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Free New Year’s Health and Fitness Program

Workout Program for New Year

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Hey #Flashers,

I’m in charge of putting together a wellness program for my corporate job for the month of January. Since I’ll already have all the materials put together, I thought I’d invite you to join too!

It’s called Full Force because we’ll be going into the new year with full force toward our overall wellness goals.

This plan will cover fitness, nutrition and mental health.

What you’ll get:

  • A training plan
  • Printable trackers
  • Meal planning ideas
  • Daily tips emails

The entire program is based around using what’s already available to you. It will help immensely if you own a smartphone and a Fitbit, but they’re not completely necessary.

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like to join, and I will hook you up! No strings attached.

You want in?

Lately I’ve Been…

  • Sewing Build-A-Bear accessories for my Peanut’s stuffed animals. Those clothes get expensive and I found the perfect DIY projects online.
  • Fixing a workout bra that I somehow melted in the dryer. Didn’t even know that the fabric store carried bra hooks until I went looking for fabric for the above project. All I had to do was cut down the strap to the right size, burn the raw edges down with a lighter and sew the new piece on. So glad to have saved that one, since it fit really well. I’m mighty proud of my re-purposing skills on this one.
  • Re-seaming a thrift store T-shirt I found in college that I still like and has been sitting with pins in it for like 7 years. Ha!
  • Thrifting some necessary household items like 16″ x 20″ frames and some supplies for a jewelry storage makeover I plan on doing.
  • Spray-painting that thrifted shelving unit for my jewelry. I believe the wooden shelf I bought was once a spoon holder for collectors. Oh, you just wait and see what I did to it. I even went to the hardware store all by myself to DIY this one.
  • Hanging a collage wall in my dining room. I see these art displays in all my favorite home tours and decided to tackle one all by myself. It turned out sooo cute. I found this adorable $.50 vintage 3D picture that totally makes the wall. I’ll be sharing pictures soon.
  • Trying to keep my house from turning into a bachelor pad/frat house. Roomie just bought a beer brewing kid and a Soda Stream to add to my already cluttered counter space. Thinking of reworking the space a bit. This stuff doesn’t blend well with my vintage-chic aesthetic, as you might imagine.
  • Putting together bags of stuff to take to the thrift store. It feels good to get rid of more than we’re bringing in sometimes, especially when things start accumulating beyond my comfort level.
  • Registering for an EIN number with the IRS. I am now a registered business owner!
  • Eating soup alone at home while Hubster, Peanut and my Daddy-O go hunting. I’m really relishing this time alone.
  • Cleaning (finally!) one of the dreaded spots in my home. We have some high windows that accumulate spiders and webs and dust and ick. Whenever I clean it, I feel like the whole house is somehow much cleaner.
  • Making my bed with the brand-new quilt that I sewed. Can’t wait to share pictures of it on here soon. Just looking at it makes me happy.
  • Starting a new e-book project that I hope to launch on here in a few months. It’s in the baby stages right now, so I don’t want to share too much.
  • Buying tickets to the Sports and Fitness Expo being held in my town this weekend. Can’t wait!
  • Trying so hard to figure out how to connect my camcorder to my computer. I have a new cord on its way after a Radio Shack one didn’t work. I really want to add some workout videos for y’all. I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new, more laptop-compatible camcorder.
  • Dreaming up another trip “up-north” in October or November. I want to make this a regular tradition if we can swing it and Hubster can successfully get off of work. We stayed in Crivitz last year.
  • Writing up a job posting for the open pastoral position at my church. Since one of the committee members knew I was a writer, he thought I’d be the perfect person for the job. I like to help where I can.
  • Adjusting to having a child in all-day Kindergarten. Paying for hot lunches, meeting teachers, already dealing with bullying, packing snacks, collecting Box Tops, etc etc etc. I already get up at 5:30 to work out, run, and get ready, but we’ve somehow been running late anyway. This school thing is like a whole new world for me. However, I just love looking through the Scholastic Books order forms with him. I get all giddy like I did in school when those pamphlets come out. My wallet is never more open than it is for a Peanut who gets excited about reading and learning.

I think Chalene’s book was just the kick in the back end I needed to make myself even more productive than a Type-A person like me already is. I can’t believe all the things I’ve checked off my to-do list already. I use Wunderlist on my phone and it’s a true lifesaver and life improver, plus just seeing all the check marks I’ve accumulated already makes me happy. I have my to-dos broken down into “Today,” “This Week,” and “Soon.” Every day I try to do one thing to tackle one aspect of my priority list. For example, my home environment is one of my priorities. Therefore, many of the above listed items are helping make my environment more desirable from cleaning to small space makeovers. Another goal is setting up more of a solid personal training side business, so I am planning on networking at the Sports and Fitness Expo I signed up for and I finally signed up for an official EIN number (so simple to do, it’s pathetic). I’m taking steps each day to make this dream more of a reality. It’s really quite simple once you break it down into steps.

There’s something about fall that makes me feel like nesting. The little bit of chill in the air outside makes me want the inside to be the most cozy place my family could ever enjoy. Listening to the sound of Feist and blowing trees while tackling all these projects is just making my heart swell. I’ve decided that fall is officially my favorite season.

What have you been up to?

Lately I’ve Been…

  • Sewing Build-A-Bear accessories for my Peanut’s stuffed animals. Those clothes get expensive and I found the perfect DIY projects online.
  • Fixing a workout bra that I somehow melted in the dryer. Didn’t even know that the fabric store carried bra hooks until I went looking for fabric for the above project. All I had to do was cut down the strap to the right size, burn the raw edges down with a lighter and sew the new piece on. So glad to have saved that one, since it fit really well. I’m mighty proud of my re-purposing skills on this one.
  • Re-seaming a thrift store T-shirt I found in college that I still like and has been sitting with pins in it for like 7 years. Ha!
  • Thrifting some necessary household items like 16″ x 20″ frames and some supplies for a jewelry storage makeover I plan on doing.
  • Spray-painting that thrifted shelving unit for my jewelry. I believe the wooden shelf I bought was once a spoon holder for collectors. Oh, you just wait and see what I did to it. I even went to the hardware store all by myself to DIY this one.
  • Hanging a collage wall in my dining room. I see these art displays in all my favorite home tours and decided to tackle one all by myself. It turned out sooo cute. I found this adorable $.50 vintage 3D picture that totally makes the wall. I’ll be sharing pictures soon.
  • Trying to keep my house from turning into a bachelor pad/frat house. Roomie just bought a beer brewing kid and a Soda Stream to add to my already cluttered counter space. Thinking of reworking the space a bit. This stuff doesn’t blend well with my vintage-chic aesthetic, as you might imagine.
  • Putting together bags of stuff to take to the thrift store. It feels good to get rid of more than we’re bringing in sometimes, especially when things start accumulating beyond my comfort level.
  • Registering for an EIN number with the IRS. I am now a registered business owner!
  • Eating soup alone at home while Hubster, Peanut and my Daddy-O go hunting. I’m really relishing this time alone.
  • Cleaning (finally!) one of the dreaded spots in my home. We have some high windows that accumulate spiders and webs and dust and ick. Whenever I clean it, I feel like the whole house is somehow much cleaner.
  • Making my bed with the brand-new quilt that I sewed. Can’t wait to share pictures of it on here soon. Just looking at it makes me happy.
  • Starting a new e-book project that I hope to launch on here in a few months. It’s in the baby stages right now, so I don’t want to share too much.
  • Buying tickets to the Sports and Fitness Expo being held in my town this weekend. Can’t wait!
  • Trying so hard to figure out how to connect my camcorder to my computer. I have a new cord on its way after a Radio Shack one didn’t work. I really want to add some workout videos for y’all. I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new, more laptop-compatible camcorder.
  • Dreaming up another trip “up-north” in October or November. I want to make this a regular tradition if we can swing it and Hubster can successfully get off of work. We stayed in Crivitz last year.
  • Writing up a job posting for the open pastoral position at my church. Since one of the committee members knew I was a writer, he thought I’d be the perfect person for the job. I like to help where I can.
  • Adjusting to having a child in all-day Kindergarten. Paying for hot lunches, meeting teachers, already dealing with bullying, packing snacks, collecting Box Tops, etc etc etc. I already get up at 5:30 to work out, run, and get ready, but we’ve somehow been running late anyway. This school thing is like a whole new world for me. However, I just love looking through the Scholastic Books order forms with him. I get all giddy like I did in school when those pamphlets come out. My wallet is never more open than it is for a Peanut who gets excited about reading and learning.

I think Chalene’s book was just the kick in the back end I needed to make myself even more productive than a Type-A person like me already is. I can’t believe all the things I’ve checked off my to-do list already. I use Wunderlist on my phone and it’s a true lifesaver and life improver, plus just seeing all the check marks I’ve accumulated already makes me happy. I have my to-dos broken down into “Today,” “This Week,” and “Soon.” Every day I try to do one thing to tackle one aspect of my priority list. For example, my home environment is one of my priorities. Therefore, many of the above listed items are helping make my environment more desirable from cleaning to small space makeovers. Another goal is setting up more of a solid personal training side business, so I am planning on networking at the Sports and Fitness Expo I signed up for and I finally signed up for an official EIN number (so simple to do, it’s pathetic). I’m taking steps each day to make this dream more of a reality. It’s really quite simple once you break it down into steps.

There’s something about fall that makes me feel like nesting. The little bit of chill in the air outside makes me want the inside to be the most cozy place my family could ever enjoy. Listening to the sound of Feist and blowing trees while tackling all these projects is just making my heart swell. I’ve decided that fall is officially my favorite season.

What have you been up to?

Home Sweet Nest

There’s no force greater than a mother’s nesting instinct.

I mean, I have never been more inclined to remove the dust from the baseboards or remove every stray string from my home as I have since I was “with child”.

No one can stop me when a small tidying-up project turns into a whirlwind rid-a-thon. As I’ve explained in a previous post, those little piles of junk provide great threatening pressure to my life-filled chest. They can also pose a threat to that small person that toddles around them. Not just physically, but emotionally. I mean, I don’t want this boy to grow up without seeing the value in the things around him. I want him to take care of his home. I want to prime him to be a responsible respectable young man who values order in his life, especially for the benefit of any future partners. So, I have to set an example for him by taking at least a little bit of care of our things.

Physical dangers do exist as well, I admit. I can’t tell you how worried I was after we put fiberglass insulation in the attic. After vacuuming below the door several times, I still worried about the microscopic pieces that still must be embedded in the carpet and what would happen if the baby got a piece stuck in a tiny digit and we wouldn’t be able to see it nor would he be able to tell us where it hurt. It would just kill me if our carelessness hurt him.

So, the nesting instinct is also married to that ruthless polygamist Guilt. When I found remnants of larvae (gasp!) in an old can of instant cocoa mix, I instantly pegged myself as a careless mother.

Who else thinks about how, after the dog pees on his foot during a walk, he will clean most of it off in the snow during the 3 mile trek, but will come home with God-only-knows-what-else on his feet and walk all over the house and the baby will pick up a banana from said floor and ingest it? And who gives their dog a bath more than once or twice a month anyway? Mommies have been blessed (cursed?) with such instincts for ages to keep their children safe.

Really, nesting is a force that cannot be reckoned with. Only after exhausting myself once in a while with tile and a bottle of bleach, and scouring away at some of that instinct, can I finally sit back and allow the 10-second-rule to apply. Only after!

Invasion of the Clutter

Without meaning to, we’ve accumulated so many things around our house it scares me to death. Literally. Paper piles and misplaced odds and ends knock the wind and the vitality of life right out of me.

The self-designated “no-drop zones” often turn into prime dumping grounds for papers, pictures, mail and extra hardware. We get a new armchair and the extra plastic pieces end up on the dining room table. They then sit there for weeks. Each time I take in the disorderly mess on the table, I lose a little bit of sleep.

I think I’ve just uncovered the reason for my insomnia. Others may dream about little morbid dolls that come to life or losing a molar. But I, oh poor little me, dream of being buried alive beneath mounds of paper clips, cracker packaging, dust and other easily accumulated nonsense. All those small “projects” around the house invade my consciousness until REM is no longer possible. I tell you these pesky piles of junk on the table are alive. They are sources of negative energy for sure. They steal my attention, jeopardize my relationships and wear me down, one paper-thin layer at a time.

To be sure, I am not obsessive compulsive. I allow wrinkles in bedsheets and marks on the walls and the occasional dropped pea to be left on the floor for one of the four-legged creatures to find–just please no shoes on the off-white upstairs carpet. And for God’s sake, no clipping your nails in the living room.

The perfect antidote would be to light candles and let the imperfections fade into the background. Everything looks better in candlelight. And place a pretty basket by the front door, a designated “dumping zone” that you don’t mind looking at. After all, to combat all the “no-drop zones,” there has to be at least one “dumping zone.”

I do let certain things go, but only to a point. And sometimes it feels like I’ll never be able to breathe or venture into certain rooms for fear that a pesky pile will consume me. Once you let the scum build on the bathroom curtain, the salty winter shoe marks to linger on the linoleum, the cobwebs to climb the ceilings and the piles to overcome every open flat surface for too long…it is certain death.