healthtastic.

Let's talk about health, baby. let's talk about you and me. Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things. Health, baby. Let's talk about health!

I hope that song gets stuck in your head! Ok, so I've decided to do a spiel on health by sharing some of the things that I do as part of my normal routine that I believe keep me healthy. I actively pursue new ideas and trends to see what others are doing to keep themselves healthy and fit. Some I try out and nix within a week or so and some things I keep and mix into my own routine. Hopefully one or more of these things will make your life a little bit better! Ready? OK!

#1. I take vitamins, daily. What kind, you ask? Depends on what's on sale when I go shopping for vitamins. Currently I take a multi vitamin, a cranberry pill, and biotin (helps to metabolize carbs, protein and fat - rumoured to make your hair grow faster). Occasionally, I take Omega 3 pills, probiotics, vitamin C and echinacea.

7. I squeeze a lemon in my first bottle of water in the morning. Lemon water helps balance your pH, has tons of vitamin C, aids in digestion and helps the purging of toxins. The rest of the day, I drink plain boring old water, but lots of it so that I don't dry up like a prune.

#4. Oatmeal for breakfast, every day.... sounds boring, but I've been eating it for years and never get sick of it. I make mine with skim milk and add in banana, ground flax and vanilla protein powder. Sometimes I get wild and will throw in blueberries, chocolate chips or even nuts. It's a hearty, well-rounded breakfast that keeps me full until snack time.

5) I work out 6 days a week, doing both cardio and weights. One of those workouts if spent with my personal trainer who gives me the extra push I want and the accountability I need. I spend a lot of time on the treadmill with my ipod, and find it helps me get my thoughts in order. I also love running really fast. I especially love running in front of the mirror because I feel like I'm racing myself.

6. I eat 3 meals a day and a couple of snacks. Eating often keeps my metabolism up and stops me from ever being hungry. I try to eat lean proteins, lots of vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy. That being said, I rarely choose salad over fries at restaurants and I will take a steak over chicken almost any day of the week.

2. I have warm baths with Epsom salts a few times a week. Some of the countless health benefits include relaxing the nervous system, curing skin problems, soothing back pain and aching limbs, easing muscle strain, healing cuts, treating cold and congestion, and drawing toxins from the body.

8. I don't watch a lot of TV, especially since I JUST finished all 5 seasons of Sons of Anarchy and have nothing else I want to watch... I spend a lot of my free time reading. I read somewhere that reading burns more calories than watching TV because your brain has to work harder. Reading also keeps my vocabulary up to snuff. Speaking of vocabulary, you'd think with all the reading I do that I could come up with a better word than 'snuff'!

3) I get an embarassing amount of sleep. On weeknights I'm usually in bed by 9:30 and up at 6:30, which is 9 hours each night. I like to think I bank some of those extra hours for the weekends where I'm up until 4AM.

The end. That's it? Yep! I know, I know, nothing earth shattering. I am not a health nut by any means. There is an equally long list of things I do that are super unhealthy (see: binge drinking, McDonalds, aspartame and all-night partying) but I can definitely tell you that everything on my list is shelly tested and approved! Are you on pinterest? Go check out my healthtastic board here.

Now, go be healthy!

Ten Thousand

I just realized that this month I hit ten thousand hits on my blog. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of those were people looking for images and accidentally ended up on my page.Suckers!

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog on purpose! I hope you leave here somewhat amused or, at the very least, informed on useless information.

Thought you might find it interesting to see the breakdown of what countries read/accidentally stumble onto my blog.

1.  3886 Canada
2.  3544 USA
3. 413 Russia
4. 360 UK
5. 142 India
6. 137 Germany
7. 118 Philippines
8. 114 Australia
9. 114 Netherlands
10. 64 Ukraine

Just to be clear, I do not know ANYONE in Russia, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands or Ukraine. I know 5 people (combined) in the Philippines, Australia and India.

If I had a dollar for every site visit, I'd have TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Unfortunately for me, nobody would ever consider paying to read the drivel I display here, so all I have is a JPG of a Ten Thousand Dollar American bill.

Again, thanks for reading - I appreciate your literacy.

Book Sads.

A couple of weeks ago my massage therapist suggested I read a non-fiction series called The Hunger Games. I nodded and smiled but am not usually one to hunt down books. On a whim I asked around at work if anyone had heard of it- Wendy piped up and said Yes, she bought it for her boys- who are pre-teens. It briefly crossed my mind that it was kind of pathetic to be reading the same books as an 11 year old, however that was quickly forgotten when she agreed to lend them to me.
 
Once I started the book I couldn't seem to put the book down. It was both captivating and slightly disturbing. Every second I wasn't reading it I was thinking about the story and what might happen next. I didn't have to wait long. I finished the first book in two days.
 
I immediately started reading the second book and devoured it nearly as quickly as I did the first book. I was rather surprised at the twists and turns in the story, none of my predictions for book two came true. I didn’t find the second book to be as interesting as the first, but that’s to be expected- the novelty of a new story had already worn off. Don’t get me wrong, at this point I was dying to read the third book.

I asked around and the third book (Mockingjay) was elusive. After a week I managed to borrow a copy. When I reached the half way point of the book I started another book on the side. It’s not like I was cheating on the Hunger Game series, but I just wanted to delay the story Now that I was almost near the end I couldn’t bear for it to be over. What if I didn’t like the ending? What if the main character died? I spent the next week hanging on to the book, reading a few pages here and there, devouring every word, savoring every scene. I finally got to the end of the book and I felt so relieved to finally find out how the story ends. I was pleased with the way the author wrapped everything up in a conclusive ending, a nice tidy package.

Two minutes after that I felt sad. Lost even. My mind had nowhere farther to wander with the story. All the loose ends had neatly been tied up, the characters were done with me. I had what I call a case of the Book Sads. It’s not an official medical term (yet) but the symptoms are feelings of loss and abandonment, intense nostalgia and depression. This happens every time I get into a series. It’s like a drug. You get high off the adventure and then come crashing down when it’s over. The only thing that tides you over is the hope you will soon stumble upon a new, even better series.

It’s been three whole days since I finished the Hunger Games and I’m beginning to feel better. Lucky for me, the series have been translated into film and are coming to theaters in March. I will be starting a countdown shortly.