Saturday, March 31, 2012

Fitness 101 {With Infinite Life Fitness}

Good Morning, Happy Saturday!
Today I would like to introduce you to Stephanie of Infinite Life Fitness.
She guest posted two weeks ago, showing us how to make our own 100 calorie snacks!
Well, she is going to become a regular contributor of Agape Love Designs.
With her knowledge on fitness and living a healthy lifestyle I thought she'd make a wonderful 
addition to go along side my own posts on my weight loss journey.
Today she is sharing with us FITNESS 101!
Much Love & Hugs,
♥Maria-Isabel 
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Fitness 101
 
 

Today I would like to go over some commonly asked fitness related questions.  These questions are usually questions that I get form people who are starting out with a new health and fitness routine.

  1. How often should I work out?
It is suggested that AT THE MINIMUM 20 minute workout at least 3 times a week.  This does NOT include your warm up and stretching routine.  For beginners this is a great place to start and as you get used to working out and get a little stronger add time to your workout. You should maintain a moderate intensity level during the WHOLE 20 minutes.  An example of this is that you are slightly out of breath but you are still able to talk/communicate during the workout.  You are not exhausted but you can still keep up and maintain that exercise for the duration of the workout.  Any beginner at a new health and fitness routine needs to take it easy so you do not hurt yourself and so you can build your body up to be prepared to do more intense workouts. 

  1. How many calories can I burn walking/running/jogging a mile?
For every 100 pounds of body weight, you can lose an estimated 62 calories per mile of your workout. So if you weigh 200 pounds, you can estimate to lose about 124 calories per mile of exercise…if you weigh 300 pounds you can estimate to lose about 186 calories per mile of exercise. You can increase the amount you lose per mile if you add weights to your walk/jog/run or incorporate other intense moves during that workout.


  1. How many calories does it take to burn one pound of fat?
3,500 calories equals one pound. So if you burn 3,500 calories you can estimate to lose one pound, and if you eat 3,500 you can estimate to gain one pound.  For example: Let’s say you want to lose one pound per week.  You can do this by decreasing your calorie intake by about 500 calories each day.  The easiest way to do this is by decreasing your diet for one day by 250 calories and burning the other 250 calories with physical activities or with your workout for that day.

  1. What abdominal exercises can I do to get rid of belly fat?
To be perfectly honest, there is not just one routine or a series of routines that will allow you to get rid of just your belly fat.  When it comes to body fat there is no way to fix just one area of your body.  You have to have a good cardio workout along with other exercises to help burn those extra calories which in the end will start to burn fat stored all over your body.

  1. What are some of the health benefits exercising can have for people?
Having a regular fitness routine will allow you to decrease your chances of getting diseases or illnesses that are brought on by obesity.  It will lower your cholesterol levels, lower your blood pressure, and allow you to be more physically active.  Exercise and decrease you risks for getting heart diseases and also help lower your stress levels during the day.  Studies have shown that exercise helps lessen or eliminate depression symptoms, and allow for you to sleep better at night.  Working out can help you improve you self-image and allow you to look younger and healthy!

  1. Other than a healthy diet what else should I be doing to help me with my weight loss?
Getting an adequate amount of sleep each night and drinking plenty of waters.  These are two staples things that are needed to help your body when you want to shed some extra weight.  

  1. I started working out with my boyfriend/husband.  Why is he losing weight faster than me? Am I not doing something right?

No you are fine.  When it comes to weight loss men just have an advantage that women do not have.  Traditionally men have more muscle than females. This allows for their metabolism to be slightly higher which in return allows them to burn those unwanted calories a little faster than women.  But do not focus on your partners results! Focus on your goals and what you are doing to reach your goals.


  1. Making home meals for me is not always an option for me.  If I have to eat out a lot, what is the best way to eat healthy while I eat at food establishments?

The best thing to do is do some research.  You can find almost ANY restaurants nutritional information online.  If not, call the company and they should be able to send you something.  Find the healthiest options they offer and stick to those options when you go out to eat.  Try to stay away from condiments.  Ask for your salad dressings on the side (so you can drizzle it on your salad instead of drowning your lettuce in it) and try to stick to soups that are broth based.  Vegetables and lean meats are always a good choice. And always remember to try to stick to correct portion sizes so you are not overeating.  Try to have water (not coke or sweet tea) with your meal.  You do not want to consume half of the calories during the day with the beverages you have with your meals. The best snacks to have are things like string cheese, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, nuts, turkey breast.  Try to stay away from processed foods! 


I hope that these are some common questions that some of you had and I hope that I helped to answer some of them! Please feel free to check out my website infinitelifefitness.com for more health and fitness related articles. 


Dont forget to check out this weeks In Post Sponsor:



Interested in sponsoring "In Post"? Check out my sponsor options {here}!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Treasury Trade Off Linky #11

Welcome to week 11 of Treasury Trade Off!!
 Thank you so much for playing along today! 
I am really wanting to GROW TTO, SO would you help me out by sharing 
this post on your facebook page so that others can join in??
The more participants we get, the more exposure you and your shop/listings will get!

Thanks so much!!

Before we get onto the new theme and link up, here are a few great treasuries from last weeks link up!

If you are new to Treasury Trade Off, here is the idea:
Each week I will post a new theme. I will have a list of items/listings from my shop
(and maybe my sponsors shops) that go with that weeks theme.
All who participate in this will have to create a treasury using one MY listings that I have provided.
In return you will leave a comment telling me you are participating with a link to item(s) from YOUR shop
that go with this weeks theme, and I will create a treasury (or two) including listings from those who participate.
Once you have created your treasury, come back here and link it up to the linky party for me & others to check out.
I will share some treasuries on my facebook page as well as feature a couple of my favs in next weeks Treasury Trade Off post.
If we all comment on, click links in and share treasuries on our fb pages from a couple others then we all get more exposure!

Here The Rules if you want to participate:
This weeks theme is: {Free For All}!
Link up anything from your shop! 
And Link up a few things to give me a variety of things to choose from!
 1.) Leave a comment with a link to your facebook fan page letting me know you will participate,
in the same comment leave a few links from your own shop listings that go with this weeks theme.
Please make sure to leave a clickable Link to your listing(s) here is how:
<a href="LINK HERE">WHAT YOU WANT IT TO SAY HERE</a>

2.)  Create a Treasury which features only one of my items listed below:
Feel free to also check out the comment section & use any of the listings other participants have shared!
But your treasury MUST include one of MY items listed below to participate.
3.) Come Back here & link up the treasury you have created to the linky party!

4.) Check out the other treasuries, leave comments on at least two others
and click at least two listing from each treasury you check out.

5.) Share one or two of your favorite treasuries from the linky party on your FB fan page.
It would be awesome if you tagged the creator in the link as well!

Some extra helpful info:
~When creating a treasury please do NOT include your own items in your treasury.
Etsy will not feature a treasury if you are featuring your own items!
They encourage you to share the love and help promote others. So please keep that in mind.

~When creating a treasury, please try your best to make it cohesive and to use up ALL 16 listing spaces! 

~It would be really great if you could leave a link to this post in the description of your treasury...
to help encourage other etsians to participate in this treasury trade off! :)

You have until Sunday at Midnight to link up the treasury you have created!

Grab a button:

Treasury Trade Off Linky Party At Agape Love Designs

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Much Love & Hugs,
Dont forget to check out this weeks In Post Sponsor:
Interested in sponsoring "In Post"? Check out my sponsor options {here}!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Blog-erview With Rachel of Hidden Beauty Photography


Its Wednesday and time again for another Blog-erview!!!
 
Lets welcome Rachel from Hidden Beauty Photography to Agape Love Designs!!

If you are new here, find out about the Blog-erview Series, 
as well as a list of previous blog-erviews {here}!
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My name is Rachel Shearer, and I'm the face behind all that is Hidden Beauty Photography--however small that may be right now!

Tell us a little about yourself and Your blog
My name is Rachel Shearer, I'm a 17 year old photographer (or rather, aspiring photographer). My biggest dream is to one day be someone that people can look up to, someone that inspires! My blog is focused around my photography, but it's not your typical photography blog.... I write posts based on my personal experiences, on things that I need help with, things that I think may help other people. I base them on photography and write what I hope can be helpful and inspiring posts. I also blog about myself and my photography, it's sort of a mixture of all kinds of different things!


How did you first get involved with blogging?
I started blogging about 3 years ago, when I was in 9th grade. It was a place for me to rant my nonsensical thoughts that no one really wanted to hear, it was a place for me to act like a complete idiot. When I was in 10th grade and joined a Digital Photography class, we had to make a blog for our photography, and that's how my photography blog came to be! Since then I've just sort of grown, my posts have become more in depth, they've matured as me, my photography, and my writing has.


Has blogging played a role in the start of or development of your business? If so, how? If not, tell us how your business came about.
I've never really thought about it, but I actually do believe that blogging has played a part in the development of my business. If I hadn't created a blog for my photography class, got involved with it, had somewhere to share all my work, I probably wouldn't have progressed in photography at all. Now I have over 200 fans on my Facebook page, my blog followers keep going up, and I'm reaching more and more people, all thanks to my little photography blog! (which used to be HORRIBLE, by the way;)


How do you come up with material/content for your blog each day, What inspires you?
I take inspiration from all sorts of things, but mostly with my personal experiences. I struggle a lot, I have a lot of trials in my life, and I'm always looking for something to help inspire me to keep pushing forward. Because of this, whenever I think of something that helped me feel a bit better, I decide to write a post on it. I hope that there may be someone out there that could benefit from my posts, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to open up. And of course, I post about my photography, my business, and other updates.


What has been the most challenging moment in being a blogger?
I honestly think that the hardest part of blogging has been worrying that nobody cares about what I'm posting, that I'm putting myself out there and that I look like an idiot. I'm so scared that someone will see what I'm posting, misunderstand me, and get the wrong impression of me. I want to help people, but sometimes that comes off as me trying to boss people around, tell them I know best, and force them to live their life the way I want them to; and that's not me at all. I just want to use my pain and help someone else with theirs, and it's so challenging when I think I'm not doing that.


Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?
This blog, My Silly Life, is written by one of my best friends; she's a bit younger than me, but is so mature and wise for her age. She writes in a way that you can relate it to anything, she writes to feel better (warning: she has a playlist that plays when you open her blog). and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson is such a wonderful kind person! I've been featured on her blog, and we've been in contact. She posts about everything from fashion to family! Crave PhotographyLori Peterson Photography, and Starlit Photography are some of the photographers that I look up to. Their work is just amazing, and I love to go to their blogs just to look at their pictures!


If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?
My biggest tip would be to write about things that you're passionate about, things that you know. Posts are so much more interesting to read if you put some of yourself into it, people can tell while reading if you care about what you're writing about or not. This doesn't mean it has to be inspirational, just something you love. This could be cooking, DIY's, anything!


What Social Networks are you on?
Right now I'm on Facebook, Pinterest, and Blogger :)


What networking do you do, that you feel helps your blog and/or business the most?
I just connect with people. I've been so blessed to meet amazing people (like yourself) that are willing to feature me, advertise for me, interview me, and so much more. I wouldn't have been able to do this without them! The people you meet really do make all the difference (OH and Facebook is where I get the most advertisement)


What goals do you have, if any, for your blog/business right now and in the future?
Simply put, I want to be big! I want to grow and have people that have loved the growth. I want to reach a lot of people, I want to be one of those photographers people list in their favorites, and more than that, I want to be one of the people that is loved.


What has been the best thing about blogging so far, feel free to share any exciting triumphs or milestones you have had or reached! :)
This isn't really about my blog, but yesterday I reached 200 fans on my Facebook page, and that's just SO amazing for me! One of the most touching things has been when I write a post, and get a comment that warms my heart. I wrote a post for and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson on dating, and a girl that's younger than me commented on it. It was what I had hoped would happen, I had hoped that a young girl would read it and that it would help her, and it did! Another thing that's been amazing, is the response I've gotten to a feature week I'm doing. I'm dedicating this week (and maybe a bit more) to raising awareness on bullying and self harm. I've gotten several emails, facebook messages, blog comments, etc... about how much people love what I'm doing, and that's what I was praying would happen (that I would reach people and help).


Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?
I think I just want to tell them to believe in themselves... I never in a million years thought that I would have become a photographer, gotten to where I am now in just one short year, and in less than a month gained 200 fans on my Facebook page. If you want something, go for it! I spend all the time I can doing whatever possible for my photography, I put forth the effort and I'm so greatly rewarded for it. I've been so blessed, and the same can happen for them if they just have faith! Oh, and THANK YOU FOR READING MY THOUGHTS! :)

















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Wow, Rachel, I must say I am awed and inspired by you!
Im So impressed with you. I totally wish I had it "together" like that, when I was your age.
And I LOVE your answer to the Challenges of being a blogger. So true.
You are very wise for your age, and I just adore you!! 
THANK you for your interview.
It is truly a pleasure getting to know you and looking at your beautiful photography. ♥

To All my readers, please check out Rachel's blog and leave her some love!


Much Love & Hugs,
Dont forget to check out this weeks In Post Sponsor:
Interested in sponsoring "In Post", check out my sponsor options {here}.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Snail Mail

In this day and age where just about everything can be done digitally, online or on your PHONE,
sometimes its extremely refreshing to do something the old-fashion way!
Like sending and receiving cards and letters through "snail mail"!
Boy oh boy do I get excited over snail mail. ♥
Today I just HAD to share with you this GORGEOUS card made and sent to me by
a dear beautiful person and wonderful bloggy friend of mine, Krista of Saturated Canary.
 You have heard me rave about her before... 
After all she is the amazing artist responsible for my beautiful custom Avatar here on the blog!
When I was little one of the (many) things I wanted to be when I grew up was an Artist.
Though I still love to draw, and sketch and paint, I only WISH I had the kind of talent for it that Krista does. ;) 
Isnt this card gorgeous, I just adore her work!
 I love the way she colored in the girl on the front, totally remind me of my daughter Kiah!
 As soon as I first saw Krista's artwork, I was instantly In LOVE. No Joke.
I spent an hour looking through the sold orders in her artwork shop... just to admire her beautiful work.
Krista also has another shop where she sells her drawings as digi's for others to color and use for their work.
Ive bought several, and I plan on creating something special for my Kiah Girl, with them.
I will definitely share when I get time to get it all finished!
 Even her hand writing is gorgeous.
 I had to get a photo with my business card in there.. I LOVE my custom avatar, on there!
And I completely ADORE all my Saturated Canary artwork!!
Please stop by and visit Krista, you will definitely enjoy her fun blog and all her work too. ♥
I promise!!
Krista, THANK you so much for this GORGEOUS "Thank You" Card, and the extra little art work!
I'm such a HUGE fan of yours. 
Much Love & Hugs,
Dont forget to check out this weeks In Post Sponsor:
Interested in sponsoring "In Post", check out my sponsor options {here}.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Three And A Half Weeks

Its been 3 1/2 weeks since the start of my family's "biggest loser" competition.
 I can hardly believe it, almost one month down.
When we started I never thought I would do as well as I have so far.
I am so excited and proud of myself.
I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have the encouragement and support from my amazing husband.
And I cant say it enough, Im also so thankful for all the love, support and prayers from all my readers!
You all are THEE Best!! ♥
 To date I have lost 13 pounds!!
My weight loss might not be totally obvious just yet... 
But you may recall my outfit post at the start of this competition...
Well these are the exact same "skinny jeans" I wore...
Check out how baggy they have already gotten on me!!
 Crazy right!?
Yeah, I'm excited... And feeling great. ♥
I can hardly wait until I'm closer to my goal weight and can go shopping for some fab new clothes!
Shirt: Deb Shops, Jeans: Old Navy, Angel Necklace: Gift ♥

So I know there were several of you who mentioned being on your own weight loss journey.
How are things going for you so far?
I'd love to hear about your journey and updates!
Meet ya in the comment section.... :)

Much Love & Hugs,
This Post Sponsored By:
Interested in sponsoring "In Post", check out my sponsor options {here}.

P.S. Im gonna be Linking this post up to these places.
Check them out!! :)
Momma Go Round pleated poppy Photobucket
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