn't feel too bad. When Wednesday's run came around I was feeling a bit under the weather and skipped that run too. I was zero for two in the running department. Not a great start to the week.
Now typically this is where I would throw in the towel, at least for the rest of the week, and just convince myself that I would start over next week. But in real life you don't always just get to start things over. Thick and thin, good and bad, you just have to push your way through them. I got up Saturday morning to go running. It was cold. 36 degrees cold. I went to the track that I use every Saturday morning and I was completely alone. I didn't even make my son come with me. The combination of lack of running, cold weather, and no one to help keep my pace up meant I was running slow. I mean really slow. But I was running.
And I kept running.
I finished the entire 2.25 miles without stopping to walk. Now believe me when I tell you that it was a really slow pace, but it was my pace. It is a pace that I feel I could maintain for 3.1 miles if I decided to run a 5K. Now they may close the course before I finish, but I wouldn't have to stop to walk.
So this week I was reminded that just because you have a bad week doesn't mean you have to start over. Just keep going. And even more important, I was reminded to go at my own pace. I am not in this to be better than anyone else, I am just in it to be a better me.
Here is to having 2.25 mile behind me.
How is your Inspiration to Fitness Journey going? Remember you can roll over the Best Buy logo at the top of my blog to see a full calendar of content to help keep you motivated on your fitness journey. And if you want to enter to win some fun tools to help you along the way, make sure to check out this weeks giveaway for a Perfect Portion Scale.
Burlap Bunting for Valentine's Day [DIY Valentines Decorations]
Valentine's Day Burlap Bunting from Little Birdie Secrets
1/30/2012
$100 Olive Garden Gift Card Giveaway
We love to eat out as a family and typically hit one of our favorite restaurants once a week. We love a lot of local places, but most of them have identical kid's menus. Chicken fingers and french fries, hamburgers and french fries, and macaroni and cheese that comes out of a box.When BlogHer asked if we wanted to head to Olive Garden as a family, I was more than happy to take my kids out to dinner for some yummy Italian-inspired food. The restaurant has a comfortable, kid-friendly atmosphere, and I am pretty much in love with their kid's menu. My two picky girls love that they can create their own pasta bowls, and I love that there are no french fries on the menu. Both of their meals came with fruit, and all of the kids enjoyed the yummy, unlimited salad and breadsticks before their meal arrived. A fruit and a vegetable from the kid's menu, imagine that! The games on the kid's menu were pretty fun too. I may or may not have picked up a few new Italian words.
We also love their kid-friendly, non-alcoholic drink options. It makes dinner extra special for the kids when they get a fun drink, too. Olive Garden offers Italian and Cream Sodas, Berry Acqua Fresca, Frullato Smoothies, and our choice this trip, the Strawberry-Mango Limonata. Lou may or may not have had two.
As for the adults at the table, I tried their new Baked Pasta Romana with Chicken, and my hubby went the beef route with the Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo. Both were delicious, and there were plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. In fact, I am pretty sure we left with just as much food as we ate while we were there. I even packed the kids' leftovers in their lunchbox the next day, including a little Limonata in Lou's thermos.
Olive Garden's new dinner special is a 3 course Italian dinner for $12.95. It includes soup or salad, your choice of 5 new entrees, and one of their Dolcini desserts, perfect for a date night without the kiddos. You can check out the 5 dinner options at Olivegarden.com/specials, and at that price you could get a couple of dates out of a $100 Olive Garden gift card.
Would you like to win one? To be entered for a chance to win, check out Olivegarden.com to explore the full menu and find a restaurant near you, and then leave a comment letting me know what item you would like to try off of their menu!
Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post 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.Disclosure - This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Olive Garden. All opinions expressed are my own.
This sweepstakes runs from 1/23/12 - 3/18/12.
Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!
1/28/2012
Show and Tell Saturday - 01/28/12
Happy Show and Tell Saturday!!
I just realized that last week I put the date as 2011. I have been SO CAREFUL about writing 2012 on everything. I guess I wasn't doing as well as I thought!
So where did January go? I can't believe the first month of the year has already flown by! I am ready for Valentine's Day though. And by that I mean I finally took down my Christmas decorations. What about you? Are you ready for Valentine's Day? What have you been working on? I can't wait to see your projects from this week!
Grab a button and link up your favorite project from last week.
I just realized that last week I put the date as 2011. I have been SO CAREFUL about writing 2012 on everything. I guess I wasn't doing as well as I thought!
So where did January go? I can't believe the first month of the year has already flown by! I am ready for Valentine's Day though. And by that I mean I finally took down my Christmas decorations. What about you? Are you ready for Valentine's Day? What have you been working on? I can't wait to see your projects from this week!
Grab a button and link up your favorite project from last week.
Remember to link directly to your post and make sure to visit some of the other participants!!
1/27/2012
Valentine's Day Wrapping Paper [Printable Gift Wrap]
Valentine's Day Wrapping Paper from Thirty Handmade Days
1/26/2012
1/25/2012
Perfect Portion Scale Review and Giveaway
I have an app on my phone that helps me track the food I eat. I enter the food and the amount, measured by volume, and the app calculates the nutritional information of what I have eaten during each meal. It is handy when trying to watch what you eat, but measuring by volume is not very accurate.
Almost everyone that knows anything about weight loss will suggest you get a food scale. But a scale will require you to calculate the nutritional information on your own. I don't know about you, but I am not usually in the mood to do a little math before I eat breakfast in the morning.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a scale that would do the math for you at 5am? Well there is! The Perfect Portions - Food Scale with Nutritional Calculator.
The Perfect Portions scale weighs your food like a regular scale, but when you enter the food code for the item you are eating it will calculate the nutritional facts for you.
It will even add up all of the items you use to prepare your breakfast, like oatmeal, milk, and blueberries, and give you the total for all of the items. No need to write down each individual item to keep track. It will tell you the total calories, calories from fat, carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugar, cholesterol, and sodium in the items that you have weighed.
All of the facts make it handy when you're trying to watch your weight, control your portions, or if you have special health issues that requires you to watch your sodium or sugar intake. But because the Perfect Portions scale is also a scale, giving you measurements in grams and ounces, it is perfect for baking as well.
My kids always love to use new gadgets, so right now I am using the scale to monitor snack time. I can get out a bag of baby carrots and put a bowl on the scale and give them a target for how many grams of fiber they have to eat before they can have the cookie they want to eat after school. I used to just assign them a number of carrots, but the addition of a gadget makes it more fun for them, which means less arguing for me.
In addition to all of the food codes that come pre-programmed into the scale, you can add your own custom food codes for items that you eat on a regular basis. You select a code and enter the nutritional information from the label, and the scale will do all of the calculating for you. With a touch of a button you will know how many calories are on your plate and be able to adjust your portion sizes accordingly.
The scale is amazingly accurate. It gave me the nutritional information for just two blueberries. I ate a lot more than two blueberries, but just wanted to see exactly what the scale would do. It comes in fun colors, too. I have the silver version, but it also comes in black, white, red, and blue. Who doesn't love a little color in their kitchen?
The Perfect Portions - Food Scale with Nutritional Calculator is pretty perfect. Now all they need to do is create an app so I can look up the food codes when my daughter has walked off with my food code book.
As part of BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness challenge, I get to give away a Perfect Portions Scale to one of you so you can use it as part of your 2012 fitness journey.
Leave a comment letting me know how you would use your Perfect Portions Scale to help with your Inspiration to Fitness, and you will be entered for a chance to win.
Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post 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.Are you ready to Take the Pledge?
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 1/25 - 1/31/12.
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.
Disclosure - This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Best Buy. I received a Perfect Portion Scale to use for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.
1/24/2012
Inspiration to Fitness - Week 3
I took the boy running with me for the first time this week. We headed out to the track for our 2 mile run. We warmed up by walking to the middle school track near our home. On the way we talked about why I was running when I didn't like to run, we talked about how much easier it is to stay active than to try to get back into shape, and we talked about the upcoming science fair at school. I love that we had had time for uninterrupted conversation.
When we reached the track we started to run together. He ran with me for a bit until I told him he didn't have to stay with me. He took off at a faster pace and before I had finished my first mile my first born had lapped me.
It's a good thing he is cute.
A running partner, especially one that can keep a decent pace, is handy to have around. Not only is it good motivation, it helps you keep your pace up when you don't have a treadmill to run on. Even if you can't keep up with their pace, you can make sure that you aren't being lapped by them. At least not very often. You could technically even use a stranger that is running on the same track as a reference. Of course, they might wonder why you keep turning around to watch them run.
My pace still needs a lot of work, but I can tell that the strength training exercises Ashely has prescribed are helping in that area. It is a slow process, but my legs do feel stronger after the first mile then they did when I started. Maybe the day will even come when they I will need to add a level of difficulty to them by using weights when I lunge. That day is still a ways off for me yet. Wall squats and lateral lunges all by themselves are enough for me at the moment.
This week my goal is to run a little faster. Hopefully it will take my son a little longer to lap me on Saturday morning.
What are your fitness goals this week?
Check out BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness for a little motivation in setting some of your own goals or encouragement to reach the ones you have already set. You can check out a calendar of the Inspiration to Fitness content by rolling over the Best Buy image at the top of my blog.
Remember, to help you in your fitness journey, I will be doing some fun giveaways for health related gadgets from Best Buy. You can check out my review of the amazing Withings Connected Scale and enter to win one of your own.
When we reached the track we started to run together. He ran with me for a bit until I told him he didn't have to stay with me. He took off at a faster pace and before I had finished my first mile my first born had lapped me.
It's a good thing he is cute.
A running partner, especially one that can keep a decent pace, is handy to have around. Not only is it good motivation, it helps you keep your pace up when you don't have a treadmill to run on. Even if you can't keep up with their pace, you can make sure that you aren't being lapped by them. At least not very often. You could technically even use a stranger that is running on the same track as a reference. Of course, they might wonder why you keep turning around to watch them run.
My pace still needs a lot of work, but I can tell that the strength training exercises Ashely has prescribed are helping in that area. It is a slow process, but my legs do feel stronger after the first mile then they did when I started. Maybe the day will even come when they I will need to add a level of difficulty to them by using weights when I lunge. That day is still a ways off for me yet. Wall squats and lateral lunges all by themselves are enough for me at the moment.
This week my goal is to run a little faster. Hopefully it will take my son a little longer to lap me on Saturday morning.
What are your fitness goals this week?
Check out BlogHer's Inspiration to Fitness for a little motivation in setting some of your own goals or encouragement to reach the ones you have already set. You can check out a calendar of the Inspiration to Fitness content by rolling over the Best Buy image at the top of my blog.
Remember, to help you in your fitness journey, I will be doing some fun giveaways for health related gadgets from Best Buy. You can check out my review of the amazing Withings Connected Scale and enter to win one of your own.
1/23/2012
Chinese New Year [Red Envelope Giveaway]
In honor of the Chinese New Year today, here are some fun ways to celebrate the year of the dragon.
If you have kids at home you can create fingerprint paper lanterns like these from Let's Go Fly A Kite.
Noreen from Party Pinching created these fun red dragon Rice Krispie treats using all store bough items.
Wild Olive has this cute red lantern embroidery pattern.
And then there is my favorite way to celebrate the Chinese New Year, by enjoying my favorite Chinese dishes. On the menu tonight are a couple of dishes from PF Chang's Home Menu. PF Chang's sent me two of their yummy dishes to try tonight and they want to give you something to celebrate Chineses new Year too!
As part of the 15 day Chinese New Year celebration, I will be giving away 15 red envelope prizes on Twitter. One each day starting today. So head over to Twitter and tell me who is a dragon in your life, someone that embodies characteristics like confidence, generosity, and honesty. Make sure to mentions @lorieblogs and @PFCHangs to be entered to win. You can find out details about the prizes HERE.
If you have kids at home you can create fingerprint paper lanterns like these from Let's Go Fly A Kite.
Noreen from Party Pinching created these fun red dragon Rice Krispie treats using all store bough items.
Wild Olive has this cute red lantern embroidery pattern.
And then there is my favorite way to celebrate the Chinese New Year, by enjoying my favorite Chinese dishes. On the menu tonight are a couple of dishes from PF Chang's Home Menu. PF Chang's sent me two of their yummy dishes to try tonight and they want to give you something to celebrate Chineses new Year too!
As part of the 15 day Chinese New Year celebration, I will be giving away 15 red envelope prizes on Twitter. One each day starting today. So head over to Twitter and tell me who is a dragon in your life, someone that embodies characteristics like confidence, generosity, and honesty. Make sure to mentions @lorieblogs and @PFCHangs to be entered to win. You can find out details about the prizes HERE.
Custom Baby Announcement [Shaped Frames}
Custom Baby Announcement Baby Shower Gift from The Crafting Chicks
1/21/2012
Show and Tell Saturday - 01/21/12
Happy Show and Tell Saturday!!
This week went by so fast! I love that about Monday holidays. I am sure your weekend is B-U-S-Y, but I am glad you took the time to link up your favorite project from this week!
This week went by so fast! I love that about Monday holidays. I am sure your weekend is B-U-S-Y, but I am glad you took the time to link up your favorite project from this week!
Remember to link directly to your post and make sure to visit some of the other participants!!
1/20/2012
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