Coffee! COFFEE!! CoFfEe!!!

Day 3- I woke up and did the same thing I have done the past 2 days. Got up, grabbed a bite to eat, and then out for my walk I went. Although, I need to be honest, my walk wasn't a full half hour. More like 20 minutes. I don't want to make excuses, but when I woke up my knee was swollen and sore and I thought it best not to push it.

So today's post is going to be a little different. I have heard and read many things talking about the health benefits of drinking coffee. This makes me very excited because I love coffee.

So here we go, health benefits of drinking coffee:

1.) Less likely to get type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia.

2.) Fewer cases of getting certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes

In my family, we have an outrageous medical history of almost every disease, or heart problem you can think of, so for me this is pretty outstanding! And don't take this out of context here, I didn't say coffee would prevent these cases, only lower your risk.

Another article I found was on how coffee has been linked to lower the depression risk in women. "Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 percent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee..." says an article from Reuters.com by Julie Steenhuysen.

Now I admit 4 cups of coffee seems like a bit much, at least to me, but there are a lot of people who drink that many, if not more, cups of coffee daily. 

"Animal studies have shown that caffeine protects against certain neurotoxins. And brain receptors that respond to caffeine are concentrated in the basal ganglia, an area that is important for both depression and 

Parkinson's disease" Julie Steenhuysen says.

Now, more studies need to be done to prove this but in my opinion, this is not a coincidence. The whole time I was reading this article I was thinking about how some people have the, "Don't talk to me before I have had a cup of coffee," mentality. Maybe coffee does help people's moods more than researchers think. So if you're feeling down, grab a cup of joe for a little bit of a mood boost. But like everything else in the world, good things are only good in moderation. Coffee also has negative effects if you over consume.

Here are the links to the articles I have read, if any of you would like to read some more-

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/coffee-new-health-food

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-coffee-depression-idUSTRE78Q3GK20110927

Day 2 of my journey!

So far so good! Although it is only the second day...


I woke up this morning feeling energized and ready for a challenge!
I started my day off with a well balanced breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day you know!

2 scrambled eggs with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, a slice of 100% whole wheat toast with a table spoon of peanut butter, a kiwi and 8oz of orange juice.


I am starting to realize the importance of starting out your day with a good solid mean, hitting all of the main food groups, especially protein. Getting a good serving of protein in the morning helps curb your hunger throughout the day so you can go longer between meals without as much snacking... Which is exactly what I need.


Then I threw on some sweats and headed out for my walk. I don't have a set route for my walks. I think I would get bored really fast if I was looking at the same scenery everyday. So, I set out and let my feet lead me where ever they want to go. I didn't know where I was aiming to go and didn't decide which turn to take until I was right on top of it which lead me to take a longer walk than I planned to! It started to sprinkle so I decided it was time to head home.

Now, it is time to hit the showers and get my butt dressed!

It's whats for dinner!

Tonight I wanted something delicious and equally healthy. I chose chicken a stir fry!

A pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter in substitute for peanut oil, ginger, some garlic and onion, and soy sauce over brown rice. It was delicious!

Revamping My Life

So, recently I have been seeing everywhere in magazines how you should keep on top of yourself. That even though it takes time and effort to get up in the morning and brush your hair and teeth, get dressed, and put some make up on, even when you have nothing to do and no where to go, you will feel better about yourself. Once in a while it is OK to lounge around in your jammies but if you do it too often it gets too easy to lay around and watch TV every time you have a day off. This is where I am at. After just having knee surgery and have been out of commission for a couple weeks, it got way too easy for me to lay around and read endless amounts of books without worrying about getting dressed or shaving my legs and in doing so, I have been sad and lonely and feeling hopeless about life. I feel like it is very important to start getting up every morning and making myself presentable for the day and I am hoping it will do wonders for my moods.


So, here is the next part. As most of you may know, I am not the most in-shape person in the world (HA!). But that doesn't matter to me. I could CARE LESS about being stick thin and wearing a size 2. Would it be cool? Sure! But is that one of my goals? Absolutely not! My goal is however, to be healthy. As of right now, I am in good health (other than some orthopedic issues) but I am afraid that if I keep going down the path I am going down, I will not be in very good health for much longer. So I woke up this morning, and as I was sitting on my butt yet again, I decided that its not very hard to get up, eat a healthy breakfast, put on some work out clothes and sneakers and go for a walk! I mean really, its simple and that is exactly what I did even though it was pouring rain. So what has stopped me before? I guess I was just stuck in a downward spiral. The only place to go now is up.

So, this is me, soaking wet after a half an hour walk in the pouring rain looking like a hot mess. I am hoping that this fire burning inside of me that I found today stays lit and I can continue to keep going with this life make over. I am making over my inside, and in result, it will start showing on the outside.


So my goals for this self project of mine...


1.) Wake up every morning, no matter how early I have to get up or no matter what the weather and go for a half an hour walk.


2.) After said walk, take a shower, get dressed, put some damn make up on and be grateful for, and not waste, another day on this Earth.