Healthy Eating for a Busy Lifestyle

I made this pasta for dinner the other night. It was excellent and pretty healthy (also lactose free!).  I found this recipe on Pinterest and you can find it here.  It paired great with a tossed salad and only took about half an hour.

I’m going to start this off by saying how tough it is to eat healthy - period - let alone when you are super busy.  And I don’t think there is a single woman I know who isn't crazy busy.  Whether you have kids, a career, are a student - and the list goes on - life can get pretty hectic.  It can be hard to fit healthy eating and exercise in when you feel like you are running a million different directions, and really just want a burger.  It doesn't help that our bodies are naturally conditioned to want high calorie and high carb foods when we get stressed.  This need originates back in our “caveman” days, when stress meant something was probably trying to kill you and you needed to get away (the classic fight or flight response).  The difference is that - back when we were cave people - there was actually something that we needed to fight when we were stressed.  Now, our stress comes from less active sources like work or school; and we don’t actually need the extra carbs and calories for the quick energy to go fight off whatever is trying to catch you for dinner that day.  For me, my second year of university was super stressful.  And I ate way to much junk food thanks to that caveman reaction to stress.  So a few months before our wedding, Brett and I decided to start eating healthier together; and found out it was way harder to do than we planned.

Essentially my formula for healthy eating is don’t eat more calories than you’re burning off - sounds easy on paper doesn't it?  Problem is, I don’t have time to make intricate meal plans of all homemade ingredients and work out for 30-60 minutes every single day.  I’m lucky to get to the gym every second day.  For those of you who love the gym or running or even go on daily walks, I am so jealous.  I go to the gym because I love how good I feel after; but I am going to be totally honest, when I am at the gym, I'm not a big fan.  I wish I liked working out, because it would make the process so much easier.  And for those of you who have time to make all of your food homemade, that’s great.  I wish I had the time, but I just don’t.  I get my salad from a bag from the grocery store and I buy pre-made pizza crusts, because that’s my real life.  If my decision is between premixed bagged salad or fast food from a burger joint, I can at least have bagged salad and have a healthy lunch. 

When I post my cooking or baking tutorials (which I am really hoping to start ASAP), it’s going to be what I cook for my real life.  I am all about easy, healthy and fast options because that is what fits my lifestyle.  Are there any easy healthy living tips and tricks that you do for your busy lifestyle?  I’d love to hear about them!

Being Married

Brett and I on our wedding day.
Diana Malinowski from Infinite Moments Photography did our engagement and our wedding photos and was absolutely fabulous to work with.  If you are looking for a photographer in Southern Saskatchewan, I highly recommend looking her up.

I think that every newlywed will get the question "So how is married life" more times than they can count, in the months that follow their wedding.  I know that Brett and I sure have!

I'm going to admit, that question totally threw me off at first.  I've been with my husband for three years now, married life is basically the same as engaged or dating life.  But, once I really started to think about the "how's married life" question, I realized that I actually do feel different.  For anyone who isn't interested in the marriage thing, I respect that.  It is your choice and if that is what is working for you and your partner, that's awesome!  But for me, and I am sure lots of other people - marriage is a big deal.  I grew up with the fairy tale ideal of falling in love, getting married and living happily ever after - I wanted (still want) that in my life.  Our wedding day was absolutely my fairy tale "Cinderella" moment.  And the feeling I have after being married to Brett is one of security - and it isn't about the legal piece of paper that says I'm his wife.  As a Christian, making the promise to love and cherish Brett until death do us part in front of God and our friends and family, was a huge moment in my life, and not something to be taken lightly.  So it makes sense that I feel differently about our relationship than before.  My advice to anyone struggling through the stressful wedding planning process is: it will be so worth it when the actual wedding day gets here.  Trust me!  My wedding day is, so far, the best day of my life.  I had a blast and I pledged myself to my very best friend.  So when you start to think that if you have to make one more wedding related decision you might lose it, just take a deep breath and know that it will all be worth it.  For any of you who want the fairy tale love story, but haven't found your prince - keep waiting.  Someday your "prince" will come, he probably won't be riding in on a white horse, but something about him will fit you better than anyone else; and your "Cinderella" moment will be worth waiting for too.

Hope you enjoyed my very first blog post!  I would love to hear your comments and thoughts on marriage - after all I am new at this!  Stay tuned for more from Live, Love and be Married.