No Sugar Challenge Giveaway Winners

Our No Sugar Challenge wrapped up on Monday and so many of you participated! To say thanks, we’re announcing the winners of the giveaway.

Congrats to Jessica J., Krystal L., and Amanda G.! They’ll each get a bottle and a box of Tea Sport Keep Fit Green Tea to help keep up the great habits.

Personally speaking, the Challenge was great! For twenty-one days, I didn’t eat any chocolate, candy, or baked goods. For me, this is a big deal. Even my husband was impressed. I only had one serious moment of temptation, which I overcame like a champ.

The first eight days I didn’t have any sugar at all, and it was trying to say the least. After that, I limited myself to having one teaspoon of sugar in one cup of tea a day. I did this so I could remain married and not be kicked out of my parents’ house because I was getting…testy. Overall, this is a decrease in sugar intake of about 90%. I call that success!

The hardest things for me was feeling constantly hungry the first few days and I got tired of only drinking water. Oddly, that wasn’t a problem during the water challenge. What  learned is that I can live without scones and chocolate it’s not as hard or terrible as I thought. I think this will be the start of a less-sugar lifestyle!

 

Did you participate in the Challenge? How did it go for you? Are you doing other things that serve your health this new year? 

Hydration Challenge Wrap-Up

Our hydration challenge wrapped up last Friday, and personally speaking, it was a challenge! While I did get much more water in than usual, I got in my goal amount of 64 ounces less than I wanted, 8 days out of 21.

I averaged about 48 ounces a day, and found that I got bored with plain water pretty quickly. This was the most difficult thing for me. I used herbal and fruit teas to mix it up, but I craved my hot Earl Grey on the cold winter days. I didn’t get to try the fruit infusions like I hoped to, but that’s still something i feel would help me mix  it up in the variety department.

Some of my favorite herbal and fruit flavors. LOVE the Yogi Tea!

The challenge did help me create some new habits and ways of thinking, which in my opinion, makes it a complete success! Those habits include:

  • Being more conscious of keeping my water bottle with me.
  • Drinking less sugary beverages and tea
  • Learning that I need more flavor variety to meet my intake goal
  • Creating a habit of not drinking black tea after mid-morning (a big step for me).

Although I didn’t meet my goal every day, I feel like his was a success because of am drinking far more water than I was before, and overall I’m more conscious of what I’m putting in my body. As they say, perfection is impossible but improvement is success. (Actually, I just made that up, but it *sounds* true).

Time to re-fill!

Next week, I’m kicking off a sugar detox challenge and giveaway. Beginning New Year’s Day, I’m taking on a HUGE goal and attempting to cut sugar from my diet. I’d love it if you joined me! With the start of a new year, we can create new habits to carry with us always.

 

Did you achieve your hydration goals in December? What did you learn in the process? Share your tips and experiences in the comments!

Guest Post: You Are Full of Power

Several months ago now, I ran a half marathon, and Kyle asked if I would be interested in writing something about my training process. I would sit down and type a little bit, only to feel dissatisfied with what I had written, and ultimately, I never responded to her request. I don’t know what prompted this realization, but this weekend I figured out why I was hiding from expressing my thoughts and feelings.Despite training for and completing the half marathon, over the past year I’ve regained 45 pounds of an 80-pound weight loss, and I have felt like a failure. I have been letting a setback eclipse a huge success. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to celebrate my victories, and allow them to motivate me to rise up from my setbacks. From a lot of reflection this past weekend about the mental and emotional aspects of health and fitness, here are a few thoughts I want to hold onto, and want to share with others on the journey:

Every person on a health and fitness journey is qualified to be an encourager. My feelings of unworthiness to speak into someone else’s journey are based on a lie – that I have to “get there” before I can be a true encouragement to someone else. There are people who I find inspirational, who I look to for where I want to be, and then there are people who are or have been where I am now. Those people are just as important – they “get it”. They understand the frustration of having to redefine a relationship with food because it can’t be completely cut out. They understand the mental tightrope of eating to fuel your body vs. forcing yourself to exercise more than necessary so you can eat things in excess. We’re all walking this road together, and the people walking with you are just as qualified to speak into your journey as the people who go before you.

You are full of power. A friend told me this weekend that I engage in really negative self-talk, and that I should be kind to myself more often. Her son, a teenage boy in our church, had just been talking to me about my progress in my quest to learn how to play hockey, and he said to me, “Mrs. Katie…your body looks like you are full of power.” Sometimes I place so much importance on being honest about where I am and what I struggle with that I forget to repeat to myself the positive things that are true: I AM full of power. I am capable of reaching my goals. Fit your mantra to your season – my new season of self-improvement and self-empowerment, each lift and sprint and hockey drill, will be marked with a mantra of kindness to myself; the true and life-giving reminder that I am full of power.  

There are success factors in your life already. Give thanks for them, even as you struggle. I tend to get mentally trapped in the rut of what I can’t do and what I wish I could change. I think about how I’m not athletically inclined, not a person who loves yogurt and vegetables and healthy things, etc. But another realization I had this weekend is that in certain and really significant ways, I am set up for success. My husband will eat whatever Skinnytaste recipe I decide to make for dinner without complaining; he never pressures me to cheat on my meal plan; he will agree to make room in our budget for any and all fitness activities that I enjoy and think will help me progress. He never asks me to lose weight and only encourages me to do so for myself, so that I will feel better. He ran some really slow miles on his days off to help me get in my long runs during half marathon training. Whatever is against you – body type, health issues, busyness – remember that there are things that are working FOR you, and to give thanks for them. Gratefulness can combat the feeling of deprivation when you choose not to eat that thing that everyone else is eating. With regard to my half marathon – I ran the Savin Rock Half Marathon and despite the weight gain I’ve seen over the last year, I was able to finish and meet my two goals for the race in the process: to run/jog it all without stopping to walk and to do so in under 3 hours. I finished in 2 hours, 50 minutes and jogged every last insanely steep hill in the fierce spring winds of the Long Island Sound. One mental hurtle cleared, and now…I’m ready to crush my next goal, stick on the ice, head in the game, to be the first woman on my husband’s hockey team of Air Force bros. And I’m GOING to crush it, because I am full of power.

Alex’s Million Mile Team Kick-Off!

You know that us Chicks love to do good to feel good, and every September, we join super forces to help kids with with cancer keep fighting. Participating in Alex’s Million Mile event has become a tradition for us, and we’ve been ROCKSTARS in that we’ve raised almost $6000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

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The great thing about Alex’s #Journey2aMilion event is that there are lost of ways to participate. We’ll be tracking all the miles we run, walk, and bike to count toward the worldwide goal of 1 million miles.  You should totally do it with us and join Team Scootadoot! It’s easy, free, and you’re already training for a race anyway, right? Why not “donate” those miles to a great cause? And bonus, donations are tax deductible!

SuperChicksAMMOn September 1st, we’ll be social media-ing our 1st Mile along with other participants around the world to kick off this years event. You’ll see us tweeting and Facebooking throughout the month, and there will be  prizes and giveaways at the end of the month, so

stay

 

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What’s Old is New Again

Back in 2012 PS (Pre-Scoot), I found my magic combination for weight loss/better fitness/improved health.

Weight Watchers. Running. And Zumba.

This combo saw me down almost 60 pounds from my highest weight.

Me, at my lowest weight in years, hanging out with Mer in Jersey.

Me, at my lowest weight in years, hanging out with Mer in Jersey.

This combo saw me finishing my first race ever.

Beyond proud of myself post Atlantic City 7K

Beyond proud of myself post Atlantic City 7K

 

I was feeling better than I had in years.

And then, I decided to add jumping into the mix. As in jumping right off that wagon and fleeing into a field of cookies. (Poetic license there, but you catch my drift).

That’s the thing, though. The rational thought is, if something is working, why would you stop doing it?

Because, life.

#soreal

#soreal

And then, I convinced myself that this combo, that was working for me, must have been inherently flawed, otherwise it would have kept right on working. And then, I though maybe the combo wasn’t flawed, I was.

In the following four years, I tried a lot of other things. I went to experts who told me that ‘diets don’t work’ and ‘Weight Watchers doesn’t work’. I tried tracking on My Fitness Pal. On paper. In spreadsheets. Not tracking at all. I tried 30 day walking challenges, and squat challenges. I tried to start running again. A few times.

And then, about a month ago, I decided to try this combo.

Weight Watchers. Running. And Zumba.

And it’s working.

#BOOM

#BOOM

 

And I’m working it.

Me and my workout buddy, Pitbull.

Me and my workout buddy, Pitbull.

 

I don’t know if this perfect combo will stay perfect forever. But I do know that right now, it’s working. I feel accomplished, and proud of my efforts. I see the effects on the scale. I see myself finishing races (we’ll talk more about that later) with that beaming look on my face.

For now, I’m partying like it’s 2012, and I’m loving it.

 

New Year Water Challenge

Many, many folks have done a 30 day water challenge wherein they commit to drinking the recommended 64 ounces a day for a month. But guess what? I’m doing the same thing! (Bazinga!)

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I drink a lot of water. A lot of flavored water. Flavored with leaves. Black leaves. Okay, Earl Grey. I drink a lot lot lot of hot Celestial Seasonings Earl Grey tea.  Somewhere in the neighborhood five, twenty ounce cups a day. That should count for my 64 ounces of water, honestly. HONESTLY. And really, it can’t be that bad because I sleep like a log all night, every night. Caffeine, schmaffeine.

It’s totally bad. I know.

The real problem with this  habit is the sugar. Basically, I’m consuming a small sugar cane plantation every month. A big can of white sugar sits beside the hot water dispenser at the office and I just pour it into my cup. It’s horrible, I know. Something needs to change or I will be diabetic in the very near future.

my addicition

I even have a cup (or stein, as you will) right before bed.

So why have I decided to be a follower? Great question! Well, aside from the aforementioned risk of diabetic shock descending at any moment, I’m curious to see the changes drinking 64 ounces a day will bring. If I can flush some toxins and get rid of the circles that have been under my eyes since childhood I will be so happy. I’m also hoping healthier skin will help fade my adolescent acne scars. Let’s not mention the laugh lines and crows feet entrenching themselves in my face. I turn forty this year and it’s starting to show. Water, nature’s cure-all, to the rescue!

The "Before"

The “Before”

The plan is to go from five or six cups of tea a day to two in the morning. Then I’ll divide the sixty-four ounce daily intake into eight ounce segments throughout the rest of the day. Using my favorite race sticker covered bottle, fruit infusions, and Nuun should help me say on track. In 30 days I’ll check in and let you know if my bags took a flight home. If you don’t hear from me, I’m laying on the kitchen floor in front of my electric teapot, slipping into a diabetic coma.

 

What’s your method for staying hydrated? Are you a water or sport drink person? Show us your water bottle on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

#Journey2Million Round-Up (Hint, We Still Rock)

We know it’s not news, but Team Scootadoot continues to be amazing! We’ve logged over a thousand miles for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s #Journey2aMillion event, and the month is not over yet!

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You guys own us. It’s true. To show our love, we’re handing out a few tokens of appreciation!

Mid-Month-Round-Up

The event wraps up next week, but we’ve still got 8 days to knock it out of the park. And we will, because we’re awesome like that! If you’d like to join us, it’s not too late to help us make an impact. We’re doing great things together here, folks.

 

 

Let’s ROCK Our #Journey2aMillion, Team Scootadoot!

Today is the BIG DAY, Team Scootadoot! What’s the occasion, you ask? We’re so glad you asked! Today kicks off our #journey2aMillion miles together! Starting today, we’re pooling our miles and our fundraising efforts to tell cancer to SUCK IT. Our team has certainly grown over the last week, and we’re SO HAPPY to have all of you join us on this journey! We’re doing good things here, folks.

2015_CCA_FB_bannerFor the last two years, our team has come together to support Alex’s Lemonade Stand, and it’s not too late to join this year’s team! You can join us anytime this month, but everyone who joins the team by midnight tonight will be entered to win a pack of Racedots!

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Today at 3:00 pm eastern (noon Pacific), we will take our first steps in our journey together in the First Mile kick-off event. Let’s go out there and get in our first miles knowing that we’re united in our intention to do good, feel good, and make an impact.

Gooooooooo, Team Scootadoot!

The First Mile is the Sweetest (On Our #Journey2aMillion )

Every year since our blog started we have hosted a team for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Million Mile month. During the month of September we get together, all over the country, and log miles to raise awareness while telling pediatric cancer to SUCK IT. Over the last two years, our team has logged a total of 3,413 miles and raised over $4,100.00 for pediatric cancer research. Not too shabby at all, we thinks!

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We would love for you to join us! You can join the team now, or anytime in September. There’s no fundraising required (unless you would LIKE to) and it’s a great way to join in a community driven campaign! We have A LOT of fun supporting this important cause, it’s super easy to log your miles, and we’ll be giving away some fun prizes! This year, we’re mixing it up by giving away prizes randomly throughout the month, and everyone will have an equal chance of winning any of the prizes! After all, we’re a team!

A peek at some of the treasures in the #Journey2aMillion Giveaway Kitty

Once you join the team, you can log your miles using your FitBit, the MapMyFitness App, or you can track your miles manually like always. You can read more about that here. We love that we can use our FitBit to track our mileage, it means every step we take will count toward the Million Mile goal!

The month long event kicks off on Tuesday with the First Mile. Imagine people all over the country (and the world), raising awareness and fighting cancer by walking, running, or biking their first mile at the same time. YES. We’re talking POWERFUL, people! At 3:00 PM ET we’re walking together in spirit and in cause, our hearts untied and our legs in unison! You’ll need to register for the First Mile, but it’s a snap! And we’re a fun bunch, we promise!

lemonfacers

No #lemonfacechallenge is required of course, but there *might* be a giveaway for anyone who does it. Maybe. Possibly. Probably. Yes.