Disclosure: I received a free Omron GOsmart Pace/Distance tracker for this review, as well as a free t-shirt, water bottle and ear buds.

I figured if I walked up the big $&%^-ing hill to the bakery shop, I deserved to have a cupcake at the top, so I set off on my walk. Then I turned around on my front porch, went back inside and grabbed the Omron GOsmart Pace/Distance Tracker I was sent to review because this seemed like the perfect time to see if it could actually measure my pace, distance, steps, calories burned, and all that fancy stuff it claimed to do.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not really a pedometer person, but I was interested in this device because it calculates your pace, which I *am* interested in. Over the past year I haven’t been running, but I’d like to get back into a run/walk routine now that I’ve moved to a walkable neighborhood. (Yes, I know I made up the word “walkable.” I don’t care if Merriam-Webster gets pissed at [...]

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So, wow, the Bertolli Giveaway got 319 entries, which is the most comments I’ve received on a blog entry EVER. That includes the posts I wrote about quitting my job and my two book announcements. I guess the moral of this story is that the next time I have any big news to share, I should also give away an ice cream maker.

Seriously though, I must have spent an hour or two (grand total) approving all the first-time commenters that entered. I am grateful for all my readers and I thank you for visiting the site, but that didn’t stop me from crawling out of bed at 12:30am last night to turn off comments on the post after the entry deadline because I didn’t want to find 30 more emails in my inbox the next morning. Congratulations to Amy from Michigan who was the randomly drawn winner this morning! She has already accepted her prize. And thanks to Bertolli too!

In other news, look at the mutant, monster, strawberries I got at the grocery store yesterday. [...]

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Disclosure: I received a prize package from Bertolli for this giveaway.

I was a bit skeptical when Bertolli contacted me about their new webisode series, Into the Heart of Italy. I figured the videos would be stilted advertorials of no interest to me or my readers. Then I actually watched an episode and was surprised by how much I liked it. It’s, like, an actual show. (Warning: It also made me hungry. You probably shouldn’t watch on an empty stomach.)

Into the Heart of Italy is a series of 8-10 minute episodes that feature Rocco DiSpirito, Marisa Tomei, and Dan Cortese running around Italy making and eating delicious food—when they’re not being kidnapped by a Chicken Man. I always say, “If you go to Italy, beware of the Chicken Man!” I’ve always liked Marisa Tomei; I liked Rocco DiSpirito’s reality show The Restaurant that was on several years ago; And who doesn’t love Dan Cortese, former VJ and host of MTV Sports? You remember MTV Sports, right? What’s that? You’ve never heard of it? You were born [...]

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I thought I’d make a rare weekend appearance to announce a few odds and ends.

Subway winners

The winners of the Subway giveaway were Kris from Georgia, Sherri from New Hampshire, and Melinda from Kentucky. They’ve all accepted their prizes and I hope they enjoy the free food.

Guest post

I wrote a guest post on Diets in Review about how to start a healthy living blog for any lurkers or newbies out there.

Mary’s blogging guide

I met Mary from A Merry Life at Fitbloggin’, which was lucky since she’d spent most of the day at the hospital with kidney stones. Mary’s just released an ebook called A Merry Life Guide To Creating A Better Health Blog which is packed full of information on blogging.

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As usual with my cleaning sprees, I don’t start out with the intention to declutter my shelves or shred a year’s worth of credit card statements. I start with a simple task, like sorting all the swag I scored at FitBloggin’, and then I find myself on a roll, until I’ve filled up a trash bag with unneeded items, including a broken garden gnome I realize I’m never going to superglue back together.

One item I got at FitBloggin’ is the Weight Watchers POINTS Pedometer. It’s a pretty sweet pedometer, by far the fanciest one I’ve owned. It calculates how many POINTS you’ve earned by walking, how far you’ve traveled, and even tells you the time. Sadly, however, I’m just not a pedometer person. I know I’m never going to use this thing, so I thought I’d give it away instead, hopefully to some Weight Watchers member who will truly enjoy it.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this entry telling me where your favorite place to walk is by 11:59pm on Wednesday, March 31, [...]

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