Learning How To Balance

How many times have you "started over"/"today's a new day and a fresh start"?  I'm so annoyed with the motivational quote " if you're tired of starting over stop giving up " - It's not that I give up... because I do keep going too!  I find the "wagon" and get back on track!  I guess I'm starting to realize this really is a lifestyle change that is going to have speed bumps, rough patches, times where I'm not focused, etc.  The point is I do get back on track - I'm tired of feeling guilty for my weekend indulgence & for losing focus!! I was reading a blog post of a SparkPeople user that was really eye-opening! Everyone has bad days, everyone loses sight of their goals, it's part of life!  Life can and will always get in the way!  It's what you do after the stumble, set back, (whatever you call it) that matters. *******************************************************************************************...

My husband and I made - homemade red pepper flakes today.  They are SCREAMING HOT.... but I like 'em! From husband's Facebook post earlier today: My dad had a Hispanic neighbor give him some "really hot" pepper plants. They turned into a bumper crop! Now, he has (no exaggeration...) THOUSANDS of tiny red hot peppers. And, these little fella's are INSANE hot! So, we're drying some out in the oven at a low temperature and we intend to run them through the food processor (outside) and make our own red pepper flakes. If it doesn't work.... we can try something else. Peppers are everywhere in Dad's garden.  

 These seem very simple... while there may be more to the "secret" than  just these...it's a great place to start!! No matter where you are starting from know that: ***************************************** Hobbies & Creations I ♥ the idea of "upcycling" - reusing things to make other things!  Check these ideas out... so cool! To start a garden inside - use juice cartons! Reuse old t-shirts - these are SUPER easy to make!! And who doesn't have old t-shirts stuffed in drawers that you could accessorize with?? Source: Entirely Smitten Add a touch of fun and personality to your organization! Source: Blissful Roots

I've been posting a lot of fitness/health posts so today I thought I would post a little treat... portion control is up to you. :)  Just made these cookies!! LOVE how easy they are and I added a 1/4 chopped chocolate chips and 1/4 pecans - but I think if you just made them with banana and oats they would be good too. I chopped up the chocolate chips so they would mix in more and go more thru out the cookie... that was almost too much chocolate chips. I'll cut back a lil' next time. I put the oats in a food processor (you could use a blender too) to chop them up a little. Added thawed, frozen bananas and blended until it was blended. The mix made 13 cookies for me... the other recipe I'm not sure it would make 13 cookies.   The original recipe is the first pic - the second pic is what I made. I added a few more ingredients. Source:   The Burlap Bag   Autumn version : (Pumpkin instead of banana) Summer version : (Peaches instead o...

I found this article that really hit home with my last post so I thought I would do a "Goals - Part #2" just to keep that thought going.... This list is more geared towards weight loss goals but that may not be your goal at all...your goals may not have anything to do with weight but this will get your gears turning for ideas to set goals and (see image below) !! This article was from the blog Delightfully Fit - 50 ways to stay motivated to lose weight . I LOVE IT! It was written by one of my FAVORITE fitness writers, wellness coach and trainer - Jessica Smith.  I'm not going to list all 50 but here are a few that I wanted to touch on: 1) Think wellness not weight loss. Do you only make good food choices when you are trying to lose weight? This could lead to rebound weight gain if you go back to your old habits once you’ve reached your goal. You have to eat every day, so why not eat better every day? 2) Set reasonable goals. Ask yourself...

It's time to put some goals down on paper - I've gotten into a rut of .....blah, logging food..... blah, logging exercise.... forgetting what I ate... so I eat dinner then look back on My Fitness Pal and HOLY MOLY... Well, that day is shot!  So I've started a a written journal too. (I looked up FitBook pages - those are great journals but I didn't want to spend $30 just yet.)  I'm still gonna do my phone app but this will let me journal a little more too.   So how does writing down your goals help? Well they won't help if they aren't realistic!  Take baby steps when first setting goals.  You shouldn't expect to lose 10 lbs. in a month.... so be realistic with what you set out to accomplish.  If you make it too hard on yourself - you won't stick with it.  Think LIFESTYLE CHANGE not - I'll do this until I lose 20 lbs. then I'm done with it. Keep your fitness fun and different.... BUT make a plan, make a schedule, know what you are going...