Fitness Loves Of the Week #FLOW

This week my workouts have been put on the back burner since I’ve been so sick. But my workouts were in my thoughts as I struggled with my decision to workout when sick. It was such a hard decision but I am so glad I did.

Last night, just as I thought I was feeling better, I got ready for a light workout and this nasty head cold hit me hard and I was side lined on the couch. I have strep throat, my daughter has an ear infection and my poor husband (who is feeling a bit better) has both – yikes! At least I am able to take the dog out for a walk and get some fresh air.

I’m going to participate in the Fitness Loves Of The Week! Starting today, any hopefully every Friday I’ll write about Fitness; workouts, my week’s workouts and maybe even a few resources for you to try out!

In Sweetness and In Health

 

I am looking to beef up my workout since my husband is now home after 7 months of being away. I can now afford a little more time to work out at night – more than 20-30 minutes. So, I am going to start to incorporate the “Drop 10 SELF Magazine Challenge”. Not because I want to drop 10 pounds – but that’s always a bonus. But because I want to beef up workouts and make them a little more challenging.  Plus the Tone It Up girls (Katrina and Karena) are leading the way.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Go get active.

Piper’s Run (Anna).

PS – Stay tuned for a little tasty giveaway on Sunday:)

March Foodie Penpal

Remember when you were a kid and you sent a letter to a penpal (so far away) and then waited in anticipation for a letter to be returned? Ahhh, Penpals. So much fun, mystery, yet rewarding.

Last month I participated in Foodie Penpal for the first time, you can read about it here. I decided to do it again in March (and April).  Andrea at Vegvacious had me as her foodie penpal.

Vegvacious is a great blog about healthy eating, fitness and positive thinking. Andrea has some delicious recipe’s.

This is what Andrea sent me:

Lilly wanted the little carrot (surprising, as she doesn’t like to eat them)

I love chocolate, so we dove right into the PC Organics Dark Chocolate Bar:

And in recent news, a new study shows people who eat dark chocolate frequently tend to have a lower body mass index than those who don’t. Frequent consumption of dark chocolate is tied to a lower body mass index, researchers say.

Breakfast time I decided to try the Oat Clusters & Love (Love Grown) Granola:

Sweet Cranberry Coconut Pecan

I paired it with coconut yogurt and blueberries – delish!

I’ve pretty much eaten this every morning since then.

And, Lilly likes it too! Bonus.

Then I tired the Vega Whole Food Smoothie Infusion one morning.

My husband has had these before, but I’ve never tried it.

I have to admit, it was really good. Gave a little kick and flavour to my smoothie.

I like that it has a variety of protein; yellow pea, organic hemp, sprouted flax seeds, brown rice protein.

You can also use it as a topping on other foods or as a partial substitute for flour in baking.

And, yes Lilly liked the smoothie too!

The only think I have yet to try (take a picture of) was the Spice Rub (Wildly Delicious Fine Foods).

Spice blend for vegetables.

Andrea read on my blog in 12 in 2012, that I want to cook all vegan meals for one week as my husband is a vegan. I am not a vegan so this is going to be a challenge for me. These spices are going to be perfect for a few meals I have planned.

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 I sent Robin in Alberta a Foodie Penpal package; I sent her 3 different bags of Pop Chips, Almonds, Just Us Green Tea, and a few other things I cannot remember. I even forgot to take a picture – my bad.

To cute to use (for now).

Wanna know more about Foodie Penpal :

The Lean Green Bean

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!
If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

Don’t forget about the Booty Bun Cloth Diaper Giveaway – ends March 31st.

And, keep an eye out Sunday…I’ll be doing my second giveaway (review)…a little tasty Canadian treat.

Cheers!

Pipers’ Run (Anna).

Running While Sick ?

Let me start off by saying my little one has been sick for just under a week – terrible congestion, heart-wrenching  cough, irritable at times and not sleeping well because of the listed symptoms. But the good thing is, she’s happy, running around and wanting to play.

Also, my husband is home!!!! Woohoo, we have finished 7 months apart….7…long…months…apart.  He is home until June and then only away for a week or so, and then we’ll all be done with that adventure. Both he and I started to feel ill last night; we had no idea what this “cold” would amount to.

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 I plan each weeks workout goals every Sunday; which you can read more about here. So, today was my day to run which I was really looking forward to doing. Can you see where this is going? 🙂

Today, we woke up full of this cold my daughter had – she’s just learning about sharing but seriously…this is one thing she did not need to share with us. We were both miserable; head pounding, stuffed up nose and feeling run down.

I decided I would go to work and my husband (who is waiting on his “On the Job” schedule was able to sleep the morning away. By lunch time I was feeling terrible and was trying to decide if I was to go on my run. I went home for lunch, had some chicken soup  that he made for me and decided to go lie down – I would run later. (Again, you can see where this is going – right?).

We laid down just before 1 and around 2:30pm, I said to my husband “I don’t think I’ve slept for more than 5 minutes”. He then assured me that I had in fact slept as he informed me I was “snoring rather contentedly” !!!

I stayed in bed until 4:30 sleeping while my husband went to pick up Lilly. During this time I was trying to figure out if I was going to run in the evening and had my eyes closed during the whole thought process. I was really looking forward to this run. My bed was like a sauna and getting out was like stepping out into the cold of winter (seriously).

I assessed my symptoms:

  • head pounding
  • aching muscles over my entire body
  • my ass hurt (not from being sick but rather from the numerous squats I did the night before) damn squats!
  • bones were aching
  • eyes hurt and wanted to stay closed
  • slight nausea at times
  • running nose and head congestion
  • cold / warm flashes
My decision after assessing my symptoms: maybe not a full run, but a fast paced walk with our dog – with a few increases in speed.
Now this is not a pity blog post, it’s more of a “Do you run when sick” and “When do you draw the line?”
During dinner I decided not to run, not to walk the dog at an increased pace, but to sit and relax with my husband. I put extra garlic in our pasta, have been drinking lots of water and trying to increase my vitamin C intake.
There is no way I could manage anything physical active tonight. Pushing myself to run tonight could have made things worse and they could have made things better. Tonight, I chose REST over anything else – even though I am dying to go for a good run.
Maybe tomorrow night.
Do you run when sick?
When do you draw the line?
Do you listen to your body when sick or push through it?

Playground Fun

What toddlers can get up to when they go to the playground.

Lilly to Mom: I’m going to pick up Jack!

Jack to Lilly: How do we ditch our Mom’s.

Lilly to Jack:

Quick, jump out, lock the doors – the child proof locks are on!

Jack to Lilly:

Quick  Lilly, run before they figure out how to work the doors!

Lilly to Natalya: We got ’em where we want ’em.

Natalya to Lilly: I think they had more fun than us 🙂

Mom, can we take this one home?:

Great day outside had by all!