Pumpkin Spice Coffee

Who doesn't love pumpkin spice coffee around this time of year?? Now I am a big starbucks fan, however I am not a fan of the $5.00 drink or the fact that one pumpkin spice latte has 380 calories for a grande!! This is where the "a moment on the lips, forever on the hips" saying comes in! Love the taste, however that is not enought to keep me full til lunch time.

Who wants an alternative!?!?! Me! Me! Me!!

Alternative 1:
Instead of going to starbucks, why not try to make this lovely drink at home. If you would like it to be more coffee and less steamed milk then this is how it's done: Simply add pumpkin spice to your coffee in the coffee filter before you brew it at home. It adds the taste without the calories that the syrup does. You are then able to either add some milk on your own or drink it black. Up to you :)

Alternative 2:
Brew coffee as usual and add pumpkin spice creamer. I suggest adding half milk and half creamer because it was a little too strong for me with just the creamer.

Alternative 3:
You can make the coffee with pumpkin spice as in alternative one. If you enjoy the latte part of a pumpkin spice latte, then steam milk on the stove and add to the coffee once it is done. YUM! This one will require a bit more work however will taste just as yummy!

For an everyday basis, I have begun to use Davinci Syrup with splenda. Zero calories and you get the same great taste of a signature coffee from any coffee shop. I usually add the sweetener one to the coffees listed above to get that extra sweet touch without added calories!! Well its cloudy and raining where I am today. Perfect day for a steaming cup of pumpkin spice coffee! hope you all enjoy!

Does anyone know of  other low calorie syrups?

Other alternatives for coffee shop favorites?

Til next time lovelies!!

XOXO
Southern Therapy Girl

File Cabinet Makeover!!

Welcome back friends!!!

So sorry that I have been on a blogging hiatus for the past several months... well since like January at least! Life got super busy with finishing up PT school, completing clinicals, and taking my national boards!! But now that life has quieted down somewhat, (Oh wait I'm engaged and planning a wedding and house shopping!!!) now I can blog a little more consistently. However, I will try not to bog this down with wedding activities, but I will throw in some wedding crafts and DIY's for all you other lovely engaged people. Who knows, you could use some of it for a part for a different type of celebration as well!! Good news is... its TRANSFORMATION THURSDAY !!!

So here is my most recent craft! My parents had this old file cabinet out in the garage that hasn't been used in like 200 years! okay, maybe only 10 years :) However, I need one for my non-existent office in my not yet bought house, and although my boyfriend  fiance loves me, he does not want this pink filing cabinet anywhere in our new home. So instead of buying a new one, Why not transform the one I have???

This is what it started out as:

90's flashback

So what all supplies do you need?

•         Spray paint in whatever color you like (I used spray enamel fast dry)
•         2 pieces of scrapbook paper
•         paint brush
•         Mod Podge
•         screwdriver
•         Painters tape
•         Scissors or an exacto knife

Now the first thing I did was put painters tape on the key hole and both of the handles. Later I figured out that I would need to remove the handles in order to A) put the scrapbook paper on and B) they needed to be painted black as well because the white didn't look right.  Then spray paint the entire cabinet including the drawers because there will be some of the drawers showing along the outside of the scrapbook paper. 

Yes it is super dirty, notice the comment that it has been in the garage for 10 years!

Next you cover the drawers with mod podge and quickly place the scrapbook paper over the center. The paper may go over your key hole so here you use the exacto knife and cut a small area for the key hole to come through. Then I used the exacto knife to cut off any excess at the bottom of each drawer and punch holes with a pin/cool tool for the handles to be placed back on. 

Disregard the paint on my hands and under my fingernails. Turn out I'm not exactly an expert spray painter. Also, notice the sparkles on the paper... so it's not longer pink but it is sparkly... I LOVE SPARKLES lol 

****Important*** Make sure to let these dry with the doors open so you do not mod podge the drawers together. 

Finally, after the handles and the drawer fronts are dry, reattach the handles and Wah La!! you're done!! Quick, Simple, Easy, all in less than an hour. 

Now this is a filing cabinet I can be proud of and my husband-to-be won't fuss about it being too early in our still non existent office. Hope you enjoy and hope yours turns out as fabulously as mine did!

Any questions feel free to ask!!

Also, if there is anything you'd like to see on the blog just comment or shoot me an email.

Til next time!

XOXO

 Southern Therapy Girl 

Running! Good for weight loss and body image

If  your ultimate goal of running throughout this 2013 year is to lose weight then you have come to the right activity!! Running has been proven to shed the pounds if you make this a regular habit. I recently read in an article that you must perform an activity for 2 weeks in order for it to become a habit, however it only takes 2 days to reverse that same habit. Seems pretty unfair huh?? However, if you can last the first 2 weeks you are golden.

Why is running good for weight loss??

Simply walking for a half hour at 3mph will compute to a total of 120 calories per mile for a woman weighing in at 150lbs. Furthermore, if you jog at 6 mph for 30 minutes you will burn roughly 350 calories per mile. Now that is a lot more than other activites for the same amount of time.
Now you may be wondering why you burn so many more calories when you run than when you walk.   Recent studies have shown that you will burn the same amount of calories whether you walk or run a certain distance. The difference in the amount of calories burned is determined by what some call "after-burn." The more you challenge your body, the longer the effects of the after burn are seen.  Therefore, by running you are challenging your body and causing the afterburn to last for longer, therefore burning more calories.

How do I eat as a runner?
Many people think that as a runner you can simply eat whatever you want. Not true. Although running may help to speed up your metabolism, if you fill your body with junk you will not only feel fatigued during those long runs, but you won't see the results that you want. It is necessary to carb load if you are racing or have a long run planned, however it is not necessary to do so every single meal. It is important to maintain a healthy diet.

It is also important not to starve yourself.

"I'm on this new diet where I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight." - The Devil Wears Prada

Appetite may be curved in the aftermath of a hard workout, however it is detrimental to your metabolism to simply skip meals. It has been tested repeatedly and shown that people who skip breakfast tend to be overwieght and that by restricting calories throughout the day usually leads to overcompensation at night. Translation = you starve yourself all day and then binge eat at night... Major NO NO.  Also, if you restrict your calories as you are increasing the intensity of exercise, this may lead to exhaustion and increased risk of injury.

LOVE YOUR BODY!!

Picture taken from here

Body image in today's world has been seriously screwed with the use of media images and photoshop. No one is that perfect!! Otherwise photoshop wouldn't exist. It is important to be fit and healthy. Not necessarily skinny. Trust me, healthy is waaayy more beautiful! Running can help you to become more fit and healthy, increase strength and tone those muscles. It has also been proven running can help to alleviate depression and anxiety by decreasing stress. ALL GOOD in my book :)
It is important to understand your body's shape, and its capabilities with exercise. Each person must look at thier body shape and find someone who is toned and fit with that same shape to compare to. If you are genetically short and stocky, it is an unrealistice expectation to think you will have a ballerina body from exercise. Will you have a ballerina body? No.  will you be fit and beautiful? ABSOLUTELY. Women come in all shapes and sizes, so embrace what you have because chances are, someone else would love to have it!!!

Until next time lovelies....

Southern Girl Therapy

Bring It On 2013!!! My Fitness Plan

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you all have been well in the past several weeks! Sorry its been so long but school and life seem to have gotten in the way of this new blog! However, it is now 2013 and it is time for a new start!! Anyone have any fantastic resolutions?? Any fitness resolutions?? If you are looking for extra motivation "Biggest Loser" is starting up again Sunday night and who can watch it and not get motivated to work out with all that weight loss happening. So did anyone else fall into the deadly holiday eating trap? I DID!!! We had a winter weather storm here in Arkansas and for about a week we were covered in snow and I had no power. So what did we do? We ate christmas left overs and boy am I paying for it now.

So as of the new year I am taking my fitness and diet extremely serious! Who's with me?? I am running with the runkeeper app which now has the capability to set a schedule for you and even tell you what days to run. I am also supplementing that with www.bodyrock.tv for those handy 12-20 minute workouts. My personal favorite is Lisa, so try one of her workouts first. Now for the diet aspect. Who has heard of clean eating? Well if you've never heard of it I strongly encourage you to google it stat!!! It is basically eating  foods that have not been processed... ie no fast foods. It also encourages 8 cups of water per day and several fruits and veggies, just like every other diet ever. However it doesn't cut back on certain food groups such as carbs like other diets do. I have never actually done a diet, so this one will be difficult for me however it isn't a strict one because you basically can eat the same as long as you find foods that haven't been processed.

How do you make a fitness resolution and stick to it?
1. Make small achievable goals and reward yourself when you achieve them
2. Pick a buddy, either to perform the workouts with you or just to tell about your workouts so you are held accountable.
3. Work out early, by the end of the day you are tired from work or school and its much harder to find the motivation to get going to the gym or take a run after a long day. P.S. morning workouts have been proven to give you more energy throughout the day, so its a win/win.
4. Listen to your body. Many times we try to push our selves too far on the first couple of days which ultimately leads to early burn out. Start slowly and progress as your body allows. Rome wasn't built in a day and your body will not magically be fit in one day either.

Now these are my plans, which makes you all my buddies for my goals. One of which is getting back in shape to fit into those itty bitty yellow polka dot binkinis!! I am starting a new PT clinical on Monday so my time will be limited but I am determined to fit in my workouts to reach my goals. I will have an hour and 20 minute commute each way while also trying to study for the practice NPTE (Physical therapy national board exam) in March. So basically I have a full plate as of now (encouragement needed). If I can do it, SO CAN YOU!!! Lets get fit and motivated in 2013 people. & notice you dont have to spend tons of money on a gym membership because all of this can be done from home!!

Til next time my pretties!
XOXO Southern Girl Therapy

How to Make Homemade Therapy Packs!

Therapy Packs that can be hot or cold and used to help aches and pains.

What you need:

• Fleece Blanket (or an old pair of fleece pajamas)
• Scissors
• Sewing needle
• Thread (that matches your blanket and is thick enough to hold)
• Long grain rice or Lentils (2 16 oz bags fills 1 therapy pack)
• 1 bottle essential oils (My favorite is Lavender or Cinnamon Nutmeg)

Step 1:

Lay out your blanket and begin to cut your new therapy hot/cold pack. I cut mine at 11 inches x 16 inches. This particular pack is made for my dad so that is why it is boy colors. Also, when he gets really bad headaches, he places a pack across the back of his neck, therefore I made this one 16 inches long so it would fit all the way across. If this pack is for a certain area or you would like to use it as an eye pack, feel free to make it smaller. 

Step 2: 

Begin by folding the fabric in half and sewing the edges together. Make sure the inside of the pack is on the outside for this step. If you bought a blanket than either side will work because you will turn the pack inside out after you sew to hid the stitching. If you are really particular you can pin the edges or if you own a sewing machine you can utilize it here. I however do not own one so I'm handstitching mine. I used a simple cross stitch or X pattern to ensure the insides would not fall out. If you don't know how to cross stitch, you can find a youtube video here that will give you some basic instructions. Sew the edges together all the way around until only 1 side is open. In the picture, I left about a 2 inch opening. I would now recommend that you leave that entire side open because it takes forever to put the fillings inside with that small of a hole unless you have a funnel. 

Step 3:

Now that you have 3 sides sewn together, turn the entire pack inside out to hide the stitching.

Step 4: Prepare the filling

Place the filling of your choice from above in a bowl and put a few drops of the essential oil in it. If you put too much it might leak through your pack on the first couple of uses. However, its only oil so it won't hurt you even if you put too much. 

Step 5: 

Begin placing your fillings into your pack. For my 11 X 16 pack used 2 bags (16 oz) You can either do all lentils or all rice or a combination of both. My dad prefers the Lentils, he thinks they lay better in the pack. This is up to you though!!

Step 6: Now that you have filled your bag with yummy smelling fillings, its time to sew up the last side. Fold in the edged so you will have clean edges. Start by placing your needle inside the pack to hide the knot at the end of your string inside the pack. Then perform the X stitch all the way across to close the remainder of your pack!

Step 7: Place your pack in the fridge if you need an Ice pack , or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. It smells sooo good!! 

Step 8: 

Use it or give it away as a gift. I think its adorable to tie some string around it with a cute note and directions for a present. 

"Heat those feet or cool those aches, whatever you choose, this pack is great"

Heat for 1-2 minutes in microwave for heat and freeze for 30 minutes for a reusable ice pack

Miles Of Hope

The first step is the hardest... Well I definitely agree with that! Back when I was in college it was nothing to go out and run early in the morning or in between classes. However, now that I'm a graduate student and spend my life sitting in a lecture hall from 8am-5pm its an understatement to say that I've slacked off!! So here I am again starting from square 1!! Who's with me?? I've compiled a 5K running program that I think is doable and achievable with the time frame I need. Considering I spend so much time in class and approximately 3-4 hours studying after that, I need something that will easily fit into my schedule. Now I'm not complaining, the average job is 8-5 and all of you in that situation can relate to this.

So basically I've decided to combine a few programs that allows me to run/walk (especially in the beginning)  for about 30 minutes. Hopefully I will build up to an hour eventually, however that is just not plausible during the week at the present moment.

Week 1: Run 2 min; walk 3 min   repeat this 6 times
Week 2: Run 2:30 min; walk 2:30 repeat 6 times
Week 3: Run 3 min; walk 2 minutes  repeat 6 time
Week 4: run 4 min; walk 1 min repeat 6 times
Week 5: Run 5 min; walk 2 min; repeat 4 times
Week 6; Run 6 min; walk 2 min; repeat 4 times
Week 7: Run 7 min; walk 3 min; repeat 3 times
Week 8: Run 8 min; walk 2 min; repeat 3 times
Week 9: Run 9 min; walk 1 min; repeat 3 times

At this point you are walking 3 minutes out of 30 in only 9 weeks.... GO YOU!!! Feel free to tweak the program however you like. The main goal is to run at a pace that you gain benefits from the workout, however you could still carry out a conversation if you needed to.

SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME:

I don't know about you but since I am usually busy all the time, it's hard for me to not be doing something while I run!!  I know , pathetic!! However, I have found a brilliant solution. Well, it's brilliant if you like to read books. I have found that you can download audio books onto your ipod/phone and listen to them while you run. It makes the time go by way faster and you are able to get some reading/listening done for a new book.


STILL NEED MORE MOTIVATION??

There is a new App available that actually donates to a charity for every mile you run. Now that will definitely give you a feel good effect. Charity Miles is available in the App Store currently and donate 10 cents for every mile you bike and 25 cents for every mile you run/walk. The only catch is that you have to post your miles logged to your facebook, which I use to feel funny about, however if it donates to a charity I guess I can suck it up.
You can pick from one of 11 charities to donote your miles:
1. Every Mother Counts
2. Autism Speaks
3. Feeding America
4. ASPCA - animal welfar
5. The Nature Conservatory
6. Pencils of Promise - supports educational opportunities of all
7. World Food Programme
8. Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
9. Habitat for Humanity
10. Achilles International - foundation for disabled children and amputees
11. The Global Fund - Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

My first run/walk was for the Achilles International. Are we shocked?? My physical therapist bias is coming to the surface!! It was only a mile but every cent counts!!! This was hard for me to only do a mile, why you ask? Because I'm not sore yet!! Of course you fare tempted to go out and run your hardest and as long as you possibly can to feel like you did something. However, I strongly suggest taking it light the first day. You don't know how your body will react after taking a running hiatus. So start up slow and with the program above build up gradually. This will not only help your body to adapt as you progress but it will also help to decrease your risk of injury.

Happy running/walking!! Go make a difference :)

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

It's that time of the year folks!! Pumpkin everything time is just around the corner so why not try a new pumpkin muffin recipe??  I made this today with the help of my mom, sister, 6 year old niece, and my 3 year old nephew. Now if it's possible to make these muffins with that much commotion in the kitchen then you know anyone can do it!!
Cook time for this recipe is ~15 minutes with 10 minutes of prep

What you need:

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbs baking powder
• 2.5 tsp pumpkin pie spine (YUMMY)
• 4 eggs (use 5 egg whites if we're going for healthy)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil ( we didn't have any of this so we used olive oil from Newman's Own)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 can solid packed pumpkin
• 24 pecan halves

For the icing: 

• 1 pkg cream cheese 8 oz
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 cups confection sugar (cane sugar in normal person speak)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp maple extract

Now what to do:

oven at 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside. Then mix eggs, brown sugar, and oil in a mixer until light and fluffy. Add water and pumpkin and mix thoroughly.

Mix this well and then add stir in dry ingredients. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (like that ever really happens)

Now onto the fattening delicious part.. the icing. Cream together the cream cheese and butter to make icing. Now that's what the actual instructions said but who really knows what it means to "cream" something together. So we decided that meant to put it in the mixer as well. Then stir in the confection sugar and the maple and vanilla extract. It should look a little something like this:

Once the muffins have cooled you can add the icing and 1 pecan half on top to make these beauties. 

Overall I think they turned out very good and the icing was wonderful!! Happy baking yall!

Now I probably should have been studying for my test and case study due Monday... but honestly these are the little things I will remember for the rest of my life. And I probably will forget the stuff for this test by the end of next week... so no regrets on the procrastination. I'd much rather hang out with the two angels below:

This is the newest addition to our family baby Hunter. He's 2 months old and all this baking and action completely tired him out!! Sweetest baby ever!

Meet Zoey!! My teacup yorkie! I'm completely obsessed so you can look forward to hearing tons about her.. and yes she does wear dresses... And she loves it!