Oh Look, A Blog!

Holy cow Batman, could I go any longer without blogging?!

Oh you mean I have to actually write to make it work? Good god I'm horrible at this ha!

 

Anyway, I'm here to tell you I won't be here for a few weeks (ironic right? Probably could have gone without and no one would have noticed).

Things are chaotic now, but boy will they get even more chaotic! chaotic-er?

Michael has been gone out of state for work for the past 2 months and comes home Monday (yay!) however, he's getting knee surgery (boo) 2 days afterwards. So I will be helping him recover, then it's Christmas time, and before you know it it's New Year's!

 

So the poor little blog here is going to take a hit for a few weeks while I juggle everything at once while standing on one foot. We'll see how it goes.

 

But! I will be back starting in the new year with some new stuff, recipes, and more babbling!

 

Have a wonderful holiday and a safe New Year!

Bahamas Cruise Part Three

Alrighty here we are with the last part to my cruise trip!
I don't think I could drag it out any longer than I have! Apologies to all!

If you missed part one or part two you can find them here and here

The third day of the cruise we docked at the island of Nassau and it looked exactly like I expected it to. It was packed full of brightly colored houses under a bright bright blue sky.

We had a super early dolphin encounter on a separate island called Blue Lagoon so we hopped on the ferry boat that would take us over there. It was about 35 minutes away so it was a good long boat ride that allowed me to see all over the place.

I've never touched a dolphin and it was so cool! I've swam with dolphins in the ocean while I boogie boarded (you can't live around here without being in the water with a dolphin) but I never actually got to touch and see one up close. We got to dance with him, give him a kiss, give him a hug, and touch his teeth. It was so crazy!

It was also our anniversary so it was cool to experience something like this on that day.

After the dolphin encounter it was still pretty early so we trekked over to the beach on the island and plopped ourselves down to enjoy the views. To get on Blue Lagoon island you had to purchase an encounter on the island so thankfully it wasn't overrun with people. We got a shady spot and the water was way clearer and free of jellyfish!

 I swam around a lot and I even got to see some cool looking fish in the water.

Once we were done on the island we headed back to the ship to change and head out on the main island. It was pretty interesting to see and we stopped in on the pirate museum

The fourth day was an entire day at sea which Michael and I spent primarily in our room reading our books. Everyone and I mean everyone was on the pool deck so we could only find chairs in the sun and I was just tired of being in the sun the whole time. I was a little pink so I wanted to keep out of the sun. It was also flippin' hot and our room had air conditioning so that's where we spent our last day. By the end of the cruise I read 3 books, took a nap every day, and remembered what it was like to not have to be anywhere by a certain time. 

The week was definitely a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of every day life. I loved not being able to use my phone and just spend all my time and attention on relaxing with Michael. We talked and enjoyed just spending time with each other.

I did miss home and was glad to get home after the drama of all the flights, but it was definitely one of the best vacations I've ever been on.

We're already planning our next!

Bahamas Cruise Part Two

Hey there!

I'm  back with part two of my wonderful Bahamas cruise!

If you missed part one check it out here

The second day of the cruise we went to Royal Caribbean's private island called Cococay.

It was my first step ever in the Caribbean and it was amazing! It was so warm, the sand was so soft and white. We immediately found the shack to rent snorkel gear and went over to hear the orientation before we set out. Unfortunately they didn't tell us it was jellyfish season before we spent $65 on snorkeling gear. We were told the jellyfish sting was more annoying than painful, but I didn't want to take my chances.

There were sunken ships & airplane crashes in the water you could snorkel around so Michael and I set off for the nearest crash. The whole time I was panicking trying to dodge jellyfish and the water was pretty murky so it was actually really hard to see the translucent jellyfish. Michael almost got one in the face and I had saltwater in my eye so it made it extra hard to see the little buggers. We made it to the airplane crash and boy was it creepy looking. It was obviously planted there, but it was really really creepy to see something like that in the water. After Michael explored it for awhile we decided to head back to shore and rest before hunting down the ship's hull. What I didn't take into account with the swim back was the current. Holy cow! I was just exhausted. At one point we got surrounded by jellyfish and I started having a panic attack, not smart in the water! Eventually we made it back to the shore and I just plopped myself down in the lounge chair and rested

Such a beautiful view too!

The sun is just brutal on the island so we packed up and headed for some shade which was the lunch area and I was surprised to see wild roosters just roaming around

After lunch we headed to a different part of the island which seemed like the adults only section because there were barely any kids there. It was definitely prettier than the other part

Michael and I just bobbed around in the water to stay cool

I started seeing a huge storm coming towards the island so I decided it was time for us to pack up and head back to the ship. We got to see some awesome iguanas on our way back

 They were just crawling around on the ground and climbing in all the trees. It was so cool!

I just couldn't get over how beautiful the water is!

After getting back to the ship we showered and then promptly plopped into bed and passed out!

Next is the island of Nassau!

Stay tuned for part three!

A New Mindset

Hey hey everyone!

I know it's been ages since I've posted, let alone posted anything of value.

Things have been chaotic with a capital C, but there was one thing I was thinking about on my morning commute (I have to commute twice a morning now) and just had to blog about it.

Michael and I went on a cruise (more on that later!) and if you've ever been on a cruise you understand the struggle with cruises.

Unlimited food.

And silly ol' me here thought, "Well I'm a trainer so it shouldn't matter." And that was the same mentality I had about exercising. (Yes yes I understand it's a vacation where you relax).

However, this whole "I'm a trainer" mentality has been my downfall.

I haven't been diligent about exercising nor eating right.

It's been a fine line with healthy eating; if I go too far one way my orthorexia kicks right in, if I go too far the other way I eat like crap, feel like crap, and hate how my body looks & feels.

This all really affected me when I looked in the mirror and stepped on the scale. Suddenly my stomach bloated out and I looked pregnant, my jeans were too tight & uncomfortable, and when I stepped on the scale I was suddenly 5 pounds heavier than I had been.

Before anyone freaks out about the 5 pounds, lemme say this: 1. I know it's not fat (there's no way I ate an excess of 17,500 calories on the cruise) 2. I also know it's not muscle as I've lost muscle tone.

It is however a lot of water weight, meaning I ate way WAY too much sodium (not good).

Now that I've boohoo'ed myself enough let's talk about the real issue here.

I see eating healthy & exercising as something I can do when it fits into my schedule. That just does not work.

As a trainer, my body is my brand. How can I advise people to eat healthy when I'm stuffing my face with crap? And why would anyone put the effort into my workouts when I can't even get myself to commit to working out?

All those people that talk about scheduling workouts in so you don't skip them? I used to wave it off thinking "I workout all the time, I don't need to schedule it" Pure denial right there considering I skipped workouts a lot

I've come to realize, they're right

I can't keep thinking of workouts and healthy eating as a side thing that I can do when I have time, I have to start scheduling it like it's work, because it is part of my work.

Putting that effort in is part of my job and I really need to get that through my thick skull.

So here I am, putting it out there to keep accountable!

Anyone else have to schedule their workouts like work?

Any advice?

Bahamas Cruise Part One

Hello hello everyone!

Recently Michael and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas for our anniversary. It was my first cruise and my first time out of the country and I had a blast! 

We sailed out of Port Canaveral and it was my first encounter with humidity. Lemme say, I definitely prefer the dry heat of California. It was a hard adjustment and during the whole cruise I just couldn't get used to it.

The cruise ship was absolutely beautiful! We were on the Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas.

During the whole check-in process at the port I was bouncing up and down in my sit with a ridiculous grin plastered to my face. Once we got on the ship to explore I was just blown away with how big it was inside.

 

Of course we had to find the fitness center while we were there!

 Of course I only used it once, barely.

Once it was lunchtime we wandered into the banquet restaurant and holy crap! There was so much food it was insane! Unfortunately they didn't make any vegetarian dishes that weren't pasta (whomp whomp whomp).

The rest of the day we spent relaxing by the pool, drinking pina coladas, and napping.

Those bartenders really knew how to make a pina colada!

We had a nice surprise when we got to our room from Michael's mom

It was so great to have all of that and so thoughtful!

I think the hardest part of the whole trip was actually relaxing. Isn't that bizarre?! Everytime we stayed still for too long I felt like I had to get up and do something or go somewhere. Michael kept having to tell me to relax and stop being on the go. It was so luxurious to nap during the day because I wanted to. No alarm clock, no deadlines, dishes, obligations, nothing! It was wonderful!

Before I overload you with too many pictures at once I'll end part one here.

I'll be back with part two!

Baby Steps

Hello hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Michael and I went to the Renaissance Faire on Saturday and had a blast! Michael hasn't been to the local one so we had to make it this year. My mom came with us and we all enjoyed walking around, eating yummy food, looking at cool things, and Michael & I did some archery and Michael did some axe throwing. 

Drinking some meade

 Toad in a hole & frozen chocolate covered cheesecake

 My wonderful man looking so manly!

Sunday morning we woke up bright & early to go apple picking

We know have 3 bags full of apples that we have to figure out what to do with.

And yes, I am, in fact, wearing a Jurassic Park t-shirt.

Now, I know the title of this post makes no step with what I did on my weekend, but I didn't want to just jump into it. 

"Hi, here's what I'm thinking right now. K bye!"

Not how I want my blog to be.

Anywho, let's get into it!

My healthy lifestyle is a joke right now, let's be honest here. It's been incredibly difficult trying to stay on top of eating healthy, exercising, working, keeping the house clean, etc. etc. 

Sounds familiar to everyone right?

However, everyone else that has those problems tackles them by doing small changes.

I, unfortunately, do not. My brain seems to think "well I'm a personal trainer, I can do it all cause that's my job" and I try to jump right into everything and trying to do it all at once.

And where does that get me?

Overwhelmed and exhausted so nothing gets done.

And it is really really frustrating.

I've come to the conclusion (finally) that I can't do it all 100% right out of the gate. So I'm working on taking baby steps to get back into the healthy lifestyle. Right now it's been focusing on exercising and slowly but surely adding in healthy eating.

So we'll see how it all goes!

 

I'm Here

Well I'm alive and I'm still here.

I can't count how many posts I've done with "I'm alive". I'm just so bad at this blogging thing.

However, I have an excuse for all this and I'll do my best to catch you up on it without putting you to sleep on your keyboard.

First off, I haven't been altogether healthy lately. I've been struggling with clinical depression and an anxiety disorder since I was 15. I've been on and off antidepressants for ages, everytime I was off it wasn't by my doctor's choice, but because I didn't want to take it or couldn't afford it. This past bout I've been on since 2012 and consistently been on it. It's managed the depression and anxiety pretty well, but these past few months it hasn't been working quite right. I've been having panic attacks and more depression bouts than I should. 

Part of my recovery has included stepping away from certain obligations I've had, including cutting back at work, so I can focus on my mental health and recovery. Stepping away also meant stepping back from the blog. I've been getting better and am trying to get myself back into the swing of things while being mindful of myself.

Second, like I said, I had to take time away from work. That meant 2 mornings a week I don't step into work and just focus those mornings on my own thing and relaxing. During those times, I wouldn't so much as open my laptop to write a blog post, but now I'm going to try and write at least one post a day.

I'm not as active on here as I am on Instagram, so make sure you follow me @alife_worth_living

With all that said, I hope I can keep up more with the blog, in baby steps. I'm going to shoot for one blog post a week, the more the merrier, but I'm only obligating myself to one post a week!

Where Have I Been?

Hi Hi everyone! 

Sorry for being gone for so long. It's been crazy crazy busy around here.

Instead of going on and on about what I've been up to and everything I'll just focus in on what's been taking up the most of my time.

If you follow me on Instagram then you'll already know, buuuut

Michael proposed! We're officially engaged!

He proposed on Saturday after recreating our first date. We went to the same restaurant and took me to the cliffs that overlook a beach where he originally asked me to be his girlfriend and this time asked me to be his wife. I'm beyond thrilled to marry my best friend and spend my life with him.

The man picked out the most gorgeous ring too!

So there ya have it, I've been neck deep in wedding plans and enjoying my time with my fiance...oh I just love saying that!

I'll try and be back soon with more workouts, recipes, and fun stuff!

Transformation Tuesday #3

Good morning everyone!

I'm a little late to blogging this week, but my Sunday ended up being jam packed so I didn't get a chance to write up my posts for the week. I'll catch you up on all that on Thursday, but today is all about Transformation Tuesday!

Over the weekend I finally had an "aha!" moment and realized that I have a sugar addiction and it needs to get kicked to the curb ASAP. Now, I'm not cutting out all sugar, I just can't do that, but I've got to cut out sugary snacks, desserts, and candies. I've been catching myself walking into the pantry and eating candy when I don't even want it. That's got to stop now so Michael and I are going to overhaul our pantry so it's full of healthier foods and no temptations.

I did an arm workout yesterday and it seems I'm already making progress. It was still tough, but my arms aren't aching horribly this morning which is an improvement from last week. My core seems to be weaker than I would like so I'm working hard on getting that stronger. I've had lower back pain a lot and that tends to mean my core is not that strong, time to work on that!

As for my orthorexia, it comes and goes. Some days it's worse than others, but it's always there. I can feel it, but I'm working hard to not let it control me. Michael talks to me about it and helps keep me grounded. I was so confused about how to eat healthy without taking it overboard and Michael calmed me down and came up with a game plan. I don't know where I'd be without that man.

This week:

• Be active every single day
• Lift heavy 3x this week
• Stretch every single day
• Have only 1 cheat meal this week

Join me on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram with your updates for #TransformationTuesday

All links to my pages are over there 

 Don't forget to tag me in your posts so I can see them!!

Transformation Tuesday #2

Good morning my lovely readers!

It's time for Transformation Tuesday!

Last week I skipped out on TT and really, every other blog day ha! So this week we're going to kick it off...again and keep it going. No excuses this time!

I haven't gone forward but at least I haven't gone backwards. I've noticed with a lot of my clients when I show them an exercise that involves core it's way harder than it used to be. I think some of that has to do with me not working my core enough so that's something I need to get back on.

I've also noticed my cardiovascular strength isn't as good as it was a few weeks ago. I'm attributing some of it to the heat and humidity, it just makes it difficult to do Zumba. But I also think I've been slacking there so time to get back on that!

• Lift weights 3x this week
• Run 3x this week
• Eat fruits and/or veggies at every meal
• If I don't get to lifting, bodyweight workout & pilates at home

Update on my battle with orthorexia:

Michael has been a big help with me on this. He's constantly reminding me that it's not the end of the world if I eat something unhealthy. It comes and goes, somedays and some meals it's more difficult to handle and others I don't even think about it.

I'll check back in next week with an update!

Join me on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram with your updates for #TransformationTuesday

All links to my pages are over there 

MIMM: Oatmeal Square Recipe

Hey there everyone!

I'm back and I'm here with a super delicious recipe.

If Michael is gone for work I'm notorious for not eating a healthy rounded breakfast, aka. cereal. Obviously it's not a filling breakfast so I end up starving not long afterwards.

Well I finally got smart and food prepped and ended up with this delicious and easy breakfast.

Oatmeal Squares

Makes 4 squares

1 cup water

1 cup almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, or regular milk

1 cup steel-cut oats (I use the partially steamed Bob's Red Mill to cut down on cooking time)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 droppers of liquid stevia

Berries

1. Bring water and milk to a boil. Add oatmeal and drop heat down to medium-high, stir occasionally. When the mixture begins to thicken, add the rest of the ingredients and stir constantly. When thickened to your liking take the pot off the heat and let sit for 3-5 minutes.

2. While the oatmeal cools, line a square pan or square tupperware with plastic wrap to make removal of the squares easier.

3. Once the oatmeal has cooled, pour into lined pan and smooth the top. Fold the plastic over to cover the oatmeal and let cool completely. Place in the refrigerator.

I cut the oatmeal into 4 squares, but that may be too many calories for some so you can always cut each square in half so you end up with 8 rectangles! You can eat it cold or you can pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. Enjoy!

Have a great week!

 

A Few Steps Back

Hey there everyone!

Got a little overwhelmed here so I haven't been blogging. But today I wanted to talk about something that's been nagging at me for a long while.

I've talked about my battle with orthorexia here

For more information check out that past blog post.

I'd thought I had won the battle. I really worked on rethinking how I ate and treated myself, but it snuck back up on me. I realized it this Sunday when I was out with my parents. I really wanted a milkshake, but the only place we could get one was Dairy Queen. Instantly my brain said, "Oh no, horrible ingredients, not pure. Don't do it." and I just kept insisting to them that I was okay, I didn't need one.

Thankfully my dad didn't listen and stopped anyway. I did get a milkshake...and then felt like crap for eating it later. I beat myself up for eating something "so unhealthy" and not enjoying a treat.

That's not the first time now that I think back on it. Fourth of July Michael and I ate a whole fruit tart that day, yes, a whole one. The next day I joked about how I needed to work off the fruit tart, but in my mind it wasn't a joke. I needed to work off all those calories and rather than brush it off and move on, I fixated on it.

Eating "treats" hasn't been a healthy thing either. When I do allow myself a treat, it turns into a binge...and then I feel horrible about it later.

It's this vicious cycle that never ends. I beat myself up to eat super clean and super healthy, and then binge and feel horrible about it. It's exhausting.

Not only is orthorexia an issue with my nutrition, but also my workouts. I'm not going to lie, I've been lazy about working out, but I haven't been sitting on my butt all day. I've been teaching Zumba, a cardio muscle class, taking Pilates, but none of that counts as "exercise" to my dysfunctional thinking. To my brain, if I'm not weight lifting and running, it's not a workout. Which is total and utter BS.

But I still beat myself up about it. I berate myself for  being "lazy" even though I've been moving.

I'm exhausted of battling myself and I'm exhausted of my brain thinking I'm just not good enough. I'm not good enough to set a goal and reach it, I'm not good enough to stay on track.

I'm just tired of feeling like I'm not good enough.

Now that I've come out and admitted my battle isn't over, I want to take steps to change it. For my Transformation Tuesday posts I'm going to talk about how I'm doing with my orthorexia.

Thanks for listening. And if anything on here sounds like you, I'm always here to talk!

WIAW: Fourth, Fireworks, and Fruit

Hey there everyone!

Happy Wednesday!

I love Wednesday cause it means one day closer to my weekend and sleeping in...except I rarely every sleep in ha! And it also means What I Ate Wednesday with the lovely Jenn & Mia!

So without further adieu, let's start this party!

I figured I would document the Fourth since we had some bomb food that day!

Breakfast:

I learned this great trick to making cottage cheese fluffy & airy, like a mousse. I whip it up in a blender and viola! So for breakfast we had mixed organic berries layered with whipped cottage cheese.

Michael and I went to Costco and found great deals on local organic berries so we bought a bunch...which means we are still eating berries..and yes, we're also freezing them. So. Many. Berries.

  Lunch:

Roasted garlic & other-yummy-stuff chicken sausage in a multigrain hot dog bun with my fav toppings, ketchup, relish, and vegan mayo.

Dinner:

Dinner:

Marinated shrimp & veggie kebobs with grilled corn.

We made some seriously yummy food, and quite pretty

Glutton Indulgence:

So that's a full-size fruit tart made with cream cheese filling, shortbread crust, and berries. I make a bomb fruit tart (homage to my pastry chef training) however, it's gone.

As in gone the same day I made it.

Michael and I ate the entire thing in one day, in 2 sittings might I add.

Do I regret it? Hell no! It was yummy!

Michael and I spent Fourth of July watching a movie and eating popcorn (yes I had room) and listened to the fireworks going off until 3 am. 3. AM! It wasn't even the Fourth anymore...I was about to strangle someone.

I hope you all had a great, and safe, Fourth of July!