Month: March 2017

March 13, 2017

My 100 Pound Weight Loss Journey: Healthy Food At Its Core

On April 27th of last year, I decided my life needed to change. I was obese, unhealthy, had high blood pressure and my mental health was suffering for this. I knew that I needed to make a change and I had to make it quickly. But where to start? For me this was simple: my diet.

The pictures above were taken roughly nine months apart from each other. When I took the one on the left I was just about to participate in the Race Around the Bay with my sister. Looking back at it now, I am still in shock at that picture – I never realized how big I was. I knew I fell in the obese category but I still thought I was okay. Mentally, I did not see that girl in the picture. But my weight was affecting other aspects of my life: playing with my kids, going on rides with my family, am I going to fit in that chair and the constant worrying about whether my clothes would fit.

When I started my weight loss journey, the first and most important aspect of my life that I changed was my diet. When people ask me even today how I did it, I always tell them that diet was the number one contributor to my weight loss. Now when I say diet, I don’t mean that I followed a fad diet – I mean that I ate smarter, made myself accountable and stopped beating myself up for poor choices. After coming across the Dietprobe site, I realised I needed to substitute unhealthy choices for healthier choices and learned more about nutrition. While I knew the basics, I was by far no expert and meeting with several dietitians really helped me to examine the choices I was making and how to make better choices.

The top changes that I made in my life were:

I set myself a calorie and nutrient goal in My Fitness Pal on my phone and stuck with recording my daily intake every day. I record every item of food I eat – it is incredible how quickly calories add up when you start paying attention to what you eat and what your body really needs. I also included nutrient goals for carbohydrates, protein and fats. Your body needs a balanced diet and it is so important that you are giving your body the fuel it needs.
Food is fuel! Your body needs all the good food it can get so make each bite count. Cut out all processed foods and sugar. This included all white grains, juices, pop and caffeine (I now drink decaf coffee every day). I never cut out carbohydrates (and I think this is a very bad idea) but I made better choices by using whole grains and quinoa.
I drink a lot more water now. My water bottle is always by my side and you can use water enhancers or lemons to sweeten the taste of the water.
For personal reasons, when I started my journey I was a vegetarian. Because of my iron levels dropping I had to re-introduce meat back into my diet in the form of beef. I still don’t eat chicken, pork or fish for personal reasons. Protein is very important in your diet and you need to ensure you are eating enough whether it be vegetarian or not.

The most difficult times during this journey was eating out. You are still going to want to go out with your friends to restaurants, buy take out or order in. The trick is to make healthier decisions in where you go and what you purchase.

The Chopped Leaf is an excellent option for dining in, ordering in and take out. They offer high quality nutritional food that leaves you feeling full and good (not that bloated, I am going to regret this when I enter it in my calorie counter and in the morning feeling). They pride themselves on offering their customers high quality, fresh ingredients. They offer a wide range of products from whole bowls, salads, soups and they even have a kids menu. My personal favourite is the whole bowl number two which comes with spinach, chickpeas, roasted pecans, sun-dried cranberries, carrots, cucumbers, goddess sauce and warm basmati rice. The bowl was divine, a delicious blend of sweet with the cranberries and crunchy with the vegetables. The goddess sauce, I can’t even begin to explain how delicious that was. The bowl was the perfect size for lunch or dinner and filled me right up. The service was friendly, quick and brought right over to our table.

To introduce you to their fabulous line of nutritious and clean food, The Chopped Leaf is offering you a free chef inspired salad! Just download the coupon here and head into the Dundas and Appleby store before March 31st, 2017 for some delicious (and free) chef inspired tastiness. Even if you are on a weight loss journey like mine, you don’t have to sacrifice eating out when you can have nutritional, delicious food found at The Chopped Leaf.

Make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get inspired to make healthier choices and life a healthy lifestyle (not to mention the amazing photos that will leave you hungry!).

How has changing your diet affected your life? What do you look for when choosing restaurants to dine in or take out from?

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 10, 2017

Home at Last Book Review

Why did their differences matter so much?

About Home at Last

Link Whitman has settled into the role of bachelor without ever intending to. Now he’s stuck in a dead-end job and, as the next Whitman wedding fast approaches, he is the last one standing. The pressure from his sisters’ efforts to play matchmaker is getting hard to bear as Link pulls extra shifts at work, and helps his parents at the Chicory Inn.

All her life, Shayla Michaels has felt as if she straddled two worlds. Her mother’s white family labeled her African American father with names Shayla didn’t repeat in polite-well, in any company. Her father’s family disapproved as well, though they eventually embraced Shayla as their own. After the death of her mother, and her brother Jerry’s incarceration, life has left Shayla’s father bitter, her niece, Portia, an orphan, and Shayla responsible for them all. She knows God loves them all, but why couldn’t people accept each other for what was on the inside? For their hearts?

Everything changes one icy morning when a child runs into the street and Link nearly hits her with his pickup. Soon he is falling in love with the little girl’s aunt, Shayla, the beautiful woman who runs Coffee’s On, the bakery in Langhorne. Can Shayla and Link overcome society’s view of their differences and find true love? Is there hope of changing the sometimes-ugly world around them into something better for them all?

My Thoughts

Home at Last is by far my favourite book in this series following the Whitman family. We have Link, who loves his family (and their meddling ways) but who has yet to meet someone who can truly make his heart beat. Then we have Shayla, who has had a difficult life to say the least, with her Mother passing and having to raise her brother’s daughter. She has also had to deal with racism as some people couldn’t accept her mixed heritage.

A chance encounter changes everything for the two of them. They slowly begin to develop feelings for each other. While Link adores her, Shayla worries about how others will view and accept their relationship. Her past experiences have shown her that many people wont accept this relationship and as their relationship develops we see this happening again. All they want is to be together and be accepted but there are people in society that wont let this happen.

This book makes you sad, angry and hopeful all at the same time. You want them to find happiness but are worried for them with the ugly parts of society that don’t want this to happen. This is a truly beautiful and honest book that I fell in love with. The ending was perfect for the story and leaves you with hope. I would love to see a part two of their story.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Deborah Raney’s novels have won numerous awards including the RITA, National Readers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, the Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken Raney have traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deb’s novels-for life in the city of Wichita.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 9, 2017

Bop to the Music with VTech Rock and Bop Music Player

Music is a great way to help children learn, have fun and get active. We have always used music with our children since they were babies to soothe, to have fun and to learn. As they get older and more independent, they want to be just like us adults too. They want their own iPods or MP3 player to listen to music and they won’t hesitate to take yours. While I want my kids to enjoy music, I also know how easily these products can be damaged.

And that is where the VTech Rock and Bop Music Player comes in!

The VTech Rock and Bop music player is a toy that uses ten musical games to educate your child with kid friendly music. The music introduces them to letters, numbers, animals, instruments, time and more. Your child can play the music in different styles, have animals sing songs and can choose different instruments to play around with the melody of a song. This adorable music player even comes with its own set of headphones that allows your child to listen to their music independently without hurting their sensitive ears.

Size and design wise this music player reminds me of a Walkman and you should have seen the look on my kids face when I said that, ‘a walk what?!’. It has the same larger, sturdy build that you know will last. The music player is slightly bigger then an iPhone but will easily fit into your child’s hand. It is light weight and user friendly. Each button has an easy to recognize picture for both parents and children – numbers, animals and instruments.

The music is a delight to listen to, it was upbeat and fun all while teaching important educational lessons for children like numbers and letters.

The VTech Rock and Bop Music player can be purchased at Toys R Us, Amazon and Walmart. The music player retails for $19.99 CDN, making it an affordable and fun gift for any child on your gift list.

Make sure to follow VTech on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new toys and more.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 8, 2017

#PlayTestShare with Raincoast Books This Spring Break

Raincoast Books is back with an excellent assortment of books to keep your child (and you) busy during the spring break and through the months to come. The #PlayTestShare collection has a great selection of activity books, games and early literacy books, all with the goal of having you and your child reading and having fun together.

Here is the Raincoast Book #PlayTestShare round up:

Old MacDonald Had a Truck Bingo

A classic family-friendly game gets revved up with a winning combination of construction vehicles and farm animals, featuring artwork from the picture book Old MacDonald Had a Truck . This set includes six illustrated, double-sided game boards plus a set of colorful bingo calling cards and chips.

Old MacDonald Had a Truck Bingo is the ultimate Bingo game for family night! The game boards are large, thick (making it hard for little hands to break them) and use pictures under each letter. This is a huge bonus for children that are still learning and want to participate in games. The pictures on the board game are so cute (a pig painter and construction worker) we were so tickled over them. The game comes in its own box that helps to keep everything together, there is nothing worse then losing chips or cards to a game. This Bingo game will definitely be coming out every family game night.

Crystal Menagerie Colouring Book

Welcome to the creative kingdom of artist Michelle Waldie, where beloved animals become magnificent geometric wonders to color. This fresh new coloring book renders foxes, birds, hedgehogs, and more with a prismatic look that makes them as cool to display as they are pleasing to color. With just the right level of detail, these unique designs can easily be completed in one sitting if so desired, but those who want a more involved coloring session can opt for a 3-dimensional look-and make these animals leap off the page. Crystal Menagerie sets the imagination running wild and will bring coloring fans hours of immersive creative relaxation.

I love to colour, it helps to unwind me after a busy day at work, puts me in a great space mentally and helps me to refocus. The Crystal Menagerie Colouring book takes a whole new spin on colouring books with a geometric twist. The book is large, almost letter page sized and each animal image takes up the whole page. Each design is literally turned into a unique design with geometric shapes designed into the animal. They do it in such a unique way that it doesn’t take away from the animal – you can fully see what the image is supposed to be. The designs allow you to go traditional with your colouring or add some pops of colour to be unique – don’t forget to practice your shading! The shapes give you great practice for this. Each page is thick and removable which is a huge bonus if you want to display your art (which is of course you will, you should always show off your work!).

642 Things About Me: Young Writers Edition

A new offering in the wildly popular 642 series, this unique journal encourages young creators to dive deep into the subject they know best-themselves! Packed with quirky, thought-provoking, and imaginative drawing and writing prompts, 642 Things About Me: Young Writer’s & Artist’s Edition is a fun way for kids to document their lives, jump-start their creative talent, and produce a memorable keepsake-or the first draft of their bestselling memoir.

Mighty, Mighty Construction Site

At last-here from the team behind the beloved international bestseller comes a companion to Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site . All of our favorite trucks are back on the construction site-this time with a focus on team-building, friendship, and working together to make a big task seem small! Down in the big construction site, the crew faces their biggest job yet, and will need the help of new construction friends to get it done. Working as a team, there’s nothing they can’t do! The millions of fans of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site are in for a mighty good time with Mighty, Mighty Construction Site!

Space Playing Cards

Launch into your favorite card games while immersing yourself in deep space! Each playing card features extraordinary NASA photography and two Pantone colors on beautifully designed card backs. Includes a complete 52-card playing deck, plus 2 jokers.

TouchThinkLearn: Fly

A bird arrives, alights on a tree, finds a mate, and builds a nest. Soon its eggs will hatch and one brave hatchling will embark on its first flight. A deceptively simple and joyful celebration of the natural cycle of life, this book adds the bonus of removable-and movable-characters and scenery to the bestselling TouchThinkLearn format, featuring the hallmark production technique of glued-on pieces dovetailing with die-cut openings. In this first narrative title in the series, the movable pieces invite and involve the reader in a meaningful and multisensory participation in the story.

The Towering Tree Puzzle

Join adorable critters as they navigate the seasons and make new friends in their towering tree. Imaginative play and puzzle logic intersect as each interlocking branch of this innovative puzzle tells a new story, providing hours of entertainment. Adventure is just a branch away!

Birds of the World

With their colorful feathers, beautiful songs, power of flight, and dinosaur ancestry, birds are truly astonishing creatures. But did you know that the huge variety of known species includes daring acrobats, inconsiderate noisemakers, ruthless hunters, wonderful swimmers, and blazing runners? Or that the tiniest bird in the world measures just two inches long?

Beautifully illustrated by Olivia Cosneau, Birds of the World introduces aspiring ornithologists to these and other fun facts through a range of coloring activities, removable stickers, and a short quiz. In the process, children learn about the rich variety of birds living in our world, including nightingales, swallows, hummingbirds, pelicans, penguins, parrots, toucans, and flamingos, among others.

The Ultimate Book of Cities

Where does the Express bus take you?

How many swans are in the lake at the park?

What replaces the shoe repair store?

The Ultimate Book of Cities reveals the answers to these questions and much, much more in an oversized fact- and action-packed look at life in the big city! Featuring 59 flaps, pop-ups, pull tabs and movable parts, this all-you-need-to-know guide provides detailed information about what makes a city tick: from the different ways of getting around and what goes on in all the big buildings, to what traffic signs mean and who are all the people who keep the city in tip-top shape! It is a must-have volume to add to a young reader’s library of The Ultimate Book series.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian readers can now enter to win one of the above books from the #PlayTestShare collection. Enter via the rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received two of the books mentioned above in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 7, 2017

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

In The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, it’s 1907 in Los Angeles. Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels, but must disguise them behind covers of more domestically-appropriate reading.

About The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

It’s 1907 Los Angeles. Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels, but must disguise them behind covers of more domestically-appropriate reading. She could match wits with Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women are not allowed to hunt criminals. Determined to break free of the era’s rigid social roles, Anna buys off the chaperone assigned by her domineering father and, using an alias, takes a job as a police matron with the Los Angeles Police Department. There she discovers a string of brothel murders, which the cops are unwilling to investigate. Seizing her one chance to solve a crime, she takes on the investigation herself. If the police find out, she’ll get fired; if her father finds out, he’ll disown her; and if her fiancé finds out, he’ll cancel the wedding. Midway into her investigation, the police chief’s son, Joe Singer, learns her true identity, and shortly thereafter she learns about blackmail. Anna must choose – either hunt the villain and risk losing her father, fiancé, and wealth, or abandon her dream and leave the killer on the loose.

My Thoughts

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc is an amazing story from start to finish! I fell in love with the character, she is independent, free spirited and full of life. She is stuck in a world that discourages everything she stands for. But she still finds a way to follow her dreams and the path that is truly meant for (even if she has to lie a little bit to do so!). I admired her courage and even her naivety at times. She makes rash decisions but most of them are made with her heart and will good intentions. She becomes your best friend through the audiobook.

When a series of murders at brothels is swept under the covers by the police department, she takes this as the opportunity she has always wanted – to solve her own mystery. She has so much riding on this – she can prove herself to the world but if caught she will have to face her father, her fiance and even the police department! It seems as if the whole world is against her. But with her optimisim, she sets out to discover the truth.

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc is well written and narrated with plenty of twists and surprises that keep you hanging on to every word. Adventuours, suspenseful and with a perfect main character that makes you just fall in love with her – this is the perfect read for young adults and adults a like.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Audible.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Jennifer has been a block layer, a nurse’s aid, a fragrance model, and on the research faculty at UCLA, where she spent 11 years conducting studies to inform health policy. A native of Southern California, she now lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and two teenagers. She’s currently writing book three in the Anna Blanc Mystery series. Book two, THE WOMAN IN THE CAMPHOR TRUNK, is coming out in Fall of 2017 from Seventh Street Books.

About the Narrator

Moira grew up in teeny-tiny Rutland, England’s smallest county, which is fitting as she never managed to make it past five feet herself. Moira’s work spans the pantheon of the voiceover world: plays for BBC radio, plays for NPR, video games, commercials, television promos, podcasts, cartoons, movies and award winning audiobooks. She’s won Multiple Audie Awards, Earphone Awards, as well as Audible’s prestigious Book-of-the-Year Award. She has lately set foot in front of the camera again, appearing in “Pretty: the Series” and the Emmy-winning “Dirty Work.”

Disclosure: I received an audiobook in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.