Sorry I've been so MIA! Life has been a bit hectic lately, I didn't get home last night until 8pm, so needless to say last night I didn't end up posting, despite my best intentions. BUT I'm home now and I've been looking forward to get my blog on all day!
Tomorrow is Friday! How do you feel about that? I'm pretty darn excited. C and I are having a date night to Toronto's Wing Festival, we have 3 VIP Media passes, so I'm fairly excited to try out some new kinds of chicken wings. Who wouldn't be excited for that? However (and it's a big however) I weighed myself today and turns out the scale tells me I'm 5 lbs heavier than normal. I'm not the most excited about that... and chicken wings sure AREN'T going to help... but I'm blaming it on water retention (thanks PMS - you with me gals??!) Whatever. I'm excited.. it's in Liberty Village, once of my fav places in TO and it's date night with my lovey. The 5lbs can suck it. :P
Back to the blogging... I have 3 main things in my post today that I'll be talking about:
1. A Koge Vitamins Review
2. My Half-Marathon Training Update
3. A Recipe for Pesto Shrimp
You ready? Let's go!
Koge Vitamin Review
Andrew from Koge was kind enough to reach out to me about a month ago and offer me a free month of vitamins to try in return for reviewing the product on my blog. I researched the company a bit and knew I had to give the product a try. The thing that stood out to me the most was the fact that they donate a large amount of their products to providing children in Africa with vitamins:
The donations vary somewhat, but we typically pass on between 10% to 25% of our profits per product per month. It's a somewhat hefty portion, but it means that every child gets an entire year's worth of vitamins for each month a customer purchases (since we also offer subscription, we're expecting to see some customers staying with us for 7-8 months, which is a heck of a lot of children being helped for quite a long time!). I really dig this aspect of our company because I think it genuinely helps the people who need it most. - AndrewNeat right? Check mark number 1. So he had me look around the website and pick the type of package that I wanted to try the most and I decided to go with the Energy Pack.
Here are a couple of reasons why I decided to opt for the Energy Pack:
- it helps stimulate long-term endurance and resistance to stress.
- enhances sexual performance and stamina.
- two times more caffeine than coffee beans which keeps you feeling energized all day
- provides an energy boost which improves exercise results and reduces muscle injury.
- stimulates the central nervous system to keep you at maximum performance.
- energizes your body through increased fuel efficiency.
Soooo that's why I decided to try! And it's been great! I've noticed a big difference in my energy level throughout the day. They recommend you take 1 pack in the AM and 1 in the PM (there are 4 pills per package) so it's an easy peasy way to get some energy without having to drink dehydrating coffee all day long (and no coffee breath)! Head on over to their website and check out all the different types of vitamins they have! They are also backed by the CEO of of the Canadian Olympics Committee. They simplify the vitamin buying experience by shipping directly to your doorstep! You can find them online on Facebook, Twitter and on their very own blog! If you're interested in trying them out, click this link and use the promo code "HEALTHYLIFE" for 20% off of your order! :)
*I was provided free vitamins in return for a review, however all opinions and reviews are my own
My Half-Marathon Training Update
Hey-ho!! Sooo if you haven't heard already, I've started training for my second half marathon. I'm planning on doing the Scotiabank Waterfront Half-Marathon here in Toronto on October 20th, a nice way to bring in my 25th birthday (October 31st). So today was day 2 of training. Day 1 was 3km and Day 2 was also 3km, so I've ran 6km in total so far for my official "training". I did a small little route around my work neighbourhood both times.
Day 1
3km in 18ish minutes, my pace was 5:59 per kilometer but I walked a lot and it didn't feel GOOD. I felt like I got tired quickly, and hence the walk breaks.
Day 2
3km in 18ish minutes, my pace was 6:09 per kilometer. So I was running 10 seconds slower per kilometer, however I ran at a more consistent pace and felt like I was a lot faster than yesterday. I only walked once on this day and probably walked 3 or 4 times yesterday.
So strange right? I find it so funny how I feel like I'm going to kill a run so fast and find out I was slower then when I was running and it felt harder. That happened during my last half-marathon as well. I thought I KILLED it. I had run the distance before in about 2:15 and then in my actual race I did it in 2:23. I'm not complaining at all, it's just... interesting. But all in all, it's been a great start to training. The weather has been beautiful, today was a bit humid but anything is better than winter!! :)
Pesto-Shrimp Recipe
Last week I got a lovely email from the wonderful people over at Maison Le Grand asking if I'd be interested in working with them directly to do a contest/giveaway for my readers (coming soon!) and if I'd like some product myself to try out and create some recipes with. They have a brand new Rose pasta sauce that is dairy free and they're trying to promote it. YES PLEASE! So I got all of my goodies in the mail this week:
I got 3 different types of Rose sauces, 5 different pesto's and a package of organic, gluten-free pasta. First off, aren't the packages amazing???? That's the VERY first thing I noticed, just love it! I thought for a while about what I could whip up in the kitchen, and I decided to use some shrimp I had as well as the green Garden Pesto and I want to share the recipe with you (it's SO easy).
Ingredients
1 package of raw, uncooked shrimp with the shell on
1 tbsp of coconut oil
3 tbsp of Le Grand Garden Pesto
Directions
1. Make sure the shrimp is thawed and the shell is removed. Place the shrimp in a bowl.
2. Put pesto on the shrimp and mix in so that all of the shrimps are COVERED in pesto. The pesto is so darn good and fresh so you don't need to be worried about adding too much.
3. Heat up the coconut oil in a pan.
4. Once the pan and oil are very hot, place the shrimps in the pan and let cook for about 5 minutes. Flip the shrimp and cook on the other side until done.
5. Eat and DIE because it's so delicious.
I enjoyed my shrimp with some baked (aka burnt) kale chips, and had the rest for lunch the next day. If you're wondering WHY you should give the Maison Le Grand products a try, let me give you a few reasons. I don't promote anything on this blog if I don't think it's amazing, regardless if they're giving me free product or asking me to do so. This brand however, is so great and I can't say enough good things about them. Here are my favorite reasons to give this a try:
- they contain only the highest quality, all natural ingredients
- the products are made fresh every single week
- there is absolutely no added sugar or preservatives
- they are environmentally friendly!
- fresh, pure taste (totally!)
- they are made totally raw
- they are certified vegan
- they are full of all of their natural vitamins and minerals
UMM, hello!! This is everything I've ever dreamed of. Serious. I urge you to check out their website here and find out where you can grab some of their products to try out! I plan on using the pasta and a rose sauce tonight for dinner and I'm so excited to try more. Stay tuned to find out how you can win some awesome product of your own, coming very shortly!
*I was provided free product in return for a review, however all opinions and reviews are my own.
Ok. I think I've said enough for one night. This is SO LONG. Lol!
Q: Have you ever tried Koge Vitamins or Maison Le Grand Pasta Sauces or Pesto's before?
Q: Are you planning on training for any races this fall? Tell me which one!
Q: Have you entered our EPIC Canadian GiveawEH yet? You can do so here :)
