Fitness Friday: Everybody needs a little Inspiration

Looking for a little more inspiration lately?  I went looking through my Quotes and Health & Fitness "pins" on Pinterest, I figured we could all use a little more inspiration every now and again.  Hope you enjoy these today and have a great Weekend!! No matter what you hope for, what you are trying to do, the confidence you are trying to find...Just Believe in your self and you can accomplish anything!! 

Just a few things for you to think about. :) What inspires you???

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Don't forget to enter the $185 Paypal Cash giveaway!!! So cool!! 11 days left to enter.  

Link up for Fitness!!

1. Are You Ready to Lose Weight?	2. Christy	3. Get Fit Naturally
4. Jill @ [Fitness, Health and Happiness]

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$185 Paypal Giveaway!!

I am lucky enough to be involved in a HUGE PAYPAL GIVEAWAY for $185 Cash!! You don't have to enter on every single blog involved, You can just enter here or on my Jewelry blog every day for your chance to win!! So Cool! I wish I could enter...hehe.
Good Luck! Enter, Enter, Enter!!

Back to School ideas

I found a lot of cute back to school ideas around blog land.  Check over at Junk in their Trunk they compiled a bunch of these great ideas. 

I love the Lunch chart from Family Fun.

 

The Drawer or cupboard ready with all the lunch box fixins' ready to pack! Love this idea of having them ready to go!!

I like to send notes every so often in the kids' lunch boxes. I had seen these Free Printables & "pinned" them a while ago. Can't wait to use them! 

Have you seen the Bento Lunches.  I love them! I wish I felt like I had more time to create these little cute lunches every morning.  I may try!! My kids would love it!

This is a great thing to do to get the conversation flowing a little and to know how their day went when they aren't quite talking much about it or remembering what happened that day when you pick them up from school. :) My kids don't have too much time during lunch, but I'm loving this idea of the Lunch Survey

This is also great! Something they can do at home maybe just before dinner to get the conversation flowing about their day.

I can't believe school is starting already!! Do you have any other great Back to School traditions or back to school ideas?

Giveaway Alert!! Free Fitness DVD!!

Want to try a new workout!!  Do you want to Win it??

Go on over to Get Fit Naturally and Enter to Win!!

The giveaway is sponsored by her great site and also by Sarah Fitness

So, go ahead and check them out, you can tell them I sent you if you'd like. :) That would be fun if one of my fans won!!

If you don't win but still want to try it you can go to my Beachbody site www.fitmamawannabe.com to get this fun workout!

Good Luck!

Fitness Friday!

Happy Fitness Friday! 

I have really felt great as I have started running again.  I love it! I'm starting out slow since my Tonsillectomy but it's coming back pretty naturally, even though the heat is somewhat of a killer at around 110 for the summer :)  But, no excuses....I'm doing it!! I've been switching off days with Turbo Fire & Running.  It's been the first week of the challenge & It's a great motivator to keep me going, I hope it's great for those of you involved too!!

Wherever you are in your Health & Fitness there is no better time to start.  The hardest part IS STARTING! So, just go and do it! Get moving, get healthy & feel great!

"A man who want's something will find a way, a man who doesn't will find an excuse"

-Stephen Dolley Jr.

No more excuses, you can have what you really want, it just takes work! 

"Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still"

-Chinese Proverb

Health & Fitness is a combination of Exercise & Nutrition.  I know you've heard it before and you will hear it again.  There is no quick fix pill or solution {you gotta come to grips with that}....the Absolute and most trusting BEST way to Health IS Exercise & Nutrition.  Something that helps me with the nutrition part is my Meal Replacement Shake.  

I know I'm getting all the extra vitamins and nutrients I need and it gives me more energy, keeps me fuller and curbs my chocolate cravings.  I will never go with out.  It has become very valuable to my nutrition. Shakeology & Exercise is helping me so much! I feel better than ever!

Have a super great weekend!

Link up if you'd like.

Linking up:

Link up for Fitness!

1. Racing and Saving Mama	2. Fun, Fit and Fabulous!	3. getfitchick
4. Jill @ [Fitness, Health and Happiness]

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The Power of Moms

The Power of Moms is an amazing site and great resource for anybody! There are great articles, tips & tools to help you personally & help strengthen your home and family.

You can check out the site for many great resources and join for free.

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Don't you feel crazy most of the time? I know I do. I have a mile long to-do list and running here, running there. The "Mind Organization for Moms" program would definitely be beneficial to me.

This is info taken from the power of moms site about it:

Do you have hundreds of balls in the air, and even though you feel like you’re busy every minute, you can’t seem to make a dent in your “to do” list?

This comprehensive online program will change the way you see your life and help you meet all the responsibilities that keep piling up.

I have so enjoyed being a part of a Mom's Learning Circle.  It has helped me so much at times when I feel inadequate or stressed as a mom.  I've learned great ideas from other Moms in my learning circle and I hope that I have given them great feedback as well.  It's fun to meet once a month (not so much during the crazy summer...but I'm excited to get back to it).  It's like a Book Club, Girls Night Out, Motherhood support group & Motherhood course all in one.  So meaningful.  I've loved it! I think all Moms should do this.

Check this out:

A game that can improve the quality of your life.  How fun and beneficial.  You can play this game alone or invite friends.  What a fun way to reach your goals.

There is also a Free E-book right now on Power of Moms, "5 Steps to Less Stress." Go grab it! :)

Have a super great day!!

Fitness Challenge starts TOMORROW!

For those that have signed up...Awesome! There are many that have said they are excited about it, but have not yet signed up.  Please email me at wannabefitchallenge@hotmail.com if you want to join us.  The prize is $95 so far, if you join us it can be much more!! I want it to be worth it to all.  If you feel like you are too busy, I know it's a crazy time.  But, anytime is good to workout! We all gotta do it if we fully want to be healthier, no more putting it off! No more of these "I'll start on Monday." or "maybe next monday" or "oh- this next new year I'm gonna be really healthy" :) Sign-ups will still be open for 2 more weeks. No need to feel behind if you wait to sign up, you'll have 10 weeks total challenge to get as many "fit miles" as you can!! Make sure you read through all the details and use the Paypal button on the right to sign up! 

The money prize is fun, but the challenge itself.. helping & motivating each other to keep going is what's going to be awesome! The prizes will just be an added bonus! So if you want to be a part of it, contact me or just sign up!

If you don't want to do the challenge yourself but would like to donate to the prize pot to help others get fit and healthy that would be great too ;) 

If you would like to donate a prize for our giveaways please let me know!! It would be greatly appreciated!!

Fitness Friday: Healthy Body Image (link up 8/12)

Happy Friday!

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This may sound like more of a serious subject, but it's so important! :)

I wanted to talk just a little about Healthy Body Image.  I gained 60-70 lbs with each of my 4 pregnancies and I've had my fair share of feeling yucky in my skin.  I know what it feels like to be embarrassed to get in a swimming suit, to not want to even go swimming with my family because of being so horrified at looking at myself in the mirror in a swimming suit, to stand in the closet forever wanting to cry because no clothes work!! I know, I've been there..and I've gotten over it!! 

I stopped being disgusted with myself, did something about it instead of whining about it. That's what you have to come to the realization of I guess! Be thankful that you can move your body, that you can play with your kids, that you aren't without limbs, etc.  Be happy about that!! That's what I've come to realize, and I'm more active, not perfect ;) ....& more happy! 

Now- even though I did go through a "I hate my body" stage for a while.  I never once let my kids know that! I think that is sooo important.  Your kids see you for you, they think you are Beautiful, they idolize their mom, they don't need you talking about your body like that. Let them SEE what they see, not HEAR what YOU see. They don't need words like that put in their minds and start thinking that about their own bodies, the world does a pretty awful job of that already, don't let it be from their Mom!

 If you aren't quite there with your Healthy Body Image, work on getting it! What is something that you LOVE about your body? It may be tough, but think about it!! That's your goal for the week ;)

Now, go and have a super Great Weekend!!

PS- Don't forget to sign up for the upcoming challenge

Linking up:

Link up your Health & Fitness posts!

1. Ren	2. Courtney	3. clairejustineoxox
4. Carrie	5. Jill @ [Fitness, Health and Happiness]

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The Stakes have been RAISED folks! Please Read!!

Good News!! We have a Fitness Challenge coming soon! Anybody can do it! Everybody is welcome!! The Overall winner of the Challenge will WIN 95% Of The Cash!! (that's everything, minus any Paypal fees so I don't have to come up with them :) Not sure what that will leave for a runner up prize, besides amazing-feel-good-healthy-body and fitness *wink* So that & the grand prize will be AWESOME! And we still may be able to have a runner up prize! So sign up Now (with the Paypal button on the right) starts Monday 8/15. Grab the button, put it on your blogs, & tell friends and family, because the more people you get, the BETTER the prize!! Yay!! I'm so excited....and I just can't hide it!! :)

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Need Sponsors/ Donations

Please contact me if you would like to donate any Prize....anything at all, a few examples: a cash card, something crafty, a gift certificate to your store, maybe something healthy, a fitness DVD, etc.  Please contact me with your ideas sparklesandbugs@hotmail.com or wannabefitchallenge@hotmail.com. Please, please please! :) I'd like to offer prizes for more people to win something than just the big grand prize!! I will put your button on my blog and promote you as well!!

Thanks so much!

Mason Jar Party Favors...& some other small details

I wanted to share the Mason Jar Party favors I made for my daughters Birthday Party.  They were simple, they were last minute, and I thought they turned out cute! If I had more time I probably would have made tags to also go on them :)

I actually had these cute 8 oz Ball Mason Jars on hand.  I put Orange slices candy gummies in the bottom, added some colorful gumballs and a small finger nail polish and lip gloss in each jar.  Tie with some ribbon and there you have it! Cute right? What else could you use these for? Many possibilities you can come up with I'm sure. You could also use the smaller 6 oz mason jars or smaller.

I'll share just a couple other small details.....

Simple and easy balloon hanging center piece. With 7 little girls coming for a late night Pajama party I wanted to make everything else as easy as I could. Woo- a bunch of little girls for 4-5 hours was CRAZY!! 

We had pizza, played games, did makeup, glitter nails, just dance, opened presents had cake and ice cream....and a whole lot of craziness!

My cute friend made this sleeping bag cake, see the details...zipper and all. It was yummy, a strawberry layer, a vanilla layer with vanilla pudding in the center.  Yum!!

Party, Party, Party.....it was fun, but I'm glad it's over :)

link up love:

Fitness Friday: 10 Great Fit Tips (& Link up 8/5)

Welcome to Fitness Friday!!
First of all don't forget to Grab the Button for our Upcoming Challenge. Yay! Spread the word, tell Family, Friends, get everybody you know involved. Get signed up, it's starts a week from Monday! Just think...only 30 minutes of Exercise 4 times a week will get you 8 miles, if you run you can get more in less time.  It's not too hard, but not too easy, be brave enough to Challenge yourself & gain more confidence through getting more fit! You can do it!

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Now let's get to these Fit Tips!

1-Don't be afraid to Graze. Eat six small meals a day to avoid blood-sugar spikes and decrease your urge to binge. 


2-Don't starve yourself. Undereating causes your metabolic rate to drop and your body to hold onto fat. 

3-Increase in muscle. Muscles help you burn more fat. Ladies especially, don't be afraid to tone up with weights/resistance training.  It's one of the best things you can do. 

4-Don't forget the Cardio. It improves definition and gets rid of the fat that covers your muscles. Combining regular aerobic exercise with strength training will give you the slimming effect you've been going for. Just like a house needs a firm foundation, so does your body!

5-Stretch, Stretch, Stretch. Stretching helps elongate those muscles and of course helps in flexibility, it can help prevent injury.  Stretching helps your muscles work better! Make sure you have a good warm-up and then stretch (stretching cold muscles isn't the best idea) before a big workout, Also stretch after your workout.

6- Play up your assets. Playing up your favorite body parts can boost your confidence and draw attention away from spots you want to minimize. Sculpting your shoulders, arms, chest, and back, for example, can help balance heavier hips so you look more proportionate. Plus, you'll be firmer all over.

7- Eat Real Food. Try to Fuel your body with mostly wholesome, nutritious foods, and limit your intake of refined carbs (anything sugary or white-flour based). I know it's hard, but it helps.  I'm not perfect in this area.  I try my best.  A good goal that I've talked about before is try to eat really good 80% of the time and give yourself 20%.  It's something to try :)

8. Drink more water! Your body needs Water, it helps keep you hydrated and keeps you healthy. See what else I've said about water HERE.

9. Get some Zzzzz's. Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

10. Control what you can. Keep stress levels in check by managing your time, focusing on the present and not over-committing. Enjoy Life!!

Extra tip: Make it a habit of eating within 30 minutes after waking in the morning and eat 1-2 hours before going to bed at night OR no later than 8 pm

Linkin' up with:

 

Link up for Health & Fitness!

1. Jennifer	2. Don't Go it Alone	3. getfitchick
4. Jane	5. Ren	6. Athletes4life
7. Lovefitnesslaugh	8. Jill @ [Fitness, Health and Happiness]	9. My Fitness World

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