Tips for Increasing Blog Traffic

Hey friends! I'm back from Columbus and ready for more blogging!

The trip to Columbus was nice. I got to see Stuart's family, who I haven't seen in nearly a year. His little siblings have grown up so much it's crazy!! His 2 year old brother, Simon, is obsessed with his dad's Ipad and is better than all the adults at Temple Run.  It's hysterical. His 3 year old little sister, Lydia, is adorable and absolutely loves me. She accidentally pulled out my nose piercing (her hair got stuck on my nose.. weird, right?), so I had to buy a new top for my anchor when I got back to Cincinnati. Trying to sleep with the anchor in upside down was an interesting experience! However, I got a cute little light pink stud, and I like it.

I also got to see his dad who is battling colon cancer. It's really sad, thinking about him and the future and the whole family. It's tough for everyone. I started tearing up when Stuart's stepmom was talking about the situation and how hard it will be to help the youngsters understand what happened when their daddy is gone. :(

On a brighter note, my Couch to 5K program is going very well! I even got to throw in a bonus morning run while in Columbus. I ran around Stuart's neighborhood, and I ran my best and longest in a while. I also plan on registering for a 5K or two - or three - tonight! I'm really excited about that. I'm scheduling the first 5K a week after my program is set to finish - although it might turn into the week I actually do finish, thanks to my spring break and Easter break schedule. Still, I'm pumped, and envisioning myself with a medal at the end of race day!

Aaaaaaaand finally, even though I'm not Catholic, I decided to participate in Lent this year. Since it starts Wednesday, I had to decided pretty quickly what I would be giving up! This year, I will be giving up all sugar (except honey/agave and things I have to review for the blog) and fatty foods. Hopefully a low fat, sugar free diet will help me continue to get in shape and reach my weight goal!

Today I want to give you some tips I've learned on how to increase your blog traffic. I have definitely seen an increase in mine since I've started using these tips, and I really hope they help all of you new bloggers!


1. Actively review products.
You can do this by emailing the company whose products you want to review and explaining why you think your blog is qualified and why your readers would be interested in their product. A lot of times, companies and are more than happy to oblige and allow you to review (and sometimes giveaway) their products. You can also simply review a product yourself and then tweet about it, tagging the company in the tweet. A lot of times, the company will see the review and retweet your link to their followers.

2. Comment on other blogs.
This sounds incredibly unhelpful, but I've recently started doing this and I cam't believe how many click throughs PD has gotten! Simply leave a short comment on other blog posts and you'll both increase your site traffic and make the blog owner very happy.

3. Tweet often.
Tweet about your own site and blog posts, but also retweet others. If you like someone else's post, share it! It is likely that blog owner will retweet you. If you find an article you think will be helpful to your readers, share it! I am actively trying to become a FitFluential Ambassador, and in the first rejection email they gave me helpful tips on how to increase site traffic. This was one of those tips. I now share links to healthy living and fitness tips, and my Twitter following has definitely seen an increase. Also, tweet at your favorite chefs or celebs and they may retweet you!

4. Participate in fun blogger programs. 
Whether this is FoodBuzz, BlogHer, Foodie BlogRoll, or some other service, try it out! You can also make a few bucks by participating in these. Lindsay's Foodie Pen Pal program is also a great way to meet bloggers, get great food, and increase your site traffic! Look for other fun exchanges like this. Also, link ups are great - like Jen's WIAW link up. There are tons of link ups out there, so get looking!






5. Start your own link up party. 
I'm currently in the process of doing this, although I haven't decided what I want to do yet. Any suggestions? This will make you known for that particular link up and people will search for you to get involved!

6. Respond to all emails/comments. 
Engaging with your community is a huge part of blogging. If you are absent, no one will read! Be active and enjoy talking to your readers!

7. Host giveaways. 
Whether you are giving away your own goodies or another companies, giveaways attract people. See #1 for more information.

8. Engage in social media.
Seriously. Besides Twitter, get a Facebook page for your blog. Join Wellsphere. Join StumbleUpon or Klout or various other social media forms. They help a lot.


9. For food bloggers, submit your photos!
Find sites like Food Gawker, Finding Vegan and others and submit your photos. Although it can be challenging to get accepted, photos that are send a HUGE amount of traffic to your site. I have one picture on Finding Vegan, and that seriously got me hundreds of new site hits! I highly recommend this.


10. Make your blog look pretty. 
Seriously! If your blog looks good, people will be more inclined to read it. I don't pay much attention to sites that are very plain, have obnoxious color schemes, or are just ugly. Make your site pretty and simple and people will read!

That's all I've got for right now, kiddos. I gotta stop procrastinating and actually study for my test tomorrow.

Ciao!

Couch to 5K

Hi friends! Just a brief post for today - I have a lot of studying to do for my Interpersonal Communications test tomorrow!

One thing I have learned about myself is that I simply do not do well with consistency, when it comes to series of things. For example, I said I would be attempting Jillian's 30 Day Shred for 30 Days. Well, about halfway through, I stopped. Why? It's not because I don't want to do it; I do. I'm not really sure why. If I miss a day, I just end up stopping.

Which is terrible! I know if I had kept up with that challenge, I would be feeling really amazing and accomplished right now. Which is why I'm a little hesitant to reveal my newest goal to you: to go from "couch to 5k" in 9 weeks.

I <3 to recycle my pictures!

I found this program online, where you workout 3 days a week and start with alternating jogging and walking for 20 minutes. The program gradually gets harder and harder, until you are able to run a full 3 miles at the end of 9 weeks. It sounds great, and it has been a goal of mine to become a runner for a while now. I'm just so bad at it! Does anyone else feel that way? I love the feeling I have after I run; I always feel so positive and healthy. I just am not able to run for a long period of time (I can barley run for a few minutes without having to take a break).

So I think this challenge will be good for me. Will I be able to stick with it? I sure hope so. I really do. It's only 25 minutes a day, 3 days a week- totally doable. I just need to make sure I stay consistent! Does anyone have any tips on how you get motivated to keep up with something, even if you don't want to?

I recently decided that I also need a break from sugar; I have been eating SO MANY SWEET recently it's ridiculous! Sweets have started to become most of diet, and that is NOT okay. Because of this, I'm going to try to take a break from sweets for at LEAST a week. Not all sugar, just sweets & baked goods. I was going to start yesterday but then was sabotaged and 3 of my friends' birthday party, so I am starting today! Wish me luck! It should be too hard, I've done it before. I just need a serious detox.

Guess that means no cupcakes for me :(

Finally, some exciting news: this is my first month participating in Foodie Pen Pals! I'm so excited; I have heard great things about this program. I just found out who I am paired with today and I couldn't be more excited! Have you guys participated in this program before? What do you think of it?

Alright- time to stop procrastinating and start studying. Have a lovely day!

Much love,

Weekend Recap

Piper, my mini schnauzer!

Hello everyone!

This weekend flew by in a blur! Let me share what I did this weekend: 

1. Stayed at my boyfriends house all weekend
2. Threw a 60s tie dye party for my residents
3. Played with my puppy (see picture above!)
4. Bought 4 of the 8 Harry Potter DVDs for $6 each
5. Ate at the Cheesecake Factory! YUMMY!
6. Went shopping at Party City and Walmart for 60s party supplies

And more! But you know what was the best part? 

I think I've stopped overeating. Which I am so thankful for. I can't guarantee I have, but things sure are looking positive right. I don't feel so terrible about myself because I'm not eating more than what I am hungry for. This means I feel better about some of the clothes I wear. I hoping I'll be able to stay on track with this all throughout the week! 

That was my highlight on the weekend. Plus, tonight is a new episode of Cupcake Wars and Celebrity Cook-Off on Food Network tonight, so I'm excited! 

For now, I'm off to get a lot of reading done for my class tomorrow. Time to read some scholarly journals and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain!

How was your weekend? What did you do? 

Much love,

Just a little advice

This is a little something I have started to take to heart recently. As well as this:

I am terrible at saving money. Absolutely TERRIBLE. But I am starting to realize that I need to be saving most of what I make so I will be able to pay off school and pay for an apartment after I graduate. If you work hard and save, you'll be lucky and be able to have what you want and need in life. 

Just something to think about :) 

PS - have you entered my Goodbelly giveaway yet? It ends Tuesday!

Have a great day!

Much love,

Parma! & College Ramblings

Hi again!

I missed one day of my 30 Day Challenge this week - and of course it was on a day where I ate WAY more than I usually do - but it's all about staying positive, right? I just got right back on schedule yesterday and pressed forward. I'm still working on Level 2 - Jillian is still killing me - and I still need to take breaks. However, I am able to do a few more repetitions than I have been, so I know I am improving, which is great! I am a little disappointed though - I wish there was more cardio. Does anyone know if Jillian how a DVD that is cardio based? I always consider going to the gym to run or do the elliptical after doing my 20 min. workout, but I never want to bundle up and walk to the gym that is on the opposite side of campus. So I do my intense little Jillian workout and am done with it. What do you guys think? Add extra cardio or just stick with my DVD?

Today, I also want to bring you a review of a vegan parmesan cheese: Parma! Parma! can be sprinkled on anything that you would usually sprinkle cheese on - broccoli, pasta, salad, pizza, beans, etc. There are three different flavors: Original, Garlicky Green, and Chipotle Cayenne. All three are raw (minus the nutritional yeast and chipotle used) and are based on raw organic walnuts. They also use Himalayan crystal salt and herbs and spices.

The team at Parma! kindly agreed to send me samples of their products to try when I asked, and I was really excited! Mostly because I know how hard it can be to find a good, vegan parmesan cheese.

Parma! on my salad!

Honestly, the flavor of all three reminded me of oyster crackers. What? Yeah! They really did! They had a nice cheesy quality to them from the nutritional yeast and tasted sort of like crackers! But don't get me wrong - I thought they were delicious. The Original was nutty tasting. Garlicky Green was wonderfully garlicky and featured a variety of herbs and seeds for nutritional value. Chipotle Cayenne definitely kicked it up a notch with its spicy, smoky flavor. Again, all three were very tasty. So far, this is the best vegan parmesan I've tried.

All cheeses are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, gmo free, and kosher.

The Daisy Rating

4/5 daisies

On another note, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my life after I graduate. I feel like I won't be as happy as I am anticipating working a full time job in english, journalism, or PR. I'm debating getting a full time job doing one of those three things and then going to school part time to become a registed dietitian, or something related to health and nutrition. But that would be even more money. I know I wasted my time at college - I wanted to transfer freshman year but didnt, and had I transferred, I think I would be a lot happier. I mean, I love my school, but there are no majors that I really want to major in. Which stinks. Any advice?

Much love,

Back to School Stress & Raw Food 101

**Have to entered my giveaway yet? Only ONE DAY left to enter!!**

I've only been through one entire day of school so far, and I am already feeling extremely stressed.

I have a terrible, terrible case of the Mondays.

Let me explain. From 9:30am - 1:30pm I am in class. From 3-5pm I meet with my spiritual mentor, from 5:30 - 7pm I meet with the leaders of Navigators, from 8-9pm I lead a small group, and from 9:30 - 10:30pm I have my RA staff meeting.

Needless to say, Mondays are CRAZY. At least for the moment. I'm debating what I can do to lighten up my schedule!

So yesterday, being a Monday and the first day back to school, was crazy. I was feeling really physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted, and then finding out that my Jane Austen class will be reading approximately 15-22 chapters of a Jane Austen novel for each class sent me a little over the edge. Thankfully, today I am feeling a bit better.

Today was also Day 4 of my 30 Day Shred challenge! So far, it's going pretty well. I'm still on Level 1, and after briefly looking at what is in store for me on Level 2, I decided to stick with Level 1 for at least a full week. I'm always sweating buckets after each intense 20 minute workout and feeling pretty good about myself. I can definitely tell that I am building strong muscle! However, I am still incredibly terrible at push ups... I don't know if I'll ever get better at them! I can usually do the initial few, but then have to stop because I just can't push myself back up. Hopefully, after spending some more time doing the shred, I'll become a lot better at them!

I also received 3 other Jillian Michael's DVDs for Christmas: Yoga Meltdown, Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, and No More Trouble Zones. I will most likely move on to one of those after I finish my 30 Day Shred challenge. I am a bit concerned about Yoga Meltdown....because I am extremely inflexible and bad at bending. According to Jillian, she isn't flexible either, although she is still more flexible than I am.

However, exercise just isn't enough if I really want to lose those 20 pounds in 30 days. It also involves a change in diet; a switch to healthier eating. I am trying my hardest to eat more fruits and veggies, since I rely a  lot on processed foods and junk foods, because I know that will help me develop a lean body, burn the most calories I possibly can, and shred away all that fat!

Before I cut my hair and dyed it back to my original blonde. How I miss my long hair :( 

In light of healthy eating, I'm going to talk about a newly released DVD from raw food expert Tanya Alekseeva of Better Raw. This lovely lady really knows her stuff when it comes to raw food! A Russian wellness coach living in London, I heard about her raw food expertise through her e-book, Seduced, which contains tons of great raw chocolate recipes! 

Basically, I REALLY need to purchase that e-book. I would love to make raw chocolates!

Her new DVD Raw Foods 101 is a 2 and 1/2 hour guide to everything you need to know about raw foods, including health info, food prep, recipes, how to use a dehydrator, making nut milks, and much more. The program is divided into short sections, so you can choose to watch different parts or all of it at once. I found this DVD to be extremely insightful. For example, I learned: 

-Maca is good for your hormones

-We crave chocolate on our period because of body is lacking magnesium

-Chia seeds are much easier to digest than flax seeds

-There are two different types of juicers, masticating and centrifugal

-The molecules in greens resemble the molecules in human blood, so drinking green juice is like having a healthy blood transfusion

-1 glass of soymilk = the same amount of estrogen found in 8 birth control pills. Yikes!

And so much more! Her recipes we very easy and sounded delicious, not to mention looked beautiful. 

Complaints? My only complaint is that, at the endings of sections, the final word sometimes gets cut off. Still, this isn't a big deal, and it only happens on a few of the sections. Because of the amount of information provided and everything you will learn from this program, the DVD is worth the money you will spend purchasing it. 

For more information on purchasing Raw Food 101, click here.

The Daisy Rating

4.5/5 Daisies

Thanks for allowing me to review your DVD, Tanya! Best wishes to you on your raw food journey! It has definitely inspired me to try to incorporate more raw food into my diet. 

Have a great day, everyone! 

Much love, 

Carrie Underwood Concert Pics!

Do you have any favorite singers or musicians? 

I love music, but I don't listen to it a whole lot aside from whatever is on the radio at the time. However, when my dad told me that his company's Christmas concert that year was having Carrie Underwood as the singer... I was excited. 

Carrie Underwood, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful (if not THE most beautiful) women in the world. She has killer legs, gorgeous hair, and an amazing fashion sense. Just take a look at her shorts covered in black glitter and you'll see what I mean:

Not to mention she has an AMAZING voice and killer set of lungs. I invited my friend Miranda to go with me to this party because I knew Carrie Underwood was her favorite singer... this made the time so much better!

We sat in the third row. THIRD ROW! Originally, it was a first come, first serve seating thing except for the orchestra seats, which were reserved. Well, lucky us, some lady came around handing out orchestra tickets and asked us if we would like to sit up front! Um.... YES! Yes, we would!

She sang many songs, a few of which were my favorites, like Cowboy Cassanova and How Great Thou Art. And then she sang my all time favorite song by her: Jesus Take the Wheel. That song is so beautiful. I love the lyrics, and that night, I really connected with the words she sung:

And for the first time in a long time

She bowed her head to pray

She said I'm sorry for the way

I've been living my life

I know I've got to change

So from now on tonight

Jesus, take the wheel

Take it from my hands

Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go

So give me one more chance

To save me from this road I'm on

Oh Jesus, take the wheel

Overall, this was definitely an amazing concert. And did you know that Carrie recently became a vegan? It's true! That makes her even more admirable. I love her!

One more thing: her sparkly pants and shoes matched with the sparkly microphone and microphone stand. Too awesome. 

Who are some celebrities you love?

Much love, 

My New Apron

Why yes, that IS a child's size apron.

And yes, it was given to me when all of the RAs in Husman Hall exchanged gifts!

Clearly JJ knew what he was doing when he got this!

What do you guys think? 

Much love, 

Back to Dairy Free

Hello friends!

Well, let's be honest. Finals are killing me. Mostly because I hate studying, rarely study, and get very distracted and bored out of my mind when I study. So you know what I do to help?

I procrastinate!

Today was my last day of finals, thank goodness. I had Forensics, Media Literacy, Oral Communications (speech class), Early English Literature, and Principles of Strategic Communications (this is basically an intro to public relations and advertising class) finals. Now I'm free! Hallelujah!

This is totally me.

The downside is that I can't leave school until Saturday morning, because I have to stay and help close down the dorms for Christmas. Oh well. There is still a lot I need to do, anyways: pack, clean, organize, defrost my fridge, and other things.

I usually work at Victoria's Secret for school breaks - however, since my Christmas break is cut a bit short for RA stuff I gotta come back and do, I'm going to be babysitting at a nearby church as much as I possibly can to make money. They pay me $10 an hour to babysit, and I've been picking up a lot of hours, which is great! Hopefully I make a decent amount of money off of this! I'll also be visiting a lot of family for those grand, yearly family gatherings everyone has. I'm not gonna lie - I'm really excited for presents :) My favorite!

I mentioned a while ago that I was switching from a vegan to a vegetarian diet - well, I think I'm switching back again. This time, however, I'm planning on sticking with just dairy free. It's the dairy that I know is truly bad for our health, and it's the dairy that makes me feel heavy, gross, and weighed down. So I'll be avoiding dairy and eating things with gelatin (like fruit snacks, gummies, and marshmallows). I'll also probably eat some honey.

Why? Well, I kind of went on a crazy cheese  rampage for a while - I ate a lot of Skyline (a Cincinnati chili place - i got their veg chili) with their amazing cheese, pastas with cheese, pizza...whatever. I love cheese! Which makes me really sad. Daiya is good, but not as good as the real deal. However, every time I eat cheese or heavy dairy I feel the consequences later that day or the next - heavy, sick, gross...I even through up once from eating a friend's cupcake. Thus, I have decided to once again ban dairy from my diet, since I believe that is the cause of my ailments. And it's bad for you, anyways.

What do you all plan on doing this Christmas? 
Much love,

WIAW: Scraps

One, two, three... here's a peek at what I ate this week!

Banana with peanut butter and Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin cereal

Spice Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar

Blueberry Muffins with Cherry Pie Filling

Tea in my Libre bottle...which shattered...more on that in the upcoming product review

So Delicious Neapolitan Soy Ice Cream

Thumbprint Cookies

I have also swayed quite a lot from my vegan diet this week...and by a lot, I really mean that I ate a non-vegan cupcake and a cup of Yagoot fro-yo. Which really isn't that bad. But I am heavily considering just becoming a vegetarian now because I often feel guilty about the vegan label. Which I don't think is right. In fact, I am almost positive that I am now just going to refer to myself as a vegetarian. 

Why the switch from vegan to vegetarian after being vegan for pretty much EXACTLY a year? Mostly because I am vegan for health reasons, not animal rights. And I KNOW that being vegan is the healthiest way to go. However, I am also okay with eating some dairy throughout the day as long as it is in small amounts. For example, the main thing I will be eating is cheese, and that will not be that often either. 

But, never to fear. I plan to still eat mostly vegan, cook mostly vegan, buy vegan products, and eat dairy in moderation. The site will still be largely vegan as well, and if I feature recipes that are not vegan, I will include a way to make them vegan. I truly hope this will not stop anyone from reading my blog! I love all of you guys!

My main worry about this is that I will gain more weight back. However, I am getting back into my workout routine! I worked out today for the first time in a couple months and felt AMAZING, so hopefully that will continue. Instead of my usual early AM workout every day, I will be working out MWF around after my class (around 11:30am) and Tues/Thurs in the AM, hopefully around 7:30am. I will be making my boyfriend (Stuart) call me on those days when he gets up for work to make sure I am awake as well!

So, WIAW is about feeling guilt free, right? Here's to living guilt free about dietary choices - no matter what the dietary restriction.

Much love,

Practicing Healthy Disciplines

Heb. 12:11 (NIV)

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

I just discovered the blog Cat's Belly Fat Cure and I enjoy that Cat features Bible verses on her blog. After reading the one above, I feel like I was meant to see that this week. For a couple reasons. 

1) Discipline - Exercise

I seriously SUCK at exercising recently. But I plan on attempting to get back into it because I know it's beneficial for both me and my health. I also want to try drinking green juice in the mornings, too. Maybe I'll buy some (no, I don't have a juicer on campus) and start drinking it over Thanksgiving break.  

2) Discipline - Vegan Lifestyle

As you all know, I've been struggling with this recently. I actually ate a non-vegan cupcake and then spent the entire night and next morning throwing up and in pain. So I think I learned my lesson, there. If for nothing else, I need to stick with it because I get sick otherwise!

I would like to feature snippets of each of the four comments I received from my post yesterday. I found them highly helpful (please click here if you would like to comment too!)

"I think you need to determine why you are "vegan" and what that means to you. Then live honestly in respect of your values - regardless of any label." - Heather 

I agree. Honestly, I went vegan as a way to lose weight and maintain my health - which I haven't been doing well recently because of all the sweets I've been baking/eating. Animal rights and environmental reasons were second to that. I think one reason why it's so hard right now is merely because I am in a college dorm right now and I don't have an easily accessible kitchen. Honestly though? I KNOW being vegan is way better for me. I just need to strive to stick with it. 

"I don't keep sweets in the house. Because if it's there I will eat it. If I have a craving for something bad enough then I'll go out and get it." - Shea

This is such a good plan! I honestly I have wanted to do this for so long, but I don't want to waste all my sweets by just tossing them in a trash. So...it's a dilemma. 

"I have personally found it extremely tiring to maintain being vegan 100% of the time. For me, I would rather eat a plant-based diet with very marginal amounts of dairy/honey, etc. and not worry about a title. I don't want a word to dictate my life and actions." - Jared

I also agree with this. I feel like it's the label that throw me off, because then I feel like I'm cheating.

"I force myself to wake up early (5:15am) to work out because I know it is the only time I can and will. It's hard to get in the routine at first, but then I just weigh the benefits. When I do get a work out in, it increases my water consumption and energy levels all day long. Increased water and hydration means I am not mindlessly snacking all day, but instead eating only when I am truly hungry. Also, working out encourages me to eat healthy. When I don't work out, I don't always eat healthy. So I have no advice for that. I would highly encourage you to get up early and work out... I know you probably don't want to hear that, but just think of all the great things that will come of it!!!" - Linz

Yeah.. I know the morning is the only time I will do it as well. It's just really challenging when I'm up until 1:30am working on school assignments and then plan on working out at 7am. Don't get me wrong, I honestly did this 5 times a week for a month or more at the beginning of the year. After that, I started to appreciate my sleep more than working out. But I agree, whenever I worked out, I drank more water and ate more healthfully. So I'm definitely going to try to get back into this routine. 

So, what is my goal here? My goal is to achieve my weight goal of 125 pounds. I was relatively close to it before, but I have recently gained weight back and now have a good 20 pounds to go. What I need is something to motivate me to get out of bed every morning.

What motivates you to work out?

Much love, 

Good morning!

Hello friends!

PD has been a little crazy recently with the amount of products I've been receiving to review - and there are TONS more to come, trust me! - that I decided to take a little break today and just have a nice, simple post!

This week has past week been really crazy for me, has anyone else had one of those weeks? Last Thursday I had all sorts of projects and assignments due, mock interviews, Chipotle plans, RA staff meeting, and a Forensics crime scene photo project to work on. It was nuts. But you know what? I plowed through it, and here I am now!

Nothing a little dancing can't fix!

I still have lots to do, so I've been spending pretty much every free moment I have working on bigger, upcoming assignments. It kinda stinks, but thankfully Thanksgiving will be here soon, and I'm really excited for that. Lots and LOTS of delicious food. Yummy! And Thanksgiving leftovers are the BEST. Right?!

Then, it's on to Christmas. I feel like Thanksgiving has been pretty much skipped this year because everyone around me already has their Christmas decorations up. This is a problem. Thanksgiving is a holiday too, people! And a good one! Has anyone else noticed this? What do you think?

However, I have been struggling a lot with one thing this week, not related to the Thanksgiving/Christmas battle, school, or the stress that comes with it: my weight. 

Pretty much every women and some men struggle with this topic. I have always struggled with it. I'm really upset with myself right now because I love to snack, even when I'm not hungry, and that snacking is leading to some unwanted weight gain.

I originally lost about 27 pounds, but now I've gained some back to where I've only lost about 15 pounds. Still a good amount to lose, but I'm frustrated. The thing is, I don't have much time to work out unless I wake up at 6:45am (and I DONT want to do that...), and when I could work out I'm extremely lazy and would rather lot. Plus it's hard to fit into my busy schedule.

Then there's the problem of my continuous snacking. I just love food so much that I constantly want to eat! It's terrible! I've been trying my best to stop this problem and take control back, but it's not easy. What to do? Has anyone else had similar problems? 


I have another struggle I've been debating: whether or not to stay "vegan." I love food, and I want to taste things... although I really enjoy being vegan and I know all of the health benefits, I want to forgo the label and just call myself a vegetarian. I would be trying to still eat as healthfully as possible and would still be eating and using many vegan products, with the occasional bit of dairy in my diet. I've already been doing it recently - been calling myself "95% vegan" and indulging in small bits of dairy-filled foods daily. I feel like just trying to eat as healthfully as possible is fine as long as I don't eat tons of dairy all the time. What do you guys think? Has anyone else been through this struggle?

How do you prevent yourself from overeating/constantly snacking? 
What do you think of the battle between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Have struggled with the "vegan" label? 
Much love,

Pity Parties and Shopping Trips

As mentioned briefly on my last What I Ate Wednesday post, I broke up with my boyfriend of nearly 2 years (1 year and 8 months) on Labor Day. It was NOT easy. Not in the slightest. 

The truth is, I think this is just the best thing for the both of us. Even if he doesn't realize it right now, there is someone better and more perfect for him out there than me. He and I are just two different people. I have changed completely since we started dating and now am now a totally different person. I can't help it. But I'm proud of who I am now and, although this decision was a tough one, I have to hold my ground.

I've been praying about what to do for a while now. I've been asking God to show me what He wants me to do with my life, and although I think there have been obvious signs of God telling me to do this, I haven't exactly been the best listener. I had my entire life planned out: getting married, having kids, where we would live, and how we would build our house from the ground up and be rather wealthy from his aerospace engineering job. 

The truth is, I'm really scared of giving up that plan. Now my future is unsure and I don't know where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do. However, I do know that God has a plan for me. Which is why I decided to do something that I have never done before. I've decided to take a leap of faith and jump into the unknown.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:11-13

It was while reading and praying over this passage that I decided to take that leap of faith into the unknown. Yeah, I don't know my future. And I'm really scared about that. But I know that God has a plan for me, and to find out what that plan is, I need to give up the plans I had for myself. 

I want to be loved. I want to be held. And kissed. And given flowers and taken out dinner. But these things aren't worth it when you realize that you have to keep trying to make yourself be in love. I love him, but I've changed. I'm not a party girl. I'm not super liberal anymore like I used to be. I want to be true to myself and to God. I feel this is what I should be doing. 

I type this now as I'm really struggling to cope with the situation. I want life to go back to being easy and fun and carefree like it was when we first started dating. I want him in my life. He's a good guy. But this is not where I want to be in life. I need to take time for myself to explore my feelings, meet people, and be carefree again. No more worrying or fighting or pretending. Just me, being myself. Eventually, we will both heal from our brokenness. It WILL take a LOT of time. But I'm willing to take that time. It is necessary in all things. I hope we can still be friends, but if that's what will hinder us from healing, then I'm okay (well, not really, but I'll be okay with it eventually) with putting our friendship on hold. We need to do what we need to do.

On Tuesday, my friends Elizabeth and Stephanie took me out to Yogurt Vi for frozen yogurt/sorbet. It was delicious. And I needed some time away to focus on friends and having fun. Then we went shopping at Urban Outfitters, AKA BEST STORE EVER. Also very expensive, but still awesome.

I bought new nail polish! These two colors plus a dark purpley color. Sooo pretty.

My new favorite shoes. I love them. They are like the cheap version of adorable slip on Keds.
Plus, they are yellow. And have flowers. Double win.

These are cotton mary janes. SO COMFORTABLE! Not the cutest shoes ever
but they are really comfy and totally worth the 2 for $20 price tag.

My second pair of mary janes!

All my pretty bottles of nail polish!

This whole experience has definitely taught me who my friends are. The people who care the most. The people who hugged me and let me cry to them and vent about my feelings. The people who ate lunch with me to ask me how I'm doing. The people who knew, even from me just walking into the room, that I was not okay. I love my friends.

Make sure you know who has your back. They will be the ones who are there for you for life and will help you through the rough times. In the end, that's all you can ask for: a support group, your strong foundation to keep you grounded. 

Stay true to who you are. It's tough, but it's the right thing to do. 

Much love,