The Sensible Mom

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update: July Results

August 2, 2013 by Sandra 3 Comments

This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support, and incentives for participating in the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week.

I’ve lost weight since my last update. 🙂

I still haven’t made it back down to my lowest weight on the plan, but I did lose 3 of the pounds that I had gained when I went out of town in June. I ended the month of June weighing 185.5 pounds, and this morning, I stepped on the scale and weighed 182.5 pounds.

Again, I wasn’t able to get into the 170s, but I’m okay with that. (Okay, not really, but I’m trying to be okay with it.)

How I Managed Not to Gain Weight During the BlogHer Conference
Many of you know that I went to the BlogHer conference last week, and I didn’t destroy my weight loss efforts. Yes, there were sweets everywhere, but I tried to be careful about how many I consumed. Most of the sweets were small and cute, and I would pick up just one. I did overdo it a little on a Chicago boat cruise that I went on, but that’s pretty much it when it came to sweets.

I didn’t take my Shaklee products with me, because I’m all out of the meal bars (I’d been taking those to the library with me as easy meals). And I knew I wouldn’t be eating meals in our hotel room. There was food at every event and many of the brands in the Expo Hall were giving away hot samples of their food. Coffee was also plentiful, but again, I resisted the urge to go crazy.

If you were following my time at at the conference on Instagram, you may have noticed that I tried to make healthy choices. I had salads, soup, and lots of fruits and veggies when I could.

Nearing the End on the Shaklee 180 Program
This is my last month on the Shaklee 180 program, and my ultimate goal is to get to 179 pounds by the end of the month. I think I can do it. 🙂

How is your weight loss progress coming along? How do you find ways to eat healthy when you’re away from home?

Monsters University: Printables, Activities for Kids, and Recipes

July 29, 2013 by Rachel 4 Comments

Have you seen the new Monsters University, yet?

Disney has put together some fantastic family activities for their new movie that you and your kids are going to love! Including your favorite Monsters Inc. characters, Sulley and Mike, these creative games, coloring pages and recipes will leave you wishing you could attend Monsters University!

Printables & Activities

In addition to the activities above, you and your kids can also Test Your Memory with MU flashcards and Design Your Own School Crest. And if you thought you had seen every variation of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”, think again. Have you ever pinned a badge on a “scare pig”? No worries, you can now with Archie on the Loose!

Recipes

After spending the morning in Monsters University activities, dish up some Cilantro Corn on the Claw and Mike’s Melonade. Then, once nourished and hydrated, arm yourself with a bit of construction paper, glue, a few paints and a nice round, Mike-like watermelon to create your very own Mike Wazowski! Click here for the super simple, yet completely life-like, Make a Melon Mike instructions. Also included in the MU recipe line-up are Roaring Ribs and Scare School Steak.

These activities are so much fun, I hope you enjoy them!

Which activities are you and your family going to do together? I would love to see photos of your creations!

Reliable Diapers for Babies on the Move (and a Huggies Giveaway!)

July 25, 2013 by Sandra 32 Comments

This is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Huggies. However all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission Guidelines, 16 C.F.R Part 255.

I’ve changed about 1,256,743 diapers in my lifetime.

I’m not sure if that’s the “exact” number of times I’ve changed a diaper, but I think it’s fair to say that I’ve changed a lot of diapers. I have five kids, and the last three are so close in age that at one point, they were all in diapers at the same time. I’m thankful that those days are in the past, but my diaper changing days are not completely over.

Active Toddler
Elisabeth, my very active and independent big girl, is still wearing diapers. And she’s at the age where she wants to do things by herself…things like climbing the stairs…and other activities little girls aren’t supposed to be doing, but she wants to do because she sees her older brothers doing big kid things that she wants to try too.

She’s an adventurous girl.

And she needs a reliable diaper that can keep up with her, whether she’s trying to ride her brother’s bike…

or simply relaxing on the couch…

Elisabeth needs a diaper that works (and, if possible, one that has Mickey Mouse printed on it ;)).

Huggies Snug & Dry
In the past, I’ve talked about how Huggies diapers are a great fit for my family. I love the improvements that Huggies has made to their diapers to make them better and higher in quality.

2 reasons why Huggies diapers are better and more reliable:

Huggies have a new SureFit design with an exclusive waistband, new softer outer cover and a less bulky, more flexible absorbent pad.

Baby gets up to 12 hours of leak protection.

Here’s what the new diapers look like:

These diapers last all night long for Elisabeth. She wakes up dry and happy. 🙂

And now for the HUGGIES Giveaway!

ONE very excited reader will win one pack of HUGGIES® Snug & Dry Diapers (valued at $9.49) and one soft pack of HUGGIES® wipes (valued at $1.97) for a total retail value of $11.46. The winner will be able to select their preferred diaper size (1-5).

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – July 30th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

For my Latina readers: You can watch a fun Huggies Webisode with Zuleyka Rivera, the new Huggies spokesperson, here in Spanish. Huggies recently unveiled a new parenting webisode series featuring Zuleyka and her son Sebastian.

And you can follow Huggies Latino on Facebook as well.

Did you know about the improvements in Huggies diapers? How have Huggies Snug & Dry diapers been a good fit for your family?

P.S. Click here for a $2.00 HUGGIES® Diaper coupon, redeemable only at Target®

Mariano’s: A Sweet Customer Appreciation Celebration

July 24, 2013 by Sandra 6 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Mariano’s. #MyMarianos #cbias

After taking an extended break, I decided to start scheduling cooking and baking days with the kids again. I’m trying to fit a little a more fun into this summer before it’s over and we get back to a more stringent school schedule.

Fruit Pizzas
Breanna’s cooking day was this past weekend, and I had pre-scheduled a day for us to get together and make sugar cookie fruit pizzas. Drool. They turned out wonderfully and were eaten up in a single day. I’m going to share the recipe with you in another post that’ll be coming soon.

Shopping at Mariano’s
To create the fruit pizzas, we needed fresh ingredients and went to Mariano’s to pick up the kiwis, blueberries, and strawberries to top our pizzas with. I was headed to Mariano’s anyway for the Customer Appreciation Celebration that was kicking off at their Arlington Heights store this past weekend. (I think it’s pretty wonderful that Mariano’s celebrates its customers.)

DID YOU KNOW? The first Mariano’s was opened in Hoffman Estates in 2010. This is where the anniversary celebration stems from.

Customer Appreciation Celebration – What You Need to Know
While my husband, the chief grocery shopper in our home, went to pick up everything on our grocery list, I scoped out exactly how Mariano’s was rewarding their customers during this event.

First of all, there was cake. 🙂

Secondly, this much loved Chicago based grocery store is giving away a car!

That’s right, during the Live Well Sweepstakes, each time you checkout with your Mariano’s rewards card, you’ll get an entry into the sweepstakes.

Prizes include:

Fiat 500 Pop
Luxury Italian Vacation
Free groceries
Ravinia Gala Experience
Bikes
Lollapalooza Tickets
Guitar autographed by the group Train

That’s Not All
Customers will earn 1% cash back on Mariano’s purchases from now through October 19, 2013, and I like how you can track your spending on your receipt as you earn rewards.

Customer Appreciation Contest
Finally, you can enter the Share a Taste of Mariano’s Contest on their Facebook page.

You simply upload a photo of your food creation from Mariano’s for your chance to win a cooking experience and dinner for 10 with a Mariano’s Tastemaker Chef! The top vote-getting photo will win. Six additional winners will win a $25 Mariano’s gift card!

Appreciating Mariano’s
I’m not kidding when I say that everyone I meet, who shops at Mariano’s, truly loves it, and I love that Mariano’s loves their customers right back. I can’t wait to share the sugar cookie fruit pizza recipe with you. The fresh fruit we brought home from Mariano’s definitely made this dessert even better.

Do you shop at Mariano’s? Have you every made fruit pizzas for your family?

Did you know? You can find great recipes and ideas from the Mariano’s Community. And you can follow Mariano’s on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates. You can also find out more about my shopping trip to Mariano’s here in my Google+ story.

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