12 Days of Christmas Giveaways - Day 8

It's Day 8 of #12DaysXmasGiveaways! Every day (Mon-Fri) until December 23, I will be featuring a special running-themed product as a HOLIDAY GIFT to you.  
The winner from Day 7 is DENNI JO SWEPSTON!  You've won a $35 gift card from Road ID. Contact me at runwithjess@comcast.net to claim your prize.

On Day 8, I'm excited introduce a product that is perfect for busy families who strive to eat well...  FlapJacked Protein Pancake Mixes!

If you're a mother runner like me, it's without a doubt that pancakes are a staple in your home. Kids love them, and I can't deny it... they are extremely satisfying after a winter long run. But most pancakes mixes are full of sugar and ingredients we can't pronounce.  Enter FlapJacked Protein Pancakes! FlapJacked believes that we are what we eat and healthy meals should not only fuel our bodies and be easy to prepare, but also taste fantastic. I completely agree!

FlapJacked Protein Pancake mixes are not only convenient (just add water), but easy to make and healthy for your family. Each package contains 6 servings of 200 calories or less... plus 15 grams or more of protein in each serving. That's the perfect protein punch you need after a good run - but also that hearty satisfying feeling in your belly. FlapJacked is made with the highest quality protein and the finest, all natural ingredients. 

There are currently three flavors of protein pancake mixes... Banana Hazelnut, Cinnamon Apple and Buttermilk. Oh-my! Hazelnut is my favorite flavor in just about anything!  If you win the Day 8 prize, you will get to try all three flavors with a FlapJacked Variety Pack!

WIN IT!

Enter the Day 8 contest via Rafflecopter below or on Facebook. Don't wait... You have ONE DAY! Winner will be drawn on Wednesday, December 18 in the morning. Happy Holidays!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Diet-to-Go Review

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I basically live on a permanent roller coaster of losing/gaining weight. The baby weight has been gone for quite some time, but I'm still stabbing away at those extra "newlywed" pounds and the "freshman 15". Yeah, I know, it's been long time since college. Hey, I've been busy!

Busy...
My least favorite word.
And yet my favorite excuse.

I'm busy alright... I exercise like crazy! But my food intake is sloppy and inconsistent. I love, love, love healthy fresh foods (really, I do!), but my busy-as-a-bee lifestyle makes it difficult to find time for proper food prep. Add in my hatred for grocery shopping and we've got ourselves a real problem. I can go all day without eating (bad, bad, bad) and then I'm starving by late-afternoon. Typically, I end up grabbing whatever is quick and easy in the house. Several nights a week, I don't get home from the gym until late. I'm famished and looking for something quick. My track record of "choices" is not stellar.  I'm not the only one who gets sucked into this routine, right?

That is exactly why I was excited when asked to review Diet-to-Go, a diet meal delivery service that was recently ranked #1 by Epicurious. A couple weeks ago, I came home to find a styrofoam box on my doorstep... packed with individually wrapped frozen meals amongst dry ice.

I selected the "Traditional" diet meals, but there is also vegetarian and low-carb options as well. I received an assortment of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals to sample. While all the food was neatly organized in packages, I would have liked to see a printed "menu", outlining what to eat each day and the nutritional totals for that day. Instead, I just grabbed whatever sounded good each day.

Cranapple Muffin with cream cheese sauce

Here's a sample of some of the meals I received...

• Wheat French Toast Bake
• Egg with Spinach, Chicken Sausage and Asparagus
• Tomato Veggie Pie
• Chicken Salad Sandwich
• Waldorf Chicken Salad Sandwich
• Wahoo Fish Burger
• Black Been Soup & sides
• Stir Fry Chicken Dinner
• Creole Dinner
• Chicken Fajita Dinner

My favorite was the Stir Fry Chicken Dinner (pictured above). Real vegetables, chicken breast meat with sauce and brown rice. It was both yummy and filling.

My least favorite was the sandwiches in general. I'm a carb gal... I seriously know and value fresh bread. I was not a fan of the bread used with these lunch meals. With the Waldorf Chicken Salad Sandwich (pictured above), I ended up scooping out the inside "chicken mix" and eating it atop a bowl of spinach.

PROS
• The convenience of course! Instead of digging for food or tempted by the drive-thru on the way home in the evening, I knew exactly what was for dinner... with no shopping or prep work. Most meals slid straight out of the freezer into the microwave and were done in less than 6 minutes.
• I found all the dinner creations were quite tasty and filling. Several times, I added extra veggies that I had in the fridge. I just prefer an abundance of vegetables on my plate... more filling with little added calories.
• Diet-to-Go offer no cancellation fees or gimmick pricing. There is no commitment or contract, and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can pause, stop or restart your diet meal plan at any time. I like the control factor of that.
• Should you find certain meals that you don't care for (like I did with the sandwiches),  Diet-to-Go's online customer tools make it easy to do meal substitutions.
• New meal flavors without wasting time searching and analyzing recipes. Diet-to-Go is like your own personal chef. Best of all, no pots and pans to wash!

CONS
• I thought the calorie counts were a bit high for a diet. The Wahoo Fish Burger was a fairly small dish that I had for lunch one day... 710 calories is a bit much for me. To see weight come off, I usually need to keep each meal under 500 calories, especially if I'm to allow for snacks. I also thought the sodium was high in most dishes... but that's coming from a girl who basically quit using salt (and doesn't miss it). Even my mom thinks I'm weird.
• The backside of each meal had ingredient information, some of which were quite long with too many words that I can't pronounce. I was kinda puzzled that only about half of my meals had nutritional information listed. How do I log this meal into my tracker without knowing the calorie count? Eeek! A dieter's nightmare.

The cost can be a PRO and a CON. When I grocery shop, I buy so much more than I'm suppose to. In the end, I spend more cashola... on things I shouldn't have. So a meal delivery service can help me in that respect. However, I still have to feed my family. Thus, I still have to make that dreaded trip to the grocery store.  The Diet-to-Go meals average $6-8 per meal. Depending on your lifestyle (how much you eat out and what you're currently eating), that may be a lot or right in line. I think it varies based on your current situation and how you place value "service" in your lifestyle.

• • •

Have you ever tried a diet meal delivery service?

If you'd like to try Diet-to-Go, 

use the coupon code fitfluential 

and receive 20% off any meal plan.

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Diet-to-Go Rating: 4.5

Reviewed By: Jess McMullin

January Challenges Recap

Like most people, I set myself lofty goals as the calendar flipped to January.  Make no mistake - I love blogger fitness challenges and virtual races, but I need to evaluate and select wisely.  Does this help me stay on track to reach my 2012 Goals?  Keeping focused on own personal goals is tough for me as I tend to get caught up in the excitement/persuasion of others.  During the month of January, I decided to participate in the following two challenges...

New 2 U Cross Training Challenge

hosted by (Just) Trying is for Little Girls

This challenge is a simple nudge outside my comfort zone of running... and try one new cross training activity each month of the year.  I am all about new experiences!  It keeps fitness fresh for me.  I find the more I cross train, the more I enjoy running days AND the less I get injured from overtraining. Total WIN all the way around.  Since one of my 2012 Goals is to complete my first triathlon, the selection of my first "new to me" cross train was easy... SWIMMING!

I wasted no time taking the plunge with my first pool date on January 2.  My goal was to swim at least two times each week as part of a brick-style workout (coupled with biking or running). During the last month, I completed 10 pool workouts.
Here's what I've learned...

• Swimming is hard!  Unlike running, there is much more coordination needed amongst the body parts - arm strokes, hip position, kicking and then breathing. Oh-the breathing!! The basic movements of running are natural for humans, right?  It was quite clear with swimming that I was not a natural-born fish.
• I had to think back to the beginning days of my running.  I didn't run a 5K overnight (took me months to work up to that!). The same holds true with swimming. I started with one simple lap of freestyle strokes.  I alternated with a lap of water jogging for recovery (I was literally panting after one lap of swimming!). The second week, I built up to a 2-1 ratio.  Now in my fourth week, I'm doing 3 laps of freestyle to 1 lap of board kicking where I practice proper breathing technique.  I can now easily finish 1500 yds in 40 minutes.
• Swim caps are not only awesome, but much needed when you have long hair.  I tied my long locks back in a tight bun to swim, but it still came loose. I can't tell you how difficult it is to detangle swim hair!  Finally I bought myself a swim cap and the hair problem is solved.
• Swimmers are not nearly as friendly as runners.  Just sayin'... it was a frigid welcome to the pool by the other regular swimmers.  Even after a month, only one guy has warmed up enough to say hello. Weird.
• Swimming rocks the side muscles of your core!  I felt it instantly after the first workout. I will continue swimming in my regular fitness routine because I think it's made a huge difference in my cardiovascular ability and overall toning of my "non-running" muscles.

Food Journal Challenge

hosted by Run to the Finish

Another one of my 2012 Goals is to lose weight, specifically 30 pounds before summer.  If you've been following me for even a little while, you know my failure is not in the exercise arena.  My weakness is food.  This Food Journal Challenge was just what I needed to start the year. Luckily the challenge perimeters were pretty flexible, because I fumbled around before finally finding what worked for me...

• First I bought a little notebook, eager to jot down everything I ate and journal my "food feelings" for the day.  I did well with that the first week and then it slowly fizzled (lost in the pile of homework, bills and mail on the kitchen counter).
• As I struggled to keep up the notebook, I started taking photographs of my meals.  Initially, the photos were just a visual reminder of what I ate... so that I could catch-up on my journal.  What I learned quickly was that I had a really hard time taking a picture of a pile of chocolate chips (the only chocolate I could find in the house!) or a greasy plate of pizza. I also couldn't take seconds... I mean seriously, two pictures for one meal!?!?  Then I began sharing my photos in a Facebook album {here}.  Now I felt an urge to make the plates "look pretty and colorful".  It also held me a bit more accountable.
• Lastly, I logged back into My Fitness Pal.  I used this website (and now iPhone app) several years back when I started my weight loss journey. It's so easy to use (and free!) to track your daily intake and calories.  It forces me to measure out my food portions.  Like so many Americans, my portions were too big.  In fact, I quit using the 11" dinner plates (except for salads).  My dinners are now served on the smaller 8" plates.

Do these monthly challenges make a difference?  I'll let you decide. This morning was my official Week 3 Weigh-In for the 55-Day Weight Loss Challenge at my health club.  So excited with my results this week...

-5.1 lbs this week!

Brings my total to -15.1 lbs for the three week period.

My team in general is doing very well.  The five of us Sole Sisters have lost 51.8 lbs as a group!

Five for Friday!!

1.  I'm learning why marathon plans have "recovery weeks" after 18-22 mile runs.  Last week, I logged over 36 miles... 18 on Sunday, followed by a 5K race on Monday.  My whole body was T.I.R.E.D come Tuesday.  Through the past year, I've really learned to listen to my body to avoid injuries.  So I slowed it down this week... only logged 12 miles all week!  But I must admit this morning's run felt very refreshing.  I'm looking forward to 15 tomorrow morning - especially since my favorite paved trail is OPEN once again after a month of construction/repaving.  Do you listen to your body - or stick to the plan?


2.  My 37th birthday falls on a Saturday this year, so I've been searching for a half-marathon in the Midwest to run that day.  To avoid the depressing fact that I'm inching closer to 40, I find it invigorating to run on my birthday. With the past couple years of running, I definitely feel like I'm getting younger instead of older!
Yesterday, I got an email.... Just Announced!!  ZOOMA Women's Half Marathon Great Lakes on Saturday, Oct. 22 in the beautiful resort town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  The course runs along the shores of Geneva Lake, a little hilly, but sure to be breath-taking with the fall colors.  If you register before July 16, use discount code ZOOMAGL11 to get $10 off a half-marathon entry and $5 off a 5K entry.  Come run my birthday with me!

Just imagine running this in the fall colors!??!

3.  There are a ton of cool giveaways going on in Bloggyville this week.  I've updated my Giveaways page.  Be sure to check it out to win some cool running goods... including my Family Fan Club $30 gift card giveaway for a new shirt or other custom item!

4.  I had a cupcake tasting yesterday for a wedding client.  I spent most the day baking six different flavors of cupcakes, each with their own flavored frosting.  I couldn't help but sneak a few.  Butter Pecan with maple frosting rocked my world!  Definitely NOT good for the marathon diet...

5.  Are you racing this weekend??  Comment here if you are so I can send positive race waves your way!!  Here is your FRIDAY RACE SALUTE!  Kick some butt!

Special mention to Kurt at Becoming an Ironman.  I've been following his training for months now, and this weekend he competes in Ironman Providence.  That's 70.3 miles...  I just know he's going to rock it!  And if you want in on a fun contest, predict his finish time here.

Order Up!

Part of responsible training is taking care of your body... giving it the right amount of rest and the proper nutrition.  This week I’ve been focusing on everything that hits my plate (and even that which goes directly down the hatch!).  After three days, I’m feeling really good already.  The more I train, the more I’m in tune with my body.  I notice it reacts quickly to changes in the diet.  Feed it right and it will be good to you...

I love reading what other runners are eating, so without further ado, What's on you plate? Wednesday is here!  I'll share some of my favorite meals and recipes from the week with you... Bon Appetite!

LOADED OATMEAL - always one of my favorites!  I start with an instant packet of Quaker Raisin, Date & Walnut oatmeal.  Once cooked, I pile on more raisins, walnuts, bananas and strawberries.  Yum!

BAKED PARMESAN-ENCRUSTED TILAPIA with steamed broccoli & a fun salad.

Little Girl and I tried out new BANANA MUFFIN recipes.

This Banana Oat Nut recipe below was my favorite.

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• Combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl, beat egg slightly & add the last four ingredients. Stir in dry mixture until just combined.  Bake 400 degrees 18-20 minutes in muffin pans.

I love summer lunches!  Toasted Everything Bagel with turkey, cheese, cuc & lettuce.  

Skipped the chips and went with watermelon & carrots!

The kids really wanted tacos one night... so that's what we did.  

I limited myself to only one, but filled that tortilla to the seams with chopped veggies!

Colorful loaded salad for lunch!  I was starving after Spin class today & this totally hit the spot.  And I'm loving how My Fitness Pal computes every last calorie for me (below)...

I also figured out that if you're going to cheat... make it last!!  I cut this Reese's Peanut Butter cup into EIGHT pieces and made that 100 calories take a full 30 minutes to consume!  Bahaha!

So what's on your plate this week?

Smooth Tempo

The fact that my two darling children were fighting like monsters this morning turned out to be a really, really good thing.  It got me motivated FAST this morning to get to the gym.  (Hello, free childcare for two hours?!?!)  I was thankful for my time alone with the ipod and anxious to run this week's tempo.   And for the record, I nailed it!

2 mile warmup
2 mile TEMPO @ 9:20 pace
1 mile easy @ 10:00 pace
2 mile TEMPO @ 9:20 pace
1 mile cool down
TOTAL: 8 miles in 79 minutes
I'm happy with this run because my training plan calls for 9:33 as my mid-tempo pace, but I successfully held onto the 9:20 pace during both tempos (6.4mph on the mill).  In fact, I got the pace down to 9:00 towards the end. When I run on fresh legs, as they were today, I believe I really am getting faster on the Run Less, Run Faster plan.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

My afternoon snacks are usually pretty lame... an apple, banana, etc.  But today I'm in high spirits after my run, so I made a new smoothie to power through until dinner.  I present the Chocolate Banana Smoothie! The taste reminded me of DQ's Mocha MooLattes that are so yummy but pack a whopping 500 calories each!   This recipe makes 16 oz, which was so filling I could hardly finish it.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

1 medium 7" banana (frozen is best)

1/2 c. skim milk

1/2 c. ice cubes

1/2 c. cold coffee, home-brewed

1 T. Hershey's Choc Syrup

1 packet of Sweet 'n Low

Throw it all in a blender until smooth. 

Pour and enjoy!

(201 calories, 47g carbs, 5g protein)

Bananas are by far the most popular recovery food for runners.  They're the perfect grab 'n go snack.  Bananas are easy to digest, packed with energy producing carbs and a great source of potassium, which helps prevent muscle cramps.  Add in the high quality, muscle building protein from milk and you'll recover from a hard run more effectively.  Find more great smoothie ideas HERE.

What is your favorite recovery food/drink?!
Is there anything better than chocolate milk?

Don't forget to enter my Pink Ribbon Sports Bottle Giveaway!

Runner on a diet

Everyone always assumes you lose a bunch of weight while training.  With all that running, how can you not shrink, right?!  Unfortunately, that has not been the case for me.  I have to watch everything I put into my mouth in order to shed the pounds.  When training, it seems I'm more hungry than ever.  Not a good combination.  However, I am determined to get down to 145 before my training this summer for the Rock 'n Roll Marathon - St. Louis.

My exercise burn is spot-on.  Time to get the eating under control.  So yesterday I did some kitchen cleaning (again!)  Unhealthy leftovers were dumped. Perfectly good cupcakes found a home in the garbage.

After a trip to the store, we stocked up on foods to make healthy meals and snacks.  Thankfully, my husband was eager to "reset" with me as well.  Back on the healthy train.  Choo-choo! 

And when I get on that healthy kick, even my kids' meals get a makeover.  Thankfully, I do not have picky eaters.  Pride literally shivered through me when the first thing they both grabbed was the broccoli... and then asked for more!  :) 

I spent the evening watching Biggest Loser, making out meals plans for the week, and entered my day into My Fitness Pal website.  It's a good day when you burned more calories than you ate!  Great start to "The Reset."

This morning I began with an incredibly yummy oatmeal concoction (fuel to start up the metabolism!) with bananas, strawberries, raisins, walnuts, and dates.

Today's workout was a 45 min Spinning class, followed by 25 min weight circuit, and 10 min on the Endless Rope.  Today I feel GREAT! (Thanks bloggy-friends for all the kind words yesterday when I was so frustrated.)

Up Next (Thursday):  TEMPO - 2m warmup, 5m tempo run at mid-tempo pace (9:30), 1m cooldown.

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When you make a serious effort to lower your weight, is it a family affair?

...or are you stuck with a Lean Cuisine while the rest of the family chows on lasagna?

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