My 9 TOP Free Iphone Apps you MUST HAVE for Fitness & Nutrition

So I got the first installment of my fitness magazine in the mail last week and I was super excited.  I got a year subscription for like $3 or something ridiculously cheap.

And in there, they listed out some free fitness apps for the iphone.  I only had 1 of them already, Nike Training and the others I did not have so I downloaded them.  They are all GREAT and I have personally tried them out so I thought I'd share them with you.

Fit Mama Runs 2 Half-Marathons in 1 mo?, Vegetarian Meal Plan, Food Prep, AWESOME Falafel Sandwiches

So, I'm officially signed up for another half-marathon in April!  On April 14th, I am running the 13.1 miles in the Bixby Legacy Run.

 It is to help support the Bixby Outreach Center, which is a place that helps needy families in Bixby.  I thought running this race would be good training for my OKC run on April 29th!  So, I'm really looking forward to it and setting a great pace.  BTW, I wasn't sore today at all, following my 10 mile run yesterday.  Usually my legs would be a little sore and they were not at all today!

Fit Mama Runs 10 Miles...Set PR!!

Well, this morning, I had my scheduled 10 mile run.  I wasn't too excited about it because I haven't run much since we were on vacation all last week.  But, I was booking it this morning.  I finished the 10 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes, which is exactly a 10 min/mile.  My usual pace is 10.5 minute/mile so that busted my average pace by a full 30 seconds per mile!  I felt GREAT.  I'm not sure if it was because I went to bed by 10:30 last night, or the excedrin I had this morning before I left for a headache, or what.  And despite the faster pace this morning, I didn't feel like I was over-exerting myself.  In fact, I felt like I could go faster if I really wanted to. 

After I got home, I showered up and had a cup of coffee with breakfast

A couple Fit Mama Lunches, New Family Cereal Discovery, SUPER DELISH Black Bean Burgers!

It has been a crazy couple days since we've been home!  I have been working so hard to get us unpacked, laundry done, and refrigerator replenished.  I was SO tired Sunday night that I went to bed at 8:00 and slept for 11 hours!  I can't say enough about the healing properties of adequate sleep.  I felt GREAT yesterday.  So, after a delicious lunch, I decided to go to Whole Foods to replenish our fruit and veggie drawers.  My lunch was this:

Back on the Health Regime After Vacation & AWESOME Vegetarian Baked Ziti

Well we're back!!  We have been on vacation for 8 days and we got back late last night.  It feels so good to be home!  We had an AWESOME time in St Louis and Branson.  While we were on vacation, we really tried to make healthy choices as much as possible.  Now don't get me wrong, eating out and having treats is all part of vacation!  When we did eat out, we all drank water (NO SODA!) and the kids shared 2 kids meals, for portion control.  If the restaurants had a salad available, that is what I ordered.  And we stayed on the vegetarian Lent diet (except for some fish my husband ate). 

On our 2nd day at Silver Dollar City, I packed us a big cooler full of grapes, apples, organic PB & agave sandwiches (on whole wheat bread), cheese sticks, and some pretzels.  Instead of ordering the fried lunch foods, we had a pretty healthy lunch! 

The whole time we were on vacation, I did not exercise one time.  Although I didn't really plan on working out, it was pretty hard not getting my daily exercise in.  I didn't gain any weight on vacation but I feel like I have an extra layer of flab from not working out.  However, my left bicep is sore from carrying Chris on my hip for 2 days straight.   For me, diet is 80% of the equation when it comes to losing or maintaining weight.  But, that 20% keeps me toned and I am a better mood overall when I get my daily workout in.  Even though I didn't work out, we were SUPER active.  We spent a full day at the zoo walking around

How Fit n Busy Family Stays Healthy on the Road

So I've been feverishly packing for the last 2 days, getting us all packed and ready for our 8 day long trip for Spring Break.  It's not an easy task to get 4 kids packed, laundry done, and snacks/meals planned.  We are leaving in the morning for St Louis, MO.  We will be there for 4 days, then we're driving to Branson, MO for 4 days!  Going on a road trip can be very trying on not only your sanity, but also your health.  It is MUCH easier to go through the drive-through or stop at the gas station and get candy, snacks, and soda.  But, I have been working very hard and planning ahead to ensure that it doesn't happen that way.  Yes, there are times that we get fast food or stop and get snacks at the gas station, that's part of the fun of a road trip after all!  But, I want to minimize that as much as possible.  Here are some of my tips for staying healthy on the road and during travel:

1.  Get a cooler for the car and pack it with some healthy snacks & drinks.

Busy Mama Stays Fit on the Go, and YUMMY Vegetarian Chunky Chili Recipe!

I knew today was going to be a very busy day.  So, I got my exercise in this morning with a quick circuit workout.  I did 10 push ups, 20 burpees, 30 mountain climbers, 40 squat jumps, and plank for 1 minute.  I repeated this circuit 4 times and I was done in about 25 minutes!

I had plans this afternoon and evening, with no time to prepare dinner, so I popped dinner in the crockpot at noon, to cook on low for 6 hours...

Soccer Saturday, New Kids' Gear, and Yummy Mozzarella Pesto Panini Recipe!

Well yesterday was a crazy day! I was at the soccer fields twice, for Addy & Eli's games. While they were playing, I realized that I have kind of slacked on working with them on soccer skills. I can't expect their coaches to teach them everything they need to know to excel at the game in 1 or 2 practices a week. And, if we're going to take this sport more seriously, I really need to get after it and help them to learn some more soccer skills. Our neighbor (whose kids are also in Metro Tulsa Soccer Club), was telling me that there is a complimentary soccer skills training class every Tuesday night starting at 5:30 pm to any MTSC players.  Here is the link to the info on that.
So, I'm going to think about taking them to that next week! Since the weather is nice, there is no excuse for me not to be at the park with them practicing too!

Family Tennis Night, Leftover Taco Dinner Remix, and Healthy Soccer Game Snacks

So tonight, we decided to meet another family out at the tennis courts for a family tennis match.  We enjoy tennis when the weather is nice.  It is a great workout and there is usually several courts right next to each other so the kids can play their own "game".

New Countertop Oven, Strawberry/banana/PB Smoothie, and BEST EVER Chickpea Tacos

We have one of those kitchens that only...sigh...has 1 oven.  I do SO much cooking now and there are many times that I have multiple things that need to be put in the oven, all at different temps of course.  Cooking can sometimes take twice or 3 times as long as it should. 

So, I am STOKED about the new countertop oven I got in the mail today!  We needed to replace our ANCIENT "toaster oven" which was nothing more than a glorified toaster that took up more space than one.  We did a ton of research, looking at reviews on Walmart.com and amazon.com.  When we buy appliances or something like this, we always check reviews first and don't make an impulse buy.  Here is what I was looking for in a new countertop oven:

• Can fit a 13x9 pan
• Can fit a 12" pizza
• Has 2 racks
• Looks nice (stainless)
• Has convection feature
• Is affordable (less than $100)

This one had it all! After checking the reviews for this model on several sites, it had RAVE reviews.  We got the Hamilton Beach Countertop oven with Convection and Rotisserie Option.

Fit Mama 7 Mile Long Run, Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food, and 8 y.o. Lunchbox!

So this morning was my 7 mile run, as scheduled for my half-marathon training.  It went really well!  It was 63 degrees, overcast, with 20 MPH winds.  The winds did suck when I was coming to the end of my run, which was uphill and I was running directly into the wind.  But, for the most part, was not an issue.  I finished in 1 hour 10 minutes, which is not quite the pace I was hoping for.  But, felt great when I got home.  I didn't feel like I over-exerted myself.  Just a nice casual pace. 

After I got home from my run, I of course took a few moments to stretch.  And my 2 y.o. decided to join me:

BUSY Day! Fit Mama Workout, Day 2 Vegetarian Grocery Shopping & Kids' Boot Camp!

Well today was CRAZY.  It started out at 7 am this morning, I took my 8 y.o. to Bixby Kids For Christ and every other week, I lead games with the kiddos.

I got my workout in at around 11 am this morning, after I laid Chris down for his nap.  Today, I did Cardio sculpt (GAIAM on HULU), a 11 minute workout.  Then, I did The Firm Boot Camp (on HULU also), a 12 minute workout.  BTW, if you have Hulu, you must get on there and see all the workout programs available.  Just search GAIAM on Hulu to find them all.

After taking my son to pre-k, I had my day 2 of grocery shopping planned for Walmart.  Here is what I got at Walmart:

Week 2 Vegetarian Menu, Half-Marathon Training, & AWESOME Blueberry Muffin & Veggie Lasagna Recipes!!

Well it's that time again for my weekly shopping!  Last Tuesday I spent $165 and I bought enough food for 5 meals and it lasted me 7 days.  Here is what my shopping list looks like this week:

The items highlighted are ones I can't get at Walmart & have to go to a different grocery store, such as Whole Foods.  Meals upcoming this week include:

• Baked Ziti with organic mixed salad
• Slow Cooker vegetarian chili with homemade cornbread
• Chickpea Tacos with Mexican rice and organic black refried beans
• Caprese Panini with strawberries & pita chips
• Spinach, Feta & Tomato Quiche
• Spinach & Lentil Soup with homemade whole wheat artisan bread

So far, the vegetarian eating has gone really well!  Mike has still not complained (except for last night when we went out after a concert and the restaurant was having a $7 gourmet burger special). 

Soccer Season Starts & DELISH bean & pasta soup with homemade cornbread recipes!!

Well March is the start of a VERY busy season for this Mama!  It's officially soccer season.  Anyone else's calendar look something like this?

Both my kiddos play soccer, which equates to Saturday being an all day affair.  Plus, 3 practices per week (between the 2 of them), and a sports conditioning class my 8 y.o. is starting next week.  That means 5 days/week are called for!  I must say that dinner is going to be a bit of a challenge during soccer season.  Thanks goodness my mom helps some evenings for practice and on Saturdays since my husband works these evenings & all day Saturday, it would be really hard for me to do it all by myself.

It would be REALLY easy to eat a lot of fast food or have unhealthy snacks available during this time since I am so busy and we are on the go.  Here are a couple tips if you have a schedule like mine, with sports, practices, and other activities taking up your evenings:

Busy Mama Runs, Cooks, and Bakes - LOTS of great recipes here!!

BUSY day today!  I went out the door to the bus stop this morning at 7:40 in full run gear, runkeeper app ready to go, tunes ready to pump.  But, when I looked back at the front door, I saw my babies' faces pressed against the glass.   My husband had to work and was getting ready so I knew I had to go back in and get breakfast started for them instead of my run....but I did get on my treadmill after I laid my 1 y.o. down for a nap and ran 3.1 miles, as scheduled for my day 3 half-marathon training.