My Favorite Reads

After my last post, I had a few people reach out asking me for some of my favorite books to read so I thought I'd share them with ya'll today.

For motivation/positive thinking:

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

This book essentially gives you a different way to recognize how to change behaviors that you desire to change. For me, this helped give me a clear cut method to begin using in my life to improve my eating habits and workout regimen.

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

This book was a fun and easy read for me. Jen Sincero has a lot of hilarious stories to share and helps to inspire people to live their own best life whatever that may mean to you, personally.

For fun:

I tend to read a lot of books by the same author like Mitch Albom, Nicholas Sparks, and Taylor Jenkins Reid so I recommend any books by them.

I recently read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and it was very good and pretty similar to the TV series that Reese Witherspoon did on HBO.

For kids:

Some of you have children home right now so I wanted to include options for kids which there are tons that I’ve never even heard of since I don’t have any children of my own but here is Time’s 100 Best Children’s Books of All Time to help you parents out J https://time.com/100-best-childrens-books/  I did take a glance at it myself and was happy to be reminded of some of my childhood favorite such as Blueberries for Sal, The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Frog and Toad, Corduroy, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Amelia Bedelia, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Ah, nostalgia. J

You may want to check and see if your local library participates in any eBook rental options. Sometimes these can be through your library’s website directly or through apps such as Overdrive or Libby which are all free options and save you from needing to go out or waiting for a physical copy of a book to arrive to you. If you want to pay for an audio-book service, I hear Audible is pretty good and sometimes offers trial memberships.

Personally, I’ve always loved to read and find that it calms me so you know what I’ll be doing until this coronavirus blows over. J

Cheers to your health,

Chelsea

The Dreaded Coronavirus

I thought I’d take this chance to talk a little about what’s going on in the world right now; the coronavirus. In case you’ve been living under a rock, the CDC reports that general symptoms to watch out for include fever, cough, and shortness of breath and may appear 2-14 days after being exposed.  If you experience more severe symptoms such as difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, or bluish lips or face, you should see medical attention immediately. A lot of the nation has been affected by schools being closed, some work sites have allowed their employees to work from home, and stores and restaurants have begun shutting down for a specified period of time or offering limited hours/availability. To help with prevention, it’s recommended that you stay home if you’re not feeling well, limit your exposure to others including visitors to your own home, clean frequently, and keep your hands clean and away from your face.

For those who are working from home, I would recommend making sure that you provide your own self-care to help keep you relaxed during these times. Self-care comes in a lot of different forms and can include any of the following:

-Create your own cozy space to work in or to sit in to take a break from your work. This cozy space can include somewhere near lighted candles with soothing scents, having light music playing, or having a cozy throw blanket for your lap.

-Read a book especially one that you may have been meaning to read but haven’t had the time or choose one from a recent best sellers list.

-Listen to a motivating speech, TedTalk or podcast which will help to keep you in a positive mindset and hopefully not be bogged down by being “stuck” at home.

-Make yourself move and/or stretch – there are tons of options available for free on YouTube and most are 15-30 minutes long. And in the wise words of Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”

-Unplug from the media for a certain period of time especially if reading about recent developments relating to the coronavirus stresses you out more.

-Create something or even color which will help you focus on something else rather than your surroundings and/or stressors.

I pray that each of you is safe and well during this season of life and remember that although things are hard right now, we will get thru this. Keep calm, and remember to wash your hands. J

Cheers to your health,

Chelsea

Work it out!

With a plan for the gym I think it’s only appropriate to discuss clothing options. For me, I wanted to have clothes that would make me want to get up and go to the gym and that would include something that was comfortable and still stylish without spending a crap ton of money especially when my goal was to lose weight. I found that Old Navy had good supportive clothing options at a decent price especially when they would have 50% off sales. Other good store options include shopping at Goodwill, Amazon, Marshalls, and TJMaxx.

Some of my favorite clothing items from Old Navy include their Elevate compression leggings and crops. These pants are super comfortable and compress to hold everything in place which is great for ladies with a little extra “love chub” as I like to call it. J I typically choose the options with a high waist for this purpose. The material is comfortable and passes the squat test (aka you can’t see the color underwear you’re wearing when you squat or bend down). The Elevate compression leggings and crops typically sell at regular price between $30 and $45 depending on the style and color that you choose.

Old Navy also sells active wear tops which are decently priced and are typically lightweight and moisture wicking. I don’t recommend Old Navy’s sports bras for busty ladies. In my opinion, they don’t hold anything up or provide support no matter what their descriptions say. My favorite place for sports bras is Athleta. Athleta tends to be more high end but well worth the price tag especially if I’m going to be moving and jumping around while working out. To me there is no bigger annoyance when I'm trying to workout than my lovely lady lumps flopping all around, ha. Athleta has a variety of styles and colors to choose from that are all very stylish while also supportive.

For sneakers, I always recommend you see a specialty shoe store like The Walking Company. At The Walking Company, they will provide different tests to see the type of support that your feet need and show you which shoe options would be best for you based on those needs. It’s actually pretty interesting how they can tell based off of a foot scan what all you need. For me, I needed a certain type of shoe with inserts to help support my arches. It’s especially important to make sure that you have good shoes when working out, and without having supportive shoes you put yourself at risk for injury which will only set you back further in your goals.

Cheers to your health,

Chelsea