Rock-n-Blog Team 2015, whos in?

I was named one of Rock n Roll Marathons 2015 Rock n Bloggers for the 3rd year in a row. SUPER EXCITED! You can check out my bio below...

 Larisa Dixon

That picture was taken at Rock n Roll Phoenix in 2013. My sister n law Hannah and I had a blast. I have also ran the Rock n Roll New Orleans half marathon in 2012, the full marathon in 2013, the relay with my race wife/bff Melanie in 2014, and this year they have added a 10k option that I will be running it in 2015, so I can report back to you guys on how it was. I have also ran RnR San Diego in 2014. I have always loved the RnR races. Yes. there are ton of people and it is hard to go in "racing" it, but if you enjoy crowd support and a ton of fun on course, the RnR races are for you. This is def going to be a year to remember that is for sure.

One of the great things about making the 2015 team is that we will be doing to the Tour Pass this year which is 3 Rock n Roll races of your choice. If you are planning on doing more than 1 in a year, you should def look into getting the tour pass.

First stop for me is Rock n Roll Nola on Jan 25th, 2015! Whos coming?

December #SeasonalSmoothie Challenge with Puritan's Pride and giveaway...

3 more days till 2015, CRAZEEEEEE!!!

Because of my blog/social media being hacked and not being able to update you guys on what was going on over here in Larisadixon.com world, I was going to get you guys caught up on a few things.

First the Puritan's Pride campaign that I have been working on with SweatPink. This was my 3rd month testing out Protein powders and other supplements on their #Seasonal Smoothie Challenge. I have to say December has to be my favorite month of products...

• Lehi Valley Natural Ginger
• Dynamic Health Pomegranate Juice Concentrate
• Vanns Peppermint Flavor Extract — 
• Puritan’s Pride Vitamin C Crystals
  
• Stevia
• Puritan’s Pride Chocolate Whey Protein Powder 

It was Christmas time and for most it was hopefully a very cheerful and exciting time to be with family and friends and what better way to celebrate than with a Christmas time mocktail smoothie...

Chocolate Pomegranate Zinger

1 scoop Puritans Pride Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
1 tbsp Dynamic Health Pomegranate Juice Concentrate
1 drop of Vanns Peppermint Flavor Extract (make sure to only use a very small drop)
Water
Ice
Blend till smooth

Now that Christmas is over and its almost 2015, some of us will ring in New Years with a "bang", if you know what I mean. Even if you just have a few glasses of champagne to toast, you may a feel a little yucky the next day. Surprisingly enough a great smoothie can really help those "not so great feelings" the next morning...

Ginger Hangover Helper

1 scoop Puritans Pride Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
4 pieces of Lehi Valley Natural Ginger
1 tbsp of Natural Honey (try to use local to your area)
Half of a fresh squeezed lemon
Water
Ice
Blend till smooth.

So I hope that you guys will check out all of the great supplements Puritans Pride has to offer. I have already started a list on what I will be ordering next.

Now for the fun part. You can win a everything that I received above. YAYYYYYYYYYYY!

That's right Puritans Pride is giving one of you guys everything to make your own #SeasonalSmoothie. Or you can just make mine and tell me how much you LOVE them. :)

Just enter below. If you are on Mobile click the link to enter.

Puritan's Pride December Protein Giveaway

Giveaway will be opened until 11:59pm on Sunday Jan 4th 2015. One winner will be chosen at random and notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to email me at larisadixonblog@gmail,com or another winner will be chosen. Good luck! 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This post is sponsored by Puritan’s Pride on behalf of SweatPink/fitApproach; opinions expressed are my own.

That time I got hacked...

Yep thats right!!! I have been working with blogger for 2 weeks now to unhack my blog! ITS BEEN CRAZEEEEEE! It all started about 2 months ago when my Twitter acct started going crazy. I couldnt figure out why I woke up to 1000's of spammed accts. So I worked with Twitter to figure it out, they traced it to Instagram. So I unhooked Instagram from Twitter and it stopped. Problem solved right? NOPE!
Fast forward a couple weeks and all of a sudden my blogger acct wouldnt allow me to log in on any device ;( So I sent Google an email and after a couple days they started troubleshooting the problem. A couole days later they emailed and asked me to log in and post something,  so I did and it let me log in and post but as soon as it posted it blocked me back out!!! FRUSTRATING!!! So fast forward to this past Tuesday they emailed and told me to log in and unhook any external powered links. Then it dawned on me that instagram was hooked to my blogger acct. So i unhooked it and now I am able to have full function. Go figure!
What is crazy is that my Instagram hasnt been infected! UGH! So now I have to troubleshoot Instagram for trolls or something.  Any advice on that one????

So Larisadixon.com is back up and running and I hope you guys had a great Christmas.  Ill be full speed come Monday, starting with my super late December Puritan's Pride  post. Stay tuned...

Its almost 2015...

Did you make changes in 2014? 

We all have those crazy friends, even crazier family members, and hellish days. You know those days you want to crawl into a hole and forget about the world? Unfortunately unless your a snake or something, crawling into a hole is not an option. A year ago I found myself feeling run down and miserable, I was 25lbs overweight, with no excuses . So I made a decision this summer that changed my life. No excuses became my motto, and of course I started saying/typing the word #BAMMMMM a lot! Lol! In 6 months time I was 25 lbs lighter and a crap load stronger. I'm not saying that all of my troubles and frustrations are gone and life is 100% rosey, what I am saying is I'm more confident and ready to face lifes challenges head on. Making the choice to become a healthier me was key to my success. So with all that said, are you ready to make the change? 2015 needs to stand back and take names...#BAMMMMM

Holiday Time, Dasani Drops Holiday Craft, and My Daughters Busy Week...

The holidays are finally here you guys! My kids have been driving me nuts about getting the Christmas decorations up, so last night I finally got the lights outside up and my new mantle decorated...
 

I haven't painted my mantle yet because I am not sure what color. Any ideas?

This weeks training has been kind of slow. I have kept up my running streak and have done 1 mile a day but that's it. So my training this week has been a total of 4 miles. LOL! After finally ending football this past weekend, I went straight into stage mom mode. My daughter is in the play Babes in Toyland, here at the Saenger Theater this week. We have had dress rehearsals every night plus she has had swim practice. AHHHHHHH! Her show only runs for 2 days, so after Friday we are done. I am super excited about seeing her perform...
 

She is in blue and red polka dot top and red skirt. This is her first play. I think I am more nervous than she is. Go figure! LOL! Then on Saturday we head to Biloxi MS for a big swim meet. I AM SOOOOO TIRED! However I LOVE my kids and that they love sports.



I wanted to show you guys an awesome DIY teacher gift we are doing this year. I have been reviewing the  new Dasani drops for a Fitfluential campaign and they are great. I have been putting them in EVERYTHING from water to greek yogurt to the new Dasani Sparkling water. So I thought why not make Dasani Drops lip gloss...


All you need is Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline), a cute container, edible glitter, and your favorite Dasani Drops flavor. I chose Pineapple Coconut. Also if you are wanting the same bottles I used, I got them at Hobby Lobby in the craft section. They have a lot of mini glass containers to choose from.

In a glass container melt enough Petroleum Jelly in the microwave to fill your container. I melted it at 1 minute increments and stirred until it was completely melted. Then add Dasani Drops. I added 2 full squeezes. Its completely up to you. Stirred until it was completely dissolved. It will take a little while stirring because of it being hot. After it is fully mixed, add edible glitter, stir, and than pour into your containers. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until it is back in "jelly" form.

I bought initial stickers and cute ribbon and made them look super cute. I hope they like them.
 

The flavors you can make are endless. you can use drops or powdered koolaids. Here are some of the flavors we made...
 

I bought empty kids paint containers and jewelry holders to make Cadences friends their own mini lip glosses...


If you decide to make these, I would love to see pictures of the flavors you chose.

After this week, life will slow down and I can get back to my training. YAYYYY! Until then I am going to enjoy my kids, my husband, and my new flavored EXTRA gum...
 

ALL PUMPKIN ALL DAY!

Whats your favorite DIY craft for teachers?
Favorite EXTRA flavor?

Atkins 40 Week 3 Update and Preparing for Vacation Travel with Atkins Meal Replacement Bars...

This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Atkins.

Hey guys I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We were in the gorgeous Panama City Beach for a huge football tournament with my baby boy.


Anyways I wanted to give you guys an update on my 3rd week on Atkins 40.


For week 3 I lost 3 more lbs. YAY! That makes 10lbs in 3 weeks. I like how slow but steady this weightloss is going. I feel I could keep this way of eating up and not gain any of it back. And most of all I feel great... (sorry its blurry)


I did have one day on vacation that I didn't track carbs, but it didn't hurt me any. Also I knew that I wouldn't be able to stick to the menu plan given to me because of not being able to cook at home. So I used the My Fitness Pal app and the Atkins carb counter and stuck to the plan as much as I could. Like I said I only went over on one day and it was totally worth it. :)
One of the great things about the Atkins program is that they make on the go meals, bars, and shakes for those times when you don't want to think about what you want to eat. I knew that being on the road for 3 hours with 3 kids we would be making a couple stops at gas stations, so I didn't want to be tempted with gas station snacks. So I brought along a couple Atkins meal replacement bars.


These bars are delicious and they are the perfect meal replacement bar for when 'you are on the go. They have a ton of delicious flavors...


One of my favorite bars is the new Atkins Blueberry Greek Yogurt Bar. I have mentioned before that one of my favorite breakfast/snacks is greek yogurt with granola and fruit, so now I can have it in an on the go bar form...


Atkins also has smaller bars for snack time called Atkins Daybreak bars which also comes in some yummy flavors...


Look how good the chocolate peanut butter pretzel bars looks...


I am super excited about this week heading into week 4 and closing out a whole month following the Atkins 40 plan. My goal was to lose 10lbs the first month and knowing that I have done that with a week left makes me so excited for week 4.
Now that football is over for us and the holidays are here, I will be sitting down soon and get my training calendar and race calendar for 2015 wrote out. I will be racing a lot this coming up year. Until then I will be enjoying the holidays with my family and tracking my meals as I indulge in lots of healthy holiday Atkins 40 approved treats. Stay tuned....
You can connect with Atkins at www.atkins.com and on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

What is your favorite on the go snack?

How do you prepare for being on vacation and staying healthy?

This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Atkins.