Two thumbs up for Caitlin, folks. I so appreciate your encouraging comments and tweets about my plans yesterday to NOT do more of a workout than one Group Step class at the gym, and still go out to a restaurant afterward and enjoy myself. I have to admit, it was tough. I was tempted to skip a snack before the gym because I was trying to restrict and compensate for not working out “enough”. But I didn’t because I knew that I wanted to be strong, fight the ego, and be true to me! And truthfully, Caitlin knows she needs a snack before she works out.
The step class felt great, and though I still felt seeds of doubt about doing enough working out or being “hungry enough” for my dinner, my worries really did dissipate almost completely the moment I sat down. I had great food, drinks, and company. I did not overdo it on food/drinks whatsoever and even ditched my comfort zone and stayed out at the restaurant until 11pm! This morning when I woke up I felt a) exhausted and b) wonky in the stomach area. So I ditched the planned P90X Yoga session and did some basic stretching. That’s IT for me today. I feel REALLY proud right now because though I’ve got some anxiety going on right now, I’m being kind to myself and I have faith in that and know I’m doing what’s right!
My HLS roomie Alex of Wholesome Livingnominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award! I really enjoy filling out these little surveys especially because lately I’ve just been enjoying writing more about moi and my musings, thoughts, what have you. In fact I’m going to cheat a bit and use this survey to share some more current words running through my mind, not just general “about me” stuff.
Please sing the title of this blog post to the tune of Brad Paisley’s “Southern Comfort Zone” – it’s a wonderful country song and a fabulous play on words. Country haters, please give it a chance. Plus Brad is a sexy man. Right Kelly?
Wow, my mom is seriously DYING over your positive reactions to her Mexican casserole recipe that I shared yesterday! Susan even made the recipe that very night, and I sent my mom her blog post with rave reviews from both her and her hubby.
Before this post gets going, please read this hilarious Gawker article my friend Rachel sent me about the food menu at this year’s Golden Globes. I hope it brightens your Monday!
I was first introduced to the Tone It Up trainers, Karena and Katrina, through Heather. She’s a huge fan of their workouts, boho style, and general real-ness. I have to agree! I even had the chance to meet the lovely ladies themselves at the Oakley Store in Times Square.
As the years pass, we twenty-somethings have a harder time coming up with actual THINGS we want for Christmas. YES this is a first world problem. I mean, this is Fashion Friday after all. And it’s easy to just ask for a gift card – of the general (Visa, AmEx, etc) or more specific variety. I did just that this year and my family members were very generous towards me. Thanks to my recent Boston father/daughter trip, my Christmas presents did not last long. However, they have been transformed into Fashion Friday finds that I’m here today to show you!
I’ve already brought up pvBody on the blog’s Facebook page and Twitter, and I definitely got a LOT of positive feedback…before I’d even shared my full review!
I have seriously been looking for an effective arm iPhone holder to use at the gym for a few years now. I have tried adjustable arm bands before, but they simply never stay in place, even at their tightest adjustment. The Banjees running wallet interested me because of the availability of a design big enough to hold an iPhone that is still in its case. Other running wallets I’ve tried that claim to fit an iPhone have not fit the phone with the case still on. Taking the case on and off is, though minor, an inconvenience. Sprigs promised me the Big model of Banjees would indeed meet my need for a running wallet that would hold my iPhone, case in all, and stay in place.
Just like Earbags, Banjees come in a variety of designs and fabrics. Of course I had to choose a print! Also available are reversible, fleece, organic cotton, and recyclable versions!
Oh you fancy huh?
I’ve never been shy about the fact that I don’t really like running, so you guys might be confused as to why I’ve been in the market for an effective running wallet. Well, you don’t’ have to be running to use one! I actually wanted to try the Banjees because tucking my iPhone into my waistband or sports bra while lifting weights to music (gotta have the music factor) has been super annoying. What better way to test out the Banjees than by using it during one of my fave fitness activities – arm day!
Taking a photo with a phone of a product that is holding your phone is quite difficult!
The verdict is two dumbbells up for the Big Banjees Wrist Wallet! After I took the above photo, I ended up sliding it all the way up to my bicep; this is where I’ve been wearing it since. I honestly use it every time I strength train now. The Banjees doesn’t budge from its perch on my arm and the wallet portion is the perfect size for my phone in my case. I wiggle it into the slot and it stays firmly secure there until I take it out.
The only annoying part of using it is having to take it out of the slot to change the song/check my phone/adjust volume/etc. #fitnessproblems – certainly not a dealbreaker and I’d rather have a convenient place to hold my strength training music than keep putting my phone in my waistband or sports bra. Though the latter place leaves it more easily accessible for music adjustments, it means more to me to have a way to get the iPhone out of my way so that it doesn’t interfere with my weights sessions.
This is where I wear the Banjees on my arm when I lift weights – you’re looking at a satisfied blogger!
Promo Code
Just like with Earbags, Sprigs is offering Cait Plus Ate readers a promo code to use when purchasing Banjees! The code is “CaitBanjees” and will get you 10% off a purchase up to $29.99 or 20% off a purchase $30 and up. The code expires 12/31/12 – perfect for Christmas shopping for others OR yourself 😉 – and the Earbags promo code is good until 12/17/12 too!
Giveaway
Sprigs is doing another giveaway for you guys – one lucky Cait Plus Ate reader will win a Banjees of his or her choice! Ways to enter are similar to the Earbags giveaway, and the entries close at 11:59PM EST this Thursday 11:59PM. Continental US only please! Leave a separate comment for each form of entry or multiple entries won’t count!
Check out the Banjees selection on Sprigs.com and comment on this post telling me which Banjees you’d want most! (mandatory)
Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
Follow @Sprigsville on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
Tweet “I entered to win a @Sprigsville Banjees running wallet from @CaitPlusAte! #fitfluential #fitgear http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1HN” and comment here with the link to the tweet.
General Giveaway Rules: No Purchase Necessary. This giveaway is only open to residents of the continental United States. The email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner and will never be given out to anyone nor sold. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. Please make sure you check your junk mail folder.
I received a complimentary Big Banjees Wrist Wallet from Sprigs for this review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post.
Have you ever heard of Sprigs Earbags? Yes, Earbags. Don’t be alarmed. I’m not talking about hanging bags from your ears. I’m talking about bandless earmuffs that keep ears toasty and stay in place well enough to use during runs, hikes, or any outdoor activity in cold weather. For a better idea of what I’m talking about, check out this informative (albeit slightly cheesy) demo:
Sprigs is a customer-centric company that only sells products people have requested and have a need for. Once they establish the need for a product, if it doesn’t exist, they create it. You can read up on the backstory of the Earbags’ creationhere. Sprigs was kind enough to offer me not only my own set of Earbags to review, but a set for my mom to try out too!
I feel like this family review is appropriately timed in light of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday! And I am thankful for my wonderful mother every single day, not just around Thanksgiving. She has always been a steady part of my life. As I have gotten older, we have only gotten closer. Well, maybe not when I was an angsty teen. So sue me! Anyway, I’m glad that I was able to include her in my Earbags trial because she works out outdoors way more frequently than me. Her number one love is running, something I have never been able to get really into. My mom also hates living in cold New England, and has the same problem I do – we are ALWAYS COLD. So a product that would stay in place and keep her ears warm during her run peaked her interest.
I’m a fan of the nifty bag they come in!
I picked out the pink fleece Earbags for my mom because she is a lover of all things pink, and I thought the fleece was perfect for keeping her ears at their warmest during long runs! Even the Earbags without fleece on the outside though are lined on the inside with Thinsulate. My mom embarked on her first Earbags run on a chilly weekend morning. About an hour or so after she left, I received the following text:
I nearly died. This blogger has trained her mother well. I did not even request this immediate post-run selfie/opinion. She just sent it! So cute. And she really did love the Earbags, and has continued to wear them on her runs! They stayed in place perfectly and kept her ears cold even through long 8 or 9 milers.
Better selfie view – good job Mom! She said this was one of several attempts…
Don’t they really look like earmuffs?! Just bandless! I tried mine out this past weekend during a special hike in Mystic, CT (more details to come on that this week…) with Maria. She thought they were earmuffs when she first saw me in them!
Smilin’ post-hike!
I went for a cute cable knit pair – black, so that they’d match everything! They’re pretty adorable.
I definitely recommend Earbags for any runners out there, or even just those who spend a lot of time outdoors and don’t want to worry about having to constantly adjust their ear-warming method of choice. Sprigs is offering Cait Plus Ate readers a promo code to use if you are interested in ordering your own pair! Use the code CaitPlusAte20 up until 12/17/12 at 11:59PM EST. It will save you 10% off orders up to $29.99 and or 20% off $30 or more!
Giveaway
Or maybe you’ll be the lucky one Cait Plus Ate reader to win my GIVEAWAY for a pair of Earbags! Sprigs wants to share the Earbags love with a reader too, and you have until this Wednesday at 11:59PM EST to enter. Continental US only please! Here’s how to participate – be sure to leave a separate comment for each method of entry or additional entries don’t count!
Head to the Sprigs Earbags page and tell me which pair you’d want most!
Follow @SpriGsville on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
Tweet “I entered to win @SpriGsville Earbags from @CaitPlusAte! http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1H5 #fitfluential #fitgear” and comment here with the link to the tweet.
General Giveaway Rules: No Purchase Necessary. This giveaway is only open to residents of the continental United States. The email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner and will never be given out to anyone nor sold. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. Please make sure you check your junk mail folder.
Good luck to all who enter! And be sure to let me know if you use the promo code CaitPlusAte20 to purchase your own pair of Earbags! Although I received these Earbags free of charge, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Anchor Bay was nice enough to also send me a copy of each of these two DVDsto try out and review. I have been working on doing decreasing the amount of high-intensity workouts in my week, and having a variety of workout videos has certainly helped me on that journey. My recent GI issues have also called for more low-intensity workouts. Heavy weights and cardio don’t feel great to my body when I’m feeling nauseous.
Yoga expert Tamal Dodge teaches both 30-minute workouts. As you can probably guess, one is for energy and includes poses that strengthen, tone, and stretch. The other relaxes the body through simple poses like downward dog, spinal twist, and crocodile (one of the easiest poses in yoga). I tried this DVD while I was feeling nauseous and it was nice and relaxing, though my stomach couldn’t handle poses that incorporated back bends, like camel or cobra. If you plan to do both programs, I recommend doing the energy first and the relax second. This is what I did and if I had flip-flopped, I think I would have been ready to take a nap or just meditate after the relax video and never would have made it to the energy! Tamal’s instructions are calming and the video would even be one I’d recommend to a beginning yogi. I can certainly see myself using this DVD again when I am craving some movement but not feeling 100%.
The talented and beautiful Lisa Hubbard (who sometimes likes my Instagram pics…I die) leads both workouts on this DVD – the 30-minute total body and 10-minute abs. The pink resistance band shown on the cover is indeed included inside and functions very well, although it does stick to itself (like tape) a bit! To be honest with you, I don’t know if I would call this an “accelerated” pilates routine. I was expecting something more advanced, but found the total body work to be not particularly challenging. The abs were a bit harder – a straight 10 minutes of abs usually is! But the video overall is still a good mix of total body moves that kept me interested thanks to all the variety and the use of the band, something I’m still inexperienced with. I have to admit that it pissed me off a few times when it came “unlooped” from around my foot, but I don’t think it’s anything practice won’t fix! I don’t want those not super-experienced with pilates to be discouraged by the classification of the DVD as “accelerated” because I really think a lot of folks can do this DVD and get in an enjoyable workout!
Dance Workout DVD Giveaway
I love dance workouts like Group Groove and Zumba. They’re both heart-pumping and brain-occupying, which makes the time fly! Anchor Bay has two dance workout DVDs to give away to one lucky Cait Plus Ate reader:
Dance Off the Inches Latin Cardio Dance Party: Three dance routines (samba, reggaeton, cumbia) broken down into steps, then combinations, to help you learn the routines! The workouts total 65 minutes, so each is about 20 minutes of cardio fun.
10 Minute Solution Cardio Hip Hop: Five 10-minute dance routines – so easy to customize your cardio workout’s length! Even if you just have ten minutes, there’s a routine on here for you. And if you have almost an hour, do all five in a row!
Giveaway is open to continental US only and ends at 11:59PM EST on Sunday 11/4/12. To enter, you can do the following – and leave a separate comment for each:
Comment on this post (mandatory) and tell me which you prefer – yoga or pilates?
Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter, and comment with your Twitter handle saying you did.
Follow @AnchorBayEntFit on Twitter, and comment with your Twitter handle saying you did.
Tweet “I’m entered to win two @AnchorBayEntFit dance workout DVDs from @CaitPlusAte! #fitfluential http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1CH” and comment here with the link to the tweet.
Repin something from Element on Pinterest and comment with the link to the repin.
General Giveaway Rules: No Purchase Necessary. This giveaway is only open to residents of the continental United States. The email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner and will never be given out to anyone nor sold. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. Please make sure you check your junk mail folder.
Good luck to all who enter! I received both of these DVDs from Anchor Bay to review free of charge. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Be sure to enter my giveaway for Mama Micki’s vegan cookies – you have until tomorrow (Saturday 9/22) at 11:59PM EST to enter!
I’m still so relieved to know that I’m not alone in feeling what I shared on Tuesday. I would never be happy that others are experiencing any negative emotions, but it is comforting to know I’m not alone, and I can see that many of you share the same sentiment. I always get paranoid when I open up here but I never end up regretting it because you’re all just so very kind and understanding!
This seems like a fitting time to announce that I recently signed up for the Love Your Body 5Kon Saturday, October 20th! The run is being put on by the CT Chapter of the National Organization for Women and will take place at the beautiful West Hartford Reservoir. I highly encourage anyone in the area to sign up and join fellow blogger Maria and I on Team #AmazingMe! There’s no “official” sign-up process to start a team, but if you sign up and want to join us then simply shoot me an email and let me know so that I can keep you in the loop on where we’ll meet up before the race and costumes(YES we are ABSOLUTELY dressing up and suggestions are welcome!)
My dear friend Jenny and I on a hike in the Reservoir!
Registration is just $25 before the race and $30 on race day, so if you’re on the fence you won’t be losing out on too much money by deciding to show up last minute. But you MAY lose out on the advance notice needed to put a costume together 😛 fair warning! Proceeds benefit the CT NOW Foundation and they are still looking for sponsors, so if you are a local business interested in showing support for an empowering movement then you can email them here!
Now let’s get down to it. I know you guys enjoy Fashion Friday and I do too, even if it means I’m slowly revealing the size of my closet to the public – it’s actually a small closet, but way more full than it should be. Oops. But fashion makes me happy (and so does donating clothes I don’t wear anymore!) so I will keep filling (and periodically emptying) that closet of mine with more material for more Fashion Fridays. After all, there are 52 Fridays in a year!
Disclaimer:I am completely kidding and am in no form promising you all 52 (multiplied by 4-5 outfits per post) unique outfits per year. Now that would be obscene.
I also just found one of the tops from last week’s Fashion Friday on Urban Outfitters online SALE section!
Which outfit is your favorite?
Got any ideas for costumes for Team #AmazingMe?Remember the Love Your Body 5K takes place just 11 days before Halloween, so the possibilities are truly endless!
Have you ever attended a Love Your Body – themed event?
I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!
My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!
Disclaimer
I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.
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