Wordless Wednesday
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Category Archives: Healthy Living Summit 2011
Listen, learn, and NOM: HLS part 3
The thing about traveling is that I never quite sleep the same as at home. Add to that the fact that the following day is full of presentations, meeting people and great food and you get me half asleep and half excited at the same time. Kudos to Lauren who was part of the early morning running group. I have a lot of respect for anyone who gets up super early on vacation and do so with a significant time zone change.
After an Attune sponsored breakfast of cereal, fruit and tea, I was ready to start the day’s events. While there are numerous events sometimes they are going on at the same time. Last year I thought it would be smart to split one session in half so I could see parts of both. Bad idea. This year I had to pick one of each and just stick with it. It was hard since there were great topics being discussed. I ended up in the following. (Please search for more complete recaps on other attendee blogs for these sessions. I’ve seen some great in depth recaps.)
- Budgeting For a Healthy Lifestyle: A great discussion of tips, tricks, and the truths of how you can eat healthy. It is not impossible. It just takes a bit of planning and number crunching
- Utilizing Social Media to Network and Make Friends in Your Area: Even a chatterbox like me nears help meeting people especially when it is blog based. I loved the input on meet ups, groups and online chats that I didn’t know about beforehand.
- Blogger Safety – Sharing your life in a smart way: Eye-opening. I was extremely glad to have attended. Being cautious in your everyday life can become automatic while it can be easy not to remember this online. I came away with knowledge that I find myself using within my own blog now.
- Monetizing Your Blog (Without Selling Out): Blog meets brand meets world. While I am not looking to become a professional full-time blogger, I learned about how I can become better in terms of promoting myself, my blog and creating/strengthening ties with others.
Dawn Jackson Blatner was the Quaker keynote speaker. Her two presentations were about action mantras and R.A.W. (Realistic & Achievable Wellness.) Dawn was an excellent speaker who made you pay attention since she was talking to you and not hollering at you. I’ve tried to watch others do presentations on tv before and if someone is too loud and pushy I will change the channel. If this was a tv show, I would have watched it until the end. Part of her second presentation was about flexitarianism, which I actually first learned about from Emily. Overall her presentations were quite interesting. Sidenote: I also ended up getting a free copy of her book on Sunday morning! YAY for new recipes!
Overall it was a great day of learning, relearning and of course the food. Last year’s food, and the focus on healthy options, was quite impressive. This year it was quite tasty as well. I didn’t take pictures of everything but managed a few including my long lived snack apple that was extra crunchy! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! goes the apple in the quiet room.
Clockwise starting top left: my extra loud snack apple w my corny sign and the corner of my traveling that added PA to the list; sandwich line w misc veggie options; my lunch w grilled veggie wrap, Great Harvest veggie sandwiches, mixed green salad and an AMAZING chickpea/quinoa/red onion salad that I MUST figure out and was GF too!; breakfast was designated happy hour by the coasters
I didn’t mind the options being vegetarian because while I am not a vegetarian Darth Husband and I eat a lot of veggies on a normal basis. One thing I missed though was cheese. Dinner ended up solving that problem…PIZZA! Lauren, Emily, Kristin, and I did some research and scouting about for what people were doing for dinner. After awhile we found a place and ended up making reservations for four at Slice. The plan was a quick wine stop since it was BYOB and a walk to the restaurant. We walked to a local liquor store since places like CVS didn’t sell wine in Philly. That was something new to me. Chicago has different licensing rules. So after that walk came more walking.
After that was more walking.
More walking followed that.
Keep in mind I was in sandals.
Finally we got to Slice and I could stop whining about my feet no longer liking my sandals was ready to eat. The restaurant ended up being amazing. Being from the Chicago area, traveling and pizza can often end up disappointing. This was FAR from it. We were treated extremely well even before we mentioned the blogs.
It took us awhile to decide on which pizza to get since there were so many choices that looked amazing as well as that I’m a pain and don’t like goat cheese. Lauren, Emily and I ended up half Margherita (“San Marzano tomato sauce topped with fresh mozzarella & finished w/ basil”) and half Georgio (“San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni & portabella mushrooms.”) Kristin got one with artichokes, vegan cheese and black truffle oil (photo-less.)
Lauren, Emily and I DESTROYED this pizza.
We were also treated with a salad, Pear & Goat Cheese (“Spinach topped with grilled pears, goat cheese & candied walnuts, finished with balsamic vinaigrette.”)
It was a nice combination of flavors, minus the goat cheese that I deliberately left in the serving bowl. The dressing was a bit bold but a surprising bold that made me think “wow this really finishes the salad.”
Slice was kind enough to let us eat, drink, and talk without feeling rushed. Overall it was a great experience. If I lived in Philly, this would definitely be a must-go place for me.
Betsy & the Bell: HLS part 2
Usually when traveling I enjoy a mix of history, culture, food, shopping or window shopping and scenery. Pretty basic I guess but for me it works. When I found out this year’s Healthy Living Summit was being held in Philly, I knew I had to visit the historic district.
Emily, even though she had been there before, agreed to wander a bit with me before the cocktail party.
Clockwise from top left: Betsy Ross House; Independence Hall; Independence Hall; one of various directory signs
Christ Church Burial Ground – minus the gateway arch, all photos taken while standing on a wall w camera strap on the ME side and the camera on the NOT me side of a wrought iron fence. NOT BAD!
I couldn’t go to Philly and not see the Liberty Bell.
I honestly thought it was going to be bigger. It was still really cool to see.
We got back to the hotel with a good amount of time to get ready for the cocktail party. Four women getting ready in one hotel room can result in mayhem but Emily, Kristin, Lauren and I ended up managing quite well. Kristin’s awesome hair dryer did help us all quite a bit as well. PLUS I don’t know what it is with the water in Philly but it worked better than ANY anti-frizz product I have ever used! That was a goooood thing since it was raining.
After a quick 99% rain free detour thanks for a super nice member of the hotel staff, we were ready to party/eat/find people/talk until our voices started going away.
Lauren, me, Kristin, and Emily in Reading Terminal Market
After seeing the Market earlier in the day, it was interesting to see it transformed into a social event setting. While we were in a somewhat contained area it was still large enough to mingle and find people/meet new people. I also inhaled numerous Philly cheesesteak empanadas – YUM! – and had a beer that I had never heard of before.
Walt Wit Belgian-Style White Ale
It was good. Since I am an extreeeeeeemely slow drinker, and not much of a drinker at that, I gave away my other drink ticket. It saved someone else from having to buy a drink and freed up my hands for talking. (I can’t help but talk with my hands.)
While the cocktail party is technically the first official event of HLS, not everyone attends for whatever reason. There were some people I had to find after reading their blogs and people I knew from last year. It is a mix mosh of meeting/greeting/and OMG!-ing. (More on that later though.)
I found Jeni from Bird on Bramble, chatted a bit and did the “OMG! YAY! Let’s get a picture!”
Jeni and me
I ended up finding Laura as well since I HAD to or who knows what Stina might have done! J/K! Clearly they are such good friends for a reason – they are both awesome! There were numerous other people who I met in the whirlwind of the cocktail party – some more so than others but overall, I had a good time.
Some people were heading out on the town for the rest of the evening. Not me! After a day with an early wake up, travel, sightseeing and yabbering my head off I was ready for bed! I had to get some rest before all the events of the next day. Plus the hour time difference I knew would mess me up eventually!
Are you my blogger?: HLS 2011 part 1
After Darth Husband dropped me off at the airport, check in and security were a breeze. I had a little over an hour to wait and that led to a crazy amount of tweeting. I get silly when I’m half asleep and the obnoxious family that could be extras from Jersey Shore weren’t helping. Keep in mind, I have only watched one full episode of JS. All other attempts result in me getting annoyed and changing it.
The tweet to Caitlin pretty much summarized most of my Friday travel.
Finding people at the cocktail party would be easier since there are nametags aka those things that made everyone do the not-so-subtle scan for names at times. Hey it works! As you can tell from above my twitter pic isn’t that clear so adding a face to a handle isn’t always easy. However trying to figure out if you recognize someone because they ARE from the conference or you JUST think they might be is a bit difficult. To keep from drawing attention to myself in the airport for odd behavior, I tried to keep my scanning low-key.
After a good though nap-less flight on Southwest, a long somewhat lost wandering of Philly airport with its scary sliding – horizontal and vertical – glass exit doors that so made me think of Resident Evil, and a packed but pleasant ride on the Liberty Shuttle over the “big blue bridge”, I was finally at the hotel.
Finally is the key word since there was 10 minutes to spare to make a lunch outing.
The small lunch group ended up being pretty large and our mini parade headed to Govinda’s for lunch. Our mini parade seemed to annoy some people in Philly. One woman was so upsetted by us blocking the corner – as we waited for the light to change – that she started yelling at us. Keep in mind this is BEFORE she said excuse me/pardon me etc. There are worse things in the world than needing to get through a crowd of people. Try maneuvering Taste of Chicago around noon on a weekday. THAT is a crowd.
The walk however was quite nice especially the variety of buildings. I could easily just wander Philly and just take pictures of the architecture.
While I am not a vegetarian and this was a veggie place, I was still interested in checking it out. Unfortunately, the group was a bit larger than the location could handle so everyone split up into smaller groups. I was part of the one that headed back to Reading Terminal Market.
While I do eat quite a bit of veggies, I had to have a Philly cheesesteak. It’s like having a Chicago style hot dog in Chicago, you just HAVE to get one.
I found Carmen’s Famous Italian Hoagies and Cheesesteaks.
After finding out that there are numerous options that are possible, I asked for what would be a real Philly cheesesteak. They made sure I got the real thing.
It was amazing. If I am ever back in Reading Terminal Market, I’ll definitely be back.
Wordless Wednesday
The vortex strikes again
While I have already been back in the Chicago area for number of hours, I am still, in a sense, on Philly time. True, it is just an hour ahead but perhaps I should use the term HLS time. Time moves in fast forward. Next thing you know it is time for something else. Then POOF it is all over.
Safe to say that isn’t my recap.
Seriously. I wouldn’t do that.
Ideally I’d be uploading my photos, digging through my swag and trying to go back to my normal level of daily wahahahahahahaha - the good kind not the worrisome kind. That was my plan. Plans do change however and due to The Vortex taking the mini usb cable I’m a bit stuck.
Some people say the dryer eats socks. I’ve heard house elves… ok that was Harry Potter. Scratch that. I have heard dryer gnomes but the only gnomes we have are the ones in the yard or Norm in the kitchen. We have The Vortex. When something goes missing I blame the Vortex. I like to use that concept, embrace my nerdy side though that isn’t far from the norm, and hope that someday whatever is missing will metaphorically get spit out and back somewhere in the house.
Luckily I have notes.
Some parts of the upcoming recaps of this years Healthy Living Summit
Guest post: My top 10 songs on my running playlist
With it being HLS weekend, I am currently running amuck (amuck amuck a la SJP in Hocus Pocus) in Philly. Since this weekend is all about the blends (blog friends) new and old, the kick-cats..I mean kick-ass Jess is “taking over” for today’s post.
Hello CSYA readers!! I’m Jessica, mistress of the much-neglected lately food blog Black Cat Kitchen. You can also find me blogging & Tweeting at Deployment Divas, my health coaching business. I should be hanging with Krista at the Healthy Living Summit, but made an executive decision to stay home and save some money so I can pack all my worldly belongings next month and move from Wisconsin to NC. I am, however, living vicariously through her Tweets while stuck at work this weekend.
Originally I wanted to share a FABULOUS popsicle recipe using tea …. but it backfired. So, on to Plan B: My top 10 songs on my running playlist.
I love to run – and I swear, I never thought I’d say that. But, it’s a very good stress reliever for me. Here are a few favorites that come up when I’m running. (I’d say in no particular order, but … there *is* some semblance of order here ..) Promise you won’t judge? OK …
10 – “Run This Town” – Jay-Z & Rhianna – “Victory is within the mile. Almost there, don’t give up now.”
9 – “One Step Closer” – Linkin Park – I have Krista to thank for this one – so perfect for so many reasons!
8 – “Jump Around” – House of Pain – I *do* live in Badger country.
7 – “Til I Collapse” – Eminem – My obligatory nod to Eminem (I promised Krista just one song on this list!). I just love the beginning of this song: “Cause sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.”
6 – “Bawitdaba” – Kid Rock – Cause, yeah. Just cause.
5 – “S&M” – Rihanna – “I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it.” – My life motto. Nuff said.
4 – “Bodies” – Drowning Pool – This song just makes me want to run hard.
3 – “Just Dance” – Lady Gaga – No reason, it’s just fun.
2 - “Stronger” – Kanye West – “That that don’t kill me, only makes me stronger”
1 – “Push it” – Glee cast – “This dance ain’t for everybody – only the sexy people”
Now, get out there and dance. Dance, I say! HOLLA!
(Dance, run, whatever. So long as you move!)
Guest post: Tips for New Runners
With it being HLS weekend, I am currently running amuck (amuck amuck a la SJP in Hocus Pocus) in Philly. Since this weekend is all about the blends (blog friends) new and old, the fantabulous Dawn from Running at Dawn is “taking over” for today’s post.
Tips for New Runners
About eight years ago, I got into running. I wish I had some inspiring story about it, but really? I was mostly just bored. I’d been out of college for a few years and was working an uninspiring desk job. When I saw a sign in the mall for a local 5k, I decided that I was going to do it, despite the fact that I’d spent most of my life desperately avoiding running in all its many forms. I still can’t tell you what came over me, but somehow? It stuck. That 5k turned into another which turned into a half marathon and then a marathon and I’m still going strong, despite a rough patch of several injuries. I’ve recently had the unique opportunity to get back to my beginning running roots as I had knee surgery earlier this year. Between the injury which required the surgery and the recovery from the procedure itself, I’ve basically had to start over. However, I’ve learned a thing or two over the past several years, and I’m here to share that with you. Whether you’ve already found your running groove or are still working up to it, here’s a few tips to help you down that road.
Don’t overdo it. It’s tempting to jump in full-throttle and say you’re going to run every day, but start with just 30 minutes, three times a week. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but, believe it or not, it’s enough to get you in shape to run a 5k. If you want to work out more often than three times a week, mix running up with something like strength training, yoga, swimming, or biking. That’ll keep your body moving but give you some time to recover in between runs.
Also on that note, don’t jump in and try to run for 30 minutes solid your first time out. Partly because this is harder than it sounds, even if you’re in fantastic shape. However, the biggest problem here is that running can be very hard on your joints, especially if your body isn’t used to it. Starting with a walk/run program (I really like this one from CoolRunning) lets your body gradually adapt to the stresses of running while you improve your aerobic fitness.
Have a plan. OK, so you’re going to run three times a week. You’ve got your run/walk program picked out. Instead of winging it, pick your three “run” days ahead of time and mark them on your calendar. If you can, go one step further and decide what time you’ll go running on those days and put that in your calendar as well. Ideally, you’ll be able to run the same three days every week around the same time. That sort of consistency will make it that much easier to incorporate running into your life and make it part of your routine. However, when you’re looking at your schedule and trying to figure out where running fits in….
Be realistic. Getting up at 5 a.m. to run before work may be the easiest way to add it to your schedule, but if you’re the sort of person who is hitting the snooze button and dragging yourself out of bed 10 minutes before you have to leave the house? Early morning running is probably not going to be something that you’re going to enjoy. Or stick with. Try running right after work or on your lunch hour. Unless you’re a super-heavy sweater, a quick wipe down with some baby wipes and a fresh application of deodorant will get you clean enough to return to the office for the afternoon. (You can also buy wipes specially made for this purpose, if you so desire. That said, I’ve never tried them, so I don’t know if they’re worth the extra cost over generic wipes.)
Celebrate your successes (i.e., bribe yourself). Reward yourself for sticking to your program. Treat yourself to a pedicure or a cute new piece of workout gear after your first couple of weeks. Been sticking with it for a month or two? Invest in some good running shoes or sign up for that local 5k you’ve been eyeing. You don’t even have to be able to run the whole thing to participate. Every 5k I’ve ever done has had a healthy dose of walkers. Run what you can, walk when you need to, and enjoy the experience.
A quick note on running shoes: I firmly believe that if you’re going to be running or walking on a regular basis, it’s worth it to invest in a good pair of shoes. However, as most pairs of running or walking shoes can set you back $100, it doesn’t always fit into the budget. Feel free to run in whatever you have to get started, but once it becomes clear that this is something you’re going to stick with? Head to a specialty running store (not a big-box general sports store) and get yourself fitted in something designed for running. Not only will your feet thank you, but running in the right shoes can also reduce the risk of injuries to your knees, hips and back.
But don’t get discouraged by your failures. Everyone has bad weeks. Sometimes life, work, illness or some unholy combination of all of them can get in the way and throw you off your new routine. Don’t sweat it. Whether you’ve missed a day or a week (or more….. seriously, it happens to all of us), jump back into it as soon as you can. Maybe you need to go back and repeat a week or two of your run/walk program. That’s fine. Maybe you’ve got a super-busy day and you can only get out for 15 minutes instead of 30. That’s fine, too. Really, the only failure is giving up completely. As long as you can get back into the swing of things – even if it means starting your program over from step 1 – you’re doing awesome.
Expect it to suck sometimes. I know, I’m supposed to be helping you, not scaring you, but this is a very important lesson we all have to learn. Whether you’ve been running for 2 days or 20 years, there are always going to be runs that just flat out suck. Maybe you’re tired or hungover, or maybe the yardwork you did yesterday just zapped everything out of your legs, or maybe there’s absolutely no reason for it but, man, you are just NOT feeling it today. It’s fine. It doesn’t mean that running isn’t for you or that it’s never going to get better. It’s just one of those things, and as cheesy as it sounds, the bad runs make the good ones seem that much better.
However, if you’ve had a string of bad runs for several days in a row, it’s a sign that you’re overdoing it. Take a few extra days of rest and re-examine your routine. If you’re working out on your non-running days, make one or two of those days a total rest day. If you are resting on those non-running days, either step back a week or repeat the current week of your run/walk plan until your body catches up. Lastly, make sure you’re getting enough sleep and that you’re not coming down with anything. I’ve discovered that the first sign of an impending cold is a series of really crappy runs. (For the ladies: I’ve also discovered that Aunt Flo can make you feel like complete crap during any sort of exercise. Don’t be afraid to take a week off and let it pass.)
Give your body time to recover. I talked a bit about this above, but making sure your body has enough time and rest to recover in between runs is so important, I’m going to mention it again. It’s also the hardest thing to get beginners to do, because they’re afraid that they’ll either lose all the fitness they’ve worked so hard for or that their entire routine will fall apart if they stop for some reason. Relax. Taking a week off because you have a cold will not make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Besides, would you rather spend a week not running and resting while the cold passes through quickly, or three weeks having really bad runs while the cold lingers?
You’re already a “real” runner. It doesn’t matter if you do a million races in your life or none. It doesn’t matter if you can run for 20 miles without stopping or if you always take a walk break every 3 minutes. If you have the desire and motivation to lace up those shoes and get your body moving? You’re a runner. Welcome to the club.
Dawn is a certified triathlon coach and physical therapy student living just outside of Seattle. When she’s not running or studying, she can be found hanging out with her husband and their two cats. She blogs about balancing school, life and everything else and offers coaching services at her site Running at Dawn. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Thee weekend hath cometh
If you have seen 10 Things I Hate about You (the movie not the tv show that I might someday try watching…. maybe) re-read the title and think of Michael when they were at the prom.
So unless you don’t general read the blog, follow me on Twitter, or read a good amount of blogs in this community, you know this weekend is the 2011 Healthy Living Summit. While I am in Philly, Darth Husband and the furr-buckets will be babysitting my laptop as well. I’m going “old school” and bringing a notebook (the one that was at HLS 2010 actually) even though I was never a big journal-er years ago. I will however be tweeting while I am there since I added internet to my phone for this weekend. The hashtag everyone has been using is #HLS and so search that and you can read everyone’s tweets about the fun!
Since I won’t be real-time blogging, two of my lovely blends will be guest posting this weekend. Gotta love autopost scheduling!
See you in Philly my fellow HLS bloggers & see you next week for my readers!
Pre-HLS vlog
When in doubt, vlog it! Well… within reason!
