Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Motivation


Recently I was asked the question “How do you stay motivated?” Motivated? I thought to myself. I dunno. I just am, but it couldn’t be that easy, right?

Wikipedia says: Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. I believe this, but I also think that you have to value something to be motivated.

After feeling deflated by not being able to answer this question with ease, I decided to dedicate some time to thinking about where my motivation comes from. I discovered that there are various things that have motivated me throughout my life, but I realized that I did have an “Ah, Ha!” moment that impacted me greatly.

I think most people can relate to the cliché term “college 15.” Yes, it happened to me and I didn’t even realize it until my junior year of college – a reality check, for sure.

My life has always been busy (I prefer it that way, really), but in college it was always controlled chaos. Between working multiple jobs, teaching and taking dance classes, and studying for school I didn’t think about nutrition or the gym. It was not until I met Percy, my boyfriend, who works in health and fitness that I became interested in the industry.

In college I was dancing 15 hours a week, topped off with fast food three to four times a day. Yes, you read it correctly… a day. I know. I know. Disgusting, right? At that time I could tell you what every fast food chain’s menu offered in my area. It was clear my knowledge of exercise and nutrition was limited. So, I started asking questions.

With Percy’s help I started to educate myself on all-things health and fitness and it became a huge focus of mine. I started to learn about eating right and exercising outside of my usual dance routine. My lifestyle had always been active through dance, alternative ways of working out didn’t cross my mind. I also wasn’t putting quality food into my body and as a result, I constantly felt sluggish and had zero energy often. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to make a lifestyle change.

So I did!

The answer to the question, “How do you stay motivated?” is much more apparent to me now. I value my health! Having the energy to dance and excel in my career is important to me and leading a healthy lifestyle supports those goals. And these goals are the reason I now take daily steps to ensure I have optimal health – it gets me where I want to go.

Aside from health and fitness I've always been a driven and motivated individual -- intrinsic, as Wikipedia describes. However, the health aspect enhanced all of the things I value and made it easier to achieve my goals.

I think everyone should take and minute and answer this question. You may find there are many great answers to your motivated behavior, but when you pinpoint the source you are more likely to stay on course and take the steps needed to achieve your goals.

Now I’m asking you, “How do you stay motivated?”

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Cakelicious Treats

Baking sweets is one of my favorite types of “cooking” and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I was itching to concoct something delectable. I know it’s not exactly conducive to my healthy lifestyle, but those who know me know my baking usually involves substitutes like Diet 7-Up, Egg Beaters or Steevia. And if I don’t use any alternatives, I create a miniature version of the full sized treat to cut back on the calories.

My friends and family are very familiar with my mini cupcakes and the various flavors that I’ve brought to events and holiday gatherings -- always being conscious of the waistline.

This year cupid must have struck a baking cord because two days ago I went on a Google frenzy, searching for the next sweet treat to add to my baking repertoire. I was feeling like a one-trick pony with my mini cupcakes. So after some extensive searching, I found a brilliant site… Bakerella.com! Here I learned the art of Cake Balls or Cake Bites, as I have newly named them.

All the ingredients you need for these Cake Bites are:

Boxed Cake Mix: I used dark chocolate by Pillsbury
Jar of Frosting: I made frosting from scratch
Chocolate or Vanilla Bark: I used both for fun

My tip for making these delights is to start with only half of your ingredients and do a test run for practice. The most difficult part is dipping the spongy cake and frosting mixture into a pot of molten chocolate. All while making them pretty. The cake can melt even after you have refrigerated them for several hours. I ended up leaving the entire batch in the fridge and only taking 2 bites out at a time to keep them nice and cool. But like I said, do a test run to perfect your process.

The Cake Bites are a bit time consuming, require plenty of patients and ingredients to get them perfect. Check out Bakerella.com for the full scoop on how to make these delicious treats.

Here is a picture of my final product. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Bowl 2010 Foods


Today I plan to partake in the American tradition, Super Bowl Sunday 2010. As CBS drones on about Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. I found a story on San Antonio's Ken 5 even more profound than football statics and game day predictions. Ken 5 aired a story called Super Bowl By the Numbers, and the station wasn't referring to game, but the amount of food consumed while watching the game at home -- check this out!

8 million: Total pounds of popcorn

28 million: Pounds of potato chips

53.5 million: Pounds of avocados

1 billion: Number of chicken wings

325.5 million: Gallons of beer

CRUNCH ON THIS:
30.4 million: Pounds of snack food Americans consume on Super Bowl Sunday, twice the average daily amount.
— Snack Food Association (past figures)

Just reading those numbers makes me feel bloated. My recommendation for your game preparations, have a well-balanced breakfast and make a trip to the gym. The Super Bowl festivities don't really start until 4 p.m. EST. You can avoid over eating with a balanced meal and some unneeded calories by doing 30 minutes of cardio exercise before you sit down in from of the TV. These are just some easy tactics to maintaining a healthy lifestyle on a well-known glutenous day.

Enjoy the 44th Annual Super Bowl Sunday!