Friday 5: Traveling Fit...5 Ways to Stay on Track

Hi everyone! I'm Kelly. I am one of the Massachusetts reps, and I write A Lovely Life, Indeed. 

Committing to a healthy lifestyle takes planning. You plan what you're going to eat, prep your meals and easy to grab snacks, and you try to arrange your schedule to include some sort of physical activity. 

Staying on plan when you travel can be more of a challenge. When schedules loosen and food options expand, staying on track takes more thought and initiative, but it can be done. 

Here are five ways to stay committed to your fitness goals, even when you're traveling. 

1. Plan. Putting water and your favorite go-to snacks in a cooler will give you the flexibility to make healthy choices. Pack a bag with other snacks and avoid the gas station wasteland. 

2. Pit stop stretch. Stop along the way and stretch. Energize your body and brain during these needed rest stops. Need a circuit? Try this one. 

3 When you arrive at your destination, think about a walking tour or a bike tour of the city. How about a photo stroll? Walk whenever possible and explore excursions that keep you active, at least part of the time. 

4. Shop and cook when you can. This is better for your wallet and your waistline. When you do go out, grilled protein and a veggie is a great choice. Order your salad dressing on the side and dip your fork before you take a bite, instead of pouring it all on top. You can decline the bread basket if you want, and if you're ordering dessert, one dessert split among many can give you the bite of sweet that you want without overdoing it.

5. Enjoy a treat now and then. Don't deprive yourself of your favorite things. Eat a cupcake, and then work off a cupcake. 

Travel and healthy living can go hand in hand. Plan and prep where you can and when you can't, use what you know to make good, healthy choices. And enjoy the treats. 

Happy travels!  

What is your best tip for staying on track with a healthy lifestyle when you're traveling? 

Thank you to Northeast Bloggers Network for letting me guest post. If you're looking for an upbeat blog about love, travel and the good life, visit me at A Lovely Life, Indeed. Have a great weekend!

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Friday 5 - Twitter Tips

Welcome to the Friday Five!  

It's Danielle Kempe taking over the blog today. I'm your MA state rep and a blogger at Getting Fit in MA.

5 Tips for Twitter

1)    Follow people you find interesting

Twitter is all about interaction, and if you only follow the default accounts twitter selects for you, it gets boring quick.

2)    Find people by doing a twitter search

In the top right of your twitter home screen is a search option. Search for people, topics that interest you, even hashtags you’ve seen & want to learn more about.

3)    Share useful content

I use twitter for a mix of both work & blog interests. My job is fundraising for a nonprofit, so you’ll often find me tweeting links to stories about fundraising trends. I blog about fitness though, so I’m just as likely to be tweeting about an upcoming free workout class. My favorite is when they overlap & I’m tweeting about a friend’s fitness event that’s also a fundraiser for a nonprofit.

4)    Join twitter chats

Twitter chats can be fun to both learn and find new people to follow. Did you know Northeast Bloggers Network hosts twitter chats?! Their hashtag is #NEBlogChat and the blog announces when they’re scheduled. I recommend starting there.

5)    Have fun

There’s no wrong way to use twitter, as long as you’re enjoying using it.

I’m DJDIG on twitter. Feel free to tweet at me to say “hi”. I’m a huge fan of twitter, so I like helping others figure it out.

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Five Ways to Beat the Winter Blues!

Although we seem to be having a mild winter (at least compared to past years!) it's still easy to catch yourself with those awful winter blues. You may not be suffering from actual seasonal depression (although that's a very real thing that lots of people have to endure) but chances are winter tends to put a damper on your mood, especially since we live in the cold Northeast.

1. Don't become a hermit crab. You may not be lucky enough to plan a trip somewhere warm and tropical, but that doesn't mean you have to stay indoors and mope around! Make sure to stay social and plan fun activities with your family and friends. Since the days are shorter and we seem to be more exhausted after the work week during winter, lots of people choose to stay home on the weekends. Don't! It's okay to binge watch Netflix and stay in bed every once in awhile, but even planning stuff like going bowling, ice skating or just dinner with friends can really improve your mood. Planning group gatherings (some examples: weekend getaways to a bed and breakfast or the casino with your BFFs) can definitely keep your mind OFF winter and keep your mind on something fun that's coming up. Before you know it, those group gatherings will turn into beach and camping trips.

2. Take some Vitamin D. We get a lot of our vitamin D intake from the sun, so naturally during the winter when the days are shorter, we get less of this essential vitamin. Making sure you go outside for at least half an hour each day is a good way to keep getting some sun in, but if that's not possible for you or you feel like you need more, you should definitely add taking vitamin D to your daily to-do list.

3. Keep a fresh vase of flowers around. I've been buying myself a fresh bouquet of flowers every couple of weeks or so and I can't even begin to explain what a difference it does to my mood! Maybe you're not really a "flower" kind of person, but there are other ways to brighten up your room and keep it fresh. Buy a candle that has one of those "summer" smells (like sand and ocean...mmm). Keep your shades open when there is sun out. Surround yourself with bright colors. Every little bit counts.

4. Make an upbeat playlist for your work commute. Sometimes getting into your car in freezing temperatures is the biggest struggle of your day. Help yourself out a little by making an awesome and upbeat playlist for your commute. DO NOT listen to sad love songs! Put songs on there that you know will pump you up. Don't be afraid to sing along and dance in your car while you're stuck in traffic. If anything, it will make the person next to you smile and spreading some cheer is always a good thing, right?

5. Don't overeat. It is so, so easy to pack on the pounds during the winter. Our bodies probably even need the extra food to keep ourselves warm. But neglecting your nutrition is not the way to go. It's definitely okay to indulge every once in awhile and honestly probably comforting on those long and tough days, but don't let it become a habit. You don't want to suddenly wake up in the springtime and realize you need to lose that winter weight ASAP before bikini season. Ugh!

Tell us what you do to combat those winter blues!

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Friday Five and Five Ways To Keep Your 2015 Goals

Happy New Year! I don't know about you but for me the new year is a clean slate. It's the perfect time to set some new goals. And when I say goals, I mean actual goals and not resolutions. Does anyone actually keep to their resolutions past February? I usually don't. That's why I thought I would share five ways to keep your 2015 goals.

1. Keep it short and sweet: For me, I chose to make 5 main goals for 2015. Maybe that sounds low but it seemed realistic. With 5 goals I could focus my energy on them throughout the year.

2. Put it in writing!: Sometimes writing out your specific goals can help you feel more motivated. Write them in a journal, on your blog or just on whatever piece of paper you can find. Put them in writing so you remember exactly what you hope to accomplish. Make it pretty if you need to or add a favorite inspirational quote, whatever you think you will find inspiring just do it.

3. Keep that goal sheet accessible: Now that you wrote down what your 2015 goals are, make sure you keep them in a place where you can reference back to them throughout the year. Some people keep them on an inspiration board above their workspace, some people actually laminate them for their planners, and I've even had a person tell me their goals are displayed on their refrigerator. Obviously you need to find what works for you but the point is to be able to access them easily.

4. Make them attainable: I think this is so important because why should you set yourself up for failure? Now I'm not saying to aim low but goals have to be realistic. Now let's say one of your goals is fitness related, for example, to start to running. Are you really going to set a goal of running a marathon in February? Not really. Maybe a more appropriate goal is to conquer 3 miles. Sometimes if we set our sights too high, the disappointment of not accomplishing it by a certain time leads us to abandon the goal all together.

5. Keep going, no matter what!: I have this as my laptop background and I love seeing it everyday. Work hard and don't give up. If you lose focus just get right back on track.

So how about you, any big goals for 2015? How do you plan to keep them?


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Friday Five Hop and 5 Tips for Taking Care of Yourself During the Holidays

Welcome to the Friday Five!  Each Friday we invite you to link up your Friday Five post with us!  No questions, rules or theme here- just a post of 5 things!  Be sure to check out our guest Friday Five post here before you link up!

Hi Northeast bloggers!  It's Danielle Kempe taking over the blog today. I'm your MA state rep and a blogger at Getting Fit in MA.

Five Tips for Taking Care of Yourself During the Holiday Season

1) Make a schedule

Get out your calendar and write down what needs to get done.

2) Make plans that are fun for you

Make sure your schedule includes tasks that re-energize you. For me, that's making sure I get fun fitness activities and gel manicures. (No, not at the same time.)

2) Give yourself permission to say "No" to requests on your time that don't energize you.

This seems to be the time of year when everyone decides to throw a party.

While well meaning, it can be a drag on your already packed "To do" list, and saying "no thanks" is OK!

And for things that you can't say "no" to but don't want to attend, plan ahead how much time you will spend there and stick to it.

3) Breathe

If stress is getting to you, take a moment to have a deep breath, and focus on reminding yourself why you're doing this particular task.

Is the parking at the mall insane but you need a last minute gift? See if you can figure out a less stressful way to complete the task. Would a less crowded store have an equal gift? (My go to is a small fruit basket from a local store.)

4) Make sure to eat

It's easy to get so busy checking tasks off the "to do" list this time of year that things we don't normally even think about go out the window. I make sure to carry snacks in my purse when I go out. (Almonds are a good one because they won't melt on you.)

5) Find humor where you can

I take a break to read a comic from "The Oatmeal" but figure out what works for you!

I wish you a joyous holiday season & a happy new year!
And now it's your turn!  Do you have a Friday Five post to share?  Link up here and be sure to visit and comment on a few others in the hop!

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The Friday Five Hop and Favorite Holiday Books!

Welcome to the Friday Five!  We invite you share you Friday Five post with us below, but first please check out this week's Friday Five post by our State Rep Brie!

Friday Five- Favorite Kids Holiday Books

The holidays are upon us! Now that it is December 11th, I can no longer feel annoyed by all of the holiday hype I see on TV, at the mall, and in magazines. Its time is here and it is to be embrace!

We are book people in this house. Bedtime stories happen every single night in this house, and there's a special shelf full of some of our holiday favorites. Each year it seems like my son, PJ, is gifted with new, sweet holiday tale to expand our collection. This year, PJ is starting to read on his own and have opinions on what our book choice is each evening, and these are some of his favorites:

1. How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas?: This one may well be our all-time favorite! PJ gets a kick out of the examples of all the ways dinosaurs can misbehave on Christmas- stomping through presents, knocking down trees, and sneaking around to get a glimpse of the Big Guy. Also to be mentioned is How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Hanukkah. Dino holiday books have to hit every mark when your kid is half-Jewish! 

2. 'twas the Night Before Christmas: PJ loves this sweet story of Christmas Eve and Santa's arrival on the roof. All the clattering and "On, Dancer"-ing 

3. Thomas and the Christmas Tree: I won't lie- I am not a huge fan of Thomas. I honestly don't know how all of those wheeled idiots haven't run Sodor into the ground. But my kid loves Thomas, and I love my kid, so we trot out this tale of a little blue train that gets stuck in the snow. 

4. Pete the Cat Saves Christmas: Our favorite, furry cool dude is all Christmas-y and fun, and when Santa gets sick, Pete the Cat surfs in and saves the day! 

5. Llama Llama Holiday Drama: PJ and I have just started adding Llama tales to his bookshelf, and he just got this cute book for his birthday! Llama helps with so many holiday errands, but wonders if Christmas will ever come! 

We are always on the lookout for more books to add to our collection! Do you have a favorite holiday tale, one that you grew up with, or discovered when you had kids of your own? Let me know your recommendations in the comments! 

Happy Holidays!! 

Brie Latini is a thirty-something mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and fan of guilty-pleasure television. She currently lives in Collingswood, NJ with her husband Pete and son PJ. A work-a-holic turned stay-at-home-mom, Brie is enjoying her emerging second career as a writer as it now gives her a better excuse to pass on housework (“You load the dishwasher; I have to write!”). Brie’s work has been featured at Jersey Moms Blog, Mamalode, and MetroKids Magazine Online. You can read more about Brie’s journey through life as the mother of a special-needs child at her personal blog, {...a breezy life}.

And now it's your turn!  Do you have a Friday Five post to share?  Link up below, and please be sure to visit a few others in the link up and say hi!

 
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The Friday Five Hop and 5 Reasons To Shop Small Biz for the Holidays

Welcome to the Friday Five hop!  We invite you to link up your Friday Five post with us below, but first, be sure to check out this week's Friday Five post by our State Rep Jenn!

I'm sure by now, holiday shopping is in full swing for most of you. Personally, I went a little nuts on the Black Friday deals, but I still have so many people to buy for! Is it just me, or does the list grow every year? It's crazy.

As we head into the weekend and we're all thinking about the gifts we still need to cross off our list, I wanted to encourage you to think about shopping Small Businesses when making your purchases. I'll be honest - it's still about 50/50 for me (I can't help it, Target I LOVE YOU!), but I've made a special effort to find meaningful gifts from Etsy, craft and vendor fairs, and local shops over the past few years.

Here's why you should give it a shot, too:

1. It Makes a Difference.
When you shop from a small business, you're supporting the owner directly. There may be some employees depending on the size of your chosen shop, but for the most part, you are supporting the very person that created the item you're purchasing (which is especially true of Etsy, Craft Vendors, and other online shops.) And chances are, there's not a whole lot of hidden mark up for the sake of waving sales in your face the way department stores do. You are paying for the materials used, the labor it took them to create it, and the shipping they were charged to send it to you. And that's probably it! That money will likely go to someone who really needs it, or that has a big, brave dream. I don't know about you, but those are the people I want to support!

2. This is Their Busy Season.
I have my own teeny-tiny Etsy shop, and holiday shopping accounts for 90% of my yearly sales. I have maybe 3-4 orders from January - September. And then they fly in for about 2.5 glorious months. Those sales end up covering the costs of materials, shop fees, shipping necessities, and everything else it costs me to run my shop all year. Any penny extra goes into Christmas gifts for my family. Your holiday shopping helps my family in a direct way, and I'm willing to bet that is the case for most shop owners out there!

3. Handmade is Art.
When you shop from a handmade business, you're purchasing art. Maybe you don't consider a crocheted scarf or a handcrafted card to be art (it's not something obvious like a painting, or a framed photo, after all). But guess what - it is. We are all capable of creating in different ways, and everything we create is our own personal art. My husband's art is brewing his own beer. My son's art is rainbow colored people with rectangle torsos. My mother-in-law's art is knitting sweaters for each of her Grandchildren, and my Dad's is cooking unique, gourmet food for his loved ones. Our creations are our personal art, and that makes anything we make the art of ourselves. Isn't that a beautiful thing to gift?

4. You'll Find Unique Ideas For the Person Who Has Everything.
I'm sure you have 1-2 people on your list every year (maybe more!) that already have everything or has the funds to go out and purchase something they want, whenever they want to. Those people are usually Grandparents, and they are SO HARD to shop for! My husband and I are always scratching our heads over his parents, and 9 times out of 10 we solve our problem by searching Etsy for something. And you know what? They LOVE it! They appreciate the special things you can't just run in and pick up at Target because they are few-of-a-kind and hold a special value that something mass-produced can't contain!

5. Small Biz Gifts Stand Out.
One sobering thought I have every year is how my kids end up losing or forgetting about some of the toys they HAD TO HAVE at Christmas by the time the next one rolls around. How many other items can you think of that the same sort of thing happens to? Almost everything I've purchased as a gift from Etsy is still a prominent feature in the homes of the recipient. Their uniqueness, and sometimes personalization depending on the item, makes them so important and special to whoever received them. I love that about shopping handmade! Maybe it's even just that your gift is new and different and exciting - but regardless, small biz gifts leave an impact!


If you don't know where to start, I'd love to share some of my favorite shops with you! Feel free to send me an email (at rychinlove(at)gmail.com) letting me know what sort of items you're looking for or who you need to find a gift for, and I will do my very best!

One good place to start? I made a gift giving guide this week that's peppered with some of my favorite small businesses (though Target & Amazon make an appearance, too), and maybe you can get some ideas from there.

Happy Shopping!

Jenn is a mom of 3 boys from Buffalo, NY. Find her blogging at Rych In Love where she writes about her family, crafts, goal setting, home decor, recipes, holidays, books, and MUCH more! Her shop, Love Forward, can be found on Etsy.

Thanks Jenn!  And now it's your turn!  Link up your Friday Five post below, and be sure to visit a few others in the hop and leave them a comment!

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Friday 5 Link Up and More Than 5 Awesome Thanksgiving Ideas!

This week's Friday Five will be a little different!  We will still feature the link up so you can share your amazing Friday Five post, but rather than having a Friday Five of our own, we are sharing an awesome round up of All Things Thanksgiving, featuring posts from our members!

We've put together over 25 great ideas for a one-stop-shop Thanksgiving this year!

Recipes, Mains and Sides:

• Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey
• Roasted Parmesan Cauliflower
• Single Serving Sweet Potato Casserole
• Old Fashioned Turkey Stuffing (pictured above!)
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with ham and apples
• Perfect Gravy
• Thanksgiving Burgers

Recipes, Desserts:

• Pumpkin Roll (pictured above!)
• Apple Cranberry Crisp (pictured above!)
• Chunky Applesauce
• Rustic Apple Pie
• Thanksgiving Dessert Guide- Using Candy
• Acorn Oreo Balls

Crafts and Activities:

• Felt Cornucopia for Toddlers
• Pumpkin Pie Song and music sheet
• A Month of Thankfulness
• An Attitude of Gratitude
• Thanksgiving Hand-print Crafts

Decor and Centerpieces:

• DIY Fall Tablescape (pictured above!)
• Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece Ideas
• "Give Thanks" Turkey Slat Sign
• Fabulous Thanksgiving Home Decor
• Chic DIY Pumpkin Centerpieces

Hosting Tips:

• First Thanksgiving Dinner Hacks
• So You're Going to Host Thanksgiving (pictured above!)
• Thanksgiving Hostesses Gifts

And for the next day:

• Holiday Breakfast Remix

And now it's time for the Friday Five!  Link up your Friday Five posts below, and be sure to visit some other blogs in the hop!


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The Friday Five Hop and 5 Blogging Resources

Welcome to the Friday Five, our weekly link up for all those Friday Five, Five on a Friday, High Five for Friday types of posts!  Check out our Friday Five post and then link up below!

Today we are sharing five resources with some great tips for blogging!

1. The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Pinterest 
2. How to Take Your Own Head-shot (with an iPhone!)
3. How to Embed a Tweet in Your Blog Post 
4. Time Management for Bloggers 
5. Lifestyle Blog Post Ideas 

I hope you find some useful information here!

And now it's your turn!  Do you have a Friday Five post to share?  Link up below and be sure to visit and comment on a few others in the link up!


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