Check Out This Giveaway!

Hey guys, head on over to this really cute blog, Mom vs. Marathon and try to enter her sweet giveaway for compression socks from runningskirts.com. Also, read her blog, it's super cute!! And if you don't mind, please send some happy energy vibes to my girl SJ and her little guy who has a nasty ear infection...why do sweet little babies get sick? Grrr.

Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend!

Race Recap

Does anyone else wish that the weekends lasted....well, forever? Seriously, I had such a great 3-day weekend, that it was physically painful to wake up Monday morning.

Here's my weekend recap...on Thursday I ran the Thirsty Third Thursday 5K, I started out the run with my husband's co-worker, Marci, and after the first mile we parted ways. After a 9:30 first mile, I ended up passing a ton of people (which made me feel really fast!) I finished at 25:39 and even got to sprint it out at the end.

The Livster and Mommy pre-race

We got to spend some time with our friends SJ and P and their adorable baby Logan on Saturday. It was Pete's birthday last weekend and since we didn't get to see him then, we wanted to stop by and wish him a happy birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday Pete!!

Of course we dyed lots (and lots and lots) of eggs this weekend. The girls loved it, and asked me several times already this week, when we can dye eggs again...


Saturday was my Mt. Penn Mudfest 15K. I woke up on Saturday morning with a swollen ankle (I had fallen at the grocery store, ha!) and had to run to the grocery store in the pouring rain to get a wrap for my ankle. It rained up until 9:30 and cleared up just in time for the 10am start. Needless to say it was definitely a MUDFEST complete with 50 million hills and 3 stream crossings. It was cold, it was wet, and it was a blast! My friend Charlie ran it with me and finished 24th overall, his dad placed for his age group as well! I finished 245 out of 700 or so, so I was pretty happy with my results.

Post-race

On Sunday we had an egghunt...the girls had such a great time! Here they are with granddad and their baskets.

Lana, Granddad, Little Monster and Livvy


The family all dressed up for Easter (baby monster ruined her outfit right before this photo...honest, she's usually wears clothes!)

Yesterday, my middle monster turned 2! Alana, you are an amazing, happy, beautiful, little girl! I can't imagine my life without you! You bring joy and love to everyone around you...happy birthday baby! We took the girls to the park and bought them a happy meal for their special treat for the day. Somehow, mommy ended up with the worst sunburn tan line ever. That'll look great in my bridesmaids dress in a few weeks....

Happy birthday middle monster!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend and enjoyed spending time with their friends and family as much as I did!

Goal for this week? Convince my chunky hunk to run more than 2 miles with me...just kidding! Actually my goal is to get a 6 miler in on Friday followed by a swim on Friday night, since I've been majorly slacking on my swimming.

XOXO bloggie bffs!

Triple Tangent Tuesday

Where the heck did the time go, it's already time for TTT! Well, since I'm short on time, I'm just going to jump right in to triple tangent Tuesday!

1. I love to cuddle. I sometimes bring baby monster into bed with me just to cuddle with her, and middle monster has a habit of coming into our room at 6am and climbing into bed to cuddle with her daddy. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

2. I have a serious sugar problem. This glorious dessert/candy bar is at my girlfriend, E's, bridal shower from a few weeks ago. I would have eaten this entire this if I could have. Thank goodness there were others there to curb my insane candy cravings.

3. My favorite healthy "diet" food is Greek yogurt. It has such a healthy punch of protein and calcium, what's not to love? My girls also happen to love it, so I must induldge secretly...during naptime :)

Hope everyone has a fabulous week, and congrats to everyone who ran the Boston Marathon yesterday!

Pancakes, Running, and My Blogging Buddy

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! It's raining like crazy here, but I'm cuddling with my little loves, so I'm a pretty happy camper. Since my daddy-o can't train for the warrior dash that I'm running in June, my chunky hunk has offered to run/do the obstacle course in his place...which means that a few days a week I'll get a running buddy, for a few miles anyway. In preparation for our run on Friday, we decided to make a quick and light breakfast...pancakes, mmm.

Middle monster enjoying her pancakes

Yes, it is completely necessary to make a pancake as large as my head :)

Who needs syrup when you can top your pancake in almond butter?

Old-Fashioned Pancakes

-adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

4 tsps. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 c. low-fat milk

1 egg

3 tbsp. melted butter

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Add in milk, egg, vanilla, and butter and mix well til combined.

Heat a lightly greased skillet and pour batter with a large spoon or scoop into heated skillet. Brown on both sides (approx. 1 min per side) and serve hot. Top with butter and syrup, or for more protein top with a nut butter and drizzle lightly with blueberry syrup (pictured above.)

About 2 hours later my hunk and I were off running. Since this was only his second time out, he ran my warm-up with me, about 20 minutes. I went back out for a total of 4 1/2 miles and it was a beautiful day to be outside.

Since I've decided to test my body and see if my knees are physically able to handle the training miles of a marathon, I planned to do an 8 miler today. However, nature had other ideas and after work it was pouring. Usually, I'm not such a pansy about running in rain, but this wasn't rain, this was a full on aquatic assault. So anyway, I decided that, as much as I despise the treadmill, I would have to do my run on that. 8 miles and an hour and 15 minutes later, I was finally finished. That puts my weekly mileage at 23.5, yea! In case you were wondering what I eat after my longer runs...

Chicken, veggie and noodle bowl

And here's my favorite little blogging buddy...

Fit Mommy and baby monster blogger!

Everyone enjoy the rest of your weekend, I have to go ice my shins!

WOOO!

Hey bloggy bffs! (All 3 of you <3) Go check out this supercute and super awesome blog for a sweet giveaway. Personally, I want the cupcake shirt, duh! :) But a garmin wouldn't hurt either since I've been bugging the chunky hunk about it for my upcoming birthday (in 3 months, haha.) And my WOO is....I've lost 20 lbs since the New Year! Yay! All that hard work and careful eating has certainly paid off. Happy Thursday!

Cutest Babies in the World and TTT

Happy Tuesday bloggy buddies! Hope everyone had a great weekend! I certainly enjoyed mine and even got a kick butt workout in on Sunday...6 speedy miles of running and 23 HILLY miles on the bike...needless to say I enjoyed a HUGE burger, a massive amount of raw veggies, and some fro yo afterwards :)

I have fabulous news, this weekend, it was confirmed that I have one faithful reader! Shout out to my good friend and one of the cutest mommies I know, S! :) Speaking of this pretty lady, we spent a good part of our Saturday together...did you know that when the two of us get together it is very likely that we will shatter a small dog's eardrums? Seriously, you should hear us gush and baby talk...we're pros. Why? Well, look at these cute stinkin' babies!

My baby monster, PJ, and the cutest Log Man!

It would be too much to ask if all the kids looked at me at the exact same time, haha.

Now it's time for me to introduce, Triple Tangent Tuesday! TTT is where I share 3 completely random tidbits about myself. I stole this from quite a few of the many blogs that I read. Please feel free to do the same on your blog or in comments...just so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself :)

1. I ran cross-country in middle school and high school and qualified for states my senior year. I wasn't super speedy, but I certainly loved it. I was even the team captain my senior year.

2. I cannot survive without coffee. I set my coffee maker to brew it for me in the morning and have a cup immediately upon waking. Even my kids know about my caffeine habit. In the words of monster O "mommy can't start the day without her coffee." I blame my father for this shameful addiction.

3. I am kinda obsessed cupcakes. I love baking them and I love eating them. I can't help myself either, when I see any article of children's clothing with a cupcake on it, I'm compelled to buy it. I'm sure by now my friends are sick of me force feeding them my cupcakes, haha.

Oh, and I want to give it another go with the whole weekly goal deal, I find it gives me lots of motivation to post my goal online. My goal this week is to run 20 miles and swim twice this week. (Losing another pound wouldn't hurt either...)

Hope you all are having a beautiful (rainy) day!

April Fool's Run

Hi all, happy weeeeeeekend!

Just got home from my first post-babies 5K! I had a blast and even got some shiny new bling to boot! Yahoo! 1st in my age group (25-29) and 4th gal overall. My time wasn't stellar, but my goal was to break 25, and I did, 24:07. I even got to run with my super cute cousin Shay at the start.

And check out my super rad (and adorable) cheerleaders...

Hope you all had a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

Thank you for registering

But first, an apology. It's been a month since I've written, yuck! Life has gotten busy, in a matter of 3 weeks everyone in my house has gotten sick, better, and some of us (me boo!) sick again. This mommy got a part time job, lost some more weight (down 19 lbs since January!), and has seriously gotten addicted to running :)

Now on to the fun stuff! I've officially registered for the 5K Fools Run on 4/2, Mt. Penn Mudfest, a 15K that I ran pre-kids and LOVED, with one of my best friend's hubs on 4/23, and the Warrior Dash, a 3.5 run littered with obstacles, in June. Unfortunately, I also got some bad news, my dad who had planned to run both the first and last run with me, is no longer able to run, instead due to some health issues he can only really train in one sport, and since he and my mom push some serious pedals together, the choice of biking is obvious. I'm bummed about my dad to say the least, but I'm also super looking forward to all the racing fun ahead!

Also, I'm mulling around the idea of a marathon....yikes! Think I should do it?

Hope everyone is doing well...bring on spring!!

Officially, Official

I registered for a sprint tri. OMG.

I mean, OMG. I still have 15 lbs to lose and I have never really gotten into swimming. What was I thinking!?

Well, I guess I was thinking that there is a huge difference between training and just working out. Training is when you work towards a fitness goal. I'm not merely working out anymore, I'm training. I like the sound of that.

Details? It's the Philadelphia Women's Triathlon. It's a 750Y swim, 17 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I'm so excited to start training for this. For the next few weeks I'll just be getting some base training in, I need to start swimming and amp up my biking. As far as the running, I'm training for a 3.5 warrior dash in June, so I've already been running a fair amount. I am so excited that my good friend, A, and I decided to do this as our fitness goal. We both will be turning 26 in July, and this event is July 10th, so this will not only be a challenge for us, but a way to celebrate our 26th birthdays!Anyway, enough of that for now, I'm sure I'll be talking about it pretty much non-stop for the next few months. A, let the fun begin!

Another thing to make official, I've lost 12 lbs since the beginning of the year...yahoo! And am officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm so happy to get 12 lbs (almost as much as my 5 month old weighs now!) off my body. I can already feel a difference in my running, a 10 minute mile pace is not a stretch anymore, in fact my dad and I ran 3 miles yesterday morning at around an 8 minute mile pace. It feels great to be getting back to my pre-baby body. Only 15 or so more pounds to go! (Or the rest of the pregnancy weight from the Big Monster.) Hope everyone had a great weekend and here's to another fit and healthy week!

Boo Hoo and YAHOO!

So let me start of with a little whining...I'm sooooooooooooo tired. Seriously. I. Am. Tired. Something happened to my wonderful 5 month old daughter that took her from a decent sleeper (7-8 hours straight) to an awful, no good, very bad sleeper. Last night was the 4th night in a row that she woke up twice in the night, I know, I'm a bit of a sissy...but come on, when you're used to getting up once at 4 or 5am and suddenly you're up at 1:30 and 4am...it stinks!



This is what I look like after 5 hours of sleep.

Alright, enough woe is me...onto my YAHOO!

Yesterday I ran my first 5K in about 2 years! It was on the dreadmill of course, because with the girls, unless I go to the gym, I can't fit a run in Monday-Thursday with chunky hunk's long work hours and with mini monster's sporadic sleep schedule in the early am hours. So it was tedious running in one place...but at least I got to watch some Sex in the City while I was running. Anyway, I did it at a super slow pace (10:11/miles) but I am still super proud of myself. I am signing up today (TODAY) for my first 5K since 2007...my dad and I are running together and I can't wait. We did make a small bet on who could finish faster, so I guess after I get a few more base miles in this month, next month I have to throw in some speed work and hills, but hey, I'm back baby!

...well almost. Happy Thursday! Weekend is almost here!!

Promises, promises...

Dear Blog Readers,

I'm so sorry, I've been a bad blogger! I sincerely apologize for my extended absence, I've had a tough few weeks. I am emotionally and physically drained right now, which explains my lack of new posts. I have had both the stomach bug and a pretty terrible cold in the past 2 weeks and of course, so have my kids. AND we're potty training. YIKES.

On top of being sick, I've been having one of those moments in my life where I've been questioning my goals and the decisions I've made. I love being a mommy and a wife more than anything in the world but sometimes I feel as though I may not be cut out to be a mommy to 3 under 3. I know that this is the hardest job I've ever done in my life, caring for and molding 3 beautiful, crazy, happy, little girls. Sometimes I question if I've made the right decision to stay home and take care of them...shouldn't I be out working? Doesn't society tell me that women don't belong at home anymore, they belong out in the real world? I don't know why I've let comments and opinions of people I don't care about get to me this way, but sometimes I've just had enough. Stay at home moms certainly don't get enough credit, we work hard and at the end of the day, I'm completely and utterly exhausted. I guess I've reached my decision, yes, I am proud to be a stay at home mommy. PROUD. It's what I'm cut out for and what I'm meant to do. What in the world could be more fulfilling then watching my 3 monsters grow and develop into 3 beautiful young ladies? Nothing. I just needed to clear my head and realize how important my job is, no matter what anyone says, what I do matters, it matters to me, my children and my chunky hunk that works so gosh darn hard to support us.

Ok, now that I've cleared my head (sorry it took 2 weeks to do so!) I feel as though I can get back to focusing on health and fitness. Which, by the way, I still have been focusing on, just not as much as that big question rumbling around in my skull. I'm beyond ecstatic to say that I've lost 10 lbs since the first of the year! I know it's not a ton, but hey, for me, it's a great step. I'm so proud of myself for eating healthy, cutting down on empty calories and getting some great exercise in everyday. How have your workouts been going?

So onto goals...my dear friend and fitness enthusiast, A, has suggested that I set not only a fitness/weight loss goal, but also a blogging goal. So my goal is to write a new post at least twice a week. It's not a ton, but I know how busy I get during the week with the monsters, so it's something I believe I can do. Also, my other goal, is to lose a pound this week and run a total of 12 miles. Last week I did 9, so I think I can jump to 12. Onto my promises...I promise to stick to my aforementioned goal of posting twice a week, as well as adding in the at home workout I blogged about 2 weeks ago, stay tuned! Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day and a healthy beginning of February!

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was a blast! Although I only got one decent workout in, it was totally worth it to spend some time with the people I love. This is what I spent my weekend doing:

*Babysitting one of the cutest babies on the planet.
*A great treadmill workout at a semi decent pace.
*Celebrating my best friend's bday...happy 26th E!
*Having great late night fun with my hunk and his best friend, D.
*Trying on a bridesmaids dress and going out to lunch with some great gals.
*Having a movie/pizza night with my lovely little monsters and the chunky hunk.
*Eating a delicious breakfast with my parents.
*Shopping for groceries with only one monster in tow (heaven!)

Ahh. Anyway, I apologize for not posting the workout that I had promised earlier in the week...but I will post it soon! Hope everyone had a wonderful, restful, relaxing weekend.

What's in the BIG salad?

"Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs..."


One of the chunky hunk's and my favorite meals, whether we're dieting or not is the BIG SALAD. It's a great way to get in 2 or more servings of veggies, a serving of lean protein, and even a serving of dairy.

Since there's a blizzard bit of snow on the ground, I won't be taking the monsters to the gym today, instead I'll be trying out some fun home workouts. Stay tuned for the workout later in the week.

There are so many different varieties and ways to make a big salad, it's so much fun to get creative with your meal. So, with no further adieu-here's your big salad.



BIG Chicken Salad
Makes 2 servings
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup chopped red leaf lettuce
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 snap peas
1/2 cup brocoli
1/2 cup cauliflower
1 cup shredded cabbage

garnish:
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fat free croutons

Place chicken breasts in a medium stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes, turn heat down to simmer and cook 15 minutes or until done. Drain and let cool. Dice chicken and marinate in balsamic vinegar at least 2 hours.

Place lettuce and all the ingredients but the garnish in a large bowl and mix well. Serve on two plates, top with garnish, marinated chicken, and dressing of your choice.

Without dressing: 406 calories/serving


And just because I can't resist showing off my monsters, this is Big Monster, holding my new favorite salad dressing. 90 calories per serving, so even if I use this, the entire salad is still under 500 calories. Yahoo!

Enjoy your snow day!

Week 2 Goal

Happy Monday readers! (Is there anyone out there?) I hope everyone had a fun and fit weekend! Although I didn't get in a lot of "real" working out, I certainly got to chase my little monsters around a lot. That counts, right?

Week #2 Goal:
1)Get at least 10 miles of running in this week
2)Add a new workout move to the blog every week

Hope everyone had a great day!

Why do men lose weight faster than women?

A good friend of mine and fellow girl on the quest for a healthier lifestyle shared this great link with me today. The article has a lot of great points, as men do tend to lose weight faster than women. Take for instance, my chunky hunk...we both started our weight loss journey at the same time, the start of the new year. We have both lost 5 pounds, and (let me gloat a little) YAHOOOO! While I've been hitting the gym 4-5 days a week, doing home workouts the other days, cutting calories, and given up my 2 guilty pleasures of coffee with cream and sugar (yum,) and beer, chunky hunk has cut out soda and beer and tried to eat better. How is it, that I am sweating my chubby butt off, and he has not done a shred of exercise, and we've lost the same amount of weight? This article will unlock some of men's weight loss secrets. Check out this article and take notes, it has a ton of good points.

And in light of this article, I feel as though I should set a new goal for this week. I'm not only GOING to lose another pound this week, but I'm GOING to make my workouts count more and add at least an hour a week of pumping iron into my workouts.

What's your weekly goal?

White Bean Chicken Chili

I'm always on the hunt to find delicious yet healthy recipes. Since my husband and I are both currently trying to eat healthier and drop some weight, our dinner menu has become depressing bland horrible a tiny bit boring. In talking about our dinner menu for the week, I had suggested turkey chili. Since we're both a bit tired of traditional chili and I have quite a few cans of white beans in my pantry, my chunky hunk suggested that we try out a white bean chili. And really, what's more filling and wonderful than a big bowl of steaming hot chili during all the snow the East coast has been hammered with lately? And the best part? It's under 500 calories a serving!



White Bean Chicken Chili

1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
2 large chicken breasts
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can navy beans
1 can cannelini beans
1 hot pepper of your choice
1 large bell pepper
2 tbsp. chili powder
dash S&P
2 tsp. hot sauce (or more, we used 4 tsp.)

Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes, turn down to low, and let simmer for 15 minutes or til done. While chicken is cooling, pour the beans into a crock pot, slice both peppers into small sections and add to crock pot. When chicken is cool, discard broth and shred or dice into bite-size pieces, add to crock pot. Season with the chili powder, S&P and the hot sauce. Stir well and let cook for 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 on low.

Makes 4 servings.
405.6 calories per serving

Let me introduce myself...

Welcome to Fit Mommy! As this is my inaugural post, let me introduce myself, my name is Kt, and I'm a liar. YIKES, you caught me! I am NOT a fit mommy as my blog advertises, quite the opposite actually, I'm a chubby mommy. As much as that hurts to put that in writing, it's the truth. This is partly due to the fact that I've had 3 babies in 3 years. The other part you ask? I love to eat.

I've decided I want to be a fit and fab mama, not a fat and flabby mama. In order to do so, I need to drop a few...or 20...pounds. Enter the 60 day slimdown, a group of facebook friends who have all decided to ditch the overly processed, stick to your thighs type food, hit the gym a bit more, and slim down to become a healthier version of ourselves. The slimdown started last week, but since my entire household came down with the bubonic plague stomach flu, I didn't get a chance to write until now.

I've wanted to write a blog for a long time, so I figured this was my chance! Even if only my mom no one reads this blog, at least I will have completed one of my many goals to do before I turn 30. This blog will be a chronicle of my weight loss journey. I'll be sure to include exercise tips, weight loss advice, lots of healthy recipes, and of course, I'll pepper in a few stories about my crazy little girls.

So far I'm down 5 lbs in 2 weeks. I feel great! Although there's not much of a change in my appearance...I feel like a new, sexier, sassier Kt. Changing my diet and adding in more exercise has made me sleep better, have more energy and feel happier. And really, isn't that what everyone wants? I hope you'll join me in becoming a fitter, happier, healthier person!