Displaying items by tag: healthy

I started this website to focus on loss and the complicated relationship it has with grief, depression, and loneliness. The rollercoaster of emotions that naturally comes along with losing a loved one or something in your life that you cared deeply about sends you to parts of yourself that you would rather forget existed. The grief inevitably brings out feelings that once lay dormant and then hijacks every part of your body, brain, and heart.

I have also written about how I have learned to use new-found tools and support from others to overcome the challenges and paralyzing effects grief creates. From podcasts I have listened to, to books I have read, to supportive friends, family, colleagues and healing retreats, I spent the better part of two years trying to figure out how to heal.

Two years ago, in December of 2021 I spent the Christmas and New Year’s holidays by myself, exploring the countryside and cities of North Carolina, searching for places to feel like I belonged, for a place I could call my home. It was a tumultuous time for me. I was still grieving and trying to heal from the loss of my husband and my life in an unexpected divorce. My heart leaked with failure, depression, and pain. My mind urged me to run far away from the pain and memories of my past. 

“You must give up the life you planed in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” Joseph Campbell

When I got married, I thought my life was going to be predictable. My husband and I had our own hobbies, habits, routines, and traditions that we introduced to each other and we were starting our own together. I enjoyed cooking and baking new healthy food from the YouTube channels I watched, I did Yoga, and I worked out probably way too much. My husband played Magic the Gathering online and in person, went fishing, played other video games, and was part of the Men’s rugby league in our city. We were both teachers and had the same days and summers off. Every few years we would go to the Florida Keys to fish, snorkel, and kayak. We visited our family in the summer and at Christmas. His parents would come to spend Thanksgiving with us. I couldn’t imagine, nor did I want to imagine, anything other than that. It was familiar, comfortable, and safe.

When I was five years old, my mother enrolled me in a local majorette’s group for kids my age. I whined to her that I didn’t like it and wanted to quit, but she “forced” me to go so I could learn how to twirl and toss and spin a long metal bar with two knobs on either end like her. She was the “best in the school,” said my grandparents. But I was not like my mother. I was uncoordinated, dropped the baton, and had a hard time paying attention. During the parade my group marched in, I carried the banner with our group name on it because I wasn’t good enough to walk and twirl with the others. I quit after the parade.

How do you define “health”? Is it free of any pain? Free of any disease? In great shape? Able to run a marathon? Whatever your definition of health, it comes down to this: self-love.

Summers and the holiday season are times for spending time with family and friends, and traveling to fun places. But on those long car rides, or even plane rides, what should you eat to prevent gorging on high-sugar, low-nutrient foods? I’ll give you my personal go-to’s when I travel long distances to avoid reaching for the quick, convenient snacks we might normally turn to.

I’ve always been a planner, and planning what goes into my body is no exception. Two times a year, I pack up my suitcase with clothes, my cat, and an arsenal of healthy options and drive 13 plus hours from the state of Florida to my home state of Pennsylvania. Along the way, I stop at gas stations primarily for bathroom breaks and refuel for myself and my car. But if you’ve ever browsed the gas station snack selection, most of the options include high-sugar, enriched carbs, and unhealthy fats that will have you feeling bloated, sluggish, and down-right sick for the remainder of your trip. What you need instead is protein packed, high-quality, and snacks with healthy fats to get you through to your ultimate destination.

There’s nothing I love more than a lazy Saturday when there’s nothing at all going on except for the opportunity to make my delicious protein pancakes. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for the better part of the year and I think I’ve got it down to an art. Below you will find the recipe that I use to make a filling, high protein, healthy brekkie!