New Directions

I can't believe that Neon Princesses has been going for more than 10 months! Holy smokes!!!

When Lisa and I started this we had no idea what we wanted or where to start. 

Life has been busy for both Lisa and I and we haven't been as active as we would like to be. Lisa has decided to take a smaller part in Neon Princesses. She will still post occasionally, but she has some family business going on and family comes first. 

I have been thinking about why we started Neon Princesses and what I want from it. After some soul searching I have figured out what my goal is: I want to inspire people, help people, and provide support and a resource for knowledge. 

It has been hard dealing with social media hiding posts and not getting to communicate with you all. This has led me to believe that the best way to help the most people accomplish their fitness goals is to create groups where you can check in, find motivation, accountability. You will be able to talk about workouts, have water reminders, get new recipes and much much more!

I have also decided to become a Beachbody coach. This will allow me be able to help more people with their fitness goals!!!! I am so excited. So from now on I will continue the Neon Princesses page, but there will also be groups for specific Beachbody Programs (P90X3, T25, Piyo, ect.) and a general accountability group! I want to help YOU accomplish your goals.

I will have a Piyo accountability/challenge  group starting JULY 7 for everyone who has me as their coach when they buy Piyo! I am so ready to do Piyo with everyone and help you achieve your goals.

There is also opportunities to join my team as a Beachbody coach. If you want to inspire others and make a difference while making money, email me at neonprincesses@gmail.com or my partner in crime Jeri Sue at JSFitness.

You can sign up for a free account on Team Beachbody and get access to me as your coach as well as recipes, tips, and support!

Giveaway Winner! 
 The winner of the giveaway is Katie Huges! Katie send us an email at neonprincesses@gmail.com so we can send you the Spartan Race Entry. 

Blog Hop, a Spartan Race Giveaway and a Giveaway Winner!

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Core Power giveaway is Amanda Whitley!!! You have until Monday June 23 to contact us at neonprincesses@gmail.com

Blog Hop

You know how much fun I had at my first Spartan Race. If you missed my Volunteering Recap or the Race Recap click on the links to read more about my impressions. So I decided to giveaway a Spartan Race Entry!

Follow the steps in the rafflecopter below to enter to win a free race entry to Spartan Race. Then you can hop on over to the next blog participating in the blog hop!

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Blog Hop

What is a blog hop giveaway? 

A blog hop is a group of blogs that get together and each blog that joins the blog hop hosts a giveaway during a predetermined time. There is a linky tool that lists the blogs participating and this is a great way for new followers to find your blog. 

Who can join? 

Anyone with a blog that wants to host a giveaway. 

What can I giveaway? 

Anything fitness/running related. 

When is the deadline to sign up? 

The deadline to sign up is June 16th. 

How do I sign up? 

Sign up here! 

How to Make Time for a Healthy Lifestyle

Phew! Thank goodness the weekend got here ok! This week has been absolutely CRAZY, I didn't get much more than 2 hours of sleep any night last week. So here is a little background on myself, I am a full time college student, I work full time, and I am dedicated to a healthy lifestyle. Yes I know that 2 hours of sleep a night is not good, but I definitely made it up this weekend, so it balances out. Right?

So I survived this because of a few habits that I wanted to share with you today.

Food Prep
Every week I go grocery shopping and get fresh produce. Here Is generally what I get:

• Bananas
• Kale
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Potatoes
• Yogurt
• Broccoli & Cauliflower
• Strawberries 
• Apples
• Onion
• Garlic
• Meat & Poutlry (I usually buy in bulk from Costco and freeze)
• Juices
• Oranges
• Gapes
• Tomatoes 
• Bell Peppers

All of these things might not be just want you want/need for the week, but I recommend making a solid list to take with you to the grocery store. If I don't make a list I end up spending a lot of money on extra things that I don't really need.  A list is also a great idea if in weeks where you are particularity busy and you have a significant other who is willing to help out with the shopping. :D

After going to the grocery store, as soon as I get home I start my meal prepping. That translates into rinsing the produce, cutting up fruit to store in 1 serving size containers, and making a few meals that can be frozen. My go to prep meal for a busy week is soup. I make it in a crock pot and then freeze half of it, and put the other half in the fridge. Most soups can last about 3 days in the fridge and 10-15 in the freezer. Once I finish what is in the fridge I pull out the other half from the freezer.




Other than making soups, I also prep for meals that I plan on making, like my favorite enchilada recipe among others. It is something that is heavy with prep work (cutting up the bell peppers and chicken) but then once that is done the actual meal only takes 5 minutes to cook.

Here is my favorite soup recipe:
                                                             Chicken Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 2 Potatoes
• 1/2 Onion
• 3/2 tbsp Garlic Salt
• 1/2 tbsp Rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sear chicken breasts till outer edge is firm. Slice chicken into bite-sized pieces.
2. Chop or cube potatoes and onion.
3. Put chicken, potatoes, onion, and seasonings into crock pot.
4. Fill crock pot with water until all ingredients are covered.
5. Cook on high heat for 4 hour 

 Overall the success of  eating healthy during a super busy week depends on how much and how you prep. Even with the best laid plans sometimes you don't have many options. Once last week I didn't have any food and I ended up getting suck on campus later than I was hoping. My choices were limited to a few fast food restaurants on campus, in this case I had a plan, while I don't support eating out a fast food restaurants my choices were Chickfila, Subway, and McDonalds. I figured that this was going to happen at least once this semester and I had a plan! I would go to Subway and get some apple slices and chocolate milk, and that while it wasn't the idea situation I would be able to still stay with my healthy eating habits. In my personal opinion having a contingency plan for the worst case scenario helps you stay on track in those worst situations.

Exercising

A disappointment that I have about this past week is that I only did my normal 3 runs and 1 cross-training day. I was going on two weeks of running consistently. The best advice I can give about getting your workout in is to know what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, and plan accordingly.

This past week all of my workouts were preplanned. I usually plan from race to race so this wasn't a problem, but some people like to plan on a weekly basis, which also works. I love working out in the middle of the day or at night but when things get really busy I find that working out first thing in the morning makes me more productive the rest of the day. The biggest problem that occurs for me when I try to workout in the evening is that I tend to make excuses and thus never workout that day, especially if I am tired.

Well those are my two cents about exercising and eating healthy when life gets busier than usual. What helps you stay on track when you get busy? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Giveaway Winner 
 
The winner of the giveaway is Carrie C.! Carrie we look forward to hearing from you, please send us your information so we can send you your EnergyBits sample.

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EnergyBits Review and Giveaway!

Let's Talk EnergyBits!

EnergyBits are 100% Spirulina algae that are in pill form. You take 30 tabs at a time before your workout.

So, my philosophy is that I will try any supplement once (but never on race day! Haha). The first time I used EnergyBits it had to get me through a run of a 3 miles, a weight training class, hours of class, and a full day of work, and it worked out wonderfully.

Taking EnergyBits: Taste and Smell
Each serving of EnergyBits is 30 tabs and I usually swallow them like pills. Don't smell them, seriously. Personally I think they smell like seafood, and I'm not a fan of seafood. When I take them as pills the smell doesn't bother me at all. I usually take the 30 tabs in two swallows of 15 tabs. The first time I took them I was nervous about how they would settle in my stomach, but hours later my stomach didn't have any negative reactions. This is impressive especially since my stomach is sensitive to almost everything. A lot of traditional energy supplements like Gu's and Sport Beans don't really settle well, so I am super excited to finally find a pre-workout energy supplement that I don't mind taking and doesn't bother my stomach.

Performance
Let me tell you that EnergyBits are AMAZING!!! I took them at 8:45 (15 minutes before I started my run) with water and I felt rejuvenated. The effects lasted well into the day for me and I was awake and alert even at 3:00 which is when I usually am the most tired. Unlike other energy supplements there was no crash afterward!

Other Benefits of EnergyBits
Now, I know I have been using the term "supplements" to describe EnergyBits but that word doesn't do them justice. EnergyBits are food, pure and simple. Here is a chart with the vitamins in EnergyBits and how EnergyBit compares with other ways to get those vitamins in your day.

Overall
After my first time trying EnergyBits I just couldn't go back to any other way to fuel my runs, P90X3, Iron Bombshell workouts, and races! I used EnergyBits to fuel my Hot Chocolate 5k and it went wonderfully. Thankfully you can try some EnergyBits too! Jonathan over at EnergyBits is going to send one of my readers a sample!!You can also purchase a full bag here.

*Only U.S. residents over the age of 18 can apply.
*The EnergyBits samples were provided to me at no cost by EnergyBits. All opinions and comments are my own. I was not compensated for this post.

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New Years & New Goals Giveaway Blog Hop

HI!!
This is our second time doing a giveaway blog hosting by Runaway Bridal Planner!! Since it was so much fun the last time we did, we doing it again. :)

Ok so here is my post about my personal goals for the new year! So since I already posted about that I thought that I would just tell you about the AWESOME things that Lisa and I are giving away today!

Bodyweight Fit Deck

So I purchased a few of these Fit Decks from SkirtSport a few months ago and they are really cool. Each card has an exercise move on it (usually with a modified move for beginners and advanced). The cards are broken up into sections for different muscle groups as well, such as Upper Body, Lower Body, Full Body, ect. These cards are so much fun you can shuffle them and mix up what exercises you do while working on the same areas! My boyfriend and I usually "play" a set of 5 cards from each of the groups at a time (this is one of the only ways I can get him to work out with me :D ).

KT Tape PRO

KT Tape is an adhesive tape that can be applied to the knees, back, calves, shoulders, and many other parts or you body to help with sore joints, muscles, and tendons. I use it primarily on my knees because I have very little cartilage in my right knee which causes a lot of pain and the first time I used the KT Tape I was amazed because it actually was the first thing to help with the pain. We are giving away 1 roll of KT Tape PRO in Black that is Pre Cut. You can find a tutorial here for how to apply KT Tape!

Clif Bars, Stinger Waffles, and Seed Fruit

So I discovered Clif Bars when I started working out. So far they are one of my favorite pre-workout food. We are giving out Crunchy Peanut Butter and Spiced Pumpkin Pie. We are also including two of the Singer Waffles one strawberry flavor (I think this one tastes like pocky personally which is AWESOME for those who don't know what pocky is), and one chocolate flavor. The last food item that we are including a Seed Fruit which is a trail mix of sorts.

 Sofsole Laces and Nuun

I am not a big water an. I know, I know, drinking water is important, especially when it starts to get warmer. Nuun has really helped me start to enjoy drinking my water. That is why we included a Nuun in Lemonade! Last but not least we have a pair of sofsole laces in light green!

Now after you are finished her, click the link below so it can take you to other fabulous blogs so you can enter their giveaway!!

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Health & Fitness Giveaway Hop

Happy Holiday!!!!!

How are you guys doing? Sorry we haven't been posting lately. I started a new seasonal job and that takes up all my time. Lindsay is keeping our Facebook page updated. But we are planning on posting weekly very soon. Our next race is the Hot Chocolate 5k in January. We are getting ourselves pumped up for it.

In the spirited of the holiday we are joining a Holiday Giveaway Hop hosted by Runaway Bridal Planner.

For our giveaway, we giving out an Under Armour Fitted Active-wear Jacket size Medium in Black (with THUMB HOLES!)  and a Penguin Christmas Tumbler!


















Our giveaways is open to resident of the U.S. only. So get clicking and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway widget. The giveaway runs from December 9th to December 15th. The winner will be announced on the blog, Facebook page, and will also notified via email. You'll have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

Down below are all the blogger who also join in the giveaway hop so go enter their contest also. 

Happy Hopping!!!!! :)

Lisa

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Color in Motion 5k Race Recap and Giveaway Winner!

My race day attire

Race Prep

Wow the week has just flown by! So last week Lisa and I started to get all of the last minute prep done for the 5k race on Saturday. So we finally picked out what we were both wearing on Friday night. I decided on wearing an older pair of cheap shorts and the race t-shirt. I also brought a bandanna and my sunglasses. I ended up not using the sunglasses because it was really foggy and overcast but I LOVED the bandanna. I pulled it up to protect my face throughout the race.

Cleaning Supplies

I also brought a lot of things to help clean up after the race that came in really helpful. I brought two towels, one to cover my car seats on the way back home and one to use to wipe off the color powder. I also brought wipes, you can use baby wipes, active wipes, or face wipes (what I used because I had them on hand). Other than that I also brought a clean change of clothes and a grocery bag to put my dirty clothes.  With all of this prepped it was easy to contain the color powder to a small area that was easy to clean up.


Race Day!
So race day rolled around and we left our side of town to drive an hour to where the race location was at 6 that morning. Yup you read that right we left at 6 for a race that started at 9. We REALLY didn't want to be late and I worry a lot. IT worked out well because we stopped off at a CVS once we were close so that we could get a disposable camera to take some race pictures with.

Here we are waiting for the race to start

Once we got to the race location we started getting ready and preparing to get to the starting line. Since we were there so early we actually got to talk to other runners there. There was a great variety of runners out: people like us who were running their first race, high school track runners, people who had run marathons, and many more.

So we started lining up at 8:45 or so. The race administrators had musics going and everyone was just dancing waiting for the race to start. We ended up starting closer to 9:30 as opposed to 9 but it wasn't a big deal. At the starting line the powder started coming out and everyone was pretty covered in colored cornstarch before the race even started.

Pre and Post race pictures of me

Once the race started we just started running. Now here is the ting that I haven't told you yet, the race was on a TRAIL! Nowhere was this mentioned in the information about the race, thus Lisa and I were just training on pavement. That was surprising to say the least. We took it in stride and just kept on going. It was really refreshing to be in the "wilderness" and the view was great.

There were color stations located at every kilometer where the volunteers had buckets, literally buckets of a colored powder to throw at the runners as they pass the area. The volunteers had so much energy and everyone was just laughing and running. As first races go it was pretty amazing.

Pre and Post race pictures of Lisa

At the end of the race there was a "color party" with music and lots of cornstarch powder. As soon as the finish line was in sight and we were approaching it, I of course with my luck ended up falling in a small ditch. Yea I know, I am really klutzy. It is kinda ironic that I made it through a course with hills, sand, small rocks, and uneven ground but I fall in a small ditch/divot in the ground in sight of the finish line.  Thankfully all that happened was a small scrapped knee.

The race was such an amazing experience and I cannot wait until the Hot Chocolate 5k in January!



Giveaway Winner!!
So this is the moment you have all been waiting for! The winner of the Far End Gear Brite Buds is . . . Maryalicia Verdecchia! Maryalicia can you send us an email with your information and we will send you your prize! Thank you everyone for participating in our first giveaway, and we look forward to having our next one soon.

One Week Until Race Day!

There is officially one week exactly until our FIRST race! I can't believe that next weekend we will have finished our first 5k. So thought the week we will be doing all of out last minute prepping. So far we both have our clothes for the race picked out. Unfortunately we can't wear any of our nice workout gear like my compression socks or our nice activewear shorts or tops since it is a color run and we don't want to stain our nice gear.


Lisa and I haven't been working out together recently since our schedules haven't really synced up. Lisa has been walking on the treadmill and I was walking on our local trails. Due to my unfortunate spill off the ladder on Thursday I didn't workout on Thursday or Friday! It has been awful. I am hoping to take it easy and do some yoga tomorrow and get back to running on Monday though.

Other than our clothes, we will be getting all of our accessories together later this week (maybe a blog post to come about what we will bring!)


On the note of gear. Last week I won a pair of Far End Gear's Brite Buds Reflective earphones. Lisa and I both tried out the pair that I won and we LOVE them. With daylight savings time last weekend our workouts tend to happen after dark more and more. When running in the dark it is really important to have multiple points of reflective gear so that a person is more recognizable to drivers.I usually just run with a blinking LED attached to my shirt but now I have some earbuds to go with that. The ear phones have great quality sound to boot. To celebrate our first race we bought a pair to giveaway! This will be our first giveaway so we hope everyone enjoys it. We will pick a winner after our race on Saturday and post the winner on our blog next week.



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Running on a budget!

The Weekly Update!

So last week it suddenly got very cold! Thus unfortunately we only got to go out twice to exercise. :( the two times that we went out we did our usual circuit of a 3.5 mile walk/run. Lisa and I started playing around with the idea of doing a yoga or cardio workout video inside once a week. We also made a trip to Target to get some long pants to run in. Hopefully next week we will be more use to the cold weather and get out our normal 5 times a week.

Running on a Budget!

So we all know how budgeting can be, and unfortunately since Lisa and I are both collage students it is a necessity for us to budget our running expenses. We thought this post would be a good time to share how we save money and get feedback from everyone on how they save.

Lindsay's purchases from Target 

So far to save the most money we usually look for great coupons. The local running store that we go to offers a membership for a 10% off purchases and they also have special events where they offer 20% off. Outside of that we also get gear from off-priced department stores such as Marshals, T.J. Maxx, and Target.

Lindsay got this resistance band workout for $5 at Marshal's 

Lisa's purchases from Target

For most of our races so far we have either taken advantage of early registration pricing, discount site registrations (like Living Social or Groupon), or giveaway entries. We got registrations for our Color Run from Living Social for 50% off which was great! And the Hot Chocolate 5k race I won an entry from a giveaway. Most races have a Facebook page where they giveaway entries or give out discount codes so we both 'liked' the races that we are interested in ahead of time so that we can keep an eye out for coupons and giveaways.

Speaking of giveaways . . . we LOVE them. It is such a good way to try new things! Which is why we want to start offering them as well. There are so many things that you can win from giveaways including but not limited to: RoadID, race entries, socks, clothes, inspirational jewelry, meal supplements, Gu's , protein bars, and many many others. In the spirit of saving we want to host a giveaway for everyone that has liked our Facebook page and reads our blog. Please let us know what you want for a giveaway! You can post a comment here and let us know.

Next time we will be talking more about our training and the training plan that we are following and why.