All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!
Going Reviews

FitVine Wine Chardonnay Review

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Chardonnay. Just saying it makes you feel classy, right? I guess pronouncing most types of wine seems to give you a one-up in class, or at least I think so.

Going Mom and I have already enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc from FitVine, and just finished the last in their lineup, Chardonnay.

biohack, drinking, alcohol

We’ve come to appreciate how FitVine Wine produces a wine for athletes or anyone living a healthy lifestyle. From the extended secondary fermentation allowing less residual sugar and fewer calories to no GMO’s and far less sulfites than found in other wines, I feel good drinking this good feeling beverage.

The chardonnay gave off a slightly mineral aroma upon first pouring. Not a bad smell, but not really citrusy like I expected. We had it chilled and the taste was medium-bodied, not overpowering at all, and slightly dry and crisp. Unlike other wines, there was no lingering aftertaste. This can be good or bad depending on the flavor and if you are pairing it with a certain meal.

White fish with steamed veggies would pair well with this light wine. While the chardonnay was a nice drink, my wife and I both agreed it was not as enjoyable as their other white wine, Sauvignon Blanc. And the one red they offer, the Cabernet Sauvignon, also ranks higher on our favorites list from this winery.

If you do the math, that would pit FitVine’s Chardonnay as our third favorite out of the three wines offered. While that makes it last on their list, it is by no means last on the vast list of wines out there.

FitVine Wine Chardonnay

The fact that their wines are lower in calories from being lower in sugar, not because they’re watered down two-buck chuck kind of wines, and are higher in antioxidants like resveratrol, polyphenols, and proanthocyanidins, all three of their wines are actually in my top 5 favorites.

fitvine wine, red wine, white, chardonnay, sauvignon, blanc, cabernet

When it comes to health, even when it’s something like alcohol, I just enjoy the drinks more. I love living a healthy, active lifestyle and appreciate all that FitVine puts into making their well-rounded, palate pleasing wines for all fit-minded people in the world.

Here are the nutrition stats on each wine as provided on FitVine Wine’s site:

Cabernet Sauvignon – Per 5oz glass, 95 calories and 3.4g of carbohydrates

Sauvignon Blanc – Not listed

Chardonnay – Per 5oz glass, 90 calories and 5.9g of carbohydrates

Make sure to follow FitVine on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for wine-spiration.

FitVine Wine sent me their wine free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Life, Parenting

Birthday Puns + 11,712 Split Squats and Push Ups

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Hey, it’s my birthday today, June 8th. I am now 32 years old, yay….

Sherbert birthday pun

 

Last year, when I turned 31, I made a goal to complete 32 split squats  per leg and push ups every day leading up to my 32nd birthday. So here we are and I am proud to say I’ve met my goal. With it being a leap year, I was ever so privileged to do the moves for 366 straight days instead of the 365. Hence 366 x 32 = 11,712.

The split squats and push ups were usually used as finishers after whatever workout I did for the day, and they proved to be great exercises. I chose 32 for the upcoming number of years I would turn. The year before that, I did 31 burpees.

If you need a goal to help you move more, just use your age as a marker to perform X amount of whatever you choose. Note, don’t choose burpees unless you’re 10. I’m pretty sure 31 burpees per day for 365 days had something to do with that stress fracture.

Am I going to do 33 of something now? Probably not. Instead, I’ll just make it a point to move as much as I can throughout the day. Maybe I’ll choose random exercises, but with my shoulder surgery coming up later this month and trying to mend my stress fracture that never fully healed, I’ll be happy to do whatever I can. I know my body could use some quality recovery time anyway. Then, after several months have passed of taking it easy, I’ll be reinvigorated to get back to the barbell to slowly get my strength back.

I’ll have to make the most of my arms before the surgery while we’re on vacation at the Outer Banks. From what I’ve heard by other parents, all of the attractions and other expensive things are not as big of a deal to toddlers. Instead, they enjoy the simple things like playing in the sand and watching the waves. I’m clinging on this notion and hope to build lots of sand castles, hunt for seashells, swim in the ocean, and eat fresh seafood. Any tips/advice/stories? I’m all ears.

Get it? Ears of corn? No? Too…ummm…corny? 🙂

Speaking of puns, I’m treating myself and anyone else who enjoys a good (or bad) pun to a few today. Guess I’ll start by giving myself a card.

Cheese birthday pun

  • What did the boy with no hands get for his birthday? Gloves. Okay, not really, I’m not sure what he got, he hasn’t opened anything yet.
  • Statistics show that birthdays are good for your health. The more you have, the longer you live.
  • Buying a gift for a sculptor is hard and requires all of his friends to chip in.
  • My wife gave me a book of puns for my birthday and it is awesome! It was two meaningful.
  • I just want a nice fork for my birthday because there is no tine like the present.
  • My friend tried wrapping all the birthday presents for me, but he didn’t have the gift.

That’ll about do it for today. I need to start figuring out what to pack for the trip and go on another construction site adventure with Avery. I might be another year older, but as long as I can laugh at the joke below, I think I’ll be okay.

Bald Man Short Birthday Jokes07

Life, Parenting

Skid Steer Hunting On Her WOOM 1 Balance Bike

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I have a feeling we’ll be skid steer hunting all summer long. Anyone following my social media accounts might’ve noticed our adventures to the new phase development in our neighborhood while riding her WOOM 1 Balance Bike. My favorite is when we spotted the butt hugging bobcats.

I have since taught her that Bobcats are a type of skid steer loader, and not all of them are Bobcats. She’s catching on quickly. Now she knows the white one is a Bobcat and the yellow one is CAT.

Our most recent adventure, however, was probably a little confusing for our construction loving tot. Under a clear blue sky, light breeze, me in my boot from a stress fracture that never fully healed, and riding her “Rocket”, we went on a hunt for the skid steer loaders busy at work in our expanding development.

skid steer loader hunting with boot

Might as well add it to the list of things to let heal after my shoulder surgery coming up this month! Keeping positive…..

The adventure started off a little dull since the first skid steer loader sighting was one not busy at all. Unless you count taking a nap, like Avery says, as being busy.

Waving in front of CAT Skid Steer Loader

Shhh, don’t tell, but I may or may not have let her sit inside empty cockpit. Hey, anything for a cute smile. Amiright?

With sounds of *beep* *beep* and *rrrrrrnnnrrrr*, we knew a busy Bobcat or other skid steer was nearby, so we carried on with the hunt. Me hobbling on a boot trying to keep up with our girl who puts the Rocket in…….ummmm – “Rocket”. After a little searching for the sound, we finally found a John Deere skid steer (yay, a rhyme!) loader hard at work scooping the earth with finesse.

Waving to John Deere Skid Steer Loader

The scooper moved up and down, which, obviously, meant he was waving back. We watched it move the dirt across the land for a minute and journeyed on in search of more skid steer prey. But this time, instead of Avery doing the hunting, a Bobcat came right up to us!

Waving to Bobcat Skidsteer loader on WOOM Balance Bike

Slightly confused, the driver gave a hesitant wave back to the little girl in pink as she said hi to the passerby. Oh man, I’m on a rhyming roll!

With more ground to cover, we hit the road in search of the next construction vehicle. In the distance, we saw another CAT hard at work and a couple dump trucks full of dirt. Finally, we stumbled upon another Bobcat working on new lots. It was a good time to stop for a minute to take a break and pose in front of the rigid-framed machine.

Posing in front of Skid Steer Loader on WOOM 1 Balance Bike

You can tell from the look on her face that having daddy ask her to turn around for the 50 millionth time is wearing on her. I just want to watch the skid steer loaders, dad!

Our loop through the new phase was nearing an end, so I promised to stop bugging her and just have fun exploring around the new construction. With a handy-dandy app on phone, I tracked our total time and distance for our hunting adventure which came out to just under 2 miles.

Distance Covered on WOOM Bike

With several stops to watch and wave and me in my boot, I’d say 43 minutes is pretty good. Now we have a goal to beat this time/distance, I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂

There’s nothing like rewarding yourself with a cool dip in the pool after a long hunting trip via bike and boot, and that’s exactly what we did.

Smiling Pool Selfie with Daddy

Just what we needed. Hopefully this trend continues as we’re both having fun in the sun and it doesn’t cost a ton. Okay, I’m done with the rhymes…..for now.