Healthy Chicks

Happy Friday, ladies! This week has been a whirlwind for me, as lots of positive things begin to flow into my life. For one, myself and my friend Kelley launched Soul Sisters last night, with a fabulous kickoff party at Athleta Newbury St.! More to come soon, but we’re going to be hosting outdoor monthly retreats to escape the city, connect with other women, and re-ignite your inner passion & soul’s truth! I’m thinking this New Moon came at a good time for me, and can’t wait to see what’s in store!

Anyway, onto this week’s spotlight on Healthy Chicks in the Community (a weekly series that celebrates fabulous women in the community)! This Friday, I am extremely honored and excited to feature the lovely Eliza a.k.a. Kick It By Eliza. This woman truly embodies beauty on the inside & out, and I’ve always admired the way she carries herself with such confidence & grace. She may be small, but she’s fierce, passionate and knows how to get after it! I’m positive this lil curly-haired ball of energy will go far in life with her entrepreneurial ways. Ok…I’ll let Eliza take it, er Kick It, from here!

NAME/AGE: … Read More!

If you’re new to my blog, each and every Friday I post a Friday Flashback, taking you on a journey back into my past life. Why? Well, because I’ve been there and can totally relate to body image issues, dieting struggles and all the other things in between.

This week, I want to touch upon how we treat our bodies. During my prime time of diet-obsessed living and calorie counting, I completely disrespected my body.

I filled up on toxic, chemicalized “diet” foods that promised to make me skinny (at least, according to all the magazines and advertisements) and ate or drank my feelings away. I abused myself in the mirror (telling myself I am fat, I am not pretty enough, I am not good enough) and abused myself in the gym by overworking it and forcing myself to exercise (even when I didn’t want to or when my body was saying “No! Enough!”) I listened to what the number on the scale said, instead of what my body was telling me loud and clear.

I remember being so hungry: for real food, for love, for the answers. Unfortunately, I was starving myself by loading up on … Read More!

Good evening Healthy Chicks, and Happy Spring! If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out yesterday’s post on all my current fave things, a special edition for the new season. Oh, and be sure to enter my Hurraw! Balm giveaway, which ends tomorrow evening. In the meantime, I’ve got this week’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community: a compostable cooking artist who is just as creative in the kitchen as she is outside of it. I’ll let Meg take it from here!

NAME/AGE: Meghan Kathleen Pacificus Kelly aka Meg Kelly aka The Compost Cook

CURRENT CITY: New York City

PHOTO TAKEN: Sipping on my lemon, cayenne, matcha and ginger drink. Can you say superfood junkie?

WHAT YOU DO FOR WORK: Copy and Content Intern at Gojee (gojee.com), a food and fashion website. I was a fan of the website before my internship and reached out to them when I moved to the city about a possible internship and have loved every second. When I’m not interning, I am at my art studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn, as part of the … Read More!

Good afternoon ladies and Happy Valentine’s Day! You can check out my thoughts on Valentine’s Day & 40 Days of Gratitude Project here. But in the meantime, I’ve got this week’s spotlight for Healthy Chicks in the Community, a sweet Southern gal who hearts yoga and sweaty workouts. I’ll let Sara take it from here…

NAME/AGE: Sara, 26

BLOG/TWITTER (If Applicable): fitfunfemme.com / SaraWiles on twitter

CURRENT CITY: Atlanta, GA

PHOTO TAKEN: Maui, Hawaii

WHAT YOU DO FOR WORK: Corporate Event Planning

NUMBER ONE PASSION: Spreading love and happiness

I FEEL MY HEALTHIEST SELF WHEN I AM: Sweating lots and eating good, clean foods.

BUT I AM ALSO A REAL GIRL & SOMETIMES: I eat copious amounts of cheese. I.LOVE.CHEESE.

TOP THREE KITCHEN STAPLES: Spinach (I throw it in everything…eggs, salads, sandwiches), Olive Oil, Dark Chocolate.

NUMBER ONE GUILTY PLEASURE: Macaroni and Cheese

EXERCISE THAT MAKES YOU SHINE: Yoga

FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD: My mom’s creamed spinach topped with Vermont sharp white cheddar.

MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHER HEALTHY CHICKS: Know that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a happy, healthy lifestyle. Read wellness blogs, learn healthy recipes, and try new workouts. Slowly, you’ll find … Read More!

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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 the bad.  We are meant to walk away from a relationship without looking back, not wanting the ass hole even more.  We are supposed to take the oh-so-obvious hints that he’s just not that into us, but instead we focus on the signs that show us he is.  We my friends are twentysomething women who – although healthy and in control in other areas of our life – lack the same nutrients and wholesome diet in our dating life.

Well consider me your relationship trainer.  I’m going to give you the core tips to energize your love life.  So are … Read More!

When I was younger, I used to take advice (even kind, constructive criticism) extremely bad. I hated when people offered me “lessons,” different perspectives or new ways for me to do things. What was wrong with the way I was doing things? When I was in Elementary School (heck, probably up to when I was in high school), I’d throw fits at my dad for trying to teach me how to play basketball better. Poor guy. Being the high school basketball star he was, he was just trying to throw his daughter a few innocent pointers. Little did he know I’d throw a temper tantrum and scream at him because of it. Yeesh, you’d think I’d at least say “thank you.” After all, I was terrible at basketball. I couldn’t make a lay up and I’d lob the ball full-speed at the backboard. All he was trying to do was help, but I wouldn’t let him. Ever. (sorry Big Guy) Needless to say, I never became star of the basketball team in high school. But maybe I could’ve?

Now, I definitely take advice a little more openly, as we should. Imagine if we all treated people who offered … Read More!

This morning after breakfast, I went into the bathroom for my usual makeup routine. Moisturizer. check. Few dabs of liquid concealer. Check. Touch of powder. Check. Mascara. Check. Eyeliner. Check. Then I saw some bright pinkish/purply lipstick at the bottom of the bag, something I haven’t used for a verrryy long time. After all, I’m a pretty simple girl and normally just stick with clear lip gloss or vaseline if anything on my lips. But today was different. This lipstick had a story behind it. “bibo,” it read in cursive across the outside. “bibo? what the hell is bibo?” Then I remembered what it stood for when my mom gave it to me a few years ago: bringing inner beauty out. 

So what did I do? I grabbed ahold of that lipstick, twisted it up and applied some on my lips. Sure, it’s bright and a little bit much but I was going to rock this lipstick for all that it’s worth today. That’s exactly when I decided that I would also make today dedicated for bringing my own inner beauty out. No feeling fat. No feeling sorry for myself. No comparing myself to other women. No, today I … Read More!

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A few months ago, one of my friends came to me in distress. “Rach, I’m just so jealous of you that you have a passion. I feel like I’m not passionate about anything,” she said in distress. “Sure you are. You are one of the most loving people I know, and there are tons of things you enjoy!” “I guess. But I just don’t get excited about anything. I don’t have any true passions.” 

This made me sad at the time, as I wanted her to open her eyes and see how much this world has to offer, and more importantly how much she has to offer the world. It was especially hard for me to understand, because she was right: I am passionate about lots and lots of things; some would maybe even say I’m TOO passionate. So how could my friend not find one little thing to get excited for, to make her feel good about herself? I wanted deeply for her to figure that out. 

Fast forward a few months to this email I received from that same friend: “I’m sure you all know that I’ve ALWAYS bitched about not having a ‘passion’…and … Read More!