Monthly Archives: April 2016
5 Things Thursdays
Good morning! I’m in full-on spring cleaning mode for the day and have my to-do list written out. For some reason, writing everything down keeps me on track (plus it feels awesome every time you get to cross something off).
So today I’m kicking off a new weekly series called 5 Things Thursdays: The Top Five Things I’ve heard, seen, read, or tasted this week! There are so many inspiring health and fitness bloggers that I follow, and that’s actually how I am introduced to a lot of the new brands, foods, music, or tv shows that I try. Usually I end up loving what my fellow bloggers recommend, and I’ve started to compile my own list of things that I found particularly outstanding that week.
Feel free to leave a comment with a Thursday Thing of your own! :)
1.) The Barkley Marathons documentary (on Netflix!)
This is no “color run”. This race is pure evil, and these runners are pure crazy. The film is about an “underground” race in rural Tennessee that attracts ultra runners with a need to test their own physical limits. This one might only appeal to runners, but the quality of the 90-minute documentary was really well put together and so interesting, with plenty of humor thrown in.
One of the runners featured in the documentary was from Arizona. I went to school in Flagstaff, AZ at Northern Arizona University which has a noticeably “hippy” culture. I jokingly said to my dad that this kid looks like he’s from Flagstaff. Well, I googled him and it turns out we both went to NAU at the same time! He tried out for the cross country team (that I was on) and didn’t make it – now he’s one of the up and coming elite runners in the country. Random but cool :)
2.) The Wonder List with Bill Weir
This weekly cable television show follows former sports newscaster Bill Weir to a new international location each week. He interviews locals, learns about the culture, and talks about all of the changes that the environment is going through. Okay, I’m making it sound a lot more boring than it is….Bill is a natural storyteller and the scenery is amazing. I’ve learned about the feminist culture of Iceland, the longevity of people living in Blue Zones, and most recently the diminishing water supply of the Colorado River. But I promise it’s not as National Geographic as it sounds; it’s the kind of reporting that makes you realize how enormous this earth is and how little we really know.
3.) Caramelized Honey flavor at Starbucks
Three years ago, I blogged about my intense love for the honey latte at Starbucks (here) and it still continues to be one of my most-viewed pages every single day. Apparently Starbucks accepted our honey nostalgia and introduced caramelized honey flavor! I added two pumps of the caramelized honey to a venti iced americano (I think venti’s usually have 6 pumps?) and it was perfection.
4.) “Sweet Beginnings” by Bebe Rexha
On repeat.
5.) Panera Bread’s New (Secret?) Salad Menu
Last week I met a friend for lunch at Panera Bread. As a semi-regular at Panera (or Paradise Bakery, as it goes by in Arizona) I know the menu by heart. On Monday, I noticed so many unfamiliar words on the menu board: Watermelon Feta Almond Salad / Green Goddess Cobb / Chili Lime Taco with Quinoa / Chinese Citrus Cashew
Brand new flavas!
Two days later I went to a different Panera location, and they didn’t have ANY of these new salads. They aren’t online either. No one has posted anything about them. Is it a one-location thing? Like a test? I wish I would have tried more! Watermelon Feta with Almonds……? I hope they add these everywhere soon!
There’s my list. Short n’ sweet :) Feel free to share anything you’d add in the comments!
What Happens After Graduation
I finally broke up with my “Student-Athlete in love with health and fitness” tag line in the blog header above. About time, considering I only graduated….11 months ago. It took me a ridiculously long time to settle on “Post-Grad Life – Balancing Health & Happiness.” Finding a new direction takes time, y’all!
The timing of this is so appropriate and unplanned, since most of you are in college yourselves and graduation season is just around the corner!
Now that I’ve officially cut ties with my student-athlete title (no looking back now!), it’s time to fully embrace the unpredictability and freedom that come with that first year out of school. There are unlimited directions. You can eat gummy worms for breakfast. You can move to a new city. You’re probably going to want to update that resume.
The most important thing that I can offer one year after graduating: be flexible with your plans.
Having goals for our career and lifestyle once we earn that degree is expected, but make sure you aren’t getting caught up in what everyone else is doing. Figuring out post-grad life isn’t a race or a competition; try to focus on working towards your own goals instead of comparing everyone else’s. Especially not what they’re showing on social media – you have no idea what else is going on behind the scenes of that strategically and perfectly curated post!
We see other people’s individual achievements and take them as a collective goal. What I mean by that is we see one friend with their dream job, someone else with the most gorgeously decorated loft apartment, another friend with a daily habit of $15 Whole Foods smoothies, a different someone with the most flawless make-up and hair, someone else in the most inspiring relationship and yet another who seems to spend everyday on a hammock at the beach sipping sangria (with a ridiculous bikini bod, to boot). And as a natural human instinct, we want all of these things too! We take these individual accomplishments and expect ourselves to achieve them all. But the reality is – no one has them ALL at the same time.
I think that social media, “reality” television, and our generation’s culture in general have provided a false sense of reality for a post-graduate. Of course there are the lucky select few who are the exception to this rule. In general, though, the vast majority of recent college graduates (or just those in their early 20’s) should expect to put a lot of time, energy and sacrifice into working towards the lifestyle that they admire. Dream jobs don’t land in your lap, and oftentimes they require a great deal of tedious or dirty work at first. Expensive habits like daily fancy coffees, superfood green juices and bottles of champagne can only happen if you pay your utilities, gas, phone bill, etc. first. (If you have to prioritize, hint: electricity > organic donuts.) And things don’t happen exactly as you picture them in your head. Exhibit A:
I’m just going to use my own personal experience because I know a lot of my friends relate and you might too. Right before graduation, I had the fantasy goal of moving across the country, renting my own apartment, decorating it like Lauren Conrad, throwing adorable and elaborate parties, working out on the beach, finding the dream marketing job for a non-profit company with co-workers who would all become my best friends, meeting a guy straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel, running an uber-successful health and fitness blog and never feeling an ounce of stress.
There’s nothing wrong with GOALS and we should all have an idea of what lifestyle we want to create for ourselves! But expecting it all to happen the day after graduation was my downfall. I felt like having a gap between graduation day and this fantasy life meant I failed. I was disappointed that I’d have to move in with my parents until I worked everything out. My expectations were so far-fetched that I let myself feel disappointment and failure RATHER than feeling damn proud of graduating college, appreciative of my parents for all of their support, and excitement towards the possibilities of my post-grad life. No More! My parents have helped me become more realistic, and even though my personality type will always have pretty big goals and dreams for myself, I know that nothing is instant and that the time and work we put in will make it worth it. And taking a little time after graduation to figure it out is okay!
Now that I’m wrapping this up, I hope this doesn’t come across as “make your dreams smaller” or “don’t aim so high.” My original post-grad southern life on the beach is still my dream/goal/plan! I’m just saying expect to work for your goals, you have to earn that end result, and don’t set such strict deadlines. Don’t be so hard on yourself, or compare your journey to anyone else’s. It’s not a race.
And P.S. The majority of these types of posts are things that I know I need to remind MYSELF, so I’m not writing this as a mentor or a preacher – I’m right there with ya. :)
Thoughts? Post-grad experiences? What are YOUR goals?
Our Sunday Meal Prep and “Health-ified” Mini Pizzas
Nope, I didn’t sneak in an April Fools post like last year. ;) My first post of April is all about food prepping and portion control! We skipped the gym yet again in favor of an outdoor workout because the weather was just too good to ignore. Yesterday we opted for a backyard HIIT circuit, and today we jogged along the bike path by our house for an hour. It’s doing our winter-white skin some good too!
Most of the pictures on Instagram or strength training athlete’s pages make “Meal Prepping” look it’s all about containers of chicken, rice and broccoli. There’s nothing wrong with the lean and green bulk food prep, but for variety-lovers like me, there are so many more options for food prepping! If you are not a physique competitor, then meal prepping is really just about portioning out proper serving sizes and pre-planning meals and snacks.
A lot of our food prep for the week includes portioning out fruit. We LOVE fruit and it’s pretty easy for us to get our daily recommended servings since we add it to oatmeal, yogurt, afternoon snacks and sometimes dessert. Some diets (particularly those that are low-carb) warn of the high sugar content in fruit. It’s important to know that the natural sugars in fruit are paired with fiber and vitamins that slow the digestion and prevent spike in blood sugar like processed sugary snacks. Carbohydrates are also the body’s primary source of energy for every activity, and it is recommended to allocate 45-65% of your daily calories from a variety of carbohydrates. Do not fear the fruit! Ever!
For my birthday, I asked for this food scale which uses electronic codes for each ingredient to calculate not only the weight, but the calories and macronutrients as well!
Every food item has a 4 digit code that is found in the handbook. Put your food on the scale, punch in the code and it will automatically populate the nutritional information based on the grams of the food item. I’ve been really happy with it, and it definitely helps with understanding true serving sizes of meats, fruits, nuts, cheese, and other items that list their serving sizes in “grams” or “ounces.” This scale and similar ones can be found on Amazon.
In addition to produce, we like to cook up our meat and sauces for that week’s dinners. This week, “Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats” are on the menu. My dad helped pre-cook the chicken and enchilada sauce. I’ll also make a batch of protein bites if we’re all out for the week, as well as package up any snack items like pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, rice crisps, dry cereal, or my guilty pleasure – cinnamon goldfish grahams. :)
After a full day of grocery shopping, running, meal prepping, and blogging, we made some healthified mini pizzas for dinner. Mine were inspired by Taralynn over at the blog Simply Taralynn. I sliced zucchinis into long flat strips for my crust, topped with pizza sauce, cheese, pineapple, and cashews. We also found these perfectly-sized naan breads at Costco – I have never had naan before. But as a carb and bread LOVER, I was pretty excited to try them. These were a perfect personal pizza crust for my dad. I wanted too try mine plain, so I ate it on the side of my “pizzas” and salad.
And even though is may seem like a lot of food and work for one day, meal prepping absolutely makes the rest of the week so much easier for packing healthy convenient lunches and staying on track with our fitness and nutrition goals. Plus I just love seeing all of the bright & beautiful colors!
What do you meal prep on the weekends?
