Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

As I am sure you can tell from my blog, I have a special love for Orange County and all things OC.  So when I found this new website, www.myHealthyOC.com, which marries my local love with my passion for health and fitness, it was one juicy match made in heaven!

Mamas, I cannot R-A-V-E enough about this site.

And please note that you do not have to be a fitness fanatic or an over-the-top health nut to enjoy it.  Anyone with even a little bit of interest in wellness, fitness and healthy living will get something out of this site. There is truly a little somethin’ for everyone.

By bringing together OC folks who have a health-minded focus and sharing interesting content and local companies in the health arena, www.myHealthy OC.com is about bringing a bigger awareness to health and and the abundance of resources available right here in our own backyard to help you live your healthiest life.

Feeling inspired? You will.

Let me talk about their content first. I am busy busy busy. I know you are too. Usually when I go on a website, I don’t have a ton of time to browse around.

But the first time I clicked onto www.myHealthyOC.com, I was sucked into reading their articles one after the other because the topics were just downright HELPFUL.

Posts like, What’s a serving size anyway?… I thought I knew, do you?

Get Inspired: Eat to live, not live to eat…great advice by Dr. Lyndsay Elliott a local Newport Beach body image specialist whom I happen to adore.  She wrote this article for me last year on how to promote positive body image in our children. One of my 2011 favorites.

Green recycling…what do you do with your old cell phones and electronics? Where do I take them? What is even considered recyclable? This article gives the facts.

Top five health apps…who knew?! The Snack App?! LOVE IT!

I immediately signed up for their e-mail list (right column top home page) so I don’t miss a post.

Now a little about supporting fellow OC companies.

www.myHealthy OC.com features great local companies in the areas of nutrition, fitness and wellness.

Make sure to visit the www.myHealthyOC.com shop where you can find SPECIAL deals offered to www.myHealthyOC.com readers! Yes, you can find www.myHealthyOC.com discounts and promos to help save you some $$$!

Plus, it just makes for an easier buying experience.  A virtual local marketplace, if you will!

Supporting local businesses is not only good for Orange County and the environment, it is also good for the soul. I know I get a little warm fuzzy every time I shop local.

So, check it out, bookmark it, sign up for the email list, like www.myHealthy OC.com on Facebook, tweet with the nice peeps at @myHealthyOC on Twitter and get inspired for a healthy and happy 2012!

[Disclosure: wwww.myHealthy OC.com is  a Tiny Oranges Sponsor.]

Do you have new fitness and health goals this year? Would you like help reaching those goals faster? Ummmm, who wouldn’t?!

This video is about an amazing service called Metabolic Testing offered by Registered Dietician, Christine Cortez, of www.FoodWorks4U.com in Irvine.

Christine did the Metabolic Testing on me recently and in this video you can watch exactly what it involves and how it can help you take the guess work out of weight loss and help you achieve your fitness goals by working smarter (not harder!)

Make sure to watch all the way through to the end to find out Christine’s top 3 tips on HOW TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM (they are easy and doable!) as well as a SPECIAL OFFER for Tiny Oranges readers on this testing for January and February 2012 (it’s affordable!)

www.FoodWorks4U.com
Follow Food Works 4 U on Facebook * Tweet with @FoodWorks4U on Twitter

[Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Vlog to help spread the word about Christine's services to OC moms!] 

I had to kick this week off with a post about getting in shape, because I know this mama had one too many sugar cookies over the last month. Boo. But it is a new month and a new year and there is no time like the present to get in shape and feel your very best.

Have you ever wished you could have a personal trainer to kick your boo-tay into shape, but has the price been out of budget?

Would you love to have the benefit of working with a personal trainer but NOT pay personal training prices?

If the answer to the above is YES! YES! YES! you are going to flip over what Pure Fitness OC in Lake Forest has to offer.

What they do at Pure Fitness OC is refreshingly different.

Here’s why: Each person is getting affordable personal training, it is just in a group setting.

How it works:

Read More >>

Erica Ziel-Conklin is a certified personal trainer, pilates instructor and nutritionist specializing in fitness-infused pilates here in OC training out of Body Design in Newport Beach. With vast experience in and a passion for prenatal and postnatal fitness, Erica launched Knocked-UpFitness.com to educate and train sassy mamas-to-be.

It just so happened that shortly after launching Knocked Up Fitness, Erica found out she was “knocked up” herself (hee hee) and is currently expecting her third child this fall!  I have to say I don’t think there is anything cuter than taking a prenatal fitness class from an instructor that is ALSO pregnant!

I trained with Erica before my second half marathon to strengthen last year and her training is A-MAZING. Click here to read my experience.  Erica has also trained my fellow blogger friend, Shanna, from My Favorite Everything to get her into shape after having her third child.

Check out Shanna’s before and after pictures. Incredible!

Erica is currently offering special OC prenatal & postnatal pilates classes at the following times:

Mondays 2pm

Tuesdays 6pm

Wednesdays noon

Wednesdays at 5pm

Saturdays 10am

Her other regular (AWESOME) pilates classes (fit pregnant gals & postpartum welcome) occur on:

Mondays 7am

Wednesdays 7am

Fridays 6am

Saturday 8am

All classes taught at Body Design

300 Newport Center
Newport Beach

In-home training also available!

Special Summer Price* for new prenatal or postnatal clients!

12 classes $300 (save $120)

Private prenatal or postnatal Training Special 12 for $840 (save $240)

(*Must be currently pregnant or have had a baby within the last 12 months to qualify for this special series.)

Erica is also currently working on filming her very own  prenatal pilates VIDEOS so soon you will be also be able to workout with an amazing prenatal trainer in the comfort of your own home. I will do a post when the first one is released!

I am a complete believer in the benefits of pilates and how it can benefit your health and there is no better person to train with in Orange County than Erica! Make sure to tell her Tiny Oranges sent you to get this special pricing!

Email Erica at info@knocked-upfitness.com to sign up for a class
Stay up to date with Knocked Up Fitness on Facebook
Follow @KnockedUpFit on Twitter

Happy Tuesday Mamas!  Hope you have a great day!

{Disclosure: Knocked Up Fitness is a Tiny Oranges Sponsor}

I am so excited about this giveaway it’s ridiculous. To date, it is my BIGGEST one ever. Huge. If you could see me typing I am also jumping up and down at the same time. Let me first begin with how this giveaway came to be.  A company called CareRally.com recently contacted me about doing a giveaway to promote their AWESOME new Facebook application, “Know a good doctor?”

The idea behind “Know a good doctor?” is simple. And brilliant. But before I put my enthusiasm behind any company, I like to make sure that I would use it myself as a mom so I took it for a spin.

By logging onto this app through Facebook, you can easily search for any type of doctor, dentist or specialist and see which ones your friends refer.

I LOVE this because there have been countless times I have sat down to look at a list “approved” insurance providers (we have an HMO) and been at a loss because how am I supposed to know how GOOD they are?! I spent endless hours researching pediatricians and OB/GYNs before I had my first baby.  Same thing when it came time to pick a pediatric dentist in Orange County. This would have saved me a ton of time!

Using “Know a good doctor?” was SO EASY. If you are looking for a doctor in a specific area, it is very easy to search. It also takes less than one minute to add a favorite. First you search to see if they are in the database, if they are you can vote and comment.  If not, you can add them. It’s as simple as adding their name, city, quick thumbs up or thumbs down and an optional comment.  That’s it.

The beauty in this application is that it has taken the days of making phone calls or sending emails to find out which local doctors your friends refer to an end.

With our help, “Know a good doctor?” will quickly become THE resource for moms everywhere as they seek for the best care for their family.

Hooray! It’s a **HUGE** Tiny Giveaway!

This giveaway is a little different, but I am going to make it easy-easy-ocean-breezy!  Vote for any Doctor you know & trust & you can win a night* at Montage Laguna Beach in the gorgeous month of September 2011!

{By the way, I just stayed a glorious night at Montage Laguna Beach for the first time. In case you missed my post, this is what could be in store for you if you win…And that, my friends is the reason for the happy dance!}

Here’s how you can enter:

1. If you use Facebook, click here on Facebook’s “Know a good doctor?” or go to CareRally.com.

2. Search for your Doctors and submit your votes.

3. Add your favorite Doctors and submit your votes.

4. Ask your friends to so the same.

How to win a night at Montage Laguna Beach*…

It’s very easy to rack up entries in this exciting contest, you get an entry:

1.  For every Doctor you add and / or vote for

and

2. Every time a friend of yours votes for their Doctors you get an entry- so you definitely want to tell your friends about this!

So for example if you added a a doctor, voted for them and then had a friend add her doctor, vote for them and then another friend voted for her doctor who’s already in the database… you just got 5 entries.  The entries can add up fast, meaning a better chance of winning!

The fine print & details:

Contest runs through August 30th, 2011 at 11:59pm PST. CareRally will be able to track the votes and entries clicking through from Tiny Oranges. From the eligible entries, CareRally will select one winner at random to receive a one-night stay at Montage Laguna Beach valid from September 1st – September 30th, 2011. Prize includes tax + resort fees. Parking + incidentals not included. Room is subject to availability. CareRally will contact winner via email and the winner will have 48 hours to respond with their name, email, address and phone number before another winner is selected. CareRally will send Montage representative the winner’s information to coordinate reservation. Approximate value of prize is $750 – $1,000. Wowza!!!

I will announce the winner on my Tiny Oranges Facebook page that Friday, September 1st!!!

GOOD LUCK MAMAS!!!  Start searching, adding and voting for your favorites so we can build up this Orange County resource for all the mamas looking for the BEST doctors for their family!

{Disclosure: Montage Resorts is a Tiny Oranges Sponsor}