Good morning! I’m sitting here drinking my morning tea with the sunshine streaming through my windows and listening to the birds chirp. Even though it’s still pretty chilly outside, just like the birds, I can feel spring moving in. And time is FLYING by. I can”t believe it’s already been 2 months since I started this little online journal. Pretty soon it’ll be 90 degrees outside and everyone will be bitching and whining for cooler weather on Facebook (why can’t people just be happy 
)
This week I got around to bringing a little spring into the house. I changed my Bath & Body Works Wallflowers from “Leaves” to “Coconut Leaves!” I mopped my floors, opened my windows and let in some fresh air. And I changed out my dining room roses for a beautiful arrangement of astro’s and tulips. Nothing says spring time like tulips, and in white, they are so chic.
Also, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which means Lent is upon us. I’m not Catholic, but I’ll take any excuse to better my diet, so for the next 39 days, I’m cutting the carbs! This really isn’t a major change for me, I’m just enforcing my existing diet beliefs. I guess the best way to describe my diet would be Paleo, but I hate to associate myself with the Crossfit cult, no offense to any crossfitters, I just don’t do it, but more power to ya. I guess I’m a Naturalist. I feel that the best way to eat is the way my ancestors did–by eating things that can be consumed in their rawest form from nature. Lots of chicken and fish, with red meat maybe once a week and pork every other week, (I don’t have any kind of moral issues with red meat and pork, I’ve just found that when I’m eating really clean, my body has a hard time breaking those things down, and since I want to listen to my body, I probably should limit my intake of them.) I compliment my protein with plenty of fruits and veggies. Leafy greens, broccoli/cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, asparagus, all the squashes, peppers and onions, garlic, avocado and cabbage are some of my favorite veggies. On the fruit side I love any kind of berries, kiwi, melons, pineapple, grapefruit, grapes, and tangerines. I try to stay away from carrots, corn, potatoes and bananas, as these contain a lot of sugar and honestly, I just hate the texture of bananas. For snacking, I try to stick to nuts, raw walnuts and almonds preferably, nut butters, hummus and occasionally 1/4 cup servings of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. I’ve tried to quit dairy all the way around, but I’m a sucker for good cheese and can’t pass up my smattering of feta on my eggs in the mornings. Hey, YOLO. I have not drank milk in over a year now and am now apparently lactose intolerant. However, I absolutely LOVE almond milk. There is a reason why the Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla almond milk is always sold out at my grocery store. It’s delicious AND it only has 30 calories in an 8oz serving!
With all that being said about my diet BELIEFS, just like any believer, in my day-to-day life I falter. My diet REALITY is a lot more lax than just that nice little list up there. It’s hard to work in a pub where you’re frying delicious hand-cut french fries and not snag one or two. Off every order. And pretty soon those add up to an order within themselves. Or to tell the sweet old war vet who brings me cookies n’ cream ice cream that I can’t eat it because I’m dieting. Or cheesecake. For God’s sake. I’ll never be able to pass on cheesecake. As I’ve become more in tune with my body over the past few months, I’ve really learned a lot about myself. For example, as the day goes on I lose motivation. I’m a morning person. I wake up with all the ambition in the world. I don’t have food cravings and I get. stuff. done. However, the later in the day it gets, the worse my sweet tooth is, and the less likely I am to stick to goals and you can forget about the gym. Seriously, if I’m not at the gym before 1pm, it’s not gonna happen. And I normally don’t go in to work until 9pm! So imagine how hard it is to not hit the late night diner that serves homemade gourmet cheesecakes until 5am with all my co-workers after a long night of slinging drinks! But I am a firm believer in the 90/10 rule of eating well and exercising 90% of the time so the other 10% can be spent being a disgusting fat slob.
I really need to get it together though since Mitch and I are going on our spring vacation next week to the beach. I absolutely can’t wait. One of my best friends moved to Myrtle Beach right after we graduated high school and even after almost 10 years, is still nice enough to put me up when I get a little spare cash and can manage to get away from work for a few days. With that being said, I’ve spent a lot of time in the ol’ Dirty Myrtle, but since Mitch is going with me this time and he’s not a big drinker or partyer, I wanted to plan some really fun stuff that even I’ve never done before. For instance, one day we are driving down to Georgetown and touring Hopsewee Plantation. I’m obsessed with Southern history and am sure the tour of the house and the following afternoon tea will not disappoint. I’m also excited to get down to the Inlet and enjoy some fresh seafood. JUST NO HUSH PUFFIES!
I hope everyone is as excited as myself for the upcoming season. As much as I try to be thankful and enjoy every day, there’s just something so fresh and new and exciting about spring. With everything in nature stirring and coming to life, I can’t help but feel the same on the inside. Hopefully I’ll have some time to update from the beach. Until then, everyone carpe diem!
Appalachian Barbie 