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Owning My Strong with Mudderella

April 29, 2015 by

MudderellaA few weeks back an email crossed my desk and I thought. “That would be fun!”.

Then a couple weeks later I received another email saying “Congratulations, You’re in!”.

I was very excited at first. I called my friends and asked Sabreena if they wanted to join me. Then I watched a couple videos and then I knew I was in trouble. Why in the world did I think Mudderella would be a good idea.  What made me think this would be  an easy activity to get under my belt. I obviously didn’t realize it was a hardcore kick in the ass race and not one of those silly color runs
Mudderella Obstacle Course Events #Mudderella2015 #ic #ad

Mudderella Obstacle Course Events #Mudderella2015 #ic #ad

Mudderella Obstacle Course Events #Mudderella2015 #ic #ad
I’m in for the long haul now.

Mudderella is so much more than a obstacle course though. Mudderella is all about empowering women. It’s about showing women that they can take pride in their strengths and weaknesses.  Mudderella is about making women (and men) aware that they can do what ever they put their minds to.  I’ve been lazy in the last year. I’ve been known to run, do yoga and Tae Bo and play Wii Fit.I signed up and agreed to participate this July because I knew it would give me that boost I needed to back to the lifestyle that benefits me.

On July 25th in Clarksburg, MD I’ll be joined by friends, my sister and Sabreena in probably one of the hardest things I’m ever going to do. I chose my team because I know we can work together and help each other and most of all support each other through the experience start to finish.

I’m starting with training. Since I’ve been a bump on a log for months I’m going to have to ease into it but after seeing the amazing tips and training routines that Mudderella recommends I’m sure I’m gonna be ready to tackle the mud, ropes, walls and whatever else they want to through at me.


Are you interested in Mudderella?  See if it’s coming to your town?

  • NY/NJ – May 9, 2015 – Englishtown, NJ
  • Chicago – May 30, 2015 – Richmond, IL
  • NorCal – June 27, 2015 – Vallejo, CA
  • Toronto – July 11, 2015 – Kitchener, ON Canada
  • Capital Region – July 25, 2015 – Clarksburg, MD
  • Colorado – August 22, 2015 – Snowmass Village, CO
  • Pittsburgh – September 12, 2015 – Slippery Rock, PA
  • Whistler – September 26, 2015 – Blackcomb Mountain, Whistler, BC Canada
  • New England – October 3, 2015 – Thompson, CT

Want to join my team?  Have a great name for our team?   Want to see whats in store for me for the next 12 weeks?

Mudderella Obstacle Course Events #Mudderella2015 #ic #adMudderella Obstacle Course Events #Mudderella2015 #ic #ad




Getting in Shape with @ViSalus #bodybyvi #thechallenge

June 10, 2014 by

A few weeks back I was approached to give ViSalus #TheChallenge a try.  I’m always looking for ways to get healthier and since I had already started working on more exercise I figured this was a great way to boost that weight loss.

The task was simple. Replace 2 meals a day with ViSalus products, get some exercise and watch the transformation of our body.  My transformation was slow. I didn’t follow the routine the way I should’ve. Sometimes it was laziness, sometimes it was inconvenience but mostly it was excuses. BUT through the excuses I found good changes.

Working on @ViSalus for health and well being

I can’t blame the ViSalus products. The protein shakes are actually really good. Not too sweet, a great vessel for getting in more nutrition and easy to make.  I’m a bit of a princess though. I prefer my shakes more milkshake like so I add fruit and yogurt to bulk them up and make them more creamy.

Even though I work from home and have access to my kitchen just a few feet away I’m not good at eating enough or at the right times. The kids will be off to school and the next thing I know it’s 2pm.  Bulking up my shakes with fruit and extra protein helped me stay full so I wasn’t snacking on junk.

The Crunch Protein Cereal was really good too. Honestly I had my doubts but it ended up being great tasting. I tended to add a small handful of extra sliced almonds or the Vi Crunch™ Fusions – Chocolate Macadamia Granola to mine because I wanted more but wanted to stay healthy with it.  I preferred my cereal dry so I ate it like I was snacking, which fulfilled my snacking cravings.

I’m not a packaged cookie person so I didn’t eat many of the Nutra-Cookies. They tasted like a diet cookie and I’d rather just skip them altogether.

My husband’s been doing the shakes with  me in the morning. We load up our blender with ice, a couple bananas, a yogurt and a few scoops of ViSalus Nutritional Shake Mix and in 2 minutes we were ready for our day.

This is something I’d buy again. My husband, who has been drinking protein shakes off and on for years agrees that ViSalus is better tasting and better mixing than other brands he’s had in the past.

I’m working on getting back on track, especially with summer just 2 weeks away. I know if I stick to ViSalus get off my butt I’ll have even more success. So far I’m down a pants size, look better in a bathing suit and feel better about myself. I do not weigh myself, it’s just not my thing. I focus on my energy, how I feel and how I look.

Now if I could just afford a personal trainer I’d really have #noexcuses.




Wii Fit U Challenge 2014 Update

January 29, 2014 by

2014 disclosure

Two weeks ago I was all gung-ho with the Wii Fit U Challenge 2014. I shared with you the routines that were given to me, the progress that I had already made and the fun that the kids I were having.Wii Fit U Challenge

I went to work on  my routine and noticed I needed 2 Wii Motion Plus remotes. We have one. I haven’t had the chance to get another one so I’ve had to modify the routines myself.

Changing the routine wasn’t hard at all. There are so many options to burn calories and get the heart pumping.  One of our favorite activities to do as a family is Super Hula Hoop. I’ve even found a way to kick it up a notch by bending my knees while swinging my hips. Doing this gives my legs an extra work out that I definitely feel the next day.Super Hula Hoop Wii Fit Challenge

You can see where Shae was beating me but I finally passed her score.

Another 1.6 pounds down!




Wii Fit U Challenge 2014

January 19, 2014 by

Wii Fit U Challenge

With the new year comes new resolutions and promises to make changes to your life. I’m not very different from everyone else with the resolutions I vow to make.  Getting fit and healthy is a common promise I put together for myself, one that is a struggle all year long. I have good intentions and even manage to work on my goals but easily get sidetracked with everyday tasks and responsibilities. This time I’m going to start working on a new program, the Wii Fit U Challenge.  I think being a part of an organized group experience should hold me more accountable for the time I spend working on me.

The program is designed to feel familiar to Wii Fit but offers many more interactive and comprehensive upgrades than its predecessor.

There is the obvious improvement, the Wii U game pad controller. This device works not only as a controller but as it’s own gaming device, internet browser and entertainment system that can stream video.

Wii Fit U Challenge

When working on Wii Fit U it works just as the remote but in my opinion a touch easier. No more fiddling with point the remote to just the right spot to hit Quit or Retry. The game pad sits on the floor in front of me while I’m working out. It can even serve as a mirror to show me if I’ve performing the yoga poses correctly.

Wii Fit U introduced more than 15 new activities to get gamers working on their health and fitness. My favorites so far are luge, rowing and super ski jump.

Wii Fit U Challenge Luge

The Gym Community is by far the most interactive component to the system. This allows me to log in and share my experiences and achievements with other users.  Having a support system can be the most motivating force behind working out.  Even when I’m not working out I can track my burned calories and steps taken with the Wii Fit U Fit Meter. Syncing this up with the game pad tracks my daily movements for me so all the information is together.

Wii Fit U Fit Meter

Since before Christmas I’ve been dealing with sickness after sickness, flu/cold/strep/congestion.  With all of these ailments I’ve had to be really choosy how I worked out as not to end up with a coughing fit.

In honor of National Staying Healthy Month I was given this Wii U along with a series of routines to improve my health, strength and encourage weight loss.  I haven’t had the opportunity to complete the routine entirely. I’m working on the bits and pieces that I know would work but I can already see a difference.

Routine 1 – 44 minutes/61 calories (lower intensity)

  1. Deep Breathing
  2. Warrior
  3. Tree
  4. Dance
  5. Cobra
  6. Push-up and Side Plank
  7. Lunge
  8. Sideways Leg Lift
  9. Arm-and-Leg Lift
  10. Tricep Extension
  11. Advanced Step (Beginner)
  12. Free Run (Duration: 10 minutes)
  13. Obstacle Course (Beginner)
  14. Rhythm Kung Fu (Beginner)

 Routine 2 – 44 minutes/72 calories (higher intensity)

  1. Arm-and-Leg Lift
  2. Single-Arm Stand
  3. Balance Bridge
  4. Side Lunge
  5. Single-Leg Reach
  6. Free Step (Duration: 10 minutes)
  7. Free Boxing (Duration: 5 minutes)
  8. Super Hula Hoop (Beginner; 3 minutes)
  9. Advanced Step (Beginner)
  10. Ultimate Obstacle Course (Beginner)
  11. Jazz (Beginner)
  12. Burning Beats (Duration: 5 minutes)

I think in a few more  days I’ll be ready to complete this schedule 3-4 times a week with no problem.

Even using my modified version I’ve lost 1.1lbs in about 4 days.  Progress is always a success.

Stay tuned as I share more details of the Wii Fit U Challenge.




Setting Some Limits – FINALLY!

July 22, 2010 by

Melinda, the kids and I are going on a trip in 30 days and Melinda and I realized we need/would love to lose some weight before then.

I feel during the day we eat pretty well. In a typical day I eat oatmeal for breakfast along with some kind of fruit, a reasonable lunch and dinner typically consists of chicken or ground turkey. Melinda eats well during the day also but sometimes skips breakfast or lunch due to making sure the kids are fed first. Since the kids come first by the time she is finished with them she moves to her next task often without eating.

After discussing how we could lose a few pounds it was obvious – CUT OUT SNACKING. Melinda and I are good for snacking at night while watching TV and then going to bed. Don’t get me wrong we don’t eat 50 cookies or anything like that but we have chips or maybe a bowl of ice cream. We realized that eating before bed isn’t a bad thing but we need to make smarter choices.

On Tuesday night we decided starting Wednesday that we would not eat anything bad like cookies, ice cream etc. We told each other if one of us makes a move for an unhealthy snack to tell them NO! What makes this funny is on Tuesday we went to Philly for our anniversary and went to dinner and afterwards went to an awesome bakery and got 5 cannolis and a piece of Italian Cream cake (Was so YUMMY). Tuesday night I ate the cream cake and a cannoli (so bad that I ate all of this), Melinda had a cannoli and so did Shaun and Shae. On Wednesday night we had 1 cannoli left and I wanted it so bad but Melinda told me NO due to our agreement. The kids didn’t want it either as they chose a popsicle so Melinda threw the cannoli away. I made a move to get the cannoli from the trash but Melinda was holding me back so after I gave up and walked away she poured dish soap on the cannoli. I am not sure I would have eaten it from the trash anyway (maybe I would have) but it is funny that she put dish soap on it so there was no way I would eat it. I just didn’t want to waste such a delicious cannoli. LOL.

I love snacks and snacking and this is going to be a tough few days until I get over the hump and then it will become common place. Last night Melinda ate watermelon for snack and I had a glass of chocolate milk so hopefully we are on our way to healthier snacking and losing a few pounds before our trip.

Next step exercise more!

 




Wii Fit Plus Recap

January 21, 2010 by

Working out and exercising doesn’t bother me, actually a lot of the time I really enjoy working out. For those of you who find it boring or not fun to exercise should try working out using Wii Fit Plus. When I feel like I need a change of pace in my routine I turn to Wii Fit Plus.

Wii Fit Plus is packed with every feature from Wii Fit—plus new exercises and tools to personalize your exercise routine. If you already have a profile on the original Wii Fit, you can easily transfer it over to Wii Fit Plus making it a super easy transition. Will Fit Plus has some pretty cool new features like My Wii Fit Plus which allows you to personalize your Wii Fit Plus workouts. Calories Burned is another really cool new feature which allows you to set daily goals on how many calories you want to burn. Everyone who is trying to lose weight watches their calories to some extent and this new feature easily allows you to do that.

Sabreena and I have each used Wii Fit Plus a few times since receiving it for analysis a few days ago. We also have Wii Fit so we could definitely see the improvements made and all of the new strength training routines as well as yoga routines that have been added. One of the areas we really like in Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus are the balance games and there are 15 cool new ones for Wii Fit Plus. One of my favorite new balance games on the Wii Fit Plus is the Snowball Fight. Sabreena has two favorites which are Island Cycling and Rhythm Kung Fu. All in all the Wii Fit Plus is a very nice improvement over the original Wii Fit.

If you already have Wii Fit you have the Wii balance board so for $19.99 you can upgrade to the disc only version of Wii Fit Plus. If you are new to Wii Fit Plus for $99.99 you can get the disc and the Wii balance board. Wii Fit Plus can be bought at retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Game Stop and others. Wii Fit Plus is worth the money as well as the time you will spend using it. If you are looking to have some fun while working out give Wii Fit Plus a try.

This is a sponsored post but the opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!




Fit Factor Kids workouts for kids by kids

October 7, 2009 by


Active children are healthy children. Sports, games, playground fun and structured exercise are all ways to keep kids moving while instilling healthy habits for staying fit. Our kids have run the gamut for organized sports: Tae Kwon Do, soccer, softball, gymnastics, etc. While they haven’t yet chosen one thing they want to stick to I’m happy that they love to try new things. Over the summer we introduced them to regular exercise. Some days it was too hot to go outside but we all had a little energy to burn. Fit Factor Kids came in very handy for just this purpose. Using a cast of KIDS really kept the younger ones interested as well as using fun and simple movements, our favorite is the animal warm-up.

Groove along with the Fit Factor Kids superstars through six exercise routines designed to improve children’s fitness. Children use their imaginations and learn how to take care of their bodies as their energetic hosts provide informative tips and instruction.

These children’s fitness workouts include creative animal movements, mimic recess activities such as jumping rope, playing four-square and shooting baskets. While the young fitness hosts walk you through simple stretching, strengthening and aerobic activities.
Fit Factor Kids is great addition to any family especially as the cool winter months are rolling in and the sun is setting much earlier in the evening.

A special thank you to Fit Factor Kids for helping us get to IZEAFest 2009. Without them we wouldn’t have gained the education needed to keep going strong at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too.





Fit Factor Kids, Exercise for Kids by Kids Recapitulation

August 26, 2009 by

Growing up I remember having physical education at 3 times a week in elementary school. In High School it went down to 2 times a week. Today Shaun only gets it one day a week plus a short recess after lunch. Why the drastic changes? What happened over the years that made school officials think physical activity wasn’t important in children’s lives. What happened to the days of tag, hopscotch, jumprope and relay races? Does your child’s school have a field day to bring in the warm weather?

We’ve all been guilty of allowing lazy behavior from our kids, I’m probably the guiltiest. You all know Shaun loves the television, video games and computer. Sabreena is a bookworm and loves the computer too and Shae follows whatever they do. This doesn’t mean they never leave the house but they could’ve been much more active than they were. This summer was especially lazy; we’ve had really high heat, little rain and a bad attitude about exercise.

Fit Factor Kids is helping to change that bad behavior. Using an exercise video may sound extreme for kids but not when it’s done by kids for kids. The movements start out simple and varied to keep the younger ones motivated and as it progresses they become more focused on aerobics and endurance training. Using kids as the instructors Fit Factor is a series of 6 routines designed to improve children’s fitness. Children use their imaginations and learn how to take care of their bodies as their energetic hosts provide informative tips and instruction. These children’s fitness workouts include creative animal movements, mimic recess activities such as jumping rope, playing four-square and shooting baskets. And our children’s fitness hosts walk you through simple stretching, strengthening and aerobic activities.

 
As you can see Shae is right in there. While she doesn’t the movements exactly right she loves the silliness of the animal movements so she keeps at it. Sabreena is playing right along but as the exercise gets a little more complex she has to work harder, this is usually where Shaun drops to the floor. He’s gonna get his stamina back up soon, soccer starts next week with weekly practice and a game.

Using three elements, ease of use, repetition, fun, Fit Factor was developed to encourage kids to get moving not discourage them with tricky footwork. Coach O, a physical education teacher of 15 years, created the DVD using “peer pressure” in a positive way. The Fit Kid hosts, Lizzy and Dean, are exceptional athletes and great role models and motivating throughout the routines. Fit Factor Kids is not about bulking up muscle and losing weight and getting 6-pack abs, it’s about building a strong, healthy kid. Improving your child’s fitness level can have lot of benefits.

  • Build stronger bones and muscles
  • Control body fat for a leaner build
  • Gain self-confidence and build higher self-esteem
  • Improve academic performance
  • Decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer
  • Raise HDL or “good” cholesterol
  • Reduce blood pressure
  • Lessen chances of becoming overweight

Fit Factor isn’t just for the home either. Do you know your child’s school PE educator? Let them know what Fit Factor is all about. Send them the link, show them the YouTube video or send them HERE. It’s an inexpensive program that can have phenomenal results. A single DVD is $19.95; purchase more than one for discounts.

Give it a chance, let your kids workout with the Fit Factor kids. LookWhatMomFound..and Dad too! is giving our readers the chance to win their own Fit Factor Kids DVD. Visit Fit Factor Kids and sign up for their e-newsletter, come back and tell me you did.

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Your entries must follow the rules or they won’t be eligible for prizes. This contest ends 11:59 pm, Wednesday, September 16, 2009. Winners will be chosen using Random.org then announced and emailed . Winners will have 48 hours to claim prize. This contest is open to US residents only.




Gym Rat Again!

August 16, 2009 by

I consider myself to be in decent shape, not great shape because I still have about 20 more pounds I would like to lose first. I am an avid cyclist and I try to ride to stay in shape but my 1:30am work schedule has kind of messed up my riding due to the fact that I am tired all of the time.

I also belong to a gym that I joined maybe six months back so I could do some weight training and try to tone up and lose a little more fat and put on a little muscle. Again, due to my work schedule I have not been to the gym in about three months. The only good thing is over the last three months I have been riding my bike somewhat so I have not put on any weight but I also have not taken off any weight. On Thursday of last week I was a little down and disgusted at how lazy I have become so I decided I was going to make an effort to hit the gym right after work at least three days a week. I get done work at 10:30 so I can be at the gym by 11am and work out for an hour to and hour and a half then go home hit the shower and take a little nap.

I went to the gym Thursday, Friday and Saturday each day working out two body parts. Thursday I did chest and triceps, Friday back and biceps and Saturday legs and shoulders. Each of those three days I also did 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Again each day I worked out two body parts and I ONLY did two exercises for each body part since it has been three months I wanted to take it a little easy. The morning after each gym session I woke up and felt a little sore but nothing to bad but when I woke up this morning I think the last three days caught up with me because DAM I am sore like an 80 year old man. I was going to head out on my bike for a 30-40 mile ride today but woke up so sore I had to bag that and take four advil.

I will be fine and I am sure tomorrow I will be able to head to the gym or ride the bike but I do feel better going to the gym again. I really want to lose 20 pounds maybe ever before IZEAFest in October so I plan on sticking to my gym and bike routine no matter how sore I am. I know in the long run my body and health will thank me for working out. Stay fit everyone!