Guest Post: Book Review and Giveaway

Thanks to my sister from Books: A True Story for this book review and giveaway!  

(I've also read this book and I really enjoyed it along with the recipes it contains. The recipe for these yummy gluten-free pumpkin muffins I posted about awhile ago was taken from this book.) 

The WOW Diet: Words of Wisdom, Dietary Enlightenment from Leading World Religions, and Scientific Study by Michelle Snow. 

 The W.O.W. Diet starts off as an entertaining memoir through her journey to better health. It was funny, honest, practical and to the point. It was very relatable to me as a fellow gastrointestinal sufferer. I enjoyed following her on her journey of discovering different religions and how they helped her change her diet. I especially liked the insights that Buddhism provided about thinking where your food came from and all the plants and animals that sacrificed their lives so I can eat. I was worried that since this was non-fiction, she would go on and on about this and that research, but instead I was pleasantly surprised by a very honest and funny journey to find relief to her G.I. distress. I laughed out loud when she talks about going on a vegan diet and after a while felt like the lion on Madagascar and just wanted to chew on a zebra's butt. Half of the book is recipes. All of the recipes from this book that I have tried have been delicious and healthy. The end of the book sums up her findings into certain rules of the diet with a daily diary of her husband's experience on the diet. It made the diet super easy to understand and follow. I read this book in August of 2011 and have been living by this diet ever since. I know I've lost weight because my pants are a little looser now, but I don't know exactly how much since I didn't go on this diet to lose weight. I went on this diet to feel better. For the first time in my life I can consistently keep my IBS symptoms away. Honestly, I don't think of this book as a diet but more as a lifestyle change. If you want to make permanent changes in your life to be healthier, you've got to read this book! 

 Luckily, Michelle has offered to give away her book to one of my readers. Be sure to check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post! My favorite thing about this diet is that she encourages you to eat homemade stuff for breakfast, like muffins. And her muffin recipes are oh so delicious. I make a whole bunch of them and freeze them. Then, I just nuke one every morning and I get to eat hot muffins for breakfast everyday. Here's my favorite muffin recipe:

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Vegetable shortening 

3/4 cup rice flour (you can replace this with whole grain wheat or spelt if you don't need it to be gluten free) 

1/2 cup oat flour 

1/4 cup tapioca flour 

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 cup milk 

1 egg 

1/2 cup melted butter, cooled 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup chocolate chips 

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds 

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease muffin pan cups with vegetable shortening. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients, leaving a well in the center. Stir in water, metled butter, and vanilla until moist. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comse out clean. cool muffins 5 minutes before removing from cups.

GIVEAWAY!

Big thanks to Michelle for doing this giveaway! Places you can find the author.

• www.michelle-snow.com
• www.bagmealtestkitchen.blogspot.com
• www.queenofcommoncents.blogspot.com

                

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Winners!

Alright, the 3 winners for the OrthoLite Fusion insoles chosen by random.org were:

Comment #4-Maria

Comment #20-Jessica T.

And comment #16-Shauna 

If you have not received and email from me yet with the contact information you need to claim your prize, please email me so I can give you OrthoLite's contact information. They will need your shoe size and address. 

Thanks everyone who entered! It was so fun to read all your stocking stuffer ideas! 

A Perfect Stocking Stuffer Giveaway!

Hey everyone! Are you having a tough time deciding what you can fill your stockings with? I'm having a GIVEAWAY that will make a great stocking stuffer for anyone on your list who loves running, hiking, walking, or anything involving their feet.. I am giving away three pairs of OrthoLite Fusion insoles!  

*Disclaimer: OrthoLite provided me with a pair of insoles to try, but the review is my own, and I was not compensated for my opinion on them.

Here's what they look like - OrthoLite Fusion Insoles.

It's been cold here lately, so I bundled B up, gave him Scott's iPod with the movie UP playing, and bribed him with some snacks to go running with me so I could put the insoles to the test. 

First, I ran 3 miles with my usual shoes. 

Then I came back and switched my used insoles for the OrthoLite insoles and ran 3 more miles. 

I instantly felt a difference in comfort with the OrthoLite insoles.  

I wasn't sure how much of a difference I would feel, but there was definitely a noticeable difference. I hadn't realized how bad my old insoles were. The Ortholite insoles almost made my shoes feel new again. I've never replaced the insoles in my shoes before. I usually just wear my shoes until the insoles are worn out, and then get new shoes. But after running with these new insoles I realized that replacing my insoles would be a cheaper, easier way to extend the life of my running shoes. I could also tell that the insoles absorbed a lot of the pounding, and that will make a HUGE difference on my long runs.

Here's a little more information about OrthoLite Fusion insoles:

For years they were found exclusively in many of the top athletic shoes, but are now available for purchase to go in any pair of shoes. 

OrthoLite Fusion insoles are available at ortholite.com for $19.99:

Designed to fit all athletic and outdoor shoes or boots.

Made with open-cell foam, allowing air to circulate around the foot, keeping it cooler and drier inside the shoe.

Wicks moisture away from your foot leaving your foot cooler and drier.

Unique spring-back technology ensures that your insole won’t flatten out and it will retain over 95% of its thickness over time.

Our patented anti-microbial formulation (approved by the EPA and FDA) fights fungus, bacteria and shoe odor.

Lightweight and fully washable.

This test was a nice reminder of what a difference good shoes and GOOD INSOLES really do make. 

OrthoLite has offered to giveaway a pair of OrthoLite Fusion insoles to 3 lucky readers!

To Enter the Giveaway: leave a comment below sharing a good stocking stuffer idea. 

For an Extra Entry: Follow @runlearnrepeat on Twitter AND tweet the following:

"GIVEAWAY: OrthoLite Fusion Insoles from @runlearnrepeat - http://www.runlearnrepeat.com/2011/12/perfect-stocking-stuffer-giveaway.html"

Hey everyone, I realized I never said when the contest would end. You have until this Sunday Dec. 11 to enter, and I'll announce the winners Monday Dec. 12. 

Also, I'm adding a new way to earn an extra entry. Share the link to this giveaway on facebook and leave me another comment telling me you did!

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to commenter number 9, Heidi! I hope you love your new Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD!

Thanks to everyone else for your comments! This was fun, and I'm excited to do more giveaways in the future. I hope you're all having fun with your 30 day challenges. I'm having fun with my new 30 day challenge of taking a picture every day. Check back later for last week's pictures. 

GIVEAWAY and Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Review!

I DID IT!!!

30-day challenge #1 is done - 30 days in a row of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. Phew. There were some seriously hard days that I almost quit, but I'm so glad I didn't! My vacation days were definitely the hardest to get through, especially Disneyland day. I ended up doing it sometime between 5:00AM and 5:30AM before we left. It was a good thing I went with earlier than later because I almost saved it for that night, and we didn't end up getting home until 2:30AM. By then I was barely conscious and so exhausted. I don't think I could have lifted my fingers. If there's one thing I've learned about getting my workouts done, it is to ALWAYS go with earlier than later if you want to make sure it gets done. 

We celebrated with a family movie trip to see Kung Fu Panda 2!

As you can see, we were lucky enough to have almost the entire theater to ourselves. We were grateful for that since we hadn't taken our two-year-old to a movie since before he could walk. He did great for most of the time, but it was nice that he had a little wandering room towards the end of the movie when he got restless. By the way, we all loved the movie! I highly recommend it!

Anyway, after a long run, a Costco trip, and day 30 (yahoo!) of Jillian Michaels, I'm ready for bed. So I'm keeping the review to 3 short and sweet points.

1. The thing I liked best about the 30 Day Shred DVD:

Besides watching my two-year-old try to do it, I loved that it was only 20 minutes. Not only was it just 20 minutes, but it was a good workout in 20 minutes. I was always out of breath and sweating by the end. The short duration of the workout kept me from quitting on several occasions. I learned that no matter how tired I was, I could do anything for 20 minutes. 

2. Most improved body part from the 30 Day Shred DVD:

I guess it wasn't too hard for me to see improvements in my arm strength since my previous exercise consisted of 98% legs (running) before I did this dvd. As far as weight loss and other improvements go, it's hard to tell, but I do feel stronger both physically and mentally. My goal wasn't weight loss, so my diet made up for any extra calories I burned while doing this. However, if my goal was weight loss, I think this dvd along with some extra cardio would be really helpful.

3. Would I recommend Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred? 

Heck yes! I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to give one away to one of you! 

Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD Giveaway

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

1. Become a follower of this blog (bottom of right sidebar)

2. Leave a comment saying what your first/next 30-day challenge will be

(watch this 5 min video to see what I mean by 30-day challenge)

And for an extra entry in the drawing:

3. Share this post on Facebook by clicking AND comment again that you shared it

You only have until midnight on Saturday (6/18) to enter! I'll announce the winner of the random drawing on Monday (6/20)!


**Congrats to Heidi for winning the random drawing!**