Health Nuts

Happy FriYAY!!

I'm baaaaack and so excited to be with you all again :)  The end of the school year really took total control of my life, but after a week off I'm ready to play again.

So what have you all been up to?  I've been super busy with all of the upcoming vacations/weddings/tutoring/training/subbing Total Body Blast as of late...but that's for another post!

THIS ONE is about being a health nut!  I came across Nuts.com and was challenged to give some tips to go along with the 5 tips for leading a healthier life campaign.  As you all know, I'm a HUGE peanut butter lover, so I jumped on this chance.

A healthy lifestyle is something that I continually strive for.  Healthy is different for everyone and therefore a healthy lifestyle is not the same for everyone.  I try to live by 5 rules:

1.)  MOVE!  Every day I try to hit my 12,000 Fitbit steps.  I'll cop to wandering the house or putting on Zumba Youtube videos on before bed if I'm short some steps.  Our bodies were made to MOVE!  I know I always feel better after a day full of activity.  Running, dancing, biking, walking, spinning, Pilates-ing (is that a word?  Did we just invent this a la Shakespeare?) and lifting weights all keep me sane and healthy.  I always like to invite my friends to join me on workout adventures because it adds to the fun and keeps me accountable.  Would I miss this chance to Zumba with my girls every Monday night?  HECK NO!  

My friend and I a year apart...matching!
This happens once a year for some unknown reason...and only once a year

2.)  Sleep!  Ahhh, my biggest health fail.  I try and fight the good fight and every week I tell myself tonight I will sleep 8 hours, tonight I will sleep 8 hours, but then I end up getting about 6...maybe 7 if I'm lucky.  I always feel rejuvenated after a solid 8 hours of sleep.  

3.)  Hydrate!  I just bought a 48 oz Nalgene water bottle (in pink of course) and I LOVE it!  I try to fill it up twice a day.  I also start my day with 32 oz of hot hot hot water.  I find that it helps to keep me full and then even if I start slacking on my hydration throughout the day I know that I have atlas had 32 oz of water.

4.)  Me time!  Everyone always says to be present.  I think we need to be recluses every day.  I am a healthier person when I take 5-15 minutes to do nothing but hide out in my room with a book or a blog post.  We need to hide out and get some alone time to recoup and be the best person we can be.  I think being selfish is A-OK in this situation.  

5.)  Fuel!  We all need to eat good, healthy, nutritious food to keep our bodies moving to their best abilities.  Last night I had a cheat day and enjoyed The Melting Pot's 4 course meal...did I love it?  YES!  Did I feel it today when I was working out?  ABSOLUTELY!  Healthy foods fuel our lives and let us perform to our best abilities.  As a runner it is super important for me to pay attention to what I put into my body.  One of my favorite things?  Nuts!  I start the day with a dollop of peanut butter in my oatmeal.  (And I mean the REAL thang...the only ingredients in your peanut butter should be drum roll please...PEANUTS!)  I also love adding nuts like almonds or pecans to my salads.  Pine nuts add an amazing crunch to my favorite salad (pear+greens+goat cheese if you're wondering).  And I love adding walnuts to chocolate chip cookies.  I also love melting some dark chocolate (70% Cacao) and mixing it with pistachios.  Next, I fridge them for a few hours and voila!  My sweet tooth craving has been met along with getting some healthy fats, antioxidants, and protein.  

Sometimes I find it hard to find a healthy snack to meet my nutritional needs and that's when I always turn to nuts.  I can't remember a road trip in which I did not have a baggie of almonds or a self-made trail mix.  They are filling, healthy, and so versatile!  They give me that crunch that I love, plus whatever else I'm craving that day.  

If you're looking for some yummy treats head over to this site for some ideas!  The RD at Nuts.com has some great ideas for you!  https://nuts.com/healthy-snacks and https://nuts.com/healthy-snacks/high-protein

Looking forward to seeing you all soon with a little recap of what I've been up to lately!

xoxo,

e

Thankful for the Gym

Today I am thankful for my gym.  I used to go to a different gym that didn't offer classes, was full of unmotivating people, it was just blah.  It was cheap so I didn't mind paying for the membership even though I rarely went.  I would just work out at home and go on long therapeutic runs.  But NOW I love my gym!  I'm motivated to go, I have a good schedule, it's not too crowded, it's not intimidating, it's just right!  They have everything I want/need/love in a gym.  My friends? Check!  Zumba?  Check!  Pilates?  Check!  Spinning?  Check!  Total Body Class?  Check!  Weights that are not being hogged by goonsquaders?  Check!  Ellipticals?  Check!  Magazines for when I'm just looking to do a hike?  Check!  FOAM ROLLERS?  Check!  *Ermergerd I lerve form rorlers!  I just couldn't be happier and I love going (most of the time...let's be serious if eating popcorn and M&Ms on your couch while watching Christmas movies made you lose weight I would love that more than a sweat sesh)  But all in all I'm thrilled with my new gym!  I'm also thankful for the ability to work out and the free time to work out.

Where My Girls At?!

Do you remember that song?  It was a late 90's-early 2000's jam that I came to love during my awkward pre-tween years at dance.  This was one of the songs the "big girls" danced to.  By "big girls" I mean they were 13 and I was 11.  I wasn't in the much adored "big girls" class...yet.  (For any of you interested I became a "big girl" at age 12)   Anyway, I just enjoyed a mucho needed Zumba class with Stef.  The class kicked our booties and I just felt totally off.  It took me a few dances to get into my Zumba groove, eventually I got there though.  Anyway, as I looked around my Zumba class I couldn't help but notice:  Where The Boys At??  Zumba, like most of my favorite lifeventures, is a very Girl Power typa thang.  Hmmmm...

In keeping with the Girl Power life weltenschauung I have working for me I realized something.  People are always telling ladies where to meet gentlemen and this got me thinking...maybe women need to back off the Sacagawea explorer band wagon and let the gentlemen find us.  I know, I know, men are terrible with directions and they'd never find us ;) So this can just be a fun little list about the places gentlemen could go to find ladies if they so chose.  These happen to be my favorite places...just saying...

1) Zumba.  This is a room full of senoritas dancing and shaking to Latin beats.  Who wouldn't want to scour this place for chicas?  Guys you're already at the gym working on your fitness, why not try a little Zumba.  Senoritas love senors who can boogie...just saying...

2) The Ballet.  Okay, this place is chocked full of single ex-ballerinas.  The ballet is naturally romantic, boys all you have to do is just show up and throw in these 3 little words:  tondu, passe, and tour jete.  You don't really even have to know what these mean.  Just say them and the patrons will think you know what's going on.  (Think about when girls memorize words like catalytic converter, axel, and Xbox...we don't care what they mean, we just wan to impress you)

3) Pilates.  Most of the ladies who go to Pilates are again, ex dancers.  Plus, Pilates is surprisingly a very sexy form of exercise.  *Note I did not put striprobics on this list....no bueno senoritas*

4) Barnes & Noble.  Ahhhh my own personal Heaven.  Ladies venture to B&N because, as Carrie Bradshaw, Queen of all things dating, says about Book Heavens, Book Heavens, "house all the best love stories."  Ladies are suckers for love stories.  Even feisty feminists like yours truly quiver in the knees when they read a well written love story.  B&N also houses the Children's Literature section and the Biography/History section. Of these two, I am a frequent patron.  These are easy places to strike up a conversation with a lady.  It also lets you bypass all of the awkward small talk and creepy pick up lines and go right for the meat.  Try "Hey, are you a big fan of (fill in author/subject/character...do not say movie)?"  And you're in...it's like a secret code girls have (Elf reference!!  3 days until I can watch that movie)

5) The Mall.  Gentlemen, I can't stress this enough:  Ladies love the mall.  Why?  Oh I don't know, they sell shoes there?!  All you have to do is wander the mall on a Saturday or Sunday and you will see swarms of ladies there.  All you have to do is ask our opinion on something for your MOM (Side note-ladies lerve giving their opinion on anything...especially clothes.  This is seen as a compliment because secretly you have told us that you like our outfit without creeping us out!  Mazel Tov!  NEVER just ask our opinion on a sweater or necklace because we will assume it's for your girlfriend.  Always lead with "I'm picking a birthday present out for my mom_______________".  P.S. we won't care if you are fictitiously celebrating your mom's birthday, we'll forgive you because we'll think it was sweet.

6)  Cupcake or Specialty Dessert Stores.  Here is some Erin Kitley math at it's finest.  This is like the commutative property.  Girls are A.  Cake is B.  Boys are C.  Girls Love Cake.  If boy buy girl cupcake, girl loves boy.  A+B=C.  B=B+C.  Tada!!  MATH.  BOOM.

7)  Baseball Games.  (Any sporting even will do, but this girl likes baseball best)  If any girl is at a baseball game with her girlfriends you need to wife her up.  Girls who like sports are winners.  Girls who like sports also eat boneless buffalo wings and cake.  You want a girl who will hold her own in an eating contest.


Alrighty fraaaands, this is just a small list of places where gentlemen can meet quality ladies.  Ladies, I hope you echo my feelings about these places and feel free to add your own.  I think we need to redirect the idea that women should go to certain places to find gentlemen.  Gentlemen need to pick up the slack!!  :)


Have a Marvelous Monday,

Er

Rocking My New Zumba Swag!
*I know I dislike ladies who dress up for the gym but I got this on sale at a little French boutique you may have heard of called, Tarje?  Aka Target for all you Americans who butcher the French language.  Phoebe Buffay, ladies and gentlemen.