your favorite “keep warm in the winter” tricks included:

• Keep moving! The more energy I expend working out, the warmer I feel to sip lots of hot tea – so good for you and really helps keep me warm. Also snuggling up with my fur ball works too…
• My favorite trick for staying warm in the CLE winter = leggings under EVERYTHING. Even leggings under leggings! Sweater tights work pretty well, too.
• Lots of layers – you can never be too prepared! Not to mention after our long runs on Saturdays the girls and I end at Starbucks for a nice hot latte!!!!!
• My favorite winter work out tactic is to keep my home on the cool to colder side. This way being cold makes me get on my treadmill to work up a good sweat. Then I don’t mind that the house is cold.
• Hand warmers! I use them all the time in the winter. I buy them in bulk at Costco and Marshalls usually has them on sale.
• My trick for staying warm is wearing a scarf every day all day even indoors. It is a neural brown so it goes with every outfit!
• I do some light cardio in the house before I head outside to stay warm!
• to stay warm at home i wrap myself in my heated blankie…

I have to admit – I’m a HUGE fan of the leggings under EVERYTHING suggestion. I also find a pup will sub as a heated blanket in a pinch!

your favorite workout motivation tactics included:

• If I’m lacking motivation, I just need to GET OUT THE FRONT DOOR. seriously, works every time.
• I know I am crazy, but I love a cold snowy run. I find battling the elements to be very motivating!
• Motivation for me is that I always ALWAYS feel better after I work out. ALWAYS.
• My current motivation is the upcoming wedding. I had my first fitting, so no gaining for me!
• I like the “you’re stronger than you think you are” mantra.
• I always stay motivated to work out by remembering how “slow and sluggish” my body feels when I don’t.
• I’m still in the “getting healthy” not “super athlete” phase. So I set reminders on my phone to get moving.
• SUCK IN YOUR ABS when doing weight training!
• I find it easier though if I get up in the morning and get it out of the way.
• My motivation trick is to leave my workout clothes out the night before an A.M. workout.
• My motivation for workout is that I will stay fit and I can wear all my favorite dresses without any adjustments.
• My favorite workout motivation tactic for running is to have an outfit that makes me feel fast.
• My go-to motivation is in knowing how fast the ability to run and move can be taken from you. Makes me grateful to have get up and go.
• My best motivation is working out with a friend, or a killer music playlist on the iPod.
• My favorite motivation tactic is definitely accountability. If my boyfriend knows I plan on running five miles and I don’t, I’ll feel lame.
• I like to daydream about my beach vacations, it helps me think about how I’d LIKE to look in my bikini.

Whenever you are lacking motivation, think back on these suggestions – I think I’ve used them all at some point to get my body moving!

So what did our giveaway winner have to say?

Congrats Melissa from I Crashed The Web! I love the idea to sleep IN your workout gear – talk about setting yourself up for success! And I think you’re right – the length of the shirt is going to be perfect on you!! Please email me at poiseinparma (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing info to claim your prize.

Many thanks to everyone who entered and to ellasport for their generosity!! Make sure to visit their site to see all their workout gear options and to “like” them on Facebook. Based on the snowflakes coming down this morning, I’m very happy to have that extra long sleeve layer!

First thing that caught my eye was ellasport’s mission, which is to provide women with technical athletic apparel that is designed for a woman’s body and makes her feel good about herself. ellasport’s goal is to give you the confidence and motivation to push yourself further than you thought possible, to help you release your motivated inner self and unstoppable confidence that knows no limits.

The next thing that caught my eye: their Chloe Long-Sleeve Tee:

The item as described on the website:

• It’s the perfect layering tee to get you to and from the gym and it’s super comfy!
• The fit is amazing! It’s smaller at the top and wider over the hip and the neckline is very feminine.
• The Coolmax® mesh in the back enhances breathability near your lower back.
• The soft and stretchy Supplex® fabric feels great against your skin, keeps its shape, and keeps you dry.

Since receiving that long sleeve top, I’ve been wearing it about town to a variety of workouts, including Saturday’s yoga beginners workshop:

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SHIRT:

• The top is very breathable – at no point did I regret wearing a long sleeve shirt to run or spin in. During these cold Cleveland winters, I’ll take all the coverage I can get, even inside!
• Wearing it over a yoga tank top to my yoga classes, it helped get me warm when the room is still too cool for just the tank top. The Supplex fabric is thick without being heavy.
• I got a lot of compliments on the look of it – people LOVE the white swoopy shape on the back!
• My only negative is that I wish the shirt was a bit longer. I’m a tall girl (5’9″) so I prefer shirts that are longer in the torso. I could use another extra inch in the arms as well – again, that’s probably more to be said about my long arms than the shirt itself. (Side note: the company rep said they are planning to make future versions longer in the torso.)

Overall, I was really happy with this product – and now you have the chance to be too as you have a chance to win an ellasport Chloe Long-Sleeve Tee of your own! The kind folks at the company offered one lucky PIP reader the product to help them reach their own workout goals!!

SO… HOW DO YOU WIN AN ELLASPORT CHLOE LONG-SLEEVE TEE??

1. Mandatory first entry: Leave a comment telling me your favorite workout motivation tactic or your favorite “keep warm in the winter” trick. It’s that easy!
2. Follow @poiseinparma on Twitter. Please let me know if you do by commenting on this post!
3. Follow @ellasport on Twitter. Please let me know if you do by commenting on this post!
4. Twitter users can get an extra entry by tweeting: “Motivate my workout: I want to win the @ellasport #giveaway from @poiseinparma! http://wp.me/p1303r-1st”. Please let me know each day you tweet this by commenting on this post!

You have until Thursday, January 26th at 11:59PM EST to enter. Make sure to leave a separate entry for each one of these that you accomplish. Now the big question: where to wear my shirt to next!

Disclosure: In exchange for this post/giveaway, I was compensated via the shirt pictured above. As always, my thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

• Alice from Reiki Awakening
• Alicia from Poise in Parma (that’s me!) & husband Hans
• Amanda from Clue into Cleveland & her husband Scott
• Andy from the Ohio Beef Council
• Crystal from Eat Drink Cleveland – her recap of the evening is here!
• Dave from Health Insurance Issues with Dave and Again? Really?
• Jeff from My Future Past
• Jen from Why CLE?
• Jill from Thrifty Volunteer
• Julie from ROJ Running
• Julie from Wearing Mascara
• Kristian from Adventures of a trapped 300 pound man and Ohio Festivals
• Kimberly from SMITTEN…in cleveland
• Lane from Lane Baldwin Photography
• Nidhi from NIDHIZZLE
• Raizel from OmStone Aromas
• Reanna from Big Shot Dot The I
• Sarah from Cooker Girl
• Scott from The Chubby Cook
• Stephanie from Hungry in Cleveland
• Stuart from @sos_jr
• Tony from tonyramos.com

The Whole Foods team had quite the evening planned as the OBA celebrated its one year anniversary of our first official meetup in January 2011. Lisa and her crew were ready to lead us through a pizza throwdown!

Each blogger received one of these forms:

Encouraged to be creative, we selected our toppings for our own individual pizzas. While there was a full list of your traditional toppings, we could think outside the box, within reason – no lobster or truffles people, especially you food bloggers!! Once complete, our forms were whisked away to the Whole Foods prepared foods kitchen:

…where their fabulous team members…

…handcrafted each of our orders. Each pizza took no more than four minutes to cook in their oven!

As we awaited our creations, bloggers, tweeters and blog supporters chatted it up while enjoying their choice of white wine, red wine and Southern Tier Brewing Company beer.

Who’s the redhead that keeps crashing these meetups? Geez…

As bloggers took their turns with their respective announcements, our pizzas began to arrive…

…and everyone dug in! Before I knew it, bloggers were sharing each other’s pizzas, so it was a wonderful way to try an array of combinations. Kristian took home the “most creative” award with his apple and honey pizza.

Personally I felt like the big winner with my GLUTEN FREE pizza!

I got the inside scoop that if you give Whole Foods enough of a heads up, they can make a pizza using their gluten-free dough that they sell at the store. I kept my combo simple: red sauce, parmesan, arugula and tomatoes. So so good, I may have had a piece once I got home later that night. 10PM snack FTW!

In actuality, everyone went home a winner as Whole Foods provided each blogger with a growler and a $1 coupon off our first growler fill at the store!

Seriously, does it get any better than the combination of pizza and beer? I think not.

Many many thanks to Lisa and her entire team at Whole Foods Market Cedar Center for their hospitality and tasty pizza creations! We’re already planning to head back to the University Heights location for the January 2013 meetup! Something to look forward to!!!

Want to join us in February? Check out the event page on Facebook for our OBA February Cleveland Blogger Wine Tasting with Miss WineOH for all the details. Hope to see you on Tuesday, February 21st!!

I was then surprised with an email late last night from Roni of SkinnyMinnyMedia: my application to speak at the 2012 Fitbloggin’ conference had been accepted! Baltimore, here I come for round two of fitness blogging conference adventures!

On the official Fitbloggin’ 2012 schedule you’ll find the following listed for Saturday, September 22 at 3:45:

Get Down to Business: Taking Your Online Community Offline with Alicia Hansen

My presentation’s tagline? What do you mean you met on Twitter? I’ll share my experience and tips on how to take that awkward step from sitting behind a computer screen to meeting in real life – and how that process can help you reach your goals. I’m honored to be presenting along side of so many influential and amazing speakers on a topic I truly am passionate about.

The timing of this news could not have been better as tonight is our first Ohio Blogging Association meetup for 2012 at Whole Foods Market Cedar Center. It’s all very apropos – isn’t it?! There’s still time to get in on the pizza throwdown fun: RSVP over at the Facebook event page & don’t forget your $10 CASH per person for your entry fee.

Interested in attending Fitbloggin’? Early bird tickets are still on sale at their Eventbrite site. You won’t want to miss this one!

…is causing all sorts of this:

planning the next 125 days of my life is giving me extreme anxiety. afraid to take on too many new things. just need to commit to the plan.

January 15, 2012 5:05 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@poiseinparma

Alicia Hansen

Anxiety-ridden, irrational Alicia sent that tweet on Sunday night after staring at the above Excel sheet for far too long. Coming off my recent forced downtime via double ear infection, I headed to the gym for some cardio on Thursday. I managed a vinyasa flow class the night before so figured I was ready for my usual elliptical/running workout. I wasn’t. I made it through the full 45 minutes but was ROCKED by the end of it. The last fifteen minutes on the track doing my version of intervals (power walking a lap, then running a lap) left me nauseous and very unlike that runner that used to blog here back in the summer.

A lot has happened since then. I wonder if I still have the legs, the lungs and the longing to run a half marathon. I look at my fellow Cleveland Marathon bloggers posts and get inspired. I remember that feeling: that runner’s high that I love. I remember how great I feel physically and mentally when I’m regularly running. Then it comes time to put my sneakers on, I panic and run to my yoga mat.

I’m comfortable on my mat. It’s a safe place. A place that has gotten me through a rough patch on several occasions. It’s helped me discover what is important to me, how I want to structure my every day life and inspired some crazy goals – many of which are manifesting themselves as I speak. One of those goals is completing yoga teacher training so I can be teaching by the end of 2012. I’m happy to share the realization that that goal is becoming reality as I’ll start “NYTT” aka Nishkama Yoga Teacher Training in March (noted on the schedule above).

That is what sparked the moment of anxiety on Sunday. As I plugged in my NYTT dates into my workout schedule, it all seemed to be like I was taking on too much. As it’s also on my goals sheet, I really want to break that 2:15 time in 13.1 miles, but my current level of cardio fitness is making me believe that if I don’t get on track NOW (or even yesterday) it’s not going to be a possibility. But can I work on furthering my path as a yogi while increasing my speed as a runner?

Even this morning I sit here debating: do I go to 9:30AM vinyasa flow or do I head to the track? You’re not a runner if you don’t run, but all I can think about is being in downward dog. So can I really be both a yogi and a runner? Feel free to talk some sense into me – Lord knows I’m not providing it to myself right now!

Just had my daily "why am I still sick" emotional breakdown. Why can't I just relax? #ugh

January 9, 2012 6:43 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@poiseinparma

Alicia Hansen

And when I get sick, I make a huge pot of soup. I usually depend on a chop-and-drop chicken soup, featuring all its traditional ingredients. That would means having fresh vegetables on hand. There was no chance of me leaving the house to get what I was missing for my go-to get better recipe. Instead, I took my Whole Foods challenge on and started poking around my pantry.

I stuck with the chop-and-drop concept and into a pot went (and in this order):

• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil (from my Whole Foods trip)
• 1 onion
• 1 TB of minced garlic
• 1 Idaho potato
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 Roma tomato
• Hearty sprinklings of:
• salt
• pepper
• sage
• thyme
• garlic powder

• 2 – 32 oz box of vegetable broth (from my Whole Foods trip)
• 1 cup green lentils (from my Whole Foods trip)

After an hour of simmering and occasional stirring, I had a hearty bowl of soup to help make me feel better. I forgot how long lentils take to cook! I added some Romano cheese for good measure:

Sure, it wasn’t the prettiest bowl of food I’ve ever made, but it had a solid flavor and made me feel better knowing that I was getting my veggie intake for the day. The combination of the lentils and the potato made it super thick and creamy. And as with most soup recipes, this one just continued to get better as it sat in my fridge. It wasn’t there for long! There’s still something to be said for a good bowl of chicken soup for when you get sick, but at least I know I have a back up in my pantry when I need it.

• cereal
• dried beans
• pasta: of all cuts and sizes. someone even has a “noodle shelf” in their pantry! I love it!
• nut butters: almond butter, peanut butter (Peanut Butter & Company specifically for one commenter)
• oats (used daily in a few people’s homes, including mine)
• chia seeds
• canned black beans
• stock/broth: veggie & chicken
• flour
• chicken broth
• pancake mix
• olive oil
• rice: arborio rice, basmati rice, sushi rice, brown rice
• garlic
• coriander
• red lentils
• quinoa
• coffee
• popcorn
• canned tomatoes (lots of last minute votes for this one!)
• Cream of Wheat

This is a great list of versatile options! Think of all the meals you could create with these – but in case you need some inspiration, visit the Whole Foods Cedar Center blog for inspiration from our local WFM staffers.

So from all those options, what does our giveaway winner HAVE to have in his/her pantry?

Congrats Ryan! I’m with ya on the chunky peanut butter! Now don’t go spending that entire gift card in the nut butter aisle! Please email me at poiseinparma (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your prize.

Many thanks to everyone who entered and to Whole Foods Market Cedar Center for their generosity. Check back tomorrow to see how I’ve already used some of my pantry ingredients over the past week. I may have been under the weather, but my stove was working in overdrive!