One Down, One To Go

So, I have officially completed my first year of graduate school! I have to tell you, this has definitely not been the easiest or most enjoyable year in my life. I have learned a lot of things about myself, though, which I suppose is the most valuable type of learning one can do.

When you enter an Ivy league institution, or really any higher education institution, you expect the classes to be hard. You expect to have to study, memorize, and learn the facts of the trade you are learning. I never thought that my graduate education would teach me more about myself than anything I could gain from reading a textbook or sitting in a lecture. I have to take classes like Foundations of Counseling, Group Counseling, and other experiential courses where you learn by doing. A year ago I had no idea what I was getting myself in to. In the fall, it was definitely the hardest thing I ever had to do. After two semesters and three courses of experiential learning, it's not so scary anymore. If anything, it's just annoying at this point. But I do have to say that I know myself a lot better than I did a year ago, and I like myself a lot better too.

I spent the last two weeks down in Maryland taking full advantage of my two week long summer break. I spent a few days at the beach with some friends, celebrated my boyfriend's graduation from The University of Maryland, and had a really relaxing time.

Summer classes at Teachers College started today - I have to tell you there is nothing that can be as much of a buzz kill as having summer classes. I am taking three summer classes - womp womp. I will be taking Child Development, which I had today, and meets twice a week for two hours. Multicultural Counseling meets once a week for five hours. Evaluation Methods of Counseling is going to be an online class. Three classes in six weeks might make me a crazy person, but I think I'm ok with that.

I'm going to get back on the fitness bend, as soon as it's not raining outside. Tomorrow I start the hunt for a new apartment, and I'm really excited. The last few months have been a crazy roller coaster and I'm glad that things are finally starting to settle.

More soon...

I Love Dove

A few weeks ago I wrote about Stay Nadeau and her work on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Well, last week Dove outdid themselves, again. I first saw this video on Facebook, and I think it is something that everyone should watch.

This video made me so sad for a variety of reasons. First, I wish that men had been included in this project because I feel like men might view themselves differently than they actually look as well. Second, why do women hate the way the look? Why do women discount how beautiful they actually are, and create fictional ugly people?  I definitely have fallen in to this trap, and it is something that everyone in this country needs to stop doing!

I think this video hits particularly close to home because it is something that I see my mother doing to herself on a daily basis. My mother is a beautiful, yet she does not see herself that way. Every time we take a picture together and I think it is adorable, she comes up with at least ten reasons why she looks terrible. She says a variety of things like "my hair is crazy," "I look pregnant," "I have a double chin," "I wish I wore my contacts today," etc. The fact of the mater is, no one would think any of those things, at all, it is all in her own head and her own insecurities. Here are some of these pictures:

In both of these pictures my mother claimed that she looked pregnant, among other problems. I wish she had been part of the Dove video so she could learn how beautiful she actually is, and how others perceive her. 

Feel free to comment on how body image has affect you, and those you know. Let's get the conversation going! 

The Diet Bet

So, if you have been reading my blog, you know that I have been working to make a lifestyle change in my own life. That being eating healthy, working out, and focusing on myself while I'm in my young twenties. Reading back on my posts since the beginning of the year, I have realized how far I have come in just a few short months. On my post from January 31st, I wrote about how excited I was that I have been biking about 7 miles in thirty minutes. Today I biked 9.83 miles in 32 minutes. For the majority of March I had been biking for about an hour a day. Last week I decided it would be a good idea to add in some strength training to my routine. There is a lot of literature out there on why it is important to add strength training to cardio. Here is an article from Women's Health Magazine. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Yesterday I was invited to do a DietBet, and I was like, WTF is a Dietbet? Well, I will tell you. You sign up, and you pay a predetermined amount of money ($25, $35, $50, etc), and then you have 28 days to lose 4% of your body weight. If you succeed in losing 4% of your body weight, then you split the pot with all the other people who lost 4% of their body weight, and if you don't, then you lose the bet. The one I was invited to yesterday was a $50 bet, which was just a little too high stakes for me. First, I am a poor graduate student, and second, I am not super confident in my ability to lose 4% of my body weight in 4 weeks. That will be almost doubling my current rate of weight loss.

Today I created a new DietBet, for only $25. It starts on Monday, and I am nervous and excited to get started! I will be so proud of myself if I achieve this goal, but I will still be proud of myself if I don't. If you would like to be a part of my DietBet, just let me know and I will invite you!

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing Stacy Nadeau speak on the University of Maryland campus, courtesy of the Panhellenic Association. I am going to assume that, unless you went to this speaker, you have no idea who Stacy Nadeau is, but don't worry, I'm about to tell you.

Dove Real Beauty Campaign 

Stacy is the woman on the far right of this image. She was/is a model for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. This campaign was launched in the United States in 2004, not knowing what type of reaction to expect from the American public. This campaign came in to existence after a study published that globally only 2% of women would describe themselves as beautiful. That's a statistic that I still have a really hard time swallowing - only 2 of every 100 women thinks she is beautiful. In college I was in a sorority with about 100 women at any given time, it pains me to believe that only 2 of them thought of themselves as beautiful women.

The media has conditioned individuals in society to have an idealistic vision for beauty. Whether you are asking men or women, most people think beauty is limited to blonde, skinny, tan, white, and tall women. Even models are not beautiful enough to be models. Watch this video:

I have seen that video countless times, and I still cannot believe that was real. I don't know that I would recognize her on the street if I saw her. Previous to seeing this video, I would have simply assumed that it was just the amount of makeup she was wearing, not that her actual appearance was being altered with the use of a computer program. The scariest thing of all is that if the photoshopped version of this woman were real, her head would fall off because her neck wouldn't be strong enough to support it. The media is literally setting impossible standards for women.

Stacy Nadeau preached to us that we should strive to be our very own best healthy selves, which is different for us than it will be for anyone else. She says that "your own best, healthy self is where your mental health and physical health meet in the middle." I think that is something that a lot of us forget about, that we need balance to survive.

There are many women who I consider to be role models in the media, but one of my favorites is the one and only Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson when she was on American Idol

Stacy spoke about how Kelly Clarkson came out about her struggles with her weight, and was an inspiration to her. Stacy told us that Kelly Clarkson came out to the world stating that due to pressure after American Idol, she went to unhealthy measures to maintain her weight. I can't find anything online that says this, but I did find a variety of things that make me love her even more as a role model for women in America. 

On September 25, 2011, Kelly wrote "While two stories have come to my mind that make me stronger, one comes to me in particular. One of the stories that has come to my mind happened over a decade ago, yet still lingers today. To make a long story short, in 2000, I had an eating disorder that was brought on by anxiety. I did not know it at the time, but what I was doing, was not eating because of anxiety. I would "pass out" , force myself to throw up in the toilet, had a lump in my throat that caused me not to eat, and had "rushes" in the morning when standing in front of the mirror. I was not myself in anyway shape or form. I would take a bar to school and it would take me forever to get it down complaining there was a lump in my throat. At dinner, I would just sit there and not eat my favorite food-pasta. I would try but couldn't. I dwindled down to 86 pounds. I was put in the hospital and had IVs in me thinking something was physically wrong. I went to see many psychologists who ruled out "anxiety". I was in a hole and couldn't get out. I wanted to commit suicide cause I was so unhappy. But through prayer and medicine, I got the help I needed. This still lingers with me today as I am at my heaviest I have ever been and yes, while I need to lose weight, a part of me is scared to go off the medicine and maybe lose weight thinking I'm "gonna go back to where I was over a decade ago". I know that it is highly unlikely for I know what to do now, however the thought is still there. I am stronger now because of this and I hope that I can help others who have overcome "anxiety/eating disorders" too." on her website. 

I don't know very many people who would be confident talking about such serious struggles on their public website. One thing that Stacy said was that "we have the power to change the world. We have the power to change the conversation," and Kelly Clarkson is leading by example by challenging societal norms. The most important thing Stacy said was to "make sure your values line up with those you surround yourself with." 

I am so happy that I got to hear Stacy speak and learn about the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. As a young woman in America, I would be lying to you if I told you that I didn't struggle with body image throughout my life. Stacy has helped me look at beauty in a new way, and I am very grateful for that. 

Being 22

Sunday is both my favorite and least favorite day of the week.

I religiously read Post Secret  and the new secrets get posted on Sunday. Every single Sunday. For those of you who don't know, I will explain what exactly Post Secret is. People from across the country (and the world) send their secrets in the form of post cards to Frank Warren's home in Maryland. Every Sunday I read them. Sometimes they are sad, sometimes they are inspiring, and sometimes they are just fucking weird.

This week, one post in particular really resonated with me.

From PostSecret.com 

I have recently become mildly obsessed with both of these women. Tina Fey, I have always looked up to, even though I find 30 Rock to be pretty boring and not that funny. Everything else Tina Fey has done I absolutely love! I first fell in love with Amy Poehler when I saw her in Baby Mama, alongside Tina Fey. More recently, I have fallen in love with Parks and Recreation. I love the actors, characters, and storyline. If you don't watch Parks and Rec you are seriously missing out, I mean it!

The reason this post stuck with me is because I am 22 years old. As soon as you graduate from college (at 21 or 22, usually), you are expected to have your life figured out by society. What do you want to do with your life? Where do you want to live? How are you going to finance graduate school if that is what you choose? How do you meet friends in a new city? 

It's nice to know that it's not really realistic for people to have their lives figured out completely at age 22. If Amy and Tina didn't have it figured out by 22, how should I be expected to have it figured out right now? I'm just trying to figure things out, and do whatever makes me happy these days. 

Taylor Swift  also has a song out now entitled "22" from her album Red

I love this song - well, I just really love this Taylor Swift and feel like I can relate to most of her songs. Taylor is about a year older than I am, and so all of her songs correlate to the age I am when they come out. 

On of the lines in this song is "we're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way. It's miserable and magical oh yeah....I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22." This is basically accurate of how I feel in my life most of the time. I'm happy that I am in graduate school at Columbia, pursuing my dreams. I'm happy I have a great boyfriend. I'm happy I have great friends (who are 300 miles away from me). I'm free - I live in an apartment by myself (basically) 3000 miles from my parents and 300 miles away from all of my friends. I'm confused because while I kind of know what I'm doing with my life I really have no idea past my masters degree and that's really scary. And obviously I'm lonely. I live in the biggest city in the country and I have about 5 friends there. My best friends and boyfriend live 300 miles away from me. 

All of these aspects of my life are simultaneously awesome and terrible. But I guess that's how I'm supposed to be feeling at 22, according to Taylor. 

Weight Loss in the Media

As you all know, I have resolved to make a change in my lifestyle to become healthier, great. Today is day 56, for those of you who were wondering. The past ten days have been really weird, and I am fully aware of how much of a placeholder the work weird is. I have experienced the full range of basically every emotion imaginable over the last ten days, and that's about as much as I am going to talk about it now.

I have basically stopped leaving my apartment in order to avoid spending money. I spend my days doing homework, watching TV, and going to the gym. Besides talking to friends and family, that is basically all that I do. My roommate watches The Biggest Loser, which is a show I have never really been super in to. The other day, I guess about a week ago, I decided to watch the episodes that were recorded on our DVR. I have never felt so simultaneously inspired and disgusted at the same time, ever.

There are a variety of things that I absolutely hate and detest about the show. First, the things these contestants do are unrealistic in their everyday life. And I know that it is a TV show, and the contestants are removed from their daily lives, but they should be taught things that are sustainable. The contestants exercise for 6 hours a day on the show. I exercise for approximately 45 minutes a day, and I have a life. I am a full-time student, I have friends, I have family, I have other things to do in my life other than exercise. Exercise does need to be a part of your daily life, but it shouldn't be your whole life, and it can't be your whole life.

When I started watching the show about a week ago, my best friend was talking to me about it and how the majority of the contestants gain most of their weight back after the series. I didn't believe her. I was like, how is that even possible? If I lose so much weight that I get to a goal weight I don't think I could gain it back. So where are the old contestants now? Click on that link and you will find out. My best friend also told me that some of the things they do on the show are really unhealthy and put the contestants at risk. Again, I did not believe her, how was that legal? Dangerous things happen on The Biggest Loser - it's real! Click here and here to read more about it. It shocks me that this show is kind of harmful for the contestants. The show also prohibits contestants from talking to the media (or anyone really), about what happens on the ranch. Some pretty sketchy things are happening.

The weight loss component of the show, while the most important component, also really pisses me off. First of all, men lose way more weight than women, which sucks, but the show does an ok job of dealing with this issue by focusing on % of weight loss as opposed to strict numbers. However, they don't do a good enough job. When a woman has her period, it is WAY harder for them to lose weight than when they are not menstruating. I mean, duh, yet that aspect of weight loss is not mentioned or taken in to consideration while they are weighing in. That just doesn't seem fair to me!

Another thing about the weight loss aspect - some of them only lose 1 pound in a week. Some of them lose 0 pounds in a week. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. I just. This pisses me off. The average American needs to lose weight, but does not have 42 hours a week to devote to exercise. I mean, that's more than a full-time job. I have never clocked more than 9 hours at the gym in a single week, and that is a serious amount of gym time. I lose more than one pound a week and I eat. Believe me, I eat. I eat spaghetti, valentine's day candy, ice cream, you name it, I probably eat eat. What I have learned is that as long as you eat something in moderation, you can eat pretty much whatever you want. I mean, that's basic, right? But now that I am paying attention to it, it really is true!

Ok, on to things I like about the show, because there are things that I do really like about the show. Mostly, I really like the contestants. As a psychology student I love people and relationships, and I have really started to love the contestants on the show. I want them to succeed. Good TV, right? Unfortunately, that's basically the only thing I like about the show.

This week another friend introduced me to a new blog called CanYou Stay For Dinner? It is similar to my favorite blog, skinnytaste, but it also sincerely pissed me off. The blogger, Andie, recounts her weight loss journey and her exercise journey. As with most weight-loss stories, it is a very inspiring and motivational story. While reading her story, though, you can't help but want to call bullish** on a few things. She claims that she lost 60 pounds in one semester while studying abroad in Italy while eating everything she wanted and walking everywhere. BOLOGNA. There's no way you can lose 60 pounds in 4 months in a healthy way. She says she lost 135 pounds in 13 months, how is that even possible?

A personal problem I have with her is that we are the same height; 5'9''. She started out as 268 pounds and now weighs 135 pounds. I weight no where near 268 pounds, but I also have absolutely zero interest in weighing 135 pounds. Let me put it in to perspective for you; 135 is the lowest healthy weight for someone who is 5'9''. The healthy weight range for someone of my height is 135-170 pounds. I don't think she really has any business promoting people who are 5'9'' to weigh 135 pounds. My best friend, who is 5'3'' and a size 4 weighs about that. SHE IS A SIZE 4. I have no business weighing anywhere near the same as her because I am 6'' taller than she is.

There are things about her story that I did like, though. She talks about how she ran an insane amount to lose weight (I get it, but I am biking instead of running). But she also talks about how she has a real hatred of running, and how once she lost all the weight, she needed to re-learn how to live her live to maintain the weight loss without losing more, or gaining it all back. She needed to teach herself to find physical activities that she loved, so she could continue doing them in her healthy new lifestyle. She talks about how now she goes on long walks and talks to her mom while she is walking, and that is her physical activity. Awesome, inspiring, but also a mild amount of bullsh**.

So I know that most of my blog posts are cheery and upbeat, but that's just not how I'm feeling right now. In my personal fitness journey I have had the goal to bike 20 miles for a while, but I could never seem to get there in an hour of biking. Today I biked for an hour and fifteen minutes and went a distance of 20.69 miles. I am really proud of myself, that's really far. I was supposed to accomplish a lot of things today, including a lot of schoolwork, but basically all I accomplished was a fitness goal and some mild homework. 

90 Days

To be honest, I wrote this yesterday and didn't much care for it, so here is this post version #2

Someone once told me that to make anything a lifetime habit, you have to give it 90 days. It doesn't sound like 90 days is very long, but it is FOREVER... three months is a long time! At least that's how it seems right now, I'm sure when day 90 gets here it will feel super short.

For arguments sake, I wanted to find a legitimate source that proved this theory. If you are interested, check out this challenge from UC Riverside.

I meant to publish this post a few days ago, but today is officially day 49 of my lifestyle change. I am over halfway to making this change permanent! Woot!

So I am doing well so far, at least I think so. When I first started working out on January second, I was biking on level 10 and only going about 7 miles. Today I am biking 9 miles on level 12! I am trying to work out between 30-60 minutes every time I go to the gym.

Today between biking and walking on the treadmill I physically moved my body 10.6 miles - that's far!  Let me give an idea. From my parent's house to the upper school at HW is 9.4 miles, and from ADPi to Georgetown is 10.4 miles!

ADPi to Georgetown, 10.4 miles

My house to my high school, 9.4 miles 

Ok, I know this is a pointless post, but I felt like I needed to say something and share my experiences. Here's to the next 41 days!

I love Trader Joe's

Yes, I am going to devote a whole post to why I love Trader Joe's, sorry I'm not sorry. As you know, living in New York City is incredibly expensive, and we students need to do everything in our power to save money wherever and whenever possible. You may not know this, but Trader Joe's across the country are price-matched, so whether you are in New York City or Miami, Florida, they all have the same prices! #winning.

Since I have been trying to eat extra healthy this year, I find that I can accomplish my goal with almost everything at TJ's. I can even eat their desserts and stay on track as long as I am measuring out one serving of it. I think that's pretty wonderful. So now I will review a few of my new favorite finds!

1) Chocolate Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Made With Coconut Milk (the title is a little too long)

I don't know about you, but I have a serious problem with dairy... Not that it keeps me from eating it. So while shopping yesterday I came across this lovely gem, and decided to buy it and see if it was any good. The woman at the register told me that people were saying it was "off the chain," which is not necessarily a term I would have used, but gave me the idea that it was awesome. So after scooping out a portion into a bowl, and adding some frozen raspberries, I must say it might be the best chocolate ice cream I have ever had. Why they feel it is necessary to call it a "non-dairy frozen dessert" is beyond my understanding, it's ice cream. It was really rich and creamy, it almost tasted like gelato. Regardless, I really recommend it! 

2) Beef Tamales 

My mom and brother have been eating these tamales for months and have been encouraging me to try them. Last week, after eating beets, I decided that was not consuming enough iron. This is probably because I was only eating red meat about once a month. Really, just when I ate chipotle or when my boyfriend's dad makes it (which is every time he cooks, not complaining, it's delicious). I have decided to try to eat red meat once a week now, and so i figured these tamales would help me with my endeavors. I had one for dinner tonight and I must say they are delicious! I really wanted to eat both of them, but since the serving size is one, I only ate one and made some brussels sprouts to go with them. 

3) Speculoos 

Now try to imagine something that is the consistency of peanut butter, but tastes like cookies! Yup, you heard that correctly. It's awesome. Also something that I have to measure out to make sure I don't eat the whole jar. You can put it on fruit, ice cream, a spoon, anything! 

4) Fiberful Granola Bars 

Basically, these taste like candy, but they are actually really healthy! I eat them for breakfast before classes and they keep me full for about four hours #success 

5) Reduced Guilt Macaroni and Cheese 

If you know me at all, you know that mac & cheese is one of my favorite all time foods. Trader Joe's has two options of frozen mac; one is full fat, and one is reduced guilt. I love both, but I don't really have to feel guilty for eating the reduced guilt one yay! 

Ok, so those are my top 5 favorite TJs foods, today anyway. 

What's new in my life? Just going to school, trying to find a job, and working out a lot at the gym! 

More soon!

It's February?!?!?!?!?

As you can see by my title, I am kind of bummed that January is almost officially over. I want there to be more snow before this winter ends!

Anyway, I have been telling you all that I have been trying to eat clean and go to the gym often, but I'm not sure if I told you guys how I was documenting it. I have an awesome Curly Girl Design calendar hanging in my kitchen, and every day I eat clean I get a check mark, and every day I go to the gym or get an alternative method of activity I get a smiley face.

January 

Woot Woot! As you can see, I did a pretty good job this month, minus the week I as on vacation, but I think that is to be expected. At the end of every month I will post my motivation calendar. And hey, if sharpie smiley faces are going to keep me motivated then that's pretty easy :) 

I have recently become very interested in the bike, and am going faster every day. Last week I was going 7 to 7.2 miles in 30 minutes, on fat burner mode, level 5. Today I went 7.85 miles in 30 minutes, on fat burner mode, level 8. *self five* 

Normally when I am biking I can feel myself sweating, but am always seriously disappointed when I can't see the sweat on my shirt. Today, I had a giant sweat stain on my shirt and I was SO EXCITED. 

From GoogleImages 

I have always seen this saying, but never truly understood it until today. 

That's all for now, and keep it up everyone!

Just Keep Swimming

I hope you understand my title, if not, go back and watch Finding Nemo.

From GoogleImages 

So last week I started classes again, which is always simultaneously exciting and dreadful. This semester I am taking sixteen credits which is kind of a lot especially since I am looking for a part-time job (not retail this time). For those of you who are curious I am taking: Group Counseling, Consultation and Community Organizations, Career Counseling, Adult Psychopathology, and Counseling Skills 2. So far I have only been to Career, Adult Psychopath, and Skills and am already overwhelmed with the amount of reading I have to do. Today I did 100 pages of reading and it was all for my Career class. What? The good news? I really enjoyed what I was reading. The bad news? We had three separate reading from three separate textbooks on the same subject to get different perspectives on the same things. Not OK. But I did it anyway because I know that career counseling will be part of my future career as a guidance counselor.

I'm not so sure I will love my Adult Psychopath class. Slash I'm not even sure I will like it. I do not really at all want to diagnose people and treat them from the DSM but that is exactly what I will be doing in this class. Oh well. It's a requirement so I will get through it and there are no exams so that's a plus. Although there are pop quizzes so I will feel like I'm in high school again. Oh well.

I think my Skills class is going to be awesome! It's a small, practical class, so I will just become a better counselor from it. 

I haven't had my Group or Consultation classes yet but I can only hope they are great. They are taught by the same teacher so I also hope he is great. 

This past weekend was really great. I spent Friday night at a wine club night, this month was dedicated to wine and cheese, so that was a blast. On Saturday my beloved Terpies got their buts kicked by Duke, but I did watch the game with 200 other Maryland alum at the NYC gamewatch. 

By: J Leland Malinski

So for the last three and a half weeks that I decided to be healthier I have only not worked out/had ample activity 4 of those days, and I only didn't eat cleanly 5 of those days. Out of 26 days could be better, could be worse, but I'm proud of myself for trying. Keeping on track while traveling was a little difficult, 5 of the last 26 days involved between 5-20 hours of traveling and being in the car. Looking back on my health and fitness pinboard has re-invigorated me to feel good about myself and my efforts so is some inspiration for you as well.

Source: iamnotasupermodel.tumblr.com via Briana on Pinterest

Source: soon2befit.tumblr.com via Briana on Pinterest

I don't know about you but when I am at the gym with my Nalgene more often than not I end up with water all over my shirt. Now don't get me wrong, I love my Nalgene, a lot. Not only is it pink, not only does it have Testudo on it, but it also has peace signs, a lair sticker, and a mickey sticker. I am serious. I'm going to post a picture, that's how much I love my Nalgene.

Back of Water Bottle 

Front of Water Bottle 

Now that being said, I also have some complaints about it because I am, indeed, human. 1) the mouth opening is just too big. 2) if I put anything but water in it it retains that taste for weeks, even if I run it through the dishwasher. So, two pretty big negatives.

I have been searching for a new water bottle, not actively, really, but a lot of people I know started getting the same water bottle that influenced me to buy it as well. I recently purchased a Lifefactory water bottle.

From Lifefactory.com

I know you are wondering what makes these water bottles so cool, so I will tell you. 1) They are glass! Which means no dangers of a plastic water bottle, no retaining any funky tastes, etc. 2) they are wrapped in silicone - the glass won't break and the bottle won't sweat too bad. 3) There are two caps you can get for your bottle - regular or sport top! So I obviously got both (I think it was $5). I haven't gotten it in the mail yet but I can't wait to use it, and it's dishwasher safe!!  

Ok, that's all for now. I'll post more soon, and thanks for reading :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, I have been crazy busy, and I will update you now.

Over break I went to Orlando, Florida with five of my sorority sisters from college for a week to go to Disneyworld and Universal. As hard as it may seem to most of my readers (who I assume are on the east coast), I had never been to Disneyworld before! Being from California, I have obviously been to Disneyland.

The six of us drove from Maryland to Orlando in one day. We left at 5am and got to Orlando at 7pm. Longest. Day. Ever. That was a Friday. On Saturday we went to Universal Studios! Let me tell you the best thing about going to the amusement parks in the middle of a random week in January - NO LINES. We went on every single ride in the park and didn't wait longer than half an hour to go on any of them. #winning

With Shrek and Fiona

With Scooby and Shaggy 

On Sunday we went to Universal's Island of Adventure. If you don't know what that means, it means we went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! The Harry Potter ride was AMAZING and I semi-conquered my fear of roller coasters with the baby coaster, the flight of the hippogriff. 

The Hogwarts Express

At Islands of adventure was also Seussland, and while it was a little lame and obviously for little kids, we got one of the best pictures of the whole trip there:

Getting Splashed with Water 

On Monday we went to Disneyworld's Epcot park which was amazing! Since it was my first time at Disneyworld I was given a "It's My First Visit" button by the ticket booth lady. I shamelessly wore it during the park that day and when we went to the Magic Kingdom. Since this is a semi-professional blog I won't get in to all the details, but while in Epcot we went "around the world." It was a blast, we spent about 10 hours in the park, and we ended the night with a viewing on the famous Epcot fireworks!

Stuck in a phone booth in London 

Mary Poppins in Epcot

The whole group in Morocco

Countries lit up in the dark 

The next day we had a day off that we spent relaxing by the pool and doing water aerobics.

On Wednesday we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom! I was literally so excited I was annoying the crap out of my friends - oh well. (sorry guys)

Love Love Love 

My favorites!!!

Cinderella's Castle!

We watched the parade in the middle of the day which was surprisingly wonderful. We waited in line for a while to meet characters. Things I learned: Mickey is really short and the princesses are so nice it's kind of creepy.

Mickey! 

Yup, she let us hold her hair...

 We of course stayed for fireworks at the Magic Kingdom as well and just had a phenomenal day :)

Wish upon a star...

BOOM

We decided to take the drive back to Maryland in two days - staying overnight in Charleston, South Carolina because on of the girls on the trip's mom lives there. I can briefly tell you that Charleston is a great place and I look forward to spending more than twelve hours there one day. After driving back to Maryland I got to spend a few days with my boyfriend before coming up to New York, so that was nice as always. 

I got back to New York on Tuesday, started classes on Wednesday. Now I am just focusing on getting back to the grind. I went to the gym yesterday (Wednesday), and today (Thursday), so that's a good start to my goals. I have decided to get really in to biking for a few reasons. 1) It doesn't hurt my ankles at all 2) I can go really far in not that long of time 3) I bought a bike 4) When it gets warm out I want to ride my bike everywhere (aka to/over the Brooklyn Bridge). 

Well, that's all for now (I know, a lot), and I have an exciting weekend coming up that I will fill you all in on next week. Motto for the weekend: Duck Fuke!

Winter Break Productivity

Hi Friends,

Being alone in my apartment has somehow made me motivated to get sh*t done. Strange, isn't it, how only when we are entirely alone we realize what it really is that we want. Anyway, today I had an appointment with the career center at school to go over my resume and cover letter for my fieldwork next year. I am SO excited for my fieldwork. For those of you who don't know, my fieldwork is a year long internship placement in a school as a counselor. CANT WAIT.

I learned a lot of new things today about cover letters and resumes that I never heard of before. For example, my resume is now two pages long, and apparently that is ok.

From GoogleImages 

Anyway, I found the school I want to intern at, so I am trying to get the ball rolling as soon as possible so I am the first (hopefully) student who applies to intern there. As you can imagine, I spent the good majority of my day updating my resume and cover letter. 

Back to healthy lifestyle: since I moved to NYC I have been eating really healthy, but recently I have been trying to make extra healthy food choices. One of my favorite food blogs is Skinny Taste. Literally any food you could want to eat is on this website, only the healthy version. You may not know this about me, but my favorite comfort food is chicken tenders and french fries, and she has a pretty guilt-free variety of that, aka I love her! Also, for those of you on weight watchers, or know 

someone on weight watchers, she puts the points value for each recipe. 

Last night I went to the gym at 11pm, and tonight I went to the gym at 10pm - improvement, right? Well I couldn't fall asleep til 4am last night, so hopefully tonight I get to fall asleep at 3am? Regardless, I was pretty proud of my workout today. There is a gym in my building, and I am ashamed to say I never really used it until now. Both last night and tonight I have had the whole (tiny) gym to myself, which is awesome because I get to control the TV! Working out to TLC is way more fun than working out to any other tv shows. Tonight it was Four Weddings and What Not To Wear.

Today I went down to the gym fully intending on riding the bicycle. After riding for 30 minutes, and 7 miles, I didn't feel thoroughly worked out. I then decided to walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes while I watched What Not To Wear. After walking for a little bit, I decided to try running for just a minute or two to see how it felt to do it again, and, surprisingly, it felt AWESOME. So, strongly considering trying running again, but no guarantees.

I had an interesting conversation tonight with one of my good friends, and she really made me realize how important maintaining my blog is. Not only is my blog important for my success, but she made me realize that other people count on me blogging as well. Or at least she does. But feeling responsible for another individual's motivation to live healthier is a lot of pressure. I also feel incredibly touched and humbled by her saying that to me. One of my motivations for living healthy is my blog, and one of her motivations for living healthy is also my blog - it was very flattering to hear. Don't worry, this doesn't mean I am going to start blogging every day, or expect you to read it every day. It's just going to help keep me motivated. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year friends! Sorry I haven't been blogging in a while. The original point of this blog was to start running, right? I have seriously strayed from my original purpose, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.

Being holiday season and all, my friends have been inspiring me with their own weight loss and healthy eating adventures. Because blogs should always dual serve as a sounding board for other blogs, I will shamelessly promote my friends' blogs now. Well, mainly one blog. My friend Julia has started a blog called Adventure to Weight Loss and I am really proud of her. Blogging is hard, dieting is hard, and watching what you eat is hard. Blogging about intimate parts of your life for the whole world to read - that's the hardest thing that she's doing. So read her blog, support her, be proud of her with me. 

So anyway - back to my blog post. I have been feeling very blah lately, mostly because some aspects of my life are completely falling apart, but I really don't have anything to complain about. My boyfriend's parents gave me a Trader Joe's Cookbook for Christmas called Lighten Up! IT IS AWESOME!!! Sorry for the shouty capitals. So far I have made "Pan-Fried Polenta with Warm Blueberries," "Try It, You'll Like It Turkey Chili," "Spicy Quinoa, Black Bean, and Mushroom Soup," "Sandwich Love," "Best-Loved Chicken Balsamico," "Dijon Salmon with Artichokes," and "Caramel Apple Oat Bars." Wow, I didn't realize I have tried that many recipes in the last week. I absolutely love Trader Joes - mainly because the food is a) cheap, b) delicious, and c) relatively healthy. Last week I bought $175 worth of groceries from the Trader and I don't think I will have to buy anything for about a month except for fresh fruit. 

From GoogleImages 

The recipe book has something called the "2 Week Challenge," which is basically to eat everything healthy for two weeks (no dairy, no white flour). I'm trying to follow it, but I can't do it exactly right now. I have been back and forth from my apartment and my best friend and boyfriend's house, but when the semester starts again and I can cook all of my own meals for two weeks straight I will definitely do it. Also, this recipe book doesn't really feel like dieting, feels more like eating delicious food, which is always good for me. 

Right, so today I basically did a whole lot of nothing. I stayed in my bed basically all day, and somehow managed to be productive. I wrote a cover letter for an internship I want next year, made an appointment at the career center at school to have it reviewed tomorrow, and did a required 2-hour online school violence workshop to become a certified teacher. I also edited my friend's cover letter and cooked a lot.

I was pretty proud of my day, but sitting on my couch watching TV I felt like such a gross slob. There is a gym in my building and I had literally used it twice since moving in in August. What is wrong with me? I have to say, I have been eating pretty healthy since I moved to New York, and some of the clothes I bought in the summer I can no longer wear because they are too big. That has never happened before, and obviously I was really excited.

So at 10:45pm I decided to go to the gym, why not? I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and walked to five minutes on the treadmill after to cool down. I feel pretty great right now. Every New Year brings new resolutions, and I didn't really feel like making resolutions this year. So instead I made a broad resolution to be happy, whatever that happens to mean at the moment. 2012 had super intense highs and supper shitty lows, and right now all I want is to be happy in 2013. 

So you can expect a lot more exercise-related posts again - but I am not going to limit myself to running anymore. I am going to do whatever I feel like doing, and be proud of myself regardless. So I might ride my bike outside, use the elliptical, run, walk, whatever makes me happy that day. 

Happy 2013 everyone! Much love, and I'll post again soon,

B