EmpowerMoms

I bought this new Leslie Sansone dvd on Amazon which was released on Tuesday, November 10th. I love doing 4-5 miles at one time to get a big calorie burn so I was so excited to get this brand new workout!

Mile 1

0-15:09
boosted moves like jogging, reach and sit.

Mile 2

15:09-29:15
8 second boosts, knee up patterns

Mile 3

29:15-42:37
punches, shuffles, squats, leg patterns

Mile 4

42:37-54:45
bouncing in place, 4 steps up/4 side shuffles/4 steps back, 8 quick steps

Mile 5

54:45-71:25
cross/pull down arm sequence, squat then kick, boosted knee ups

*During mile 5, the cool down starts at 66:25-69:37 and the stretch starts at 69:37-71:25.

The music is very upbeat and fast paced during this entire DVD. There were one or two songs that I didn’t care for, but overall it was great music!

She had some of her usual cast like Nick, Nadia and Wendy; but also added some new people as well. By the end of mile 5 I was annoyed at the new guy because he was kind of doing his own thing and not following Leslie’s directions. I could tell they were all having fun and I don’t mind that, but I take my exercising seriously so it was annoying and distracting for him to be doing things differently.

I did not wear my Polar heart rate monitor during this DVD because I did 2 miles in the morning and 3 miles in the afternoon on a Saturday because I didn’t have time to do the entire 5 miles at once. Typically I can do 5 miles at one time though and I plan on doing this DVD again all at once so I can determine my calorie burn.

I liked watching the 7 minute “How to Boost 10 Moves” demo session which explained how to BOOST 10 of her most popular walking moves. Leslie explains that you can use this DVD for any fitness level by making the movements gentle and basic, or making them more advanced by boosting the movements.

I made this printable based on her boost suggestions to hang up in my home gym for reference, which you are welcome to use as well.

Leslie Sansone How to Boost 10 Moves PRINTABLE CHART

Overall I really liked this DVD and plan on doing it often. I do feel like this DVD would be more for intermediate walkers and not beginner because of the fast pace music and movements. If you have any knee problems, I would suggest either not doing all 5 miles at one time or not doing the boosted movements.

Description
Are you ready to BOOST the results of your walk?

It’s EASY and FUN! We recommend that you start with the Bonus SESSION . This is where Leslie shows you the Top 10 Walk Moves and teaches you how to BOOST each one. After that, you can dive right into the 5 miles—in any way that you like.

You can walk a gentle mile and then a boosted mile. You can walk two miles without boosting anything and then boost the next two. Or you can even opt to boost only some of the moves within each mile. You have the freedom to do whatever is right for you! Walkers that range from beginners all the way to advanced can all get a great workout! AND with the five different 1-mile sessions, you can also customize your workout time.

If you have 30 minutes for your Monday walk, you can do two miles. If Tuesday is busy, sneak in a single 15-minute mile to keep yourself on track. Then for the days when you do have the time and the energy, you can walk all 5 miles and BOOST AWAY! Customize your workout time AND your workout intensity. This is YOUR walk!

You can order it here:

Sneak Peek Video of mile 1 the NEW Leslie Sansone: 5 Boosted Miles

Last week was our local ‪”NoExcuseMom”‬ fitness workout and nutrition course number 3, partnered with the Virginia Cooperative Extension program.

For our workout we did 30 mins of a leg workout lead by me; which included warm up, cool down and stretching. We did some strength training exercises that I learned from doing the 15 day Fit Body Challenge with Trainer Lindsey.

For the nutrition class we learned about making smart lunch choices, choosing to eat more fruits and veggies, and about looking for hidden salt/sodium in our foods. She also handed out reading materials and recipes for us to take home.

Rayelle, the volunteer with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, made us some healthy snacks to try. Yummy herb dip and fruit/peanut butter dip. She also gave us all a measuring spoon to take home so we could be mindful of our salt intake on our foods and measuring other ingredients.

We meet locally 1-2 times per week for a FREE 30-60 min workout, but this particular class is a special 6 class series that we are partnering with the VA Cooperative Extension Service so we can learn more about nutrition and healthy recipes. They have been really awesome and informative classes!

The program is called the Virginia Family Nutrition Program: Eat Smart Move More
http://www.ext.vt.edu/topics/food-health/family-nutrition-program/index.html

Here’s a copy of the Herb Dip recipe if you’re interested in making it:
https://www.ext.vt.edu/topics/food-health/family-nutrition-program/recipes/snacks/herb-dip.pdf

Another Way Home: A Chicory Inn Novel – Book 3 – by Deborah Raney

“Another Way Home” is book 3 in the Chicory Inn series which is the parents (Grant and Audrey) family home that was turned into a bed and breakfast in book 1.

This story mostly follows one of the daughters and her husband-Danae and Dallas. They have tried for years to get pregnant and even after fertility drugs, Danae starts to become hopeless and depressed about not being able to start their family.

She becomes involved in a womens shelter where she starts to feel more at peace with having a purpose and making a difference in people’s lives.

The other siblings and parents from book 1 and 2 are mentioned through out this book, and although it would make sense to read them in order, they can be read as stand alone books.

One thing I mentioned that I didn’t like about book 2 was the moms attitude about helping her family versus working at their bed and breakfast. I was happy to see that wasn’t the case during this book. I did notice that the dad, Grant had more of a role and a relationship with this daughter than the mother.

I can’t wait to read book 4 called “Close to Home” that comes out next year. This has been a very good, heart warming, emotional series that I have greatly enjoyed!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

Here’s my review of book 2:
http://empowermoms.net/2015/06/two-roads-home-by-deborah-raney-book-review-plus-a-giveaway.html

Here’s my review of book 1:
http://empowermoms.net/2014/08/home-to-chicory-lane-by-deborah-raney.html

About the book:
Sometimes God’s ways are not at all what we expect . . . and exactly what we need.

Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.

Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women’s shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She’s finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil-and leave them all forever changed.

You can purchase a copy of the book here:

About the author:

Deborah Raney’s books have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken, recently traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deborah’s novels—for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.

Enter to win a copy of “Another Way Home”—five winners will be chosen!
GO HERE TO ENTER: http://bit.ly/1Wzjq9q

The Berenstain Bears, The Very First Christmas (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights) by Jan & Mike Berenstain

My 5 year old is obsessed with reading Berenstain Bear books. We have TONS of Berenstain Bear books at home (books that I even grew up with!) but he still gets excited when he gets new ones in the mail!

At first he thought this was a repeat Christmas story from his new Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible for Little Ones; but there is only 1 or 2 similar pictures so he was relieved it was a brand new story.

My blog post about the Storybook bible is here if you’re interested:
http://empowermoms.net/2015/08/the-berenstain-bears-storybook-bible-for-little-ones-by-jan-mike-berenstain.html

My son loved reading this book out loud with me as we discussed the Christmas story and the true meaning of Christmas. I love that these books are easy to read and understand for early readers, but not boring for older readers and adults.

I love that the son of Jan and Stan Berenstain-Mike-has continued to write Berenstain Bear stories with his mom after his fathers passing. I especially love that they are more of a religious nature now. This book is part of the Living Lights Faith Story series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media. All opinions are my own.

Book Description
A Christmas story from the bestselling Berenstain Bears Living Lights series.

The bestselling Berenstain Bears brand and Living Lights series continue their proven tradition of teaching children valuable lessons in a fun and creative way. In the affordable 8×8 softcover format, The Berenstain Bears and the Night Jesus was Born gives fans of the Berenstain Bears the story of Jesus’ coming … from the angel’s announcement of a new baby to the visit of the three wise men.

Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Series: Berenstain Bears/Living Lights
Paperback: 24 pages

About the Author
Stan and Jan Berenstain introduced the first Berenstain Bear books in 1962. Mike Berenstain grew up watching his parents work together to write about and draw these lovable bears. Eventually he started drawing and writing about them too. Though Stan died in 2005, and Jan in 2012, Mike continues to create the delightful Bear adventures from the family home and studio in Pennsylvania, in an area that looks much like the sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country.

This book was released on Oct. 6th. You can purchase a copy of the book here:

Go here to ENTER DAILY to win a new Leslie Sansone DVD!
http://empowermoms.net/2015/11/21-days-before-thanksgiving-walking-challenge-enter-daily-to-win-2-winners.html

Day 13-Friday, November 13:
2 mile Walk / 30 min walk / 4,000 steps

Day 14-Saturday, November 14:
5 mile walk / 75 min walk / 10,000 steps

Day 15-Sunday, November 15
1 mile walk / 15 min walk / 2,000 steps

Day 16-Monday, November 16
4 mile walk / 60 min walk / 8,000 steps

Day 17-Tuesday, November 17
1 mile walk / 15 min walk / 2,000 steps

Day 18-Wednesday, November 18
2 mile walk / 30 min walk / 4,000 steps

Day 19-Thursday, November 19
3 mile walk / 45 min walk / 6,000 steps

Day 20-Friday, November 20
1 mile walk / 15 min walk / 2,000 steps

Day 21-Saturday, November 21
5 mile walk / 75 min walk / 10,000 steps

YOU DID IT! You just completed the 21 day Leslie Sansone Thanksgiving Challenge!!

Did you know that Leslie has posted FREE, FULL LENGTH videos on her website? Just go to her website link below, sign up for a free Walk Social account, then go to full length videos. She has (10) listed; including a kids walk, 1 mile, 2 mile and 3 mile walks.
http://www.walkathome.com/walk-social/

You can also get a couple free videos from their youtube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/walkathomemedia/videos

Here’s a brand new 1 mile walk!

>>>If you are just joining the challenge or have gotten behind-here are the other day assignments:

Day 1-Sunday, November 1:
3 Mile Walk / 45 min walk / 6,000 steps
*Beginners – Just do (3) 5 Minute Walks spread out over the day

Day 2-Monday, November 2:
2 Mile Walk / 30 min walk / 4,000 steps
*Beginners – Walk (2) 10 minute sessions

Day 3-Tuesday, November 3:
1 Mile Walk in the Morning and 2 Miles later in the day / 45 min walk / 6,000 steps
*Beginners – Walk 10 mins. in the morning / 15 mins. evening

Day 4-Wednesday, November 4:
4 Mile Walk / 60 min walk / 8,000 steps
*Beginners – do (3) 10 min walks

Day 5-Thursday, November 5:
5 Mile Walk / 75 min walk / 10,000 steps
*Beginners – do (2) 20 min walks

Day 6-Friday, November 6:
2 Mile Walk / 30 min walk / 4,000 steps
*Beginners – do (2) 10 min walks

Day 7-Saturday, November 7:
3 Mile Walk / 45 min walk / 6,000 steps
*Beginners – Walk 1 Mile in the AM & 1 Mile in the PM

Day 8-Sunday, November 8:
1 Mile Walk / 15 min walk / 2,000 steps
*Beginners – Going into our 2nd week, Beginners try your best to keep up with the daily assignment, but never worry if the miles are too much, fitness increases naturally each time you walk … no need to over do it!

Day 9-Monday, November 9:
4 Mile Walk / 60 min walk / 8,000 steps
*Beginners –

Day 10-Tuesday, November 10:
2 Mile Walk / 30 min walk / 4,000 steps

Day 11-Wednesday, November 11:
3 Mile Walk / 45 min walk / 6,000 steps

Day 12-Thursday, November 12:
1 Mile Walk / 15 min walk / 2,000 steps

Go here to ENTER DAILY to win a new Leslie Sansone DVD!
http://empowermoms.net/2015/11/21-days-before-thanksgiving-walking-challenge-enter-daily-to-win-2-winners.html

My previous blog post regarding the 21 day challenge is here:
http://empowermoms.net/2015/10/leslie-sansone-21-days-before-thanksgiving-free-walk-challenge.html