Tablet Time {New IPad or $540 Cash} Giveaway

If you recall, I entered a body transformation contest back in January and the top prize was an IPad2.  Over a week ago, the results were announced and I WON!  I was the top loser having dropped 10.6% body fat!  So, I thought it would be only fitting to participate in a giveaway for an IPad but this time we are giving away one of the NEW IPad Tablets just in time for Father's Day.  Yes folks, I have teamed up with Measuring Flower, I'd Rather Be Changing Diapers, The Anti-June Cleaver, Spring Coin and some other super awesome bloggers to bring you this amazing prize!

The Prize
 One incredibly lucky reader will win their choice of:

 

Prize Details

       New IPad Option:

- New IPad Tablet (16 GB Wi-Fi) in the choice of white or black.  Accompanied with a polyurethane smart cover in winners color choice. (dark grey, light grey, pink, green or blue)

- Optional: Two lines of engraving on the back of the tablet. (a maximum of 26 letters/characters per line)

      Cash Option:

- Entrants must have an active PayPal account to select the cash option.

- $540 will be sent as a gift to the winner via PayPal

How To Enter:

This giveaway is being run using a Rafflecopter form.  To use the form you can either log in using Facebook or enter your name and email address. Do not worry, all information is kept completely confidential and safe!  If you need more information in using the Rafflecopter form go here.

Giveaway Rules:

- None of the entries are mandatory.  You can enter as many or as few as you would like!    

- You must complete each entry exactly as stated, including providing extra info in the field, for the entry to count.

- You can perform each entry ONLY ONE TIME.

- Make sure you leave a valid email address in the Rafflecopter field.  The winner will be notified with this email address so it is important to claim your prize.

- If you already like/follow me or one of the other blogs, that entry still counts.

Giveaway Ends

Friday June 15, 2012 at 11:59 PM EST

 The giveaway is open to U.S. & Canadian residents only, and entrants must be 18 years or older. (Quebece residents are ineligible to enter, sorry!)
Good Luck and May The Odds Be Forever in Your Favor! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Skinny" Baked Banana Protein Donuts

This has to be one of my favorite recipes thus far, even my hubby loved it and was asking for more!  I have definitely been on a doughnut kick lately, having recently made the Skinny Baked Chocolate Donuts but I have to admit this recipe one ups it.  These donuts are so moist and BEST fresh out of the oven.  I topped mine with Nutella and that hit the spot!  You won't believe these are "skinny" after the first bite. Let us all make this tomorrow, June 1st in honor of "National Doughnut Day"!
Ingredients1 3/4 cup oats1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce1 scoop protein powder2 bananas1 tsp baking soda1 tsp baking powder3/4 tsp salt1/2 tsp cinnamon3 tsp lemon juice1 1/2 tsp vanilla1/4 cup agave sweetneroptional: nutella (to spread on top) Directions1.  Preheat oven at 375 degrees and spray doughnut pan with non stick spray. 2. Blend all ingredients well and fill pan with batter. 3. Bake  for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  Stick with toothpick before removing from oven to ensure the donuts are cooked thoroughly.

Happy Guilt-free eating!!

Book Review and Giveaway: My Big Bottom Blessing

 

"Imagine yourself standing in front of a mirror right now- completely naked.  Can you say that you love who you see? Believe it or not, I can." -Teasi Cannon

Teasi Cannon's book My Big Bottom Blessing pulled me in and sent me on a path of self reflection from the very beginning.  When I was first asked to review this book, I had preconceptions of a woman on journey to weight loss.  I was so wrong.  Matter of fact, the author (Teasi Cannon) is still 50 pounds overweight and OK with it.  She proclaims that she loves her big bottom.  This however bothered me a bit.  How can she write a book proclaiming it was OK being overweight?  Is that the kind of message I want to send?  But as I read on, I started to understand the underlining message; a very important message.  This book was a message about body image, loving yourself and building your self esteem.

"90 percent of high school junior and senior girls diet regularly, even though only 10 to 15 percent would be considered overweight."

Why is it us girls have such a poor body image of ourselves, especially as a preteen/teenager?  I know I did, I struggled with my weight since early adolescence and remember dieting as early as elementary school.  I hated the way I look, I felt like life was so unfair to have given me this burden of being overweight and I compared myself to all the other girls I encountered. As the mother to a little girl, my hope is that she grows up loving herself no matter what shape her body is and that is exactly what Teasi tackles in her book.

Her humor and honesty about her own weight struggles won me over.  Her self reflective question's at the end of each chapter really made me reflect on my own body issues.  Her "pep talks" empowered me and her message touched me.

Did this book make me happy with my big bottom?  Not really, I am happy with the progress I have made but it's still a work in progress.  Do I love my body?  Yes, yes I do.  I love it enough that I want it to be a vessel of health and this book has helped me redefine that.

Now for the fun part!  I am giving away a copy of the book to one of my readers!  Just fill out the form below and cross your fingers. Open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Weight of The Nation: Children in Crisis

Tonight I watched part 3 of the four part documentary series "Weight of the Nation" airing on HBO.  This particular series "Children in Crisis" tackled the growing epidemic of obesity in our children.  I commend HBO for running such an eye opening documentary.  Sure we all know that obesity  is a HUGE problem in America but hearing the numbers are scary, especially when it concerns our children!  Hearing things like "today's generation of children may be the first generation to die younger than their parents" and "1/3 of children are overweight, this number has TRIPLED from the last generation of children."  See?  Scary.  Extremely scary.

This got me to thinking about my own children.  I would like to think that I am trying to raise my kids with healthier habits than I was raised with but am I doing enough? 

From the moment my children were off formula, I was VERY adamant about every little thing they put into their mouths.  Friends use to make fun of me because I would not let them eat candy as a toddler.  My kids have never even tried soda because I am so against it in our home but as they get older it is harder to shelter them from these unhealthy habits.  And I admit, there are even times when I turn a blind eye to what they are consuming and also contribute to some unhealthy habits.  Trips to McDonald's, little Debbie snacks in their lunches and frozen pizza for dinner are a few of the things I am guilty of doing. I always try to point out the unhealthy foods they are eating and inform them that eating too much of these "bad" foods will make their body's sick.  But am I wrong for contributing to this in the first place?  We consume food to fuel our bodies, not to be used as a reward.
  

Sometimes, I feel like I am punishing them with this mentality....

But will they really be missing out on anything if I do not let them enjoy a few "bad" habits from time to time?  This brings me back to the "no soda" policy.  Are my kids missing out from not having soda? No.  In fact, once at a birthday party Zach had accidentally mistaken Sprite for water.  He started spitting, rubbing his tongue and yelling "It's burning my mouth!"  I was happy and VERY relieved he did not like it.  Why can't I do this in all aspects of his nutrition?

For one thing, it does take time and is a little more costly to eat healthier but is it not totally worth it for our children's health?  I do not want them to become one of the statistics;  I do not want them to have to grow up with the weight and health struggles I had to endure.  I do not want to be just an example for my kids but a pioneer towards better health for them.  And I can, we all can.  Aren't our children worth it?

 

Jalapeno Zucchini Chips

Recently, a friend of mine made hummus and brought it to work so I could try.  It was delicious and while I was eating it (with carrot sticks) I kept thinking how I would love to scoop it up with some potato chips.  Then I started craving potato chips.  Dang you, hummus for making me crave potato chips.  

However, it did get me to thinking... Recently, I had seen some different versions of baked zucchini chips floating around and I just happen to have some zucchini on hand.  Why not make my own awesomely healthy version of a chip?  My own zucchini chip with less the fatness and more the flavor!

Baked Zucchini Chips

Ingredients

1 Zucchini

Seasoning (any flavor that fits your fancy)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 225 degrees and line pan with non stick foil.

2. Thinly slice zucchini and arrange the slices on the pan.  Season.  I used a Jalapeno seasoning because I am from the South and I love hotness!

3.  I baked for an hour and then checked on them.  Some were completely dehydrated and "chip-like" so I removed those and continued baking the rest until they were done.  Thicker slices take longer to cook. of course, so I suggest trying to slice the zucchini as thin as possible.

These were great and totally reminded me of eating a chip.  I did not have any hummus to dip it into,that will probably be my next venture!  

Question: What is your favorite flavor potato chip? (I want to try to recreate different versions of the zucchini chip!)

Some websites I researched before preparing the zucchini chip on my own:

http://vittlesandbits.blogspot.com

http://cookingwithmichele.com

http://urbanveganista.com

Oh LARABAR, How I Love Thee.

I am UBER excited about these new LARABARS!!!!  Let me start off by saying, I have been a huge fan of the LARABAR since I was first introduced to them at bootcamp, Complete Fitness Results.  They had an entire box of the original bars on the shelf and I inquired about them after my work out one day.  I figured if the trainers were eating them then they MUST be good for you, right?  I was a little reluctant though because I have tasted some of these "healthy" protein type bars before and most taste like cardboard masked with chocolate.  But my trainer assured me that they were delicious and she was right! 

Since then, I have been hooked on LARABAR.  As far as healthy variety bars go, LARABAR is one of the better priced ones but with my LARABAR obsession the price can still take a bite from my pocketbook.  I even tried recreating the bars on my own but it NEVER turned out the same; you would think it would be easy to do since LARABARs contain all natural ingredients.  LARABAR must add some sort of yummy fairy dust to each bar because there is just no replicating that kind of deliciousness!  Therefore, I buy them in bulk but it also means I only have tried a few varieties of the bars (cashew cookie, apple pie and cherry pie).  So, when LARABAR offered to send me some different varieties to review, I was all for it!!!

I was first sent some of the original varieties (cherry pie, pecan pie, coconut cream and key lime pie), the old tried and trues.  And of course, I loved them!  I had already had the cherry pie flavor, I eat it on a regular basis so I knew what to expect with it, deliciousness.  What I did not expect was how I would particularly fall in love with one flavor, the Pecan pie bar.

OH-MY to the GOODNESS!  Being from the South, Pecan pie is a staple on the holiday dessert menu and has now become my FAVORITE LARABAR.  I am telling you.. it is so good that when Thanksgiving rolls around I will now have a pecan pie flavored LARABAR for dessert instead of eating the fattening real pecan pie.  Yes my friends, if you are a fan of pecan pie, this bar will not disappoint!   And as if that weren't enough... a few days later I received another shipments of LARABARS, the UBER bar!

Unlike the original LARABAR, which blends unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices together into a mixture of yumminess, the UBER bar contains whole fruits and nuts mixed together to create a unique blend of sweet and salty (that sounded like a commercial!).  The texture gave me the feel of eating a granola bar but it did not contain any granola and tasted SO much better.  I was sent the apple turnover, bananas foster, cherry cobbler and roasted nut roll varieties.  I was particularly leery about trying a banana flavored bar, that just sounded weird to me, but it was excellent and my favorite of the four.  They were ALL very, very good and what I really appreciated was how they stuck to the originals by using less than 9 ingredients and containing ingredients I can actually pronounce.  Thank you LARABAR for once again exceeding my expectations.

Disclosure:  I did receive some free LARABARS for telling the world about how awesome they are; however all opinions are totally my own. 

Why Does My Scale Hate Me?

I have a love/hate relationship with my scale.  When I lose weight, I LOVE my scale. When I lose weight, my scale is my best friend.  When I lose weight, I twirl around the kitchen, dance with my scale, playfully hop on/off it and talk sweet nothings to it out of overwhelming gratitude.  Those are the happy times.  The rest of the time, I hate my scale!  Or should I say... My scale hates me.  You don't believe me?  Think I am crazy because I believe my scale has feelings?  Well sit back, listen and read on.

I woke up this morning being my usual chipper self with a big stretch and a smile on my face.

Like every morning, I start my day out making a pot of coffee and singing my "making coffee song."  I am one of those overly cheerful morning people most want to drop kick or punch right in the throat.

As soon as the coffee gets going and I tire myself out with my annoyingly cheery morning song... I hop on the scale.

I hate you, scale. 

I sulk to the bathroom.

Ah ha!  Maybe that is the reason the scale has not changed since yesterday!  Water weight!  That totally explains it.  Duh... I will go reweigh myself.

I gained, GAINED?!  Why do you do this to me scale? Why do you toy with my emotions like this?  Why do you hate me so much? Whyyyyyyyy.

I told you, my scale hates me.