OK so maybe what this blog needed was a little refresh ;)

As an of our regular readers will know we have been focusing this blog on our take of parenting over the past few years and reviewing various products and restaurants that are parent-friendly... Well... one aspect of parenting that's really important is taking care of yourself so you can be there for your child!

That's one aspect of my life that I have been working on. That being said I realized that what I have been doing so far isn't working the best, so that's why I joined WeightWatchers and after the first week it is going in the right direction... It's a great start! Who knows... maybe it's also because I'm now addicted to these OP Smoothies and am having one for breakfast every day - much healthier and filling than what I used to eat!

I'm also happy to say that after writing the post about the Boston Marathon and getting some Stonyfield samples and enjoying them, I reached out to the nice folks at Stonyfield and they agreed to have me host a giveaway for $20 worth of free Stonyfield coupons to one of our readers! So guys - enter away!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
NOTE: There was no compensation provided in exchange for this post. After talking with the cool people at Stonyfield, they graciously offered to send coupons worth $20 to the winner of a contest on our website. They will be handling all of the mailing and such so the only thing we're doing is putting up a contest form, having you guys enter and win and they are doing the rest. Simple as that!!

Dave is on a journey... of health and wellness.

Well, I woke up a week ago and decided right after watching runners in the Boston Marathon that I would use this year as a year of health and wellness. I am trying to become more mindful in my approach to life and why not put that towards eating as well. I also found that it really helped getting a few samples of healthy food at the Marathon as I have been having a smoothie every morning!

In any event, I committed myself to starting to eat healthier, getting more exercise, and being more present. To that end, I joined WeightWatchers at the suggestion of a friend of mine. I joined last Wednesday (4/22) and my starting weight was 227 lbs. I saw that number and was shocked but said to myself "hey... we all have to start somewhere."

I then went to my first meeting on Thursday morning 4/23 and it was great! I found out that it was led by a blogger whom I have been following for about a year and she is really energetic and fun! It's crazy when worlds collide like that!

I committed to walking every day and trying to reach my goal of 10,000 steps using my Withings Pulse activity monitor (more on that later). I am happy to report that over the past week I have walked 63,773 steps! That is the most I've walked in a week!!!!

• Sun 4/26: 12,656
• Sat 4/25 13,610
• Fri 4/24 12,130
• Thu 4/23 13,470
• Wed 4/22 10,162
• Tue 4/21 7,629
• Mon 4/20 10,121
• Sun 4/19 9,714

I also didn't realize but I would be missing my second meeting this coming Thursday so after an amazing week of walking I went to weight in this morning and weighed 224.2 lbs. I had lost 2.8 lbs after my first week. Pretty proud of that one... Hopefully I can start a trend here...

Marathon Weekend in Boston and some great Stonyfield Yogurt!

This past weekend was great in Boston! Yesterday was Patriots Day (an official holiday in Massachusetts), otherwise known as Marathon Monday, the day when over 30,000 runners descend on Boston to run a 26.2 mile course from Hopkinton to Boston. After graduating college, I decided to do my part and help by volunteering for this great event  and have done so off and on 6 times... This year, I had the privilege of handing out t-shirts to runners after they picked up their racing bibs. I always enjoy meeting people from all over and this year was no different. The one thing I love about the marathon is that you see people from all ages, backgrounds and abilities who all work together to complete the 26.2 mile trek together.

This year, I volunteered on the Sunday before the marathon and had the chance to go to the runners' expo afterwards which is the largest of its kind in the region, attracting over 100,000 attendees.

At the marathon expo we had a great time! I saw the Organic Roadies from Stonyfield Yogurt and they gave me some of their new Organic Protein smoothie drink to take home and some great Stonyfield Greek yogurt! I was so excited since our whole family enjoys eating it! The thing I loved the most about the smoothie is that it’s so delicious and nutrient rich! There’s 15 grams of protein packed in each one and is only 180 calories!

Then, marathon monday came and we decided that this year we would watch it from Wellesley which ended up being a perfect location. It happened to be a bit chilly that morning, with temperatures in the 50’s and we walked around since some of the shops were giving things away. Xtramart was giving out free Kayem Hot Dogs while City Sports in Wellesley happened to hand out signs, cones and t-shirts (which are my absolute FAVORITE since they are SO soft!) while Whole Foods Wellesley provided a nice respite from the cold, damp conditions outside.

It worked perfectly that also outside of Whole Foods, CLIF bar had a tent and Stonyfield happened to be there AGAIN! We couldn’t believe our luck and they gave us a bunch of new yogurt that we hadn’t had before… Stonyfield Oh My Yog! Wild Quebec Blueberry and a new brand to us which was really delicious. They have some really exotic flavors like Gingered Pear, Pacific Coast Strawberry  and Apple Cinnamon. It has whole milk combined with a touch of honey, the fruit, and then a little sweet cream on top. WOW! We also tried the petit creme blueberry which was greek yogurt but it tasted like dessert - so creamy and smooth and not tart!  My daughter kept going for the YoKids squeezers and she devoured them! It was a really nice surprise that the Stonyfield crew was there.

My daughter had a great time, she enjoyed all of the yogurt, fun activities and even high-fived a few marathon runners for the first time! So much fun!

All in all it was a great time and we enjoyed cheering on all of the runners!

NOTE: No compensation or product was provided in exchange for this review. All opinions are our own. We just love the Boston Marathon, Stonyfield Yogurt, City Sports, Whole Foods and had a great time...