Sit down, and have a chat with me

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Is everyone ready to start their week? I guess me being on the West Coast, everyone has already been at work for a number of hours already.

White-desk-White-chairMy desk was such a mess this weekend, I decided to finally tackle it. It’s an ongoing battle, I can have it clean for a day or two, then boom papers flying everywhere, products piled up in the corners, water bottles and hair sprays not where they belong. You know how it goes, it’ll be the same again tomorrow.

I’m about to head out to the climbing gym to attend another yoga class and get in a boulder session right after. Last week I went to yin yoga again (it seems for some reason I keep missing that class — either The Guy has my car, or I had other plans). But man, does that class ever pull at your insides. My upper ribs were so sore, I couldn’t sneeze/blow my nose or cough (I don’t have a cold, though it sounds like it when I talk about it like this hey?) without any pain, ha! What a workout.

When I was home in Newfoundland, my Mom mucked up a nice meal one of the days, but there was one addition to my plate I’ve never seen or heard her make before. It was a cauliflower puff, of sorts. I couldn’t get enough of it when she made it, so clearly I asked for the recipe. I ended up making a large dinner for The Guy and I, all based around this puff. It doesn’t look like much, but it was freakin’ delicious. Now tell me I don’t know how to feed my husband well, after a nonchalant 30km run!Supper-with-Cauliflower-puf

By the way, I can’t believe how many people entered into the $145 Starbucks gift card giveaway (now over) over five thousand people. Crikey. I contacted the person who won, and it’s already addressed and in the mail to her.

Fitmark-Bags-headerI saw Fitmark Bags on Instagram and noticed Camille LeBlanc (Canadian CrossFitter) had one, and tons of other famous athletes. I totally wanted to see why everyone was so into them, so I asked if I could review one of their bags. They agreed and asked me to pick one out. I couldn’t decide between the Agility Tote or the Sport Tote, so I let them surprise me between that, and the colour choice.Feet-and-Tote

Fitmark-Bag-Tote

Agility-Tote-on-bench

Fitmark-Agility-Tote

Fitmark-Bag

Agility-Tote

Fitmark-Bag-side-viewYou can tell in one of the photos it has a zip on the backside that fits my yoga mat, it’s cool. Fitmark Bags have tons of other bags to choose from, and especially for those on a special meal plan where they like to bring their food wherever they go. I was like that once, when I was on Paleo for 30 days.

I’m enjoying the Agility Tote so far. I’ve been using it both as a purse and a gym bag to bring to the climbing gym, since it’s not too small or too big for either. Fits my harness, climbing shoes and chalk along with my yoga mat, with two side pouches for water bottles or keys. Or I can utilize it as a purse and I can flick my wallet in there and head out.

Alfie-in-ToteAlfie seems to be enjoying himself.

Sometimes I ask The Guy to take photos of me, and during those photoshoots there’s bound to be some bloopers and out takes. I never thought about posting mine until I noticed that Kelly posted her’s last week. I got a kick out of them, so I decided to put together a bunch from this session.out-takes

You’ll notice I use the Fitmark Bag, and my other pink bag on the regular. Do you switch out your gym bags? Mine don’t get too dirty, unless the chalk bag falls out, but that’s secured in its own ziplock baggie.

What kind of bag do you bring to the gym with you?

Continue Reading

Pro Compression socks review

Pro-Compression-headerThe Guy got a pair of pro compression socks to review, and he’s had them for a little over 3 weeks. As I’ve stated many times he’s a marathon runner, and a 5x Ironman triathlete, so he’s no stranger to compression socks.

Pro-Compression-MarathonHe went for the subtle black Marathon sock in L/XL, there’s a sizing chart on their website so if you’d like a tighter fit than the already difficult sock to get on, get a smaller size. I can’t imagine how much harder those would be to get on your legs. The Guy tells me that these have more compression than the other few pairs he owns. He said they’d be great to put on during a long flight or long car ride especially after a run. Knowing him, he’d pump out a good long run right before we get on a ten hour plane ride to visit our family in Canada.

Every Sunday afternoon he heads out for a 20+ km run and comes back looking for a belly full of food. He’ll be wearing them when he gets back from his 30km run this afternoon — no big deal right? He only uses the compression socks for recovery, not during activity. Although some people use them for both, he simply doesn’t like the look of almost knee high socks on him. These pictures are totally posed for the review, and normally wears pants when he puts on a pair of compression socks.

He was acting so hilarious one day when I asked him to put them on to see how they compare to the other brands he’s used. He asked me (the person who hates feet, or even touching them) to put them on him. Oh the things we do out of love. They were so tight, even I couldn’t get them on. I had his legs smooshed in between mine as if I was the one putting them on my own feet. I didn’t realize how difficult they’d be to put on. Since, I’ve never did anything longer than a 10k distance on a run before, nor do I stand up for hours on end working. But he was saying stuff that made me laugh until I cried and snorted. You know I’m laughing hard, when. This guy, I tell ya — he’s a funny one. And while it it had nothing to do with the review, I thought I had to tell you all about it.

Pro-Compression-socksI’ve also lucked into giving away a free pair for one lucky reader. You must be a US resident.  And for those who want a pair now, feel free to use the discount code BLG14 for 40% off Marathon Socks and Sleeves.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Continue Reading

What I Ate Wednesday #5

WIAW-HeaderFolks, it’s time. It’s time to take a photo of everything I’ve eaten in the run of a day and post it on the blog for everyone’s enjoyment. I do have to say, though that sounded sarcastic, and it was kinda supposed to — I actually do enjoy seeing what people eat in the run of a day. Kinda gets me motivated to cook something different for once.

It’s been since July that I posted a What I Ate Wednesday (thanks to Peas & Crayons for organizing these WIAW’s). Let’s jump right in, details at the bottom of the post. Many of the items I ate aren’t photographed. Sometimes, I get too hungry man. With that being said:

Banana-Nuts-Water

Snacking-after-workout

Coffee-before-climbing

Campbells-Tomato-Bisque

8:42a: I pour myself a glass of icy cold water from the fridge, then grab a banana and a handful of raw nuts (with mini m&m’s), because I’m too lazy to put together a real breakfast. Does anyone else hate their bananas with even the slightest bit of brown on it? It’s the last one, and I could’ve easily chucked it in the freezer for smoothies, but I took one for the team, and ate it. Brown spots and all.

10:36a: Since I’m about to head to the climbing gym to do yoga and boulder after (and try to get this one V3 boulder problem I’ve been working), I want my belly to be full until I can get a real meal in. I turn on our new Dolce Gusto and make myself a hot cuppa tea before changing into climbing gear, then grab a Taste of Nature bar while I head out the door.

2:30p: After climbing and yoga, I’m ravishing. I swung by Whole Foods and picked up two sandwiches from their deli counter and brought it home with me. Not pictured. I ate it while driving home. Ha!

7:03p: I was on my own for supper, so I heated up my favourite tomato bisque soup (Campbell’s, you’re mmm-mmm-good) a tall glass of milk, with a few cheese and crackers on the side (I snapped the picture before getting the milk + cheese + crackers).

9:45p: The Guy and I are slowly getting through his birthday ice cream cake, so we had a piece of that later on too. No photo, because I’m an animal and cannot take a photo of something so delicious.

Taste-of-NatureYou may notice the abundance of posed photos of me hanging out, eating a Taste of Nature bar. I received a number of boxes from the Canadian “granola” bar company to try out this summer. I brought a ton along with me to Lake Tahoe when my husband was going to do his 6th Ironman, but it ended up being cancelled. I’ve been treating these bars as a special treat every once in a while, or when I’m late and feeling rushed and need to get something down in my belly. They’re also great to pop into your purse for on the go.

Taste-Of-Nature-barModelling my manicured climber hand with the bar in front of the Ironman Lake Tahoe athlete village. Why not. There’s something different about these bars that I find irresistible. I’ve had a couple of these Himalayan Goji Summit bars throughout the Lake Tahoe adventure (which unfortunately got cancelled).

I’ve been taking these bars to the climbing gym to snack on, since I’m there hours at a time, between yoga and bouldering I get a little famished from time-to-time. Some of the bars are paleo friendly (the Brazil nut one I have contains some brown rice syrup and whole grain brown rice crisps, and seeds which aren’t paleo friendly) but for the most part they taste pretty awesome. Then again I love these types of bars.

If you’re interested in the facts, here are some Taste of Nature highlights:

  •     Bars are under 200 calories
  •     6 flavours available in the USA: Brazilian Nut Festival, California Almond Valley, Quebec Cranberry, Canadian Maple Forest, Himalayan Goji Summit, and Persain Pomegranate Garden
  •     Bars are $1.99 each
  •     Non-GMO, Gluten free and 100% certified organic bars with nothing artificial, no filers and no added sugar.

Disclaimer: I was sent a few boxes of Taste of Nature bars in exchange for my review. Options are no one else’s but my own.

Continue Reading