Soft Skin and Final Vegetarian Recap

Yesterday I came home to a beautiful package in the mail from Coy at First in Philly.  Coy swims and like most of us deals with the dry skin that comes along with the pool (and winter too of course).  She tried the new Dove Nutrium product and loved it so much she wanted to give a bottle away.  Wahoo for me – I won the bottle of Dove.


Look how happy I am with my bottle of Dove!



Isn't this a pretty package?  I thought it was cool!

I just tried it out for the first time this morning.  It does make your skin feel very soft.  It promises noticeable results in just 1 week.  I will let you know what I think about it after I’ve used it for awhile.  And who knows, maybe I’ll keep it going and giveaway a bottle as well.

If you don’t follow First in Philly – well then you totally should be.  She’s really funny.  She does awesome things on the treadmill – like the number below and she’s also trying to run distance in her VFFs.  Check out her blog!



Hope she doesn't mind me stealing her blog pic :)

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Well, as most of you know I declared the month of March as “Michael’s March Madness Vegetarian Challenge”.  I was vegetarian from February 27 – April 3. 

So, I’m sure the biggest question is – am I now a vegetarian?  No, I am not.  I hope this doesn’t disappoint some of my vegetarian/vegan readers.  However, although I do not plan to call myself a vegetarian, this challenge will completely change the way I eat and feel about meat. 

During the entire time period I felt great.  I had tons of energy and I never felt like I was missing out on anything.  I posted some great run times and have been training regularly.  So I know it didn’t impact my training and if anything it honestly boosted my training.  My biggest issue with being a vegetarian was convenience.  I know that’s a pretty lame excuse, but it was difficult to eat out.  Sure there are salad options at almost any restaurant, but sometimes you want something other than a salad, and at several restaurants that was pretty much your only option.   I enjoy eating out and spending time with my husband, family, and friends – it’s just part of what we do.  I hated being the person constantly trying to find some place “I could eat”.  I got that question a lot when we went out, well “where can YOU eat?”.

While I am not going 100% vegetarian; I will probably now consider myself semi-vegetarian.  I realize  that I do not need meat everyday to survive – and certainly not at every meal.  I will eat meat on occasion, but it won’t be part of my everyday nutrition.  I loved trying new foods and coming up with creative new dinner recipes like my “Chipotle Inspired” burrito bowls.  This was one of my absolute favorites and mostly healthy (it would be healthier without the cheese and sour cream – but yum).  It’s just brown rice, black beans, fajita veggies, pico, roasted corn, cheese, light sour cream, and homemade guacamole (just an avocado mashed up with some salsa and lime juice).  I also made my own tortilla chips.  I took some corn tortillas and lightly brushed them with olive oil, sprinkled them with some sea salt, cut them into wedges, and baked them in the oven at 400 degrees for like 5 minutes.  They were great.  This was also one of Jim’s favorite meals.

Burrito Bowl without Chips



Burrito Bowl with homemade chips (color isn't very good)

 I can’t say I won’t eventually become vegetarian full time, but for now I am officially semi-vegetarian.  I really loved the experience, and I’m so glad I did this.

What do you do to keep your skin soft after hours in the pool?

What new changes have you made to your diet/nutrition plan?