Monthly Archives: September 2015

Free Omega-3 Sample

Nordic Naturals is giving out free samples to their Omega 3 supplements. Before you go racing to get the free samples here, let me give you a quick background on the importance of Omega 3s.

Nordic Naturals lays it out really nicely:

Essential Fatty Acids are nutritional cornerstones of human health. Two major families of fats are comprised under this designation, omegas 3 and 6. They are deemed “essential” because we need them for proper health—much like certain vitamins and minerals—but cannot produce them on our own. We must therefore consume these fats through diet or supplementation.

Most people associate omega-3s with cardiovascular health, but their benefits go far beyond the heart. The two main omega-3s—eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—promote a healthy immune response that is behind the relief of many chronic conditions but that is too often inhibited by poor nutrition.* Extensive research has documented the health benefits of EPA and DHA, which include not only a healthy heart, but brain and cognitive function, joint mobility, eye health, pregnancy and lactation, healthy skin and hair, and a normally functioning immune response.*

Despite the great health benefits of omegas, individuals around the world suffer from omega–3 deficiency, a little–known problem to most people, but one that is counted as the 8th leading cause of preventable death in the US, among dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors.1 Omega–3 deficiency stems in large part from the growing unavailability of foods rich in these nutrients—principally fish—and because of the increasing popularity of the Western diet worldwide. While most diets prior to the 20th century contained a relative balance of omega–3 and omega–6 rich foods, the typical Western diet today contains far more of the omega–6s. In fact, Americans have the lowest intake of omega-3 essential fatty acids of any developed country—the typical American diet contains 14–25 times more omega–6s than omega–3s! Through science and education, Nordic Naturals is committed to delivering both increased awareness and quality omega nutrition in order to address this global health concern.

Ready to incorporate Omega 3s into your diet now? I sure am.

If you scroll to the bottom of any of these pages and click the ‘free sample’ you can choose between (or all) of the following options:

Wellness Sample Pack

Children’s Sample Pack

Pet Sample Pack

You then just need to fill out a quick form and your Omega 3 sample(s) will be on their way to you!

Free 11×14 Canvas Print!

I LOVE THIS.

CanvasPeople is offering 2 options for FREE canvas options for any picture you upload.

You can get a free 11×14 canvas or a free 8×10 canvas and JUST PAY SHIPPING (should be about $15 – so not totally free, but considering these are usually $50+, this is an incredible deal).

You simplu upload your picture, and then can choose options (sepia? black and white? color enhancement?) and they’ll simply print it for you and send your way.

National Women’s Health & Fitness Day

Happy Wednesday! I love the ‘day’ today – national women’s health & fitness day. This won’t be a post to preach about how many times a week you should go to the gym, what to eat to lose weight, or exercises to do to lose your love handles – I want to let you guys in on some tips on how to work out at home when you’re too busy, or the gym membership is too expensive, or you have a spare moment. You don’t need to belong to the fanciest gym or have regimented classes to stay healthy and fit.

I’ve perused all sorts of options and have found a ton of mainstays that are quick, easy, and effective as an at-home workout – these are my favorites:

  1. Bodyweight Exercises

No equipment needed, bodyweight exercises are perfect for doing at home, and incredibly effective and can be a full body workout. Greatist has an incredible list of 50 bodyweight exercises. They divide the bodyweight exercises into full body, legs, chest & back, shoulders & arms, and core. My favorite way to run through these exercises is to pick 2-3 from each section and run through a set of each, 5 times. Generally takes about a half hour and I feel like I get a full body workout  – right in my living room! I would recommend a mat, sometimes I feel better about all the sweat when it’s dripping on a mat and not the carpet!

Women’s Health also has a great body weight workout routine that only takes 15 minutes and is perfect for when you’re in a time pinch. Traveling? Great for the hotel room. Simply do each body weight exercise, and in between sets, do 30 seconds of cardio (jump rope, jacks, high knees). Rest for 30-60 seconds at the end, and repeat 2 more times, to do 3 total.

2. Yoga

Yoga is so low impact and relies on almost no equipment, which makes it the perfect at home exercise. Women’s Health provides two awesome yoga routines: fat burning & heart pumping. Depending on what you are in the mood for on a given day, either are great at-home options. Fat burning uses elements from vinyasa, an active sequence of yoga flows, and burns more than 450 calories/hour. This is a full body workout, and Women’s Health recommends running through each flow about 5 times to maximize efficiency. Heart pumping is a more cardio routine, designed to build heat and keep your heart rate up with a series of demanding standing poses, twists, and inversions – all held for long periods of time. Beyond the physical aspect of this type of yoga, the inhaling and exhaling can improve your cardiovascular health considerably.

3. At Home Workout Videos

I know what you’re thinking – these things are corny. I also thought so until I checked out modern at home workout videos for myself. It’s not legwarmers and step benches, these are hardcore women giving you an intense workout. Greatist compiled a list of what they consider to be the best FREE workout videos from pilates to martial arts.

My current favorite? Piyo – a fusion of pilates and yoga, full body workout. You’ll never sweat more!

Free Samples From Target

I’ve recently been tipped off that a bunch of stores give out free samples on a regular basis for certain brands during periods of time. I checked out Target and was pretty pleased with the result!

As of right now, they only have Sun Butter On the Go Single Cups as a sample. You simply click ‘Request Sample’ and they send you through a quick survey of questions related to their product. The first time I tried, it told me I wasn’t qualified for the offer because I said I didn’t have a child aged 5-11.

I quickly caught on to the fact that these free samples were likely a result of the rising peanut allergy and the banning of peanut products from a lot of younger-aged children schools. I’m not telling you to lie, persay, on this survey, but once you figure out how the product is being marketed, it is pretty easy to run through and not disqualify to get your free sample.

It was smooth sailing once I said I had a child – frankly, I think that the peanut allergy applies well beyond school children, so I don’t feel too guilty about it. After you run through the survey you simply fill out your contact information and you’re good to go.

I assume other offers that rotate in are similarly structured, but I’ll certainly be sure to check back!

Target gives some instructions and tips:

  • Start by clicking the “Request Sample” button.
  • To request a sample, you must have cookies enabled on your browser.
  • A window will prompt you to answer a few survey questions. Please note that, due to limited distribution and the targeted audience, some samples may require answers to qualifying questions like age, zip code and/or questions related to the product, to determine eligibility to receive the sample.
  • After finishing the survey, enter your complete name, address and email so we can send your sample by mail.
  • One sample available per household.
  • Please allow 3-5 weeks for delivery.

Pretty easy! I’d definitely recommend checking in a couple of times a week.

Make #NationalCoffeeDay Every Day

Happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all enjoying the #NationalCoffeeDay freebies! I know I am – I just headed to Dunkin’ Donuts and got a free medium iced coffee – easy! I was certainly not the only one to know about the deal. The line was long, but it moved fast.

Unfortunately, #NationalCoffeeDay can’t be everyday, so I can’t get free coffee every day. That being said, I waste SO much unnecessary money on iced coffee. I’m addicted. I always tell myself that I should be making it on my own, and doing some research really confirmed that. This seems SO easy.

Join me in making your own iced coffee! Don’t be intimidated. FrugalBeautiful makes iced coffee easy with their recipe that I found this morning. I’m inspired!

Things you need:

  • Coffee grounds of your choice
  • A jar
  • A strainer

Directions:

  • Measure our 6 ounces of coarsely ground beans with 6 cups of cool or cold water. Use a large pitcher, or a mason jar, combine, and seal. Shake the mixture to make sure the grounds don’t lump together.
  • Leave your coffee mixture out for a few hours (overnight, if you can)
  • Strain the mixture, preferably with a strainer, or even a coffee filter
  • Pour over ice and add your milk/sugar of choice!
  • Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Truly that easy – I need to try this! I can’t imagine how much money I’d save.

10 Freezer Meals to Give as Gifts

Jessica from Life As Mom has a great list of 10 freezer meals to give as gifts. This is such an easy way to bless families during all trials and seasons of life.

So lucky to find other bloggers who appreciate freezer meals as much as I do, and who highlight them for how helpful and convenient they are, especially in personal times of need where time and effort aren’t on your side. Perfect way to reach out to a friend of neighbor.

Source: 10 Freezer Meals to Give as Gifts

#NationalCoffeeDay Tomorrow

Usually I post about “national holidays” on the day of, but considering the nature of tomorrow’s holiday, I think it’s only appropriate that I let you know about some perks before tomorrow AM (no pun intended).

Tomorrow marks #NationalCoffeeDay, and we’re lucky enough to have SO MANY options for freebies from some of our caffeinated favorites!

USA Today gives us a collection of all of the coffee freebies available tomorrow – how lucky are we?! Be sure to check them out and have an extra productive Tuesday!

Dunkin’ Donuts: Free medium cup of Dunkin’ Donuts hot or iced dark roast coffee. The limit is one per guest and is available at participating locations.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea: Free small cup of Peet’s Major Dickason Blend with any puchase of baked good, oatmeal, or fresh food item.

Wawa: Free coffee in the size of your choice.

LaMar’s Coffee: Free 12-ounce cup of coffee and free mug! While supplies last.

Krispy Kreme: Free small coffee and original glazed donut

JetBlue: Free espresso brews from the Brooklyn Roasting Company

Sheetz: Free cup of coffee

Staples: Post a picture on social media with your coffee mug and the hashtag #officemugshot to win a free coffee pack

No shortage on freebies here – get on it people!

Free Ocean Mist Cosmetics ‘Try Me Kit’

Happy Monday! And a happy Monday it is with this free sampler kit!

Ocean Mist Cosmetics is giving out one sample kit per customer so that you can see how wonderful mineral makeup is without breaking the bank. Pay only shipping and handling!

The kit includes the following:

  • 3 mineral foundation colors
  • 1 concealer
  • 1 blush
  • 1 finishing powder

There are TONS of color options for each unit in the kit, so you can try the product in the shades that best match your skintone.

Ocean Mist Cosmetics lets you know that these are in tiny jars that aren’t best for application, but that the best play here is to use a makeup pallet or a piece of wax paper for application – and don’t forget to moisturize, or even use a nice Primer beforehand for best results!

I checked out customer reviews and they are all 4-5 of 5 stars with rave reviews! Some people wish the quantity was a bit more generous, but how can you complain when it’s free?!

Try these out – I always love testing products before I pay full price! Let us know what you think!

Vitacost: So Many Free Samples!

Stumbling around the internet today, I found this seemingly awesome outlet for free and discounted products: Vitacost.com

On the free sample section of their site, products are free of charge for a single unit, though shipping fees apply ($4.99). BUT there are about 20 free samples to choose from at any time, so I would say that’s totally worth it!

From Tom’s all natural products, to vitamins, to protein powder, to Kind Bars – there are so many things I would love to try on this site to product test before I ever purchased full size.

Even better, when you are ready to purchase full-size product, this site has incredible deals – so you can go right back to the source you initially found the product on for purchase!

Vitacost prides themselves on a few things:

  • Best prices
    • Vitacost offers savings up to 50% off of retail on the healthy products you want and need, including vitamins, supplements, health foods, sports nutrition products, bath & body favorites, even home and pet products.
  • Endless product selection
    • Vitacost carries over 45,000 different selections of healthy products! If they don’t carry what you’re looking for, just get in touch with the, and they will make the magic happen.
  • Easy shipping
    • For orders over $49, free! For anythign else, only $4.99.
  • Top-ranked customer service
    • In the book of Linda Anders, this is the most important quality in a company. Vitacost has an online Help Center as well as a toll free phone service from 8am to 9pm.

Check it out, let us know what you think!

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