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:

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:

 

It's in the Details

My Little girl turned 8. I can't believe how fast time flies. The age of 8 is special in our family because it is the age of which one is baptized a member of our Church.  It is a special time and our little girl is so excited! I wanted to get some cute pictures of her in her lovely White Dress, so my sister Kim helped me and took some amazing pictures! They all turned out so good, I think we had to choose through about 300 or so...haha. Before the picture taking began I made a couple cute little gifts for her.  Every girl loves a little Bling right?!  

You can find this little lovely & other designs in my newish Etsy Shop, (I've had the account for a while and finally ready to fill it up :)) It is interchangeable. Fun!!

I made her a cute white bracelet to match.

At the last minute I made this Hair flower wrapping satin ribbon around a long folded strip of tinfoil and then rolling it up, kind of like Here, that I saved to one of my Pinterest boards. I then added a clippie and a few sparkly beads in the center.  I loved using the tinfoil and ribbon, worked great. 

Of course we painted her some white glitter nails on her fingers and toes, Can't see the toesies to well, but the shoes....Love the shoes! :)

8 Balloons :)

Since I had the beads out I made a few other fun bracelets.  I love me some chunky stretchy bracelets :)

My favorite place to get beads is Firemountain gems and  Artbeads, & you can sometimes find some of the good silver plated beads on Ebay.... in case you were wondering *wink*. 

Sometimes the Little Details can make you feel that much more special on a Special Day. But, the event is definitely the most special part! So proud of our little girl!!

Partying with:

Grab the Button & Spread the word! Donations/Sponsors??

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See here for more info!

Still looking for Sponsors and donations of prizes, please contact me at wannabefitchallenge@hotmail.com or sparklesandbugs@hotmail.com Thank you!!

3 in 30

It's a brand new month, I'm a pretty goal oriented person, so when I saw this site I was really excited to start with it.  This just gives me the better opportunity to follow through with all the goals I make.  Sometimes that's the hardest part...the follow through.  So, I've been thinking about my goals For August.  I could go a lot of different ways with them but here they are for this month:

1- Stick with my House Cleaning Organization

2- Drink 64 oz of water per day.  Water is my drink of choice most all the time, but it's really hard for me to get in very much of it.  This is a huge task for me.  But, I know it's so good for me to get enough. You can see my Fitness Friday post here about the importance of water and how much you need.

3- Start going to Bed earlier and Waking up earlier. Early to bed, early to rise, that's the best way right!? I am horrible at it, mainly because I like to stay up late while the kids are asleep and I feel like I can have my "mommy" time and get a few things done that I need to.  But, when I do that I don't want to wake up in the morning, then I'm tired all day and I don't get anything done.  So, it's a cycle and it's not good.  I especially need to get better at this as the kids are about to start school again.  I want to be in bed by 10 pm and get up at 6:30. Yikes!! 

So, here we go!! What are your goals of the month? Do you have any tips to help me with mine?

PS- don't forget to read my last post about the upcoming "Fitness Challenge" starting August 15th!!!