Occasionally I do reviews because:

1.  I feel like it; or
2.  I am so in love with something, I just have to write about it; or
3.  I am so aggravated with something, I just have to write about it; or
4.  I am asked to do so by a manufacturer or company.

I will always disclose reviews that are sponsored, but I also tell the company requesting the review that I can’t guarantee a positive reiew, either.  This means that no matter what, you’re going to get my opinion regardless of whether or not I’m being paid to blog about it. 

If you are interested in having me review one of your products, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.

In the final week of the Crystal Light Pure Fitness challenge, I’ve been asked to write about my proudest fitness achievement.  That one is just SO easy.  Too bad the training wasn’t as easy as writing about it is!

Back in March, I ran Richmond’s most “famous” race - the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K.  I wrote a very long post about the race and why I ran it in the first place, in case you want more details (and really, who wouldn’t). 

This was a major milestone for me.  First, I never really ran much before training for this race.  I’d done a few 5K races and attempted to “jog” regularly, but I never followed a training plan and I could never figure out why my 5’1” frame never really adapted to running.  I worked with a training program called “Run Like A Mother”.  It is specially built to guide, train and support mothers.  I was religious about my dedication to the training and never missed a session, until I twisted my ankle 2 weeks before the actual race.  Even with the injury, I was able to finish the race.  My main goal was simply to run without walking - the entire way.  Mission accomplished.

There were many emotional reasons the 10K was so very important to me, and why my sense of pride and accomplishment felt so huge as I crossed the finish line.  The prior 12 months had seen me lose 35 pounds.  I had separated from my husband.  My life seemed chaotic and messy, but if I could do this race - the way I wanted to do it - I felt like I could accomplish anything. 

You tell me - what is your proudest fitness achievement? 

I will be giving away a $100 Visa gift card after all of my Pure Fitness blogs have been published.  I will combine all entries/comments and choose a winner from among them.  All you have to do to be entered into the pool is to tweet about this post (place link in the comments, please!) or post a comment about your proudest fitness achievement. 

You can check out the reviews and giveaways from BlogHer at BlogHer.com Crystal Light Pure Fitness exclusive offers page. There are always great giveaways and ideas there.  Make sure you check out the other participating bloggers’ reviews as you will have three other chances to win the $100 gift card - or the $1,000 sweepstakes on the round-up page! Official rules are here.

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.

I’m not generally known in my circle of friends for natural anything, except hair and makeup (I rarely “do” my hair, and I rarely wear a lot of makeup).  I’m an admitted sugar fiend, but when I got serious about weight loss and my health in general, I knew I had to make some difficult choices with my favorite foodie friends. 

I started substituting turbinado in some of my recipes and was excited to read about Stevia.  Crystal Light’s Pure Fitness is the first drink I’ve had that is naturally sweetened with Truvia, a derivative of Stevia. 

Considering I’ve been a lab rat for years - I’ve had a Splenda addiction that replaced my Equal addiction - I would happily replace my reliance on artificial sugar sweeteners with something more, um, natural.  Looking back at my years of processed food and weird chemicals that make my iced tea taste better, I’m sure I’m a cancer time bomb waiting to go off. 

At this point, all I can do is make a conscious effort to change my eating habits and take care of myself.  One of my other favorite naturally sweetened beverages is the Izze Blackberry.  I’m also a big fan of fruit, especially berries, because I can almost fake myself into thinking they are dessert (a little bit of light Cool Whip on chilled raspberries??? DELICIOUS!)
I can also say that I love the grape flavor of PureFitness because it’s sweet but not cloying.  If a tiny bit of Truvia can make something healthy taste better, I’m all for it.  Now if I could just get my lima beans to taste that good . . .

I will be giving away a $100 Visa gift card after all of my Pure Fitness blogs have been published.  I will combine all entries/comments and choose a winner from among them.  All you have to do to be entered into the pool is to tweet about this post (place link in the comments, please!) or post a comment about your favorite naturally sweet drink or food. 

You can check out the reviews and giveaways from BlogHer at BlogHer.com Crystal Light Pure Fitness exclusive offers page. There are always great giveaways and ideas there.  Make sure you check out the other participating bloggers’ reviews as you will have three other chances to win the $100 gift card - or the $1,000 sweepstakes on the round-up page! 

Official rules are here.  Don’t forget to check out the BlogHer Round Ups for other chances to win.  You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about Crystal Light’s Pure Fitness by going here. 

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.

Week two has me thinking hard about what is motivating me to continue on my physical fitness quest.  At 39, it seems like it’s a bit late in life to finally focus on my health.  About a year and a half ago, I looked at some pictures a friend had taken over Spring Break. I couldn’t believe what was looking back at me - it couldn’t really be me, could it?  This was not a happy surprise - it was quite depressing. 

It was then that something in me snapped and I decided that I could - and would - change my eating habits, my exercise habits, and my priorities in life.  I knew I probably would never look like a waif, but I figured I could certainly look a lot better. 

One of the best things I did was sign up for a local running group, geared toward mothers.  We meet every Saturday morning at 7.30 am.  We load up our water bottles and stretch, then run a variety of courses.  Our trainer has us running three times a week, but only one is a group run.  That group run has become better than therapy for me.  We talk, laugh, commiserate, sometimes complain (lately about the heat), and very often get each other through the miles.  It’s both supportive and motivating. If I don’t show up, I know I’m going to be questioned or heckled by the other moms.  When I do show up, I can see not only my own progress, but everyone else’s as well.  It’s a committed bunch of moms! 

Our trainer provided us with pink wristbands, similar to the yellow “Live Strong” bands.  Ours say “Another Mother Runner”, but we all took a black Sharpie and wrote our motivation on the inside of the bracelet.  I wear this whenever I run.  Many times when I feel like quitting, I run my finger around the inside of the band and remember why I’m doing what I’m doing.  My motivation for running is simple:  myself.  It’s not simple to put myself as a priority, or take time away from other things that always seem more important.  Having a support team and my motivation written in black forces me to continue putting me, and my health, as a priority.  It’s single-handedly gotten me through one of the worst years of my life. 

There are many little things that support and motivate me:  having the right shoes, the right gear, and the right nutrition and hydration.  Without all of these pieces working together, there’s no way I could do it on my own.  Since I got a running belt, I fill it with the Crystal Light Pure Fitness Grape Flavor. It’s definitely my favorite, and occasionally I even share with the other women.  Occasionally. 

I will be giving away a $100 Visa gift card after all of my Pure Fitness blogs have been published.  I will combine all entries/comments and choose a winner from among them.  All you have to do to be entered into the pool is to tweet about this post (place link in the comments, please!) or post a comment about your best motivator in the fitness game. 

You can check out the reviews and giveaways from BlogHer at BlogHer.com CLPF exclusive offers page. There are always great giveaways and ideas there.  Make sure you check out the other participating bloggers’ reviews as you will have three other chances to win the $100 gift card - or the $1,000 sweepstakes on the round-up page! 

Official rules are here.  Don’t forget to check out the BlogHer Round Ups for other chances to win.  You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about Crystal Light’s Pure Fitness by going here. 

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Ritz.

When BlogHer asked me if I’d like to be one of the over-worked, over-scheduled and over-jam-packed working woman, I said heck yeah.  When they said food was involved, I gave a little shout of joy and eagerly awaited my package. 

I’ve been moving for what seems like 3 months.  This means I’ve barely had time to shop let alone cook anything, and I’ve been trying to snack and eat as healthfully as possible while thinking about a million other things.  Additionally, my workload has not slowed the slightest bit.  Clients don’t really care if you’re going through a crazy time in your personal life or that your wireless network is constantly on the fritz.  I’m also really trying to eat more whole grain - even my junk food has to have some whole grain goodness, or a lot of fiber, or something to mitigate the crappy eating in which I sometimes engage. 

The kids saw the Crackerfuls and wanted to taste them, but I informed them that it was “Mommy’s food” and mumbled something about it being full of vegetables.  This made them not only go away like someone had set a swarm of angry bees upon them; it also made them halt asking for more.  Double win! 

I have a crazy mental motivational habit.  It goes something like this:  Finish these edits on this client’s website, then you can pee/eat/yawn/drink.  Or, once this laundry is folded, you can have a snack.  I use these mental exercises to force me to finish something before moving on, and usually my snack breaks are pretty boring.  A random granola bar that my kids left half-eaten, or a bowl of cereal, or sometimes, in sheer desperation, a piece of bread (usually stale) smeared with whatever I can find to put on it.  So needless to say, the Crackerfuls were like caviar to me.  Especially since no one had taken any bites from it. 

I tried both the Classic Cheddar and the new Cheddar Cheese with Bacon Crackerfuls.  I still firmly believe that bacon makes everything - literally everything - taste better.  I’ll let you guess which one is my favorite.  Like the proverbial carrot in front of the horse’s mouth, I worked faster - and sometimes even better(!) knowing that I would be rewarded with a yummy snack that was stale or slightly used.  Although the fat content is higher than I normally consume for snacks (7g per bar), they contain 3g of fiber which makes this girl happy.  Each Crackerful has 6 grams of whole grains and real cheese.  I was definitely not hungry 30 minutes later like I normally am after snacktime!  I also got in the habit of throwing a couple into my laptop bag; they were great between meals or when I just completely forgot to eat.  They’re individually wrapped so I was able to contain my mess easily (and I am messy!). 

So while I won’t eat these EVERY day at snack time (I would become addicted and it would not be good), when I have a particularly successful client meeting, bang out a brilliant piece of writing or just get a lot of laundry done, these Crackerfuls are MINE.  I do not share well with others.  And can I just say again, mmmmmm - bacon?  Mmmmmm.  Bacon.  I loved a few things about the Crackerfuls:  they are portable (just don’t smash them like I did when I sat on my purse), they are substantial and kill off my hunger, and they are much better for me than the average snack.  It’s the trifecta of yumminess. 

I’m giving away a $100 visa gift card to the person who can make me laugh the hardest with their answer to the following question:  “What’s your secret snack indulgence?”  Please people, keep it clean.  And if you don’t win on my blog, there are 16 other $100 giveaways located on the BlogHer.com special offers page. 

As usual, there is some blah blah blah you need to read about (like the official rules).  You can also find out a bunch more about Ritz Crackerfuls here.  They also have a rockin’ Facebook Fan Page (including coupons) here.  And because I love you so much, you can save $1.00 on Ritz Crackerfuls filled crackers.  Don’t forget to enter to win on the other blogs!  Sweepstakes run 7/9/2010 through 7/31/2010.  Good luck!