Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Eve Treats

Today was started off with a stop at Starbucks. I was able to get my grande, no foam, skinny vanilla latte. However, they were all out of pumpkin scones so I was totally bummed!

Lunch consisted of Barley and Lentil soup. I must say this soup tasted way better then it looked plus it was super filling.

My amazing husband took me to dinner at N9NE restaurant. The atmosphere and the steak were amazing, I would totally go back here!



I had an amazing steak with Brussel sprouts (my first). I also may have had a couple cocktails.



After dinner we stopped at NoMI for a night cap. NoMI is located in the Park Hyatt on Michigan Avenue. The drink was okay. The husband and I don't plan on returning any time soon.




Chat with you all on Halloween!

Stress and Off Days

Have you ever had one of those "off" days? Those days were something doesn't feel right but you can't put your finger on the one thing wrong.

I'm totally having one of those days today. Except for I know what the problem is. However, it is not just one problem but a couple of them, a snowball effect if you will. Don't worry I will not bore you with the details.

But this does bring me to a topic I need to learn more about. How do I go about keeping myself healthy with food and exercise when I'm having an off day and stressed? Some people don't eat when they are stressed and some people eat too much when they are stressed. I'm a combination of both, just depends on the situation. As of this moment I don't know how to deal with stress in a constructive manner. I know a lot of people will say to try yoga but I've tried and I just can't get into it.

Question:

How do you deal with stress?

Incorporate exercise into my life

I know how important exercise is to a person's well being. The benefits of exercise are the best, not only the physical but the mental benefits are amazing. I know this from what I've read as well as how I've felt, in the past, when I exercised. Exercise endorphins are amazing!

I really have no excuse to not be exercising. I have a gym in my office and an elliptical in my living room. Getting 30 minutes of exercise a day should be a piece of cake for me. I just need to get off my behind and do it.

Starting tomorrow I plan on doing sit-ups and some arm and leg floor exercises. I will continue doing this and will not give up (no matter how board I get!).

I can so do this. I will do this!

Starbucks Pumpkin Scone

OH MY WORD!!!

I'm in love with the Pumpkin scone from Starbucks. I can't even put into words how yummy it is. I paired it with a skinny vanilla latte and it was the perfect afternoon treat.

Learn More About Nutrition

First and foremost I want to learn about nutrition so that I can set a good example for my future kids. I don't want my children to struggle with food issues. In order for this to happen I need to have a good understanding of nutrition and I also need to learn how to communicate it to other people without it sounding like a lecture.

I intend to learn more about nutrition by researching online websites and taking some local nutrition classes.

If anyone has recommendations on some good websites to check out please feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks!

Future Goals

So I've discussed my past, present and now I'm going to list what I would like to accomplish (health wise) in my future.

Goals:

• Learn more about nutrition.

• Incorporate exercise into my life.

• Organization.

• Work on my all or nothing mentality.

• Cooking and eating food.

I will be discussing each of these goals and how I plan on accomplishing them in later posts.

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice Sunday!

As of this moment in time...

I am eating everything I want with no portion control as well as not exercising at all. Not a very good combination for someone who is wanting to be physically healthy.

Monday through Friday I am sitting at my desk for 8 hours then I go home and eat dinner, have a drink and watch a movie with my husband. Notice the lack of mention of exercise, this was not forgotten it is simply something I have not been doing. I work for 8 hours during the day and the last thing I want to do when I get home is exercise (remember I haven't found something that doesn't feel like a chore). I want to have food, drinks and sit around with my husband and dogs. And you know what, there is nothing wrong with wanting to just veg after work but what that means is I need to fit exercise into my work day.

This brings us to the weekend, and folks it doesn't get much better. I'm sad to say that I always feel tired on the weekends so I don't do anything. I might go for a short walk or pick up around the house but that is it. I have the mindset that I have to work all week so I should be able to do whatever I want on the weekends. But what I'm doing on the weekends is not helping me at all and that needs to change.

My meal situation has not been the best. Eating healthy has been the last thing on my mind since having just planned a wedding, getting married and honeymoon fun were top priority. I've been eating a lot of fast food, chips, take-out, spaghetti o's and canned ravioli. Cooking has never been something I enjoyed because I'm not good at it. This is something I hope to change in the near future.

So as you can see I have a bunch of work to accomplish in order to adopt the healthy lifestyle I need and want.

My Relationships with Food and Exercise

I love food. All kinds of food. Steak, pasta, french fries, vegetables, cake, soup, cocktails (okay not a food but I love a good cocktail!) and many more!

Over my lifetime I have had some issues with food. Some of these issues include overeating, not eating, binge eating and compulsive exercising. Although I have had these many relationships with food the one thing that stayed consistent is my love for it! Food is a constant in life and I need to learn to live with it in a healthy manner. I don't want this blog to be about loosing weight, instead I want it to be about how to live life in a healthy manner while still being able to indulge once in awhile.

Growing up I was always involved in competitive sports. From the time I was in 8th grade up until Senior year in high school, I trained for 40 hours a week. I loved the sport I was in so the training didn't feel like a chore it was something I looked forward to doing. Since retiring from my sport I have struggled to find a form of exercise that doesn't feel like a chore.

When I do exercise I get very frustrated at my physical condition. It is hard to struggle doing 50 sit-ups when I used to do a 1,000 a day. I need to get over the fact that I'm older and since I haven't been exercising consistently I am going to have to gradually work toward a healthy body. And you know what, I most likely will never have the body I had when I was working out 40 hours a week and I have to learn to accept that and appreciate the things I can do. After all, it's been about 16 years since I was in the ideal physical condition.

It's time to get healthy and stay that way!