A Review of My New Not So Favorite Thing

Recently I tried a new Smoothie Splash V8 drink. It was strawberry/banana flavored and being smoothie related I figured that I would really like it; also, strawberry banana is my favorite flavor. However, much to my displeasure, I did not like the taste of it at all, I finished one glass and then I was done with it.

When my mom first came home with the V8 Splash Smoothies, I was really excited to try it. It looked really good and it sounded like something that I would enjoy. My first drink of it wasn't bad, I actually liked it. However, after a few more sips I decided that I didn't really like it. It was pretty bitter tasting and I could barely taste the strawberry banana flavoring. By the time I finished the glass, I had made my decision, I didn't like it.

Not only does it not taste that great, but it also isn't very good for you like it advertises. On the front of the bottle it says that it contains Vitamin A and C, which is not a lie. It does in fact contain both of those ingredients. However, when I looked to the ingredients I found that the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Definitely not the type of thing that I want to be putting into my body. Not that I would never drink high fructose corn syrup, because it is in most of the things that I drink, but if I am looking for a healthy drink then this is not the type of thing I'm looking for.

Overall, I would not recommend this drink to any of my friends. I don't think that it is bad; I just don't like it personally. That's not to say that no one else could like it, or that you wouldn't like it. It is just something that I will not be buying or drinking again. Needless to say, this is my new not so favorite thing.

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Keeping Your Skin Clear This Holiday Season

Recently, I've been reading up on my friend's health and beauty blog. Because not only is health and fitness important to me but health and beauty is too, as it should be to everyone. One of Lauren's recent blog posts really spoke to me, it was about skin care. If you are a runner that is unfortunate enough to struggle with keeping your skin clear, then you are with the majority of us, and if you are not then realize how lucky you are. For keeping my skin clear has always been a struggle for me, being a runner myself. Not only do I struggle with my face staying clear, due to sweating, but my hands also become very dry during the winter months.

Skin care is an essential part of my daily routine, it has to be. I struggle with keeping my skin clear in the places that I sweat when I work out. It's really tough. Also, just like Lauren I struggle with dry skin, I have ever since I was really young. So again, just like Lauren, I use a daily moisturizer to keep my skin smooth. Now however, since I read her blog post, I may try to use the apricot scrub that she suggested to remove dead skin from the surface of my skin. I always thought that a simple moisturizer would be enough, but maybe an extra scrub is just what I need to keep my skin clean and smooth.

As it is also mentioned in Lauren's post, she likes to be photo ready when it comes to the holidays. Keeping my face clean and clear during the holidays is important to me as well for the same reason. However, my hands are something else that, especially during the cold and bitter winter weather, struggle to stay smooth and moist. This is something that bugs me when I am either giving or opening gifts. I am embarrassed by how dry my hands become. That is why I use a small dab of Neutrogena hand cream each night before I go to bed. This keeps my hands nice and smooth, so that I am ready for the season of giving, receiving and meeting.

Clear and smooth skin is something that you have to work at, most of the time it doesn't come easy. But as long as you moisturize or use skin care products, you can look great for photo taking this season. Also, reading Lauren's L.G. Health and Beauty blog will give you great tips on other beauty areas that can help you all throughout the year, not just the holiday season. 

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Avoiding the Festive 15

In my previous post, I discussed how to avoid stressing during the holidays. But stress isn't the only thing that is easy to accumulate during the holidays, for everyone knows about the festive fifteen. The fifteen pounds that people gain during holiday gatherings and parties. So how can you avoid that dreadful weight gain? I recently read an article on ways to avoid weight gain during the Christmas and New Year season. However, following those tasks aren't as easy as they may sound.

The article mentions to be picky about what you eat. Yeah it sounds easy; just don't take what you don't absolutely want. However, I know how hard that is. Every year I try to eat less, so that I don't feel sick later in the day. It's not that easy. I always end up with too much, and I can't help but to eat it and still go back for seconds and maybe a small dessert. I justify it by say that it only happens twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I let myself over eat. But then I feel horrible later. I need to tell myself that just because it is the holiday season, doesn't mean that I can eat whatever I want. It is unhealthy and unnecessary.

My way of avoiding eating an excessive amount of food may sound cliché; however it has worked so far this year. Because I know that I eat way too much each year, I decided that this year I would try something to avoid this. I have goals and I use those to my advantage. I know that when track season rolls around I will want to be in the best shape possible and eating too many holiday goodies won't help me get there. So, I look to my inspirations. I look at famous track stars or other health and fitness blogs whenever I want to binge, or right before a holiday gathering. I realize that I don't want to throw away what I work for during the early winter for a few sweet treats. So before I grab something to eat I see those inspirations in the back of my mind and refrain.

The point is that it does take an intense amount of will power to avoid gaining during the winter season, but it's not an impossible task. Keeping your goals and inspirations in mind when you are around food can be enough, it is for me. Now that doesn't mean that you should completely refrain from everything, you are still allowed to splurge a little bit. Just be careful and know your limits. Make this holiday one to remember, and not because you gained 15 pounds, but because you had a blast not having to fear stepping on the scale the next morning.

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Unhealthy Stressing Around the Holidays

Why are the holidays such a stressful time of year? I thought that they were supposed to be the most cheerful days of the year, but instead of dancing around the kitchen baking and singing along to Christmas music, most of us are feeling frantic and stressed about the upcoming holidays. Why is this? I believe that it is because people take on too much and worry about the little things, things that aren't necessary for a great holiday season.

Every year since I was young, I have watched my mom slowly taking on more and more each holiday season. She takes on gifts for our family Christmas as well as Christmas on both my mom's and dad's side of the family. She has to rush around getting last minute gifts and making baked goods for holiday gatherings and of course, for our family to snack on ourselves. Not only is she handling family Christmases but she is also taking on teacher gifts and her usual household responsibilities. She becomes so stressed out that she forgets about the true meaning of the holidays. It's about family and being together, not about anything else.

Often people get caught up in their gift giving, which is not always a bad thing, but it isn't supposed to be something that causes stress. It should be fun to pick out gifts for your friends for the holidays, not something for you to stress about. Your friends and family will love anything that you get them; it's the thought that counts.

The point is that the holidays aren't a time for stressing. It is harmful to your body and you get much lower quality of sleep. In turn, your immune system weakens and you have a higher risk for getting sick, which is never fun, especially around the holiday season. So worry less about the gift giving and baking and just sit back and enjoy the holiday and your family. After all, that is what this season is all about.

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What's Your Winter Workout?

Well, it's that dreaded time of year again. You know what I'm talking about. The season in which you have to wear 10 layers of clothing just to leave your house. Yeah, that beautiful weather. So how do you work out during the winter? I realize that no one wants to venture outside in a blizzard or the frigged cold, and it is bad for your lungs to work out in extreme temperatures. However, at times during the winter you should try to get out and get some work done outside. Some days though, it is not realistic and you will not be going outside, so what do you do?
Here's a few ideas:

1. The treadmill. Or as I like to call it, the dreadmill. I hate staring at a wall, and I really don't like running nowhere. However, it is an option if it is too cold for running outside and you are dying to get in a few miles. The dreadmill can be made a little bit more bearable with some loud music, or if you can position your treadmill in front of a tv or laptop so that you have a source of entertainment while going nowhere fast, that is also helpful.
2. Cross-fit/Lifting Workout. This is a great option if you are forced to remain indoors for a day or two. If you can put together a series of lifts or ab/strength exercises. This is my first choice when it comes to indoor workouts. It's fun and so much less boring that running on a treadmill.
3. Skipping. While this seems like the worst option imaginable, skipping a day is not a bad idea at all. In fact, you should choose to have at least one day of rest every week. If you know that you will be able to get outside the rest of the week, that there is only one extremely cold day that week, just plan your rest day for that day.
4. Zumba. If you know that you will not be getting outside this winter because you hate the cold even more than I do (which i will say is pretty hard), then you can always sign up for some kind of Zumba or any kind of workout class at your local fitness center, such as the YMCA. You can stay inside and you still get a great workout in.
5. Swimming. This seems like a crazy idea in the winter, why would you voluntarily jump into a cold pool when it is below 0 degrees outside. Well the water, and pool room itself really isn't as cold as you might think. Swimming is such a great source of exercise, working all of the muscles in your body. You could also enroll into a water aerobics class at a fitness center. I have not personally participated in one, but it seems like it would be fun. I mean why not? Going outside with wet hair may stink for about 90 seconds, but anything to avoid jumping onto the dreadmill, right?

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Playing Games

All right, I'm just going to say it, if your sports are stressing you out, then you're not doing it right.

In my family, at least, sports are supposed to be fun, that's what they were made for. So what is everyone getting so worked up about? That seems to be the issue nowadays. Everyone gets so freaked out about doing well and they have so much pressure riding on them in their sports. It makes no sense, it's just game right? Or is it?

Sports have gotten so extreme. Most people dedicate their lives to sports or their child's sports. Take a look at the world. We have invested so much into stadiums and arenas so that we can go and watch people play games. We invest so much into children's sports so that they can be on the best teams and travel around the country to play games. Every couple of years we invest millions of dollars to build the most elaborate Olympic stadiums in a new location every time. Then, we spend an outrageous amount of money to go to these stadiums. And for what? So that we humans can go see other humans play games. I mean, doesn't that seem the slightest bit crazy to you?

I get that people love these sports. I get that these sports become people's lives because they love it so much. I get that all some kids want to do is play games. I guess what I don't understand is how it got so out of control.

Maybe it's because nobody noticed that it was getting out of control until it was too late. It started with playing games. But then people started to see not only the sport as a source of enjoyment, but that being a spectator was just as enjoyable. People got smart and realized that they could charge people to  come and watch sports, that it could make a profit. And from there, it just blew up.

I'm not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing, but I also don't think that it is a good thing. Making sports this big puts unneeded pressure on the kids involved in them. From a young age they start thinking about high school, college and then the pros.

In my opinion, I just think that it's too much. It's great that sports are fun and give kids something to do after school, but it's gotten to be too much. Kid's never get a break, going year-around. They need to slow down and enjoy life and not worry about the future too much.

So think about it, are sports inhibiting you from life? Relaxation, family and friends? I just ask that you reevaluate why you put in hours at the gym, and if it's not because you absolutely love what you're doing then stop. Be human. Enjoy something outside of sports. There is such a big world out there and you are limiting yourself if you lock yourself in the gym 24/7. I am by no means saying that you should change your lifestyle, I'm just saying that make sure what you're doing it worth it.

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Smoothies 101

Smoothies are my all-time favorite health drink. During the summer, I make them all the time, before and after workouts, for breakfast, for desert, for a snack, and pretty much every other occasion you can think of. I love them. It wasn't until recently that I realized that most people don't know how to make smoothies at home. Most people just go to a smoothie place such as NutriSmoothie to quench their fruit drink craving. However, it is much cheaper to make smoothies from your home. All you need is a blender, ice, vanilla yogurt, and your favorite fruit(s).

1. Start by getting out your blender, and adding about 1 cup of yogurt.
2. The next step is to throw in a cup of fruit, anything from strawberries to bananas to pineapple works. The fruit can be frozen or raw, both work well. Also, if you would prefer to have a dominant fruit, just add a little bit extra of that particular fruit.
3. Blend these ingredients together until the smoothie is creamy.
4. Lastly, add 3-4 ice cubes and blend it until all of the ice is broken up. This step is optional, it just makes your smoothie colder.
5. Finally, pour your smoothie into a glass and enjoy.

It is super easy and people make smoothies in different ways. Some people add ice cream instead of yogurt or fruit juice to get a stronger flavor or even protein powder to make it like a protein shake. You can add more of each ingredient to make smoothies for your friends as well. There are so many different variations and ways to create smoothies, no single smoothie is the same. Feel free to change it to your preferences and create your own variation. My personal favorites are strawberry banana and wild berry smoothies with raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Pineapple and kiwi are also really good to add to smoothies as well.

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