Tag Archives: Prizes for a Cause

Jan24

Psoriasis and Yoga

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I’m pretty psyched it is Tuesday.  Yesterday was a doozy of a Monday.  It was incredibly stressful with work but I think that’s been handled for the most part now.  I’m glad it’s over.  All I can say is, listen to your gut because it’s usually right.  After work I was exhausted and had a wicked headache.  I had planned to head to yoga but honestly was more in the mood to get some grocery shopping done and curl up at home and play catch up on emails and my blog.  I’ve been feeling kind of “meh” lately, not mentally but physically.  I feel good on my runs and am able to challenge myself during yoga but I kind of just don’t feel motivated to work out a ton.  I get my training runs in and hit the yoga mat on my non-run days but don’t feel particularly motivated or unmotivated to do it.  I also feel like I’m doing a stellar job of battling a cold and am fearful with the stress of work and marathon training it will come full force. And since I did 14 miles yesterday I’m feeling a tiny bit sore.  It seemed like as good of a day as any to take an unplanned rest day.  Luckily it was productive!

I’m also excited today to get to announce the winner’s of my Prizes for a Cause Raffle.  Much thanks to those who entered! All proceeds go directly to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and my fundraising efforts for the Boston Marathon.

So here were the entries…

Prizes for a Cause Entries

And the number sequence generated by Random.org…

Random Sequence Numbers

And the Winners Are…

Prize Pack 1: Athena from Fitness and Feta!

Athena won a $50 Gift Card to Holabird Sports,  a $25 Gift Card to Go Sport Id, a customized 4 week workout plan by Tina Reale at Best Body Fitness and a handful of Sparkly Soul Headbands!

Prize Pack 2:  Erin from Creative Soul in Motion!

Erin won a $25 Go Sport Id gift card, the book Perfectly Fit Intuition by Jana Hollingsworth and a handful of Sparkly Soul Headbands!

Prize Pack 3: Christine from Oatmeal in my Bowl!

Christine won a $25 Go Sport Id gift card and a handful of Sparkly Soul Headbands!

Ladies, please email me at LiveRunLoveYoga@gmail.com with your address and I’ll mail out your prizes this week!!

Thank you to all who donated and entered!

Today I wanted to talk about Psoriasis and Yoga.  Psoriasis affects about 7.5 million people in the United States.  While some people may view Psoriasis as a cosmetic issue it is more than that and it can be quite painful to those who suffer from it.  As a result managing triggers and flare-ups becomes very important to sufferers.  Physical and emotional stress can impact the severity and duration of a psoriasis treatment.  To help patients manage their stress and as a result their flare-ups .  Massage, meditation and yoga have all proven useful in helping patients manage their stress.  Since yoga helps to control your breathing, stretches and strengthens your body and uses some meditation techniques it has been previously proven to help reduce stress.  Yoga can be done just about anywhere making this treatment option available to almost anyone.  A yoga instructor can help create a flow for the patient that will increase blood flow to the affected sites, help them relax and potentially help relieve  psoriatic arthritis by improving their range of motion.  Depending on the patients needs and schedules some poses can be adapted to the office or even the bed.  This is just another benefit of yoga and a welcome relief to those who suffer from Psoriasis!  I felt like after Friday’s post with my response to The New York Times article “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” yoga deserved some love!

Yoga for Psoriasis

Do you ever feel sore of “meh” about working out?  Have you fundraised and ran for charity?  Do you suffer from Psoriasis and help temper flare ups with yoga? What other benefits have you heard about yoga?

Jan19

A Mid-Month Update!

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Good Morning! I was just looking at the calendar and can’t believe it is already January 19th! This month is really flying by.  I felt today would be a good day to update you all on my goals.

So what were my goals?

Fundraise.

One of my goals was to hit my fundraising minimum of $4000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and The Boston Marathon.   I hosted a fundraising event on January 7th and raised a ton of money for the cause.  Additionally I had a sale with Sparkly Soul Headbands which was quite successful.  Lastly, I am still running my Prizes for a Cause fundraiser here!  By making a minimum $5 donation you can enter to win gift cards from Holabird Sports, Go Sport ID and a 4 week training plan customized just  for you!  The prizes are perfect for keeping you on track for your new years resolutions!  I have just under $1000 to go before the 31st!

Start Training For Boston Marathon.

Done! I am on week 3 of my training plan and things are going well! I’ve been doing easy runs on Tuesdays, speed work on Thursdays and my distance run on Saturday mornings.  I’ve been practicing yoga for my cross-train days and am taking one or two days a week off depending on how I feel.

Boston Marathon Finish Line

Study for my NASM Personal Trainer’s Certification.

Honestly, I’m having trouble finding the motivation to do this, but slowly I am starting.  I hope to be back in a good routine for this by the end of the month.  I’ve been trying to avoid getting up at 5am to study but it kind of works the best!

Yoga. 

Done!  I’ve still been practicing about 3 days a week.  I am using it as my cross-training and strength for the marathon.  I will say, this is quite the challenge! Yoga builds strength throughout my whole body so sometimes I can be pretty sore.  Running challenges my body in a different way and I can continually feel my body getting stronger and more powerful!

Yoga!

Relax.

Oh yes! I have made a priority to do this and have been loving it! Reading, watching movies, cooking and getting a good 8 hours of sleep have all been happening quite regularly in my life.  I feel much more balanced than I did in December.

Speaking of relaxing, I think it is important to set time aside for this.  It’s kind of been my mantra lately.  Sometimes I think we all get caught up in our to-do lists or goals and dreams and we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to relax or rest. Rest and relaxation are just as important to living a healthy life as eating well, exercising and setting goals. If you don’t make this a priority in your life than you should start.  Set aside one planned night a week to come home and do nothing.  Watch movies, read, cook a nice meal.  Do something to rejuvenate yourself and get some good rest.  I promise you’ll feel better and happier if you do!

Rest and Relaxation

And a few side notes to wrap this up…

Please click on over and enter Prizes for a Cause!  Only a couple of people have entered so your chance to win is pretty high! There are different prize packs.

Prize pack 1 has a $50 gift card to Holabird Sports, a $25 Gift Card to Go Sport ID, a customized 4 week training plan designed for you and Sparkly Soul Headbands!

Prize pack 2 has a $25 Gift Card to Go Sport ID, the book Perfectly Fit Intuition by Jana Hollingsworth, and Sparkly Soul Headbands!

Prize pack 3 is a $25 Gift Card to Go Sport ID and Sparkly Soul Headbands.

To enter please visit my fundraising page and make a minimum $5 donation:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston12/wolsonus9n

Leave a comment on the post Prizes for a Cause post telling me you donated and what name you donated under!

Here’s How the Entries Work:

$5.00 = 1 entry

$10.00 = 3 entries

$15.00 = 5 entries

$20.00 = 7 entries

$25.00 = 10 entries

Over $25.00 you get an additional entry for every $1 you donate!  So if you donate $27.oo you get 12 entries!

You can get additional entries after the minimum $5 donation by:

Copying and Tweeting “@LiveRunLoveYoga is raffling off gift cards, training plans, and more prizes for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! http://www.liverunloveyoga.com”  Be sure to leave a separate comment telling me you tweeted with the link!

Follow @LiveRunLoveYoga on Twitter and leave a separate comment to tell me you did so!

“Like” LiveRunLoveYoga on Facebook and leave a separate comment to tell me you did so!

If you give up your morning coffee and make a donation you will be doing a little good for a good cause since all proceeds go directly to my fundraising efforts for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

And lastly, I’m working on my response to the controversial New York Times Article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” by William Broad so be sure to check back tomorrow for that!

How are your January Goals coming?  Are you sticking to your New Year’s Resolution? Do you set time aside to relax? Do you find rest and relaxation make your feel healthier and happier?

Jan16

Kitchen Germs and a Weekend Long Run

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Good Morning! I hope you all had a relaxing, fun-filled weekend! I certainly did!

I started Saturday morning with a 12 mile run.  I went to Team in Training practice and ran with my friend Lauren who I co-hosted my fundraiser with last week.  It was pretty warm and sunny for a January morning.  We chatted the whole time about jobs, boyfriends and husbands, families, running and life in general.  My favorite runs are the ones that are ran with friends!  We ran just about a 9 minute pace and finished in about 1 hour 48 minutes!

We did an out and back loop on the Boston Marathon course.  Thanks to the wonderful volunteers at Team in Training we had awesome water stops at miles 2.5 and 5.5 and 8.5!  They were complete with different flavors of Gatorade, water, GU, candy, pretzels, tissues and whatever else you may need! And they are all there to help encourage you and motivate you to get through the runs.  One of my favorite parts of Team in Training is the mission moments that we have before each practice.  On Saturday a girl in her 20′s spoke about her battle with cancer and her recent Stem Cell transplant.  She is running Boston this April to celebrate her one year anniversary since her transplant.  Talk about amazing.

Speaking of Team in Training, today is the last day for my promotion with Sparkly Soul headbands.  If you use the promo code WHITNEY you will receive 15% off your purchase! They will donate 25% of the purchase back to my fundraising efforts! So go on shop for a good cause!

Sparkly Soul Headbands

Also, I am still running my raffle!  There are tons of great prizes including a 4-week workout plan, a $50 Holabird Gift Card, a $25 gift card to Go Sport ID, books, Sparkly Soul Headbands and much more! A minimum $5 donation directly to my fundraising is all that is necessary to enter! Click here to enter.

Holabird Sport Gift Card!

After Team in Training. I went home and did a deep clean on my apartment.  I washed the floors, the counters, the walls and cabinets all with bleach.  Truth, your kitchen harbors more germs than your bathroom!

One single bacteria cell can become more than 8 million cells in less than 24 hours! The number of bacteria it takes to make people sick can range from as few as 10 up to millions. And infections spread when germs are transferred from a contaminated item (say, your cutting board) to your hands to your body.  source

Kitchens Are Dirtier Than Bathrooms!

With it be cold season I thought I would share a few tips to help you keep your kitchen and home clean and germ free:

  • Microwave your sponge.  Yep, your sponge is great for absorbing messes and cleaning your counters with it’s porous, soft surface but it is also a great place for bacteria to grow.  As a result, you just move germs from one surface to another.  Wet your sponge and microwave it for 2 minutes.  That will kill all the germs.  Alternatively, throw your sponge in the dishwasher every time you run it.

Microwave Your Sponge!

  • Use disinfecting sprays or wipes.  Wipe down counters, doorknobs, sink handles, the refrigerator handle, the stove handle, cabinet handles and the phone to kill germs on contact.  These surfaces pick up germs from raw meat and other ingredients during cooking.
  • Use separate cutting boards.   Avoid using the same cutting board to cut raw meat and vegetables.  Having a plastic one with antibacterial surface for raw meat is best.  A wooden one is good for vegetables.  Be cautious of wood cutting boards with deep knife grooves.  Bacteria can easily grow in these spots.  If you must use the same cutting board be sure to disinfect between uses.

    Separate Cutting Boards

  • Don’t share hand towels.  Use paper towels after washing your hands.  Hand towels often remain wet and can harbor germs.  Be sure to wash these towels and dry on high heat!

Sunday was a relaxing day for me.  I spent it with Michaels’s family watching playoff football and eating delicious food!  Ok, I’m off for a busy day at work! Hopefully some yoga and NASM studying tonight!  Have a great day!

What did you do this weekend?  Did you do a long run?  Do you use separate cutting boards for your meat and vegetables? Do you regularly clean and disinfect your kitchen?