I Love... Water?

In the epic battle between soda and water, my heart has always sided with soda. Even though I know the more soda I drink the worse I feel, I still crave it. It never fails.

I will drink a soda and tell myself, that is it. I’m just having one. But after that one, I’m still thirsty. So guess what? I have another one. But that is it, I try to convince myself, two is the limit.

An hour will go by and I will start to get tired. So in order to keep going I will have yet another soda, telling myself I need the caffeine to keep me awake. Once again, I have tricked myself into believing it is helping me, while the reality of it is I have now had at least 3 sodas and I am still thirsty and tired. 

By the 3 o’clock slump, I’m so tired, all I want to do is go to sleep. Since that isn’t an option, I’ll have another soda. Now you would think all that would be a good wake up call not to jump into that vicious cycle the next day. Yet almost every day I do.

Except for Monday, I woke up and told myself I was not going to be tempted and I cracked open that first bottle of water. The first one is always the hardest, mostly if you are not a fan of it. But I managed and the most amazing thing happened, I felt great!

Throughout the day I continued to drink water. And by time 3 o’clock came around, no slump! I wasn't tired at all! It was like all the water I was drinking gave me a burst of energy. I felt like I could conquer the world, or at least the rest of the day.

To most of you this would be a no-brainer: 

soda = tired and thirsty

water = wake and not thirsty

So why would anybody choose soda? The same reason most girls choose the bad boy over the nice guy. We know it’s bad for us, but sometimes bad feels good.

Z = Zombieland

One of my favorite movies is Zombieland staring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. If you have yet to see the movie here is a brief summary:

A mutated stain of mad cow disease has turned most humans into zombies. A college student, Columbus, is on his way to see if his parents survived when he encounters Tallahassee, who is on a quest to find the last Twinkie on Earth. While on their journey they come across two sisters, Wichita and Little Rock, who con them more than once while on their way to Pacific Playland, which is rumored to be zombie free.*

I learned some great lessons from this movie. Right now you might be wondering what kind of lessons you could learn from a movie called Zombieland. Well, if you’ll trust me, I’ll let you know and tell you how to apply them in everyday life.

In the movie, Columbus comes up with a list of rules for surviving in the zombie-infested world. Granted, we are not being attacked by zombies, but I find these rules will do you a lot of good, regardless.

• Cardio – We have talked in a few posts about exercise and how we don’t have to like it, but we should really do it. Good cardio will keep you healthy and happy. It will also keep you alive if zombies do attack.
• Limber up – We haven’t mentioned the importance of stretching before exercise, so I’m tell you now, it’s important. You would hate to pull a muscle while exercising and if that should happen while running away from zombies, well I think you know what would happen.
• Get a kick ass partner – For those of you who have been following this blog you will know that I have not written this alone. I have a kick ass partner. She is my muse and without her a lot of my ideas wouldn’t be what they are. But if zombies attack I will be on the hunt for another partner, sorry Amy you just don’t have good cardio.
• Enjoy the little things – In life I think we sometimes take the little things for grant, but it’s all those little things that take us to the big things in life.

I think it is safe to believe zombies won’t attack us anytime soon, but it is a great movie that taught me some important lessons in life. I hope it will do the same for you.

*summary taken from Wikipedia

Y = Yes

I recently watched the movie Yes Man starring Jim Carrey. In the movie his character is required to say yes to every opportunity that comes his way. I think it is a good idea to stay open to new things, but I wouldn’t go so far as to agree to do everything.

I can’t say yes to everything, there just isn’t enough time in the day. So I figured out a way to determine which opportunities are meant to help me with my goals and which ones are meant to distract me. The trick I use is the rule of three.

If I come across something three times, I’m convinced it is something I need to try. I’m not talking about something presenting itself in an over-the-top way. An example would be hearing about something, like a book, through a friend. The next time I might read about the book on someone’s blog. And the last time, it might be talked about on TV.

It is just a matter of paying closer attention to those things trying to get your attention. I don’t believe in once in a lifetime opportunities. If something is meant to be, I believe it will continue to present itself. Now it probably won’t work its butt off for eternity, but I think it would at least make the effort three times.

X = X Games

Growing up I loved riding my bike. I remember my uncle holding the back of the seat while I peddled my little heart out around the driveway. He taught me to ride a bike, however, he did not teach me how to stop. So I would just stop peddling, and once it got to a safe speed, I would swing my leg around and jump off being prepared to run next to the bike until it stopped. This is one of the many reasons why I do not compete in the X Games.  I don’t think they give out metals for jumping off the bike and running next to it until it stops.

As I got older, my best friend and I would go for bike rides around the neighborhood. One day we decided we wanted to do something dangerous so we settled on riding our bikes to the library. After much planning and calculations of the route, my best friend’s Mom told us we weren’t allowed to cross one of the busier streets. We could have been rebels and just went for it, but I was too afraid of getting in trouble. Another reason I don’t compete in the X Games, I’m too afraid of what might happen.

A few years later when skateboards became popular, of course, I had to get one. My idea of skateboarding was to have my best friend push me up and down the street while I stood on the board. I know for a fact I wouldn’t win a metal for that in the X Games. And that yet another reason I’m not competing.

The talents it takes to compete in these games I just don’t have. I will never be the next Tony Hawk, Travis Pastrana, Mat Hoffman or Shaun White just to name a few. I’m okay with that. I say, let the professionals do what they do best and the rest of us can just watch in awe.

W = Wordless Wednesday!

V = Vision Boards

Growing up I loved making collages on poster board, I didn’t realize at the time I was creating vision boards.

If you’re not familiar with the purpose of vision boards or how to make them, I found a great post on Christine Kane’s blog. She explained it best:

What: “A vision board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage) is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple.”

Why: “The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.”

I especially loved her article because she talked about the three different types of vision boards. She broke them down like this:

1)      The “I Know Exactly What I Want” Vision Board. On these boards you know exactly what you want. If you have a dream car you want to own, you’d paste a picture of that car on your board. Or if there is a place you’d like to vacation, you’d paste a picture of that destination on it.

2)      The “Opening and Allowing” Vision Board. On these boards you only have an idea of what you want. If you’ve live in the Midwest and had enough of the weather here, you might select pictures that include palm trees and beaches.

3)      The “Theme” Vision Board. On these boards you focus on one area of your life. If you want to get healthy, you might select a picture of someone doing yoga. Or if you’re looking to lose weight, a picture of an outfit you want to wear.

The key in all three is to pick the pictures and words that feel right to you.

To get details on visions boards, please visit Christine Kane’s article: How To Make A Vision Board.

U = Unhealthy Foods

Most of us have a pretty good idea of what foods are unhealthy. Yet we still continue to eat them. Maybe if we took some time to understand why they are unhealthy, we wouldn’t be so quick to eat them. I find if I can pause long enough, sometimes, my will power will win over my craving.

I found a great article on National Health Restored. It explained what causes a food to be considered unhealthy:

• They have little or no nutritional value. These types of foods are typically high in calories, but they are empty calories because of their lack of nutrients. Good examples of this type of food can be found in the bakery section. “If you eat one standard donut, you will get about 200 calories – mostly from fat and sugar. There are little or no vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in donuts.”
• They take nutrients from the body. Soda is the best example. “They are full of caffeine, sugar, and phosphorus, which cause your body to lose calcium from your bones.”
• They cause damage to your body. Any food containing hydrogenated oils would meet this criteria. “When oils are hydrogenated, they form trans-fatty acids. Trans-fats do damage to a number of systems in the body and are linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.”

The article also provides a great list of unhealthy foods to avoid and why. I was surprised to see these two on the list: canned soup and foods that give you too much protein.

For more information, please follow this link to read the entire article: Unhealthy Foods What NOT to Eat.