Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend if you celebrate Easter! I had the chance to spend it with my family and meet my new nephew who was born last weekend so it was a nice weekend for me. Now on with the blog..

Last month I decided to sign up for a 3 month subscription of Bulu Box. Bulu box is a subscription box curated towards health and fitness for only $10 a month. Because I have been focusing more lately on those topics I thought I would give it a shot. I realized over the weekend that I never posted my first impression. I received my first box on March 15th. Here's what I got!



biPro Instant Whey Protein Isolate Supplement in French Vanilla
I decided to take this shake in place of my normal shake one morning. I didn't mind the taste and it kept me feeling full for most of the morning. I felt a little hungry as I got closer to lunch time but for the most part it did the trick for me!

Shapeology Burn Blend Diatary Supplement
To be honest I have not tried this out yet. I am planning to do it this week and will share a quick thought on it later in the week. The only issue with this is it is only a one time sample so I am not sure I will be able to have a enough of an experience to see if I really liked it.
 Vita Perk in Vanilla
This is a product that you add to your coffee to add vitamins and minerals. I have not been drinking coffee lately so I do not have a review on this. I may try it out this week just to see if it has any effect.

Seven years ago (Veterans day to be exact) I was riding in the backseat of my brothers sporty Subaru Impreza WRZ. Remember when they were cool? I was bundled up in the backseat on a trip home from my grandmothers. It was a 2.5 hour drive and we were in New Jersey. 7 miles from the Pennsylvania border. 45 minutes from home. I had dozed off when I was suddenly woken from a bad dream. I looked around. I had no idea where I was. Everything hurt. A lot. I heard screaming and yelling. It finally became clear to me. I had just been in a car accident.

I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I glanced down at it and realized it was crushed into the door. My head also hurt. With good reason. It had gone through the window.  I instantly started to cry, then scream. Where was everyone else? I know I wasn't traveling alone. Where was my brother? I tried to find him but couldn't move. A man came up to the car asking if I was okay. He couldn't open the door and I was in hysterics at this point. Emergency vehicles arrived quickly expecting the worse. I was removed from the car and was able to see the scene. It was awful. That sporty cute little WRZ had gone head on with a big SUV. That little car saved my life.

It was truly a miracle. We all made it out alive. Rescue workers in shock. They had prepared for the worst. I would have to if I arrived at that scene. It was a miracle and the scariest day of my life.


Today I am a perfectly healthy 31 year old. I count my blessings everyday. With numerous stints in physical therapy and lots of love and support I am back to as close as I can be to normal. I will never have a normal right hip or knee again. They will always cause me discomfort and pain at times. I already have arthritis starting and more days then not my hip bone is up in my back. I over compensate a lot and that doesn't help either. I needed a plan and something to help with relief.

Massage.

Massage has become my gift from god. Not only is beneficial to my injuries, it is also relaxing. Any injuries you have will be upped when you are stressed. Massage is a great way to release tension and clear the mind. Regular massage can help with issues like anxiety, headaches, fibromyalgia, TMJ, and many other ailments.

I am lucky to be able to get regular massage through a woman I clean for. We trade services. I clean her house every Sunday and she gives me a massage. She is excellent at what she does and has been really beneficial to some of my injuries. I am able to see her regularly and she knows where my problem areas are. She is able to continue to work on muscles that need some extra love because she is familiar with them.

Recently I have been going to the gym more often and experimenting with new exercises. Because of that I have really upset a muscle group in my left hamstring. It has been sore for weeks and I never thought to bring it up in my massage sessions. On Sunday night when I was talking about what areas I wanted to focus on I talked about my sore leg. She was able to focus just on that area and all the surrounding muscles that connect to that area. I have been sore from the massage, but the muscle finally feels like it is loosening up. It doesn't help that because of my permanent injury to my hip these problems are reaccuring. Every week is a battle but massage is helping me through it.

Lots of benefits guys. Shop around and find someone you like. Your body will thank you for it.

This week I have really picked up the pace when making sure to get to the gym and eat better. On Monday I told you all that I had a REALLY bad week last week when it came to food. I managed to get myself to the gym 4 days last week which was great, however due to my carelessness to only eating bad stuff, I am paying now. The sugar alone has reaped havoc on my face. I have red blotches and under the skin breakouts that hurt a lot. I felt very sluggish and unmotivated on top of that. Not so much fun.

I am treating this as a public service announcement to all of you. Think next time you want to fall off the wagon with your fitness, remember this story. Now everyone is different on how they react to certain things, but I do remember a dietician telling me once that EVERYONE has a sugar intolerance to a point. It is not good for our systems in large quantities.

I don't know about you, but I love to research products before I buy. I want to know everything there is to know about that one item I've been pining over. But then a get a wrench thrown into my decision when a new comparable item comes out on the market right when I have FINALLY decided to buy said item. Now what?

Now I have to re-research my original item AND do new research on the new item. I often take to social media and ask for a little help from my friends. Has anyone used said item? How do they like it? Is it worth my hard earned cash? Most of the time I get divided answers and it really doesn't ever help me out completely. This is why I wish we as consumers had more opportunity to try things out before we buy. If we are willing to make an investment into a high priced item, shouldn't we be able to test drive it for a few days?

Now I know this is only a dream in my head, because no company could ever trust every single person who walks into their door to take care of the item while trying it out. This is why we have product testers. Honest (Or so we hope) men and women try products out and give their opinions so folks like you and I can "live" through them if you may. These reviews are supposed to help us decide if said item is for us.



So here I am. I just got off a research binge. I've read review after review, and I still can't make up my mind. Fitbit or Polar Loop? I am so torn. They both have features I really like and some that I'm not sure of.. I really want to use one in my daily life to see how well (or bad) I'm doing with my steps. Does anyone have any experience with either of them? Was the one you tried accurate? Any feedback is mucho appreciated! Anyone wanna send me one to try, I will love you forever! (Yeah I'm shameless, If you don't ask you never know right?)

Thanks in advance if you help me decide on a gadget that could ultimately get me where I need to be to finally lose the 20 pounds I gained in 3 months.

I was always a shy person. I never had a lot of opinions because I never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings or say the wrong thing to embarrass myself. I come from a military family so it was easy to get talked over or pushed aside when I was at home. This is not to say that my parents weren't loving, this is not what I am getting at.

As I got older I would never question people, or get upset if someone talked over me when I was trying to speak. It felt like it was okay for these things to happen, because they must know more than me. They must be smarter than me. They probably are better liked than me. I always had a good reason in my head why it was okay for these things to happen.

Today, I know this is not okay. It is never right for someone to make you feel like you are less than you are. Bad circumstances unleash the person in you who needs to fight. Sometimes these circumstances make you realize you deserve to have respect and a voice. This is one of the reasons I got into blogging. I wanted a voice. I wanted to be able to talk to the world and hope someone, somewhere understood me. They learned something from me. Anything. As long as it reached someone. I was content.


I only have one issue with the progress I have made over the past 2 years. I am more confident in speaking up, but I have also noticed I am always ready to point out my flaws to people. I haven't decided if this is a defense mechanism or a way to feel protected. Am I trying to tackle the "bad" before someone else points it out? Or do I want to be able to have an opinion without looking like a complete jerk. If I say first, "I need to lose weight, I feel huge", is it okay for me to tell someone they should start working out?

Now I have not come out and told a complete stranger something negative about themselves after I pointed out negative things about myself, but I tend to wonder if I could do that. I don't want to be that person who makes someone else feel bad about themselves because I feel bad about me. Now that I have the speaking up thing down, I suppose it is time for me to start being more positive about myself. Then I can use this "mechanism" that I am latched onto at the moment to make people feel good about themselves too.

The human mind is such a crazy adventure sometimes. It really can make you stop and think about your behavior and how your portray yourself. (Kind of an oxymoron). It just makes me wonder why I chose to be outspoken but in a more negative direction. This is where I need to tell myself: Be positive. Keep working towards the wellness goals! This is both physical and mental wellness. A healthy mind and a healthy body can really bring you to peace. I've been working on getting a sound mind, and I think people forget that part when working on total wellness. Don't forget your mind.


Just a little ramble today. I hope this somehow inspired someone or got you to think. I just wanted to sit and write, and this is what came out. A writing exercise became a blog post. My mind sound a little less loud now that some of it got written down. Have a great day everyone.

I FINALLY got myself back in the gym this week! It has been 2 long months that I neglected to make time to go and sweat away the stress. My body was starting to feel the effects of letting the gym slip and me putting more unhealthy foods into my mouth. I only have 2 days under my belt now, but I will start to hold myself accountable when I make excuses.

When trying to get healthy, it will be a mind over matter effect. If we do not fully commit to the gym, eating better, or quitting a bad habit, we will fail. I have learned you cannot force it until you are fully ready to make the change. For years I said I was going to FINALLY get healthy. I WAS going to eat healthy. I WAS going to the gym. For years I failed.

This week something clicked in my head and I WANT to feel better. I NEED to exercise. My 4'11" frame is begging me to lose some weight. My clothes are uncomfortable and I refuse to buy new clothes just because I got lazy and gained the extra weight. I want to feel good about myself. I want to feel comfortable in my clothes. I finally feel ready to do this right.

Last week I posted a smoothie recipe. I have kept up making these every morning for breakfast. They have kept me feeling full until lunch and they are packed with all kinds of vitamins. I hope you give it a try! It is a nice treat every morning without having to feel guilty. I am also only eating lean proteins and lots of veggies. I am starting to feel better about myself again. Now lets see if I can commit to this and keep gyming it up for the rest of the week! Updates next week. 

So what do guys think? Is being healthy easy? How long did it take for you to form the good habit of wellness?

I am continuing my quest to "Win at life" and working on wellness options in my life. I started a 7 day life detox and one of the things I am doing daily is making a smoothie every morning. It is super easy to do and it keeps me full until lunch. There are so many combinations you can incorporate into your smoothies to customize a taste that works for you. Today I am going to share one of my favorite smoothie recipes, and hope it inspires you to play around until you find one you love!

I do not have a specific name for my smoothie, but it can be defined under the "green smoothie" category.

What you need:
1 Banana (the riper the better)
1 1/2 cups of Spinach or Kale
1/2 cup of Blueberries
1 cup Plain Almond Milk
1/2 cup of Water


Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. If you like a thinker smoothie you can add 1/2 a cup of plain greek yogurt or a few ice cubes. This normally yields about 16 ounces. Sometimes I have more, sometimes less depending on if I measure my portions or not. I like to add lots of greens so my smoothies normally come out looking more green, but this particular smoothie I went lighter on the greens and it comes out a pretty purple :)



Do you like smoothies? What are some of your favorite blends? Share them below!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A series where I talk about fitness and getting healthy on a budget! Check out the new series page where you can find this whole series in one place along with any other series I may do in the future!

This week I wanted to share with you a quick recipe. This is a healthy, inexpensive recipe that you can make in a hurry. I have had this for both lunch and dinner and either way has been delish!


Ingrediants:
1 Whole Wheat Pita
Hummus of your choice
Tomatoes
Greens
Deli meat
Olive Oil

 Preparation:
Cut your pita in half and spread some hummus (I chose roasted garlic)  in both pockets as your base condiment.
Layer your deli meat in next (I chose oven roasted turkey breast).
Stack in salad greens and cut up tomatoes. (Add more veggies to your taste)
 Now your pita should be full with all the goodness.

If this is for lunch I just leave the pita as is. A nice quick lunch option with healthy ingredients. If I am having this for dinner I toast the pita with all of the ingredients in it. I add a little bit of olive oil to a saute pan and leave the pitas in until they are light brown and crispy on each side. Only about a minute on each side. Now you have a quick dinner with some warmth.

This whole preparation with toasting the pitas should only take 5 minutes tops. Below is a finished dinner version of this recipe. Lightly toasted with major taste factor!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A series where I show you how to live a healthy life on a budget! You may have noticed a new little tab on my home page that says "series". This is where you will find all of my posts in this series along with new series I plan to do in the future. I am in the process of getting everything organized. Once that is done you will be able to check out everything in one space.

This has not been a very productive fitness week for me. Work was insane and I came down with a bug. I managed to make it to the gym one day this week and it felt so good. I am still on the mend so I decided to share with you what I did to help my fitness and my health while I was feeling under the weather.



I did not want to totally forget about my goals just because I was feeling sick. I really upped my water intake this week. I added a half a lemon to my bottle to give me that extra boost through out the day. This helped keep unwanted snacking at bay. We all know when we don't feel good we reach for comfort foods. I also drank a lot of peppermint tea to help with any bloating. Whatever bug got me sure added to the bloating of the stomach. Not fun! I also ate lots of fruits and veggies to get all the essential vitamins.

I kept exercising to a minimum but still managed to take small walks whenever I got the chance. It helped get the blood circulating and cleared my head. Even a 10 minute walk is enough to get everything moving and it can be a real mood booster. I did some squats and arm exercises. I kept all reps to a minimum making sure not to over do it and stayed away from ab exercises because my stomach was not feeling well.

When I did brave the gym on Wednesday I mainly did cardio on the treadmill. Again I did not over do it and did just enough to get my heart pumping. Once I started to feel tired I stopped. I felt like I accomplished something even though all I felt like doing was laying on my couch with a blanket. I am starting to feel better and I am hoping I can get back to my regular schedule next week. I am sorry this is short, but I hope it helps you on your journey when sickness strikes.

Have a great Friday!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A weekly series where I discuss my fitness journey on a budget. Last week was 4th of July and I didn't do a full on entry, but I gave you (tips) on how to enjoy a BBQ without completely forgetting about your fitness goals. Be sure to check that out if you are attending BBQs this summer. I also mentioned in a post (here), that I have been working with a trainer. I promised more about it today, so here we go..



Now you are probably thinking to yourselves, 'Isn't this a fitness series on a budget? How is she affording a trainer?" Great question! Remember I told you I joined a gym back on Memorial Day? Well I joined Planet Fitness. Planet fitness offers free personal training with every membership. I decided to take advantage of the free trainer because I have worked out a lot in my life and never seem to get the results I am after. I wanted someone to tell me what I was doing wrong and show me how to do it right.

The woman I am working with is fantastic. We have a lot in common when it comes to medical history (I have some medical issues I mentioned (here) from a horrible car accident a few years ago). She has shown me how to work out without causing more harm to the harm that has already been done. I can finally feel myself getting stronger, and to me that's progress. I know better results are on their way. The more I work, the stronger I will get.

One of the treatment plans after my accident was to exercise regularly, particularly to strengthen my core muscles. What they didn't mention is a lot of the exercises for the core are really hard on your back and hips especially, if you are doing them wrong. My trainer has shown me every exercise I need to strengthen my core, and get into better shape without causing me more pain. My form is so much better, and I can feel the muscles I am working as I am working them. This is so important because in the past I would feel all kinds of aches, pains, and strains in areas I was not working.

Now that I have been at this for a few weeks, I would recommend it to anyone. If you have the opportunity to work with a trainer, even just for a day, do it. They can really help your fitness journey. Even if it's just to get your form in order, you will be golden.

Have you ever used a trainer? What was your experience like? What else do you all want to see in this series? Leave your thoughts below!

*Starting next week I will have a tab on my homepage for this series so you can go back and read everything in one place.*

Happy Friday friends!

Hello my happy, thank God it's Friday peeps. I normally would be posting my fitness series today, but I was a MAJOR slacker yesterday and didn't prepare. So instead I am going to write about that. I know what you're thinking, boring! Give me a chance.                                    
I woke up. The alarm went off at 6am. That wasn't acceptable. I reset to 6:30. Alarm goes off again. Let's try 6:45. You know cause 15 minutes really makes that difference. I roll out of bed and take a shower. I immediately run to my lap top to post my blog. I don't normally post a new blog on Thursday's, but I was so inspired by Wednesday's post I had to blog about why I hate updating my cellphones operating system. That was a real treat. You should read it.

Now if you follow me on twitter you know I drove into work yesterday listening to banjo music courtesy of my other half. Yes I rolled my eyes a lot. But we got to work safely and had a few laughs. Now if you follow me on facebook, you know I posted nothing because it's my weak spot and I desperately need your help to keep me in line. Please like my page so you can whip my Facebook ass into shape! Now instagram is where it's at. If you subscribed you would of seen what amused me at work. I'm not gonna tell you. Check it out.

So now that you checked out some social media of my life I can tell you my work day was pretty boring. People were in fairly good moods which is rare lately.  Oh and someone got suspended. Yeah that never happens. Shock didn't begin to describe that scene. Shit got real and we all got to work. No one wanted to be next.

The clock rolled over to 6:15pm and once again I put in a 9 hour work day. I rushed to the gym for my personal training session (More about that in next week's fitness post). I learned some pretty banging exercises to get rid of that awful flapping skin on my arms. You know what I'm talking about. So that takes us to about 7:30pm my friends . I get home just before 8 and eat some leftover chicken and corn and have absolutely no desire to write my fitness blog. I slacked like nobodies business.

I relaxed with some amaretto coffee, to die for btw. I participated in the #blisschat on Twitter which is always a treat and a great learning experience. I highly recommend checking it out on Thursday's at 9pm eastern time. I read  a few blogs and this busy slacking bee when to bed.

Now because I don't like to let my readers down by skipping a scheduled posting day, I got up at 6:30am just for you guys and put this beauty together for you. Now I am going to go on with my morning and head to work for donut day! (More about that another day).

Make it a great Friday ya'll!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A weekly series where I talk about fitness on a budget! Today is a very special day here in America. It is America's birthday! So today I want to talk about ways to stay healthy AND have fun on a holiday weekend.


I know most of you are heading out to a BBQ or other outing with friends and family this weekend. There will likely be endless amounts of food and alcoholic beverages. Here are a few quick tips to enjoy your day out without going overboard.

• Bring a large bottle of water. You will most likely be outdoors. The bottle of water will not only help keep you hydrated, but will help keep your stomach feeling full. It will help you limit yourself from having that third helping of potato salad!

• Only fill your plate with what you know you will eat. There is no need to overfill your plate and then either waste food or feel you need to eat it all. Small portions are key here. If you are still by chance hungry after eating, then drink more water. 

• Limit your alcohol/sugary drink consumption. Use alternatives like seltzer or water enhancers if you need a break from water. Replace soda with seltzer in mixed drinks to help cut out the sugar that come in regular sodas. Read my post on water alternatives (here).

•  Be active. If there is a game of volleyball going on or swimming, get involved. There is no better way to have fun AND get exercise than to join in a group of others.

•  Remember to let all the stress go away and enjoy your time off! Spending time around loved ones can always help release some steam and get you refueled and back on track. Laugh until your stomach hurts and then count it as an ab workout! You will thank me later for that one :)

I hope these tips help you stick to your healthy goals over the holiday weekend! Now get out there and have some fun! Stay safe and make good choices ya'll!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish: A series dedicated to fitness on a budget. This week is going to a be a little bit different to past weeks. It is 6:30am and I have decided to re-write my post today because I wanted to discuss something that's been slowing me down in my fitness journey.



I have been writing this series now for 5 weeks. I am starting to feel discouraged in my weight loss journey. Not because I am not following my plan I made for myself, but because I am not seeing the results yet. Now you are probably thinking, "Really? It's only been 5 weeks girl?!" Let me explain.

Stress has a huge chunk of my daily life,I know I have written about this before, but I feel it is a very important part of a lifestyle change . Stress can do some funky stuff to our bodies, and weight gain is one of them. I woke up early this morning to research stress and what it's doing to my body physically. I did this because I have noticed my stomach seems to bulge out more lately than it did before I started being healthy.

I came across an article on Women to Women called "Weight Loss and Adrenal Stress." This article is geared towards women and it really hits home. Stress causes weight gain when the adrenal glands are over worked. The body prepares for disaster and starts storing fat and calories. This ultimately leads us to crave more good, lose energy, and that leads to weight gain. This weight gain normally is localized to the stomach area. The adrenal glands will release cortisol in excess amounts when we are stressed. It will stay elevated in our bloodstreams causing our glucose levels to stay elevated in our abdominal calls. This is what is causing the larger waist.

I thought I was doing a better job at managing my stress. Maybe I was for a little while, but I can definitely tell its elevated again and I feel helpless in making it go away. I wrote about some of my stress related symptoms here. Most of those symptoms seemed to have gotten better, but not noticing my stomach growing rather than shrinking gets very discouraging.

I am going to follow these steps listed in the article to see if I can start to maintain and balance the cortisol levels in my system.

• When you eat matters: Eat smaller meals in regular intervals. Don't starve your body.
• Have healthy foods on hand: Better snacks choices help reduce the cortisol overload.
• Supplement your daily diet: Take a daily multivitamin which helps control cortisol.
• Disconnect: Shut off all electronic devices by 8pm and relax with something like a good book..
• Sleep: Get to bed by 10pm. Make a goal to sleep 8 hours so our body's recharge and regulate.
• Exercise: Try to take a 15 minute walk after meals. This makes our bodies and our minds happy.
• Have fun: Enjoying your time is very important in maintaining stress. Do it often!
• Don't forget to breathe:  Deep breathes help to calm your body down. 3 or 4 deep breaths often make us feel better.
• Just let it go: (No not the frozen song.. ) At the end of the day remember yourself. You cannot EVER make everyone happy. You must make yourself happy first. Help where you can, but if you are not happy, you can't really make someone else happy. Always remember that!

Now that is a great list in which I am going to follow this weekend and see how it goes. My best friend will be in town with my goddaughter who is 4. We will be doing all kinds of fun things so it will be easy to disconnect and have some fun. I am going to fight my work stress and let it go.

Have a great Friday everyone. I hope this helped some of you fighting that pesky stomach bulge. Stress is a very real thing and it really does a number on us. Let me know if you are planning to follow these steps or if you have your own methods of dealing. I'd love to hear them!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A weekly series where I talk about getting healthy and fitness on a budget! I have covered quite a few topics already so if this is your first time, check them out, here, here, and here!



This week I wanted to talk about another important necessity for a healthy lifestyle. Hydration. We need to drink in order to keep our body from dehydration. The most important beverage we should be consuming is water! Water is a not only important to any weight loss program, but it is something we need to live. Our bodies are made up of mostly water, and depriving it of water can often cause dehydration. It is often said that one must consume 64 ounces of water a day to help stay hydrated and to flush toxins from the body.

I hear a lot of complaints when it comes to drinking water. Most people say they don't like the taste and often skip it. This leads to drinking more sugary beverages like soda and juice. This week I want to bring you a few alternative options to help you consume more water and cut out the sugar.

My favorite go to alternative when I am craving soda is a flavored seltzer. Seltzer provides the carbonation you crave when you want a soda, but without all the sugar and calories. Seltzer comes in all kinds of flavors so there is something out there for everyone. My personal favorite is Polar. They have tons of standard flavors and they also come out with seasonal flavors.


Seltzer can also be used to cut down the sugar in drinks such as orange juice or cranberry. I mix 1 part seltzer to 1 part juice and that cuts down the calories by half. My ultimate favorite is the virgin fuzzy navel. This is one part orange juice to one part peach seltzer. Speaking of fuzzy navel, you can also use seltzer in your alcoholic drinks. Replace the soda with seltzer and you will be cutting out all kinds of calories!

My next option for drinking less sugar is to use a water enhancer. These come in all sorts of flavors and formulas. Most of them are sugar free and are naturally sweetened. I have been using a brand called Stur. They have a handful of flavors and the taste is good. It helps me drink more water through the day.

No matter which way you do it, cut down on the sugary drinks and down some water. If you can't do water all the time, try these alternatives and see how you do. What is you ideal way to cut out the sugary drinks? Do you like seltzer? What about water enhancers? Let me know!

I know it isn't Friday, but I wanted to post about my fitness journey today. I never really talked about my goals and why I decided to finally take the plunge into a healthier lifestyle. I will be back Friday with my normal Fit-Trish post. I have some exciting topics coming up in the next few weeks!


There are quite a few reasons why I decided to join a gym and get healthy. Back in 2007 I was in a really bad car accident that has left me with a permanent hip and knee injury. It was determined by a jury that I was not permanently injured and nothing further happened. (Sometimes the law sucks ya'll). I have been living in pain off and on since then and was told a good way to help was to strengthen my core muscles and the obvious option of taking off some weight.

I have exercised off and on through the years but never really kept a schedule. I would get into those moments in life where I was depressed, or busy, or any other excuse I could come up with to not workout. The past few months for me have been very stressful at work and it was physically making me ill. I have posted about my struggle with stress. (Check it out of you are lost in finding a reason to why you aren't feeling good.) I have found by eating a better diet and working out regularly has helped me to feel less stress with is leading me to feel better.

This is going to be an every day battle for me. But I am ready to take it. I love food, but not just food in general, I love carbs! Breads. Cakes. Cheeses. Those are the things my little heart desires. I find myself reaching for the rolls, or the cakes, or the breads when there is food laid out in front of me. I am changing that day by day and learning to make better choices. I am replacing those things with more water, fruits, veggies and smaller portions. I will not deprive myself of having something, but I am going to have less of it. I think its a good plan for me.

I am only 4'11. My ideal weight for my height falls between 90 and 120 pounds. I am aiming for 115 pounds. This leaves me 35 pounds to lose. I am at the heaviest I have ever been and my body knows it. I feel sluggish and tired all of the time.I know I can do this. Not only do I want to look good, I want to feel good. I plan to have children one day and I want to be able to enjoy them. Run with them. Play with them. Having bum body parts can get in the way, so I am making the better choices now before it's to late.

How do you lead a healthier lifestyle? Do you do it for yourself or for some other reason? Tell me your stories! I love to hear them!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish! Every week I will post a new topic on how to stay fit and lead a healthy lifestyle on a budget. This is my third week and so far I have covered  the most valuable free thing you can do to help enhance your weight loss goal. You can take a peak at week 1 here-->(Valuable for weight loss) Last week I discussed some healthy on the go snacks. You can check that post out here-->(Healthy on the go snacks) This week I want to talk about some good old fashion fitness: Take a hike! Or take a walk. Whichever you prefer :)


The weather is getting nicer and nicer by the day. (Okay if you live in central NY it is a gamble, but I'd like to believe it is getting nicer everyday). The warmer weather gives us an opportunity to be outdoors more which leads to more free exercise! Taking walks or hikes is a great cardio option. It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of cardio a day to help with weight loss.

 If you are a beginner you can start off by walking around your neighborhood on flat land. This will help you get used to being on your feet for long distances. Once you feel comfortable walking around your neighborhood you can take it to the trails!

Depending on where you live, you can probably find a park or trail where you can walk on different landscapes. I like to go to my local state parks where the trails are listed and rated by difficulty. This helps you decide what level works best for you. I like to pick moderate to difficult hikes to really get my heart pounding and the sweat pouring. I normally try to take a half hour to an hour hike or walk 3 times a week.

Like any other fitness plan, you want to make sure you are in good health before taking these hikes. This is why it is a good idea to start off easy until you get the feel of it. Always make sure to stretch before going for long hikes. You don't want to pull a muscle while out in the middle of nowhere on a trail. Carry a bottle of water with you. If it is warm out you need to rehydrate to keep yourself from feeling sick. Make sure you have comfy sneakers. You don't want your feet screaming at you 10 minutes in. That's no fun!

So what do you think? Are you ready to challenge yourself and get out there on the trails? Hiking is very rewarding and you get to see some pretty sites along the way. So what are you waiting for? Dust off those sneakers, wash your comfy workout clothes, grab a buddy and get out there!

Happy Fitness Friday!

For anyone who reads my blog regularly, you know I recently started a journey to living a healthier lifestyle. Along with a healthier lifestyle comes my least favorite thing in the world: working out. Ugh, do I HAVE to? In order for me to be motivated to actually work out, I joined a gym. This is my second full week of going and man have things changed since last time I was at a gym. (It's been 3 years). Although these things may not have changed, but maybe it has to do me going from a small privately owned gym to a chain. I am going to Planet Fitness because well its cheap, and I'm broke. Here are the the things that I have noticed since joining my new gym:



1. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE is wearing ear buds. It is apparently not proper gym ettiquete to physically speak to others at the gym. You put in those ear buds and off you go.

2. Now that you have your ear buds in, you must also never make the mistake of making eye contact with any other individual around you. This may lead to socialization and unnecessary talking.

3. There is apparently a guys section and a girls section at the gym. And what I mean by this is, ladies you stay on the treadmill! Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT get off and use a machine. Those are only for the guys in the house. You must live your life doing cardio only!

4. If you are like me, and venture into the machines, you will have every dude staring at you. I am still not sure if this is a death stare or an impressed stare. I will get back to you on this.

5. The ladies travel in packs and the men are solo. I saw the occasional couple, and they stayed in the cardio area together. I risked it and went alone. I did not have my posse with me, but I also realized its not a bad thing! I enjoyed my me time at the gym.

You see I thought the gym used to be a social place. Now it seems like you are there to do your thing and leave, unless you brought your posse, then you speak to them. I almost felt uncomfortable with all the awkwardness around me. I mean sure, I was there to get my fitness on, but come on people! We can smile, and make small talk from time to time. We can un-glue ourselves form our phones and interact with society for a little while. No one is there to piss in your cheerios. We can all use the machines, and not segregate ourselves to one area or another.

Okay this turned into a little rant, which was not intentional, which is also why I love blogging. The point I am making is why must every activity we do in life consist of us being on our phones and avoiding other people? I don't know about you, but once I leave the office these days, I am so done with electronics. I want to workout, listen to the music around me and interact with people from time to time.

What do you all think? Is this pretty common at your gym as well? Do you prefer to be left alone and get the work done, or do you enjoy a friendly chat with what could be a new friend or workout buddy? Lemme know!

Welcome back to the second week of Fit-Trish where I share with you tips on leading a healthy lifestyle on a budget! If you missed last weeks premiere post, you can find it here. Just to recap, last week I offered you the best thing you can do for free to help you live that active healthy life. This week I am talking about snacks! Just because they are snacks, doesn't mean they are bad for you. Remember that. We all need that little something to hold us over in between meals. I have put together a few of my favorite on the go snacks for you to check out.



 I am very fond of anything gummy. I found these Fiber One gummies at Walmart. They are fruit snacks for adults! They are packing the fiber so you can feed your sweet tooth while filling up. A pack of 10 at Walmart is $2.00. I think that is pretty darn cheap considering the kids snacks can cost up to $4.00 a box!


Almonds have always been a favorite of mine. They can be quite pricey so this isn't a snack I purchase all of the time, but when I am looking to treat myself I will splurge. They help you cut cravings down in between meals and they have healthy fats. I recently got a Vox Box from Influenster (See the button on sidebar) and this lovely little bag of blueberry almonds by Blue Diamond was included. They are really yummy and really hit the spot. If you are craving almonds you can always go for the store brand which tends to be cheaper and tastes just as good!

 Speaking of fruits and veggies, they are probably the best thing you can do for snacks. What I normally do here to keep the cost down is buy only what is on sale that week. This way you are keeping costs down and you get to switch it up every week. Sometimes you can also get cheap fruits and veggies from a local farmers market. I also like to buy cheese when its on sale to cut into cubes and take as an on the go snack.

Don't be afraid to experiment with your snacks. Switch it up weekly to keep interest. You don't want to deprive yourself to the point you dive into a bag of chips or devour a whole pack of oreo's in one sitting. I find switching up the fruits and veggies along with my gummies seems to keep me pretty satisfied. These items aren't breaking the bank and I am starting to feel better about my choices. 

What do you think of my favorite snacks? Do you have favorites? Please share you ideas! 

Thank you for stopping by! Hope to see you back next week for more tips to a healthy lifestyle on a budget!

May as a whole is normally a pretty great month for me. It is the early stage of Summer and who couldn't love that? The weather starts to get warmer, those grills come out from hibernation, and people get REALLY busy. Looking back on this particular May, I realized I had a pretty big month for myself and this blog. I have learned so much in a short period of time and I think that entitles May to get an "A" in motivation and growth. Not every moment was rainbows and kittens, but what it did do was help me see the bigger picture in where I am headed.

To start off, May brought me sickness. Now you are probably thinking, "why is this significant?" The reason this is significant is not only did I get Strep Throat, I got it 3 times! It made me realize how stressful my life has been over the past few months and how it makes me that much more prone to getting sick. This was significant in me deciding to start managing my stress better and leading a healthier lifestyle! That brought on my first series that just started on Friday.. Fit-Trish: A guide to healthier lifestyle on a budget. I am hoping to post every Friday easy ways to keep yourself on track without breaking the bank. I hope you will join me in leading that happy, healthier life!

One of my favorite moments of May was traveling down south to visit an old friend who I met first in Kindergarten.  This was a long time in the making and when the opportunity came up, I jumped on it. It has been roughly 18 years since I last saw Jennifer. We were both going into 8th grade the last time we crossed paths. We are now in our early 30's with lives of our own. It was such an exciting adventure and I shared it for everyone to see: My trip to the deep south! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

One of my most commented on posts of May was my post about why I loathe social media in the summer! There are so many social media trends that seem to up the ante in the summer. If you missed this funny little rant, make sure you check it out here!

Last but certainly not least, I took on a summer reading challenge this month. It is definitely something I needed to do. I love reading but have really gotten away from it over the last few years. The challenge I am participating in is the Semi-Charmed Summer Book Challenge. I figured now is a better time than any other to update my reading list which was originally posted here. This is a good way for me to track my progress as well. I hope you all decide to read this summer! I am always looking for recommendations as I haven't completely filled my list yet!

1. Freebie: Any book that is at least 200 Pages long:
2. A book that was written before you were born (1982): Wuthering Heights
3. Finish a book that you couldn't finish the first time around: Divergent by Veronica Roth
4. A book from the children's section of the bookstore: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
5. A book that is on the New York Times Best Sellers List: The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
6. A historical fiction book that does not take place in Europe:
7. A book that another blogger has already read for the challenge:
8. A book with "son(s)", "daighter(s)", or "child(ren)" in the title: Please Excuse My Daughter by: Julie Klam (Currently reading)
9. A book that was/will be adapted into a movie in 2014: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
10. A book written by a blogger:
11: A biography, autobiography or memoir: Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison by Piper Kerman
12: A pair of books with antonyms in the title:

As you can see I am still looking for some books for some of the categories. If you have any recommendations please sent them my way! I have completed 2 books and I am reading another. I feel like I am doing better than I anticipated I would. I have until the end of August to complete! Let me know if you are also doing a challenge!

I have had a pretty busy month. I also failed to mention at the beginning of this post that I have officially been moved over to Blogger for a month now! I am absolutely loving it here and feel I have grown so much with my writing and audience. June should be an even better month! I am going live with a new layout next week as well as a link up to help celebrate it! I hope you will join me in this exciting time and milestone for this blog!

Goodbye May, you are now wrapped up! Hello June!

Happy Friday everyone! We made it! I am sitting here thinking about all of the things I should do this weekend, but in reality I want to laze around and do nothing. Ever have one of those weeks? I have been having A LOT of those weeks lately. I have finally decided enough is enough and I need to get my butt moving. I am bringing you a new series every Friday where I discuss fitness and healthy living. I am embarking on a journey to lose some weight and get healthier.. on a budget.

Getting healthy can be really expensive. If you follow any fad diet you will probably fork out a lot of cash. Between food, equipment, supplements, and apparel you can be dropping hundreds of dollars in no time. I want to show you ways to get healthy without breaking the bank. You can achieve this with one main thought in mind. Stay Positive. Negativity gets you nowhere in life. Remember that.


Since this is the first week in this series I wanted to start off with one of the best tips I can offer when embarking on a weight loss journey. It's free and can really motivate you to getting yourself going. What is this awesome free thing? Take pictures! Full body shots wearing a sports bra and shorts if you are a girl and shirtless and shorts if you are a guy. This may sound scary at first, but once you start to see the changes you will appreciate that first scary photo.

I took my photo Monday night. It was really hard to look at because I saw how much I have let myself go over the past year. Even though it is hard to look at for me, it is also a reminder to work harder. I am even going to share my picture. It's hard for me but it's the only way I will continue to do better and get back to a healthy weight.

Here it is. The most awful picture I have ever seen of myself. I know its not pretty and I know that means I have a lot of work ahead of me. I have accepted the challenge and now I am ready to share this adventure with all of you! Keep coming back every Friday for more tips and tricks to achieving a healthy lifestyle on a budget. We can motivate each other to a happier, healthier life!