July Favorites

Seriously, how is July over already? What happened to summer?! (Read more about my end-of-summer laments here!) Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the things I've been loving this month.

Food: salads

I've had more time to prepare my lunches this month, so I've made a lot of salads lately. My favorite salad has lettuce, tomato, corn, and avocado in it, plus a seasoning that ties it all together. I'm planning on doing a post about it some time in the near future, so look for that soon!

Fitness: running

Okay, this is slightly boring, but being able to run after a long break has been great. I really missed it...enough said! (Read more of my running sentiments here.)

Book: "VB6"

This past month I've been really interested in veganism and this book, by Mark Bittman was one of my favorite reads. He talks about the benefits of a vegan diet, and promotes an everyday diet of eating vegan until 6:00 (or dinner time). From dinner on, you can eat whatever you want. This approach is really interesting to me; it's easier and more moderate than going fully vegan. This book, and other books and documentaries I've read/seen lately, has motivated me to eat a more plant-based diet.

Random: Forever 21

I've gone through phases of loving Forever 21. There will be times when I can't find anything there that I like, and then I'll go through a phase where everything there is absolutely amazing. Right now I'm in one of the latter phases. Bags, and rings, and jeans, and T-shirts...suffice it to say that I'm obsessed with Forever 21 right now!

What have you been loving this month?

Random Tuesday: a sunflower forest, looking forward & back

I'm calling today's post a non-legit post, since this isn't necessarily about anything health- or fitness-related. It's just a good day! I mean, I have a sunflower forest in my back yard, come on! Sometimes you just feel like rambling a tad, ya know?

My Sunflower Forest...

Anyway...how on earth is it July 30th already? Summer is more than half over! It will be sorely missed when fall rolls around. Swimming, boating, hiking, camping, morning runs, lots of daylight, not to mention all the in-season fruits and vegetables...yup, I'm going to miss it! At least fall is pretty great too. I'm looking forward to sweaters, and changing leaves, and more hot chocolate! 

That's about it for my quick ramble! Yes, fall will be good, but I'm going to make sure that summer gets soaked up as much as possible. 

Have a lovely day! 

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What's your favorite thing about summer? About fall?

Motivation Monday: Healthy?

"Just because you're not sick, doesn't mean you're healthy." I picked up this phrase the other day, possibly from one of the vegan documentaries I've been watching lately. It pretty much sums up everything that I want to convey to people in my normal life that I see eating unhealthily. Not that I'm that annoying friend that nags everyone about what they're eating...or at least I hope I'm not! But it makes me cringe inside when I see people eat fast food for most meals, who are perfectly fine with it because it doesn't make them sick or gain weight or anything. Just because you're not overweight doesn't mean you're healthy! Your body is a machine and, like any machine, needs the proper fuel.Think about what you're putting into your body on a daily basis. Do those foods have the right nutrients to keep your body running well?

If you're that one friend, who is sometimes slightly appalled at the diet of those around you, and who is consciously trying to eat the right foods, keep it up! You're great for sticking it out! When everyone around you isn't living mindfully, be proud that you're choosing a better life for yourself. In the long run, you will be the one better off.

It's easy to get discouraged when you see people around you eating badly and not suffering any ill effects. Don't be! Think of the big picture. What really matters is that you're giving your body the fuel it needs. Take confidence in this knowledge and keep going!

Strawberry Protein Smoothie

I am a total fan of smoothies; I'm pretty sure I could eat one every day! I love experimenting with different ingredients and trying different combinations of fruits in my smoothies. Here's the general recipe for my favorite smoothie to make. It's creamy, delicious, and healthy at the same time! I don't usually measure when I make smoothies, so these amounts are close approximations. Also, I like my smoothies fairly thick, so you may want to put in more water or almond milk to thin it out. Feel free to add more or less of any other particular ingredient to your own taste!

Ingredients

5 oz. Greek yogurt (I used the peach flavor from Dannon)

1/2 frozen banana

3 frozen strawberries

2 ice cubes

2-3 strawberries (unfrozen)

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

approx. 1/4 C almond milk

approx. 1/8 C water

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high.

Enjoy the deliciousness of your smoothie!

 

Calories: 225/ Carbs: 29g/ Fat: 2g/ Protein: 25g/ Sodium: 120mg/ Sugar: 20g 

30 Minute Circuit

Here's a circuit workout I came up with to go along with the rest of my workout this morning! For me, it wasn't the most difficult workout I've ever done, but it's a good moderate-to-low intensity circuit that targets all the major muscle groups. Without any breaks, this takes 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Motivation Monday: What Do You Love?

A couple days ago I heard a new phrase that I'd never heard before, but liked at once: You sacrifice for what you love. This brought to mind all the things in my life that I love and I thought about how I sacrifice for each of them. Family, friends, church, and my health were some of the prominent ones.

If you love yourself, you'll sacrifice for yourself. For me, it's easier to sacrifice for friends, family, and church than it is to sacrifice for my health. It's a lot easier to think up excuses for why I should skip my morning workout or why I should eat a quick frozen hot pocket for lunch instead of cutting up veggies for a salad.

Take a few minutes to think about what you love. Hopefully, loving yourself should be right up there near the top of your list. This week, try bring that to mind whenever you're in the middle of a lazy moment and you don't want to spend extra time preparing food or going for a run. You sacrifice for what you love! If loving yourself isn't near the top of that list, I promise that consciously trying to be healthy and treat yourself right for even a week will help bring it up there. I dare you to try it!

A Notebook and a Pen

Along the lines of consciously choosing to live healthily, here's one thing that really works for me: I take the time each night to plan out the next day's events and food and such. I have a simple, spiral-bound notebook that I write everything down in. Well, not every single little detail...that's a little excessive. Just a general outline. Mixed in with normal things like waking up, working out, and teaching piano, I write in the things I'm going to eat for snacks, breakfast, lunch, etc. This helps me follow through on my workouts, since having them written down somehow makes me feel more accountable. It also helps when I have those lame moments when it's lunchtime and I'm standing in front of the open fridge or pantry, trying to decide what to eat. When I'm hungry, I'm much more likely to impulsively eat lots of chips or crackers that aren't super healthy if I haven't planned better ideas out before.

Along with meals and snacks, I jot down a general to-do list on my notebook page, and maybe a motivational tidbit or two. I like just using a blank notebook page because I like being able to make my page a little more personal.

If you're not the best at keeping your day structured and productive (like me!), I definitely recommend planning your day out the night before. You can use a fancy planner, or a notebook, or your phone, or whatever! Just write it down!


Question of the day: What do you use to stay organized and on-track?