#impACTforLife ACTion Challenge - Week 2

Welcome Back! 
I hope Week 1 was an exciting boost to ACTivating your healthy and fit lifestyle. Keep those #impACTforLife posts coming as this week we'll set up for Week 3's intensity! Keep hydrating your body. You may want to subscribe to several of these great blogs!

#impACTforLife – Week 2

Nothing Changes until you ACT!

Monday

Continue your healthy habits from Week 1. Don’t let cooler weather derail you.

Set a new fitness goal.

Write it down! 

Be proACTive: Share your new goal with us using the #impACTforLife hashtag. Writing things down & sharing goals with others helps you stick to your commitment. You never know what may inspire someone else!

Some ideas: 

•    Run a mile without stopping

•    Walk a mile under 15 minutes

•    Register for a 5K

•    Do a handstand pushup

•    Lift weights 3x per week

•    Walk 10,000 steps 5 days a week

impACT App: RunKeeper

impACT App: My Fitness Pal

Tuesday

Rethink the pancake!

This quick morning pancake is full of fiber, potassium and protein! Think big oatmeal cookie!

impACT Blog: Morning Glory Pancake

Wednesday

Get up 15 minutes early to ACTivate your day with stretching and a new exercise!

impACT Blog: Runner's World

Thursday

Make a plan! Plan out your meals for next week and write your workouts down in your planner!

As a bonus: Bake cookies! Find a healthier recipe to try or make some healthy swaps to an old favorite!

impACT Blog: Nutritionella

Friday

Clean out a couple of closets and drawers!

Going up and down on a step-ladder can be a little bit of an exercise, but to initiate some sweat – set a timer every 15 minutes. When the buzzer sounds, do a set of crunches, leg lifts, arm circles and, then, get back to work.

Be ProACTive: Be ready to donate any items and clothing that are in good condition to Goodwill!

Weekend

Enough good ACTions lead to good habits!

Watching TV? Get up and move during the commercial breaks.

Try doing 15-30 seconds of pushups, planks, scissor jumps before you sit back down on the sofa, which keeps you ACTive as we move into Week 3 of our #impACTforLife ACTion Challenge!

By the way, if you haven’t settled on a Devo or Scripture Reading Guide for this year, check out: She Reads Truth either on the website or as an impAct App available as a "Plan" in YouVersion. 

2-on-Tuesday: Don't Eat that Weird Cranberry Stuff!

For the love of all that is pure and holy, DO NOT EAT that wiggly, jelled "cranberry" stuff in a can. It looks alien. It doesn't take a lot of time to create a bounty of bliss with the beautiful Bounce Berry! 

Bounce Berry? Oh, yeah. As cranberries are harvested and cleaned, they move through a ladder-type thingamajig which drops the berries. Because of the air pockets inside, only the best berries bounce. The others are processed for juices.

Cranberry Myth: Cranberries grow in water. Nope, they don't. They grow on bushes in fields sometimes referred to as "bogs." However, many cranberries are harvested by water --in the bog-- and this is where the confusion comes.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

2 cups Sugar (or your choice of sweetener, try maple syrup, Agave, etc.)
3/4 to 1 cup of Liquid (your choice of water or orange juice or apple juice)
For that seasonal flavor, try adding a ground Cinnamon, Cloves or Allspice
12 oz package Whole Cranberries

• Bring first 3 ingredients to boil, add cranberries and return to a boil
• Reduce heat and boil gently while stirring occasionally
• You'll hear the berries burp or pop as they cook down, 10-20 minutes
• Pour cauce into a heat-tolerant bowl, cover and cool at room temp
• Serve as a side or condiment to Turkey and Dressing!

Cranberry Fluff

Cool Whip
Cranberry Sauce (homemade or from a can)
*optional: Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

• Empty a tub of Cool Whip into a larger bowl
• Using a spatula or fork, gently fold in 1-2 cups of Cranberry Sauce
• Refrigerate until time to serve

Other Ideas:

As an easy candy... Melt together a bag of Hershey's Premier White Chocolate Chips and a tablespoon of Crisco. Pour into cookie sheet pan that is lined with parchment. Bang out the bubbles. Spread the chocolate and drop DRIED CRANBERRIES (like Craisins) on top. Allow to set before breaking or cutting. Seal in air tight container.

Or...Mix in a handful of fresh whole cranberries to your dressing/stuffing before cooking.

Or...Toss a handful of dried cranberries into your sweet bread dough before rising.

Or...Add a sprinkling of dried cranberries into your batter for pancakes or waffles and cupcakes and cookies!

Because the cranberry is pretty tart, it usually requires a fair amount of sweetener to tame the taste. Honestly, if you don't have a bend toward this berry, already, just try a couple of sweet recipes to beguile your buds. If you don't like it, spit it out! You can always string your Christmas tree with garlands of popcorn and cranberries!

Another Cranberry Myth: Cranberries cure kidneys and urinary tracts. Nope, they don't.

Read some more interesting facts about the CRANBERRY, The Great American Berry!

Happy Thanksgiving!
~"Sam"

2-on-Tuesday: Magical Peanut Butter Cookies

Nope. I did not come up with this recipe. I think I saw it on a Paula Deen show, years ago. Regardless, it's a pretty good recipe using Splenda in the place of flour and sugar. That's right! Because there is no flour and the sugar comes comes from a sweetener (a smidge from the peanut butter), it's a great recipe for diabetics, too!


1 C  Peanut Butter (or your favorite nut butter)
1 C  Splenda or Stevia
**carefully smoosh the above ingredients together, then, add...
1    Egg
1 t  Vanilla
**and mix

• Take batter and roll into 2" balls onto parchment paper lining your cookie sheet.
• What would a peanut butter cookie be without the crisscross fork pattern? An unrecognizable cookie, that's what! Be sure to dip the tines of your fork into the Splenda before pressing the cookie.
• Bake 350 degrees  for 15-18 minutes

Whatcha think?

~"Sam"