Get It Girl Wednesday: Fitness Mama Christmas FitMix + Holiday Eating Tips

Did you guys know that Christmas Day is Christelyn's birthday??!!

It's a big deal around here.  Santa visits.  And then we have birthday CAKE!

But only a small slice.  ;)

We know it's the holidays and you may have MULTIPLE holiday parties to attend, making it challenging to stick to your healthy eating plans.  Below, we put together a list of things you can do to try to keep focused on your goals. Taking a proactive approach and having a plan will definitely help you stay on track!

-Don't starve yourself.  A lot of people skip breakfast/lunch so that they can have extra calories at dinner.  We don't recommend this because you just end up eating the equivalent of breakfast, lunch AND dinner (x2?) because you are SO hungry.  You also end up spiking your blood sugar way high when you eat a big meal like this.  Ever feel sleepy after a big meal?  A lot of people jokingly call this 'food coma' but it is no laughing matter.  Your blood sugars are spiked, pulling all of your body's resources to digest the food and to get rid of all this sugar.  This is why you feel sleepy; you don't have energy to do anything but digest food.  This is a very simplistic explanation but continuous patterns of this lead to diabetes.

-Avoid mindless munching.  Absentminded snacking on top of a big dinner leads to overeating.  Hang out away from the chips and dip.  Or make your own healthy dip of homemade hummus.  Which leads us to the next tip....

-Bring your own food!  Potluck or not, create a plate of something healthy.  You can easily make a low calorie, low sodium spinach dip and bring cucumbers and carrots to dip.  Or what about a colorful salsa fresca with pita chips?!

-Stick to protein and veggies.  This is one of the commandments I live by for everyday, not just holidays.  I find that if I avoid all of the white rice, pastas and bread, I don't feel as weighed down and I can easily recover and get back on track the next day.

-Don't snowball into bad eating habits until 2014.  So you blew it had a slice of cake (or two?) on ONE day. Don't overreact and give up because you slipped.  One splurge won't undo a whole week of healthy eating....unless you give in and let it.


Bottom line is, if you do end up overeating, don't be too hard on yourself.  Just get back on track the next day.  And maybe add an extra workout to burn off those extra calories!  And I have just the thing to help you with that!

It has been awhile since our last one but we are releasing another workout mix for you mamas!  In order to celebrate Christelyn's birthday and Christmas, we put together this mix for you to get your workout or run on.  It's a mix of Christmas songs and recent top 40 hits to get you into #beastmode to work off those extra holiday calories!

Content warning: Some songs may contain explicit language.

Fitness Mama Christmas FitMix

Click on the link above to download your free workout mix!

Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram (links are up above near the blog banner!).  Tag us with your workout pictures whenever you use our mix!  #fitnessmama  Have a great workout!

Get It Girl Wednesday: Running & Training For Long Runs + Fitness Mama CRAZY SEXY COOL Workout Mix

Happy hump day mamas!

I know many of you mamas are training for Fall half/full marathons and/or triathlons or duathlons.  Is there anyone out there doing all of the above?!  If so, PLEASE contact us; I think this would automatically make you a Fit Mama of the Week.  :)  We'd love to chat with you so message us!

Fall is definitely a time when a lot of races happen everywhere.  I see our social media #fitfam putting all these miles in and training so consistently!  We are so proud of you guys!  You inspire US so please keep on tagging us on IG or FB on your training pictures and we'd love to give you a shout out to cheer you on.  So let us know especially if it will be your first race; we know how challenging that could be!

So whether you're training for SF Nike Women's Marathon, San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon, Mermaid Series Sirena 10 mile (Team GIG will be at this race!), or another long distance race...right about NOW you are probably hitting the part of your training that is going into the LONG RUNS once a week.

Long runs can be a grueling part of training but you cannot skip these days.  Skip a 2 mi run but NOT your long run.  An important part of avoiding injury are these long runs because the idea is to slowly increase mileage every week.  When you skip a long run, you do not want to shock your body by running so many miles that you are not used to in order to 'catch up' to the schedule.  When you add on mileage too quickly, you risk getting injured...then you might find yourself even further behind in your training schedule as you sit on the couch trying to heal your injury.  Also, to avoid injury, what worked for me is not to worry about my time or pace during my long runs.  My goal for long runs is to just complete it at a comfortable pace (this was especially true when I was training for my first and second half marathons).  If you are worried about your timing/pace...just let that go for the long runs and don't think about it; go at a slower pace and definitely TRUST IN THE TRAINING and believe in yourself!  For me, this was the hardest thing but come race day, I found I did a lot of worrying for nothing and hit my goals most of the time.  Lessons I learned the hard way (and hopefully you can take to heart to avoid injury!!):

1. Do not skip a long run.
2. Do not increase mileage too quickly.
3. Do not try to go at your fastest pace during long runs.
4. Rest days after a long run are almost as important as the long run!

I typically give myself a 'no running day' after long runs.  I might just rest and don't workout or do some cross training, working out muscle groups different from the muscles used heavily in running.  For cross train days I might swim, take a walk with the dogs, or just do an arm day with free weights at home.

Just for you mamas who have a few more weeks of long runs before your races, we are releasing our SECOND free workout mix (download our first one by clicking here).  It is an extra long mix to last throughout the long run (almost two hours of non-stop music!).  Christelyn and I want to dedicate this mix to you mamas who want to do nothing but rest on the couch because of a long day of work and caring for the kids BUT instead you lace your running shoes up and head out the door.  It's dedicated to those who want a slice of that yummy cheesy pizza but pass it up because you know it will upset your stomach and won't do anything to fuel you properly for tomorrow's early morning run.  It is also dedicated to those with a sink full of dishes and baskets full of laundry yet you KNOW the best thing for YOU is to do this 30 minute run and not make the housework an excuse of why you have to skip.  We are right there with you mamas!  :)

Content Warning: Some songs may contain explicit language

Fitness Mama Crazy, Sexy, Cool Workout Mix

click the link above to download the mix!

This mix is an early 90's RnB/rap mix.  Shanice.  Color Me Badd.  Bobby Brown.  Naughty by Nature.  Mostly songs released in 1992!

And TLC!!  :)  Christelyn and I were OBSESSED with TLC back in  day (Like hella obsessed.  No joke.  I will spare you the embarrassing details the two of us rarely share with strangers who will probably judge and label us completely nutso.).  And this is why we named this mix the Crazy, Sexy, Cool workout mix, after TLC's second album.  

Let us know how you guys like the mix or  how you will use it!  Comment here, FB or IG!  Who was your favorite group/singer from the 90's?  What are you training for?  Will you be joining us for the Sirena 10 miler?  

#GetItGirl Wednesdays: Staying Hydrated, Mermaid Run, & More Workout Mixes

Last week we posted the very first Fitness Mama workout mix.  If you didn't catch it, click here to check it out!  We got tons of positive feedback with requests to make more workout mixes available and so we definitely will make this a regular thing for you mamas.  A lot of people were asking for 80's or 90's stuff.  Who's ready for some TLC??  #babybabybaby #whataboutyourfriends

Have you guys signed up for the Mermaid Run yet?  Have you started training?  Just in case you missed our announcement, Fitness Mama and Team Get it Girl will be at this event!  We'd love to see all of your gorgeous faces in person and this would be a great opportunity to meet you guys.  It would be like a big party except we'll be downing Zico's and Gatorade instead of lemon drops.  So train like a beast and celebrate your accomplishment at a great women's run.

The Details...

What: Mermaid Series run.  Sirena 10mile.  10k. 5k. 

(Team GIG will be running the 10 mile which will take us over the Golden Gate Bridge!)

Where: San Francisco

When: November 10th 2013

Time: start times depend on which race you choose to run.  Sirena 10 mile starts at 7am.

Price: Please check the Mermaid Series site for the prices; it really depends on which race you do and if you sign up earlier, the prices are discounted

This race has sold out the last three years so don't wait too long and miss out!

Click here to register

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Last weekend I had another long training run and it was SO discouraging.  I just felt super tired and my legs felt so heavy.  It was one of those days when I just felt like I could not go any faster no matter how much I pushed.  

So when this happens, I try to go over WHY did this happen.  Did I not get enough sleep?  Was I not getting enough of the right nutrition?  Should I have stretched more?  This time around, I think that the reason was that I probably didn't get enough hydration.

We all know how water is so important to getting/staying fit and healthy.  Water is so necessary for our bodies to function properly and I think that's why I was feeling so tired and my legs were cramping up during my long run.  Our bodies are about 75% water and water is used in just about every bodily function from transporting oxygen to those muscles to regulating body temps to breathing.  I had my water belt with me during the run but of course this isn't going to fix the fact that I hadn't been regularly drinking enough water in the days leading up to this run to prepare me.  

Drinking water has definitely not been easy for me.  In fact it is just one of those things I find SO challenging and I'm immediately impressed when someone tells me they drink upwards of a gallon of water daily (Hi Anne Marie!  lol).  For most of my twenties and early thirties all I drank was soda.  I now realize how very wrong this was.  We always had soda in the fridge.  I cringe when I think about how I drank soda (ex-Dr. Pepper addict right here) with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It was just that I didn't find water very refreshing. In fact I would sometimes gag when I drank water and then chase the water down with soda!  #smh

So this is just a friendly reminder to keep that soda out of the house.  You and the kids will be less likely to reach for it if it's not there.  When I don't crave water, I find it harder to reach my goal in drinking a certain amount everyday.  Here are some things I do to help me reach that goal...

-add cut up fruit (strawberries, kiwis, etc.), citrus fruit or mint to flavor the water.  Sometimes I get so busy that I cannot be bothered to cut up fruit just to drink water.  This is why I always have grapes washed and ready to go in the fridge.  I just grab 2-3 grapes and then chase it down with water.  So refreshing!

-add lots of ice.  Sometimes crunching on the ice helps with that gagging sensation I get when I don't want anymore water but I know I should be drinking more. You can also make citrus fruit flavored ice by squeezing lemon/grapefruit/orange/lime/etc. juice in the water in your ice trays. 

-drink tea!  Iced or hot.  It's water!

-keeping water icy cold.  Sometimes I cannot stand room temp water.  When I remember to, I keep half filled water bottles in the freezer.  When I'm ready to leave the house, I add water to this bottle and it stays cold for hours. 

-keep a routine.  Pick an activity or activities that you can link with drinking some water.  Drink water when you first get into the office.  Or when you get a chance to sit during the day.  Or every time you change the baby's diaper.  Or every time you have to go to the kitchen.  

Do you have other ways to help me reach my goal of drinking more water?  Do you have other ideas to help remind yourself to drink more water?  Please share them with me!!  

#GetitGirl Wednesday

It is 11pm on Wednesday.  Better late than never right?

It is almost Thursday.  But I wanted to quickly let you know we didn't forget GIG Wednesdays.  We have been super busy trying to come up with a Fitness Mama logo, upgrading our blog, as well as staying on track with IG & FB.

Speaking of staying on track, are you Mamas on track with your fitness goals?

Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake will be visiting the Bay Area this week.  Are any of our Mamas out there going to see this show?  In honor of their visit, we wanted to give you guys this workout mix!  Use it on your next run or workout and let us know how you like it!!  Hopefully it will help us all stay on track and push you to put in that extra rep or mile.  #kickbackdirtoffyourshoulder #doyourthingmamas

content warning: some songs may contain explicit language

Fitness Mama Holy Grail Workout Mix by DJ Cyrus