Tracy Evelyn Health & Fitness

After ordering my Starter Kit and diffusing the heck out of all my oils, I KNEW I needed more! HA! I've made a list of my favorite 5 items to ALWAYS have in stock (outside of the kit oils, because really, I am ALWAYS going to need ALL the oils in the kit). 1. CEDARWOOD Have I mentioned this lovely oil before? DEFINITELY. Because it's magical. There are a bunch of verses in the Bible that even mention how wonderful cedar wood is! Apparently everyone who was anyone used cedar to build with ;)  This magnificent oil and whisked me off to amazing slumber more times than I can count due to its support of the pineal gland, which releases melatonin! I recently have been using it to grow mermaid hair (more on that in another post sometime I think!). 2. ORANGE / ORANGE VITALITY The smell of this sweet citrus oil is heaven in a bottle. When I inhale this I immediately relax and know everything will be ok! It is rich in limonene (google it) and is studied on its abilities to ...

Here is another simple workout for you to do at home!  (Check out the  first   at home workout too!) Sometimes it's after dinner and all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch tv with your husband (aka - my life). Instead of plopping down on the couch - warm up with some in place high knees or jumping jacks for a few minutes and get your timer going on your phone! Do 1 minute of lunges 1 minute plank (on hands or forearms) 1 minute overhead presses with whatever hand weights you have (even if all you have is a few cans of food! Seriously! Just don't stop for the whole minute!) 1 minute rest Go through this series 3-5 times and make sure you're working for the entire minute! You will get sweaty, I promise! Have fun! xxoo

Do you guys use some sort of smart watch or fitness tracker to keep track of your calories burned or steps? When I started personal training in June, I decided I needed some type of 'smart' watch to help me at work with timers and keeping track of when I had clients coming in.  I started out with the Fitbit Flex - which I liked a lot for basic tracking. It did a great job with keeping track of my steps and my calories, but seeing my sucky sleep pattern was disheartening, so I got rid of it, haha! Fitbit Flex Next I moved on to the Garmin Forerunner 235. This was SUCH a cute watch - I got it in teal and it was so perfect! The Garmin was also great for tracking, and it even had some smartwatch capabilities, it would tell you when you had a text or email come in and it had a great timer as well, but after just one day of using it, I decided I wanted a watch that had MORE of a smartwatch feel. Garmin Forerunner 235 Yup, you guessed it, I went and exchanged the Garmin ...

As a 'new' Personal Trainer and less than part time blogger, I decided I needed to increase my daily reading, first to know more for my clients and second to be more well read. When I became a mother, reading started to slip through the cracks and I read only 3-5 books in two years. Reading has always been something I love to do so this year I decided to try and read one book a month, and so far I'm ahead of schedule! Here are the most current books that I buried my nose in  : On Writing Well by William Zinsser This book was fantastic. I started reading it because I wanted to start blogging more about my personal training. There were a few times that I felt he was telling me things that I - as a seriously part time blogger - would never use, but most of the stories William told were so well thought out and beautifully written. It did really make me feel like I could be an author! The way Zinsser describes how to be a writer was so easy to understand. I know I won...

I always have great blogging ideas when I'm driving, or in the shower, doing dishes, running a load of laundry. You know. Blogging in my head because I have no where to write it down. Then I get to my computer or notepad to jot something down and BAM. It's gone. What? Ugh. Anyway, these last few months have been great. Hard. Unbearable at times. I know it has been exactly what it is supposed to be. I have : -Visited Chicago -Purchased our first home -Started flexible dieting -Made some amazing  knit goods -Lost some friends -Made some new friends -Started piecing together who I am supposed to be.. A great wife. A great mother. A great friend. This morning I got in a yelling match with my 5 year old (seriously.) and after 10 minutes in the car, completely silent and both of us fuming (duh) (oh and I was still fighting with her in my head because I know out loud would just be bad) it was time for me to apologize. This is not how I want her to talk to her daughte...