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Hi Friends-

Hubby and I have been out of town for the past couple of days, spending time with family and celebrating the life of my grandfather.

We flew out to Portland, Maine on Monday afternooon and got home late last night. My grandparents lived in Massachusetts while I was growing up, and my aunt lives in Portland, so every summer my mom, sister and I would pack our bags and spend a couple of weeks with them on the east coast. When my grandpa got older, we moved him into an assisted living facility in Portland, so that’s where we had the funeral. I hadn’t actually been to Maine in about 11 years…since right before my senior year of high school, so it was nice to be able to get out there and spend some time with family and revisit some of the places I used to go growing up.

We dropped these two off at the vet. The place we usually board them was all booked up due to 4th of July. Luckily this was only for a few days. It’s always so hard to leave them.

We survived hubby’s first time traveling with his sling, and stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast up the road from where my parents and sister were staying at a family friend’s house.

The service was Tuesday morning. It was very small, mostly just family since he outlived almost all of his friends at age 93…but it was very well done.

We headed back to have lunch with the family and Jake!

Then came my favorite part of the trip. My grandpa was a bit of a packrat and he saved a TON of stuff over the years. We spent several hours going through a couple of boxes of amazing old things. He was in the navy and he and my mimi wrote each other every day during the war. They saved ALL of the letters so there was just folders and folders of amazing love letters to read. Plus things like old chemistry tests, report cards and other stuff from his childhood and his time in the navy. We also found out he was at the game in the 1956 World Series when Larsen pitched the only perfect game in series history!

Plus there were tons of amazing photos of my grandparents when they were younger. They were SO adorable and so in love. It was fun to look at all the pictures with my mom and aunt and hear more stories about their family.

This was by far the best thing we found. A letter from my grandpa’s friends to my grandma encouraging her to marry him 🙂

We also found some pictures of little Bean!

Tuesday night we went out to dinner and met up with one of my oldest friends, who recently moved back to Portland, for a beer. Wednesday we spent the day with my parents and sister wandering around, doing a little shopping and fulfilling my desire for a lobster roll! Then we headed home.

I’m grateful we were able to make it out there and spend a few days celebrating the life of my grandpa, a wonderful man who meant so much to a lot of people!

Hope everyone is having a safe & happy 4th of July and that you’re able to enjoy some time with family and friends.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

Time for another Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

This month I was super lucky to receive my package from my girl Melissa. We bond over Crossfit all the time on Twitter and I just love her. Plus she totally hooked me up with an amazing FPP box. Check out what I got:

Kale Chips
Pineapple Chips- so good!
Sunflower seed butter- a fun change from my typical pb
Fat Cat Purry-Purry Sauce- pretty much the best name ever, right? I’m so excited to try this! Love that it’s super low in sodium.
HOMEMADE COOKIES- enough said.

I got my box a couple days after hubby had his surgery. I was exhausted and grumpy and finding those cookies in my package was just about the best thing ever! Delicious.

Thank you so much for the amazing package Melissa!!!!!

——————-

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE to signup.

——————

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

Today I wanted to share an article with you guys that I wrote for Food and Nutrition Magazine, the magazine of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics! I shared the link yesterday so some of you may have read it, but I wanted to share a jazzed up version of it (with pictures) here as well because it covers all of my most common recommendations and tips that I give to anyone trying to live a healthier lifestyle!

Although I don’t think that there’s a one-size-fits-all diet, I do think there are some general principles that everyone should practice when it comes to healthy living.

Here they are:

1) Eat Enough Calories
Everyone’s calorie needs are different, and it’s important to not go overboard, but not eating enough sends your body into starvation mode and also makes it harder to lose weight. Figure out how many calories YOUR body needs and strive to eat that amount daily by creating balanced meals and choosing healthy snacks.

2) Practice Moderation
Allow yourself to eat the things you really want every once and a while. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy things like ice cream, cookies or a latte with whipped cream. Just don’t make it an every day occurrence. I may be an RD, but I love a big bowl of froyo topped with oreos and m&ms every once and a while!

3) Eat Breakfast
Skipping breakfast does nothing but lead to low blood sugar, moodiness and overeating later. Just remember that you aren’t limited to “traditional” breakfast foods. If you like leftover chicken and rice for breakfast, go for it! If you’re an oatmeal fan, more power to you! Focus on putting together a breakfast with complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats. It will increase your metabolism, energy and focus.

4) Limit Processed Foods
Processed foods are almost always packed with sodium, sugar, artificial ingredients and other things your body doesn’t need. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats like avocado and nut butter. Experiment in the kitchen and learn to make your own versions of your favorite processed foods like granola bars, crackers, etc.

5) Drink Water
Remember that the calories in your drinks count towards your total calories for the day! Choose water most of the time and remember that if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. Take a water bottle with you everywhere to remind you to drink more often. And use additions like berries, mint or lemon to flavor your water if you don’t like it plain.

6) Eat More Vegetables
Make an effort to increase your vegetable intake every day, especially the non-starchy kind. Also try to eat a variety of different vegetables and colors so that you get all the different nutrients they offer.

7) Cook More at Home
When you do the cooking, you control the ingredients. Cook extra for dinner and pack the leftovers for lunch. If you do eat out, be smart about it. Watch your portion sizes, save half for later, order extra veggies instead of starches, and ask for things like dressings and sauces on the side.

8) Buy Local and Choose Organic (When Possible and Practical)
Shop your local farmer’s market. You’ll often find fruits and vegetables that were picked that very day and haven’t lost their nutrients while traveling or sitting on a shelf. Know the “dirty dozen” (foods that have the most pesticide residue) and focus on buying organic versions of those fruits and vegetables as well as possibly dairy and meat products.

9) Be Aware of What You’re Eating
Learn proper portion sizes and take the time to learn about the quality of the foods you’re eating and where they come from. Pay attention to how often you’re eating and make sure you’re not doing so out of boredom.

10) Be Physically Active
Physical activity can help control your blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as your weight. It can also help improve your brain function, concentration and sleep quality. Whether it’s running, crossfit, basketball or walking the dog…get yourself up and moving every day!

11) Sleep Enough
Aim for eight hours every night. To help meet this goal, power down and disconnect from your electronics at least one hour before bedtime and focus on more calming activities like meditation, reading or journaling. When you’re tired, you’re more likely to eat poorly — so make an effort to get enough sleep each night.

If you’re looking to improve your health, these 11 simple ideas are a great place to start! Don’t overwhelm yourself  by trying to tackle them all at once. Instead, choose a few to work on immediately and slowly add more as they turn into healthy habits.

Let’s chat:
What are some other healthy living tips you would add to this list?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

This month I was lucky enough to receive my box from one of my favorite bloggers- Melissa at Live Love and Run. She’s the absolute best and she definitely spoiled me! Look what I got:

The box was jam packed with all sorts of deliciousness. Let’s recap:

• Apple Butter
• A new tea I’ve never tried!
• Old Bay- one of my all-time fav seasonings
• Sweet & Spicy Peanuts- OMG SO GOOD!!
• Seasoned Flour- I can’t to use it to make some panko crusted fish!
• A beautiful card
• 2 jars of homemade nut butter- hands down best part of the package- Cinnamon Vanilla Bean and “Nutella Swirl”. AMAZING!

Thank you so much Melissa…I loved everything!!

As an added bonus, her hubby was a box packing rockstar. THIS is how you should be packing all your boxes to make sure stuff doesn’t break. Use plastic bags or newspaper or bubble wrap to make sure glass jars are well insulated:

My box had 3 glass jars in it and all arrived intact!

——————-

 In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. 
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are interested in participating for June, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE to signup.

——————-

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

As promised, I’m back to share a recap of my weekend in Park City, Utah at Blend Retreat! Just like last year, it was spectacular. Lindsay, Katie & Janetha are planning experts and do a great job putting together a weekend that has a little something for everyone! I had such a great time meeting so many of the amazing ladies I interact with on a daily basis.

If you follow me on social media, I’m sure you were flooded with Blend pictures this weekend, so I apologize for that…but I was doing my best to capture all the happy memories!

I left early Friday morning and arrived in Salt Lake City around 11:30. I met up with Amanda and Lisa and we picked up our rental car and headed to Park City, which is about a 40 minute drive from the airport.

After stopping for a lunch at Whole Foods, we headed to the hotel to check-in and pick up our swag bags before snack time! There were tons of great sponsors for the weekend and they were all extremely generous. Here’s a peek at just some of the swag! I didn’t bring everything home because some of it was protein powders/bars/other products I don’t use so I let my roomies take their pick of the things I didn’t want.

I stayed in a GIGANTIC suite with 4 bedrooms and a pullout couch. All of my roommates were fabulous and the rooms were incredible. My actual bedroom roomie was Heather, who I didn’t know before this weekend, and she was awesome! Go check out her blog- Girly Ever After. Totally adorable!

After dropping off her stuff, we headed downstairs for a meet-and-greet snack break sponsored by Justin’s Nut Butter & Attune foods. It was great to chat and catch up with people as they arrived!

{with Annette & Paige– my fellow tall ladies!}

A couple hours later, we headed upstairs to get ready for dinner. Lisa is an AMAZING hairdresser and she made my hair look pretty for me both nights. I loved it! We had a cocktail hour sponsored by Silk that included some fun cocktails and delicious appetizers…and then we headed to the ballroom for a buffet-style dinner.

1. Amanda, me and Lisa
2. With Lori, Paige, Michelle
3. Reunited with Brittany
4. Love her

{One of my all-time favorites- Lindsay}

{Photobooth fun}

{with Laura, Christine & Lisa}

Since a lot of us were coming from the east coast, by the time dinner was over around 10 (midnight our time) we were pretty beat and headed to bed.

Saturday morning we were up early for a 7am bootcamp class with the awesome trainers from GPP Fitness. Janetha works out at GPP and they were nice enough to come in and put us through some awesome morning workouts. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate and it was a bit cold and rainy so we did the whole bootcamp inside…but let me tell you, I worked up a SWEAT! GPP is similar to crossfit so I absolutely loved it!

After bootcamp, we headed to breakfast, sponsored by Muesli Fusion and The Laughing Cow, where we ate some great food- lots of fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese and a muesli bar. (All the food pics are coming in my Weekly Eats post!)

{Waiting for breakfast with Lauren, Sonia, Alex, Lauren, Mollie & Julie}

Next up, a hike! It was still a bit rainy but a large group of us decided to hike anyways. I mean, we were in Utah after all! Others opted to stay inside and do zumba or yoga. The hike was awesome. It was about 4.5 miles total and the sun even came out by the end of it! The trail itself wasn’t muddy but the road leading to the trail was a slippery, muddy mess!

So muddy.
With another awesome Lindsey at the top!

{The whole hiking group}

{Take me back}

After the hike we showered and headed back to whole foods for another lunch. My sandwich was so good on Friday that I repeated it on Saturday 🙂 After a brief stop at the outlet mall, we headed back to the hotel for another snack break and got to meet Janetha’s dogs. Randy is my favorite. So loveable and droopy!

{With Debra & Lisa!}

With an hour or so to kill before dinner, I took a little walk to enjoy the sunshine and snap a few more photos.

Then, a group of 20 or so of us headed to a Mexican restaurant that was within walking distance from the hotel. Our waiter left something to be desired, but it was great company and to food was delicious.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel where we changed into pj’s and headed to one of the other suites. Janetha’s mom made these INCREDIBLE Utah scones, with honey butter and homemade strawberry jam. They were a big hit! We enjoyed a couple more hours of chatting and then headed to bed.

{Momma B in action. She was awesome!}

Sunday morning we were up early again for another 7am bootcamp. This one was a little less crowded than the day before 🙂 It was another great workout- we even did cartwheels!

{Rocking our Living Proof Fit Gear tanks}

1. with Christine & Lindsay
2. with Bonnie & Lindsay
3. Lindsay squared
4. with Bobbi

We had about 30 minutes until breakfast, which of course meant time for more pics!

{with Krista and Meighan}

More Lindsay love! with Itz Linz
With Miranda- the creator of our tank tops. She is AMAZING. So fun to meet her in person.

Then we headed to breakfast, sponsored by Chobani, which was awesome.There was a made-to-order omlette bar, an oatmeal/parfait bar, smoothies and chobani pancakes. I ate SO MANY PANCAKES! I also had a chance to meet the sweet ladies that work for Chobani who I’ve gotten to know through social media. It’s always fun to put faces with names.

We had about an hour to pack all our stuff up and then it was time for the closing ceremony and raffle! The closing ceremony was sponsored by MY sponsor, Blue Diamond Almonds, and I gave a little speech about how awesome they are and everyone got to take home lots of samples of their new flavored almonds- Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and toasted coconut!

{thanks Bobbi for the speech pic!}

There were some great prizes in the raffle. I gave mine away because I wasn’t in the mood to pack anything else! We had to head out before the group picture, sadly, but we had an easy drive back to the airport and arrived in plenty of time for our flights!

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. It was so much fun to meet some new bloggers and connect further with ones I already knew! I’m already excited for next year! If you were thinking about coming this year and didn’t, hopefully seeing this and all the other recaps have convinced you it’s worth it. Because it is. It’s an incredible, one-of-a-kind opportunity to get together with other bloggers & readers and just enjoy life! There are no sessions to go to, no notes to take, just lots and lots of time to deepen relationships and form new ones.

Huge thank you to Blue Diamond for making it possible for me to attend this year and to Lindsay, Katie & Janetha for making it happen!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

My trip was sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.

Hi Friends!

Earlier this week, I got the chance to go to the 2013 Nutrition + Physical Activity Learning Connection Ohio Summit (for free). I was invited by the American Dairy Association Mideast to attend and live tweet the event. The event itself was presented by Ohio Action for Healthy Kids, in partnership with the American Dairy Association Mideast, Children’s Hunger Alliance and the American Academy of Pediatrics, with support from the Cardinal Health Foundation.

 There were about 200 people there, from a wide variety of backgrounds. My preceptor from my internship rotation at Children’s Hunger Alliance was there, as well as my food service preceptor from one of the local school districts. There were educators, health professionals, RDs and many others from around the state of Ohio.

The opening speech was giving by the First Lady of Ohio, Karen Kasich. Prior to this event, I didn’t know much about her…but I was impressed with how active she is in the area of child nutrition and wellness. She worked with a team of people from Nationwide Children’s Hospital to develop a very cool series of videos called Time for 10!  The basic idea is this:

“Time For 10! is a series of five, ten-minute exercise videos designed for daily use in K-5 classrooms. The program seeks to make guided exercise easy and accessible to Ohio schools, thereby improving students’ health and classroom productivity. It is a simple tool for schools to increase students’ physical activity through small increments of exercise, in a way that is manageable and constructive—providing benefits inside and outside the classroom.”

I LOVE the idea behind these videos and was thrilled to hear they’re being used in Ohio classrooms.

Throughout the morning, we heard from a variety of speakers on topics that included:

• Food Insecurity & Learning: Improving academic potential with school breakfast
• School Meals & Cognition: The Healthy Hunger-free Kids Act
• Physical Activity, Fitness & Learning: A review of research connecting physical education and physical activity to academic achievement
• The Crucial Role of Recess in Schools: The role it plays in helping children with creative expression and socio-emotional engagement

Here are some of the things I tweeted, along with Sally from Real Mom Nutrition who was also helping live-tweet the event:

The basis of the event:

———————–

A call to Action: 

• Today’s children are overweight, undernourished and unfit.
• You can affect cognition with nutrition, activity and fitness.
• Experiences alter brain structure & function. health, physical activity & nutrition affect cognitive processing.
• We can’t change genetics or home stress but we can help boost kids’ brain function with good nutrition + physical activity.

——————–

On Food Insecurity & Learning and the Importance of Breakfast

• Hungry kids are more often sick, hospitalized and have impaired brain development.
• Schools are well positioned to be hubs to provide healthy food to kids by maximizing federal programs.
• 3 in 5 teachers across the country believe hunger inhibits the ability of their students to learn.
• Kids who eat school breakfast have better test scores, attend class more and are more likely to graduate from high school. 
• “School breakfast can change lives” for kids with food insecurity at home.
• School breakfast = success. It reduces food insecurity and hunger and improves outcomes.
• Do schools in your area offer breakfast: Search http://www.nokidhungry.org/breakfast  to find out or add your school!

 ———————-

On the importance of recess:

• Looking at brain scans of kids sitting vs after a 20 min walk- physical activity stimulates cognitive activity!! 
• Schools should: Increase PE time and/or improve quality, provide regular recess, incorporate mvmt into the classroom!
• Children need free play to support cognitive growth.  
• “Children develop intellectual constructs & cognitive understanding through interactive, manipulative experiences”
• “Optimal cognitive processing in children necessitates a period of interruption from cognitive processing” (ie recess!) 
• “Play as a child sees it is the most serious thing in life.Play builds the child & is thus an essential part of education”
• “Recess is a life skills class”. “Recess is a right, not an option”. Let’s protect it! 
• Research shows that recess before lunch cuts food waste, improves behav during meal time AND in the classroom.
• Often when taking away recess as punishment, we’re taking it away from kids who need it most. 

We had “recess” before lunch. A 10 minute physical activity break lead by Dr. Greg Bellisari, a former Ohio State and NFL football player.

While we ate, we observed a kids taste testing panel. A few kids were given several healthier lunch options to try and then they gave us their opinion. Overall, they seem to enjoy everything they tried, including things like low sodium brown rice with black beans and unbreaded chicken nuggets!

During the afternoon we heard a session about overcoming non-academic barriers to school improvement plans. We also heard from a panel of people who discussed things like creating classrooms that move, smarter lunchrooms and creating a wellness culture.

A few afternoon tweets:

• Want change? Find ways to make your health improvement ideas fit into the school improvement plans that already exist.
• Ohio is 1 of only 2 states that doesn’t have health education standards. To help change that visit: http://www.setthestandards.wordpress.com 
• Smarter Lunchroom Movement grants help manage portion sizes, improve visability of healthy foods and enhance taste.
• “Smarter Lunchroom Movement: Lunchrooms are hands-on learning labs for creating healthy habits!”
• When it comes to children, look 20-30 years down the road. Teach them skills that will serve them now AND then.
• Get everyone involved! Kids teaching kids is just as,if not more, powerful than adults teaching kids about healthy choices

——————–

Overall it was a great event. My favorite part was definitely the discussion about the benefits of recess. I’m such a huge proponent of recess and it was so interesting to hear about all the research that backs up the benefits of it.

Thanks again to American Dairy Association Mideast for inviting me to the event!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

I attended this event for free and was compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hi Friends!

I promised I would write a post about how I studied for and passed my RD Exam to become a Registered Dietitian, so here we are! I realize this post will be incredibly boring for some of you….so feel free to come back tomorrow if this isn’t your thing!

First things first….a couple pieces of general advice about studying for the exam:

• Schedule and take your test as quickly as possible after completing your internship: I was told it would take a month for my paperwork to process after completing my internship and that I wouldn’t be able to schedule my exam until then. Turns out it only took a week for the paperwork, which was awesome…and then I scheduled my test for two weeks after that…so I was able  to take my test just 3 weeks after finishing my internship.
• Study the way you know works for you: I’m going to show you guys how I studied…but that DOES NOT mean that everyone should study this way. I know myself, I’ve taken a million tests and I know what I need to do to study effectively and pass.
• Don’t overstudy: The test is hard, don’t get me wrong, but I promise you’ve taken harder tests if you’ve made it to this point. This exam is not any harder than a biochemistry or anatomy exam. It may seem overwhelming because there is so much information…but trust me, trying to overstudy and memorize every single detail will only make things worse.

Here’s what I used to study:

• The Inman Study Guide with practice test – My girl Elle sent me her study materials after she passed bc she rocks!
• Visual Veggies – (I received this for free in exchange for an honest review) I used VV to study for my Diet Tech exam and loved it so I knew I wanted to use it to study for this exam as well

Here’s what I did:

1. Spent time going through the entire Inman binder– The only way I can remember stuff is if I write it down myself. So that’s what I did. I took notes as I reviewed the Inman binder. Once I got through each doman, I condensed the notes down based on what I did and didn’t know at that point. Then after I went through the whole binder, I condensed my notes again.

Yes, those pages are all filled front and back with notes. Like I said before…if this isn’t the way you study, DON’T STUDY THIS WAY. Believe me, I wouldn’t spend time writing and rewriting if I could remember stuff just reading it from the binder. But I know from past experience that I can’t…so I did what works for me. Once I had condensed all I could, I ended up with a much more manageable set of notes to review over and over again.

2. Did all the practice questions on the Visual Veggies software– Visual Veggies has multiple sets of questions for each domain, plus full length practice tests. All the answers have explanations if you get a question wrong. This is the perfect study tool for me because I love practice questions. I did over 600 practice questions using the VV software. Here’s what it looks like:

Pick your domain:

Or pick a mixed set or practice test- they have full length (125 questions) or short versions:

Start your practice set. They’re 25 questions and you get 30 minutes to complete them:

You see whether your answers are correct or not right after you save your answer. If you answer incorrectly, it shows you the correct answer and if you click “show answer” it will give you an explanation:

It saves the data from all your practice sets and tests. You can run reports that will show you the ones you answered incorrectly and provide the correct answers and you can print out those reports if you want:

I loved it! They also added a fun Hangman game that they didn’t have when I took my DTR exam:

I didn’t use this a ton, but I did use it a couple nights before my exam when I was starting to feel pretty confident. It was a fun change of pace from a regular practice test and another helpful study tool.

3. Worked through a whole Inman practice test–  The Inman practice tests have 300-400 practice questions per domain, so there’s over 1000 practice questions total…and yes I did them all. You don’t have to. You could just go through and pick out the ones you didn’t know how to do, or just do half of them, whatever works. I like to see as many possible questions that could resemble what I’ll see on the test before I take it…which is why I LOVE practice tests.

4. Studied my condensed notes. I had a page or two for each domain, plus a page of equations and a page of other random notes. For the last two days I focused solely on those notes. I read and re-read them, practiced using the equations, etc until I felt comfortable with everything.

Overall, I spent about 9 days studying and I think that was plenty. By the end I was getting pretty restless and I knew I’d be ready to take the exam on the day I was scheduled to.

 Post-Exam Thoughts

Here’s how I felt after the exam:

• It was hard. I felt confident going into the test but while I was taking it, I was about 80% sure I was going to fail.
• A lot of the questions were different than the practice questions. Which sucked. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were just the same?
• The test only covered about 40% of what I studied. Which means I knew WAY more than was actually on the test. And that’s frustrating. For every question I knew I was missing on the exam, I felt like screaming “why can’t you ask me this, this or this…I know all that!!”

Bottom Line

The test is hard, but passable. Choose your study materials wisely based on your own study habits. Study hard. Take the test with confidence. Trust that your study materials will prepare you, even though it might not seem like it when you’re taking the actual test. Don’t freak out while taking the test. Remember you don’t need to get 100% of the questions right. It’s ok to miss some.

Celebrate when you pass.
You freakin’ earned it!!!!!

Let me know if you have any questions.
–Lindsay–

I was provided the Visual Veggies software for free. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hi Friends!

Hard to believe it’s time for another foodie penpals reveal day already!

This month I received my box from the lovely Nicole and Fruit ‘N Fitness! Nicole and I have been chatting a lot recently on Twitter so I was excited to see I’d be getting a box from her!

Here’s what she sent me:

Can’t tell you how pumped I was to see cookies in there 🙂

Here’s what was in the box:

• Fig jam that is AMAZING!
• A flavor of Clif bar I haven’t tried yet!
• All sorts of delicious chocolate- the dark chocolate almond ginger is SO GOOD!
• Homemade cookies + a recipe – they were delicious and didn’t last very long in my house!
• Seeds of Change Quinoa and brown rice
• Cocomama quinoa cereal- I wasn’t sure I would like it, but it’s really tasty!

Thank you so much Nicole for all the goodies! You’re the best.

——————

 In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. 
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are interested in participating for May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE to signup.

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Enjoy!
–Lindsay–