Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky...
Disclosure: This post was sponsored
by Garmin through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was
compensated to write a post about vÃvofit 2, all opinions are my own.
You’ve
been seeing a whole lot of pictures like these from me lately. I have a
confession: I’ve been backsliding, gaining weight back since we started back to
homeschool this fall. This has been beyond frustrating. OK, let me back up for
those who don’t know the whole story…
I’ve
struggled with getting back into shape since baby #4. At around the 2 year
point post-baby I thought I was getting into a good groove, but then we moved
to Idaho from Colorado. We went from a bigger house with acreage to a tiny house
with a teeny tiny backyard; from animals, chores, hikes… to having to make an
effort to be active.
As
a family we did better during the summer months; we made a point to get to the
park more and walked the river several times a week. We explored our new area,
went to Craters of the Moon, the zoo, and Yellowstone. However, since our
homeschool year has started and the cold weather set in I just haven’t been as
active.
It
probably shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that I was gaining weight. I’ve
become much more sedentary. Thing is,
I was grooving along, doing my morning workouts, tracking my food, thinking
things were great. I didn’t even realize how sedentary I’d become.
Oh.
No. These were mid-day. I was averaging 4 to 6k steps a day! That’s a big change for me.
I’ve
always believed that as long as I was doing my morning workout and watching my
diet I was golden. Not so much. I realized that I have to look at the bigger
picture. Note to self…
Looking
at the big picture of my overall fitness and activity was something I never
really thought about until my vÃvofit 2. Now, I’m
currently quite obsessed with data from my activity tracker (OK, I’ve always
loved numbers). I love looking at my steps, sleep, and miles. It’s been quite
an eye-opener.
Not
only was I not getting in the activity I was used to, but I was also greatly
overestimating my caloric needs. Whenever I’d use one of those online
calculators to estimate my daily calorie needs I always just estimated that I
was moderately active (or very active, oops). But that wasn’t true! I should
have been putting myself in the sedentary category. A category I don’t want to
be in, I might add.
Since
discovering this I’ve been working hard to outsmart
a sedentary lifestyle. I’ve used the info from my vÃvofit 2 to make some
simple adjustments. I’ve tweaked my daily calorie intake and I’ve upped my efforts
to get in steps wherever I can. I march in place while I’m making dinner. I
pace around if I’m on the phone or social media. I work in walks with the kids
whenever weather permits and walk DVDs have become a lifesaver on days the
weather is terrible.
I’m happy to say I’m now firmly back on track with my body after baby efforts.
Phew! I’m so glad to figure that out. My goal now is to keep improving. Every day I want to beat yesterday! I’d like to get back to that sweet spot of 12 to 15k daily steps. That’s where I was feeling best about my fitness and having the best results.
I’ve
become quite smitten with my vÃvofit 2 in the process. We’re never apart.
What I love about
the vÃvofit 2 vs other trackers I’ve tried:
- No being tethered to my desktop! I love this. Madly. It has a regular watch battery that lasts a year+. No need for constant charging. It also syncs directly with the app on my phone. No need to plug it in to see my stats (though it has this option if you prefer that). Heaven for this busy mama. Seriously.
- Fun colors. I’m so over boring black trackers. I love the variety of colors the vÃvofit 2 comes in. I have the pink and also the JonathanAdler + Garmin The Newport Trio. Love them. Add to that the fun accessory bands you can order… I’m having a blast.
- Options. I love how customizable this tracker is. Not only can you swap the bands (which is very easy to do), but you can also adjust the device settings easily using the app. From there you can change which screens it will scroll through, what the home screen is, set it for alert tones or silent, and more. I love being able to set this tracker up exactly as I find most useful.
Like I said, I’m smitten. My vÃvofit 2 and I have become inseparable. I have eyes for no other tracker. But, I do have eyes for more bands! What do you think? Which set should I ask Santa for??
How about you? Have you found your daily steps sweet spot?
