Exciting news!

Today I got some exciting news! “Congratulations! You have been selected to be a Vitalyte Brand Ambassador.” Say what? Is this for real??

A little over five weeks ago, I submitted my application to be a Brand Ambassador for Vitalyte. I had tried their Chia Surge Energy Gels (see post: “Drinks that make me go mmm!”), liked them, and thought it would be really cool to represent the company and spread the word about their great, healthy and delicious products. I didn’t hear anything back and then forgot about it until I opened my email today!

What is a Brand Ambassador, you ask? “A Vitalyte Brand Ambassador is a runner, a sprinter, a surfer, a yogi, a lifter, a walker, an athlete. A brand ambassador is everything that Vitalyte is: Endurance, Agility, Speed and Strength.”

So, I am really excited! I will get different products and other cool stuff shipped to me each month. I get to blog about Vitalyte, Instagram and Facebook about Vitalyte, and share my experiences and spread the word about Vitalyte. Sounds pretty easy and fun, right!?!

It’s going to be like being sponsored by a product, kind of. I mean, I don’t get paid to do this like an elite runner, which is totally fine. That’s not why I submitted my application. But as a moderately okay runner, I’ll take it as a compliment and I can’t wait to be a part of their Brand Ambassador team and have this support by a great sports nutrition company! I officially start July 1!

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Drinks that make me go mmm!

Now that the weather is getting really warm and nice, I’ve gone back to some of my favorite drinks. I didn’t really stop drinking them all together during the winter months, but they are just more refreshing in Spring and Summer and I’ve been drinking them more often now.

I’ve previously talked about the things I eat and drink or my “nutrition”. I try to eat as healthy as I can. Yes, I don’t do it 100% of the time, but as much as possible. I drink beer and champagne and a mixed drink occasionally. I eat chips and salsa (duh!) and a little ice cream (courtesy of my boyfriend’s sweet tooth) or root beer floats here and there. I don’t deprive myself of things I like. I just eat or drink it in moderation and try to balance it all.

photo(30)I discovered kombucha a couple years ago and love it. This beverage is high in antioxidants and probiotics and I could drink it all day long. When I find it on sale, I’ll stock up. GT’s or Clearly Kombucha, a brand I just discovered, have a lot of great flavors to choose from and taste great! I discovered Clearly Kombucha because it was BOGO at Safeway and caught my eye. What a great deal! They are cute 12oz bottles that come in Black Currant, Tangerine, Chai Cola, Asian Pear, Grape, Strawberry Hibiscus, and Raspberry Ginger and Raspberry Lemonade (I haven’t tried these last two yet as they were sold out when I went shopping the last two times). Some of GT’s Kombucha products also have chia seeds in them and I love these as well. Bonus!

Speaking of chia, I love chia seeds! I like to add them to kombucha (if it doesn’t have it already in it) or in coconut water. And they are so good for you! I recently got an energy gel from a local bike shop. It’s made by Vitalyte, called Chia Surge, and comes in pineapple-orange and raspberry. I had never seen a sport energy gel with chia seeds so I was excited to try it. I decided to try the pineapple-orange and took it with me on my 15 mile run this past Monday. I’m not a “gu” or “gel” kinda gal but I liked the idea of it having chia seeds. I normally eat Shot Bloks every 4 miles on long runs, so this was going to be an interesting test as the package says it was one serving and to take it every 1.5 hours “for maximum benefit”. I wasn’t sure if I should just down the thing since I had never had it before on a run, so I just took little bits of it every so often. I really liked the flavor and consistency and was surprised at how well the seeds went down. I was afraid I would have a mouth full of them and would have to chew them up. It seemed to digest pretty well also. Looking back on it now, I probably should have taken the whole thing at once and maybe brought a second one with me because I didn’t feel a great amount of energy boosts from the small amount I was consuming each time. But I would definitely try it again.

Here is an article about the benefits of chia seeds and 10 reasons why you should add them to your diet:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/03/chia-seed-benefits-_n_3379831.html

I also drink coconut water as often as I can. It’s so delicious and refreshing and a great way to hydrate! It also has a lot of potassium, so if you don’t eat a lot of bananas, like me, this is a great way to get some of this much needed mineral into your system. Runners need potassium! I drink the brand Zico a lot (it comes in regular, chocolate, pineapple and tropical fruit), but there are so many other brands of cocount water on the shelves at your local grocery store and most taste pretty good. Try it!

alo1-main1On occasion, I will also drink aloe vera water (juice). We drank a lot of this on our trip to Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago. It’s really refreshing and also has a lot of health benefits. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals, hydrates and helps with digestion among many other benefits (see the link below). There are also chunks of the aloe vera plant in the water that I find quite delicious.

http://skinnywithfiber.org/14-really-important-health-benefits-of-aloe-vera-juice/

I am not sponsored by any of the brands I wrote about above (although, that’d be cool!). I just like those particular products and brands. There are lots of other brands to choose from, so do a little taste-testing and hopefully you may find some of these drinks and products as tasty as I do.

If you have any other healthy drink suggestions, send them my way!

This little lull

I’m purposely taking a little break. This break is from end of January February 9th til the end of March/early April. By break, I mean, less running, but still maintaining. Strength training, but no serious training. No set schedule. Just chillin’ and running when I want to. It’s kind of nice. Although, I have to admit I do have days where I feel like I HAVE to get a run in.

photo(25)So this little lull, well, it’s interesting. I have thought about races that I’d like to run, races I am going to register for, races that kind of fell in my lap (thanks Brian for the Bay to Breakers bib!), and a race that I am waiting to hear the outcome of the lottery. It’s hard to plan the rest of the year when I am waiting on the lottery results of the NY Marathon. But other than that, I am not sure what my 2014 plans are. I always think of traveling, just not sure where to next (I need some money too!).

So, while I am in this lull, I still maintain my normal eating, other than carbing up for long training runs or races or when going to weddings (oh gosh, too much alcohol!). As far as nutrition (for those who asked for me to include more of this), I have a high metabolism so I can eat a lot during the day. I tend to eat smaller meals and spread my food intake throughout the day, rather than just three meals a day.

Breakfast usually consists of eggs with avocado and fruit, sometimes a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, avocado, or I may have yogurt with a KIND bar (or Odwalla bar) or yogurt with granola. I do have a chai tea latte frequently, but I make it at home using the Tazo concentrate and almond milk. And I may have a snack later in the morning because I get hungry like 1-2 hours later.

Lunch is usually a turkey, cheese, and lettuce sandwich with fruits and veggies on the side. I eat (low sodium) soup pretty regularly, especially during the cooler months. I will have chips and salsa with it sometimes. Sorry guys, chips and salsa are a staple in my house. And I may make a small salad.

There’s usually a snack in between lunch and dinner. Could be pretzels, plantain chips, (unfortunately) chips and salsa, fruits, or veggies and dip. Hummus is a great dip with veggies or pita chips. I also eat almonds because they fill me up.

Dinner is something that we try to make at home as often as we can. We try to eat lean meats so we eat a lot of fish and chicken. We also make large salads with beets, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, green pepper, artichoke hearts, avocado or whatever veggies we have at the moment. We are salad lovers so I almost always have a salad with my dinner. And we will have a veggie with our protein as well. This could be steamed broccoli, yellow squash, asparagus, green beans, etc. And because I need more calories than my boyfriend, I will include maybe some steamed red potatoes or we will eat this delicious organic brown rice we found at Costco. I really like black beans, so I may have some with chicken or turkey tacos.

I’m not going to lie, there are times we are busy and don’t have time to make dinner or don’t want to, but we still try to stick to healthy foods. If we go out for dinner, I still look for chicken or fish or a salad to keep things fairly healthy or things like grilled fish tacos or Pita Pit. And we love sushi, so that’s not too bad. If we end up at one of our favorite restaurants, Tres Hermanas, I now get a ceviche tostada instead of the dos enchiladas platter, which I used to get. Not only am I saving money, but ceviche is way better for me.

So, back to that lull…I will probably meet up with the gals I do speed training with here and there and I will probably see my PT to get some maintenance as well. But I’m not putting too much pressure on myself right now. Taking a break is a good thing. I don’t really want to stress about too many things right now, especially with our next event coming in April, bsbf-updated-distressed-small1so not having a training plan is okay with me!

P.S. The event I am referring to is our testicular cancer awareness event – Sacramento Ball Sack & Beer Fest. It’s coming April 5th!

Are you taking a mini-break? Do you like it? How do you feel?