Are you a #goalgetter2013?

So January is over! Let's take a look at how we are doing... My January goals were to start cooking healthy meals and to change one thing in my workout routine to make it better.

I am going to come clean and say that I am not sure what I was doing for the first couple of weeks of January. I didn't go crazy, but I did forget that I was a on journey. I made some bad choices with my eating, and I skipped workouts! (EHHHH!!!!!) 

Luckily, the FitFluential DietBet began and got me focused. You don't mess with me when money is involved! I was able to get myself back on track. Eating healthy is not easy! I know that we all know this. I swear that this picture says it all for me. My brain really likes and craves the crap!

In the last 2 weeks, I have started cooking healthy meals. I have cooked twice this week and once last. I know.... it took me long enough right?? Crazy! But I am trying new things! Yay! It's about time!

I have been planking daily for almost 2 weeks now.  I am not sure why I stopped doing my plankadays, but  I did.  Those of you who follow Mindy's Fitness Journey on facebook know that  I am posting a plankaday picture daily on my page. I was going to make this a February challenge, but I decided this is not just for February, this is forever! What is a few minutes a day to give up for bikini abs :) 

What is the plan for February? Tighten it up more on nutrition! And I will be running the IronGirl half marathon in April, so it's time to get serious about my running too!  
 I definitely need to start loving myself more!

I have the mini-marathon in a week at the Rock n Roll and I am doing the Hog Wild Mud Run on Feb. 18.  It should be a great month!


Don't forget about my jump rope giveaway!
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Barre Fitness... Have you tried it?

  Above the Barre Fitness:

A little over a week ago, I was lucky enough to try something totally different from anything I normally would do. I was really nervous, but it ended up being a great time and a great workout. For anyone who lives in St. Pete, you have got to try Above the Bar Fitness at 3326 MLK St. N. 

                                                                          

My friend, Raffi, has been doing this class for a month. She has done it almost every single day. She looks amazing!!! I knew I needed to see what this was all about. She set up a class for just us bloggers! We had a blast!

The biggest thing that surprised me was that we didn't dance. No ballet! We used that bar for some serious strength work! 

My legs felt it the next day for sure! It was a whole lot of fun! 

I got to meet some amazing bloggers while I was there! I have been in contact with all of them through our Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers facebook page and twitter, but it was so fun to know that they are actually real and not Manti te'o.

Caroline, me, Stephanie, Margarita, Katie, Lora, Raffi, and Tess!

The above photos were courtesy of my good friend, Caroline! Please check out her blog at http://carolinecalcote.com

Check out that caloric burn!!!!

Getting better with health and fitness every day!

I watched my New Years Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhybU6AEc-Y again this morning. It really got me thinking about the changes that I promised myself I would make.  Yes, I changed some, but I still need to get tighter with my nutrition. So I will.... here is my latest vlog!

Sparkly Soul Winners!!!

Congrats to Erin Jimenez and Stacey Long. Erin won the narrow one and Stacey got the wide one. Please email me @mindyartze@aol.com within 48 hours!! Congrats!






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And don't forget about the #MomPowerTeam giving away a registration to F.E.M. Camp!
http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/01/fit-moms-send-me-to-camp-with-monica.html

Fit Moms, send me to camp with Monica Brant!

Fit Moms, Send me to Camp with Monica Brant!!!

As a member of the Mom Power Team, I am honored to be part of the group offering this amazing prize!!!

Who wants to go to F.E.M. camp? 

What is F.E.M. Camp with Monica Brant? 

Click here to find out! 

 F.E.M. CAMP WITH MONICA BRANT

I will tell you this, I AM DYING to go!!! This woman is a motivator!!! 

It's time to get talking about Monica's F.E.M. Camp & the women's fitness movement!You can gain multiple entries by getting social with us on Facebook, twitter and pinterest.

The Contest begins today, Jan. 23 and goes until midnight Feb. 6!

The Rafflecopter makes it really easy to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are the different way to enter! (see the rafflecopter above to do these things!)

1. FACEBOOK​

• 10 entries for sharing the "Fit Moms, Send Me to Camp!" contest pic from one of the Power Mom's Facebook pages
• 1 entry for each Like of the Power Mom’s Facebook pages (19 eligible pages)

​2. TWITTER​

• 2 entries available each day for tweeting “Fit Moms, Send me to Camp! @monicabrant #femcamp #mompowerteam” (2 entries x 15 days = 30 eligible entries)

3. PINTEREST​

• 2 entries available for pinning the 2013 F.E.M. Camp™ poster on one of your Pinterest Board

Wiggle your toes! Injinji toe socks fun!!!

Hey there! I just had to get a blog up about a cool thing happening today!!! Head on over to Injinji's website and blog!!! For the website click HERE and the blog click HERE!

Now I love my injinji socks, but I have to be honest with you, sometimes my baby toes likes to sneak over into the 4th toe's hole, but it doesn't make the socks any less comfy!!! :)

FIRST...  you know how much I love Injinji toe socks right?  Well.. check out what I just heard:

Injinji is poised to raise the standards and status of athletics’ unsung hero - SOCKS.  With this toe-tally awesome video below,  boasting Injinji’s weird and wonderful 5-toe sleeve design, you get a taste of what you can expect from the company as they not only bring Performance 2.0 to shelves, but launch an entirely new website set to go live Today!!!

We will be having a giveaway soon! Keep your eyes peeled!

INJINJI® Any Shoe Video from Injinji on Vimeo.

Time to get Planking: Plankaday

Let's get planking: I realized that I have somehow lost my core strength in planking. I was over 2:30 over the summer and now I can barely hold a plank for one minute. No More! I am going to strengthen this core, and I would love for you to share your planks every night with me. If you tweet, tag me in your tweets, if you instagram, tag me in your instagram. I am @mindyartze. Let's get our core ready for bathing suit weather! My friend Sarah from http://mom-runningonempty.blogspot.com/ and  I were tweeting about it and decided to get planking!
Here's my first video plank with 2 special visitors and my beautiful Mile22 Bag http://www.mile22bags.com/ in the top corner! Check them out to get an amazing bag made out of your race bibs!


 

Sparkly Soul headband giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

And My Hog Wild Mud Run giveaway in Tampa,  FL  http://www.hogwildmudrun.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Feeling Sparkly!!!

Who is feeling Sparkly?

Want to win one of these awesome non-slip headbands! I am giving away a wide one and a narrow one! Special thanks to Sparkly Soul for giving me these and supplying us with this awesome giveaway!

I love this headband and appreciate so much that it keeps the fly-aways out of my face while I workout. I have worn them on runs and when I do my own workouts in the gym. They are awesome!

Before I found these, I used wear those headbands that you buy at the drug store. Those would usually come off in my workouts. That doesn't happen with these. I forget I am wearing my Sparkly Soul head bands!



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Fuel your morning for success!

Looking for some extra fuel in the morning?

My son likes them too!

I don't know about you, but for me, breakfast is the hardest meal of the day. I have really good intentions, but then I always run out of time. Well, when I was asked to try belVita breakfast biscuits, I thought, "Hey, why not!" I honestly didn't think I would be wowed, but I knew I needed to add some whole grains into my morning routine.

4 large biscuits for only 230 calories!

I was SHOCKED by the taste of these. The first ones I tried were the blueberry. I really liked the taste. They didn't have that, "Oh, this is health food" kind of taste. It only got better from there. I have tried all of the flavors now, and my favorite are the apple cinnamon. They are so good! They also have a chocolate flavor that is very good, but I limited myself on those because I could make those a BAD habit if I wanted to. These biscuits (or crackers) are great, in moderation. I think they are a welcome addition to a balanced breakfast, but there is some sugar in them, and I have to remember that. Everything in moderation, right? (What you may not know is that in the past I have been known to fall into boxes of cookies and not come up for air. That was before my journey began though.)

I enjoy eating greek yogurt for breakfast, and these were delicious crumbled on top of it. I also thought that the chocolate biscuits would make an amazing healthy crust for a healthier pie.

I handed some out at my work and got rave reviews as well. I am a teacher and we are always running around, and a little bit of breakfast doesn't last. They are scientifically proven to slowly release carbohydrates over 4 hours, and I have to say that I did notice that I didn't crash in an hour after eating, and I wasn't hungry all morning like I normally am! That really helps because as a teacher, there is unhealthy food everywhere around me. I can't afford to be hungry throughout the day because I will fall into bad choices that are surrounding me. The fact that these biscuits satisfied me was a HUGE plus! And then there is the fact that my 9 year old son likes them!!! Yay!!!

At my grocery store, I didn't expect to find these in the cookie and cracker isle. I am not sure why they were not in the breakfast isle, but I guess they are considered more of a cracker. I was also pleased to see the price. They were $4 at my store, and the cashier told me at checkout that last week they were buy one get one free... Always my luck, a week late! But I think that is great too! As a single mom bargain-hunter, I am always looking for a deal!

Overall, I was really impressed with these. I highly recommend trying these belVita biscuits! 

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.

Makin' Money and Losin' Weight: Diet Bet

Get Paid to Lose Weight!

UPDATE 1/17/13: It's almost up to $10,000!!!  Click here to play! http://www.dietbet.com/games/5738 and it's just $25 to enter!!!

This photo is from Diet Bet's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Dietbet?fref=ts

Ready to lose weight???

It's time to put your money where your mouth is... literally! FitFluential is hosting a Diet Bet that begins on January 21 (the weigh-in is 24-48 hours earlier than the start time.) I don't know about you, but when it comes to motivation, there is no better than MONEY and winning it! Head on over to Diet Bet to get started.

My facebook notice that I won!!! #proof

Diet Bet is very easy! And studies show that peer pressure and social media can hold you more accountable! All you need to do is click the link to get started. You need a scale (or a friend with a scale) and a phone or camera that you can snap a picture on. Piece of cake! (No... no cake!!!) 

I did a Diet Bet in December (yes over the holidays) and I won!!! Who loses weight over the holidays? Well, with Diet Bet, I was able to stay on track. Did I have a cheat meal or two, YEP! And I still did it! You can too! It is that easy!

I think that we are going to have some serious fun with this! Who is ready to talk some smack and support each other at the same time! When you sign up, make sure to say hi on the Diet Bet page, twitter or on Mindy's Fitness Journey! Let's have a blast! I am ready to lose another 4%! Do you think you have it in you... Put your money where your mouth is!!! 

This is a screen shot of Diet Bet this evening. It is already up about $1500 since I joined yesterday! It is going to keep growing too! Don't miss out!!!

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.

Giveaway! Shoe Bling!! And I am featured as a lifter? What!

Lady Lifter Spotlight: Me??? Yay!
So I think that this must mean that I am officially a cross trainer! I am a runner and a lifter! Yay! Check out Wine to Weightlifting's blog about yours truly today! Too cool!

How amazing is this poster! Thank you to Polar for allowing me to be a part of this amazing team!

And.... It's Giveaway time!!! I have been chosen to be an affiliate for one of my family new companies out there... Shubeez! Click on their "store" icon on the facebook page. You can choose the 13.1 or 26.2  and click buy now.  If you would click where it says "no affiliate" and put @mindysfitnessjourney in there, I will get credit for your sale! :)  Now I want to give 4 away though!!! Here we go!


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Are you a #Goalgetter2013

Wow - y’all blew us away with your enthusiasm with the #holidayaday photo challenge.  We had over 6,000 pictures uploaded to Instagram with the #holidayaday hashtag!

So we figured why stop in December? Why not continue this challenge into the new year AND help encourage you with your New Year’s resolutions.  We decided right off the bat that doing a daily photo challenge wouldn’t be practical so we went back to the drawing board and TA-DA!! came up with:

Introducing #goalgetter2013.  This is a super easy, one photo a month challenge designed to help keep you accountable for the goals you want to achieve in 2013.  What you do is pick a goal each month and then snap a picture of you working towards your goal. For example, if you’re goal is to eat healthier, snap a picture of you noshing on those veggies.  Want to be a faster runner? Snap a picture after you’ve crushed your run.  Easy, right? Don’t feel like you can only take one picture a month though, I know we’d all love to see as many pictures as you little goal-getting heart desires to upload.

Throughout the year we’ll be checking in on your #goalgetter2013 progress.  We’ll have fun progress updates and maybe even a surprise giveaway or two so make sure to follow us via our blogs and on Instagram.

Abby from Back at Square Zero (IG: backatsquare0)

Gina from Noshing on Asphalt (IG AsphaltNosher)

Kat from Sneakers and Fingerpaints (IG: katsnf)

Kate from Run With Kate (IG: runwithkate)

Mindy from Mindy’s Fitness Journey (IG: mindyartze)

Mindy from Road Runner Girl (IG: roadrunnergirl)

Rebecca from Rebecca Roams (IG: RebeccaRoams)

Sarah from Mom Running On Empty (IG: momonempty)

I can’t wait to see what goals you have planned for 2013!  What are you waiting for? Go out and get your goals! Muah! (That is a kiss!) Good luck!