Monday, February 27, 2012

Keeping Healthy Habits While On Vacation


California has beautiful mountains, lovely views, and delicious red wine. California also has beautiful self-serve frozen yogurt shops, lovely desserts, and delicious coffee shops. All of these combined can make healthy eating habits on vacation difficult to keep.



            I recently came back from a trip out to California for Brandynn’s (muffin #2) bridal extravaganza. I always find it hard to maintain healthy habits while on vacation but I try to balance it the best I can. Now, don’t get me wrong, I visited Yogurtland (self –serve-frozen yogurt? SIGN ME UP) at least four times during the six days I was there. Every night we enjoyed glasses of red wine and bottles were polished off, quickly. At one event there was a chocolate fondue fountain that had banana bread and Vanilla Wafers to dip, and as you might guess, I was ALL over it.  But, I knew that if I allowed myself to over indulge, I would regret it when the stomach bloat hit and the lethargic sugar crash came.

            Finding a healthy way to balance your exercise and eating habits is not an easy feat. It has taken me an entire year to develop these habits, and it has taken me five years to lose 36 pounds. Will six days of eating cause me to gain back 36 pounds? Absolutely not. But I know what works for my body and healthy habits are the way to go.

In the morning Brandynn and I would wake up before everyone else and lace up our running shoes. We would finish 4-5 miles and get back to the house just as everyone was waking up. If I did not fit in my run in the morning, I would never have gotten the chance to fit in my exercise. I made sure that it was a priority and part of the daily agenda. There was one night in particular where I had copious amounts of red wine, and when my alarm went off at 7:30, I hit snooze and slept a wonderful extra hour and had taken the day off from running. After all, I was on vacation, and I was enjoying myself.

There were many nights of blueberry pie offerings and brownies being put out on display, but I knew that I was not hungry and I turned them down. Brandynn always made sure to add salads with every meal that her family prepared and I made sure to get my greens in every day. I felt that even the small choices make a big difference.

I am not an expert and I do not claim to know the secrets to healthy living, but I know what works for me. What are your thoughts on keeping healthy habits while on vacation?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Locker Room Etiquette

Beep! Beep! Beep!
My alarm goes off at 5:00 A.M. and I hit the snooze button at least twice. I stumble out of bed, tripping over my dogs body as he excitedly walks around me. I brush my teeth half asleep and quickly change into my gym clothes, kissing Matt and grabbing my gym bag on the way out the door. On my ride to the gym I question my sanity because, let's face it, it's winter and its freaking cold outside.
At 5:30 A.M. I am at the gym setting up my spot in Body Pump. During this time I will typically be doing squats while the instructor plays Ke$ha. One would think listening to Ke$ha at 5:45 in the morning is painful enough but no, the painful part is the locker room after my class.



Now, let me explain.

We were born naked. If I lived on a deserted island I would most likely walk around with no clothes on. I've done my fair share of skinny dipping, and believe it or not, I even shower naked. Suffice to say, I do not see anything wrong with nudity.
But, I do have a strong opinion on nudity when it comes to the locker room at my gym. There are women of all ages that work out at my gym and come into the locker room to shower and get ready. They go to their respected area of the locker room and get dressed and ready for the day ahead. But there are a select few women who walk the locker room nude for at least 30 minutes. They dry their hair naked, they stretch naked, they approach you and compliment your underwear while they are standing there (yes, this has happened to me), completely naked. Why do these women insist on walking the locker room completely nude for extended periods of time? Am I the only one that finds this a bit extreme? Or am I just being ridiculous?

Honest answers are excepted and encouraged!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Bits About Me


I’m Sarah and there a few things you should know about me:


1: I’m engaged to the man of my dreams. Hopefully he feels the same way about me after this semester is over.

2: I enjoy Kit Kats. The word enjoy doesn’t even come close to doing my feelings justice, but let’s just leave it at that until you get to know me more. I do not want to scare you away with my first post.

3: I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. If my schedule slightly changes and I am not able to have it, I go a bit crazy. My fiancé thinks I have a Type A personality, I say no way!

4: I have two best friends, Muffin #1 and Muffin#2. If you think I sound crazy, just be thankful you have never had to be in a car with us.
Muffin#2 (Brandynn)




Muffin #1 (Steph)

5: The food that collects in the drain after you wash the dishes makes me want to vomit. I will never clean it out, ever, unless I will get a Kit Kat.

6: I believe in living a healthy life style that consists of balance. On weekends I can usually be found eating my way through Brandynn’s (Muffin#2) latest dessert. In my opinion, a little bit of dessert means balance.

Is that all there is to know about me? Absolutely not! But as my blog posts become more frequent I hope to give everyone a glimpse into my life and the way I live it. Not everyone will agree with my choices or opinions but I hope to give people insight into what it’s like to be a hungry girl in a world that strives to be healthy!