2020 Health & Wellness
Ever since I started working (#adulting), health & exercise have definitely fallen off my priority list. The last 2 years in particular, have been incredibly busy and stressful (à la diary post), between commuting almost 4 hours to work each day and the unhealthy environment of my workplace. That lifestyle definitely affected my mind, my skin (I have never had a problem with breakouts until 2019), and my sanity.
I am so grateful that coming into 2020, I’ve started a new job closer to home that allows me room to pursue a healthier lifestyle. In addition to eating well and exercising, I also started to pay more attention to how I manage my stress and anxiety.
Some fun ways I’ve incorporated health & wellness into my life are:
I’ve discovered how nice it is to pamper myself with a day at the spa. SoJo Spa Club in Edgewater, NJ is one of my favorite places to go if I’m looking for a getaway that’s not too far from home. It’s a multi-level spa with baths, saunas, pools, and therapy rooms. With the general admission, you get access to all the baths, pools (can’t forget the Instagrammable rooftop infinity pool), and saunas. You can also opt to purchase and reserve massage/facial/body scrub packages. People literally spend all day here: lounging around in their robes, sunbathing on the rooftop garden, or snacking at the food court.
I’ve starting attending a weekly barre class (basically a yoga/ballet/strength training hybrid) at my gym. Not only is it a great way to burn off fat, but it also helps with flexibility and strengthening your core. Studio classes like barre and zumba are a great alternative to weight or cardio machines.
Barre studio class with my cute little yoga socks!
One of my goals for this year is to begin taking better care of my body, especially what I put in it. I do not like fad diets, nor do I believe in their efficacy. I also don’t believe in just completely cutting certain things out of my diet (i.e. carbs). Thankfully, I don’t have any food allergies, so it’s a bit easier to pick and choose healthy alternatives. I personally really like fruits and vegetables, so eating fresh and nutritious foods is not too difficult. What’s difficult is choosing a piece of fruit over a cookie and choosing to cut back on those snacks. I don’t eat very big meals at a time, but I do eat very frequently, which makes me an easy target of over-snacking. If I’m craving something sweet and guilt-free, I will opt for my favorite French yogurt instead. Tim & I started these invisible teeth aligners late last year (I never had braces before, but I just wanted to have generally straighter teeth for, you know, wedding photos!), and that has curbed some of my snacking. We must take them off to eat, brush after every meal, and keep them in for at least 22 hours a day. Unfortunately, my evil mastermind body has adapted and found ways to work around this. Either keep my aligners out for way too long, or try to get away with drinking smoothies with them on.. facepalm.
ANYWAYS. I’ve found that what works for me is portion control. Instead of finishing all the food in front of me, I will stop eating when I still feel comfortable. I naturally cannot eat a lot of food in one sitting anyway, but I’ve found that when I tell myself to stop eating before I feel full, there is less chance of bloating (and self loathing) afterwards. Also related to portion control is frequency of meals/snacks. If I know I get hungry easily, I will keep little packs of saltine crackers or pistachios or ginger candies (which, BTW, are great for headaches) in my bag. Otherwise, I will get hangry. My mom actually got me a shirt that says “#HANGRY” ~
XO.