The Big S Farms Salsa Giveaway Winners!
Happy Tuesday all! It’s back to the daily grind today, but, I am soooo excited that this is a short week! We have a fun July 4th kickoff BBQ for work on Thursday (I am planning the games and fun with my other co-worker – yeah!) then, they send us off for another LONG weekend after that. Whew ~ I cannot wait for sure! I seriously think whoever created the work schedule created it backwards – doesn’t it seem like we should have MORE balance as in work 4 days, have 3 days off – EACH WEEK? 
Ok…..*sigh* done dreaming.
I didn’t make it to the store last night so today’s breakfast pickings were slim. I DID have a few things I could pick from but I decided to go with exactly what I was craving.
A startbuck’s iced, decaf, nonfat latte – it’s a healthy dairy serving!
With some amazingly doughy, cheesiness ~ A toasted Asiago Bagel. I could have picked oatmeal (too hot) or a protein plate (my usual) but I wasn’t feeling either.
I definitely think I NEED to get out to the market and get stocked up on some fresh fruits and veggies – maybe today, maybe Thursday. It’s a toss up between Thai Food for lunch or going to the market and picking up sushi ~ Which would you pick? 
Ok ~ I’ve made you all wait long enough – it’s time to get down to the Big S Farms Salsa Winners!!!! Thanks again to everyone for playing along. No worries if you didn’t win, they are having some amazing specials on their site that you can order up.
The GRAND PRIZE winner is:
#4 Janetha!!! said ”haha, i want the grand prize. then i dont have to pick just one i would most like to try!” Guess what – you DID!!!!
The THREE Runner-Ups get to pick ONE Salsa or ONE Sauce of their choice. The winners are:
#15 cglich0630 said…”I would like to try the Smoke on the Mountain. I love salsa, but don’t think I could handle it too hot!!”
#22 Missy said…”I follow your blog already!” & “I would love to try the Fire on the Mountain Medium Salsa!”
#28 Rikki said…”The Tennessee Thunder piqued my interest with the carrots!”
* Please send me your snail mail addresses and I will get your Big S Farms Salsas sent out ASAP!
Have a fantastic day all! I received more fun mail while I was on Vacation that I will be sharing with you all PLUS another FABULOUS giveaway announcement coming soon!
We’re Back!
Hi all ~ Just wanted to pop in and say we had a total blast in Vegas! I will be back tomorrow with my regular posting and of course a great Vegas Recap tomorrow night! Now I just need a vacation to recover from my vacation
Thanks a bunch to all my guest posters and to all my readers for leaving fabulous comments for them all – you all rock!
P.S. ~ I can’t share it ALL because well, we all know, “What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas!”
Don’t forget you have a few hours left to enter my Big S Salsa Giveaway ~ there is a ton of amazing Salsas and Sauces being given away. Click HEREto make sure you entered all the ways you can!
See you in the morning!
Homemade Almond Butter ~ The Secret Trick
I am sure several of you have made your own almond butter with great success. However, today I want to share with you one trick that makes your almond butter that much better! You only need two ingredients to make a fantastic homemade nut butter and honestly this works with ANY TYPE of nut you use.
Sea salt is optional ~ it all just depends on how you like your nut butter to taste. Start out by soaking your almonds in water for a couple of minutes while you preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Drain your almonds and sprinkle them on a cookie sheet that is covered in foil or parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt if using.
Now THIS is the SECRET step that makes your almond butter fantastic. Roast your almonds in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Roasting brings out the nuttiness and makes the ALMOND flavor BOLD.
Allow your almonds to cool for about 15 minutes and add them to your Food Processor. I have never used a blender to make this so I am not sure if it would work with a blender.
Process until smooth ~ 8-10 minutes.
Here is SECRET #2 – if you LOVE flavored almond butters, at this point you would add 1-2 Tbsp’s of honey and/or Pure Maple Syrup. I would imagine you could even add 1/4 c melted chocolate chips with a few Tbsp’s of non melted chips when done.
Spoon your almond butter out of the processor and refrigerate ~ You are done!
Yields 1 lb of Almond Butter ~ 16 oz for only $4.99! ALOT cheaper than any jar you can buy.
For those who LOVE RAW NUT BUTTERS, simply skip the roasted process and add your salt/sweeteners if using as noted above. The RAW flavor version is just as amazing.
Today is the last day to enter the Big S Salsa Giveaway – Click HERE before it’s too late.
Do you have any favorite uses for Almond Butter?
When Diet + Exercise Don’t Equal Results
I am so excited to bring a guest poster to you all that is has fantastic experience in whipping people into shape. Her blog is awesome so be sure to check it out as part two of her post.
Amy writes at FeasiblyFitMom.com. She is a certified personal trainer and fitness boot camp owner. Her blog features workouts, news, recipes and tips for motherhood and beyond.
When Diet + Exercise Don’t Equal Results
Are you doing everything “right” but not reaching your goals? You eat well and exercise consistently and still not getting the results you think you should. You put in the time on the treadmill and brown-bag your lunches, but still don’t see a difference?
After working with hundreds of women through personal training and running fitness boot camps, I’d like to share with you some reasons you may not be getting the most out of your efforts.
First, take this quiz to find out how likely you are to be getting maximum results. Be honest and answer every question before checking results. This isn’t meant to embarrass you or “call you out” on anything. Instead, it’s meant to educate you on what is helpful and what isn’t, even when we think we’re doing everything “right.”
1) When I finish a hard strength workout, I:
a. Can’t think about what it’ll be like to blow dry my hair
b. Look to see if I’ve finished in time to squeeze in a Spin class (or kickboxing class or run)
c. Kick myself for forgetting to use heavier weights (again!) but remember last time I did, I bulked up
2) When I’m really on-track with my eating, I aim for:
a. Maybe about 1500+ balanced calories, more if I’m exercising
b. Salads with plain chicken breast for most meals
c. One big meal and try not to snack the rest of the day
3) My favorite healthy snack that satisfies cravings is:
a. A handful of nuts and a piece of fruit
b. A fruit popsicle
c. A diet soda and 100-calorie snack pack of Oreos
4) My workout is most like:
a. Um, mine
b. This month’s Shape Magazine celebrity cover model
c. Gwyneth Paltrow by Tracy Anderson
5) The last time I changed my strength and/or cardio routine was:
a. What routine? I switch it up constantly
b. About a month ago I started doing intervals
c. I’ve been doing the same run (elliptical/Spin) workouts for a while — why fix what isn’t broken?
6) After I’ve had dinner and get (my family) settled in, I usually:
a. Hit the hay. I’m tired and like to be fresh for the morning
b. Watch a little TV to unwind, read a couple blogs then go to bed
c. Go online, answer emails then get hooked on a show and fall asleep in front of the TV — it relaxes me
7) When I plan to exercise, I follow-through:
a. 90% of the time. I schedule it in my day, but sometimes things come up
b. Around 50-50. I just don’t have time to exercise every day
Rarely. Something always comes up. Usually someone else needs me or I’m too tired. I find I do better when I’m spontaneous
When I finish exercising I feel:
a. Exhilarated and refreshed. I know what they mean by “endorphine rush”
b. Relieved and pleased. Even though I didn’t want to, I got out there and accomplished something
c. Tired and irritable. I don’t even want to think about my next workout
9) When I’ve eaten too much, or too much of one thing, I:
a. Acknowledge it to myself as a fact, and then think of (and do) something to ensure success next time
b. Remind myself that my friends ate twice as much (and they don’t even exercise)
c. Vow to exercise an extra 30 minutes over the next 2 days
10) I know I’m getting more toned and in better shape by:
a. Trying on my favorite pair of jeans
b. Looking in the mirror. Without any clothes on
c. Stepping on the scale. Numbers don’t lie
* *
Tally-up your answers: As, Bs and Cs.
If you answered mostly As: You are well on your way to getting the results you are after. You make good choices based on current research and have the willpower and internal motivation to push yourself.
If you answered mostly Bs: You have a great base of knowledge and habits to work with. Take a look at some of the “A” answers for ideas on improving your routines. You will probably notice improvement in your results if you make a few changes.
If you answered mostly Cs: You are doing the best you can with the info you have. Take a look at the “A” answers for ways to bump up your results. The good news is that even following a few of these suggestions will make a huge difference!
* *
Each of these questions corresponds to a reason you may not be seeing results (there are 10). Head over to Feasibly Fit Mom for “10 Reasons You Aren’t Seeing Results.”
My Body Bugg Thoughts
I have had a few of you ask about my Body Bugg so I thought I’d share a few things about my Bugg with you all that I have shared with others.
You can find out alot of information on the Body Bugg and how it works and all that jazz by going to www.bodybugg.com. I do believe that 24 Hour Fitness has one of the best deals out there and you don’t have to be a member to buy it. You can look around though as I know some people have bought theirs off e-bay and from their own gyms and such.
Feel free to ask me any specific questions and I’ll be glad to ask. I’ll give you what I think of mine in summary but I will gladly go into any detail you’d like.
I first wanted a Body Bugg when they first came out – it’s seemed so cool but they were like $600. Way too much to pay for a gadget – they are so much cheaper now. I finally decided to give in and buy my first body bugg last July when I was doing this fitness challenge at my gym. It was the older, gray model and I absolutely LOVED it! I ended up getting the new model at Christmas and I LOVED it too.
Pros of the new vs old model – it’s super small – smaller than an ipod and it is alot more comfortable to wear. The main CON is that you have to take it off to charge it for 2-3 hours and have it plugged into your computer. No battery waist and it really sits well under your clothes.
The OLD model (which you can still buy for a little cheaper) is great because you don’t have to take it off to charge it – you just change your batteries and you are good to go. CON is that you go through batteries every 2 weeks and it was rather bulky.
Other than that I do think the results are more or less the same between both versions. Ask specifics if you want to know.
If you are considering the digital watch – I highly recommend it. To me it is 100% WORTH the additional money. It gives you the same information as when you upload your information but you get it live, real time every 60 seconds. I am an instant gratification kind of person so I like to know all day long versus waiting until I upload. Plus it has some other cool features like an odometer function that you can set at the beginning of a workout to see how many calories you burned during that workout as well as the calories per minute. It has little goals you can set for calories burned, steps taken, activity level that will beep when you meet them. It often motivates me to move more (like a pedometer) because you see your results and you want to meet those goals.
They do throw in a 6 month free subscription with the new model, (3 months with the old) to their website (myapex.com) when get your bugg. After that you can purchase additional months and it’s fairly cheap ($9.95/month, $29.95/quarter, $99/year) – this might be different but it is what it was the last time I looked. It’s a great website in that you can get so much information. It shows you all your results in graph form and you can see how many calories you burned every minute of the day. It’s great to compare what you were doing at the time. You can also isolate it to see the total calories burned during a workout and steps, etc. It will compare it against the food you take in but you have to input all your food and your calories consumed. It has a database that will save your foods and you can input new foods all at one time. There are over 150,000 foods in their system already. It’s great to see how your nutrition is broken down and where you can improve. The Body Bugg does NOT know how many calories you eat unless you input them.
General thoughts:
I am a BIG FAN of my Body Bugg because I truly believe in it. It has provided me with great information about myself and how I workout. For example, everyone always says you burn like 1,000 calories spinning. Well, I learned that was not the case for me. I burned about 400 when I push my hardest. I actually can burn just as many calories power walking if I go for an hour. I burn more running. It is good to see which workouts work for you and be a little more realistic with the calories burned.
It is like any gadget – it will motivate you to move more, burn more and eat better if you use the program the way it’s designed. Similar to a Garmin – its an awesome gadget if you use it. I have had mine for almost 1 year now and I completely LOVE it and still wear it every day. You can learn exactly what you will lose by calculating the calories in (what you eat) versus the calories out (what you burn).
It’s an investment but it’s an INVESTMENT IN YOU – if you are committed to using it, then, you will see great results. I’ve had 4 other co-workers get them since they saw mine and everyone LOVES them.
Thanks for asking – I hope that helps answer some of your questions – if you want to know anything else, just ask.
Don’t forget to enter the BIG S Salsa Giveaway – 4 Fantastic Prizes are being given away, click HERE.
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