Take a Deep Breath

Sometimes it's really just as simple as that.

Take a minute today to just stop

Breathe.

And then continue on with your day.

Recipe: Paleo Fish Tacos

Paleo Fish Tacos

Walking around Whole Foods and seeing some of their seemingly astronomical prices on things is sometimes awfully discouraging. Until you remember that YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. So I swung by the seafood counter the other day, and they had nice Tilapia fillets on sale for $7.99/lb. Turns out, a single fillet is a little more than 1/4lb, so my dinner for that day was only $2.50 or so. Success! 

However, when I got home, I realized I had no idea what I was going to do with it. So I looked in my fridge and there I miraculously found some butter lettuce, tomatoes, and some bell peppers. It sounded "taco-y" enough, so I went with it. This is very much a veggie garbage-can meal...

Baby Steps: Goal 1

I have some fairly lofty goals, starting this blog. Health, Fitness, Happiness. They aren't necessarily "quantifiable" goals, so I'm going to start setting some to get me there.

Here's my first daily goal:

Drink 3 bottles (or 60 oz.) of water every day

It seems like a small change, but I always forget. I'm running around at work, grabbing a cup or two of coffee, and not focusing on anything but work. It's not the most enthralling or interesting thing to drink, but the health impacts it has are enormous! The ones below are the top 3 for me:

1. Better Productivity at Work: Your brain is 90% water (I didn't know that until this post!), so keep that engine functioning well, and you'll be more productive. You'll also be less likely to have headaches!

2. Relieves Fatigue: "Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body. If your body lacks water, your heart, for instance, needs to work harder to pump out the oxygenated blood to all cells, so are the rest of the vital organs, your organs will be exhausted and so will you." 

3. Better Skin: Ladies (and men), listen up. Your skin is 70% water. Water helps keep your skin moisturized, maintain its elasticity, and helps it replenish skin cells and tissues. So you can pay $300 per ounce for a gold-infused, chemical sounding anti-aging cream (No Joke)...or you can drink some water. Tough call. 

A great tip I've seen is to have a cup of warm water with lemon (juice of 1/2) in the mornings before the day starts. Perhaps that'll be better to have in my thermos driving to work instead of the requisite coffee!

Most Information Courtesy of:

• Benefits of Drinking Water
• 13 Suprising Benefits of Water (Ladies' Home Journal)

Thanks for reading!

CJ

(PS: I'm already on bottle 2, and it's only 11AM!)

Halfway to Dead (also known as: The Beginning)

So I thought it was funny to say, when I was much younger, that those people who had birthdays of an unfathomable age (like, *gasp*, 40) were "halfway to dead."

And you know what? Sadly, it's true. We're poisoning ourselves slowly with food that is "good for us", we stress ourselves into oblivion, and our kids grow up in a culture where they're weaned off of their mothers and onto processed foods out of boxes, and bags, and plastic. By the time most of us are 40, we will have accumulated diseases, conditions, and maladies that are entirely of our own making. 

Where is the real food? How can we get back to that? 

How can we keep our minds sharp, our bodies healthy, and our souls happy? 

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I am a quarter century old, now.

That's:

9,125 days

219,145 hours

3 dog years

and most importantly...

27,375 meals (give or take...)

And until recently, I hadn't given much thought to my food. I just ate what was available, made sure it tasted good (though I was in college once, so pardon my Ramen phase), and tried to do it as cheaply as possible. That's changed over the last year or so, and I'm learning, though somewhat reluctant to change.

And that's what this blog is about: learning about what really makes us "healthy", how I can maintain balance and serenity in an otherwise chaotic world, and how I can ensure that I keep developing into the woman I want to be, instead of the one that most of us are forced into becoming. 

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So stay tuned for my inspiration, my recipes, and some of the things that influence me.

Thanks for reading!
CJ