New website

I finally have my new site up and running, I have quite a few posts on this site so I will leave this site here but there will be no more updates or posts.

Come check out my new site

WWW.LOSINGWEIGHTANDHAVINGFUN.COM

My facebook page will remain the same but if you did sign up for email updates for my blog posts, you will need to sign up again on the new site.

Thanks for stopping by
Sarah xxx

Jillian Michaels DVD giveaway # 2

Time for the second part of my DVD giveaway.

This time the prize is a sealed copy of Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones

Just realized that is a blurry photos (sorry!) and I'm too lazy to go get my camera and take another one.

I have not tried this DVD so can't comment on how good it is, I purchased it without realizing it was region coded (only works on US DVD players) and I don't have a US DVD player - hence the giveaway.

All entries must be via the rafflecopter widget below.

Sorry only open to US residents as I have to pay for the postage myself.

Good luck everyone xxx

Disclaimer: I purchased the DVD's myself and am not being compensated for this post or giveaway in any way.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Diablo Trails 5k

Completed my 4th 5k of 2013 yesterday :)

I must confess I was not really looking forward to it as I hate hills, so I was thinking about this far too much prior to the race. Turns out it was nowhere near as bad as I was imagining. There were two steep parts at the beginning, but other than that the incline wasn't too noticeable.

This was my first actual trail run, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been on a few courses before that are mainly paved with a small amount of trail, but this was 100% trail, and we ran through four creeks (each one twice), they told us at the start just to run through and get wet then we wouldn't be bothered on the others. The first two we tiptoed across the rocks and stayed dry, but then we came to the third one...

 

and the only option was to go through and get wet, which was actually really refreshing, and the fourth one was even deeper. We soon got used to the creeks, although some rocks were slippy, so we walked rather than run through. The trails had lots of random rocks and tree trunks in the way and I saw a lot of people slip and trip, so I became extra cautious and only ran on the very flat parts.

I wasn't expecting to create any new PR's today, but still went faster than I expected considering I stopped to photograph, stopped at each creek and had the rocky steep parts of the trail.

I finished 3.25 miles in 59:21 with a 18'14" pace, so 1'44" slower than my fastest time.

Another medal for my super full medal rack, must look into purchasing a new rack at some point.

Next 5k is the Divas 5k on May 5

We have a winner...

We have a winner for the first Jillian Michaels DVD.

Congratulations to....

I will be emailing you shortly about the prize.

I hope to schedule the second DVD giveaway in the next few days.

Hope you are all having a great weekend

Sarah xxx

Weigh In and catch up

My first blog post from my new house :) Move went well and everything is now unpacked.
Slowly adjusting to my new surroundings, loving the new neighborhood as it is super flat so that will help with my extra walking.

Today I hung the first items on the wall in our new home, I was busy sorted my office/gym and decided to hang these. They take pride of place in the room, plus there is plenty of space on the wall for another rack which I will need very very soon. Next race is this weekend it's the Diablo Trails 5k (the one with the big elevation!!) and its supposed to be hot this weekend too. Luckily the race is at 830am, also its only 3 miles from our new house, so won't need to get up early ;) Should be a good challenge, don't expect to create any new PR's though!!

It has been 3 weeks since I last weighed in and food wise I haven't really been on track, but I have been super busy packing, moving, unpacking, which I guess worked in my favor,

Previous Weight: 275.2

Today's weigh in: 274
 +/- :  -1.2lbs   

Total loss 31lbs

I saw the scales go up to 281 over the last few weeks so was glad the number went down again. I've not tracked as such this week, but am trying to focus on eating clean as much as possible, and the last two nights I have cooked meals from scratch, turkey burgers Monday night, chicken curry and cauliflower rice last night and tonight I am making a ground beef and cauliflower dish.

Those of you who haven't entered my Jillian Michaels DVD giveaway - you have two days left to enter. Good Luck

I can't finish this blog post without mentioning Boston. What happened on Monday was horrific, but it has taught me one thing the power of the running community is amazing. Also social media is such an awesome tool for staying in touch and showing support. I didn't have the TV on so didn't heard about the incident until I got a tweet from a friend in response to my message earlier that day wishing people luck in the marathon, her tweet read 'hope anyone you know is okay' - I was confused and thought maybe the tweet was for someone else, but went and checked twitter and facebook anyway, and then I read about it and immediately felt sick. I turned on the news and was shocked at the images I was seeing :( I then immediately thought of some friends on twitter who were running the marathon. Neither of whom I have met in real life, but who I was deeply concerned about, one of them Dani had crossed the finish line moments before the blast, she was able to get a message to friends who in turn tweeted and reassured us all she was fine, my other friend also tweeted she was safe. This is a valuable tool to remember if (and hopefully you will never need it) you are in a similar emergency situation and want to let loved ones know you are OK. The running community came together yesterday to show support for Boston and I particapted by wearing my race shirt and walking for 26.2 minutes, it was exactly 26.2, but I hit un pause instead of stop!

I will definitely be thinking about everyone affected when I run this weekend.

Have a great week everyone - stay safe
Sarah x

Jillian Michaels workout DVD giveaway

A few months ago I purchased a bundle of three Jillian Michaels DVDs online, last month I finally got round to doing one, but came across a hurdle - since moving to the US (over 3 yrs ago!) I haven't purchased a DVD player, I didn't think about this at the time of buying them, as a couple of other workout DVDs I have are region free and have played fine on the PlayStation - but not these, they are Region 1.

I decided that rather than go buy a DVD player (which to be fair I probably wouldn't use!) I would instead share the love and give them away on my blog. I was going to do a bundle with all three, but wanted to give you all a good chance to win, so I will be giving one away each week (a bit longer for the first one as I am moving house).

The first DVD I am giving away is the Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVD, this is the one I was going to do first, so the case is open but the DVD is brand new, other than being inserted into the PlayStation once!

 


















All entries need to be via the rafflecopter widget below - sorry the giveaway is only open to US residents.

Disclaimer: I purchased the DVD's myself and am not being compensated for this post or giveaway in any way.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Checking in

Hey everyone

Hope you are all well, I thought I would do a quick check in post to let you know I am alive and well.

Super busy packing up the house ready for move day this Saturday. I have been jumping on the scales off and on - and it's not pretty :( I will be posting an official weigh in Monday morning. 

I have planned lots of different 5k walks around my new neighborhood, and I am going to be unpacking all my lovely cookbooks straight into the kitchen to get me on track cooking proper meals again, as I have been eating on the go far too much, I'm not sure when I last ate a vegetable - I don't think the garlic in the garlic bread counts!!

We have a brand new fridge freezer installed in our new house and I am super excited to go to the grocery store and stock it with healthy food, when I pack up the kitchen here any processed and junk food will not be making the journey to the new house. I know I can do this - I just need to focus.

I have found another thing to motivate myself I have signed up for diet bet again - this will be my third one and hopefully I will win a share of the pot this time.
If anyone wants to sign up and take part here is the link http://bit.ly/10Va9xF

Have a great week everyone and I will be back posting on Monday (providing our internet connection is up and running)

Nearly forgot - I want to say a HUGE congratulations to my friend Marisol who completed her first ever half marathon last weekend - you rock and are a huge inspiration to me :)

March Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

Woohoo - its reveal day. I love sharing all the goodies I have received each month with you, and am super excited that Kerry A in England signed up and participated this month :)

This month I was matched with Susan in Kansas who blogs at http://solesearchingmamma.com and got to send her a box of goodies. She is gluten free so I spent some extra time looking at ingredients to make sure I sent her something suitable. She replied saying her and her family loved everything.

My other match was Anna from Missouri and she blogs at http://simplelifearmywife.blogspot.com/ 
At the time of the match I was attempting low carb, so that was the request I gave Anna and she did a great job. She said it was interesting to look at the carb content and was surprised at how high in carbs some items were.

  My box was beautifully package and contained a lovely handwritten note from Anna explaining all of the contents.

The first thing I took out was the Turkey Perky Jerky, this lasted all of 2 minutes, it was so good. My husband loves jerky and I planned to let him try some but ended up eating all myself.

  I have seen this in the shop a lot and always wanted to try them, but wasn't sure if I would use it. I planned to keep it in my purse, but was worried it would leak, so I kept it in my car and it has proved handy as I am always drinking bottles of water in my car. It took a bit of time to get the number of drops right, too many and it tastes too strong and not nice, but when you get it right it tastes really nice. I looked in the grocery store to see how many flavors there are and was shocked at how many different brands and flavors there are available.

 I love almonds, and this is the first time I have seen coffee flavored ones. I haven't got round to trying them yet as I already have a big bag open, and I like to finish off one bag before opening another, but I am excited to try them.

 I drink lots of almond milk, but have never tried this brand, it was handy having it in the cupboard as I ran out of milk the other day and didn't want to drive to the store and remembered I had this. It tastes just as great as my usual brand, and I will definitely keep a few cartons in my cupboard in the future.

My final item was some homemade spicy honey mustard. Anna warned me that is was super spicy! I am not a fan of mustard but my husband is and he tried some on his steak, and he agreed it was super spicy, but he really enjoyed it.












Thanks Anna for an awesome box and for taking the time to make sure everything was suitable for me. I hope you enjoyed the box you received from your match as much as I enjoyed mine.

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

*If you're from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup.