Connect the Dots Ginger | Becky Allen: November 2016

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Peppermint Foot Scrub


Hello December and EVERYTHING PEPPERMINT! Enjoy this easy to make at home foot scrub

Ingredients
  • 1.5 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup almond oil
  • 5 drops Peppermint essential oil
Directions
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and transfer to an air tight tupperware container.
  2. Store at room temperature 
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

You Always Have 2 Choices

This month my goal was to say NO to excuses, guilt, junk food, soda, regrets, giving up and quitting, to being the best person that we can be. One thing that I find I still do sometimes is compare myself to others. Why can't I be that lean? Why can't I be as successful as so and so? Why can't I have her confidence?

I am working so hard to drop these negative mental thoughts because they are nothing but self destructive. Remember when I said a couple of weeks ago, "It can't be that easy." well that was another negative thought. It comes down to 2 things. Either you do it, or your don't. Either you eat better because you want to be healthy or you don't. Either you exercise to feel better or you don't. There is not grey area. When we make grey areas we are just setting ourself up for settling with the same old stuff you have been doing and not reaching our maximum potential, that brought you to this point and you guys, I want you to reach your max potential. I want to reach my potential. It just comes from deciding, committing and doing, succeeding. So be a flower. Stop comparing, or letting negative thoughts rule your life. Just do and bloom!
Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Monday, November 28, 2016

Health Up Your December

I know a lot of people are in recovery mode from Thanksgiving. I have been hearing that TODAY many are ready to get back on their exercise and eating right before Christmas so they on't gain too much weight before the new year. THAT IS SO GREAT! Because you are not alone if this is your goal and EXACTLY why I am running a HEALTH UP YOUR HOLIDAY December support and accountability group! I want to help you reach your goals. To help you LOSE weight before Christmas so you can have a happy and healthy GUILT FREE Christmas.

To help you with that, Today, Monday November 28, is the last day to receive my FREE OFFER. When you order a workout combined with Shakeology I will personally send you a FREE COPY of FIXATE, Beachbody's first cookbook with 101 easy to follow yummy recipes to help you keep your nutrition started right!

If you have been on the fence about starting 21 Day Fix, or trying out those color coded containers, now is the time because when you order today you will get:


  • Daily Workouts with schedule
  • Nutrition guide
  • Color Coded Containers (depending on which workout program you choose) 
  • Access to my exclusive group with women just like you to wanting to lose weight and be more healthy
  • Access to my tools I used to lose weight
  • Daily motivation
  • Support
  • Accountability
  • 30 Day Guide to help you stay on track
  • EXCLUSIVE Surviving The Holiday Guide
  • AND A FREE COPY OF FIXATE! 
YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS OUT ON THIS OPPORTUNITY to help you get healthy before the holiday and set you up for the new year and continue your progress! Send me an EMAIL or message me on FACEBOOK


The current workout programs on sale right now are: 


Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Black Friday Special!

Are you ready to amp up your results? I am offering a PERSONAL promotion from today through Monday evening, (Monday, November 28 at 11:59pm)  that when you order a workout program and Shakeology combined together (challenge pack) I will send you a FREE COPY of FIXATE. The perfect companion to the 21 Day Fix container program offered with most of the workout programs!

A few of the workout programs are: 



Fixate is Beachbody's first cookbook with all the nutrition info included, container breakdown and macros as well. There are options for paleo, vegan and gluten free as well. 101 recipes included and the perfect fit for yummy easy to make recipes.

CLICK HERE and then click on CHALLENGE PACKS in the left sidebar! Want help deciding which workout is the best fit for you and your lifestyle? Please send me an email so we can chat and get you set up with the perfect workout to fit your life!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM an

Friday, November 25, 2016

7 Thanksgiving Day Recovery Tips

Happy day after Thanksgiving! How did you do yesterday eating wise? Did you eat too much? If you want to get back on track faster, check out these 7 tips to help you feel more like you!

1)
Today don't go crazy with leftovers. Look at what you have and plan what you are going to eat before you go crazy. NO GRAZING! 
2) Drink lots of water to help your body flush out faster. 
3) Eat more veggies. Have a huge plate of salad, without dressing though. Use a balsamic vinegar and oil dressing.
4) Ditch all the carbs from yesterday. Don't even keep them as leftover, just dump them out. You know, the stuffing, potatoes, and let your family members use the rolls for their sandwiches. 
5) Make sure you portion out the leftover turkey and use it for your meals. 
6) Cut salt. More than likely there was a lot of salt in your meal yesterday. More than you might usually eat. For the next few days, just avoid salt. Don't use it. Adding extra pepper actually helps fool my brain into thinking I am missing any salt. 
7) DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF THIS WEEKEND to "check the damage". More than likely, no matter how well you ate, your weight will be higher.  Don't beat yourself up with the "I should have done better" game. It isn't worth it. You are living a healthy lifestyle now and that includes enjoying holidays! If you follow these tips you should be fine by the 1st of December and be back to where you wanted to be. Hope this helps!
Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving Perfect Plate Portion Sizes


Rolls, baked french toast, mashed potatoes oh my! Yes! I am enjoying my Thanksgiving just like anyone else. I have worked hard this month to eat very, very clean. (I have lost 7 pounds this month so far!) I followed my eating plan so that I can enjoy my Thanksgiving. But the key to enjoying Thanksgiving is knowing when to stop eating! Don't pile that plate too high. Make sure you have a good amount, (not just a little bit) but a good helping of veggies on your plate compared to any carbs or yellow containers. And by all means if you are going to get seconds, GET SECONDS of GREENS and veggies! Have only one portion of taters, and stuffing. That is plenty. Be smart about your holidays and you can walk away a CHAMP at eating healthy on Thanksgiving!
Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Healthy Thanksgiving Meal Ideas

Thanksgiving is just a week away and if you want to avoid gaining too much weight check out these healthy recipe ideas!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes- by Steamykitchen.com
Ditch the traditional super mashed potatoes, and sneak in a veggie for you and your kids!

Cranberry Sauce- by Beachbodyblog.com
Make your own healthy cranberry sauce this year!

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast- Foodnetwork.com
Ditch the whole bird and just cook the turkey breast. We are doing a turkey breast this year since it will be mainly Matt and I enjoying our meal this year.

Pecan and Sweet Potato Pie- Beachbodyblog.com
Instead of sugar loaded pecan pie, add a bit of health to it with adding in some sweet potatoes to get healthy carbs in!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Health Up Your Holiday December Challenge


In just a few weeks I will be starting my December Challenge to Health Up The Holiday! Way too much weight can be gained just in the month of December alone. Think about it...Cookie Exchanges, Holiday Parties, Work Parties and so forth. And at every one of those parties are tons and tons of yummy goodies and treats that are just empty calories and don't do us any good. I want to give you the tools, and motivation to help you stay on track during December, but guess what, you are still going to be able to have your treats, but there is a key and a trick and that is what we are going to be talking about in the group! 

If you want to avoid gaining weight this holiday season it is time to join my group! What you get: 
  • Workout program to fit your lifestyle to help you reach your goals through healthy daily exercise. (Check out the newest workout program here: Core De Force)
  • 30 day supply of a dense nutrition filled super foods, vitamins, minerals, protein, antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics, and is a true meal replacement that won't leave you hungry and is still great is still tasting yummy! 
  • Access to my private Facebook group with my tools I used to help me lose weight
  • Online community of others going through the process just like you
  • One on One support with me
  • Daily Accountability to keep you on track
  • Daily motivation to help you want to push play and eat right
  • 30 day Connect The Dots To Your Life Guide to help you track your goals and progress
  • EXCLUSIVE for November and December only-Access to my Surviving the Holidays Guide
Want to know how to join the group? Send me an EMAIL and let's chat! I want to help you get what you need to reach your goals!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Monday, November 14, 2016

Must Have Items For Winter Colds or Flus

We have had what I am now calling the "plague" rip through our family. Slowly, this sickness went from one family member to the next, just taking it's next target down swiftly but lingering on FOREVER! Mason got it first, probably patient 0!, and of course he was first to get better, but poor sweet Collin was hit hard. He had a bad fever last weekend and since he likes to sucks on his fingers and couldn't breath through his nose, he was a very frustrated toddler. Then Elyse and I got it at the same time, and now my hubs is starting to get sick. Winter is hard because sickness just gets passed back and forth from family member to family member. And nothing is worse than seeing your kids suffer when you can't do anything else to help them.

Here are my Items that we use to help you get through the worst of it: 

Humidifier: Last winter it seemed like Collin needed this every day to help him not only feel better when sick but to keep him from getting sick. We love our Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier but it is recommended for a children's room to use a cool mist product. Thankfully Vicks has a cool mist one for kids too! I like the Vicks because you can use the special pad or drops that come with it that have the soothing menthol to help your baby breath easier.

Boogie Wipes: We use and love the Unscented Boogie wipes. They are perfect for kids because they are soaked in natural saline to help clean and dissolve those pesky boogies and is also hypoallergenic and helps to sooth their sore noses too.

Thermometer: You need a good and easy to ready thermometer in the house. For my boys they like to take their temperature and tell me what color they are. They know that red is bad, and green is good! When our current Vicks Digital Thermometer dies we will probably get the forehead reading one but for now this is perfect for our family.

FOR NURSING MOMS: MilkMaid Tea: I have noticed that when I get sick or even on my period my supply tends to dip a little bit. So when I am sick I often will have at least 2 cups of this milkmaid tea a day just to help supplement my supply and make sure it doesn't dip too much. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water too!

Snot Sucker: I am probably going to be investing in this Nose Frida snot sucker, because I have heard so many great things about it. One thing I have to keep telling myself, "there is no way the snot will go into my mouth!"

Lots and Lots of Snuggle Time! The cure all to anything for your kids. It helps them feel better and helps you feel better too! Pop in a good movie, or find a good movie on Amazon or Netflix, snuggle under a blanket and just enjoy this time together.

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

21 Day Fix Approved Banana Oat Pancakes



Mason is loving having pancakes on Saturday morning. It is a meal that we can all love. As long as I make a Mickey shapped one he is happy! So I'm tricking the kids into eating healthier pancakes! 

Banana Oat Blender Pancakes

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)
1 large ripe banana
2 large eggs
2 cups rolled-oats
1/4 grond flax seed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
cooking spray

1. Place milk, banana, eggs, oats, flax seed, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in blender. Cover and blend until smooth.
2. Heat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat (325 degrees for electric griddle).
3. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake - cook 2-3 minutes on first side, then flip and cook an additional 90 seconds on the second side until cooked through and browned well.
4. Serve with butter, real maple syrup, fresh fruit or yogurt! Enjoy

Original recipe comes from the cookbook FIXATE. 101 recipes with vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and paleo options too! Perfect companion for the 21 Day Fix program

For my 21 Day Fixers 2 pancakes = 1 yellow + 1/2 purple

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Monday, November 7, 2016

Ditch The Scale

How many of you weigh yourself often??? Like every day, even many times a day? Are you scale obsessed? I used to weigh myself every single day and then literally dissect what I ate the day before to see what caused my weight to fluctuate. So many things can make our weight go up or down from the amount of water we did or didn't drink, to even being on your monthly cycle.

It's time to ditch the scale and only weigh yourself on the 1st of every month then hide your scales but if you find you can't do that. I encourage you to weigh yourself only once a week. Same day a week at the same time. So that you can truly see what the changes you are doing in your life are doing for you. For me I aim for the 1st of every month and then I am weighing myself ever week after that. And it has been nice to be pleasantly surprised when the scale has been dropping. But to see that number on the scale go down you have to make changes to your eating or adding in more exercise! 

Remember though in the end that you are so much more than the number on that scale.

Instead of worry about what the number on the scale reads, make other goals you want to accomplish regarding your body. 

-Pant size/how clothing is fitting you
-Fat Percent
-How you are feeling
-Not pulling at your shirt to cover up what you don't want to see

We all have areas we want to improve. And that is ok. But focusing on a number that is so hard to move can get so frustrating. Eat right and exercise is the key. Every month take pictures to compare from the previous month so that you can actually see the changes your body is making because for most women, we lose inches before we lose weight! 

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Friday, November 4, 2016

How To Help Siblings Adjust To New Baby

One of my biggest fears about having a new baby was being outnumbered by my kids. Knowing that I was going to be pulled in 3 different directions and that each sibling was going to outdo each other. I'm a red head, and I don't have the longest fuse and can often feel overwhelmed easily and just the idea of being outnumbered FREAKED ME OUT! So what is a new mom to do with the demands of 3 kids?

Not going to lie, it was a bit rocky in the beginning with the 3 of them. I would hideout in my room with Elyse so I wouldn't get overwhelmed and we had people here to help meet the boys needs. But when it was up to me and I was all on my own, I didn't do too bad. We made it work. We all survived, and the house didn't burn down! It might of been a mess but we still survived. So here are my 5 tips to help with the transition for older siblings.

1) Talk about the new baby with your older children before the baby arrives. Let them know that a new baby is coming and things are going to change and be different. We actually watched the Daniel Tiger Episode about new baby Margaret joining the Tiger family. Those 3 episodes helped teach the changes that happen and even how Daniel had to be patient when wanting to talk to his parents but baby Margaret needed their attention.

2) Try to spend alone time with the kids after baby arrives. Your older child/children will want attention from you too. They might act out against you just to get your attention. That is what #2 did for us. Collin, we nicknamed him Gremlin after Elyse arrive, because he was always causing problems, on purpose! It was so frustrating but all he wanted to my attention again. And when I would snuggle with him, without sister he just loved it.

3) Have the older sibling be a mommy's helper. Give your older kids a job to do to help you around the house. Most siblings feel really awesome when they are a big brother or big sister because THEY ARE THE BIG ONE around the house. Giving them a job or duty to help with makes them feel extra special. And they will more than likely be excited to help out, most of the time at least!

4) Teach them boundaries and limits to the baby. If your kids are like mine, they want to be around the new baby ALL THE TIME! Which might not be the safest. If they are sick or if they don't know how to act gently around the baby they will need to be talked to for sure for the safety of the baby. Mason gets it. To be gentle and soft. He is 5. Collin is only 2, and I have to constantly remind him he has to be gentle and soft. He has almost fallen on her twice though just because he doesn't get it. So be diligent about safety and teaching safety to the older kids. Tell them that it is their big brother/sister duty to make sure that their new baby brother or sister is safe at all times!

5) Always show them love. All of them, no matter what. It is easy to yell and scream and get upset when the older kids don't listen. When they don't clean up their dinosaurs on the ground and you step on the T-Rex for the 5th time that day. Or when thy fight with each other. They are going through a big change too, and if you show them love they will respond so much better and there "should" be more peace in your house. I have to separate the boys sometimes when they are just picking on each other and being brothers. But always try to approach them with love and less screaming and yelling. It is a work in progress for me, but I am trying.

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Elyse's Perfect Newborn Session

A few weeks ago our family went to our favorite local photographer, Aaron Watson Photography, for our yearly family pictures and for Elyse's Newborn Session! It was so amazing. We had the family pictures for the first 30-40 minutes trying to bust out as many pictures with them as possible before they lost it.  With young kids, you only have a short amount of time to get really good pictures. And Collin proved it with that. He reached a point and then he was DONE with getting his picture taken. Over all our family pictures time went great!

The trick with finding a photographer is to really find one you click with. We have used a few in our area and love them all, but we have just loved the photos by Aaron and he has taken a majority of our family pictures and has literally watched our kids grow and will continue to watch our kids grow because he has become part of so many of our families memories! You can visit his FACEBOOK PAGE HERE or his WEBSITE PAGE HERE. Seriously go check out his website and see his magical photos! They are so breathtaking!

Looking for some inspiration? You can search online for some poses you really like and want to use for your newborn session. I found these great newborn photo ideas to help inspire the perfect pose for my birth announcements and pictures. And this photo by In The Little Photography is exactly like the pose our photographer used for our boys!
In The Little Photography
Before the session I was advised to nurse her about an hour before so that she was satisfied during the session would be more cooperative and hopefully fall asleep. We were also told that the studio would be more on the warm side and gentle music would be playing to help create a soothing session. And it was. It was really a special day for us.

Then it was Elyse's time to shine. Because we started with family photos I had to feed her for a bit before we got started with her individual pictures, where she lost her belly button stub because it got caught on my sweater, and then she was out cold for the rest of the session. She was just 6 days old when these pictures were taken. They just turned out amazing! Here are a few of my favorites!








Elyse's tutu was purchased at: Cutie Pie Goodies on Etsy


One of my favorite outfits: Worth the wait by: Mama Bijou on Etsy



Thank you to Aaron Watson Photography for capturing these amazing and sweet moments with my baby girl! Those looking for an amazing photographer in and around central Virginia for family, senior, newborns and weddings, please consider Aaron as he has always delighted us with amazing photos when we just prayed for at least 1 good one! You will not regret the choice to use him, and be sure to let him know that I sent ya over to say hi!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Elyse Cheyenne: 1 Month

Elyse turned 1 month old this past weekend. What a crazy month it has been. Surprisingly the month didn't go too fast or too slow. It was just right. I had plenty of help for the month which was a huge blessing. My family and Matt's family both came out at different times to help us and I was so glad that things worked out as well as they did so that we had someone here to help for the first 2 weeks. Then Matt had 2 weeks of half days after that.

Elyse has been such a good baby for us. The first couple of nights were rough in the hospital. All she wanted to do was cry, but once my milk came in she fell right into a schedule of eat for an hour, pass out for 3. She is a very regular baby in that regards still. Though she isn't feeding for an hour straight now, more like 30-40 minutes, but then she is good for at least 3 hours. She does give me generally 4-5 hour stints at night.
She sure has grown too! She currently weighs 9 pounds .3 ounces and is 21 inches long. Way to go baby girl!

Recovery has actually been really good. I didn't tear so I didn't hurt as badly as I had after having both boys. The only annoyance I have had has been the postpartum bleeding. It has been surprisingly light compared to the boys but it is just never ending as usual!


Want more daily motivation and inspiration? 
Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Happy Halloween 2016

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween yesterday! Just wanted to send you all some love from my family to yours! We all had fun dressing up this year!

Matt: Captain America (logo hidden by Elyse) Me:Wonder Woman, Mason: The Flash, Collin: Batman and Elyse: Super Girl (outfit by TeacupsandMudpies1 on Etsy)





Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

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