Non-candy Trick or Treat ideas!

All the best ideas come to me in the shower. 

Halloween is just a few days away! One of my favorites because for a few weeks at least, I can get away with dressing up like Sailor Moon, Mary Poppins, dress like a cowgirl… ;) Maybe not that crazy but I can be a bit more creative. And of course, in addition to costumes, there are also things like trick or treat and all that fun Halloween candy! I was thinking (while in the shower, of course!) about how growing up, I’d always get a LOT of candy, and how sometimes a lot of it would end up in the trash just because we got sooo much. I was also thinking about how Halloween opens the door to the holiday season. After Halloween comes Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the things that come with that special time of year: family, happiness, cheer, and a whole lot of food. Christmas cookies, all those Thanksgiving pies. Couple that with a lot of Halloween candy, wow. That’s a lot in three months! Then, of course, I got to thinking about this thing that’s been going around Facebook, reminding people to be kind during trick or treat, with reminders that some children may look disappointed because your bowl has something they’re allergic too, or one child might grab more because they’re hungry or reach in and search because of a sensory thing. It got the wheels turning in my head that there are valid reasons why it would be cool to think of something other than candy that can be given out at Trick or Treat. 

1. A clay charm. I’m very artsy, if you don’t know. When I was 9 years old, I asked for a pottery wheel for Christmas. I got it! ;) I’ve always been very into sculpting and clay and one of my favorite things to do is to make fun little charms out of polymer clay. it’s pretty simple to sculpt out some little ghosties that are in the top left of the collage. It's white polymer clay rolled out  and flattened and then cut out with a small cookie cutter. If you don’t feel like buying polymer clay, you can make your own clay. 

2. While on the subject of clay; you can just give a little bit of clay! You can buy polymer clay at your local craft stores, or you can make a big batch out of simple ingredients you probably already have! I used to make the water, flour, and salt version and keep it made up when I was babysitting full time. A small amount is still enough for a lot of fun for kids and a fun alternative to candy! Put an eighth or a fourth of a cup in a small baggie. The issue with this is that parents might be a bit afraid of it because it’s a bit messy. There are a lot of clay recipes at this link!

3. Another thing I thought of, mostly because I love scrapbooking, is to make little bookmarks. Halloween themed, of course! Cut out ghosts, witches, frankensteins, and so on with cardstock and paste them on another piece of cardstock that’s the size of a bookmark. On the other side, you can write an encouraging message. “You are worth it!” “You can do anything!” “You are a treasure!” Sometimes kids need to be reminded of their worth. You never know, maybe a child will flip it over and it'll give them a much needed smile or a sense of hope! You can take clear contact paper to protect the bookmark further. 

Sure, they’re not quite as fun as a candy bar. But I’m sure there will be others! And it’s not as boring as something like a rock. (Poor Charlie Brown!)

Can you think of any trick or treat alternatives besides candy? 

Thanks for reading!

Thanks to the junkies and fictional men.

The last few weeks have been tough! Man. First there was that foot injury. After a few days of rest from cardio, I was back on the treadmill. I also switched from my new shoes (which I’ve decided now are too small) to my old shoes. Knock on wood, things are great with that! Phew. Right as I was getting back into the swing of things, I ended up getting sick. Not crazy sick, but I felt like I was stuck in the coming down stages of something like a cold or suffering from allergies. I was constantly exhausted, my head felt clogged, and I just felt like crap. Not fun! Regardless of all that, I still ran on the treadmill every night for an hour, but Jillian took a back seat. Kind of strange, since the majority of the Jillian workouts I do are around thirty minutes or so and I opted to drop her rather than an hour on the treadmill. Honestly though, Jillian Michaels is a mean mean woman! And her workouts kick my butt! Before I came down with the strange never hit it’s max but sure packed a punch mystery illness, I was doing Shred It With Weights. I still love that workout, by the way, but man. Do those rotating squats while holding the kettlebell kick my butt. I have a love to hate relationship with all her workout programs. I love how I feel afterwards, and honestly, I do enjoy doing them. Most days. But up until recently, it was really easy to drop Jillian for a while. Plus, I love cardio, and when I run on the treadmill, I listen to a lot of fun music. Like, DDR and Disney and other nerdy stuff. ;) I’ll touch base on this in another blog entry later, but I like to make my cardio a lot of fun so I’ll keep going back to it. :D. Sometimes Jillian can get a bet repetitious even if you are switching back and forth to different programs. 

And then… it was getting to where it was getting a bit hard to pick Jillian back up. I took about ten days off doing any type of DVD, which is something I have not done since I started adding her workout programs to my normal routine. It’s not that I didn’t think about doing them; quite the contrary. I thought about Jillian every day. It was just hard to get back on the bandwagon, especially when I still wasn’t feeling quite 100%. What helped me though was a group on Facebook I joined that is dedicated specifically to Jillian Michaels workouts. It’s called Jillian Michaels Workout Junkies, and there are a few very nice women in the group. I’ve never actively posted there but I love reading what they have to say. Some of the posts there helped get me back on the bandwagon! I just decided, screw this waiting to feel better to pop in a DVD or open Youtube. Time to get back on the ball! So far, so good! Back to doing Jillian and getting an hour of cardio in. Reunited with my routine and it feels so good!

It’s times like these when I really feel victorious. It would have been so easy just to put all the Jillian DVD’s away and hide them for a few months, maybe until next Spring. I would have eventually forgotten how I let her run me down every day, right? I refused to let it happen, and that makes me feel like I’ve had a victory! I can’t completely take ownership for it, either, and here’s another epiphany I had. Most of my journey I’ve done alone. I don’t actively talk about it to many people (I actually just shared this blog on my personal Facebook page. If you’re reading this, hi!! Love you!) and I’ve been kind of a loner. And that’s what would have made dropping the DVD’s easier, because it would have been my dirty little secret, I guess you can say. Joining that group and seeing it pop up in my feed on Facebook helps keep me accountable. And I’m able to meet some people who’ve experienced what I’ve experienced, or I’m seeing ladies who are where I was at just a few years ago. And I know that if I am really struggling, I have someplace I can vent to, and that’s a great feeling. Not always something I had while being a loner, running all by myself, eating healthy all by myself. It helps remind me what my ultimate goal is. And because I’m a nerd, here is another thing that helped:  One of my favorite authors recently came out with a new book. Get my workout out of the way so I can read!! Well, actually, yeah, that’s kind of how it was - but wait! There’s more. I’m not going to say who the author is or what book just in case this might spoil (it SHOULDN'T spoil you never know!) but in the book, there are two main characters; a male and female. The guy is a total workout-aholic and an MMA fighter. I’ll admit it; part of me will always love wrestling. I touched base on that before when I mentioned twisting crescent pose reminded me of Hurricane Helms. ;). So in addition to the main character training for various MMA matches, there is constant talks about him being a the gym, training, working out. That helped. Of course, he's fictional. The photo below says it perfect. ;) 

What makes you feel victorious? 

Do you prefer to lone it out while working out, or do you need others around you? 

Thanks for reading!

Zucchini Noodles!

All right, it's about time I post one of my favorite recipes! And one of my all time favorite things to have is yellow squash and zucchini noodles. I love zucchini (and squash) as it is, just cut up and boiled in water or baked in the oven. I love how versatile it is and how you can just do anything to it! And then I learned about zucchini noodles and boom! I immediately wanted to try my hand at making them! So I went to my local  Kroger and I bought a julienne slicer to turn my home grown zucchini's into noodles. Yum!

It's so simple. All you need is a julienne slicer and a zucchini, and the slicers are not that difficult to fine anymore (I purchased mine about a year ago and I looked at a few different stores until I found one). And just slice up your zucchini. What you do afterwards is up to you, but I like putting my zucchini noodles in a skillet and sautéing them in a little bit of olive oil to heat them up. I will add in some tomatoes and some mushrooms and then after both the mushrooms and the tomatoes are heated with the zucchini, I will add in pesto sauce. I've never tried to make pesto myself (looking for a good pesto recipe) so I usually just buy a jar of whatever sounds most appealing at the grocery. I've tried olive oil, parmesan, and tomato basil and all are AMAZING with the noodles. I will season with garlic powder and salt. I love garlic. I don't have specific amount so of seasoning or how much pesto, but I usually go by serving size on the jar and add more or less depending on taste. I'll also sometimes cook up some chicken to go with it and make it a delicious meal! Sometimes I will mix it with spaghetti sauce and meatballs and have it like spaghetti. I love having a pasta alternative! If you need a visual, the image below can help. :)

Not only is it very easy, but it's fairly quick! And there is nothing more fun than sinking your hands into those noodles after you slice them all up. SENSORY OVERLOAD!!!! :D

Have you tried zoodles? What's your favorite way of making them? 

Jillian Michaels Shred It With Weights - Level 1

So here I am with another Jillian DVD review. With this though, I don’t have the DVD. Level 1 is on Youtube and I’ve been doing that! I do plan on buying the DVD when I can find it. 

So, here’s the rundown of Shred It With Weights and here’s my review! As always, Jillian has two girls doing the advanced and the modified versions and this time it’s Basheerah doing advanced and Maddie doing the modified. In this workout, you can use a dumbbell, which is what Maddie used, and Jillian recommended 3-8 pounds and Basheerah used a kettlebell. I’m not quite sure of the weight of the kettlebell though. I have a kettle bell I bought years ago and it’s ten pounds so that’s what I used. For this,  I’m proud to say that I used the advanced version the whole time! Woot! Is that a non-scale victory?! ;) I will say though that I don’t think I noticed much difference between the modified version or the advanced version when ti came to the moves, just heavier weights. 

After a warm up that included arm stretches, butt kicks and twists holding the kettlebell, and different ways to warm up with the kettlebell (doing halos holding it is one I specifically remember, but drawing a blank on the rest, you’re really to go. This workout has three circuits. It runs around 25 minutes from warmup to cool down. Circuit One has you down on the floor in bridge, pressing the kettlebell up, and then back up for kettlebell swings, and then deadlift rows. She has you repeat that on the other side and then adds in bent leg deadlift which reminded me of bodybuilders, which Jillian even said it was reminiscent of. 

Circuit two has a squat swing with a pass. You squat and swing the kettlebell up with one hand and then pass it off to the other hand. It sounds scary and it kind of is. I still have this fear that I will accidentally lose my grip on the kettlebell and send it flying through the TV or a window, but that hasn’t happened yet! hahaha. Next she has you doing a rack, squat, and press. Then she has you doing rows in a static lunge. These I’m used to, but going up to 10lbs, I definitely feel it more than I did with the 5lbs!! Repeat of the opposite side, of course. After this, she has you down on the mat to crunch and holding the crunch pressing the kettlebell up. 

Circuit three has windmills with the kettlebell (which in this blog I’ve called triangle press previously. It is slightly different as you twist your arm and I guess that’s where you get the idea that you’re “windmilling” the kettlebell), turkish get ups, and this horrible awful move that I love to hate where you squat down and jump up, rotating to the side, holding the kettlebell. OH. MY. GOSH. It’s hard. It gets my heart rate up. I groan every time it’s time to do that. But it works! After you repeat on the other side, she has you do snatches. On this, I’m also a little terrified something terrible is going to happen, haha. It’s where you throw it up with one arm and immediately pull it down. As if your arms weren’t burning enough, right? :D After that one, you get your much deserved cool down. :D

So I really like this one! I’ve been looking for it at my local target and I looked for it at Walmart and no luck yet. I might have to order it online. I started doing this one rather than another Jillian DVD because I wanted to do a bit more strength training since I was getting a lot of cardio in (I recently bought a treadmill and I have been running on that A LOT until I hurt my foot of course. More on that in another blog post) and I felt like maybe needed something with more emphasis on strength. I can say that I really love this workout and am looking forward to finding the DVD to buy to try level 2. I feel like I get a good workout even though it’s fairly short. 

Thanks for reading! Click here to view this DVD on Amazon to learn more. 

I'll show you a bump!

It's official. For a little while there, I had a bump! And boy did it get big, uncomfortable. I was ready to write it an eviction notice to get out of my body! ;) Not like a baby bump though. A large bump on my foot because for a while there, I was on the injured list. Or at least the take it easy and don't do anything too strenuous to re-injure yourself worse list. I'm still in that limbo although last night I worked out with little to no issues. But man, does it stink being injured! :/

A a few weeks ago I bought a treadmill. I had a really old one that I bought at a yard sale a really long time ago for $50. I was 14 when we bought it and I'm guessing the previous owners had already had it for four or five years, so when it started shorting out and dying after 20 or 30 minutes, I had mixed feelings. Bummed, of course, because on nights I don't feel like playing DDR, the treadmill was a great alternative and sometimes just what I needed to get a break from DDR. But then again, it had lasted forever and I had bought it for next to nothing. I really couldn't complain! So, I began searching, doing research on what I felt was best. I had it narrowed down to two treadmills and finally bought a Proform treadmill at Sears a few weeks ago. And I love that thing! DDR has actually taken a back seat while I break that baby in. (My workout playlist has ample DDR songs though!) I'm not the fastest or the best runner but being fairly new to running, I was pretty pleased to get four miles or so in an hour! I felt like that was a pretty decent pace.

And then...boom! I get my cardio in usually anywhere from 10pm-1am. So Wednesday, early early morning, I was running on the treadmill, and I noticed my foot was sore. I pushed through, finished up my hour, and then went on to bed. The next morning, I had a big lump on my foot and it was pretty sore. I took a night off cardio (still did Jillian; I've been doing Shred It With Weights on YouTube, which I will post a review up very soon!) and the next day, it was slightly sore but not too bad. So I thought, hm, why not get a run in? It's Thursday, early morning. About halfway through, my foot started hurting. Then horrible pain. Being the stubborn girl I am, I kept going. Big mistake. The next morning, I had a HUGE lump on my foot. My foot literally looked pregnant, which is how we described it. After a little while of hobbling around, trying to decide what to do, I finally decided it was best to go to the emergency room. I was worried I might have a stress fracture.

In the end, there were no obvious breaks and I couldn't get a definitive diagnosis,  but I was told it could be anything from a pulled muscle to tendonitis. I got a boot and some crutches, a prescription for ibuprofen with 800mg for the swelling and inflammation, and was told to stay off of it, take at least the weekend off running. It was HARD. I really enjoy running on the treadmill. I really enjoy DDR. I actually really love fitness in general! I also had to make sure my nutrition was on point and in my household, it's not easy AT ALL (my family is definitely a southern food lovin' family. Fried chicken, potatoes, the more grease the better whereas I'm trying really hard to eat healthy; 2/4 people I live with, including myself, are IMPOSSIBLE to bend with their unhealthy eating habits. It kind of divides the family. Not to mention, they adore fast food. Blaaaah). So, I searched for some fun recipes to help make things a bit easier and continued to do Shred It With Weights, only modifying some of the jumping to try and keep my foot from getting hurt worse.

Luckily it only lasted around a week. I started transitioning back on the treadmill, 30 minutes and just walking the first day, 30 minutes of Couch to 5k on week 3 as it's not a LOT of running but a good run/walk alternate, and then 50 minutes or so of run walk again. Last night I did a full hour and did the run/walk again, but more running than walking and little to no pain. Hopefully it'll last. I still have a slight knot on my foot but my hope is that it will continue to go down.

As mentioned above, I searched for some recipes. I found some that sound delicious, and some that I actually tried that were super scrumptious! I will definitely share soon!

Have you been injured? What did you do to balance it out? :)

Jillian Michaels Killler Buns and Thighs - Workout 1 Review.

Hey guys! I tried Level 1 of Killer Buns and Thighs the other day and did it for a week straight. I haven’t done level 2 or 3 yet, but I thought I’d talk about Level 1 while it’s on my mind and I have time! 

So far, I love love love this workout and am really looking forward to doing level 2 and 3 when I get a good and stable chair, which is something you need for those two levels. I really enjoy all lower body/leg workouts and I think that’s because they remind me of dance just with all the plyometric moves that Jillian has in her lower body workouts. Plus this one has Natalie and Anita in them, and since my very first Jillian DVD was the 30 Day Shred with them, I loved seeing them on the screen! 

So as always, you start with a warm up. This particular warm up has jump rope, deep lunges in plank (you’re in plank and you bring your foot up by your hands), side lunges, military march, and a pivoting crescent pose. So, I really loved the pivoting crescent pose and here’s why: (WARNING, NERD  ALERT!!!) It reminded me of Hurricane Helms. Yeah. The wrestler. I giggled while doing it! A little bit of nostalgia for me. I used to be a huge wrestling fan. Still am a fan of the old stuff. Okay! Back on the workout!

Circuit one has squat into a lunge, static sumo calf raises, goddess jumps, single leg chair pose pose, and stiff leg deadlifts. Oh Jillian, you are so terrible with those single leg chair poses. My legs are burning just thinking about them!! 

Circuit two has butt kicks, judo bridge, mountain climbers, swimmers, and then plank pose jumping into squat. I actually really liked this circuit and I thought I would hate the plank into squat, but it wasn’t too bad! I’m going to call this a non-scale victory because things like that (plank into squat, burpees and the like) I know I could NOT do before Jillian! 

Circuit three had fire hydrants, donkey kick, side plank leg raises, a leg raise where you lay on your side and bring your leg in front of you 90 degrees (not sure the technical name) and hamstring curls. I was laughing so hard during this circuit. Fire hydrants. Just like you imagine. Jillian even made jokes about her dog. “I can’t remember the last time my dog peed on a fire hydrant, maybe because he’s peeing on everything in the house!” Jillian totally gets it. A dog is a dog whether it’s human is a celebrity or not! Jillian is human too! Those side plank leg raises though were tough even though they looked easy. 

In circuit four there are high knees, front kick back kick combo, a lunge to warrior 3, a super fun move where you squat and then do a front kick, squat again and do a side kick, and then squat for a back kick, and then curtsy lunges. After that, you do your cool down. 

And that concluded one of my all time favorite Jillian workouts. ;) Really, I love this workout. It’s fun. It is a little bit longer than the other Jillian DVD’s that I have and it runs right at 40 minutes, but really those extra five to ten minutes I have never noticed because this is probably my favorite workout, except for the Lower Body workout on Killer Body. What’s also fun about this DVD is that it include bloopers. How cool is that? So far, I can say that I absolutely recommend this DVD! If you're interested in buying, you can check it out on Amazon by clicking here. It is such an amusing workout!