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Posts Tagged ‘guest blogger’

Guest Post: Roasted Chickpeas

Posted in Guest Posts, tagged , , , on May 20, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Hey guys & gals! My name is Alysia, and I am the author of a healthy living blog called Slim Sanity. I feature my daily workout routines, healthy recipes, and daily life living fun and balanced lifestyle. I’m excited to be guest posting for Michelle on Blogitness. As a newly inducted Sweat Pink ambassador, it’s great to be able to connect with other people who share the same interests as I do! Today I’ll be giving you guys a recipe for a simple, healthy and delicious snack.

Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

  • One 16 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • EVOO
  • Salt, pepper, garlic salt

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Open can of beans, and drain into a strainer. Rinse with cool water thoroughly. Spread them out on a paper towel to dry off completely. You’ll see some of the thick ‘skin’ on the beans. Just remove any from the batch that are loose.

 3. Once beans are dried, add to a bowl, preferably one with a lid. Swirl EVOO over the top of them, and season with garlic salt, pepper, and regular salt if desired. Mix thoroughly.

4. Place beans on a cookie sheet, spread out evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

 

I checked the crunchiness of the beans after 20 and 25 minutes. They were a little soft in the middle, but still tasted pretty good. You could cook them for less or more time, depending on the consistency you want. I prefer them crunchy, so 30 minutes was good. I may have left them in longer, but a few of them started to burn.

5.  Remove from oven, and enjoy!

You can season this snack pretty much anyway you want. Next on my list to try are sweet and spicy!

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Guest Post: Reader Challenge, Find a Race!

Posted in Guest Posts, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Hi, I’m Katie! I blog over at Katie Moves (http://katiemoves.wordpress.com). I’m a 23-year-old fitness enthusiast living in South Central Pennsylvania. I was a Health and Physical Education major and have a passion for all things fitness. I’m so excited to do a guest post for Michelle! (We also share a love for Pittsburgh sports and are Sweat Pink Ambassadors!)

 

 

I am by no means a natural runner or endurance athlete. I have, however, played sports that involved running my entire life. Of course, they also involved a stick, ball, hoop, or goal. Now that kind of coordination is what I was made for. Running for miles? Biking for miles? Not so much.  I played team sports from the time I was very young and throughout high school.

 

After high school, I went on to play field hockey at a Division II college in my home state of Pennsylvania. These years were the best times of my life! My team was my family and my home-away-from-home. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and that it did. Those four years of college flew by faster than I could have ever expected. I can still remember being dropped off for the first day of pre-season and then before I knew it, it was our Senior Day.

 

When it was all over and we finished up our fall semester I didn’t notice hockey being over right away. We were all so used to the season ending and having some time off before the spring that it was pretty much a normal feeling…usually one of relief to have that extra time for studying and projects. Coming back for the spring semester was weird when I figured out I had all that time on my hands. I went to the gym but now working out just to stay “fit” wasn’t really fun for me. I did it because I know that staying active is healthy, but it wasn’t fun for me at the time. I tried to mix things up and did some new classes, but being an athlete all my life and then suddenly not competing was a foreign concept for me.  It was easy to even blow off the gym because I never felt like it mattered. “Who cares if I don’t lift or run today, I’m not letting a teammate down anymore, its all on me,” were some of the thoughts that went through my head. For the next 6 months I was at a loss for what to do to make fitness fun for me again.

 

My boyfriend who I had been dating for almost a year had always been very into running and cycling. He had 2 bikes (road and triathlon bike), an indoor trainer, and trained that way for the entire time I knew him. He had even done a few duathlons  (run, bike, run) the summer before we met. That summer after field hockey ended his Dad got a new road bike, meaning there was an extra bike for me to be able to try riding. It was love at first ride! By the end of the summer I signed up for my first duathlon last October and I was absolutely hooked! The biking was really fun for me and the rush of the wind in your face was totally addicting. The running part was hard for me- yes, but this was a new challenge! One I really needed to motivate me and keep me interested. Running that type of distance in one race was something I never thought I would be able to do before- and then there I was finishing AND winning my age group! This spring I’ve already participated in two more races- and I’m already looking for more to do!

 

 

My challenge to all of you who are feeling bored or unmotivated is to find a race- maybe an Adventure Race, Tough Mudder, or a Triathlon/Duathlon. Find something to challenge and inspire you to work harder! Sometimes a new goal is all you need, and you might just be surprised by yourself. The next challenge for myself is starting to swim again, and signing up for a triathlon hopefully by the end of the summer!

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Guest Post: Running and Travel

Posted in Guest Posts, tagged , , , on May 15, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Hi Blogitiness Readers! My name is Kiersten from Twenty-Six for a Twenty-Something and I am super excited to be doing a guest post. Michelle is traveling a lot this month, which sometimes leads a little slacking on the fitness front. This is fine if you only travel occasionally, we all need some rest periods, but if you travel frequently you have to be pretty creative and motivated to stay on track. My job requires me to be on the road 250+ days a year, and I also travel quite a bit on my personal time, but I still manage to successfully train for marathons, half-marathons, triathalons, and bike races. I am currently trying to complete a marathon on all 7 continents!

Running is my go to workout when traveling because you don’t need a lot of gear. The treadmill bores me to tears, so I try to find a way to run outside if at all possible. It’s worth it to spend a little time researching your destination before you go, so that you don’t end up running somewhere unsafe, or get stuck running laps around the hotel parking lot. Here are a few strategies I use.
-Look for a running club at your destination. They might have group runs you can join, have route maps on their website, or if you e-mail them, be willing to provide some advice. I’ve yet to get a negative response when trying to hook up with a running club where I’ll be traveling.Running in the USA has a great list of running clubs around the country.
-Check out a Running Route Website. There are quite a few website where people can post routes they like to run. Try US Track and Field; Map my Run; Walk Jog Run, and Runner’s World
-Use your blogger connections to find a running buddy in your destination. If I have time before my trip I look for running blogs set in my destination. Best case scenario is that I connect with the blogger and we meet up in person. Even when that isn’t possible, they should at least be able to provide some tips on good places to run.
-Use Google Maps to scout out potential routes. I always look around my hotel for residential areas and parks as I like to get away from the traffic.
 
-Use the hotel parking lot or parking garage as a track substitute.  There have been places where I didn’t feel safe running on the roads, so I did a lot of loops around the hotel parking lot. This can get boring pretty quickly so I like to turn it into speed work. For example alternate sprinting up one row of cars, and then recover by jogging up the next row. This is also a good opportunity to mix in some drills like high knee skips, side shuffles, and backward running.
Happy Running Road Warriors!

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Guest Post: So What is Running?

Posted in Guest Posts, tagged , , , on May 14, 2012 | 4 Comments »

Thanks Michelle for letting me be a guest on your blog! It is always inspiring to hear from fellow healthy living bloggers and read how they keep balance.

For people who don’t know me, I am Alex over at The Run Within. I am a 22 year old newbie blogger originally from the MA area, graduating college from the VA area and starting a new job in the DC area. (Wicked chaotic right y’all? – had to include!) I am an avid runner so was pumped that I was asked to write about running. I actually came up with this idea on one of my morning runs!

I have run over a dozen half marathons and multiple smaller races. No marathon yet, not sure if I am ready to put my body through that one.  Comparisons are a trap that all runners or really any female athlete gets caught up in. It is hard not to compare yourself to that sleek runner you see gracefully gliding down the road. I had always been so insecure in my athletic abilities. I grew up not loving my body and after 15 years of ballet, I just grew to hate it more. Running changed that, running gave me a way to see how much my body is able to do much more than the physicality of what it looks like.

SO WHAT IS RUNNING?

Running is NOT a chore. I hate hearing people say, I have to run every day this week or I have to x amount of days or I have to run for this long. Running should be something you do to escape all those ‘have tos’. Working out in general should be about sanity, health and mental relief. Running has this power to just let your mind run free so why make yourself do it when you are not feeling it? Our bodies are smart and when they need a break, they have this power to let us know.

Running is NOT the only exercise. For so long, I would run and run and run. My body couldn’t handle that and honestly I wasn’t getting better. It wasn’t until I incorporated strength training, stretching and cross training that I saw my times get speedier. I love running and will always love it, but some bodies can take more of it than others. It is about finding that balance that works for you. You don’t have to be a runner to be an athlete.

Running is MENTAL. I know you hear people say this a lot but your mind can make a run. If I start a race with negative thoughts or worries, those first few miles will be tough.

Running is PERSONAL. I am one of those strange runners that use no music when I run, even the longer ones. My mind wanders when I run. I can never exactly remember what I think about but all I know is my mind goes where it needs to go. Coming back from a run is refreshing because you are giving that time to yourself. Use runs as that time of pure freedom, no responsibilities, just you and the pavement. My motto; when life gives you lemons… RUN. (Does that even make sense? Go with me on this one…)
Running is FUN. Hands down this is why I do it. You get to explore new places, socialize with friends and make new ones. You also get to gain confidence and pride in the body that allows you to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now go lace up your sneakers!

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