Things I love #2

I just celebrated a belated Christmas with my family and got seriously awesome stuff!

1. Conair Curl Secret
Let me introduce you to my new best friend. It was at the top of my Christmas wish-list this year, so I'm so glad my mom bought it for me! I'm so hair impaired that it's sad. But luckily this thing is so easy to use and gives beautiful, natural curls!

2. My She Took a Breath and Let it Go journal
Also one of my Christmas gifts, which was designed by one of my mom's friends. It allows you to record your days, your prayers, praises, peaks valleys, etc. It's super adorable! See her other designs here.

3. My "See Countless Blessings" journal
Also along the lines of journaling (and before I received the above gift), I bought a lovely journal to write down my daily "what makes me happy" points, as part of my #GoalsToGlorify. I couldn't have picked out a more fitting cover if I would have created it myself.

Yes, my Christmas tree is still up, and no, it's not coming down anytime soon!

4. My news Mizuno Wave Rider 18s
Although I was really sad to retire my NYCM running shoes, these new babies made up for it pretty quickly. I only look longingly at my NYCM shoes approximately 3 times a week now, so that's an improvement. I love the wide toe box, the color, and whatever they do to the sole of the shoe to feel comfortable support. I'm not even going to act like I know the science that goes behind all that.

5. Annie's SnickerDoodle Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
One day I was craving a sugary snack (against my #GoalsToGlorify, I know) but didn't want candy. I stumbled into the gluten-free section of Walmart and chose what turned out to be one of the best snacks in my life. It's so good even the hubs was eating them by his own choice! Annie's is doing something right with that stuff.

By the way, nothing in this post is sponsored, I just seriously love this stuff! All opinions are honest and are my own. And, if it's your first time here, or if you enjoy what you're reading, be sure you enter your email address in the box in the upper right-hand corner so you never miss a blog post! Or, if you're on Bloglovin' be sure you click here to follow my blog!

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Let's chat!

• What products are you loving right now?
• What item was at the top of your Christmas wishlist this year?

Finding time for nutrition as a teacher

Can I just say that I'm FREAKING OUT! We are 49 days away from the NYC Marathon! 

(from my instagram)

Marathon training has been an awesome experience, and I'm actually going to miss it when it's over. I'm in the peak of training, for sure. I've already run 20 miles twice, but I still have a 22-miler coming up before the end of the month, so that will be fun :)

I'm down to 9 toenails and on my second pair of shoes in this training cycle.

(from my instagram)

(from my instagram)

I also just started teaching high school video production and I LOVE it! 

But teaching is tiring. Hydration and nutrition are a key to a healthy lifestyle, but especially during marathon training. 

Knowing that my muscles need lots of nutrients I started drinking more protein shakes, only to find out that my protein contained gluten. Due to my MS I eat a gluten-free lifestyle, so my protein powder was actually counter-productive and was causing negative effects on my health. So hearing about my dilemma, the awesome people at Skoop sent me the best protein powder on the market!

(from my instagram)

I fell in love with Skoop and now have one of their plant-based protein shakes for breakfast every day! I've noticed that Skoop satisfies my hunger and cravings all day and it tastes delicious! (I really have noticed how I crave junk food on the days that I skip my Skoop shake!)

And as a teacher, it's easy to drink while I walk around the classroom and work with the students! I'm not tied down to a plate or bowl at my desk!

Skoop has three options of protein to fit your lifestyle: A-Game, B-Strong, and B-Lovely, all of which are plant-based, providing super nutrition in a bag (or packet, if you order individual packets).

The best part for me is that it provides 16 grams of protein and 50% of almost all vitamins you need each day, for only 160 calories!

I love Skoop so much that I just signed up to automatically receive a new bag of B-Strong every month! (This also keeps me from having to remember to reorder, on top of all the other things I have to remember for of my students!) 

And for being one of my readers, you can enter my discount code for 10% off your order! So go to HealthySkoop.com and see which of their products work best for you! I have no doubt you'll love Skoop as much as I do!

This conversation is sponsored by Skoop, but the opinions and content are mine.

Connect with Skoop!
Website
Twitter
Instagram


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Let's chat!

• What is your favorite on-the-go meal?
• Do you have a favorite protein powder?

injinji Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to these seven lucky people who won injinji's 2.0 Lightweight No-Show Toe Socks!

A huge thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway! I've got a few more in the works, so stay tuned! We've got a lot of exciting things coming your way!

#FuelYourBetter

Don't forget to enter in the injinji Toe Sock Giveaway!

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I was really lucky to have the chance to review Vega's Sugar-Free Energizer! I've heard nothing but great things from Vega products, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity! Plus I'm about to tackle marathon training and wanted to have options when it came to pre-workout energy products!

I'm excited to see that a company has created a sugar-free energizer. People don't realize that when they drink products like Gatorade or Powerade, they're drinking a lot of sugar. This gives the sensation of a sugar high, and temporary energy, but this can also lead to energy crashing. Vega's products are plant-based, so the nutrients come from natural, unprocessed, clean ingredients. 

It's gluten, soy and dairy free, which made it even better! Not to mention that one serving is only 5 calories, and 0 grams of sugar!

They encourage users to drink one serving 20 minutes before working out. Below is a guide of energy-level expectations:

I've tested this Sugar-Free Energizer multiple times. Here's a breakdown of my experience:

Test #1: I'm always nervous about the flavor when it comes to new drinks, so rather than mixing it in 8oz of water, I mixed it with a full bottle of water (16oz.). The color was a little... disturbing and unattractive, and the flavor was surprising. I got some inquisitive looks when people saw what I was drinking. The color is a little odd. The flavor was strong and sweet, not overpowering, but had a kick to it. It is a bit of an acquired taste because I've never had anything like it!

I drank it about 45 minutes before my workout and began to tell a difference in my energy level! Also, because of the sweet flavor, it curbed my pre-workout munchies (normally when I go home I eat out of habit, but this Vega energizer made me forget all about eating when I got home)!

I hopped on the treadmill for my regular 5 miles and was surprised at how long the drink sustained me! It made the first 4 miles (about 40 minutes) feel effortless! 

Test #2: Because my first test was so successful, I wanted to test it again to see if it was just my excitement or if the product really did work. In short, it does :)

This time I mixed the powder with the recommended amount of water (8 oz.) and that made it even more flavorful, which I was okay with at this point. I still felt an energy difference as I was drinking it, and it sustained me through my workout yet again!

Test #3: At this point I was no longer testing it because I knew it worked, I was just consuming it as a pre-workout energizer :)

I hit the treadmill for another 5-miler and had the same results as the first time - sustained energy for the first 4 miles. After the forth I could feel it wearing off again, which is what I expected. It still worked better than they promised!

Takeaways:

 I had sustained energy throughout all of my runs after drinking the mixture. I liked the sweet flavor and have gotten used to the color of the drink. The only downfall of the drink is that whether I had 8oz. or 16oz., I had to use the restroom through my whole run. Normally I don't drink within an hour of a workout to avoid this problem, so having to tinkle while running for over 50 minutes is kind of annoying. I think I may also experiment with drinking it an hour beforehand (rather than 20 minutes), then drinking more during my run. Plus I can't get past the fact that it's made from clean and natural ingredients! 

I'll definitely be using this product again! I'll probably also use it when I need a pick-me-up even when I'm not about to exercise! 

For more information on this product and more, visit FuelYourBetter.com!

Let's chat!

 - What's your pre-workout routine?

 - What products, if any, do you use before working out?

     I used to never use products before, during, or after a workout, but I seriously love Vega now! I'm excited to try their other products!

injinji Announcement!

I've rambled about how I LOVE injinji toe socks, and now they're going to show how much injinji loves YOU!

injinji is giving away ONE PAIR OF SOCKS FOR EVERY DAY THIS WEEK! That's 7 pairs of their awesome socks! I'm telling you, they're by FAR my favorite socks!

Follow the steps in the Rafflecopter box below, then next Sunday, June 8, Rafflecopter will randomly select 7 winners - one for each day! I'll announce the winners on Monday, June 9, so enter throughout the week and DEFINITELY come back on June 9 to see the winners!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

injinji ships only in the United States, so if you live outside of the U.S., unfortunately you're ineligible for this giveaway, but I have MANY more coming soon, so stay tuned!

Good luck!


Let's talk it over:

• What is your favorite fitness activity?
• Have you won anything from a giveaway before? If so, what was it?

I won! I won! I won!

I recently freaked out when my most favorite blogger in the whole world emailed me because I was a finalist for her finish line photo contest. As it turns out,

I WON!

People said such nice things when they voted for my picture! Here are a few of my favorites!

Everyone was so nice though! I loved reading all of the comments!

The anticipation the arrival of my goodie bag nearly killed me but it was completely worth it! I squealed with excitement as I pulled out each item from the package! My husband was quick to document the process with pictures. Here's a replay of how it went down:

I opened the package, looked and said, "EEE! I don't know what's in here but I already see pink and purple!! It's gotta be good! How did she know I love bright colors?!" (side note, take a look at my shirt in these pictures. Clearly I love brightly colored clothing)

I pull out the Injinji socks:  "YAY! How did she know these are my favorite running socks?!"

I pull out the Yurbuds: "YES! I needed new Yurbuds!" (mine fell apart during my last half marathon due to operator negligence.)

I pull out the Brooks compression calf sleeves: "I've always wanted calf sleeves!" (the Hubs is happy about these as well since he's had to rub my calves the last few days! This will DEFINITELY be used during my upcoming marathon training!)

I pull out the Honey Stinger chews: "EEE!! I was reading about these today when researching fueling products during marathons and I was hoping to try them!" (Another item that will DEFINITELY be used during marathon training!)

I pull out the Clif Shot Bloks: "Yes! These are awesome!" (Yet another item that will be used during marathon training!)

I pull out the Oiselle bag: "Oh my gosh! I've always wanted something from Oiselle! I LOVE it!" (Oiselle has great products!)

And finally the ASICS running shirt: "Oh I NEED a new running top!" (seriously. I'm tired of cycling through the same three running tops.)


I love, love, love my running goodies! 

Here's a better look at the swag!

And to top it off, Janae wrote me the sweetest letter! It sersiously almost made me cry! I've followed Janae's blog for a long time and it's surreal to know that she sent me amazing running goodies just because of my story! So thank you, thank you, thank you a million times, Janae!!! All of the products will be greatly used and appreciated!


Let's talk it over!
 - If you could have race swag from any company, what would it be?
 - Have you ever won something from a blog contest or giveaway? If so, what was it?