Foodie Friday

My diet is usually my weakest point, but thanks to my boyfriend helping keep my butt in gear, it has gotten MUCH better. So with this post, I will give you some examples of meals I typically eat when I'm at work!

Inside my 6 Pack Bag-Camille tote! There will be another post on that. But I typically put all of my food for the day in here. The little orange container had a kale salad. Edamame below that.

My breakfasts have to be simple, as I usually eat as soon as I get to work (after getting my coffee and water). These oats are great and cook easily first thing in the morning. I keep a glass Pyrex bowl at work specifically for my oats. On the right, is Greek yogurt with strawberries, sometimes I slice up peaches instead. 

 Lunch one day. Spinach with lemon juice, topped with onions and fresh pineapples. Next to it, leftover steak with rice and black beans. 

My own trail mix. Raw almonds, smoked almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and dried cherries. I keep this in my desk at work for mid-morning/afternoon snacks. 

This is my Define Bottle that I purchased a while back. The kid that invented this was on Shark Tank a while back (apparently) and I really love this bottle. Keeps the fruit separated by the center filter piece, washes easily, and I can have non-boring water at work. 

Hydration pitchers

When I moved in with my boyfriend, he had a Brita hydration pitcher which I thought was great! It's a lot like this one from Target: Brita Atlantis. I'm not sure it's identical, but looks like the one below.

As I've used it more and more, I'm not as crazy about it. First off, I'm really bad about overfilling it because it filters water through the top part so slow and you have to guess at it. If you try to pour water during that time, the lid will pop off sometimes and I've managed to spill LOTS of water on the wood floors of our apartment. Oops. They do have newer models now that might be better, but I have not tried those yet!


A few weeks ago, I won a CamelBak Relay from BexLife. I have a CamelBak Groove filter water bottle that I LOVE, so I was pretty excited about this as I had been wanting to try it.

I LOVE this one. The issues I had with the Brita pitcher were definitely resolved with the CamelBak relay. The water filters through almost immediately, and it has a measurement mark on the side that the instructions tell you to stop pouring at that point. 

It also filters the water twice; once as you are pouring it in, and again when you are pouring it into your glass. The lid snaps on on both sides therefore it can't fall off. I also think the water tastes MUCH better from the CamelBak than the Brita. I tested this by replacing both filters at the same time. My kiddo even noticed a difference! 

Both have charcoal filters requiring you to run water through both of them before it can be used but this takes less than a couple of minutes. 

Disclaimer: I was not asked to review this product. I won the product through a giveaway and loved it so much, I decided to review it! 

Motivation Monday

I haven't done one of these in a while so thought it was time for another one! But seriously, I think only this one is needed, courtesy of The Meta Picture. The last one is dirty, sorry! 

Favorite deal sites for Fitness/Health gear

Some that always have good deals on health gear:

Groupon is one of the most popular and always has random deals on new activities, sports equipment, health supplements, and usually clothes. I've purchased items and deals and haven't had an issue.

Woot is probably my favorite! Based in North Texas, with quirky descriptions and awesome deals, I've used it a few times happily. My best purchase? Probably the CamelBak Groove, which is a water bottle with a built in carbon filter. 2 of them for $14, and Woot's always $5 shipping! Over a year later, and these bottles are still in heavy use.

The Clymb is solely focused on health and wellness items, and ranges from Hiking, to Cycling, Running and Surfing. I've purchased a stainless steel water bottle, clothes, and snacks on here and been very happy! The one item I had an issue with, they immediately refunded the money for, no questions asked!

Planet Gear is the same as LeftLane sports, but everything is geared towards women. I purchased some cycling shorts for about 1/3 of the price as they were in store.

Nontraditional sites that don't always have health deals, but occasionally do have some good ones.

Zulily had a great sale on Puma activewear a few days ago, and has TOMS deals quite often as well. Even when they don't carry fitness inspired stuff, they have clothing for those days when society forces us to dress like adults as well!

SweetJack has some random deals, but occasionally I have found some great things on here.

Tanga is another one of my favorites! They have the BEST customer service ever and really great products. Sometimes it takes a bit to get them, but they always come within a few weeks.

Shirt deal!

Fit Like Flint cycles some awesome shirts on her site, and tonight at 8 Central, she is launching another one that has a pretty important, albeit humorous message.

The scale is stupid! It can be an indicator of health, yes, but it is definitely not the end all, be all, of your health and we give it way too much importance. 

If you use my code, FLFCHRISTIE10, you get an extra 10% off.

She has done some awesome shirts before, like the ones below that I already own and love!

At Home Workout

I don't belong to a gym. I have in the past, just have trouble making it seem worthwhile some days. I might join eventually, but my apartment complex actually has a decent workout room with 3 treadmills, two ellipticals, a stationary bike, and a spin bike plus a full set of free weights,  cable machine, squat rack (well Smith Machine but if you're solo squatting it might be okay), and a couple of leg machines. The same things I would use in a commercial gym, so I don't see the point at the moment.

In addition, at home I have an exercise ball, a workout mat, two yoga mats, 4 adjustable weight dumbbells, and a barbell. I have no excuse, but I keep finding myself making them! So today, I did a workout at home and I'm going to share it. This was just an upper body workout and it felt great!

Shoulder Press 3x10
Bicep 7's/Hammer Curl/Bicep Curl (I switched through the 3 rounds)
Tricep Extension
Rear Delt Raise 3x10
Upright Row 3x10
Arnold Press 3x10
Tricep kickback 3x10
Deadlift 3x10

I used the dumbbells for these and only had 15 pounds on them, as well as a set with 10 pounds for towards the end when I started losing form.

This is a picture I took a while back, but same weight is on them right now.

Etsy health motivation

If you've ever looked at this blog you will know that I LOVE quotes. So, I went through Etsy finding good quotes that fit in with a healthy lifestyle.

I do not run. Don't get me wrong, I think runners are amazing, and I've tried to run, just doesn't always work for me. Get me on a trail though, and I'm perfectly happy, and willing, to run! However this quote is great:

Marathon sign

I'm tempted to buy these, or buy something similar from this shop. 

I will

Awesome statement postcard. Sells for $8 for a pack of 12. Would be great to send to friends going through a plateau, or for any reason. 

Slow runners unite! $20 on etsy and if you feel slow, might get you a few giggles during the race.

Make It Happen vinyl cling is a good one. I don't know that I would put it over my bed.

Run Lift Stretch is great! It screams "hey, be well balanced with working out!" Good reminder to myself...

And this one for giggles