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A Little Extra Nutrient Support

It’s FRIDAY!!! Can you tell I’m a bit excited? It’s been quite the action packed week filled with my first Organic Avenue juice cleanse, a great yoga class and dinner date with my girl Liz, Spirit of the Marathon 2 movie with local running friends, lots of work, and an Uplift Friday class that is always a great way to kick off the weekend! The best part is that there is blue sky and sunshine in Manhattan right now which is such a treat after all this rain!

Week of 6.14

Since I have so much to share with you guys, there will be more than a few posts going up this weekend. I’m going to be super cool tonight and spend the evening blogging while Bo is running errands for his scuba adventure tomorrow.

While I was on the Organic Avenue 3 day juice cleanse, I thought a lot about the way I eat each day on a regular basis. I’m not perfect by any means but I definitely have done well sticking to the 80/20 rule over the past year which is one of the things I attribute to the way I feel right now. But, as my sister-in-law, who also did the juice cleanse, and I talked further about the things that make us feel good on a daily basis we both couldn’t go without mentioning vitamins. It sounds so silly. Really how much can a few little pills do for someone?

While I know the debate is still out and everyone has differing opinions, I see a big difference when I take vitamins on a regular basis. The top drawer of my office desk is a bit of a health and wellness cabinet filled with teas, snacks, medicine, lotions, and vitamins. What can I say? When you spend at least 10-12 hours a day at the office, it’s nice to be prepared! Yes I believe that it’s best to get nutrients and vitamins from whole food but vitamins just feel like a little extra nutrient support.

For the past year I have taken the following vitamins on a regular basis:

  • Multi-vitamin
  • Calcium
  • Hair & Nail

Therefore, when my friends at Fitfluential offered me a chance to sample VitaFusion Multivites the answer was easy! Heck yes! When it comes to vitamins, I’m 29 going on 6. I can’t handle horse pills or anything that leaves a bad aftertaste.

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Since receiving these last week I’ve started to not only look forward to taking my vitamins but even thinking of them as a fun after lunch treat. I am often tempted to take two servings since they taste like candy!

If you find yourself forgetting to take your vitamins or dread the huge pills, give gummies a try. They are like Flintstone vitamins of 2013!

Do you take vitamins & supplements or do you get all your nutrients from whole food?

This post is sponsored by VitaFusion through FitFluential.  All opinions expressed are my own.

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My Favorite Protein Powder

Happy Sunday evening gang! I hope you all had a good weekend. We had a packed weekend that began as soon as my flight landed Friday evening and didn’t end until just now. But, it was one of those wonderful weekends that make me so thankful when I go to bed on Sunday night as we both feel so blessed. We were able to spend time with Bo’s parents this weekend who flew up from Savannah to squeeze in a visit before our move to Geneva. It was wonderful to spend time with them! In addition, the weekend included a new 10K PR, a great workout and brunch this morning, lots of sunshine, dinner at River Park which is quickly becoming on of our favorite NYC restaurants, and a house warming party with friends!

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In between all the weekends events I ended up talking at length with two different friends about maintaining a healthy weight while working in an office environment or during marathon training. One of the biggest lessons I learned during both experiences was the importance of PROTEIN to help keep you fueled even after long 20 milers or marathon meetings. If I grab protein before I opt for a carbohydrate my body thanks me. It was a tough lesson to learn that resulted in 10 unwanted pounds during work stress and marathon training but now that I know it makes choices so much easier. I always opt for yogurt, cheese, or protein smoothies before granola bars and other crunchy options. Since so many people are kicking off marathon training or just graduating and starting new paths, I thought this product post would benefit lots of y’all!

When Fitfluential asked me if I’d like to partner with Designer Whey for a campaign I was thrilled as I’ve used the brand previously. In fact, it was the first brand Bo and I bought four years ago when we started making smoothies together out in Long Island City!

When the Designer Whey package showed up a few weeks ago I was ecstatic to dive in and try some new to me flavors and products! The package included two types of protein powder, an assortment of bars, packaged shakes, and the protein 2 go powder which comes in portable packets.

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Over the course of the next few weeks I was able to enjoy the bars and Protein2Go on my many business trips since they are easy to throw in my purse or suitcase and enjoy on the road! My favorite Protein2Go flavor was the mixed berry! Naturally flavored, each pack has just 50 calories and a surprising 10 grams of protein! While I definitely prefer my protein in meat, cheese, and legume form this is a great standby when I’m hungry during a meeting or to enjoy right after a workout! IMG_8553

While my parents were in town my mom discovered my Designer Whey bars and enjoyed them so much she ordered two boxes! They taste like adult Chewy bars filled with peanut butter or chocolate flavors but have 10 grams of protein and are lower sugar than many other bar options. I found them to be a great afternoon snack when I was hungry and craving something sweet. Since originally trying these I have ordered a box to keep in my office desk drawer for busy days.  My flavor choices are Peanut Butter Crunch, Chocolate Caramel Crunch, then Triple Chocolate crunch in that order since I don’t like things that are too chocolate flavored. IMG_8505

On the protein powder front, I’ve loved experimenting with different smoothie recipes since the white chocolate is a new flavor and their vanilla blends so well! A serving is a heaping scoop and has 100 calories, 18 grams of protein and just 2 grams of sugar! In fact, in just a few weeks time I’ve used almost the entire white chocolate container! It’s a perfect flavor to pair with frozen cherries or with banana and nuts for a decadent post long run smoothie in the hot, summer months! This weekend I combined Fage 0%, Designer Whey White Chocolate, 1 pouch Delta peanuts, a banana, and spinach in the blender for a delicious frosty treat.

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Unfortunately, the only product I didn’t like and wouldn’t purchase with my own money were their shakes. The flavor just didn’t sit well with me though I was pleased with the nutritional stats since once 10.5 ounce shake has 18 grams of protein and a great dose of calcium and vitamins.

*This is a sponsored post. I received samples of the Designer Whey products as part of a Fitfluential campaign. All opinions, recipes and images are my own.

What’s your favorite way to use protein powder? I’m definitely a smoothie girl!

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Reebok: The First Women’s Athletic Brand

A few weeks ago I had the chance to spend the morning learning about Reebok during their global PR event hosted in New York City. Four hours with the brand helped me realize just how creative and cutting edge the brand has become.

IMG_2666Rather than only hearing about the brand from their executives, they allowed us to each interact with the brand by participating in short active breakout sessions which were focused on the sports for which they are currently designing: dance, yoga, walking, running, training (Cross Fit), and aerobics. through a yoga class with Tara Stiles and my first Crossfit experience! The brand’s heritage is based in women’s fitness since it was the first women’s fitness and apparel line back in the 1980s. They believe, as their ad campaigns have said over the year, that life is not a spectator sport. For this reason, they wanted us to get to know them by interacting with the products and a few of the people who represent the brand on a daily basis. IMG_2658 IMG_2659 IMG_2662 Before the event officially started, a few of the Fitfluential ambassadors (Gina was my buddy for the morning) in attendance walked around together checking out the clothing racks and displays for each sport.  We wanted almost everything we saw! The technical fabrics were all bright colors or fun fabrics and each piece seemed to have an unexpected, fun element whether it was mantras on the Cross Fit crop pants or navy blue and white stripes on the yoga sports bra!

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As many of you may know, Reebok was one of the first shoe companies who targeted and designed athletic shoes to meet the needs of women, beginning in the 1980s just in time for the aerobics boom. However, since then the brand has grown up in big ways!

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Their Chief Marketing Office opened up the event by outlining the brand’s goals and where they’ve come over the years. Since there are more than 5000 new gyms opening each year and 1 in 4 people participate in fitness globally this is not only the right time to be focused on bringing people together through sport but also to help double the number of people who are active. During the course of the day, through both the breakout sessions and interacting with their brand ambassadors and executives, their goal to create social bonds with people through fitness became clear!

Yoga

During the yoga breakout we had the chance to enjoy a short, efficient 20 minute yoga class with their world yoga ambassador, Tara Stiles. I’ve practiced yoga at her studio a number of times but never before have I done yoga in a black light room!  The sports bra, crop pants, and t-shirt we wore is from their Fall line and was super comfortable! When Tara was describing her vision for the clothing line she said she wanted something that every woman could feel comortable in while practicing yoga and I couldn’t agree more. There is a time for compression and tight tops but when I’m trying to relax, bend and twist I want a long top that won’t expose my stomach, comfortable and breathable material, and soft pants or crops that are a higher rise so they aren’t exposing anything during down dog. IMG_8431 IMG_8432 IMG_2672 IMG_8447

Cross Fit/Lifting

We took a group field trip to the Cross Fit box near Herald Square for this portion. I was nervous since I knew they were going to make us complete a WOD and I was one of the only people in attendance who had never done Cross Fit. But, their ambassadors, Christmas and Annie, were empowering, supportive and strong women who wanted everyone to enjoy their experience. They did a great job putting me and everyone else at ease while also ensuring we learned proper form before attempting each exercise.

IMG_8436 IMG_2681After some dynamic warm-ups as a group we split into teams to complete the Team WOD. Our goal was to complete as many as possible during each minute long station then repeating for a total of three times. Since it was a team atmosphere we were told to cheer each other on as we stood in a line completing each exercise.

  • Burpee
  • Kettle Bell Swings (35-45 lbs)
  • Box Jumps (20 inch box)

IMG_8443The class was a definite workout and left my heart pounding and sweat dripping. Crossfit is DEFINITELY an efficient workout! After doing that many box jumps, even though I was intimidated at first, will leave your quads burning. I also loved how closely the coaches worked with each of us to ensure we were using the correct form.

The clothes they gave us for the session included a fun purple tank with black detailing along with compression crop pants in both black and gray. The gray ones have tons of Cross Fit words and mantras on them along with a band to ensure they don’t move around when doing big movements like box jumps, deep squats, or even going for a run along the East River.  IMG_8639 

Thank you Reebok for such a great morning! It was a blast to interact with your products, ambassadors and try some new experiences like Cross Fit! Thank you also for creating fun clothing that makes both the elite and “every woman” feel strong when they are working out!

*As part of Fitfluential, I was given the opportunity to attend this event. The Reebok product I received was free. This post is not compensated and all opinions are my own.

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