Foodie Pen pal and a good day...

So my training went as follows yesterday; Get up, take kids to school, go to honors program, come home, fold mountains of clothes, pick kids up, gymnastics, enjoy my dinner, and now you guys!

TRAINING WHERE ARE YOU? OMG I am so on it next week. It was one of those days you want to crawl back in bed and start over...but enough about that.

Today is a new and wonderful day:)

I will be thankful today for things like my husband, my 3 kids, life, waking up in the morning, chocolate, legs for running, my parents, chocolate, 0to26point fans, oh and did I mention chocolate. Well because I had such a bad great day, I was so excited to be able to show you what I got a couple of  weeks ago in the mail...

A box? No not just a box, my Foodie Penpal box. FANTASTIC SURPRISE!

A little about Foodie Penpal. It was thought by one of my favorite bloggers Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean. She is fabulous you should definitely follow her. Basically it involves having a penpal across the U.S. somewhere that you are paired with and you contact them and find out what type of person they are and what type of food they may want to receive from you. My penpal is Marnie of Journey for life, Journey for tri and she is in Washington, so she knew the south was known for spicy food and dark chocolate, So I sent her some marinade, creole seasoning, some snack for fueling during her Ironman training, yeah Ironman CRAZY COOL! oh and of course some dark chocolate (we connected):)  I was the awesome Penpal recipient of the fabulous Shannon of A Wise Bitterness, and she sent me all of these wonderful goodies...

and a Happy Birthday card. YAY! it means a lot that she recognized my birthday! I have to admit though that there was a milk chocolate bar in there that didn't make it past the opening of the box! lol. Did I mentioned before that I was thankful for chocolate?

Yes? I thought so!

HEEHEE!

What was in the box, you ask? OK

Bear Naked granola, my absolute favorite Vanilla almond, YUM.

El Rancho Flaxseed tortilla chips

4 Think Thin Protein bars chocolate fudge, creamy peanut butter, chunky peanut butter, and brownie crunch.

2 Usana nutrition bars

3 Organo pre-brewed coffee

3 caramels from her trip from Germany, yeah SOOO GOOD!

Bessingers Naturals pretzels covered with peanut butter and chocolate

Oh and the "missing" chocolate, shhhhh...

This was just the thing I needed to cheer my day up, thanks Shannon, you rock!

If you are interested in trying the Usana products contact Shannon HERE!

If you are interested in the Foodie Penpal group for June, go HERE to read the rules and sign up...you wont regret it, trust me!

Tomorrow: SAN DIEGO! YAY!

Run-N-Tri Winner...

Happy Memorial Day

I hope all of you guys have a great day tomorrow with your family and friends, but also remember those that have and are serving our country!

I wanted to tell you guys how cool it is to be able to meet a reader of Zero to Twenty Six Point Two. A couple of weeks ago I ran a birthday giveaway. One of my favorite running stores Run-n-Tri in Mobile/Gulfport graciously gave me a $100 gift card to give to one of my lucky readers. The lucky winner was Shental of Gulfport, MS.

Lucky for me I was running a 5k at the waterpark the weekend I announced the winner. So that means I was got to actually meet Shental. This is us at the race...

It was so nice to be able to meet her and her husband John.

John is also a runner and triathlete. She had decided that she was  going to buy him new shoes with her gift card. SCORE!

I was lucky enough to meet them at Run-N-Tri in Mobile when they went to look at shoes.

The awesome girls Heidi and Julie at Run-N-Tri helped John pick out just the right shoe to fit his foot.

They checked his arch and pressure with AETREX iStep pressure plate...

Then they assessed his gait and foot strike as he tested different shoes on the treadmill...

After trying on a few different types of shoes, he decided on a pair of Mizunos

It was awesome to be able to meet and hang out with them. I look forward to hanging out with them more. Bring on the races!

John, I hope you enjoy your shoes.

Shental, thanks for entering!

And a special thanks to Run-N-Tri for the awesome gift card. It was such a fun giveaway!

Whooha Gear Giveaway

I am a sucker for inspirational quotes, I have them all over my house, including my kids bathroom...

I want them to read this everyday and be the best person they can be!

So that brings me to a wonderful company I came across on Twitter...

This is the WHOOHA Gear name mean:

Women Having Optimistic Objectives & Healthy Attitudes

You can read their whole story HERE

When I saw the t-shirts that they had to offer and the motivation that each shirt had, I was hooked. Here are some of the great shirts they have...

I was lucky enough to recieve this fabulous shirt from them...

 Since I am running the Rock n Roll San Diego 1/2 marathon on June 3rd, this shirt was just what I needed to keep me motivated...

  I love the Play Hard-Take Chances-Keep Smilin'
I also love the way it fits. I am 5'9 so alot of t-shirts especially fitted tees are just too short for me. My problem areas are my stomach so I do like to keep it covered. So this Whooha Gear shirt is just the right length...

See, even when I lift my arms the shirt stays at a good length! LOVE THIS!

Now to the fun part, the wonderful ladies at WHOOHA Gear have given me a $30 gift certificate to give to one of my wonderful readers.

Its very easy to enter:
Check out WHOOHA Gear HERE, and leave a comment below letting me know which shirt you would pick and thats it. While you are there check them out on Facebook and Twitter also.

For and extra entry, and if your feeling extra lucky, join my google connect on the right side of my blog. I would love for us to be friends:)
So hurry and go pick out your next WHOOHA Gear tshirt!

Giveaway ends on 5/31/12 at midnight. I will pick a winner on June 1st right before I board a plane to San Diego!
I was asked to review this product by WHOOHA Gear. The opinions of this post are of mine and no one elses:)

What I Ate Wednesday!

I love Wednesdays because I can post the things that I have eaten the past couple of days. Everyone likes to look at food:) I have been eating alot of Cottage cheese and greek yogurt, its one of my favorite breakfasts and snacks to have...

Even if you are not a cottage cheese eater, mixing it with the Cabot strawberry greek yogurt makes you forget you are eating it. I personally like cottage cheese, however this is my favorite way to eat it. Throw in some almonds and/or granola and it makes a great breakfast.  

The hubby and I did not have kids one night so we tried out a new sushi restaurant, and OMG! It was amazing...

The bottom picture is what they call the "suicide" roll. It has wasabi cream and ghost chilis. topped with mangos and strawberries. It was super hot but soooooo freaking good.

I have been eating alot of salads for lunch, they are easy to throw together and I can put alot of random things in them...

Spinach, tuna, egg whites, blue cheese crumbles, and pico de gallo as dressing. SO GOOD!

For dinner I have been testing out different dishes with Shiratake tofu Noodles. I love those things and they are sooooo healthy for you. Here are a couple meals I prepared with them.

Shiratake Noodles, Eat Smart veggie protein crumbles, pico de gallo, and parmesan cheese.

Shirataki noodles, Low sodium spaghetti sauce and extra lean turkey meat.

If you have a chance to try the noodles, you will love them and at 3 carbs per serving, its great!

For desert i have been eating a lot of frozen greek yogurt and granola pops. I got the recipe from The Lean Green Bean blog, check it out!

QOTD:So this is what I have eaten, what kind of things have you been eating, I would love to read about it...Please comment below:)

Blue Diamond, Joshua Kirkley, and my great day yesterday!

Great day yesterday...wanna know why?

1. I had a great training session with my new friend and personal trainer Joshua Kirkley with Great Life Personal Training. I am hoping he will shed some of this stubborn belly fat I cant get rid of. Yes, I said stubborn belly fat. I have about 20 lbs I would like to lose and it is mainly in my midsection. So yes STUBBORN! Also it is a fact that the more fat you have around your stomach the harder is in on your heart. So I am really wanting to get rid of that! Which leads me to...

2. Last night Fit Fluential had a Twitter chat party with Blue Diamond Almonds. I have always loved almonds and the Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds are the best. One of the great ways I have used them is by crushing them up and using them in lieu of breadcrumbs in my turkey burgers. The Smokehouse flavor really gives the turkey meat a great flavor. I always knew that they were good for you, but after last night with all of the information we learned about almonds, I am so glad I have had them in my diet for so long. LOVE Blue Diamond almonds.

3. My run yesterday was fantastic, I did a five mile loop and I was as comfortable as can be. I would have gone further had I not had to get my son from school. I have been training well just not really comfortable. Today it was smoothing sailing. Thank you running gods. 

I am excited about my upcoming trip to San Diego with my friends and super sisnlaw. I am ready to see some California sun and spend some down time relaxing at the beach.

I have a great giveaway coming up. check out Whooha Gear. they are an inspirational athletic t-shirt company and I am absolutely love their stuff. Stay tunes for a great giveaway from Whooha Gear and yours truly, ME!

QOTD: How was your day yesterday and which shirt do you like at Whooha Gear.com?

Smooth Paddleboarding...

I wanted to let you guys know about a sport that has become pretty popular down here on the Gulf Coast.

Paddleboarding!

It is a great full body workout that is as much fun as it looks. I was able to try it out in Pensacola Beach last summer. I was only able to try it a couple of times because it was the person next to me at the beaches board that I talked into letting me try it. LOL! This summer I will be adding this to my beach workouts.

 Well I was on Facebook and noticed that this company Smooth is giving away this gorgeous board...

Just check them out on Smooth on Facebook and Share the post, they will be drawing a winner on June 4th, go check it out.

Opinions of this post are strickly my own and I have no connection with Smooth paddleboarding!

Racing?when?where?why?who?

????????????????

When choosing which race I want to run, it can be quite difficult. There are so many races in the spring and fall to choose from. Deciding is the hardest part. Whether it be the charity, the course, the location, the distance, and even the after party (lol), it can be crazy hard to choose. I personally spent all of 2011 running different local 5k/10k races every pretty much every weekend. some I enjoyed, others not so much.

Great cause run!



Now that it is 2012, I am a little more picky on which races I run considering that your local 5k race cost an average of $15/$20 as compared to the half marathons that get closer to $100. So I am little more picky now on what races I run...

Rock n Roll Arizona half marathon

The fact that I did run pretty much all of my local races last year allows me too be picky on which ones I run this year, which brings me to yesterdays 5k The Pursuit of Fun in Gulfport MS.
This race is held at the Gulf Islands waterpark and you get a free entry into the waterpark with your race number. SCORE!



Run 3.1 miles for this, no problem!

I love this race, I take the kids and we enjoy a day of fun for next to nothing...they have 5 huge water slides, wave pool, lazy river, and an excellent kids area that includes slides for the younger kids as well. They supply life jackets for the kids too. That is a plus in my book.
I also found out that you can buy a season pass for $49.99. The ticket prices are $28.99 per person, so if you plan on going more than 2 times this summer, I would purchase the season passes. You will use it more and they give you a coupon book with bring a friend, free cabana coupons, etc. Well worth the $50.

So go and enjoy yourself and make sure you watch the Gulf Coast Running Clubs website for next years date for The Pursuit of Fun 5k, bring the family and enjoy.

Question of the day? What is your favorite race and why?

Please leave a comment below. I look forward to reading your answers.

video update...Fit Fluential

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Thankful Thursday...

Had a bad day...

Life Happens...

Then you get reminded...

Tomorrows another day!

Life goes on, live it!

Enjoy it!

What I ate Wednesday...

I spent the day at the Wind Creek Casino with my mom and sister for my birthday.

It was a REST DAY and a much needed one at that.

As far as my eating, this was my morning snack at the casino...

Smoked almonds and cashews, some of my favorites.

We left the casino around 1 and headed home. We were hungry and the only thing around the casino is Hardees and McDonalds, ugh! However a friend of mine had told me that Hardees had a low carb turkey burger. So $3.19 later, this is what I had for lunch...

Sorry I was hungry, lol!

It was actually really good and the nutrition info wasn't bad either.

Calories	360	Sodium	1290 mg
Total Fat	23 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	7 g	Total Carbs	14 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	1 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	8 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	24 g
Cholesterol	75 mg

 So atleast there is a healthier alternative when out and all there is fast food. You should go try it.

By the time I got home and got kids settled and off to church with the neighbors. The hubster decided we needed to go eat some sushi since we didnt have the kids with us. Of course I am not gonna turn that down...This is how that turned out...

FANTASTIC!

Other than the fact that my body is in complete sodium shock, I think it was the best sushi ever.

Lots of extra water to be drank tomorrow along with a little extra cardio to sweat it out.

As far as tomorrows training...5 mile run, followed by some crazy crosstrainer hip machine thing. LOL!

I will recap my spa visit tomorrow, till then...

Make sure you enter my $25 Target Gift Card Giveaway...HERE



Relaxation before the storm...

My butt is super sore from a very heavy leg day yesterday. Excited!
Anyways today I am spending the morning at the Wind Creek Casino spa with my mom and sister for my birthday. REST DAY!
Tomorrow, right back to training;)

And the winner is...

SHENTAL H.

You have won $100 gift card towards athletic shoes at Run-N-Tri in Mobile

Im sending you an email, you have 48 hours to respond, Congrats!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My first vlog, HEY!

I been thinking about doing some videos on my blog for a while and I have finally decided that it was time. I was really inspired by Heidi over at Banana Buzzbomb , she post videos all the time and they are so inspiring to listen to. I have been reading her blog for a while and have been following her training on Twitter. Its one thing to read blogs and get to know the person through their writing and photographs, but videos make it much more personal.

So I will be featuring some videos throughout the week explaining my training and how its going. I hope you enjoy them. And again Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day! and my mom!

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope all of you are celebrating your day and/or your mothers day in style! I actually am having a quiet morning alone at home and it is quite relaxing. My kids are at church with my parents and my husband is at work. We are surprising my mom with dinner at her house tonight, so my kids are kind of a ploy for that. LOL!

So I just wanted to let you in on a great company called Trumpette. It is a fabulous baby/kids boutique including accessories, socks and clothes. I had never heard of them until I entered a Twitter contest for Mothers Day. We had to submit a picture of our moms and if they won, they would recieve this fabulous Trumpette Large Sequin Schleppbag ...

I entered the above picture of my mom relaxing on the benches in Dowtown Disney, and she won. EXCITING... This is her with her new Trumpette Large Sequin Schleppbag ...

Its a great bag for every occasion. I am slightly jealous of this bag! If you find it missing mom, SORRY!

Look how cute these shirts are...

You can check Trumpette out HERE.

ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DAY!



My night with Tofu Shirataki!

Shirataki Stir Fry

I have always been one to try new foods. I have heard and seen the dry Shiratake Noodle on various other blogs and websites and have been wanting to try them. A low carb, pasta substitute that tasted good is just what I needed. Well yesterday I was grocery shopping at my local Winn Dixie Grocery store here in town and low and behold, I came across this in the produce section...

It is a wet Tofu Shirataki angel hair pasta. Here is the nutrition facts...

20 calories, 3 carbs, and 0 fat, SCORE!

So I decided to make a stir fry of some sort. I had Smart Ground protein veggie crumbles, which if you have never tried, you should, it taste just like beef, but much healthier. I also had some colored bell pepper slices, liquid egg whites, and some salsa pico de gallo.

The directions for the Shirataki were simple. Rinse thoroughly, and microwave for 1 minute, than use as you would any other type noodle. Easy enough? Yes sir!

First I prepared my Shirataki noodles, then I sauteed my bell peppers and Smart Ground protein crumbles in a little 100% extra virgin olive oil (I did add water throughout the saute process so it didn't dry out) and cooked my egg whites with some cracked pepper...

Then I added my Shirataki Noodles...

I tossed this together in in the pan until well mixed, took off the heat and added my cooked egg whites, and topped with salsa. Here is how it came out...

I was actually surprised at how close it came to tasting like regular angel hair. I had my husband and kids try it and they said it was really good. My husband also said he would have added salt but he would have never been able to tell the difference if I hadn't told him. Trust me that say a lot! So how does the nutrition breakdown...

Next time I think I will sautee it in just water and not the EVOO and I would have saved 120 calories and 14 fat grams. Although it is a good fat, I could have done without it.

I did a little comparison with my husbands dinner. I cooked him an oven baked chicken alfredo...

That is 2 servings on his plate, here is how it compared to each other...

I could have had 3 plates of mine to equal the nutrition in his one plate of pasta. So my point being is if you make the right choices, you can have a hearty meal that fills you up without eating a ton of calories, etc. I also was full but didn't have that pasta bloat feeling. You know the one I'm talking about? LOL!

So if you are interested in trying it, i found it at my local Winn Dixie grocery store. For locals it was at the one at Hillcrest and Grelot. For everyone else here is the website where you can check what stores it is in...

QOTD? Have you ever tried a pasta substitute? If so which one and how did you like it?

Leave a comment below.