Healthy You

Use less salt, here’s some tips

If you’ve followed me or know me at all, you’re bound to know that my favorite vegetable is by far, spinach. Apart from its fantastic nutritious qualities, its not only good for you, but it tastes amazing! Growing with such a limited amount of food (a.k.a what my parents like to eat), leafy greens consisted of iceberg lettuce and… iceberg lettuce. Even my dear spinach rarely made an appearance (mainly, believe it or not, this was my fault because I used to HATE spinach). It wasn’t until I lived in Florida that a certain leafy green came into my diet for the first time. My first night there, I was hanging out with my new roommates and we decided to go over to one of their friend’s apartments. The rest of us tagged along wanting to meet new people. When we arrived, we found his roommate in the kitchen super excited about his trip to the grocery store (like a girl when she gets new shoes excited). What was this crazy guy so excited about? Kale. Up until that day I had never met anyone besides myself that could get excited about vegetables like that, let alone the super healthy ones. Long story short, I ended up falling in love with the crazy kale guy and now he likes to point out that kale is superior in nutrient qualities than my beloved spinach. Regardless, I still eat spinach like its going out of style.

      This post however, is not to compare the two, but highlight what kale has to offer to you. Kale, like most vegetables, is considered nutrient dense (foods that are high in nutrients, but low in calories). It’s pumped with micronutrients, like Vitamins A, B6, C, E, and K. Phytochemicals are rich throughout and help with your daily intake of antioxidants (which can help prevent cancer), and not to mention, there’s always that lovely little thing called Fiber. Don’t forget the iron, calcium, copper, manganese, potassium, and even Omega 3 fatty acids, just to name a few… If you’d like to read up a little more, here’s a link my boyfriend so lovingly sent me as “Suck it spinach, Kale is the koolest.”

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4072/Why-Kale-Is-the-Koolest-Vegetable.html

Found this today! Some really good tips!

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Let the inner you break through.

shedsumlight:

Breathing the ambient air of the Krimml waterfall (by B℮n)

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Lately, the idea of getting off my butt is a challenge. Exercise has become a question instead of just an everyday thing (and yes, that is exactly what it should be). Watching tv (something I haven’t done since September) has become my best friend and the couch is starting to remember the view of my butt a little too well. Despite my lack of effort, the effort to get MOTIVATED enough to actually get up and exercise is still there. There have been times I have been so dedicated where I have literally fallen asleep while running. Don’t ask me why the thought of closing my eyes was so appealing at that moment in time, but I can assure you the feeling of my legs flying up underneath me was enough to alert me and keep me awake. Do I recommend this type of extremeness, absolutely not. For this particular instance, my goal was to get in shape to run a race. There’s something I can recommend. I find the easiest way to keep myself motivated is to set a goal. Whether you’re looking to run a race (mud runs are especially fun!) or to lose weight, keep that goal in mind. The more I build up that goal to myself and others, gives enough motivation to not let others down, but myself as well. As Walt Disney once said, “Keep moving forward.”

Sometimes we are our greatest motivators.

This week’s topic is something I need to get a little more of: Motivation.

I am notorious for starting something and never finishing it. This blog of mine proves to be no different. I started this last summer after finishing my freshman year of college, determined to help those willing to listen gain a better understanding of living a healthier life. It proved to be a bigger success than I expected, and when summer came to an end and life started again, spreading the “good word” seemed not to be on the forefront as it once had. Two jobs, school, and the attempt of a social life proved to be challenging. Adding something extra to my long days meant cutting out my coveted sleep (which had been cut back to the bare minimum already). However, now that the only thing on my schedule this summer is work, work, and (you guessed it!) work, I can finally put the pen back on the paper (so to speak). I haven’t lost my belief that health and wellness are severely important, which is why I’m back this summer :) (yes everyone, this means you can now look forward to the never ending Healthy Youposts on my facebook page once again). Although this summer, I have changed a few things around, expanded my knowledge and library, and have set out to find more credited sources to ensure the best information on any subject is offered (not that my previous sources weren’t legit). Feel free to ask me any questions, tell me if and when I’m mistaken, and argue against any point I have made, but most importantly, feel free to start living a healthier life today.

-Meg

Its been awhile since I’ve updated my Tumblr. Since September to be exact. I’ve completed my internship at Disney, ate ice cream for dinner, and apart from my nightly swim and standing on my feet all day, exercise and I barely had a relationship. Granted, I did spend my days off holding a hand of a very handsome guy while literally running around the parks. I was living the life of vacation for 3 months and it was great. I still kept my values of nutrition, however, I didn’t have a problem burying them under ice cream cones while watching Fantasmic. That’s right. I went a whole summer preaching to have a mouse convince me otherwise. A classic example of how easy it is to fall into your old habits again.

Nowadays, however, I am back in Charlotte at school. I get up early, eat a bowl of oatmeal, a cup of tea, and then grab an apple or an orange and some pretzels and peanut butter to finish in class. I track my calories everyday (as best as I can), spend 6 hours cooking deliciousness and then head off to work right after. Where exactly does this crazy schedule of mine leave time to work out? After dinner (which no longer contains red meat or pork) settles and my homework is done. I still have time to skype my boyfriend and get some sleep at the end of everyday. Like magic. Trust me, if I can do this, anyone can. Now all I have to do is blog more :)