Diet & Health Tips ~ SUYL

Today's Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner is "Diet and Health Tips". I'm no expert, and I go in spurts when it comes to working out, and when I'm pregnant, I rarely, if ever, workout! But, when I do decide that i'm going to diet and loose the baby weight, I have a few things that I always fall back on and always seem to work.

First, i'm not a fan of any diet gimmick on the market. I don't believe in Advocare, Skinny Wraps, or SlimFast. I truly think that they are full of ingredients that are not meant to help us loose weight, and while you may see quick results, you won't see lasting results.

I 100% believe that you have to consume less calories and burn more. I also believe in eating 100% real foods. Fruits, Vegetables, Meats, and Cheeses. I was once told by an athletic trainer that when you're trying to loose weight, you should eat what was available to the cavemen. Meaning, no breads, no processed foods. Now, I'm not saying I never eat processed foods- I do, even when dieting, but I think it's vital to limit your intake of processed foods and increase your intake of fruits and veggies.

I love drinking smoothies when i'm dieting. Here's one of my favorite smoothie recipes. 

I also like to add in spinach, oatmeal, or chia seeds to smoothies. All are a great way to sneak in veggies, protein, and healthy omega 3's.

Last August, I started dieting again, and lost 10 lbs in one month using a high protein diet format. It takes dedication and planning to eat high protein, but it was so worth it! I plan on going back to high protein to loose baby weight again. 

My plan was simple: high protein shake for breakfast and dinner, which consisted of milk, protein powder, and then I would vary between strawberries and bananas, or banana and peanut butter, and occasionally add oatmeal or chia seeds. (Chia seeds expand in your stomach because of the liquids, and make you feel full longer.) Then, I would eat every 2-3 hours. Lunch meat, cheese, peanut butter, chobani yogurt, carrots w/ peanut butter, or fruit. I also made sure to drink a lot of water!

I recently came upon this recipe on Pinterest and i'll be making these more often.

Via

Ingredients: 2 overripe bananas, oatmeal, applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon. Mix ingredients together, bake at 350 until cookies are hardened. You can also add raisins or even something sweet like chocolate chips (just don't go overboard)

I also make sure to hit the gym when i'm wanting to get back in shape. I started Couch to 5K about a year ago and made it through 6 weeks. I think I just got bored with the program, and I've always hated running, but C25K is a great program for beginners and those wanting to 'learn' to run. 

I just like to mix it up at the gym. I love to work on abs using the bosu ball, and lift weights. Squats are also one of my favorite exercises.

I feel guilty that I've not been working out this pregnancy, but I've always been able to loose the weight and get back to a healthy shape for myself along with a confident attitude (which is most important!) You can also check out my "loose it" posts here from previous workouts and "diets".

By: Unknown On 06.01

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Our Favorite Books

I'm linking up at Kelly's Korner again for "Show Us Your Life". Today's theme is Favorite Kid Books.... we love books in this house, and I always make sure to give the girls a book on Christmas and Easter, and their birthdays. My mom is also good about buying them Halloween, Thanksgiving, or other holiday books! Needless to say, we have an overflowing bookshelf upstairs in the playroom, and both of the girls have books in their own bedroom.

We try to read to the girls every night before bed. DJ and I even read to Gretchen when I was pregnant with her! This is the very first book we bought when I found out I was pregnant with a girl and the book we would read to Gretchen.

I absolutely love this story, as it's all about two parent bears who wanted a baby, and how the baby grew inside, and then the baby came home. It's just such a sweet book.

Now that we are a little more busy with full time jobs, two kids, and our third on the way, reading is not something that happens every night, but it does happen most nights. I've started to get the girls on the couch before bedtime and the three of us read a book together, and then they go to their respective rooms, and we'll say prayers with each of them separately. 

Here are a few of our favorite books:

Ladybug Girl is about a brave little girl who thinks finds heroic things to do while her parents are busy in the house and her big brother is playing with a friend. I recently bought "Ladybug Girl at the Beach" for G~ she received it in her Easter basket~ but we haven't had a chance to read it.

Fancy Nancy is another one of my favorites. I don't think Nancy could be any more fabulous! She loves to be fancy and explore and loves dogs. We have several Fancy Nancy books and G received another one for Easter! 

I was first introduced to Fancy Nancy when I was pregnant with Gretchen. I received two of her books at a baby shower, and they were signed by the people who gave them to me. It was and still is one of my favorite baby shower gifts that we've received!

When I was pregnant with MC, I was given a Fancy Nancy baby shower because we were so in love with the books! 

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The next two books are fun for all ages, and I really like to read them to my therapy kids and to my girls.

We have several of the "If You Give a ________ a _______" books. I think "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" is the original book, and it's fun to let kids draw what they think would happen if they gave a mouse a cookie, and then serve cookies and milk as a snack! It also teaches cause and effect.

And, I can rave and rave about several Dr. Seuss books, but this classic is my favorite! It's great to read to your baby because of the rhyming sing-song pattern in the words and teaches your baby intonation of our speech. It's also easy for kids to memorize to feel like they are reading themselves, and it has several sight words and it's easy to predict what words will come next due to the rhyming and patterns.

And, if you're looking to expand on this book, there are a gazillion pins out there for you! 

I read this book every year to my speech kids as well, and plan an activity to go along with it. This year, I gave them a template of the Cat's hat, and we wrote vocabulary words on the lines and listened for the words in the book.

Thanks so much for stopping by my little nook!

I hope you've enjoyed a peek at some of our favorite books! Have you read any of these?

By: Unknown On 06.49

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Date Night Ideas

I'm linking up today with Kelly's Korner and her Show Us Your Life series. Today's topic is "date ideas". DJ and I don't get out on too many dates. Our lives often get wrapped up in the girls, football, and playing catch up on the weekends. But, I know it is so important for us to have time together.  Not only so we can strengthen our marriage, and enjoy the relationship we had before kids, but so we can be better parents to our girls.

It was so much easier to have dates before we had kids! We love eating out and finding new restaurants, and we would do that regularly. We also took vacations and explored new cities. Saturday's were easily spent exploring the towns that we moved to (Ruston, La. and Muncie, In) and the surrounding areas, and we even took a vacation to Gatlinburg, TN the summer I was pregnant with Gretchen. We could travel and not rush to get where we were going because of meal times, potty breaks, and schedules! 

On this particular trip, we decided to take detours and explored Louisville, KY and also found the original KFC. I loved our drives, because that's how we got to know each other best.

Now that we are married with two girls and one on the way, our dress up date nights are very rare! We definitely make it a priority to get out on our anniversary. But, most of our other dates, involve football and donor events. Thankfully, those at least get us a good meal!

Last year for our anniversary, I gave DJ a letter explaining that we would make it a priority to have a monthly date night. We tried, but I have to admit we weren't successful. I originally found the idea on Pinterest, and you're suppose to gift 12 envelopes with pre-paid dates inside. Then, you won't have an excuse if you don't have the funds! Maybe, I'll get a head start and do that for our 8th anniversary in December!

One of our favorite ways to date right now, is to meet for lunch. Last year, I had an amazing schedule, and we would meet for lunch several days a week and explore new restaurants around Tulsa. This past year, we've only been able to meet once or twice a month for lunch, but at least the girls are already in daycare, and we don't have the excuse of paying extra funds for a baby sitter.

DJ and I also try to have movie nights a few times a month. We either watch one that we already have at home, or pick up a new movie from Redbox. 

Even though we don't get out often, I appreciate the times that we spend together. We always have tons of fun and love exploring the towns we've lived in together. 

We take advantage of the times when we're visiting family, and try to get out to do something by ourselves, whether its a trip to Wal-Mart or a movie or out to eat. Just getting some time away is so important!

What's your favorite date night idea?

By: Unknown On 05.30

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SUYL~ Window Treatments

Today's Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner is all about window treatments. 

I thought I'd take you around several rooms in our house and show you our various window treatments and let you know a few of my tips for transitioning our curtains throughout our various houses we've owned and different rooms.

Our living room has a set of three windows, and I had a hard time figuring out how to cover these windows without covering our view of the backyard, at my husband's request. Because they are so long, and I didn't have curtain rods long enough, we ended up using two of the same curtain rods putting them side by side, and hanging two curtains on the ends; covering more of the walls than the windows. 

These curtains are a green "silk" and I bought them at Wal-Mart. They are also lined and I love them. They were originally purchased for the master bedroom, but we have a green couch, so it was easy to transition them. 

 If you look carefully though, you'll notice that this picture only shows one of our treatments, because G pulled down the other side this morning. DJ will have to put it up when he gets home.

This window treatment is my favorite, although I wish it were a tad longer. We have a huge window in our dining room, and I only wanted to cover the top half. We purchased this fabric form Hobby Lobby, and my grandma hot glued a hem into it! She firmly believes anything can be fixed with a hot glue gun!

I think i'm going to buy some black trim and hot glue along the bottom, just to give it some extra length. 

Here's a close up of the fabric.  

 The next set of window treatments are in G's room. When G was a baby we purchased two pink panels that hung in her room. Once we moved into our purchased home in Indiana and updated to her big girl bedding, we added fabric along the bottom of the pink curtains. The white curtains were left by the original home owners, so we added fabric along the bottom of those as well. These have now been in three different houses. Although, in our first Tulsa house, we just hung the pink curtains. 

 Here's a close up of the bottom. 

This last set was purchased from TJ Max. I bought both panels for a total of $12.00! They are perfect in the girls play room, and I love the ruffles at the top and bottom.  

 Here's a close up of the bottom ruffles. 

I was going to share MC's window treatments, but she was napping as I was going around to snap photos. Her curtains are white panels, and my mother bought eyelet to add to the bottom. She also made an eyelet topper.

DJ and I still need to come up with window treatments for our master bedroom and bath, but we are waiting, because I'd love to purchase a new comforter. He also needs curtains in his office!

I would love for you to realize, that decorating doesn't have to be expensive, and that you can find window treatments anywhere! Wal-Mart, TJ Max, or even make them yourself, or decorate them yourself! I also would either request for window treatments to remain, when you purchase a home, if you like them, or if you are selling a home, make sure you note which curtains you will be taking with you. There was no way that I could leave G's curtains in Indiana since they match her bedding!

By: Unknown On 15.19

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