Things I love - Week 3

Things I love

1. My post 5K package. I blogged about my pre 5K package from my spark bestie, Heather, but I didn't have a chance to blog yet about my post 5K package from my other spark bestie, Stef. I guess Stef felt bad that Heather had sent me something (even though I told her I didn't need ANYTHING except her support) and I was shocked to get a package in the mail from her on Friday. I had a busy weekend so I didn't even get a chance to blog about it's wonderfullness before she blogged about it this weekend! So I'm referring you to her blog post for the pictures, since we all know that I'm not good at uploading my pictures :) But Stef totally read my mind and bought me the materials to make my first race book! Now I have somewhere to put pictures, race bibs and other assorted race goodies so I can flip back through and look at my races as I progress. I'm super excited to start working on this (hopefully this next weekend) and I can't wait until I can recap my 5K race in November with Heather and Stef!!  Thank you so much Stef!

2. Frozen veggies: This week I'm loving frozen vegetables. Especially the ones that are sold sauceless, extra sodium-less and just plain pure veggies. I typically buy whatever the generic store brand is. Kroger has some great bags that I'm loving this week. I typically buy a lot of veggies when I'm at the store, but they often go bad because things come up and I don't always have time to cook them. So now I've been keeping some frozen blends on hand at all time. This helps a lot when I need veggies super fast, or I'm not in the mood to cut and cook my fresh varieties. Currently my freezer is rocking: broccoli cuts, french style green beans, chopped okra, corn, peas, and carrots/broccoli/cauliflower blends. I love it!

3. The Spark! I pre-ordered this book this morning and it makes me very very happy! Sparkpeople is doing a huge promotion until Oct 12th where you can pre-order the book and receive tons of free stuff including: a $20 gift certificate to the sparkstore (love that sparkpeople swag!), 1000 spark points for ordering now and 1000 when the book is released, access to one of Coach Nicole's new fitness videos and access to a special sparkteam that is having crazy awesome give-a-ways every week until the book comes out! I'm really excited about this book because now when I tell people about sparkpeople I can just hand them the book and they can see for themselves what spark is all about. I'm not sure how much new info I'll get from the book, but I'm excited nonetheless. Now I have to figure out what to buy from the store!

4. Spinning. This is my latest fitness obsession. I found an instructor at my gym who has fantastic workouts and plays great music, so I've been trying to go to as many of his classes as I can. I even bought spinning shoes (these are close to what I bought but not exactly it) this past weekend and they make all the difference in the world! I would definitely recommend them to anyone who enjoys spinning and will get good use out of the shoes! I actually think one day I might become a spinning instructor! I've just got to get my weight down a bit more and become better at it! The spinning shoes really enhance your workout though because your feet are bracketed into the pedal so you can't slip or worry about your feet coming out of the pedal straps. They give you more control when you are moving on the pedal too because you're able to pull your leg, which effortlessly pulls the pedal as well. Also it made my arches and feet stop hurting during the workout, which is awesome!

See the rest of the Things I love series here.