Pretty Muddy Wednesday!!

You have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Well, have you heard of Pretty Muddy Wednesday?
Well you have now! For today only, The hottest women's only mud run has one heck of a deal going on just for you! Here is the email I got from them this morning!

PRETTY MUDDY WEDNESDAY HAS ARRIVED!

 

Today only, when you purchase $70 worth of Pretty Muddy merchandise at www.prettymuddyswag.com, your Pretty Muddy event entry is ON US (free!)! Give the gift of mud this year to a friend...or heck, to yourself! 

 

Simply log onto our merchandise site, make your purchase, and a Team Pretty Muddy member will be in touch to get you your free entry.  Please direct questions and concerns to info@prettymuddy.com

 

From Team Pretty Muddy to you, thanks for being such a great Pretty Mudder! Happy early Thanksgiving to you all!

 

Gobble Gobble,

-Team Pretty Muddy

 

 

I don't know about you but, I think this is the better of the 3 lol. No waiting in line or untrusted sites. Not here. Whats the worse that could happen? You get a free race ticket along with a bunch of swag? Sounds like a great deal to me :) So what are you waiting for, get shopping!

New rules on the Hot CHocolate Race!!

As you have read before, I have a code for a free travel mug (DALMUG5) Well now, my code can only be used for the Dallas Texas race.  Don't let this deter you from signing up. Their are plenty of locations available for you to still sign up at. if you are looking to see if their is one in your area, follow this link and  feel free to sign up. You will not be disappointed. The race that my code is good for is for the Dallas Texas race happening on Feb. 8th .

Need a little bit of incentive to sign up? Well here is what you get at the end of your race!!!

And who doesn't like swag? I know I do. So here is what is in your goodie bag.

Still not convinced? Well how about signing up and running/walking this awesome race for a well known charity that helps children?

I know I am definitely sold on this one. The charity partner for the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k is... The Ronald McDonald House Charity. As you all know, I love t help any charity involving kids. Have I made your mind up yet? I hope I have. If you would like to sign up for the Dallas race on Feb. 8th 2014, use the code DALMUG5 to get your free travel mug. If the Dallas race isn't for you, then you can take a look here a find one nearest you. :)

Confessions of a recovering food adict!

Hello, my name is Angela and I am a recovering addict.  I have always had a thing for food. It was there for me when I was put down, hit, abused and worse.  The thing is though; food has never been my friend. It has actually made me hate myself over and over again to the point that self-consciously I find that I am not eating much. I have to force myself to eat or I honestly will not. I have found that I have actually begun to hate food just because of the pain and suffering I have gone through because of it. The added weight, the names I have been called because of it, ect. For the longest I have associated food with evil and despair that at times, I would even get sick at the thought of having to eat. This is really been my downfall in this fitness journey. I have tried to eat more so my body will start using the fat in my body but it has been a long hard road.  I don’t know how many times I have been calculating my food intake and wanted to scream because I have only eaten 800 calories or less.  Not from lack of trying. I could eat 8 meals in one day but then catch that I have only eaten 800 calories. I know you are probably wondering how that is possible. See I love spinach leaves and I love eating salad. I can really eat salad all day if I was given the opportunity. The bad part about this is that Spinach leaves salad, doesn’t have much calorie wise.  So this in turn has been my ongoing struggle. I am not one of those people who likes to pig out on junk food or stuff like that. I actually don't really like junk food that much. My guilty pleasures are guacamole hummus and fresh fruits. It is the amount I eat that have me in trouble. It is why my body is in starvation mode so often. (a woman needs to eat no less than 1200 calories a day)

To add to the addictions I have one that you may say is kind of a funny one.  It is one that I see no end to and don’t wish for it to stop. Yes it is one of those kinds of addictions. No it isn’t drugs or anything like that. It is a big more, snug than that.  Before I go into this addiction, I want to say it isn’t something to be concerned about and it is one of those that I can bet at least 1 out of 5 runners and fitness lovers have as well but don’t want to admit it. I am addicted to socks. Yes you really did read that right. I am addicted to socks. Not regular white ones though. I am addicted to the unique, crazy, wacky kind of socks.  The crazier the socks are the better. I love toe socks and compression socks the most. The ones with the words, stripes, dots, I love them all!! I really can’t get enough of them. I honestly can’t afford much of them but when I do get the opportunity to get socks, I jump at it.

With the holidays coming up, I told my husband that socks, vita packs (vitamins to help me get healthier and help assist my body to do what it needs to do) work out apparel, and anything to assist me to reach my goal to lose 25 inches from my stomach and drop down to single digit jeans by November of 2014. With this being said, if you guys know anything that you think could help or that I may like or you want to see me try, feel free to message me and I will see what I can do.  What are your addictions, what would you like to see me try and review on here and what are some things that you would like to see as a special for you this holiday season?

Stay tuned for an awesome race recap and sleeve review!

Goal above all Goals!!!!

I have really done it again. I have been on my fitness journey for 11 months and after stepping on the scale and reeling out the tape, I wanted to die. I have lost weight and I am very proud of the little I have accomplished but to me, I haven’t done enough. I have struggled on my meal planning, on my workouts and stress has been a daily part of my life.  It is kind of understandable for me not is losing even close to what I want to lose. Please do not get me wrong, I am not excusing myself by any means. I know where I have lacked and failed in. I do tell you this here and now with all of you reading, I will not put up with it anymore.  From January, when this all started, I have lost 16 pounds and 18 inches from my stomach, 6 inches from my hips, and 10 from my waist. That is a very good accomplishment but for me, that isn’t enough.

So today I have sat down and decided to set a big goal and focus on it. It isn’t one of these little ones like I will lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks. This goal is far bigger than that.  This goal is a long term yet short term all rolled into one. I bet you are probably thinking how in the heck could it be a long term yet short term goal and how big is this goal really? Well, I will tell you this much. It is the biggest goal I have ever set and probably will ever set when it comes to fitness.  So here it goes, My big goal and to show you how determined I am going to have to be to accomplish it. My goal is set by November of 2014, I will not only be 100 pounds lighter but I will be in single digit Jeans.

Yeah you read that right! I told you it was going to be a monster of a goal that I have set. No small goals in between. I am going “balls to the wall” this time. I can celebrate once I cross that finish line!  If you would like to join me in this challenge, I would love the company. If not, helping me by keeping me accountable would do the trick just as good for me.  Here is to day 2 of my new goal. Let’s jam it out with a few of my favorite jams! 

This is part of my workout mix. Hope you love it! I have to run and finish my workout and get ready for my new job! More details on that coming very soon. Thank you all for all of your prayers and I look forward to getting this transformation going and gone! Eat right, Sleep well, sweat pink!

I got a Pocket of Sunshine!

What a weekend it has been. To add to it all, the weekend is nowhere near over. Honestly, it hasn't been a good one. The bad part is, it seems to be one let down after another. Like I can't get out of this rut I am in and get a break. Even if it is just a little one, it would be a blessing. I know we all have been in these ruts before and we all will overcome them. Rather it is because you are doing everything you possibly can to lose weight and the scale and tape measure are seeming to be locked on 1 number.  Or you are hoping for a certain promotion or opportunity that always seems to pass you by. We all have been their and honestly, at times, it feels like we are always stuck in that one rut. When we finally get that little bit of an up and start moving again, we fall back down into a deeper rut that is worse than the one before. I honestly have been their. Lots of times, it feels like I am joining you in the exact same spot. I get discouraged because I try my hardest to lose weight and the numbers never seem to change much. That and a lot of stress that has been added to my life lately. To be honest, it really makes me feel like the light in the end of the tunnel doesn't want to be gotten. Like it is running away from me to make sure I never get to my dream or where I want to be.

When I get into this rut and feel that I have nowhere else to go but to give up and take what hell has been given to me till it eats me away, I sit back and take a deep breath and say the following from a song I have fallen in love with just because of the lyrics that follow.

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh
Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love and I know that its all mine, oh, oh
Wish that you could, but you ain't gonna own me
Do anything you want, you can't slow me down, oh no

 The reason for the kids version is this is the one my children sing :)

This reminds me that no matter how hard and unfair life gets, their is always a little "Pocket of Sunshine" close by waiting to be found. You just have to close your eyes and open your heart to find it. This little "Pocket of Sunshine" you will find, is the love you have for yourself. It is a very hard lesson to learn that in the end, their is no one but you. Now before you get all mad and close this post, please read why I say this.  When I mean that in the end, it is only you who can make you truly happy. Others can assist but if you aren't happy with yourself then you always find yourself back in the same hurtful place as you where before. Please don't get me wrong, I struggle with this all the time. I have had years of being made to feel like I would never amount to much and have always been made to feel bad about myself. As most of my really close friends and readers have learned about me is to this day, I am still made to feel inferior to others. I get this from my In Laws and other family members. I have had dreams and plans that have seem to get put down and shattered at every turn till I have had to come to the reality that in the end, it's only me. I have spent so long believing what others say about me that I have lost myself. Lost what makes me happy and lost sight of what my dreams are. Only recently have I started to figure out that I am not what everyone says I am.

Yes I still fall back into the rut where I feel like I will not amount to much but then I see my children's faces. This is my "Pocket of Sunshine", what makes me happy. Seeing that no matter what anyone says to me or tries to crush who I am inside, their are 3 wonderful souls who love me for me. Not for what I look like or how little I have accomplished in life. They love me for me and they are, by far, my greatest accomplishment. If you don't remember anything else about this blog post, please remember that you are never truly alone. Someone has been in your shoes and walked the same path you have. Maybe not at the same time or place, but their is always someone who has walked those rough miles like you have. Some may have thought to take "the easy way out" while some have walked it and finally found that light at the end of the tunnel and found that courage to lift their head up high. To finally feel that sun on their face and feel the warmth of accomplishment and self love. Once you find that, you will notice things aren't as bad as they seem. You will finally have your own "Pocket of Sunshine"

I was honored and surprised to be nominated for the sunshine award by my very own mentor and friend Joanna Broadbent from Sports Bras and Sippy Cups!   The award is circulated to those bloggers to let them know that their posts brighten your day. I honestly wasn't expecting it and to be honest, I never really thought I could bring a bit of sunshine to someone before. Since I got the nomination, I have noticed more and more people telling me how empowering and inspirational some of my posts are. I am honored to be able to pass on this sunshine award to fellow bloggers.

The Rules:
1.  Include award logo in a post or on your blog (I opted to do both)
2.  Link to the person who nominated you – Joanna Broadbent from Sports Bras and Sippy Cups!
3.  Answer 10 questions about yourself that the person who niminated you asks.

4.  Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. (make sure to link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs letting them know you have nominated them)

Joanna's questions for me are:

1. What made you start blogging? Back in January, I was told that I had to change the way I was living or I would end up following in my fathers footsteps. (He had a heart attack at 30 years old) I have 3 beautiful children and I want to be here for as long as I can. 

2. What is one of your favorite kid movies? I am stuck between 2 on this question so I am going to write about both lol. I really like Despicable Me and Brave. Both are really cute and they are just awesome.

3. If you could live in any State, where and why? This for me is another tough question because their are 2 types of places I have always dreamed of. One place is anywhere on ocean front. I have dreamed for the longest to work with marine animals and I have a strong passion for them. The second place is anywhere with a beautiful mountain view that is surrounded by woods. I have had dreams of waking up one morning and making some coffee then wrapping up in a warm blanket and with my blanket and coffee in a wooden porch swing overlooking a snow covered mountain  and watching the forest animals play in the snow. 

4. Do you prefer hot or cold weather? I honestly like them both. I love warm days with a nice breeze blowing and I like cold days wrapped up in a blanket in front of a fire. 

5. What is one of your favorite indulgent treats? Chocolate. I LOVE chocolate. It is one of those treats that is really hard to say no to. Which is part of the reason why I am very excited about doing the Hot Chocolate Race :) I get to run for Chocolate. What better treat is their? 

6. If you get a week’s vacation, all paid, where are you going?  I am going to say... Either Scotland or Ireland. I am Scottish and Bohemian and my husband is Irish so I would love to visit them and get to see where I have come from and my heritage.

7. Who has been your biggest life inspiration? My children are hands down my biggest life inspiration. They are what keep me going when I am ready to give up. 

8. Name one thing that terrifies you. My biggest fear that wakes me up in the middle of the night crying is the thought of something happening to my kids or me to where I can't be their for them. If I am not here to protect them, honestly who will?  They are my world and I will do anything to protect them. 

9.  Do you have any nicknames, if so, what are they? Yes, actually I have 2 nicknames. They are Aphrodite and Stormy. Very long story on how I got these two. It would take hours of reading to even skim the surface of both lol.

10. If you won the lottery and was to donate part of your winnings, who would you choose to donate to? I would have to say that is I won the Lottery, I would donate part of my winnings to the St. Jude's Hospital. I love children and when they are in pain, it hearts my heart real deep. SO I would gladly donate to them to help find cures to stop childhood diseases and Cancers. 

The blog's I nominate are:

1. Leafy Not Beefy

2. Whole In Three Six Five

2. Mice In The Kitchen

3. Fit Running Mama

4. For Two Fitness

5. Mindy's Fitness Journey

6. Fitness Mom In Wine Country

7. Fitness, Health and Happiness

8. Run With Kate

9. Tough Chick

10.Travels With Mary

My Questions are:

1. What is the most memorable thing you have ever done?

2. What has been one of the hardest things you have experienced in your health/ fitness?

3. If your life where a movie title, what would it be called?

4. If you could have anything for your birthday, what would you ask for?

5. If you were to get a call today from your dream job saying you where hired, where would you be working?

6. If you where to win the Lottery, what would be the first thing you spent it on?

7. If you could go to any time or place, where and why would you go?

8. If you could give yourself your own name or nickname, what would that name be?

9. What is your dream living place? 

10. If the world where to experience a natural disaster (god forbid) what kind do you think it would be and how do you think you would survive it?

These awards help me get to know my fellow blogger and allows me to show appreciation to those who inspire me. So this is an honor to pass on this award to 10 inspirational bloggers. Congratulations!

Looking for workouts in all the wrong places

I know I have been working out with HHA now for 3 months and not really seeing much results. I am also doing the wave workout. You would think that with me doing these daily, along with the races, that I would be losing inches and showing some sort of progress. Well, after talking to a friend, she thought she may have a little bit of a solution. My body has gotten use to the workouts. With this being said, I need to start looking in right places to get ideas for my workouts and possibly even taking on a meal replacement shake durring the day to use as my lunch (post workout) meal.


With this being said, here is where I am reaching out to you, my loyal readers. I am looking for more intense workouts and meal replacement shake ideas/ product testing. With me not having enough calories and macros in my diet, I could use the shakes to help with my weight-loss. If anyone has any ideas or knows a company that is looking for someone to product test their shakes, meals, or work outs, please let me know. I would be very interested in talking to them. Thank you a lot and hope your week is fun and your fitness journey goes the way you dream it to go :)

Hot Chocolate 5k/15k

I Scream.. You scream.. We all scream for… HOT CHOCOLATE!

Yes oh yes, you did read that right. I will run for Hot Chocolate or for any chocolate for that matter. This year I have the opportunity to run for this decadent treat in Dallas Texas. How do I get this opportunity? With the HOT CHOCOLATE 5K/15K that is how.  Oh yes, if you are like me, I can guarantee that I have you up on the edge of your seats wanting to know more. Well here is something that I can bet will seal the deal even more…. In most races, you get a shirt to wear for your race, a race bib, and possibly a little bottle of bubbly afterwards. Not this race! You get a hot Chocolate Hoody, Your race bib, and at the finish line……. Okay enough of the wait lol, you get a cup of Hot chocolate, Banana and even more chocolate goodness.  This is the deal sealer for me.  This s part of the reason I became a Hot Chocolate Blogger. I not only because I get to know all the yummy details about the race, but I also get to work with these wonderful people throughout the year.  For some bloggers like me, this is just as exciting as the race itself. The People you meet while being an Ambassador, allows you to get to know others and form a friendship you really couldn’t get much anywhere else.

The Hot Chocolate 5K and 15K is currently in 14 cities. These cities include Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis.  The Dallas race, the one closest to me, will be on February 8, 2014. Making this race America’s Sweetest Race!

Another reason why I am honored to be a Hot Chocolate blogger is because of the charity they are raising funds for, The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas Texas. You guys know how I love to support charity’s that involve children. Mostly because I have 3 kids and would never want anything to happen to them. If their where something wrong, charities like the Ronald McDonald House would be there to help.  So any race I can run to support a charity like that, I would do it proudly.

 Race Course

This race looks like it would be so much fun to do. I mean seriously, an awesome charity to help amazing kids, and Hot Chocolate and goodies at the end. Not to mention the awesomely awesome race sweatshirt you get in your goody bag.  Sign me up! Now that I have shown you all the goodies and information I can, wouldn’t you like to come run this with me? Well then, head on over to the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K and get signed up. AS an added bonus, sign up using the code DALMUG5 and get an awesome travel mug so you can drink Hot Chocolate anytime the craving arises. (this code doesn't limit you to the Dallas race, you get the cup goodies when you use this code to sign up for any race)

That are you waiting for, go take a look!  ^^^^^ Finish Line Goodies^^^^^