Motivational Monday! And Giveaways!

Whether you are lifting or running, I hope you can find something that motivates you! This is what pushed me this week! Scroll down to enter my two giveaways! 

There is just something special abou CrossFit Blackbeard

Love Indy!

Can't wait for a progress pic next month!

Just run!

How I felt today with my chalk!

Target Gift Card giveaway: http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-c9attarget-shopping-spree-and.html

Headbands of Hope giveaway: http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/headbands-of-hope-and-giveaway.html

What's Beautiful? A letter to myself at 21... and some Diet-to-Go news

I have been working on this What's Beautiful campaign for Under Armour with Fitfluential. It got me thinking that sometimes I forget where I have come from. What's Beautiful is that I am not living the life that I had planned, but I am living a really happy life.

A fellow blogger, Nichole from Casa de Crews wrote her 21 year old self a letter the other day... It really go me thinking. I have made a whole lot of mistakes in my life... some I would change and some I wouldn't.... what would I say? As I sit here and ponder the things that are beautiful about me, I realize that it really has nothing to do with outside appearances. I need to give that 21 year old a talking to.... Well, here goes!

Dear 21 year old Mindy,

Hey there girl! Gosh, there is so much to say. You are so clueless on what life is all about, but I know that you are sitting there thinking about how smart you are. You really aren't.  Do me a favor and listen to your parents. They are really looking out for your best interest, and they know what is right.

First of all, you, my friend, are worth way more than you give yourself credit for. When you look in the mirror, embrace what you see. My God, you are a size 5... not a "wide load." If someone makes you feel bad about yourself, walk away from them. You are worth it!

Once you graduate college, travel! Travel around the country~ Live!!! You don't need a man to define you! You will later find that you are pretty darn great on your own! Learn it now...

This man that you are wrapping your world around is going to cause you a lot of hurt and pain. In the end, you will win because you will have the most beautiful son, but maybe you should just get pregnant right now so you can move on... lol... just kidding.

My biggest advice is keep exercising! When you first hear of this new workout called CrossFit, join! Join the first day you hear of it!!! It is so up your alley!! And who knows where you will be when you are my age if you do.

Use exercise as your stress reliever. Don't turn to food. Believe me when I tell you that the best revenge is not to eat poorly in front of him. The best revenge is to be the fittest you can be. And Mindy, when you decide it's time to leave him, DO IT! Don't wait for it to get worse!

Mindy, you can do great things. Believe in yourself and surround yourself with people who build you up rather than tear you down! You have an incredible life. It's not the life you picture yourself in, but it is really great. You are going to love being a mom! And you are pretty darn good at it too!

Keep your chin up! Life gets better every single day!
Love,
The 39 year old Mindy

PS Start a blog! I know you have no idea what that is right now, but do it.  Oh and invest in a little company called Apple! :)

Diet-to-Go
Make sure you head over to Diet-to-Go on Facebook and like their page. From there, you can enter their Facebook Sweepstakes. 
We are excited to announce our June summer sweepstakes, which will give you a chance to win up to one month of free meals! There will be 5 runners up and one grand prize winner. 
Enter Here: diettogo.com/enter
Mark your calendars! There will be a twitter chat with Diet-to-Go on June 18 focusing on applying common-sense principles to get fit for the summer.


Enter my Target gift card giveaway HERE! http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-c9attarget-shopping-spree-and.html
Enter my Headbands of Hope HERE!
http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/headbands-of-hope-and-giveaway.html

My #C9atTarget shopping spree! And giveaway!

So summer is here! That means I don't have to wear work clothes til August. And you know what that means!!! Chances are if you see me out, I will look like I am about to workout or I have just worked out. Yep... I will be wearing Activewear all summer long. Well, you know I love Target, I mean who doesn't? I have written two sponsored posts for them. We have been lucky enough to have a giveaway and guess what? We have another one! So when Target asked me to head out to try on some of their C9 activewear by Champion and buy some, I, naturally jumped up and down... I really did!!! This post is sponsored by Target!

What do you think?

He was pulling outfits out like crazy

Today, Bryce and I headed out to Target. We walked straight over to the hats first because I needed to know if my new haircut would look good in a visor... I am thinking yes... hope you agree!

Then, I grabbed a whole bunch of stuff to try on. I am not sure Bryce was too thrilled, but I did tell him if he would come in and take pictures when I was done that I would buy him some C9 activewear too! That pepped him up because, let me tell you, there is some awesome stuff for kids in the C9 line. Bryce could bankrupt me too. That kid loves clothes!!!

Isn't this just beautiful! Look at these colors. I have to be honest... I have been overweight so long that I have not really looked for clothes other than black pants and black shirts. I really had fun digging in to these beautiful colors and realizing that I can wear these clothes! That was fun!

I found that I was drawn to the pinks and the blues the most. I am still partial to the black pants and shorts, but at least I am changing things up with my tops! That is progress, my friends!

I tried on some really cute activewear shorts. Bryce said that I looked like a golfer. So I had to practice my swing... I think I've still got it! :) I really loved this sleeveless shirt with the shorts. Too cute! I had to buy it! I feel like my sister in law. She dresses like this because she is an athletic trainer, and I like that look a lot! Plus, I thought it was slimming... definitely a plus! There were so many shirts that had adorable cuts on the back! I am only a month into crossfit, but I already see a difference and liked the way these looked! I loved these! I bought the ruffled black one, but I really am thinking that I need to go back for the others too!

I cannot wait to wear my new clothes on my runs, to crossfit, or just around the house. As I said before, I will be found in activewear for the next 2 months! And with my new C9 clothes from Target, I am going to be stylin'!  Would you like to be stylin' too? All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below. Enter for a $25 Gift Card to Target to buy some C9 gear for yourself! They have men's gear too!

I bought this too... won't wear it til it's cold, but it was too cute to pass up!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am also giving away Headbandsofhope: http://mindysfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/headbands-of-hope-and-giveaway.html

Keeping Family involved in Fitness: Target Giveaway #c9attarget

C9 at Target

How lucky are we? Target has offered to give us a $25 gift card. You can use it to purchase some of their awesome C9 by Champion clothing... They want to know how you are keeping your entire family fit. 

This year I decided that my goal would be that I would participate in fitness events with my son. I started this fitness journey last year and I did a lot of races. I talked my son into running the mile race at two of them, and he loved it. 

I was fortunate that a very special person surprised me and paid my way into the Rock n Roll mini marathon (5K) in Feb. As I was driving to the expo to pick up my packet, I asked Bryce (my 9 year old son) if he wanted to run the race with me. You have to love his honesty...He said, "Do I have to stay with you the whole time or can I run at my own speed?"  He's faster than I am. I told him he could GO! I was blessed with a gift from a friend, so I used the money I would have spent on me for him. It was the beginning of a really great new lifestyle for us. 

When I first began this journey, my most favorite thing to do was flip a big tire... it still is btw... If you haven't seen my logo, I am a tire flipper. I love flipping tires. When I would tell Bryce about it, he wasn't impressed until I had him try to flip the tire. He was hooked. He couldn't do it but he thought I was a tough chick. Well, we loved it so much that we (my son and I) headed over to our local tire store and got our own tires to have at home. We haven't used them a lot, but we have had some fun with them. Not only do we flip them, but we also jump on them like they are plyo boxes. I am still looking for a BIG tractor tire, but for now we have 3 different sizes.

Since then we have run quite a few races and have some others headed our way too. I have run some races without him, but I certainly don't like it as much. He makes fitness fun! 

We ran a Mother's Day run! He beat me by almost 10 minutes!!!

He loves to go on walks with me and sometimes we have to stop and enjoy the nature around us! 

We ran for Boston... It actually turned out to be a walk, but we talked and bonded like we hadn't before. It was really special and nice because I had been glued to the TV and Twitter all day....

Then there is the fun of Color Me Rad. We had a blast getting colorful and laughing together! 

Adding Fitness into your family life is the best. Get your kids outdoors and away from the video games for a bit! It's good for all of us. Bryce often asks me if we can go for a walk or a run. And usually it's when I am being lazy, so it's a good motivator! 

I am usually wearing my C9 by Champion Clothes from Target while I am exercising with my family! 

What does your family do together to stay fit? Check out #C9atTarget on Twitter and Instagram.

Enter my giveaway for a $25 gift card below! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.

At Target Influencer Network, we support ethical blogging and strict adherence to the FTC guidelines pertaining to free samples and gifts. Participants in our programs are expected to do the same. For more information, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2013/03/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf

What is your Fitness Victory?

My Fitness Victory!

For a long time, I focused strictly on losing weight and getting healthy. I worried about getting my workouts in and making sure I worked out no matter what.  At the end of 2012, I realized that because I was working out so crazy with strange hours, other parts of my life were lacking the attention that they needed.  I was waking up early in the morning and dropping my son off at my parents' house or just letting my son spend the night there. I was missing out on our life together. 

Well this caused me to slow down. Unfortunately, I slowed down more than I should. So I have been trying to find the balance between working out and still being a great mom. I am a single mom of a very active 9 year old boy. My son sees his father maybe 2 times a month, on a good month, so I don't have a lot of down time. I can't complain though because I have been blessed to be his buddy. We are close and do so many things together. 

I am sure I would be a lot faster if I didn't have to pull someone on the skateboard!

Throughout everything that has happened in this crazy world in the last two weeks, I have finally come to the realization that I can get my workouts and spend QUALITY time with my son.  Are they the hardest workouts, no, but they are better than nothing. We have been running/walking for the last two weeks, and it's truly the most perfect times I have had. We are closer than ever and we are active. 

Our great walk on Runtastic!

These are the C9 Yoga Pants
from Target I own.

"Today's Victory" came with a walk downtown to the St. Anthony's Triathlon to cheer on the racers. When we woke up, I decided to put on my C9 yoga pants from Target and get us moving! We walked around and yelled to the runners to "stay strong" and "dig deep" and had a blast. We bought smoothies and walked back to the car still cheering on the athletes. Bryce couldn't believe all of the people watching the race. He wants to do it next year... I told him maybe we will train for the Meek and Mighty next year. 

I realized just how blessed I am when he gets into bed and asks if we can take a walk tomorrow too! How can this not be "Today's Victory!"

I have to tell you that it wouldn't be a weekend without my Target yoga pants!!! I wish I could live in yoga pants! When it comes to being active and feeling good, C9 gear always has you covered! 

What is your "fitness" victory? It doesn't have to be huge... Is there something you have changed or accomplished that has made a difference in your health?

*disclosure: Target is giving me a giftcard to post about this topic, but the opinions are my own. 

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.