Well hello friends!
Life has been absolutely nuts the past three weeks! My little sister who lives in Connecticut always comes to visit in the summer for three weeks. We have so much fun, party, party, party and eat tons of good food, but I am worn out!
She just left yesterday and I’m trying to play catch up with my life. We had so much fun though. Ya know, I think this year was even more crazy than it normally is when she’s here. Usually I’m quite busy, so I just hang out with her as I can.
Well, this year my schedule is wide open! For better or worse! Ha ha! So we played and partied A LOT!
Oh how I love my dear sisters…..
We were able to make a quick trip to St. George (Utah) for a few days and it was so nice to get away! My mom and both of my sisters and their families came too.
We hiked a little bit, enjoyed the best sugar cookies ever and pretty much swam the whole time!
It was actually so awesome because for the first time in a very long time, I actually swam WITH the kids! It was so nice and felt so good to swim! We really haven’t taken our kids swimming too much because it’s always been a big ordeal. It seems like we always have a baby and/or too many non-swimmers. It’s always stressed me out!
Well, my ten year old FINALLY learned how to swim this year. He’s never been afraid of the water, but for some reason it’s just taken him a very long time to actually learn how to swim. He’s been in so many swimming lessons over the years, but this year I put him in one-on-one lessons and it clicked!
Sooooo, it was so nice to have only one non-swimmer. My five year old wore his life vest and swam all over the pool. He is fearless and loved to climb out of the pool and jump right back in….over and over again!
We all had a lot of fun.
On the way home we stopped at Grafton Ghost Town, which is near Zion National Park. It’s a very, very cool ghost town!
We visited it years ago, so it was so nice to visit again. We took this picture at the old school house with my mom and some of the grandkids….
My mom was an Elementary School teacher for many years, so when we took this picture we pretended she was the teacher with her students. I love this picture.
When we got home from Saint George, I had a lot of fun running around with my sisters and their kids. We went hiking a couple of times…
And bowling…
It was interesting to bowl in masks. Such a weird time we’re livin’ in!
I also loved going to see a play at the Hale Center Theater with my mom, sisters and niece….
We saw the play, Bright Star and it was wonderful!
I loved it so much and pretty much cried through the whole thing! I wish I could go see it again!
I especially loved going to that play with my mom and sisters because we went to a lot of plays while we were growing up. It was kind of our “thing.” We all love the theater!
Oh, I also gotta share this beautiful view from my momma’s house….
This is from the house I grew up in and that building is my old Elementary School. This view brings back SO many memories! And, do you see those sprinklers that are on? They are nostalgic to me as well since I fell asleep to the sound of those sprinklers many nights.
I love this view and the sound of those sprinklers so much.
I also gotta share these beautiful zucchini pizzas that we’ve been making lately…
These are so darn good folks! For real! We usually make them on the grill, but this year Kev’s been making them on the Smoker and OH MY, it’s next level.
So so so good!
My sister asked me if you can make these in the oven. You can, but they are not nearly as good. They really are so much better on the grill….and then even that much better on the smoker!
We’ve been using zucchini and tomatoes from the garden and I love it so much!
If you have extra zucchini and tomatoes you need to use up…..make these!!! You will not regret it!
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Well, I haven’t been able to update this blog since I’ve been runnin’ around and playing so much! Honestly it’s been fun, but I’m exhausted and quite happy to return to my more boring and mundane life! Ha ha!
Anyway, I thought I would share a few things that help me to stay healthy and still live a mostly healthy lifestyle amid the chaos!
These five tips could be helpful for you during holidays, birthday or on vacation too! So, here are the things that help me!
#1. Intermittent Fasting
Folks, I love, love, love Intermittent Fasting! It has been a huge game changer for me and has far and away been the best and most effective thing I have ever done that has allowed me to lose or maintain weight so easily! It really is such an easy and rewarding way to live and I love it so much!
I won’t go on about the details here, but I’ll just say that the most common way to do Intermittent Fasting is to fast for 16 hours a day and eat during an 8 hour eating window. Intermittent fasting is also very flexible. There are some days my eating window is shorter and sometimes it’s longer. As long as I’m consistent and keep doing some sort of version of it most days, I’m golden.
I typically put off my eating window until 2:00 PM, which is quite late I know. It just works for me! It allows me to eat until 10:00 PM if I want to, but most days I’m done eating before 10:00. By waiting until 2:00 to eat, it allows me more flexibility! It I want to eat late, I can! If I stop eating earlier, that’s fine too. It’s just easy for me!
There are some days when I feel extra hungry and I start eating earlier, but I usually try to put off eating until at least noon. This is just me and you don’t have to do it this way! You can make Intermittent Fasting work for you!
Okay, that’s all I will say about that today.
#2. Have a Homemade Protein Shake Every Day
This is also a huge key for me that has a ginormous impact on my overall health and weight. I LOVE my protein shakes so much because it’s such an easy way to get so many good things in the body! I especially like to end my fast with a protein shake since it floods the body with so many nutrients.
I have several protein shake recipes on my blog, but this is the typical one I make. I don’t measure anything….I just chuck it all in there!
- 1 cup homemade kefir
- 1 cup water
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I really love this one right now!)
- 1 spoonful cocoa powder (it makes it more chocolately!)
- 1 spoonful of either ground flaxseed, chia seed or hemp seed
- 1/2 scoop greens powder (I really love this one!)
- Two big handfuls of mixed greens (usually spinach, chard, kale or spring mix)
- A splash of almond, peppermint or rum extract
That’s it! It’s pretty basic. It’s not super yummy, but it’s not gross either. I don’t add any fruit because I like to eat my fruit! I look at protein shakes as a vehicle to get foods in my body that are hard to get in otherwise. Fruit and carbs are not hard for me to eat and I would rather EAT them than DRINK them.
I also don’t add any ice, although you could. I don’t like my shakes super cold, but I know a lot of people do!
I didn’t have my protein shakes while we were down in Saint George and I missed them! I guess I could have brought all the ingredients with me, but I just wanted to keep things simple.
I’m so grateful for my protein shakes and I definitely notice a difference in my health and weight when I consistently drink them along with Intermittent Fasting.
#3. Stay Mindful!
K, I know when life gets crazy or it’s the holidays or you’re on vacation, it’s so easy to say “to heck with it” and just eat whatever you want!
I definitely believe in splurging a little, especially during fun times, but it’s so important to still keep your head in the game!
I still Intermittent Fasted while we were in Saint George, which helped me to not go too crazy. We enjoyed pizza and sugar cookies a few times, but I tried to balance it out throughout the day.
I tried to stay mindful and accountable. Sooooo, if I knew I was going to have pizza for dinner, I chose a healthier lunch. If I knew we were going to have cookies, I made sure I ate a decent meal before I ate them so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat ALLLLL the cookies!
It’s just helpful to keep your head in the game and stay somewhat accountable!
#4. Maintain a Decent Exercise Schedule
When life gets crazy, it easy to just skip the workouts. I definitely missed a few workouts, but I still exercised quite regularly. I made it work for me and I made it fit my schedule!
I went to classes at the gym at different times that fit my schedule better. I went on a few long walks. We hiked a few times. I just tried to stay active and stay consistent.
Again, I stayed mindful and made it a priority!
#5. Don’t Skimp on Sleep!
I definitely stayed up late quite a bit these past few weeks, but I allowed myself to sleep in some days or I made it a point to go to bed at a decent time on the nights that I could.
Sleep is vital to physical and mental health! When I skimp on my sleep, pretty soon I start to feel run down and I lose my motivation. Sleep is huge!
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Well, those are my main tips that helped me to still live a healthy lifestyle these past few crazy weeks! It’s hard, I know. But, ya just gotta keep on pluggin’ along! Make habits that you can stick with and then stick to them!
Healthy living really is all about finding out what works for you and what you are most likely to stick with! It’s definitely a journey, but it’s very rewarding to find those things that help you!
Well, I think that’s all I will say today. I really think life should slow down a bit now and I’ll be able to hop on here more often.
I hope you are all doing well and are healthy and happy! xoxo
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