Kamis, 26 Desember 2013

10 Resolutions for a Healthy New Year

Hi friends! How were your holidays?  Very good here.  I did a recap of our Christmas day celebration on Honey We're Home if you want to take a peek.  Healthwise, I'm proud to say that I stuck to a good workout routine that definitely helped me not feel too bad about enjoying all the extra food I ate in the last couple of weeks.  I am ready to kick off the...

Jumat, 13 Desember 2013

Crave Clean New Year's Special!

PURCHASE H...

Minggu, 08 Desember 2013

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

One thing I noticed after the Thanksgiving break was that I was drinking less water because I wasn't working out and I got out of the habit of keeping my water cup full at home.  I felt like my skin was looking dull and icky, so this week, I got back on my normal water routine.  It helps so much to have a large bottle or cup that you like to drink from near you so...

Rabu, 04 Desember 2013

Healthy Beef Burritos

I've often talked about one of my go-to healthy meals, Tex Mex to go, and sometimes I mix it up and make it into a healthy beef burrito.  It's super easy and delicious!I like to make a big batch, so I start with 2 packages of Laura's lean ground round or sirloin (4% fat).  Lean beef still has plenty of flavor, try it if you typically go with something fattier.  I'd...

Senin, 02 Desember 2013

Healthy Hair

About a year and a half ago, I accidentally (and stupidly) fried my hair in an effort to save money and do an at-home Keratin treatment.  The Keratin treatment was supposed to turn my naturally-a-little-frizzy hair into smooth, shiny locks.  The box clearly stated NOT to use it on bleached hair (which I have), but I thought it would be okay.  Wrong!  After...

Minggu, 01 Desember 2013

Protein IQ

How was your Thanksgiving?  I was home the whole week with my son and we also had house guests, so I didn't get in any exercise.  My body is craving a good workout, so this week it's back at it!  I can hardly believe we're in December already and it's just 3 weeks until Christmas!  Let's make these 3 weeks count so we can finish the year strong.  And...

Senin, 18 November 2013

Checking In & Melissa Bender Fitness

I was so pumped with the "finish the year healthy and strong" and have loved reading your comments about your plans to do the same.  Week one getting back to the gym was really tough, I was sore, sore, sore.  But, that's the pain that comes from being sedentary too long and it's a good sore- if you know what I mean.  Sitting in the steam room at my gym after...

Senin, 04 November 2013

Finishing the Year Strong Update & Tex Mex Casserole with Egg Noodles

We last talked about our goal of finishing 2013 healthy and strong and I so appreciate your feedback in the comments.  Your courage to share where you are in your journey helps me be transparent in mine too and I feel like we're in this together.  I got in 4 really great workouts last week, and I feel that that's a good fit for my current schedule through the end...

Selasa, 29 Oktober 2013

Finishing the Year Healthy & Strong

*First let me apologize for having to truncate my posts (causing readers to have to click "read more" to read the post in its entirety) because my blog content has been stolen by some thief with a domain registered in India.  Thank you Leanne for letting me know- I had no idea.  Back in August 2012, several well-known bloggers started truncating their posts because...

Minggu, 27 Oktober 2013

Faith

just fyi . . . via Candy to My S...

Rabu, 23 Oktober 2013

Healthy Yogurt Station

After seeing the breakfast bar in my kitchen (which now includes a quick morning oatmeal), Leanne (Away We Go) emailed me to share something similar she does in her home with yogurt.  She created an adorable, functional way to have a healthy yogurt snack with a variety of toppings.  It's great to have all these yummy ingredients on hand and easily accessible....

Senin, 21 Oktober 2013

Vitamix Blender- Worth It?

Last year I was considering purchasing a Vitamix blender and then was shocked to see how expensive they were when I visited the website.  I was so naive about the price!  I wrote about it on Honey We're Home, asking people if they thought the Vitamix was worth it and got a lot of responses, mostly people encouraging me to make the splurge and others saying blenders...

Sabtu, 19 Oktober 2013

Faith

Worship and worship music is a huge part of my expression of joy, thankfulness, faith, and love of God.  I enjoy different kinds of worship music, listen almost exclusively to contemporary Christian radio in my car (89.3 KSBJ), and sing in the choir at my church.  I often feel the closest connection to God and His peace and love in my times of worship.  Many...

Rabu, 16 Oktober 2013

Kitchen Must Haves

Over the years, I have definitely found my "must have" kitchen items that I use over and over and that are essential to preparing healthy meals.  If you're going to go to the effort to cook meals at home, having these tools on hand will get you through most recipes.  And, you don't have to spend a fortune on these things.  I sourced all of these products through...

Senin, 14 Oktober 2013

Healthy Coleslaw

Cole slaw is a great side side dish that's a wonderful additional to so many meals.  I particularly love it with barbecue and made it as an addition to slow cooked pork shoulder last week.  To make a healthy cole slaw, I used the America's Test Kitchen  Healthy Family Cookbook recipe, which uses buttermilk, light mayo, and lowfat sour cream.  The result...