Category Archives: Bargains

Workout Wednesday: Loosey Goosey Plane Ride

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Our visitors this weekend live very similar healthy lifestyles to Mike and me. Amber, a new friend of mine, is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast and we found common ground in our health goals. It was a breath of fresh air to be around someone just as analytical and knowledgable about natural health.

Before they got on the plane, they wanted to get in a workout. I totally understood their plan. It always helps to have exerted yourself before a long flight. It gets fluid to your joints, stretches out and activates your muscles, and frees any built up energy so you can relax more easily once you finally board the plane. It can even help you sleep!

So try to squeeze in one of my workouts before a flight, and lessen the discomfort and staleness.

16 minute total body 2

I hope you’re all having happy days :)- Ash

Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Total Body #1

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I know there are a few readers who come to this page only for the workouts. That makes me pretty happy because that means people are catching on to how awesome they are. It is very important though to vary your workout. Eventually, muscle memory gets the best of your body and your workouts aren’t as effective. The variation can be as drastic as starting a different activity, or as simple as switching up your intervals.

So this is the first of the 16-minute total body. Try to mix these in with the 20-minute workouts to keep your body guessing. Continue reading →

Marvelous Monday: The Ultimate Bathtub Cleaner

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Cleaning the bathtub/ shower SUCKS. It’s my least favorite cleaning job in the whole apartment (including the toilet). I think because it’s actually physically demanding to clean up and down the tile walls then into the tub, etc. And by the time I’m done, I’m soaked from head to toe in a lovely mix of shower water, soap scum, bubbles, and a little bit of bleach. It’s just unpleasant.

Mike, being the amazing man he is, used to do that particular job to save me the strife, but he takes most showers at work now and has a very valid excuse for giving that job back to me.

On top of that, we use HUGE amounts of bleach while cleaning the tub. So when I started this health kick about a year ago, I started searching for a tub cleaner alternative. My pinterest time was consumed by research for tub cleaners (this is some serious business) and every few weeks we tried a different concoction. We tried at least 3 or 4 and some of them were getting expensive. I was about to give in to the bleach when I found this heavenly mixture.

It’s so simple, very cheap, and perfectly effective. It take a bit of time to soak (2 hours) but there is almost no scrubbing involved and everything gets so sparkly clean!

BathTub Cleaner

Continue reading →

Womanly Monday: The Cup

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Men by warned, THIS POST IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOU. It concerns menstruation and, unless you’re very curious, don’t read any further.

Ladies, welcome! For the last several months I’ve been testing a product called the Diva Cup. It is a long-lasting, eco-friendly, healthier, cheap alternative to tampons and pads. Continue reading →

Workout Wednesday: Total Body #5

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Summer time can be tough to keep a workout schedule. Why would you go to the gym when you could be laying in the sun?? Fortunately, there are tons of workouts you can do outside, in the sun, while on vacation.

Personally, vacation is my break time. Every body needs some down time to recover. I usually come back even stronger from a week-long break. But a few times while in Maine, I felt the overpowering urge to do a bit of yoga and one of my Total Body workouts. Sometimes I just wake up needing to do something positive to start the day, working out is usually it. Continue reading →

Mindful Monday: Money Makeover

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Happy Monday Everyone! This is by far the toughest day to stay upbeat but whatever you happen to be doing this Monday, try and be thankful in some way. That might help your state of mind. This Monday I am thankful for my awesome new job, the fact that I recently got to hang out with my Australian family for the first time in five years, and the companionship of my lovely man 🙂

Moving on … there were a few friends/patients back in Peoria that I let know about the desperate state of my finances. Some of you may understand: when deeply in debt, you know you shouldn’t run around telling people but the pressure is so intense that you can’t help let it slip to the people you trust.

On this particular occasion, I was glad I did. Candice (the friend) told me of a book she and her husband read. It absolutely changed their financial outlook and within a few weeks it did the same for me.

Continue reading →

Hillcrest Farmers Market

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With summer comes an onslaught of Farmer’s Markets. From coast to coast there are streets lined with tents and under those tents is some of the freshest, tastiest, local produce you’ve ever had. Our new neighborhood, Hillcrest, is no exception.

I’ve written about Farmer’s Markets before and while the one is Peoria is pretty awesome, our new local market is spectacular. The area is rife with crazies like us, all looking for raw, vegetarian, organic, blah-blah-blah and these vendors supply some of the best health food I’ve ever had.

One of my favorite things about farmer’s markets is the ambience. They’re usually on the weekend and people usually aren’t in much of a hurry. They’re there to taste, peruse, and barter for the local flavor. Ours are held on Sundays and that is when I’ll be doing ALL my grocery shopping. So check out your local Market this weekend, you might be surprised by how much you enjoy it.

StrawbsShopping is a joy when you can taste and buy strawberries like these.

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Workout Wednesday: Spring Shape Up

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Last night, at our workout class, we started the Spring Shape Up. Loads of patients are trying to get in shape for summer so to encourage them we issued a challenge: lose (at least) 5 pounds in 4 weeks and do it together. We have 30+ people doing it and it makes such a difference! Continue reading →

DIY Friday: Infinity Scarf

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While Mike was gone I went on sort of DIY binge. I used to do these things just to have something to do. Usually they would sit in my room for about a year until I decided to throw them out. But as I get older and wiser, I am realizing that DIY and refurbishment can actually give me SO many things that I can’t afford in retail form.

Last weekend I set to making my own infinity scarf (aka circle scarf or tub scarf). I took the original tutorial from this awesome blogger: Cotton & Curls. For some reason I considered myself for an expert tailor and decided to do the advanced version where none of the seams are showing. Big mistake. What should have taken one hour took three. I had to pull out and resew the seams so many times that I just gave up and did it the easier way. You can’t even see the exposed seam when I have it on!

InfinityScarf Continue reading →

Mindful Monday: The Man Who Retired At 30

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As most of my regular readers know, I do not live on very much money. This is definitely not because of my employers, they are generous people … it’s because of my past.

I went to a private university in Boston, year-round, for six years. Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the country. And, as an architecture student, 80-hour weeks left me no time or brainpower to work. Of course, I waitressed and had internships but nothing lasted very long because I always eventually got burnt out. Continue reading →