Monday, January 28, 2013

Mamavation Monday ~~~~ Healthy Snacking


That mid day or mid night itch to eat, what do you do about it?

Do you suppress the urge? Do you reach for the closest quick snack? What can you do?

First I really try to grab a drink of water. Did you know that thirst can be confused by the body as hunger? It's true! So grab a glass of water and then wait a bit and see if you are still hungry.You can avoid this confusion by staying hydrated but so many people don't.

Now after that try something healthy to eat. I prefer to grab one of my protien nibblies. That way I know there are lots of good things, and they are yummy and healthy too! Next I would reach for a nice snack. Fruit salad is nice and easy. I like to toss hemp & flax seeds on it.  Now doesn't that look yummy.

Now if you aren't at home and the desire to eat strikes, what do you do?

Look for snacks that aren't riddled with sugars or fried. Often there are much healthier choices out there.

Have a look see what you can find. :)




Now as for my update. things are going okay. I need to get my drive going again, But with making smarter food choices is helping me have more energy with always helps.





This post is sponsored by Beanitos and Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway” at the bottom of your post.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Mamavation Monday ~~~~ Hard to Get Motivated


This week has been a bit of a downer. I haven't been getting to the gym like I would like to be. I have continued on both my challenges but I may have hit a road bump. Separated abs :( Yup my poor abs have still not healed from my last baby almost 2 years ago. I might have been from previous one but I know for sure from my last. I need to work more now on repairing them and less about the ab exercises right now. I'll still be keeping up with my cardio but the ab directed exercises need to take a back burner. :(

I'm super excited for the Mamavation Moms to be announced tonight. I have been watching these ladies go through some crazy hazing this last week and have had fun getting to know them. Congrats to whoever get chosen. You are all winner already for wanting to make that change. :)

I really need to take some measurements and get being a bit more accountable with the changes I am wanting to make. Road blocks are not stopping point I can still move forward and get healthier. :)

I'm needing to kick myself in the but more and get going with what I want in this life and if I don't go for it I wont succeed. This has happened before I am super excited to start I go for the first few weeks and then I peter out. I need to keep going. I need to find my motivation and keep going. I signed up for a running clinic starting in a few weeks, training for a 10k and half marathon. I'm hoping it will be good for me :)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

What is a need?

There are basic needs that many people think of and then there are true needs to develop yourself.

Think about what you think your needs are? Then cross reference with this list to see where you feel that your needs are.

The ability to identify a need from a want is very important. It is a skill that many people lack. Far too often people confuse needs and wants. Knowing the difference can lead to a greater understand of yourself and where your priorities are.

Connection

Belonging

Appreciation

Cooperation

Compassion

Honesty

Love

Security

Physical/ Sexual well being

Play

Trust

Peace

Meaning

Joy

Competence

Challenge

Mourning

Autonomy


Everyone has needs and they go beyond food, shelter, clothing and water. Having your true needs fulfilled I believe can lead to a more fulfilled life.

Think about it :)




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Are you a food bully?

I read this story on CNN the other day and it just made my hear ache.Allergy Bullying: When food is the weapon. I really wonder what kind of world we live in that people are so insensitive to someone with an allergy that they would threaten them with it?

Then I got thinking how so many people just don't think about people with allergies. The only thing people really seem to be aware of is peanuts and shellfish. The truth of the matter is there are so many other allergies out there with very serious consequences  The problem with some of these other allergies is it is hard to find your allergens is stuff. Say you have soy, dairy or a corn allergy, that stuff is in everything. things you wouldn't even think it would be in.

I personally really try very hard to be aware of other allergies. I will make every effort I can to try and be  senestive and keep allergens out of my families meals when there will be others around . Now some people say that is just silly and impossible,but I feel it's my responsibility. I can't see why people wouldn't be aware like that. If I know that people will be around I always ask if there are any allergies that I should be worried about. Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive because I know a number of people with very deadly allergies to what would seem to be random things. I would hate to be the person who sent someone into an allergic reaction to something that I could have prevented with just a bit of forethought.

Now I have heard some pretty crazy thing in regards to people with allergies. Some have commented on essentially removing them from the main population, like an allergy island. Or that if your child is  that sensitive that they should kept out of the public school system. The blatant disregard for other another's well being shocks me, to the core. There are many speculations as to why the rise in sever food allergies in people. One of my favorite and most likely is all the modifications and crap in our food, our bodies are just simply now rejecting it. The thing is that this is something that keeps getting worse not better. There are also allergies that people don't even know they have because they are not the life threatening. So many things are showing to be reactions for food in people, behavior, bloating, pain and many others. I suggest looking them up for a better understanding.

People with food allergies deserve to live a life with out fear. They have the same rights as you do and while your inconvience of not eating something thing while you are around them is not nearly as bad as them losing their life over your choice to not care. Think about how you would like to be treated if you had something a life altering condition, so some respect, Show some love. If you must have certain things in your meals that some one is allergic to you should to take precautions to help keep them safe. Wash your hands, don't sit beside them. They are on the look out but if you care enough to help keep them safe it is one less person for them to worry about.

Peace, Love and Kindness will go a long way :)

Monday, January 14, 2013

Mamavation Monday ~~~~ Another One Bites the Dust


Another week another reflection

Focusing on weightloss sucks for me. My weight will easily fluctuate through out the day, especially depending on what I eat. I'm sure it's not all that healthy how much my weight can change from day to day but it seem to be how it is.  I'm not happy with what the scale says but mostly I'm not happy with how I feel in my clothes.

Things have been okay in the diet area of things I have been focusing a lot more on getting more veggies into my diet eating whole unprocessed food. I have been feeling so much better, I have more energy and I just feel like my skin is looking better. It was pretty good to being with, but it just feels better.

I have been getting to the gym and my two challenges this month are going okay. So days I fall behind on the exercises but I always make it up. :) I'm getting stronger and I keep pushing but I'm just not seeing a change in the scale. Problem is is actually seems to be going backwards. I have no idea what is going on but I'm going to tighten up even more on my diet and be really strict with the wheat. I need to cut it is makes me feel icky. Over processed sugars too!

I need to work on feeling better about me. I need to get in the head space where I am feeling better about me. I need to stop the damaging thoughts in my mind that always bring me down. I can be my best friend or my worst enemy. I need to get fully healthy not just the body but the mind too!

I am so thankful for my sistas at  Mamavation. Knowing that someone believes in me is wonderful.

How has your week gone?

This post is sponsored by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Resolutions Suck

Every new year people make resolutions and many by the first week have broken them. Next the feeling of failure and defeat come, and they give up. If they failed once they will fail again. That is the biggest issues!!!!


So many people wait till the new year to start something. Why wait? Why put yourself through the stress of over and over again punishing yourself, because you can't change your life completely at the beginning of the new year.

Now I'm all for people changing their lives to be more of whatever it is that they want to be but taking smaller more reasonable steps, just makes more sense.

Did you know most people have quit their resolution by the end of January, just given up?

Why do you think that is? I'll tell why I think that is.

They don't have a plan. They don't know what they are actually going to do about it. When the going gets tough what are they going to change? Whether it's getting healthy, fit, losing weight, cleaning the house more, quitting smoking, even having more sex, whatever it is with out a real plan it will go no where.

Already today I see twitter and Facebook feeds asking how to get out of the funk of their resolution?  How to curb cravings and do you have to work out even when your sick?

Now trust me I'm great at figuring out how to fail at whatever I'm doing. I really don't start with a well thought out plan. I have a plan for the first few days while I'm still energized but once it gets hard things fall apart.

Changing your life style is hard it take time effort and plans. It really does! I have read that it takes 21 days for a habit to form. Well I still waiting to find out how long to make that habit stick. because 21 days hasn't been enough this far.

But not that changes!

I'm going for it. I will change.

Get a plan set some real goals and going for it :)

Monday, January 7, 2013

Mamavation Monday ~~~ Eating for a Change

Wow it is amazing how fast a week can go by, isn't it? With being accepted into the Sisitahood, I have been trying to focus more on what I am doing and what is going into my body. I have two challenges for January going on. First I'm doing and ab challenge that I found online that is a few daily exercises to help target the core, a place where I know I am weak ( many people are!)

Second I'm doing a raw green smoothie challenge with Young and Raw. I like smoothies for my morning drink because it is easy and I know i'm getting lots of good stuff in my body to start the day. I make it an intention to never put more in my smoothie then I would actually eat at a sitting so I'm not overfilling my body.
this was a green smoothie for the whole family
So far it is going great. this past week I have focused on keeping my sugar down so I found a delish little snack that is so super good for you it can barely be called a treat, but those are the best kind. :) We are having lots of veggies with dinner and little to no grains for me and not surprising i'm not feeling bloated and icky. 

Well that the update for m=now.. week one going well lets go for week two !!!




"This post is sponsored by Schick Intuition and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway." at the bottom of your post and enter to win one of 4 Schick Intuition Razors. DETAILS ON THIS WEEK'S MAMAVATION MONDAY POST!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Peanut Butter Protein Nibblies

This is one of my recipe conversions to healthify a recipe that I saw that had a good basic idea. I took it made it my own and changed the name.

Peanut Butter Protein Bars

1/2 cup  brown sugar  Coconut Sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter --> please use just peanut nut or a natural nut butter, the only ingredient should be nuts!)
1/4 cup soy or regular milk Nut milk ( I used almond)
1/4 cup honey/ molasses -->I used both 3 tbsp each
3/4  1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour Almond meal
3/4 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking soda 
2 3 tbsp canola oil Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1 tsp vanilla --> once again check your ingredient it should just be extract & maybe a bit of sugar
pinch of salt --> use real  salt ( sea salt or Himalayan salt) not table salt

Additional Add-in options
Flax, chia seed, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, dark chocolate, coconut &/or dried fruit.


Blend all the wet ingredients together and then add the dry ingredients.

Now you have two options

  •  you can bake it in an oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. To do this lay it out on a pan lined with parchment paper, Squish flat with your hands trying to make it even. 
  • Or you can roll it into little balls and refrigerate or freeze them. leaving them raw is really good!!
Raw. Personally like this way better, more flavor and you don't lose any thing due to cooking

Baked. Still very yummy and loved by the boys

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Egg

I read this on a friend's Facebook Page. It is a wonderful story that was written by Andy Weir You can read more of his work here . I found this absolutely fascinating, it really give one pause for thought. Read and enjoy!

The Egg

By: Andy Weir

You were on your way home when you died.


It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2012 What a year!

What a year :) So much has happened in our little family is the last year.




Thinking back and reflecting on 2012. Lil Squish celebrated his first birthday and has learned so many things. He can walk, talk use a spoon, fork and a cup. He is so full of fun and it has been an amazing time, 

In April a series of events lead Hubby to getting surgery on his ankle for a bone infection, that I guess he has had for years. We are so lucky that it was finally diagnosed and the issue has been solved. So happy that he has been pain free since then, which hopefully means no more flare ups.
Home Learning was really in full swing this year. We have gone on amazing field trips, met some amazing people and looking forward to continuing on this path for us. Bug Joined beavers late last year but really has gotten into it this year. I have joined on as a colony leader who who knows how long? ;)
This summer was truly amazing  it started off with the Stampede and the 100 year celebration. Bug got to ride in the parade with Great Grandpa. We also got to go to the Ponoka Stampeded with Grandpa, the boys had so much fun with that.  We we on rides, played some games and had a blast. Nothing quite like partying cowboy style!
 After a few weeks with family in Alberta we headed home to prepare for the Epic Extravaganza. What else could you call a 17 day road trip with three children across Canada and the upper USA! 4 provinces and I think 13 states we crossed while driving. We started off the trip with Hubby and mine 10 year high school reunion, and some fun on the lake. .  Saw my sisters, they both live far away from me, and their kids. Saw Hubby's Dad & his little family,stayed with them for a few days.We went to Niagara Falls, one of my bucket list places, we even took a ride on the maid of the mist 
 We stopped to see Mount Rushmore, or the "Mountain Men" as I called the last time I saw them ( I was 4 I think) Next to Yellowstone, where we got to see Old Faithful, and buffalo. At both National parks the boys worked towards their Junior Ranger badges, and still talk about them to this day. 

Then we stopped in Salt Lake city  for the night to see the temple, So thrilled to be able to have been there as a member this time. Hopefully next time we go we can spend more time. We camped along the way with the children and yes the baby stayed in his cloth diapers for the trek. ( I have that many and with the stops at family I was able to do laundry )
Then fall came, back to reality..... and packing. You see before we left on the Epic Extravaganza we found a new home, A place that was going to meet our need more fully

I celebrated my birthday.I harvested my first successful garden. :)Then the move, I thankfully went off without a hitch. Next came the Bug and BoBo's birthdays, wow 6 & 4 I can barely believe it. November then December and I can barely believe it is over again. We have done so much this year but it still feels like 2012 just started.

I'm looking forward to 2013, I'm sure it will be amazing. We have plans and goals, I hope it works out for the best :)