Healthy Chicks

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Good morning lovely ladies; hope you are all having a glorious Friday. I’m about to take off to New Hampshire for Memorial Day Weekend with my family and The Boy. We’ve got lots of fun events planned for the weekend, including  Chowder Fest, hiking, and lots of margaritas. I’m sure all of you have some exciting plans in store too!

Anyway, today’s Friday and you know what that means; it’s time for Friday Favorites. Here’s what made my top 5 this week:

The Sign: This morning, Ace of Base’s “The Sign” came on my iPod shuffle and I was so loving it. It used to be my driving jam in college and I haven’t heard it in years. It’s seriously one of my favorite, feel-good tunes and I absolutely love belting out the lyrics. Give it a go yourself.

Outdoor Patios: Now that it’s summer, the Boston bars are beginning to open up their roof decks and patios. An iced-cold cocktail on the sunny patio tastes that much better than in a crowded, muggy bar.

Last night, my roommate and I went to the block party at Downtown Crossing, and had a blast. There were … Read More!

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I attended a blogger brunch at Stir (Barbara Lynch’s beautiful test kitchen and food library) sponsored by Good Food Made Simple on Friday morning. The company was launching part of their new healthy, flash-frozen product line and we were lucky to be among the first people to try it and offer feedback. Since I love food, meeting new people and trying new things, I was 100% in.

[yup, a library filled with ALL f0od-related books, how cool?]

When we first arrived, we were seated around the cozy countertop with place settings, including pencils and paper to take notes. Hey, when you’re serving a group of food and mommy bloggers, you best be prepared! While we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, I’m pretty sure I downed at least 5 cups of coffee…oops!

Once everyone gathered, the event began. The products being presented to us were 100% steel cut oats, organic rolled oats, and whole and egg white patties. I won’t lie: at first I was a little weary. Frozen oatmeal and eggs? How strange. Normally I avoid the frozen food aisle like the plague, other than my weekly purchase … Read More!

Usually, I don’t agree with diets. I simply hate the word. D-I-E-T. Blah. It sounds scary. There’s the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Celebrity Diet, the South Beach Diet, and the Grapefruit Diet, and all of them are failures in my book. But when a diet has to do with a lifestyle and way of eating rather than an extreme method to lose 10 pounds fast, I tend to be a fan.

I’ve always been one to believe in healthy eating as a lifestyle as opposed to a weight-loss method, and believe it or not it all started on my trip to Italy a few years ago. I remember before I embarked on my journey abroad, I was scared to death I’d gain a bajilion pounds while there. Endless amounts of greasy pasta every day? What’s a girl to do? Well, when I arrived in the beautiful region of Reggio Calabria, Italy, I realized that was far from the truth.

Turns out, the part of the country I was in (near the boot, by Sicily) followed a Mediterranean Diet, that is a diet packed with fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, wholesome grains, fish and olive oil with room for a little … Read More!

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In life, it’s very easy to get stuck in a routine. We find comfort in going to our favorite restaurant week after week, always ordering chocolate ice cream, wearing that sweater you’ve had forever one too many times because you love it too darn much. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it is what it is: a routine we get used to.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “getting stuck in a rut” or following the same ol’ routine, particularly when it comes to my workouts and eating habits. In fact, I had a conversation with my roommate about it this morning on how we were both looking for a little change in our everyday run-of-the-mill workout schedule. Don’t get me wrong: I am a spontaneous, vibrant girl who loves variety. But even the most adventurous of souls can fall into the trap of a routine.

Well that’s exactly what’s happened to me this past month. I got so used to running (nearly every day) while training for my marathon, that I put strength training and other variations of cardio on the back burner. Sure I slimmed up my tummy and lost a few pounds … Read More!

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with The Boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 5 on handling a fat day…

[this post was originally published on October 8th 2010 as “How to Handle a Fat Day“]

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Fat days. We all know ‘em. We all hate ‘em. And they happen to the best of us: the skinny people, the curvy people, the happy people and the moody people. Let’s face it: fat days are inevitable my friends, but it doesn’t mean they have tosuck as much as they tend to do. I’m writing this post because I had a…dun dun dun (my attempt at scary, frightening music)…fat day yesterday. I woke up and I just felt like a big, bloated blob. It had nothing to do with how I looked in the mirror, what my friends … Read More!

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with The Boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 4 on the hidden benefits of running…

[this post was originally published on October 11th 2010 as “The Hidden Benefits of Running: It’s More Than Burning off That Cake”]

I have to admit: up until this year I absolutely hated running, but I did it. I ran to lose weight, to burn off my dinner, and to look good in my bikini. I’d force myself to go on group runs with my roommates, even though every stride was absolutely painful. I hate this. But I have to keep going, I’d think to myself.

It wasn’t until this year that I began to enjoy running. The weekend of my grandmas funeral, I was filled with a bajillion emotions: anger, confusion, pain, rage, and I don’t know what … Read More!

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with The Boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 3 on healthy dating…

[this post was originally published on November 24th 2010 as “Guest Blog Post: Rules of Dating by Relationship Expert Jenny Jen]

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Happy Hump Day fellow Healthy Chicks! Today I am proud to entertain you with a guest post from one of my favorite readers/fellow blogger Jenny Jen. She is one Blonde Bronzed Twenty Something who knows the ins and outs of relationships, dating and men (something I am totally clueless about). Alas, let me give the floor (er, blog) over to her! Jen, you may take it from here…

Healthy as we might be with other aspects in our life, we’re not so much with men.  We are told to go for the good guy, yet fall for … Read More!

If you’ve  been keeping up with my blog, you know that I’m off to Florida with the boy, then road-tripping back up the East Coast to drive his grandparent’s car back to NY. I’ll be gone a week straight (and felt like disconnecting from technology for a while) but also didn’t want to leave you all blog-less. Hence my idea to do a Blast From the Past series. Here is post # 2 on reaching your “happy weight.” Enjoy…

[this post was originally published Jan. 13th 2011 as “The Journey to My Happy Weight Sans Dieting” ]

The other day when I was home spending time with the family, I decided to step on the scale for old time’s sake. I couldn’t believe what I saw. I had lost a whopping 10 pounds from what I was a year and a half ago when I graduated college…by not even trying. I looked up at my dad and said “Wow, why do you think I’m the most fit I’ve ever been in my life? What do you think it is?” He agreed that I indeed looked different, in shape…and glowing. “I know what it is,” he said smirking. “You’re … Read More!