Weekly Reader: Feedly, Bloglovin’, or Bloganizer Inspiration

June 18, 2013 · by Debbie Woodruff · 2 Comments

Disclosure: I will continue to call this post “Weekly Reader” even after Google Reader goes away on July 1. Haven’t made the change yet? Check out Bloglovin’ or Feedly.

Have you ever read a great book, seen an inspiring movie, or heard a great joke, and thought, “I’ve got to share that!” Of course you have! Here are a few things from my Reader in the last week that inspired and motivated me, made me happy, sad, and angry, made my stomach growl, and made me laugh.

Who could fail to be inspired by this gorgeous view (and my running partners!)?

Vegan Inspiration

Cadry’s Kitchen, Chunky Almond Pesto with Roasted Gnocchi. I’ve been in the mood lately for gnocchi, especially after accidentally buying a package that was NOT VEGAN! Cadry’s pesto recipe is oil free, chunky and sounds delicious.

Spa Bettie, 14 Summertime Frozen Treats Recipes. Just looking at Kristina’s pictures will get your mouth watering for these refreshing summer treats!

Thug Kitchen, Who the F#*k Doesn’t Like a Good Sandwich? Want a good sandwich? That’s what you’ll here, with no f$#king around.

Fragrant Vanilla Cake, Raw Black Forest Cheesecake. Amy’s recipes are always as beautiful as they are delicious and this raw cheesecake is no exception.

Vegan American Princess, Where Do You Get Your Protein? Ellen shares this very funny video by Vegan Smythe that answers the age-old question that all vegans hear ~~over and over~~.

The Naked Kitchen, Zucchini and Corn Casserole. This rich, creamy casserole is perfect way to eat fresh, summertime corn. Great for potlucks too!

Running and Fitness Inspiration

Arena Fitness, Workout of the Week: Ladder Drill Exercise. I don’t know that I actually want to do Joe’s workout, but I do want to share it with you so you can try it out. In a word, “challenging.”

Fitknitchick, Fatblaster Friday: A Badass Birthday Workout. and a Belated Birthday Crossfit Style Workout Courtesy of Dai Manuel. Tamara recently celebrated her 46th birthday and was gifted with these two workouts, the first by Shannon of BadAssFitness, the second from Dai Manuel of The Moose is Loose. Try them ~~then you can get back and tell me which was the most challenging~~!

Best Body Fitness: 9 Ways to Make Running Fun. With longer runs and warmer weather coming at me recently, I needed some of Tina’s “runspiration.” How about you?

Blogging Inspiration

KatyWidrick.com, You Oughta Know: No Follow Links. Thank you, Katy, for finally explaining No Follow Links in a way in which I can understand!

The SITS Girls, How to Use Pinterest Responsibly. Pinterest is a great tool to drive traffic to your blog. Are you using it correctly?

The SITS Girls, Feedly: The Google Reader Replacement? I am still having a hard time accepting that Google Reader is going away. I’ve tried Bloglovin’, Feedly, and as of today, Bloganizer. This post is a little info about Feedly, and how to make it work to your advantage.

The SITS Girls, Media Kit: How to Create One Using Google Analytics. If you want to work with sponsors and advertisers, you need a Media Kit. This post will show you how to make a media kit dashboard in Google Analytics, so that you will always have up-to-date information at your fingertips.

Healthy Living Blogs, Blog Tip Thursdays: Blog Design Tips for Non-Designers. Great tips from Cassie of Back to Her Roots on making your blog look and read better.

Food for Thought

Kitten a go-go, The Obligatory Pregnancy Post. and The Big Gender Reveal. I get so excited about other people’s pregnancies! So many of my readers know Danielle that I wanted to share her joyous news for the two people who didn’t already know. Congratulations!

Food for Thought, Ever Wonder What Dogs Think? If you love dogs you MUST watch the Sad Dog Diaries. Hilarious!

Fit, Feminist, and (Almost) Fifty, Six Things I Love About Cycling and Six Things I Wish Were Different. This post makes me want to get back on my bike. Thanks, Sam!

Fun and Fit, Try CranioSacral Therapy to Relieve Pain. Have you heard of CranioSacral therapy? Neither had I, but I found Kymberly’s post fascinating and I intend to see if I can find a therapist close to me.

Did you read (or write) any amazing posts that you’d like to share? Please link them up in the comments!

Filed Under: La Quinta, Weekly Reader · Tagged: blogging, blogging tips, bloglovin, Exercise, feedly, Fitness, reader, sharing, Vegan, vegan recipes, weekly reader

Weekly Reader: Delicious Inspiration

March 4, 2013 · by Debbie Woodruff · 24 Comments

Picking the inspirational picture for the week was a breeze. It doesn’t get much better than this!

There were so many amazing articles in my Reader this week that I had to split it up into two posts. Today, please enjoy the best vegan recipes of the week, plus my new category, Food for Thought. These posts are guaranteed to make you think, open your mind, make you examine your perspective.

Vegan Inspiration

Vegan American Princess, Dinosaur Kale, also Known as Black Kale and More! I just started following Debby Sunshine’s blog a few weeks ago, and I love it. I’m really proud that Ellen shared one of my recipes over on her and Debby Sunshine’s blog.

Better with Veggies, Baked Zucchini Chips and Fries (MMAZ26). Heather closed out her awesome Meatless Monday series with yummy style, with this great zucchini recipe.

The Naked Kitchen, Loaded Baked Potato Soup. Sarah says that this is the best soup she’s ever had. Ever. Good enough for me!

SpaBettie, Cheesy Buffalo Potato Skins. Read the title. What more needs to be said?

Fragrant Vanilla Cake, Raw Samoa Cheesecake. Amy creates the most amazing raw desserts, and this is no exception.

Healthy. Happy. Life., Crazy Double ‘Coconut” Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. Vegan. I’m not even a coconut fan, but there is something about this recipe,which uses coconut oil and coconut sugar, that sounds so delicious to me.

Food for Thought

Fitknitchick, Why Women Over 40 Make the Best Personal Training Clients (for me). This is the reason I love training older adults! Tamara explains it beautifully.

MizFitOnline, The Power of Mono-Tasking. This hit home for me because I frequently seem to be doing way too many things at one time (I guess I should say trying to do too many things at one time).

Weighty Matters, How Does the Biggest Loser Teen Celebrate Her Birthday? Teen weight loss is a touchy subject, one that, in my mind, is not suited for the Biggest Loser. Yoni gives you his viewpoint.

The Great Fitness Experiment, Harley Pasternak Introduces New Cleanse, Calls New Christina Aguillera Uncomfortable…Is a Hollywood trainer someone we can trust for honest weight loss advice? Charlotte reports on the author of the Five Factor Diet, his celebrity clients, and his judgements of women who aren’t perfect.

Fit and Feminist, Remembering that this is Supposed to be Fun. If you tend to push yourself really hard when you’re training, you may have found yourself in Caitlin’s shoes.

Run Wiki, A Letter of Apology to My Body. Lisa’s post brought tears to my eyes as I found myself relating to so many aspects of this post.

So Cal Runner Gal, True Life: I’m Not Perfect but Facebook Thinks I Am. This topic has been in the (social media) news lately. Kate uses humor to demonstrate how we all highlight the good stuff in our lives.

Jack Norris, RD., To Quit or Not to Quit Veganism. And The Vegan RD, Do Some People Need to Eat Meat? Similar topics, with Jack and Ginny, the two author’s of Vegan for Life discussing the reasons that people give when they decide to give up veganism.

I hope you enjoy the above posts. Did you read anything that made you think (or made you hungry) this week? Please share in the comments.

Filed Under: La Quinta, Weekly Reader · Tagged: food for thought., google reader, reader, vegan food

Weekly Reader: Linking to Inspiration

February 27, 2013 · by Debbie Woodruff · 19 Comments

When I’m running my tempo runs, trying to catch my breath, seeing this beautiful sculpture, highlighted by the sunrise behind it, inspires me.

Running and Fitness Inspiration

Tri-ing to Be Athletic, Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot in Bikram Yoga. Whatever your thoughts on hot yoga (mine are why bother, I have enough hot flashes), you’ll laugh at Julie’s first Bikram class.

Run to the Finish, Perfection is the Ultimate Illusion. Amanda’s wonderful post starts with a simple question, why, when you don’t expect your partner, parents, or teachers to be perfect do you hold such expectations for yourself?

The Great Fitness Experiment, From Boob Floss to Swimsuit Shoehorns, Fitness Products Women Really Need. Or Not! I’m so glad I finally found Charlotte’s blog (she wrote the piece on Alan and me for Shape.com). I laughed until I cried.

MizFitOnline, Fitness-Mission-Statements. Carla’s post struck a chord with me. Not only will I create a mission statement for myself, I plan to make my clients at least think about it.

Fitblogger, Guest Post: 10 Things First Time Marathoners Should Know. If you are training for your first marathon, here are 10 useful things to know, all the way from basic training to race day prep.

FitKnitChick, The Benefits of Lifting Weights Slowly. Do you rush through your workout? Then you’d better rush on over and read Tamara’s post on why you need to slow down.

Blogging Inspiration

The SITS Girls, Media Kit Example: How to Strut Your Stuff as a Small Blogger. This post was written by Katy Widrick a few months ago, but I know many bloggers who are planning on creating their media kit (myself included). Great tips for bloggers who have less traffic.

Pushing Social, 7 Insights I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging. Whether you’ve just started blogging or have been doing it for a few years, Stanford always has useful ideas to make your blog more successful.

Pink When, Turn Instagram into Followers for Your Blog. Jennifer has some great suggestions in how to use instagram to drive traffic to your blog.

Vegan Inspiration

SpaBettie, Avocado Shiitake Spring Rolls. I love spring rolls, and if you add avocado, I adore spring rolls. Kristina has created a recipe that I adore.

Healthy. Happy. Life., Creamy Cashew Veggie Pot Pie. Flaky Biscuit Crust. Comfort Food. I love pot pie. Seriously, I do. Kathy’s recipe sounds a little complicated (that is probably just me, Miss Simple), but so delicious.

Sexy Vegan Mama, Vegan “Cheese” Stuffed Shells. This is one of those dishes that vegans don’t get to enjoy very often..stuffed shells. Not anymore! Christina-Marie’s recipe sounds rich and wonderful.

The Naked Kitchen, Springtime Tofu Scramble. You know I love me a good tofu scramble. Kristy’s fresh and fabulous springtime version sounds awesome.

Fragrant Vanilla Cake, Raw Banana Caramel Crepes with Pistachios and Banana Lime Ice Cream. I was finishing up this post when I realized I didn’t have some awesome sweetness from Amy to share. No fear, she has so many wonderful recipes that I just had to take a quick look back at my Reader to find this one. It’s a winner.

Food for Thought

Fit, Feminist, and (almost) Fifty, What’s So Bad About Pink Anyway? Does pink mean feminine, weak, man-pleasing, pretty, and girly, or is it just a pretty color? Tracy and Sam’s blog is new in my reader and I’m loving it!

Weighty Matters, Guest Post: More Facts on Fats. Yoni follows up on his link to Consumer Reports recent article on the most recent thoughts on dietary fat with this guest post from one of the authors of the CR piece. Interesting stuff.

Arena Fitness, The Fitness Struggle is Real. A very personal story by Madeleine on her emotional struggle with injury, motivation, and stress, which made working out and going to the gym a stressful battle with herself.

There were so many great posts to choose from this week that I had a hard time stopping! Man, you guys are awesome writers! If I missed something you think was special, I hope you’ll link it up in the comments. And if you wrote something that you’re proud of, share!