Worst. Blogger. Ever.

I wonder how many post out there have that title...

Well I guess it's safe to say that starting a blog when you already have a fairly hectic life AND right before you go on vacation is probably not the smartest thing to do...

Needless to say I have been busy with all the regular stuff and topped it off with a trip to the Magic Kingdom in Florida!  My parents and little brother had a conference there and my brother brought my almost four year-old niece along to go see Mickey and Minnie so I decided to make it a family affair and go too!

I was kind of worried about it being hard to eat healthfully there since my only memory of Disney World happens to be 20 years old and full of Mickey-shaped ice cream and churros but I found myself pleasantly surprised!  Either they have done a major overhaul on the food there or I just wasn't paying attention to things like salad when I was a kid!  It did cost an arm and a leg, that's for sure!  I had plenty of salads and even fresh fruit.  The fruit was probably the cheapest thing you could get in the park.  They had apples, oranges, and bananas for $1.  But you can compare that to the $3.25 I paid for a slice of pineapple!  I did splurge when we went to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at the Disney Marketplace.  They had an Oktoberfest menu and I figured since he's Austrian I should be enlightened!  So worth it! 

Our hotel had a really nice gym that I used only once on the first morning I was there.  The first day was spent at the park with just my mom and my niece so I got a great afternoon workout of carrying Bella all through the park on my shoulders!  The remaining days my brother, dad and I took turns with the sack of potatoes! 

I know this is another post without any pictures but I wanted to post a little note just so the few of you know that I haven't given up and I'm still finding my groove with this whole blogging thing.  I'm multitasking right now by posting while simmering this awesome Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup I found on Closet Cooking.  Yum!  This guy posts the best recipes ever! 

No butts about it...

After reading Menden's guest post over at DefiningWellness today I was inspired to write about my own experience with quitting smoking.  I just had my one year anniversary of being a non-smoker a few weeks ago and I have to agree with Menden 100% when she said quitting smoking enabled her to achieve other healthy goals.

In the last few years before I quit I started to feel really embarrassed by the fact that I was a smoker.  I hid it from the people I went to school with and of course from my parents.  I'm actually still pretty embarrassed about it and this post is kind of hard for me to write! 

Smoking really became a crutch for me and an excuse to continue an unhealthy lifestyle.  I started smoking when I was in high school where I would dismiss exercise or other physical activity because "I was a smoker".  Because I couldn't (wouldn't) exercise I used that as an excuse to not eat so good.   This was fine when I was younger and had a different metabolism, but as I got older this lifestyle added on the pounds.

I tried to quit a million times.  Ok, really probably about 5 times.  That's really trying to quit, not just saying I was going to quit!  One day I woke up and felt horrible; my chest hurt, my mouth felt disgusting, my hair smelled- I was done.  I decided to quit.  Just like that it was for real.

Don't get me wrong- quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I really wanted to smoke!  But I really wanted to not smoke more.  I told my friends and asked for their support.  Alot of my friends smoked at the time so I knew it would be hard to be around them.  I had nicotine gum if I needed it but it turned out I didn't need it very often.  Over the last 6 months of being a smoker I switched to ultra lights and cut down to 4 or 5 cigarettes a day.  By the time I decided I was ready to give it up, I wasn't getting very much nicotine.  My quit was more of a mental challenge than a chemical addiction.

It was definitely a challenge to quit and sometimes it still is!  My biggest trigger is social drinking, which I try to stay away from now.  I still have to have internal conversations with myself where I explain that I don't really want to smoke.  Exercising is one of the best ways to motivate myself to keep it up!  I started adding physical activity about 2 months after I quit.  One of the first things I noticed was I could do 20 minutes on the elliptical without gasping for air.  Before, I couldn't stay on for even 5 minutes!  Once I started exercising, it was easier to make other healthy decisions.  I felt so bogged down by smoking- like it pigeon-holed me into a type of person, a person I didn't want to be.  It was amazing how changing one habit helped me in so many other areas- it was my springboard! 

Now I exercise regularly and eat pretty good too!  Smoking was hindering me from becoming the healthy person I wanted to be.  And now I'm on my way...

I really want to encourage anyone who smokes (even in-the-closet smokers!) to really think about quitting.  You will know when it's the right time for you!  And you can do it!

 

I love mail!

Today started out with some yummy Oikos vanilla yogurt and frozen blueberries I thawed in the fridge overnight topped with pumpkin flax granola.  It was good and kept me full for hours!  Sometimes my job requires me to be interacting with people in a setting where it is not appropriate for me to chow down on a snack so I try to eat a breakfast that will last.  I was actually pretty surprised this held me over for so long- usually I need a small snack when I only have fruit and yogurt. 

Lunch was a slice of veggie pizza, celery sticks with honey almond butter, a low sodium V8 and a fruit cup.  Can you tell I need to head to the store?  I keep fruit cups (packed in water) and V8s around for "emergency food" so I can at least add fruit and a serving of vegetables to lunch if I don't have the fresh stuff.

Thankfully I stopped by the store on my way home and picked up some colorful bell peppers.  Tonight's dinner featured turkey sausages with peppers and onions over whole wheat pasta.  Yum!

I also worked out for 35 minutes on the elliptical.  I can't wait for the weather to normalize around here so I can get some outdoor activity in!  Until recently it's been really hot and now that it's not in the upper 90's everyday it's raining alot! 

In other news- my Race for the Cure packet came in the mail today!  This is the first time I've gotten a number for any sort of race or walk.  I didn't sign up for a timed chip because I'm with an organization that is walking as a group but I'm entertaining the idea of doing intervals of running and walking.  I guess I'll decide as it gets closer...

Monday, Monday, Monday!

So since I'm just figuring out this blogging thing I'm kind of unprepared as far as photos go- my camera has photos on it since last summer!  But I will find my cord and I will put photos up at some point...  soon! 

My list of eats for today started with a Stonyfield Pomegranate Cherry yogurt with some organic pumpkin seed flax granola mixed in for breakfast.  I hadn't had this flavor of yogurt before and I thought it was really good- not too tart, not too sweet.  And the granola in it was awesome!  It's just from the bulk bin at the local food co-op here and is a first-time buy for me.

Monday is the only day everyone in my office is usually there so it's tradition to head next door to the Mexican food place for lunch to catch up.  They have really good soup but I'm having soup for dinner so I opted for the "Ladie's plate" which is a chicken soft taco and a guacamole salad.  They have the best corn tortillas and the taco comes wrapped in two of them but I usually only eat one of them.  Of course I had a few chips and salsa! 

I came home and immediately put on my workout clothes- if I sit down or get distracted for even a second it's really hard for me to get motivated!  I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and worked up quite a sweat!  I bought my elliptical off Craigslist and it was the best thing I ever did!  It's nothing fancy and it doesn't take up much room but it gets the job done.  Although I have noticed when I'm traveling for work and stay at a hotel that the bigger, fancier ellipticals make me workout harder!  This is probably due to resistance and stride- I don't think my elliptical has a very long stride but that's ok because I have little legs! 

I'm about to start up dinner- I have some tomato basil soup that is calling my name and I think I'll just scrounge around the fridge and see what I can toss into a salad.

Have a good night!

One giant leap...

So my first post seems a little daunting...  I guess I'll start out by saying I'm almost 30 (!) and I would really like to make my body into what it should be.  I've never been athletic or into sports; I could hardly run for 30 seconds a few weeks ago.  Now I can run 2 minutes and 30 seconds before I feel like I want to die- so I'm making progress!  My goal is to run a 5K.  The whole thing.  Eventually.

I am a Registered Dietitian who found myself caught up in the real world and not walking the walk.  Like a bunch of people I was always thin in high school and never had to worry about what I ate; once I started getting older (and busier!) the pounds started creeping on.  Now I'm packin' an extra 35 pounds and it's gotta go!  Thanks to my education I have a solid base and know where to start and what to do.  But that tricky real world likes to creep in so I'm hoping this blog will be an aid in keeping me accountable to myself.

I love healthy living blogs and I've been motivated by many of them.  I have no idea what this blog will look like or how it's going to take shape exactly but I'm excited to get started!  Suggestions welcome!