Healthy Eating

How I’m Using the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone to Make Workouts and Eating Healthy Easier

September 1, 2014 by Sandra 4 Comments

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Sprint. I received a sample device to facilitate this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating. #SprintMom

For the past three years, I’ve been working on losing weight and eating healthy.

It’s been quite the journey…full of failures and successes. I have loved my scale and hated it. I have been at my lowest weight in about 14 years — only to gain 10 stubborn pounds that simply wouldn’t budge.

Sure, I can blame the weight gain on the roller coaster that life has been the past year, but when the roller coaster became a lot less unpredictable, I found myself with no more excuses. It was time to focus on my health again and lay off the unhealthy foods, especially now that I have the time to make good-for-you food at home.

A Tool for Workout and Healthy Eating Success

I’ve said in the past that I’m NOT a fan of counting my calories. When I was a young girl, I enjoyed keeping track of the calories I consumed, and I actually lost 30 pounds doing just that. This was before I had children.

After my first baby was born, I tried to count calories like I had in the past, but I failed. Every time. I’d forget to write down what I ate, or I’d just plain be too busy and let the whole thing fall by the wayside.

Fast forward to today, since Sprint sent me Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone, I feel like I’ve discovered “calorie counting” of the future! It’s true. The features included in this particular smartphone create for me a very powerful lifestyle tool that’s not only helping me to begin losing weight again (after a long plateau), but also motivating me to get back to strength training.

That’s right, the resistance band is out of retirement. 😉

Smartphone Features to Love

There’s so much that I love about the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone. For instance, there’s the Sprint Fit Live feature that makes it super easy to access your fitness apps or simply get up to date on the latest health news that interests you.

Then there’s S Health, which happens to be the app I use to track what I’m eating and the amount of calories that are in the foods I consume.

It literally takes minutes (or seconds) to record foods in S Health and see how I’m doing as far as my calorie intake for the day. I love the way this particular app does most of the work for me and allows me to save foods that I eat regularly as “frequent” foods.

Super easy.

Now MapMyFitness is an app you may already be familiar with. I’d heard of it but never used it myself. Now that I am using it, however, I can see how helpful it is because of the way it allows you to track workouts and your calories burned. I’ve used it to record some of my walks on the treadmill, and I’m still working on learning more about the good stuff in this app.

DID YOU KNOW? You can have more fun during your workouts when you use the Sprint Framily plan and get 3 months of Spotify premium for free!

So there you have it. I’m using the Samsung Galaxy S 5 Sport Smartphone to get back to a healthier lifestyle.

And it’s working. 🙂

Do you use fitness or healthy living apps?

My 3-Day Skinny Limits Raw Juice Cleanse

February 2, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meets program,May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May MediaGroup LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

Juicing is something I’ve been doing for almost two years now.

But as with most other things in my life, everything changed in August 2013 when David was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. I couldn’t fit juicing in the way I once did. Life was far too unpredictable and hard to be able to juice with any real regularity. I didn’t want to give it up, but then again, I didn’t have time for it.

So I just let it go, and with that, I let go of any hope of being able to do a juice cleanse in the foreseeable future.

I definitely noticed a difference in my body when I stopped juicing. I still tried to eat healthy, but it’s hard to eat well when you’re constantly going to doctor’s appointments, the emergency room, and (my least favorite) the hospital for stays that lasted anywhere from one day to one month.

Because of all this, my weight increased, and I ended up gaining around 10 pounds in six months. 🙁

Not good.

Skinny Limits Raw Juice Cleanse
Fast forward to January 2014, and things finally changed when Moms Meet offered me the opportunity to try a 3-day Skinny Limits raw juice cleanse. We were living at the Ronald McDonald House at the time as David was still recovering from his transplant, and juicing on my own was still out of the question. So, as you can imagine, I jumped at the opportunity!

With a Skinny Limits, all the work is done for you. The juices are delivered fresh and raw right to your home. I was sent a three-day supply for a total of 18 bottles of juice.

For the juice cleanse, you drink a total of six bottles of juice per day. And these juices actually taste really good.

Be Sure to Read the Directions Before Starting the Cleanse
There is a method to the way you consume the raw juice. All of the bottles are numbered, and you’ll want to drink each bottle of juice in the right order for the cleanse to be most effective.

Over Ice?
I love drinking my juice over ice. You don’t have to, but if you want to get a little fancy with the white Crescent Moon juice, feel free. 🙂

It’s delicious.

How I Felt During the Cleanse
I’ll be completely honest and tell you that I didn’t feel great during the cleanse. I had headaches two days in a row, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion at the beginning of the cleanse. This is completely normal, because when you’re cleansing your body, you’re detoxing. And that can make you feel icky.

But guess what? After the first day, I no longer felt bloated, and I actually woke up with energy.

When the cleanse was over, I knew my body had done some serious detoxing, and I felt better, overall.

I’m going to try to do another juice cleanse in the near future. This time I’ll do it with my husband, because then we can cheer each other on. 🙂

After all, two is better than one, right?

Have you ever tried a raw juice cleanse?

An Easy Way to Eat Clean and Eat Simple

January 27, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

This is a sponsored collaboration with The Motherhood and Good Food Made Simple.

My days aren’t the easiest right now.

I’m constantly concerned about David, and my heart breaks because of everything he’s going through. So, as you can imagine, we’re living life pretty low key at the moment. Things are simple, including our meals.

We’re making easy meals that keep everyone in our family happy, and we’re incorporating some Good Food Made Simple foods that are way better than your typical grocery freezer aisle products. Why? Because Good Food Made Simple products don’t have preservatives, artificial ingredients, or GMOs.

That’s awesome.

Eat Clean, Eat Simple
Instead, you can eat clean and eat simple while enjoying delicious burritos and wraps. You can even add your own fresh ingredients to any of these products to make them feel a little more homemade. But trust me, these products are great on their own. My husband, who had no idea that I’d be talking about Good Food Made Simple on my blog, ate a breakfast burrito one day and said it was the best burrito of its kind that he’d ever had.

Good Food Made Simple makes…GOOD foods, with taste that comes from nature, not additives. They make SIMPLE foods with ingredients that come from farms, not labs. And they never use artificial preservatives, flavors, colors or sweeteners.

Again, that’s awesome.

Yum, Steel Cut Oats!
I’ve been eating a lot of steel cut oats lately. I love the heartier texture of steel cut oats, and I’m a little weird in that I can eat them totally plain. But sometimes, I add a little granola. And for the times when I want a little sweetness in my steel cut oats, the GFMS Vermont Maple Syrup steel cut oats are perfect.

I’m Totally Won Over
I’m thankful that in the midst of difficult days, I can grab a quick meal from my freezer that’s not only delicious, but also healthy. Oh, and my bathroom scale definitely approves. The numbers have been moving down lately… 😉

Have you tried Good Food Made Simple products? What’s your favorite way to eat simply, yet healthfully at home?

Would you like some food for thought? Check out these survey statistics stating what people really know about ingredients in food and reading labels. You might be surprised by what you read.

The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle – $1000 Value for ONLY $29.97

November 4, 2013 by Sandra Leave a Comment

I’m very excited to share an amazing sale going on this week, and my ebook is included! 🙂

The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle is TRULY AMAZING! And it’s not your typical ebook bundle because when you purchase it, you also get a membership to “Coffee Table Conversations” and a series of interactive online conferences – of which I’m blessed to be a panelist. I’ll be talking about how you can make your household more green. I’m looking forward to it!

And now for what’s included in the sale:

Providing you with fabulously useful eBook resources is what we, the team behind Ultimate Bundles, are all about. This year we decided to throw caution to the wind and make the package more of a no-brainer than ever before.

What’s in the Bundle?

Get Educated

We took 86 eBooks (plus 1 eCourse) by popular bloggers on topics like real food & recipes, green living, natural cleaning and beauty, mental and emotional health, fitness, herbal remedies and more.

Get Mentored

Then we added the brand new “Coffee Table Conversations,” a 12-week series of author mentorship through interactive online conference calls and private support groups.

Get Equipped

We finished it off with 9 bonus sponsors offering you $150+ of incredible products and services to help you along your way. This includes bonuses like $25.98 of FREE eco-friendly laundry detergent from Dizolve (because we all need clean clothes). This bonus nearly makes up for the entire cost of the bundle!

How Much Does the Bundle Cost?

Ultimate: Maximum; decisive; conclusive. The best or most extreme of its kind.

We wouldn’t call it the “ultimate” bundle if it wasn’t true.

As our hard-working team pulled together the Ultimate Healthy Living 2013 Bundle Sale, we had 3 basic goals: to put a comprehensive health library at your fingertips, to offer something for everyone, and to provide so much value for an itty-bitty price that it would be irresistible.

In a nutshell? This bundle is brimming with more than 80 ebook and ecourse resources, from authors and bloggers known as authorities in their fields.

For less than $30, you can pick up your own bundle complete with more than $800 of ebooks, $67 of interactive “coffee table conversations” with their authors, and $158 of products and services to help you on your way toward healthier living. That’s over a $1,000 value!

But you don’t want to wait! This bundle is available for only 6 days, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Monday, November 4th to 11:59pm (EST) on Saturday, November 9th.

Get yours now for just $29.97!

What’s Included in the eBook Library? ($800+ value)

What are Coffee Table Conversations? ($67 value)

For 12 weeks starting in January 2014, we’ll offer a series of weekly one-hour live conference calls, where you can join in and ask your questions on relevant and timely healthy living topics to a panel of eBook authors.

We’ll look at issues like allergy-friendly cooking, fighting fatigue (and finding energy!), eating well on a tight budget, an introduction to alternative health and herbal remedies, and tips and tricks for making real food in less time. You’ll be able to listen to authors converse with each other on any (or all) of the 12 calls that you choose to take part in, and get answers to your questions in real time!

We’ll also provide a private Facebook group, where that week’s “mentors” will pop in as often as they can and chat with you on the topics at hand. Talk about up-close and personal learning!

What are the Healthy Living Bonus Offers? ($150+ value)

Dizolve—A FREE 128 Load Twin-Pack of Dizolve Natural Laundry Detergent. Dizolve laundry detergent strips are an innovative, phosphate-free way to clean your clothes. ($25.98 Value. Standard shipping rates apply. Limited to the first 5,000.)
Bulk Herb Store—An instant download of their instructional video Making Herbs Simple Volume 1 for only 1 cent. ($14.95 Value. No shipping restrictions.)
Wise Choice Market—A FREE $15 store credit to be used at Wise Choice Market on the Finest Real Food around, including traditionally-made bone broths, organic fermented vegetables, wild salmon, sprouted breads, and many more. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates and restrictions apply.)
Fit2Be Studio—A FREE Two-Month Membership to Fit2B Studio (for new members) where their wholesome workouts for the whole family are TummySafe™and particularly target Diastasis Recti. Current members may apply the coupon code for $20 off a 1-year membership. ($19.98 value. No shipping restrictions.)
Jenuinely Pure—A $15 discount off of any $30 order to be used at Jenuinely Pure on the beautifully-crafted natural skincare products. Make the switch to natural skincare with Jenuinely Pure. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates apply.)
Plan To Eat—A FREE 4-Month www.plantoeat.com subscription. Plan to Eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipes scheduled when you want them — and they make your grocery list! ($19.80 value. No shipping restrictions. New accounts only. Offer expires Dec.15)
TrilLight Health—FREE $15 store credit to be used toward Trilight Health‘s Fast-Acting, Great Tasting Liquid Herbal Formulas, or anything else in their store. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates apply.)
List Planit—Your choice of 3 FREE ePlanners OR a 3-Month FREE Trial Membership to ListPlanIt, where you can organize your life with hundreds of lists that you can create and manage at home or on the go. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)
Cultures for Health—A FREE sourdough or kombucha starter from Cultures For Health PLUS a $5 credit to put toward anything else in store. (up to a $17.95 Value. Both the starter and the $5 credit can be used in the same order! Standard shipping rates apply.)

Important stuff you might want to know

Read the fine print. The details matter!
Check out our Frequently Asked Question page, particularly to learn about file types, how downloading works, transferring to eReader devices, redeeming bonus offers, and all that good stuff.
Remember, this bundle is available for only 6 days, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Monday, November 4th to 11:59pm (EST) on Saturday, November 9th.
Affiliate disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links.

Healthy Eating

A Tool for Workout and Healthy Eating Success

Smartphone Features to Love

What’s in the Bundle?

How Much Does the Bundle Cost?

What’s Included in the eBook Library? ($800+ value)

Real Food Cookbooks

Allergy-Friendly/Special Diets

Menu Planning/Meal Prep

Natural Skincare

Natural Health

Healthy Lifestyle

Fitness

Gardening/Sustainability

Green Living

Special Health Concerns

Healthy Kids & Babies

Learning About Real/Whole Foods

What are Coffee Table Conversations? ($67 value)

What are the Healthy Living Bonus Offers? ($150+ value)

Important stuff you might want to know

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