I’ve written before about how I have trouble stopping to smell the metaphorical roses. I’ve always known that I’m the type of person that needs to make a conscious effort to slow down. Otherwise, I end up doing too much and getting burnt out. It wasn’t until last week that I realized that I really need to make more of an effort to “smell the roses” though.

To give some background on this, I struggled with a few stress-related health issues in high school. It took a lot of work, but I eventually got rid of them… up until recently when they resurfaced. In the past month or two, I’ve noticed some changes in my body. Two of them have been discussed on this blog: sleep and stomach problems. The other one is a little too embarrassing for me to be comfortable mentioning online, but it also affected me in high school.

Last Tuesday, I went to my doctor’s office to ask about my recent health problems. She suggested that the the sleep problem may be due to light in my apartment in the morning, which I definitely agree with. She also mentioned that the stomach problem could be a problem with my diet, specifically eating too much fruit and vegetables! Shocking, I know. I know that getting too much fiber can cause digestion problems, but I really didn’t think that I was getting too much. She didn’t totally nix my idea that my stomach problems could be due to stress too, but she did suggest making some small modifications to my diet and seeing how that affects me. Lastly, she confirmed that my suspicions that my more embarrassing problem was caused by stress. She gave me a request form to get my bloodwork done to find out if there could be any hormone issues going on and also a recommendation for a dermatologist in the area. So we’ll see!

With that said, it’s become very clear to me that I need to work on reducing my stress levels and to help me do so, I’m setting some health-related June goals for myself!

Goals for June

- Go to yoga

My gym has yoga classes, but I almost never go. I always prefer to lift weights, run, or row, but I think this would be better for both my fitness in general and my mind. I think I may join in on Courtney’s June Yoga challenge to help me meet this goal, actually!

- Take rest days

This is something I have trouble with. Meg’s recent post about taking more rest days really hit a note with me. I definitely don’t take enough rest days, even when I feel my body needs it. Instead, I often just force myself to push through it, though I’ll know I’ll be better the next day if I do.

I also want to apply this to Sleep and Repeat! Since I started this blog, I’ve felt like I need to share every food-related photo or fitness-related experience I have, which I realized is actually kind of an absurd goal for me. I took a break from the blog this weekend because 1. I didn’t have much to share and 2. I had plans for a rest weekend following my doctor’s recommendations about my stress levels. So as much as I love sharing my life, I’m going to try and pull back and take “rest days” from the blog a little more often as well.

- Eat more balanced

I generally eat very healthy, but according to my doctor, I also need to work on eating more balanced in general. She suggested that I might be getting too many veggies and fruit, so I’m going to try and cut back a little on both and see if that helps my stomach issues.

- Improve my work-life balance

Last week, I worked two 11-hour days. Way too much! It’s not what I’m used to at all. I haven’t mentioned this before since I try to stay away from real-life talk on the blog, but my boss and I are changing groups and our new group manager is a crazy workaholic. I’m talking 6 am to 10 pm days. Insane, I know. I absolutely am not ready for that to happen to me. Luckily, I have the coolest boss ever and he is really understanding of it being my first year in a full-time job. Usually when he offers to let me leave early (early being a relative term to my usual 6 pm leave time), I turn him down. I’m not unwilling to work and I want to make a good impression, but one of my goals is to take him up on that offer a little more in the interest of finding a better work-life balance.

And I’m leaving the June goals at that for now.

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was a new creation that I think I’ll be throwing together for quick dinners more often: a hummus egg wrap!

Ugly photo, I know. But trust me, it was delicious and super quick! I just slathered a whole wheat tortilla with red pepper hummus, then topped it with spinach, an egg (cooked in the microwave), and a sprinkle of goat cheese. It was literally done in five minutes! The perfect speedy after-work meal.

Just finishing up The Bachelorette and I can’t wait to see who gets booted! I’m loving Arie, Jef, and Sean. Obvious choices, I know. But what can I say, I’m a sucker for reality TV editing. If you’re watching, who are your favorites?

The downpour that I awoke to could only be described as “cats and dogs” rain. It was insane!

And despite the pounding on my windows, I somehow still managed to forget my umbrella on my way to the gym. Whoops! I didn’t feel like going back up to grab it, so I opted to walk to the gym without it. The walk from my building’s front door to my gym is literally less than a minute… yet I arrived completely soaked! So much so that the guy at the front desk asked me, “Did you jump in a pool on the way over?” Ha!

Anyway, I definitely remembered to grab my umbrella on my way out for work! When I got there, I gobbled down these overnight oats:I’ve been loving this combo lately! It was 1/4 cup of oatmeal, two big spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt, about 1/3 cup of vanilla almond milk, chia seeds, chopped dates, raisins, and a big blob of sunbutter added in the morning. Perfection!

After work, I went to the dentist. Before I got in the chair to have my teeth cleaned, they gave me a paraffin hand treatment! I dipped my hands in warm wax and then they wrapped them in plastic and put them in mittens. It felt amazing! My hands were silky smooth when they took off the wax at the end. Loved it!

By the time I got home, it was almost 8 and I was starving! I threw together this dinner, one of my favorite quickies.

Scrambled eggs, spinach, tomato and basil pasta sauce, and feta cheese on a whole wheat wrap. It hit the spot! Sometimes when I’m feeling extra lazy, I make it even quicker by cooking the egg in the microwave. Dinner’s ready in literally two minutes!

Anyway, thought I’d finish out this post by sharing a few more eats I shared with my dad and sister over the food-filled weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, my dad steamed some Chinese buns: two vegetable and five plain. My favorite way to eat the plain ones is cutting them in half and making sort of a makeshift sandwich with this salty tofu and beef mixture my mom makes. But sadly, we were out so I improvised with chili!

And on Sunday evening, my dad set his mind to making a big dinner. He absolutely loves proving to us that he can cook when my mom isn’t around!

On the table from bottom right to far left: forbidden rice (also known as black rice or purple rice) in our bowls, chicken wings (for my sister), tofu with peas and ground beef, cauliflower stir-fried with peppers and pork, lotus root, and scrambled eggs. Not bad, Dad!

Almost Hump Day!

Happy Sunday! The above quote is from my favorite TV show, Game of Thrones. But we’ll get to that. First, food!

Breakfast

After hitting an open bar at Village Pourhouse in Hoboken for a friend’s birthday, I desperately needed some hangover food on Saturday morning. I made myself a sandwich on a toasted whole wheat English muffin with a still-runny fried egg and strawberry jam. The only thing I’d say this sandwich was missing was a slice of cheese. And sadly, my sandwich started bleeding before I even took my first bite! The combined runny yolk with some jam is kind of oddly grotesque-looking, isn’t it?

My bleeding, but delicious egg sandwich with jam!

Breakfast

After some more drinking on Saturday night, I was jonesing for some more eggs on Sunday morning. This time, I scrambled my eggs and had them on a whole wheat tortilla with tomato sauce with basil, baby spinach, and some shredded cheese. It was tasty, but I may have overstuffed my tortilla just a tad… The sauce was all over the place when I was done.

Egg, spinach, cheese, and tomato sauce wrap before I rolled it up!

Dinner

For dinner, I made myself a bowl of lemon pasta with broccoli. It was quick and easy: steamed some broccoli, cooked some penne pasta, and then tossed it all together in the bowl with some olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese. Yum! I almost always stick to tomato sauce and turkey meatballs when I have pasta, but I’ll be adding this to the rotation.

Lemon penne pasta with broccoli - a new regular!

On another note, I am so excited for the season 2 premiere Game of Thrones in 20 minutes! I’ve watched the first season three times already and read the first book and loved them all! Can’t wait to see what this season brings!

Character poster for Tyrion Lannister, my favorite GoT character