I can’t believe that I am typing this but….it’s almost March! Wow, where is the time going?

Those of you that have been readers of Coupon Geek for awhile know what March brings to the site—the Marching into Fitness theme! For the past 3 years, I have done a “Marching into Fitness” segment during the entire month of March with special health and fitness posts and lots of fitness/health giveaways.

Well, this year, my fourth year, there won’t be a “Marching into Fitness” month on Coupon Geek BUT it is still going to happen. I’m just doing it on Glowing Gazelles this year.

For those of you that may have missed my announcement several months ago, I started a second site where I am putting my longer articles so I can keep the Coupon Geek site to mostly shorter deal/coupon/freebie posts. It’s a lot easier for those that just have a limited time to scan for deals. (You can easily access Glowing Gazelles from here at any time as there’s a button for it in the right sidebar.)

The writing started off slow this year as I was asked to fill-in as a teacher’s aide at our local school as the regular one was taking care of her son that was in a car accident. While I missed writing, I never say No to helping out others in need and/or the school. I’m back online there now, though, and you will start seeing more posts.

A few of the latest posts there:

~Love Your Food Challenge and Preparing for the Love Your Food Challenge – How I’m working towards healthier food with the family
~How to Stockpile Sensibly and How to Start! – A post a lot of you have been waiting for now for awhile!
~Finances: Week in Review – A few of them posted. Just little ways I’m finding to save money. A new one will be posted next week.

So if you’ve enjoyed the “Marching into Fitness” segments in the past or want to check out what it’s all about, be sure to stop by Glowing Gazelles. You can sign-up for the newsletter for it so you won’t miss out or Follow on Facebook, too.

Here are just a few of the giveaways that you’ll see there in March:

~Bed Bath & Beyond Gift Cards
~$50 Amazon Gift Card
~Fitness DVDs/Games/Equipment
~$50 Grocery Store Gift Card (Winner’s Choice)
~Starbucks Gift Cards

So keep watching for them on Glowing Gazelles as they won’t last long! The giveaways are exclusively for Coupon Geek and Glowing Gazelles readers and their friends/family.

I hope that you enjoy this year’s “Marching into Fitness” fun again!

One of the things they stress for a healthier dish is to eat salad. When you think salad, you might think iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers with a bunch of dressing on top. But salads can be so much more than a simple side salad. Here are a few ways that I’ve found to spruce up a salad so you can have it several times a week without it becoming too dull:

1) Vary your Lettuce Types – I used to just eat iceberg lettuce but I started trying the Earthbound Farm kits with varying types and they’ve started to grow on me. Consider making your salad with a few types of lettuce such as spinach, romaine, oak leaf, arugula, etc.

2) Vary your Dressings – I like to try new salad dressings all the time. I’ve even mixed a few things at home when my budget gets low. I’ve had luck with mustard and cranberry juice and I also sometimes like to just stir in some homemade salsa. The juices mixed with the contents of the salad can make a decent dressing.

3) Add Sun-Dried Tomatoes – These tend to add a little chewy sweetness to your salad. You can also Make Your Own Sun-Dried Tomatoes from your garden to save on money.

4) Add Berries (or other fruit)- I never thought of adding fruit to my salad until I ordered one like that in a restaurant a few years ago. The juices from them can help create their own dressing, too. My favorites are strawberries and blueberries but I’ve seen salads with apples, oranges, bananas, pears, watermelon, etc.

5) Add Nuts – Give your salad a little crunch with some walnuts, almonds, etc.

6) Add Beans or Hard Boiled Egg – Helps get a little extra protein, too. Garbonzo,  cannellini and black beans are ones you’ll often find in larger salad bars.

7) Add Seafood, such as Tuna, Salmon, Cooked Shrimp, etc – Find healthier varieties and add a little Omega-3s to your salad.

8 ) Load it up with Chopped Veggies – Add things such as cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, asparagus, peas, radishes, broccoli, carrots, cooked and chilled squash/sweet potatoes, cucumbers, etc.

9) Add a little “salad reward” – It’s kind of fun to find “hidden treasure” in your salad by adding a little bit of something worth digging for that may not be 100% healthy like bacon pieces or those things that you need to limit such as avocados, olives, or cheese/dairy products. I also like to sometimes add things that are a little more expensive when I can, such as artichoke hearts, baby corns, hearts of palm, etc.

In the end, the best way to avoid salad burnout is to keep making them different so they seem like a new meal. Keep some fruits and veggies on hand to spruce up your salad and also for a healthier snack later in the day. Just be sure to watch your dressings that you add to your salads, as they are the way to take it from healthy to not healthy very fast! A great way to encourage more salad eating is to grow your own vegetable garden. I had fairly good luck growing several varieties of lettuce last year. And if you need more ideas to add to your salad, take a peek at the salad bars at your stores/restaurants near you. You might find a new item to add to your salad to spruce it up even more!

I’m hoping some of these ideas might help you get a little more salad into your weekly diet, if you need to!

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from juggling a life of being a blogger and a Mommy, it’s that you really must be flexible and adapt when things don’t quite go as planned. I had wanted so much to get in my annual “Marching Into Fitness” month focusing on health and fitness items and life dealt me a different path. I spent most of March battling a terrible case of bronchitis and a sinus infection. I had just enough in me to get up my daily postings and not much more. I try to blog from my heart and my heart was not saying, “Fitness” but “Sleep…get some sleep!”  All my extra energies, which were limited, were spent on my family–just as it should be.

Thankfully we are healthy here now and ready to get back to our regularly scheduled programming, so to speak.  And in a sense, I’m glad it was delayed because I think it’s going to be a much better month and here’s why….

I didn’t realize how many of you would be interested in Zumba Fitness For Wii. At the time, I only had one to giveaway but I’ve picked up a few more so that I can do this—Every Monday for the rest of April I will be giving away a copy of Zumba Fitness For Wii. I really do love this game and I want to offer you all a few chances to win one. So many of you are like me and lead a busy life, unable to make it to a gym. So I’m hoping this will give a few of my readers a chance to have this fun “class” at home. I’ll be adding a little update on how my progress on the game is going with each new giveaway–motivating me to use mine all the more.

While fitness may not seem like a “hot deal” I have to tell you that it IS! Taking care of yourself and your family is such a great investment–one that not only could save you so much money in the future on medical bills but also may give you a longer, healthier life with your family–and that is priceless and the best deal that I can ever share with you on this site!

So stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for those giveaways each week and all the others that are coming at you–including one that will make one of my lucky readers go Wii Wii Wii all the way home! 🙂

Note: This posting is not for a giveaway. Just an update as to what’s coming soon.

My hubby and I decided we’d try our luck at another 5K this year so we signed up for one this spring. That means I need to start training again as I’d love to improve the time of the first one I ran last year. It shouldn’t be too hard considering I had no training for it! 🙂

I’ve been very fortunate to have been given some giveaways from some of my sponsors that focus on either fitness or just healthier items. So each week, I’ll be giving away an item that I’ve received from them or one that I’ve personally bought just for this series and just sharing with you briefly what I’ve been working on myself to get some much needed fitness into  my life.

I had such fun sharing my journey in September when I was doing the Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred. So many of you joined in and even shared your own personal experiences.

So, I’m hoping you’ll enjoy these little segments and possibly find a little encouragement to get a little more fitness into your weekly routines, too.