Meet Samantha, SparkPeople Employee and Supermom!

Editor's Note: By popular demand, our Behind the Scenes at SparkPeople feature has returned.

Name: Samantha Donohue (SAMANTHA_SP)

Position at SparkPeople: Community Team Member

Age: 36

Family: Patrick, Husband (37) Jacob (8), Jonathan (7) and Aliyah (5)

How long have you worked for SparkPeople? I started in August 2004 – 7 years.

Tell us your proudest accomplishment at SparkPeople or a fun fact about your job: I love that I get paid to encourage pregnant women to stay healthy. My proudest accomplishment was the blog I recently wrote on my father and his health journey.

How do you stay in shape? I work out often, at least 4 times a week, but I’ve made it a goal to be active every day. I walk to pick my kids up from school and structure my time with them to include as much movement as possible. I love to run and you’ll often find me hitting the hills in my neighborhood or even the trails of Andale Park. My love for hitting the road on my road bike is on hiatus as I have young children, but in the near future I do see a future Donohue Family Peloton. I also like to exercise at the gym because I love the community of friends at the gym.  I take weekly core and strengthen training classes. My friends and I are able to drop our young children off and then are able to go for a run outdoors.

Cooking from the Heart for the Heart

Cooking for a healthy heart is a passion of mine. Both my grandmother and cousin died young from heart disease, which is the number one killer in the United States. The exciting thing is that it's preventable with diet and exercise. Limiting sodium and eating good fats are a great place to start. For more information on heart-healthy cooking, watch Chef Meg's cooking video on SparkRecipes. Here are some of my favorite recipes. 

Nutritious And Delicious Super Bowl Recipes

Are you ready for some football? Time is running out to decide what serve to family and guests. At SparkPeople, we love to highlight recipes that are nutritious and taste great too. Here are my all time favorite Super Bowl recipes from SparkRecipes. 

Meet a Man Who's Inspiring Thousands of Kids to Embrace Healthy Living

Sam Pisenti, known to his students as Coach Sam, is the beloved Physical Education teacher at Village and Whited Elementary schools in Northern California. He is also my Dad. Recently, NBC Bay Area News featured him in a segment called “A Force of Nurture” about how he’s inspired tens of thousands of students to live healthy and happy lives. When I was a teenager, my Dad decided to lose weight and get healthy, and 20 years later I see the affects in my family and in my community. I can’t think of anyone who epitomizes the values of SparkPeople—the power of one decision, one goal, one belief that the hard work is worth it--than my Dad, Coach Sam. 

Turn Winter Vegetables into Tasty Recipes

Don't let gray skies and cold weather get you down. Breathe new life into your home with Winter's harvest. My farm box this week contained apples, lemons, oranges, radishes, leafy greens, cauliflower, and squash, which are incredibly versatile ingredients for savory Winter soups, stews and baked dishes. These ingredients add depth and texture to your cooking and are good for you too. So, pick up some Winter produce and get started today with SparkRecipes best Winter Harvest Recipes.

It's All Greek Yogurt To Me

Lowfat and Nonfat Greek Yogurt are my new favorite recipe ingredients. Since it's also a favorite of my husband and kids, I'm free to include it liberally in snacks, main courses and desserts. Greek Yogurt is also known as strained yogurt, because it's strained three times reducing water and natural sugars, making it a super creamy substitute for sour cream, heavy whipping cream, and mayonnaise. It can also be used as a substitute for eggs and oil in baked goods. Additional benefits are that Greek Yogurt has 5-6 strains of probiotics compared to 2-3 strains of probiotics in regular yogurt, plus double the amount of protein per serving. Use Greek Yogurt to add flavor and texture to your recipe while cutting out the fat and calories. 

Tasty and Nutritious Chicken Recipes

Take control of your nutrition in 2012 by preparing healthy dishes in your own kitchen. Each week I will be posting meal ideas from SparkRecipes that are useful for eating-in or carrying-out or energy boosting snacks. This week, we'll start with chicken. According to the SparkPeople Nutrition Tracker, one serving of boneless, skinless chicken breast has 20g. of protein, 94 calories and only 1g of fat. With help from SparkRecipes, your chicken will turn out tasty and nutritious, giving you a fantastic start to the new year.  

Healthy New Year's Eve Party Recipes

It’s time to say farewell to challenging 2011 and enjoy a fresh start in 2012. SparkPeople wants to help you ring in the New Year and achieve your personal health and fitness goals. A challenge with holiday cooking is that it revolves around parties, traditions, and expectations of calorie-rich, fatty, and sugar- sweet dishes. We’ve gathered our top party recipes from SparkRecipes to help you get 2012 started on the right foot with fun, healthy and tasty dishes that will make your gathering the toast of the town. 

Contest Closed: Win the Latest 'Biggest Loser' DVD

The winners are SBNORMAL and FT4EVR!

This week we're giving away two copies of the "Biggest Loser At Home Challenge" DVDs. Get a jump start on your 2012 Fitness goals with this DVD. 

Build your strength, shed pounds and go from beginner to winner in 4 weeks with the "Biggest Loser At Home Challenge". The program includes 4 ten-minute interval workouts combining strength, cardio, and flexibility for maximum results at home!

• Warm-up (5 min): Get your body ready for a challenge while gradually increasing your heart rate.
• Phase One Cardio (10 min): Start dropping pounds with aerobic moves used for tennis and athletic training.
• Phase One Strength (10 min): Build lean, powerful muscle using body-weight training moves designed for maximum results at home.
• Phase Two Cardio (10 min): Cardio intervals using light weights will get your metabolism working overtime!
• Phase Two Strength (10 min): Kick it up with strength conditioning adding weights for an increased burn.
• Cool Down (5 min): Lower your heart rate and stretch your muscles to enjoy your accomplishments. 

Pomegranates: Winter's Decadent Fruit

As a child I remember seeing in my Grandmother's kitchen an odd-shaped red fruit with succulent red seeds. It was so eye catching that I wasn't sure I wanted to spoil it by eating it. As an adult, I’ve fallen in love with these decadent and festive pomegranates, especially since they're also super healthy: Pomegranates are abundant sources of vitamin C, potassium, folic acid and fiber. Scientists have also found that they are loaded with antioxidants that can help fight heart disease, cancer and the battle with aging. The biggest challenge is how to actually get into the fruit. Tanya, a SparkPeople Healthy Eating Expert, wrote a great nutritional overview and step by step instructions on how to dig in to a pomegranate. Fuel your body with one of the healthiest winter fruits by preparing these top 10 SparkRecipes that use Pomegranate as an ingredient. 

10 Holiday Gifts From The Kitchen

As a mother of three kids, my circle of fellow parents, new friends, and my kids' teachers is really growing fast. This year, I'm trying to find simple gifts that will express my appreciation, share my commitment to health and wellness, and yet won't break the bank. I've gathered some of my all-time favorite simple homemade gifts below that will look beautiful, while creating fun memories in the kitchen with your loved ones. 

12 Fresh Cranberry Recipes

Have you noticed bags of beautiful red berries in the produce department of your local grocery store? Did you know that those are fresh cranberries, a great food to add to your diet? According to The George Mateljan Foundation for The World's Healthiest Foods, cranberries are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients that provide anit-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. One cup of fresh cranberries has 5 grams of fiber, 90 mg of potassium and 25% of the Daily Value for vitamin C according to the SparkPeople Nutritional Tracker. 
 
Incorporating cranberries into your cooking is easier than you might think. Use a food processor to chop them into small pieces and pop them in the freezer. There is no need to defrost them before you cook. Cranberries add a nice tartness to your favorite salad, side dish, or sweeten a main course with cranberry relish. If you can’t find fresh cranberries, dried cranberries are a great substitute and are available year around. Dried cranberries can be used in place or raisins or nuts in any recipe. Make sure you use dried cranberries in moderation as a single serving has 123 calories and 26g of sugar.

I’ve gathered some of my favorite cranberry recipes from SparkRecipes for your health and enjoyment. Ditch the canned processed cranberry sauce and cut the calories and sugar by using fresh cranberries in your cooking this holiday season. 

Thanksgiving Dessert SparkRecipes

If an appetizer is the prelude to any meal, then desert is the encore. SparkPeople is thrilled to share many outstanding Thanksgiving meal ideas that are healthy from beginning to end. We’ve gathered the top dessert recipes from SparkRecipes that embody our “everything in moderation” mantra and since most of these recipes have at least one serving of fruits and/or vegetables, you can enjoy your desert without worrying about your waistline. Wishing you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! 

Have You Caught “The Wave” of Daily Gratitude?

It’s that time of year again when we pause and give thanks. We gather together and take stock of who and what is most important in our lives. You may have even noticed the wave of daily gratitude movement on Facebook, which has been a wonderful opportunity to get caught up in this season of thankfulness. What if, however, we could make gratitude a part of our daily experience of life? What would that look like? How would it change our world?
 
Our friends at the HeartMath Research Center in Boulder Creek, Calif. have challenged us to exercise daily gratitude. HeartMath shared these tips with us:
 
Researchers have observed that the feeling of appreciation is the most concrete and the easiest positive emotion for individuals to self-generate and sustain for long periods. 
 
"Gratitude is an expression of the heart and it is a powerful and positive emotional energy that can add hope and resilience in your life,” said behavioral psychologist Deborah Rozman, author of Transforming Stress: The HeartMath Solution for Relieving Worry, Fatigue, and Tension. 
 
Nearly everyone can find something – whether big or small – to genuinely appreciate and stress experts say that the act of simply recalling a time of feeling sincere appreciation and then intentionally focusing on that feeling for a few moments can reduce emotional stress. Learning to self-generate positive emotions such as appreciation can also have a beneficial effect on attitudes and relationships.
 
Gratitude in Focus
Photos are a great way to summon positive feelings. Find a few photos that evoke feelings of appreciation. It can be a photo of a great vacation moment, a picture of a loved one or a favorite pet. Place the photos in locations where you will see them during the day – in the car, on your desk, the bathroom mirror, or your refrigerator. When you see the photos pause for a moment and connect with the feeling of appreciation.

Blessing Reminders
While you’re building the habit of appreciating more often, try using tools to remember your intention. Place a sticky note in key locations or set an alarm on your cell phone. Reminding yourself to pause for a moment or two can help reconnect you with your heart intention. During this short break find something that you appreciate that took place that day, it can even be appreciating yourself for your commitment. This practice starts to increase your awareness of what’s happening in your life that is good.


Keep a Gratitude Journal
Set aside a few minutes at the end of each day to write down a few things you are grateful for. It can be as simple as appreciating the person who held the door for you. The practice helps you see life more through the perspective of gratitude. Once you write your list, allow a couple minutes to focus on the genuine feeling of appreciation for the things on your list. Be consistent with the practice to get the most out of it. You might also consider adding a gratitude app to your smartphone so you can carry your lists with you and add to it as you move through your day.
 
Incorporate Gratitude into Your Parenting 
I can't think of a better opportunity to expand the practice thankful living than to incorporate gratitude into our parenting. Teaching our kids to be thankful in childhood will expose them to the positive energy that is released when we share feelings of gratitude. Cementing this practice at a young age will establish positive patterns and healthy outcomes that they will carry into the rest of their life. 
 
As a mom, these tips really hit home. I thought about the ways to introduce this concept to your children:
 

• Model thankfulness for your children. Notice the small and big things others do for you and make a big deal about it in-front of your kids.
• Take your children into the kitchen (of a friend's house or even a restaurant) to thank the cook.
• Encourage your kids to show thankfulness when a friend shares a toy or a sibling offers them their turn for something fun. 
• Create a thankfulness board in your home where family members can leave personal notes for one another.
• Talk with them about how good it felt to give thanks or be thanked.

14 Pear Recipes

Pears are a great way to make a common dish unique. Their buttery texture makes them a perfect candidate for sweet and savory dishes alike. They are also a great source of Potassium, Vitamin C and Fiber. As an added benefit, the natural sugars present in pears allow you to satisfy your sweet tooth while steering clear of processed sugar. Read "Tips for Buying and Storing Pears" for more information. Here are some of my favorite SparkRecipes that use pears.