My Superman

Growing up we didn't trick or treat. There is only one time in my life I remember dressing up and it was when I was a teenager and did it with friends for fun. I am sure we attended church events, I really do not remember! But I always knew that I wanted our kids to be able to participate. Not teach them bad things about Halloween... but not shelter them the way my husband and myself were and not allowed to trick or treat. It isn't a bad thing, I do not feel like I missed out.. but I wanted to relive it with my kids! 

This year I asked my 2.5 year old what he wanted to be! He actually responded "Super Hero, like Super Why!" He has also learned about trick or treating from Super Why.. and Halloween, Skeletons. Etc. Someone try and say TV doesn't affect our young ones. Anyways, so super hero he will be! 

I have a friend who owns a boutique. You really should check her out over at Halo Collective. She does some awesome things.. when I find out if this new baby is a girl- I will for sure be shopping with her. So she put together my boy's SUPER N on the front of his shirt. I just loved it.. as did he! Thanks Karissa!! 

Little Sis had made my boy a super hero cape. I had intended for him to wear it the whole time I was planning this- but it didn't match very well with the front of his shirt AND it buttons around his neck. Which I love. But he never leaves it on longer than 5 minutes. He wears it after his bath.. naked.. running around being a super hero. ADORABLE! 

So I took it upon myself to attach a cape I made on his shirt. This might not look like much- but!!! I am the non-creative one. I am the one that stresses about ironing something vs. sewing. I am so proud of my little cape. Haha. This was so much better.. because he could not take it off and he loved it! My little Super Hero! 

All ready for our Halloween Festival! 

He was so stinking cute! He loves to do his little Super Hero Spin! He is such a blessing in my life! 

-Big Sis

Benefits of Strength Training

We are so excited to have Jill here with us today. She is sharing with us about information that many of us fail to remember: Strength Training is Important. In her introduction of herself, she has totally inspired me. I hope you enjoy this post as much as we have. Thanks, Jill!!

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Hi to Natural Nester’s readers. I’m Jill from Fitness, Health and Happiness. I'm a wife, mom of 2, FitFluential and Sweat Pink Ambassador that is passionate about running, plant-based nutrition, fitness and an overall healthy lifestyle.  I believe living a healthy life is not about perfection. It's about commitment, effort and progress!

My passion is running and in the past 7 months I have set 5k, 10k and half marathon personal records, ran my first ultra (31 miles), placed for the first time in my age division and won a division trophy for first place in 2-person 12 hour relay with my husband. And, just one more, I went from doing 0 unassisted pull-ups to 5! Why am I proudly sharing my successes and progress? I’m not bragging (ok, maybe a little). I have made 2 major changes over the past year that I believe contribute to my success over the past 7 months and one of those is consistent strength training. For me it’s running but I have no doubt anyone can experience the benefits of strength training no matter what your exercise of choice is.

This is my 10th week of the Les Mills Pump Challenge from Beachbody . 

6 days/week I use the home workout DVDs that are a combination of strength, abs and yoga. Focusing on strength with moves like squats, lunges, tricep extensions, curls, side raises, bicep curls and more. This particular program is done primarily with a barbell. The top right shot is my favorite of the upper body moves, the MAC DADDY. It kills the shoulders and I love that feeling!

What the experts say: 

The Benefits of Strength Training (Source)

1. Increased metabolic rate by increasing the number of calories you burn on a daily basis.
2. Increasing and restoring bone density. Strength training prevents and fights osteoporosis.
3. Increase lean muscle mass. For every ounce of lean muscle you have you burn 35-50 calories per day!
4. Injury prevention. Strength training strengthens our muscles and tendons. The stronger we are the less chance of an injury.
5. Improved balance. Strengthening our legs and core section means an increase in overall balance and coordination.
6. Decreased risk of coronary disease. Strength training can reduce your blood pressure. It can also decrease your cholesterol levels.
7. Aids in rehabilitation and recovery. Strengthening the muscles around our joints is one of the best ways to prevent and recover from an injury.
8. Enhanced performance in sports, exercise and life in general. The benefits of strength training for women all boil down to one point- a better overall quality of life. We can perform our favorite activities with more ease and less pain.
9. Feeling better and looking better. A toned body is but one factor to looking great. The other is purely mental.

My Personal Experience: 

The Benefits of Strength Training

1. Increased metabolic rate? Definitely! After a few weeks of consistent strength training I noticed I was always hungry. My body was telling me “more calories please.”
2. Increased lean muscle mass? Based on appearances, yes! I have more muscle mass than ever before.
3. Injury prevention? I don’t want to jinx my streak so I’ll just say a wonderful YES!!
4. Improved balance? Again, yes. I notice a big difference with yoga poses.
5. Enhanced performance in sports, exercise and in life in general? If my running record lately is any indication than the answer to this is an excited YES! Have I mentioned my plank PR of 4:04?
6. Feeling better and looking better? I totally feel the benefits of strength training on my body and according to my husband I look great. He says better than the day we met ☺
7. Fun and relaxing? I’ve found that a 45-minute to hour strength training workout does wonders for stress and tension.

Do you include strength training in your workout schedule? If you have, what is your favorite move? If you haven’t what is holding you back from starting? If you have any questions feel free to contact me on my blog or at jillconyers at gmail dot com.Every week I host a health and fitness link-up, Fitness Friday. I would love to have your join and share your heath and fitness related posts and browse the blogs of other participants. It’s a great group of health and fitness enthusiasts!For more information click the image below:

I would love to connect ☺

Blog: Fitness, Health and Happiness

Twitter: @jillconyers

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jillconyers/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jill.ficklingconyers

Facebook Fan Page: [Fitness, Health and Happiness]

Instagram: @jillconyers

My First Half Marathon!

So....as many of you know....I ran my first HALF MARATHON last Sunday! 

It was amazing! 

Well let me start from the beginning! 

I got inspired to start training in July when my sister said she was going to train one.  When I ran up to five miles she said, "Hey let's run a half marathon together...!" and we were signed up for one while she was in Texas! It was very fun training (long distance) with her, and being encouraged by one another and then getting to do it together.  

My whole life I never thought I would do this...I was not a runner, and I had never even WANTED to do this...it wasn't even on my bucket list.  The first time I ever thought, wow a half marathon would be fun was when I went with a friend to watch her big sister run one.  That was the first time I ever got inspired.  (And that was 2-3 years ago)

Anyways, on Saturday we had our first Naturally-Fit Sisters Expo...which went awesome by the way.  So after we were done we went to eat at Olive Garden (had to get that pre-race pasta meal in right!?? :-) Then we drove three hours to stay in Ft. Worth! We got to bed after midnight...not a great start, and woke up around 6am. 

I had a Builder Bar for breakfast....one of my favorite meal bars, with 20 grams of Protein in one.  And mentally I wasn't nervous, but I started to realize that my body was nervous.  It was a weird thing to be happening, because mentally I was just excited.  I had butterflies in my stomach though and randomly had to go to the bathroom (if you know what I mean). 

Anyways, we got to the race at 7:20am (race started at 8am) and got signed in.  I stretched a lot and went to the bathroom....and my husband and host son got there on time to cheer me on.  (they drove 3 hours that morning). 

Once we started, around the first corner and I hit the first bathroom stop.  I tried to stay so hydrated before the race, and had to go bad, so I thought I might as well go at the first one.  I didn't go to the bathroom again.  I ran the race pretty well and at my consistent pace.  It wasn't until the last two miles that I struggled.  I got really tired and slowed down a lot! 

 I finished the race with my Big Sis at 2 hours 37 minutes!

Afterwards they had massages, and that was an amazing treat :-) 

I was so proud of myself! It is such a huge accomplishment to achieve something like this. I mean it's fun for your friends to say "Wow you did a half!" But the best part is the way you feel about yourself! The pride you have for how strong you were and for conquering something that you set your mind to! I loved that! 

 

SIDENOTE: My friend came and cheered me on....and the Monday after she had a half marathon training plan on her phone and started running! She was inspired just like I was after I went to my first half as a spectator! I am so excited for her, and have a new desire to take a new person with me to each half I do so that maybe they will be inspired! I want everyone to feel the way I felt after achieving this goal! 

Gymboss GIVEAWAY

First I would like to announce our winner of the Oh so cute shirt from Nutrition Snob!

CONGRATULATIONS TO Shannon Gacke! 

Today I am very excited to share with you about the Gymboss Interval Training Timer!
Not only because it is a great fitness accessory, but because my husband is going to be sharing with you the things he has loved and found handy about our Gymboss.  I was so excited to get my pink Gymboss Timer in the mail, then when I began using it, I realized I didn't have a ton of use for it, since most of my workouts were runs at the time because I was training for my half marathon.

So I let my husband use it for his strength training workouts, and he has really found it handy.  Here are a few of his comments about the Gymboss.  Um and yes my husband did carry this pink timer around the weight room :-)

"It is incredible how much time you can waste in the gym. When I started working out many years ago, I spent up to 2 hours in the gym. With moving weights around, rehydrating, and stretching between lifts, and occasionally getting sidetracked watching the Top 10 play on ESPN…haha, it seemed like half my time was spent NOT working out. The GYMBOSS cut my workout in half and gave me better results. With the multi-function timer, I am able to move through my workout without distraction and wasting time. I enjoyed the continuing rounds that it gave me and the ability to choose the vibrate or bell notification for the next set. The hardest part in workout accessories is the instruction- there is not much to the instructions of the GYMBOSS- it took me 2 or 3 workout to really figure out how to use it. After that, I believe it essential to anyone's workout especially if you spend half your time catching up on your ESPN at the gym… the GYMBOSS is your own personal trainer -  yelling at you to keep on pushing through. 

The Auto function works great - the GYMBOSS tells you when to stop and start at every point of the workout. With a 30 sec. activity and 1 minute rest programmed you can do 20 sets in 30 minutes thats 4-6 different exercises in 30 minutes. High Intensity and High Impact = High Results"

I am so thankful that my husband wanted to share with us, and I am so excited that Gymboss is sharing with one of our readers!! Enter in the rafflecopter below for a chance to win your own Gymboss Interval Timer!! 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post: Bar Pick Ups

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ProjectGirlGetFit.com

Hey guys! I'm so excited to be guest posting for the sisters while they get to spend some girl bonding time together with their mom! Before we get to that, how about a little introduction though....

My name is Casey and I blog over at Project Girl Get Fit. I'm a 26 year old Chicago native and am working on my masters degree in social work. I have two younger sisters that I absolutely adore (which is one of the reasons that I love Naturally Fit Sisters' blog so much!) and I love spending time with my massive family.

Part of the family at a birthday party weekend earlier this summer...

I am a total gym addict. It’s pretty much a given that you can find me at the club almost anytime day or night if I’m not at work or in class, whether I am running on one of the treadmills, sweating it out in a class, or trying to pick up heavy things and put them back down again. Some of my good friends are the trainers at my club and I catch hell all the time from them for being there for hours on end. Let me clarify and say that I do not work out the ENTIRE time I’m there (that would be crazy since at times I’m there for 4-5 hours at a time), I also socialize with the people I know, help out with events, etc etc etc. It drives my trainer, Dan, totally crazy, but since he is just as bad as I am about leaving after he’s done working for the day, we try not to judge each other. Haha.

Now anyone that knows me will tell you that I am madly in love with CrossFit and pretty much anything that involved weightlifting. I’m going to say that it’s largely because it was never something that I thought I would be able to do and the fact that I can (even if I have to modify something) makes me feel like a total bad ass. Strength and Power cycles in training make me swoon. And since I like to change things up, I am constantly putting together new workouts and combinations to try! So here is my latest baby. I have to say that I am kind of in love with this barbell workout (okay, and with my barbell!)

I did this workout with 65# total weight and was able to complete it in 14:27. Granted, I thought my arms might fall off, but it still felt awesome to push through it and finish!

In case anyone needs a review of what each exercise looks like (I’ll admit that sometimes I do, especially if I haven’t performed it in a while! Oops!), here are some pictures courtesy of Google Image Search demonstrating each move. Good luck and go get it!

Guest Post: RnR Philly Half

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We all went to bed early after our big day on Saturday, but as tired as I was I just could not sleep! I tossed and turned and woke up every hour to check the time. I had set my cell phone alarm, but was afraid it wouldn't go off! I woke up at 5 a.m., a full hour early than I needed to be up. I got dressed, tried to eat some BelVita cookies, and paced until 6:45 when I finally decided to start the 2 mile walk to the Start. Hubby came with me, but the kids stayed in bed. 

 My friend, Heather, was in the corral behind me, so we met up before the race for some hugs and encouragement. I LOVE seeing friends before races! 

Time to line up! I was in corall 21. Out of 23. Really. They moved us pretty fast though, we started about 30 minutes after the Kenyans, who finished less than 30 minutes after that! It was crazy! There was a great shirt that I saw, and couldn't resist taking a picture!

I passed her at mile 8. ::giggle:: Running a race in Philly has one advantage. The scenery! The buildings there are amazing! We ran past the Liberty Bell, the Capitol Building, the Museums. The streets were lined with people cheering and ringing cow bells. There were jazz bands, DJs, rock bands. You could almost always hear music. At mile 3, I saw my first wipe out when a man slipped on some paper cups and went down hard. I felt so bad for him. I went towards him to help but he was waving people away. I hope he finished! At mile 3.75 we came up to our hotel, and I was so excited to see my kids there holding a sign and ringing the cow bell and clapping. It was my favorite part! 

Soon after the course went past the starting line where I saw my favorite sign of the day: "Hey Stranger! I am proud of you too!" She was also at the finish line! LOVED her! At mile 5.5 my music quit. I was using my MOTOACTV, which I LOVE, but I think I started part way through the playlist and it ran out. I now know that it will not start over. I need to load in more songs! You could hear music most of the time, but I know it slowed me down. I have to say, though, that I no longer clomp my feet when I run. Pure silence from my feet. Not so much for others, lol, but I was so happy! At around mile 7, I saw another great sign held up by a little boy: "Run faster, or my Grammy and PopPop will catch up to you!" LOVED it! After that we entered Fairmount Park. Lots of trees and rocks, bridges (Mr Incredible was playing music under one. He had a nice costume with real muscles!), you could see the Zoo balloon! You could also see the other runners across the lake! Around mile 8 I noticed the team of 2 with matching tanks that said "I can't believe it doesn't move" or something along those lines. One had a camera on her hat and was filming the other. The other one was LOUD. She had one of those grating voices, and I really missed my music at this point! She ran in front of me, actually crossed in front of me, to go see Mr Incredible, screaming at the camera the whole way, and my ear actually rung! Crazy!! Mile 9 was the bridge. It was not a huge bridge, it was very beautiful actually, but something about it started to wear me out. The downhill afterwards was nice, and we were still in the trees and shade, which was *so* nice. At this point I was still ahead of my last Half's time, by about 4 minutes. This is the last time I will be ahead though! At mile 10 I started to really feel it. My legs were *so* tired. After the water table it was harder to start running again. I was definitely slowing down now. Around mile 12 I started to get very sad. I knew now that I was not going to PR and we were running alongside the highway which was making it hard for me to breathe. I had to use my inhaler, and I was starting to get weepy. At one point I just stopped running and walked a bit. I hated that I gave up for a few minutes, but I really just lost it. I refused to walk past all of the people though, and started running again. A LOT of runners were no longer running, I noticed, and when my gps watch said 13.1 I stopped it at 2:39:47, almost 5 minutes slower than my best time. The race wasn't over, though, because I still had 1/4 mile to go. The last little bit was uphill, but I was determined to run the last bit. I didn't want my kids to see my walk in! My official time was 2:45, and the mileage would have been 13.35. 

 See me in the back, lol? Poor hubby kept getting photo bombed! He and the kids were there at the finish line, ringing that cow bell and banging those clapping hands. At this point, I was crying pretty hard, from being tired, sad, happy, relieved. That finish line is pretty emotional. I am tearing up now just thinking about it! I got my medal, and waited to compose myself before getting my finish line photo. After the photo you walk through all of the food and drink vendors: Hershey chocolate milk, water, Gatorade, bagels, fruit cups, Snickers Marathon bars, chips. SO much food! I grabbed a little of everything, lol, because you never know what you will want after a race! I met up with family, and after a quick photo we headed back to the hotel...another 2 mile walk! 

What a crazy day! I am very proud of my time, proud of finishing with a cold, and finishing well. I had wanted to PR, but I am no longer sad that I didn't! There is always next time!

Blog: http://barkingmadaboutrunning.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.prytherch?ref=tn_tnmn

5K Training Program

Many of us have that DESIRE to start running but we do not know where to start. We are so pumped to have Julie here today sharing with us her 5K Training Program. It seems like such a program and I hope if you are on the fence about running- you will give this a try! 

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Hi!  I am Julie from A Beautiful Day.  I am so excited to be here today guest posting for the Naturally Fit Sisters.  I am going to share a little about my journey through the Couch Potato to 5K training program, where apparently the third time is the charm.

 

I started the Couch Potato to 5K training program a little over eight weeks ago.  I guess that I should also mention that this is my third try at completing the program.  Prior to attempting this program, I was a true Couch Potato in every sense of the word.  I had gotten to the point that I knew that I had to do something.  Some may say that I could have taken a little easier approach, started out a little slower, but I have wanted to RUN a 5K for years and I decided that it was time for no more excuses.

Source: Uploaded by user via Julie on Pinterest

   

I am now two workouts away from completeing the program, and am just now running about 2 miles, so yes, I still have a ways to go.  But considering two months ago I could barely run a quarter of a mile, progress has definitely been made.  You can either work the program timed or by distance and I chose to do the timed version as it was the easiest for me with the app.  Now that I am nearing the end I am questioning my decision because my first 5K is a month from yesterday and I am going to have to work myself up to an additional mile in that time without the benefit of the training program.

Running is not  easy or particularly fun for me, but at this point I refuse to give up.  And although I don't love it, there is quite a sense of accomplishment after I complete each workout.

It is a really good feeling and I can only imagine what I am going to feel in just under a month, when I cross the finish line of my first 5K.  I have dear friends that will be there supporting me  and I couldn't be more grateful for that!  On a final note just last week, I started getting tingly feet about 1 to 1.5 miles into my run.  The only way I can acurately describe it, is to say it feels like my feet are asleep.  It is not a good feeling  to have, especially when you are out running - if anyone has any ideas or advice to help me get past this, I would greatly appreciate it.  It would make my last month of training so much better.

Thank you so much to Brittany and Cassey for having me today!  If you enjoyed my post and would like to keep up with my training you can visit me at A Beautiful Day or follow me on Instagram.  I love visitors and enjoy meeting fellow bloggers.

GIVEAWAY-Nutrition Snob

So.....

We are back with our Wednesday GIVEAWAYS!

We have a bunch of awesome/fun things lined up for the rest of the year to Giveaway to YOU! and we are SO EXCITED to share today's GIVEAWAY from Nutrition Snob!!

First off, you have got to go visit her Etsy shop! She sells a bunch of cute fitness apparel.  From tanks to cute sweatshirts, and they have some great sayings on them!

Here we are in our Nutrition Snob sweatshirts! How cute huh!!

These sweatshirts are so amazing. They are so soft and such a comfortable fit. We bought them in our size and they fit perfectly. If you are wanting big, soft, comfort we recommend going one size up and to have that. We, personally, are happy with the sizes we got because they can be used for comfort or cuteness. Now that Big Sis has a belly starting to poke out with Baby #2, it clings a little more than it did when we first got them! 

These sweaters have already been washed and dried several times. I, Big Sis, was a little worried about washing mine because I don't have that perfect body like Lil Sis :) But these sweatshirts bounced back to the same fit from when we first got them! They have not shrunk or changed color. You will love how the shirts are after you wash them. 

Sometimes when you wash sweatshirts they seem to "beat up"... these do not do that. The inside of the sweatshirts are a very soft material. This did not change at all with washing either! :) 

The other thing we were totally amazed by was the print. When we got them in the mail the print shocked us. The print is imprinted in the shirt. You can't feel it on top of the shirt. It is thin and comfortable. Many times we have seen that the shirts that we have gotten similar to this the printing quality isn't something we are extremely happy about. However, Nutrition Snob has her print shop set up where she has the best quality. 

We support Nutrition Snob and her business adventures because we love her product AND she is a fellow USAF sister. (Well we aren't in the military, but Big Sis' husband is)... 

Oh and how exciting.. today we just saw one of her newer shirts that Big Sis plans to purchase.. and it is so adorable. It says "Pregnant IS the NEW Skinny!"

And do you notice something different about these photos...?

Can you guess??

That's right, Big Sis & Little Sis are in the same photo!

Big Sis is here this week visiting with our family in Texas, and Little Sis took off work to come to their home town too! We are so happy to be together, and so excited because this Sunday we are doing a half marathon together...Little Sister's first, Big Sister's third!

We look forward to showing you more exciting posts with us together after our vacation.  As for now though we are off in our cute sweatshirts to go see some friends and family!

So....how would you like to Win a Free Nutrition Snob Shirt of your choice!?!? Here are a few more with cute sayings!

All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter to win! 

Good Luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Healthy Body Image

We are so excited to have Lynn Guest Posting for us today! She runs a fantastic blog over at Illegally Blonde  and today she is here to share about Healthy Body Image! Thanks for writing for us today, Lynn! 

Hello All! My name is Lynn and I blog over at Illegally Blonde. I began my blog to document my first year of marriage and practicing law. It has grown to much more! No I'm in my second year of practice I blog about the struggles of working full time, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and marriage.


Yes, I am a former beauty queen. I competed in pageant to help fund my college and law school education. I loved it! I met great new friends and have wonderful opportunities to touch the lives of women fighting domestic violence. So, when the crown was off and I resumed normal life I had a hard time well, umm, getting back into the groove.

Non finalist talent award

I was never fat to begin with, and I had always has a healthy body image until post pageant. I binged my first couple weeks post pageant. Ate carbs, ice cream, cereal, sodas... I gained some weight. I then noticed the change in other people's perception of me. They noticed that my clothes fit a little more snug and I did not get as much attention my boyfriend. Let's be honest people I was still very slim and practically no body fat! But somehow, 25 year old, 120 pound me became obsessed.

I know now it was a contol issue. I had no control over so many other aspects of my life from beginning law school, to my love life. I could control my weight. It started with monotonous dieting. I ate the same thing everyday because I knew exaclty how many calories it was. I was weigh myself everyday to make sure I kept it off. I looked at my body in mirrors from every angle every day. Then law school happened. It got worse. I uped my workouts and lowered my calorie intake. I was obssessed with being skinny. If I couldn't be the smartest, I wanted to at least be pretty. Pretty in my mind was being thin. Sure I was healthy for the most part. I learned how to make my favorite foods better for me using substitutes. I worked out which kept me alert and ready in class. But I know that it was all about control. I would freak out if I gained even one pound. At one point I was down to 110 pounds on my 5'6 frame. My friends from home laughed and said eat a cheeseburger! But I know they were worried about me.

Now, I'm almost 30 and work full time. I'm at work most days for 9-10 hours or more. I cannot workout frantically and I get hungry and let's face it, my hormones have caused my once thin hips to become "baby ready." I cannot be 110 pounds. It was very hard for me at firt. I flirted with diet pills, cleanses and other things.

Happy, healthy me!

Then I realized I was hurting myself. I was unhappy, unhealthy, and most of all, hungry! Today I know that healthy is better than skinny. I am still thin, but its because I maintain a healthy diet and good exercise habits. I get to the gym at 5am before work and make delicious meals (when I have time) for my husband and I. I could blame TV, magazines or even the boyfriend who said mean things when I gained a little, but its me to blame. I let something other than my own brain control me. I do know that we need to stress to girls and women the importance of a healthy body image. It's not about a size on the dress or a number on the scale, its about health.

Come vist me sometime and read more about me and my life!