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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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30 Minute Treadmill Workout and BAMR Band Review

April showers brings May flowers eh? I feel like today was a reverse of that childhood rhyme as most of the April flowers were washed away with today’s heavy rain in New York City.

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As lovely as a speedy run along the East River sounded last night when I went to bed it didn’t quite happen this morning. I’m human and when I hear heavy raindrops on my window sill at 5:30am it makes rolling out of bed and lacing up my shoes 100x harder than normal. I rolled back over and enjoyed an extra hour of sleep along with a relaxing cup of hot coffee while getting ready this morning. It was such a nice treat but that also meant that my run needed to happen tonight after work. I’ve committed to keeping my health and fitness a priority over the next few weeks even when I have long, stressful days. Today was a perfect example. I wanted nothing more than to head home at 7:15 and enjoy a glass of wine. But, as I sip that wine I know it tastes better now than it would have sans workout!

As I’ve mentioned, my Equinox membership will be ending soon but tonight it served as the perfect place to do a quick workout. I only had 30 minutes for my run due to an 8pm work conference call. Therefore I knew I wanted something challenging that would also keep things interesting since I get VERY bored on the treadmill. It was a pretty simple workout but it helped me keep an average pace of 8:54 which is pretty speedy for a 30 minute run. I remember that last year this time I was feeling out of breath and challenged at a 9:40 pace!

Treadmill Progression Workout

I also had the chance to test out a fun, red chevron BAMR band during tonight’s run. Have you heard of BAMR bands? BAMR stands for Bad Ass Mother Runner and her bands are 7/8 inch non-slip headbands that support the Every Mother Counts charity! How cool is that? Katie sent me a band to test earlier this week and I couldn’t wait to try it!  Each headband is lined with velvet with helps keep it in place while the bright patterns keep things fun! Each headband is only $10 which is a great price compared to some other similar headbands on the market.

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How about you? Headband or not when you workout? If you’re on the headband train which one are you sporting these days?

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