New Years Eve is here! For many this means a start of a new beginning, but I think it's always fun to look back at the year and reflect on the achievements we've had and should be proud of! Everyone is always focused on what they want to change for the next year, and I think we need to stop and pause and be happy for everything we did this past year!
I took a moment and thought back over the last year, and I've done a heck of a lot more than I thought I did!
1. I got accepted into the George Brown College Marketing program!
2. I quit my full time job to go back to school.
3. I had my breast augmentation surgery that I'd been contemplating for the past 2 years.
4. I made some seriously amazing friends that I would now consider a few of my bests.
5. I got invited to and attended some seriously awesome blog events which allowed me to network and really grow my blog audience!
6. I got rid of a lot of stress in my life when I quit my job and have recently been really taking a lot better care of myself (better late than never, right?).
Cheers!
7. I discovered my own personal sense of style... one that reflects everything about me, and not what others think I should be/wear/whatever...8. I've stopped caring what others think. I've realized that the more in love with your decisions you are, the less it matters what others think of them.
9. I've been less judgemental of people and peoples decisions.
10. I've been HAPPY! For the most part... some things in my life didn't make me happy but I changed what they were knowing that life is too short to be unhappy. :D
HOLY! I think that's a big list, and 2013 was an AWESOME year!! I can only hope 2014 is as good as 2013 and I know it will be! School is starting next Monday, I'm going to make a ton of new friends, I'm going to (eventually) start a new job, I'm going to continue this crazy training I'm doing and eating so healthy and just really focus all my attention on school and being the best in my class!
I want you to tell me what you consider as your biggest accomplishment of 2013 and why it's important to you! I love celebrating everything, and there is no small accomplishment - so let's here it!!
I'm excited to have some friends over tonight to pop some champagne with and play poker to bring in the new year! I'm really excited to get some good photos of everything, that's something on my 2014 list - take better photos! I've been practicing so far, and I think I'm getting better than I was for sure!
Yesterday I had my last training session of the week. It was hamstring and pull day so it gave my quads a much needed rest. At the end of the session we had some time left so Deanna had us (myself and another girl) pull Deanna while she was sitting on weight plates. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this crazy woman and the things she makes us do.
I had no idea I had back muscles until I saw this photo - nice! My goal is to workout twice between now and when I see Deanna again on Saturday... I'll be doing interval training so that should be nice and deadly. My nutrition program has been going well. I love that I'm eating so often, I never get hungry and I'm eating so much food that I love that I don't feel like it's much different than what I would normally eat anyways. It's more like I'm now weighing everything and making sure I get the exact amounts of everything I'm supposed to! Check out my breakfast this morning...
I cooked up some chicken breast in EVOO and used parsley, sea salt, paprika and turmeric on it... DELISH! I ate it with blueberries and almonds, I won't bore you with the boring details of how much I had... you can see here. This is on a small plate, so that can kind of put it in perspective for you. Do you cook with turmeric at all? It's one of my favorite spices and as it so happens, it's also one of the healthiest spices to cook with! Want to know why? How about we bring back the little series Food For Thought!
Food For Thought - TurmericTurmeric is a spice that has been used for thousands of years throughout China and India. It's used in a lot of mustards and curries because of the bright yellow colour, and comes with an abundance of healing properties! Curcumin is the active healing ingredient found in turmeric and is also the compound that gives turmeric it's yellow color.
Antioxidant Properties
When consumed on a regular basis, turmeric can help prevent free radical damage associated with premature aging (YEAH! Youth!), heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative diseases. India has a fraction of the amount of people with Alzheimer's disease than America and is thought that the turmeric found in Indian dishes is responsible for the low incidence of Alzheimer's in India.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties
The active ingredient curcumin has been found to be as effective as prescription or over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs. Many sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis have found relief after adding turmeric to their diets.
Livery Detoxifier
Turmeric has been found in studies to help protect the liver from damage from alcohol and other toxic substances.
Natural Blood Thinner
Turmeric can help keep blood platelets from sticking to each other! That, in turn, helps prevent blood clots, heart attacks and strokes!
Digestive Aid
Turmeric increases bile production in the stomach which helps with fat digestion!
All in all turmeric is a delicious, healthy as hell spice that you should be including in your cooking on a regular basis. The only people who should avoid using large amounts of turmeric are people with bile obstructions and gallstones. Also, people who have a blood clotting problem or are on blood thinners should definitely talk with their doctor before incorporating turmeric on a regular basis.
What's your favorite spice to cook with??
HAPPY NEW YEAR!