Dare You To...

Housekeeping first: we've got three lucky winners for the PopChips Giveaway! Random.org helped me select entries 19, 24, and 100: Laurel C, Kabri, and Heff (my first Facebook fan--paid off)!  Congratulations!
Thank you to all who entered; stay tuned for the next great giveaway :)

With that in mind, let's talk about smart snacking.


"Oversnacking" is something I've been struggling with recently, so I thought I'd share the principles guiding my own snacking choices going forward.

There are many components that go into snacking in a smart way, but today I'd like to focus on what I see as the two main dimensions: QUALITY and QUANTITY.  I'll give my quick advice on these, with some wise words from Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual along the way.

But first, the obvious question: why snack at all?  Snacking isn't for everyone; some people get by very well on a solid three meals a day, period.  We're not all like that, though.  Some …

Hey friends!  I'm short on time, so this will be short on words, but here are the veggiful, PALEO-approved eats I ate yesterday!

#GIVEAWAY - PopChips.





Breakfast:  An unphotographed (sorry!) omelette, not unlike the ones HERE.


Lunch:

Snacks:

Dinner:

Dessert:

Yes, I will be making this apple crisp again.
Yes, I will be sharing the recipe. 


Happy WIAW!  If you haven't already (or want to add more entries), enter this PopChips giveaway!  Closes tomorrow.

Hey, friends!  Just watched this documentary,'Hungry For Change.'  It does a fantastic job of making the food matters facts, biology, and research relatable to average people in their daily lives, and, most importantly, it does more than scare; it offers viewers SOLUTIONS.

(Can you guess the solution?  Hint: it involves eating real foods. ... oops, did that spoil the ending?)

Click the link below to watch the premiere for FREE!  That's right; through the end of the month (aka ASAP!) you can watch the entire thing for free online.  Get to it!


Too lazy?  Can't spare 90 minutes?  Fine, the gist is that the ingredients in processed foods (including low-fat foods, diet sodas, and diet shakes and bars, etc.) are chemically designed to make you eat more, crave carbs, gain weight, seek the nutrients you are NOT getting from those foods.  Worse, we become addicted to these processed fake foods, the sugar, the chemicals.  It's the sad truth.  This is what our food industry h…

Alright, friends, it's been a week!
(Don't forget: POPCHIPS GIVEAWAY!  Last few days to enter: CLICK HERE!)
Did you fulfill last week's dare to shut down before bed?  How did it go for you?  Did you find it difficult to fit in time, did you enjoy the half or whole hour of peace before slipping into sleep?

If you were unable to give it a go, please give it a try!  It makes such a difference, really.  Do not forget to prioritize sleep!  You can read more about the fundamentals of sleep at FitFluential.  Balanced Bites also discuss how bright lights after the sun goes down can negatively influence your metabolism.  So try making your 7-9 hours a habit--a priority--and aim to get 30-60 minutes of technology-free downtime before bed. Let your brain ease into the darkness, let your body understand that it's nighttime, and let your mind become free of the stresses that distract it from relaxing.

That's what I'm about to do. I'm about to crawl into bed (later than …

#1: Don't forget to enter the PopChips Giveaway!
--> Want to see what I'll be eating today?  I can't wait to show you!








When I received a package last week labeled "Royal Mail," I was confused but excited as to what it could be.


Then, it hit me like a giant package of yummy treats: I'd joined in the US-UK Foodie Blog Swap hosted by Jemma at Celery and Cupcakes!  In the beginning of the month, I'd sent a package full of Trader Joe's treats to Lauren at Powered By Peanut Butter.  She lives in the UK, so I figured she could benefit from the wonder that is American TJ's, so I sent some nut butter (just a glance at her blog reveals her love of the stuff) and other goodies. You can see her reaction to my gifts in her post here.


Silly me, I thought I'd be giving her the treat by sending Trader Joe's love. HA!  Along with a very kind note, Lauren sent a smorgasbord of these incredible UK-based items.


I was struck most by how natural even these &q;…

TGI-Monday!  Sure, it's late Monday night... Tuesday by the time you read this, I know.  Just bear with me.

But first...  Be sure you entered the PopChips giveaway!  Three lucky readers get a month's assorted supply, so enter here!

NOW, back to why we're being thankful for Monday:  This morning after uploading my own post, I read a thoughtful piece by Angela at Eat, Spin, Run, Repeat, in which she challenges (yayy) us to treat each Monday like New Year's Day, to start fresh, to say that this will be a good day, a good week, and to make plans to ensure as much.


She suggests selecting a focus for the week, and to take steps toward that focus all week long.  Specifically, each Monday, she (and I) will declare...

One main focus for the week, which may or may not change from week to week,Two things I'm going to do as part of the focus to make my week better, andThree benefits I'm going to see/feel/experience as a result of these positive actions.(Quoted from Angela.)…

Switch off your cell. Table your tablet. Close your computer.


( WAAAAAAIT!!!! Read this post first, please. )


It's 10 pm... 11... 12. How can your brain power down at night if your electronics are still buzzing and bright until the latest possible moment before your head hits the pillow? Studies have shown it takes time for the effects of the light rays to wear off, those light rays that keep your brain active and awake.

This week, I dare you to pick a "shut down" time, at minimum, 30 minutes before bed. Make it 60 for bonus points. After that time, give your mind and body time to relax before bed. Read a book, talk to your family, tidy up your room, wash and brush, etc. Do anything that does not require an on/off button. Even better still, make sure the 'off' electronics are not leaving hints of light in your room! Best to sleep in complete darkness.

Personally, I find folding and putting away laundry strangely relaxing. Write a (pen and paper) to-do list…

Happy one-month anniversary of Valentine's Day!! 
What?  You don't celebrate the month after Valentine's Day?  Well, good thing I do; I have a special gift for you!


In February, I got the best Valentine of all: special delivery from Popchips!, love note and all:


Popchips was kind enough to share with me their new flavor - Sweet Potato!


The box contained several snack-size bags of Sweet Potato Popchips, all with a cute Valentine attached.  I'm a sucker for puns.

Here I am, rambling on and on about my Valentine's package. Where are my manners?  Readers, may I introduce you to Popchips.  For those of you who don't know what Popchips are, they're the hottest, tastiest "chip" on the market. The best part is, they're not bad for you (Popchips are not fried; they're popped!) and don't have too many scary, unidentifiable chemicals listed in the ingredients.  Sounds like my kind of chip!


Want more information?  Their website has everything you c…

OK, so you set smart goals, and made a plan. Did you stick to it?  Here's my recap from last week for running and eating.

Running
I resolved to get back into my running game. After a stellar January and a less impressive February, I started March off right by running my goal of 12 miles last week.  Remember I dared myself to run 3 times a week, and to cover 50 miles over the remaining weeks in March, back to my original 2012 resolution.

That Sunday, I got started right away with a 3-mile run.  It was actually really motivating, because I was able to run those3 miles without walking.  This is something that I've only done a handful of times (mostly on the treadmill and once on the road during a race), so I was surprised when, after a month of barely training, I was able to do this without too much effort.  Just got on the treadmill, turned on a podcast (this was new; I usually listen to music), and pressed 6.0.  When the 30 minutes was up, I was elated that I was still able to ru…