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#SummerStrong | Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder

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Bob’s Red Mill and FitApproach sponsored this post. All opinions are my own.

Bob's Red Mill Protein Powder

I have to be honest protein powders are something that I really haven’t been super enthusiastic about. I have tried a variety of them and while I have found a few that are decent I haven’t found any that I want to use on a regular basis or would consider purchasing again. That’s until this past month and Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powders. 

I have been loving on the chocolate flavor because when I want a smoothie I often want it to taste like a chocolate milkshake. I combine the chocolate protein powder, unsweetened vanilla almond milk and 1-2 frozen bananas and boom instant milkshake. The bonus with this milkshake though is that I get 20g of plant-based protein (pea protein), 12g of fiber, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids and iron. You won’t be finding those in your standard milkshake. I can also have it for breakfast or really any meal I want. 

I have to say my only gripe with this protein powder is just how much of it you have to use. I serving is 1/3 cup (45g) which sounds like a lot and is more than other protein powders out there on the market. I personally feel like it’s too much protein powder to just shake up with almond milk and go but in a smoothie it is perfect. That is all personal preference though right? 

For flavors there is chocolate, chai, unflavored and vanilla. Of the four I like the chocolate and the vanilla and they are also the most universal to use and make a variety of smoothies, smoothie bowls and other recipes. The chai just wasn’t my favorite flavor – a little too much for me. As for the unflavored it was fine but you have to do a little more with it to get a good flavor – it might be nice in baking though! 

Overall I’m impressed with these protein powders and I’m thrilled to be able to give one away to one lucky person. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get a coupon: http://www.bobsredmill.com/get-a-coupon.html

prAna #7daystretch, Yoga Pants & 7 Things You Might Not Know About Me

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I recently participated in the prAna and Fit Approach #7daystretch campaign on Instagram. It was a great excuse to get myself back into regular stretching and I am finding myself loving the prompts, community and creativity that comes with fun campaigns like this one.

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I also had an opportunity to try out a pair of prAna leggings from their Fall collection and I instantly fell in love. There is something about a pair of quality leggings that reminds me why it’s okay to invest a little more in something great. It reminded me so much that I went out and bought myself a pair of their Misty Knickers. Now I basically live in my Prisim Capris and Misty Knickers because they are so comfortable, cute and I can wear them for a workout (barre, yoga, walk, hike) or I can simply pair them with a pair of casual shoes, a t-shirt and a denim jacket for a casual but cool look. The fit of both of these pants are just so comfortable, a little higher rise so it holds everything in (#postpartumbelly) and what can I say my butt looks great in them.

Have you tried prAna pants? My husband has a pair of the Brion pants and another pair that I can’t remember the name of but he loves both of them. They are perfect for hiking and for casual wear as well. 

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In honor of the 7 Day Stretch here are 7 Things You Might Not Know About Me:

  1. 75% of my blog posts are written by hand. I have always been better at expressing myself through words if I first write something down on a piece of paper. It’s really my first draft of something so when I do go to type it there are less grammatical errors and overall my posts just seem to be better.
  2. I could eat pasta with Earth Balance and nutritional yeast everyday (but I don’t).  I know boring right? I love all kinds of food and to cook up really fun meals but I also love something so simple. When I was a child I used to have pasta with butter and parmesan all the time and this is basically my vegan version of a childhood favorite. 
  3. Every September I re-watch Gilmore Girls. I don’t know what it is about Gilmore Girls but its just says Fall to me. I have been watching the show every Fall since it started. One year I was gifted three of the seasons and so came the tradition of watching those first three seasons and eventually the fourth every year. I almost purchased the entire boxset last year but then it came out on Netflix so I am holding off until it is no longer on Netflix. Also for those of you who might be wondering Neil also likes Netflix and I’m am trying to get Edith into it as well so when she is older she can start the yearly tradition with me. 
  4. Running With Tongs used to be a vegan food blog. Shout out to those of you who remember the Cooking For A Vegan Lover days. I started blogging in December 2006 about cooking for my vegan boyfriend (now husband) Neil. I wrote about vegan recipes and vegan restaurants and then in 2010 I started my health coaching journey and my blog slowly evolved to be more of a lifestyle blog and so I changed the name to Cook.Vegan.Lover. (cooking, vegan and everything I loved). I honestly wanted to change it something else completely but was scared to make a huge name change at that time. Finally in 2011 my blog had really turned into all things healthy living and not specifically vegan so I made the leap to Running With Tongs and here we are today. 
  5. My favorite place to eat in Portland is Harlow. Harlow is a vegetarian restaurant in SE Portland and it has just really delicious and nourishing food. My favorites to order are the Harlow Mac & Cheese, Mercy Blues with Tempeh and the Huevos Rancheros (sans huevos sub tempeh). 
  6. I have lived in 4 different apartments/townhouses/houses in less than 3 years. We moved to the Portland area in January 2013 and since we moved site unseen we chose a place that was a few miles from Neil’s job. After realizing that living in the suburbs was not for us we (finally) moved into Portland. Well a surprise pregnancy left us with a townhouse that was just a bit too small for our family so we moved back to the suburbs to be closer once again to Neil’s work. Fast forward a year and after finding out our rent was going to increase by 20% if we renewed our lease and the fact that we still felt like the suburbs were not for us we again (finally) moved back to Portland where we plan to be for the longterm future. 
  7. I am a total homebody. I love to explore but I am more than happy to spend my free time at home working on projects, pinning things to pinterest or binge watching my favorite show. 

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What is one (or seven) things I might not know about you? 

Disclaimer: prAna sent me a pair of their leggings as part of the #7daystretch campaign with Fit Approach. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this campaign.

INSPIRED | Life, Home & Lorna Jane Clarkson’s Newest Book Release

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by  Lorna Jane via FitApproach. All opinions are my own.

Over the past few months the idea of living an inspired life has really become something of importance to me. I am actively seeking out inspiration in all aspects of life from food, to family, to fitness and beyond. Beyond seeking inspiration I also want to be an inspiration to others, but the thing is it all starts with you and often with home.

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I’m thrilled to announce we have found a home that just overflowing with inspiration. From the moment we walked through the door we knew that it was just the place for us. This old home with it’s little details that just make you smile and feel warm and welcomed. Oh and the neighborhood – swoon – it’s one of our favorites in Portland and it’s close knit neighborhood vibe is perfect for finding inspiration everywhere you look.

Beyond the house and neighborhood is outfitting our home and I mean honestly when you are looking to live an inspired life what is better than a beautiful coffee table book that fits the style of our home. This incredibly beautiful book titled Inspired from Lorna Jane Clarkson is the perfect addition to our new home. I find myself flipping through it when I am in need of a really great workout or a great post workout smoothie (can we say Salted Caramel Protein Shake?).

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Speaking of recipes there are a number of nourishing recipes filled with beautiful photos that have been salivating each time I flip through and I planning on trying out every nice cream (pg 84) recipe starting with the cotton candy flavor. 

Some days all I need is a few motivational words to help me feel inspired or simple to help me through the day. Thankfully this book is filled with beautiful and inspiring quotes that fill me up everyday. I know it’s a bit cheesy and I always turned my nose up at quotes but lately I’m finding that there is nothing better than a good inspirational quote especially when I start to feel my mood plummet downwards or the smoke start to come out of my ears.

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Simply put this beautiful book is one that I plan to proudly display in our home where I can easily pull it out for inspiration and so that it can be enjoyed by friends and family. Cheers to an inspired life and surrounding yourself with inspiring people, words and ideas.

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What/who inspires you? How do you live an inspired life? 

#LJInspired Insta Challenge

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Lorna Jane has done it again. As you know I love her clothes and I’m obsessed with my MNB planner so of course I was thrilled to hear she is releasing a new book –Inspired.

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In this inspiring coffee table book you can expect to find

  • Honest & authentic advice from Lorna Jane Clarkson on finding your personal style, dreaming big and balance
  • Nourishing recipes that look almost too good to eatp;
  • A glimpse into the inspiring LJHQ office
  • DIY beauty recipes like you’ve never seen before
  • Exclusive Q&A’s and features from iconic women who INSPIRE us
  • Chapters include: It starts with Believe, Dream Big, Style, Beauty, Happiness, Life at Lorna Jane & more…

I can’t wait to get my copy of Lorna Jane Inspired! Pre-order yours today:http://www.lornajane.com/INSPIRED/Inspired.

#LJInspired MadLibFill in this blog prompt mad lib for a chance to win a copy of Lorna Jane’s new book, Inspired! Get our own copy of the;mad lib here –> #LJInspired MadLib Template, fill in the blanks with your own answers, and make sure to share your link, tagging @LornaJaneActive @FitApproach and hashtag: #LJInspired #SweatPink in all of your shares! 

Love IG as much as I do? Join me starting on Monday, July 13th for a fun 5 day #LJInspired Instagram Challenge hosted by @FitApproach & @LornaJaneActive.

Here are the daily prompts:;

  • Day 1 (Monday, July 13th): How do you dream big? #sweatpink #LJInspired @FitApproach @lornajaneactive
  • Day 2 (Tuesday, July 14th): What’s your fave healthy swap? #LJInspired #SweatPink @FitApproach @LornaJaneActive
  • Day 3 (Wednesday, July 15th): Who inspires you? [Tag 2-3 friends!!] #LJInspired #SweatPink @lornajaneactive @fitapproach
  • Day 4 (Thursday, July 16th): What does happiness mean to you? #LJInspired #sweatpink @fitapproach @lornajaneactive
  • Day 5 (Friday, July 17th): What makes you an #LJInspired girl? #sweatpink @LornaJaneActive @FitApproach

And don’t forget to join me (and@FitApproach @LornaJaneActive) on 7/21 from 5:30-6:30 pm PT for a fun #LJInspired #SweatPink Twitter party for another chance to win prizes & a copy of Inspired: https://www.facebook.com/events/852624931491346/.

[bctt tweet=”I’m joining @FitApproach @LornaJaneActive for #LJInspired Twitter party on 7/21 (5:30-6:30pm PT): http://on.fb.me/1HIR2y2 #sweatpink “]

This post is sponsored by  Lorna Jane. All opinions are my own.

Runtastic #Orbit | Getting Back to Active

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I am still a few weeks out from being able to get back to regular activity. While my postpartum journey has been a little bit easier (okay a whole lot easier) this time around both physically and emotionally I am still a far way off from being back to my normal active self.  When it comes to working out I feel like I am basically starting from zero.

Taking a break after a walk with Edith in the stroller and Alder in the Lillebaby.

Taking a break after a walk with Edith in the stroller and Alder in the Lillebaby.

I have been getting out for walks most days but after about a mile of walking and either pushing a double stroller, which feels like I’m pushing a bus, or wearing Alder and pushing Edith in the stroller I can really feel it. It’s a reminder every time I go out that I am ONLY four weeks postpartum. While I mentally and physically am feeling better I still can’t do as much physically as I think I can. By the end of my walks I am sore all over especially down there …

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While I haven’t been able to get out and run or do anything crazy I have been keeping track of activity via my new Runtastic Orbit. Thanks to my partnership with Fit Approach I was sent a Runtastic Orbit to test out and review (as always all opinions are my own). It has been helpful to keep track of how active I am being during the day and I love the feature that I love the most is the Sleep Cycle Tracker. As a nursing mom of a four week old it has been great to track my sleep cycles so that I can really take into account how much sleep I get and how often Alder is waking me at night.

I have been averaging around 8 hours of sleep with around a total of 40 minutes of awake time, a good (or rather bad?) amount of light sleep and a tiny bit of deep sleep. Overall I say that’s not too bad for having a four week old. I attribute the decent sleep I have been getting to the fact that we co-sleep and that I have been trying to go to bed by 10pm at the latest.

As for my activity I have been averaging around 9,000 steps per day and my goal is 8,000.  I have been wearing the Runtastic Orbit consistently for about 3 weeks now and during that time we moved and have been out for lots of walks. I also think the fact that our new townhouse has three floors makes a difference because that is a whole lot of steps everyday especially since the bathrooms and diaper changing stations are on either the first and third floor(s).

Overall Thoughts: Overall I really like the Runtastic Orbit. As many of you know I have tried out a number of different tracking watches and this one ranks in my top three. It fits well, is sleek, has a clock feature and I love the vibrating alerts. The iPad app is super easy to use and sync with and an easy way to check my stats.

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