Greetings all! It’s been awhile, but never fear the blogging bug has bit me again.

Today I wanted to talk about what I’ve learned in 2012 and why I’m choosing to try and limit my time on social media. So, let’s jump right in.

New Years always causes us to take stock of our lives.  We think about what we’ve learned, mistakes we’ve made, and most importantly, what we want to change about ourselves. Personally, I’ve never been a big resolutions person. I never really saw the point in them. Sure, I had my secret, ‘I’m going to try and get healthy and lose weight,’ resolution. Everyone usually does and I’m starting to think that was part of my problem.

He can save me anytime he wants. Just saying.

This year, I really took a lot of time to sit and think about my life, what I had accomplished, and what I didn’t like about it. Normally, I would have never done such an in depth study on my own life, but for some reason I thought it was time. I was also inspired by watching Smallville over the Christmas holidays. Now, I know this sounds nerdy or weird, but come on people. It’s Superman! Clark Kent had to go through so much in his life leading up until the time he put on the cape, and there are a lot of lessons that can be taken from that show.

One of the biggest lessons I took from Smallville was letting go of the past.

This one is really important. For so long I have let my past define who I was. In other words, I let death define me. Now, I’ve written about death a lot on my blog, but I don’t think I ever really understood my obsession with it. I always thought about death and dying. I know this is normal to an extent, but after loosing a family member so suddenly I just couldn’t get a handle on how I really felt about it or how my life changed because of it.

Basically, I measured my life in two parts: Before my step fathers death and afterwards. That is how I saw myself. Not Whitney, the girl that loves to read and write and watch movies on Saturdays. No, I was after death Whitney. The walking wounded, if you will. I became so aware of my own mortality that I was consumed by fear. Believe me, two and a half years of a mind set like this is not good for you. All I did was worry, worry, worry. I forgot who I was and how to be truly happy.

Sometimes, you just have to let go of your past. You never forget the things that happened, but you let them flow away from you. It’s not like you can actually go back and change anything. We’re not Time Lords for god’s sake. We’re people. We make mistakes, we get hurt, and sometimes we lose the people we love the most. These are the scars we must bare in our lives. But, you know what? They make us so much stronger.

There is just no sense for me to worry about the past anymore because its over. Just like there is no real sense to worry about the future because it hasn’t happened yet. Again, we’re not Time Lords!

Another lesson that I have also learned is just to stop caring what other people think. Seriously, I am just so tired of always thinking that I need to lose weight, or that I some how don’t live up to some expectation that I have inevitably created for myself and projected on another person who probably never thought that about me in the first place. It’s just a waste of time and energy.

Instead of saying, I have a resolution to lose weight because that’s just how most of us think of ourself, I set out this year with goals. I have a goal of being healthier by not eating gluten anymore, not matter how hard that is because I love cookies. I have a goal to compete in a powerlifting meet. I don’t care about weight anymore, I just want to be stronger. This perspective shift has made my life less stressful and way more enjoyable.

Now where exactly does social media come into play?

Well, over the last few years I’ve noticed myself checking my Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr more and more. I would waste so much time just sitting there staring at other people who were either bitching about some aspect of their lives or posting 80 million pictures of themselves in their cars or in front of the mirror. Seriously, what’s happening to us? Why do we feel the need to post every thought and emotion online? Why are people still feeling so alone in the real world while they desperately reach out for attention online? I just don’t understand anymore. I even realized the other day that checking Facebook is more of a daily habit than going to workout now. How sad is that? Just think about all the time we waste staring at other peoples lives.

We’re watching people’s lives on TV, bitching about it on facebook, posting about it on twitter, and taking a picture of it and putting it on sites like imgur. We are always so connected that we are actually disconnected for the world around us.

So, I said enough is enough. I stopped blogging, tumblring, and tweeting. I stopped posting on facebook and have tried to decreased the amount of time I sit looking at it. In fact, I realized that I end up calling or texting my friends more than talking to them on Facebook. SO WHY AM I WASTING SO MUCH TIME LOOKING AT PEOPLE I DON’T REALLY GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT???

Welcome to the 21st century, I guess.

Going on a social media diet has actually been really nice. I can sit and watch TV most times without needing to be on the computer or on my phone. I can actually relax without needing to look at three screens. I’ve even started writing again, because I wanted too. Not because the idea of me being a writer causes me to write and then seeing writers talk about writing and tweet about writing make me feel bad about not doing it. (If that makes sense to anyone)

I even stopped reading a lot of the writing magazines and articles I read regularly. I got tired of people telling me how to write or what I should be doing and how I should be doing. I forgot that we write because we love it. Plain and simple. That is why I tried to keep reading a lot of the blogs I follow. We are all on wordpress blogging about writing because we love it. We are passionate about it. We don’t need people in the dreaded publishing industry to tell us what’s what. We are writers because it’s part of who we are.

This new perspective allowed me to start enjoying myself again. In fact, after getting advice from many of you lovely bloggers, I started getting back into a lot of my old hobbies and it’s been great. I feel like I can finally start to focus on what’s in front of my without my brain jumping around constantly.

So, that’s what I’ve learned this year. What about all of you out there? Did you have any big break throughs or inspirations? Leave a comment if you have time and tell me about it.

I hope everyone is having a good day! Hopefully I will see you soon.

Reblogged from Strong-Fit-Beautiful:

I hear it all the time. “I don’t lift, because I don’t want to get big.” Ladies … please stop using this excuse. It’s invalid, and it makes you sound clueless.

It’s amazing that this misconception continues to run rampant in gyms all over the world. Ladies, picking up a weight over 5 lbs. (and that isn’t pink) is not going to make you “big.” As a girl with a body that puts muscle on pretty easily, I can honestly say that no matter how hard and how often I’ve lifted throughtout the last 10 years, I have yet to take on the shape of a bodybuilder.

Read more… 73 more words

Reblogged from Celiac and Allergy Adventures:

A while back, Courtney suggested that I try Seeds of Change Tikka Masala sauce. She said she usually just sticks it in a crock pot with some chicken and that it always comes out great.  I tried it recently and it was pretty good!  I was home and not in the mood for the crock pot, so I cut the chicken into 1″ cubes, cooked it, added the sauce and let simmer for a bit. 

Read more… 147 more words

So, you want to lose weight. You’ve made the decision. You’ve dusted off your running shoes. You’ve stepped on the scale, winced, and then stepped on it again just to make sure that number is accurate. We’ve all been there.

Over the summer I had a goal of losing all the weight I had gained during the previous school semesters. I buckled down, work out hard, and said good bye to my favorite comfort-junk foods. And then something amazing happened, I met my goal.

Currently, I am attempting to shed a few more pounds to get down to a certain weight class for raw power lifting. Even thought I won’t be competing for a while, I still want to get down and feel comfortable at that weight.

The real question here is, how do you successfully lose weight? What are the tips and tricks?

The answer to these questions is, there isn’t any easy way to lose weight. There are NO easy tips or tricks to dropping a few pounds.

Let me explain.

Using flat flush drinks, and I mean the ones that have apple, cinnamon, or cucumber  lemon, and ginger, aren’t going to make you lose fat. You will drink all that water, end up in the bathroom, and drop your water weight. That’s its.

Also, all the spot training work outs that are floating around out there probably won’t work either. By this I mean those workouts that target your “trouble areas.” I don’t believe in these types of workouts that are guaranteed to give you six pack abs or sexy arms. There is research out there that supports spot training workouts and research that believes these workouts do absolutely nothing. I’m from the school of thought that believe’s it’s useless.

When people ask me how to workout or how I lost weight, I always tell them to do full body workouts. Don’t just lay on the floor and do a variety of crunches, get on the treadmill and walk at a 7 incline or get in the weight room and train.

See, you have to do workouts that challenge your body and promote the most fat loss possible. That is why I lift weights.

In a normal weight lifting session I squat, dead lift, bench press, over head press, and do barbell rows. Depending on how I feel each day, I may change things up, but I always include a squat, a push, and a pull. These types of routines work your entire body.

But, if weight lifting isn’t for you, try something you enjoy. Walk on a treadmill and try to go for the highest incline your body can handle. This will work your biggest muscle group which will then increase your ability to lose more fat. If you life running, try sprinting exercises that focuses on interval training.

If you are just getting back in too working out, just do something. Walk, jog, ride a bike, or workout with dumbells. If you want to get back in to shape you need to be working out consistently. You cannot go to the gym or workout once or twice a week and expect the weight to just fall off. It takes work and dedication to make your body change for the better.

No amount of gimmicky workouts will get the same amount of results as a full body workout. And more importantly, don’t set your fitness goals on wanting six pack abs or sculpted arms and legs. Results like that take a lot of time and work. If you are trying to lose a significant amount of weight, 6 weeks to six pack abs won’t help you reach your goals in the long run. So, just do the hard work to get the results.

What about diet?

Here is the best piece of fitness advice I’ve ever heard: Get in shape in the gym, lose weight in the kitchen.

I cannot explain to you how true this is. I could never lose the amount of weight I wanted too, until I got my diet in check.  I see people I know complain about how they are not getting the results they expected from working out. They count calories, but don’t realize that their diet is atrocious.

Losing weight is not as simple as calories in versus calories out, in my opinion of course. It comes down to the kinds of food you are eating. Eating 3, 100 calorie packs as a snack everyday is not going to help you lose weight. My friends would say to me, “but it’s only a hundred calories.” So what? Look at the nutritional facts on these supposedly healthy foods. They are filled with carbs and sugar. People might as well stick their head in a bag of sugar and save themselves the time.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat real food. Throw the “diet” food out. No slim fast, no diet bars, and no diet microwave meals.  If you look at whats in these foods you would be astonished that they are filled with crap.

Would you rather eat a weight watchers meal filled with pasta and highly processed tomato sauce and cheese? Or, would you rather eat a grilled chicken breast with a mixed green salad with olive oil on top that you made yourself?

I would take the chicken breast any day. If you eat real food, you take your body back to basics. You save yourself from ingesting all of the chemicals and hormones that are found in many food we eat everyday. If you eat meat, try to get grass fed or free range if it’s available to you. This type of meat means that you’re actually eating a real cow and a real chicken, not some part of an industrial machine that spent it’s life eating antibiotics and nasty grains.  I also advocate buying locally if you can or having a garden.

If you put good fuel in your body you will get good results back.

The easiest way to loose weight is to eat real foods and cut the junk. That means fruits, veggies, dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt), and meat are in (if you choose to eat meat, a vegetarian diet is different from this). Stop consuming high carb, high calorie, food from a box. And PLEASE stop eating bread and pasta. Just stop. Wheat pasta is not a “flat belly” food. Whole grains do not keep you “fuller longer.” Seriously, cut the wheat out of your diet and see what happens. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

If you want to lose weight you have to do it in the kitchen. This means you also have to cook for yourself and stop relying on fast foods. And yes, you do have time to cook. Even I used to say I didn’t, but if you take one day a week and cook yourself meals for the whole week, you won’t be as tempted to eat out. Also, stop buying crappy foods. Fill your kitchen with real whole foods and you will not be as tempted to eat a box of cookies because you just don’t have in within reach.

Remember, food is fuel. It’s not your friend. Sure, eating baked goods or pasta or pizza is fine once in a while, but ultimately you have to ignore peer pressure and do something good for yourself.

If you want to lose weight you have to do the work in the gym and in the kitchen. Your goals are completely attainable if you believe they are. You have to have enough respect and love for yourself to make the decision to change your life for the better. It will be hard, there will be blood, sweat, and tears involved. But, in the end, your life will be so much more worthwhile when you are healthy enough to enjoy it to the fullest.

I hope everyone is having a nice Sunday and I will see you all next week.

This week I wanted to talk about bad fitness and health advice that is swirling around out there in the world. Now remember, I’m not a nutritionist. I’m simply a person who is doing research on food, what it does to our body, and current diets out there. I’m going to start working towards getting my personal training license and then hopefully my yoga licenses.

So again, take my opinions with a grain of salt.

I’ve recently started weight lifting again and it has been glorious. After taking a few months off from lifting to pursue running, I didn’t realize how much I had missed it until I was back in the gym.

Running was very hard on my body. I was constantly fighting with tendon issues and knee problems. I was hurting all the time and I just wasn’t enjoying it. Frankly, I had been warned this would happen. I don’t have the body of a long distance runner. I’m short and I have a bigger lower body. Basically, I’m great a sprinting. So, back to the weights I went.

After being in the gym for a few days, I started noticing that there were more girls lifting weights. However, most of them were doing the stereotypical “girl” workouts. Let me explain.

You see, there is a myth out there that says women will bulk up if they lift heavy weights. So, women have been told to lift light weights and do high reps. So, I see some girls in the gym lifting 5 pound and 7 pound weights. They do it over and over and yet see no significant change to their body. I also fell victim to this mindset. I used to lift 5 pound weights to try and make my arms look better and yet nothing ever changed.

In fact, I have never seen such a significant difference in my body until I lifted heavy. I lost fat from my arms and my legs have significantly toned up. I have lost belly fat and gained ab muscles without doing ab workouts. But, why is this?

Heavier weights, which is a weight that you could not perform more than 10 reps, tear down your muscle fibers faster than light weight. This will then help you build muscles faster and as a result will speed up your metabolism and aid in fat loss. The more lean muscle you build, the higher your metabolism will be, and the more fat you will be able to loose.

Now, lets look at cardio workouts and weight loss.

Running on a treadmill or being on an elliptical will not change your body as much or as fast as lifting heavy weights. Building up your muscles with weight lifting will also speed up your metabolism for longer periods of time. Cardio workouts increase your metabolism only during the actual workout and then will return to normal after your workout. Cardio also encourages your body to over eat afterward to make up for the metabolism spike you just experienced.

While you will experience a metabolism spike during a weight workout, it is not as high and remains consistent. As a result, you will be able to loose more fat because your body has not been shocked into over compensation. Weight training also allows the body to take nutrients from your food and build more muscle instead of storing them as fat which, as a result will increase your metabolism. Cardio work outs will encourage the body to use nutrients to replenish the glycogen or the carbohydrates used to power your muscles, that you lost during your workout. This process does not raise the metabolism.

Now, I’m not saying that cardio is all bad. But, if you are trying to lose weight, lifting heavy will allow you to do this in a more efficient and productive way. You will get more out of a weight lifting session than spending 30 minutes huffing it on  the treadmill.

Knowing all this and seeing girls still lifting a five pound weight makes me want to scream. I also believe that this idea of women “bulking up” causes women to believe that muscles are bad and it’s just not true.

You will not bulk up like a man because you do not have the amount of testosterone it takes to get that big. If you see a woman body builder who is huge and basically has no boobs, it is because she it using other things to help her bulk up, in addition to working out. By this I mean she is taking supplements and is eating a very specific diet.

Most body builders who are women retain a feminine body shape and are no where near as big as a male body builder.

I believe we have this idea that weight lifting will bulk women up for many reasons, including the media. Nowadays a lot of people want to be super skinny because that’s what they think is sexy. So, if you want to be skinny lift light weights, do a lot of cardio,  and eat a low fat, low calorie diet.

This is just plain stupid. Most people will never be super skinny like a model because they are just not built that way. Models generally have the same body type: tall and skinny. That’ just how they are. No amount of cardio and light weights will make you look like this.

So, you might as well accept your body for what it is and make it the best it can be.

Weight lifting can give you self esteem. How? Well, from personal experience, squatting 100 pounds will make you feel strong and capable of almost anything. In fact, feeling stronger has made me feel better about myself. If I can dead lift 130 pounds I can get through almost anything. If my body and mind are capable of lifting heavy weights, than I am capable of getting through the hard parts of my life. If you don’t believe me than try it. I promise you will feel different after you lift heavy the first time. Women are capable of so much more than they give us credit for.

Now finally, what do people eat when they lift heavy?

As with any question about diet you may get 100 different answers. However most people that are body builders advocate a diet of lean meat, veggies, and generally eat a low amount of carbs. I also believe this diet works.

After a few months of eating a low carb, high protein diet, I had finally gotten to a weight I was comfortable with. In fact I felt better and looked better too. I’ve talked about it before, but it really does work.

That fact is, you don’t need the amount of carbs that most people, including our government say you need. The 1980′s brought us the war on fact and calories and since then people have increased their consumption of whole grains because they are “healthier.” I think this is ridiculous. Whole grains are carbs. In fact they are just like the “bad” carbs everyone tries not to eat, like cookies, cakes, and pasta. So why is whole grains better? If you compare the labels there is not that much different from “whole” grain bread and white bread accept some fiber. Most “healthy” whole grain cereals are just as bad as all the other cereals out there. Please explain to me why Fruit Loops are healthy because they are whole grain, when they are packed with sugar and food coloring.

Whole wheat pasta is no better than white pasta, again expect for some fiber. If you really want to lose weight stop eating bread, cereal, pasta, and other foods from grains. It’s just not worth it if you are serious about losing weight. Whole grain foods will spike your blood sugar just as much as a soda will. They will cause your blood sugar to spike and then fall, causing you to eat more to make up for it. Then you will eat more carbs and continue on in the same never ending cycle of high blood sugar spikes and then a drop into the low blood sugar range that will make you angry, tired, and craving all the wrong things.

Also, if you believe the idea that whole grains keep you fuller longer, drink a protein shake or eat three eggs and drink a glass of milk. I guarantee you will feel better and be fuller longer that eating toast or oatmeal.

So, these are just some of my thoughts on some fitness myths out there. What do you think about some of these issues? Leave me a comment if you have time.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday and I will see you in a few days.

I’ve been absent from writing for two months and I’m way behind on writing my thesis. My life has just been out of balance for a while now, especially considering the health problems I’ve been having. Instead of diving into my thesis, my brain has yet again checked out and gone on an early Christmas Holiday.

If you’ve read my blog since I first started back in April, you know I’ve struggled with many things. The sudden loss of my step father two years ago (I still can’t believe its been two years) destroyed my world. I put off grieving for almost a year until I hit bottom. Basically, my brain had checked out. It hid away, refusing to deal with anything other than the monotony of everyday life. I got up, went to work, went to school, and did homework. That’s it.

Now, I’ve come such a long way and I’ve gotten to a new happy place in my life. However, I still find my brain checking out when somethings gets hard. It’s so frustrating because I’ve never had this problem before. I always dealt with things, tried to learn from them, and moved on. I learned to do this growing up because most of my family didn’t. They weren’t good with their emotions and some still aren’t. I strove to be different and to be strong and independent. Then death inevitably happened.

I just find it so weird that I’ve developed this habit of checking out mentally and the fact that I can’t seem to shake it. Checking out was easier than grieving so I suppose my brain reverts back to that feeling whenever I get stressed.

Thinking about writing, whether its my own work or my thesis stresses me out. I immediately think about all the work involved and then think of never finishing. I read all of your progress about participating in NaNoWriMo (spelling?) and constantly filling up notebooks and then I look at my own work and I’ve done . . . nothing.

Then I think to myself, ‘am I really a writer? Should I be filling up notebooks too? So I be writing 2,000 a day?’ In terms of my thesis, I chastise myself for not being nearly done with my first chapter. The crazy thing is, I know what I want to say in my thesis. All I have to do is write it. That’s it.

All of this was on my mind this morning as I sat and drank my coffee. I started to wonder if I should just write and see what happens or wait until my mind is in a better place. I know some people would say just write and get it all out. But, I think that might be a little disastrous. I feel like I would immediately hate everything I wrote and end up deleting it. So, the question is to write or not to write?

Have any of you gone through something like this? What are your thoughts?

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. I will be posting another installment of Thor Thursday tomorrow.

That’s right everyone! Thor Thursday is back on a special day this week since I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday.

As of last week, I found out I needed to go gluten free. Last weekend I was at a turkey fry for an organization I’m in and was met with my first temptation.

BEER.

That’s right everyone. I’m from the South and I like beer, especially craft beers. Each year, for about two months, a delightful thing happens, Shiner Cheer comes out. Now, if you’ve never had Shiner Cheer then you are missing out.  So, despite what my doctor told me, I drank two beers over the course of the day. Then I decided to be a real renegade and eat a roll. I know, I’m a wild child.

Despite how terrible it made me feel . . . I REGRET NOTHING. TRY THE CHEER!

Now let me explain the error of my ways so you don’t make the same mistakes.

To many of you out there that might be unfamiliar with gluten intolerance or Celiac disease, basically wheat and gluten in any form (its also found in other grains, specifically ones that are used to brew most beers) damage the lining of your small intestines. The only cure for these ailments is to stop eating gluten and let your intestines heal themselves. However, if you are not diagnosed or choose to ignore your symptoms, your body can and will fight back. Over time, your body will begin to respond is a variety of ways. (I will post a great website with information about this.) Personally, I get stomach aches, asthma symptoms, and more recently acid reflux. I’ve also had other weird symptoms that have sprouted up lately such as abnormally itchy skin (yes I do wear lotion, even a special kind for people with eczema), migraines, and chronic fatigue.

After going through some testing with my doctor, we determined that wheat and gluten needed to go. One of the main indications that gluten was my problem were two different instances in my life. The first, was over the summer I went carb free and by extension wheat/gluten free. After doing this for a while, I felt great. My asthma was more in check, my stomach problems were gone and I could eat cheese again. When I did eat bread during certain occasions when it was my only food choice,  I would just feel kind of sick for a day or so and then okay when I went back to my diet. When I started running and slowly started adding in carbs into my diet such as bread and pasta that’s when all of my troubles started.

The second indication was a few years ago when I believed in the idea that whole grains are “good” for you and greatly increased my intake of them. I was sick for almost an entire summer. I could barely eat without getting sick, but when I kicked the whole grains and went back to my regular diet, my problems eventually went away.

After trying to stay as wheat/gluten free as possible for the last two weeks, I was finally starting to feel better. I could actually eat full meals again. Then the beer came.

I woke up on Sunday with bad asthma symptoms, heartburn that would set a forest on fire, and stomach aches.

So, where do I go from here?

First, I have to cut the gluten completely out of my diet. That means, no bread, wheat based pasta, cereal, cookies, cake, pie, pastries. All things delicious on Thanksgiving are out. Wheat flour and gluten are in a lot of things people don’t realize. Think about it. Chips, soups, sauces, salad dressings, granola, and so on and so on. Gluten is even hidden in a lot of foods as a thickener. It’s even in candy like twizzlers. TWIZZLERS. I’ve been chomping down on those at work since Halloween.

What can I eat? Rice, quinoa, rice noodles, meats, veggies, cheese, milk, fruit, and eggs. There is also a myriad of gluten free food. Chex cereals have quite a few gluten free varieties. Enjoy Life, is a great brand for people with food allergies and intolerances. Amy’s has gluten free mac and cheese, pizza, and other microwaveable foods. There are gluten free breads, pastry mixes and much more. However, be careful when you turn to the gluten free market. Read the labels and be aware of the high amount of carbs in a lot of the pastries that are gluten free. I’ve seen upwards of 55 mg of carbs per serving.

I’ve also utilized almond and coconut flours. I can make cookies, brownies, cake, and more with these great low carb flours. ( I have a great coconut flour chocolate chip cookie recipe if anyone is interested.)

So, you do have options when you go gluten free. This is just a very quick overview of something I could go on and on about. But, why am I telling you this?

Because, taking care of your body is important. Just because your food choices may seem limited over the holidays, it really isn’t. You just have to approach a gluten free lifestyle in a different way. Yes, if will suck when everyone gets to eat cake on Thanksgiving, but maybe you can make your own cake and not suffer from the side effects of your gluten intolerance.

More important than food choices, get educated! Know your food labels and know what brands are safe. Don’t be afraid to speak up in restaurants and ask for gluten free menus. The godairyfree.com website has a food allergy guide to eating out that has helped me out a lot.

The holidays can still be a fabulous time with fabulous eating and drinking. (Remember, wine, liquor, and hard ciders are gluten free )

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday. I will be posting again next week unless I am overcome with inspiration over the Thanksgiving break.

Resources for Gluten Intolerances and other Food Allergy/ Intolerances:

Go Dairy Free 

Celiac Disease Foundation

Wellness Mama 

Comfy Belly: Healthy Recipes and Treats

Chocolate and Carrots 

Products: (Just to name a few)

Amy’s

Enjoy Life

Udi’s

Chex

Bob’s Red Mill

Pamela’s Products

Related articles

• Symptoms of Gluten Allergy (naturalhealthezine.com)
• Giving Up the Obvious Gluten….. Now What??? (sherryfredley.com)
• Thankful for a gluten-free feast (dailyherald.com)
• Gluten Free Thanksgiving Recipes (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Who Would Have Thought That Gluten Free Pancakes CAN Taste Good?! (itsnotafashionstatement.com)
• Are You Gluten Intolerant or Are You A Faddist? (gonzogourmands.com)

Just Kidding . . . but seriously.

Not writing for the last few months or so has been . . . weird. I thought I wouldn’t be bothered by it, but I realized that something was definitely missing in my life. My Mom noticed this as well. She actually asked me if I was writing and when I said no, she informed me that I should be. She thinks that I need to write because it just makes me happier and less stressed out.

She’s probably right because she’s Mom.

I also noticed how much more I thought about writing when I wasn’t actually writing. One day I was running and using the Zombies, Run! App, (If you don’t have it you should buy it. It’s so much fun.) and found myself thinking about a new character that popped into my mind. Way back in September I mentioned my new interests in zombies and my new character definitely reflects that. Jade, is a fearless scavenger during the zombie apocalypse. Then more characters began popping up as I out ran my own fictitious zombies.

As the weeks have drug on, I’ve continued to think about Jade and another character who has not yet been named. I’ve thought about the world they live in and the beings and monsters that live in their world as well. I’ve even started watching The Walking Dead and other sci-fi shows with monsters just to feed my need to live in Jades world and more importantly understand it.

The funny thing is, I haven’t written anything down. I usually scribble notes down when I’m satisfied with an idea I’ve been thinking about, but currently I’ve just been living in Jades world when I have a moment to think.

While my thesis has taken over my brain in the last weeks, I’ve found myself escaping as much as possible. My half marathon training, which I also mentioned in September is also over. After a few weeks of training, I started suffering from injuries and then some stomach pain. After taking a month off and dealing with doctor visits and having trouble eating in general, I found out that I had a wheat/gluten intolerance. I still have some similar symptoms to Celiac disease, but I decided to take wheat and gluten out of my diet so I didn’t have to go through more testing. So, I decided to stop running and start lifting weights again. Hopefully I will start feeling better soon.

With all of this going on, it still amazes me how much time I sit and think and about writing. It’s like I had a case of writeritius. I am still a little disgusted with the current state of the publishing industry (you’ve all read my rants about the YA takeover), so I has been nice to be off Twitter and tumblr. I think as writers who are entangled in social media need a break every so often to just relax and not constantly think about what they should do next to get their name out there. It’s actually been quite liberating.

So, that’s what writers do when they don’t write. What do you do when you don’t write? Let me know in the comments if you have time.

I hope everyone is having a nice Friday and will have an even better weekend.

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss all of my blogger buddies and I apologize for not keeping up with all of you. I’ve had a lot going on, including my thesis proposal . . . PASSING!

That’s right. I am officially writing my thesis and forgetting all about my blogging duties. Believe it or not, I’m already behind and currently swamped with freshman exams. I know, it sounds fun right?

TOMORROW, I will be POSTING and actual BLOG post. I promise!

What are all of you out there up too? Are you working on anything new? Please let me know in the comments if you have time! I hope everyone is having a good Thursday.

Now, back to grading.

I didn’t realize how long it’s been since my last post. My apologizes for falling off the face of the Earth for a little while, but a lot has been going on!

As you probably know if you read my blog regularly, I’m currently working on my thesis. Well, after toiling and struggling for months, I’ve finally completed my proposal! Huzzah! Next week I will be defending my proposal and will FINALLY, well HOPEFULLY be able to start writing my thesis. FINALLY. THE TIME HAS COME.

I am beyond excited. I’ve worked so hard on my topic, which is looking at gender roles in America Wicca, it’s nice to finally see the blood (from all those paper cuts), sweat (maybe not sweat), and tears pay off. But, I could not have made it this far without a thesis director and a committee that really believed in my unconventional topic. So, as you can probably tell now, my thesis has been taking up most of my time.

BUT, I also have another exciting announcement!

I’m running the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

That’s right. I’m finally making one of my dreams come true. I’ve been wanting to run a marathon for a few years now and I just decided to go for it. With the help of my boyfriend (personal trainer extraordinaire), I will be training hard for the next few months.

So as you can see, all of my time is devoted to running and my thesis.

But, what about writing?

Well, my writing has been pushed to the back burner for the time being. I’ve been thinking about those two ideas I posted about a few weeks ago and I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with them. The problem I’ve faced this semester is that I just don’t have the mental capacity to work on my thesis, grade tests and quizzes, and work on Rain.

My WIP has a complicated plot that will require more time and energy than I have to give right now. So, I’ve shifted focus to another idea I’ve had for a while now that will be much easier to maintain and work on with my busy schedule.

So, that’s where I’ve been the last few weeks. I will hopefully be able to start posting twice a week again once the mid-semester testing craze is over with. (as I type this I am ignoring a stack of blue books that need to be graded)

What have all of you been up to lately? Anything new and exciting? Tell me about it if you have time.

I hope everyone is having a good Friday!