• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Learn how food affects your body. Get Free Nutrition Info Today

the-lean-green-bean-logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Kids
  • Resources
    • Ebooks
    • Food Prep
    • Videos
    • Snack Round-Ups
    • Gift Guides
  • About
    • Become An RD
    • Work With Me
  • Search
the-lean-green-bean-logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Kids
  • Resources
    • Ebooks
    • Food Prep
    • Videos
    • Snack Round-Ups
    • Gift Guides
  • About
    • Become An RD
    • Work With Me
  • Search

blog

Fitness Friday 51

June 7, 2013 by Lindsay 10 Comments

Hi Friends!

Time for another Fitness Friday. It’s been too long once again. Let’s play catchup shall we? We’re backing all the way up to the day before I left for Blend Retreat!

ff2

1. Hardest day of #crossfit in a while. 12:49 with 85# cleans, 35# kb swings
2. Saturday morning GPP workout- we did sprints, and then a deck of cards workout with burpees, squats, pushups and situps
3. 4.5 mile hike on Saturday afternoon.
4. Sunday morning GPP workout- we did more sprints, cartwheels, lots of squats and lunges and 4 count burpees.

ff3

1. Tabata Monday- 95# clean & jerks & 105# power cleans for skill/strength, then a tabata #wod – keep the lowest score for each so mine were 6 cal row, 7 kb push press w/ 26# kb & 15 air squats
2. Holy Shizzzz – got my ass handed to me! 12:29 rx with double unders. Plus got up to 150# back squat for strength.
3. Proof
4. 9:12 with 135# and 2 abmats

FF4

1. We did the hero WOD Murph on the Saturday before Memorial day. It’s tough. But we broke in down into a run, then 20 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats and then another run. It took me 48:11 Rx. A lot of people do this WOD with weighted vests to make it even harder. When it hurts, think of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
2. The group post-Murph
3. Hubby & I post-Murph
4.  That’s me PR’ing my back squat. 175 pounds!! That’s a lifetime PR. Even when I lifted a lot for volleyball in high school I could never squat that much.

ff5

1. Our Memorial Day WOD. All legs. I did the whole thing with 105#.
2.  6:34 but I did 10 handstand holds per round instead of wall walks each round. I’m leary of wall walks ever since I hurt my hip flexor doing them. Before the WOD we did 125# weighted lunges and let me tell ya, I was SORE the next day!
3. Loved this one. Finished 6 full rounds and 53/70 DUs of round 7!
4. Open gym. I made up my own WOD. 10:58 Rx.

photo-432

One of the hardest WODS I’ve ever done. 12:27 rx plus 100 pushups and some handstands before that. When I finished, I thought “I would rather have done Fran.” If you know anything about Crossfit, you know that’s a pretty good indication that the workout was hard.

ff6

1. My friend Jackie & I tackled two benchmark workouts during open gym over the weekend. It was my first time doing Grace with the prescribed weight and I finished in 5:08! Then we did Annie, mainly to practice double unders while we were tired.
2. 5:28 rx plus a 120# split jerk PR!
3. We got to make up our own three mini WODS as a class! Workout 1- 4:04 with 135#, workout 2- 5:15 with 35# kb, workout 3- 4 + 4 with 95# hang cleans
4. Jackie- not one of my favorite benchmarks. Finished in 11:20.

ff4

Just some random shots of me. That’s my game face in the last one 🙂

ff7

1. Hubby waiting on the surgeon to talk about his shoulder. He has shoulder surgery scheduled for June 18th. We won’t know until they actually do the surgery whether it’ll just be a cleanup of his labrum and rotator cuff or actually repairing a small tear. Depending on what happens, he’ll be in a sling for anywhere from 1-6 weeks.
2. Truth.
3. I finally got some Olympic lifting shoes! Can’t wait to see how they help with my lifts!
4. Our Coach is sponsored by Dymatize and they made us some tank tops to wear to regionals this weekend. Only the girl tanks came in on time…but the boys put them on anyways 🙂

ff5

As part of the What’s Beautiful campaign, Under Armour sent me some goodies, including a sweet pair of shoes, tank top and headbands. Of course I had to try them out, so I grabbed the dogs and headed out for a run. Proof that getting strong helps you run? I ran an 8:30 mile. I haven’t run in months and that’s a full minute faster than I was running last summer! BOOM!

 

——————

That’s all, friends! Today, tomorrow and Sunday hubby and I will be at the Central East Crossfit Regionals here in Columbus to cheer on our coach Heather Welsh! We’re so excited. She made it to The Crossfit Games last year and we’re hoping she makes it back this year so we can watch her out in California too! Here are the events the athletes compete in at Regionals:

regionals

There are some crazy hard workouts! I’m so excited to watch. Our region has some amazing athletes so the competition should be great!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

PS. Just for fun, Jackie & I working on our butterfly pullups. We’re gettin’ there!

butterfly1

Filed Under: Workouts

May Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

May 31, 2013 by Lindsay 15 Comments

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

FPP-post

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:

fpp2

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:

box

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–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Sweet Potato Brownies

May 29, 2013 by Lindsay 66 Comments

Hi Friends!

As promised, I’m here with a treat for you today! Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies!

These Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Brownies are sweetened with dates and so delicious and full of chocolate flavor you'd never guess they're somewhat healthy!

I’ve made two batches of these in the past week. They’re both gone. The original batch I made using Nuttzo!  (Check out tomorrow’s post for more info on how much I’m loving Nuttzo!) I actually came up with the idea for these brownies while I was thinking about how I could use the Chocolate Nuttzo to bake! Chocolate immediately made me think of brownies so I settled on those…but I hate how unhealthy most brownie recipes are. I decided I would try using dates to sweeten theses brownies and also threw in some sweet potatoes to keep them moist!

I made the first batch with chocolate Nuttzo and they passed the hubby test! That’s when I realized I might have a winner. Then I made a second batch to take to our Memorial Day cookout. My father-in-law loves peanut butter brownies so I used regular peanut butter for the second batch. Even my mother-in-law, who never eats dessert, ate one…so I call that a major win!

Here’s the recipe:

Print

Sweet Potato Brownies

sweet potato brownies
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Vegetables in a brownie? You bet! But these tasty sweets will be gone before you have time to tell anyone.

  • Author: Author: Lindsay L
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • (8×8 pan)
  • 11/4 c chopped, pitted dates
  • 1/2 c cooked sweet potato, mashed
  • 3/4 c nut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 c applesauce
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2/3 c dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Put the dates, sweet potato and nut butter in a food processor and process until smooth.
  2. Add the eggs and applesauce and process until mixed.
  3. Sift in the cocoa powder and baking soda and pulse until combined.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Spoon into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.
  6. Optional frosting: When cooled, top with nut butter, or melt nut butter and more chocolate chips in the microwave, stir to combine and spread over brownies.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

Pretty simple, right?

sweet potato brownies 1

A word of warning…these are not super sweet. So don’t expect a traditional brownie. For hubby and I, who don’t like super sweet stuff, they’re perfect. If you’re worried they won’t be sweet enough for you, adding the melted chocolate chip/pb frosting adds some sweetness! At our cookout, I served them frosted with a scoop of ice cream…DELISH! Also, they’re more like cakey brownies, not fudgy. My guess would be if you added another egg they’d be fudgier but I haven’t tried it.

IMG_5168

My best advice. Make these…serve them to your friends and family but don’t tell them the ingredients! I bet they’ll be a big hit!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Baking, Dessert Tagged With: Sweet Potato

Strength is What’s Beautiful

May 22, 2013 by Lindsay 74 Comments

Hi Friends!

Today I want to introduce you to some of the amazing ladies I workout with. Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I was partnering with Under Armour and Fitfluential for this campaign? I told you that my What’s Beautiful goal for the Under Armour campaign is “to help women realize that lifting heavy weights and having muscles is healthy and beautiful, not something to be afraid of.” Well, these women are living proof. They are all different ages, have different body types and are at different stages in their lives…but every single one of them proves daily that STRENGTH is what’s beautiful.

show world

These are the women that inspire me every day. They’re not professional athletes, models or super stars…they’re normal, everyday women who care about their bodies and are working hard to stay healthy. They’re working hard to get stronger. They have muscles. And instead of hiding them, they flaunt them…because they already know that strength is what’s beautiful. Just look at the quotes they gave me when I asked them why they lift heavy weights, or why they think strength is beautiful.

Let me introduce you to them:

This is Jackie. She’s a 29 year old Event Coordinator.

jackie

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 175#
  • Back Squat PR: 140#
  • Front Squat PR: 115#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 90#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 115#
  • Push press PR: 85#

How she inspires me: Her DRIVE.
Jackie wants to get better every.single.day. I’ve seen her stay late, after completing an intense workout, try literally 100 times to do a muscle-up…and miss each one. But you know what? Instead of giving up, she comes in the next day and does it all over again. Works harder. Tries again. Gets stronger. Because she believes she can..and she WILL.

 ——————

This is Sheryl. She’s a 43 year old mother of two and an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.

sheryl

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR:  175#
  • Back Squat PR: 155#
  • Front Squat PR: 125#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 70#
  • Clean PR: 105#
  • Clean and Jerk PR:  85#
  • Push Press PR: 85#

How she inspires me: Her WORK ETHIC.
When Sheryl wants to do something, she is relentless until she gets it done. I’ve seen her try a workout, fail to complete it and then come back just a few days later and knock it out of the park. She believes in herself and it shows in her workouts.

——————

This is Kasey. She’s a 36 year old mom of two and a Trade Compliance Specialist.

kasey

How strong is she?

  • Dead lift PR: 185#
  • Back Squat PR: 145#
  • Front Squat PR: 115#
  • Overhead squat PR: 65#
  • Clean and jerk PR: 95#
  • Push press: 80#

How she inspires me: Her SUPPORT.
Kasey is a terrific motivator and is constantly cheering on everyone else and celebrating their accomplishments. She’s pushed me through several workouts that I’m certain I wouldn’t have finished without her encouragement.

 ———————

This is Ashley. She’s a 32 year old mom of two girls.

ashley7

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 165#
  • Back Squat PR: 130#
  • Front Squat PR: 85#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 90#
  • Push press PR: 75#

How she inspires me: Her COMMITMENT.
Ashley is a stay-at-home mom, which means she’s with her kids all the time. Instead of using it as an excuse to skip workouts, she does whatever it takes to get to the gym, including bringing her kids along with her. I love that she’s teaching them from an early age how important it is to take care of your body.

 ——————-

This is Vanessa. She’s a 31 year old HRIS Specialist.

vanessa

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 205#
  • Back Squat PR: 145#
  • Front Squat PR: 95#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 75#
  • Clean PR: 105#
  • Push Press PR: 105#

How she inspires me: Her COMEBACK.
A couple of years ago, V broke one of the bones in her leg and had to get some metal put in to fix things. Instead of slacking off because recovery was hard, she’s come back stronger than ever! She pushes herself to get stronger every single day and constantly challenges me to do more as well!

 ——————

This is Katelyn. She’s a 29 year old Political Fundraiser.

katelyn

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 210#
  • Back Squat PR: 145#
  • Front Squat PR: 105#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 55#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 105#
  • Push press PR: 75#

How she inspires me: Her GOALS.
At the gym we have a goal board where we all wrote down some things we want to accomplish  this year. I think Katelyn has more goals written down than anyone else and I love that. She dreams big and works hard. I have no doubt she’ll reach all her goals.

 ————————

This is Marianela. She’s a 38 year old mom of 4 and a restaurant owner.

mare

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 165#
  • Back Squat PR: 133#
  • Front Squat PR: 113#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 55#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 95#

How she inspires me: Her BALANCE.
Mare has 4 kids and helps run a restaurant…yet somehow, day after day, she manages to take care of everyone around her and still find the time to come to the gym & take care of herself as well.

——————–

This is Kelsey. She’s a 27 year old hair stylist.

Kelsey

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 140
  • Back Squat PR: 135

How she inspires me: Her ATTITUDE.
Kelsey is always positive. She reminds me every day that working out should be FUN!

 ——————-

This is Diane. She’s a 56 year old mom of four.

diane1

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 185#
  • Back squat PR: 85#
  • Front Squat PR: 75#
  • Overhead squat PR: 45#
  • Clean/Jerk PR: 85#
  • PushPress PR: 65#

How she inspires me: Her HEART.
Diane may not be the youngest person at the gym, but she never lets that stop her from showing up and doing her best. She’s also recovering from surgery but I’ve seen her show up to do modified workouts the whole time she’s recovering. She keeps us laughing and isn’t afraid to bust out her Zumba moves when a good song comes on at the gym!

——————

This is Liz. She’s a 47 year old mom of one and an HR professional.

Liz

 

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 210#
  • Back Squat PR: 170#
  • Front Squat PR: 115#
  • Clean &  Jerk: 105#
 
How she inspires me: Her SUCCESS.
I want to be as strong as Liz. I wrote about it here, but she pushes me every single day because she’s always just a little bit ahead of me. Chasing her makes ME better. Plus, instead of whining about getting older, she’s embracing her age and is in totally rockin’ shape!

—————–

This is Heather. She’s our coach. She’s also a 31 year old mom of two and an elite Crossfit Competitor.

heather7

How strong is she?

  • Deadlift PR: 350#
  • Back Squat PR: 290#
  • Front Squat PR: 235#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 195#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 210#
  • Push press PR: 250#

How she inspires me: Her PASSION.
Heather loves teaching and it shows every day in class. She is always willing to go the extra mile to help us succeed, whether that means coming early or staying late so we can practice our lifts, giving us advice or patiently correcting our form over and over again. She genuinely wants all of us to succeed, improve and set new PRs. And when we do, she gets just as excited about it as we do! She’s also extremely passionate about her sport, a fearless competitor and isn’t afraid to throw heavy weight around. Such an inspiration!

——————-

 This is me. I’m a 28 year old Registered Dietitian.

me

How strong am I?

  • Deadlift PR: 185
  • Back Squat PR: 155#
  • Front Squat PR: 125#
  • Overhead Squat PR: 105#
  • Clean PR: 120#
  • Clean & Jerk PR: 105#

———————

I wrote this post to show you guys that strength is what’s beautiful…at any age…in all shapes and sizes. I hope it inspired you to go lift some weights!

Let’s chat: Complete one of these sentences:
“I lift heavy weights because…” OR “Strength is beautiful because…”

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Workouts

Blend Retreat Recap

May 21, 2013 by Lindsay 54 Comments

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.

2

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.

IMG_4736

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!

heather

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!

b

{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.

5

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

IMG_4773

{One of my all-time favorites- Lindsay}

7

{Photobooth fun}

blends

{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!

IMG_4784

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!)

IMG_4787

{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!

 10

11

So muddy.
With another awesome Lindsey at the top!

IMG_4834

{The whole hiking group}

IMG_4826

{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!

12

{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.

IMG_4853

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.

IMG_4860

{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!

13

IMG_4889

{Rocking our Living Proof Fit Gear tanks}

IMG_4891

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!

IMG_4899

{with Krista and Meighan}

15

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!

14

{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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Learning Connection: Nutrition & Physical Activity

May 11, 2013 by Lindsay 20 Comments

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.

IMG_4422

 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.

IMG_4424

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

IMG_4426

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:

exercise

———————–

A call to Action: 

chair

  • 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

16

  • 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:

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. 

IMG_4436

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!

IMG_4443

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:

end1

  • 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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What’s Beautiful: Strength

May 8, 2013 by Lindsay 80 Comments

Hi Friends!

Let’s talk strength today, shall we?

I’ve always considered myself an athlete. Growing up I played almost every sport under the sun before zeroing in on volleyball. In college I branched out and tried rowing, thus becoming a college athlete…something I never thought I’d be. Now, 10 years later, even though I’m not on an official team, I still consider myself an athlete.

what's beautiful strength 1

Under Armour just launched the third round of their What’s Beautiful campaign. Have you heard of it? It’s a competition to redefine the female athlete….and I love everything about it. This campaign is all about encouraging and empowering women to set goals and then GO GET THEM! It’s about encouraging them to do things they never thought they could do. It’s about challenging them to tell their story and prove to the world that they have what it takes to be epic. And it’s about helping people realize that the female athlete is more than just someone who wears a jersey or plays on a field or a court.

getstrong1

As part of my partnership with Fitfluential, I’m participating in the What’s Beautiful campaign. This is unlike more traditional Fitflential campaign where a few ambassadors are chosen to review a product. This is a movement. Over 300 amazing fitfluential ambassadors, including me, have joined the movement and are part of a sponsored campaign for the What’s Beautiful program with Fitfluential & Under Armour. Our job is to inspire YOU to join the movement as well!

Anyone can participate. From anywhere. All you need is a goal, a positive attitude and a desire to prove yourself!

When you sign up for the campaign, you declare a goal. It took me a while to come up with mine. At first I thought about something personal, like add 20 pounds to my back squat. But then I realized, this campaign is about more than me. This is about all women. About encouraging them to believe that they can do anything they set their mind to. This is the goal I came up with:

I WILL : Help women realize that lifting heavy weights and having muscles is healthy and beautiful, not something to be afraid of. 

Because it’s something I remind myself of every single day when I head to the gym. Because weight lifting is one of the BEST things you can do for your body. Because ANYONE can start lifting weights, no matter what age or size you are, no matter what shape you’re in. Because the beautiful thing about strength, is that you can always get stronger.

strong3

Here are a few things lifting weights can do for you:

  • Help you gain muscle and lose fat.
  • Help make everyday chores easier.
  • Help you build and maintain strong bones.
  • Help protect against injury.
  • Build your confidence.
  • Increase your mental strength.
  • And so much more!

I’ve never been afraid to lift weights. I can still remember the day in high school when I got my picture in the local paper for squatting 135 pounds. I’ve never been so proud as when I was able to put those huge 45 pound plates onto the bar, lift it onto my back, squat all the way down and stand back up. I felt like a badass. I felt STRONG. Over the years, I’ve done all kinds of strength workouts. I’ve used barbells, I’ve used dumbbells, I’ve used household objects like milk jugs filled with sand. And now, at 28 years old, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I can put 95 pounds on a barball and push it up above my head. I can hold 100 pounds over my head and squat all the way down and back up again. I can put 185 pounds on the bar and pick it up off the ground.

I have muscles. I can see my own strength in my shoulders, my legs and my back. And you know what? I’ve never felt more beautiful.

Because, my friends: Strength is what’s beautiful. Having muscles is beautiful. Beauty, in my world, is not defined by starving myself to be as thin as the models you see in the media. It’s not always about wearing makeup and fashionable clothes.

Beauty, to me, is in my strength. It’s about sweat, effort, determination and desire. It’s about being HEALTHY. It’s about being proud of myself. And it’s about being mentally strong enough to KNOW that I can do anything I put my mind to.

 

So this is me, encouraging you to join the What’s Beautiful challenge. Set a goal for yourself. Aim high. Dream big. Pick something you’ve been wanting to accomplish for a while- start running, run a marathon, join a gym, become a yoga teacher, learn how to lift weights, gain 5 pounds of muscle, stop the negative self talk…whatever YOU want.

a

Here’s a little bit more about the What’s Beautiful campaign from the Under Armour website:

Together we’re redefining the female athlete by setting epic goals and pushing past where we’ve ever been and where we thought we could go. Join us. Set your own personal goal. Then document your journey by posting videos and photos that tell your story from start to victory.

We’ll continuously post challenges for you. But that’s just the beginning. Show us your journey. Show us what makes your story the one that stands out from the rest. If you meet your goal, set a new one. Make it even bigger. Prove to everyone, and yourself, that you have more than what it takes.

Each week, Under Armour will be giving away swag bags full of loot to participants. they will feature top performers on their website. after 8 weeks, they will announce 10 finalists who have documented the most impressive & motivated journeys toward the goals. mid-july, winners will be announced! three winners will receive a trip to Costa Rica for a 4-day retreat.

————–

Tweet or share your goal on Facebook so others can support you.
Use the hashtags #whatsbeautiful and #IWILL
Tell ME your goal in the comments so I can cheer you on!

—————

 

 IMG_3659

I’m a female.
I’m an athlete.
I am strong.
I AM what’s beautiful.

Let’s chat: What’s your goal?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Filed Under: Workouts

How I Passed My RD Exam

May 4, 2013 by Lindsay 84 Comments

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!

Are you a dietetics student, dietetic intern or thinking about getting a degree in nutrition and dietetics? See how I passed my RD exam and became a Registered Dietitian!

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:

RD study materials

  • 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.

notes

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:

rd2

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

rd3

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

rd4

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:

rd5

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:

rd6

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

rd7

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.

inman practice

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.

RD study notes

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.

IMG_3939

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Backyard Blast Workout

May 3, 2013 by Lindsay 34 Comments

Hi Friends!

I’ve got a fun little workout for you! Before I started Crossfit, I used to make up my own workouts all the time. I love coming up with them, so when my Blend Sponsor, Blue Diamond Almonds, asked me to create a workout to help them kick off their Feel Good for Summer campaign….I jumped at the chance!

One of the reasons I love Blue Diamond as a company is because they believe in encouraging all aspects of health. Their products are heart healthy and delicious, but instead of focusing just on food, they also focus on physical and mental health. They encourage their customers to be active, spend time with their families and enjoy life…while also fueling themselves with healthy food!

This workout is a great way to get your heart pumping. It involves all body weight movements so all you need is yourself! So grab a towel if the grass makes you itchy and head out the backyard for some fun in the sun!

BDAworkout

Here’s a breakdown of a couple of the movements you may not be familiar with. Click the link to see a video:

Burpees
Side Kicks
Plank
Air punches – please put a little more effort into your punches!

Happy Friday!

Let’s chat: Do you have any fun weekend plans?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

This post was sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.

Filed Under: Sponsored, Workouts

April Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

April 30, 2013 by Lindsay 28 Comments

Hi Friends!

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

FPP-post

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:

IMG_3656

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

IMG_4109

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.

——————-

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Lean Green Bean, RD

April 25, 2013 by Lindsay 100 Comments

Hi Friends!

It’s a big day over here in Bean Land! I’m so happy to tell you guys that yesterday I passed my registration exam and I am OFFICIALLY A REGISTERED DIETITIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

officially an RD 3

I wasn’t planning to take the exam until the end of the month, but my approval paperwork came through faster than expected so I decided to just get it out of the way as soon as possible. I only told about 5 people when I was actually taking the exam because I didn’t want any added pressure or expectations….so it was extra fun to announce it to people on social media yesterday. HUGE thank you to everyone that sent their congratulations and well wishes. I spent yesterday feeling very loved 🙂  I plan to write a whole post about how I studied, what study materials I used, etc because I know a lot of you will be interested, so stay tuned for that!

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the fact that every ounce of hard work I’ve put in over the last 4.5 years to get me to this point paid off yesterday when I passed that exam!

SO WORTH IT.

Follow your dreams, friends! If you work hard enough, they really do come true 🙂

photo-413

{Hubby got me these!}

Let’s chat:

  • Are you chasing a dream right now? What is it?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Smart Snacking

April 23, 2013 by Lindsay 92 Comments

Hi Friends!

Let’s chat a little about healthy snacking today, shall we? First things first, this post is being sponsored by Sargento. They are compensating me for this post, but as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

Hungry? Here are some healthy snack ideas from a Registered Dietitian! Perfect for kids and adults.

If you know me at all, you know I love snacking! I function best when I don’t go more than a few hours without eating so snacks are must for me! In fact, I believe that having healthy snacks on hand is just as important as having healthy meals on hand. If you’ve seen my Sunday Food Prep series, you know that I believe prepping healthy food on the weekend is a key factor in helping you and your loved ones eat healthy during the week. When I do my food prep, I prep a lot of foods that will help me make easy lunches and dinners, but I also spend a little time focusing on what snacks I’m going to eat that week. I aim for a mix of things that I can just throw in my purse like trail mix and popcorn…and things I can grab out of the fridge!

ab

Sargento recently did a survey with Shape magazine that asked readers about their snacking habits at work. Here are some of the things they found:

  • Over 60% of people stated that they snacked several times during the day because they needed a little pick-me-up.
  • Over 65% of the people said their snack craving hit them from 2-4pm and almost 40% also got hungry from 9-11am.
  • When respondents needed to get a snack from the vending machine, most stated that their options included salty snacks like chips and sweet snacks like candy. 30% say they never got snacks out of the vending machine and 20% said they didn’t have access to one.
  • When asked about their ideal workplace snacks, most respondents wanted snacks that were: nutritious, satisfying, convenient, flavorful and portable.
  • Over 50% of respondents said they struggle to find snacks at work that help them make healthy food choices and 45% said they struggled with finding snacks that are both flavorful and nutritious.
  • When they had wholesome snacks at work, 60% felt good about themselves and in control of their diet/eating habits.
  • Over 40% of people considered the vending machine a dieter’s trap and almost 55% of people had regrets about their snacks 1-3 times per week.

While I think that there are some nutritious options to be found in a vending machine, I encourage people to use it as a last resort. With a little planning, it’s easy to have healthy snacks on hand every day, no matter if you work in an office or are on the go all day long!

abc

So, what are some of my go-to healthy snacks? Here are some of my favorites:

  • Raw veggies with hummus- buy some or make your own
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Homemade trail mix- I like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried fruit and a few chocolate chips
  • Perfectly roasted chickpeas
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Greek yogurt
  • Fresh fruit
  • Smoothies- throw in some spinach or kale and a protein source like greek yogurt
  • Peanut butter on 100% whole wheat toast
  • Healthy microwave popcorn
  • Sweet potato bites
  • Frozen yogurt trail mix bites
  • Apples with peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter)
  • Cheese stick and fruit
  • Cereal and milk- choose a low-sugar cereal that also has some fiber and protein
  • Water- yes, sometimes if you think you’re hungry, you may just be thirsty! Try adding cucumbers or fruit if you don’t like plain water.

Some other options:

  • Edamame
  • Turkey jerky
  • Yogurt ranch dip with veggies – Mix plain greek yogurt and half a packet of powdered ranch seasoning for a healthy substitute for ranch dressing
  • Cottage cheese- be mindful of the sodium!
  • Frozen fruit- try grapes or chunks of bananas
  • Dates or sweet potato topped with nut butter
  • Snack bars like kind bars or larabars- buy them on sale or make your own!
  • Handful of nuts
  • Tuna salad made with greek yogurt or mashed avocado and crackers

I try to keep my snacks around 150-200 calories and I often combine a few of the snacks listed above to make sure i’m getting carbs AND protein. The carbs will give you energy and the protein will help you stay full…along with fiber! If you’re having trouble coming up with snacks to pair together, you should check out the Smart Snacker Tool from Sargento. It allows you to mix and match some snack options to make a snack plate and see the nutritional info. Here are a few I put together while I was playing around:

snack1

snack2

snack3

snack4

snack5

snack6

Obviously, the calories could change a bit based on the serving sizes you’re eating, the size of your fruit, etc…but it’s a great tool for giving you snack ideas!

Thanks to the lovely folks at Sargento, I got to try some of their cheese snacks. I’ve always been a mozzarella kind of girl, but they have some great flavored ones as well. Plus they’re easy to take on-the-go or throw in my lunchbox:

IMG_3386

A few things you should know about Sargento Natural Cheese Snacks:

  • They’re a natural source of high-quality protein in a simple, calorie-controlled single serving.
  • They’re full of flavor so you don’t have to sacrifice on taste.
  • They come in tons of different varieties so there’s something for everyone!

I’ve been enjoying the plain ones with fruit:

cheese

And I love cutting up the flavored ones into cubes and eating them with Triscuits!

Here’s a list of all the flavor options they have available:

  • Sargento Cheese Sticks
    • Colby-Jack Sticks
    • Pepper Jack Sticks
    • Sharp Cheddar Sticks
    • Vermont Sharp White Cheddar Sticks
    • Reduced Fat Colby-Jack Sticks
    • Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Sticks
    • Reduced Sodium Colby-Jack Sticks
  • Sargento String Cheese
    • String Cheese
    • Light String Cheese
    • Reduced Sodium String Cheese
  • Sargento Natural Blends
    • Cheddar-Mozzarella Cheese Snacks
    • Double Cheddar Snacks
    • Sharp Cheddar-Jack Snacks
    • Provolone-Mozzarella Snacks

For more info on Sargento Natural Cheese Snacks, be sure to check out their Facebook page where they share all sorts of great recipes ideas!

Let’s chat:

  • What are YOUR favorite healthy snacks? 
  • Do you plan ahead and bring snacks with you throughout the day or do you just rely on whatever you can find when you get hungry?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Sargento compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  

 

Filed Under: Snack, Sponsored

Dietetic Internship Weeks 25-28

April 20, 2013 by Lindsay 14 Comments

Hi Friends!

As usual, I’m so behind on my internship rotation recaps. I know I’ve been finished with my internship for a couple of weeks now, but I wanted to write a quick recap of my last rotation since I recapped all of the others…and because I loved it so much!

coda1

I spent final four weeks of my internship at the Central Ohio Diabetes Association. My preceptor Jenny was amazing. She wears a lot of hats at CODA, including teaching some of their Diabetes Self Management Education Classes and coordinating everything for the summer camp they run for kids with diabetes.

My internship director actually set this rotation up just for me because she knew about my blog and my love for social media and CODA was looking for some help in that area. It seriously couldn’t have been a more perfect last rotation. I was able to use my social media skills to do things like set up a Pinterest account for them and also do some creative projects that I came up with on my own.

Here’s a list of some of the stuff I did while I was there:

  • Attended several webinars about diabetes management.
  • Attended multiple Diabetes Self Management Education classes taught by various educators.
  • Attended a meeting with a Molina rep regarding partnerships for community health education.
  • Created a Pinterest account for CODA with multiple boards for various topics like recipes, diabetes education, etc.
  • Met with multiple CODA employees to discuss social media strategies and ways to increase social media presence.
  • Created a printable resource for CODA clients with recipe ideas based on My Plate.
  • Created a pocket guide for DSMES clients with 15g carb equivalents & portion sizes. (This was totally my idea and I was SO excited with how it turned out. You can see the final product in the pic at the top of this post!)
  • Opened, sorted, organized and reviewed Camp Hamwi applications.

Overall, it was a great experience and a great chance for me to see some of the things that a community RD does. It was also a great example of how awesome my internship was overall. They really worked with you to find rotations and placements that fit your interests.

And now it’s back to studying! If all goes according to plan, I’ll be an RD by the end of the month!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Fitness Friday 50

April 19, 2013 by Lindsay 35 Comments

Hi Friends!

Time for another Fitness Friday recap!

fitnessfriday1

When we left off, I was getting ready to attempt the last workout of the crossfit open!

Saturday

FF1

If you recall, I was saying that I couldn’t do chest to bar pullups…well when we went in on Saturday I tried them with a reverse grip and guess what?! I was able to do some. I ended up getting 26 reps for this workout, so I did 15 thrusters and then was able to do 11 CTB pullups, so I was happy with that. Hubby got 42 reps which was awesome! He also did a little modeling 🙂

Sunday

Rest day!

Monday-Friday

FF2

1. Monday– One of my least favorite WODs. I hated everything about it. But I did it in 11:18 rx. For the strength we did  30 min of EMOM 105# power cleans and hspu. It was 10 min of 3 power cleans one min, 5 hspu the next, then min 10-20 was 2 cleans, 4 hspu, min 20-30 1 clean 3 hspu.

2. Tuesday– Holy squats. I did the WOD in 8:26 with 85# hang cleans and muscle up progressions. Plus I got a 145# 3 rep max back squat and did 12 unbroken pullups!

3. Wednesday – This. was. miserable. I didn’t feel good all day long, but I went to workout anyways. Then I used 125# for the deadlifts which isn’t so bad if you’re only doing a few. Turns out it’s a terrible idea if you’re doing 100 of them. I finished in 19:53 and almost threw up.

4. Thursday – Even though we were super sore, we decided to go one more day. Turned out to be a good thing because I got a new 3 rep max PR for deadlifts, even after doing 100 of them the day before! 185# baby! For the WOD I used 65# and did 6+6.

Friday– MUCH needed rest day.

IMG_3666

This was me during the miserable WOD with 125# deadlifts.

Saturday

FF3

Benchmark workout day. We did Angie. 100 pullups, pushups, situps and squats for time. Pullups were rough. Pushups were worse. That’s hubby and I in the middle and two of our best crossfit friends couple friends on the outsides! I finished in 26:34 rx and yes, I spent almost 12 minutes doing the pullups. Took me forever but I did them all kipping so I was proud of myself!

Sunday

Rest day.

Monday – Friday

FF4

1. Monday– Finished in 4:18 – I used 125# for the deadlifts/75# for the push press/65# for the snatches

2. Tuesday– Holy sweatfest! I did 5+4 with double unders for the buy-in and 95# cleans. The worst part was the 50 lunges at the end. I didn’t see that on the board ahead of time so I totally wasn’t expecting it. Rough.

3. Wednesday– Loved this one! 800 m run, 50 pistols rx, 30 hang cleans (85#) in 8:52. When I finished, I knew I could have done the 95# cleans and I was so mad I didn’t! Oh well, still crushed it 🙂

4. Thursday– Rest day! Still loving my bday present from hubby 🙂

That’s all for today 🙂 Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Workouts

Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches

April 11, 2013 by Lindsay 87 Comments

Hi Friends!

EDITED TO ADD: For an updated version of this recipe with better pictures and directions, please visit this post: Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches.

————

I haven’t been this excited to post a recipe in a long time. Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches. Does it get any better than that?! I think not.

These Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches are gluten free, dairy free and the perfect dessert to have in your freezer when a craving hits!

So, how did this all come about? Well…..earlier this week I did a little experiment in the kitchen. My last Foodie Penpal sent me some dried turkish figs and I was trying to figure out how to use them. After some research, it seemed to me that they were kinda like dates. So I thought I would blend them up with some nuts and make a larabar type thing…kinda like these LaraBites I made last year. However, in the spirit of trying new ingredients, I decided to use pistachios instead of the almonds I would normally use. We don’t typically buy pistachios but we recently bought a giant bag at Costco so I had some to use up!

Then I started thinking about how it might be good to add some peanut butter in there.

IMG_3548

At this point I wasn’t really sure what else to add…so I just turned on the food processor and hoped from the best. I ended up with a crumbly type mixture which, upon experimentation, appeared to stick together when pressed together firmly…and tasted good as well. I thought it might make a good crust, so I pressed it into a pan and stuck it in the fridge until I could come up with something tasty to use it for.

Later that night, I had an epiphany and decided to turn it into an ice cream sandwich of sorts. But instead of ice cream, I used banana fro yo.

That’s right…a 4 ingredient dessert that tastes great!

Here’s how you do it:

Print

Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches

healthy ice cream sandwiches
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

You read that right: nutrition in an ice cream sandwich. Can you hear the ice cream truck tunes playing now?

  • Author: Author: Lindsay L
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup dried figs, roughly chopped (or dates)
  • 1/2 c pistachios, without the shells (or almonds)
  • 1/3 c peanut butter
  • 2–3 medium bananas, cut into chunks & frozen
  • unsweetened cocoa powder, optional

Instructions

  1. In a food processor, combine the figs, pistachios, peanut butter and cocoa powder (if using. I used about 1/4 cup. Start with a couple tablespoons, taste and add more if desired).
  2. Pulse until well combined into a crumbly dough.
  3. Transfer contents from food processor to a piece of saran wrap. Gather the edges of the saran wrap and squeeze dough into a ball.
  4. Wrap and place ball on a jelly roll pan. Use the saran wrap to press the dough flat on the pan, trying to make it an equal thickness all the way around.
  5. Cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours until chilled.
  6. Remove from fridge and cut into sandwich sized pieces of desired size. Make sure you have pieces are the same size so the tops and bottoms will be even.
  7. Place the dough pieces back in the fridge.
  8. Clean out the food processor, then add the frozen banana chunks to it. Process until a smooth ice cream/fro-yo consistency is reached.
  9. Get your sandwich pieces out, scoop some banana ice cream onto one sandwich piece. Top with another and press gently to flatten.
  10. Wrap each sandwich individually in saran wrap and place in the freezer until desired firmness is reached.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

*Side note, you can easily double this recipe! If things aren’t coming together in the food processor, add a couple tablespoons of water*

Making these is a little bit time intensive…but it’s totally worth it!

healthy ice cream sandwich 2

I’ve made two batches of these. One with cocoa powder and one without. They both taste great. My best advice is handle the “dough” as little as possible. Cut it into sandwich size pieces so you have tops and bottoms that are the same size, then stick them back in the fridge while you make the fro yo. Then make quick work of scooping some fro you onto one side of the sandwich, topping with the other half, pressing down gently and wrapping in saran wrap. Stick them in the freezer as you finish each one!

A few other things to note:

  • Don’t make the dough too thin when you press it into the pan, otherwise it will crumble when you try to cut it into squares and remove it.
  • You may need to trim off the very edges before cutting your sandwich sides as they tend to crumble.
  • The dough is very oily. I’m not sure if it’s from the figs or the pistachios…but using a piece of saran wrap to press it flat into the pan helps a lot!

These Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches are gluten free, dairy free and the perfect dessert to have in your freezer when a craving hits!

Since I know some of you will ask…here are my thoughts on substitutions:

  • I think you could substitute dates for figs if you wanted to
  • I also think another kind of nut besides pistachios would work equally well.
  • I THINK the two statements above. I don’t know. I haven’t tried it. No promises.

Have fun with it. Play around. Try some different combinations. Feel free to make a mess!

healthy ice cream sandwiches 5

And if you don’t want to go through all the trouble of making ice cream sandwiches, just roll the dough into little balls and eat it that way:

pistachio ball

But trust me, the ice cream sandwiches are worth the work:

These Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches are gluten free, dairy free and the perfect dessert to have in your freezer when a craving hits!

In my opinion at least…some people seem to disagree:

IMG_3568

But hey, you can’t please everyone!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Dessert, Snack

Crockpot Enchilada Casserole

April 9, 2013 by Lindsay 84 Comments

Hi Friends!

Just popping in with a quick recipe to share with you guys.

A couple weeks ago, I was looking through some of my cookbooks for some inspiration and I came across the Not Your Mom’s Slow Cooker Cookbook that my sister got me for my birthday a couple of years ago. In it was a recipe for crockpot enchiladas and I was immediately intrigued. We do love Mexican food around here. I fell in love with the recipe even more when I saw you cut the tortillas into strips, which meant I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping the enchiladas perfectly intact when I took them out of the crockpot.

A fix it and forget it meal, this Crockpot Enchilada Casserole is vegetarian, easy to make and bursting with Mexican flavors!

You’ll have to excuse the photos. Instagram is all you get. This casserole may be tasty but pretty, it is not. Nor is it easy to photograph.

So, the recipe. You know me…I made a few modifications as usual, so here’s the one I used:

Print

Crockpot Enchilada Casserole

crockpot enchilada casserole
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Let your crockpot do all of the work for this healthy Mexican fiesta.

  • Author: Author: Lindsay L
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 hours
  • Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 cups chopped vegetables
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 3 cups black beans
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 c shredded Mexican cheese
  • 1 can enchilada sauce

Instructions

  1. Chop vegetables into similar-sized pieces.
  2. Spray crockpot with cooking spray or use a crockpot liner.
  3. Cut the corn tortillas into strips.
  4. Spread 1/3 of the strips on the bottom of the crockpot.
  5. Top with 1/3 of the veggies.
  6. Add 1 c black beans.
  7. Top with 1/3 can enchilada sauce and 1/3 c cheese.
  8. Repeat layers two more times, except on the very top layer, don’t add the cheese.
  9. Cook on low for about 4 hours.
  10. Add remaining cheese and serve warm, topped with avocado and salsa.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

 

For the veggies, I used sweet potato, red peppers, mushrooms and corn…but feel free to use whatever you have on hand!

enchilada casserole

You could easily add meat to this meal if you wanted…but I would recommend using meat that’s already been cooked since you’re not cooking it very long in the crockpot. Diced chicken or rotisserie chicken would work well!

Oh, and the reason I suggest not adding the cheese on the top is because I did and mine got a little brown. I cooked it for 4 hours on low and then left it sit on warm for about 2 hours and it was fine…but the top cheese was a little brown…so I think it’d be better to leave it off until the very end!

IMG_3359

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Dinner, Slow Cooker

Fitness Friday 49

April 5, 2013 by Lindsay 26 Comments

Hi Friends!

I’m back with another Fitness Friday post and once again I have two weeks of workouts to catch you guys up on! When we left off, I was getting ready to try the 3rd workout of the Crossfit Open…so here we go:

Saturday

13.3

13

Workout 13.3 was 150 wall balls, 90 double unders and 30 muscleups…as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes. Not that many people in the world could get through that whole workout and start over on the wall balls again in under 12 minutes…but some did! My goal was to finish the double unders. I’m pretty good at double unders, but I’m not good at them when I’m gasping for breath after doing 150 wall balls. So I got through all the wall balls and 56 of the 90 double unders for a total score of 206 reps. This workout was BRUTAL. I even got a nice bruise from whipping myself in the hand during the double unders!

Afterwards we took the boys for a walk because it was a gorgeous day!

IMG_2929

Sunday

Most def a rest day. My legs were SO SORE!

Monday

I still could barely walk but I dragged myself out of bed and went to 6am crossfit, where I was rewarded with this workout:

IMG_2992

The chief is brutal when you’re not sore…but when your quads are already sore, let me tell you…IT SUCKS. It’s basically five 3 minute cycles where you try to get in as many rounds as you can in those three minutes. I did 3+15, 3+7, 3, 3+3, 3+5 with the Rx weight and lemme tell you, my quads were on FIRE!

Tuesday

Much needed rest day.

Wednesday

Easy WOD because we had to do Open workout 13.4 on Thursday this week instead of Saturday.

IMG_3071

We had class before 13.4 was announced on Wednesday night so we just did a nice easy workout that was rounds not for time to help us loosen up.

Thursday

They announced 13.4 and I was probably least excited for this one out of all the open workouts so far:

IMG_3140

First of all…anyone that does crossfit with me knows how much i hate toes to bar. I can do them, I just can’t string them together. And a 95# clean and jerk is 20# more than i’ve ever put over my head…so I knew that’d be tough. My goal going in was 20 reps. I was able to do 25! I got through 7 of the clean and jerks out of the set of 9 and then it just got too heavy and I could clean it but I couldn’t push it up over my head anymore. I knew this one would be tough for me though so I was happy with my 25!

*and yes, i know equipment is spelled wrong in the picture. I didn’t write it!*

Friday

We went in with some friends during open gym. The guys tackled a barbell heavy workout and the girls opted for this one:

IMG_3211

It was a fun one! I finished in 11:05 Rx.

Saturday

I was SO close to not getting out of bed to go…but hubby and I pulled ourselves together and headed in. Unfortunately the workout was not a fun one. FRAN. Fran is one of the benchmark workouts that crossfitters compare times for.

IMG_3226

The best crossfitters in the world can do Fran in about 2 minutes. It’s crazy. This was my first time doing it and it took me 10:56. But I used the prescribed weight and did all legit pullups so I was proud of myself! I also got huge rips in both my hands so that made showering extra fun. I’ll spare you the pictures 🙂

Before we did Fran, we did death by 10 meters which is basically 15 minutes of sprints. So in the first minute, you sprint 10 meters, in the second minute you sprint down and back for a total of 20 meters…and each minute you add another 10 meters so by the 15th minute you’re running 150 meters in 1 minute. There were only a few of us who made it through that one and it required a full on sprint from me…so I was still a little tired when I started Fran!

Sunday

REST DAY!


As for the rest of this week?

ff

1. Monday: We worked on overhead squats (I did 75#!) and then did the wod. It wasn’t my favorite. I hate snatches and ring dips…but oh well. I did 65# snatches and banded ring dips and finished in 6:14
2. Tuesday: Another rough one. We subbed a 200 m run for the row and I finished 3 full rounds, plus the run, burpees and front squats of round 4. Then we did 125 situps for time and I finished in 5:03
3. Wednesday: LOVED this one. I’ve been working on my kipping handstand pushups every day after class and i’m finally getting the hang of it. 3 is about the max i can do at a time (I still use 2 abmats under my head) but it’s such an improvement from last month! I’ll show you guys a video when I get good enough to only use 1 abmat 🙂 I finished in 10:16. Then we did 4 planks, holding them as long as we could with a 15 sec break in between. For strength we did hang squat cleans and I was able to do two at 115#!
4. Hubby and a couple other guys messing around after class one day doing turkish getups with the bar instead of the kettlebell.

Wednesday night they announced the last open workout 13.5 and it is INSANE.

13.5

For girls it’s 65 pound thrusters. It’s basically the middle round of Fran, except you have to do chest to bar pullups…and you have to do it over and over and over again. This workout is kinda silly for me because I can’t do chest to bar pullups. But oh well…we’re doing the workout Saturday morning and i’ll do my 15 thrusters and then cheer hubby on!

IMG_3176

How were your workouts this week? Do any fun ones?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

PS…One of the ladies at our gym takes awesome black and white pictures and she took some for us during 13.3. I used some of them to make new FB cover photos for hubby and I in PicMonkey (they have a special template for FB cover photos!

crossfit1

brettcover1

Wheeeeee!!! picture fun 🙂

Filed Under: Workouts

March Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

April 1, 2013 by Lindsay 42 Comments

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another Foodie Penpals Reveal Day post! Don’t worry, I’ll be back with last week’s Bean Bytes tomorrow- I wouldn’t leave you hanging! But for today, we’re gonna focus on FPP.

FPP-post

This month I received a wonderful package from Haley at Full ‘n’ Fit! If you haven’t checked out her blog, go do it now. I love her. She’s one of the most supportive, encouraging bloggers out there 🙂

Here’s what she sent me:

fppmarch

My box included:

  • Fruit and veggie strips- which were a fun little treat.
  • Basil oil- which is delicious! It has a very light flavor but I can def taste the basil.
  • Sunflower seeds- which I LOVE in my trailmix.
  • Turkish figs- which I’m saving until I come up with a clever way to use them…suggestions?
  • A super cute cookie cutter
  • HOMEMADE COOKIES!!! Girl knows the way to my heart. They were delicious. She says she’s still perfecting the recipe and then she will share but I thought they were pretty darn good. As soon as she posts the recipe on her blog, I’ll let you guys know!

Thank you so much Haley for a wonderful box!

——————-

Are you interested in joining us for Foodie Penpals next month? Here are some more details:

  • 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 April, please CLICK HERE  to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

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

————————–

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Dietetic Internship Complete!

March 29, 2013 by Lindsay 132 Comments

Hi Friends!

Well, I did it! I successfully completed my Dietetic Internship!
As of today, I’m officially done 🙂

all done

Yes, I realize this picture is depicting the wrong season.
It’s from three years ago 🙂
But it’s the best one I have to show my current mood!

So what’s next?

It takes about a month for all the paperwork to get taken care of and get everything verified, and then you can sign up to take your Registration Exam. I’m hoping to take it the first week in May!

As for now, I’m taking a week to do the following:

  • Read for fun!
  • Get a haircut.
  • Get my nails done.
  • Get a massage.
  • Sleep in.
  • Spend time with hubby.
  • Have fun in the kitchen.
  • REST.
  • Enjoy SPRING!

Sounds glorious, doesn’t it?! I can’t freakin’ wait!

Happy Friday!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Things Blogging Has Taught Me- Part 2

March 28, 2013 by Lindsay 95 Comments

Hi Friends!

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post called Things Blogging Has Taught Me. I re-read it the other day…and guess what? It’s still true. All of it. But it’s been another 14 months, and guess what? I’m still learning! So I thought I’d share a little bit more with you today.

Whether you're a new or veteran blogger, there's always something to learn. Here are a few lessons blogging has taught me.

First, let’s quickly recap the lessons from Part 1:

  • Blogging is hard. But I make time and put in the effort because I love it.
  • You could easily drown in the sea of social media if you let yourself. So I choose a few of my favorite social media outlets and focus on those.
  • You will get jealous of other bloggers. But that doesn’t mean what you’re doing isn’t awesome. In fact,  someone out there might just be jealous of you.
  • You don’t have to do everything other bloggers are doing or like all the foods everyone else seems to like. And there’s no reason to pretend you do.
  • No one can make you feel inferior unless you let them. Stop comparing yourself to others!
  • You don’t have to blog multiple times per day, or even every day, to be successful. Just be consistent.
  • Numbers don’t have to matter. I blog because I want to and it doesn’t matter if one person or one million people read each post.
  • The blogging community is the most inspirational and motivational community I’ve ever been a part of. It can change your life for the better.
  • You can make good friends through blogging. Some of my closest friends are ones I’ve never met!
  • After all your hard work, you will have something you can call your own…and something you can, and should, be proud of.

To read more details about the lessons above, click here.

Ok, so moving on to Part 2. What else has blogging taught me over the past year?

It’s ok to be excited about giveaways, but don’t do them all the time. Giveaways are fun. People like getting free stuff. But please don’t turn your blog into the giveaway of the week club, or they lose their excitement! Be selective and choose giveaways you think your readers will enjoy most.

Think really hard about how many sponsored posts you’re going to write. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this one, but to me there’s nothing more annoying than when one of my favorite blogs turns into nothing but a place for sponsored post after sponsored post. Sponsored posts are a way for bloggers to make money. And especially in the beginning, it’s really hard to turn down offers to write  a quick post and make a little (or a lot) of money. I’m not saying you should never write them. I occasionally write them. But I turn down WAY more than I accept. And it’s hard. But I  know how annoying I find it…and I don’t want to do that to my readers. It’s a personal choice every blogger has to make, but in my opinion, if you do choose to write one, you should  THINK about what you’re promoting. Don’t just jump on something for the money. Ask yourself whether it fits into the message you’re trying to promote with your blog, whether it represents you well as a person, whether you’ll still be proud you wrote about it if you look back a year later.

On that note:

  • Be honest with your readers. If you’re writing a sponsored post, tell them. Don’t try to hide it. If you get something for free, tell them. Get familiar with the FTC disclosure guidelines for bloggers and follow them.

Make a media kit. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I’ve seen some amazing ones that were made using powerpoint. Just put something together that shows your reach. How many pageviews you get per month, how many followers you have on the various social media sites, what kind of services you provide, etc so that when a company requests it, all you have to do is update to your latest numbers and send! Install google analytics to help track pageviews, unique views etc. On that same note, though, don’t spend hours obsessing over the numbers. See part 1 of this post for more on that.

Be mindful of the comparison trap and don’t let yourself fall into it. One of my favorite quotes, as it relates to blogging, is “Don’t compare your behind the scenes to someone else’s highlight reel.” Remember that even though it may seem like your favorite bloggers live a perfect life, have it all together, eat perfectly and have endless amounts of energy, it’s just not true. What you see on most (not all) blogs is the best of the best. The best recipes, the best workouts, the best days. You don’t always see the mistakes, the failed recipes, the stressful days, the sleepless nights and the anxiety that makes those bloggers normal people, just like you. So don’t ever let someone else make you feel like your best isn’t good enough, or that you’re doing things the wrong way. Live YOUR life the way YOU want to. Do the things that make YOU happy. Be the best YOU.

It’s not all about you. Spread the love. One of my favorite parts about reading blogs is that they introduce me to even more blogs! If you read a good post, share it! Tweet it, share it on facebook, email it to a friend. There are way too many blogs out there for one person to read them all. But by sharing posts you enjoy, you’re helping other people find the good posts and you’re giving pageviews to the blogger who wrote the good post. Win-win! The most boring people to follow on Twitter are the ones who do nothing but tweet links to their own posts 87 times a day. There are tools out there (like Buffer and Hootsuite) that can help you schedule tweets filled with posts/news articles/ etc that you’ve enjoyed if you can’t be on twitter all day.

On that note:

  • Interact with your readers/followers/fans: Twitter and FB get boring really fast if all you do is tweet post after post (whether they are yours or other peoples). Take some time each day/week to interact with people. Have a conversation on twitter, post a question on your FB page, respond to the comments people leave on your blog, give someone some motivation or encouragement on instagram. You get the idea.
  • Make it easy for people to share your posts: Please, please, please do this! There are widgets and plugin’s galore that you can set up to make it SO easy for someone to share your post. Do it, and it’s 1,000 times more likely that someone will share your post. If they have to hunt for your twitter handle, they’ll most likely consider it too much work and won’t share, even if they really like the post. Set it up so all they have to do is click a button and the title of the post, plus your twitter handle, will populate on its own…and all they have to do is customize the tweet if they want to. Use a Pinterest widget to make it easy for people to pin the images in your posts as well!
  • Thank the people that spread the love for you: If someone shares your post/RTs it/posts it to FB and tags you, say thank you! If someone links to one of your posts or recipes in one of their posts, go read their post and thank them! I realize that for some bloggers that this happens to hundreds of times a day, that it’s not feasible to thank everyone…but do the best you can. People appreciate it when you notice that they’re helping you out by sharing.

Finally, and probably the most important lessons I’ve learned this year:

Find a blogging mentor. There are so many bloggers out there, that you can almost always find one that’s been doing it longer than you, one that does it better than you, one who knows more than you. Find them. Connect with them. Ask them questions!!! Find someone who will give you honest answers to your questions, because believe me you’ll have them. And you’ll have questions about things that are considered almost “taboo” to talk about in the blog world, like how much to charge for articles and ads, how many pageviews you’re getting, etc. Find someone you trust that you can ask these questions. Their advice will be invaluable.

DO NOT undervalue yourself! I’m still struggling with this one myself…but it’s so, so important. You have to think highly enough of yourself to realize that your time is important. If a company is asking you to promote their product, you should be getting something out of it as well. It shouldn’t just be free advertising for them. The type/amount of value is something you’ll have to decide for yourself. Sometimes I do promote things for free, if it’s a company I truly believe in and support. Sometimes I consider free product to be worth enough for me to dedicate my time. Other times, monetary compensation is necessary for the amount of time and effort I will need to put into a post/social media campaign to give the company what they’re asking for. Do your research, set your rates, and don’t let anyone tell you that your time isn’t valuable or isn’t worth something!

 

Let’s chat! If you’re a blogger, what’s a lesson you’ve learned lately?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 47
  • Page 48
  • Page 49
  • Page 50
  • Page 51
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 65
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Lindsay Livingston The Lean Green Bean Healthy Living Tips and Tricks

I'm a Registered Dietitian and mom of three from Columbus, Ohio. I use this blog to share simple, healthy recipes, nutrition tips, and an honest glimpse of motherhood!

Learn More →

Questions? Comments? Email me: [email protected]

The Lean Green Bean Facebook The Lean Green Bean Instagram The Lean Green Bean Pinterest The Lean Green Bean Twitter The Lean Green Bean Feed
footer-logo
The Lean Green Bean Facebook The Lean Green Bean Instagram The Lean Green Bean Pinterest The Lean Green Bean Twitter The Lean Green Bean Feed
Recipes

Breakfast
Dinner
Snack
Slow Cooker

Kids

Cooking With Kids
Favorite Gifts
Toddler Meals
Indoor Activities

Resources

Easy Packed Lunches for Kids
Dinner Spark
Snack Spark
Ultimate Guide to Food Prep

About

Meet Lindsay
Become an RD
Work with Me

The Lean Green Bean is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Read the full privacy and disclosure policy here.

Copyright © 2022 · The Lean Green Bean

table talk series

Learn how food affects your body.

Get my free Table Talk email series where I share bite-sized nutrition information about carbs, protein, and fat, plus bonus information about snacks and sugar!

[email protected]