Breakfast Power Food

Lately, I've been hooked on this breakfast power food!

Kefir blueberry yogurt blend with probiotics
Nature’s Path Organic Hemp Plus Granola (from Trader Joe's)
Add your choice of fresh fruit

It's so yummy and healthy as long as you can ration your portions because too much of this will yield a higher sugar content than desired for a morning meal. Remember, too much sugar will cause you to crash half-way through your morning routine!

H20... What's the fuss?

We’ve all heard it, the numerous benefits of drinking water and just how much we should be consuming in a day. Well, I used to be the girl who would power through meals without the need nor want to drink anything. Drinking beverages was just so boring to me that I would find no interest in consuming them whatsoever. The downside of it, I found myself only peeing about 4 times in an entire day, my skin became dry and patchy, I experienced headaches more often, and I found myself actually consuming larger meals than my own boyfriend was.

So, why was I feeling this way? What exactly are the many benefits of drinking agua that we often hear about in studies? It has been found that those who drink ample water actually experience a fuller feeling and consume fewer calories throughout the day in comparison to those who don’t consume enough. The desire for sweetened and carbonated drinks like soda, caffeine-infused coffee drinks, and sugar packed sports drinks and juices is also lessened amongst water drinkers. Also, drinking 8-16 ounces of water prior to each meal can also aid in more weight loss.

Now, you couldn’t possibly ask me to down 8-16 ounces of water prior to enjoying a meal… that’s just simply not going to fly with me – I’m the girl who wholeheartedly does not enjoy drinking fluids, remember? But the concentrated, straw-colored, aromatic urine I was passing (am I grossing you out yet?) was the final straw for me. My solution? Check it out!

                       
I was browsing through Target one day and I decided I’d purchase one of those cute Contigo bottles and give this whole “water deal” a try. Let me tell you guys, I just absolutely love my new water bottle! It holds up to 32 ounces of fluid, has a hide away/pop-up straw so that germs and nasty critters can stay away from your mouth piece, and it’s got a super fun, pink sporty look to it - who would have known drinking water could be fun? I carry this with me everywhere now, so even if I’m just bored or feeling the itch to snack away, I’ll take a few sips from it and the cravings are instantly satisfied. My digestive system works wonders now, my skin has a glow to it, I’ve kissed those annoying headaches goodbye, and I’m peeing often and clear! Girls, it’s the little things you’ve got to appreciate. Listen to your body when it tells you it’s thirsty, keep an eye out for its warning signs. The body needs to be in a continuous state of equilibrium and with its complex mechanisms of electrolyte balance. Increasing your water intake is the easiest, cheapest, and best way to start working towards a healthier you.

Make it a Lifestyle

This is a phrase that often sits on the back of my head as I encounter people expressing their desire to enter the world of “fitness and health.” The number one thing I see go wrong is the fact that a true commitment has not been established since the get -go when people embark on this journey. Instead, many hope to find results by hopping on an elliptical machine a few times a week, eating a few healthy meals here and there, and pinning some inspirational and motivational pictures online. Girls (and guys), let’s get real. Leading a healthy lifestyle requires dedication and most importantly a game plan. You will need to dig deep and identify why exactly it is that you desire this and what you will do to accomplish your goals.

Staying fit is not a short-term goal that one achieves in time for summer and then throws it away. If you want to see lifestyle changes and make an effort towards actually leading a healthier life, prepare to dive in equipped with the mental strength necessary to do so or you will almost guaranteed rebound back to your original state. Hey, it’s happened to me before, and I too rebound to unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle choices.  

What I’ve found to be the most helpful thing is actually developing a schedule (Google calendars is AWESOME, by the way). I’m talking about being a busy working mommy to a 2 ½ year old, managing the stresses of nursing school, and yet still making time to incorporate exercise into my weekly schedule. My work schedule tends to fluctuate a bit, which can become frustrating at times - especially once I’ve locked in a routine that works for me. This is when having a visual of what my week will consist of comes into play. It becomes easier to pencil in the classes, at home work-outs, and weekend hiking trips I dearly enjoy. A friend likes having a weekly meal preparation schedule so that she doesn’t find herself having to scavenger and rush for last minute meals. This makes things much easier when you take those dreaded long trips to the grocery store as well, but I’ll save my tips on making healthy choices at the store for a later post.

So, what do I mostly want you to take from this? Your outlook on what staying fit and healthy means to you needs to change. These will need to be placed higher on your list of priorities than you might have initially planned on and they will need to remain up there in order to stay on track. In no means will this prove to be an easy task, because it’s not. In fact, it will be extremely challenging and at often times disappointing when you veer of track. But keep at it; work hard, admire your changing body, learn to love the soreness as your muscles break down and build back up, and learn to get back up and push harder when you hit a plateau. I promise, the results are worth the time and effort!

From small beginnings come great things

I'm not really sure who is responsible for this quote, but I do know that I've recently learned to embrace it and live by it. My boyfriend has been an avid believer in taking risks and aiming for what you truly love doing for as long as we've known each other (yeah, a whole whopping 2 years). He doesn't really like taking the time to worry or compare himself to where others his age are or how much they've accomplished. He considers himself an artist and seems more than content with his personal pursuit of happiness with his artistic involvement in life. Me, being the frantic perfectionist with a ticking time-line of events and accomplishments that are yet to be completed, panic with such easy-going mindsets. Which brings me back to the quote that sparked the beginning of all this. In an attempt to reach those rather subjective "great things" it speaks of, I figured, "What the hell, I'll try this blogging business everyone is raging about now a days." In the end, if no one chooses to follow me (hey, I don't blame you) I'll have my own little online journal I can turn to when I simply feel like talking and the white wall just isn't cutting it.

Now, you're probably wondering just who the heck is this chick who's ranting on about life and hasn't even given a name. Due to my involvement in government affairs, security measures render me incapable of announcing my true name, but I do go by the alias of Sna. Okay, I know what you're thinking, but we can't all be beautiful and funny so for the meantime you'll just have to deal with my gimpy humor. Sna was actually a nickname that was accidentally given to me by my boyfriend before he even knew who I was. I had been hanging out with one of his friends, which from what I understand had found some sort of interest in me, and needed somebody to store my number in their phone because his was about to die. Long story short, boyfriend stores my number and misspells my name by accident. Months later, boyfriend and I meet through mutual friends, - and to spare you of all the steamy details - turns out boyfriend thinks I'm pretty cool and asks for my number. In the process of storing it, Sna pops up in his phone book, and thus the nickname is born.

I could honestly go on for days talking about this mystery boyfriend of mine, but he's really not as interesting as I am (sorry, poop). The name is Ana, and I was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. And yes, for those of you wondering if that's the same place Blow and women with big asses come from you are correct. What you may not know is that Colombia is also known for its coffee and rebel militia group known as FARC or La Guerilla. I moved to the US when I was 12 years old and have had nothing but the uttermost appreciation for this country ever since. There you have it, short and sweet.

If you were paying attention earlier, I mentioned that I consider myself to be a frantic perfectionist with a ticking time-line in order. This precious and meticulously thought out time-line of mine came to an abrupt stop (it was actually more like an explosion which turned all of my perfectly jotted out plans in life into molten ash) on January 27th, 2010 when a "silly" at-home pregnancy test caught my eye. I choose the expression "caught my eye" because it literally did. When the results yielded a single line in one of the designated circles, and a cross in the other designated circle (men, I don't expect you to follow. Simply skip through to the illustrative portion of my blog for your visual pleasure) I couldn't have been more confused. I had never seen this mysterious cross symbol before, but then again, I had never used this sort of pregnancy test before. To top it all off, Ms. BrainFarts over here had tossed the package to the pregnancy test away several months before in an attempt to safely sneak away this apparatus in my bathroom cabinet in case I ever readily needed it. Ah yes, part of the many joys of being a 22 year old full-time student still living at your parents' house. Amongst all the confusion, I decided it'd be best to give my boyfriend a ring and let him in on the situation. He's usually a man with a lot to say but that night he only seemed to manage out the words "More pregnancy tests, my house, now." Off I headed to CVS (which, by the way, is my favorite store of all times) in what turned out to be quite the expensive journey totaling almost $60 for 3 boxes of baby detectors. To my surprise, my boyfriend had an array of coins all over his bedroom carpet and seemed unfathomed by the fact I had just stomped through his door with a bunch of pregnancy tests. He was so concentrated in what seemed like an utterly important task of separating and counting the thousands of coins he had collected in a "change jug" throughout his years of serving that I proceeded to the bathroom on my own. One... two... three... yep, that should do it. Having successfully weewee'd on three of those expensive crayola looking baby sticks, I carried them all out and into my boyfriend's room and sat alongside him, helping him count his coins. When the moment of truth came, I refused check the results myself. I watched as my boyfriend checked one after the other. To this day, I am convinced he must have suffered some sort of unexplained and rapid blood loss because the color from his face and limbs completely disappeared for what seemed like eternity. "Yep, you're pregnant," is all he said as he continued to count his coins.

I don't think I'll ever forget that moment, and looking back on it now we both can't help but laugh. You're probably thinking what a horrible human being I am for having said that those pregnancy tests were "an explosion which turned my hopes and aspirations in life into dust." Well, truth is, they might have placed and end - or a long hold, if you will - to my once meticulously thought out life plans, but they introduced a wonderful new chapter to my life that I will forever be grateful for. Those once "small beginnings" that were somehow detected by crayola sticks have resulted in "great things" for not only my boyfriend and I, but for our loved ones as well. And so I introduce you to our beautiful son, Jackson Scott Garner aka Pony, Chimichanga - amongst many others as you'll come to learn throughout my posts.

Our lives went from falling in low wow in the streets of San Francisco...

To finding a whole other reason to luh each other and life even more...