I found this under a bridge

…and it was so very fitting for me right now. Maybe you, too?

My own vision for my life was intimidating. Shackles were holding me down. 

My goals. They’re too big. Too lofty. Meant for somebody else. Surely not for me.

My hopes for the future and what I might achieve were bogged down in doubt, along with the idea that I was foolish for having the nerve to think so big in the first place.

“Clang-clang” went the shackles.

The self-imposed limitations housed in the dark corners of my mind ate away at my confidence; kept me in a place of mediocrity, barely chugging along towards the finish line.

Where’s the key to unlock these chains?

But then something clicked. I had a revelation of sorts. I’m not sure why or how, but my thinking has changed. And when I saw that message under the bridge: BROKE THE SHACKLES …it was confirmation of it all.

I am deserving. I am able. Whatever I don’t know, whatever knowledge I’m lacking, I’ll seek it out and learn. I’ll get the information. I’ll think things through. I’ll find out how it works and put it into action. I’ll make the effort. And I’ll be disciplined about it. I’ll put in the time and carve out my path. No longer will I practice self-thievery by robbing myself of what I want for my life. This can’t be put off any longer.

I’m nervous about it. I’ve got butterflies in my stomachs. Yet I will remain in pursuit.

Bye-bye, Shackles. You don’t live here anymore. 

I urge you to identify your own shackles and take them off. You are the only one that can release yourself from the chains.

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How I found my happy heart (guest post)

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in North America:  according to the CDC in 2008, 616,000 people died as a result – meaning that 1 in 4 deaths could be attributed to heart disease. The stats surrounding heart health can be staggering, and we are inundated with this type of information everyday.

But what do you really think of when you think of heart disease? Probably an older man? You might picture him overweight? Hair greying and thinning from many stress filled years? Maybe not leading the healthiest lifestyle? Possibly a smoker?

I can pretty much guarantee that you didn’t picture me. A 27 year old healthy living blogger who is gearing up to train for her first marathon. Am I right?

MizFit note: I love my Darwinian Fail.

But the truth is I am one of the faces of heart disease and I have been battling my heart condition and my body for the last decade.

I was just 17 when I was diagnosed with my arrhythmia – Long QT Syndrome. And I was just 18 when I was outfitted with my very first pacemaker/defibrillator.

Yep, it’s me and the Oldie-Goldies just kicking it at the cardio clinic. Robot hearts are where it’s at these days. Cyborg powers activate! What?! What?! But I digress. Because while I am very proud to say that I am now a healthy happy 20-something, it was a long road back from the brink.

For me, obviously, a happy healthy heart doesn’t come naturally. It is something I have had to work at. And while I whole-heartedly give an insane amount of credit to my doctors, the advances in medical science, and my whole cardio team – just the medical intervention alone wasn’t enough. I still had a LOT of rough days, especially early on in my diagnosis.

My health definitely improved, but “bad days” were a norm in my world. Those bad days meant I just couldn’t get started. My body was already exhausted from battling my unruly ticker, and I was unable to do much else. I struggled with my energy levels and some days could not even bring myself to venture beyond the comforts of my bed.

And I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got a lot of living to do! So I couldn’t afford to be spending so much time down and out.

I needed to get going.

So that is how Operation Happy Heart began.

I found myself losing faith in my body’s ability to work for me, instead of against me. I felt myself losing hope with each “bad day” that past. And I felt my resolve and drive being swallowed up by my diagnosis.

My health wasn’t mine anymore. My body and what it could do was ruled by how happy my heart was that day, and I no longer felt like I controlled that.

It was frustrating and absolutely terrifying, but I turned up at my cardiologists door asking for my body back. I wanted my life back. I wanted to be in control of my health again.

So we started slow.

Just eating more vegetables. Skip the all-night parties – which is easier said than done for student away at university.

Trying to make movement part the regular routine – walk more, maybe even try yoga. These were all manageable changes that I gradually incorporated into my day-to-day life, and the change in my body was profound.

I started keeping a running tally of my good days vs. bad. What was different? What was different from one day to the next? What could I do the help to make these bad days fewer and farther between? The solution made itself clear in a hurry once I started to give it some thought.

If I take care of my body, then my body will take care of me.

Krysten blogs at Darwinian Fail  Her genetics may have “doomed” her according to Darwin, but she believes fitness is also defined by adaptability, perseverance, and strength. She’s chosen *her* definition over Darwin’s.

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Ive found my (Pure) bliss! (MizFIt & guest post)

DiZclaimer:  Im biased. I freakin love this girl.  The Tornado LOOOVES her & Pure Bliss Eats. We’re superfly biased that way. Please to enjoy this BY-DEMAND! guest post by Nicole.

I’m so happy to be here on MizFit’s blog sharing my story with you.

I got the very special chance to meet Carla in New York in December. I have to admit I *may* have been a bit nervous to meet her, but as soon as I walked in she was SO warm. And I mean, how can you not like someone that tells you, you are a prettier Bethany Frankel, right?

Carla is the most down to earth, REAL, person and I found that so comforting. She has become sort of my mentor and has helped me in many situations.

Anyway, I’ll stop gushing now…and tell you a bit about me.

MizFit note: Seriously. I asked for none of the above niceties. Just the post.  really.

I was destined to be a teacher since elementary school when I played with my friends. I was one of the only people I knew, who ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher. Enter college, what’s my major, teaching, obviously. There was never ever a wavering thought or moment because teaching was ALWAYS for me.

I graduated college when I was 21 years old. Fast forward 3 months I was a 100% full time Special Education teacher for the 4th grade. I honestly thought I’d stay there for a long time, much longer than 5 years.

I thought I had it all figured out. I had a great boyfriend I’d been with for a long time, I knew engagement, marriage, and a mortgage was coming…and it did, happily. Oh 21 year old self, how you so didn’t know what was ahead.

On August 15 2011, I quit teaching.

It was the hardest and the BEST thing I’ve ever done for myself. I was miserable. I cried A LOT.

I made the decision to quit with my husband, back over the school year, but I told basically NO ONE. When I finally started to break the news, I got an overwhelming amount of support, with a few people telling me I was legit crazy for leaving a secure decently paying job at this time. But honestly, does money even matter when you are crying multiple times a week?*

 *Let me say my husband and I had a CLEAR plan. We did NOT do this and hope, wish and pray for money to appear out of thin air. And we did not act irresponsibly and leave us in a situation to not be able to pay our bills.

I worked my butt off over the spring and summer to get my small businesses off the ground. I started nutrition counseling over the spring and then launched my healthy online bakery in July. With the help of my husband and sister we went around and made connections with a few local business that would talk to us…mostly yoga studios and friends of friends.

My company, Pure Bliss Eats has a mission to be a health food company that offers delicious baked goods that won’t hurt your waistline. I carefully chose each ingredient like organic spelt flour, raw nuts and organic raw blue agave nectar to carefully craft each baked good. These treats are delicious and provide long lasting energy. You will not feel a sugar crash after eating any one of these items.

MizFit note: Pure Biss Eats is having a site re-launch next week. Keep your eyes out for discount codes!

I truly believe you have to enjoy what you are eating, life is too short not to, but at the same time you should make the best choices for your body. Whether you are looking for a healthy breakfast, snack or dessert, I promise you that you will enjoy our foods with no guilt.

Because I love Carla and her community SO much, I thought it would be fun to share a recipe with you for one of my many healthier granolas.

 Pumpkin Spice Granola

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup puffed millet (or another puffed rice cereal)

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar)

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup raw chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raw sliced or slivered almonds

*optional: 2 tbsp chia seeds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a large baking sheet with wax paper. In a large bowl, combine oats and millet.  In a small bowl, mix together pumpkin pie spice, salt, sugar, pumpkin, maple syrup, chia seeds and vanilla. Mix until smooth.? Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients bowl and then stir and mix well.

It will take a couple of minutes to get everything mixed evenly. Spread the granola mixture on the large baking sheet evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes, then turn over the granola carefully using a large wide spatula. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool on the pan or on a cooling rack. Add almonds and walnuts.

Store in an airtight container.

Hope you enjoy!

View the original article here

What Would YOU Do? If You Found Yourself in This Eating Dilemma…

I’m asking, because this has happened to me, and probably will again. I’ll tell you how I handled it, but first, let me propose the dilemma-scenario in question for your consideration…

YOUR DILEMMA-SCENARIO

You’re seriously hungry. For whatever reason, I don’t know, but your stomachs are excessively way past their feeding time. Maybe you were waiting for hours at the doctor’s office, or you got held up at work. Unplanned crap happens that messes with our ability to eat on schedule, and now it happened to YOU. You have no snacks in your bag, there’s no sort of hippie health food store around for you to grab some kind of organic crunch bar, and you won’t be home for another hour and a half. You are freaking STARVING!

So what do you do?

There are fast foods spots on every corner. Do you continue to starve yourself or do you grab the only thing around — fast food? And please don’t say, “that would never happen to me because I’m perfect and I carry my snacks at all times” because that’s NOT part of this hungry scenario. So what’s your answer? How would you handle the situation? Starve or take the fast food route?

JOSIE’S ANSWER

I used to allow myself to starve until I got home, and it was excruciating. I refused to eat anything that violated my healthy-eating code, especially fast food. But later I decided that was bullshit and there was no reason for me to be putting myself through that starving nonsense, so I started grabbing the healthiest fast food item I could identify opposed to starving myself until later, especially if had worked out earlier in the day.

It’s not too hard to find a decent salad or grilled chicken sammich on a fast food menu nowadays. I recently had both in the last few weeks, and I have ZERO guilt about stepping into a fast food joint. Fast food is my last resort, emergency ninja-move alternative.

So how about YOU? Would you starve until you got home, or get fast-foodie instead?

View the original article here