I can’t wait!

In the meantime I’ll just get a few things out of my head.

This week I started keeping my food journal on MyFitnesssPal again.

My friend is taking a certification course at Precision Nutrition and I’m going to be a test client for him. I thought it sounded fun and I’m curious how a professional would recommend that I change my diet.  I think I have a lot of learn, especially with all the weight training I do now.

My plan is to blog about the process. I’ve never worked with a nutrition coach so it should be fun!

In other news…

• I have a CrossFit competition this Saturday I feel completely unprepared for. Last year I came in 12th and the first year I competed in this (my first ever) I came in 1st! But I was in a lower division back then.
• I posted a fun lunch idea on GreenLiteBites this morning for AllWhites…
  
  I love when a brand I love reaches out to me!
• Speaking of brands, there seems to be a few weight-loss related ads sneaking through still. I have some screen shots I’m sending to the network to figure out why, but as of now my old layout should be back.

That’s all I’ve got tonight. I’m going to log off, watch Scream Queens and go to bed. I’ve been making an effort to get more sleep lately and it’s kind of working.

Or maybe it’s just part of the aging process?

Regardless, my day started at 5 a.m. as it normally does.

Sometimes, on weekends, I can coax myself into an extra hour or so of sleep by going downstairs, leaving the lights off and putting on ID network (I’m obsessed). Weird tradition, I know, but many a Saturday or Sunday morning I’ll steal an extra hour on the couch before the kids get up.

Today it didn’t work. I lounged downstairs until 7 watching TV and snacking on a banana.

I strapped on my sneaks around 8 a.m. and decided to hit a local trail before starting the day.

I’ve been slowly getting back into to a running groove. I’ve missed it. I’m not sure why I stopped but now that I’m making an effort to get a few runs in a week I remember how I much I enjoy it. I even started a running group at my gym for shot of motivation and we’ve got 12 people signed up!

When I got home I made a scramble with egg, egg white, potato, ham, and broccoli topped with sriracha of course. The kids and I ate breakfast while doing picture finds.

They actually amused themselves for quite a while for a change.

Of course the hose made an appearance.

But I didn’t mind. They played and I made Whole Wheat Chocolate-Kale Banana Muffins.

… this time with the added chocolate chips.

The kids starting doing their chores and I got called from upstairs. Evan wanted to show off his clean room and made bed. When I got up there he said, “Look! It’s going to help me sleep because I’m going to be so comfortable!”

He’s always been my little cleaner. It’s so cute!

He’s also coming around on the hating fruit thing. This weekend he had pomegranate and cantaloupe!

Lunch was some English muffin pizzas and this new roll-up I’m in love with — a slice of ham, a thin slice of jalapeño muenster cheese, carrots and hummus all rolled together.

I know it looks kind of gross but that’s only because I bought beet hummus so it’s pink!

After lunch Ryan went back to cleaning out his closet.

I’m convinced the only reason he wanted to do it was to get out of other chores but it worked for me.  He did an amazing job!

Once we were done with chores it was Nerf gun battle time.

This is the current family obsession. We have epic battles every few days and I must admit, they are super fun!

After a few rounds I was going to walk to the store alone as I forgot a few things on my last grocery trip but then both kids wanted to come. So the three of us took a nice 2-mile walk before dinner.

Speaking of, we had a feast!

I grilled some steaks and green beans (like this — SO GOOD). We made salads and had baked potatoes on the side. The kids ate phenomenally! It was wonderful.

Now I’m getting ready to settle in for the Fear the Walking Dead while snacking on some veggie chips and hummus. I have a big week ahead of me. More about that soon!

Oh I’m just a girl, guess I’m some kind of freak
‘Cause they all sit and stare with their eyes
Oh I’m just a girl, take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype

This morning started like every morning. I woke up around 5 a.m., grabbed my workout clothes and headed into the bathroom. I bring the phone with me, of course (come on, you do it too) and I glance at my notifications.

At the top of my Facebook news feed was this image.

Not going to lie. My initial gut reaction was… wtf?

Then, of course, I started to compare myself….

Well, I’m definitely not 0-3. I probably workout like 8 and 9 but I look more like 4 or 5. See… I AM fat. UGH, I KNEW IT!

That was literally my thought process.

Anyone else?

Besides the obvious question of why we think it’s OK to analyze and critique body types, the body type titles are laughable.

NORMAL? Don’t even get me started. What in the hell is a “normal” body? Who defines “normal” anyway? And really, “normal” FOR who? Everyone’s “normal” is different.

Right? Have we not figured this yet?

Things like this are a big problem in our culture. We find it completely acceptable to parade female bodies around as if their sole purpose is to look at. Then we compare those bodies, picking a “normal” and unconsciously telling anyone who falls outside of that “normal” something’s wrong with them.

Or do we?

This post is going to go in a completely different direction that I thought it was going to go in.

While writing I showed the husband the photo expecting him to immediately have the same visceral reaction I did — this is SO WRONG!

Instead he looked and said,

“Why are you getting upset about one guy’s opinion?” 

Mind. Blown.

Why was I getting upset over one persons opinion?  Why did I immediately feel the need to compare myself? Why did I look at each body and title with so much interest? Why did I care so much?

We ended up having a really good conversation about it. He truly didn’t understand why it made me feel so icky and I couldn’t comprehend how differently our brains were wired.

Case in point: Later in the afternoon I showed him this.

He looked over and very nonchalantly said, “I guess I’m a 3.” Then proceeded to put his head phones back on and started working again.

What?

Once I got back from the gym I had some leftover salmon and rice.  I almost forgot it was Wednesday so I didn’t snap a photo. I do, however, have this fun shot of the dinner the leftovers came from.

I defrosted and marinated salmon and made some fried rice. The family loved it and I had just enough leftover for a meal.

After breakfast my friend picked us up and we headed to Climbzone.

We had a blast! Evan was a little young to climb but they had bouncy slides and such to keep him busy.  We had a blast! We then headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch.

Again, I forgot to take a picture! But I had my usual, a cobb salad with grilled nuggets and a few nibbles of the kids’ nuggets and fries.

Once we got home the kids amused themselves while I got some work done and I snacked on a Kashi Bar — these things are a new family favorite of ours.

Before dinner Ryan and I hit the grocery store for some supplies and we nibbled on these pretzels while putting away the groceries.

Once everything was put away we started dinner. I’m trying to restart our tradition of him being responsible once a week. We took a break from it mostly because I didn’t have the energy to keep it up. Sometimes it’s exhausting just being a parent, isn’t it?

I’ve decided it was time to bite the bullet because how does a kid learn to cook if no one teaches him? Or at the very least, how will he learn to appreciate the work it takes to feed a family?

So I asked him yesterday what he wanted to make. His response was a lot of whining and groaning with no excitement. That’s when it hit me to ask what his favorite lunch is at school.

The way I see it, I have to get him excited to cook things he WANTS to cook. So taco salad it was, and he did an amazing job!

We got his brother involved, too!

It was really a perfect meal to have him make. All we did was brown some ground beef with onion and spices and served it over lettuce with salsa, avocado, peppers, cheese and baked corn tortilla chips on the side.

Everyone loved it!

After dinner we all cleaned up, I cut the boys hair and now we’re watching Survivor and nibbling on some toasted coconut chips.

Great day, right? I mean, there were a few pull-my-hair-out parenting moments but you’ll have those.

Oh! and an update on the ads and my layout here on the site. First, thank you to everyone who let me know about the ads and sent screenshots. It was a great help! Over the next few days you’ll see my site return to its original layout and all the weight-loss related ads should be disappearing. I removed my secondary network because it didn’t allow me to block categories.

Ok, got to go. Tribal council. :)

When you want to lose weight you are very in tune to these things. You see them everywhere you turn and you think…

Maybe this is it, the thing I’ve been looking for! The answer to my weight-loss prayers. All I need to do is eat XXXX, take XXXX supplement, drink XXXX tea, workout using XXXX and I’ll be in a bikini by the summer! 

And even though the last 20 things you tried didn’t work (or you gave up before they had a chance to) every new product, ad or magazine cover got your attention all over again and you’d go down the same line of hopeful thinking.

Of course when I’m saying “you” I mean “me.”

I used to do that.

Now I’m pretty immune. From losing weight to finding fitness, the past 10 years have given me a completely different perspective. I no longer buy diet or fitness-centric magazines, I don’t peruse weight loss books at Barnes & Noble, I immediately turn off any infomercial making any kind of body or weight-loss claims, and weight-loss supplements don’t exist in my world. They just don’t.

However, since I still blog in the weight-loss space I am bombarded with this junk on a daily basis. This is just a sampling of recent pitches and requests I’ve actually received.

Note: I’m removing the names of the companies and products because I believe bad promotion is still promotion.

Flat Belly Foods – Eat Your Way to a Slimmer Waist with XXXX

Actual subject of an email yesterday that inspired this post.

RE: RE: FREE SAMPLES: Do you want to feel lighter, happier, and more energized in just 10 days?

Notice the “RE:” They followed up multiple times even though I responded with my default, “Thanks but I’m not interested.”

We’d really love to send you a free package of XXXX! It’s one of our newest products and we’d love to give it to you as a token of appreciation for an awesome blog :)

This one was hard to give you an idea of what the product was without giving it away. But I just love the way they compliment to try to get bloggers to bite.

Your site http://ronisweigh.com/ appears to cater to our audience of interest and we would like to partner with you. We would like to send you XXXX starter kit in exchange for your review of it on your website and social media channels. I would like to invite you to join our affiliate program, you will earn 25% per new customer sale and 5% per existing customer sale.

Thanks but no thanks. This is one of the biggest things to watch out for with weight-loss blogs. Many times when a blogger is peddling a product they are part of an affiliate program. This particular one was for a nationally known diet company.

I’m contacting you on behalf of XXXXXX, a startup that focuses on weight-loss apparel.

I’m sorry but I can’t even… weight loss apparel??

If you were interested in my program I’d love to give you
a 70% commission of each sale you would produce.

This an example of a fellow “blogger” who created a program and then reached out to other bloggers to peddle it for them. The name of their game is maximum exposure. The more people they get to mention it, the more suckers they get to try it. So many in fact that they only have to keep 30% of the sale price to still make money!

That’s crazy. The sad thing is, they don’t even care if it works or not.

I am working with XXXX a well-known online provider of supplements, vitamins, healthy snacks and more. With the holidays approaching, New Year’s resolutions mean vowing to live more healthfully. XXXX has put together some top supplements to check out for the year ahead.

I am happy to send you samples for review/giveaway or provide you with anything further you may need for editorial consideration.

This pitch include the same supplement that stole my photos! Again, their entire business model is market saturation because they know we are going to fall for it!

I recently just read your blog and wanted to connect with you as I manage Public Relations for XXXX, a nationally acclaimed brand of organic teas and herbal infusions that has been featured on Dr. Oz, Oprah, Rachael Ray, and Good Morning America.  I believe that their NEWLY LAUNCHING product line could be a really good fit for you to consider for an upcoming feature or reader giveaway.

XXXX is launching a NEW, 100% all natural wellness tea called XXXX (SLIM was in the name), which can be served as a hot or cold brew. This delicious wellness tea  combines 10 of today’s most effective and talked about weight loss ingredients, including Green Coffee Extract, Raspberry Ketones, African Mango Seed, and Garcinia Cambogia Fruit.  This unique combination of herbs will cleanse and detox the body, while also providing extra energy.

I needed to include one in its entirety. Not exaggerating I get 2-3 types of these emails a day! That’s how many companies are out there preying on us. And I’m not sugar coating it, that’s exactly what they do: prey.

I don’t know about you but I refuse to make these people rich any longer. They know exactly what to say to make us fall for their claims of weight loss.

My response to them personally and professionally is simply,

Thanks, but I’m not interested.

~*~*~

P.S. Some of you may have noticed some changes on my site. I’m now part of a new ad network that optimizes ad placement to increase revenue. Unfortunately, ads are my main source of income at the moment so I’ve been allowing them to get a bit more aggressive with layout tests. However, I turned off all ads in the weight loss, supplement and body modification categories.

This affects my income greatly (as they are the most-clicked ads on a blog that talks about weight loss and clicked ads are what generates revenue) but I can’t continue to display them in good conscious. I used to think it wasn’t a big deal; I never saw the ads as part of my site because I controlled their placement and I always positioned them out of the way and off to the side. I ignored them so I just assumed you all did as well. Now, with the more aggressive ad placements, they are intermingled with content and I see the error of my ways. I can’t be apart of the madness any longer.

If you notice any weight loss specific ads please give me a heads up (taking a screen shot would be great) as I can block specific advertisers as well.

Half #1  — The Morning

I woke up on a mission and accomplished a ton!

Breakfast for the kids.

Sun tea for me.

A run.

Homemade cupcakes made in a messy kitchen …

with lots of kid distractions …

(More on these muffins soon over on GreenLiteBites.

They look gross, but they came out good and the kids loved them!)

Cleaning. Lots of cleaning.

The kids entertained themselves with no TV all morning, too!

Our reward for kick-ass, productive morning? Family NERF battle!

Then lunch!

(That’s a new obsession of mine — corn tortilla, topped with avocado, leftover pork loin, and cheddar cheese)

The kids ate in their forts…

(Evan under the Cars blanket, Ryan in the back right corner) allowing The Husband and I to actually hold a lunchtime conversation!

Half #2 — The Afternoon

After lunch we weren’t as energetic.

Evan and I watched Toy Story.

Then it was the Ravens game and pretty much dinner.  (I made an amazing kale and cabbage salad. )

Finally a family game of Sorry before bed.

That’s it! Now I’m rushing to finish posting before Fear the Walking Dead so I can fold my clothes and relax some more.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Nothing.

I was done.

The small amount of energy I could muster was wasted on scanning social media.

BAD IDEA.

When I’m in a bad mood I need to stay away from things like Facebook because everything annoys the crap out of me. Normally I couldn’t care less about the stupid political post my friend shared or the insensitive joke a relative posted, but yesterday everything was bugging me.

Let’s just say don’t engage in heated debates when you’re feeling moody.

Just don’t do it.

I finally decided I had enough so…

I tried to focus on a few projects but I couldn’t do.

I tried to reach out to a few friends but I felt like a bother.

And it just got worse and worse throughout the day.

I didn’t even eat dinner with the family. I just pulled out leftovers and told them I needed a break. Afterwards the Husband took the 10-year-Old to soccer while I walked with the 4-Year-Old to the park.

Thankfully he made a friend there and even though I didn’t feel like talking I reached out to the other mom and we chatted for a little while. It was nice.

Once I got him home and put him to bed the only thing I could muster for my #loving39 project on IG was this.

This should say “What I did today” and it’s totally true. I’ve been in a total funk. Tomorrow will be better. #noguilt #loving39 #day056

A photo posted by Roni Noone (@roninoone) on Sep 17, 2015 at 6:27pm PDT

Today I decided I couldn’t do it again. I forced myself to hit the ground running and once I accomplished a few things I started to feel better but I’m still not 100 percent.

Thankfully the Husband and I scheduled a babysitter tonight. We need to spend some time together, too. The older the kids get the harder it is just to have a conversation in their presence. Has anyone else noticed that?

I have one telling me about school and the other showing me his drawings. It’s like a constant stream of information and sometimes I just can’t sift through all of it. At least 2-3 times I day I have to say, “Wait a minute. Your brother is talking.”

It’s like they don’t hear each other!

Anyway, I don’t want to be a downer I just needed to get that all out of my head. It’s so much better than eating my feelings.

I have been in full-out mommy mode lately. I feel like all my time is spent helping with homework, advising on social interactions, reading to the 4-year-old, going to the park, shuttling to soccer games, feeding people, playing catch in the backyard, and just being there for everyone.

It’s exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. I feel like I’m in the thick of things, if that makes sense. We are completely out of the baby and toddler stage and into full-blown boyhood mode.

I like it.

I’m just not sure when it happened.

Anyway, I kept a photo food journal today for What I Ate Wednesday (#wiaw). I’ve been killing it in the food department lately and feeling really good with my choices.

7:45 a.m. – Breakfast

After my morning workout I came home and made eggs for the kids and me. This is a 1 egg + egg white with spinach and bacon sandwich on a mini whole wheat bagel. Ryan had the same and Evan had just egg and avocado cut up.

10:40 a.m. – Morning Snack

My stomach was growling. I didn’t want to eat anything too big as I had a lunch date with a friend so I went with yogurt. This is my new favorite — low-fat Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds and drizzle of maple syrup. I call it Seedy Yogurt.

12:45 p.m. – Lunch

Lunch date with a friend. We went for sushi! Not pictured here is the salad and spring roll I ate as well.

7 p.m. Dinner. 

In the morning I whipped together a marinade for a defrosted pork loin. I put it in a bag with:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Molasses
• Fresh garlic, smashed
• Fresh ginger, grated
• Dash of allspice
• Dash of ground cloves

In the evening, before heading to the library with the kids I popped this into the oven.

When I got back…. BOOM!

I threw the pork on the grill and 30 minutes later we were enjoying an awesome dinner together.

That’s it. Great day, right?  I think I shall enjoy a square of dark chocolate before bed just ’cause.

In other news… 

• I have an exciting announcement to make but I can’t tell you just yet and it’s killing me! Let me just say I have an interesting and intriguing job prospect. Something I never, EVER thought I’d be doing in a million years yet seems really fitting for me right now. More soon, I promise!
• I posted a new recipe on GreenLiteBites today. This one is inspired by The Husband’s constant desire to eat out for lunch. Click here to see my The 300-Calorie, 5-Minute, Chipotle-Inspired Burrito! 
• Carla and I finally got our act together and recorded a new #wycwyc podcast. We have so much fun chatting about life and #wycwyc and the community. We plan to be on a regular schedule now posting every other week. Click here to check it out. 

Today’s TimeHop couldn’t be more perfect. It’s been exactly 2 years to the day I ran the St. Louis Tough Mudder with Kim. 

Is time flying or what?!?

I’ve run a total of 7 mudders and loved each and every one of them.

1. PA 2012

2. Florida 2012

3. California 2013

4 AND 5. Mid-Atlantic 2013

6. St. Louis 2013

7. Kentucky 2013

That same year I competed in my first CrossFit comp and never really looked back, but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Tough Mudders. What I learned about myself on those courses can never be taken away from me.

So when Mohawk Flooring asked if I would promote their sweepstakes I agreed. I don’t do many sponsored posts anymore but when one is a good fit, I hop on it.

Mohawk has partnered with Tough Mudder to show off the toughness of their SmartStrand Forever Clean carpet and the video they put together is pretty amazing.

They actually put their carpet on a Tough Mudder finish line, and it cleaned up pretty perfectly. I was impressed — especially considering the shape my current carpet is in. Darn kids.

The Are You a #MohawkToughMudder? sweepstakes runs from 9/1 – 9/18 and the winner gets to choose between two prizes:

• 4 Tough Mudder participant passes plus a Tough Mudder gear pack
• $1,000 in SmartStrand Forever Clean carpet or ArmorMax hardwood.

Anyone can enter simply by signing up on their website, and everyone who enters will get a 10% off coupon towards a flooring purchase — get the coupon here.

If you have any questions about the sweepstakes you can reach out to Mohawk on any of their social media channels:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram.com
• Google+

Who else has run a Tough Mudder? Planning on it? I can’t lie, looking back through the photos gave me a bit of an itch! I may have to take a look at the schedule and make it a cool eight. Then again, only three more and I’m at the top of the Tough Mudder pyramid ya’ll! lol

Today was a glorious mix of relaxing and preparing for the week, which kicked off with a cuddle session.

My sleep schedule has been all off and although I’m one of those “lucky” people who easily fall asleep (mostly because I’m flat out exhausted) I normally wake up a few times a night and if it’s 4 a.m. or later I have a hard time falling back asleep regardless of what time I went to bed. I can only assume it’s a mix of aging, being “ruined” by the kids and training my body to wake up at 5 a.m. to hit the gym.

Today I woke up at 4:05 a.m. and since I couldn’t fall back asleep in bed I came downstairs and dozed off watching the ID Network. By 7 I had company and we watched Paw Patrol together.

At 8 I sprung up and decided it was time to get moving. I was on a mission to kick off the week on the right foot.

I made Banana Oatmeal Cups while the kids played target practice with the Nerf guns.

I also hard boiled eggs, cooked and prepped a spaghetti squash, and assessed  the produce situation in my fridge.  I’ve decided my new plan is to take any aging produce I have and cook it up or freeze it before shopping for the next week.  Today I found a package of baby portobello mushrooms and an onion so I whipped up Mushroom Quinoa for lunch.

Now my fridge was cleaned out, I had a few things prepped and I knew exactly what I needed at the grocery store — win-win-win.

Late morning The Husband was on a yardwork mission and the kids wanted to go out to play. That left me some alone time to FINALLY clean my pig stye of a desk.

It’s gotten way out of hand! Somehow it always ends up to be my dumping ground.

However, give me 20 minutes, a good playlist, a kid-free house and BOOM!

Every time I walk past it I smile.

After lunch I went grocery shopping. ALONE!

It was glorious! And I stocked up on lots of stuff for the pantry and freezer.

Once the groceries were away we watched the Ravens game while the kids were in and out playing. I decided to make Salisbury steak over mashed potatoes for dinner and it came out fantastic!

I’m proud of myself too. First time I made it completely from scratch, no can or dry soup packet to make the gravy and the family  loved it! I will totally make it again to measure everything and share on GreenLiteBites.

After dinner we cleaned and closed the kitchen…

and I’m totally ready for Fear the Walking Dead. I just have to fold my clothes first so I’ve gotta go!

Hope you had a great weekend!