infused water Archives

Lean Lena May 21, 2014

Vega Sport Hydrator Review by Lost and Found Blogger

Hey my lovelies! Have you missed me? 🙂

I sure missed you!

My office still pretty much looks like this – at least for the most part of the work week:

And my office clothes – like this:

I am exposed to the weather conditions (rain or shine) and having all other sorts of fun related to overseeing container loading 🙂

Good news: this is the last week I’m doing it. After that – back to being an office rat and sleeping in until 6:30 AM.

Even better news: I have a piece of hard earned wisdom to share with you today.

If you have to work outside in the heat, if you do 12000 steps between 7:00 am and 3:00 pm – support your body. Drink a lot of water!

I was lucky enough to get a pack of Vega Sport Hydrator as part of the Fuel Your Better campaign with Fit Approach before my adventure started.

I have to tell you – when it comes to hydrating, I prefer pure water. I just can’t really deal with the aftertaste of a sports drink and the feeling of complete draught in my mouth after drinking them. But since it was a Vega product, I decided to give it a try. They already surprised me once with their no aftertaste protein powder as I mentioned before. So, I thought, why not give it a shot again with Vega?

You probably know from my social media pages that I am now an employee of the Carlisle Family YMCA and teach an indoor cycling class every Monday. Since I am a beginner-instructor, I put a profile together every Saturday, give it a trial “run” myself on Sunday, then teach it on Monday. So! Back to Vega Sport Hydrator. One Sunday I went for my trial ride in the cycling room alone and brought the Hydrator with me to check it out.

It is a powder that you add to your water so you can decide for yourself how concentrated you want it to be. I made mine pretty thin so the taste is subtle.

I rode 8.6 miles on pretty intense hilly terrain that day!

I fueled those miles with the Vega Sport Hydrator. I have to say, being used to hydrating with plain water the taste was a little distracting in the beginning. But I still enjoyed it on my ride!

For my next class I made sure I had a bottle of this goodness with me!

The second time around I just loved it! So glad I have a whole box that Vega Team sent me!

It does its job perfectly in my opinion – hydrates and gives you energy to goof around like this after you taught/took a tough cycling class:

My super exhausting few weeks of working outside all day would not be so bearable without this product either! I used it to hydrate while being out there in the sun for the past few weeks and running around between the containers and Gators 🙂

BONUS: Vega Sport Hydrator does not contain sugar or artificial sweeteners! 0 Calories, too!

No guilt, great taste and benefits for your body all the way around – count me in! 🙂

Thank you, Vega Team and Fit Approach for this wonderful opportunity to try out Vega Sport Hydrator.

Disclaimer: even though I received complementary product from Vega and Fit approach, I was not compensated in any other way for this post and the opinions above are my own.

Filed Under: Cycling, fitness, fitness review, new experiences, Product Reviews, spinning, Spinning Instructor, Sweat Pink Tagged With: bicycling, fitness, fitness review, infused water, new experience, spinning, spinning instructor Leave a Comment

Lean Lena March 21, 2014

Five on Friday: Home and Fitness Finds

Hey guys! Thank GOODNESS it’s Friday! What a week!

So glad it is almost over now and I can enjoy my well-deserved weekend with family that finally got all together again.

Traditionally, I am talking about my Five on Friday today – five things I’m loving, admiring, desiring, etc. etc.

So here we go! Five on Friday 🙂

{ONE} Power Up Yoga: Rodney Yee for Gaiam

As you know, I love yoga 🙂 I also have a couple rest days a week when I just do yoga at home. I needed some guidance for that, and I got it from Rodney Yee 🙂

Buy on Amazon
With hubby gone on a business trip on Tuesday, I set off in front of my TV prepared to be toned, powered up and whatnot, all the while looking beautiful and graceful.

Well that practice kicked my butt! Forget graceful! I was miserable 🙂 This guy is a BOMB! Usually I watch the DVD’s like that before I start the practice, but for some stupid reason this time a didn’t 🙂 My body still hurts, but I am very determined to master all the 3 sessions that this DVD has.

{TWO} Punch/Party Drink Dispensers

I am obsessing about them lately. They look soooo awesome! Would love to get one when we move to a bigger house where I will actually have room to store all the crap I am obsessing about 🙂 But just look at these:

Source: www.potterybarn.com

Or how about this one:

Source

Obsessed!

{THREE} Gaiam Rattan Meditation Chair

Expensive taste I have… But hey, this is just a wishful thinking post, ok? 🙂

Buy here.

{FOUR} Wine Glass Ledge

I am a sucker when it comes to these guys….That’s what I have in the house:

I know. It’s a shame with wine being such an important part of our lives 🙂 🙂 🙂

Here’s what I want it to look like:

You can buy it at a Pottery Barn if you have one nearby.

{FIVE} Oskri Bars

I’ve been eyeing those at TJ Maxx for a while before I bought a pack. LOVED them.

Here’s where to buy. They are pricey, so I will go back to TJ Maxx for more I think 🙂

Do share: what are the things you’re loving lately?

Stay fit, friends, and have a great weekend!

Filed Under: fitness, fitness review, Five on Friday, Girls Gone Sporty Tagged With: fitness, five on friday, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, home improvement, infused water, yoga 16 Comments

Lean Lena March 19, 2014

A Hectic Week Recap – Eats and Exercises

Hey guys! Happy ~~Hump~~ Pump Day! 🙂

I’ve had a very hectic couple of weeks as you probably noticed by the lack of my “What’s on my plate” Wednesday and Motivation Monday posts this and last week… Well, guess what? I am making it all up to you today by combining the two 🙂

Not much was going on on the exercise front last week – between the sharp right shoulder/arm pain and busy schedule I managed to squeeze in just a few workouts/classes last week.

{MONDAY} Cycling and Chicken

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

I don’t like Mondays most of the time. I am excited about Monday being a new beginning and all, but by the end of the day I am beat. It is usually the busiest day of the week for me – at work, exercising after work, etc. etc.. What do I make for dinner when I am busy? That’s right – crockpot anything 🙂

Last Monday it was chicken! I used to put it in the crockpot in the morning, set on Low and turn it off when I get home at 5 PM. It made the chicken a little overcooked to my liking…So what I’ve been doing lately is I would come home for lunch, and throw the chicken into the crock pot (Low) for 4-5 hours. That’s plenty of time to cook it and it comes out just perfectly juicy.

Hubby made wok veggies on Monday night – and we got a perfect dinner right there!

{TUESDAY} No Exercise and Lamb

Took a rest day on Tuesday night.

Foodie’s highlight of the day was lamb for dinner – grilled to perfection by my husband.

and this fruit and veggie platter I had at work for my snack throughout the afternoon:

{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and Pork Chops

I did make it to yoga on Wednesday but didn’t take any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one 🙂

And then I got home and made rosemary pork chops and a salad for my tired husband.

Mmmmmm….

{THURSDAY} Rest Day and Orange Salsa

Yeah, that was the day my shoulder and arm started acting up. It was that kind of muscle paralyzing pain that makes it hard to lift even a cup of coffee.

That did not prevent me from making an awesome orange salsa to go with tilapia and rice for dinner on Thursday evening, though 🙂

{FRIDAY} Another rest day and Beet Root Salad

On Friday my shoulder/arm was hurting so much it would wake me up at night. So…another rest day for the Lena 🙁

The food highlights of the day included the beet root salad I made for lunch on Sunday during my meal prep.

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

{SATURDAY} Yoga and Big Family Breakfast

By Saturday I felt good enough to go get some gentle stretching done in a yoga class.

Yoga was followed by a breakfast fest made by my husband!

I also had a super-delicious lunch – leftover pasta with scallops from eating out the night before:

YUM!!!

{SUNDAY} Food Prep

Well, that decision to go to yoga the day before was a little pre-mature. My shoulder and arm were not ready for any Sunday workout.

They were good for Sunday meal prep, so I went wild 🙂 I actually started on Saturday with this:

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

and then continued on Sunday by making lunches and snacks for the week days:

No working out on Sunday either 🙁 Some nice kitchen time though 🙂 🙂 🙂

And that was my week of eating and non-exercising at a glance 🙂

Do share: How did you do last week? Anything fun? Anything delicious cooking?

Take care, friends, and stay fit!

Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, FitFluential, fitness, Fitness Challenges, Girls Gone Sporty, healthy snack ideas, lunch, Motivation Monday, recipes, spinning, Sweat Pink, what's on my plate wednesday Tagged With: bicycling, breakfast, dining out, dinner, fitness, fitness motivation, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, infused water, lunch, pasta, recipes, salad, spinning, yoga 4 Comments

Lean Lena February 24, 2014

Weekend Cooking Spree

Hey guys! How was your weekend?

Mine was busy!

The weather was just gorgeous here this weekend, but sadly, I didn’t get to do much outside.

On Saturday morning hubby and I headed out to the Y to take Jim’s indoor cycling class. It was so nice out that I decided to take my new Vibram Five Fingers for a walk.

Love-love-love them!

Since my Spinning® instructor training I noticed that my workout attitude and the overall “feeling” at a cycling class has changed dramatically! For some reason I was always going for the speed – thinking that if I go faster, it will be better for me, I will burn more calories and all that crap. Well, that all has changed now. I am doing speed work, too but generally try to apply more resistance on the wheel than I used to and focus more on my heart rate rather than the RPM.

Taking the training also changed my entire perspective on what a bike set up should be – I have my saddle a lot higher now and I’ve noticed that it is making it much easier on my knees – a lot less cracking! 🙂

Anyway, with that in mind, I went pretty close to my usual distance on Saturday but burnt the number of calories I haven’t burnt in a cycling class in a long time.

I did take a nice two-hour nap on Saturday after this class + yoga. I just had to! It was the best nap of my life 🙂

When I woke up from my nap, it turned out the youngest had gone for a sleepover, so suddenly me and hubby had the evening to ourselves. We headed out for dinner to a Chinese place, and then decided to do some wandering around TJ Maxx. Well, I never leave that store without a score (yep, I rhymed that on purpose!)

Got me some yoga socks 🙂

I’ve been eyeing those for a while, but they just cost some ridiculous money it seems like. These were $3.something a pair so I got them and will give them a try this Wednesday!

On Saturday I also managed to squeeze in some meal prep into my day somewhere between the two workouts and the nap.

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Did you notice I got my water infusing water bottles that I mentioned here? 🙂 I just love the one with the orange cap except for one thing – it had a huge sticker on the front. Being an OCD driven woman, I took it off and now it’s sticky. Some Googone will have to be applied – and that’s just too many motions for something I want to get in the mail and simply enjoy. If you don’t have an OCD, you will do just that without Googone – enjoy 🙂

The one with the red lid and bottom – I haven’t quite figured it out yet – the infuser part comes out through the bottom, if you don’t put the bottom lid back on tightly – it leeks. It’ll take me a while to make friends with this one 🙂

Anyway! On Sunday morning we slept in and hubby made me an awesome brunch.

crispy bacon, poached eggs, potatoes and English muffin

And then it started…My cooking bug was obviously up and full force this weekend. I just couldn’t stop cooking!

I did my lunch prep for the week:

Cut up some bananas to freeze for my smoothies:

Made some more infused water (oranges and tangerines):

Made these super awesome breakfast corn muffins with cheese and ham:

By the time I was done with my meal prep, it was time to make dinner. So I threw together this chicken with veggies.

And yes, those are pecan bars you see in the background – I made them, too. What? The oven was warm anyway 🙂

Tell me: what fun stuff did you do this weekend?

And as always – stay fit!

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, fitness, healthy snack ideas, lunch, Motivation Monday, recipes, spinning, Spinning Instructor Tagged With: bicycling, breakfast, dinner, family, fitness, good food, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, infused water, lunch, muffins, recipes, salad, spinning Leave a Comment

Lean Lena February 21, 2014

Five on Friday – Shoes and More!

Hey, guys! Happy Friday to you! Finally this week is coming to an end and it is time to enjoy the weekend!

Do you have any fun plans this weekend? Do share!

Anywho, as always, I am sharing my Five on Friday with you today – five things I’m loving/enjoying/wanting lately. Ready?

{ONE} Vibram FiveFingers – TrekSport Sandals

Totally under the influence of Meg McNeely, I have ordered a pair of these in orange last week. Check them out here.

I have heard so many people raving about how wearing these shoes transformed their lives, so I have decided to give them a try! (Can you tell I am such an impulse buyer?)

I got them in the mail in just 2 days from the day I ordered!

I absolutely love these shoes! Can’t even call them shoes…they are more of a second skin, really. I haven’t tried them “in action” yet, i.e. while working out, but I walked around the house in them a lot – they are amazingly comfortable!

{TWO} Spinning Jerseys

Oh Lord! There are so many of them and I want them all! But even with a discount they are still pricey…Debating this one, but oh I want it so much!

Check ’em out here.

{THREE} Water Bottles with Infuser

You know I’ve been obsessed with fruit infused water lately… But I tell you what – it is the cold season after all, and I do get sick every year and it usually drags on and on for a few weeks with lingering cough and general weakness. Not this year. I started coming down with a cold last week, it did hold on for a couple of days and is almost completely gone now. That NEVER happened to me before – usually if I get sick, I get sick. I thank the fruit infused water for that vitamin and energy boost it gave to my body so it is able to fight the cold.

So here we go, I got a couple of these to promote my new healthy habit:

Just loved this design and color!

And then I ordered this, too because, guess what? The water level is going down as you drink it!

Here’s where to buy:

{FOUR} Officially Certified!

I have finally finished my home studies part of the Spinning® program and took my online test. Look what I got in the mail a couple days ago…

Yey! I am officially certified now!

{FIVE} Foam Roller

I have been reading a lot about the miracles a foam roller can bring into an athlete’s/fitness enthusiast’s life. I have decided I should purchase one. I am looking at the options on Amazon, as well as at Target. So far I am leaning towards this one:

What attracts me in this option is the DVD part of it. Short of googling it, I have no idea what to do with a foam roller.

I need to do more research on this…Right now I am lost in the variety available and opinions published 🙂 But I am pretty sure I am getting one of those!

What’s your latest favorites? Link up below or share in comments!

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends, and stay fit!

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: fitness, fitness review, Five on Friday, spinning, Spinning Instructor Tagged With: bicycling, fitness, fitness review, five on friday, infused water, new experience, spinning 13 Comments

Lean Lena February 19, 2014

Healthy Living Tips: Q&A about Infused Water

Hi guys!

Happy Hump Day!

I’ve been asked a lot about infused water lately. By no means am I an expert in this, but I thought I’d share some tips I discovered.

I make infused water every Sunday (sometimes twice a week) and I think it is a great healthy alternative to store bought juices, leave alone soda:

it does not contain any added sugar
it is cheaper
it is more delicious
it is better for you

So below are answers to some common questions I get about making infused water.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Beauty, fitness, Healthy Living Tips, recipes, what's on my plate wednesday Tagged With: detox, fitness, infused water, recipes 2 Comments

Lean Lena May 26, 2013

Saturday: fruit salad+vitamin water+”A-las-Greek” salad recipes

Happy weekend, friends!

It is a windy but gorgeous day here in PA. Still way too cold for going swimming!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early (Me? Bright and early? I know, right.) and went for my spinning class with Gretchen. I have told you already that Gretchen is a great instructor! It was a very good workout, I “rode” a good number of miles and burnt some serious calories in her class. It was sad though because it was her last class here at the Y and I am really going to miss her.Continue Reading

Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, fitness, recipes, spinning Tagged With: fitness, healthy breakfast, infused water, recipes, salad, spinning Leave a Comment