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Archive for August, 2015

Health Quest – 5 Month Update

Health Quest – 5 Month Update

20150806_081743I thought I would take a few minutes to give you all a quick update on my Health Quest!  I posted a personal status update yesterday after a trip to the doc and it generated a lot of buzz, so I figured I better let you all know the same great news.  I went to my general practitioner yesterday for my yearly physical and the sweet nurse who did my vitals gave me some great news.  You all know what’s is like to walk down the dreaded long hallway to the scale…right?? Well, I hopped right on that scale and she told me that I’d lost 20.5lbs since March!  WAHOO!!!  I had been in to the doc in March when I had a terrible head cold that I could not shake – which was right before we started our Whole30 journey!  So, I’m happy to say that in as little as 5 months I’ve lost 20.5lbs and I’m stoked!  Pretty cool I think!  We are still sticking with a lot of ideas we learned during our Whole30 journey and it’s clearly working out great for us!  We are not nearly as strict, but I’ve learned a lot of things about my body in the last couple years and even just in the last 5 months that I know are truths for me.  If I do one thing I will achieve the same result – every time.  For example, even though I love a crusty piece of sourdough bread, I know without a doubt now that if I eat it I will get a headache and it will add weight to my body.  I don’t always make the best choices, but at least I know going in what my consequences will be.

Besides eating better, I’m making strides with my feet issues.  Lately I have been able to run a lot more, which I can tell is increasing my metabolism – and we all know that the more you run or exercise the easier it becomes and the more SA_cover_295x448enjoyable it is.  I love running – but it’s hard to do – it’s not easy and even though I love it, I hate it just as much – especially when I’m smack dab in the middle of a workout and it’s 90 degrees outside (it’s been really hot here lately).  But I love how it makes me feel afterwards – even if it’s only 2 miles!  I also love the all-natural, sugar-free products I’m using now – AXIO for energy and Protandim for overall body function and recovery – both make a HUGE difference in being able to go for a 2-3mile run EVERY day!  Before I started using these products I could not run every day – my body hurt too bad after a run to keep up – I would need a day in between to recover (even from a small run).  Now, I’m good to go every day and sometimes even twice a day.  I’m feeling a HUGE energy increase – which if you have read my blog for awhile, you know the biggest issue I faced a couple years ago was being so incredibly tired all the time.  In fact, if you are interested and in learning more about Protandim and how it activates Nrf2 and helps to slow the natural aging process in your body, you should read an eBook I wrote all about it – it’s pretty cool stuff!  I’m giving away this eBook FREE to all my loyal readers.  You can download it here, now.  Let me know what you think of it!

Someone asked me recently to put up my Top 10 List of Getting Healthy tips, so here you go:

Katrina’s Top 10 List to Get Healthy:

  1. Do a Whole30 Challenge – (you can read all my posts about my Whole30 challenge – read now).
  2. Limit white flour and refined sugar.
  3. Get 8-10 hours of sleep each night.
  4. Find a form of exercise you love and get MOVING! (running, dancing, yoga, spinning, biking, walking..etc).
  5. Take an all-natural Nrf2 activating supplement – like Protandim.
  6. Limit your sugary drinks – replace with an all-natural Nrf2 activating drink like AXIO.  (I still drink AXIO first thing each morning and it does so much more for my mood and mental focus than coffee ever did! – BUT, I still have a cup of coffee with my girlfriends every now and then).
  7. Enter an exercise challenge group – sign up for a race, or enter a losing weight challenge at your gym – anything to boost your motivation to get moving.
  8. Exercise with your kids – play with them at the park, go for walks and bike rides, sign up for a family race!
  9. Create a list of go-to, easy, healthy recipes and keep those staples on hand so you always have what you need to create a quick, healthy family dinner.
  10. Find an amazing chiropractor, use them regularly, and give acupuncture a try! I love mine – Dr. Carrie Wolf of Wolf Chiropractic in Parker, CO!  If you go see her, tell her I sent you!

My big bad medical degree told me to tell you all of that!  :)  Kidding (no medical degree for me – I have an art degree), that’s just what I’ve learned lately.

Well, that’s about it!  Hugs!

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August 13, 20150 commentsRead More
Katrina’s Coupon Tip #11 – Why I Use Self-Checkout

Katrina’s Coupon Tip #11 – Why I Use Self-Checkout

Do you use thrylyn_selfcheckoute self-checkout lane at the grocery store?  If you haven’t already discovered the power of the self-checkout lane at your favorite grocery store then you are missing out!  I love using the self-checkout lane for many reasons, but mostly because I can control the transaction and make sure that everything is ringing up properly. You would be amazed at how many items you purchase that ring up incorrectly.  There is power in using the self-checkout lane because you can question any item or price that you feel is wrong!  

It’s also nice that you can scan your own coupons and can make sure that each one is deducting and doubling correctly. Be careful, because a lot of stores have item limits for their self-checkout lanes, so make sure you check before beginning your transaction!

Also, if you are anything like me and you allow your kids to shop with you, then using the self-checkout lanes means they can help you scan items!  Yes, this can get a bit crazy, but if you are patient it can be really fun!

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August 10, 20150 commentsRead More
Homemade Table Top Tiki Torch Fire Pit

Homemade Table Top Tiki Torch Fire Pit

TikiTorchI had the pleasure of creating a really fun craft project this afternoon – a Table Top Tiki Torch Fire Pit!  This was a really fun project!  A couple months ago our family enjoyed a fun summer bbq at a friend’s house and we made smores (and let me tell you, I LOVE smores – I have no idea why, especially because I’m a not a huge fan of marshmallows, but they are soooo heavenly to me – they rate second only to brownies in my book, and for those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a long time – you know I LOVE brownies more than anything) with a flower pot charcoal fire pit.  My friend told me that she found the idea on…you guessed it…Pinterest.  It was a blast – and I literally was kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner!  So, when I got home that same night I stayed up way to late pinning homemade fire pits – you can see all the neat ideas I found on my Pinterest page – All these great ideas led me to create a similar version of my own!  I really liked the idea of the tiki torch as the flame because it was quick and easy and didn’t need to heat up for a long time.  Plus I really liked the modern look of the semi-buried torches with decorative rocks as the accent.

Supplies I needed to find:

  • Big metal or ceramic flower potTikiTorch2
  • Sand
  • Tiki torch canisters
  • Tiki torch fuel
  • Decorative rocks

I decided to start pricing out my supplies and this is when I got bummed.  Although none of the supplies were super pricey, once I added it all up, we were talking close to about $100 if I bought everything brand new.  Time to move on to Plan B.  I looked around the house to see what I could find that I already had on hand and I found an old stainless steel flower pot that was just sitting on the shelf in my garage.  Then I asked around on a couple free Facebook groups for used tiki torch canisters and ended up finding 4 of them – FREE! Over the next couple weeks as I went to local garage sales, I found a couple different bags of decorative rocks for 50 cents!  Score again!  I still needed sand and remembered that I have a big sand box in the backyard - FREE sand!  The only thing I needed to go out and purchase was tiki fuel – which cost only $5.40 for a big bottle!  So for less than $6 I made a great table top tiki torch fire pit and we had a great time tonight roasting smores!

Would love to see what you come up with!  Post a picture of your homemade fire pit on my Katrina’s World Facebook page of your own homemade fire pit!

 

TikiTorch

 

 

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August 7, 20150 commentsRead More
Katrina’s Homemade Granola

Katrina’s Homemade Granola

Nothing tastes better in the morning, or mid-afternoon, or even a late night snack than a hearty bowl of homemade granola!  For some of the ingredients I’m a bit spoiled because my father-in-law brings me the BEST local, raw honey from Montana when he comes out for a visit and it’s TASTY!  I make all sorts of different versions of granola based off what ingredients I have in my pantry at the time, but here is my basic go-to recipe:

 

granola2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katrina’s Homemade Granola

  • 2 cartons of any type of oats – 180z each
  • 1 cup of peanuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1/2 coconut
  • 1/3 cup chia seed
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup local, raw honey
  • 2 cups natural peanut butter

Combine all the dry ingredients and stir with a big spoon in a large bowl.  Mix the wet ingredients in a different bowl and Igranola3 like to heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds, it helps them mix up better.  Then stir the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients.  I like to use my hands to mix it up well!  Then pour into 2-4 bar pans and bake for 30 mins at 375 degrees.  Make sure to stir your granola after it has cooked for 15mins.  Once baked, let sit out until it completely cools.  I then put my granola in a big cereal tupperware bin I have.  This makes a decent amount of granola – but for my family of 5, it usually lasts about 2 weeks at the most!  Makes for a great breakfast meal or for a snack!

You could also subsititute the honey with apple juice, or even orange juice – but it won’t come out as sweet.  I’ve added chocolate chips by the handful (after it’s cooked of course) for a sweet treat late at night, and I’ve also used different types of nuts like cashew, walnuts, etc.  You can leave out the coconut, but I love how it tastes.  I like to use the big shreds of it that I found at Sprouts (which has not added sugar).

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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August 2, 20150 commentsRead More