It’s a new year, and what’s on the horizon? Perhaps you want to travel more, or save money, or give up one those vices that you know are no good for your health. While all of those things are all well and good, there’s one new year goal that might trump the lot, and that is: getting a dog! If you’ve ever had half a wish to bring a canine into your home, then read on – by the end of the article, you might just be convinced that it’s the right way to go.
They’re a Mood Booster We’re not always the best judge of what’s going to make us happy. We think it’s one thing, but then it turns out to be wrong. Sometimes, it’s just best to take the scientific route, and do what the experts say will boost our happiness levels, such as exercising, avoiding alcohol, and, yes, bringing a dog into your life. Due to a combination of reasons, which are too extensive to list here, having a dog as part of your family has been shown to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. And there’s no special formula: you just have to be together, and it’ll all happen.
They’ll Get You In Shape Of all the New Year’s resolutions that people make, none are broken quite as quickly as the vow to get into shape. When it’s a little bit chilly outside, it’s much easier to put running off until tomorrow, which of course never comes. When you have a dog, you won’t have the opportunity to put it off: your canine friend needs walking twice a day. In so doing, they’ll have you up, moving, and getting your daily dose of exercise.
They’re Not as Limiting As You Think One of the main reasons why people who want a dog choose not to is because they think it’ll put limits on their lifestyle. This is not the case! Dogs don’t have to eat up as much of your salary as is commonly assumed; while there are costs attached, they’re not insurmountable. The other issue is related to what happens when you want to travel. When these times roll around, you can either put your dog into boarding kennels or take them with you – there are many more options for traveling with pets compared to days gone by. While you might not have to give up some of your freedoms, it’s not as if you’ll be a slave to your responsibilities.
More Friends Looking for a new way to make friends? Then your dog can help. It’ll be a rare walk in the park when you don’t strike up a conversation with another dog owner. Your pooch will become your lovable, cuddly, friend-making pal!
They’re Fun Finally, let’s just get this one out there: dogs are fun! While there’ll be times when they do something that frustrates you, for the most part, you’ll be enjoying all the positive vibes they bring to the household and your life.
~~FTC Disclaimer~~ This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.
The start of a new year is always a time when people begin thinking about their goals for the year ahead and what they’d like to achieve – whether it’s fitness and health goals, giving up bad habits, or simply starting to save more money for those things on their goal list, such as one day buying a house.
If you feel like you’ve not been great with your finances in the past and really have a big goal this year of finally getting them in shape, then hopefully the tips we’re going to share with you in this post will help you to do that.
Before we start, though: it’s important that you realize that you’re probably not as bad with money as you think. Often we’re our own worst critics and will say things like about ourselves like “oh, I’m awful with money” – yet, you’re probably better than you think. These things are often stories that we carry from early childhood, and once we clear those stories and start building good habits around money, then it becomes clear that everything is always teachable for those who are willing to learn.
So, let’s get into some simple strategies you can start implementing to finally get your finances in shape this year so that you can start working towards that goal of being able to approach a company like https://altrua.ca/ and be able to get a mortgage for your first home.
Get honest with yourself: The first step in getting good at managing your finances is to get really honest with yourself about your current financial situation. Yes, doing this can often be scary, but it’s also empowering once you take back that control, and the good thing is, often things are nowhere near as bad as they might seem. So, open up all those reminder letters you’ve been hiding in drawers and create a spreadsheet or paper list of everything you owe and really get a look at what you’re dealing with. This is the only way you’re going to be able to improve your situation if you actually know where you’re going to be starting from.
Set a savings goal: If savings are going to be part of your new financial fitness plan, which most likely they will be, then you need to set a goal for how much you’d like to save and by when. The thing with setting goals is – especially financial ones is most people will choose a quite arbitrary number which they either just pluck out of the air or they pick one that sounds good. Like, “I’d like to have $10K in the bank by the end of next month.” That’s a great goal for sure, but it’s a little unrealistic for most people, and you want to be able to make a goal that’s easily achievable because this is what will keep you motivated to keep going. For this to happen, you need to set specific goals- preferably an amount you have a connection with and that pertains to something you want. So, for example, if you’re saving for a house deposit, and you want to buy a house in 3 years, how much would you need to save each month to have a 10% deposit in that time? Now you have a number that’s related to a very specific outcome you want to achieve.
Create a budget: Budgeting is one of those things that people often shy away from because they feel like it’s limiting, but actually it’s quite the opposite – it’s all about taking control and giving each dollar a home and purpose. So, instead of just hitting the supermarket each week with no real plan and spending a few hundred on food, then it’s a better idea to have a specific weekly grocery budget and then, not only will you save money because each penny is allocated to something, but you’ll make better choices with your food which will impact your health overall. You should also then budget a certain amount for savings and other things that you want to buy – either long term or short term. If you’ve never created a budget before, it’s really simply. You can find many free and low cost budgeting softwares online to help you, or you can simply use a spreadsheet – how you do it is up to you, but starting and sticking to it is the most important thing.
Automate your savings: Once you’ve set yourself a savings goal and have accounted for that amount in your weekly or monthly budget, then one of the best ways to get into the habit of sticking to topping up your savings is by automating the process of the money leaving your main account and going to your savings account. You could also give your savings account a specific name – for example, you could name the account “Dream House Savings” so that when you feel tempted to take some money out, you see that and remember that if you do, getting your house will take longer than you want it to.
Start slow: One of the most important things here is to be kind on yourself – you may be tempted to go in at the beginning all excited and full of enthusiasm and start saving like crazy, and although your intentions are great, you need to remember that this is probably not sustainable and has a higher chance of failure than if you start off more slowly. You may feel bad about this or like you’re not saving enough, but just the fact that you’re saving anything in this day and age where the biggest majority of adults don’t have any savings is a great thing, so you need to start slow and be okay with the fact that some things will take a while, but that the wait will be worth it.
Reward yourself: Another goal setting technique to keep you on track is once you’ve set your main goal, then break it down into certain milestones – this can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, or whichever time frame works for you. How this works is instead of focusing on the main goal, you break it down into smaller chunks and once you hit that milestone, you reward yourself with something nice because your efforts still deserve recognition. So, for example, say your goal is to save $30K in 3 years, then you can break that down and once you’ve saved a certain amount – let’s say $3K towards that goal, then you could treat yourself to a nice day out somewhere or you could even purchase something for the house that you’re now even closer to buying.
Keep things that will motivate you: It’s important when setting goals that you’re able to be reminded of them each day. If you’re a visual person, you could keep a vision board above your desk, or you could keep a scrapbook of images of what your new house will look like. This is to keep your goal front of mind and keep you motivated to achieve it. If you’re not a visual person, you could use words instead. You could use post-it notes that you could keep on your fridge reminding you of your goal or what it will feel like when you’ve achieved your goal.
Look at where you can cut back: Most of us nowadays are spending more money on things that we really don’t need, so when you’re setting your budget in the step above, make sure you take a look at the things you’re buying that you really don’t need. For example, the cup of coffee you buy on the way to work each day doesn’t seem like much, but when you add it up over the course of a month or year, it’s a good chunk of money that could be going in your savings, so why not try making your coffee at home instead – even just a few days per week and seeing if you notice the difference? You’ll be surprised just how quickly all these small things do add up.
FTC Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.
If you’ve made a promise to yourself to make healthier choices in 2019 it’s likely that you’ve done so with certain goals in mind. Maybe you want to reach a target weight or perhaps you want to look incredible in a very special white dress this year. Whatever your goals, it’s common to assume that you can achieve them through sheer willpower alone. Yet, while you should absolutely be commended for your enthusiasm, excitement and force of will, sometimes even the most disciplined of us can make mistakes that derail our fitness goals.
Despite your zeal without the right help and guidance you can find yourself doing more harm than good. Indeed, in some cases the drive that propels you forward can actually also be what trips you up. Here we’ll take a look at some common diet and exercise mistakes that see even the most disciplined of us stray from the path towards the path to health, fitness and happiness…
Looking to the internet for guidance Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a fantastic resource with a wealth of free and useful information. However, the sheer volume of information out there can be daunting and a lot of it is utterly contradictory, especially when it comes to diet and nutrition. One decorated nutritionist will tell you that carbs are anathema if you’re trying to get into shape, while others will tell you to steer clear of fats. Some will swear up and down that a vegan diet is the best diet for weight loss while others will try to convince you that you should be eating more meat and less of everything else.
If you rely solely on online guidance you could well find yourself bamboozled. There’s really no substitute for entrusting your journey to a personal trainer. They will take the time to get to know your body and determine which exercises and meal plan will be the best for you. Moreover, they’ll be able to give you the ongoing support and guidance to keep you motivated when you start to flag.
Not having fun If your exercise routine bores you… Change it! There’s nothing more counterproductive than slogging through an exercise routine that’s neither fun nor enjoyable. Whatever your goals, you should be able to find an exercise regimen that allows you to meet them without dreading heading to the gym. If the thought of working out fills you with dread, you’re far more likely to fall off the wagon. On the other hand if you have a varied and enjoyable exercise regimen that feels challenging while you’re doing it and rewarding when completed, you’re so much less reliant on willpower alone.
Find yourself a gym like www.clubfitness.us that has a varied selection of classes and activities. Not only will your regimen benefit from the variety, committing yourself to classes and taking part in shared exercises will help to ensure that you hit your targets.
Neglecting the weight room If you’re trying to burn fat, it’s a common fallacy to assume that all of your time is best spent on the treadmill or the elliptical machine. Yet, while cardiovascular exercise is an undoubtedly important part of fat loss, it should also be supplemented with rigorous strength training. Strength training will help you to build lean muscle mass and tone to give your body more shape and sculpting. What’s more, strength training will increase bone density and boost your metabolism meaning that you burn more calories even when sedentary.
Many eschew strength training because they are worried about how they will look if their muscles get too big, but rarely is this something they need to seriously worry about. It is unusual for women in particular to gain heavy muscle mass because their low testosterone levels mean that they produce less Human Growth Hormone. No matter what your gender, weight, body type or personal goals, it’s highly unlikely that you will be able to achieve them if you abandon the weight room.
Assuming you can out-exercise a bad diet
It’s not uncommon, especially when we’re young and inexperienced, to assume that so long as we exercise regularly that we can afford to be lenient with our diet. The truth, however, is that you simply can’t out-exercise a bad diet. If you hit the gym 4 or 5 times a week yet subsist on fast food, ready meals and heavily processed convenience foods you will find it much, much harder to meet your goals. Yes, your body will get fitter and stronger, but because it isn’t getting the nutrients it needs it won’t get fitter and stronger at the rate that it should. Moreover, whatever gains you make will be hidden behind a veneer of fat because your body is taking in a high proportion of empty calories which it cannot put to good use and so it stores them as fat.
Starving your body of calories That said, while you can’t achieve your fitness goals on a bad diet, you’re just as unlikely to achieve them by starving your body either. It seems as though with the coming of every new year the market becomes awash with dubious detoxes and spurious cleanses that make bold claims yet what results they are able to achieve are rarely sustainable. These “cleanses” invariably expect those who undertake them to massively reduce their caloric intake for a period of several days or even weeks.
Naturally, because the body finds itself with less energy than it needs to survive it cannibalizes the energy stored in your body as fat. Thus, these cleanses tend to produce quite dramatic results but they come as much too high a cost. Inevitably those who undertake these detoxes aren’t getting the calories they need so they find themselves feeling faint and lacking energy. They often also experience headaches and brain fog. They may become emotionally erratic and irritable. This is because the human body was simply not designed to function on the paltry 1000-1200 calories these “cleanses” insist on.
When you have so little energy that getting through day-to-day life seems impossible, you’re unlikely to have the energy to smash your workout goals.
Steer clear of these commonly made mistakes and you’ll find that you see in the next new year in the body you’ve always dreamed of!
FTC Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.
I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. My hubby and I continue to celebrate the Christmas season with good deals, good movies and good eats. After all the traditional foods of Thanksgiving and Christmas, we wanted something different for New Year’s Eve. We enjoy a good homemade lasagna and Italian is one of our favorite cuisines, so we decided that we wanted to make one this year. But usually, a lasagna can take a while to make. But we were able to put this one together in only 30 minutes (plus baking time). It was the first time we used oven-ready noodles, which helped speed up the process. We also used a 3 quart Temp-tations dish instead of a glass dish, making the lasagna more compact and really packed in the ingredients for a more hearty taste.
It was as yummy as it looks. Here are the ingredients that you will need to make the lasagna for yourself.
Ingredients:
1 Box of Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
2 Bottles of Pasta Sauce
1 Container of Ricotta Cheese
2 Italian Sausage Links, sliced
1 Package of Italian Vegetables
1 Cup of Baby Portabella Mushrooms
1 Cup of Fresh Spinach
1 Small Head of Fresh Broccoli
1 Medium Red Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Medium Green Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Cup of shredded Provel (Imo’s) Cheese
1 Cup of shredded Italian Blend Cheese
1 Cup of shredded Colby Jack Cheese
* any ingredient can be omitted, reduced, or increased, to your desired taste.
Directions:
1) In a large skillet, combine Italian Vegetable Package, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Add your favorite seasonings. Cook on medium heat.
2) After the bell peppers soften, add in broccoli and sausage and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.
3) In a 3 quart ceramic dish, add enough pasta sauce to cover the dish.
4) Add layer of noodles, followed by the ricotta cheese spread out over the noodles.
5) Add a layer of vegetables, and then spinach.
6) Add in the cheeses, followed by more pasta sauce to cover all ingredients.
7) Add additional layers in this order: noodles, ricotta cheese, veggies, cheeses, sauce, noodles, sauce and cheeses.
8) Top the dish with aluminum foil, bake for one hour at 350 degrees.
9) Remove foil and bake for additional 15 minutes.
Watch our YouTube video on putting together the lasagna.
This lasagna is great for any occasion: a family gathering, a holiday party or an evening dinner for you and your spouse. And if you have leftovers you can freeze them to enjoy at another time.
Have you made your own lasagna? How as it different than ours? What would you do different? Leave us a comment below and share with us your thoughts.
I pray everyone had a wonderful Christmas. For my hubby and I, we celebrate Christmas for more than one day. We make a season out of it. We will keep our tree and other decorations up until about Valentine’s Day. We enjoy Christmas that much!
I wanted to announce the winner of our Christmas Holiday giveaway. We hosted a giveaway here on our blog, as well as on our YouTube channel. One blessed person would win a Dooney and Bourke Saffiano Zip Zip Satchel in Red.
We had a total of 102 entries between the blog and YouTube. Your response and comments truly blessed me and my team. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. And the winner of the giveaway is
TG!!!
Congratulations TG! Your new Dooney and Bourke Saffiano Zip Zip Satchel will be in the mail to you shortly.
Stay tuned for more giveaways coming in 2019.
Disclaimer: This giveaway was not sponsored by Dooney and Bourke and is not affiliated with the company in any way.
Learn More About JT Bubbling with Elegance and Grace is a place for life long learners. The Bubbling With Elegance And Grace team was created 14 years ago. A passion for fashion sparked a lifestyle blog for our Elegant Community to enjoy. We are thankful and in gratitude to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for those who have been with us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
Disclaimer: This giveaway was not sponsored by Dooney and Bourke and is not affiliated with the company in any way.
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