List Girl
My June Listing post was such a success that I thought I’d make it a semi-regular offender, so get ready for some information about me and details about what I’ve been doing lately.
What I’ve been eating:
I can’t seem to get out of the kitchen actually, something which I blame this new 11-Cup Cuisinart Food Processor for. I was thrilled to upgrade from the 4-cup to the 11-cup but I haven’t stopped baking since it arrived, and that’s rough on the jeans!
I’m still eating tons of veggies, cooking healthy meals for Arianna at least once a week, and eating my body weight in fruit every day, but everything I eat seems to come with a side of baked goods these days…
{JL Goes Vegan’s Cherry-Oat Ice Cream Bars, Peanut Butter Protein Balls & OhSheGlow’s Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins}
The boy has been thrilled by this little development and no one in my office is complaining about the abundance of cookies and zucchini muffins, I can assure you!
What I’ve been reading:
It seems like lately I’ve spent a lot of time on the train or in the car, so reading materials have been a must. The benefit is that I’m all caught up on my favorite magazines now, which is a relief, and I’ve read a handful of books over the last few weeks.
Recently I’ve gotten through the too cute Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Martin Cruz Smith’s Russian crime novel Stalin’s Ghost, and the international espionage novel Moscow Vector by Patrick Larkin. Now it’s on to Robin Maxwell’s Signora da Vinci and Lucrezia Borgia by Sara Bradford, both of which have been gathering dust on my bedside table.
What I’ve been writing:
Um… I take the 5th. I swear I’ll have an answer in my next Listing post. I swear!
What I’ve been wearing:
I’ve been making an effort to trade in my easy-to-wear dresses for fun separates and that’s given me a chance to be more creative with colors and prints and accessories so far this Summer.
Hopefully I can keep this up through the end of Summer and start Fall off right with lots of great skirts and pants paired with fabulous tops and all the cold weather accessories I’ve been missing!
Some Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me:
- I spend most of my waking time thinking about food – I love to cook and eat, and trying a new recipe is one of my favorite parts of the day.
- I compulsively double lock my front door whenever I walk inside my apartment. Even when Sean’s just walked out to drop off the garbage. I can’t help it!
- I love swimming and spending my vacations in the water, but I’m afraid of lake monsters. Don’t ask.
How have you been spending your time lately? Have you eaten anything great? Read anything new? Worn anything fabulous that you’d like to share?
Listing…
Everyone seems to be in the mood for lists right now. A handful of bloggers that I adore have published list posts lately: The Life & Lessons of Rachel Wilkerson’s What I’ve Been Eating, What I’ve Been Reading, What I’ve Been Writing, What I’ve Been Wearing, Holly Would If She Could’s 16 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me, and SnackFace’s This Week’s Sounds, Scents, Sips, Snacks & Sights…
And with my hectic schedule lately, both at work and personally, I’ve been living and dying by my daily To Do lists. First thing in the morning I make a list of all the things that need to get done that day and before I leave the office for the day I take the list of tasks and put them in chronological order. Don’t worry, I’m not going to share my daily To Do lists with you. I thought I’d take a cue from my blogging idols though and share some of the details of what’s going on in my life these days.
What I’ve Been Eating:
I didn’t do a great job following a healthy diet in April or May, as I confessed, so I’ve been doing my best to rectify that over the last few weeks. Tons of fruits and veggies, and smoothies galore. Green smoothies, berry-based smoothies, and even peanut butter smoothies. Yum!
What I’ve Been Reading:
My boyfriend’s mother insisted that I read The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato, and I ended up reading all 544 pages over the course of a weekend because I couldn’t put it down. Botticelli’s Primavera has been my favorite painting of his since I saw it in Florence when I was 21 so I was especially drawn to the storyline. I’ve also just finished Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink and was stunned by how much I related to each and every study that he discussed. Definitely keep an eye out for a Book Report on this! I’ve also just started Add More -Ing to Your Life: A Hip Guide to Happiness by Gabrielle Bernstein, which isn’t a self-help book – I swear – it’s a self-transformation book. 🙂 I’m looking forward to seeing how it impacts my daily approach to life as part of my #1 2012 goal to Be Positive.
Oh, and I have a serious fashion magazine problem. Like a – I need a 12 step program type of problem.
What I’ve Been Writing:
One of my goals for 2012 is to publish a piece of my writing and while this has been a personal goal for years, this is the first time I’ve officially written it down. Not to make excuses, but as a result of my spinal injury and my laptop dying earlier this year, I haven’t worked on this goal much so far in 2012. Hopefully this post will serve as motivation for me to start editing my first novel, I started writing it when I was 20 and wrote a large chunk of it while I was traveling around Europe by myself when I was 21.
What I’ve Been Wearing:
During May I submitted a handful of looks to a fashion challenge run by Definitely RA, you can so you can check out some of those looks – Mission: Put Together 2012 – Part I and Mission: Put Together 2012 – Part II. The challenge was great and I wish I’d had time to participate more, but even putting together a few looks was fun. And as part of my goals for June I wanted to make an effort to wear less black, especially on sunny weekends, so that’s been a major factor in choosing my daily looks. Definitely an adjustment not to automatically reach for the black pieces!
Some Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me:
- I don’t actively follow astrology but I’ve always believed that I embody many of the traits of my Scorpio sign – Determined, loyal, suspicious, discreet, introverted, dramatic, passionate, possessive…
- I originally hurt my back springboard diving in college when I was 18
- If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life it would be sweet potatoes. There’s an endless number of ways to cook them… Chips, fries, baked, mashed, in pudding. They can be sweet or savory. Hmmm… Now I kind of want to spend a weekend eating only sweet potatoes and blog about all the recipes I come up with! 🙂
- Sometimes I forget that I don’t really “know” bloggers. I begin to feel like I’m friends with people whose lives I read about every day. Does that happen to anyone else?
- I have three tattoos.
And so that we can continue to get to know each other, I’m going to re-start my short-lived Les Confessions series, where I post some “confessions” about myself and my life on a regular basis.
Sounds:
I’ve been listening to 70’s and 80’s music non-stop. From vintage Bon Jovi, Kenny Loggins, and Twisted Sister to fabulous 80’s movie soundtracks – Footloose, Pretty In Pink, Breakfast Club. The upside is that it’s really upbeat music that wakes me up and makes me smile every morning, the downside is that I dance at my desk. A lot.
Scents:
I’m a peppermint junkie! Candles, air fresheners, essential oils… Whatever I can find. I’ve also been baking up a storm and I love the scent of raw cacao and carob powders as their heating up.
Sips:
Peppermint tea – duh – and I have to confess that my guilty pleasure these days is Cherry Coke Zero or Cherry Diet Dr. Pepper. My boyfriend is horrified by the red color from the syrup but I treat myself to one a week! I’ve also rediscovered the Synergy Kombucha drinks, and I laugh every time I get carded buying them!
Snacks:
I seem to have almost forgotten about hummus when the weather was cooler but now that it’s warming up I’m craving hummus daily. Carrots, celery, sugar snap peas, and radishes dipped in spicy hummus is favorite after-work snack. I’ve also been eating my bodyweight in fruit on virtually a daily basis – pounds of grapes, cherries, apples, and bananas. Just can’t get enough!
Sights:
This Spring was amazing with weekends in Sonoma, San Diego, and Sea Ranch, but June has been a gorgeous month in San Francisco and I’ve been really enjoying spending time in my favorite city. Walking everywhere, trips to the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market, lazy days spent shopping and wandering around the sun-drenched streets… Amazing!
So tell me, what have you been up to? Do you like to make lists to ensure that you get everything done that needs to be done each day?
Instagram Lovin’
Here’s a little Instagram Lovin’ for you today!
Source
Follow me at Instagram @ moicontrelavie
Friday Links – Mother’s Day Lovin’
Anyone procrastinating on getting Mother’s Day gifts, sending cards, or planning an outing to celebrate the mother(s) in your life? If you’re in that slowly sinking boat, here are some links to websites, blogs, and stores to get you started and give you a little inspiration to start preparing for the big day.
- Jungi Style’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide – From fabulous kitchen gadgets to beautiful scarves, there are some great and stylish options here.
- FabSugar’s 50 Sure-to-Please-Mom Finds – All Under $50
- Huffington Post’s Mother’s Day Gifts: A Small-Business Gift Guide – This is a great way to support small, local businesses, and what Mom wouldn’t want you to do that?
- FitSugar’s Celebrate Moms With These Fit and Healthy Gifts – If your Mom is active, or wants to be, this is a great list for you to check out.
- Rachel Ray Magazine’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide
Are you a traditionalist when it comes to Mother’s Day? I’m a big fan of sending flowers when I don’t get to see my mother on her birthday or Mother’s Day. What girl doesn’t LOVE to have a huge bouquet delivered?
- Mother’s Day Flowers 2012: A Buyer’s Guide For The Florally Challenged
- Inexpensive Mother’s Day gifts
Planning to make your mom a meal? A fun family brunch is a great way to enjoy the day so if that’s what you’re thinking, check out some ideas and recipes below:
- Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Brunch Recipes for Mother’s Day from Women’s Health
- Raw Buckwheat Breakfast Porridge from OhSheGlows
- Martha Stewart’s Mother’s Day Recipes and Menus
- Kid-friendly Mother’s Day Recipes from Family Fun
- Rachel Wilkerson’s Rise And Dine: Artichoke Strata
- Whole Wheat Yogurt Pancakes from Kath Eats Real Food or Blueberry Vanilla Bean Pancakes w/ Blueberry Glaze from OhSheGlows
Wondering what I did for Mother’s Day? I was lucky enough to see my Mother last week so I was able to celebrate her birthday, which was in April, and an early Mother’s Day simultaneously. Her Mother’s Day gift ended up being a pretty, drapped front cardigan, perfect to throw over any outfit (she’s always cold). I’d originally gotten her a box of Godiva truffles but for some reason they didn’t survive in my apartment… Gnomes?
Have a great Friday night!
Links You’ll Love
Fashion:
Need a tutorial on mixing colors for Spring? Cristina’s Blog has the goods – Mixing Colours… Blue & Yellow.
If you love glamour and a slinky, retro vibe you’re bound to be a fan of Russian stylist, photographer, and designer Uliana Sergienko. Couture et Cuisine has a collection of phenomenal pictures of her here for your viewing pleasure.
If you’re in the market for a new girl crush I highly suggest checking out Modelinia’s Elisa Sednaoui Continues to Reign as Our #1 Girl Crush or Vogue UK’s catwalk piece on the stunning Jourdan Dunn. So hard to choose!
Curious what the fashion industry is up to between the shows? Here are some of the recent events and launches: The New Museum’s 35th Anniversary Gala, The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Dinner, H&M’s 2012 Conscious Collection hit stores 12 April 2012, get a tour of Rachel Roy’s office, The 9th Annual New Yorkers for Children event, and, as I’m sure you’ve heard, Raf Simons from Jil Sander has replaced the disgraced John Galliano at Christian Dior.
Check out this casual, cool look from Coachella queen Kate Bosworth on Frugal Fashionista to get you in the mood for the music festival. If you need for inspiration read my Hippie 2012 Breakdown for everything you’ll need for Coachella!
Health/Fitness:
Marion Nestle is an author, professor & nutritional expert who has written books, chaired government committees, and writes a column for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her blog, Food Politics, always has great posts on food, nutrition, grocery shopping, farming, buying organic, meat processing… I highly recommend checking out the following pieces:
- USA Today interview on Why Calories Count
- Nutritionist’s Notebook: Caffeine Cravings
- “Pink Slime:” Some questions about what’s really at stake
- The Dilemma of Pink Slime: Cost or Culture?
I found myself nodding along to Choosing Raw’s Building a Better Snack: Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Snack Bars. Sometimes you want something quick and easy to snack on, but when you read the ingredients in products you realize that there are very limited healthy processed options. Making your own snack bars (or energy bites) are great options! Next week I’ll be sharing my energy bite recipe or you can try Choosing Raw’s Super Speedy, No Bake Omega-3 Vegan Snack Bars, Hungry Hungry Hippie’s Peanut Banana Oatmeal Bars, or OhSheGlow’s Homemade Banana Bread Larabars.
7 April Superfoods from The Huffington Post – All in green and red!
Still looking for great breakfast ideas for Spring? I’ve shared overnight oats recipes and smoothiesgalore, what about breakfast porridge? Check out Chatelaine’s Gluten-free recipe: Sweet breakfast porridge with fresh toppings.
Have you read about or tried intermittent fasting? These are both interesting reads: Dr Michael Eades, M.D.’s Could intermittent fasting or caloric restriction make the heart more resistant to damage? and Stop Eat Stop.
Do you workout with your significant other? Do you want to…? I suggest taking a look at Rachel Wilkerson’s piece Living In Sin: How CrossFit Has Helped My Relationship, Holly Would If She’s Could’s CrossFit Love: How Sharing Fitness Has Improved My Relationship, or my post Health & Your Relationship.
Health & Your Relationship
When I read Rachel Wilkerson’s How CrossFit Has Helped My Relationship it got me thinking.
A lot.
Rachel said that by encouraging her boyfriend to take up a healthy hobby – in this instance CrossFit – their relationship ultimately benefited despite the fact that in the end it actually meant less alone time. I have no trouble at all believing this. In my experience, if there’s a substantial disconnect between how much two people value health & nutrition in their lives it can potentially lead to problems down the road.
I don’t believe that you need have all the same views, do the same workouts, or approach food the same way. But if only one person takes their health seriously and devotes time, energy, and effort to maintaining said health, the other individual may become resentful, jealous, threatened etc. Or things can go the other way around and as one person becomes healthier and more fit they begin to pity, worry about, and/or neglect their partner.
Take a look at this piece by the Primal Parent entitled When Good Health Destroys a Marriage. It’s written from the perspective of a woman who changed her diet and was feeling her best, while her husband was… Not. Ultimately their marriage couldn’t survive because she has a strong, well-tested belief in the importance of good health & nutrition, and refused to settle for someone who couldn’t – or wouldn’t – put forth the effort to investigate improving his own health.
{Kyle & Rochelle – The authors of Eat Drink Paleo}
If you can find someone who shares your views, that’s fantastic – like my friend Kyle & his lady-love who write the oh-so-entertaining Eat. Drink. Paleo – Two foodies who fell in love and are now transitioning to a paleo lifestyle. But at a minimum you need to show an interest in the other’s routines and goals, and be able to talk about and share your successes and failures.
Take my relationship for example, on the surface my boyfriend and I have virtually opposite views on all facets of fitness and nutrition:
- He eats an incredibly regimented high protein, low carb diet composed primarily of chicken, eggs, and vegetables which he tracks on a daily basis. I eat a mostly vegan, gluten-free, high raw diet.
- He does intermittent fasting – meaning that he doesn’t eat until early afternoon & only eats three meals a day. While I eat at least every two hours after my 4am wakeup time.
- He follows a lifting schedule & does CrossFit-style workouts that leave him wheezing, covered in bruises, scrapes, and rope burns, and stress his nervous system for days. I run, do circuit workouts & go to Pilates, martial arts & boxing classes.
- His ultimate goal with his work outs and eating regime is to retain & increase strength while dropping body fat. I’m only interested in being healthy and not having daily back pain.
Pretty different, right? But the truth is that those are fairly superficial differences – underneath it all we’re both incredibly passionate about health and fitness, and that’s what really matters.
We love going for walks & hikes, cooking, eating, going to the farmer’s market, and planning our meals and workouts for the week, and most of all, we love debating our positions on these topics. If you looked through our emails, Facebook messages, Tweets, and text logs you’d find photos of our meals, new recipes to try, books to add to our Amazon basket, articles to read, great blogs we’ve found, documentaries & movies to add to our Netflix queue, and questions about what we’ve eaten, what workouts we’ve done, and how far we’ve walked that day.
Every day.
{Hers vs His}
It doesn’t matter that we’re not spending our days doing the same things, what matters is that we both approach our lives with a profound respect for our bodies, what we put them through, and how we fuel them. Yes, we debate topics like veganism versus paleo eating, different types of fat, which oils to use in cooking, fasting, detox programs & cleanses, and strength training. Yes, sometimes I question his sanity when he comes home with his hands shredded from doing hundreds of pull-ups or muscle-ups or toes-to-bars. But mostly, we just talk about it.
Our shared passion for health and nutrition was not what brought us together 12 years ago, nor is it what has kept up together, but it does give us something to talk about and share every single day. And because it’s important to us both, we appreciate the other’s routines and ambitions, even though they’re different.
Like Rachel said:
One more lovely side effect of the fitness revival: Eric and I are back to bonding through nerdy, fitness-related conversations. (We’re also bonding over our sore muscles.) I’m really enjoying little things like talking about our workouts and progress, discussing an article about diet or exercise, trying new healthy foods together, or going shoe shopping for new athletic shoes.
You don’t need to be 100% in sync with your partner, you just need to be with someone who has the same appreciation and respect for health and fitness as you do. Added bonus if it becomes something that you can share and bond over!
Links You’ll Love
Health/Fitness:
Need some good reading materials? Here are two healthy & nutrition related pieces to check out: Is Fructose Being Blamed Unfairly For The Obesity Epidemic from Science Daily and Dr. Terry Wahl’s video – Minding Your Mitochondria, about the unparalleled benefits of following a Hunter/Gatherer diet.
How to Fall In Love With Healthy Living from the amazing & hilarious Rachel Wilkerson – her latest article for Shape Magazine.
Interested in probiotics but not sure where to start? Here are a few pieces that you can read to help educate yourself: FitSugar’s The Pros of Probiotics and Choosing Raw’s Probiotics: To Take or Not To Take.
If you’re beginning a new workout regime or interested in really focusing your energy in order to get the best results possible at the gym than the word for you is INTERVAL. Intervals, Tabata & HIIT are the most effective ways to drop weight and build muscle through cardio. Here are some good basics to get you started:
- The Fitnessista – Tabata Training Intervals & Focus On: Tabata Training (scroll below the recipes)
- Erin Stern – Star Jumps
- Interval Training – Tabata Training : The Fastest Way to Fitness & Fat Loss
- Lean Gains– Intermittent Training & Stubborn Body Fat
- Jeanette Jenkins – Fat Blasting 10-Minute Workout
Fashion:
If you haven’t seen Garance Dore’s hysterical Fashion Week diaries they’re a MUST: Pardon My French Part I, Pardon My French Part II & Pardon My French Part III. Gorgeous shots from the shows, backstage and the parties & events, all narrated by . Too cute.
Spring staple to get your hands on? The shirtdress! The Stylist’s latest recurring series is called Lessons For A Modern-Day Lady and their most recent piece is titled: How To Wear A Shirtdress.
Fun boots were all over the runways for Spring, what version are you going to live in? Modelinia has models loving their brown, low heeled ankle boots, FabSugar has the How To on wearing Winter boots with breezy Spring looks, The Stylist shows chic celebrities in Rain Boots or you can try combat boots a la Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. What is the right style for you?
In the mood for some grown up arts & crafts? Check out FabSugar’s DIY: Make A Sequin-Collar Top video, Design Sponge’s DIY Project: Leather Lunch Tote or the great DIY: Beaded Collar Blouse post from Moda, Moda that found when I was working on the Freckles In April 10 Day Style Challenge.
Links You’ll Love
Fashion:
It’s that time again… Time for all the new ad campaigns for Spring 2012 that make us swoon and wish the weather would hurry up so we can throw on sundresses and gorgeous resort wear. Sigh. Tom & Lorenzo have the lowdown on Valentino, Harper’s Bazaar previews the fabulous Burberry video featuring Poppy’s younger sister Cara Delevingne, Mama’s A Rolling Stone has gorgeous photos from the 2012 campaigns for Lanvin, Chloe and Balenciaga, and My Dress.My High Heels.My Style shows off the Proenza Schouler Spring/Summer 2012 Ad Campaign with the lovely, tan Natasha Poly, a breathtaking Mila Kunis for Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2012 and great mixing and matching of prints in the DKNY Spring/Summer 2012 Ad Campaign where Ashley Greene giving great face on New York rooftops.
Looking for something light and entertaining to read this weekend? Try Simon Doonan’s Gay Men Don’t Get Fat, see Harper’s Bazaar’s review here. Not your typical fashion tome, that’s for sure.
Need some ideas for comfy clothes and cozy accessories as this latest cold weather front moves through? WhoWhatWear has the breakdown on outerwear worn by everyone from Ashley Olsen to Rooney Mara, Frugal Fashionista has the lowdown on snowboots under $100 and FabSugar has 5 ideas on how to mix and match your feminine, warm-weather wear with cozy pieces for winter.
Need some extras to finish up your daily looks these days? 10 sweet winter accessories under $50, China Glaze creates a Hunger Games inspired line of nail polish, 7 pairs of nerd-chic glasses and leopard print scarves.
Health & Fitness:
Personally, I don’t own a scale, I’m much more interested in how my clothes fit. One reason? Muscle mass is important for your health. Is bulking up at the gym one of your fears? Fit Bottomed Girls discuss common fitness fears.
The girls over at Tone It Up give great daily updates – check out their great suggestion to keep you healthy and moving all day at work. Need some more motivation to get you going? FitSugar has you covered with quotes and mottos to get you up and out the door.
I can’t decide what I want to make first next weekend: FitSugar’s black & white bean sweet potato soup, The Wannabe Chef’s tofu stirfry or The Hungry Hungry Hippie’s clean food cornbread.
Looking to add some new foods to your diet to increase your health? You could try hemp seeds, antioxidant-rich foods, green monster salads, “cheesy” veggie quinoa Quiche and some of the newly popularized superfoods of 2011.
Hope you had a great weekend!
MCLV’s Non-Resolution 2012 Resolutions
You know what I hate? New Years Resolutions. And not just because I can’t get any time on the elliptical for the month of January while everyone whose New Years Resolution was to get into shape wears themselves out and rethinks their life choices. No, I dislike them because for the most part you just spend fifteen minutes on January 1st spitting out a list of grandiose plans for the year and then you forget about them around the time your hangover wears off.
But hey, I’m as guilty as most when it comes to the charade that is New Years Resolutions. However, this year, this year I have a plan. A good plan. I’m going to set goals at the beginning of each month, small goals, just some aims to keep in mind for the upcoming four weeks
This is inspired by my friend Holly of Holly Would If She Could who embarked on the Look Better Naked Challenge in November of 2011 and has been writing about her progress each week. Reading her posts I realized just how beneficial it is to approach this sort of challenge a week at a time – its less intimidating, its more manageable. And for someone with the attention span of a 2-year-old, I figured even I could maintain a set course of action for seven days at a time.
Overarching 2012 Resolutions:
- Buy a house
- Take no money out of my savings accounts (other than to buy said house)
- Publish something (this goal is a LONG TIME coming, I’ve been writing since I was a child and I’ve still never let anyone read my writing. It’s time. Past time.)
January Goals:
- Start back rehabilitation when I get doctor sign off & be diligent about my exercises
- Finish decorating my new apartment
- No taxis – Walk to and from work 5 days a week and run all errands on foot
See? Baby goals. Nothing I can’t do. Just a few things to keep me on track for January. Curious what everyone else is saying and doing?
Miss Rachel of The Life & Lessons of Rachel Wilkerson takes a different stance on New Years Resolutions. Each year she picks a verb and molds her goals and ambitions for the year around said verb. “Before you do anything in life, you must select a verb. You can begin, or quit, or change. You can choose, share, trust, try, think, relax, open, hope, serve, speak, write, save, flee, organize, believe, commit, or give.” I think that this is an incredibly creative and personal way to set goals for the year. For 2011 Rachel chose “invest” as her verb and for 2012 her verb is going to be “push.” What would you pick for your verb for 2012? I think that I might have to choose “evolve.” In 2012 I would like both myself and my life to evolve. Maybe this will be the year I become a grown up… Who knows! 🙂
Justyna at Chameleonic is approaching the New Year in a sanguine and entertaining way in her post: 2011 & These Are My Thoughts. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a happy, optimistic take on life and the future. And while I’m not always able to stay positive and idealistic in my daily life, I always appreciate and look up to those who can. Are you a glass half full or half empty type?
The Fitnessista focused on the great moments and highlights of 2011 – From family time and sweaty workouts to delicious recipes and fun trips that she took. At the beginning of a new year do you like to think about the amazing moments that the year before held for you or do you prefer to immediately let go of the past and start planning and hoping for the future? Or a little bit of both? 🙂
Rather than set Resolutions for 2012 Gena of Choosing Raw has a hope for the year – “I hope people will stop setting short-term dietary goals for themselves.” Gena is a vegan and raw food enthusiast who is a clinical nutritionist currently attending medical school. Her blog is an important and educational site in both the vegan and raw food worlds and she receives requests, questions, suggestions, ideas and pleas regarding food, healthy eating and diets. “I cannot count the number of emails I get each year at this time, detailing the fasting, calorie restricting, food group eliminating, and wacky beverage drinking that people intend to start their new years with. And it makes me sad, because these “plans” are not nourishing, they’re not always pleasurable, and most of all, they’re just not sustainable.” As a reader of her site I would say that one of Gena’s ultimate goals is to encourage people to really think about their food choices and to ultimately make healthier decisions. And that’s a huge part of her New Years Hope. “Instead of flirting with diets that promise you a new beginning, but deprive you of pleasure in order to get there, try, for a change, to greet the new year by being generous with yourself. Envision a way of eating that will feel rewarding–not just this week, or this month, but for years and years. Remember that finding pleasure in the way you eat is just as important as being healthy, because without the former, the latter won’t last.”
Jenn from the Fit Bottomed Girls has a list of 5 goals for herself to tackle in 2012. Including “make fewer goals.” As you’d expect from a contributor to a blog titled Fit Bottomed Girls, her goals for 2012 are primarily health and fitness related. When you make resolutions do you focus on career, health, family, friends, fitness or something else?
Happy 2012 and I hope this new year brings you everything that you hope for!
Moi Contre La Vie 