This section holds the majority of posts as they are made.
I have a new video for you on the blog today. Many times when people decide to be healthier they focus on all the food in their fridge and forget the freezer. So today I offer some tips on how to use your freezer to create healthier meals.
Now go stock up your freezer and have a great day everyone!
Ok, so Monday isn’t really all that fun but maybe if we say it enough it will be true. Probably not, but let’s pretend.
Last weekend my husband, Adam, came down with a cold/cough/sore throat and was out of the game for a few days. We took him to the doctor, got him some meds, and he is on the mend. I thought I had escaped whatever bug he had but Friday morning I woke up with a tickle in my throat and by Saturday my nose was running like a faucet. Yesterday my head was all congested and I just wanted to be able to breathe through my nose. Luckily I didn’t get hit as hard as Adam, but still, it’s no fun to have a cold.
My feeble attempt to try and breathe through my congestion. Also I look HOT
So I spent this past weekend trying to take it easy. Keyword here: trying. I know that I need to rest to get better faster, but I am really bad at just sitting around. I like to be accomplishing something at all times, it’s something I’m working on.
In my “resting” state, I spent some time in the kitchen on Saturday coming up with a few new recipes for the blog. I have a few that need some tweaking, but I did manage to come up with a new soup and it really hit the spot for someone with a cold.
When I did finally manage to sit on the couch, Adam and I binged on House of Cards. If you have not watched this series, run to your TV/computer and watch all of them now. The Underwoods are deliciously ruthless and evil and I love them. It’s one of those situations where you know it’s wrong to cheer for them but you can’t help but hope for them to come out on top. This season so far (we’re about 6 episodes in) has been pretty good and I can’t wait to see where it ends up. Also, is it wrong for me to want to be as badass as Claire Underwood? I mean in one episode the woman threatens a country with war on the toilet in the women’s bathroom at the UN. That’s ballsy right there.
In between the awesomeness of House of Cards, I also watched a few episodes of Chopped. Obviously I love watching cooking shows and Chopped is one of my favorites. While I was watching I realized as much as I love to cook and create dishes I would never make it past the appetizer round. I would get so stressed and would probably just throw up my hands and cry in the corner. I like to take my time in the kitchen and there is no way I could come up with something edible and creative in 20 minutes. Oh well, I’m sure someday Food Network would come up with a show where I would have unlimited time, unlimited ingredients, no judges, and I get to make whatever I want, right?
Hopefully this cold goes away soon and I can get back to my normal routine. But let’s end this post on a high note with a picture of my adorable cats, because who doesn’t love pictures of cats? Crazy people, that’s who. Have a happy Monday everyone!
Olaf chilling to the max and Dot allowing him to be near her.
How did you spend your weekend? What’s your favorite show of the moment?
There was a time when I was an expert at doing nothing. I could spend weekends sitting in my room on my computer looking at nothing with the TV on in the background watching nothing. I could lay in bed for a whole day with nothing to occupy my time. At times, nothing dominated my life.
In recent years that has changed, partly because I started to make an effort to try and do something with my time. I was tired of wasting my life away on nothing. I realized the joy and fulfillment there was to be had by accomplishing things. It felt good to cross a task off my list or add a new talent to my repertoire. As much as I had liked being lazy and letting nothing take over, I liked having something dominate my time much better.
For awhile this attitude served me well. I was doing a lot of good. I excelled in my classes, I added new and healthy habits like exercising and eating well, and I was focused on helping others and not just serving myself. But soon a trade off happened. I started to feel guilty if I wasn’t always doing something or on the go. I feared slipping back into my lazy routine and worried about nothing creeping back into my life. I didn’t want to go back to being the lump in front of my computer or TV.
So I kept on doing something.
Even if that something was just standing up and pacing back and forth, I made sure I was involved. I made sure that nothing never occupied my time again. And you know what?
I got tired.
Go figure. If you’re always on the move and never resting you’re going to get tired. I seemed to think that I was the energizer bunny and could keep going and going. I let my fear of my life and habits of my past control my actions in the present. It was another time that I needed to learn about balance. You can’t just jump from one extreme to the next. You shouldn’t be well versed in the art of nothing, but you can’t be the master of the art of everything for long without burning out.
It’s ok to sit on the couch and relax for a few hours.
It’s ok to go for a long run in the middle of the week.
It’s ok to enjoy a book in your favorite chair for an afternoon.
It’s ok to kill a really tough strength workout.
All of these things make up a balanced life and that makes up a healthy life too. Don’t let one side of the scale dictate your life. It’s not an easy job and it’s something that I still struggle with daily. I have to tell myself to take a break, to sit down and relax. I don’t have to always be on the go.
Whether you struggle with doing too much or not doing enough, focus on taking small steps to find the right balance. You won’t always succeed and there will be days that you will have to pick yourself up and start over again. That’s what being human is about. Trust yourself enough to know that you are doing your best and next time you will do better.
Hopefully you are all digging yourself out of the snow or maybe you’ve decided to just hunker down and hibernate through this storm. I’ve done a little bit of both. I didn’t do my normal run this morning because there is still snow EVERYWHERE, but I did make a quick trip to the store. I plan on spending the rest of the day inside working though.
I actually had a really great weekend. Thursday I made my way down to Rolla, Missouri to visit my friend Ashley! I hadn’t seen her since she came to Chicago in September so we had some catching up to do. And let me just say we lived it up in Rolla!
We went to the vacuum cleaner museum. Yes this is a real thing. Fun fact, old time-y vacuums freak me out. I don’t know why but they look evil and I feel like they are going to attack me.
Cleaning in the 1920’s with a creepy demon vacuum
We saw the world’s largest rocking chair on historic route 66. Sadly you can’t climb up and sit on it.
We drove through Cuba, MO and looked at a few of the murals and then we spent the rest of the day going to antique stores finding the creepiest children’s toys. Seriously, who made those things? Definitely have demons inside them.
We talked, laughed, ate (delicious taco salads and my Turmeric-Scented Mushrooms), watched Friends and a whole season of The Killer Speaks. Ashley and I are a unique kind of fun and like macabre things like shows about serial killers. Another fun fact, you have a very high chance of being murdered in Missouri. Three out of the five serial killers interviewed on the show were from/killed their victims in Missouri. Good times. Good times.
Sadly, I had to cut my trip a little short and come back early so I could beat the snowstorm. It was great to hang out and laugh about ridiculous things though. Sometimes it’s nice to break out of your normal routine and spend time with friends even if they live in a place where you might run into a murderer…
Have a great Monday and try to have some fun after you dig yourself out of the snow!
The majority of us spend most of our day at work. Many people have a hard time keeping up their healthy habits while they’re at work, but it isn’t as hard as you think!
Today’s video has a few tips to keep your workday as healthy as possible!
Here are a few more “deskercises” and stretches that you can do at work throughout the day to keep you moving.
Life Healthfully Lived 