I’m all about NOT comparing yourself to others, because in a lot of instances, people who do that end up tearing themselves down emotionally and picking out every little flaw about themselves. Plus, it’s so much better for everyone if you are able to do what YOU know is right for YOU … and it doesn’t have to be the right decision for everyone.
All that said, though, I thought this article from Mark’s Daily Apple was very interesting. In case you don’t click over, here’s the jist of it: while we feel negative about many things when we’re self-comparing, we actually rate ourselves as more healthy than we really are when we compare to others. Mark says,
“We think we’re healthier than we actually are, have less weight to lose than we actually should, and are more physically fit than the previous generations.”He encourages us to take a real look at what we’re eating, how we’re exercising, and how well we’re treating our bodies. So now, I pass along the challenge to you … are you as healthy as you want to be? What can you do this week to improve yourself? (Tell me in the comments!)
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Liebster Award
Last week, I got the huge pleasure of being nominated for a Liebster Award by a fellow blogger, Clara from Southern Thintellect (she has a great blog!). The award gives you the opportunity to answer a few fun questions, then pass along the love by nominating a few other small-ish (but awesome!) blogs. So, here we go! Here are the rules:
- Acknowledge the nominating blogger (Thank you, Clara!)
- Share a few random facts about yourself (I’m only sharing 5 instead of 11, and only nominating 5 bloggers instead of 11, just to keep this post shorter)
- Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you (see below)
- Nominate a few bloggers who inspire you (but aren’t too huge … yet! The “rules” state that they should have less than 200 followers … but I had a hard time judging that. My Facebook followers are a lot different from my Twitter/ Instagram/ Pinterest followers, and my Google Analytics would show a different number all together. So I imagine that’s the same for everyone. I basically just chose some blogs that I love, that I know are not massive, but are pretty awesome!)
- Post 5 questions for the bloggers that you nominated to answer.
- Let all of the bloggers know that they’ve been nominated. You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you.
5 Random Facts About Myself
- I love crossword puzzles, even though I rarely do them anymore. I once placed in a crossword puzzle competition (with Will Shortz!!) while I was in college. I know … nerd alert!!
- I always like to end my runs on an even mile (or 0.5 mile) if I have time/ energy. I’ll often circle around a parking lot or run back and forth looking ridiculous, just so I have an even number on my Garmin!
- I much prefer sliced apples to whole apples, and I like to slice them really thinly so I get a ton of bites. I also sprinkle them with cinnamon – give it a try!
- One of my pet peeves is when people chew super loudly, crunch unnecessarily, slurp, or eat with their mouth wide open. I’m trying to get better at being annoyed by this :). My other main pet peeve is when people say “meet me at 7am in the morning” or “10pm at night” … you don’t need to say am/ pm and “in the morning” or “at night!”
- Kevin (my husband) and I met on move-in day of college … and started dating 2 weeks later! We’re coming up on 10 years together in a few weeks.
My Answers to Clara’s Questions
- Do you prefer morning, afternoon or evening workouts? If I had my way, I’d work out around 11am every day, after breakfast settles. But that’s not really an option with work, so I usually work out around 5:45am (besides Mondays, when it’s more like 5am, and the weekends, when it’s much later!).
- Who would play you in a movie? I have no idea, but I’ll choose who I would want to play me … Kara Goucher (if she were an actress) or Katie Holmes (before the TomKat days)
- If you could, what piece of advice would you give to your 16 year old self? It’s OK to be yourself, even if you’re not quite sure who that is right now. No need to want whatever everyone else wants!
- What’s a food you have never tried, but would like to? I’ve been seeing kohlrabi popping up around blogs lately, and it sounds interesting!
- Are you a hat person? Not really. I think I look OK in baseball caps, but I NEVER wear hats. I’m definitely not fashionable enough to pull off fashion hats!
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Who are your 2 favorite bloggers right now? I adore Peanut Butter Fingers because she’s so real and I love the success she’s had with her blog. There are probably 10 or 15 that are tied for my favorites, and I just can’t choose! I want to get a Blogroll up eventually.
- What’s your favorite fitness app? I really don’t use many fitness apps (let me know if you have suggestions!) I use MyPlate to look up nutritional information on the fly, and I also love the “Sleep Time” app, which isn’t really fitness-related, but it’s a little out of the box!
- How many pairs of running shoes do you own? I usually have 3 at a time – one old pair that I use for cross-training, and two that I rotate between for running.
- Do you have any superstitions? I love the number 7 (my birthdate!), and playing games with dates (my 5th grade teacher used to do this and it caught on!). Other than that, not really…
- If you had a warning label, what would yours say? Gets fussy if she doesn’t run for several days in a row, and needs a little bit of alone time every day!
- What are you reading? I’m reading Salt Sugar Fat and it’s super interesting.
5 Bloggers I Want to Nominate
- One I’ve been reading for a long time: Ashley from This is the Place (her weekly run recaps are so motivational!)
- A relatively new-to-me one: Kerry from The Adventures of Z&K (very relatable and fun to read!)
- A new favorite: Davida from The Healthy Maven (her blog is a little bigger than the “rules” state, but she has mouth-watering recipes and another balanced approach that I really appreciate!)
- Another new favorite: Sara from Loving on the Run (also super motivational with her running, and we have so much in common!)
- One last new one: Jillienne from Chasing Raspberries (she has a great story and my kind of recipes!)
5 Questions for These Bloggers to Answer
- Can you describe your motivation to live a healthy lifestyle in 50 words or less?
- What was your favorite vacation ever?
- What’s a food that you hate that you wish you liked?
- If you could have another job besides your current one, what would it be?
- If I could give you 5 free hours tomorrow to do whatever you wanted (with no responsibilities), what would you do?
Have a great week!!
i can’t believe you and kevin met literally day 1 of college! i met my college boyfriend soon after starting freshman year but did not last 10 years baha at ALL. i agree with you that the time you prefer to work out is not often what time you actually DO! i prefer 9-10am workouts but since i work full time 9-5 that only happens on weekends. i love your #10, i am the same way only with working out in general not running. probably just cardio in general.
Haha at least we know what our own warning labels look like :). Thanks for reading through alll those facts!
These posts are so fun because of the randomness. You learn things about people that may not come up normally. I’ve already brainstorming my responses to your questions. What would I do with 5 free hours??? Hmm…
I know … I think I made up that question because I wanted the 5 free hours for myself :)!
Thanks for the nomination Megan! I look forward to learning more about you and reading your blog! P.S. I have to cut fruit like apples and nectarines too!
No problem! You got to me before I even had the chance to notify you! I’ve been enjoying your blog for a short time, so I’m excited to continue following!
Megan!!! Thanks so much for the nomination and your kind words 🙂 I am so happy I found your blog as well and must say I find your recipes to be quite mouth-watering! Your workouts are awesome too.
So fun getting to know you better! I am excited about what’s to come with your blog…I have a feeling many pinned recipes and workouts 😉 Happy Monday!
Thanks, Davida!