Thankful Thursday: NEDAwareness Week

It may seem odd to see the concepts of being thankful and eating disorders in the same post title, but let me explain.

Thanks Jessie for starting this movement!

February 24-March 2 is NEDAwareness Week, started by the National Eating Disorders Association. The goal of this week, and every week in NEDA’s world, is to raise awareness of the fact that in the US alone, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant ED at some point in their lives. I’ve touched on my own personal ED struggle on this blog, and wanted to address this important week because I am one of those 20 million women.

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Love and Bitters at Barcelona

Remember to check out yesterday’s post, where I shared a special announcement…

My friend (since high school!) Andrea and I made plans on a Monday this month to go out to a fab dinner in honor of her birthday. I discovered Barcelona in West Hartford was doing one of their fun food and drink pairing events that very night, so we decided to turn that Love & Bitters Cocktail Class into our celebratory meetup!

Quite the lineup!

Quite the lineup!

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Judgment Day is April 5 at CT Cookoff!

Ah, the moment I know many of you have been waiting for…the giveaway winner of the Albion Go Long Crew tee! I wore mine again last night to Group Power!

Hot pink, ball out.

Thank you for your enthusiastic, thumbhole-lovin participation. The winner (chosen by random.org) is…

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M(aria)IMM

You still have until 11:59PM (EST) tonight to enter my giveaway for an Albion Go Long Crew tee! THUMBHOLES my friends!

I’ve been really lucking out in the blend date department lately. I spent last weekend with Kaitlin, and this past Saturday I hit the road for Stamford in the afternoon to stay with my lovely fellow Connecticut blogger Maria of Pappa Don’t Preach! And if there’s one word that describes our time together, it’s gotta be MARVELOUS! I hereby declare today’s MIMM post…M(aria) In My Monday!

Thanks Katie for helping us all see the marvelous side of things every Monday!

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Fitness Fashion Friday: Albion Giveaway!

My dear blend (and in-person friend!) Rachel of Healthy Chicks featured me as the 7th Healthy Chick in the Community on her blog’s series. I just adore the title she picked for the post too..be sure to check it out! Thanks for featuring me Rachel! This girl is a beautiful friend both inside and out 🙂

First I want to give myself a high five on High Five Friday for having a guest post published today on the second healthy living blog I EVER found several years ago…MizFit Online! Carla wrote a cool post yesterday about why she DOESN’T consider herself a foodie, and I am following up with a “rebuttal” of sorts – though not really because I love all my friends, foodie or not! If you’d told me when I first found Carla’s blog that I’d one day have a post published on it (and meet her, which I did at the Fitness Meet & Tweet), I’d have laughed at you. But here I am, published on her amazing blog, and already getting some great feedback on the post! Thanks to my #fishfriend Meg for inspiring me to give myself props every day – not just Friday!

Now, on to the main event. Happy Fashion Friday everyone! We’re getting Fitfluential again this week with another review and giveaway that I know many of you are going to be VERY interested in.

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Top Nosh in West Hartford!

Thank you for your comments on yesterday’s story about my encounter with my new friend Ed! I saw him again this morning at Peaberry’s and we chatted for a bit. Funny enough, after I told him that I’d gone to UConn, am almost done with my MBA, and have a full-time job, he just looked at me and said, “You’re the oldest kid aren’t you?” Yes we oldest, always the overachievers. Crazy how it’s always so easy to tell. I also learned that Ed was an NBA referee for three years! I’m excited to keep learning more about him – he’s already taught me so much, just by buying my coffee yesterday!

I was still in a funk for a lot of yesterday but at the end of the day as I sat on the couch watching TV with my dad and brother, sipping a little Cameron Hughes Pinot Grigio, and eating a dinner pretty easy on my stomach (very light on veggies, more heavy on frozen Ore-Ida fries…man I love those things), I felt quite at peace and thankful to be feeling a lot better physically and mentally than I had at the beginning of the day. My time to wind down and relax with the DVR and my books is so key to keeping me centered and calming me after anxiety-filled days – or even after the most normal of days. I’m grateful that I am able to easily access the things that calm me.

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Love From Ed

I woke up this morning in a stinker of a mood and had no idea what to blog about or if I’d blog. I was up in the middle of the night throwing up last night thanks to a stomach bug and did not sleep well at all. I still felt extremely nauseous and also very exhausted when my alarm went off for work but I felt a bit better once I got out of bed and moved around, so I sucked it up and made the drive.

Typically, most of my thoughts during the commute were not centered around hoping that I would feel better soon, but around worrying how feeling sick would affect my eats and exercise. Would I be able to go to the gym today? I attended a cocktail class with food pairings last night at Barcelona in West Hartford, and had NOT planned on not being able to get in some cardio after work. I was regretting doing Group Power yesterday instead of a cardio workout. I wondered if I’d be able to eat my fruits and veggies or if I’d “have” to eat carbs, which would make my stomach feel better. A lot of future tripping, putting high standards on myself, being unkind when I already was feeling crappy enough. Eating disorder thoughts abound. I was getting multiple visits from ED and future tripping like crazy.

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Caitlin and Kaitlin Take Gbury

I’m glad you all are just as excited about BAMR Bands as I am (in fact mine makes another appearance in this post – can you spot it?) and I’m happy to announce the winners of my giveaway!

bamr1 bamr2 bamr3

Congrats Amanda, Allison, and Celeste! I will be contacting you about your prizes!

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Fashion Friday: BAMR Bands Giveaway!

HAPPY FASHION FRIDAY! I’m SO SO SO excited about today’s giveaway but first, I have to give myself a high-five for continuing to do a good job with my gastro-goals! So far I have not missed a day of taking probiotics and I only missed one day of drinking my ACV. That’s pretty good! I honestly sometimes consider skipping the ACV in the morning (best time for me to drink it) but then I remember my blog post and it really does keep me accountable! After all, I don’t want to drink it after work when I’d much rather be drinking my wine – and it’d clash terribly with the taste of dinner and my nighttime snack. So go me for keeping up with my goals!

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WIAW Goes Nuttz!

So about yesterday’s post…I did great with my goals! Then I forgot to drink my ACV this morning. Bah. BUT that doesn’t mean I won’t have it today. There’s always tonight, friends!

Fitfluential Ambassadors all over the blogosphere have been showing they’re nuttz for Nuttzo, and I don’t blame them. I’ve gotten in on a piece of the action myself – or shall I say a jar of it?

In today’s What I Ate Wednesday post (thanks for hosting Jenn!), I want to talk about a nut butter I’ve been eating on more days than just Wednesday. Ever since receiving this jar of heaven in the mail a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been using it in snacks – or as a snack – almost daily.

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