Strong Is the New Beautiful

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Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn wrote an inspiring new book on getting healthier with fitness and clean eating. The book is just 256 pages and divided up into three sections: memoir, diet and exercise. One fourth of the book are pictures of workout circuits. The autobiographical section of this book was only a few pages unfortunately. No dirt on her 3 year relationship with Tiger Woods. The nutrition section is very practical, favoring clean eating over dieting. She says she’s done every diet out there and has finally figured out what gives her energy for her long grueling days. I have so much respect for her now that I know her story and understand how hard she works. This small-town Minnesota girl also talks about loving your body.

Celebrity Book Club part 2



Love, Loss, and What we Ate by Padma Lakshmi; 336 pages, 2016
Padma has been the host of the show Top Chef for 10 years. While I have never watched the show I found her book very interesting.  She was born in India and moved to the NYC as a small child and raised by a single mother. She flew back and forth between countries and thus never felt like her childhood belonged to either culture. Her family were vegetarians but her mother wanted her to eat more mainstream to be American. Then she spent most of her twenties in Europe as a model. Did you know she was in Mariah Carey's Glitter movie? lol

2017 New Years Resolutions




Every year I make the stereotypical resolutions like lose weight that end up being too lofty and I just set myself up for failure. So why do I always do that? This year I decided to do something a little different for myself and make resolutions that are more reasonable to achieve and actually fun to do. Doing away with the unrealistic goals, I came up with little goals that are not impossible to achieve. I feel that writing them down makes a big difference because it makes it more concrete and it's something I can look back at to hold myself accountable to make sure I'm still on track. I'm excited to report that I met all of my Style Resolutions and Blog Goals from last year.

If you need ideas for your list, you could organize your gmail inbox (try UnrollMe), ditch sugar in January and practice good cell phone etiquette.  Phones don't belong on tables during meals, you're there to spend time with others, not respond to texts. Or just remembering to write 2017 instead of 2016.  It's ok to let go of negative people. Check out my 5 Things to Toss before 2017Here's a list of fun beauty resolutions you can set for yourself.



1. Make my overall happiness a top priority. Create a mood board for the coming year.  Smile more. Make a new playlist for myself for every season which I've been slacking on. Stay in and have lazy Sundays more often, I always feel refreshed afterwards like I really rested over the weekend.



2. Binge-watch shows that I've been meaning to see. I started with SATC as I had only seen episodes here or there. It's fun to watch a show filmed in NYC and listen to their dating rules. In 16 years the picture quality has really changed. I also never finished watching Sons of Anarchy.

3. Buy myself flowers more often. I've started saving photos of floral arrangements on my phone, so I can make the same mixture from Safeway flowers at a fraction of the cost.

4. Travel somewhere new. Last year I started a new job (that's a 5 minute commute) so I've been saving up my vacation days for a two week trip. Now I can go somewhere I've always wanted to visit.

5. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. I'm so lazy at work I take the elevator for one floor when our staircases are out in the open, not a closed stairwell. My chiropractor said taking the stairs would be good for my back.

6. Organize my closet which looks like a war zone. Declutter and sell more clothes on Tradesy. New year = new kicks (below) so I donated my old sneakers to Soles4Souls who will give them to people in need. Zappos will give you a free shipping label.



7. Eat healthier by meal planning dinner. Organize my recipe collection in a binder. I plan to spiralize vegetables more for dinner. I want to get more greens in my diet by making smoothies. Switch back to Trader Joe's Brown Rice & Quinoa Pasta.

8. Practice kindness and gratitude everyday. As I reflect on 2016, so much happened in the last year that I’m grateful for positive growth and change and my family.

9. Learn Photoshop Elements. I bought a new computer and had to also get a new photo editing software. The one I had been using for many many years is no longer available so I upgraded to Photoshop Elements which was on sale at the end of Dec. I took an online training course to learn its features but need to start practicing using it and getting comfortable with it. I made the top graphic with it.

10. Use instagram to grow my blog. Since Instagram is the #1 social media tool, I need to learn how to use it as a tool for my blog by organically increasing my followers. I plan to do this by working on the aesthetic of my pictures, using more hashtags and engaging more with others.



11. Re-energize my workout goals. I'm at my one year anniversary of working out at Orangetheory.
I remember during my first classes I couldn't power walk at a high incline without holding on and my back would hurt from being on the rower too long. Fast forward a year and I'm still going on a regular basis and getting stronger. Having a membership pushes me to show up every week and work harder each time. I've increased my splat points, if that doesn't mean anything to you, its the number of minutes I spend in the orange zone as the entire workout is built around heart rate zone based interval training. I'm still working on burning 500 calories a workout, not quite there yet. I want to add some Flywheel classes to the mix and get back to having a regular yoga practice. My goal is to feel comfortable and happy wearing the types of dresses I want to wear, not necessarily a number on the scale.

12. Last year I read 46 books, so my goal for this year is to read 50 books. I've finally allowed myself to not finish books I don't like. I need to organize my goodreads account and remove all the books I never intend to read at all. You can see some of my favorite books from last year here, here, and here.




Related Posts:
2016 New Years Resolutions
2016 Blog Goals
2016 Style Resolutions
2015 New Years Resolutions
2014 Year of New Possibilities



Happy Birthday To Me!

How to wear a Faux Fur vest



Faux fur is a chic statement piece for the winter as it will make any outfit look glamorous. Since it's the star of your outfit,  what you wear underneath it should be understated to not compete with the fur.  It pairs well with a long sleeved knee length dress, or a  maxi skirt, sweater dress, leather pants, a button down white shirt, or just a blouse and jeans. You can wear it with your most dressed up outfits or casual day looks. Perfect for days that aren't too cold but you still get a little cozy warmth from the vest. Don't worry you're not going to look silly in it. You don't have to be a celebrity jumping out a limo to wear a fur vest. It goes great with casual weekend styles.

Athletic Outfit Inspiration




Happy New Year!  I enjoyed having Monday off and went to Flywheel in the rain to kick off my resolution of no missed workouts. When I got home I made myself a delicious low carb lunch.
I bet your fitness resolutions are in the works! Do you need some inspiration to hit the gym more often? These clothes will help you keep your new years resolutions. Consider it an investment in kicking off your fitness goals.