Smart Living

Why I Don’t Do Diets or Cleanses: This Is My Reality

It’s getting close to summer and everyone is racing to lose those extra 5, 10, 15 pounds they consumed over the cold winter months. For me, the gorging was unstoppable. I drank and ate whatever and whenever I wanted. I left all my insecurities outside in the freezing cold and was able to shut the door on them.

Until now.

Now that the warmer weather is floating in, I’m left feeling bloated. Not just that, my face has broken out and I feel heavy and frumpy. I don’t feel like myself. I regret the way I’ve eaten and the promises I broke to myself in favour of gluttony. It was fun while it lasted, but now I’m paying the price. read more

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Oil and Garlic Spaghetti-Squash with Chicken

I’m trying to involve more spaghetti-squash in our diets the best the way I can without my husband tasting what he considers as “gross squash”. He hates squash. All squash. I’ve managed to make a soup with squash that he loves so I thought maybe I could master the spaghetti-squash as well.

He didn’t love the squash, but he loved the flavours. The beauty of this recipe is that it could be easily substituted with spaghettini or any other kind of pasta you’d like.

Oil and Garlic Spaghetti-Squash with Chicken   read more

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Homemade Meat & Cheese Lasagna

I was trying to do some spur-of-the-moment meal-planning at the supermarket this past weekend when a tiny light bulb went on in my head. Suddenly I found myself picking up the ingredients I would need to finally make that long-awaited lasagna. Oh how I miss lasagna. I’ve been craving it for a while now, yet I’ve been avoiding it because it’s work to make your own sauce and I’ve been lazy.

However, buying the ingredients I need to make this saucy and cheesy dish kick-started my motivation and in that moment, I was in it to win it. I was going to go home, pull out all the ingredients, and immediately get to work on making a something my husband, my son, and I all love. read more

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Yes Me Too – But Also YOU Too

ME TOO

Yes, me too. I have been sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by men. I have been touched and grabbed and pinched. I have had inappropriate comments fly my way by way of cat-calling and have felt discomfort over it. Please, put your tongue back in your mouth and wipe away that smirk. No one is impressed.

I went dancing quite a bit back in my twenties. One night, we were at a club dancing up a storm when a man took it upon himself to come up from behind me and grab my crotch and my breast. He grabbed my body with a force that instantly scared the crap out of me. Somehow he believed that this is was okay; that perhaps I’d like it. My friend was at the bar and I was on my own. Unfortunately no one noticed what was happening until it was too late. Nevertheless, I fought off this sad excuse for a human being by shoving him back as hard as I could and using my already loud voice to demand that fucks off. read more

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Body Image and Perspective: Learning to Accept My Body

Perspective.

Perspective is something I’m working on these days.

I’ve lived with body image issues for as long as I can remember. I’ve never been small enough, skinny enough, or toned enough. There’s always something that I need to work on, whether it’s my belly, my arms, my thighs, my chest, or my back. Did I really just name every part of my body? Well, in all fairness, I think my calfs have always been just fine.

Now that I have a three-year-old, I’m starting to accept my body a bit more. Don’t get too excited too quickly. I said I’m starting to, not that I have fully accepted it. However, lately I have been having more okay days than worry days, so that’s something. read more

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This Woman Was Beautiful and I Wanted to Tell Her

We live down the street from a beach so there’s nothing stopping us from going to for a swim when it’s hot out during the summer. This perk is one of the very many things I love about living where I do.

After I finished stuffing my face with tacos, we got dressed and took off to the beach. Luckily, because it was six pm, there were very few people there. As we walked into the beach area, I noticed a full-figured woman on her phone. She was striking, like, stop and stare striking. But I had no time to be creepy as I had to catch up with my kid. read more

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The Search for a New Fitness Tracker to Reach My Fitness Goals

Anyone who knows me knows that I work out quite a bit. In fact, sometimes become enthralled in it and enjoy challenging myself with new workouts and activities. I become unmotivated when I plateau so I always feel the need to switch things up.

But which exercise is most helpful to me in reaching my goal? What can I do more of or less of?

Last year a friend of mine got a Fitbit. I was pretty amazed because It calculated her heartbeat, her steps, and how many stairs she took in a day. The tracker also allowed her to compete with other people who had the tracker, so she felt motivated all the time. Then my sister showed me hers while we were away and I knew then that I wanted a fitness tracker. I could see that it motivated both my friend and my sister in being more active. read more

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Working Out to Feed My Mind

When we moved into our house nearly four years ago, I told my husband I needed a treadmill and some weights so that I can create my own “gym” in one of the extra rooms in the basement. I didn’t want to pay for a gym membership as I knew working out at home would be easier for me, especially with a kid. I also know me and leaving the house to go to the gym can be a mission.

Soon after we moved in, we set up my own “gym” in the basement. I say “my” because I use it 98% more than my husband does. read more

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Chicken with Black Bean & Corn Quinoa

Yes, this is another quinoa and chicken recipe, but what can I say? We love quinoa and chicken just pairs really well with it. The beauty about quinoa is that it easily takes on whatever flavour you want it to be. It’s also something I can get my son to eat without trouble as he loves black beans and corn (at least today he does. Who knows what the future brings). This recipe is delicious and healthy and I feel good about feeding it to my family.

Chicken with Black Bean & Corn Quinoa

You will need: read more

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Slow-Cooker Pulled-Chicken Tacos

We are a taco family. We’ve been having tacos at least once a week for the past few months. Luckily our son loves them just as much so we know he will for sure be eating when we make them. Of course, there are several different kinds of tacos you can make, so we’re always switching it up.
Last night I suggested we try a slow cooker chicken recipe. We’ve been lagging on the slow cooker meals but they really are the best thing for busy times. Sure enough, tacos came to mind. We threw in some chicken and some veggies and ta-da! Slow-cooker pulled taco chicken! Another one for the books. read more

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