Guest Feature: Kristina from City Corporate to Suburb Mama

It's an honor to be guest posting over here on Baxtron{Life}!

I thought I'd share 4 easy steps to be a healthier you this new year, while still saving money! Because let's be honest, it's that time of year again,. Time when we reflect and often when we all resolve to "lose those extra pounds" or be a better steward or "eat better" or __________ you fill in the blank.

As good as our intentions are, it's also very easy to lose motivation, forget the resolution or just fall back into those habits we want to break. I know I'm guilty!

But, I wanted to share with you a few things that you CAN do for you and your family without taking major steps and that will also probably save you some money or cost little to no money at all to implement.  

Here they are:

Make your own yogurt.  That might sound complicated, but as you can see here, where I shared how easy it is, you will find that it can be done! Not only is it so much better for you than store-bought yogurt that has so many additives and sweeteners, it's also so much cheaper! When you figure that organic yogurt on sale can range from 75-99 cents per cup, it's easy to have that add up! Especially if you have kids that like to snack on yogurt too! I dare you to try it!

Stop using your microwave.  This is something that started in our home with the ringing in of the new year. I've stopped using plastic in the microwave, since giving my challenge back in the fall, but I now know I need to give it up completely. It's so easy to pop things in the microwave, but I get excited thinking about how much healthier our food will be for us  without the use of the microwave! and this tip is completely free!

Make your own lip balm.  I've found that lip balm that is organic or "all natural" is rarely cheap! If you're lucky, you might find some on sale, but it's still too much for me to justify buying most of the time. Making your own lip balm is the easiest thing! and it's so much cheaper. All you need is some coconut oil and beeswax. Beeswax can be easily bought on amazon.com and Trader Joe's now sells organic coconut oil for less than $7! That's the  cheapest I've found and this will make you a TON of lip balm! When I make it, I usually use 1/2 cup of oil and 1/8 cup of grated beeswax. Melt together over low heat and then pour into the container of your choice. I have some old lip balm containers I just recycle for on the go and the rest I put in a small jar to just dip my finger in when I need it. Best of all, I can also use this for little Lucas' skin (our 10 month old who has bad eczema) to keep his skin moist. If you want, you can even add your favorite essential oil for a bit of a scent. I've added chamomile to mine and I just love it!

Make your own on-the-go snacks.  Especially because we're mostly grain/gluten free in our home now, having snacks for on-the-go can get super expensive, super fast! It's amazing the variety of gluten-free options there are out there, but they don't come without a hefty price! So, most of the time, I make all our snack foods. Most recently I made Larabars. If you've never had larabars, they are naturally gluten free and usually involve just a couple ingredients. Truly my kind of "make-it-yourself" recipe! on Thursday I made them for the first time and they were the easiest things! Here's a link to the simple instructions I followed: make your own larabars.

These are just 4 of many baby steps you can take to be healthier, while still saving money this new year! I always find that if things are easy enough, I'm much more willing to do them again and again! I dare you to try even just one of these. Then, please stop by my blog and tell me how it went! 

Happy New Year!

Thanks Kristina for this awesome post on starting the New Year right in simple but highly beneficial ways!!  You are by far the most dedicated person I know in adapting a simple and natural lifestyle with ease and finesse!  I can't wait to see what new things you do this year!




GOING ON NOW:





 

Sick Days

Zion picked up a nasty cold virus and has been feeling quite down in the dumps for the past several days. I just want my happy little girl back.  Instead this is what every day has looked like this week:

And Elmo has been her constant companion through it all.  My poor baby, get well soon, please!


Let's Connect!

       

Body for God: Couch-to-5k in 9 Weeks

I've decided to do a 9 week program to get back into running.  I mentioned in my previous post, I have had a lot of injuries this year, due to thinking I am invincible starting out too hard and fast, and not giving my body enough time to adjust to new routines.
I was browsing training programs and stumbled upon this guide here.  I have a hard time accepting that this is where I am at, because I honestly do not enjoy running under 3 miles.  I am more of a distance runner, in fact, I love running 6 or more miles at a time.  I now understand that in order to get back there, I have to take baby steps or I'll be benching it yet again, waiting for my injury to heal.
The thing I love about this particular 5k training program is that it only requires 3x a week.  That is less than half of the days, which seems like less pressure to get out and run.  Time won't be so much of an issue either, 20-30 minutes per workout is all that it takes.  
I have to get my jiggly-self outside (rain or shine) and do it this week, or I'll likely be faced with the "it's too cold outside" dilemma.  If I can get back to an addictive 3+miles a run before the brutal chill of winter, there is a very good chance I will be in crazy-running-addict-mode enough to run in the 20 degree tundra that I expect will be hitting by December.
If I get my way, next fall I will run my first marathon, in Chicago!  I've been dreaming of running that 26.2 mile race for the last couple of years.  (Not to mention visiting Chicago, which I hear has some serious foodie-friendly restaurants!)  
What are your fitness goals for the fall and the winter?  Do you want to try the 9 week program? 
Like what you see here? Keep us ranked! Click below, pretty please!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Deep Breath In, Deep Breath Out

What a day I've just had!  Seriously, today was full of challenges, crazy temptations, and emotions.  Before I plunge you into the madness, let me just say that, I have really changed.  Not like, "Oh you hit your 30's"maturity boom, but more, "Wow, God is really changing me from the inside out" kind of change.

I've always been sort of a "hard" person - extremely tough on the outside, stoic, unshakable even.  Not. Any. More.  Lately, I have been repeatedly blindsided by my emotions, the outward display of them as well as the intensity.  I'm not on any hormones.  I am not a wimp.  I am just easily moved to deep feelings over things that I used to appear numb to.

Don't get me wrong...this post is not a complaint at all, more of a revelation or an "ah-ha."  I used to think that my inability to display emotion was a permanent part of my personality, but I've come to realize, over a lot of grueling soul searching over the last decade, that it was actually a self-defense measure I acquired in childhood.  I am realizing how it made me seem phony, and callus to many people who I genuinely care about and longed to connect with.  I fear I may have even lost out on friendships because people took my lack of emotion as indifference or contempt.  Brutal introspect aside, and as uncomfortable as my newly flowing emotions are making me, there is so much joy in knowing that the huge wall that kept me so reserved, is now down.  I feel, ALIVE!

I am vulnerable and it feels great.  There, I said it.  So, about today, already...

Body for God: My Home "Gym"

While Jerry is blessed with a complimentary gym membership including personal training three times a week, I have to be much more creative in my approach to physical fitness.  Being in good health is extremely important to me.  When you feel good and look good it shows, and it makes a huge difference in the life of a homemaker.  I have to keep all those cookie-baking, gourmet-recipe-trying, toddler-running-circles round me, lazy pajama day calories at bay, you know?

There are likely a million reasons out there for why you should get regular exercise, a few that are personally important to me are: stress relief, mood elevation and libido.  I also believe that God wants us to be good stewards of our physical bodies, taking the best care of them possible.  My cure for the no-time for a gym-membership blues is my ever-evolving home gym.  Lets talk about what I have created so far, and what I hope to gather in the coming months.