Ahhhh, the beach.... Like a lot of people on the planet, it's definitely one of my happy places. This weekend I was able to get to the beach two days in a row! On Friday, my hubby convinced me to take an hour work break at lunchtime to head to the beach with him. There had been an insane amount of anchovies in the water the day before - apparently the largest school of northern anchovy seen in local waters in 30 years: (source) Wow right?! There are so many anchovies it looks like an oil slick. Adam had gone surfing and swam amongst them the day before and said it was really cool. We were hoping the fish would still be around, but they had moved on by Friday afternoon. I'm not going to lie, if they were still there I probably would have been a little freaked out swimming in the ... [Read More]
healthy living
Let’s Get Sweaty! Heated Workouts: Yay or Nay?
Confession: I don't do well in the heat. If the temperature's cold, I'm usually fine with a blanket and a hot cup of tea, but what I don't like is being hot and sticky. This may be in part the reason that I'm living in SoCal, since I love being outdoors and the mild weather is so conducive to that. When I go back to Jersey in the summertime, where I was born and raised, I practically melt with the high humidity. It's not even that I've turned into a spoiled Californian. My body just has never done well in weather over 85 degrees. My house doesn't have air conditioning (which I recently found out is common in this area), and I actually have a heat paranoia. All windows and doors are opened and my ceiling fans are turned on first thing in the morning, for fear of getting hot and not ... [Read More]
IIN Chat: Deconstructing Food Cravings
Hi friends! Want to hear something wild? I'm already halfway through my health coaching certification course at IIN! Time flies when you're learning about topics that you're super interested in and really passionate about, huh?! If you aren't familiar with IIN, here are previous posts I've done about the school and its teachings: IIN Chat: What's a Health Coach? IIN American Health Facts IIN: Month 1 Recap Taking the Plunge: Why I Went Back to School Pretty soon I'll be looking for clients to work with as a health coach, and I am really looking forward to it! An aspect of being an IIN student that I've really enjoyed is connecting with likeminded people who share my passion for healthy living. I met some great people when I was living in Northern Cali, and now that I'm ... [Read More]
Ways to Get Out of Your Fitness Comfort Zone
There's nothing that sounds more boring to me than doing the same things day in and day out without variation. I like to be adventurous with pretty much everything - from the meals I make and the fun activities I partake in, to the workouts I do and even the walking and hike routes I go on with my dog. I think, Walking the same exact path every single day? How blah! I find that switching things up keeps life interesting, and also sometimes scary and exciting. Don't let fear of the unknown freak you out.... Scary and exciting is a good thing! (source) I suppose I could talk a good amount about comfort zones in general. I'm a girl who landed a freelance journalist gig for a newspaper after randomly contacting the editor and telling him that I'd be a great writer for him... with no ... [Read More]
Weekend Shenanigans: Harley Wants a Dog Stroller
Hi there! If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my Bondi Band sporty headband giveaway. It ends tomorrow and doesn't have a high amount of entries, so chances of you winning are good! Hope that you all had a fabulous weekend. My weekend was great! Let's delve into a recap of it: I kicked off my weekend with a hike with Harley at a nearby spot called Lake Calavera Hills Preserve. It's a pretty area, and one pretty unique aspect of it is the 22 million-year-old volcanic plug that's located there: The first time I went hiking here, we saw a rattlesnake. This time, towards the beginning of my hike, a man warned me that he had seen a couple of snakes there that day. Since Harley loves to stick her face in bushes and zigzag around exploring, I felt somewhat paranoid of her ... [Read More]
IIN Chat: American Health Facts
"America doesn't have a healthcare system. We have a disease management system." - Andrew Weil, IIN lecturer As some of you already know, in January I started school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a certified health coach. The school offers an awesome flexible yearlong program, and I'm in the thick of it and loving it. Every week I feel engaged in the lessons, and it's great how I can listen to the lectures anywhere on my iPad. As I recently mentioned, lately I've gone to the beach a few times to do school work, which provides just about the perfect setting for relaxing while learning! In February I did a recap of my first month of school, and I was planning on doing a post on my favorite ideas and concepts for each month I'm in school... but somehow a few ... [Read More]