Diet Doesn't Have to be a Four Letter Word with The Fitbit

When hearing the word "diet" many preconceived notions come to mind such as depriving yourself of food, being miserably hungry and ultimately failing to reach a set goal weight. More recently the term diet has been abandoned for term "lifestyle change." The thought behind this term is basically that a temporary diet change cannot permanently alter your health; only permanent lifestyle changes can do that. I tend to agree with this theory. It is hard when food choices can be overwhelming. Just standing in the aisle of a grocery store can make me dizzy sometimes, but I'm am learning how to better listen to my body instead of the news. My diet has been changing drastically over this past year. I have become much more conscious about what I am eating and how I am feeling afterwards. My whole household has joined in on a healthier diet (albeit some members didn't have a choice i.e. the cat and the bunny).

Shady Lake in Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas

Working full time and going to school full time was wearing me out so I decided that I needed a vacation. I consider myself an outdoorsy person and the boyfriend enjoys camping. I had no idea where to start planning this vacation so it came about by chance. I, somewhat randomly, picked Ouachita (pronounced watch-i-taw) National Forest in Arkansas as our camping destination. Neither of us had been there before, but we agreed that we would drive down there and just "wing it." I called ahead to make sure that there were campsites available and was informed that campsites are on a first come first serve basis. Awesome. This allowed for a more free-flowing sort of trip which is what we wanted. Free-flowing was indeed what we got...

The Best (and The Worst) of Winter and Spring

It has indeed been a while since I've had time to sit down and post. Even now I should be asleep, but I feel like writing instead. Since I last wrote, in October, I've been a busy gal. I started a new job at The Anti-Cruelty Society (I have since quit that job). I took a vacation to Ouachita National Park in Arkansas. I've changed my diet and become more aware of my activity level via the Fitbit. I've continued with culinary school and secured an externship in the industry. And, maybe most importantly, I discovered who the tomato plant thief was! I want to go into each of these stories in detail so I will break them up into separate posts. First, my journey into the animal welfare community via The Anti-Cruelty Society.

Tomato Thievery

Let me preface this post by saying that I should be studying for a test right now, but I need to get this off my chest or I won't be able to concentrate on anything else! Yesterday, as I left for school, I walked out the front door and paused to take a look at my tomato plant. It's been warm the past week or so which has prompted my plant to put out some new flowers. I had hopes that these would be the last tomatoes of the season. When I returned from school however, the plant was gone! That's right. GONE. Pot and all. The only thing that remained was a wet ring of dirt on the cement where the pot had been sitting all summer. Who could do such a thing?

Updates, Updates, Updates!

Phew. It's been a busy couple of months and it's been a while since I've had the time to sit down and write. I'm still keeping up with environmentally friendly changes in my life (still letting it mellow!). I'm still keeping up with the indoor garden and harvesting the last of the peppers from my outdoor plants (which have produced amazingly throughout the summer!). The biggest bit of news, however, is that I'm beginning culinary school! I can't even really put into words how excited I am about it. I love to cook (and eat) and I can't wait to learn all about it. Since I'm about to be busy with school I decided to post this quick update. I probably won't be writing as often as I previously had.  With that I'll leave you with this quote that pretty much sums up the way that I feel about food...

"When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about." -Thomas Keller

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead & My 3 Day Juice Fast

I watch a lot of documentaries and I always try to take them with a grain of salt, but this one really struck a chord with me.Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is a film about Joe Cross (who also happens to be the director) and his journey to better health. At the beginning of the film he is overweight, tired, on multiple medications and basically feels fat, sick and nearly dead! Since he is so drastically overweight (about 100 lbs) he decides to attempt a 60 day juice fast. The requirements on the juice fast are that he cannot consume any solid food, only fruits and vegetables in juice form. We're not talking about store bought juice either. We're talking about freshly juiced fruits and veggies for maximum nutrient intake.

Brand New Old Bike!

I finally have a bike in my possession! My dad was able to give me his old mountain bike. He has a road bike that he uses and no longer needs this one. I used to ride this bike while I was living there, but since then I haven't gotten my own bike mainly because I've been trying to find a used bike which turned out to be harder than I thought (more on that later). So far I have bought a bike basket, a side mirror and a cable lock. These purchases were made easier by the fact that I didn't have to spend money on a bike in the first place.