Is losing weight the last thing on your mind this time of the year?

I love Autumn. I love the cool, crisp mornings, the changing of colors outdoors, leaves falling, the tasty seasonal coffee flavors and COMFORT FOOD!

From soups to casseroles that make me feel cozy and sleepy, and the smell of fresh baked cookies in the kitchen on the weekends. While I do love to run in the cool outdoors, I also like to eat a whole lot more. Can you relate?

Comfort Food

It is also the time of the year that I normally do a “cleanse.” Now, my first experience with a cleanse was witnessing a dear friend and cubicle mate of mine drink some vinegar-cayenne-lemon-honey drink for several days while depriving herself of food. Food deprivation also led to a hangry shebeast (sorry my dear friend) that near about ripped my head off whenever I was in the general vicinity. I did not dare ask her how she was doing for fear that I would get a barrage of angry, bitter, and hunger induced emotional verbal assault.

As a result of this joyful experience, I swore I would never do a cleanse… I would never put my body through that experience.

In 2012, I was introduced to Herbalife and I watched a friend of mine have a very different experience with the Herbalife 21-Day Herbal Cleansing Program. She simply took two tablets in the morning and two tablets at night and drank an aloe-mango drink once a day. She ate her normal meals throughout the day, her skin looked amazing, and she seemed quite light in her step (if you know what I mean). So, I decided to give the 21-day cleanse a try.

I was skeptical at first, considering I had never needed something like this in the 30 or so years I had been on this planet thus far. After all, isn’t the occasional stomach bug every few years a good enough cleanse for the system? I decided to do the cleanse last Fall, just as we were getting into the season. By the third day, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t running to the bathroom every 5 minutes, I wasn’t drinking some weird concoction, and even though I was enjoying my regular Fall casseroles, I didn’t feel heavy and sluggish. By the end of the 21 Day cleanse, several friends asked me what I was up to? What was I taking and was I sneaking into the tanning bed. After the cleanse, I was left feeling refreshed, healthy, regular, and didn’t experience any bloating and digestive issues. I now do the 21-Day Cleanse in the Fall and just before summer.

How does it work?

21 Day Herbal Cleanse

21-Day Herbal Cleansing Program

1. AM Replenishing Formula. Take two tablets in the morning. Contains Milk Thistle, traditionally used for liver support, which helps promote the body’s natural elimination of toxins.

2. PM Cleansing Formula. Take two tablets before bed. Contains herbs traditionally used for healthy digestion, including Dandelion, which supports healthy elimination.

Herbal Aloe

Herbal Aloe

Drink one serving per day alone or mixed in with herbal tea. Herbal Aloe soothes the stomach, relieves indigestion, and supports nutrient absorption.

Invest in a cleanse today and strengthen your immune system, digestive health, weight management, and skin!

THANK YOU! 10 Things This Tri-Momma is Grateful For

Thanks to SITS Girls for challenging me to share 10 Things I am thankful for. I am so grateful for each and everyday I have on this planet and all the things that cross my path. For today, I am going to share what I thankful for as it pertains to triathlon… hopefully you will find some humor in a few of them.

Triathlon quote

10 Triathlon Thank You Moments!

  1. THANK YOU to Fitness magazine for writing an article and providing a training plan for a sprint triathlon. Your colorful pictures, cute gear, and realistic training plan for all women has led me down a road in which my husband never hears me complain about the cost of his golf rounds anymore.
  2. THANK YOU for putting the dreadful swim first and the run last. As a runner, I spend the race waiting to get to the run.
  3. THANK YOU triathlon for the cute and stylish racing gear….. yeah, right. No matter how you design it, trisuits have to be just about the most unflattering outfit in my closet.
  4. THANK YOU for the police escort. I’ve been first in my age group in a race and last in a race. At least when you are last, the motorcycle cop is there to talk to you for the rest of the bike section.
  5.  THANK YOU for energy gels and chlorine in pools which have made my dentist more money.
  6. THANK YOU to all the women doing triathlons! You keep me inspired!
  7. THANK YOU for Bodyglide! (No further details needed).
  8. THANK YOU to my two little girls, who motivate me and inspire me to be better everyday.
  9. THANK YOU to all the trimomma’s out there and to a good friend of mine that I get to go on long rides with, which gives us time to talk about mommyhood, training, life, and so much more!
  10. THANK YOU to my husband who does not do triathlons. I could not imagine what two of us in a house would be like.

My Favorite Fall Activity: Running Through Spider Webs

Spiderweb

 So… that’s totally a lie.

Running through spider webs is the one part of Fall that I absolutely dread and I am guaranteed to run through a few before winter sets in.  The joyful experience usually goes something like this….

Up at o-dark thirty… find some running clothes, dig through gym bag or purse to find my iPod, get a few things situated and head out the door. Hit Play on the iPod, get my Runkeeper app going on my phone and start off with a slow, dreadful pace and wonder how I will get through all the miles ahead of me. At this point I am on high spiderweb alert with eyes strained looking for any faint glimmer of light reflecting on a web. After a few miles I usually find my groove, tune into my music, zone out of reality, and then bam… face first into a web and instant karate chopping, skin crawling, and sprinting all occur at the same time. Why… why, why, why does my face always come in contact first????

Long after a run is over and I’ve taken a shower and made it to work I still suffer from the creep crawlies. Should a hair graze my shoulder or a piece of lint touch my arm, I will jump as if the spider had been hiding all day, waiting for the perfect opportunity in the day to jump out and freak me out one more time. Ugh.

karate-master

 

On the less creep crawly side…. there are a few things I do love about Fall.

I love running in the cooler temps.

I love that Fall marks the beginning of marathon training for me.

I love hunting for the perfect pumpkins and having a family fun carving day.

I love Black Friday shopping (even though I almost never make it out to shop).

I love seeing the seasons change and the way the leaves fall when the wind blows.

 

What do you love about Fall?

ENERGY GELS GALORE GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

Winner: Sadie B.

What is THAT? Have you ever been asked that question as you whip out what looks like a super-sized ketchup packet, tear it open and squirt something colorful with the texture of honey into your mouth? If you answered “yes,” then my guess is you have been introduced to the world of energy gels!

My first energy gel experience took place while on a summer bike ride a few years ago. About 20 miles into a bike ride, I whipped out an Espresso flavored Gu Energy Gel. I was not prepared for what I was in for….. warm, flavorful, and gooey!

Here’s where I get to show I’m not as young as I once was…. back in my Army days, we used to use honey packets before a timed physical fitness test or during long workouts. Honey packets either came in the form of a ketchup packet or what looked like a straw (similar to Pixie Sticks candy).

You will often find energy gels in goody bags for local road races – everything from 5ks to marathons, at local cycling events, and triathlons. I have even seen endurance belts designed to accommodate up to six gels at a time. While watching Ironman Kona (from my living room couch of course), I saw one triathlete tape over ten Gu packets onto her bike frame. Energy gels are indeed going to stick around (pun intended).

Energy Gel Giveaway includes:

Gu Energy Gel – Salted Caramel
Gu Energy Gel –   Salted Watermelon
Gu Energy Gel – Root Beer
Mud Energy – Chocolate Truffle Rage
Accel Gel – Vanilla
2nd Surge – Pina Colada

Gel Giveaway

Leave a comment below answering: What is your favorite energy gel brand and flavor?

 

  Click on the link to enter!

ENERGY GELS GALORE GIVEAWAY

Giveaway ends 9/26

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