About Me (a little long overdue, if I do say so myself)

Finally. FINALLY. I am finally starting to blog about who I am, what I do, and my motivation to create this blog. The reason I put it off for so long is because I'm a college student and ain't nobody got time fo dat.

Let's just start with the basics....

My name is Anna and I am a 19-year-old college freshman, majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Nutrition - a bit of a random combination but it works. Anywhoooo, I told myself for the past 2 years that I wanted to create a health/fitness/nutrition/loving yourself/loving life blog, which is actually a lot to hold myself to, now that I'm writing it all out.

I have a passion for running, working out, trying new recipes, and promoting total body/self/world love.
That's me, not perfect, and definitely not trying to be, but trying to do the best for my body and help others do the same.

milkshakes (& mug cakes) bringing errrbody to da yard

in case you don;t know, the title of this post is in reference to a song. hopefully you made that connection and if not, move on and continue reading.

sometimes (most of the time) I get cravings for dessert (any and all kids - I don't discriminate). sometimes I just want to drive to the local ice cream shoppe and get a large cake batter ice cream with oreos and cookie dough mixed in, topped with hot fudge. other times I want to bake dark chocolate brownies and eat half the batter before i put it in the oven. however I can't always do this for obvious reasons - risk of heart attack and most importantly, my jeans getting too tight :)

Occasionally I'll get that pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and eat it one sitting or bake a whole cake just cause I'm craving it, but what I try to do when I get hardcore cravings is try something healthier that will also satisfy my sweet tooth.

One of my favorite things to make when I'm craving chocolate and ice cream is a Skinny Reese's Milkshake.

ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Greek vanilla yogurt
• 1.5 Tablespoons of powdered peanut butter (I use PB2)
• 1/3 scoop of chocolate protein powder
• 2 Tablespoons of either chocolate or vanilla ice cream
• 1 teaspoon of raw cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter
• 1 packet of stevia sweetener

blend all these together and enjoy a satisfying treat that won't cost you much more than 200 calories!

another thing I really like to make is a Skinny Chocolate Mug cake, for when I'm craving something warm and cake-like. Mug cakes are super easy to make and can be altered to pretty much any flavor you want!

ingredients:

• 1/4 Tablespoon of raw cocoa powder
• 1 egg white
• 2 Tablespoons of pumpkin puree
• pinch of table salt
• pinch of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of almond milk
• 2 Tablespoons of chocolate protein powder

mix all ingredients together in a mug, adding water until the consistency is a little thicker than normal cake batter. Heat in the microwave on 30-second intervals until cooked and enjoy - It'll cost ya less than 100 calories!

Lent

Well Mardi Gras festivities are over (and it was awesome!) and Lent and spring are upon us. For those of you who participate in Lent, you know that deciding what to do/give up can be difficult. And after doing this for 18 years, I'm starting to exhaust my options. I most likely will give up sweets/junk food as I do each year in hopes of looking better by Spring Break.

However, I usually like to try and incorporate something new into my everyday routine that brings me closer to God and more spiritually balanced. I think that giving something up for Lent just because you're "supposed to" isn't the point of Lent at all. The point is to give something up in sacrifice (hence, giving up junk food) but also growing in your faith in some way. Through high school, I would always dedicate 1-2 lunch periods out of the week to sitting in quiet in my catholic school's chapel. Being a college student now, I don't always have all of these options at my disposal.
After giving it much thought, I've decided that one thing I will do is incorporate some religious activity aside from mass into my week; this could be going sit in quiet meditation in the church or chapel for a little while or attending life group and team building activities. Another thing I'm going to do is journal each night. And within my journaling, I'm going to list something I love about myself every day and why I love it. Most people don't know that I've suffered with severe self-hatred (post on that later) and though I'm doing better, I still go back to that dark place sometimes. So I think that forcing myself to write good things about myself each night will help in growing in more self-love.
So whatever you decide to give up or do for Lent, make it something meaningful and worth your time, something that can help you grow!
HAPPY FRIDAY! and a little green tea inspo:]