stress

More link love comin’ at you

Welcome to the “New Year, New You” edition of link love. Today’s links focus on self-improvement — and tie into my goal of making 2012 my best year yet.

— Over at the Attune blog earlier this month, MizFit posted some powerful words about real change. If you haven’t read them yet, do it. Now. This post gives me hope that someday my lifestyle changes will be second nature to me.

— Maggie from Say Yes to Salad posted a Friday Five that’s right up my alley — and probably a lot of yours, too. Five ways to de-stress right now. They seem quick, easy and effective. Can’t wait to put them into practice.

—Toward the beginning of January, when everyone was still in the throes of their New Year’s resolutions, Fit Bottomed Girls put out a list of five ways to lose weight without losing your mind. They might have been more helpful had I shared them a couple of weeks ago. Then again, any day is a good day to begin something like No. 3: Start a daily self-acceptance ritual.

— Along those same lines, Tina from Best Body Fitness (formerly of Faith Fitness Fun) just shared a fantastic list of 30 little things you can do right now — today — to improve your health/fitness. She has a new blog now, but her posts are as great as ever.

Mixed bag of a day

Wednesday was a real roller coaster of a day: It started off slow but built up to a stressful rush before winding down with a nice dinner.

I can count it as a success, though: The stress didn’t send me running to the vending machine. I ended up eating about 28 carbs, but that’s totally within my range of 25 to 30. And I got more veggies today, something that’s not always easy for me.

Not pretty, but pretty tasty

I spent most of  the morning on the computer, reading blogs — when I wasn’t in the kitchen making breakfast, that is. Breakfast was pretty tasty: Poached eggs over avocado slices, topped with bacon and salsa.

After breakfast, I headed to Barnes & Noble to see about spending some of the gift card that’s been burning a hole in my pocket. It came in a Christmas card from my brother and his family, along with new photos of my adorable niece and nephew.

Actually, I had a specific purchase in mind: the new Atkins cookbook, “The New Atkins for a New You Cookbook.”

While I’m still not sold on the new Atkins plan versus the one I followed so successfully in 2003, I liked the sample recipes from the cookbook. (Besides, I’m trying to enrich my life here. Remember?)

Then it was off to Starbucks, where I made the conscious choice to stick to iced green tea sweetened with Splenda. (No room in my meal plan for a Faux Frappuccino today.)

A pick-me-up

I had to cut my writing time short to go back home and run an errand for the roommates — and received a lovely bouquet of flowers for my trouble. So bright and cheerful … and they smell divine.

I needed the pick-me-up by the time the work night was over. Computer issues left me frazzled on a night that should have been easy. It didn’t help that I volunteered to take on the sports pages — and the darn Orange Bowl went on for-ev-er. This is the worst time of year to do sports. At least in the spring and summer, we’re on a three-hour time difference from the East Coast.

Anyway, after work I went home and returned to the kitchen to try another new Atkins recipe: Cheeseburger with onion, mushrooms and mixed greens. I was too hungry (and sleepy) to take the time to snap a photo, but I’m sure I’ll make it again soon enough.

Now I’m about to drop of to sleep as I sit here, so I’d better stop blogging and get to bed.

Welcome, December

It’s a new month … and I’ve never been more glad to see the back end of November. This November kicked my butt six ways to Sunday.

I did, however, manage to reach the writing goals I set for myself. I submitted both of my Golden Heart entries and finished the NaNoWriMo challenge (on the last possible day, with barely enough words — 50,016).

The healthy eating and exercise goals? Not so much. Especially this last week or two, during crunch time, I’ve let things slide. I still haven’t been eating carbs, but I haven’t been a good low-carb dieter, either. My days have been full of meat, eggs, nuts and cheese. Veggies have been practically nonexistent.

But December’s a new month — and even though it’s not the best time to try to lose weight, I’m going to get back to doing low-carb right. If the weight starts to come off again, that’s even better.

Another contest deadline looms: Harlequin’s “So You Think You Can Write” competition, on Dec. 15. Then, Christmas … New Year’s … new goals and resolutions.

I think I’ll start with catching up on my Google Reader. Last I checked, there were 176 posts waiting to be read. Yikes.