What I am LOVING

Coconut Oil! I LOVE THIS STUFF! It is amazing! (oops, $1 goes in the jar!) I have been using coconut oil for everything right now it seems. I cook with it, feed my baby it and use it as lotion. Let me count the ways I love it!

1. It is a healthy fat! As I have mentioned Collin is not gaining as much weight as he should be. He is a super active baby and started crawling at 5.5 months and hasn't stopped yet. And I didn't supplement his solid foods diet with healthy fats. He was just getting super low calorie purees. So this month I have been fattening him up with FATS. No doughnuts or ice cream for him (although he has tried cake and ice cream and loves them) but I want him to have healthy fats. He dislikes avocados, and can stand egg yolks if they are mixed with bananas but the one fat that he will gobble down is coconut oil! I add 1/2 a teaspoon in his solid foods about 1-2 times a day. Like last night, he had prunes and 1/2 a teaspoon of melted coconut oil. (Coconut oil is actually solid until it reaches body temp, then it melts.) He loves the stuff and he smells so good afterwards when his face is covered with coconut oil! I wonder if he remembers the stuff from when he was just a tiny little baby. I used it to help my nipples when I started nursing him to avoid cracking and such. It totally worked!

2. Cooking with it! Matt loves stir fry and so I have been trying my hand at it. So I have been using coconut oil to coat my pan. Really anytime I use my pans on the stove I add coconut oil. I also use coconut oil spray to spray down my pan right before I cook my eggs. Mason loves the taste of coconut oil eggs and so do I. I know I am giving him good fats and not just empty calories and bad fats like from other spray cans.

3. Winter is hard on my skin. Really hard. I drink so much water but my hands and lips always get so chapped during the winter. So I have been using some coconut oil on my hands and lips to help them not be so bad. I apply at night so it has plenty of time to soak into my skin without me washing it off during the day and such and I will say that my hands look great! But it is not a quick fix. By the end of the day my hands are dry and ready for another coat of oil.

If you haven't tried coconut oil yet, GET ON THE BANDWAGON and try it! You will not be disappointed. It has so many good things for your body. You can add it in anything and not really taste it, unless you want to taste it, then you just use more. It is so clean tasting and it is just an amazing product that is like windex and can help almost anything.

What brands?: I use Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut oil and also Trader Joe's Coconut Oil spray can. I also love Spectrums Organic Virgin Coconut oil but it is more expensive.

QOTD: What are you favorite things to use coconut oil in? Also I referenced 2 shows, 1 current TV show and 1 older movie in this blog post. Do you know what shows I am talking about???

January Week 3 Recap

Sorry this is 2 days late...again! This week we have been hit with a puking baby and a potty training toddler who thinks he needs to sit on the potty every 5 seconds. It is good that Mason is so dedicated to going potty but he requires me to be with him at all times. So it has been a pretty crazy few days here in the Allen home.

I am super happy with how last week went. I have been doing more for me. I have made it a goal to do squats every day to help build my leg strength and get some PiYo into my exercise routine as well. The gym attendance wasn't all that great but I still took care of me as much as I could. Life with 2 is challenging that is for sure!

Oh and an update on my running shoes. My coach is the owner of the running shoe store here in town. I stopped on the track to tell him on Saturday I was going to be in soon and if it was safe for me to go out on my run in the shoes or not. I showed him and he said that I need to get them replaced very soon and the way the shoes are could cause a stress fracture in my foot if I run too much longer in them. So new shoes it is. Just getting down there with 2 kids, almost impossible. Hoping this weekend to get my shoes taken care of.

Mason: Mason is learning more and more dinosaur names. And one thing that I have really noticed this past week is his growth in imagination. He is playing more with his toys. Making sounds for them to do things and using his toys to talk with each other. He makes his T-Rex eat other dinosaurs or the other dinos eat his T-Rex. But it just isn't with his dinos he does this with. He has a little Mickey and Goofy toy and they talk to each other and drive the car. It is really cool to watch him play with his toys now.

Collin: Collin is doing more crawling and standing. He is trying to stand at every moment he can find. We have been concerned about his weight. He has lost about half a pound since his 4 month appointment. So I have been trying to fatten him up with healthy fats and eating more solid foods in general. His main goal these days is to play with whatever toy brother is playing or grabbing mommy or daddy's tablet away. And sucking on any chord he can find! No teeth yet just lots of toothless grins for this momma!

Workout: 
Sunday: rest
Monday: 1 mile slow walk
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: PiYo lower define
Thursday: 30 min speed walk 30 min elliptical
Friday: 2.5 mile slow walk
Saturday: 6.13 mile run/walk. 15:10 min/mile pace. Super happy with this because it was on the 10 miler course and I just kept a consistent run a little walk a little pace.

Plus 30-40 squats every day.

Fitbit: 
Total Steps: 63,333 equal to 29.01 miles
Total Stairs: 54 (not including the hills from my 6.13 miles. I had to charge the thing. It died!)

Retiring My Running Shoes

Well, it looks like that time has come upon me. Time to retire my running shoes for a fresh, and spotless new pair. Over the last month I have been dealing with shin splints. I spoke with one of the captains of my training program about it and she suggested that I replace my running shoes with those that have more support. I was thinking that my shoes didn't have that much mileage on them to warrant that. I had heard that running shoes need to be replaced every 600 miles and surely I have not run that many miles.

Yesterday I picked  up my shoes to put them on to go to the gym and I noticed the underside of my left shoes was, different. There is like NO tread at the ball of the foot. I remember that it used to grip so much better. And it felt a little soft. I will say since I am back into running regularly my shin splints have gone away for the most part, as I thought they would, now to get the knot gone completely, but that still doesn't explain the pain in my left foot around the outer arch that I would get after runs.

Now I know. My shoes don't have enough support on them. They are worn out and I am now in the market to get new running shoes. And running shoes are not cheap! So time to save up the bones and head on down to my running shoes store and get fitted with a new pair. But why my shoes? Why did they wear down so quickly? Here are some thoughts I have on why mine wore down.

~I checked my mileage and I have done a total of 360 miles on these shoes with walking and running. I do not wear these shoes as my everyday shoes. I have been very good about that. I have been very diligent about logging all my runs or walks for training purposes and I am glad that I did but that number still seemed low to me. I have heard people replace their shoes at 300 miles, and some at 2,000 miles.

~I am not 120 lbs. When I run there is a lot more pounds of pressure applied to my shoes than say someone who weighs 120, or even 160 lbs. It does make a difference. So my tread literally got worn down faster because of my weight.

~Feet changes. I purchased these shoes in June 2013 just before I started training for my first 4 miler race. My old shoes weren't cutting it. Well I got pregnant with Collin in August 2014. I continued to run and train while pregnant. And during pregnancy my feet great little and the arch changed thanks in part to the hormone relaxin. Then after I had Collin and got back in my running shoes, my feet have shrunk and my arches lifted back up for the most part. So my feet have been changing during the whole time I have had these shoes.

~Stride changes. Also with being pregnant I have had to alter my stride to accommodate my changing body. Hence why the tread on my left foot is more worn down. Even now, since I still have excess fat between my legs from being pregnant (yes when pregnant you will get fat on your thighs, hips and butt, even the skinniest person will!) I have had to alter my stride again to accommodate my new body. Man, it is hard making babies!

I really have enjoyed my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13. They have served me quite well. I have trained for and completed many races in these shoes. Time to save them for a mud race or foam fest where they can get totally trashed and be ok with it! Now to look for new shoes. What are your favorite running shoes? 

Survival Guide For The Gym In January: Home Gym

Welcome to part 3 of my survival guide for the gym in January. If you missed part 1 or part 2 check them out!

Let's say you have been weighing your options about a gym membership. You haven't been able to wrap your head around all the fees and the overall cost of the gym and it doesn't work for your budget. Or have you been going to the gym for the last 2 weeks and now that it is the middle of the month you might have decided that they gym just might not be for you. You tried it out and, well it didn't quite fit you. Well, This post is for you!

Have you ever thought about making a home gym in your house? A home gym? I bet you are thinking, I don't have the space, or a separate room, or the money? I'm not talking about having a ton of equipment but just getting the essentials for your house and what you personally need. The basics might be a set of dumbbells, a treadmill or elliptical, resistance bands, really that's it! You don't need all that fancy equipment to get a great workout. Here are some ideas below to help you out!

Let's say you just go to the gym and use the treadmill. No classes, no pool, no kids zone. You just go for the treadmill. Compare the costs of a gym membership for a year and the cost of the treadmill. If you have a corner space in your room you might have some space in your house for a treadmill. This can save you money over the long run and you will be able to do your workouts at your own time. Not the gym's scheduled. Same goes for an elliptical.

LifeSpan Folding Treadmill 

If you just use free weights, what about getting a free weights set. That have free weights that you can select the weight and with just a move of a button you can change the weight setting and they take up very little space. Or just get a standard 10-25 lbs set of weights. Or even a resistance band you can get a pretty good workout with!

Bowflex Select Tech Adjustable Dumbbells

Another great investment are at home workout DVD's. These are not like your mom's jazzercise workouts of the days of old. There are some major butt kicking workouts that will, WILL get you into shape as long as you follow their eating plan and exercise routines. A lot of workouts nowadays are 30 minutes or less. The makers are realizing that people don't want to spend hours at the gym. They want to get the same results in as little time as possible. The 30 minute workouts make you go, go, go for the entire time, and then you can rest. 21 Day Fix, Insanity Max: 30, P90X3, and T25, are all through Beachbody, and are all 30 minute or less workout programs. And if you want to get bulked up too, there are workouts for you too. But they are longer dvd lengths and program lengths. You can pretty much customize what kind of workout program you want to do. There is a DVD for you and whatever you want to do.

As with any workout regime if you want to lose weight you HAVE to incorporate healthy eating into your daily lives because you will not see the results you want unless you cut the crap food and eat clean. Abs are Made in the KITCHEN!

Words To Live By

Today I was checking out my favorite blogs and I love what Heather at  Through Heather's Looking Glass said today about finding time as a new mom to exercise, and glad to know that I am not the only one out there that would rather do something else!

4.) Sacrifice: There are a lot of days I would rather take a nap then go for a run, or skip the gym in favor of watching my favorite TV series. However, I know if I don’t make an effort and make some sacrifices, I won’t get my workouts in, and I won’t be a happy person which equals not being a happy mommy. I NEED my sweat sessions, so it really is for everyone’s benefit for me to sacrifice something else so I can workout.

This is so true, especially for me right now. When Collin and Mason are down for "mommy quiet time" I want to rest, relax and just not do anything but turn off my brain and sit down with my favorite TV show. Well, the great thing about Hulu, Netflix or TV in general. It will always be there later. All I have to do is just 30 minutes a day here at the house. That is my goal. Go to the gym and do my run and the elliptical for an hour and then sometime later in the day, most likely when the kids are down for a nap, do another 30 min of PiYo for strength training. So time for me to sacrifice and watch later and continue to FOCUS ON ME! Because I am worth fighting for!

Thank you Heather for your words that made a profound impact on my day! 

January Week 2 Recap

This past week I was hit with miserable exhaustion! Hence why this is out 2 days late! I have been in such a bad habit of going to bed super late and then sleeping in, in the mornings. That it has just thrown off my whole schedule. I am eating later in the day and my whole eating pattern is off too. I am going to be trying better this week to be in bed and asleep by 10pm. (as long as the kiddos let me!)

My workouts suffered a little because of it but as long as I get my weekly mileage in I am ok with that. I will say that this last Saturday my legs felt like they didn't have enough strength. I felt like I really had to dig deep and push my legs while running around Charlottesville. There are a TON of hills here in Charlottesville and I just feel like I need a little extra boost in my leg strength to get me comfortably over these hills. So I am going to add PiYo back into my training mix to help with my flexibility, and overall strength. The more I read about PiYo and how amazing it is for running the more excited I am to add it back in again.

Mason: Mason loves being a big brother. He loves to pick on Collin, like a typical big brother does, but he also shows him the most heart warming love I have ever seen. Often when Collin cries Mason alerts us to it and will rush over and give him a hug, kiss and a pat on the head. He also loves to help Collin out by fetching his toy for him when Collin throws is down on the ground. Mason is learning new dinosaur names everyday! He now knows pentaceratops.

Collin: Is growing up way too quickly. We found out this week that he is still not gaining enough weight. Thanks in part to him crawling so much and being such an active baby. So Now I am pumping him full of healthy fats and he really does love it. Since I started feeding him solids, I have noticed that my milk supply has suffered so we are trying to boost that back up too by making sure he nurses first before solid food feedings. And I was advised by his doc to add in 1-2 more feedings during the day. So already in the last half of this week he is starting to fill out more, and even spit up at the end of feedings because we are actually topping off the tank! He is cruising for sure now. He will pull himself up on anything and walk along the couch or whatever he is standing next too. His face is just plastered with a HUGE "I DID IT!" grin and he is such a happy and loving and happy baby!

Workouts: 
As I said earlier, my workouts took a decline this past week due to me just not taking care of me and going to bed so late. (even my dad made a comment the other night about how I was going to bed so late!) My runs this week weren't the best. My legs were still recovering from the Saturday long run so my 3 mile run ended up being a 2 mile walk. I have decided that I need to do my running days on Tuesday and Thursday again. Because Monday is just too soon after my long runs for my legs to function properly!

Sunday: rest
Monday: 2 mile walk
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 1 mile walk
Thursday: rest
Friday: 1 mile walk
Saturday: 5 mile run 15:59 min/mile. It was 18 degrees and it hurt to breath. I just wanted to finish. And I ran to the downtown mall. That is just so "far" away and unbelievable that I ran to there from the university. (all my c-ville peeps will know what I am talking about!)

Fitbit:
Total Steps: 55,570 Equals 24.75 miles
Total Floors: 94

New Year Giveaway By For Two Fitness

I am thrilled to partner with For Two Fitness for an amazing New Year giveaway. If you recall, I wore For Two Fitness apparel through my pregnancy with Collin and they quickly became my absolutely favorite maternity fitness apparel brand. For Two Fitness is running a phenomenal giveaway for the New Year. Read the details below.

Happy New Year! We are so thankful to YOU — our community, customers, and friends. To express our thanks, we are hosting a huge giveaway this week in partnership with some amazing brands and our ambassadors. The Grand Prize is valued at $1000.  We have phenomenal prizes, including the newest offering from BOB - a Revolution FLEX  jogging stroller - plus prizes from ASICS, Ergo and Maison Drake baby boutique, and For Two Fitness – all facets of your healthy mom lifestyle are in this prize pack!

The grand prize winner will win everything you see listed here.  Prizes have been furnished by our wonderful brand partners in connection with a sponsoring ambassador (Katie from Mom’s Little Running Buddy and Melody from Will Run For Margaritas). Here are more details about the amazing products that have been generously donated for you to win and enjoy:

Grand Prize Giveaway items:

●      The New BOB Revolution FLEX single stroller

●      For Two Fitness maternity athletic outfit (top and bottom of winner’s choice)

●      Ergo 360 Baby Carrier furnished by Maison Drake baby boutique

●      Asics Running Shoes (1 pair of the winner’s choice)

Wow!  We are thrilled to give away these amazing prizes.  This contest runs from Monday, January 12th through midnight on Friday, January 16th.  Visit the For Two Fitness site to enter.  Be sure to follow @ForTwoFitness and our co-hosts @run4margaritas and @momslrb on Instagram in order for your entries to be valid.

Thanks for celebrating the New Year with us!  Good Luck!!!

Running In The Cold

Oh man, today was a brutal run! I just checked the weather indicator that my Garmin has and it clocked todays run at 18 degrees. Not including the cross wind we had the whole time. I had no idea it was that cold, and boy was it COLD!  So what can we do to make sure that we are prepared for for that kind of cold.

1. Layers and more layers. Layers are good cause if you do get cold you can tie your jacket around your waist. But honestly I didn't see anyone take off their jacket today.

2. Head Coverage- Wear a headband that can cover your ears or ear muffs or even a beanie. I don't have this but I do have a hoodie on my jacket which helped out today, a little.

3. Wear a scarf to help cover your face and exposed skin. I didn't have this and I can tell you right now that my face is covered in wind burn. My face hurts. Around my lips the most.

4. Gloves. My fingers were very cold. I have a jacket that has the thumb holes that cover most of my hands but my fingers were exposed.

5. Just know that when it is that cold your pace could slow down because it is a little hard to breath when it is that cold. I had a hard time with my legs too because they were FROZEN! And at about 2.5 miles they were so frozen that they were numb. Which helped in me needing to take less walk breaks but my legs were so cold they were numb. CRAZY huh! Or it could be completely opposite that you might run faster to get out of the cold. But most people I talked to today ran just a little slower than usual.

6. DRINK WATER! The winter months are so deceiving but it is a lot easier to get dehydrated during the winter than the summer. We know in the summer to drink. We feel it, we see it with our sweat. Water out means water in. But when it is so cold, you don't sweat as much so we don't compensate with enough water. So make sure you drink WATER!

Hope this helps the next time you have to battle the cold.

~All my Arizona friends are basking in the sunny warmth right now as the are reading this! They live in AZ for a reason. Perfect winter days of 70 degrees!

Survival Guide For The Gym In January: Regulars

Hey all you regular gym attendees! This one's for you! If you missed part 1: Newbies check it out!

We all know what January is like. The gym is usually packed for the first 3 weeks. We all know it is coming and when it happens we all feel a little frustrated. We are so proud of the new people attending but what happens is our routine gets thrown off a little because we either have to wait for equipment to be available and our circuit gets changed up, or we have to hurry off the machines because someone is waiting. And the classes get filled FAST! All week it seems like every spin class has been packed! No bikes available where last month there were at least 2-3 open.

Here you your tips to survive the Gym:

~We know it happens. The gym is more busy in January and that is ok! Great for the gym. It helps keep your prices lower, right because they are meeting their membership requirements and they won't raise the price on anyone because of that.

~Plan accordingly knowing that you might be at the gym for 2 hours instead of 1.5 hours. Last year I did 30 minutes on my favorite treadmill. Someone was waiting behind for me to get off. I got off and went to another treadmill for the last 30 minutes. It happens. (I had to do that 3 times last year on a Saturday when I had a super long run.) But there is a limit on cardio of 30 minutes. Yes I have a favorite treadmill type, I call it the tank! I feel more secure on it and not like I am on a belt. But I am not the only one that prefers that type of machine. (and those machines are on the second floor right under the fans, where a bunch of the other treadmills are like 20 feet under the fans. Without fans, this ginger is even more RED faced!)

~Support and encourage the newbies. If you see someone kind of deer in headlights, help them out. Say hi to more people than usual. It is scary going to the gym and not feeling like you fit in, so help them fit in. You never know, one smile today could make them come back tomorrow.

~Go during off peak hours. Yes this will throw off your schedule because you always go to the gym at 10am to strength train. But guess what, 10 am is when everyone else wants to be there too. I have been going around 11:45 and haven't been kicked off my machines yet. The kids zone is less crowded too. I am so thankful to have the flexibility to go at different times during the day, but if you go when it is super crowded try to see if you can change it up, at least for the first month.

~If you plan to do a group class. Plan on being at the gym 15 minutes early to get a good spot or to sign up if it is limited size. Or pre-sign up if that is available. But just know to be early, or you might not get in the class you wanted or will be squished in Zumba!

~We are all going for the same reason. Let's be happy that we have a place to go to when it is only 11 degrees outside and feels like -2! SERIOUSLY!?! Do not want to run in that!

Final thoughts! It is sad but true fact gyms are super packed in January but this is only temporary. I wish that it weren't true because that means that more people are sticking to their new lifestyles and getting fit. I know many people that have these expensive gym memberships and don't go. Just wasted money. If you are a newbie reading this...PROVE ME WRONG! Stick it out. Don't do too much at once. Keep coming back no matter what. Make this your lifestyle and next year, in January, you will be a REGULAR TOO!

A Different Kind Of Motivation

We are at that phase in our toddler's life where he needs to choose to be a toddler or a child. Time to get out of diapers. We are hoping that this lovely Pachyrhinosaurus will be the key to helping him figure out that it is cool to go on the potty.

Guppy was very kind and got this dinosaur for Mason specifically as an incentive to go potty. And if he does learn then I bet more dinosaurs are going to be making an appearance. Guppy's rules for Mason to earn the Pachyrhinosaurus is:

~Seriously a cool looking toy. He is hiding out in a VERY HIGH cupboard right now~

1) Wear underwear- not go around the house naked.
2) No potty in said underwear

My rule:
3) Must go #2 on the potty 10 times before he gets dinosaur. (I figure 10 times is like 10 days since he normally only goes once a day.)

So we will see if this will make it worth his while. We did make it a sold 5 hours in undies without an accident. Then he totally peed when he went down for a nap. Then he made it 3 more hours in fresh undies no accident. Until we watched a movie and he had an accident. So we are trying.

I will say that potty training a 3 year old boy, is no FUN! AT ALL! And Mason has the personality that he won't do something unless HE decided he wants too and he hasn't quite decided. I am hoping the picture will help further his incentive to go potty and GET OUT OF DIAPERS!

QOTD: What have you done to potty train your kids? I need any advice!