Running and Jumping for Joy About Compression Socks + #Giveaway

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Jennifer FIsher

I am a huge fan of compression socks and am hosting a giveaway for a really fun pair (of winner’s choice) at the bottom of post. I wear this type of knee sock for nearly every race and workout and also on those work days when I’m standing for lengthy periods of time at an event expo, teaching cooking classes or otherwise running around. In fact, I’ve found that on those days when I do have to stand up all day, I still have enough spring in my step later in the evening to fit my training in or going around with the jump rope in a pair of Polka Dot Compression Socks (as above).

I’ve written quite a few posts about compression socks in the past (like this one about compression and running-CrossFit-yoga, so I hesitate to rehash everything – but the basic ideas is that the compression in socks (which usually starts the strongest in the foot or ankle and then moves up the calf), keeps the blood flow from slowing and giving you that lethargic, swollen, dead-leg feeling. I like to call this squeezing, “happy hugs for your feet” – it’s doesn’t really feel as much “tight” as it does “embraced.” Anyway, this ‘hugging” encourages better circulation and, in turn, legs will feel more energized, less achy and heavy. Some doctors even suggest compression socks may help to prevent varicose and spider veins. Oh how I wish stylish compression socks were available during my pregnancies, as I had vein problems quite bad and was forced to wear thick, full-length compression hose in an awful “suntan” color” – I was quite the sight to behold.

But, today there are so many fashionable choices in compression socks that don’t sacrifice any of the function. BrightLifeGo.com is a great online shop that features a wide range of compression sock brands that will help you put your best foot (and leg) forward! The carry lots of great brands like CEP, Zensah and Top & Derby — of course, my favorite brands is Vim & Vigr – I am a very enthusiastic (and official) ambassador for Vim & Vigr products. I am actually wearing a pair right now as I type this up (which reminds me, while I wear compression for my active pursuits, they also help keep things circulating when sitting all day at a desk or on a plane).

VIM & VIGR socks are definitely do not have that elderly vibe that compression socks of yore had – these beauties are designed with rich colors, timeless patterns, and just enough sass to satisfy my funky style. Look at some of my favorites in the collage above! Every time a wear a pair (and I never keep them hidden under pants!) I am always stopped with questions and compliments about my socks!

If you are a newbie to compression socks, you may have legitimate questions before you shell out what is a fairly substantial chunk of change for a pair of socks – which typically run $30 – $60 per pair(although so WORTH it). BrightLifeGo.com has a easy to follow Guide for First Time Compression Sock Buyers that will walk you through the decision making process including identifying your primary need (from pregnancy or an on-your-feet job to maternity and travel) along with other concerns, like what grade of compression, what size and care instructions.

So, whohoo, I’m so excited that BrightLifeGo.com is letting me give away a pair of is Vim & Vigr compression socks (of winner’s choice) to one of my readers. They have GUY’S SOCKS also! Check out the Vim & Vigr collection at Bright Life Go right HERE! Then, see below for the entry instructions and Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hear Me Roar – PMS and the Athlete #LetsTalkPMS

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Jennifer FIsher

I am a female athlete, hear me roar! I love the strength, power and grace shown by women in sports, and believe, in many ways, female athletes are superior to men. Now, don’t get your panties in a wad, gentlemen – obviously you have an arsenal of strengths including sheer muscle volume and all the testosterone stuff. I’m not arguing a 100lb female can beat a 200lb guy in an arm wrestle, so don’t challenge me please! Despite a woman’s brain wiring, body composition and hormones being very different to a man’s, she can still be very successful in sports. We women are naturals at teamwork, multi-tasking and making less impulsive decisions. Women also have a different muscle-to-fat composition which, in general, can help spare glycogen in endurance events, and some of our hormones, like estrogen, have been shown to make us stronger in adverse conditions

However, every once in a while, my female ROAR is a little weak – namely on those days when I’m suffering from Pre Menstrual Syndrome. So, #LetsTalkPMS . . . The fatigue, muscle aches, bloating, sore chest, irregularity and mood swings the week before my period starts can take the attack factor out of my workout schedule if I’m not proactive. Thankfully, I have been spared many instances of PMS as I haven’t had my period on a regular basis in 25 years between long-term bouts of amenorrhea, pregnancies/nursing and now middle age (sorry if TMI). So while my periods usually can’t be planned for, they also aren’t completely unexpected – because of the annoying PMS reminder!

While female hormones might not always be fun ,the are definitely functions — I mean, sheeze, we make a baby! The level of hormones in the female body during different parts of the cycle also play a factor in the metabolism of carbohydrate, fat, and protein, blood plasma volume, and tolerance to heat – all of these are important factors in many sports. Ironically, while the week or so leading up to your period may have you feeling super PMS-y, this “low hormone” stage is considered by many experts to be optimal for female athletic performance. But, you have to manage the physical and mental challenges of PMS and kick them in the buttt!

Now, if I wasn’t into running, CrossFit, yoga, lifting weights and so many other sports, I would probably be caught completely off guard by my infrequent visit rom Aunt Flow. However, there’s something about being a competitive athlete that I believe keeps a woman more in tune with her body, and therefore more likely to notice the onset of PMS symptoms. Oh, and I know!

Since I don’t like to take time off from training or use prescription medications except when life-or-death necessary, I have looked for natural ways to treat PMS. One of the natural products I really like is Jayde from IntraNaturals. Jayde Natural Pain Relief is “100% Herbal Happiness for Women During their Menstrual Period” that may help soothe cramps, relieve muscle aches, and ease general discomfort.

The natural ingredients in Jayde include Cramp Bark, Turmeric Curcumin, Boswellia, and Bromelian—all inspired by the ancient healing powders of Ayurvedic herbs. The only herbal ingredient I wasn’t familiar with was Cramp Bark – so I reached out for more information. Cramp Bark is a smooth muscle relaxant with similar properties to valerian that targets the uterus specifically to reduce inflammation. It may help lessen ovarian and uterine cramps both before and during menstruation.

As a disclaimer, the benefits statements of Jaye have not been evaluated by the FDA but, my experience with this natural solution to PMS has been nothing but “thumbs up,” – plus the capsules are easy to take once or twice a day as needed. Additionally, Jadye is vegan, nonGMO, gluten-free, soy-free and comes with a 100% Lifetime Guarantee. This promise of quality means that if you should become dissatisfied with the product at any time, the company will gladly offer a full refund.

This is another amazing reason to love Jayde and IntraNaturals! With every order, IntraNaturals donates to their non-profit partner, Vitamin Angels, in order to provide life-changing nutrition to children in need (40,000 kids/women helped through their donation last year). Through this program, children and pregnant mothers without adequate access to important nutrients needed for optimal health are provided life-changing vitamins. While I’m over here freaking out my PMS symptoms (honestly, pretty trivial in the scheme of world health), others don’t even have the basic vitamins they need to thrive . . . or survive. So, I feel twice blessed knowing I have the means to take care of ALL my health concerns while helping children and pregnant mothers much, much less fortunate.

Hear me ROAR! PMS and the Athlete #Jayde helps @IntraNaturals #LetsTalkPMS #Ad

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Do you avoid working out when you have PMS or your period? What is your worst symptom? Share in the comments if you care to – XOXO, Jennifer

Thank you to IntraNaturals for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.

Yoga Workout for Active Recovery + Daily Multi-Vitamin for Wellness!

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Jennifer FIsher

Training is hard. Rest days are harder, often they can be a hard pill to swallow! I hear this from dedicated runners, triathletes CrossFitters, obstacle course racers, weight-lifters and other hard-core athletes all the time. In fact, I often fight the urge to workout 365, even when I know rationally that my body needs adequate time to recover from a hard effort on the track or in the gym. In part, it’s this drive to go balls out regardless of pain and suffering that distinguishes winners from losers on game day. However, keeping this mindset every day of the week can wear you down mentally, tear you down physically and get you stuck in a rut where you’ve plateaued and are no longer making gains.

But who among the athletic elite (and even us regular people just striving to be the best we can be) want to sit around on the couch all day, waiting for some sort of generic mandate of “not moving a muscle” to pass?! That’s not really the best option mentally and physically either. Activities on these light load days should take into consideration your current fitness level and fatigue felt from the previous workout – less volume, less intensity (less than 60% effort) and keeping it fun are the key points! My go-to active recovery day includes a short walk followed by a gentle, stretching yoga sequence to help flush out toxins and encourage mobility so I’ll be ready to go harder the next day! Here is one of my favorite active recovery “Rest Day” Yoga Workouts:

Getting enough sleep (7 to 8 hours would be optimal), rehydrating with plenty of water (check out my post on 50 Shades of Pee) and eating well with a focus on fresh vegetables and fruit paired with lean proteins are also important to workout recovery.

Another important part of recovery is eating right, right?! Most of us are aware that carbohydrates metabolize into the quickly-sourced energy that powers performance and that consuming a protein-rich snack post-workout (in a 3:1 to 4:1 carb to protein ratio) helps repair muscle and tissue taxed by exercise. But what you eat every day, day in and day out, has a profound effect on athletic performance too – you can’t outrun a poor diet!

In addition to eating a balanced diet of lean proteins, fresh fruits and veggies and healthy whole grains, I I also take a daily multivitamin to make sure my bases are covered. Every Woman’s One Daily Multivitamin from New Chapter caught my attention from the hundreds (if not 1000s of different brands out there) because of the way that it’s made. These vitamins are fermented with probiotics and whole foods and gentle enough to take any time – even first thing in the morning on an empty stomach! I’ve never feel woozy or nauseous after taking any of their products.

Every Woman’s One Daily Multivitamin from New Chapter is ideal for active women because it contains extra nutrients for energy support, stress support†, immune support and bone support.* And, this award-winning vitamin (BEST Multivitamin Award. Delicious Living 2016 Supplement Awards) is Non-GMO Project Verified, made with certified organic vegetables & herbs, vegetarian, kosher, gluten free and has no synthetic fillers. I love how they are equally helpful to the planet as they are to us – all ingredients are mindfully and sustainably sourced!

You can purchase Every Woman’s One Daily Multivitamin at a number of online retailers including Amazon.com– love how I can usually get free shipping and also save by setting up a subscription (because, it really sucks to run out of vitamins)!

Yoga for Active Recovery + #NewChapterVitamins for Everyday Wellness #Ad

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What are your tips for recovery and general wellness for an active lifestyle? Are you racing competing, training or taking it easy this weekend — please share in the comments, I’d love to chat! XOXO — Jennifer

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, care, or prevent any disease.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Rise & Grind – Benefits of Exercise and Eating Well in the Morning

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Jennifer FIsher

As tempting as it is to repeatedly hit the snooze button, check out these seven worthy reasons to workout, run or just get up and get your body moving early in the morning. Of course, if you can’t workout first thing, any time of the day is better than skipping!

Dodge Distractions: When you exercise early, it’s the first thing marked off your “to-do” list. Unforseen opportunities and obligations later in the day, like an unexpected dinner date or working late to meet deadline, can foil even the best-intentioned plan to workout or run.

Elevate Mood: Exercise, any time of the day, instructs the body to release mood-boosting, energizing endorphins the brain. Why not get your workout or “runner’s high” before the rooster crows and enjoy being in this happy place all day long?!

Improve Productivity: Exercise makes you feel more energetic through the day and also increases the release of serotonin, which leads to enhanced mental clarity. Chasing down these two perks early in the early hours just might make your day a whole lot more efficient and awesome.

Boost Calorie Burn: Calories continue to be torched at an increased rate for a couple hours (and in some instances, as long as 10 to 24 hours) after exercise. It makes much more sense to kick up your metabolism sooner rather than later to burn more quickly through the food you are eating all day.

Snooze More Soundly: It seems contrary, but research shows that people who wake up early to exercise get more sleep in the long run over those who schedule their sweat sessions in the evening. That’s because exercising at night raises your core temperature, heart rate and adrenaline levels to a degree that makes it hard to wind down and fall asleep.

Beat the Big Crowds: Face it, the gym and many running trails get pretty packed right after the work whistle blows. If you hit it early enough, you won’t have to wait in line for your favorite piece of gym equipment or knock elbows and trip over dog leashes on a jog.

Bragging Rights: Telling friends and colleagues “I’ve already run 6 miles and done 50 pushups this morning” totally trumps “Hmm, I might go workout later today.”

Equally important to morning exercise is a good breakfast, I’ve talking about the importance of eating a morning meal so many times in the past — especially one that is protein packed to help taxed muscles recover and fight off the “hangries” until lunch.

If I’m in a hurry,I typically grab a Core Power High Protein Shake out of my gym bag, but if I have a few minutes at home I like to whip a quick recipe like my Lemon Raspberry Protein Mug Muffin or another protein-packed breakfast recipe up my sleeve.

Rise and Grind! Why you should WORKOUT & EAT WELL in the morning!

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Do you workout in the morning? Is it a struggle or are you an natural early-bird? Please share in the comments below – XOXO, Jennifer

Shiner Bock Beer Short Ribs with Chipotle Cheese Grits for CrossFit 16.1 Recovery

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Jennifer FIsher

Oh hello, how was your weekend? Mine was very meaty and gritty, let me explain! First up, I had to, ahem, knock out Cross Fit Games Open 16.1 Workout. And, when I say “knock out” I mean muster up every gram of grit I have to lunge around with a really-heavy-to-me 65 lb. overhead bar. Seems everyone else was worried about the Chest-to-Bar Pull ups in this WOD which I nailed unbroken (need to have some silver lining in the recap).However, the Achilles heel of my scrawny rear is any task that requires more butt strength than getting up off the couch. I kid, but still.

In the end and with many rest breaks, I lunged 275 meters with more than half of my body weight above my head (tongue out!). . . at the finish of one set I half dropped the bar on my head. That hurt. As I bragged mentioned, I killed the Chest-to-Bar Pullups and the positive visualization of whipping those out is what would get me through the last few lunges in each round. And, the burpees – well, they were burpees. One young beast of a girl at the gym scored nearly double to me – so awesome, so humbling! Right now I am hanging at 14^h place in my age group for the South Central states region (and will surely drop significantly by Monday night when all scores are reported), I’m really happy that I challenged myself to do something that was out of my comfort zone. That’s what it’s all about, right?!

So, I rarely write a race or workout recap without also including a recipe –for me the love of food and fitness are forever entwined. So, anticipating my fatigue from the CrossFit 16.1 WOD, I knew I was going to need a protein-rich meal to bring the old bod back to life. In the morning before heading out, I threw some beef short ribs and a bottle of beer in the slow cooker to work their magic. To prep dinner, I only needed 10 minutes to whip up some grits and toss a salad – thank you Crock Pot for doing all the heavy lifting at dinner!

Hope you enjoy this recipe for SHINER BOCK BEER SHORT RIBS WITH CHIPOTLE CHEESE GRITS – I originally created it for the Texas Beef Council – head on over there if you’d like to learn a little more about this cut of beef or get my useful slow cooker tips. It’s a super easy and forgiving recipe that will pamper your primal meat cravings without any fuss. Not normally on my diet, the Chipotle Cheese Grits were a delicious treat . . . and using some of the beef liquid reserved from the Crock Pot complemented the peppers’ smoky heat and kicked up the flavor of often bland grits into beast mode! And, the ribs were literally fall off the bone tender which I feel was somewhat metaphorical for the state of my muscles.

If you are looking for another beef slow cooker meal,with Texas flair, check out Ancho Mama’s Pot Roast — cook up a chuck roast and serve over potatoes, in tacos or on a salad.

So, did you break a sweat in the CrossFit Games Open WOD 16.1 ? Have you ever eaten or made beef short ribs? Please share in the comments below – XOXO, Jennifer

Beef Short Ribs with Chipotle Cheese Grits #recipe for CrossFit 16.1 Recovery

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Shiner Bock Short Ribs with Chipotle Cheese Grits + CrossFit 16.1 Recap

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 hrs

Total Time

10 hrs 15 mins

Course: Main Dish, Side Dish, Worout

Cuisine: American, Southern, Southwestern

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For Short Ribs in Slow Cooker

1 teaspoon olive oil
4 pounds beef sort risbs, bone-in
14 ounce can beef broth
12 ounce bottle ShinerBock or other medium to dark beer
1/4 cup molassas
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon hot sauce, like
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Chipotle Cheese Grits

1 cup liquid reserved from slow cooker
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon minced chipotle in adobe (from can)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry instant grits
3 ounces Monterrey cheese, shredded

Instructions

Rub olive oil in bottom of skillet, bring to high-heat.
Pour Greek seasoning into shallow dish and roll each short rib though to coat.
Add seasoned short ribs to skillet, searing quickly for about 30 to 60 seconds per side. Remove from heat.
Add broth, beer molasses, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper sauce to slow cooker, stir to combine.
Add short ribs to liquid and place lid on slow cooker. Cook on low setting for 10 to 12 hours.
Ten minutes before serving, remove 1 cup of strained short ribs cooking liquid from slow cooker, add to medium pot.
Add water, salt and chipotle in adobe sauce to pot and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add instant grits, stirring frequently for 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened.
Remove pot from heat and cheese, stir until combined.
To serve, make a pile of grits and place a short rib on top. Present with strained short rib juice, if desired.

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Category Archives: CrossFit

Running and Jumping for Joy About Compression Socks + #Giveaway

Hear Me Roar – PMS and the Athlete #LetsTalkPMS

Yoga Workout for Active Recovery + Daily Multi-Vitamin for Wellness!

Rise & Grind – Benefits of Exercise and Eating Well in the Morning

Shiner Bock Beer Short Ribs with Chipotle Cheese Grits for CrossFit 16.1 Recovery