Anything & Everything Friday – February 12th

Happy Friday! This week has been strange. Thursday felt like Friday, which is never good. Why? Because then you still have to get through the real Friday! Yuck. Regardles, time for Anything & Everything Friday where I discuss anything and everything that comes to mind throughout the week. I have a lot of cool articles emailed to me about health & fitness and I like sharing them with you! Plus, there is other stuff that comes up to. Like #1…..

1.Wayne’s Birthday: First of all, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my dad and boss, Wayne! He is 53 years old today and still rockin’ it! Here is a throwback picture of him at his surprise 50th birthday party! And yes, we did in fact manage to surprise him on this 50th birthday. It was not easy, but we managed. Happy Birthday dad!

2.Valentine’s Day – Any plans for Valentine’s Day? Donny is actually going to be home for holiday (since he can’t travel yet due to his knee). We honestly aren’t doing too much. We are celebrating my sister’s 30th birthday Saturday and have a whole bunch of fun things planned for her! We figured we’d be pretty tired (and slightly hungover…..) so we haven’t made too many plans. We are definitely getting breakfast and finally decided on The Universal. We hadn’t heard of it before but I read an article saying it is one of the best breakfast spots in Denver! We’re in. Anyway, that is beside the point. We are keeping it pretty low key for Valentine’s Day. However, I was browsing the internet and stumbled upon BoredPanda.com. Have you seen this site before? Pretty funny. I found some funny Valentine’s Day cards. They are actually Anti-Valentine’s Day Cards for Couples with a Sense of Humor. There are 20+ cards but take the time to scroll through them. Some of them are pretty dang funny….and surprisingly true in Donny & my relationship! I feel like this Valentine would also be appropriate for our marriage.

3.Lemon in my coffee: I mentioned this briefly in my Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals post yesterday. I have been adding 3-4 drops of fresh lemon juice to my coffee. It really helps cut down the bitterness so I don’t feel like I need creamer. I like coffee, but sometimes it is a little too bitter for me. You cannot even taste the lemon in it, I promise! Try it, you might like it. I got the idea because when Donny orders espresso in Europe it comes with sugar cubes and a slice of lemon peel. You are suppose to twist the peel to get some of the oil off it to cut the bitterness of the espresso. Same idea here, I just add a couple drops of lemon as I’m adding it to my water bottles. Give it a try sometime!

4.Imperfections: Almost every woman picks out imperfections on her body and wants to change them. If you don’t, then congrats because more women wish they could be like you! Well there is a different between noticing imperfections and obsessing about them. One of my favorite trainers on social media advocating this body-positive movement is Jen Sinkler. She focuses on her strength, not how skinny she is. I love that. Here is a pretty cool article on Greatist.com “These Fitness Pros’ Raw Photos Will Help You Embrace Any ‘Imperfection’“. These three trainers have taken photos of their cellulite so you can see that even some of the most fit women have it, and yet they are still healthy!

5.Carbohydrates: So many people are afraid of carbohydrates and people tend to view them as “bad foods”. This is not necessarily true. There are plenty of carbs that are pretty useless nutrient-wise, but that doesn’t make them “bad” necessarily. If you are smart about the carbs that you choose then you can eat more of them without gaining weight or body fat. In fact, you NEED carbs for energy, so the more carbs you consume the more energy you’ll have for your workout! If you’ve been following my Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals post then you see that I have carbs at every meal. I may have more at one meal and less at another, but I consume about 130 grams of carbs per day! For comparison, 1/2 cup of brown rice has 23 grams of carbs. One medium banana (100 grams worth) is also 23 carbs. Fruit, legumes, and whole grains are some great examples of clean carbohydrates that are nutrient-dense. MyFitness Pal has this article online “5 Smarter Carb Swaps“. It lists common foods you might consume and a couple alternative options, rated “good”, “bad” and “better”. It has comparisons for popcorn, beans, fruit, etc.

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend and a very happy Valentine’s Day!