Healthy Living With Elle

Breaking The “Diet” Mentality

When I started my journey to Healthy Living, it wasn’t easy. No one will ever tell you that it will be easy…and they will say your on a “Diet”. This is probably the most popular word that is tossed around when people get talking about eating right. I happen to find it slightly offensive when people say, “oh your just on a diet, it will end in a year or so and you will go back to the normal”. 

First of all, who wants to be normal? I’m talking about the boring normal…lets get crazy and colorful with our foods! A bad eating lifestyle should have never become “normal”. Our bodies were not meant to have trash/junk thrown into them! When I first started out my journey, I learned to say early on, that I was going through a “lifestyle change”. They would then reply with the common statement, “oh….so your on a diet?”. After hearing this over and over…it gets to the point where I just want to shove a plate of broccoli in their face (sorry, but its true). Now that I have been on my life style change for a long time, I can say that I “eat clean”…buuut I sometimes still get the classic line thrown at me. 

So what do you do? The stage of first starting the change is tough…mentally,physically, emotionally…you get the idea. So adding the peer pressure on top of that, can be really intense.

Here’s the deal: Let everyone know. Yes, it is completely OK to keep some things a secret about your nutrition changes…but hiding the fact that you are changing your lifestyle should not be kept private. Why? Well, why shouldn’t you be proud of the fact that you have the courage to stand up for your body, and make a complete change in your life? By letting everyone know, it will keep you accountable. Such a big change should not be faced alone. If you let other people know, they will ask you how your change is going…trust me, this has happened. I love telling people how my journey is going…it gives me a sense of accomplishment! To make everyone know that your change is such a big deal and you have a lot of accomplishments, will prove to others that you are serious about this, and it is not a fad diet. 

When you make the change in your life a big and important deal, it will be hard to ignore, and there will be only one option…to press forward! When you share your new-found knowledge of nutrition and “living to make a better you” with others, hopefully they will take you seriously… and they wont take it as a “fad diet” anymore.

If your “friends” wont truly take you seriously, then it’s time to surround yourself with nutrition buddies. Spending time with people going through the same thing as you, will help you more than anything. Find someone who is also striving for the healthy life, and discuss your high’s and low’s of the journey«<this is therapeutic! I have discovered that doing just that, has often made it the highlight of my day. 

Until next time, Elle.

That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles- Speed Bumps In Nutrition

I am not the only healthy-eater in my family. We also have some non-healthy eaters, as well. Living in a home of mixed-food diets can get pretty complicating. I like to live by the rule: out of sight, out of mind, out of mouth. Sometimes this rule can get easily broken. When another family member prefers having the cookies on the counter, in plain view….it can get tempting. We all have our speed bumps in the road, and we have to learn to overcome them…even if they are in plain sight of us. Yes, I do believe that we must have “cheats”, or “splurges” every now and then, but if we cant learn to get those foods out of our mind, if not possible for out of sight, those “splurges” could become a daily occurance.

I have run into a speed bump recently. I am not usually ever drawn to the hard, pre-packaged cookies that you find in the grocery store (im more of a home-made kinda girl). So when we had an event where they needed crushed cookies, we willingly brought them. There was a big bag of left-over cookie crumble…and my family agreed to take it home (not my idea, by the way). This bag of cookie crumbles has been sitting on my counter for a few days now, and I havent really had a problem with it….until now.  

This bag of cookie crumble has, for some odd reason, been calling my name the past few hours. I dont know about you, but the only “good” part about an oreo, is the creme in the middle. Trust me, the phot may be decieving, but there isplentyof creme in there! I probably havent had an oreo in about 6+ months….and while these are knock-off oreos, I couldnt resist. I had like…a handfull of these cookie crumbles. Like I said, pre-packaged and store-bought cookies are not usually my weakness, but today this devil bag was just so irresistible.

The bottom line is, don’t be afraid of beinghuman.You will make mistakes, and run into some speed bumps, but dont let that waver you from your road to health! Get back up again, and keep going :) It will be worth it in the end, after exercise and clean eating has become part of your life.

Until next time, Elle.

Motivation

Sometimes there are those days when you just have NO  motivation, right? You get in a rut, and a workout day is skipped. So how exactly can you get out of that rut? There are a few ways in which you can get moving. 

1. Become a member of Pinterest.com (if not already), and go through the “fitness” pins that people have re-pinned. I often find it as a great motivation, and even a workout resource. They have great motivational sayings, fun workouts, healthy eating tips, and more. 

2. The OBVIOUS one, Tumblr! There are plenty of fitness Tumblr pages that can get your workout going. 

3. Watching before and after video’s have always been an inspiring resource. Youtube.com has soooo many weight loss results videos. Viewing a weight loss success story from someone else just has a kind of uplifting effect, making you want to work harder to achieve the goals that person has had. 

4. The visual aspect is the most popular way towards motivation. I made  a collage of different fitness sayings, workout print-outs, and more on my closet wall. The digital world can be great, but knowing that you have it on paper, and hanging up on your room can be all-the-more effective since it is always there, and you see it every time you pass it. 

5. Another great way to get motivated, is to have group accountability. Lifes battles are best fought in the presence of others. This means your friends, family, co-workers, anybody! Maybe there is a group already gathered in your community, or one waiting to be made by the one-and-only YOU! Starting a fitness group is not always for the faint of heart. It is a bold attempt to not only making a difference in your life, but in others lives as well. “Whats gonna work? TEAMWORK!”

6. Appearance is so important to people, and how we present ourselves in clothing, or in a swimsuit, is apart of that. Standing in front of the mirror in your skimpy yoga shorts (that you bought while you were with your skinny friends who also bought them and can wear them with grace and confidence) pulling at the fat around your thighs, tummy, WHEREVER,  is NOT going to get you ANYWHERE! Listen to me when I say that pouting about your figure will only lead to binging on food. Most food is consumed while not eating a main meal is due to emotional eating (this will be a separate topic another time). Instead, buy the shorts, DONT try them on…until you feel confident enough to wear them! Let those shorts, or tight tank top be your motivation to a better you! When you feel confident in your body, you will look confident. 

7. Last, think of how you will feel when you are done your workout for the day. Once you get it out of the way, you can focus on the rest of the day. Let a workout, or healthy eating, be apart of your routine. Healthy living shouldn’t be an occasional occurrence in your routine…it should be an almost daily occurrence! Getting excited to how you will feel after you are done, and that one step closer to a better you, will surely boost your motivation. 

Until next time, Elle. 

Say YES To Veggies!

Today I felt that I needed to post an article about eating healthy….for the non-veggie eater. When I was growing up, I was a kid who would eat vegetables…most of them anyway. However, I would NOT eat peas! I hated peas with a PASSION! Today I will eat them, but I wont particularly enjoy them. 

There are some adults who have hated eating a certain vegetable their whole life, and some who have grown to like it. But then there are the individuals who don’t like vegetables, period! I know a few people like this, and they happen to be very skinny people (so unfair, right?)…blame it on the genes, I guess. Well for those people who do NOT like vegetables what-so-ever, this post is for YOU. 

There are many forms of preparing vegetables, believe it or not. A favorite of mine is to eat them raw or in a salad, but I know this may not be favored with some of you. One way in which to include veggies into a diet, is to simply blend them into a yummy smoothie…your probably thinking “what?! NO…only crazy hippies do that). Well no, actually it is a great way to hide your veggies and still get all the nutrition. Not all smoothies with vegetables in them look like pond water, I promise :) It really depends on what variety you put in your smoothie. Some things you can put in a smoothie could be spinach, wheat grass (its not regular grass!), carrots, broccoli, kale, and so forth. 

Smoothies aren’t the only way to incorporate veggies. I enjoy a glass of “V8 splash” (REALLY delicious, much more than the original) every now and then. Be careful with the store-bought/ processed “vegetable-packed” foods, because they can contain high fructose corn syrup (don’t even get me started on that topic), partially hydrogenated oil (any kind: soybean,etc), and other non-clean eating friendly foods.

Its best to stick to using whole ingredients that you would find around the perimeter of the grocery store (this is an old, but true tip). There are PLENTY of recipes online that feature ways to get your veggie servings in, without much effort or “yucky taste” (as some would say).

I will be posting recipes in the future that hopefully you will enjoy. If you want me to post recipes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, etc, I will gladly do it. Most of my recipes will have veggies or some kind of fruit in it. Every now and then, I will do a vegan or vegetarian recipe challenge (I am not vegan or vegetarian, but somewhat pursuing the lifestyle).

I hope that I gave some helpful tips to beginner- healthy eaters, or you just enjoyed reading this post.  

Until next time, Elle. 

Welcome!

Hey there! My name is Elle, and this is my VERY FIRST post on this blog! I am alllll about healthy living, and a nutritional lifestyle. I also do beauty and social living in general. I will have PLENTY of motivational photos posted on here for those days that you reallllly need some motivation, or just whenever :) I will post recipes that I either come upon and LOVED, or I will share some of my own healthy recipes. If you ever have a question or want me to do a post about a specific topic, just let me know. You can also reach me on my google+ account as “Elle Blair”, or my youtube channel (which I just started, no videos yet, but their on the way!) “healthylivingelle”. I will be starting a Pinterest and twitter shortly, so stay tuned! I am not new to the blog/vlog/youtube, etc; world, I just decided to start an all-new chapter. I hope this is a helpful blog, and you will follow me and stay in touch :)

 Until next time, Elle.