Sunday, July 28, 2013

Updates and Reviews

Hi everyone! I know I've been slacking lately, but it's been finals week after 5/10 extremely stressful weeks of classes, but I now have off until August 12th, so that's exciting! With my EnergyBits giveaway, Ben J. won! So hopefully he'll be enjoying his bits soon. Congratulations Ben!

 I was also on a cleanse for about a week, so I took off from running because I didn't have very much energy to do much of anything. I know starving yourself isn't the right way to go about weight loss, don't worry! I'm well educated. But I had a weigh-in with my parents who essentially pay me to lose weight. I know, it sounds weird, but they know with school and all I need some type of incentive to keep losing weight until I'm back to a 'healthy' one. I've been completely off track this past week since weighing in, but I'm hoping to get back on track. I'm staying at my parents' house to take care of their dog for the next week or so as they're on vacation, so hopefully with no school work and a big kitchen to work in, I'll be able to do well.

I've tried a couple of things from my StrideBox. First, I had the Gu-Brew TriBerry flavor. It had the same effect on me as Nuun, I think. It was a bit of a tart flavor, but that made it refreshing when it was nice and cold through a work-out. I also tried the Bearded Brother's energy bar, and it was ... interesting. It's quite a heavy bar, but not in a bad way. It was alright, but there was something off about the taste to me. I think it was just the dates in it, since those were the main ingredients, but just not quite my thing. If I liked dates, I think I would have really enjoyed this!

I'm looking forward to getting back into my training and healthy eating, especially since there's hardly any time left before Tower of Terror!

Any tips to get back into things?
Lauren

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Finally fell for the craze

So! I'm sure at least most of you have heard of SparkleSkirts. I was intrigued by the promise that they wouldn't ride up, but they are a bit pricey. 

I finally caved and ordered the shorts, since they were about $10 less. And I was absolutely ecstatic when they lived up to their promise!! I have finally found shorts the perfect length that do not ride up, even on my chubby legs. I've even taken them through just over five miles in just over an hour, and they stayed right where they were when I left my apartment. 

Needless to say, I was hooked. 

When I saw that the Rock N Roll skirt was endangered and on sale, it didn't take much for me to jump on the deal. 
I absolutely love it, and will of course wear it for RnR Savannah in November. I haven't taken it for a run yet but it's so so comfortable, just the right length, and fun!

If you haven't tried SparkleSkirts, I can't recommend them enough. Leah Powell, the owner, is absolutely amazing. There are even hand written notes in each package! It feels like getting a package from a friend, not a company. 

Have you ever worn them? Which do you own?

Lauren

Monday, July 15, 2013

EnergyBits Review and Giveaway!

A few weeks ago, EnergyBits sent me a sample to review, and they want to let one of my readers try it out too!

I've used Clif SHOTBlocks, but nothing else as far as energy goes.  Also, EnergyBits seemed to be more of an ongoing energy option than a quick boost right before or during exercise.   Being a science major and all, I wanted to conduct at least a somewhat controlled experiment with eating the same foods at the same times, etc. but that just didn't happen.

But I did take my bits just before my 5 mile run on Sunday, my longest run to date!  I wasn't feeling running at all that day, was tired from my boyfriend working at 6 a.m. the 3 days before, and various other things. 

I opened up my bits (and forgot to take pictures, I'm a horrible blogger!) and counted out my 25.  They do have a slight smell of fish food.  Well, I suppose they are algae, so technically speaking they are fish food.  At any rate, I decided to take them 3 at a time, each with a big gulp of water.  There's a slight unidentifiable aftertaste, but nothing a couple extra swigs of water won't take care of.

So with my bits and water in my belly, I started getting ready and headed off to the gym.  And it actually did help to perk me up!  The bits gave me a great source of very natural feeling energy.   I wasn't buzzing and bouncing all over the place, and there was no crash after.  It made me feel more awake and alert.  I loved the feeling the bits gave me.

Unfortunately, I probably won't continue to use them.  The absolute ONLY reason is because I hate swallowing pills or any pill-type things.  With the remainder of my bits, I am going to try to chew them, since that's possible as well.  If that works for me, I'll gladly continue to use them, so I'll update everyone on that!

And now, you have your chance to win your very own sample of bits!  You have one week to enter, and feel free to share with your friends =)

Good luck everyone!
Lauren

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, July 6, 2013

July StrideBox

Yesterday I got my first StrideBox! Everything looks great. I know my boyfriend will be taking at least one thing because it's coffee flavored - yuck! The only thing in the box I've tried before is Nuun (and it was a different flavor) so I'm really excited. 

Here's what I got: 
I thought it was a little strange that the bottle is 18 oz when all the samples need 16 oz water but I guess some people like to dilute it. I'll let you know how everything is! 

Have you tried any of these? 
Lauren