Author: cvegnad

January 13, 2015

The Metabolism Solution Review & Giveaway

A sluggish metabolism can hinder weight loss and fitness goals. After years of research Lisa Lynn has developed an approach to eating and exercising to help maximize your metabolism in order to reach your weight loss goals.

About The Metabolism Solution

You might be thinking – not another weight loss plan! But here is the main difference between The Metabolism Solution and other weight loss solutions: Lisa Lynn focuses on the body and what we are consuming to help with weight loss. Lisa has studied and examined how to increase our own body’s natural metabolism to speed up our weight loss and fitness goals. Lisa also teaches us how to work out (yup there is a science behind exercise!) and how to use this to help you reach your goals. Lisa also includes some delicious recipes at the end of her book to help guide you in meal planning and eventually developing your own recipes. The Metabolism Solution is the perfect road map to transform your whole life.

About Lisa Lynn

Lisa Lynn is a celebrity fitness and nutrition expert who has dedicated three decades of her career to personal training, metabolic weight loss and performance nutrition. Coupled with her experience in fitness and nutrition she has earned four certificates from the International Sports and Sciences Association’s Professional Division.

Her research in metabolic boosting and performance nutrition has resulted in the development of her Leaner Lifestyle DVD series that help promote healthy fat loss by boosting stubborn metabolisms.

My Thoughts

I have been dedicating the last several months to healthier eating and (trying) to stick with my workouts. I have not always been faithful (hang head in shame!) and at times I have felt just like giving up. Mostly because I can not get my food and exercise to work for me. I am having a hard time revving up my metabolism and ensuring that I am reaching maximum results or any results to be very honest. This book was delivered at a perfect time for me.

Lisa devotes several of the chapters examining and explaining the how to and why’s of diet and exercise. Even with my own educational background I found I definitely needed this refresher to help open my eyes. While some of the advice will be hard to follow – cutting out the amount of red meat, fruits and adding in all the extra vegetables (which will definitely explain the weight loss achieved) a lot of it is good healthy advice that we should be incorporating into our daily lives.

Lisa also includes a fantastic set of recipes at the back of the book divided up into categories with some pretty fantastic and delicious sounding names. Each recipe was easy to follow with minimal steps to take to prepare the recipe. Which makes sense as the healthiest meals for us are the simplest ones with minimal ingredients. I found that it may be hard to stick to the increased vegetables with minimal fruits (she suggest one a day) as I love my fruits.

I really like the way Lisa writes. You feel like you are having a conversation with her and she has been there. Any excuses you may have she already knows and has the answer for you. She gets straight to the point and explains the theories she presents in an easy manner.

Overall, The Metabolism Solution, is a very helpful tool to aid in weight loss and if you can stick to Lisa’s suggestion you will be on your way to weight loss in no time! If you are like me and have a harder time you can adapt her concept to better suit your goals and have the benefits of eating healthy and losing weight (just slower than others may).

Rating: 4/5

Giveaway Time!
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Disclosure: I received a copy of the Metabolism Solution in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 11, 2015

Say Hello to 2015 with Kinder Surprise #kindermom

The holidays are officially over and as we return to regular routines (and a little bit more of a relaxed pace!) we can reflect on the last year and how we want to grow in 2015. Our holiday season was very special this year as we remembered my Grandfather whom we lost to cancer as well as having a surprise visit by my husband’s cousin whom he has not seen in over fifteen years! Talk about an emotional reunion – I have never seen my husband cry before. We shared tears, laughter, wine and chocolate – lots of chocolate (especially Kinder chocolates…mmm yum!!).

This year has a lot of promise (every new start always does) as well as some changes. Our youngest will be going off to Kindergarten (tearing up at the thought of that!), learning new sports (skiing – hopefully I will not make a repeat show and twist my ankle falling like I did with cross country skiiing) and I am a quarter of my way through my Marketing Diploma. Just thinking about all these changes makes my stomach turn both in anticipation and in fear but the best part of change is the surprises that come with it. While sometimes the surprises can be good other times they are harder to adjust to. Each new turn brings with it a new lesson and a new opportunity for growth.

To help make those bumpier surprises easier for our children we try to sneak in a little Kinder Surprise. The Kinder chocolates are a way for us to say I love you and that you mean the world to me when our children are at school or even as an after school snack. A little hidden surprise in a lunch pail goes a long way and not to mention they are the talk of the class when they get to pop open the chocolate and a toy.

Kinder is releasing brand new toys to celebrate the new year. You can now find more than fifty new toys in the classic Kinder eggs and another fifty in the pink Kinder eggs! The new toys range from parachutes and animals all the way to fashion accessories. Here is our family’s top two personal favourites that we are on the hunt for:

Now how cute are these two toys? We fell in love with them at first sight!

Are you following Kinder on Facebook? You will want to make sure you are because during the week of January 26th to the 30th, Kinder Canada will be celebrating Games and Puzzle Week with daily prizing. Awesome right? So make sure you go give them a ‘like’ so that you can get in on all the fun and giveaways – good luck.

Disclosure: I am a #KinderMom and part of the Kinder Canada influencers team. As part of my affiliation I am provided with special perks and products. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 11, 2015

Bringing Literature to Life with Netflix #StreamTeam

As we begin to get back in the swing of things with school and home life, Netflix has loads of literature inspired movies playing throughout the month of January to help ease this transition. This includes the ever so popular and adorable, Puss in Boots, which premieres on January 16th, 2015.

There are many books that I have first watched on film that inspired me to read the book (or books!) behind it – Divergent, Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games just to name a few. I love how film (when done right!) really brings the characters and setting to life .

Netflix has several fantastic literature inspired movies out this month. One of our personal favourite? The Cat in the Hat. Oh how naughty he is with his adventures! We are always full of giggles watching this movie.

Looking for more family favourites to watch? Why not try Peter Pan or How to Train Your Dragon. I grew up reading The Babysitters Club (how many of you formed your own club because of these books??!!) and can’t wait to sit down with this movie again.

With a few simple supplies (paper bag, construction paper and glue) you can create your own Puss in Boots puppet to accompany the premiere of the movie. Your kids will enjoy acting out sword fights alongside Puss in Boots. You can find all the directions by visiting Sweet Potato Chronicles.

You can’t forget the feast to go along with your sword fighting crafts and movie! Why not try this recipe inspired by the movie. You can find the complete recipe at Sweet Potato Chronicles.

What is your favourite literature inspired movie?

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam and receive perks because of this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 7, 2015

A New Year, New Goals & A New Me with Giveaway!

Last year was quite the whirlwind for my family and I as life changed, new goals were both realized and set and brand new opportunities arose. I love the work that I have been blessed to do, both in the office and at home as a Mother and a Blogger. I knew that in order for myself to grow as a blogger I had to make changes and develop goals and the steps that I would have to take to make it where I want to go.

I started off by enrolling in a Marketing Diploma that began in the fall of 2014. I have to admit this has been super hard on me. Since having kids I feel like I can read one chapter from my textbook and whoosh it is all gone after finishing the chapter – I used to be like a walking encyclopedia! I am currently wrapping up my first course and while it has been a bit of a learning curve for me, I have loved learning the new terminology, new skills and new concepts to help me be a better blogger.

Another important goal that I had for myself was to celebrate 2015 with a new site and a new look. I have been on the fence about switching to WordPress from Blogger and after a few hiccups (which I am so grateful to my fellow bloggers who helped me out so much) my new site is now live!

I want to thank all of you for being there for me on this journey, supporting me and teaching me. All of the words of encouragement, emails and comments mean the world to me. It is what keeps me going when I feel ready to give up.

For 2015, I want to continue to bring you:

fun, new and exciting content
fabulous new products
giveaways
delicious recipes
photography and more!

I am also preparing for some travelling this year and can’t wait to bring these experiences to you. So far we have planned a trip to Blue Mountain and Quebec for the BConnected Conference (can’t wait to meet all the fantastic friends that I have met online in real life).

To help celebrate my new goals and to say thank you to each and every one of you I am so happy to bring you a new giveaway sponsored by me.

My Canadian readers can now enter to win a $50 gift card to Shoppers Drug Mart (my personal favourite place to shop).

Good luck and thank you so much for all your support! <3

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January 7, 2015

Guess How Much I Love You #Giveaway

Guess How Much I Love You, the much-loved story for all ages, has now come to life in DVD format! Guess How Much I Love You, with a release date of January 5th in the US and Canada, has a total of seven heart warming episodes full of love, friendship and the ever important love between father and son. In each of these episodes, Little Nutbrown Hare and Father Big Nutbrown Hare remind us that there is no greater love than that of the love between a parent and their child.

Guess How Much I Love You is full of incredibly sweet songs with catchy tunes (I have been singing the ‘Guess how much I love you’ tune for the last week and it has been our new catch phrase at home!) and loveable animal characters with excellent illustrations. The animation brings back so many memories of my own favourite childhood characters! As a family we were able to join Little Nutbrown Hare on his adventures as he meets new friends, learns new songs and dances all to show Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. Each episode is just over ten minutes long with a total running time of eighty minutes. This makes it perfect for short viewing times for the younger crowd with the ability to play the DVD for longer for the older child.

The story is based on the love between a parent and a child and how strong that bond is. It was great to be able to cherish this with our children and to watch their faces as they watched the episodes.

kaboom! Entertainment and Working Mommy Journal are offering one of my readers the chance to win not only their own copy of Guess How Much I Love You but also the brand new panorama accompanying book! My Canadian readers can enter via the Rafflecopter form below – Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to follow kaboom! on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new releases and giveaways.

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