Diet-to-Go Giveaway Extravaganza

Food Prep?? Win this giveaway and it will be done with Diet-to-Go!

Before we get to this, the winner of the LoveMichelle.net giveaway is Becky Lynn. An email has already been sent to Becky and her prize has been claimed. Thank you everyone for playing!

Do you remember a month ago when I reviewed Diet-to-Go meals? If you didn't read it, you can read it HERE. I was fortunate enough to work with them through Fitfluential, but I also knew that this company was the perfect fit for our life. I was asked to be an ambassador with them, and I jumped at the chance. I am thrilled to be affiliated with them, and a few weekends ago, I did a twitter chat throughout the weekend with them. Guess what? I won a week's worth of food! 

It was very exciting to see a cooler full of food arrive at my door! Last time I had Diet-to-Go food I ordered low fat. This time I am trying low carb. Be paying attention to my instagram and facebook page to see pictures of the delicious food.

We are very lucky because Diet-to-Go has offered a week's worth of free food to one of my readers! Yay! You can enter the Giveaway here:

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I am also giving away a Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor

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** I am an ambassador to Diet-to-Go and Polar, but all opinions are my own!

Giveaway Extravaganza has Begun and GNC Total Lean Review

Total Lean Shakes: Orange Cream or Orange Dream???

Do you remember Push-Up Pops from when you were little? Those were my favorite. Well, those and orange sherbert! If you liked those, you will love Total Lean Shakes Orange Cream flavor. I am pretty basic when it comes to eating. I don't do a lot of experimenting like I should, so the first time I tried this, I just the orange cream power with water.  I used my shaker and mixed it up. It was delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised.

Mornings are always the toughest for me with getting myself organized enough to eat a nutritious and healthy breakfast. I always blame it on time. With this, time wasn't an issue. It took 30 seconds to prepare, and I took it with me in the car. I had full intentions of trying to do something more creative the next day with it. Guess what, I didn't want to. I woke up looking forward to it! It didn't let me down. The next morning, I decided to put a half a scoop over my cottage cheese. Wow! That was even better than I could have imagined. It tasted like orange fluff. If you have ever had that, you know how good that is!

There is an entire Total Lean line of products that are available to help anyone at the beginning of their journey or anyone trying to maintain weight.
Total Lean Shakes:

• Healthy meal replacement to support lean muscle tone and a healthy metabolism
• 25 grams of high quality protein
• 9 grams of fiber to help you feel fuller and satifised
• Suitable for a low carb diet

For more information, you can read the Total Lean Blog.

***FitFluential & GNC provided me with the product for review purposes only.  All opinions are my own.


Giveaway Extravaganza begins today!!!


Would you like to win an FT4 Polar Heart Rate Monitor?  If you are doing anything fitness related, your answer should be YES! When I began this journey last year, the first fitness tool I purchased for myself was a Polar FT4 in pink. I had no idea how this purchase would change my life. Polar has helped me cross the finish line at Tough Mudder and at my first half marathon. Polar has also helped me get my heart healthy. No, I am not where I want to be yet and some days are better than others, but when I slap my polar on my wrist and wrap that strap around me, I know that I am on the road to better living. 

There are so many benefits to Polar. Some models even have a Polar Personal Trainer app that allows you to track your fitness and join in challenges with others. I hope that whoever wins this will cherish it like I did and do. I am a Polar Ambassador now, and I have many different wrist units, and I am always learning new things and new ways to better myself. Polar has donate this wrist unit  for this giveaway and I appreciate that. Please head over to their facebook page to tell them that Mindy's Fitness Journey sent you and thank you for the giveaway! 
Enter Below:

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BET you can't lose weight! And WIN!!!

Bet you can't lose weight!!!  And win!

This photo is from TheStir.Cafemom.com

Have you ever wanted to gamble and be guaranteed to win? Me too! That is why I joined DietBet!
Well, with this gamble, you WILL win because the results are up to you. You are in control of whether you win or lose!

Well, it's legit! I have won 2 DietBets myself, and they have even been featured on the Today Show. Research out of the Mayo Clinic shows that when money is involved as an incentive, people will double their chances of losing weight. Join the bet with me.

All you have to do is pay $25. You can only win!!! Unless you give up on yourself, but none of you are going to do that right? You have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight! EASY! Let's do this. The DietBet begins on April 8. It lasts for 4 weeks. Sign up today at http://dietbet.com/mindysfitnessjourney

Don't forget about my beautiful giveaway from LoveMichelle.net!!!

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Huge Giveaway Extravaganza Begins!!! 

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Giveaway Extravaganza!!

5,000 Facebook Likes Extravaganza! 

Have you "liked" Mindy's Fitness Journey on facebook yet?

Guess what... I am less than 100 likes til the giveaway extravaganza!!! I will be giving away a Polar HRM, a week of free meals from Diet-to-Go, a medal display from Allied Medal Displays and MANY other awesome giveaways!!! ** StickItStrong, PRO Compression, Busy Mom Gets Fit, The Sox Box, Blogging Planner and Shubeez among others!!!

As soon as I hit 5,000 likes, the Polar Heart Rate Monitor giveaway will go up! Then there will be a new giveaway every other day or so! It's going to be a lot of fun! Make sure you subscribe to my blog and follow Mindy's Fitness Journey on Facebook.

Ignite Fitness is looking for speakers for FitBloggin this summer! And I could be one of them! 

Please go vote for the speakers at FitBloggin you would want to hear!!! They aren't naming the bloggers who entered, but If you happen to notice one about becoming a fit twit in 6 mos, you may want to pick that one :) 

Winning this would be huge for me because it would comp the ticket to FitBloggin. That will save me a lot of money! 
Share with your friends. http://fitbloggin.com/2013/03/ignite-fitness-keynote-vote-now/#more-3849

And don't forget about the awesome giveaway that is going on right now!!!

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My week, healthier water? and giveaway!

OMG! This is my 100th Post! Yay!
It's been a CRAZY week!

Poor little man had to travel to the doctor
with a puke bucket :(

Well, it's been a crazy and not so fun week. My best buddy, Bryce got home late Sunday from a trip with his dad for spring break. He came home with the sniffles, and I knew things would get worse. I had no idea that he would get a stomach bug on top of it! Yikes! So I was home for 4 days with a sick little man. I hated seeing him so sick. Hurts my heart!

So I would have loved to post this on Tuesday, but life kept me away!


Water... To live healthy, we MUST drink it, RIGHT???
Yes, of course! That is the first thing people tell us when we start a healthy lifestyle. Drink your water, and when you have done that, drink some more water... Well, I do that! And since I started working out, I have been searching for something that tastes good and will give me fuel and health benefits. I love drinking water, but sometimes I need something with something with taste. So why not add something that is good for your heart too! Omega Infusion Water... Hmm... Interesting...

When I heard about Omega Infusion Water, a line of water that is not enhanced with sugar, but instead nutrients.... 80 mg of Omega-3s, Vitamin B, and Vitamin C, I was excited but still unsure...

This is from their website.

Ok, so that means it's water with energy (Vitamin B) and antioxidants (vitamin C)... Wow... But Omega-3s... hmmm... What I didn't understand was what did it mean that it was Omega-infused. I found out that Omega-3 fatty acids are fats commonly found in marine and plant oils. Dr. Volker Berl, Chief Technology Officer of Oceans Omega says on their website, "Delivering heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids in enhanced water is something we've been developing for years." This piqued my interest. Recent studies have shown several potential benefits of Omega-3 including:
*Improvement in cognitive function in both children and adults
*Help with depression
*Reduced stress and mental fatigue
*Reduced macular degeneration
*Possible anti-cancer benefits
*Potential to counter inflammation
*Higher level of satiety and appetite reduction

I found out that one bottle of Omega Infusion water delivers 80 mg of essential omega-3s (EPA/DHA), 200% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C and 80 % of four B vitamins. I love the idea of healthy hydration, and even more, I love that it is zero calories.  Most of all, I love the price. It can be found for $1.99 a bottle.

Please connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are my own.

Happy Band Winner: 

Keri Wilston

Bracelet Giveaway!
My very good friend, Michelle is launching her new business. She sells beautiful jewelry. For those of you who have been following my facebook page, Mindy's Fitness Journey, you know that she has the most beautiful pieces. Well, she has given me the opportunity to give one away to a lucky follower of mine! Yay!

You can find more of Michelle's jewelry on her website:
http://www.lovemichelle.net/

Enter to win!
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Wake up and do this! Plus 2 Giveaways!

So, I am feeling like what is happening here 
is kind of a BIG DEAL!

I have planning a big giveaway on my facebook page, Mindy's Fitness Journey for when I get 5,000 likes. In the process of all of this I noticed that I am close to writing my 100th blog! That is big! I just started blogging in July, and I am really excited about that. I would love for you all to share my facebook page, Mindy's Fitness Journey with your friends. I am 300 away from the big giveaway. I am giving away a Polar Heart Rate Monitor. I also have 2 other exciting items, and few that are in the works. Thank you for always supporting me. You all make my life better! I mean that!

I appreciate that you all care enough to read my blog, page, twitter, instagram, tumblr and pinterest. I remember when I just had a personal facebook page. Life has definitely gotten busier, but I have gotten so much out of blogging. I have made friends, I have met so many new people and friends in the real world (not just the blogging world) I have had people lift me up when I am down, and you have allowed me to introduce Bryce to you. Thank you for that!

It also made me think that I need to get back to reporting in to you all about my workouts and my eating. I am doing a half marathon next month, and I need to run A LOT more than I already am. So I have decided that I am ready to share the good, the bad and the ugly with you. I am excited about the new ideas I have to improve my fitness and my nutrition. I will share as I go. I do share when things are  not going well, as you know, but I think I want to share more. I think I want you to see that I am someone on a journey. I am not perfect, and sometimes I have "food accidents!"

My goal is to lose 30 lbs. by Fit Bloggin' at the end of June.  I want to have an awesome before and "during" picture. It won't be an after yet because I need to lose more than 30. I am starting fresh today with my weight. As of today, I have lost no weight. I will weigh in every Sunday. At this point, I am too self-conscious to post my weight. Hopefully once I lose some, I will be more comfortable. I just know that there are haters who want me to fail and I don't want them to have ammunition. I hope you understand. (I am not referring to anyone in the fitness world, rather my own personal world)

What I have realized in the last few days is I have some emotional ties to food that I still have not conquered yet. I run to food when someone upsets me. Over the last month, I have caught myself making bad choices, and I know it's a result of people walking out of my life. I am hurt, but I also know that I need to move on and let go of the hurt, or it will consume me, or I will consume it... LOL... that was a joke!!! Anyways, I didn't realize it, but I fell back into an old pattern of turning to food for comfort. I have to break that habit! It is time to WAKE UP and DO THIS!
Here we go!

And the winner of the Limitless Bracelet is:

 Shannon L. Wehby

Enter here to win the Happy Band Headband
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One more thing:

The Mom Power Team will be having a twitter chat on Wed. Night at 9pm. Join us. We are chatting with Fashletics, http://www.fashletics.com/. It will be great!

Giveaways and The Container Store

The Container Store: Tampa... 
Grand Opening Saturday and Sunday!!!

A pantry organizer!
Yes Please!

I wish this is what Bryce's
closet looked like!

The Container Store is finally in Tampa! No other retailer offers the depth and breadth of storage solutions that The Container Store does including more than 120 food storage solutions, 700 organized office products, 45 types of laundry hampers, 350 products to organize and traveler and 80 styles of hangers! The list goes on and on!!!
Saturday is the Grand Opening of The Container Store. It is going to be so much fun! There will be prizes given away every hour on the hour throughout the Grand Opening Weekend including $1,000 elfa Space Makeovers on both Saturday and Sunday. They will also be giving away $10 Store More Cards for the first 100 Facebook Check-Ins.

Dear Santa... This is my favorite!!

I had the pleasure of getting to preview The Container Store in Tampa. I cannot tell how excited I was to see all of these cool ideas for organization. I swear I could rearrange my life in that store!!! And have a blast doing it.

A wall full of dish scrubbies!
Thank God I have a dishwasher!

The Container Store Night Life!  

Chicken and sushi... mmm!

I was also invited to the VIP Grand Opening party at The Container Store. I really had no idea what to expect. It was catered by Puff & Stuff. I have never been to an event catered by them, but they were amazing! There was a band and a giant dance floor. How fun!

This was the dessert area!

What amazed me the most was how the food was served. They were brilliant about having us walk all around the store to see the different items for sale. Each area of the store had different food choices. What I loved the most was that the food was served in different containers. It was incredible!

There was a huge crowd, and my dad and I enjoyed mingling among some great people. This event was also hosted by the Junior League.

The registers were the bars! Fun!

more desserts!

Another delicious food station!

 Make sure you drop in on The Container Store this weekend. The Tampa store is 25,000 square feet and is located across from International Plaza and features more than 10,000 multifunctional and innovative products. The hours are Monday thru Saturday 9 am to 9pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. For the Grand Opening, The Container Store has partnered with the Junior League of Tampa and will donate 10% of the weekend sales to this wonderful nonprofit that is such an important part of the local community.

You can learn more information about The Container Store at their blog: What We Stand For.


Disclosure: I was given a bag full of goodies at the blogger event, but all opinions are my own.

Don't forget that I have 2 giveaways going on right now!!! Enter below!!!

Limitless Bracelet

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Happy Bands Headband

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Get Happy with Happy Bands! 2 Giveaways!

Get Happy with Happy Bands!

When Cara and Darlena from Running Happy asked if I would be interested in reviewing and giving away one of their headbands, I couldn't resist! I am always looking for a good head band. 

First of all, I have to tell you how thoughtful these ladies are. I didn't choose which happy band I wanted. I told them to surprise me. THEY DID! In the best way too! Look at this sweet note that they sent me with my headbands.... (look below) That was really impressive. It showed how much they care about their customers! 

 

The most important thing about a headband, aside from is it cute, is WILL IT STAY PUT???? The answer is YES! Their regular Happy Band was perfect for me, but they also have a solution for people who struggle to keep the band on their head. It has an extra clip. They sent me one of those too, and IT WORKS! Those are called Super Happy Bands!

You can follow Running Happy here: 

www.running-happy.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/RunningHappy

Instagram RunningHappy1

Twitter RunningHappy1

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Don't forget about my Limitless Bracelet Giveaway either!!!

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Tweetathon this Weekend! And Giveaway!

Healthy Living Sustainability Tweetathon!

I am so excited to share with you that I have been chosen to be a Diet-to-Go Ambassador. I couldn't have been more excited when I was asked. I reached out to Diet-to-Go even before the Fitfluential partnership because I knew I needed help. If you remember, I had the opportunity to review their products a few weeks ago. Click Here for my post.  One thing that makes Diet-to-Go so perfect for me is that it's a convenient way to eat healthy. I am a single mom who is always on the go! This just makes it easier for me. I love the idea of having my food prepped already. I am not good at doing food prep for the week. This gives me variety, taste and convenience! 

Diet-to-Go is sponsoring a Healthy Living Sustainability tweetathon this weekend. You can read all about it on their blog! We can discuss all kinds of things. Diet-to-Go advocates achievable lifestyles changes, affordability, accessibility, room for mistakes, exercise, and they recognize that change happens in small steps. I don't know about you, but I will be tweeting this weekend. I enjoy twitter so much and would love for you to follow me @mindyartze on twitter. Let's get Diet-to-Go trending this weekend. I can't wait to hear how you all get it done! This is your chance to help others and learn from others. I am thrilled to be a part of this. Plus, I want to win prizes!!! And there are some good prizes! All you have to do to win is TWEET! Easy!!! Make sure you use the hashtags so they see your tweets!

The Tweetathon will take place for 32 hours on March 16-17, starting at 9:00 a.m. EST March 16, and ending at 5:00 p.m. EST, March 17.Tweetathon participants will be entered to receive daily prizes (outlined below)! The Tweetathon will be open to anyone who wants to join, including you, by using the hashtags:  #diettogo & #tweetathon

  Daily giveaways (chosen at random):

     Free week of Diet-to-Go meals (5 total – 2 each day)

      $100 Amazon gift cards (5 total)

*Diet-to-Go has compensated me for this post. All opinions are my own.

Don't forget my Limitless Bracelet Giveaway Going on!

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Be Safe: My Baseball Mama Drama Bootcamp and my giveaway

This is Bryce and I getting out of the car before
baseball mama bootcamp

Pay Attention!
Run or Walk with a Buddy! 

Last night, my good friend, Amanda and I were walking around the loop where our sons play baseball. We have done this a few times before. We actually call it "Baseball Mommy Bootcamp!" Our other partner in crime wasn't there (our fault because we should have told her that we were going to go early before the game.)

As we walked the loop, we saw an older man wearing a neon vest like he was a runner, but he was walking really slowly, and after I thought about it, I remembered that he wasn't even walking the path. It was odd. We did comment to each other about it. We walked around again, and we saw him. Still no big deal. I actually felt bad because I thought to myself, "At least he is here. He may not be working hard, but hey, he's here!"

This is us after our workout and the craziness! Glad to be done!

On our third and last loop, we saw him up ahead of us, and he turned to walk in the other direction. When he did this, we noticed that he had manipulated his shorts so that we could see his... okay I don't want to call it a butt or bottom, because that it was too gross to be called that. It was disgusting. We could see his backside. He walked a few steps and turned around and said, "Hi Ladies!" in a VERY creepy, knowing voice. We kept walking, and after a few steps, I think it hit us what happened. This was not a mistake. He wanted us to see his backside and he wanted us to know that he was wearing bikini black underwear that may have even been panties.

The more we discussed it, the worse we felt about it. We just felt icky!  Luckily, we were together and it wasn't dark yet (thank you Daylight Savings Time!) We immediately told Amanda's husband, who went looking for him. He didn't find him. Looking back, we should have called the police. This man was truly a predator, and I will keep my eyes open for him, and I will call the police if I see him.

It was really eye opening. There are people who are so crazy out there. It's important that we don't take our safety for granted. If you run alone, pay attention. Don't run alone in the dark. Keep your kids near you when they are at parks. Bad people are out there waiting for us good people to slip up.

What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you when you didn't expect it? Comment below.

Don't forget about my Limitless Bracelets Giveaway!   CLICK HERE!!!!

Be Limitless and Fierce! Giveaway!

This photo is from her Etsy shop.

Want to be limitless and fierce! 

You need Limitless Bracelets! Find your match!

Watch my vlog to hear about Limitless Bracelets and how you can win one. You can also buy one at Her Etsy Store here. Watch my vlog to see how you can win your very own limitless bracelet!

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Color Me RAD!

Time to be colorful... AGAIN!

Who doesn't love a Color Run!

I am so excited to tell you that I will be running the Color Me Rad run on May 25th in Tampa.  As you know, Bryce (my son) and I did the Color Run in December. This was one of the best days that we have had. While I was slow, and Bryce wanted to go faster, it was a blast! We had color everywhere, and we loved it.

On May 25 (the day before my birthday) Bryce and I will run the Color Me Rad race.

This photo is courtesy of Color Me Rad.

This is my kind of family fun! It's a great run to get all of your family involved. Bryce and I are trying to get my mom to join us too! 

Who wants to join us?
Check out Color Me Rad's facebook page for updates or register here. I haven't registered yet, but when I do, I will let you know what time. 

Question for you: Have you done a run that gets you colorful? Tell me about it below!

disclosure: Color Me Rad has offered me a free registration to blog about this. All opinions are my own.