Janae Says...

I feel like it's a simple, courteous thing to do--have tissue available to guests. I've felt this way for a long time, and had intended to write a blog about it. What finally pushed me over the edge was something Gretchen Rubin said in her book The Happiness Project : "I'm suspicious of buying things with very specific uses--suit bags, hand cream, hair conditioner, rain boots, Kleenex (why not just use toilet paper to blow your nose?)." Oh my gosh. Oh my GOSH! So many reasons Mrs. Rubin. So many! Toilet paper is for wiping your butt, not your face. For crying out loud. Don't tell me you've never been at somebody else's house and had a disaster. You know the kind I mean: a runny nose, or a stuffy nose, or--heaven forbid--a gnarly sneeze. Disaster can strike with less than a moment's warning (see video)! Then you have to frantically look for a tissue because your hand (or your corduroy sleeve, or wherever) is covered in snot and spit, onl...

Flexible Dieting: An Introduction There are macro and micronutrients. Macronutrients (macros) consist of protein, fat, and carbs. Each of these has a different caloric value. Flexible dieting uses a certain construct of calories to either help you cut, maintain, or gain weight. So it’s not simple calorie counting, it’s optimizing your calorie intake with the right levels of macronutrients. It allows you to be flexible in that you can use your macros however you want, whether it’s on a burger or some lean meat with vegetables. The ideal goal is to eat healthy most of the time, allowing for treats or more calorie dense foods in moderation. You may have seen this at the bottom of a label. It tells you that each gram of fat is worth 9 calories, and protein and carbs are worth 4 each. The fact that fat is more calorie dense is part of what has led to the misconception that fat makes you fat. Fat does NOT make you fat. You just can’t eat fatty everything, or you’d be consuming...

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to run another half marathon. My body is ready for it, and I want the challenge and commitment and schedule. So I looked up what was available because I don't want to run the Provo Half again. It ruined my knees for weeks, and I feel if I do it again it'll do permanent damage. I don't know how people do it. I have since decided to run the Alpine Half on May 23. It'll be about two years and two weeks after my first race. My training started this past week. I'm sticking to the same schedule I did in 2013. I did a tempo run on Monday, February 23 around the man-made lake by Patrick's house. I averaged a 10:33 pace. My calves cramped a couple of times, and I had to stop and walk several times. It was also really windy because, duh, it's West Valley. On Tuesday I did the recumbent bike and pretty mild strength training. On Wednesday, I had an "as you feel" run of three miles. I did this up 1000 east by m...

The week of February 16, I had two goals. I didn't make a big deal about them. But I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd blog about it. 1. Hit 10,000 steps every day of the week. 2. Do yoga in the morning before work. I hit both goals and wanted to talk about each. The first goal wasn't easy, actually. A lot of the activities I do in my workouts don't show up as "steps." For example, if I get on the recumbent bike, do sit-ups, pull-ups, or push-ups, it won't show up. So I ended up spending lots of minutes in the evening "marching" in place. I wanted to meet my goal, so it was fine. But in trying to meet a measure of numbers, I don't really got a lot out of it. Marching in place isn't the same as walking or running. It was cool to meet this goal just to know it was possible; we always feel some pride in meeting a goal, right? For the second goal, I used this DVD. I liked this because each day was under 30 minutes, mostl...

I had a goal yesterday to write two blog posts. Then I could have said that I posted in Feburary. But here we are on March 1, and I've finally gotten the chance to write my blogs. This year I wasn't very excited for my birthday. Being in my late 20s isn't super exciting. I feel like I should be soaking up all the time I have left in my 20s, but I guess it's that part that makes me sad. I didn't plan anything, but it actually turned out to be pretty great. I am blessed. My pictures from my phone from the past month prove how blessed I am. I always love a good sunrise. On my actual birth day, Patrick had to have his tonsils out, and I had a full day of work plus parent teacher conferences till 7 PM. So I wasn't super excited. We celebrated a few days earlier.  This is how I looked.  He brought me pretty flowers. We went to dinner at Happy Sumo. We went to the Planetarium and watched an IMAX movie about the universe. He bought me a mood ring...