Mamavation Monday: Walk … Run … Week 2

June 20, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

I was late posting last week but I did get in my post! You can find it here if you want catch up!

So last week was week 2 of the Couch to 5k walk/runs. I survived doing all three walk/runs. oh my goodness. I am still doing my walk/runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I am not looking forward to week 3. I am running? I don’t run … how am I doing this?

As for weight, I didn’t get the update I wanted on the scale. I was up 1.2 lbs. I can not eat enough it seems so I am trying to watch what I eat this week to make sure I am making good choices.

Mamavation TV is on tonight! To find out details check out the information here! (I miss Mamavation TV every week because it is on too late for this East Coast girl … if I am up that late, I am doing homework. blah.)

UPDATE: I felt the need to add a little update today. Maybe I should change my weigh in to Tuesday mornings … anyway. I was back down to my starting point this morning so down 1.2 lbs from yesterdays weigh in … let’s trash that weigh in and go with today’s!;)

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Mamavation Monday: Survived Week 1

June 14, 2011 By
Well I am a day late but it is Mamavation Monday time again!

I know I said was recommitting last week and then I didn’t post yesterday. Yesterday I was an allergy mess. I was lucky to get through the work day. Then we took the kids to the library summer reading program launch party. My homework didn’t get done and it was due yesterday. That is how bad off I was. If something had to give, it was blogging and now here I am catching up!

So last week I did all three Couch to 5k walk/runs. I am doing my walk/runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That meant that Saturday morning I had to get up and get moving before we left for a quick overnight at the in-laws. Since no prior packing had been done, it would have been so easy to skip and leave on time that morning but I didn’t. I went out.

Since I am a day late posting this, I can tell you that I did walk/run one for this week … two more to go. I will be sore for sure tomorrow.

As for weight, I did my weigh in yesterday was up a pound from last week. The food we ate while not at home was not good choices. aye. I did jump on the scale this morning before I went on my walk/run and was back to my weight last week so no change. I am good with no change because I know I was moving. Hopefully this week will bring a positive change but at any rate, I will keep the goal of moving because it feels good.

Mamavation TV was on last night. You can check it out the theme for the week here though!

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Mamavation Monday: Recommitting

June 6, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

Recommitting. Recommitting to what? To me … and to my Mamavation Monday posts. I have let myself have a big, great big break from being active and I don’t really enjoy it. At some point, something had to give though and that is what gave for me. It happens, I accept it. I am going to recommit to my Mamavation Monday posts too. I have started and stopped several times lately. I am going to keep posting for my sake not the comments of encouragement I hope I get left. At this point, I almost feel like I have been around too long just hanging onto it all. I know I don’t have the time to commit to be a Mamavation campaign mom as in the shows are just too late for this East Coast girl and heck if I am up, I am doing homework that is due that night. Not a good combination. I do love the Twitter hashtag and taking a few minutes so comment on others posts on Mondays. So I will keep up with that better even though it is harder without Tweet Deck!

So what am I going to do, I agreed maybe on a whim, maybe out of lack waking up but to do the Couch to 5k program with my husband. Since it is a 3 day a week program, we can alternate days and trade early morning kid duty. This was inspired by the fact he ran in a 5k this past weekend. The kids and I handed out water to the runners with other people from my office. Someone had to watch the kids since they are too little to join in and I only have a double jogger. Since the cause fit my husband better, he became the runner and I became the volunteer. It was inspiring to see everyone run for a great cause. So we will run and next year, someone else will get the kids while we both run.;)

All that being said I will take today as my starting weight (again) and go from there. More to report next week as tomorrow is my first Couch to 5k day!

Are you ready to watch Mamavation TV tonight? You can check it out here! (It is past my bedtime so I miss the show every week!=/)

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Mamavation Monday: Another Monday

May 23, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

I have nothing to report this week. It seems to be a standard post for me these days. My eating isn’t that off. Maybe a few extra treats as I just have a hard time say no but that isn’t the problem. I know I can say no. I can’t seem to find the motivation, energy, or time to be active. Work is as a busy time with extra hours, we are trying to get the yard/garden/path in order before it is 110 degrees outside, and school started again today. It is always something. I don’t know where to add the minutes because I can barely convince myself to get out of bed in the morning and I just crash at night after I finish the “must-do” list for that day. It just isn’t there.

It is on my mind to figure this out. I know I will but I don’t know what will make this change for me yet. If you have ideas, let me know. I seem to be out.
Are you ready to watch Mamavation TV tonight? You can check it out here! (It is past my bedtime so I miss the show every week!=/) Oh and if you are in the 5 before or after me, I will comment tomorrow, I promise!!

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Mamavation Monday: Survived Another Wedding

May 9, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

Saturday my sister became a married woman! I thought I might die. I used to have a small wedding coordinating business. It was fun but took a lot of time and energy. Then I had Grace (my oldest) AND we moved. I never started it back up after we relocated. I totally forgot how much my feet would hurt after that.

All that being said, my family survived a trip to Myrtle Beach and back … we all came back so that was good. It took us 8.5 hours to get there and 8 hours to get home. I should add the maps say it is a 7 hour drive so feel my pain.
As for my weight loss this week. ha. There was none but there was no weight gain which was impressive for some of the crap I ate. I did make the cake so I was darn sure having a piece of it! At any rate, I was happy to not come home plus 5 pounds or something crazy.
This week is a hard deadline for a work assignment for me so I don’t see scheduled work outs in my future this week. I am going to drink my water and watch what I eat. I must get to the store for some fruit and veggies. We are majorly lacking those as we cleaned the fridge/kitchen before we left!
Nothing much fun but that is how it is.

Are you ready to watch Mamavation TV tonight? You can check it out here! (It is past my bedtime so I miss the show every week!=/) Oh and if you are in the 5 before or after me, I will comment soon, I promise!!

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Simple Budgeting: Do you live a Savings Lifestyle?

April 29, 2011 By 4 Comments

Last month I talked about My Dirty Little Secret.

Why did I wait until the last minute for this month’s post? I was waiting to be inspired. My inspiration came at lunch yesterday with some co-workers. It was a ladies lunch and only four of us made it this time so we had the chance to talk together a lot.

I mentioned that my husband was making chicken chili for the chili cook-off at work (it was today) because we had a lot of chicken in our freezer. I stated that I hardly ever pay full price for meat.

One of the ladies at the lunch is in her 50s and two grown sons who are out on their own. She said she was so happy to be past pinching pennies for milk and bread. She went on to say how great it was to walk into the store and buy whatever she wanted not looking at the prices.

I honestly can’t imagine this. My husband and I have had the conversation on if we were suddenly rich, what would change for us. We have some stuff around the house we would want to do, student loans to pay off, if it was enough for me to quit work even better BUT we always say our shopping wouldn’t change much. Why would we pay full price for meat?? It doesn’t make sense to waste the money we do have even if we have a lot of it.

I told the ladies this at the table and I looks of craziness. Maybe my standards are high in that I expect to save 50% off my total every time I leave Harris Teeter. Maybe I do spend extra time cutting coupons and looking at ads/blogs online for deals. I can’t imagine paying those full prices though. Right now we don’t have the money to not shop like this but if we had extra cash just laying around (if you have that, feel free to share =P), I know we wouldn’t run out the door spend it.

So my question this month is …. do have a savings lifestyle or are you in a savings fad? Think about it. Let me know by leaving a comment!!

Do you have a budget question/idea/topic/blog post? Let me know in a comment or email to simplybudgeted at gmail.com!

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Friday Favorite: Chipins

April 29, 2011 By 3 Comments

Friday Favorites is another almost weekly feature here at Simply Living on a Budget. The whole point of this feature is to share some of my favorite finds. Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly post about. Reminder/Disclaimer/Whatever: Everything in Friday Favorites is something that I use and bought on my own.

This weekly feature isn’t all about food. I promise. I just couldn’t wait to post about these!

Up this week …

Details … (on the White Cheddar kind)

We just looked up the word “cheesy” in the dictionary, and we didn’t like the definition one bit. In our book, cheesy means glorious and delicious, and when it comes to the white cheddar on these insanely crispy chip’ins, cheesy means all sorts of right. So bust open this bag, try some of the crunchiest, cheesiest, most delicious chips ever, and let’s redefine cheesy once and for all. Enjoy, and Munch Better™.

My thoughts …
I have admitted before that I am a popcorn junkie. It is true. I accept it. I saw these at Sam’s Club last week and had to get them. This is odd because we rarely impulse buy on food at Sam’s Club and I don’t like to huge bags of stuff to just try. But these were POPCORN CHIPS. I should add, I am not a big chip fan but these said POPCORN.

Did I mention my addiction yet? Yeah so these popcorn chips totally have not helped my popcorn addiction because they are amazing. The kids LOVE them too. I find I can’t eat just one but I don’t have to eat the whole bag so this is nice. Sam’s Club at the White Cheddar kind so that what we got. I am in love. Serious love. The only reason the bag isn’t empty yet is because I shoved it to the back of the cupboard so I could forget about it. It isn’t really working but has made them last longer.

If you come across these in the store, you need to try them. If you have tried them, let me know what you think.

Oh and you can find Popcorn, Indiana on Twitter and Facebook so follow and like them!;)

Did you miss my last Friday Favorite? Find it here!
If you have a suggestion for a Friday Favorite, leave me a comment and let me know.
If you have a blog post that includes a recipe, tip, or article you wrote that you want me know about, leave me a comment and you might see it in a future Friday Favorite!!

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Silk for Milk 10-Day Challenge

April 28, 2011 By

**This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all who entered! The winner was comment #52! **

I recently had the chance to review Silk Pure Almond milk as part of the Silk for Milk 10-Day Challenge!
Details …
Silk has issued a Silk for Milk 10-Day Challenge. Have you tried this Challenge yet? They have made it super easy by creating suggestions for Everyday Swaps, Busy Family Swaps, and Everyday Chef Swaps!
I love the Popsicle mold suggestion on the Busy Family Swaps suggestion list. I think my kids would go nuts for those!! Especially my little guy who is teething and takes anything cold he can get right now!!
My Thoughts …
We have been a fan of Silk milk for awhile. My favorite is the Almond milk with the vanilla flavor. I was excited to learn about this challenge as it is really easy to make switches to Silk products. I have used them in my cereal in the mornings … I am a big cereal junkie for breakfast. I have also just poured myself a big glass to drink while eating a cookie. mmmmm.

One thing I am looking forward to trying this summer is some ice cream made with the Silk Pure Almond milk. We love to make our own ice cream and I think this will make for a super yummy treat!

You can find Silk on Twitter and Facebook. Plus HERE is their coupon link!!

I am pleased to announce I have been provided with the opportunity to giveaway a coupon for a free Silk product and a Silk Chico Bag to a reader!!!! You can start your own Silk 10 day Challenge!

This drawing will end Friday, May 13th at 11:59pm EST. I may pick the winner using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to reply with their address. You must include your email address in your comment or have it in your profile so you can be contacted if you are a winner! Please make sure I can see your email address!!! You must complete the Mandatory Entry for the additional entries to count.
So how do you enter?

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what your first switch would be (from milk to Silk!)

Additional Entries:
1) Head over to Facebook, like Simply Budgeted on Facebook HERE: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Budgeted/129997329472 Leave FIVE comments saying you did this!
2) Leave a comment in the latest Monthly Meal Plan post! Leave a comment here with what you did.
3) Follow me on Twitter. Leave a comment with your twitter name.
4) Tweet about this giveaway with this tweet:

RT #Win Free Silk Milk & have your own Silk Challenge thanks to @LoveMySilk! @simplybudgeted http://bit.ly/kU91eW #giveaway #silk ends 5/13

Leave a comment with the URL for your tweet. (One Tweet per day until end of giveaway!!)
5) Follow me publicly through the Google Friends Connect on my side bar. Leave a comment with your name that you subscribe with.
6) Subscribe to my blog using the Subscribe To option on the sidebar. Leave a comment stating you subscribe.

NOTE: I was sent a the product mentioned in support this review. No other compensation was received. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Mamavation Monday: Hello again

April 11, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

Where have I been? Life took over. My work assignment changed, remember I work full time outside the home. This change made the at-home balance harder and I had several weeks I was just happy to make it through. My graduate class is still going. It is almost over but also means the summer one is almost ready to start. I am not ready for the sprint pace of that class for sure. So excuses are excuses but something had to give and this gave. A lot of my blog gave and so did my workouts. My little tracker spreadsheet is proof of that.

Last week, I said I would fix this scale going in the wrong direction issue. I said I would at least ride the stationary bike. Then I got sick. So sick with little kid crude. So since I knew working out wasn’t going to happen, I decided to watch was I was eating better. I know I had slipped in this area … mostly in more sweets and less activity. So watching what I was eating did help and I was down three pounds. Now I am about 5 lbs off from where I was in January and then from that another 15 from low last summer. The problem last year was I stopped losing weight and my clothes kept fitting. I want … need to fit in those summer clothes again so here is the resolve to get back down and then to the past where I got stuck last year. So while I got my body shape to change some last year, now I need to get the scale to move. Hopefully I can find a way to do that this year because so far I have been pretty stuck in what I can stay committed to do.

And the question of the week …
How would you like to alter your family’s nutrition and eating habits? Do you have a plan to do this?
We meal plan monthly. You can see the meal plan for April HERE. This has really helped us stay on track. Plus the summer garden will go in soon. (The seeds were planted in the starter area last night.) Then there is the CSA we are members of … we have hopes for lots of veggies this summer.

Are you ready to watch Mamavation TV tonight? You can check it out here! (It is past my bedtime so I miss the show every week!=/)

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Mamavation Monday: Walking

February 14, 2011 By
It is Mamavation Monday time again!

My workouts last week didn’t happen but I walked. I decided to start walking. We can walk “loop” in our neighborhood. It is a fairly easy walk minus the hill. You see are at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains so our hills are actually hills. Man my butt fells the burn walking up that hill pushing the stroller. Now as the for the stroller, I feel like a dork pushing a double stroller with one kid in it but it is the only good walking stroller I have. I know if I asked for a single, my husband might have a stroke!

This week is the third check-in of the work “Biggest Loser” challenge. The giveaway for a scale is UP NOW! Find it HERE!! Oh and it is the EatSmart Precision Digital Scale! Get ahead of the game and follow them on Twitter at @EatSmartScales!
Results this week … are better. Last week, I was up 1.61% up. This week I am down 0.91% but overall still up 0.69%. So I am happy about that. YAY for progress in the right direction!! I do have to say without the new EatSmart Precision Digital Scale, I wouldn’t know this as my old scale wasn’t accurate at all!

This week I hope to limit my Valentine’s treats. I made them for the preschool so yes, I have eaten some! I also want to keep up the walking with my little guy. The weather is hinting at Spring so being outside is great … at long as I don’t get blown away. It is WINDY here today!

Once again, congratulations to the new Mamavation moms!!!! The Los Angeles Moms are Kate (@katecoleman77) and Angela (@ninemoremonths). The online selected moms are Kimberly (@christlikemommy) and Amanda (@beeacutie2).
Are you ready to watch Mamavation TV tonight? Sorry to disappoint but there is no show tonight so you can enjoy the day with your honey! Happy Valentine’s Day!

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