The Weekly Chase and Energy Bits Winner!

It's time for another Weekly Chase! Melissa at Live, Love, and Run started this awesome weekly goal setting series and I love it! I am so glad she is going to continue to host it...she gave all of us Weekly Chase bloggers a scare last week when she was thinking about stopping the Weekly Chase. Glad she decided to keep it up! She does have some changes in store so I'm excited about that!


Here are my goals from last week:

• Goal #1: Deep clean my house. 75% done! I got some things done but not as much cleaned as I would have liked. I think like everything else, I need a schedule for household chores!
• Goal #2: Take my sub info to one more school. Fail! This didn't get done. Hayden got sick on Monday and was out of school and at home with me until Thursday. Then when he finally went back to school I had other pressing things to get done that I couldn't get to while he was sick. This will be posted again for this week.
• Goal #3: Do 2-3 planned strength training workouts this week. 50% done! Hayden being sick really put things on hold for me. I did get all my scheduled runs in but I only got one strength training session in...and I did it at home. You can see my Give Me 5 Workout here if you missed it! ;-)

Here are this week's goals:

Goal #1: Take my sub info to one more school. I WILL get this done this week! I need to work people! :-)

Goal #2: Do at least one household chore a day. I can't seem to keep up with the house stuff...from cleaning to laundry it is just hard to get it all done. Then I let it pile up and I get so overwhelmed that I want to cry! My goal is to conquer just one thing a day. That way it doesn't build up so bad.

Goal #3: Do 2 strength training workouts this week. I know I keep coming back to this one but I'm hoping it will one day stick! I want this to become a routine for me like my runs are! I feel so much better afterwards and I know it is making me a stronger runner. I just need to be consistent. 

So there you have it! I know my goals are very similar to last week but I'm ok with that! They may be boring to you but I feel it's what I need to do...it really helps me to write my goals out here for you to see. Yes I may not accomplish them every week but I try. 

I have a WINNER for the Energy Bits! Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!!!

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Congrats Gabby!!! Please send an email to mindy@roadrunnergirl.com with your mailing address so you can get your Energy Bits!

QOTD: What are your goals for this week?

#FitFluential and Energy Bits Giveaway!

Some of you may have seen this when I tweeted about it a few weeks ago but I wanted to officially announce it here on the blog. I was accepted as a FitFluential Ambassador!!!

So what does this mean? Well it means that I am going to have a lot more opportunities to help this little blog of mine grow! FitFluential is all about encouraging others to live a healthier lifestyle...and that's my main goal in writing this blog...to share my fitness and health journeys with you...and encourage you to live a healthy lifestyle.

Here is some information about FitFluential from their website:

FitFluential is a nationwide network of highly influential fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media platforms. Founded in April of 2011 by Kelly Olexa, FitFluential was designed to connect health and wellness brands with their ideal target market through customized, long-term experiential and contextual marketing campaigns.

We deliver positive messages of health and wellness, but we also promote maintaining a healthy balance. Too often, people view fitness messaging as restrictive and harsh. We showcase how anyone can incorporate habits that will improve their overall health and well-being.

Fitness is all about fitting in to your LIFE. We’ll focus on four primary areas in everything we do: Eat, Sleep, Move, Enjoy.

• Eat- the fuel our body needs that tastes great and helps us reach our goals, whether it is weight loss, building muscle, or learning to eat a more sustainable diet
• Sleep – the importance of rest in getting fit cannot be disputed, and you must get enough sleep so your days are energized
• Move- from walking to bodybuilding, from Crossfit to yoga, let’s move and keep our heart and body healthy
• Enjoy- life must be enjoyed and there are times when a cookie or a cookout and a day off is just what you need.

By focusing on these four components of a healthy LIFE, we promote balance. 

I love those four areas and you will be seeing me post about them here on the blog and on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

I highly encourage you to check out FitFluential's website, follow them on twitter, and like them on Facebook!!!

I hope you are as excited as I am about this opportunity! FitFluential is all about fitness and the best brands to help you in that journey! I so excited to join this team of awesome fitness and health enthusiasts!!!

With that said...I have another giveaway for you today!!! You may remember reading my review of Energy Bits...if not you can read the full review HERE. Here is a cliff note version of what Energy Bits are all about!

Bits of Health Inc. is a company that has made a easy way for us to eat algae. Why would you want to eat algae? Because it has so many health benefits including protein, antioxidants, and vitamins! And algae increases your endurance, energy, and mental vitality! It also helps curb your hunger, make you feel less tired, and balances your blood sugar and lowers your blood pressure. Sounds awesome right? You wouldn't want to scoop up algae out of your pond so Bits of Health Inc. has put it into a small pill form that you can chew or swallow! Genius! There are four types of bits: energy bits, skinny bits, recovery bits, and vitality bits. Check out the Energy Bits website to read more about this awesome product!

source

The people at Energy Bits have offered to giveaway a sample of their Energy Bits to one lucky reader! Open to US and Canada Residents!

Enter away! And please make sure to be honest and follow all the requirements to enter...I DO moderate the entries and WILL remove your entry if you don't do what's required (sorry I have to say this but I've had some abuse of this in my past giveaways).

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Good luck everyone!!! Winner will be announced on Monday!

Don't forget about my Armpocket Giveaway...ends tonight!!!

Disclaimer: Energy Bits sent me samples of their product to taste and review. I received no other compensation. All opinions in the above post are mine and mine alone!

Energy Bits Review and College Football!!!

Since yesterday was the day for the Foodie Pen Pals Reveal I didn't get my Fitness Friday post up. But that's ok because last week was a crazy workout week for me with Hurricane Isaac. I only ran one time when I got back into town on Thursday. I also got a weight training session in that same day. I DID however do my plank a day and burpees every day...even while I was in Tennessee.  :-)

Speaking of burpees...the Burpee Boom Challenge ends on Monday! I can't believe we've been doing burpees all month long! I can't wait to get your calendars and see how you did!!! And pick winners!!! :-)

This morning I had a 5 mile run on the schedule with the Sole2Soul Sisters! The route was that hilly and hard route that we did a few weeks ago that was a horrible run for me....I had to walk some due to not having the energy to make it up those hills. So I was a little nervous this morning. I'll tell you how it turned out in a bit...but first I want to talk about Energy Bits!

If you've been on twitter then you have probably heard about Energy Bits! Athletes are tweeting about them like crazy! And I wanted in on the action! I was lucky enough to have a sample sent to me to try!

Now if you are like me you are probably wondering what Energy Bits are! Well...they are algae! 100% natural organic green spirulina algae to be exact. Yes I was pretty skeptical...you want me to eat pond scum? Well boy was I wrong once I started doing some research! Algae has the highest concentration of protein, chlorophyll, beta carotene, antioxidants, and vitamins in the world! And people around the world eat algae and have been doing so for years. The Olympic athletes and NASA astronauts have been eating algae because of all of its health benefits. Now of course I'm not going to scoop up a handful of algae out of the pond and eat it! That's what's great about Energy Bits! They made the algae into a pill form that you can chew or swallow. Here are some of the health benefits listed on Energy Bits' website:

Best used for:

• Increasing Energy 
• Increasing Endurance
• Increasing Mental Vitality
• High Protein Snack
• Curbing Hunger 
• Meal Replacement
• Balancing Blood Sugar
• Lowering Blood Pressure
• Reducing Fatigue

So yeah! I'm in for all those benefits! Not only do they have Energy Bits but they have 3 other forms of bits too!

• ENERGY BITS- 100% spirulina algae, boosts mental and physical energy and endurance. A favorite of athletes, runners, teams, and executives.
• RECOVERY BITS- 100% chlorella algae helps prevent colds and hangovers, builds your immune system and detoxes you naturally.
• SKINNY BITS- 100% spirulina algae, eliminates hunger and fatigue, a great meal replacement, healthy snack or when trying to lose weight.
• VITALITY BITS- 50% spirulina and 50% chlorella algae. Great for simplicity and longevity. Provides a mix of all benefits in smaller amounts.

What's great about these bits....they are low in calories. The recommended serving is 30 tabs...and they are 1 calorie per tab...so that's only 30 calories!!! 

This morning I decided to try the Energy Bits before my run. I knew I was going to need the extra energy and endurance to make it up those hills that beat me last time I ran this route.  

The people at Energy Bits said they were an acquired taste and they recommended that I swallow them first.  Sounded good to me! I knew that with my gag reflex that if they tasted bad there was no way I could get them down. So I took their advice and swallowed my 30 tabs! I'm not a very good pill swallower but I was able to swallow these 2 at a time with water. It just took a while to swallow 30 lol! Luckily, they are pretty small and were easy to swallow! I had no problems getting my serving of 30! And there was absolutely no taste to them when swallowing them.

So how did my run go? Did I have more energy and endurance? YES!!!!! I had a GREAT run!!! The hills didn't seem quite as hard today and I smoked them!!! No walking and I felt like I could run forever! Was it due to the Energy Bits or was I just having a good run day? I'll never know but I would like to think that the Energy Bits helped! Will I buy some of these for marathon training? I'm not sure...they are kind of expensive. Energy Bits is welcome to send me more samples though...hint, hint! ;-)

EDIT: Energy Bits just tweeted me a coupon code to share with you! You can save 10% on their website by using the code BLOG! Thanks Energy Bits!!!

Be sure to read more about Energy Bits on their website! You can also follow them on twitter here and Facebook here!

This morning I HAD to wear my Auburn running gear since today is the first game of the season!!! WAR EAGLE!!!!

Is anyone else as excited about college football as I am? Living in the south...football is a huge deal! Such a fun time of year! I'm so ready for football, fall, and some cooler weather!!!

QOTD: Do you watch college football? Who is your favorite team?

Disclaimer: Energy Bits sent me a sample of their product to try and review. I received no other compensation. All opinions in the above post are mine and mine alone!