Day 6 and 7 - March Healthy Living Challenge

For Day 6 of the March Healthy Living/Fitness Blogger Blogging Challenge Janice, the Fitness Cheerleader, asked us to share our favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe.

Since I am a vegan, traditional items like corned beef or Shepard's pie are out for me. I should note that last night I made up this Irish Beef Stew for E and he LOVED it. I cannot attest to how it tasted but it certainly did smell scrumptious. So, if you are looking for a good beef stew recipe I would try this one.

As far as my favorite SPD dish goes there is one I absolutely love and thanks to the recipe in  Happy Herbivore Abroad I can still eat - colcannon.

Colcannon is a really simple and very yummy potato dish. It is basically mashed potatoes with kale (or cabbage) mixed in. The recipe from HH Abroad is super simple(five ingredients; potatoes, kale, green onion, non-dairy milk, and dijon mustard) and definitely one of my favorite dishes, not just for St. Patrick's Day it is one of my favorites, period.

I made up a batch last night and will happily be enjoying leftovers for the next few days. Even E, who hates anything green and leafy, liked it. I call that a win in my book. Dang, just talking about it is making me hungry. Lol!

What is your favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe? 

For Day 7 of the March Healthy Living/Fitness Blogger Blogging Challenge Janice, the Fitness Cheerleader, asked us how we were celebrating St. Patrick's Day

As I discussed briefly earlier in the post, last night I made up a huge Irish feast for me (the Italian) and my Salvadorian boyfriend. Even though neither of us are Irish we both enjoy beer and Irish fare so we, of course, wanted to partake in the holiday.

Tonight, after work and the gym, we will be enjoying our leftovers ( I am thinking of making boxtie's/potato pancakes out of the colcannon) and then heading downtown for some beers. Initially I had thought we would be staying in to watch the Boondock Saints but I think we will end up downtown instead. More than likely we will end up at World of Beers to check out their Irish beer selection. I am not a fan of green beer (unless it is Spirulina Wit from Freetail Brewing in San Antonio- that is one of my all time favorite beers) so I will probably just stick with something Irish or whatever sounds good.

How do you celebrate this most famous of Irish holidays? 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love and hugs,
Dacia
xoxoxox

My Favorite Activity as a Child

Here is my post for day 5 of the March Healthy Living/Fitness Blogger Blogging Challenge.

Today's topic is 'what was your favorite activity as a child?'

I'd like to think I was the typical child of the late 70s/early 80s; playing outside until the street lights came on, getting dirty, using my imagination and whatnot. Although I do also remember plenty of time dedicated to using my portable tape recorder,standing in front of the TV, to tape my favorite episodes of Scooby Doo, but I digress.

When I think back on my childhood I of course think about running around with my friends. Playing at the park or playground or even in our yards. I remember long summers days and how I never wanted to be inside.

But when I think as to what was my favorite activity one thing popped right into my mind- fishing.

Ok, so yeah, I know this may not be the typical activity you had in mind. And yes, for the most part fishing is a pretty inactive activity but to me it is still an activity nonetheless.

I remember fishing with my dad while we would camp out during the summers or with my grandpa in his little boat when we would go up to his place in the mountains. When I think of my favorite thing to do as a child my mind instantly jumps to those memories.

And yes, I do see the irony in  this as I am now an animal-loving vegan ;)

I also find it funny that as a kid I was drawn to an activity which requires complete silence and allows ample time for introspection.

 

Me, alone with my thoughts

 

Even if those thoughts revolved around Sesame Street and playing makebelieve.

 

What was your favorite activity as a child?

 

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxo

Day 4: My Favorite Health and Fitness Apps

Today is Day 4 of the March Healthy Living/Fitness BloggerBlogging Challenge and look, I am actually getting my post up on the same day! Woo hoo! That is nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me ;)

Today’s topic is ‘What are Your Favourite Fitness Apps?’

I have a handful of fitness apps on my iPhone but honestly, I don’t use most of them. It kind of fluctuates which ones I use and when based off of what I am doing in my daily life.

 

I would say out of all of my apps the only one I use regularly is the Fitbit app. For the most part, as long as I remember to charge my fitbit, I use this one daily.  I like tracking my steps, especially since I work a desk job, and this tool (the fitbit itself and the app) helps me keep on top of it.

Other apps I like:

MyFitnessPal- I should probably log my food daily but since I really try to eat intuitively I am not super concerned with doing this daily. I do like the app though and love seeing all of my friend’s progress.

Strava- I have both the cycling and running app. This is my favorite app for cycling. I love the features plus I found it doesn’t drain my phone battery as quickly as some other cycling apps do too. After trying out a bazillion running apps I found that I like the Strava running one best. But sometimes I use….

Runkeeper- I like this one too. Mainly for the same reason as MFP- so many friends use Runkeeper. But, I rarely do. I rarely track my running anymore, regardless, since I run naked. No, not naked in the literal sense but naked meaning no tracking devices. I stopped running with a Garmin or an app almost a year ago and I just find it so much more enjoyable.

BUT- I will use the Road ID app if I go out on the trails or someplace off the beaten path. Because safety is my priority and someone should really know where I am. You know, just in case. I highly recommend outdoor runner (and cyclists) download this app- especially if you run/ride alone. It could save your life. I also run/ride with my Road ID bracelet too. You can never be too safe.

iRideInside- this is my favorite app for when I use my spin bike. It is instructor led spin workouts with video and voice commands (and you can use your own music too which I love) because honestly, if I was alone on a spin bike it would be hard for me to come up with a great workout. I love this app and use it every single time I am on my spin bike.

C25K Free- this is the app I used when I first started running and training for my first 5K. I liked it enough that I use it now as I work on getting back into running since the surgery. I mainly use it when I am at the gym, on the treadmill, but sometimes I use it on the track too. When E and I run together he follows along as well and has even downloaded the app so he can use it when he runs on the treadmill. There are tons of free Couch to 5K apps out there but for whatever reason this is the one I picked back in 2012 and so this is the one I am using now.

That’s really about it as far as fitness apps go. I am really not too great about using apps in general. I use FB all the time but anymore I am barely on Twitter, G+ or IG let alone my fitness apps. I should probably try to use them more as they do serve as a really great tool. I forget that sometimes.

What fitness apps do you use? Any awesome ones you can’t live without that you think I should start using?

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxo

What Makes Me Happy

This is my first post of the March Healthy Living/Fitness Blogger Blogging Challenge. This challenge comes from Janice, the FitnessCheerleader. I am going to try to follow along the best I can although I doubt my posts will be published on the same days as hers. I will try to stick to the three posts a week she has outlined. She shares the list of topics here in case you are interested in joining in. Today’s (well, yesterday’s actually) topic is ‘what brings happiness to your life?’ This is my response:

I am generally a pretty happy person.

Or at least from my viewpoint, I think I am.

I try to maintain a positive attitude and see the brightside of every situation, which of course is easier said than done- I am not perfect at this but I try.

Somewhere along this path I realized that I was the one holding the key to my happiness. I had spent far too long expecting (consciously and subconsciously) others to create my happiness. I also spent far too long equating possession of things with happiness. I know this last part was not instilled in me from my parents. It was a bad trait I picked up from a previous relationship. Luckily I broke that cycle and was able to manage to become someone more concerned with memories and experiences than materialistic goods.

For me, there are so so so many things which make me happy. So many that I doubt I would be able to list them all. But I can say there are the big ones; friends, family, someone to love, a place to call home and a sense of purpose (through work), a sense of responsibility (as a vegan) and a sense of pride for pursuing my dreams (both through grad school and through this journey). Those are all very big parts of my life which, almost always, bring me happiness daily.

But then there are also the smaller pieces which also bring me great happiness and joy. A hug from my Mom, hearing my Dad say he is proud of me, a good cup of tea, being able to do 25 crunches during my personal training session (woo hoo! Do you remember just a couple weeks ago I couldn’t even do one?), falling asleep in E’s arms, laughing with friends, watching hockey (or baseball), a co-worker asking me about my weekend, really good dark chocolate, vegan restaurants, being able to stay awake to watch Jimmy Fallon, a good night’s sleep, bubble baths, reading a book, riding my bike, being out on the water, listening to music (specifically alt rock), and many, many, others.

Cupcakes make me very happy!

These little things and big things all play a part in this amazing life I have carved out for myself. And I am beyond fortunate that the people in my life, my surroundings, my hobbies, my lifestyle, and my career all bring me so much happiness.

And they do so because I choose to allow them to.

I mean, I could just as easily choose to be miserable because my family lives over a thousand miles away (as do my closest friends) or because I live in a teeny tiny apartment or because I am still very limited activity-wise since the surgery or whatever. But I don’t.

Well, not all the time at least.

I mean yeah, I do get sad over some of the circumstances of my life. Especially when I miss out on big events (best friend’s son being born, weddings, holidays, etc.) which usually end up leaving me a bit sad and sometimes filled with longing. But that is usually just a temporary feeling because ultimately I know how happy I am here, in this life, and I wouldn’t change it.

Basically what I am trying to say is this.

There are a million and one things that bring me happiness.

But that is because I have made a million and one decisions to allow them to.

It’s a choice.

And I choose happiness!

So I guess if I needed to answer the question ‘what brings happiness to your life’ directly I would have to say ME!

Love and hugs and lots of happiness-

Dacia

xoxoxox