Do you know who you truly are? It may be a weird question to ask yourself, but if you think about it, it may be difficult to answer. You may be a certain way towards your friends, or parents, or boss. It’s interesting that as people, we have a certain persona towards different people. Imagine that your best friend or significant other – probably the person who knows you best followed you for a day. He/she would see how you were towards your mom, your coworker and the person in front of you at Starbucks. At the end of the day, what does he/she have to say about you?

It may be difficult to grasp, but being your true self is definitely difficult (or even confusing) in all situations.  I personally realize that I am so different towards the people who I work with even though we spend the majority of our day together, 5 days a week. When I am with my husband, who I spend 4-6 hours a day with during the week, I am a certain way towards him. Even though we don’t spend all our time together, I am more comfortable with him than I am with my coworkers. Or even my best friend, who I only see once a year or even longer than that, but we interact online on a daily basis – I can tell her anything and not hold anything back.

When someone asks you to describe yourself, how do you do it when you act differently towards specific people in your life? Do you base it out of those specific situations? Or do you base it out of the specific people you feel most comfortable with? I think it can be a difficult thing to determine. I would want to be my true self, in all situations: A kind, honest person who respects everyone, but refuses to be taken advantage of. A strong, bold, action taker that looks at life positively and realizes that things happen for a reason, and therefore should take things as they are. We should all remember that we are who we are and not let anyone think we are anything less.

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I posted my first vlog yesterday on a whim. I was folding the laundry and thinking about the fact that lately my clothes don’t fit right. I thought about looking online for clothes at one of my favorite stores, but then realized, I really don’t want to buy clothes that are bigger. If you saw me, you may think I’m really not that fat, but to me, I don’t feel 100% happy with the way I look. I know I could eat healthier, and I know I could go to the gym or even workout in my living room. And what have I done about it? NOTHING.

A big part of my life is food. I love good, wholesome, sometimes unhealthy food. I hate deprivation, and I don’t believe in a diet like this. But, I know that fried chicken and cheeseburgers should not be consumed daily or even on a continuous basis. There are really 2 things I want to achieve and this is something that I want to make a lifestyle out of.

1. Regular exercise
2. Mindful, healthy eating

I’m not trying to lose a specific amount of weight, but I do want to get to a point where I feel like I am in shape and I don’t feel blah. I don’t want to deprive myself of food but I don’t want to eat junk all the time. What do you think about this? Is it OK to indulge just as long as indulging isn’t an everyday thing? Or am I just out of my F-ing mind??

I always wondered about whether it’s better to eat before I work out or after.  I’ve done both before, and lately I’ve eaten dinner, waited for an hour, then did my workout.  Usually afterwards I do not really feel so hungry which is good, since I figured taking in more food meant consuming more calories.

Anyway today I worked out before I had my dinner, and I felt really hungry afterwards.  As I ate I wondered if my work out was worth it because I just burned calories. I did some research and I found out that within the first 45 minutes after you exercise, there is a “metabolic window.” Enzymes that replenish muscle carbs are at their highest levels.  Insulin is also at peak levels, which rebuilds protein stores. By consuming a mix of carbs and protein at this point will maintain muscle, replenish glycogen stores and reduce the amount of fat your body stores.

If you eat before working out its always best to eat something, especially if you’re a morning exerciser, since most likely the last time you ate was probably the night before since you’ve already burned a good amount of calories sleeping.  It also makes sense to fuel up your body on an empty stomach, otherwise you’ll definitely have no energy and feel sluggish during the workout.  You want to make the best out of your workout so make sure you have energy to do it!

What are your thoughts?  Do you eat before or after you work out?  Let me know in the comments!

A question I have wondered for a while is how difficult is eating healthy for an individual? Exercise is not as difficult, it’s just being motivated enough to do it. In my honest opinion, I think eating healthy is really difficult because a lot of us are busy people, and eating the right foods are not as convenient as eating the foods that are readily available. Also, if there are healthy foods readily available, it’s hard to come by and costs a lot more.

For me, I really try to plan the rest of the week as far as snacking and lunch at work because I spend a lot of time at my desk.  Salads with lean protein, sandwiches with wheat bread and thin sliced meats, fruit and sugar free snacks are the foods that I’ve been consuming lately.  Recently, I’ve decided to find something new at Whole Foods, since its a mecca of healthy eating, and its fun finding new things.

How difficult is eating healthy for you, and what are your healthy eating habits?

I was looking at a past issue of Shape magazine, when I saw these really adjustable weights. Made by Reebok, the SpeedPac provides a way to tone up without having to worry about owning different sized weights. You may have seen something similar made by BowFlex, which are really expensive! And they’re monstrous too!

I don’t know how safe these would be, and although these seem pretty convenient, I don’t know. They’re cool in a sense that you can adjust the weight. I’ve read mixed reviews on these, such as the pins that hold the weight don’t always match up correctly. That concerns me because of the fact I’d hate to have metal drop on my foot. What do you think about these?