Giveaway! Taking Care of Yourself by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form being compensated for this review by any party. I purchased this book with my own money. This is not a sponsored giveaway.

My passions for healthy living and reading often cross paths. Most recently, this manifested itself in the form of an audiobook called Taking Care of Yourself by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D..

In his work, Dr. Weil addresses everything from supplements to sleep, from exercise to macronutrients. This “book” is more of a recorded lecture given by Dr. Weil. I felt as though I were listening to a speaker at a seminar rather than reading a book. It may only be 4 disks long, but there is a LOT of really valuable information. I found myself listening to some tracks over and over to really absorb the information and even pulling over a time or two (since I was listening in the car) to jot down notes about something that seemed especially important to me.

I’d seen Dr. Weil a few times on various television shows, but didn’t know many details about his philosophies regarding nutrition & exercise. In the beginning, he speaks briefly about the numerous cultures he has studied and how he has formed his thoughts based on all of them, not identifying or agreeing 100% with the philosophies of any single one. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Dr. Weil meshed Eastern and Western medicine to form a cohesive practice that includes every imaginable aspect of healthy living. One thing that particularly fascinated me was the connection made between the way we treat our bodies (diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, etc.)  and how that impacts our overall health. We hear so much about how to treat illness and disease so it was refreshing to hear Dr. Weil’s focus on prevention as the primary line of defense.

Would you like to listen to Taking Care of Yourself? Well, it’s your lucky day! I’m giving away my copy to one lucky reader of Up Fit Creek. Here’s how you can enter:

• Comment on this post with the reason you’d like to win Taking Care of Yourself by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.
• Follow @UpFitCreek on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting me know you’re a follower.
• Tweet about this giveaway by using this: I’ve entered a giveaway to win a copy of Taking Care of Yourself by Dr. Andrew Weil from @UpFitCreek. http://upfitcreek.wordpress.com
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link to your post. A trackback is fine.

The giveaway ends at 12 midnight EST on Friday, January 14th. I’ll post the winner on Saturday, January 15th. Any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

Happy Entering!

Read Full Post »

Forgetful Foodie & Beauty Product Review

I was so proud of myself yesterday. Well, actually Sunday evening. I normally plan my lunch and snacks the night before, but wait until the following morning to pack them in a hurried frenzy. This week I decided to try packing everything the night before and putting my lunch bag in the refrigerator for a faster grab-and-go morning. Pretty basic, right.

Not for this girl. I left the bag in the refrigerator Monday morning, rendering myself foodless for the day. Fortunately, I had already scheduled a lunch date with my friend so I was really only lacking snacks.

I got hungry around 10AM and scrounged in the work kitchen until I found some mixed nuts to munch on to get me through until lunch. We walked to the adorable little downtown diner for our favorite lunch ever! The owner of the cafe calls us when she puts this on her menu for the week so we can make sure to get there. Aloha Chicken Salad on a croissant with a small side salad and (a new to us side) fruit soup! Pure heaven and I was beyond full until well into the evening. Unfortunately, my camera battery was weak and all the pictures turned out too poor for posting. I promise I’ll have pictures of this meal later as it’s a frequent part of their spring & summer menu.

***BEAUTY PRODUCT REVIEW***

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Coconut Cream Lip Balm

I am a lip balm addict. Right now I have 8 in my desk drawer at work, 4 in my car and 6 in my purse. One of my favorite new discoveries has been this wonderfully tropical lip treat made by Alba Botanica. Here are the product standards and ingredient list as posted on the company website:

Standards
• Hypo-allergenic
• No artificial colors, petrolatum, mineral oil, phthalates or parabens.
• 100% vegetarian ingredients and no animal testing
• No animal testing
• 82% certified organic ingredients

Ingredients
Organic cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, organic ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, organic beeswax, coconut flavor, euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, organic simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed wax, ammonium glycyrrhizate, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, organic prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, tocopherol and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, allantoin, glycine soja (soybean) oil.

Alba also has a pretty sweet environmental commitment which you can read about here.

Here are my thoughts:

I’m a big fan of coconut so this flavor is right up my alley. It’s very natural and tropical, not overly perfumey or sweet. There are teeny tiny little beads of some kind that help exfoliate dry skin on the lips. They feel really good when you have chapping from sun, cold or wind. The moisturizing ingredients work amazingly well and leave my lips feeling silky for longer than many other lip balms. It’s almost like giving my lips a drink every time I use it! This product retails for $3.49, but I’ve found it on sale occasionally at both Target and CVS Pharmacy. I’d highly recommend this product to anyone who likes coconut and lip balm.

Giveaway Reminder: You still have until midnight EST on Friday, March 27th to enter my giveaway for a copy of The World is Fat by Barry Popkin. One entry just for commenting on the original giveaway post and an extra entry if you link back to the giveaway from your own blog. Happy entering!

In other giveaway news, Monica from Run, Eat, Repeat and Kristin of Kristin’s Nibbles are eac giving away an All Natural Gift Bag from Quaker.

Heather @ The Hungry Yogini has 3 jars of Barney Butter for her latest giveaway.

Read Full Post »

Drumroll Please

The two winners of the Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce are…

AMELIA and Jessica C.

Congratulations to both of you! Please e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll pass them along to the kind folks at Country Bob’s. Thanks again to them for making my very first giveaway possible. Also, thank you to everyone who entered. I have another giveaway in the works so check back soon for another chance to win!

I’m having wordpress issues today so I’ll keep my weekend recap short and sweet.

Saturday was my husband’s birthday. He started coming down with something icky and wanted to lay low for most of the day. He was feeling well enough to keep the plans we made with friends for dinner that evening. He got to choose the restaurant and we ended up at the local smokehouse. I ALWAYS get the catch of the day when we’re there and it broke my heart when I had to make another selection. Doctor’s orders were NO seafood AT ALL which is torture for someone who loves all things from the ocean. I finally decided on a grilled chicken salad with their homemade sun dried tomato vinaigrette. We ordered two appetizers and shared around the table. One plate had the biggest potato skins I’ve ever seen in my life. I only ate 1/2 of one because I knew eating the whole thing would make me too full for my entree. We also had a “nest of armadillo eggs.” They’re really just jalapeño peppers stuffed with chicken, wrapped in bacon and covered with BBQ sauce. Man they were spicy! Good times, good people & good food. Couldn’t ask for much more than that.

Sunday we headed to my in-law’s for lunch as a second celebration. My mother-in-law is a great cook, but she makes everything Paula Dean style. The menu was pork loin with a cajun rub, green beans cooked in loads of butter, 7-layer salad, mashed potatoes made with cream cheese & French onion dip and a lemon cake. I kept my portions in check even though I was really hungry and drank lots of water to help make me more full. We’d planned to spend most of the day with them, but my husband started feeling really bad again and wanted to go home. We stayed in the rest of the day. I did go out and sit on the front porch later in the evening to watch a sweet thunder and rainstorm move in.

Read Full Post »

My First Giveaway!

All the technical gods are smiling upon me today. My camera and laptop are communicating effectively so we’re all systems go.

First, you have to suffer through my eats and ramblings of the day.

I woke up STARVING which is becoming a daily thing lately. I had (another) bowl of Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares with organic skim milk and a POM (“pregnant lady”) spritzer. No picture today. If you really want to see, check out breakfast yesterday.

Morning snacks were a Yoplait Light yogurt (Raspberry Yogurt flavor) and a Cookies ‘n’ Cream Luna Bar.

We’re starting month 2 of the workouts at work and I’m really glad. We lost 2 members, but gained 2 new ladies so that cost stayed the same. Our trainer forgot to bring the hand weights so there were more core stations than normal in our circuit. Loved it!

After my workout I had the leftover egg noodles from last night. I packed chicken breast and Italian dressing to put on top, but icky tummy syndrome has been hitting me in the afternoon and the only things that sound appealing are bland & carby eats. I just tossed them with a little EVOO and parmesan cheese. Forgot to snap a picture, but it would have been a really boring one anyway. I wasn’t hungry the rest of the afternoon so I guess my body got whatever it needed from that.

I was, however, hungry again at dinner time. I rubbed some pork chops with garlic, baked them and served baked potatoes on the side. The potatoes were HUGE. I only had half of one, but it was plenty.

See that delicious looking sauce served on the side? That’s Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce and it is DEEEE-licious! The very generous Al from Country Bob’s sent me some of their yummy sauce to sample. My husband and I were instant fans. The flavor is really unique without overpowering the food it’s accompanying.

*****CONTEST ALERT******

The generous folks at Country Bob’s have offered to send a not one, but TWO lucky readers their very own bottle of All Purpose Sauce to try and enjoy. All you have to do is this:

1) Comment on this post. Be sure to include your name and blog URL (if you have one) so that I can check out what you’re blogging.
2) Post a link back to this contest on your blog.

If you don’t have a blog, e-mail me at upfitcreek@gmail.com with just a quick blurb including your name and where you’re from. No need to be super specific unless you want to be. Just your state (or country if it’s outside of the US) will be fine.

You have until midnight EST on Sunday, March 8th to comment and link back or e-mail. I’ll randomly select two people to receive this fabulous prize. Winners will be posted on Monday after I’ve had a chance to review all of the entries and draw names. (Yes. The deadline has been extended!)

GOOD LUCK to everyone who enters!

Read Full Post »