That being said, I was overjoyed to find out that I had been nominated by Corral B for the Liebster Award, a kind of Pay It Forward Blog Award given to you by other bloggers that I now have the opportunity to nominate others for! Not wanting to "break the chain" of course, and spread the positive vibes along, I am willingly obliging to the following rules given to me by my nominee:
1.) you must link back to the person who nominated you
2.) you must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you
3.) you must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award (with a small following)
4.) you must create 10 questions for your nominees
(some variations say to answer these questions, so because I love to share, I did!)
5.) you must notify your nominees
1.) What is your most-loved fitness gadget?
Hm. This is tough, when I think gadget, I think technology, so the ONLY tech item I own is my polar Ft4 watch and I LOVE it, but my TP Foam roller is pretty crucial as well, but that's a love-HATE relationship. Myofacial release does that to you..
2.) What is your favorite store/brand for fitness clothes?
Target! I LOVE their champion Tek9 line of workout clothes, especially their Dri-Fit tees, short spandex, and of course, the prices on all of it! Although I generally only buy it on clearance ;) I love saving money! And another secret - all of my workout clothes have been bought for me as gifts, from my mom, she has good taste and knows what I like, I am so lucky!
3.) Who is your biggest support system?
My parents, 100%. They support me, and believe in me, even when I don't believe in myself, no matter what. They are my everything and my best friends, I would not be where I am today without their constant love and support in all that I do. I am a Mommy and Daddy's girl, I think it has something to do with the fact that I am an only chid.
4.) How do you relax after a race?
Well, I've only ran two 5ks...SO yeah. Sorry if that's a surprise to all of you reading this! I relaxed by showering and eating, nothing out of the ordinary.
5.) What is your favorite post-workout snack?
An Isopure Chocolate or Vanilla Protein Shake. I typically work out before dinner time so I don't have a "snack" per say, rather drink my shake, shower, foam roll, and then eat dinner!
6.) What was your first race?
The 5k Turkey Trot on campus at my college, my Junior Year. I had NEVER ran a race before, EVER. I actually never really ran before that, despite playing lacrosse in high school, I actually hated running. I was always dead last for sprints and doing the mile in practice but the money went to a good cause, so I thought, why not?! I signed up, and it sparked an interest in me to keep up with running, because it was something I actually COULD do!
7.) What is your favorite distance to run?
I don't have a favorite distance, I am not a steady state runner. I run when I do HIIT Cardio on the treadmill or to take advantage of the sunshine outside. I never have a distance goal in mind, rather a heart rate zone or time frame!
8.) What goal are you currently working on?
I have an entire LIST of goals for myself, that all fall under my ultimate desire, what I'm constantly working towards, to become happier, healthier, and more positive. If you're talking fitness goals, I am working on healing a shoulder injury, strengthening my back from an injury, and working on increasing muscle in my hamstrings.
9.) When did you start considering yourself a runner?
I'm a runner? I'm not sure I'd even consider myself a runner...I don't do races, I only run HIIT cardio or if I can't get to a gym/it's nice weather outside! I think runners are die hards who run rain, shine, sleet, snow, for that runner's high feeling. I love runner's high, but I feel like I'm dying or losing a lung half of the time while I'm doing the actual running ;)
10.) What are you most looking forward to this year?
Getting my Master's Degree in August, and holding my FIVE teacher certifications!
My Nominees - I broke the rules a bit when choosing my nominees
(I have no idea how many followers these blogs have, but I wanted to spread the love to some of the first blogs, who started checking me out/I looked to when I first started blogging, as well as some of my blogger friends I've picked up along the way<3 It was so hard to pick just ten, there were so many more of you!)
Freckled Nettles
Nutrition Happens
Adventures of a Gluten Free Bennie
Casey The College Celiac
Vanessa Quintero
Healthy Hayls - Eats of A Girl Discovering
McNav - Gluten Free My Recipe
Health Love and Chocolate
Wheat Free Student
Love to Liv
My Questions - which, I bent the rules and decided that I of course had to answer too!
1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to share my passion for living a healthy and delicious life, despite my digestive limitations and promoting positive body image and fitness. I had a message I wanted to share, and my soap box I was standing on became too small, I wanted to spread it to the world wide web!
2. What's your favorite type of exercise?
Squats. Some people hate leg day, I love it! With body weight cardio mixed in of course!
3. What is the one thing you could eat every day and never get sick of?
MY OVERNIGHT OATS, OBVIOUSLY. I have legit been eating them every day for two years straight now...still not sick of them, still excited to eat them everyday. Like right now, I can't wait to wake up and eat them for breakfast tomorrow :)
4. Share an odd eating habit/food combination you love, but others just don't get
I have WAY too many of these to list to be quite honest, I am quite the strange bird when it comes to my eating habits and food combinations (apparently not everyone likes peanut butter on their ground turkey? or frozen sweet potatoes?) SO I'll share two: my food can't touch, I need to eat everything separate, which sometimes leads to me eating off of multiple plates AND I love eating my food cold, especially: sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, green beans, mushrooms, kale, quinoa, beets, spinach, and yes, I even like to eat my chicken and ground beef cold sometimes, even though I live somewhere where it gets in the negative numbers, I still crave cold food!
5. Have you always been into fitness? If not, when did you start?
No way. My FULL fitness journey is on my blog bio, but I didn't start working out for fun until I was 18!
6. Instagram or twitter? Why?
Instagram for sure! No character limit :) AND I love the connections/friends I have made on there. I think photos with captions are so much more enticing than short tweets! I never check my twitter!
7. What is your go to mantra for when you need some inspiration?
You mean mantraS, cause I have about 3482034 post it notes/quotes/reminders all over my apartment, bedroom, computer desk for all types of scenarios but it all boils down to this: You hold the power to your happiness in your hands, it's called perspective.
8. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Why?
Hot Pink! I am loud and bright and bubbly, and I think this color captures all of that!
9. Favorite way to break a sweat?
Body Weight Cardio - tuck jumps, high knees, mountain climbers, if it involves me jumping around like a Mexican Jumping Bean, you bet I love it!
10. What's the one thing you simply cannot be without when heading to the gym or beginning a workout?
My iPod, I NEED music to workout, simply can't get my sweat on without it!
Again, THANK YOU CORRAL B FOR MY NOMINATION <3 And to all my bloggers I nominated, you deserve it, spread the Liebster vibes along :)