Eight Goals for 2017

1. Go to college
2. Make an effort to eat healthy
3. Be active every day
4. Save money
5. Try new food and recipes 
6. Make new friends
7. Have fun
8. Be kind

Favorite Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies are one of my favorite parts about the holidays. Lets face it, cookies are ALWAYS good, but somehow they're even better around Christmas, or Hanukkah or Kwanza, whatever you celebrate. These two are my favorite:

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Snickerdoodles:

Recipe: http://www.inspiredtaste.net/25457/snickerdoodles-recipe/

Miss Teen Doggy Delaware USA

Miss Teen Doggy Delaware USA

In this day in age “beauty” pageants are looked upon in a new light. They are no longer competitions of appearance but  are now competitions of intelligence. Today a new Miss Teen Doggy Delaware USA 2017 has been named. This beautiful dog will be representing the State of Delaware in the National competition where one dog from each state will compete for Miss Teen Doggy USA. This years Miss Teen Doggy Delaware USA  2017 is Daisy Duke Cutler! Miss Cutler beat out a plethora of steep competitors. Each dog participated in a swimsuit competition, evening gown competition, talent competition, and intellectual debate. The judges were all experienced dogs with high positions in the modelling, fitness, and intellectual industries. Bo Obama (Barack Obama’s Dog) starred as a celebrity Judge.

Bo stated, “It is an absolute honor to be a celebrity judge  in such a respected competition like this one.”

The swimsuit competition was to measure the dog's fitness, each dog was encouraged to strut their stuff on stage in their favorite and most flattering bikini. This part was worth ⅛ of the competition points. It is important that the Miss Doggy Teen Delaware USA is in shape because she/he may be asked to participate in fitness and/or athletic competitions. Daisy Duke Cutler excelled in this part of the competition because she is a dedicated fetcher and walker. Daisy Duke Cutler is also very particular about her diet, and eats as much human food as she can get (Pro Tip: she believes that human food is much better for her).

The evening gown competition’s purpose was to assess the doggy’s grace and poise at a formal event. This is an extremely important factor in the competition because Miss Doggy Teen Delaware USA is expected to attend many formal events, and must be polite and graceful when representing the amazing state of Delaware. Daisy Duke Cutler wore a beautiful pink gown, she looked like a graceful angel, perfect for the poster puppy of Delaware. This section is worth ⅛ of the competition points.

The talent competition is clearly extremely important because the State of Delaware must have a doggy representative who is well-rounded and isn’t just a pretty pup. Dogs in the competition can dance, sing, cook, paint, fetch, and much more. This part of the competition is a crowd favorite and is essential to the competition. Daisy Duke Cutler wowed the crowed with a well-planned, jaw-dropping, magic show! This part of the competition is worth ¼ of the competition points.

The intellectual competition the most important to the competition because Miss Teen Doggy Delaware must be an intelligent role model for little puppies to look up to. The contestants are asked a series of thought provoking interview questions such as, “What would you tell a little puppy about to enter middle school?” and “What do you plan to do about climate change?” All of the Miss Teen Doggy Delaware contestants answered with poise and confidence but, Daisy again stole the show with her wise answers!

Congratulations to our newest MissTeen Doggy Delaware, Daisy Duke Cutler!

Challenge Yourself!

I've always believed in challenging myself. Lately I feel like I haven't been challenging myself enough. This being said, I've set a new fitness goal! Goal setting, specifically in fitness and health, is important so that you stay motivated and feel rewarded when you finally reach your goal. My new goal is a bit of a stretch, and it's going to be extremely difficult for me personally... I'm going to train to run a half marathon. Now, I hate running, but maybe that's just because I'm not in running shape. So, I've found a schedule that I will follow to help me reach "running shape." Here's the schedule:

Running a half marathon (13.1 miles) is going to be incredibly difficult for me, but I might as well give it a try. Wish me luck! (I'm gonna need it)

Workout Tunes!

        For me, music is essential to a productive workout. Whether I'm running, lifting, jumping, walking, crunching, squatting, or moving in any way. Music is essential. I prefer not to listen to slow and sad songs while working out, however; I do not listen to super up beat, head banger music. I listen to a variety of motivating songs that keep me going when the workout gets really tough. Here are a few songs that I recommend listening to while you're on your grind.

 "Two Princes"- Spin Doctors

 "Hey Ya!"- OutKast

 "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"- Jet

 "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" - Kanye West

 "For Free"- DJ Khaled

 "Childs Play" - Drake

 "Me Too"- Meghan Trainer

 "Feeling Myself"- Nicki Minaj

 "oui"- Jeremih

 "Don't Hurt Yourself" - Beyonce

 "Ain't It Fun" - Paramore

 "Can't Stop"- Red Hot Chili Peppers

 "You Be Killin Em"- Fabolous

 "Lip Gloss" -Lil Mama

 "Add Me In"- Chris Brown

 "Good Kisser" - Usher

"Body Language"- Kid Ink

 "Upgrade U"- Beyonce

"Get Me Bodied" - Beyonce

 "Partition"- Beyonce

Political Views: With Her

 In the tumultuous society that we currently live in, it has become vastly important to polarize yourself in a certain political direction as to maintain the moral conscious upon which humans are built. Personally, the more preferable of the two major options( The Republican and Democratic party ) is the democratic. The reason for this alignment is based upon the planks of their platform, specifically the right for a woman to choose as well as the general consensus of acceptance for all races, religions, and genders. There is no point in the xenophobic exclusion with which some members of the republican party build their stances. As the United States continually grows and expands, the acceptance that the founding fathers stood for is more important than ever. Needless to say...... I'm with her.

My Least Favorite Exercise

         Running, some people love it, while others (me) hate it. When my coach announces to the team that we are running a timed mile (unfortunately this is a weekly event for our team) it kills me. I'm in excruciating pain when I run this mile. It's not that I hate the physical aspects of running (although I don't like gasping for breath and heavy feet) I think the mental aspects of running is the worst and most difficult part. IT'S BORING, mind-numbingly so. Unfortunately running is a necessary evil when maintaining a healthy lifestyle,  it's one of the best things for you. But, there are other ways to get in cardio so, to beat the monotony of running every day, you can try new things like jump roping, swimming, and playing in an active game. It helps when you switch it up.

Soph's go to Healthy Snacks

          Snacking can be good, even great, if you're snacking on the right things. Snacking on healthy things can boost your metabolism and prevent you from binging later on in the day. These are a few of my favorite go to snacks!

1. Cheese sticks

Cheese sticks are quick and easy to grab on the go. Plus they have a nice dose of protein in them and they're super tasty.

2. Celery and Peanut Butter

Celery is low calorie, and peanut butter is a good source of protein. This is a really good combination (believe me). I personally like it with extra chunky peanut butter, but its up to you to decide on what you'd like.

3. Raspberries

It's proven that raspberries can boost your metabolism. Plus they're really tasty. I  prefer the red raspberries over the black berries, but thats just me.

4. Uncooked Green Beans

This is a less popular snack, but it's surprisingly good. Uncooked green beans snap in your mouth a as you eat them, and are filled with lots of vitamins in addition to being low calorie.

The Abdominal Exercises I Hate (Love)

These are some of my favorite abdominal exercises that I feel are some of the most effective. After doing these exercises I'm always sore. I've included a couple instructional youtube videos that will help you to know how exactly each exercise works. When doing these I usually do reps till failure with a 15 second break in between each set. Do whatever pace feels best for you but, make sure you are challenging yourself! Push your limits!

1. Bicycle Crunches:

2. Planks:

3. Reverse Crunches: 

4. Declined Sit-ups:

Consistency

      One of the most important factors of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is consistency. You can't just eat really unhealthy and not workout one week, then go really hard at the gym and eat well another week. You have to find a way to motivate yourself to continue your fitness path everyday. It's one of the most difficult parts of the process but it's also a crucial part. So work hard and stick with it.. Good luck!

Quick, Healthy Breakfast

As they say, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. When I don't have a good breakfast I feel lethargic and I'm more likely to reach for unhealthy-sugary snacks throughout the day. I do understand that sometimes there's just not enough time in the morning to make a healthy breakfast, and while grabbing a sugar coated pop tart on the way out might seem like a good solution... it's not. So I've put together a list of healthy breakfasts that should take more than 10 minutes at most to make. 

1. Scrambled eggs on Toast

There is about 6.1 grams of protein in each large egg. I usually scramble two and put it on a piece of toast. This is SO easy. I'm not going to go through the steps of scrambling an egg because you should already know how to do that and, if you don't, youtube it. 

2. Peanut Butter Banana Bagel 

While this might sound weird to some, the combination is AMAZING. Slather a whole wheat bagel with creamy (or chunky--whatever you like) peanut butter and top it with a sliced up banana. Peanut butter is your source of protein in this breakfast and you'll get some healthy carbs from the whole wheat bagel. This will keep you energized well into lunchtime. 

3. Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Strawberries

Make some  oatmeal in the microwave or on the stove top and top it with a little bit of brown sugar and a whole bunch of strawberries, blueberries, craisins, whatever you want! There's really not much protein in this and quite a bit of sugar but oatmeal is healthy grain that will keep you full for a large portion of the day and will prevent you from reaching for unhealthy snacks. Plus fruit is so yummy. 

This 3 breakfasts are my go tos and so easy to make. My day really changes for the better when I start it off with a healthy and enjoyable breakfast and I'm sure yours will too. 

Fun (and active) Places to go!

I recommended in my previous post that something easy you can do to be a little bit healthier is to go outside and do something fun. However, fun places to go to that will keep you active are hard to find nearby Newark, DE.  So I've put together a list of place that are in the area that are a TON of fun:

1. Kilgore falls, PA

Kilgore falls is a really cool waterfall about an hour and half (it's so worth the drive) from Newark, DE. The water is crystal clear and if you're willing to do a little bit of hiking and looking you can even find smaller and more private waterfalls in the state park. Make sure to pack a lunch because you won't be near anything but nature of you go! 

2.  Newark reservoir

Go for a run at this giant-mountain-looking thing. It's somewhere different to go if you want to change up your normal running route or just want to go for an easy scenic walk. It's right in downtown Newark so, there's no reason not to go! 

3. Lum's Pond

Go kayaking and Lum's pond! It is so cool and a great light arm workout. Kayaking is great for you! You can take a couple friends if you want or just go alone. Even fish off the kayak if you're brave! Although, I can't guarantee you'll catch anything, check it out! 

Little Things

When it comes to being healthy and having a healthy lifestyle, you should change your life a little at a time. It never works to go hard all at once because eventually you'll get tired and lazy and will probably fall back into old, unhealthy habits... So, What types of little changes can you make that will make you a little healthier?

1.  Drink more water. 

Drinking more water is amazing for your body, your skin, and your mind. Pretty much everyone knows this. Whatever your health goals are, drinking more water can always help. I know sometimes doing this can be a little hard because its just not a priority in your very busy day at work or school (and it's very easy to forget about) As simple as this might sound, you will drink more water naturally if you invest in a really nice, big water bottle and carry it EVERYWHERE.

2. Set achievable (but challenging) workout goals.

In order to be healthy you have to workout or be active in some way. Some people love it. Some people hate it. But, theres just no getting around it. The key is to set achievable goals that challenge you personally. For example, my workout goal for the summer was to run for as long as I could at least 4 days a week. This was perfect for my schedule because a lot of times I was busy during the summer but, I always made sure that I found the time to meet my goal (I either ran early in the day or late at night, this way I'd have the whole day to do whatever I wanted to do). This goal was challenging to me because I ran until I felt like a physically had to stop.  By the end of the summer I ran my personal fastest mile ever. These little goals really do pay off I promise.

3. Make small diet goals and changes. 

Little general diet changes like switching to whole wheat everything is an easy way to improve your diet dramatically without giving up a lot of the food you love. Whole wheat bread. Whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat errrryyything. But if you hate whole wheat stuff that's not the only diet goal you can have, maybe give up soft drinks or make an effort to eat more vegetables and less chips. Give up something you know is bad for you and you know you can live without or substitute for something better. Limit yourself to one ice-cream cone a week! Do whatever you feel comfortable with but just make a small healthy change (or changes!). Small changes can be pretty significant.

4. Do fun, healthy activities that you enjoy.

Have some fun by getting outside and doing fun, active stuff with some friends or family! In the summer go swimming, jet-skiing, kayaking, hiking, just spend some time outside doing stuff! In the fall, take a walk around the nearest orchard and pick some apples, go for a bike ride in the crisp air and take in all the beautiful fall tree, do something. In the winter, go skiing, play in the snow, just find something to do outside, whatever you want! You'll be having fun, and being healthier and happier! And that's what life is all about.