Live your healthiest, happiest, most purposeful life
Author: Lacy Ngo
Lacy Ngo is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters in Human Nutrition. Lacy focuses on mindful eaitng and living and her blog provides over 400 nutrition and weight loss tips as well as inspiring faith stories
You have probably seen those Beachbody Exercise Programs on T.V. commercials. You know, this is the company that makes those famous workout programs like P90X, Insanity, 80 Day Obsession, Piyo, Core De Force, 21 Day Fix and so much more. In fact, Beachbody has 600+ workouts! Now you can get all of the Beachbody programs at once with the Beachbody on Demand app, but do these popular programs live up to all the hype…My answer is, ‘Yes, they do, and here are 10 reasons why…’
Do Those Beachbody Programs Actually Work?
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1. Positive Results
I can honeslty say I am in my best shape whenever I am doing one of these programs. I like to change up my workouts so I have tried all kinds of Beachbody and non-Beachbody programs, but I have gotten the best results from Beachbody, hands down.
2. Great For Busy People
Several of the Beachbody programs are only 25 minutes. These fantastic express programs include Shaun T’s Focus T25, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Insanity Max:30, P90X3, and more.
Plus if you don’t even have 25 minutes, you can stop and start these programs throughout the day on your phone. I have a 4 year old who sometimes interrupts my workouts. One minute I’m doing a mountain climber exercise, the next minutes I am fixing my daughter a heart-shaped cheese sandwich per her loud request. I simply pause the app, fix the snack, and then resume the workout in the kitchen. You know, because she insists that I stay in the kitchen while she eats.
3. Portability
Sooo portable! Since this is an app, I can take the workout anywhere. I have done a workout in the middle of a hotel room! You can play these workouts on your phone, tablet, computer, laptop, and AppleTV.
4. Variety
Variety is the spice of life AND workouts! I sometimes do a whole program or pick and choose workouts from different programs each day depending on my mood. I can do Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T one day, and then lift weights with Tony Horton the next. If I am not near any weights on a particular day then I can find a program that only uses your body weight for resistance. Did I mention there are 600+ workouts to choose from!
5. Your Entire Family Can Use the Program
If you have ever read any of my other posts, you know that I try to encourage the whole family to live an active lifestyle. It’s just so fun! Beachbody on Demand even includes workout programs for kids. How cool is that?!?!
6. You Can Easily Fit These Workouts Into Any Routine
I love a good workout class in the gym, but I often find that the time of the class doesn’t fit into my schedule. Sometimes my favorite class will fall right when my son has soccer practise every night or when I have a monthly meeting. Occasionally, I have gone to class to find that the instructor had to cancel due to illness or a family emergency. Hey, life happens, but with Beachbody, you can still get in your workout even when life gets crazy. You can fit your workout in anytime and anywhere! Like I mentioned earlier, you can even stop and start it in dfferent rooms if you need to.
Does Beachbody Live up to the Hype
7. You Get Interactive Support if you Want
When you purchase Beachbody on Demand, a Beachbody coach is included. These coaches give you online support and encouragement. You can go to them for support or do it on your own if you prefer. Do what works for you. Many of these coaches set up fun challenge groups, and when you join these groups you will find a whole group of people to motivate and cheer for you. I love how we encourage and uplift each other in these groups. By the way, my coach is Healther Wilson, and she is wonderful!
8. You Can Workout in your Own Home
No need to drive to a gym or even get dressed up. I workout in my sweat pants, and I don’t even brush my hair or wear makeup when I do these workouts, and its wonderful!
9. Saves Time
Sooo since you don’t have to drive to a gym or get dressed, you will save so much time for all the other things on your to-do list! And remember, Beachbody offers many workouts that are less than 30 minutes!
10. Healthy Cooking Shows included on Beachbody on Demand
My goal when I started this blog was to help people customize and find tips that will work specifically for them. We are all so individual, and there are many ways to get healthier. So although Beachbody is a great workout option for many reasons, maybe you want to try something different. I have several post that can help you pick which workout routines will work for you. Check out these workout posts below:
And that is it, my top 10 reasons why Beachbody on Demand is worth the Hype. I would love to hear from you in the comments. Do you use Beachbody on Demand? Which programs have you tried? Or have you found another way to workout that you love?
Our garage use to get filled with so many “complicated to set up” games until I realized that we weren’t going to play games that take a lot of work to set up! I realized that we only needed a few no hassle items to keep our family healthy and active all summer. These summer games are easy to pull out anytime. So here they are..
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Keep the Family Healthy and Active with These “No Hassle” Summer Games
Keep the Family Active All Summer Long with These Summer Games
I actually just purchased Creativity For Kids Hide and Seek Rock Painting Kit for my daughter. She says she wants to be an artist so I wanted to find something that she could create and still be active. For this game you first get to paint rocks; then, you get to run around the yard to hide and find them! Sometimes the simplest games are the best aren’t they?!?!
For this game all you need is a Inflatable Beach Ball – 1 pc Rainbow 6-panel, 12″. Using a permanent marker, simply write in everygreen questions on each color on the ball. When you catch the ball see which question one of your hands is touching. Read the question and answer it! My. Kids. Love. This!
List of Questions for the Beachball Questions Game
You see how you can play this over and over. These answers to these same questions are ever changing so you can play this game for years and years to come.
Keep the Beach Ball in the Air
Once you have finished answering the questions on the Inflatable Beach Ball – 1 pc Rainbow 6-panel, 12″, you can always play this classic. The goal of the game is to hit the ball in the air before it touches the ground. You can play this by yourself or with a group.
Matching Games never get old, but they don’t provide an opportunity for you to get active…until now. The Giant Memory Mayhem – Matching Card Game is a GIANT matching game so you have to get up and more to flip each card. Brilliant right!?!?
Basketball
Okay, you may think this next one is not very creative, but I just can’t leave it off. After the first purchase, this game requires little set up and can be played for years to come…basketball. I like the portable goals with the slanted stands like the Spalding NBA Portable Basketball System – 54″ Acrylic Backboard. When the top of the stand is at an angle the stand doesn’t get in your way when you are playing ball.
Scavenger Hunts or Even Better the Treasure Hunt Game
The Mr. Potato Head Hot Dash Game is NOT your ordinary Hot Potato game. This game gets you moving! In Mr. Potato Head Hot Dash Game, you have to get to the household object onthe cards before the song ends. (FYI, you can play the original Hot Potato Game with this set as well for days when you don’t feel like being as active.) This is one of my kids favorite games!
Disney Junior Super Stretchy Game is similar to Twister except younger children may find this easier to follow and super silly. You not only use your hands and feet, but also your elbows, knees, and head. The positions you find yourselves in are hilarious! Disney Junior Super Stretchy Game is great for all ages! My 8 year old and 4 year old both love this game!
Free or Almost Free Games
Charades
You can play this game anywhere and you need zero equipment! Just pick something to act out and have the other players guess what or who you are. Remember, no talking allowed during the game! ; )
Hula Hoop Games
Seriously all you need is a hula hoop, and you can play so many games. Below are a few hula hoop games you can play.
Freeze Dance
Just turn on some songs and randomly stop them! Kids will have so much fun having to freez when the song stops.
Obstacle course
You can use no equimnent or whatever is around you. Cones and playgrounds sometimes come in handy too. This game gets your kids creative juices flowing. Simply come up with an obstacle cource that everyone has to complete. If you decide to play this at a playground you could say something like, “first you go up the latter, then you go over the wobbly bridge, then you go down the slide, and finally you balance while walking across a log. You can come up with some really creative and fun obstacle courses.
Soccer
You know one thing I love about soccer. All you need is a ball and two rocks to make the goal. There is nothing quite like it.
Play on a Playground
I know this is an obvious one, but I wanted to make this a complete list, meaning you could plan your whole summer using this list. In other words, I wanted to list even the obvious simple activities too.
So grab a few of these games, and you are ready for a fun, healthy, and active summer!
Check out these 46 tips and tricks for healthy snacking, and remember, you can see huge changes by incorporating just one or two of these baby steps into your life. Be sure to pick the tips that will specifically work best for YOU, and remember to always focus on mindful eating whenever you snack.
40 Clever Snacking Hacks for Healthy Living
Portion Control Snacking Tricks
Use your fist to determine your snack size. Put a fist full of snacks on a plate and mindfully enjoy your snack. Click here for mindful eating techniques.
Drink a glass of water before you reach for a bite. Do this every time to get more water into your day.
Pre-portion all your healthy snacks ahead of time.
Instead of snacking from the box, carton, or bag, put a serving on a plate and eat off of that plate. You will enjoy your food more if you take the time to sit down and eat from a plate, and you will be less likely to overeat if you separate snacks into appropriate fist-sized servings.
Snack when you feel hungry. Before snacking, ask yourself, ‘Am I hungry or am I wanting to eat because of emotions like stress, boredom, tiredness, sadness, etc?’
When you snack, make sure you are mindfully enjoying your food instead of mindlessly snacking. Chew each bite and swallow before picking up your next bite. Pay attention to the flavors, notice and enjoy each bite. Take a sip of your drink before picking up your next bite. It takes your brain 20 minutes to realize that your stomach is full so take your time. (see How to Mindfully Eating for Weight Loss)
Pause before you start eating. Pausing before eating is a major key to mindful eating. I do more than pause though; I take the time to pray a specific prayer. After this one prayer, I rarely feel the need to overeat. Now when I eat, I think about 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, “ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Inspired by this Bible verse, I have started praying before I eat, saying, “God, thank you so much for this food. Thank you for this time that I have to sit and enjoy the food you have given me. I want to eat for the glory of You, God.” I enjoy my food so much more when I am focused on eating for the glory of God.
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Snack Less Often Tricks
Limit nibbling or tasting while cooking or cleaning up the meal. Nibbling while cooking is mindless eating. When we mindlessly eat, are we really enjoying our food?
Go to bed at a decent time. . If you start feeling like you want to eat late at night, but you are not actually hungry, you might actually just be tired. Go to bed. You will wake up refreshed and ready breakfast.
Take up a hobby so that you can enjoy another activity in your leisure time besides eating. Whenever I felt like eating when I’m not hungry, I often think ‘would I rather exercise, read, or dance instead of eating?’ and the answer usually ‘yes’.
Pre-plan something fun to you will do instead of snacking. Every time you want to snack when you are not hungry, do one of your pre-planned activities first. Examples of preplanned activities are call a friend, walk, read, or take a bath.
Get into a snacking routine and plan your snack times. Your body will get use to snacking at this time, and you will be less likely to randomly graze and snack at other times of the day.
Make sure your meals are satisfying. Mindfully eat and enjoy your meals.
Store snack foods out of site.
Keep more nourishing foods and snacks in the house instead of the less nourishing empty-calorie foods.
Limit snacking to only one place in the house so that you won’t associate lots of areas in your house with food. If you eat all over the house, you will crave food everywhere.
Make TV a snack free activity. If you eat while watching T.V., your body will associate TV with eating. With practice, eventually you will not crave food while watching TV.
Sometimes we snack because we are tired. If you are feeling tired, and not actually feeling hungry, take a nap or do a mindful breathing exercise instead of snacking. So listen to your body and give your body what it is actually asking for.
If you like eating while watching TV, do something else with your hands instead like a hobby, fold clothes, or relaxing stretches.
Close down the kitchen after you have finished a meal. Clean up immediately after a meal and then turn off the kitchen lights, leave the kitchen, and do something in another part of the house.
Don’t skip breakfast. For some, eating breakfast reduces overeating throughout the day, increases energy, and fuels your mind so that you can feel ready to conquer the day. Make sure your breakfast is nourishing and filling. Eating something like a cup of oatmeal in the morning may prevent you from binging in the afternoon.
Avoid snacking while doing other things like reading, surfing the internet, eating in front of a television or in a movie theater
Drink lots of water! Our body’s need plenty or water!
Make sure your meals are satisfying. Eat high fiber, nutrient-dense meals to promote fullness.
Eating sugar causes us to want to eat more; therefore, limit sugary foods to decrease your desire to overeat. In other words, the sweeter the food, the more we want sweeter food. The less sweet the food, the less we desire sweets. For example, if you go a long time without sweets, then a piece of fruit will taste nice and sweet to you and a piece of chocolate cake may taste too sweet to you. But if you continue to eat sweet foods, a piece of fruit will not taste sweet enough and a piece of chocolate cake will be needed to feed your sweet tooth.
If you love to eat, but are feeling full, think of the end of your meal as just a break from eating instead of the end. Tell yourself you will continue eating at your next meal.
Here is one that may work for some. This is an exercise in changing the way your mind thinks about different foods. Through visualization, learn to think of nutritious foods in a more positive light. When you see vegetables, visualize them fighting your hunger, cancer, and heart disease or picture relaxing by a cozy fire while eating warm vegetable soup. Or picture yourself sitting by the beach, eating juicy cold fruit. Visualize the gift of the nourishing food as you are eating. Below is an example of my thought process as I mindfully ate a meal. This will work for snacks as well.
“I could see the steam coming from my freshly cooked brown rice bowl as I set down at the table. I was hungry, and the aroma from the spices made me feel excited about what I was about to eat. But I didn’t start yet. First, I paused and took a moment to notice this gift from God. As I paused, I looked down at my food. The green of the broccoli, brown of the brown rice and beans, and orange of the sweet potatoes reminded me of the colors of God’s earth on a beautiful bright spring day. I am overwhelmed by the miracle of food, and I thank God. Our bodies and minds need certain “things” to thrive and miraculously, thanks to God, these “things” grow straight out of the ground!
Now I am ready to take that first glorious bite. As I bite down, my mouth explodes with the flavors of fresh garlic and spices. I can feel the gritty earthiness of the brown rice, which is yet another reminder that I am eating food from God’s beautiful earth. It tastes like sweet nourishment as if my body is flourishing with each bite. I can feel the creaminess of the black beans as my mouth breaks up the outer skin. I continue to pray with each bite, thanking God for the “things” God gave us to help us thrive- the fiber, the vitamins and minerals, the antioxidants, and protein.
As I eat, I enjoy God’s company. I tell God that I want to glorify Him in all that I do, including eating, and thank God for providing the energy and nutrients I need to go into the world and spread God’s love.
I continue to mindfully eat, making a conscious decision to be present with God and my food. With each bite, the stress of the day just melts away. This is a chance to rest my body and decompress. I can feel myself relaxing in God’s presence.”
How to Eat Healthier Snacks
Snack on healthy snacks while your children eat snacks so that you will not mindlessly pick food from their plate.
Or if you would rather eat cooked vegetables for a snack then sauté a big bag of frozen mixed vegetables in cooking spray or olive oil and garlic. Add some red pepper for additional flavor and separate into portion-sized containers for the fridge. The key is always have healthy snacks on hand and limit the availability of unhealthy snacks.
Snack on nourishing foods like vegetables, nuts, dark chocolate, or fruit. These food are super filling, and will benefit your body.
Have nonfat yogurt, pudding, and/or fruit instead of other sweets like cake, cookies, donuts, etc.
If you like picking at food while watching TV, nibble on something nourishing like raw vegetables..
Nibble on raw fruits and vegetables while you are cooking.
If you are living with others who are eating less nutrient dense foods, make one cabinet and one part of the refrigerator their foods and make one section in the refrigerator and pantry your foods.
You do great at home, but when you go out to eat you seem to always overeat. Or maybe you eat out more than you eat at home so you need a plan that will work for your eating out lifestyle. If either of these scenarios sounds like you, then you may want to incorporate some of these tips. Pick and choose the tips that you think will work best for you.
26 Clever Hacks for Eating Healthy While Eating Out
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When you order your food, ask for the waiter to bring a box WITH your meal. Before you begin to eat, put food into your box until your plate looks like a sensible amount of food.
When at a restaurant, ask the server to hold the bread, snack mix, or chips and salsa that might come before the meal.
After you eat out, have you ever said to yourself, “Whew, I’m stuffed. I’m not going to eat another bite,” but then you keep nibbling on your food because the waiter hasn’t taken the plate away? If this is sometimes you (it is totally sometimes me), then try popping in a MealEnders ender as soon as you feel full. MealEnders Signaling Lozenges–Conquer Cravings, Curb Snacking, Beat Overeating, and Master Portion Control–Helps You Stick to Any Diet Weight Loss Program, 25-count Pouch (Chocolate Mint)works in three ways. When you eat a Mealender, you first taste something sweet. Sweetness signals the end of a meal for many, so your mind will think that the meal is…well…ending. Second, sucking on a MealEnder takes longer than chewing so you will give your brain time to get the signal that you have eaten. Finally, the center of the MealEnder has a strong and refreshing mint flavor. The MealEnder’s strong refreshing mint taste cleanses your palette and stops those desires eat. Have you ever noticed that you don’t usually feel like eating after you brushed your teeth? Yeah, it’s just like that except tastier!
If you have a few favorite restaurants, research the menu BEFORE you go out to eat. Pick the best choices before you enter the restaurant.
Choose grilled or baked foods on the menu instead of fried.
Ask for the plate to be removed as soon as possible.
Choose turkey, chicken, or a plant-based protein as your source of protein.
Do you go out to eat because you don’t have time to cook? You could try another non-cooking approach. Perhaps try this. Stop spending money going out to eat or eating fast food and take out. Instead put the money towards nourishing pre-packaged healthy meals or frozen foods. You still don’t have to cook! Find the healthiest frozen dinners here.
Or perhaps you would like to cook at home, if you could learn how to create quick meals on the spot with the food you have in your house (no meal planning or prepping required). The Nourishing Meal Builder is perfect for you, if this is something you would love to learn how to do.
Share an entrée with a friend or family member.
Stop eating when you are full and focus on other pleasures like the setting, your family, and your friends.
Okay this is actually my #1 favorite tip (my #2 favorite is the “ask for the box with your meal” tip). Favorite tip: Mindful eating! Mindful eating techniques work well in almost any situation and with almost any weight loss barriers. You can use mindful eating techniques while snacking, eating out, at parties, and to help with portion control and emotional eating. To learn more about mindful eating check out the Mindful Eating Step-by-Step guide.
Ask for water. Refills on drinks can be a HUGE amount of sugar.
Choose the vegetable option as your side. I mean, antioxidants and fiber!!! Talk about foods that help your body thrive!
When eating fast food, choose options like smaller burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, salads, cups or bags of fresh fruit, and bottled water.
Try a main dish salad for lunch. Go light on the salad dressing or use light dressing. Do this when you eat out often.
Try a green salad or vegetable sides instead of fries.
Limit eating out to only once or twice a week.
At fast food restaurants, ask for the nutrition facts and look for the healthiest choice.
Ask the server to recommend the tastiest nourishing meals. You could do this without even looking at the menu.
Ask the waiter for appetizer or lunch portions (even at night) with extra side of veggies.
Ask the waiter to wrap half the meal before bringing it to the table or ask the waiter to bring a box when he brings the meal, and you wrap up half the meal before you start eating. (Okay, I kind of said this twice, but it’s so helpful!)
When eating out, ask your server to point out the low calorie options. Only look at those foods on the menu.
Ask for the kids menu or a child’s size portion. An example would be a child’s drink or child’s popcorn at the movie theater, or a child’s chicken plate.
Don’t feel like you have to clean your plate; Take the time to enjoy your meal. Slowly eat and notice when you are full. If you don’t finish your food, you get to eat yummy leftovers for the next day!
Make sure you have vegetables on your plate even when you eat out.
Lastly, when you eat out, get tomato-based foods instead of cream based foods.
Sometimes we get bored with our regular exercise routine and are ready for a change. Or perhaps you have always found conventional exercise boring. If you are looking for creative ways to get in your exercise, you have come to the right post. Check out these fun and creative exercise ideas. What might be boring and conventional to one person might be a perfect fit for another. You find what works for you.
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5. Find different places to walk: Visit museums, zoos, farmer’s markets, parks, malls, or a pool. Walking is so much fun when you are surrounded by interesting scenerary.
12. Take up Golf. Walk instead of using a golf cart.
13. Take a karate class.
14. Take a dance class: ballroom, jazz, ballet, tap, clogging, contemporary, line dancing. So many fun choices!
15. Watch Youtube or music videos and try to learn the dances.
16. Take kickboxing.
17. Do an exercise video through an app. The choices are endless. I love Beachbody on Demand. You can try it for free by clicking this link: Stream over 600 workouts and 100+ healthy cooking shows 14 Days FREE on Beachbody on Demand!. You have probably seen their DVDs on a commercial. This is the company that makes those amazing workout programs like P90X, Insanity, Piyo, 80 Day Obsession, and so much more. In fact, they have 600+ workouts. Now instead of purchasing one of their workout programs, you can do ALL of them by purchasing Beachbody on Demand 12 Month Membership for $8.25/month. Once you purchase Beachbody on Demand, you can use any of their workouts for a whole year, and you can workout anywhere by playing them on your phone or iPad. They have everything from yoga to weight lifting to hip hop abs.
18. Try Yoga. You can do yoga at yoga studios and gyms or in your own home with the help of videos or yoga apps.
19. Palate. Like yoga, you can do palates at home or in a gym. Palates focuses on your core muscles and is a particularly great way to exercise your abs.
20. Try canoeing or kayaking. Canoeing is a great upper body workout you get to do in the beauty of nature.
You can also develop your own weight loss plan by using the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dietitian. Use this questionaire to determine which tips work best for you.
Our goal should be a minimum of 30-60 minutes of activity a day; but many of us just don’t have 30 minutes to an hour to spare everyday. The good news is that you don’t have to do all 30 to 60 minutes consecutively to reap the benefits. These 30-60 minutes can be split up into smaller segments each day. In other words, if you are too busy to exercise, try sneaking your exercise into your day. In fact, I was able to lose my baby weight by eating healthy and sneaking in exercise.
How I Lost my Baby Weight by Sneaking Exercise Into My Day
After my baby was born, I was just too busy to exercise for an hour a day so I decided to sneak in exercise by walking up our stairs 10 times a day. I did 2 flights of stairs right before I ate my meals, when I was waiting for food to warm in the microwave, as I was leaving my house, and as soon as I came home. I also did 10 push-ups, a 20 second plank hold, and 20 jumping jacks every morning before I jumped in the shower. That was it! I didn’t have time to exercise for an hour with a baby always wanting to nurse so I squeezed in the exercise, and it worked! I also did other things like always taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking far away in parking lots. Do you want more clever sneaky exercise ideas? Well here it is, a list of 53 ways to sneak in exercise when you are too busy to exercise.
How to Lose Weight When You Are Too Busy to Exercise
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53 Ways to Sneak Exercise Into Your Day: Follow These Tricks at Work, at Home, and Out and About
Whether you work from home or at a business, try setting an alarm to go off 3 times day, and walk or do a 5-10 minutes mini workout each time the alarm goes off. Here is a mini exercise routine you can try: 10 sit ups, 10 push ups, 10 crunches, 10 jumping jacks, hold a plank for 20 seconds, and hold a pike leg stretch for 20 seconds.
Take several 2-3 minute walking breaks throughout the day.
Make a goal to climb 5 extra flights of stairs a day.
While in a rocking chair, push off the floor with your feet.
Do some kind of exercise several times for 5 to 10 minutes throughout the day.
Walk during lunch, and eat a bag lunch at your desk.
Walk your dog.
When walking, go up the hills instead of around them.
Get an active dog that forces you outside.
When you don’t have time to workout for a full hour at a time, try downloading a fitness app like Beachbody on Demand. The Beachbody on Demand app provides over 600+ workouts. These aren’t just any workouts, these are those famous ones you have probably seen on TV. This is the company that makes those amazing workout programs like P90X, Insanity, Piyo, 80 Day Obsession, and so much more. Now instead of purchasing one of their workout programs, you can do ALL of them by purchasing Beachbody on Demand 12 Month Membership for $8.25/month. How can you use this app to “sneak” in workouts? With Beachbody on Demand, you have ALL the workouts with you all the time on your phone so you can take your workouts with you. When you don’t have much time, you can do little bits at a time by starting and stopping the workouts throughout the day. You can click on the image below for more information on Beachbody.
Sneak in Exercise When You are At Home
Every time you come home and as soon as you enter the house, do some exercises of your choice. You could decide to do a couple of those mini workouts I mentioned above: 10 jacks, 10 crunches, 10 push-ups, and 10 jumping jacks. The key is to make sure you do something before you sit down when you get home from work. If you are tired, you probably won’t get back up if you sit down first.
Or do 2, 5, or 10 minutes of exercises every morning when you get up. You can add more or less depending on your time. Find some exercise ideas in tip #1.
Set an alarm for 30 minutes, and clean your house as fast as you can. Don’t stop to think, just clean whatever you see as you go. I work up a great sweat doing this. I don’t think. If the next thing I see is a dusty desk, then I run get a duster and start dusting; then, if I notice floors next then I RUN to get a broom and sweep. If I see something that needs to be put up I grab it and go.
Walk to the restroom furthest away. Go to a restroom on another floor if that is an option.
Do sit-ups in front of the TV or march/jog in place during commercials
Actively clean to music.
Stand while doing things instead of sitting. Standing an extra 2 hours can burn around 300 calories a day (Examples: stand while checking emails, playing with your children, reading, talking on the phone, etc)
Put the remote away from the TV so that you will have to get up to change the channel and turn up the volume.
March in place while cooking. Or do a few jumping jacks or bicep curls with canned food while you are waiting for your water to boil or while you are waiting for your food to finish cooking in the pan or microwave etc.
Sit on an exercise ball in front of a TV. This burns more calories and tones more than sitting in a chair.
Walk while talking on the phone. Twenty-five minutes of brisk walking can burn 100 calories.
Instead of carrying everything to a room or up the stairs at one time, take several trips. By turning one trip up the stairs into four, you could go from burning 10 calories to burning 40.
Take a walk after dinner instead of watching TV.
Stretch before bed to give you more energy when you wake.
Break up your physical activity into 10-15 minute sections throughout the day.
Aim for at least 30 minutes total a day.
Take up a physical hobby like gardening.
Rake leaves.
Wash windows.
Replace a Sunday drive with Sunday walk. Or replace some of your other leisure activities with physical leisure activities.
Go for a half-hour walk instead of watching TV or walk in place while watching TV.
Walk instead of sitting around. Examples: Walk while you are on the phone, or walk while you are reading a magazine.
Take your dog on longer walks.
Take a quick 10-minute brisk walk before lunch or dinner. Not only will you get in some exercise, you’re less likely to choose something unhealthy after being physical active. Plus sometimes exercise actually decreases your appetite.
Whenever you have to climb stairs in your home, climb your stairs an extra time. You could climb your stairs every time you walk in your door before you sit down. You can use indoor or outdoor stairs. If you have only a few entry steps, then climb them several times.
Watch no more than two hours of TV a day. Exercise or do something fun instead.
If you have stairs, climb your stairs one time every time you are about to eat a meal or a snack. You can use indoor or outdoor stairs. If you have only a few entry steps, then climb the several times.
Use hand tools instead of power tools.
How to Sneak Exercise Into Your Day
Sneak In Exercise When You are Out and About
Sit on an exercise ball at work. This burns more calories and tones more than sitting in a chair. You can actually purchase exercise ball desk chairs like the LuxFit Exercise Ball Chair, Black.
For every purchase you make at the mall, take another lap around the mall.
Walk the mall.
Bicycle or walk to the store instead of driving.
Take a walk or do desk exercises instead of a cigarette, coffee, or snack break.
Take small trips on foot. For example: Instead of calling or emailing a co-worker, walk to their desk or take the stairs instead of the elevator at work.
Keep a pair of comfortable walking or running shoes in your car and office. You never know when you will have a chance to exercise.
Walk around the building or field while you are waiting on your kids to finish soccer, band, football, or dance practice.
An oldy, but a goody- Park far away in the parking lots. This tip has stuck around for a good reason. It works!
Always take the stairs instead of the elevator when stairs are an option.
Walk to work.
If it is safe, get off the bus one stop early.
Walk instead of driving whenever you can.
Walk your children to school.
Do some kind of volunteer labor like walking dogs at an animal shelter, participating in litter clean up, or building and repairing projects.
Walk to your place of worship instead of driving.
When you are waiting in a waiting room, slightly lift your legs off of the floor to subtly work your leg muscles. If you lean back as if you are leaning against the chair, but keep your weight off of the back of the chair, you will get an ab workout without anyone in the waiting room noticing.
For more ways to exercise when your Kids are ALWAYS around, check out this list.
A Few More Thoughts…
Last tip, make sure you do take the time to rest at some point. One idea is to workout hard all day, and then give yourself an hour of down time before bed. If you are doing these exercise all day you will BURN a lot of calories, but you also don’t want to burn yourself out. Rest is a part of health too.
If you would like to evaluate your own lifestyle and determine which tips work best for you, please take the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dietitian.
Did you find these tips helpful for times and seasons in your life when you are too busy to exercise? Which tips did you find the most helpful?
What you Need to Know to Develop Your Own Exercise Plan
So you have decided to start an exercise plan or routine, but where do you begin? Use these tips below to develop an exercise plan that works for your lifestyle. You can always develop one plan, and then pick another plan if your original plan doesn’t workout (pun intended).
Develop your Exercise Plan
Consider these Basics When Developing an Exercise Routine
Remember to drink water before, during, and after workouts so that you won’t “hit the wall” or become dehydrated. Make sure you stay hydrated so that you can work out harder and burn more calories, and more importantly drinking water prevents dehydration which can be dangerous.
If you want to prevent plateauing, vary your activities. Changing up your exercises will cause muscle confusion so that your muscle are always having to work. Plus when you vary your activities you won’t get bored. Click here for 34 Creative Ways to Exercise.
Include strength training. Muscle burn more calories than fat, so try twenty minutes of strength straining two to three times a week. Strength training also reduces injury, improves balance, and helps maintain your bones.
When you do hit a plateau, increase either your exercise intensity or duration.
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Pick an Activity that Fits into Your Schedule
Are you a morning person? If you need to set your alarm an hour early so that you can workout before work, then do it! Many people find morning workouts ideal. Why? People often do better with their eating throughout the day when they have started the day off well. After you have had a hard exhilarating workout, you are motivated to keep going the rest of the day. The same goes for getting an early start during the week. If you do well on Monday with your exercise and eating habits, chances are you will stay motivated for the rest of the week; however, slipping up on Monday can slow down your motivation IF you let it.
What if working out in the morning just doesn’t fit in your schedule? Try working out after work. Some of my clients made a committment to workout right after work, before doing anything else. They even pack their shoes and workout clothes so that they don’t even have to go home first. Once you go home and begin relaxing, you might get too relaxed to jump up and exercise. Even if you exercise at home, you can still decide to exercise first- before you sit down.
Maybe you have to wait until the evening to get that workout in. Your kids need you until bedtime, but after bedtime you have free time to workout. This might be a little harder for some, but I know many who have made the committment to workout in the evening.
Okay, so you have read the three above tips, and your saying, “I hear you, Lacy, but I really don’t have 30 spare minutes in my day and I KNOW I’m not going to workout late at night OR get up earlier than I already have to! What do I do?” I have an idea you might enjoy. May I share it with you?…You can sneak in your exercise! To find out how, check out my post entitled, “How to Sneak in Exercise when you Don’t have Time to Exercise“
Perhaps your children are ALWAYS with you so you need to find a way to workout with them around. For exercise ideas you can do with your children check out “How to Exercise When Your Kids are ALWAYS Around” post.
Whether you workout in the morning or the evening, choose an activity that fits into your daily life and make sure you schedule your exercise into your week.
Pick an Activity that Fits your Personality
Choose activities you enjoy and you will be more likely to stick with them. Explore new physical activities or find a physical hobby. For more creative fun ideas, check out my post “Exercise Doesn’t Have to Be Boring” for ideas.
Ask yourself, several questions to determined what type of workout will work for you. Would you prefer working out in a group or alone. Do you want to go to a gym or workout at home? If you like working out in a group, perhaps you could join a walking group. Don’t know of a walking group? Create your own walking group! Do you want to workout with a friend? Ask a friend to workout with you. You can encourage and motivate each other! Do you prefer working out by yourself at home? You could try an exercise app like the Fitbit Coach app or the Beachbody on Demand 6 Month Membership for $9.84/month . These apps have a huge variety of workouts you can follow daily. These apps often even include calendars so you can either follow their schedule or pick which ever workout you feel like doing that day. You can find exercises in these apps that fit into any schedule, and you can watch these videos on your phone, ipad or stream it through compatable TVs. If you have the Fitbit Ionic Watch, you can even watch the Fitbit Coach app through your watch. You don’t even have to pull out your phone! Click on the link to check out the Fitbit Ionic watch: Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch, Blue-Gray/Silver, One Size (S & L Bands Included). On a personal note, I am currently doing Beachbody on Demand, and I love it! You can try it for free by clicking the link: Stream over 600 workouts and 100+ healthy cooking shows 14 Days FREE on Beachbody on Demand! I have used them for a long time so I know these workouts work! I also love having a set workout plan for an extended period of time, and I am currently doing an 80 day program. Beachbody on Demand even provides you an online coach. I love my Beacbody coach and friend. Her name is Heather Wilson and you can find her Beachbody link by clicking here.
Do you like variety? Pick a different activity to do each day. One day you could aerobics and another day you could wash your car. Or Pick exercise from the lists here,here, and here.
Plan for the Unplanned
So you have made your schedule. You have your routine down to a science and then…life happens. You can actually plan for the unexpected.
When you can’t get to your normal workout, you can try to sneak exercise into your day. Say you normally get up in the morning to exercise, but for some reason you couldn’t fall asleep last night and now you NEED to sleep in. Instead of doing an hour workout, try sneaking exercise in throughtout the day using the ideas in the “How to Sneak in Exercise” post.
If you normally walk or workout outside, but the weather is bag. Have a backup plan in place like “I will exercise with a video if the weather is bad.” Remember to find a way to stay active in the winter.
If you would like to evaluate your own diet and determine which tips work best for you, please take the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dieititian.
Ah, I remember my life before kids. I could workout in peace without many interruptions… then my kids came along, and boy did life change. Exercising with kids around is completely different. Don’t get me wrong, I love it! They bring me double the joy AND double the worry and tears. But if I didn’t have those tears, I wouldn’t have double the joy either, right? Although I love this life, exercising with kids can be hard! I needed to finds ways to continue exercing with kids who were ALWAYS AROUND!
How Do I Exercise When My Kids are Always Around?
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Plan a daily physically active game you can do with your child. Play tag, catch, soccer, or freeze dance with your children. You are playing and checking exercise off your list all at once. And just like that you are exercising with kids!
Make your weekend family outings physical ones like biking, swimming, or miniature golf. Go to an amusement park, or a park and play on the playground. Try canoeing, rock wall climbing, hula hoop, fly a kite, ice-skating, or jump rope. Go to a bowling alley, batting cage, or hit golf balls at a driving range. Set up fun obstacle courses using fun outdoor toys, play outdoor games like catch or tag. Play laser tag or ultimate Frisbee. Okay, now I am ready for a weekend just thinking about these fun activities.
Walk around your yard while you kids play outdoor games.
Exercise or go for walks while you are waiting for your children at practices like dance, soccer, or piano practice.
Exercise while child plays at park.
Walk in the pool with your baby or while your older child plays.
You can even do sitting exercises when you are trying to be subtle like flexing your stomach or legs. Hold your legs just above the ground to strengthen you leg muscles. Do this while you are waiting in waiting rooms at your children’s check-ups.
Go for a run with your stroller.
Do exercises with your stroller like squats, lunges, and jogging.
Take the stairs with child.
Creative Ways to Exercise with Kids
Set a timer at home and dance with child before and after meals.
Walk the perimeter of the playground while your child plays.
Do squats, step touches, or march in place while you are pushing your child in a swing.
Fun Games to Get Your Family More Active
Did you like the games mentioned above? Below are the links for those games and a few more fun phisically active family games.
I hope you found some great ways to continue exercising with kids. What were some of your favorite “exercising with kids” ideas? This is a post in my DIY weight loss series. If you would like to evaluate your own diet and determine which tips work best for you, please take the free DIY Diet Self Assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dietitian.
This site may contain affiliate links (see full disclosure here)
How to Start a Blog when You Feel Called to Blog
Starting a Blog from Scratch
In Mindfulness in Faith and Food’s call series, I have talked about finding your call by using the clues checklist. I explained how clues, signs, and circumstances lead me to believe blogging was my call. Perhaps you feel like starting a blog is your call as well, but you don’t know where to begin. Don’t worry; I can walk you through the steps I took to start a blog.
When I started blogging, I was starting from scratch. My blog facebook page and pinterest account had zero followers! I didn’t even have a personal Instagram account! I remember looking at my zero followers on my facebook and Pintertest pages and thinking, ‘how am I ever going to get people to read these blog posts? Jump to seven months later, and I am so surprised at how much the Mindfulness in Faith and Food blog has grown. Since I started from scratch, I thought a post about how to start a blog from scratch might be helpful. So here are the steps I took to start a blog from scratch:
Step 1: Pray
I believe we should remember to pray before every choice we make. When I pray, I ask God to lead me and help me know what is the right thing to do. Praying before working on my blog helps me feel closer to God and helps me remember why I started blogging in the first place. I also pray that I am careful with my words and write words that God would want me to write. I am sure I mess up at this sometimes, but I hope that I focus on what God wants me to say instead of letting my emotions, insecurities, and biases rule the blog.
Step 2: Determine your Niche
Your niche is the topic you feel knowledgeable and passionate about. This is the topic you are going to discuss in your blog. Your topic can be broad like “being a mom” or specific like “how to save money with a big family.” My blog is called Mindfulness in Faith and Food, and discusses nutrition as well as what I call my personal “God Moment” stories. I also emphasize the importance of mindfulness in our eating habits and in our faith journey. See why the name fits so well? You will pick your name in the next step.
Along with figuring out your niche, you should probably think about why you want to start a blog in the first place. Knowing why you are blogging will keep you motivated during the times when you aren’t making money or getting as many likes. When you are in a blogging slump, focus on your purpose.
So why are you blogging? Do you just want a place to record your thoughts? Are you hoping to help others by teaching, inspiring, or encouraging your readers? I am hoping my blog provides tools that are helpful to other’s lives, and I hope my ‘God Moment” stories provide hope and encouragement that just maybe God REALLY IS working in our lives TODAY. When times are hard and our faith and hope is weak (I have been there), I cling to these stories. I remember God really DOES care, LOVE us, and is truly INVOLVED in our life.
Step 3: Determine your Blog Name and Domain
After you determine your niche, you need to pick a name. You may want to make a list of possible names in case your first choice is taken. You can use this name to come up with your domain name. This is the blog web address. The web address is sometimes a variation of your Blog name. Fortunately, my blog name wasn’t taken so my blog domain name is www.mindfulnessinfaithandfood.com. I registered my domain name through the hosting company, Bluehost.
Step 4: Pick Your Host Site
I picked Bluehost, and I am so happy I went with them. After researching, I felt Bluehost was the way to go. You can use other free platforms, but if you even think you MIGHT monetize your blog one day, I would go with a selfhosted platform like Bluehost. Self-hosted means you own your blog and the content. I also like Bluehost because I can take care of several steps on one site. I was able to register my domain through Bluehost and install WordPress. Plus you can get your domain name for free if you decide to use Bluehost! Since I was just starting out, I picked the least expensive Bluehost package. I figured ‘why spend a bunch of money before you are making money?’ If you want to look through the great Bluehost plans click here.
Step 5: Install WordPress
Next I installed WordPress. This is WordPress.org NOT wordpress.com. WordPress is a website creation tool. In other words, you build your blog through them. You can install WordPress through Bluehost. You just need to login to your Bluehost account adn click the wordpress icon to install!
Step 6: Select a Blogging Theme
Now that you have WordPress you can play around and customize your blog. You do this on the WordPress Dashboard. I would first select a theme. Again, I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on this blog since I wasn’t making any money yet, so I picked one of the free Themes. I picked the “Twenty Fifteen Theme.” I think this is a nice free theme and seems to work well for blog style websites.
Step 7: Pray and then Write a Post
Again, I pray for me to know what God wants me to say, and that I remember that my true purpose is helping others. Now you can write your first blog posts! I decided to write several posts in draft form before going live with my blog. I wanted my blog to have a little substance and depth before the blog was viewable. Having 4 or 5 post already written before going live just looks nice and more established.
Step 8: Write an ‘About Me’ Page
You don’t have to do this yet, but I think having a place where readers can find out about you and your topics helps establish your blog’s identity. You can always write a short ‘About Me’ page, and go back to make changes as your blog evolves.
Step 9: Add Plugins and Play around with the Appearance of the Blog
Now you have to play with the appearance of your blog and add plugins. A Plugin is software that can add specific features to your blog. Plugins are a BIG part of creating your desired blog, and many plugins are free. I recommend adding plugins for “sharing buttons” so that readers can share, pin, and like your post by simply clicking a button. I used the “Ultimate Social Media” plugin for my sharing buttons. “ImageInject” was one of the first Plugins I added. With ImageInject, I am able to easily search for free images and photos and insert them into my blog.
I also installed a subscriber sign up form through Mailchimp. People sign up to receive email updates whenever I publish a new post. These are just three of the many plugins available.
You are Now a Blogger!
Setting up my blog takes time. I played around in the WordPress dashboard until I was satisfied enough with the blog to go live. I am still often making changes here and there as I learn more and more.
That is it! Now you have a blog! The next steps are to promote the blog and look into monetizing your blog.
So you have a blog, now what?Check out my blogging work schedule to see what things you should be doing each month, week, and day as a blogger.
Did you find this post helpful? Did you decided to go with Bluehost through the links on this blog? If so, let me know so that I can celebrate with you by being one of the first to promote your blog through one of my social media accounts!
This is an adaptation from a story in the book, Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition. You can get the digital copy or the paperback version of the book here.
This post contains affiliate links (See full disclosure here)
Seeing God’s presence today through little signs from God.
I Noticed a Change in Me
After I prayed THAT prayer from part 3… the one when I told God I was ready to do what God wanted instead of what I wanted), I first noticed a change in me.
I truly wanted to know what God wanted me to do each day. Since that prayer, I TRY to remember to pray EVERY morning. Each morning I ask, “God, please help me see the needs of others today.” Do you know God did start giving me little opportunities to serve throughout my daily life? Check out the blog “We Ran Out of Gas” for one example.
I also started trying to pray in the car and pray before I entered any new environment. I started trying to be more mindful of God’s presence in every room I entered. Notice my blog is about Mindfulness? Do you see where all these circumstances are leading?
After Praying THAT Prayer
Because I am more mindful of God’s presence, I have noticed more “God Moments” in my life, and now I have even more “God moments” to share on this blog! If you read part 3, you will remember all of this started because I read a book called The Narrow Road: Stories of Those Who Walk This Road Together (International Adventures). This is a fantastic book about a man praying and waiting for God to lead him in almost every aspect of life. I highly recommend reading The Narrow Road: Stories of Those Who Walk This Road Together (International Adventures). Because of this book, I started incorporating prayer and listening to God in my everyday moments. (I truly think God lead me to read this book because God knew the reaction I would have. You can see this story in Part 3)
You can read more specific “God Moment” stories by clicking on the links below:
Should I Share My Personal “God Moment” Stories with Others?
I was so thankful that after saying the big prayer, God seemed to be showing me small ways to serve throughout my day, but I also felt like God was leading me to do something specific (part 3). But what? Would I get any signs from God? While I waited…well, I became impatient. I decided to actively write down a list of some of my accomplishments and talents. ‘Maybe I can use some of my talents to serve God,’ I thought. I jotted down that I enjoy writing and had written nutrition columns for the local newspaper in the past. But how in the world could I use this to serve God? Blogging wasn’t even on my radar at the time.
Still I thought, ‘well I do have several personal God stories that may encourage others. What if I could somehow share some of these personal experiences I have had with God through writing?” Could sharing these personal “God Moments” be my calling? But how would I know that this is something I should do? My goodness, I could do so many different things, how will I EVER know what God thinks I should specifically do?
Signs from God: The Answer is “Yes, Share these Stories.”
Then Sunday rolled around again, and I went to church. Guess what the sermon was about? Our pastor did a sermon on telling your personal call or God story. Well if that wasn’t an answer to my question, I don’t know what was.
In the sermon, the pastor said that a person’s personal call or God story has one of the greatest impacts when you are telling someone about God. In fact, a person’s personal story is only 2nd to the Bible when you are trying to tell someone about your faith. How amazing that as soon as I thought about sharing my personal stories and experiences with God, our pastor started talking about how important it is to tell YOUR personal story! So I decided I did want to write my personal stories down in one place so that I can use them somehow later.
Another God Moment: Finding the Time to Write
The next obstacle was finding the time to write. You see, I couldn’t write while the kids slept because I slept in the bed with my 3 year old (I know I should never have started that habit, right? I was just so tired of the nightly sleeping battles, and I just gave up. My son would go to sleep easily if I was lying with him. Sigh.)
The problem was that if I got up for anything, even to go to the bathroom, he would wake up and cry, “hold mommy, hold mommy!” How was I going to get up and begin writing again? I wanted to not only write, but also, pray and read God’s word more often. Do you know that when I decided to get up to write, my son didn’t wake up! I was able to write, pray, and read about God while my son slept! Could this be yet another of the many sign’s from God?
Doubt and Fear and then More Signs from God
Now, if I was stronger I would not have needed another nudge from God, but unfortunately fears and doubt began to creep in. I had written some of my stories, but I began to think, ‘do I really want to SHARE these stories with others?’ Just when I started backing away, God called me again. Literally right after I started backpedaling and doubting, two of the sermons talked about answering God’s call and even emphasized telling our own personal stories. The words and phrasing used in the sermons spoke to me so clearly that I had chills. Were all these coincidences signs from God again?
Finally Ready to Take Action
Okay, finally I was willing to take action. I still didn’t know what to do, but since our pastor had inspired the idea, I decided to send my written stories to our pastor. This was a total leap of faith. I don’t normally do things like this. These stories were personal, and I felt silly just sending them to someone. This was several years ago, and I still wasn’t familiar with blogging yet. In fact, the pastor was the one who mentioned blogging. (He is a lot younger and more tech than me 🙂 ) Turns out, the pastor had been contemplating starting a church blog, and he was even more encouraged after I sent in my stories that our church should start the blog. Maybe even the pastor was receiving signs from God?
And so a church blog was started. I became one of the admins for the blog. I didn’t know anything about blogging, but I wanted all the amazing stories from church members to get shared somehow. Church members would send their stories, and I would post. Now church members had a place to share their personal call story. After all, like the pastor said, “a person’s personal story is only 2nd to the Bible when you are trying to tell someone about God.”
More Coincidences: The Leap to Starting MY Personal Blog, “Mindfulness in Faith and Food”
This church blog was established years ago, but I still never considered starting my own blog. Then two things happened…
I was still writing down all my “God Moments” as well as any lessons I had learned over the years. I decided I wanted to organize all these stories for my children. So I started working on a little book that I would only give to my children. (See there I go, writing again!) I wanted my children to feel inspired and have hope that God is there even in the tough times.
“Hmmm, Should I Start My Own Blog?”
As I was organizing all of this for the book for my children, I thought, “hmm, some of these stories are so encouraging and give so much hope; I wish I could share them somehow. Well, I could start a personal blog? Then maybe a few more people could see all this ‘stuff’ God has done.” Just like most thoughts, at first I didn’t think much of the idea. But the next circumstance would make me think much more seriously about blogging…
Our Church Combined Faith with Nutrition
I was still working on lessons for my children’s book when one day a church staff member asked me that since I am a dietitian I would be willing to become the coordinator of a new church wellness program. The program was called “FAN: Faith, Activity, and Nutrition”. The goal of the FAN program is to promote, encourage, inspire, and provide opportunities for a healthier life within the church. The FAN program focused on helping the whole person: body and soul. I loved how FAN incorporated scripture, spiritual health, and physical health into their messages. I usually didn’t get to incorporate my professional background in dietetics with my faith in this way, and I loved it!
Again, “Hmmm, I Could Start a Blog?”
When I became the FAN coordinator, I dusted off my nutrition materials (I was currently a stay-at-home mom) to see what I could use for FAN. As I was looking through all the handouts, articles, and client books I had developed, I thought ‘this information is not helping anyone just sitting on my computer or in my desk! I need to find a way people can have access to this!’ Again, the same phrase ran through my head, “hmm, I could start some kind of nutrition blog! But if I started a blog, I would also want to talk about my faith and God experiences. Would combining faith and nutrition even work as a blog?Wait! Look at the FAN program, this program incorporates both!”
Signs from God: Everything Was Falling into Place
And this is how the idea of a faith-based nutrition blog was formed. Everything seemed to be falling into place for me to start blogging. I was already organizing nutrition and faith articles for FAN and my book for my children, and I was already incorporating faith with nutrition at church. The fact of the matter was I was already writing about faith and nutrition, why not go ahead and blog? The timing just seemed right.
My Vision for the Blog Seemed so Clear
The next part might be harder to explain, but I will do my best. My vision for my blog seemed so clear. Let me explain the opposite of clear, so that you can understand what I mean. When I was trying to decide on a name for my private nutrition counseling, I struggled with finding a name and my brand. For one, I wasn’t being true to myself. I settled for something generic, but I cringed when I said the name. The name wasn’t bad; the name just didn’t ever feel right.
When I decided to blog about God and my passions, the name almost immediately fell into my mind. I wanted to call the blog, “Mindfulness in Faith and Food.” I am still relatively new to blogging. In fact, I have only been blogging for about half a year, but this blog still just feels right.
The Creation of Mindfulness in Faith and Food
So I decided to do it! I started a blog. All my past writings- journal entries, nutrition handouts, God stories, and partial books have found a home on this blog. Who knew that I was writing for this blog for so many years and didn’t even know it!
Signs From God: The Ripple Effect
Now, looking back, I can see the ripple effect from each of these events that lead to writing a faith and nutrition blog. Each, by themselves, may not seem like much, but you put everything together from part 1-part 4 of this series, and the sheer number of signs and coincidental circumstances are impossible to ignore!
A Recap of the Ripple Effect
My passion for writing since childhood (See Part 2)
My weight struggles as a middle school child that initiated my interest in nutrition (See About Me)
Even more signs from God? Just when I was contemplating that perhaps sharing all my personal “God Moment” stories is my call, the sermons were about sharing your personal God stories (Part 4).
The church blog was started after I took a leap of faith and sent our pastor all of these God stories (Part 4).
I started organizing all my God stories and lessons for a book for my children. This gave me the thought, “Maybe I should share these amazing stories in a blog?” (Part 4)
Meanwhile I was introduced to the FAN program, which combined faith and nutrition. I loved this, and a concept of a faith-based nutrition blog was born. (Part 4)
Have you noticed any signs from God or coincidences that you think are leading you to your calling? Are you feeling God’s call to serve in some way? Maybe you are even feeling called to blog?
Do you feel called to blog, but don’t know where to begin? My next post goes through the steps to start your own blog. You can check it out by clicking on this link: “How to start a blog when you feel called to blog.”
About Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC
Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC focuses on how to live your healthiest, happiest, most meaningful life through faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. Several branches fall under the Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC umbrella. One is Mindful Vending, which is one of the few dietitian owned and operated vending companies in the nation! Ngo is also the author of several books including Faith, Mindfulness, & Nutrition, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals and The Nourishing Meal Builder. You can also find evidence-based nutrition articles, recipes, convenient healthy snack lists, inspiring faith stories, and faith-based mindfulness techniques on her blog, Mindfulness in Faith and Food.
on hand every summer. I love that all these game fit into a bag so that you can take them with you to a park, the beach, or your own backyard.
. Using a permanent marker, simply write in everygreen questions on each color on the ball. When you catch the ball see which question one of your hands is touching. Read the question and answer it! My. Kids. Love. This!
. It has a big basket on the back so I can ride my tricycle to the grocery store and bring my groceries home in my basket (We live walking distance from our local grocery store).
is super fun!
is a GIANT matching game so you have to get up and more to flip each card. Brilliant right!?!?
. When the top of the stand is at an angle the stand doesn’t get in your way when you are playing ball.
for my son. I am so excited about this purchase. My kids get so excited about scavenger hunts and when you add a treasure map…I mean, come on…this is awesome!
is another game my family owns and loves. We have had this game for years, and we still regularly play it! Its silly and gets you moving. What’s not to love!
and the 
or 
.
Twister
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to make exercise a game.
is a fun exercise set that includes an exercise jump rope.
) and do your own pool workout.
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or a pedometer can help keep track of your steps. Set a stepping goal for yourself. Remember, 2,500 steps equals 1 mile.
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This site contains affiliate links (See full disclosure 
.
. This is a fantastic book about a man praying and waiting for God to lead him in almost every aspect of life. I highly recommend reading