Monday Rant #2

Trying to be healthy is hard. 

Mostly when your over saturated with information and conflicting ideas.

It can also be quite easy if you know where to look.

Let's face it, I survive off of leftovers mostly and I don't do any real cooking. 

So, 

I love the following bloggers for their easy

and yummy looking healthy food,

but also for their ability to get up and COOK.

I may stick to eating leftovers while I still don't have my own place, 
but I know that once I'm out again I will 

just HAVE to make some of these girl's goodies.

Whomever stumbles upon this I guarantee their tummies 

will be glad they did.

A BEAUTIFUL MESS

Okay so maybe these recipes aren't exactly on the uber healthy label,
 but better than anything you can get sold- 

YES, DEFINITELY.

Especially if you like sweet stuff like their Cinnamon Dolce or Lavender ice cream recipes. 
Try their Lavender and Honey marshmallows or White Chocolate and Nutella truffles. 

(Eeek! Nutella!)

These girls have so much more going on than food too. So go check them out here.

MY LATEST OBSESSION

This girly, Sam, has many things going on her blog. 
She keeps things interesting and I love all the helpful reviews she has for natural products. 

She also does updates on good food her and her family have been eating. 
You can check out her latest post on this here.

I love the food she posts. 

They all look delicious and are definitely good and healthy.

Can you believe she made these homemade tortillas below?

(photo via link above)

NEVER THE SAME SPICE TWICE

The wonderful Stephanie over at Never the Same Spice Twice always

has something good cooking.

With her What's Cooking weekly line ups of food and her spotlight

recipes you can never have an excuse to not be prepared for dinner.

The Asian Chicken Lettuce wraps recipe seen above look sooo tasty

it might just get me to do some real cooking.

AB PETITE

The lovely Ashlee from AbPetite can be called nothing less than
an adorably healthy cook.

Yes, you read correctly. 

Her recipes, like the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins above, are not
only delicious and healthy but they are also no scientific experiment.

All her recipes are so easy to follow and she always posts the
nutritional facts. Making her blog a must if you are trying to
keep track of your calorie/protein/carb intake.

PUMPS & IRON

I just had to use this photo of Nicole to show what

uber healthy food (with beer apparently?) 

and great workouts can do.

Nicole mostly blogs about healthy food, fun workouts, 

and pretty fashion.

She definitely inspires me to try to be in my best shape.

And having an athletic tendency 

(though I may not be considered athletic)

I really enjoy her varied workouts.

I love her smoothies, partly because they are so easy.

What's easier than a smoothie?

Go check her out too, here.

Hope you enjoy the food!

Monday Rant#1

Can I talk about fat?

I feel like it's one of those things.

Elephant in the room.

Underrated item.

Over sensitive subject.

When you are neither on the skinny team

nor on the other end you end up wondering what

via

means to most people now.

I've had plenty of conversations with my best friend

and arguments with my guy

that ended up like the following:

And me confused whether or not my extra pounds make me fat.

(I mean Mr. BMI likes to say so.)

And because if I were seven inches taller

with the same proportion and size

I would still not be modeling.

Not because of my face (which alone is a career ruin)

but because models are either really thin to be "straight" size

or about size 10& up to be plus size. 

I would be stuck.

After working up my athleticism I am now somewhere between 

a size 8 or 6.

And am nowhere near my old athletic trimness.

I feel solid now, 

my stamina is great,

and I don't really feel the

sluggish, out of shape,

unhealthy feeling anymore.

BUT

I am not where I was a few years back.

Because I am no longer 18

and my body is just not the same.

(I can always be anorexic but that takes too much dedication-

-Nobody kill me for that statement I do not support any disposition that includes depriving your body of its needs.)

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Depriving my body to be slimmer is probably going to damage me

as much as overeating.

But I do feel a little bit on the sidelines when it comes to

posts I see that are all about body and self love.

Probably my favoritest British blogger Becky Bedbug 

was recently "concerned that some people may think [she's] not 'fat enough' to do this".

I didn't know one had to worry about this.

Would she be ostracized if she was deemed too thin?

Is fat just a look and not a feeling?

Can one not feel fat or skinny?

Per say in those jeans?

I have heard people being called fat for many reasons.

An old friend who did ballet said she was the fat girl 

in her class once. And I was twice her size.

via

I definitely believe our distorting use of the word fat stems somewhere from the irrational and fantasy based 

sense of beauty.

The rant was for the idea that I might not be able to do the 

same e-course from the Near Sighted Owl that dear Becky worried about.

I signed up.

So lets see if 'fat' can be empowering, inspirational,

and inclusive.

Playing Nice with Blogs

#1 First off here's a sketch from the first prompt on a weekly sketch from Run 2 the Wild. She's a very crafty person, honest and friendly; and has an etsy store as well. No, she did not ask me to write any of that. I think what she's doing here with a weekly sketch prompt is cool to get people's creative juices flowing, get to see others work and hopefully meet new people. 

Conceptual Self-Portrait: Warning Very Amateur 

Now I don't know if there was a medium limit. But seeing how I like pens/markers/pastels I used colored pens and markers for my sketch. I gave myself a 10min limit (thus the vacant spaces...) and tried to be conceptual in my portrayal. If you want to check out the other sketches go here.

#2 There is a lil' lady over at Clean Food Creative Fitness who posted last Thursday about never having skinny legs. Now someone who has known me for a long time might remind me of how very skinny I once was but ever since I became an athlete I'd never again had skinny legs. I'm talking high school and beyond. I related much with her about expanding thighs with continuing athleticism and  hating my comparatively massive thighs- mostly in relation to my 5'2" frame. Today I'm an athlete wannabe (as in I want to be athletic again) and I'm on my way! Almost there. So in response to her posing her thighs here are mine. Shield your eyes if you've never seen inner thighs touching! ^_^

That is the almighty Loki. He bows to me only.

  #3 Going on a bit about body is this amazing post from The Militant Baker. It's a little bit about diet, a little bit about health, and a whole lot about loving you. Now per honest, outspoken, and clear view of oneself this girl takes the prize. There have been many posts that have inspired me to be better to myself. So if you want to be a little uncomfortable and a lot intrigued head on over to her blog.