These are a few of my favorite things....

Not to go all Sound of Music on you, but there are two things that have recently come into my life and changed it for the better and they have quickly become two of my favorrrrite thingssss! 

CSA Share
A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share provides members with a box of fresh, locally grown produce every week. This box is full of random produce—some I have never seen or heard of before. When Corey and Jamie signed up for it this spring, and asked if I wanted to split it, I decided against it because I didn’t think it would be worth it for me. However, there have been a couple weeks the two of them haven’t been able to get there share and I picked it up (and used it) in their place. At first I had no idea what to do with things like Swiss chard, kale or lemongrass. I looked up recipes so it wouldn’t go to waste—soon, cooking new things with fresh produce became addicting. Even without the CSA produce, I’ve continued to buy my own fresh stuff (sometimes even at the farmer’s market) and experimenting with ingredients and recipes like never before. I feel healthier and putting together creative dishes helps boost my confidence, as cooking is now one of my best skills!

I also have to give a shout out to Pinterest. I refused to join another social networking site, but when I finally caved I realized how many amazing recipes and cooking ideas I had at my fingertips. I’ve been printing them out like crazy and have even tried several of them, some successfully (homemade ice cream sandwich substitutes) and so not so successful (beet chips—burned)!

And I already decided that next year I will definitely sign up a CSA share for myself! I’m also thankful for my job, which has allowed me to spend a little extra on better food ingredients! Peace out, Healthy Choice meals and rice and beans!

Heart Rate Monitor Watch
I had been looking into getting one of these for a while, ever since my doctor told me last year that in order to lose more weight I needed to elevate my heart rate during my workouts. I’m bad at making big purchases, so I kept putting it off. Then a couple weeks ago I received a package (I love getting mail!)—it was the watch, a belated birthday present from Sean and Monika.

I’ve started wearing it all of the time. Even my trainer loves it—after a set of exercises she asks to check my heart rate to see if she is pushing me hard enough. Sometimes it works against me and I end up running up and down stairs with a medicine ball…

But it really come in handy during my cardio workouts. During a run or spinning class I know if I need to push harder or if I’m slacking. After a few times of pushing my heart rate and upping my effort, I feel so much better! I had definitely been running too slowly for where I needed to be and the heart rate monitor is helping me make the most of my workouts every time. There is nothing worse than putting in the effort to a workout but not getting all you can from it. For this reason alone, my new heart rate monitor watch has been invaluable.

Knowing I am eating more healthfully (fresh ingredients, homemade) and pushing myself harder at the gym, I have deserted counting every calorie I put in my mouth (wait, did someone say dessert?!). I still keep an eye on portions and have learned a lot of the last year about what I should and shouldn’t be indulging in, but if it gets out of hand I’ll have to go back to counting, even though it drives me crazy! Until then, I’ll continue on this path with my two new favorite things as my trusted companions.