The Royal Wedding: Are We Sick of It Yet?

I like weddings. I like going to them, I like wearing pretty dresses, and I love a good love story. However, talking about weddings leading up to weddings can get a little boring. Don't get me wrong, I know how much work goes into them, all the little details, but I would rather not know any details of a wedding then everything is a surprise.  The media is going a little crazy about the wedding, when they're speculating about what Harry's ex girlfriend is going to wear it's getting a little ridiculous! Lets just WATCH, people!

Like most people, women anyways, I am excited to see the Royal Wedding. Some people don't get why it's a big deal but I still hear people talking about watching Princess Diana's wedding at 3am in the 80s. It's just exciting. Plus, REAL princes and princesses? Count me in!

I never really followed William and Kate in the news, I knew they were together and all that and that they broke up briefly but that was it. So in interest of learning the rest of their story, I watched the made for TV movie last night. I know, I know, it's not all factual. But I'm sure it was well researched at least. I enjoyed watching it...up to a certain point. About halfway through the movie, William decided he needed "space" meaning he wanted to be single and party it up with his friends and probably use they "Hey, did you know I'm a prince" pickup line. Which is totally fine, because people need to learn and grow at that age and sometimes you can't do that with a boyfriend or girlfriend, that's just the way it is.

HOWEVER, I was annoyed at this part in the movie: William's friends start telling him how happy Kate looks and how well she's doing, then he sees her pictures in a tabloid of her having fun and dancing with other guys. THEN he decides he misses her. Really, Wills? I don't know, I was just let down to find out that William was such a stereotypical male. I thought it would be some grand love story, not the royal equivalent of seeing your ex's pictures on facebook and realising you still like them!  I mean, I don't know if that's exactly how it went down but still...so disappointing. 

Anyways, I will put that aside to watch the Royal Wedding because I'm obsessed with all things British, and I even have a true Brit to watch it with, my mother in law! But I'm not getting up at 3am. That's why PVR was invented. I will be watching it with some Tetley tea and breakfast.

And now, I leave you with these cute little cartoon that my fave photographer Carol-Ann created. Check out her website at Carol-Ann Photography if you're looking for a kick ass photographer in the Vancouver area!

xoxo,

T

How to Eat Healthy the Easy Way

Have you ever gotten busy and let yourself get too hungry? And then when you ate you either felt way too full or not satisfied or just didn't feel good for the rest of the day? I do too sometimes. Yesterday, for instance, I was out of the house for a few hours between 11 and 3 and since I was away this weekend, I didn't have any snacks in the house to take with me.

This brings me to the single most important (in my opinion) aspect of healthy eating:

                                

                                           BEING PREPARED!!

It reminds me of one of my favourite quotes: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I think that was Winston Churchill but correct me if I'm wrong! Anyways, being prepared meaning having food ready to eat is such a HUGE part of eating healthy. It makes it so much easier to stay on track. Getting hungry is a recipe for disaster. Last time I let myself get too hungry, I went and got a burger. It was gross and I threw it out after a few bites and I was mad because it was expensive and I make better ones at home. It made me resolve to try harder to not let that happen.

Here are a few tips that have helped me and also my husband, who greatly benefits from my planning and preparing meals ahead of time.

1. Make big batches of your healthy staples. Mine are chicken, brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta for my husband, and tuna (a tiny bit of light mayo with diced pickles)

2. Make a big pot of clean something! It's still raining in most parts so get your soup/stew/chili eating time in now. If you use a slow cooker, it takes minutes to prepare lunches for the entire week. See my recipes tab for my fave recipes. Also what I love about this is soups and stews are so filling!

3. Make some homemade protein bars! They are filling, nutritious and help you get in extra protein without yet another chicken breast! Plus they hit the sweet spot!

4. Hard boil eggs. If you pop out the yolk or just eat one, they are high in protein and low in calories and fill you up fast. It's a perfect thing to pair a piece of fruit with.

5. Speaking of fruit: buy some. Wash it. Put it in your fridge in a pretty bowl so you see it when you open the door.

 6. Also, veggies. I find having pre-cut veggies helps me a lot because I never feel like cutting them when I'm hungry.

7. Store everything in glass containers. They are a great investment for your health since they are easy to clean and won't contaminate your food.

These are President's Choice Containers

8. Have a nice big pitcher of water in your fridge at all times. I have a Brita, and for some reason I just drink more water if I can pour myself a nice cold pure glass. I also like adding slices of lemon.

9. Have a nice reusable water bottle (or a few, just in case) so you can leave the house with a full bottle of water at all times.

10. I also got my husband a shaker cup and stocked up on 1L containers of almond milk so he can have low calorie protein shakes at work whenever he gets hungry. We scoop out servings and put them in baggies so they're ready to go.

 I hope you liked my tips, they have certainly made eating clean easier for me! I'd love to hear your tips too, so leave them in the comment section!

Taren

My Spring/Summer Reading List

I absolutely love reading, but I love it even more in the summer. There's something about bright blue skies, warm sunshine, cold drinks and freshly cut grass that just beckons me to lay down and read a book outside! This summer there are so many great books coming out, by all my favourite authors. So here is my list:

Firstly, I will be reading this very soon for my book club in May. We are planning on meeting up for a discussion that will probably barely mention the book, followed by seeing the movie based on the book!

 Jen Lancaster is one of my favourite authors/people on the planet. She is freaking hilarious in a refreshingly honest way. I read her website/blog Jennsylvania all the time for entertainment. If you haven't read her memoirs, check them out. She wrote a novel about home ownership that I'm sure is based on her own experiences but does not star herself, and I can't wait to read it.

If you were here is out May 3.

 Oh Jackie...you are so damn good at what you do! Jackie Collins writes ridiculously addictive books. They are shocking, scandalous and downright delicious. I can't wait for her next one, featuring the famous Lucky Santangelo.

Goddess of Vengeance is out April 26.

 This one isn't out for awhile yet but I am so looking forward to it. Lindsey Kelk wrote the "I heart" series, which I posted about last year here. I love her books and I know this one is going to be awesome. I discovered her last year and I find she writes similar to Sophie Kinsella. They are the perfect fun beach books.

Not out till August 2011, boo!

Candace Bushnell, the author/creator of Sex and the City, wrote a book last year called "The Carrie Diaries" taking us back in time to when Carrie is in her senior year of high school. It got mixed reviews, but I enjoyed picturing Carrie at that age. I especially loved the ending of the book! This year the sequel to that book called "Summer in the City" will be released and I believe it's about when Carrie first comes to New York.

Summer in the City is out April 26.

 Jennifer Weiner is one of the reigning queens of chick lit.  Her books are sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always real. Little Earthquakes was one of my favourites, but they are all great. This year she releases "And Then Came You" which is about four women coming together out of obligation and struggling to become a family. That's what Amazon says anyways, it doesn't give too much info. 

Then Came You is out July 12.

 In other exciting Jennifer Weiner news: She wrote a TV show! It's called the Great State of Georgia starring Raven Symone. Who, by the way looks fabulous at the moment, she has gotten in amazing shape! I will have to do a post on her on my other blog. The show will air in June on ABC Family so we might not get it here, but still exciting for one of my fave authors!

I also like to add some motivational reading to my bookpile...or book list since it's now all electronic for me. I have these two on my shelf and will be reading them soon as well.

I read the Smart Cookies first book years ago, but now that I'm married and we are sharing our money, I think this will be very helpful! 

The only question is, what to read first?! What's on your reading list?

xoxo,

T

Happy Easter!

I just got home from a fantastic weekend in the US, specifically an adorable little town called Enumclaw. It is seriously the most picture perfect small town. I forgot my camera at home so I didn't take many pictures since I only had my Blackberry. I wish I had taken some pictures of the downtown area, it was exactly what you'd see in a movie! It reminded me of the town in Runaway Bride for some reason.

Anyways, it was so nice to get away and spend some time in a different area. My husband and I left Thursday afternoon and it was so nice and sunny all day Friday and Saturday, which was such a nice treat! We didn't do much all weekend, a little bit of shopping, but mostly relaxing. Helping us in that department was my trusty Margaritaville maker! It was a huge hit with my in laws and their friends. Leigh just shook his head at us, drinking his Miller High Life. 

Side note: Cannot get over how much cheaper liquor is in the US than in Canada.

Some more pictures from the weekend:

Since it was Good Friday, I volunteered to make my favourite meatless dish for everyone. It was a huge hit as expected!. I used low fat ricotta and mozzarella by the way. :-) Get the recipe here.

 My husband, possibly due to consumption of Miller High Life, decided he would let me fly one of his dad's RC planes, a glider. They are super into this hobby, which is great because I like to go with them with my lawn chair and read my Kobo. Anyways, I did not crash his plane which was excellent. It was actually fun! You can see the little speck in the below picture, that's my husbands other plane. The plane at the bottom is the one I flew.

This is Duke, my in laws dog. He is one of the sweetest dogs ever. I think he wasn't feeling good or something because he jumped up on our airbed and decided to sleep in between us!

I am super relaxed after this awesome weekend, which is good because I'm starting a course tomorrow and I need to concentrate! I am working on another post regarding one of my fave things: books!! For a sneak peek, I'll tell you what I just read which was every bit as juicy and satisfying as I thought it would be:

If you are a Sweet Valley High fan, you simply must read it. That is all.

xoxo,
T

A Personal Post... Also Tea and Tabitha!

Having two blogs is hard work. I never know what to post on which one, because most things in my life usually relate to one or the other. I need some sort of system!

In the past little while, my life has become incredibly busy. After a few months of sitting at home and wondering how to get my life going again, it feels very good. See I am an easily overwhelmed person. The entire time I've been with my husband he has been encouraging me to do my Personal Trainer certification. When I thought about all the steps to do it, I would get overwhelmed and think how can I do all that, it's so much work!! I'm just going to cozy up on the couch and read a book instead. I'm not joking.

But not following my passion was making me miserable, as you may have read in my earlier post. I've wanted to do this for so long, and now I'm doing it. Once I took the first step, it fueled me to keep going. The thing is that I used to think I was the only person who didn't do things they wanted to do, because they were scared or overwhelmed. Now I know that this is normal. Changing your life is not easy. It's easy once you take the first step, but DECIDING to take the first step is hard. So if you're thinking of making a change in your life, know that the first step is the hardest.

The other day, I was feeling a bit crappy, I thought I still have so much to do before I finish my certification, I just want to start now! I've been waiting for this forever! Then I opened my mailbox. And I had this.

It's only one of three (I think?) certificates that I need to be BCRPA registered, but I honestly can't tell you how happy having this certificate made me. It didn't come with the frame ,I went out and bought it right away and hung it on the wall to remind me to keep going.

Anyways, back to how busy I am! So, currently I am:

1. Working at the front desk of the gym I plan to train my clients at.

2. An office assistant to a very successful, fantastic lady! (This job is very recent and I'm so pleased with it)

3. Working on my own training. I need my own trainer! Of course I know what to do but I have to motivate myself.

4. Starting my next part of my certification, Weight Training!

So there you have it! On top of that I have my personal life and relationships which are always number one! But this is my life right now and I am loving it! I am enjoying the process and the journey and not worrying about the outcome and it feels great!

This weekend, was so busy and so fun, just a few things:

My husband was born in Liverpool so I am obsessed with England. Especially English candy. So fantastic. Leigh and I went to a real life English tea shop about 30 minutse from our house on Saturday morning. It's in a area called Clayburn and the shop is called Clayburn Village. One half is a tea shop and the other half is a candy shop. Heaven!

I'm not going to lie, my first question was "Where's the Splenda?" lol

I also went to the hair show with my sister this weekend, which was lots of fun! I got to see Tabitha from Tabitha's Salon Takeover! If you've never watched the show, she basically goes to a salon for a week and whips them into shape. She seems scary on her show, but she is not in person at all! I found her funny and so inspiring. She has a book, which I want to read (of course!) about her life, show, ect. 

I love books like this, I love a glimpse into a person's life. If you'd like to have a glimpse into another blogger's life, check out my friend Jen's blog, the baked life to see what a day in her life looks like! This is such a fun idea for a post!

More later!

xoxo,

T

Don't forget to check my other blog!

Hey blogger friends!

Sorry I haven't posted on Life of T in awhile, I will be posting soon. In the meantime, don't forget to check out my other blog, Revive Your Life about my journey to become a personal trainer and tips and tricks I've discovered! If you like, you can follow me! I love followers! :-)

I just posted about how to curb your cravings and also a yummy recipe for breaded zucchini sticks, so check it out!

More soon!

xoxo,

T

Crushing Your Cravings: Breaded Zucchini Sticks

I think we can all agree one of the hardest parts of following a healthy lifestyle is the crazy cravings that can happen. You may be eating clean and loving your diet, but sometimes you just want something really, really bad. I'm not going to tell you that it's okay, eat whatever you want. That can get out of hand VERY quickly! First it's just a slice of pizza, then maybe a class of pop and while your at it you might as well have a slice of birthday cake, you don't want to be rude after all. This downward spiral is very familiar to me. However, I have found certain things that help me cut the cravings.

First of all, don't eat the crap!! It's scientifically proven that when you have sugar or fat in your system, your going to want more. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. Cut the junk and within a few days you won't want it nearly as bad. I have a good personal example of this. My husband and I have a serious weakness for Coca-Cola. You don't have to tell us it's practically poison, we know. But it's so damn good!! Around Christmastime we had it in our house a little bit because it was a special occasion. But what happened after Christmas was bad news. My husband was in trade school for 7 weeks  and was spending every night studying in our 700 square foot apartment. It was stressful and we were in survival mode and we had ourselves a wee bit too much Coke. Okay, a lot too much. Also chips and salsa. They were bad delicious days. Anyways, mid February my husband finished school (with wicked grades, I might add) and we cut the crap. Cold Turkey. Honestly, I don't even think about drinking Coke now. There might be a time later where I get a weakness for it again but as long as I can stay away from it, I know I won't have cravings.

Here's another example of me cutting my cravings. I used to work in an office that was super close to a Starbucks. It got to the point where I was craving Earl Grey Tea Lattes on a daily basis and BAD!  I wasn't gaining weight but they have sugar in them and it just was not a good situation at $5 bucks a day. So what I did was bought a tin of the Earl Grey Tea and as soon as I got to work I would have a cup just with a bit of milk and Splenda. As soon as I had some warm Earl Grey in my tummy, my desperate need for Starbucks went away.

I have realised that I can have a healthier version of something I love and when I do, I won't crave the fatty/sugary version. Awesome!!

Now a lot of the things that I love are some kind of bread/pasta/tomato sauce/cheese type things...I don't need to tell you I can't afford to eat like that! So I don't bother with the bread most of the time, and I make my own whole wheat pasta with a few different variations. I recently came across a recipe at one of my favourite sites EVER, Skinny Taste, that had me drooling so I decided to give it a whirl and I'm so glad I did because they were fantastic. I honestly felt as satisfied as if I had a big bowl of pasta!

                                            Skinny Taste's Breaded Zucchini Sticks

Note: I was lazy and cut mine too large. Don't do that!

Ingredients: 

• 3 medium zucchini sliced into 3" x 1/2" sticks
• 1 large egg white
• 1/3 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• cooking spray
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  
• salt
• fresh pepper

Instructions:

In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper. In a ziplock bag, place breadcrumbs, garlic powder and cheese and shake well. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Dip zucchini sticks into eggs then into bread crumb and cheese mixture, a few at a time and shake to coat. Place the breaded zucchini in a single layer and spray more cooking spray on top. Bake at 425° for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with 1/2 cup marinara sauce for dipping.

SkinnyTaste has a super simple recipe for Marinara along with her breaded zucchini stick recipe, so check it out here. I didn't have any canned tomatoes so I just used jarred tomato sauce, obviously homemade is always better if you can.

Enjoy!!

Taren

We All Need a Little Motivation and Inspiration..

I'm so sorry for taking so long to post again, I've been very busy with all my plans for the next few months, lots of exciting things coming! Today, I'll be talking about motivation and inspiration, the thing we all need to get our butts in gear!  One thing I'd like to talk about today is celebrities after having babies. The last few years there has been a huge baby boom in Hollywood and celeb moms are watched like crazy after the baby is born to see how fast they'll lose the weight. I feel bad for these moms, because they deserve to have the time to spend with their new baby and not have to worry about being scrutinized. The problem is, there are some celebs that seem to pop out the baby and be as skinny as ever! That's not how it goes for most people!


There are two celeb moms in particular that have been publicly open about their struggle to get back into pre-baby shape, and both are just doing absolutely awesome. Yes, I'm sure they have trainers and nutritionists, but we all have access to the same information, don't we? All it takes is moving your butt, and these women have been working theirs off!


Alison Sweeney
I have always admired her and have watched her on Days of Our Lives for years and years. She struggled with her weight quite a bit and then one day she realised she just needed to DO SOMETHING about it! She got in great shape and everyone who watched the show noticed. She also is one of the hosts of the Biggest Loser, and she says being on the show has taught her everything she needs to know about health and being in shape.
Here's a pic of her prego in 2008:

She just bared her awesome bikini bod in a photo shoot  with People Magazine:

Pretty amazing if you ask me! She also wrote a book called the Mommy Diet which I actually want to read (I know, I'm not a mommy, but I am interested in helping women get back in shape after babies!)


Another new mom who has publicly struggled with losing her baby weight is Kendra Wilkinson. Now, you gotta remember, she used to be a PLAYBOY MODEL! I watched one episode of Kendra where she was trying to do her own Girl's Next Door workout video, it was hilarious. But the struggle for her was not fun, especially when her own wedding ring didn't fit and the tabloids reported that there must be trouble in paradise. Jerks! Anyways, here is a pic of Kendra when she was pregnant:

And this is her now with her adorable little guy:

Also, she is currently on Dancing with the Stars, which has whipped several celebs in shape! In case your interested, here's Kendra in one of her DWTS costumes:

And if you need further motivation from a REAL person as in non celeb, a friend of mine named Sara recently got her success story featured on the Eat Clean Diet website. I highly recommend you go check it out! This girl is dedicated to her fit and healthy lifestyle and it definitely shows!

So I hope you've gotten a little bit inspired from these amazing women! I will be doing regular posts on motivation and inspiration so stay tuned!!

Taren

I Heart Wedges

Almost every girl loves shoes, and I am no exception. My shoe of choice is the truly awesome wedge. Wedges give the same height boosting skinnifying (not a word, I know) benefits of a heel, but without all the discomfort and fuss. They look great with a sundress and not too over the top so people look at you funny if you wear them out for errands. Also, I tend to bail less on wedges.

I have been on the search for the perfect wedge for this summer. I've decided I need two pairs, I have already bought these black ones I posted about last month:

Definitely a great choice, I think. They are totally versatile and I wore them for a night out and they were super comfy. Now, onto my other pair, which are proving to be a lot more difficult to find. See, my perfect wedges are sold out in my size at Forever 21.

Sigh. I looooove these shoes. I have looked for similar pairs but nothing seems to compare to this perfect wedge that will go with everything. I have found a "acceptable" substitute at Payless but I haven't decided yet, something bugs me about them.

I think it's the braiding in the front. Who knows though, you may see me around this summer wearing them I can't find anything better!

Searching for summer shoes makes me excited for better weather and less rain. It's much more preferable than searching for which pants I can wear that won't drag and get as soaked in this miserable weather. Don't worry, friends, sunshine is just around the corner!

xoxo,
T

A Post for A Rainy Monday

Today is a yucky rainy day here in Vancouver. I am feeling very lazy, but it's been over a week since I posted and that's not very nice of me. The past week has been one of those fly by weeks. I'm sad the weekend was over so fast. I slept a lot this weekend and a really deep sleep too. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I could not remember where my husband was. I know he said he was going somewhere but I couldn't remember where because I was in such a deep sleep. Weird!

This past week has definitely been a blur! Last Sunday, I went to a girlfriends baby shower, which was owl themed. It was so cute!! Here's a few pics:

I love this picture of the mommy to be, so gorgeous!

 I love it! So many babies this year! I also met some of my high school friend's baby girl for the first time last week and she is so sweet! They are really the first people our age that I know to have a baby. Other than my nephew of course!

This week will not be as busy as last week, so I will have more time to post. One more thing before I go, if you are looking for a real pick me up type of book, you must read this:

A friend of mine lent it to me and this friend is one that I actually made a long list of things that were awesome in the 7th grade I believe, I wish I could find it! We can't remember much from it, although high ponytails were apparently one of them! Anyways, this book is so hilariously written, and right now it's in paperback and on the bestseller lists, which means it's super cheap! I highly recommend you pick it up to bring some joy to this gloomy weather!

xoxo,
T