Tag Archive | exercise

Anniversary Giveaway!!!

Oct15

So I’ve been mentioning a giveaway for months now and I am so sorry for taking so long to finally get to it.  Something always seemed to come up when I wanted to do it. I had hoped to have it up by the time I did the  NWM on the 14th, but I was fighting a virus and focused on resting so I would have energy to get through my race.  Thanks to a wonderful hubby who took time off work so I could get some rest, I am feeling well enough to get this Giveaway started!

For those of you who don’t follow me on twitter or instagram – Here is what 1 Lucky winner will get:

Who Wants to Win?!!

I wanted to celebrate my amazing first year being part of the Tone It Up Team by doing a Giveaway. And what better prize could I give than goodies from the team that changed my life? I didn’t  have much luck finding a brown rice protein that I liked.  The chalky texture always got to me, but when Karena and Katrina came out with Perfect Fit, I didn’t have to look anymore.  It’s not completely smooth like whey protein, but it is so much better than all of the other brown rice protein powders I have tried. It’s great in smoothies, pancakes, and pretty much anything you can think of adding it to.  They have an ice cream and donut recipe too!

The winner gets:

  • 1  50 serving bag – perfect for baking
  • 1 box of 20 single serving packs – great for on the go
  • 1 Pink Blender Bottle

How To Win:

  1. Subscribe to my blog: msmamma.wordpress.com
  2. Follow me on Twitter: @Mia_Butterfly
  3. Leave a comment on This Post telling me your biggest challenge with your health and fitness goals.
  4. Only 1 comment per person. Multiple comments will be disqualified.
  5. For an extra entry follow me on Instagram: msmammamia
  6. Contest Starts 10-15-12 as soon as this is published :-)
  7. Contest Ends 10-22-12 at 11:59pm PST

Yes, this is open Internationally. I paid for all these goodies so these are gifts from me :-) Please share this!  Good Luck!!

Inspired!!!

Sep28

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but as with many things lately, there just seemed to be no time to do everything that I wanted 😐 But I am really going to make an effort to show my blog more love.

I’ve been newly inspired!!! For those who follow me on twitter, Instagram and Facebook, you already know that I was able to get into the Nike Women’s Marathon! It was pretty much the last opportunity that came my way through Nike+. They opened some spots for those who were Nike+ members and I jumped at the opportunity as soon as I saw the tweet! I use the Nike+ App for all my runs and I was thrilled that it was giving me a chance to go for my goal that I set out at the beginning of the year. I can’t even describe how excited I was when my registration went thorough. I had a big smile on face for the rest of the day 😁

I started doing races last year as part of one of Tone It Up’s challenges and I got hooked. I loved the atmosphere and energy. I was super nervous at my first 5K. I had no idea how I was going to do. Scared that I’d get trampled and be laughed at for not being fast. It turned out to be so much fun and everyone was super positive and encouraging. Loved the support from the volunteers and spectators. After the my 2nd 5k, I decided that I would go for a half marathon. I figured that it was a big enough challenge that I could fully commit to.

I picked the NWM. Being in SF was a big factor since I live only 30 minutes away. I heard that it was challenging with the hills but with amazing views. And yes, the Tiffany necklace and cute firemen were also a big incentive 😉lol. After talking to a few people who had done the race before, I learned that it might be hard to get into the race because it is so popular. This worried me and since my big goal was to do a half, I decided to find a back up race to do in case I didn’t get into NWM. I went with the Disneyland Half and decided that if I got lucky in the random drawing for NWM, I would do both. When I didn’t get into the race through the drawing, I focused on getting ready for the Disney Half. I kept my eye on the NWM Facebook page for other chances to get into the NWM. I had just finished recovering from my Disney Half and being sick when I saw the last chance to get into the NWM.

Yes, it is a little intimidating to be doing another half after only 6 weeks after my Disney half. But I am in pretty good shape. If I hadn’t gotten sick right after Disney, I would have been back to running after a week of rest. It’s been a little tough to get back to my running but I’ve been getting out as much as I can. My pace is still pretty good. I am not putting a time goal with the NWM. I just want to finish without stopping. I haven’t had time to do hill training so I know that will slow me down a bit. I’m happy just being able to do the race😊

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Make sure you follow me on Twitter – @Mia_Butterfly and on Instagram – MsMammaMia. I’ll be posting pics and hopefully some video come race weekend. I’ll also have my Disneyland Half post coming up along with lots of other posts that I’ve been meaning to put up.

And as promised in my last post – I will be having a giveaway to celebrate my first year with my Tone It Up team. Details coming soon!

Here’s a hint of the goodies I have for you:

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It’s Been a While…

Jul19

Wow! I can’t believe that it’s been so long since my last blog post. Right after my last post, I wound up getting sick :-( It took me longer than I wanted to fully recover. Then I just got busy with Life and it seemed like I never had enough time to give my blog the attention it deserved. I’ve been working hard to make time for it since I do love it. 

Here’s  a short update on what I’ve been up to the past couple months:

~ Finsihed Turbo Fire program :-) I will have a blog post on the last day and a general review of what I thought of it and how it worked for me coming soon.

~ Sneaker Head campout in Berkeley. This was such an interesting couple days.

~ Celebrated Seppe’s preschool graduation and chaperoned Gio’s End of the Year 1st Grade Picnic. I now have a kindergartner and 2nd grader :-)

~ Went to the SF Zoo for the first time with our very good friends. 6 hours of walking around can be very tiring!

~ Two camping trips – one week apart. If you follow me on Instagram (msmammamia) you can see all the beautiful sunrises I posted from our second camping trip. 

~ Completed the 5DSD: I will have a blog post that summarizes my first time with the 5DSD.

~ Started the 30DayAbChallenge with Sophie and a whole bunch of other girls :-) Follow me on Twitter @Mia_Butterfly for all my check-in videos. Follow Sophie @sophiehowl27 and Susan @stronglikesusan for the challenge info. This is such a great challenge that really work your abs!

~ Still training for my first Half Marathon. I’m up to 11.5 miles :-/ 

~ Completed Bikini Series Challenge and entered in the contest. Sadly, I wasn’t a winner of the amazing prizes, but I did win a much bigger prize :-) A body I can rock a bikini in along with the confidence to rock it and a wonderful community that supports me every day.  It’ my one year anniversary with Tone It Up!! I’ve been working on a page about my journey with them. Hoping to have it up soon. There will be lots of Before and After pics :-)

 

So I do have a lot coming :-) I’m thinking of doing a special giveaway to celebrate my 1 year of being part of the Tone It Up family. It has really changed my life and is such a big part of my life now. This past year has been absolutely amazing for me. I’ve done so many things that I never thought I could and I’ve had so much fun. Every part of my life has become better and I am truly happy. I’ve met so many wonderful people who inspire, motivate and support me. And I want to Thank those of you who have taken time to read my blog. Stay tuned for more info on the Giveaway :-)

Let me know what kind of things you’d like for the Giveaway. Going to get to bed earlier than usual so I can tackle a long run tomorrow :-) 

 

Rest and Stretch

May11

BeachBody Day83

Friday is now my new Active Rest Day. After yesterday’s rough long run and TurboFire workout, I was ready to have a more laid back day. I still got up for my bootycall at 5:30a. I guess I’m already use to getting up at 5a because I was just awake by then. Plus, I actually went to bed before midnight last night – which is rare. I did Tone It Up’s Under the Sea X3 and Sun kissed Abs. I still had lots of time before waking the boys up for school so I went for a 2 mile walk.

When I came in to wake the boys up, Gio was awake but said he wasn’t feeling well. At first I thought he was just whining because he didn’t feel like going to school – yes, my 1st grader already tries to get out going to school :-/ – But I took his temperature and he did have a fever :-( So I kept him home. Luckily it’s Ben’s day off so he was able to help me with Gio.

My morning workout was doing Tone It Up’s Happy Hour Challenge: Favorite move from the Beach Babe DVD. I have several favorites but I decided to go with the Mermaid X20 – each side every hour. I started at 8a and ended at 10p. My obliques are already very sore.

Even though I was taking it easy, I wanted to do yesterday’s Bikini Series challenge – HIIT the Beach. It’s a short HIIT workout that worked up a pretty good sweat :-) I will probably do this one a lot because I can get a quick and decent workout in when I’m running short on time. I can repeat it if I want to make my workout longer.

Turbo Fire Day 81 – I saved Stretch40 the evening because I love doing this one before bed time. It really helps relax and stretch me out. My legs have been needing a good extended stretch and this felt absolutely amazing tonight. I could have easily fallen asleep during the mediation part :-) Even though I’m still sore in a few places, I don’t feel as tight and tense.

Doing a 2 min plank for plankaday then getting ready for bed. Early tball games tomorrow.

Meals:

M1: Egg white scramble with tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Tried a half Meta-D half Bombshell Spell mix. I added the cayenne and cinnamon, left out the honey, didn’t use as much pineapple juice and added more water. It’s definitely not as sweet as the bombshell spell, but easier for me to handle than the Meta-D :-)

Half Meta-D/ Half Bombshell Spell

Went a little heavy on the veggies for breakfast today :-)

M2: Half a grapfruit w/ stevia

M3: Simple Shakeology: water, pineapple, and ice.

M4: PeanutButter and Dark Chocolate Kind Bar.

M5: Left over Salmon and Broccoli

100 oz. water.

A Long Run

May10

BeachBody Day82

Thursday is now my long run day. I’m still trying to get use to it. I didn’t sleep well last night so I was glad to have a break from my bootycall workouts. Got up, ate breakfast and then got the boys ready for school.

Not my best run, but I did it.

I wanted to head out no later than 10a so I had plenty of time to do my run before picking Seppe up form school. It was a rough run for me. I wound up having to go pee after the first mile :-/ Stopped at the boys tball park. I had a cramp for most of the first half of the run. I had to slow way down before it finally went away. I just kept telling myself to breathe and to keep running. It was hard to pick my speed back up once I slowed down. My knees started to really hurt the last couple miles. I felt like I hurt everywhere. My hamstrings were still really sore and so was my booty. My shoulders felt tight and my feet ached. Basically I was very uncomfortable. But I managed to complete my 9.3 mile run. The run took a lot out of me. I was soooo tired when I got home and I still had my TurboFire to do :-/

Turbo Fire Day 80– I didn’t know how I was going to do Fire45EZ but I made myself do it. I gave it every bit of energy I had left. I’m glad that there are no fire drills in this one because I doubt I would have survived a HIIT drill. I followed it with Stretch10 which felt amazing. My legs really needed a good stretch.

As much as I wanted to do the BikiniSeries challenge for today, I really had nothing left after my TurboFire workout. I will be doing the HIIT and Ab workouts tomorrow :-)

I did do a 2min plank for PlankADay before bed.

Broke this up into 30sec: plank, side plank (each side), plank.

Meals:
M1: MapleNut Oatmeal w/ unsweetened almd milk, almd butter, blueberries and chia seeds.
M2: Luna bar
M3: Chocolate Shakeology w/ Chocolate Zico, spinach, mango and pineapple.
M4: Dark Choc cherry cashew Kind bar
M5: Panko Chicken with left over grilled eggplant and zucchini.

Leftover grilled veggies don’t look as good but still tasted great :-)

80 oz water and 2 Zicos

Lots of Me Time

May9

BeachBody Day81
So what do I do when I have half a day all to myself? Clean, workout and video editing. Isn’t my life so glamorous? Lol :-)

Bootycall: Love Your Legs x 3 with knee raises added to squats and star fish lunges. Plus 5 Min to Flat Abs routine from SELFmagazine.

After my morning workout with my new favorite shorts.

Morning workout: Drop10  Jiggle Sizzler on the elliptical. Resistance between 8-12. Followed by TurboFire.

Jiggle Sizzler done!

Turbo Fire Day 79– Fire55EZ. Felt completely exhausted afterwards.

Afternoon workout: Planned on doing stair circuit but went out on a family walk with the boys. Walked by the “beach” during high tide. Went further than planned – 3miles. Boys got a little whiny but it was mostly because we forgot to brig water :-/ They did really well and it helped wear them out. They went to bed right after dinner :-)

Climbing rocks and looking at the ocean :-)

Holding hands with my Seppe

Boys collected shells for me.

Ended with a 2min plank. That was all I had the energy to do. Better than nothing right?

Almost didn’t do my PlankADay, but I did :-)

Meals – Carbs at dinner for my long run tomorrow. Getting started on my half marathon training.

M1: Chobani Champions Very Berry with almond bitter and chia seeds. My quick go to breakfast :-)

M2: Luna bar to help prep for my morning workouts.

M3: Chocolate Shakeology with kale, banana, pineapple, mango, an almond butter to help recover from my workout.

Lunch while I work on editing tball videos.

M4: almond coconut KIND bar.

M5: spaghetti made with quinoa noodles and a turkey, spinach, squash and zucchini red sauce.

Quinoa pasta with Turkey/Spinach red sauce.

80 oz of water 1 Zico.

Sweat X3!

May8

BeachBody Day 80

I’m really surprised that I’m still up and able to type this up :-) I had a really great and sweaty day! I had to be up at 5a so I could go to the gym before Ben left to go to work. I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’m not even sure I slept all that great but I made myself get up, get dressed, and get out the door. You know that quote – “Get up and exercise before your mind realizes what you’re doing”? That’s what I kept thinking of on my way to the gym. I did yesterday’s Bikini Series challenge – the Drop10 Fat Zapper on the bike for 30min. I love that HIIT workouts get me sweating :-) I was wide awake and full of energy once I finished. I am really thinking of getting up at 5a more often because I can get so much done. I got my workout in, showered – and not just a quick 5min one but a nice relaxing one  – made lunch for Ben and Gio, and had breakfast ready before the boys even got up :-)

After dropping the boys off at school, I wanted to get some cleaning done. The apartment needed it badly! So I broke my morning up – spent the first half cleaning the kitchen and the boys’ bathroom. Took a break for a snack then did my Turbo Fire workout.

Turbo Fire Day 78 – I was glad to see Fire45EZ again. There aren’t any fire drills in this one but it’s combo after combo. I put in a lot of intensity. Punched hard and kicked as high as I could :) I had a lot of fun and I was drenched with sweat afterwards. So much for staying clean after that nice shower ;-) Followed with Stretch10. My legs – especially my hamstrings are super sore from yesterday’s Lean Legs Pyramid. It felt good to stretch them out.  I added the Drop10 Sculpting X3 to wrap up my morning workout.

After TurboFire and Drop10 Sculpting

Did more cleaning after picking Seppe up and had lunch. Finished cleaning after picking Gio up from school. My apartment is clean! Well it was for a few hours. The kitchen is already dirty again. lol.

Tone It Up’s Bikini Sereis challenges for today was to crank things up a bit by adding 30 min of cardio to my day and eating a Lean, Clean and Green dinner. I could have considered my TurboFire as my extra cardio but I decided to hit the gym after the boys went to bed. I did a 30min treadmill program that had inclines for my third sweat session of the day :-)

Back at the gym for BikiniSeries extra 30min cardio

Aerobic Program with hills on Treadmill.

Workout Summary!

A sweaty mess for the 3rd time and still smiling :-)

Ended with my usual plankaday.

PlankADay – 1min low, 1min high, 1min side plank each side, 1min tummy tucks

Meals:

M1: Variation of the SlimDown Scramble. Basically I just put the veggies on top of the egg white instead of mixing it all together. I like this better for some reason.

How I Like my SlimDown Scramble :-)

M2: half a grapefruit and 4 dark chocolate almonds.

M3: Chocolate Shakeology with Zico, kale, and banana. I am going to be having Shakeology for lunch every day this week. Trying to use it up.

Ready to get mixed up!

M4: Tried a new Larabar that I found at Target.

Found another yummy Larabar

M5: Salmon with a Balsamic/Honey sauce (from FitFoodJunkie) with grilled eggplant and zucchini.

Salmon and Veggies for dinner.

100 oz. of water. 1 Zico. 1c of Chamomile Tea

I have my alarm set for another 5a bootycall tomorrow :-) Really looking forward to doing the new “Love Your Legs” workout.

The Final Week

May7

BeachBody Day79

Monday started Week 12 of Turbo Fire. The last and final week. It’s actually been 14 weeks since I had to take a couple weeks off while Ben was in the hospital and recovering. I still can’t believe that it’s been so long since I put in that first disc into my DVD player. Time flies when you’re having fun ;-)

Turbo Fire Day 77 – On the schedule it was suppose to be a Rest day. But I decided to do my favorite HIIT workout instead :-) HIIT20 just goes by so quick and gets my heart racing. I went as hard as I could.

I started my day with a 5k run. I woke up before my alarm feeling great after getting a good nights sleep. I haven’t slept well in over a week because I’ve been so congested – especially at night. I took a sudafed last night and I was finally able to breathe!! That made all the difference. My run was better than it normally is for a bootycall. I’m usually half asleep and just trying to get through it. I was able to run at a good pace today :-)

With Ben back to his work schedule, I have the kids by myself more. I followed HIIT20 with part of the BIkini Series challenge for today: Lean Legs Pyramid and 100 tummy tucks. The Tone It Up pyramids are great. Short but intense workouts that always leave me sore the next day :-) I’ve gotten stronger since the last time I did Lean Legs because my calves didn’t cramp up like they use to after the jumping jacks. I would have to walk it out and stretch before I could continue. I was really glad I could move on faster today. Those 100 tummy tucks were no joke!! After 60 it burned so bad. I paused for a few seconds in downward dog after every 10 tucks past 60.

The second part of the challenge was the Drop10 Fat Zapper HIIT. I was hoping to do it tonight but Ben took some over time and came home later than I expected. Plus my congestion came back and I had zero energy to go to the gym. So I will be doing it first thing tomorrow for my bootycall :-)

Ended with a 5min plank- plank, side plank, plank, low plank. I could feel the 100 tummytucks the whole time. Sore abs tomorrow :-)

Meals:
M1: – FlaxPlus Oatmeal w/ blueberries, banana, unsweetened almond milk and chia seeds. Tried he Bombshell spell today and loved it. Will be trying to have it every day this week :-)

Love the Bombshell Spell from the Tone It Up Beach Babe Edition :-)

M2: half a grapefruit and 4 dark chocolate almonds

M3: Chocolate Shakeology w/ kale, avocado, frozen mango, pineapple juice and unsweetened almnd milk.

M4: tomatoes, cucumber and pop chips w/ chunky olive hummus.

Veggies, hummus, and Pop Chips

M5: Chicken-less orange chicken from TraderJoes with green beans. I didn’t have high hopes for this. The chicken-less chicken strips were not that good. But this was really tasty and I could barely tell that it wasn’t actual chicken :-)

Thought I’d Give this a try for Meatless Monday.

Added some sautéed green beans.

70 oz. water

Back to Normal

May7

BeachBody Day77 & Day78

Saturday was Ben’s first day back to his normal work schedule :-) And now that Big Sur is done, I’m going back to my normal workout schedule this week. Took it easy because I was super tired. Ben has a rotating shift, his hours change daily so I have to work around his schedule to get my workouts in. It’s not ideal or perfect but I do what I gotta do. I’ve decided to change my long run day to Thursday because that’s when both boys are at school and I can train uninterrupted :-) I’ll be starting my half marathon this week and finishing up my Turbo Fire.

Workouts: Bootycall was Drop10 SculptingX3. This was a late bootycall since I slept in until 8a. I would have gotten up earlier to do a bike ride but my body was telling me it needed some rest so I listened :-)

For the next couple weeks, Saturday mornings will be dominated by the boy’s tball games. I didn’t get a chance to workout again until before dinner time.

Turbo Fire Day 75 – I used up a lot of energy doing HIIT25. I really really focused on getting my knees up for the tuck jumps. Those are so hard and there are so many in this one! lol. But I am getting better at them. Sculpt30 really works my arms out. My shoulders and biceps always burn with this workout.

Ended my day with a 3min plank alternating with low, side, and high.

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions Very Berry with Chia seeds and almond butter.

M2: 5 dark choco almonds.

M3: Left overs pork/black beans/veggies wrapped in whole wheat tortilla. Plus 2 clementines.

Had two of these burritos :-)

The second one was a little bit bigger.

M4: Roasted Seaweed and half a mango.

M5: Quinoa, chicken, black beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bell peppers mixed together seasoned with sea salt and garlic. I am loving black beans right now :-)

Quiona and black beans is one of my favorites.

60 oz. water.

Sunday – Got to sleep in again. I’ve been feeling so tired lately. I think I’m catching whatever the boys have :-( Being congested makes it hard to sleep well. I still did a bootycall run. I had half a larabar before heading out and went on a different route. I don’t like to go this way too often because it’s on the streets but I did it for a change. I actually found a way to avoid the light I always get stopped and added a little bit of distance. Went 4 miles :-)

Turbo Fire Day 76 –  I did Fire30 for my afternoon workout. I’ve gotten so much better with the fire drills and doing the tuck jumps. I’m still not as good as the people on the DVD but I can get my knees up a lot higher :-) I’ve also gotten better with the kicks. I jumped in between all the high low combos. It never fails to get me sweating. Followed with Stretch 10.

The deal was that I’d take the boys to the pool after my Turbo Fire workout. They were very good and played in their room while I worked out so I took them to the pool so they could get their exercise in :-) I’m so glad that the weather is warmer now. We will be at the pool a lot from now on. I didn’t swim but I plan on incorporating swimming into my workouts soon.

Meals: 

M1: Larabar.

M2: 2 Clementines.

M3: Quinoa/blakbean/ veggie mix lettuce wraps and Pop Chips.

Leftover lettuce wraps and pop chips.

M4: Tried a new Luna bar: Peanut Honey Pretzel. Found it at Target and had to try it out. I’m not a big peanut fan but I really liked this one. Definitely will be getting it again :-)

Another favorite added :-)

M5: Turkey meatballs and broccoli.

I actually had 5 meatballs but ate one before I took a pic :-P

60 oz. of water and 1 Zico.

Hourly Plank

May4

BeachBody Day76 

I love doing plank to workout my core. I’ve been doing pretty good with the PlankADay challenge – doing a plank once a day. Today was Tone It Up’s Happy Hour Friday Challenge – you can find it on their monthly calendars :-) For this week, it was 30 reps of any exercise. I really couldn’t decide what to do when I got up this morning. I kept going back and forth between plank and pushups. I went with a 30 second plank :-) Headed out for a 3 mile run for my bootycall and started the happy hour challenge at 8a. Made it through 1p before I missed 2p and 3p. To make up for it I did a 1:30 plank.

Friday Happy Hour Challenge

Did my 5p Plank under a tree at the Park

Turbo Fire Day 74 – Part of the reason I missed the planks at 2p and 3p was because I did my Fire55EZ workout. I did all the jumps, tuck jumps, and jacks. I accidentally chose to Fire Up the music so I couldn’t hear the cues as well but I only fell behind a couple times. It was fun with the music turned up though :-) I think once I have the routine memorized and don’t really need the cues, I’ll be firing the music up again.

The Bikini Series Challenge was to do the Drop10 Slim Spin – 40 minutes of my favorite cardio. It was already dark when I could finally do it. I almost decided to skip it and do it for my bootycall tomorrow. But headed to the gym anyways. I’m not really sure I’d be able to head outside for my bootycall tomorrow either.  My knees were really tight so I went to the elliptical. I did a cross training program that had me pedal backwards and forwards.  It was different going backwards but I liked the change up.

Drop10 Slim Spin on Elliptical

Ended my hourly plank at 10p. Going to count that as my PlankADay :-)

Meals:

M1 – Multigrain raisin oatmeal with banana, almond butter, and chia seeds.

M2: Grapes and Zico.

M3: Beefless – beef lettuce wraps with tomatoes, avocado, and carrots. Yes, I have been having lots of lettuce wraps lately. I love them. They are so easy to make :-)

Made with TraderJoes Beefless Beef Strips

M4: Dark Choc Cherry and Cashew Kind Bar.

Craving some Dark Chocolate :-)

M5: Peppered Pork, bell peppers, and  black beans mixed together topped with avocado.

My Colorful Dinner

60 oz. water. 1 Zico.