The Healthy Life

It is because of our struggles that we are able to be the stronger versions of ourselves that we are today, not despite them. We have all seen the many faces of struggle, right? Past breakups with boy/girlfriends and full blown divorces. The death of parents, siblings, children, unborn babies, friends, and pets. Mental illness covering everything from depression to eating disorders to distorted body image. We’ve lost jobs, income, been robbed…both physically and emotionally. We’ve been…

In the same way that our cell phone is a distraction for us while driving a car, people can be distractions that keep us from attaining the things that we want out of life. Whether we’re trying to get a promotion at work, get rid of the stress that we feel throughout the day, or hitting a PR on a lift or workout, it’s important that we identify distractions in our lives and how to…

I don’t know about you, but Mondays for me are the most overwhelming day of the week for me. I feel like I’m getting shot out of a God damn canon at 5:25 am, and things don’t slow down until around 9:15 pm. In an effort to start my day right, I use my morning meditation as a time to remind myself of how to approach the whole thing. I stay on course and remember…

One of the many things I’ve taken away from my newfound meditation practice is this: slow everything down. Drive slower. React slower. Listen to slower music. Speak slower. Take more time to respond when asked a question. Take the route that may be longer, but brings you less stress. Don’t rush food prep. Don’t think ahead so much that you don’t notice what’s actually going on right in front of you. Walk around your day slower,…

I suspect that I’m not alone in occasionally being guilty of having a warped approach to making healthy food choices. Take snacking, for example. Just yesterday, I was on the prowl for something and saw a container of berries in the fridge. I thought about it, then decided that I had already had sweet potatoes with my eggs for breakfast, so I should ease up on my carbohydrate intake a little. No less than 3…

The truth is, stress isn’t just a necessary evil but rather something that we actually use as a positive stimulus. We go to the gym so we can put our bodies under stress to make them stronger and fitter. We fill our calendars with activities to keep ourselves busy, social, and intellectually challenged. And, if anyone out thinks that having kids will bring peace, calm, and quiet into their lives is either (a) lying, or…

In my nature, I am an all or nothing personality. It’s something I think has served me well in certain areas of my life, but in many ways has hindered me, as well. When I was a competitive athlete, this quality was what kept me disciplined and committed to my training and programming. It had me viciously dialed in to a nutrition and recovery plan. I had a routine that my body, and even my…

Long story short-ish, Wednesday night I started having stomach pains so bad I was in tears from, basically, 6pm until Ben dragged me to the ER against my will around 9pm. Finally around 3am and after urine, CT, and ultrasound testing, they found a functional ovarian cyst that likely ruptured and was about the size of an egg. In all honesty, the pain was like being in active labor. You know, like that pain when…

What’s funny is that despite me having gone to graduate school for a masters in Accounting and Business, I am still one of those people who knows she is getting totally played by retail companies that let you know how much you saved so that you can rationalize making typically irrational purchases. Who am I kidding, though? It’s not even the times like when Nordstrom Rack will tell you you saved something like $855 on…

Look, I am trying. Ok? It’s just that there’s no room on the cool girls bus for me because high waisted leggings just (a) make my torso look the same length as my 4 year old’s, and (b) give me the worst camel toe. And, to confirm for me that I just need to stop trying, Ben has made it loud and clear that I don’t look good in them. He also isn’t a huge…