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Showing posts from November, 2014

MOVE this Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving, my American friends!


Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of food, family, and .... sitting around.  We sit watching the parade, we sit and catch up with relatives, we sit to watch football, we sit and eat dinner, we sit and digest, you get the picture. There's nothing wrong with taking time to relax and enjoy good company, but all this lying around can leave us feeling lethargic for days to come.

This Thanksgiving, I dare you to get up and MOVE!  

Maybe for you, that means getting in one awesome morning workout before the day begins--awesome!

Perhaps your family enjoys fulfilling a different Thanksgiving tradition of playing some backyard football.  Sounds great!

BUT there are many other ways to get moving throughout the day, too.  Here are a few ideas to try:
Get involved in the kitchen.  Often, holiday gatherings involve lots of home-cooked food. Whether you're the host and head chef or simply an invited guest, offer your assistance in the kitchen.  Cooki…

Run on Air: Get #FueledbyZero

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Runners love to run. Runners are passionate about running, and they are addicted to running. Even shorter-distance runners like me get antsy after too long off the road. And we've all got goals: we want to run better, run faster, and/or run longer.BUT, runners also want to avoid injury.Yes, running causes injuries. The daily pounding is tough on the joints! It's undeniable: Running causes injury. 80% of runners report being injured in the last 12 months, and 55% had to take a time-out (4+ days!) from training due to injury. Even a small-time runner like myself has experienced occasional pain in my knees and ankles while running; it's not fun and definitely has made me stop running from time to time.Does this mean everyone should stop forever?Not necessarily -- it just means that runners need to train smarter! We can continue to build endurance, gain active recovery, and log miles, as long as we can manage impact on our bodies... and Octane Fitness is enabling runners to do…

say "WHOAH!"

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First: WHOA--only a few days left to enter thehealthy recipe book giveaway!  Get delicious recipes to help restore your health.
You may recall that my running stalled the last couple months due to illness (boooo).  I'm finally easing my way back in; I spent much of November walking on the treadmill (cold weather!), doing yoga and Pilates, and even taking a Spinning class or two more recently. It's felt good to get moving again, but I didn't want to dive in head-first.  I did go to one BODYPUMP class, but my back hurt for a week after.  So... not heading back there until maybe later in December. For now, I've been enjoying simple movement, bodyweight work, and cycling--easier on the joints.
Speaking of easy on the joints, let's talk CUSHIONING... 

There's a new sneaker on the market, and it is nice.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to try it out myself (still in recovery, anyhow), but Eric did, courtesy of the kind folks at Saucony.


He was elated when his Saucony…

Live Positive

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Hey friends!  Popping in for a quick post, because there's a cool contest going on at tommiecopper.com I want to share with you.  They're looking to give a generous holiday gift to someone who demonstrates how to #LivePositive.

Here's how it works:

You nominate someone who is deserving of a BIG ACT OF KINDNESS, everyone votes online, and then Tommie Copper gives the winner $10,000 !!!  How awesome is that?


You can enter by clicking here to submit a photo or video telling your nominee's #livepositive story (and enjoy %15 off your next order, while you're at it!).  There's just three more days for nominations to be accepted, so get moving if you know someone you'd like to nominate!

Starting next week, everyone can go on and vote for the the winner (November 24 - December 7), so get ready to log in and vote for a deserving nominee who truly showed that they #livepositive.

Watch the video below to learn more, or head right on over to the contest website to ente…

Try a new food: Sunchokes

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Psst! Don't forget to check out last week's giveaway to win an amazing nutrition/health/recipe book, signed by the author!
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It's been a while since a new food post, but I recently tried a food that was brand new to me: Sunchokes.


Have you heard of this vegetable?  I had never, but then I discovered that it's simply another name for the Jerusalem artichoke.  I'd never actually seen or eaten one of those, either, but had always assumed it looked more like, well, an artichoke (click to learn all about that "new food" dare here).

Intrigued, I gathered the details on this native North American tuber:

Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes, come from a plant that looks a lot like their relative, the sunflower.  What I found, though, looked nothing like a sunflower.  It's the tuber beneath it that looks like a knobby, rough, light brown rock. It looked sort of like ginger, but I honestly questioned whether it was even edible.


Peeled, cut, and cooked, it wasn&…

Meet these Life-Changers -- {BOOK GIVEAWAY!}

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This past weekend, New York City finally got to meet some real health and nutrition superstars!


Together, Sarah Ballantyne (about whom I've gushed before) andStacy Toth (whom I had the pleasure of meeting once before) chat, teach, and advise on The Paleo View Podcast.  The podcast is produced by Stacy's husband Matt McCarry,and the two of them also have several books out, the latest of which is Real Life Paleo (review to come soon, after I've gotten cooking!).

Stefani Ruper was an added bonus to this stop on The Paleo View book tour.  Stefani has been a guest on several of my favorite podcasts and also has her own self-love podcast and book: Sexy by Nature: The Whole Foods Solution to Radiant Health, Life-Long Sex Appeal, and Soaring Confidence.  After being a long-time listener of her wisdom via voice podcast, it was amazing to see her in person; she had the type of confidence and radiance that is promised from her work, so she's living proof of how to be sexy by nat…