Random Tips!

Hey everyone! I'm always looking for practical ways to make life easier so it only makes sense to pass along my own little tips that I pick up here and there.

Today I only have two to share so here it goes!

1) skip the shaving cream and shave your legs with cheap conditioner. You can literally buy a big 'ole bottle of condition for $1 at the dollar store and though it may not do great things for your hair--I've learned it works great for shaving legs! And, it's waayyy cheaper than shaving cream so unless you have ultra sensitive skin I vote go with the conditioner.

2) buy bananas in bulk. I have a smoothie about every day sometimes twice a day--that said I go through bananas really quickly. Of course the day I buy extra bananas is the day I slow down on my smoothie intake and they end up going bad. I found a solution by cutting up ripe bananas and freezing them! The frozen bananas work great in smoothies (and if you blend up a few chunks of banana and some milk you get a healthy "ice cream"!) and when frozen they don't really go--though I haven't exactly experimented to see how long they last in the freezer! Oh! And another plus to cutting up and freezing your bananas is you don't have to eat a whole banana you just grab as many banana pieces as you need.

That's all I've got for now!

Em

Week 2 Update

Well, I gotta confess, this was the week of cheating.

I was doing SO good and then--I wasn't going good. No I didn't give in to a midnight craving or have an emotional breakdown resulting in eating my body weight in sugar.

Thursday, Abbie made dessert and I wanted to try some. I only had a couple bites and that was that. Then Saturday I went to a lingerie shower. I knew there would be a plethora of yummy food and I didn't even attempt to ignore the sweets. I gave myself 1 day and by the time Sunday rolled around I was more than ready to give up sweets--again. Today is Tuesday and so far I am back on track and feeling great.

So, on that note I thought I would put in a few thoughts I've had on cheating on a diet.

When it comes to sticking to a diet people are incredibly concerned about failing their diet. So when they do slip it's catastrophic. Honestly, I feel like people allowing themselves to become so upset when they are not perfect in their eating habits is just as problematic as actually falling off the diet bandwagon. Sure, it's a band idea to allow ourselves too much liberty in what we eat. After all what's the point of a diet if there is no intention to stick with it? But, we can't feel like a failure if there is a slip. It's more important to keep your chin-up and keep going.

-Em

Week 1 update!

Woohoo! I made it one week without eating wheat or sweets! Honestly, it hasn't been as hard as I thought. Sure there have been a couple times when I've wanted something sweet, but in reality it's just mind over matter. I'm starting to think there might be some truth to the whole "the less you eat the bad stuff the less you crave it".

As for any changes I've noticed since changing my diet up I can't say I've noticed much. I do drink more water these days, but I can't pinpoint any one thing specifically. I haven't been sleepy during the day, but that probably has more to do with going to bed at a good time.

Here's a snapshot of my lunch today. Steal cut oats and an orange!

Sugar Free, Wheat Free, Me

Here we go again, another health kick.

Last fall I went sugar free for about a month. This semester I ate less of the "bad" stuff and more fruits and veggies. Now I'm ready to take my relationship to eating healthy to the next level. From now until my birthday (may 3rd!) I am going sugar free and wheat free. Crazy, I know. I love sweets and I love carbs, but I've got to give it a try.

It recently occurred to me that God has given us all intricately designed bodies yet many of us will never know what it's like for that body to reach its full potential. Personally, I want to see what my body will do if I treat it right. For all I know there might be things that I struggle with that will disappear because of a cleaner diet.

Anyway, I'm curious to see how this goes and I'll certainly keep you all updated.

-Em

While studying for a nursing midterm by myself in the very empty computer lab at school I overheard the follow:

We should put up fliers all over campus "single awareness study session Friday nights in the clab"

A guy can change how the world views a girl.

Through his eyes the world can see her as less beautiful

Or he can convince the world she is stunning

Girls--avoid the former

And recognize that the latter is a very good man.

wowzeeeee I am bored!! I have plenty I probably could do, but I simply have no motivation. What better time to update everybody on my life? Well, life's good.

The Lord is so faithful to remind me of how blessed I really am. Last week, I was driving to take a test and had a flat tire. Long story short, by the time the day was over I had been rescued by three guys. One picked me up and got me to my test and it took two more to take me back to the car and change the tire. The funniest part about the whole thing, was that the day before I had been complaining about not having any guy friends. I can't even say how much it warmed my heart to look in my rearview mirror and see a familiar car racing toward me a very illegal speed. Or to watch my friend sweat and strain trying to get the lubnuts off the wheel. Or when I got a text from another guy friend who said his "heart broke" for me when he heard about what had happened. All I could think was, "I am blessed." Some girls are just looking for one hero--some hunk of a guy who will who will change her flat tire--but look at me! I don't even know how I got here. Even if I had 3 wishes I couldn't have come up with this life. It's funny that it took ending up on the side of the road at 7:45 in the morning with tears of panic running down my face to realize how truly, deeply, and unimaginably blessed I am.

-Em

Snapshot

The other day I was walking around campus, going about my normal business, and I realized--college is pretty great. The things that are so normal to me right now, will be foreign, in a couple years. Staying up into the late hours filling out study guides, tutoring petrified patho students, making friends with people that, in "normal" circumstance, I wouldn't have known, all because we have all the same classes...mmmm I love it!

In my head I have all these snapshots of college so far. Most of the time I might be stressed and busy, but now I realize those were good days. And I'm not even halfway so there are many great days coming! On that note, I thought you might enjoy seeing a few snapshots of my life.
P.S. a lot of the pictures were taken on photobooth so there's lots of me!

I took that picture at about 1 a.m. in the quiet study area of the clab. I took it last spring and I'm pretty sure I was alternating studying between patho and A&P...translation the reason my face isn't in the picture is because I probably looked as exhausted as I felt.

Finals week spring semester 2011. Typical.

Accepted into the Nursing Program!!!! I found out later that in August 2010 (that would be the fall of my freshman year) I was one of 800 people that were intending on applying for the program. Of that 800 only about 300 actually applied and 150 were accepted. I definitely feel privileged to have this opportunity.

Summer 2011 Nursing Uniform arrived in the mail

coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeeeeeeeee

my door got decorated on my birthday. I definitely felt special

First day of classes 2012!

Studying for finals. I probably should have switched to decaf...

Last semester Monday's were a super long day for me.

That's it for now.

Em

Com'on boys, not a good idea to try to impress a runner by running when you're not a runner.

Chocolate Smoothie!

As promised here's the step by step instructions to my amazing will change your life chocolate smoothie! (If I were a true blogger I would have pictures, I might come in and add some later.)

First, cut up 1 banana and blend it with some (1/2 cup-ish) milk. I would recommend cutting up a few banana's and freezing them then just measuring out some when you're about to make a smoothie--this will make the smoothie cold rather than room temperature.

Once the banana is blended add about a tablespoon of cocoa, half a scoop of vanilla protein powder, and about a tablespoon of peanut butter.

Depending on what kind of protein powder and peanut butter you use this smoothie will come out to about 290 calories.

Blend it up and there ya go!

Here's my thoughts on the nutritional side of this smoothie.

I feel like this is a great post-workout smoothie. The banana will help replace electrolytes. The milk, protein powder, and peanut butter are full of protein which will speed up muscle recovery. Also, cocoa speeds up metabolism! Despite the banana being some great carbs, I don't think it would be great for pre-workout. The fat in the peanut butter will stay in your stomach for a long time which could make you sick during your workout, but that's your call.

If you're trying to lose weight this probably shouldn't be your first choice of smoothie because bananas are high in carbs and peanut butter has quite a bit of fat. Of course if you are about to run to Wal-Mart for some Ben & Jerry's because you just have to have some chocolate--by all means whip out this smoothie. Also, just a tip, if you pre-freeze your banana you could easily cut this recipe in half making it about 140 calories.

Enjoy!

Em

Eating Clean

Well hey there! I haven't posted on this blog in quite some time--I hope you forgive me.

I want to talk to you today about eating healthy. Let me explain.

Most of you know, my older sister Abbie and I share a cute little apartment and this semester we have endeavored to eat ultra-healthy. Initially we were going to do a three week cleanse and eat only lean meat, fruit, and vegetables (but I think it's safe to say healthy eating is here to stay.) Abbie started finding all kinds of great smoothies on Pinterest and after a Christmas of eating all things unhealthy, we were incredibly motivated. The more we talked about our game plan the more aware we were that it was not practical for us to cut out grains completely (hello college students have proven that man can live on bread and peanut butter alone). Once we got back to Lynchburg, we beelined to Wal-Mart and stocked up on smoothie supplies, fruits, and veggies. For the last 3 1/2 weeks we have been doing incredibly well sticking to our "clean" diet. Not to say there hasn't been a few sweet things here and there, but for the most part--we've been very good. That is, until we ran out of groceries over the weekend.

It is amazing to me what a difference I felt going from eating incredibly healthy to the more traditional college student diet. For example, this morning I had Research in Nursing for 2.5 hours at 7:40 and I had the hardest time keeping my eyes open. This could be because I didn't sleep great last night, but more on that later! You might be thinking, "Duh you couldn't stay awake. It's Research in Nursing at 7:40!" but here's the deal. This is week 3--the first two weeks I had no problems staying awake and feeling engaged in that class. In fact, up until today I had not taken a single nap this whole semester! I'm curious to see if my bout of lethargy disappears now that our refrigerator is restocked--I have an inkling it will.

Another difference I saw was in my workouts. The first couple weeks of school I was working out every day. And I'm not talking about those panzy 10-minutes-on-the-Elliptical-followed-by-10-half-hearted-crunches-workouts. No no, these were intense hour to hour and a half workouts. The kind that left me feeling like I had just been taken out by an angry Elephant. Two weeks ago I went running through the mountains (gotta love living in VA!) and I was amazed how far I ran. I had a blast even though I was running on a trail that was less than 2 ft wide with inclines that either had me skidding down or had my calves screaming as I ran up. I told Abbie later that it was SO much fun and that I "felt like I was in Twilight" ;). I say this because I had the energy to get through those workouts and to go galavanting through the mountains. As soon as the good food decreased so did the length and intensity of my workouts.

Also, I'll throw it here, when I'm eating right and working out like a sparten, I feel great about myself. Which, I'm not going to get into right now, but that's huge for me! (If you're confused go to my other blog and read my testimony )

Here's another difference I've noted, I could not sleep last night. I can't remember the last time I had trouble sleeping. Normally, my head hits the pillow and I am out, but not last night...coincidence?

Alright there's my 2 cents on eating healthy. If you know me personally, you know I'm not nit picky about eating perfectly healthy--heaven knows this girl LOVES chocolate--but I'm really loving cleaning up my diet. Let me know if you want any tips or smoothie recipes!

Em