Healthy Tips Featuring Nakd Bars

I'm usually a pretty active, fit person. The problem is I don't really like going to the gym. I prefer being doing outside activities, which isn't really possible in the winter. In an effort to get healthier, I decided to make a couple easy lifestyle adjustments. When Natural Balance Foods offered to send me a sample of their Nakd Healthy cereal bars, I thought this would be the perfect time to get my healthy lifestyle back on track. It’s amazing what a difference a few little changes can make. Here are some tips I'm working to adopt into my daily life:

1. Drink more water! I cannot emphasize this one enough. I recently downloaded the app Plant Nanny and was amazed with how little water I was drinking, compared to what my body needs. Having a reminder (and a cute plant to take care of) has been so helpful. I can already feel the change in my body and especially my skin, which is usually so dry this time of year.

2. Basic exercise. Getting to the gym is a hard thing for me to do, especially when the weather is cold. Just because you don’t want to run on a treadmill, doesn’t mean you can’t do some basic exercises in your own home. I recently started participating in this 30-day plank challenge. It’s only been a few days and already I feel stronger. Other exercises that are great for doing at home are jumping rope, headstands, tuck jumps and squats.

3. Stretching is a great way to increase strength and flexibility, without needing to log hours at the gym. Butterflies, touching your toes, or any of these full-body stretches are great for doing first thing in the morning or while watching TV. It can really make a difference!

4. Healthy snacks.  I'm the type of person that gets hangry. If I'm hungry, I will eat anything and everything in sight. It means that even if I'm making a conscious effort to eat healthy, the second the hanger sets in it's all out the window. During my lifestyle shift, I've been making sure to grab a healthy snack on my way out the door. A piece of fruit, or recently these Nakd bars. They're the perfect thing to throw in my purse or gym bag (for those few times I can get my butt on a treadmill). They're small, but are perfect for curbing your appetite for your next healthy meal. My favorite flavor? Strawberry crunch! Be sure to check out their website to see all of their delicious flavors.

*this is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

I'm back!

Well, I'm back! This morning when I was looking through my pictures for a #tbt, I realized how little I've documented over the past year. When I was regularly keeping a blog, it reminded me to take pictures and make mental notes of my surroundings. 

I stopped blogging when my life was in a period of flux - I had just graduated from college, packed up my life and moved to West Philly to look for a job while subletting. I felt completely alone in a new city, though I had friends and family here. It was a summer of waiting - to hear back from employers, to find an apartment, to actually move. I ended up taking a job where I wasn't happy, just so I wouldn't burn through all my savings. It is hard to write and reflect in such a period of uncertainty. In the last year I have moved in with my best friend (our third city living in together), quit the job I hated for one that I love, started creating again, fallen deeper in love, and gotten to intimately know a city that once seemed so foreign. 

I am still in a period of flux, I'm beginning to understand that this feeling might never go away, but this time the uncertainty about the future exciting! In addition to making a big change about my future plans, I have a couple music festivals, creative endeavors and travel goals coming up!

I have tried as best I can to try to put up pictures that show what I've done this last year - exploring Philadelphia, lots of camping, concerts, and travel. The next couple posts will be a combination of new updates and catching up on past adventures, I hope you'll stay tuned!

2013

New Year's Eve allows time to reflect on all that has happened in the past year. I think this past has been one, if not, the best years of my life. Between tramping around Europe, making new and amazing friend and learning alot about myself it truly has been an amazing year. I had a great New Year's Eve spending it with friends and seeing many people I haven't seen in a while. I don't have any New Year's resolutions this year because they usually fade away after only a couple weeks. Instead I'd like to wait until I'm settled back in New York to create a new routine that involves eating healthy, doing more yoga and keeping an open mind. Have a great year!