breaking up is hard to do
Hey, y’all. I just wanted to write a brief post to say that I’m not going to be blogging anymore.
There’s a lot of personal reasons behind this. Basically, I need to work on myself and my life privately, without a blog. Add those things on top of being back in school full-time and all the stress of that has made me lose focus on what’s really important in my life. To get back to reality, I’ve decided to cut back on areas where I can. Maybe once I regain a sense of normalcy and am feeling back to normal, I’ll come back to blogging. But for now, I think it’s the best decision.
With that said, I’ve made some amazing pals through the blog. Your hilarious comments and heartwarming e-mails have been constant highlights throughout this whole thing. You all are awesome, and of course I’ll still be reading your blogs!
I wish I could offer more of an explanation, but it’s just a personal thing. Thanks for reading! Oh, and keep in touch!
Oh, and while you’re at it, be sure to visit Chocolate Covered Katie’s blog in order to help Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness.
soup, there it is!
Since the holiday season is quickly approaching, I’m going to spread a little joy and share some of my favorite thing:
2. Soup!
Y’all, I really love soup. I love it so much that I would eat it every single day if I could. I generally don’t want until the weather cools down to consume it (hello, I live in Florida! I’d be waiting for awhile!), but it’s always better when it’s not 90+ degrees. Although, when it is warm, raw blended soups and/or gazpacho are always welcome. But lately I’ve been craving a lot of warm, hearty, cooked soups. Lentil, vegetable, potato, tomato: all favorites. And hey, let’s not forget about chili. The thing about soup is that even when they’re made vegan, everyone seems to enjoy them. Sure, there are some people that appreciate a nice hunk of dead animal in their soup, but generally I can get all the omnivores in my life eat (and enjoy!) the soup I make.
Lately I’ve been in a food rut. I’m eating more raw foods for breakfast, lunch and snacks, but night time I really want cooked food. Too lazy to get out multiple pots and pans, soup is the perfect answer. Chop up some veggies, cook them with some water or broth, add seasonings, maybe some beans or more veggies, and voila. I really like coconut milk based soups because duh, I love coconut, but also because of the richness. So, when I saw that Mama Pea posted a soup recipe containing all ingredients I had in my kitchen, I was ecstatic! Let me introduce you to my new love, Red Lentil Kabocha Curry Soup.
I made a few modifications (because I can rarely make recipes as written) including omitting the celery (not a fan), adding ground coriander and more cumin (in addition to the garam masala) because I freaking love coriander & cumin, left out the tomato paste and didn’t sweeten it at all. Thank goodness for my KitchenAid immersion blender. This stuff may not be the prettiest, but it is delicious:
Next up on the soup making front:
- Alison’s Curried Squash & Apple Soup
- Marissa’s Roasted Garlic Soup with Lentils
- Jessy’s Spicy Mexi-Meatlessball Soup
You know what goes awesome with soup? Salad. Here’s an awesome fall-inspired one I made to go alongside:
Mixed greens, roasted butternut squash, sliced apple, pecan, dried cranberries, and cinnamon agave mustard vinaigrette. Amazing.
So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to spend some more time with Justin Timberlake and Hulu. Goodnight!
musings on health
Hi y’all! Today I wanted to write about something that’s been on my mind for awhile, which is the idea of “health” and who gets to define it. I read a lot of blogs – healthy living blogs, vegan blogs, feminist blogs, body image blogs, fat acceptance blogs, etc. Some of the blogs I read negate my personal beliefs and opinions, and I realized something yesterday: that is okay. There is not one picture perfect idea of “health” because that word means something different to everyone.
While the World Health Organization has defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” which opens up a lot of interpretations. Some people assume that being healthy automatically means being thin, but we know that just isn’t true. Fine, then, so what does being healthy entail? That’s a pretty personal question. For me, being healthy means that I am eating well, getting enough sleep, moving my body, not letting stress get to me too much (I think being stress-free as a student would be nearly impossible), my mental health is stable, and I am surviving. In essence, it’s all about being well and taking care. I’ve talked about that a bit, and one day I’ll update those pesky pages (thanks for mentioning it, Erin!)
When I think especially about health and food, I think of my own personal journey toward healthy eating and how it all came to be. Right now, I think I eat pretty healthy. I avoid processed foods, try to stay away from white flour and too much sugar, eat a plant-based diet, enjoy my healthy fats & complex carbohydrates, limit my caffeine intake and enjoy food without overdoing it. I don’t really do a lot of breads or pastas because as someone who is insulin resistant, that isn’t healthy for me. However, someone else might perceive their whole wheat pasta and whole grain bread to be healthy for them. And that is okay. Like I said, there isn’t one perfect way everyone should eat, despite what people often say. I think, when it comes to healthy eating, you have to find what works for you. Right now, a good mixture of raw foods and cooked foods are working for me. For some people, that might be a joke. Some people might enjoy small bites of rich food, and some might enjoy gigantic salads for every meal. I truly don’t think there is any correct “diet” out there, provided you’re eating real food and not man-made stuff. Now, I guess that seems a little hypocritical of me to say that, but I don’t really think Nutri-grain bars should belong in anyone’s daily diet, but again, that’s a personal choice.
Going back to that definition of health and knowing that it’s a multi-factorial equation, I think a lot of people ignore that. You can work out like crazy but live off grilled chicken and protein shakes (seriously, I met a guy at my old gym once who told me that vegetables had too many carbs in them so he avoided them. Um, what?!) and think you’re healthy, but that person could have high cholesterol. Is that person still healthy? What about the 200lb. woman who completes 10Ks, eats a clean diet of natural and unprocessed food but has high blood pressure due to genetics? Is that person still healthy? To me, it’s absurd that a physically fit person who is disease-free but eats a diet lacking essential nutrients would be considered healthier than an “overweight” person who eats well and works out. This society places way too much emphasis on numbers in general – weight, BMI, measurements, etc. Can health solely be measured by those numbers? No. Sure, they can help in some instances, but they are in no way a concrete mile marker.
Finally, I think people often ignore the mental and social aspects of health. By placing all the importance on the physical – food & fitness – then everything else gets lost. We’re finally to a point where researchers are talking about the importance of getting enough sleep, decreasing stress in your life, and taking charge of your health in these ways as a way to supplement your physical health.
I guess what it comes down to is that I’m sick of all the judgment, of all constant criticism, of all the ideas of the way one should live their life. I’m victim to it, too. Sometimes I find myself reading people’s blogs going “oh, wow, I couldn’t ever imagine eating that!” and I don’t know if it’s because I’m afraid or because I truly have gotten to a place where I know my body and I know what it likes and what it doesn’t like. Everyone has an opinion, yeah, but I think ultimately healthy living comes down to finding what works for you. So when I find myself thinking that, I have to step back and realize that the judgment? It’s just not cool. Some people like cardio, some people don’t. Some people like pasta, some people don’t. Sometimes I worry that reading food blogs has furthered my venture of disordered eating, but I think in reality that it’s actually helped me overcome a lot of my ideas about what a person should or shouldn’t do or eat. So just like my journey to accept my body for what it can do instead of what it can’t, I’m accepting this notion of health and what it is to me, and I’m continuing to do what works best for me, which might not work for you.
So, how do you define healthy living? Do you think that blogs can have a negative impact on your self-image and your ideas to your personal health? Have you found what works best for you?
vegan mofo: the last raw wednesday of october
Let’s see if I can rock Vegan MoFo the last few days of October since I did a craptacular job of keeping up with it. Hey, college, I blame you!
Today was the last Raw Wednesday of the month, but for me, probably not. I’ve been experiencing a lot of digestive problems as of lately and I’m thinking of making the full jump to a high-raw diet. I plan on taking it real slow, not worrying about being “100%”, definitely not buying a million superfoods, and I’ll still be eating cooked food, just less of certain things. I’ve noticed that my body does not like an abundance of soy or gluten, which I’ve been easing away from slowly for the past few months. I can handle tempeh and sprouted grain bread, so I’m keeping those in my diet in small quantities. I also know that I can’t eat an insane amount of beans, nor can I go crazy with the nuts/oils, so this is going to be interesting. I plan on doing lots of fresh veggies, juices & smoothies, big salads, soups (both raw and cooked) and with “winter” (wait, what’s that?!) approaching, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give up my sweet potatoes or gourds. Let’s face it: I’m a girl who loves her gourds! With that said, I’m not holding myself to any impossible standards, and it is not my intention to be a full-fledged raw foodist or turn my nose up at cooked food. I’m simply testing out what I think is going to be best for my body at this time. We’ll see how it goes!
I find myself craving green smoothies these days so that’s exactly what I had today. Actually, I had some warm water with lemon instead of coffee this morning (trying to cut back, yet again) and the smoothie came an hour later. It was consumed while driving to hit up the produce store and the health food store to buy myself a kombucha as a “congrats!” present for getting an A+ on a paper that nearly killed me. Green smoothies, you own me:
(I really need to invest in glass straws!)
As I was driving around, I passed by one of my favorite little Middle Eastern joints and debated hitting it up for some falafel and hummus. If you know me at all, you know that falafel is the love of my life and I would do anything to sleep under a booth at Sultan’s Market in Chicago to eat that wondrous falafel every single day of my life. Alas, the last thing I need right now is fried balls of dough, but a raw version? Hm, let’s try that out.
(Sidenote: I never, ever write recipes down when making things since I am too scatterbrained for that, but it was a mixture of raw pepitas, raw almonds, raw garlic, shallot, cilantro, parsley, cumin, sea salt, lemon juice and tahini whizzed in the food processor. I rolled them into balls and voila, falafels! I decided to dehydrate the ones that I didn’t devour immediately but to be honest, they came out a little dry.)
These suckers were eaten on a romaine boat with cucumber, orange bell pepper, tomato and a dill-tahini dressing. Let’s just say that I am awesome and this was one of the best lunches I’ve had in awhile.
After lunch, I decided to attack the rest of the romaine and make salads for the next two days:
I really, really hate the white ribs that are found in romaine, which is why I rarely buy it. Give me mixed greens or give me death! I intended to the romaine hearts for juicing, but I’ve been slacking with healthy lunches to take to school so falafel salad it is.
Snack was an unpictured Honeycrisp apple. To those of you who live near SuperTarget, they’re selling (conventional) honeycrisp apples in bulk for a ridiculous price! I know I should be eating organic apples but I don’t so let’s not give me a lecture, thanks. Anyway, Target has 4lbs for $5 or something crazy. Raw apple crisp, anyone?!
I find that I want cooked food at night. I think it’s a comfort thing, or maybe because it’s freezing in this house (to compensate for the ridiculous temps outside – hey Florida, did you get the memo that it’s nearly November?) so I hacked open a spaghetti squash, roasted it and made a lovely little veggie topping for it. Caramelized onions, garlic, mushrooms, spinach and sauce on a bed of puh-sketti squash with Marissa’s vegan parm? So good.
And finally, I’ve been craving a Reese’s cup for days. I haven’t had one of those in almost two years, but I could still taste the chocolate and peanut butter. I wasn’t going to stop thinking about it until I had it. I whipped up a mini version of Ani Phyo’s Liquid Chocolate (but added a little sea salt because what is better than sea salt+chocolate?), poured it in a mini ramekin, threw in some raw almond butter, topped it with more chocolate and stuck it in the freezer until it hardened. It may not be the prettiest thing in the world but it was AMAZING.
Now I’m sipping on some Vanilla Sleepytime Tea and about to finish some readings for school. Hope everyone had a fantastic (Raw) Wednesday! Take care.
happy love your body day!
(Image courtesy of Now Foundation)
Today is Love Your Body Day! Gina and Annabel have already written amazing posts that have made me tear up a little bit, so please check those out.
Now, for a little bit about my struggle with body image.
First of all, I am not thin. I haven’t been thin since I was 7 years old. I was the fat girl in elementary, middle and high school. I still am. But there’s a difference between then and now. Then, I believed everything that people told me: that I was worthless and stupid because of my size, that I was ugly because of how much I weighed, that no one would ever love me because of the way I looked. I started dieting at an early age, and began an unhealthy relationship with food. I struggled (and sometimes do) still struggle with disordered eating and body image. I break down in dressing rooms and sometimes envy my thinner friends. I criticized other people to make me feel better about myself. I missed out on a lot of awesome opportunities in life because I was ashamed and embarrassed.
But I don’t want to do that anymore. I made it a goal that in 2009 I was going to work on being healthier. I spent years making New Year’s Resolutions that I never attained – like “lose __ pounds” or “fit into a size __” and for me, making those kinds of goals always set me up for failure because if I didn’t deliver, I was always bummed. This year, I made it a mission to get rid of the junk in my life: the crappy food I was eating, the negative thoughts I was constantly thinking, the influences that continuously reminded me that I wasn’t worthy unless I was a certain size. I know that health is a journey and not an overnight process, and that I’m going to continue learning.
Nowadays, I’m focused on health. I have a rule that I don’t eat things I don’t enjoy and I have a much better relationship with food. I used to force myself to eat rice cakes because they were “good” for me (well now, that’s debatable – they’re low calorie, sure, but also LOW FLAVOR). Nowadays, I’d rather eat a Honeycrisp apple, a handful of raw nuts, or guacamole & raw flax crackers. This kind of food makes me feel good. I know that I still have an unhealthy relationship with some things, and moderation, in my opinion, just doesn’t work for some people (some people being me!). I eat chocolate, I drink wine, I eat nuts and avocados, and I love every single thing I put in my mouth, not only because it’s good for my body but because they taste good. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m not focusing on calories and calculating Weight Watchers points in my head, nor am I thinking how many hours I would have to work out to burn that calorie off. I eat to live. To me, learning how to reprogram the way I view food is just one step I can take to have a healthy relationship with my body, because food has been one of the things that has made me hate it for so long.
Basically, I’ve been fighting with my body for years, and I’m sick of it. By focusing on and controlling what goes in it and what types of movement I do, it’s made me a happier and healthier person. There’s still a lot of things I want to work on and change, and some things I am super proud of. My legs are strong and I am able to walk my heart out, but especially those strong calves that help carry me up the 38437 flights of stairs I walk up every day. My core is constantly challenging me with plank. My arms can pick up all the amazing little kids in my family. I am able to do things that some people can’t, so instead of focusing on what you dislike about your body, why don’t you think about the things you love?
Finally, I’d like to quote Annabel from Feed Me I’m Cranky because this is so true, so honest, and so brave of her to admit:
“The thing is, you have been my punching bag — and you have always bounced back to literally take me forward, even if the steps were small and cautious. I have spent so much time hating you. I have spent so much time comparing you to other bodies and lamenting you. I have spent so much time separating you from my soul — thinking that if you would just change, get a little slimmer here and there, tighten up over there, then things would be perfect. What a joke, body!”
Now in honor of my body, I’m going to get out there and go for a nice long walk and do some yoga. Have a great day everyone!
trying new things
Hey, y’all! (Yeah, I say that like Paula Deen.)
I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a lot of new things in the mail and/or have tried new things recently, and it’s about time I tell you about them. Sorry for slacking, but things have been crazy.
New To Me
First of all, thanks to POM Wonderful for allowing me to sample more of their awesome juice. Here we have Pomegranate Kiwi and Pomegranate Nectarine, which was half consumed at the time of this photograph. My favorite way to drink POM is to mix equal parts green tea, sparkling water and POM juice. The nice fruitiness of these made this concoction taste ESPECIALLY amazing. I am a lover of all things citrus-flavored, so I have to say that the nectarine flavor was spectacular, though the kiwi was also wonderful. If you drink POM juice, check these out at your local store and see if you can find them!
Next up is the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer. I’ve been wanting to try this stuff for a long time now, and I finally got my hands on some. Thank you to the kind folks at Sequel Naturals! I actually haven’t tried this one yet because I wanted to save it for a nice recovery shake, so next time I get in a good workout (which will hopefully be tomorrow!) then I will let you know. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this stuff, but as a lover of all things hemp (yes, even mud, Heather!), I have high hopes for them. I’m still in the process of reading Thrive and am trying to follow as many of the principles offered, so these came at the perfect time.
So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer: SCORE! I finally found this at my favorite health food store and I am in love. Here’s a secret, y’all: I used to be addicted to CoffeeMate. I cut that out when I quit dairy almost two years ago, but I still miss it. Almond milk+stevia have ruled my life and while my coffee and/or tea still tastes pretty good, this stuff is amazing. Mix this with Celestial Seasonings Coconut Vanilla Chai = heaven. So thankful for the So Delicious Coconut Milk line. (Note: it’s a splurge at around $2 per tiny little carton, but treating myself once or twice a month is something I will allow.)
Peter of Living Harvest was kind enough to send me a coupon to try out their hemp milk, since I was always curious. I hit up Whole Foods and found them (on sale!) and picked up the unsweetened original, since the vanilla and chocolate varieties had over 20g of sugar for one cup. My initial thoughts: a little watery, since I’m used to almond milk. But then the nutty flavor hit and it was awesome. I wouldn’t be drinking this solo (I don’t tend to drink non-dairy milk by the place, anyway) but it was great in cereal (fruit cereal, that is) and in oats. It’s a little pricier than my almond milk, so it will be another splurge, but I loved it. It does have some benefits that almond milk doesn’t due to the omega 3 and 6. For more information on omega’s, check out my pal Gena’s awesome post on them. And thanks again to Peter and Living Harvest! I just found out that select Publix locations also carry this so I’ll be stocking up when I see it.
Randomness
Speaking of the fantastic Gena, she tagged me with some blog awards. First up is the Over the Top award:
The first requires to answer this survey with one word. I’m a woman of many words, so we’ll see how I handle this.
1. Where is your cell phone? Nighstand
2. Your hair? Up
3. Your mother? Friend
4. Your father? Comical
5. Your favorite food? Mexican
6. Your dream last night? Terrifying
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Completion
9. What room are you in? Living
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? North
13. Where were you last night? Bed
14. Something you aren’t? Cruel
15. Muffins? Banana
16. Wish list item? MacBook
17. Where did you grow up? Orlando
18. Last thing you did? Drank
19. What are you wearing? Pajamas
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pets? Twee
22. Your friends? Awesome
23. Your life? Busy
24. Your mood? Pleased
25. Missing someone? Richard
26. Vehicle? Trusty
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When was the last time you laughed? Earlier
31. Last time you cried? Sunday
32. Your best friend? Richard
33. One place that I go over and over? School
34. One person who emails me regularly? Meredith
35. Favorite place to eat? Chipotle
The second is the Kreativ Blogger Award (it’s really hard to not type “creative” – hey, I’m a spelling nerd!).
This one asks that I tell you 7 random things you might not know about me. Here goes nothing!
1. I fall asleep in tree pose every single night. Yeah, I’m weird, you don’t have to remind me.
2. I’m getting my bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies with a minor in Sociology. My dear friend Ashleigh is one of my heroes and major sources of inspiration and has helped me over the years.
3. I have a little bit of a fascination/slight obsession with crime TV shows, but particularly Law & Order, Criminal Minds, and CSI. Sometimes I think about minoring in criminology, but then I realize that being forced to carry around a gun would terrify me.
4. Despite the fact that I was born and raised in Florida for nearly a quarter of a century, I hate the beach and warm weather. On the flip side, I spent a winter in Chicago and detest the snow.
5. I have never been outside of the country, and this depresses me. I don’t even have a passport. One of these days…
6. Music is an important part of my life, and has been for quite some time. And yes, I still buy CD’s and vinyl.
7. This is not so much a random fact about me, but just a fact: The Wire is the best thing that ever happened to television and I am kind of obsessed with it. You all should watch it. Wait, does this overlap with #3 too much?!
I’m supposed to tag 7 people to do this, but I’ve seen a majority of my blog pals do them so I’ll just tag anyone who hasn’t done it to go for it! I love learning new (and random!) things about people, so I look forward to them. I’m a nerd, huh?
Anyway, that’s all the randomness one girl can handle for a night. Have a great Tuesday, y’all! Looking forward to Raw Wednesday tomorrow. I’ve checked out a copy of Ani’s Raw Desserts and have a feeling something from that will be making an appearance tomorrow, so wait and see!
clean eating/vegan mofo, day seven: raw wednesday, take two
I meant to post this last night, but sleep won. Actually, Bastard Out of Carolina and Criminal Minds won. Then sleep. Remember that whole “lights out by 9PM” thing? Yeah, totally not happening. Maybe next week!
Breakfast was the usual suspect: green smoothie. I was not in the mood to clean the juicer, plus the produce drawer wasn’t looking as good as normal. Okay, truth? I was out of beets, and I really freaking love beets in my juice, so I decided to forego it all together. Anyway, this green smoothie was different: I made my own hemp milk for it! Knowing that using the Living Harvest (well, Tempt) hemp milk would make it not technically 100% raw, I decided to blend some hemp seeds and water together with a tiny squirt (<1tsp) of agave to see how it was. Result: awesome. The thing about hemp milk that I love is the nutty flavor. The thing about it that I dislike: it’s creamy yet watery at the same time. Does that make sense? That applies to both the Living Harvest/Tempt brand as well as homemade.
So into the blender went:
1 c homemade hemp milk
2 c organic baby spinach
2 T ground flax
1 overripe frozen banana
1 T extra virgin coconut oil
Blend, baby, blend.
Heaven in a glass. I don’t know where I would be without these babies. Thank goodness for Nutiva, eh?
These things fueled me during a marathon errand running session. Two different grocery stores, Target, post office, bank, library, Goodwill dropoff, voila:
Larabar kindly sent me a few flavors that I couldn’t find. What I mean by that is: Whole Foods is almost always out of the pistachio and cinnamon roll flavor, and Publix doesn’t sell either of those. In fact, I’ve only seen: Peanut Butter, Coconut, Cashew and Apple at Publix. So I did what any respectable blogger would do: I asked for a free sample. Reason #1284737 why I love Larabars. Verdict: Pistacho is freaking awesome, and now I know why I can’t find it. (Fun fact about me: the pistachio is my favorite nut.)
Lunch was quick and easy. Throw all the leftover produce you have into the food processor and whiz it up. I added some salt, garlic & olive oil. Voila! Gazpacho is served.
Tomato, cucumber, yellow pepper, red onion, garlic, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, diced avocado on top. My kind of lunch, especially on a hot day.
I was slightly embarassed by my dinner and didn’t take a picture. Rye bread with hummus, tomato and pickles. Yeah, didn’t feel like cooking (or uncooking, either). I don’t really think that works for the Clean Eating Challenge, but screw it. Dessert, however, was deserving of a photograph:
Prunes, dark chocolate chips and raw almond butter. Fantastic.
I’ve been envisioning a raw Indian-inspired “rice” dish so I think I’ll get to work on that. I’m not a fan of raw cauliflower usually, but pulsed into “rice” I think I can handle it. I’ll let you all know what happens with that. Until next time…
clean eating/vegan mofo, day six: the good things
We’re 11 days into October and I’ve done six days of Vegan MoFo. Not bad, but not excellent. I’ll work on getting better. I am happy to report that the Clean Eating Challenge is going excellent. Last week I had an incident with way too many blue corn chips (Publix Greenwise Organic Blue Corn Chips are my favorite!) and that was about as “unclean” as it got. Everything else has been fresh, fresh, fresh. I am proud of myself!
These are some of the good things in my life as of lately:
Delicious green smoothies. My new favorite secret ingredient: extra virgin coconut oil!
Who needs a VitaMix or a BlendTec when you have your own Hamilton Beach personal blender? Um, well, I would still like one of those, but for now this $15 contraption works just fine. It doesn’t like ice all that much, but I make it work. New favorite smoothie combination: spinach + overripe frozen banana + hemp milk (review coming later!) + ground flax + coconut oil = delicious nutritional powerhouse.
Also currently loving veggies and raw tahini dip. These have fueled me through many study sessions this week:
About once a month, I crave pizza really bad. Richard and I went to Mellow Mushroom last week and to be honest, it wasn’t as good as it usually is. Maybe I should have switched it up and ordered something different, but oh well. I decided to make some spelt pizza crust on the fly on Friday night and quickly realized I had no tomato sauce and really didn’t feel like making my own, so I opted for a spinach pesto topping with sliced tomatoes. Simplicity at its best. It was awesome:
Other things I’ve been enjoying but have not photographed: tons of avocados (my one true love!), Gingerberry kombucha and chocolate cherry “milkshakes”. No complaints here!
It’s raining, I’ve got tons of work to do, and the Wii is calling my name. See y’all later!
ch-ch-changes
Tuuuuurn and face the strain! Ahem, now that I got your attention, I’ve got some things to say.
When I first started this blog, I wanted it to be a place where I could be open about all the changes I was making in my life on this mission to better my health and myself. I didn’t want this to be a food blog, nor did I intend for it to be. I have no intention to photograph everything I eat, but I do like taking pics of certain things to share and also to keep myself accountable. To be well and take care means to live well and to take care of yourself. To me, that is all about eating well, listening to your body, taking care of yourself, getting in some movement, taking time to relax, getting enough sleep, doing whatever it is that makes you feel your best.
Truth be told, I haven’t been doing much of that. I’ve been eating mostly well and getting enough sleep (because I can’t function without 8 hours, so it’s very rare that I am sleep deprived), but everything else? Totally went out the window. I haven’t been moving my body enough, relaxing, or taking care of myself. I’m becoming messier and more disorganized, I’m wearing t-shirts and hoodies and not taking any time to get dressed and feel good about myself, and I’m constantly in a rush. I need to slow it down and get it together.
So, I’m going to start writing down mini-goals that I would like to accomplish to get things back on track. For the next week, I’m going to be living by these rules:
- T-shirts are not allowed unless they are being worn to sleep or to work out in.
- Yoga and Wii Active at least 3 times a week.
- Spending 5-10 minutes stretching upon waking up instead of heading straight for the shower and/or laptop.
- Turning off the laptop and TV at 9PM and spending an hour relaxing before bed.
- Spending 15 minutes cleaning/organizing.
- Making sure that my desk is free of clutter every day so I can have a place to do work.
This all begins…now. Time to turn off the computer. Goodnight!
