Author: admin

How to loose weight and keep it off

I recently lost 21 pounds. Yes! I know it’s incredible. I have struggled to loose weight for the last few years. I would exercise a lot but the weight was just not coming off. Until…… I started eating a plant base diet.

It’s very easy to follow. I know how is that possible. But it’ true, in the next few weeks I am going to share my results. What I have done to keep the weight off and some of the recipies that have helped me keep the weight off after 4 months.

Follow me on this journey and let’s do this together.

Happiness Sprinkles

Fun & Affordable Things to do this Summer with your Kids

Remember when we were kids, how easy it was to have fun? You would go outside and play with the neighbors. The summer would go by very fast and next thing you knew it was time to go back to school. During my summers as a kid there was no cell phones or computers in my home. My siblings and I had to entertain ourselves the more natural way. Unlike now a lot of kids just want to be in front of the T.V., the IPAD or playing video games.

This summer could be a fun one if you plan ahead. What we like to do is check our parks schedule of events for kids during the summer. There are a lot of fun things to do. In my city park, they offer swimming classes for kids (very inexpensive), movie night for the family under the stars (you can bring food and snacks & it’s FREE).
On those warm nights we actually camp outside in the yard. We set up our canopy bring out blankets and pillows and snacks. We have a pit fire and watch movies on our laptop outside. We also tell stories that we make up. It’s very fun! My daughter loves it. Best of all absolutely FREE, no expense made. Because we already had all those things at home that we used.

Look online for events that are happening in your city this summer and go out and have fun with your kids.

How to Loose Weight Easily with the Buddy System

I’ve been trying to get back into shape for the last month, just kidding it’s been actually about 5 years. After I had my daughter, I waited three months to start working out. I had a C-section and I really needed the time to heal. After working out for several month’s I managed to loose most of the baby weight that I had gained. I had gained between 36 – 40lbs during my pregnancy. I was only shy about 8lbs from my pre- pregnancy weight gain. As soon as I got back into my routine I started loosing the weight.

Within months I started to gain the weight back. Next thing I knew I had gained all the weight back that I had initially lost and then some. So there I was again back at square one. When I got pregnant with my daughter I still continued going to the gym in the morning with my husband. I didn’t stop working out I more or less continued the same routine. Except for some minor changes such as not lifting weights or running. I continued this routing only until my 7nth month, because I went to a prenatal visit with my Dr. and she advised me to stop working out. I actually enjoyed working out during my pregnancy. I felt good, I had energy, but if I must admit I was feeling a little bit more difficulty moving at a good speed. In my head I was moving faster than my body. I used to laugh because I felt like I walked like a penguin.

Well as all new moms know time flies and you don’t even realize that the weight gain is creeping in when you are not looking. For me it started with, Honey! the drier is shrinking my clothes again. Part of me wanted to believe this was true, but I couldn’t full myself. I knew what was happening; between the baby, house work, and daily To-do list; I just couldn’t find the time to work out. I tried to get back into a routine that worked for me now as a mom. I tried to work out at 5:30 am in the morning it was too cold, during the day I have too many things to do. Then I tried to work out in the evenings I’m too tired.

I continued on this cycle of trying to find the right time to work out. One week I would be doing really good and then I would fall of the workout wagon. I would tell myself, next week on Monday I’ll start over. After a while starting over every other week gets old, but I was still not giving up. Then today, this morning I realized why not use the buddy system. I asked my husband if he wanted to join my for a speed walk around the neighborhood for an hour and he said, “yes.” I put on some comfortable workout clothes and shoes. During our speed walk we saw other people making use of the buddy system. At the end of our 1 hour workout I realized that in the morning right after dropping of our daughter at school is the perfect time to exercise for us. It’s right after the morning rush, but before it’s right before it’s time to go to work. I finally found the right time for me to work out.

Everyone’s schedule is different, you just need to find the time that best works for you. Remember the important thing is to KEEP MOVING! Stay active somehow, whether you workout at home, gym, park, outside. It doesn’t matter, just stay active.

Why Use the Buddy System?
It’s a good idea to make use the buddy system when your in a work our slump. It happens to all of us. The buddy system is kind of like training wheels on a bicycle. Once you get comfortable there will be a point that you will no longer need the training wheels (buddy). You will be okay working out on your own because you are liking the results of your workouts and you feel that you need the exercise. It makes you feel good, and for this reason you want to continue to exercise. Plus finally dropping those extra pounds is a great incentive. I have found really cute workout clothes here.

Also your workout buddy will help you stay motivated; will remind you that you are trying to get back into those awesome jeans that are in your closet. On the days that you feel tired, your buddy will give you encouragement. Anybody can be part of your buddy system. Your spouse, a friend, neighbor. Just make sure that who ever is part of your buddy system is positive and encouraging. You don’t want to be around negative people when you are trying to do something good for yourself.

Let me know how the buddy system is working out for you.

Keep Moving!

My Life My Voice

Breaths

I’ve had this little paper for years now. I cut it out of a magazine. It has a very inspiring quote this is why I have kept it for so  long.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breathe away”.

Author: Hilary Cooper

I want to thank the author of this quote, it’s been  inspiring  me for years. It has put a lot of things into perspective over the years.

Thank You

Disney Store at the Mall

Today I went to the Disney store at the mall. I went to buy my daughter a gift for her birthday. She wanted a snow white dress. Unfortunately the store was out of snow white dresses, so I bought her a cinderela dress. I figured that she would like this one just as much. I was wrong;the day of her birthday she opened her gift and I could see in her little face that she was not happy with the dress. I promised to find her the snow white dress and she smiled.

I went to the Disney store again and this time I was lucky enough to find it. She was so happy when she saw it. She wanted to wear it immediately. I got it for a good deal, it was on sale. With the savings on the dress I bought her a snow white head band. She looked beautiful. As a parent it makes me very happy to see her smile.


Making Extra Cash

As long as I’ve been married to my husband we have always recycled. For years we have put recycled products in the blue bin and taken it outside on trash day for it to be picked up. We had been brainstorming for ways to make extra quick cash. In the past my husband and I never really thought about recycling for cash, but now we said lets give it a try. Let’s see if it works, so we started to keep the plastic bottles that our local recycling center would accept. On our first time we made a few buck, approximately $7 dollars and change. To my surprise my local recycling center did not accept milk gallons. I had to take those back home and put them in the recycling bin to take out on trash days.

Our second time doing this we went to a different recycling center further away from our home but not too far, just 10 minutes away. My husband unloaded all the plastic into this container that the recycling center provides you with. This time we made about $18 dollars. At this point I said, “Wow”! I couldn’t believe it. With this kind of returns we decided to stick with it.

Today my husband and daughter went to the recycling center and made $16.74. It’s awesome!!!! With that money we treated ourselves out to ea. tWe had fun going out to eat and we got to spend some more time together.

Ikea, What would I do Without You?

This morning I asked my daughter if she wanted to go to Ikea. She jumped from excitement. Since the first time I took my daughter to Ikea, she loved the hot dogs there. Ever since then every time we go to Ikea we have lunch there. We have our little ritual we eat then we go do some shopping. She likes the kids section. There are a lot of cool things there for kids rooms.

It’s so relaxing going from room to room getting ideas on how to decorate a kitchen, a kids room, and a living room.  We bought cereal bowls and utensils. The cereal bowls were $2.99 each  but i got them for 99 cents each. Since the bowls were a good deal I bought 6. The utensils were $8.99 for a 20 ct., pretty good prices.

Decluttering My Mind and Life……..

When ever I feel overwhelmed I start decluttering my home. I usually start with my bedroom. This time around I started with my kitchen and worked my way to the living room, then to my daughters bedroom, then my bedroom, then I went to my garage and organized it, last but not least my home office; (currently work in progress).

I’ve done this for years since I was younger. It helps me release stress, plus I get reaquainted with the things that I have in my home. This helps when I’m looking for something, I know exactly where it is. If I need to stock up on somethings for the season I make a list. This way I know what I’ll need. Even for the simplest things, such as needing a hammer. I can now walk into my garage and get one from the cabinet.

The way my home was cluttered is in a way a reflection of how I was feeling inside. To much going on in my head. My husband and I had trouble going into the garage. You could hardly walk in there weeks before. We usually spend time organizing it every few months, but lately there had not been time to dedicate to this task.

It helps to organize your home because you can get rid of the things that you no longer need. Plus, it helps you save money. Do you know how many people own more than one hammer? A lot, because since they couldn’t find the one that they had it was a lot easier to just go to the store and buy another one. If we do this process for all the things that we need, this is how we end up with to much repetitive stuff. This equates to a lot of money spent over the years.

Right now I’m working on  the last part of my decluttering goal, my home office. I’m hopping to finish it today. I look around at all the papers on my desk and the floor which I put there temporarily in order to access my keyboard. I’m sure I’ll definetely finish by the end of this week.

I have a lot of papers that need to be filed away, thrown out, and read. There’s and unexplainable feeling that I feel when I do this process. It’s like a weight gets lifted off my shoulders. Some people have a drink, watch TV, talk on the phone, read a book,or go for a walk. I choose to declutter, it works for me. When I decluter my life I declutter my mind. I feel better, I can breath and look forward to going shopping to get the things that I noticed I’ll need for the remaining of the year. Such as more extensions, and christmas lights!

I encourage you to give it a try…..