USDA MyPlate & Timex Watch Giveaway Winner!

I'm still alive! For those of you that know me, I must be REALLY busy not to post. Well, this week was busy x 4.

I've been wanting to bring you up to speed on USDA's release of the new look for the old pyramid and here it is! USDA MyPlate! Your stomach is not a garbage can (aka it MATTERS what you put in there!). MyPlate offers a visual reminder to make healthy food choices when you make decisions on your meals. The goal is to prioritize food choices by reminding us to make half our plate fruits and vegetables and the other important food groups fall in the other half, which are: whole grains, lean proteins and low fat dairy.

MyPlate or display on a mobile device and snap a photograph to show how and where you choose the best foods to put on your plates when building a healthy meal.">

Image copyright: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

The part you may not know about is that you can head over the the USDA's Interactive Tools page to find information specific and individual to you including your calorie needs per day, number of food groups needed per day, printable food logs and much more! It's a wonderful place to help you or a friend / family member understand appropriate portion sizes, the benefits of each food group and you can even use the food tracker to log all of your meals letting you know how close you are to meeting your goals! It's a wonderful tool that many people can take advantage of absolutely free.

Obviously, along with eating healthy also comes getting more active. For many of us, that's via the swim, bike, run, but for others that can mean anything from walking the dog an additional lap around the park or even taking the stairs instead of the elevator! Don't forget Michelle Obama's initiative Let's Move! to enhance your overall quality of life.

I'd love to see what your plate looks like so feel free to twee it to me @fuelyourpassion! It helps inspire me share how well all of you are doing with the world!

Now, on to the big news! The winner of the Timex Ironman Watch Giveaway is (drum roll plllleeeeassseeee):

Erica! I hope you see this Eric because I see you don't have a blog so I can't comment on yours to leave you a message! Email me at kim@fuelyourpassion.net to claim your prize!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and if you want to bike tomorrow for any portion of my VERY long ride, let me know!

Random Post & Timex Ironman Watch Giveaway!

The insaneness of this week calls for something to be done. What that something is, I'm still deciding. Maybe it's the fact that I've had to deal with some people that are not only less than pleasant, but that also seem to have some complexes where they feel bullying and passive-aggressiveness is the way to get what they want. So, enough of spending one more second on people of that nature. Someday they just may regret the negative vibe they put out in the world, but for today, I'll just move on with my life and not let it get me down one bit.

The 23 hours of scheduled training has been a little tough to fit in, but I'm making it, slowly but surely. Every day up before the crack of dawn is a victory!

A quick tribute to my friend and training partner Jason J. who will be doing Ironman CDA this weekend and we're on to our giveaway! Jason is one of those people that when they enter you life, you are never quite the

same. We've known each other for about two years now and it has just been an amazing blessing. He's got a heart of gold and would honestly do anything for anyone that needed it. That's what stuck me about him so much at first, he's smart, sensitive and just an all around good guy. We've not been able to spend quite as much time together lately due to heavy training schedule and living about 30 mins apart, but I know he's more than ready for this weekend. So Jason (and Kiet, and Michelle and everyone else competing this weekend), this is your time. You've worked so hard for it! Don't let anything stand in your way!!! I'll be thinking of all of you and sending positive vibes your way!

Ok!! On to the fun stuff!!

My photos are just not loading right lately, so hopefully, you can see up in the right hand corner a brand new, in box Timex Ironman Running Watch that will be going to some lucky person! It is compatable with your ipod and in general, just really cool!

All you have to do between now and July 1st is enter one or more of four ways!

1. Follow my blog

2. Post this give-a-way on your blog

3. Follow me on twitter

4. Post the give-a-way on your twitter

5. Like Fuel Your Passion on Facebook

Be sure to let me know what you've done be leaving a comment!

Best of luck everyone and no matter what the world throws at you - remember!!!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman

The secret of many a man's success in the world resides in his insight into the moods of men and his tact in dealing with them.
J. G. Holland

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
Samuel Smiles