I won't post every day on this challenge but I did want to chime in that I have been making my daily green smoothie. I typically have an Herbalife Formula One shake for breakfast with coffee and creamer in it (my own mocha). For the green smoothies, I've made them for either breakfast or lunch. I still use 1 cup of soymilk and the Herbalife shake mix, but then added some more water, 3/4 cup frozen mixed fruit, a cup of spinach and a 1/4 teaspoon chia seeds. I occasionally add some other fruit too like a banana or blackberries... whatever we have.
Instead of mixing it in the Magic Bullet as usual, I used the Nutri-Bullet (same company, more oomph to the motor). I read recently that longer blending incorporates more air into the smoothie/shake and makes it more filling. In tests, people ate fewer calories of other food following a longer blended shake than a quickly blended shake. I usually use the shake as a meal replacement so I don't know if I'm eating fewer calories or not. In reality, I'm eating a few more with all the fruit and such added to my shake but I'm also feeling full longer and reaching for snacks less so it probably adds up to fewer calories.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Join me for The 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge
2012 Reading Wrap-Up
I set a modest goal of completing two reading challenges in 2012. To see my original post about reading challenges, visit here.
My main goal in 2012 was to read more and I did do that. While my Kindle Fire helped, I also read a lot more "old-fashioned" books last year as well as a few audio books.
There were many (MANY!) books I didn't read cover to cover. There are also dozens (DOZENS) of picture books I read to my children (I have Belinda and the Glass Slipper nearly memorized). We started homeschooling our kindergarten daughter and 4th grade son this year so there is a long list of books on homeschooling and books on various topics we've learned this year (fish, Ancient Egypt, the American Revolutionary War to name a few). The fourteen completed books listed below are actually pretty good considering how busy I am. I would like to finish more than that in 2013. I'll make another post for my reading challenges I picked this year.
2012 Challenges
The first challenge I picked for 2012 was the 6 in 12 Adult Reading Challenge sponsored by the Midcontinent Public Library system.
1) The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
2) The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings
3) Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian
4) Blood of Eden by Tami Dane
5) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (re-read) by Robert C. O'Brien
6) Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
7) Soulless by Gail Carriger
8) Changeless by Gail Carriger
9) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
10) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg
11) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (re-read) by Douglas Adams
12) Truth and Beauty by Anne Pratchett
13) Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
14) Parenting with Love & Logic by Foster Cline
The 2nd Challenge I signed up for was the What's in a Name 5 Reading Challenge. The categories for 2012 were:
1) A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (probably a stretch but we're going with "field" from this title)
2) A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
3) A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian (is a ghost a creepy, crawly?)
4) A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg
5) A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
6) A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings
A couple of those I had to stretch a little... mostly because I let this challenge fall off my radar.
All in all I did pretty well. I definitely read more this year than I have in past years and that was the ultimate goal.
My main goal in 2012 was to read more and I did do that. While my Kindle Fire helped, I also read a lot more "old-fashioned" books last year as well as a few audio books.
There were many (MANY!) books I didn't read cover to cover. There are also dozens (DOZENS) of picture books I read to my children (I have Belinda and the Glass Slipper nearly memorized). We started homeschooling our kindergarten daughter and 4th grade son this year so there is a long list of books on homeschooling and books on various topics we've learned this year (fish, Ancient Egypt, the American Revolutionary War to name a few). The fourteen completed books listed below are actually pretty good considering how busy I am. I would like to finish more than that in 2013. I'll make another post for my reading challenges I picked this year.
2012 Challenges
The first challenge I picked for 2012 was the 6 in 12 Adult Reading Challenge sponsored by the Midcontinent Public Library system.
1) The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
2) The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings
3) Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian
4) Blood of Eden by Tami Dane
5) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (re-read) by Robert C. O'Brien
6) Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
7) Soulless by Gail Carriger
8) Changeless by Gail Carriger
9) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
10) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg
11) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (re-read) by Douglas Adams
12) Truth and Beauty by Anne Pratchett
13) Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
14) Parenting with Love & Logic by Foster Cline
The 2nd Challenge I signed up for was the What's in a Name 5 Reading Challenge. The categories for 2012 were:
1) A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (probably a stretch but we're going with "field" from this title)
2) A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
3) A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian (is a ghost a creepy, crawly?)
4) A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg
5) A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
6) A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings
A couple of those I had to stretch a little... mostly because I let this challenge fall off my radar.
All in all I did pretty well. I definitely read more this year than I have in past years and that was the ultimate goal.
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