Tee-hee-hee…. I love a good food-related joke! Happy Friday!!! Time for Anything & Everything Friday, where I share five random topics with you. I receive emails throughout the week about food, exercise, beauty, etc and most of them are health-related. I love learning more about health in general and enjoy reading about those topics. I pick some of my favorite articles and share them with you each week! They are typically related to health, but sometimes it is “health-related” by being hilarious. Laughing is healthy!!!
This week I have some recipes for some healthier summer cocktails, a list of the best protein sources, movies for a girls’ night in and some reasons to strength train! Let’s do this….
You’re Not Losing Weight, But Are You Still Getting Healthy?:
The answer is yes, you can be doing good things for your body and your health even if the number of the scale stays the same. You might be at a plateau or you may not be interested in dropping a few pounds. Regardless, there are things you can look at to see if the changes you’ve made in your life are making you more healthy. Energy is a big one. Does drinking more water and eating healthy foods give you more energy throughout the day? It should. Compare how you feel now and how you felt when you were eating crap food all the time. Another thing to look for, you set a new PR. Whether it was jogging 1 mile, a new record for a 5k, or bench pressing the most you’ve ever done, look to see how you are improving exercise-wise. Those are two examples, so check out the other five in the article 7 Signs That You’re Getting Healthier Even If You’re Not Losing Weight from My Fitness Pal. If you are working on your health, what changes have you seen that aren’t weight related?
Protein:
I am ALL about protein. It is so important to get enough protein in your diet, especially if you are active and lift weights. I like to change up my protein-game, if you will, every once in a while to keep things from getting boring. I try to eat eggs, fish, chicken, pork, and beef. If you follow my Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals posts then you know I LOVE Greek yogurt! So what are the best sources of protein? Alexa Tucker put together a list for us all on Self.com of good sources of protein, A Guide To The Best Protein Sources, Veg and Non-Veg. She lists them in terms of chicken, beef, pork, etc. Then goes into a little more detail too, such as to choose the “loin” options for meat because they are more lean cuts of meat. It is a great resource if you are unsure of what foods to eat for protein. What is your favorite way to get protein?
Summer Cocktails:
Is alcohol clean eating? No. I would categorize that in more of the “Play” part of Eat. Lift. Play. Repeat. However, I do consume alcohol occasionally, whether it be a glass of wine, beer, or mixed drink. There are certain cocktails that are perfect for sitting on the back patio in the summertime and just relaxing. My go-to is Deep Eddy’s Ruby Red Vodka mixed with soda water or La Croix Grapefruit sparkling water and a squeeze of lime. Delish! I’m not really into the frozen drinks so much, but a lot of people are. I might get more into them once I’ve made a drink or two from this list of 9 Better-For-You Frozen Cocktails from Greatist.com. Peach Wine Slushie anyone?! Maybe I can make a frozen variety of my grapefruit-vodka-soda. Genius!
Build Lean Muscle:
I am a huge advocate for strength training. I mean I focus mostly on eating here at Eat. Lift. Play. Repeat., but LIFTING is #2 on the list! I cannot explain how much change has happened to my body from starting to lift weights 5 years ago. I honestly have a completely different body and I love it. I have gained muscle and lost body fat. I’ve lost weight, yes, but most importantly I’ve lost inches in pretty much every single area of my body (minus arms, I’ve gained a half-inch or so….all those damn bicep curl drop-sets!). It has been a slow change (again, five years people), but a positive one both mentally and physically.
So what are the benefits of lean muscle? Well, your metabolism increases with more lean muscle mass so you therefore burn more calories and burn more fat by just being alive. Increased metabolism is one of my favorite benefits of muscle, but check out Make Lean Muscle Your Best Friend by Abi Reiland with Oxygen.com for a few other benefits. You don’t have to be as interested in lifting as I am. Incorporating weight lifting to your routine 2-3 days a week will make a difference. You don’t need a gym either. You can build muscle with body-weight exercises as well (hello push-ups and pull-ups). Ditch doing 60-minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week and lift some weights! The end of this article also has some strength-training strategies for you too. If you have questions about lifting and strength training then let me know! Email, text, Facebook, or comment below. I’d love to chat about it!
Girls’ Night:
I found this article on Self.com and Claire Hannum has compiled a list of the best movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix if you are having a girls’ night in. Well, I like the idea of a girls’ night, but this list is great even if you just want to watch TV alone! I kept scrolling through and thinking “man, I didn’t know that was on Netflix – I’ll have to watch it soon!”. 16 Candles, 13 Going on 30, Clueless, and more are on this list of 17 Things To Watch On Netflix On Girls’ Night In. In terms of TV series, Gilmore Girls and Scandal made the list. I think I like this Claire gal. She can keep coming up with lists on Netflix for me so I don’t have to search all the time!
Well that wraps up today’s Anything & Everything Friday post. Have a great weekend! I’ll have a new recipe for you on Monday. Whoop whoop!
