Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Recipe Review: Healthy Cookies

I enjoy eating bananas, but they always get too ripe before I am ready to eat them! Thanks to the tin foil solution, I haven't had that problem much any more. However, I still have a bunch of bananas in the freezer that I need to use. My husband prefers that I make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, but recently I have been looking for a healthier ways to use those ripe bananas.

When I found these Healthy Cookies on Pinterest I thought that they were too good to be true. I was excited, because they did not have many ingredients and were low in pointsplus values.

I'm excited to share this new recipe review with you and hope that you enjoy it!

Ingredients: bananas, quick oats, and walnuts

Crush, mash, and mix all the ingredients together.

Place a tablespoon of each on cookie sheet.

The finished product!

. . . . . . . . . .
Healthy Cookies
______________________________
Servings:8
Serving Size: 2 cookies
Calories: 93
Fat: 3.5 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 2 g
Old Points: 2 pt
Points+: 2 pts+
______________________________ 
Ingredients
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup uncooked quick oats
  1/4 cup crushed walnuts

Instructions 
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a non-stick cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the mashed bananas and oats in a bowl. Fold in the walnuts and place a tablespoon of each on the cookie sheet.
Bake 15 minutes. Makes 16 cookies.

 *If you don't like nuts, add in chocolate chips or coconut instead. Just make sure you adjust the pointsplus values.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Giveaway Winner Announced - Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale


The winner of the Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale giveaway is.... 

Heather R.

Please send me an email at livingachangedlife@gmail.com with your information, so I can get this scale to you! You have 48 hours to respond!

Thank you to everyone who entered!!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

8 Week Half Marathon Schedule

Today I completed my very first day of half marathon training!! If you missed my blog post yesterday, I am currently training for my very first half marathon the Heels & Hills Half Marathon on May 5, 2013!!

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Last night, Jon stayed up late with me looking for fast and upbeat music that I could put on my "13.1 play list". Thankfully, Jon likes a wider variety of music than I do, which was so helpful as we put music together for my new play list. Before going to bed, I set out my running shoes, yoga pants, Denver Broncos tee, running socks, fleece jacket, and my knee brace.

Getting everything ready the night before helps me to have less excuses in the morning when I get up to run!!

This morning I woke up early, I'm talking before daylight, to go for a 3 mile run. I got ready and headed out the door. It was so quiet and peaceful to be out and running around the neighborhood before anyone else got up. As I ran, I spent time in prayer talking to the Lord and just simply enjoying time with Him before my day began.

I am so glad that I signed up for this Half Marathon! Already it is providing that motivation that I've been looking for since Olivia was born.

For those of you who might be wondering, I used the Smart Coach at Runner's World to create my very own 8 Week Half Marathon Schedule.
 
8 Week Half Marathon Schedule

Have you been looking for a way to motivate yourself!? Maybe it's time for you to sign up for your first 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, or Full Marathon!!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

My "New" Hobby

I have been searching for a new hobby and I think I finally decided what it is going to be...

RUNNING!!

It's been a while since I was interested in running. It was back in August 2009, I ran in my first 5K. Honestly, since I had Olivia, I have not been in to running/jogging or exercise of any kind. I have convinced myself that I do not have time for exercise right now and I have made a lot of excuses. However, I am here to tell you that the excuses stop today, because I signed myself up for the Heels & Hills Half Marathon!!

What was I thinking!?

I mean, I am so excited! There are just about 8 weeks until my half marathon!

Ideally, you need 12 weeks to complete all of your training and prepare your body for a half marathon. However, my goal is to finish this half-marathon...that's it. So, even if it means that I have to walk part of the way that is fine with me, because I just want to know that I can do this and be excited about exercising again!!

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When I was new to running back in 2009, I found a book that really helped me called, "Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide" by, Hal Higdon. I will be using this book and Hal's Half Marathon Training Guide - Novice 1 Program that can be found online.

I am looking forward to blogging more about this over the next few weeks and months!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale - Giveaway [Closed]

 I shared with you the great things about the Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale by Conair. They have generously offered to give away one scale to one of my readers. That's right one of you will win a new Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale! You will get it just in time for swim suit season.
. . . . . . . . . .
 Here's What You Need To Do To Win:
1. Leave me a comment on this blog post.

For Extra Entries (separate comments)
2. Follow my blog. If you do already, let me know!
3. Blog or Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway and post the link in your comment.
I will choose one winner via Random on March 3 and the winner will have 48 hours to contact me to claim their prize!

Comments will be closed this Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 9:00pm!

(Click here to find out it you won!)

Friday, March 8, 2013

Meal Planning on a Budget

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This evening, me and Jon are spending our date night going to the grocery store. Don't judge. We love spending time together, no matter what we are doing. Not to mention, it's easier to get groceries when it's just the two of us.

As you might know, Jon and I live on a very tight budget, because most of the money we make goes to pay off our student loans. Eating healthy and living on a budget are two hard things to do! However, we have learned to make sacrifices in other areas, so that we can live a healthier lifestyle.

The most important way that I have learned to stay on budget and eat healthy is meal planning. Not only does meal planning help us to stay on budget, but it helps me to know that I have healthy/on plan meals to enjoy throughout the week! When life gets busy and I do not take time to plan out our meals we always end up spending more money than we planned. The hour or two that it takes me to plan out our weekly meals is worth it!

Here are the steps that I go through each week to plan out our meals.

1. PRAY. Before you do anything else, make sure that you get on your knees before the Lord in prayer over your weekly menu. I always pray that God will bless our food, so we will have enough to use the next week. I pray that God will help me to make wise choices at the store and find things on sale, so that we can stay under budget. As God answers my prayers I thank Him for His goodness in our lives!!

2. Make a Weekly Menu. There are so many wonderful resources available to help you decide what you want to eat throughout the week! The three websites I use each week are Pinterest, Skinnytaste, and my own Living a Changed Life Recipe Collection. Take some time each week to look at these different websites to decide what you would like to make for dinner.

3. Make a Grocery List. Once I have decided what I want to eat throughout the week, I begin to create a grocery list. I list out all the ingredients from my recipes that I will need for the upcoming week. I also list out healthy snacks, food for lunches, and anything else I think we might need. Then I go throughout my house and see what I already have in the pantry. I cross off the items I already have at home, so that I am only buying exactly what I need for the next week.

4. Go Shopping and Stick to the List. There are so many wonderful new items at the store all the time. In order to stay on budget, I stick to the list. I'm telling you this is the best thing, but please know that this is such a hard thing for me to do! I am still working on it. For the most part, I stick to my list. However, there have been times where I have found new low pointsplus foods items that I did not have on my list, but buy any way to try.

5. Portion Out Your Food. As soon as I get home or the very next day, if I do my shopping at night. I portion out all of my meat, fruit, veggies, crackers, chips, and more into individual Ziploc bags. This helps me to not waste the food I buy and help it to avoid going bad in my fridge before I decide to eat it. Throughout the week it is easier for me to make wise choices, when my food is already cut, wash, and waiting for me in a little cute bag!

 I hope this information is helpful to you! Like I said, this is what works for us. However, if this will not work for you that's okay! Just try to find a way that will work for you.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Success Story Ideas

Flying with Jon on Sunday, before I got the flu.
 
Has the flu been to your home this season? We had been flu free until I got sick on Tuesday! I will spare you all the details and just say that I hate being sick. As a result, I have not been tracking, because for most of this week I couldn't eat anything.  The things that did sound good to eat were not the most pointsplus friendly foods.

I weigh in on Saturday and I am really not sure what the scales going to say after my body was put through the ringer this week. However, in all honesty I am not that worried about it. God is teaching me to be more gracious with myself and I know that it wasn't my plan to get sick. So, even if this hasn't been the best week on plan, I will forgive myself and more forward.

A small part of me is thankful that I got sick this week, because it meant that I had time to do some of the things I enjoy, like blogging, because I couldn't do anything else! Let me rephrase that...while I was sick, my husband would not let me do anything else except sit on the couch.

I'm excited about a new idea that I had, while I was confinded to my couch! I want begin to write blog posts about other people's success stories. I know that success stories really encourage me as I try to stay on plan and lose weight. I hope that these success stories would be another source of encouragement for you all too!

In order to make this work, I need your help!

Please take time to answer to questions below in the comments section and/or email me at livingachangedlife@gmail.com.

1.) What questions would you like to ask someone who had lost weight and been currently living at their goal weight?

2.) Do you know anyone I need to feature as a success story on this blog? Someone who has lost weight and continued to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

I cannot promise that I will use all of your questions and/or interview ideas, but I value your imput so I will try my best to make it happen!

One last thing: Next week, I will have a giveaway taking place!! Be sure to check back next Monday for all the giveaway details.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale - Review

For the most part, I weigh in at my Weight Watchers center, because I get frustrated with my own scale at home! You see, I bought my scale at Walmart a long time ago. It's white and cost me about $10.00! I thought it was a great deal at the time. Unfortunately, had I known that I would be weighing on it almost everyday, I would have taken time to invest in a higher quality scale that would give me more accurate results.

You can imagine my excitement when I received an email from Conair asking me to review their Weight Watchers scale free of charge! Before I go on, I must confess that I love Conair and am very excited to review one of their amazing products!

Weight Watchers by Conair Glass Body Analysis Scale (Model WW78)

As soon as I received the Conair scale in the mail, I could not wait to get it out of the box and begin using it. I carefully removed the plastic tab from the back and began to use the scale!

I have to tell you that this scale was so easy to use that I almost couldn't figure it out! You see in the pictures that the instructions say, "Tap here. Wait for 0. Step On." Sounds easy enough right!? Like I said it was too easy for me.



What can I say!? I'm so used to my sad, white Walmart scale, where all you have to do is stand on it and wait for it to weigh you, that it took me several minutes before I could get this scale turned on. After I finally gave the scale a really firm tap it turned on. I felt so silly that I couldn't get it turned on, so I am being honest in hopes that you will not make the same mistake I did.

The first time I weighed myself, I was the exact same weight I had been when I weighed in at my Weight Watchers center. This was exciting for me, because I hate the inconsistencies between different scales. I look forward to weighing myself throughout the week and knowing that I am seeing the most accurate number on the scale.

I just want to highlight a few great features that this scale has, that your ordinary scale does not. This scale will measures body fat, body water, bone mass, and BMI which are all factors of successful weight loss. It also has a four-user memory, which I don't need. However, I want you to know that it is available!

This Weight Watchers Bathroom Scale, by Conair is an amazing tool to help anyone that is trying to lose weight! I cannot wait to begin to use it on a daily basis and recommend it to my Weight Watchers members in the meeting room as well!

CONAIR sent me this scale to review.  All opinions expressed in this post are my own and are 100% true and genuine.  I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Weekly Weigh In - Lasting Changes

 
Hi Sweet Bloggy Friends!! The last few weeks in the Newsham household have been exhausting. I'm not ready to explain all those details, but please remember to pray for us. This morning, I am here to testify to the goodness and faithfulness of God in my life!

 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." - James 1:2-3 (NIV)

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything seemed to go wrong? Last week, was that kind of week for me, because Jon and I were faced with some pretty hard things.

As a result, I had this overwhelming urge to eat everything in sight, sit on the couch, watch movies, and veg!!

Have you ever felt like this?

A few years ago, when stressful things happened, I would have eat everything in sight!

However, it's amazing to see how my habits have changed! I am excited to share that for the most part, I resisted these desires to emotional eat! I was not perfect and there were times when I found myself eating what I should not, but overall I am proud of how I handled myself.

Honestly, the opposite happened to me and nothing sounded good to eat. Many days I didn't eat anything at all. (I am not saying that not eating is a healthy way to live your life, but what I want you to see is that my go to habit/routine has changed!)

On Saturday, I weighed in and prepared myself for the worst. I had not tracked or made the best food decisions when I did eat. I was sure that I would gain weight and I almost skipped my weigh in all together. When I got on the scale, I was delighted to learn that I had lost 1.4 pounds this week!!

The trials in my life are not easy. However, God is using them to show me what is on the
inside! I am so encouraged by the lifestyle changes I have made over the last 4 years on the Weight Watchers program!

Most of all, I am excited that last week, when I needed comfort, I was able to turn to God instead of food!

Are you facing some hard things in your own life? Is that causing you to eat?

Remember that as Christians we can have victory in our lives over our desire to emotionally eat when life gets hard! Continue to persevere in your weight loss journey, because these changes you are making will have a lasting impact on your life!

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