Your Shape For Wii; A Review*

I have been using the Your Shape for Wii fitness program for a little over 7 weeks now. I can definitely tell a change in my energy and have been feeling more active. I have changed my diet and been keeping track of my calories more and have been drinking a ton of water everyday, walking, and also cut wayyyyy back on soda.  My new healthier living lifestyle along with the Your Shape workouts have helped me to lose 12 pounds!

The your shape program puts a twist on all other Wii fitness programs. This one has a camera that hooks up easily to your Wii and you can see yourself side by side along with Jenny McCarthy on your television screen. It is really neat.  Seeing myself on camera and against Jenny’s fit body, motivated me to work out even more and to look like Jenny as a goal.

The only problem I have run into with this program has been the camera. It sometimes doesn’t pick up my moves and so it gives some wrong results, about how accurate my moves are. I do not let it frustrate me, I just modify my moves and keep on going with Jenny and keep with the work out.

I like that I have been able to use this program in my home. I am in PA and it has been a rough winter, so I haven’t been able to get out so much to do work outs or goto the gym as much. I enjoy being able to do this right at home. It has very modern, upbeat music that you can work out to. My children have sometimes even joined in.

Another of my favorite things about this program is how it has MANY different exercises. Do not get frustrated about not getting new ones right away, the more you use Your Shape, it seems the more you get to do. It took me a little while to figure this out.  Getting to do a new exercise is nice too. I like it to change it up a bit.

If your looking for an easy fitness program, this one may not be the one for you, however, if your like me, you can still do the work out with Jenny and just do it at your own pace.  Then as your more comfortable with it and get better at it, you can then start doing it at Jenny’s pace. Do not think that just because this is a “game” that it is going to be an easy peasy work out, cause that is not so at all! You WILL feel the “burn” and you will sweat, and you will see results with the Your Shape.

Some other equipment that I suggest you to buy along with this game, for maximum usage would be a body ball, weights (small hand type), and a step.

The Plus Size Mommy

* I have been sent the Your Shape for Wii by Ubisoft on behalf of my relationship with Collective Bias. I am in a 12 week challenge with a group of ladies who are all a part of Collective Bias. I also receive incentive gifts and gift cards for my time as part of the challenge. All of the thoughts, idea’s, and reviews and weightloss that I post are all my own honest results,opinions, and info.

Winners *

Congrats to the 3 winners of  The Fantastic Mr. Fox dvd :

1. Cheryl W.
2. Patti Bright
3. Tania

Also, congrats to the 2 winners of the Smoky Eye kits from CoverGirl :

1. Cat @  3 kids and us
2. J

To claim your prizes, please email me your addresses to plussizemommy@gmail.com  within 48 hours of now. After 48 hours new winners may be drawn. Thank you all for entering and Congrats again to the winners.. Enjoy!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Fantastic Mr. Fox and CoverGirl Smoky Eye Kits are being sent to the winners at no charge to me.I was sent a gift card from Covergirl and Collective Bias to shop for the Smoky Eye Kits, and also for my time. My opinions and anything I say about the Kits is my own. I always give my honest opinions on anything I review. Fantastic Mr. Fox dvd was also sent to me at no charge to review.

Oscars and Desserts A Sweet Combination*

As the Oscars are quickly approaching, you may be planning an evening get together to watch them with some friends? Well I would love to share with you some great desserts that you can make to make the evening a great tasting night as well.

Hyundai has a really fun recipe widget that offers some clever and mouthwatering desserts of this year’s nominated films including “Up in the Eclair” and “Inglorious Custards.”

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – This post was brought to you by Media Needle.

Most Baby Names iPhone App.

I remember when I was pregnant with all of my children searching through baby name books and online for the perfect name for them. I loved looking up the meanings and also reading the book with my husband. It is all part of the fun in planning for your new bundle of joy.

So now there is a new iPhone App. for expecting parents :

The Most Baby Names app is based off the #1 selling baby name book in the country, The Complete Book of Baby Names.

Why Most Baby Names?

* It’s fun, exciting, colorful and interactive! Hear babies giggling and ducks quacking or shake the rattle for a rockin’ good time!

* Most Baby Names features 103,000 names – competitive baby name apps don’t come close!  (Did you know the closest app has 6 times less names than we do?)

* Look up baby name definitions by clicking on the blue arrow in your lists or choose the * “Surprise Me” option for a combination of unique names.  (Who knows, we may have found you a winner!)

* Browse by individual letter or customize it to search for a specific first and last letter

* Add names to your Favorites List to look at later!

Types of Names

Use our simple list scroll to find various baby names under exciting topics such as:

* Celebrity names (i.e. Maddox, Phinnaeus and Beckett)

* Under the Radar Names (i.e. Bianca, Piper, Georgia)

* Name Alternatives, Most Popular in a particular year, Classic names and even College Football Stadium names!

They continuously incorporate feedback from our users and recently launched a redesigned app complete with many exciting updates!

The Plus Size Mommy

DiggersList For Disasters

We often lead ourselves to believe that a natural disaster will never hit our home. Yet, thousands of people’s homes are annually hit by fire, floods, earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes.  What’s worse, many home owners don’t carry the proper insurance to cover damages caused by natural disasters.

Matt Knox, Founder and CEO of DiggersList, a home improvement online resource, has 10 quick and cheap home-protection tips that will help you minimize damages to your home and your wallet.

For earthquakes:

• Fasten lamps, china and other small valuables to shelves or surfaces with puttylike anchoring or museum wax.
• Install latches on cabinet door in order to keep contents inside
• Secure your water heater to a wall stud with a water-heater strap

For fires:

• Install a fireplace screen to keep embers inside
• Have a spark arrestor installed in your chimney

For floods and rain:

• Install weather-stripping on and around doors and windows to prevent water from seeping into your home.
• Install storm shutters or create your own using precut sheets of plywood cut to fit into each window
• Install storm doors

Many of these items can be found via DiggersList, which when compared to stores like Home Depot can get save you 50 cents to the dollar on every purchase.

DiggersList is now available in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. However, they are looking for referrals to new cities to start lists in. So you can goto DiggersList.com and suggest a new city now.

The Plus Size Mommy

Winner of Tommee Tippee Gift Pack

Congrats to AMANDA, you are the winner of the Tommee Tippee bottles and sippy cups!

Please email me at plussizemommy@gmail.com to claim your prize! You have 48 hours to claim.

Thank you to everyone who entered.

The Plus Size Mommy

Your Shape Challenge Week 6 Update*

I am at week 6 in the Your Shape Challenge. Using the Your Shape fitness program from Ubisoft on the Wii to lose weight and get healthier.

This challenge has been tough for me. As you probably already know, losing weight is not just all about exercise. It is a lifestyle change complete with an all new way of eating. Which brings us to the week 6 Challenge that we were given : Finding Healthy Snacks.

Here is the exact challenge we were confronted with :

We were all sent a gift card to cover the cost of this week’s challenge.

Your mission: Find and/or create a healthy snack for yourself each day. Use your giftcard to shop for yourself at Walmart and find some great, healthy food to snack on.

Here are the Healthy Snacks I bought :

Banana’s – which I love, and I learned as I was in agonizing pain with pulled muscles, that these help to alleviate some of that.

Craisins – I bought the regular ones. These are dried Cranberries. They were al great tasting snack (as you can tell, since my bag is empty). I also was able to use them as toppings for yogurt.

Fiber One bars – I bought the peanut butter kind. These are delish. And eating just one, was able to curb my appetite till the next mealtime. They are very fulfilling.

True Delights Blueberry rice cakes- These are so good, they have a texture of a potato chip almost and taste very blueberryish, which I love. I had a coupon for these so I picked this to try, and I was very happy with this purchase.

Nature Valley Nut Clusters – Can you tell yet, that I LOVE peanut butter? These nut clusters are very good. I love the crunchiness and they are very satisfying after just a few.

Planter’s Peanuts with Sea Salt – Again, I love nuts, and I was watching Dr. Oz the one day and he was telling how great nuts are for you, and that ones with sea salt are very much better for you than regular salt.  I was able to eat these plain or use as toppings.

I think I am much more a salt eater than sweets. I am not that into chocolate, which is amazing to most people. Every once in a while I will crave a piece of chocolate or a candy bar. Chips and pretzels and anything salty is my downfall though. So that is why I tried to chose healthier snacks that had a lot of good things such as fiber, and iron in them, that were able to satisfy my “salt- tooth” at the same time.

I also bought some bottled water with my snacks and this :

A new addition to my exercise equipment that I can use with the Your Shape. A Body Ball. I haven’t tried it yet, because to tell the truth, I am feeling a bit nervous, that I will blow it us and get on it, and it will pop and I will fall to the floor on my face! But I am going to blow it up for Week 7 and get to using it. I am also excited to see what new exercises Jenny McCarthy will have for me to do on/with it. So this is my motivation.

As far as the weigh in goes for this week, I lost nothing this week  But I didn’t gain either. I must say, I was less active this week due to having to stay in because of the yucky weather here in Pittsburgh. I still did my 30 min. with the Yourshape 4 days this past week but I am thinking I need to switch it up a bit. By using the Body Ball this week, I should be able to accomplish this, plus I am hoping for better weather so I can get out and get moving more.

I think I may have done a little too much snacking this week and not enough exercising. We shall see what Week 7 has in store for me

How is your weight loss, fitness, get healthy goal going? Comment and tell me about it. How was your past week, and what are you going to change this week?

The Plus Size Mommy

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own. I received a gift card for this weeks challenge.

Winners of Iron Man DVD’s

Congrats to the following 3 winners of the Iron Man DVD.

1. Cheryl W.
2. Melissa Brown
3. Tania

Winners please email me at plussizemommy@gmail.com  to claim your prize within 48 hours. I will need your home addresses to have the DVD shipped to you. Also, please put IRON MAN in the subject line.

Thank you to all who entered, and to the winners… ENJOY!

The Plus Size Mommy

CoverGirl Smoky Eye Kits Giveaway*

 

 

 

When I was at the Blissdom Conference in Nashville last month, they had a booth where they conducted  Covergirl Smoky eye’s on all the ladies who attended the conference.

All attendee’s also were given a Smoky Eye Kit from Covergirl in our take home swag bags.

 

 

 

 

Here is Me getting my Smoky Eye Look On :

 

 

 

 

BEFORE

 

 

 

 

 

DURING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER

 

 

(ALL PHOTO”S Courtesy of Brad Lawless from Collective Bias)
Aren’t I just beautiful with my new Smoky Eye Look ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had also been sent a gift card from my wonderful relationship with Collective Bias to shop for a Covergirl  Smoky Eye Kit.  Here is a Whrrl of my shop :

 

 

I wasn’t able to find the kits at my local Walmart, but they do sell them online here : http://digg.com/u1ONVm

 

 

The kits come in BOLD, Glamorous, and Natural Looks. They retail for about $16.50 each.

You can also WIN a kit here !!!

 

 

Here is how to win :

1. Comment and tell me which kit you would try if you win Natural, Glamorous, or Bold ? = 1 entry.

2. Fave my site on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry

3. Fave Covergirl Smokyeye’s on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry

4. FAN my Facebook page : you can do that by clicking on “Follow this blog” over on my sidebar or by going to Facebook and following The Plus Size Mommy.- Comment and let me know you did = 1 entry.

5. Use stumbleupon, technorati, digg for this site/post. – comment letting me know which you have done = 1 entry per way.

6. Tweet the following on Twitter – ” Win a @Covergirl #Smokyeye kit on @plussizemommy ’s Blog here : http://digg.com/u1ONgJ ” – Tweet up to 3 times per day = up to 3 entries per day. Please comment leaving tweet thread, and please leave separate comments for each entry.

 

This giveaway starts NOW and will end on 3/5/2010 at 7PM EST. TWO winners will be selected via random.org.
Winners MUST be subscribers to this blog to win. Winners will have 48 hours to claim their prizes. If you enter to win, please check back here by 3/6 for winners names to be posted.

Thank you for entering and Good Luck!

 

The Plus Size Mommy

*I was sent a gift card from Covergirl and Collective Bias to shop for the Smoky Eye Kits, and also for my time. My opinions and anything I say about the Kits is my own. I always give my honest opinions on anything I review.

Fantastic Mr. Fox on DVD and Giveaway!*

Fantastic Mr. Fox is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack (Blu-ray, DVD and a Digital Copy)from Twentieth Century Fox on March 23! Be the first to get a DVD of it by winning a copy from this blog!!!

Home Entertainment Academy Award-winning Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney (Up In The Air) and Meryl Streep (It’s Complicated) lend their voices to the hilarious, heartwarming and dazzling stop-motion animated adventure from visionary director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenebaums) Fantastic Mr. Fox.  In the re-imagined classic family tale, Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live a happy home life with their eccentric son Ash (Jason Schwartzman: The Darjeeling Limited) and visiting nephew Kristopherson.  That is until Mr. Fox slips into his sneaky, old ways and plots the greatest heist the animal world has ever seen.  When mean old farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean join forces to surround Mr. Fox and his family, they don’t realize they are not dealing with any old fox – it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and he has a fantastic master plan to save the day! Based on the beloved best-selling book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Fantastic Mr. Fox is family fun at its finest. Anderson employs a colorful supporting cast to bring his eccentric characters to life including Bill Murray (Lost In Translation), Owen Wilson (Marley & Me) and Willem Dafoe (Spiderman triology).  The DVD and Blu-ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack are packed with behind-the-scenes bonus features, including a special inside look at how stop-motion animation really works and much more.

I was sent a screener of this movie to preview with my family. My youngest son, who is 10, had already seen it at the movie theatre with his school for a class field trip but the rest of us hadn’t seen it. I must say, I was pretty disappointed by it. I was so excited to get a copy of it to review but I just couldn’t grasp the storyline of it. It does have some pretty funny parts, and my 10 and 13 yr. old sons just think it is a great movie. It just wasn’t my taste in movies. It also did not keep the attention of my 4 yr. old daughter who I let watch it. I personally believe it is for older children. Ten is about the right age to maybe 15.  If I was rating this movie on a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the best, I would give it a 7.

It does have some cute parts and I love the animation. It is really neat. But the storyline just didn’t get it with me. I would NOT say this movie was a total bust for movies, it just isn’t my type. My favorite part was when they moved into the new tree home. I wish I could live in a tree like that

Here are some activity pages for your children to do that go along with the movie :

Now, you can WIN a copy of this movie for your children. There will be 3 winners. Winners will be chosen by random.org.  Here is how :

1. Fave my site on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry
2. FAN my Facebook page : you can do that by clicking on “Follow this blog” over on my sidebar or by going to Facebook and following The Plus Size Mommy.- Comment and let me know you did = 1 entry.
3. Use stumbleupon, technorati, digg for this site/post.  - comment letting me know which you have done = 1 entry per way.
4. Tweet the Following on Twitter :  ” Win Fantastic Mr. Fox on DVD  here : http://is.gd/8U6bx  pls rt? ty  ” – up to 3 tweets per day, for a total of 3 entries per day (please leave separate comments).

These giveaway’s begin NOW and will end on March 3rd, 2010 at 8pm EST.  THREE winners names will be posted to this site by March 4th. Winners will NOT be emailed.

Thank you for entering, and Good Luck!

The Plus Size Mommy

*I was sent the screener DVD of this movie at no charge from Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment. Winners copies will also be sent at no charge to me. The views and review of this DVD are my own personal honest thoughts.

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