De-cluttering my life

Posted on January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Being healthy isn’t just about eating right or making sure you have that workout in. It’s about achieving balance to a life that makes you feel good, live longer and feel like you’re living up to your full potential.

Today, my day was full of de-cluttering my life. I’ve moved back into my childhood room as an in-between arrangement as my wedding day approaches. A couple weeks ago, we made the pilgrimage back to Boone to see my brother graduate from the same college as me. While there, we were able to load up all my other possessions into the back of a U-Haul and lug it home.

Now…between the stuff in my room from childhood me and the furniture and stuff from college me…I’m swimming in a huge pile of…stuff.

It’s hard to know where to begin. Somehow I had to throw away a good portion of these memories, clothes and to be honest, junk, and find where adult me was going to begin her collection of stuff.

Honestly, I think I’d rather donate ALL of it and just start fresh…well….with the exception of a few key pieces of my wardrobe I started collecting since I moved to DC and NY…and my lap top…and my…

As you can see, it’s going to be a quite a process. But de-cluttering my life of all this junk has made me feel lighter internally. Plus, with less stuff on my floor, the more motivated I’ll be to get up early and workout in my bedroom. Can’t do Jillian Michaels with a rogue wedding craft supplies laying in the middle of the room.

So, I’m not the queen of nutrition and fitness yet. But today I felt good about getting my life back on track. I even got a whole 8 hours of sleep.

We all have to start somewhere. Where are you beginning your journey?

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Posted in The Bride's Blog

A New Year and a New Me

Posted on January 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

I thought I’d blog everyday for a year– the year leading up to my wedding. After all, I do have that plan to look like a super rock star model on my wedding day. Yeah…it didn’t happen. Instead,things were a bit tougher than expected. At some points, Addison and I weren’t sure if we were going to be able to keep our wedding date and were afraid we’d have to push it back a couple of months. Luckily, we don’t have to. But because of some life issues, plans have definitely changed for us. It’s been a tough time.

But, we are still planning on being Mr. & Mrs. Miller on July 29, 2012. This will be OUR year.

And now, I’m going to really buckle down and finally take care of me. Between dealing with personal stuff and freelancing for other magazines on top of my own full-time job while TRYING to plan this wedding, things have been crazy.

But one things is definitely apparent to me: I don’t like me when I’m not working out or eating healthy. When I lost my 15 lbs– it was tough, but I felt amazing all the time. Now I’m tired, grumpy, even more tired, breaking out and oh…did I mention tired? Apparently I’m also hypoglycemic now. Who knows?

This is no way to live people. So, in addition to trying to lose weight, I’m going to blog everyday like I did for HerCampus.com & Self Magazine. Hopefully this will be the accountability I need to make sure I keep going and keep my eye on the prize.

And hopefully in the process, the working out will give me the “me-time” I need to not go crazy.

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A big cup o’ Sludge

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

So a big thing that’s going around my work is drinking super healthy, freshly blended shakes with whole ingredients. Only thing is– those fresh ingredients don’t just include delicious fruit. They include vegetables.

Vegetables? In a smoothie? Whaaa?

I’m here to tell you that my cup o’ sludge wasn’t all that bad. Seriously, I was shocked.

The veggie of choice among one of the health coaches is a bag of spring mix. Some use spinach. Personally, I tried it out with some romaine.

Here’s the trick, put the leafy greens in your blender first with a cup of water and blend. It makes the consistency liquidy blending it alone rather than  grainy or chunky when you blend everything all at once. Then I put in a whole banana, a small handful of ice and four frozen strawberries.

No matter what, it’ll turn out green, but the strawberry and banana cover up the veggie taste a lot. But the best part is, in one big glass you’ve got three servings of fruits and veggies. According to the health coaches at my job, people need a minimum of 15 servings of fruits and 15 servings of veggies a week. That’s a lot of fruit and veggies, and that’s just the minimum requirement!

So to knock out three servings in one fell swoop– that’s pretty convenient. But let me clear something up (and this isn’t a health coach recommended thing. This is just real-girl-Nikki speaking here): I’m not using these to replace a meal.

I’ve never been a big fan of replacing meals with  liquids. If you have a really healthy smoothie, it rarely gives you the calorie count you need to be full until lunch. If you do find a smoothie that fills you up, chances are it’s horrible for you and has a sugar or fat content that’s ridiculously high.

Since I’m on Weight Watchers, veggies and fruits have no points. Therefore, this smoothie has no points too. I’ve been using my smoothie as a mid-morning snack/drink in place of my latte or Diet Coke ritual. Even though the smoothie doesn’t have caffiene in it, the sugar and antioxidants actually give me a waking up boost that is refreshing in the morning AND it keeps me full until lunch.

I do recommend doing it in the morning though. One day I decided to have it as my after work snack; but after a long day at the office, I was definitely not in the mood to blend a big glass of green sludge.

But for a morning pick-me-up, believe me when I say I’ve never been more energized. Highly recommended.

Have you ever had a smoothie with veggies in it? If not, would you give it a try?

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Posted in Nutrition, The Bride's Blog

Whale, Whale, Whale

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

My life has been a roller coaster for about three months. Don’t get me wrong…roller coasters are fun. Roller coaster could even be considered good. But they just are what they are. Swirly, thrilling, scary, and topsy-turvy rides that leave you wondering whether or not you should put your hands up or hold on for dear life.

I like to think of myself as a pretty together girl. I’m also a pretty open person– aka. I love blabbing my soul on the Internet.

There’s been some things going on though that I knew I couldn’t blab about, so instead, I’ve been stupidly avoiding my blog. Stupid. I know. I still take pictures of meals and blog in my head, but between the ups and downs and worried about spilling too much, I’ve neglected not only you guys, but myself as well.

Thank you for Emails, Facebook posts, and tweets all asking me to get my butt back in gear and writing about my journey.  I’m here for you, girls (and dudes, I suppose)! Thanks for being there for me too.

I titled this post “Whale, Whale, Whale” because it was something that popped in my head about two weeks ago when I found myself struggling with a couple things going on. I ended up sitting on my bed staring at a Hostess cake I snuck behind a friend’s back when we were at a gas station. No one saw me buy it. I’m a sneaky lil devil.

I. Hate. Hotess. Cakes. (And Little Debbie. She’s only little because she likes to make all her friends bigger than her).

When I say hate…I mean love. I love Hostess cakes. But I don’t eat them. Ever. I can’t remember the last time I had one. Well, until two weeks ago. I swear it felt like I fell off the wagon.

“Well, well, well…look who we’ve got here,” I thought. (That’s when I realized Wells could be whales and good-GOD what have I just put into my poor dieting body??).

But, I’m not a whale. I will never be a whale. And when I first titled this post I suddenly had a flashback to when I was called a whale on Youtube while blogging for Her Campus and Self Magazine. I ended up making a video about it with that same title. So naturally, I looked it up.

Gosh, past Nikki. You know how to speak to a girl. And by girl, I mean me. I really needed to hear that. True, my negativity I’m dealing with isn’t from people ragging on my dieting progress, persay. But it’s still true: You need to take care of what you need to take care of. 

Moving back to my childhood home while I save money for my wedding, dealing with long-distance with my fiance, trying to fit in at my super awesome “grown-up” job, and trying to make friends in a place where everyone has moved on….I can’t take care of that over night.

But I can take care of how I deal with it now. Tonight. Today. Tomorrow. I’m not going to be perfect at it. I’m still going to be a stress ball. But I can work at it. And if I work on all that, then there’s no reason I can’t get up at 6 am to go train for the 5K I’m thinking about signing up for.

But avoiding this blog until I’ve got everything under 100 percent control is just stupid. You don’t mind if I’m a bit messy, do you?

Thought so. So join me. Put down the Hostess cake. Take control of what you need to deal with in your life and BREATHE. We got this. We’re going to succeed at being the us we always knew we could be.

It’s not just about being skinny or a bride. It’s about being happy too.

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Posted in Stress Management, The Bride's Blog

The “Treat-me-right” Treaty

Posted on August 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Dear Self,

I am done making excuses as to why I’m not putting my personal well-being first. Life does NOT get in the way. Life happens. YOU get in the way. Make the choice to get yourself out of your own way and be who you know you can be and what you need to be.

I am NOT going to beat myself up over every little thing. But I will be accountable for my actions and life decisions. And if I slip up, I’ll figure out why so it doesn’t happen again. But I will not be a food nazis and if a special occasion occurs, I’ll enjoy it…just not go crazy.

I will work toward having a healthy relationship with food. Food is neither a crutch, nor reward, nor enemy.  Food is food and nothing more. Enjoy it, but don’t let it control your moods or let your moods control it.

 I will celebrate my beauty regardless of what size I am. The mirror does not define me, but I can see the beauty in myself no matter what.  That being said, I will put effort into my appearance and not settle for just wearing sweats on days where I feel discouraged.

I will live a healthy lifestyle for all the right reasons. Vanity is not the overall motivator for weightloss. While a perk and a small motivator, the overall goal is a lifelong change. I am choosing to live. I am choosing life. And everyday is a step toward being one of those old people who do fun things like kayaking across the ocean.

I choose me. At the end of the day, I am in control. I will make time for me. I will chuck a life of apathy, a life of living “the norm” and a life self-loathing and truly reach my true potential.

X____________________________________________

Do you choose you? Sign the treat-me-right treaty and put you first for once. 

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Posted in The Bride's Blog

Adjusting to reality and gearing up for 365 days

Posted on July 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

So…it’s been awhile. And a lot has happened. I had to put this blog on the backburner so I could really focus on finding a job (SCORE!), making friends (another SCORE!), and figuring out what my new life here in this new (yet old) state would be.

Well, I’ve finally figured a lot out…and it hasn’t been easy. It’s been a rollercoaster, but I’m glad that I’ve finally found some stability before the one-year mark for my wedding which is FRIDAY!

So my new plan? I’m going to go all hardcore and get focused on my transformation starting Friday. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone rogue this past month. I’ve still been healthy. But now, it’s time to really get down and see results.

I joined Weight Watchers and my job has a gym that has personal trainers who coach us on quick workouts durign our breaks. You’ll hear ALL about it as I begin working hard toward my fabulously health me for my wedding.

Plus I have new motivation. I GOT MY WEDDING DRESS! And they said that  they can take it in 3 sizes if I need to. Wouldn’t that be something?

So please join me as I take care of me and truly focus on my health goals. Do you have any goals you’re trying to work toward?

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Posted in The Bride's Blog

Healthy Eating for the “Hungry Girl”

Posted on May 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

I told my brother the other day that when I start cooking dinners at home for the family, I’m going to redefine everything he ever thought about what a meal should be. He looked bewildered, but it’s true. The way food is viewed needs to be redifined.

And with health experts suggesting multiple, low-calorie meals throughout the day to keep off weight, I’m glad I’ve found low-cal recipes like those in the Hungry Girl’s 300 Under 300 that definitely can keep my diet logging in check.

When I saw this cookbook hit the shelves, I couldn’t help myself. From a long line of Hungry Girl branded books, this recipe encyclopedia definitely hits the mark.

I’ve only just gotten the cookbook, but I’m very excited to start whipping some of these tasty looking treats up. Yesterday I put my own spin on the turkey tetrazzini when I couldn’t find the tofu noodles they suggested. I’m a HUGE fan of spaghetti squash, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to put that in this casserole instead. It was DELICIOUS and the creaminess was amazing for something under 300 calories.

Wish I had a picture, but my family ate it up pretty quickly. The next thing we’re trying is the noodle-less lasagna which is layered with eggplant and zucchini. YUM. Hopefully my Italian family will love that one as well. (I’ll be sure to take a picture next time).

When it comes to healthy eating, the rule of thumb I try to keep to (based on research with different diets including the Jump Start Diet), is if you eat a protein based dinner, try to leave out or minimize the carbs (like pasta and rice) and if you want the carbs, leave out or minimize the meat.

Now, I am not a carb hater. Heck, I’m Italian. I LOVE MY PASTA. But let’s be honest, no matter what culture you are, we tend to overdo it with both of those ingredients.  Neither of those foods are particularly bad for you (especially if you go whole grain or lean). But if you’re trying to lose weight, over-doing those good things can be a bad thing.

Want to help speed along your weight-loss? Try adding as many veggies as you can to everything. When cooking traditional pasta dishes for my fiance like chicken Parmesan, I tend to dice up tons of spinach, mushrooms, onions and sometimes peppers and stick it in my sauce. Then I like to serve it with a side of steamed veggies.

See? You can have your meat and carbs too. You just need to play your cards up and also redefine your view on food. While you can have the pair, you don’t necessarily need it. Try it. Pick up some of the Hungry Girl recipes and see for yourself. I guarantee you won’t even notice anything’s missing.

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Posted in Nutrition, The Bride's Blog