On the Verge of Internet Addiction?

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Thoughts are flooding my mind like:

…but first, let’s do some happy small talk!

The temperature in the mornings has been just lovely. A little chilly to some, but I love me some light sweater weather.

After breakfast, Mass, and a little morning nap (I start work at 12 on Mondays), I took my moves and grooves outside, naturally.

banana bread baked oatmeal with cinnamon raisin peanut butter + glass o’ {Lactaid} milk

THIS WAS HARD:

1 mile run
100 burpees
100 double unders
1 mile run

I couldn’t tell you which part was the hardest, but I can tell you that all I could think of on that last mile was, “Keep chugging away. Don’t stop.” Even though I probably could have walked faster than I was running at some points (thanks, hills).

Here’s me trying to smile at the end.

But I’m proud of myself! I hardly ever run, and I went ahead and did two miles of it in a workout.

Today I might go for a walk or do my favorite 18 minute plank workout. Either way, my legs need a break.

So last night…

I was still feeling funky and down, but I knew that it wasn’t just because of the weekend’s events. I couldn’t really pinpoint why I was feeling so unsettled and just… off.

part of yesterday’s lunch: salad with cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and sliced smoked duck breast (from the farmers’ market)

Granted, I was pretty wiped out, and fatigue always brings me down. But Pop noticed at the dinner table that something was up.

“I’m fine.” ← Fortunately, Pop knows the true meaning of those words.

I don’t usually have qualms about telling my parents how I feel, but truthfully, I myself didn’t really know what was going on. However, when Pop entered my room (as I wiped a single tear from my eye), I just talked it out, discovering what exactly was bothering me.

The main thing is the internet. I just felt exhausted and more stressed with the internet lately— social media and even blogging. It’s not that I don’t enjoy keeping up with people and blogging (hello, here I am right now), but I feel a little bit enslaved to it at times.

I gotta check Instagram. *scrolls mindlessly and finds an account to “stalk”*

I need to do one thing on Facebook. *scrolls mindlessly and watches at least five of those Tasty videos*

I’ll take this time to read a couple blogs. *goes through the hundreds of unread blog posts*

I’ll check this person’s Snapchat story. *goes through everyone’s story* ← Okay, Snapchat made the stories continuous with one another, which is like a black hole.

I’ve been talking about social media’s toxicity in several different blog posts recently, but I still have not made too much of a change. I clicked on this article called “10 Things You May Not Know About Anxiety Disorder” via Arman’s Coffee Talk post yesterday (another thing: clicking on links), and one thing is that “People who suffer from gambling or internet addictions are more likely to also have anxiety disorder.”

Do I think I have a legit internet addiction? No. However, I think I could be heading towards one at this rate. Internet doesn’t interfere with my daily work life or anything, but once I don’t have responsibilities, I feel like I can’t get away from it. There’s always something to do/see/like/comment/post on my phone or laptop.

Pop offered some good advice about practical ways to combat this sub-internet-addiction. I also added some strategies myself:

Unfollow people on Facebook and Instagram. I don’t need to be following every friend and every fitness junkie/foodie out there. Clean up the feed.
Limit yourself to just “liking” things, without feeling like you need to comment.
Read a select few blogs.
Read actual books more (shoutout to school teachers).
Before touching any piece of technology, make a list of what you intend to do when you’re on the internet. Stick to that list. Go in with intention.

This week is all about humility and self-reflection, ain’t it?

I just finished the best overnight oats I’ve had in a while

It’s not fun knowing that I have a disorder-prone mind. It’s not easy to share weakness. But acknowledging my weakness is one way that God helps me knock down my pride and build me up in a way that is more beautiful than before. And vulnerability is the best way to connect to others!

#BeMoreHuman ← that’s a Reebok hashtag, but it works here.

(p.s. Yesterday, I said that I would talk about body image stuff today, but that’s not on my heart right now, so I changed the topic. In short, just know that you are so much more than your outward beauty!!! LIFE is so much more than outward beauty.)

Go get ’em, friends.

Comment or don’t comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts, but you can also just shut down your computer/phone and go on with your day 🙂

Airboat Tour Adventure + Shoulder Burn Circuit Workout

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I held an alligator yesterday!

He’s 4.5 years old and his name is Sergio. The man said to hold his tail firmly, but apparently my grip on Sergio’s torso was a little too much, because then the man said, “If you hold him too tightly there, he’ll pass out and then you’ll have to give him mouth to mouth.”

I opted to just give Sergio pretend kisses. I miss him.

Where did I hold this alligator, you might ask? Wild Willy’s Airboat Tours! We had never been on an airboat before, so my mom and uncle found this company with stellar reviews on Yelp. It was truly an amazing experience! They took us on a laid-back yet informative tour through Lake Tohopekaliga to view the wildlife, which was abundant.

“She’s going to put this on moves and grooves!”

A COW (they wander into the shallow parts of the lake from the neighboring pastures)

A terrible, mega-zoomed-in photo, but do you see the two bald eagles on top!?

Wild Willy is the one with the sunglasses and camo pants!

Ugh, it was such a beautiful day. I was totally awestruck by the beauty of nature as we sped through the waters on the airboat. I kinda wanted to cry tears of joy, but luckily, the wind blasting in my face kept my eyes dry and my embarrassment to a minimum.

If you’re ever in the St. Cloud, FL area, definitely check out Wild Willy’s Airboat Tours. We all give it five stars, two thumbs up, and three cheers!

Preceding our afternoon adventure, we had a slow start to the morning. I slept in and did my moves before breakfast, which is a rarity for me! I almost always need to eat something before I feel like a functioning human in the morning. I guess all that sushi the night before stuck pretty well.

I missed you, burpees! This was a quick yet heart-pounding workout that made my shoulders burn. Those inchworm pushups are deceptively difficult after double unders!

[Super late] breakfast was an ol’ classic: Gina’s cookie dough cereal made with sunflower seed butter and a whole sliced banana. It will never stop being delicious.

I also ate some random snacks with my fingers including pineapple, broccoli, and mango. I’m like a wild animal hunting for food or something, what the heck?

Before leaving for the airboat tours, I made myself a sandwich with a two-egg scramble with a boatload [ 😀 ] of spinach and feta cheese. I ate it at around 3PM in the car on our way to the airboats.

Part two of lunch came after the airboat tours when we decided to try some of their gator bites, aka gator nuggets, served with sweet & sour sauce and a creamy southwestern sauce. They tasted just like chicken nuggets except more chewy and a little less flavorful.

Looks like mostly fries, but you can spot some of the nuggets in there!

Oh I had a bite of this smoked alligator jerky…”with pork.”

The gator bites combo came with an ice cream “samich” that I happily ate. I will forever love these things, which are essentially jumbo ice cream Oreos.

A late lunch called for a late dinner at 9PM again. Last night we dined at a local Latin/Caribbean restaurant, and everything was tasty!

The world’s smallest house salad

Grilled shrimp with white rice for me!

Plus a few bites of my mom’s seafood mofongo (think Latin version of stuffing— made with fried green plantains, pork cracklings, and garlic)

Mofongo— the food you love to say and love to eat even more.

‘Twas a lovely and relaxing day indeed! Today I need to do work, which includes tour guide studying, blogging, letter-writing, bathroom cleaning, reading, and grocery shopping (there are no more bananas in our house and that makes me sad).

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

So tell me:

Have you ever held an alligator or other wild animal?

What was something fun you did yesterday?

Would you eat alligator?

An Untraditional Christmas + Double Unders Cardio Workout

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Greetings from Florida!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/Joyful Holiday Season! My mom, brother, and I were on the road for the past 48 hours (with a brief hotel break in Savannah, Georgia to catch some zzz’s) on our way to Florida, and we have finally arrived! My butt and legs are so thankful. #sittingissues

We were indeed driving all Christmas day, which explains the title of this post. It wasn’t an ideal way to spend the beloved holiday, but there were many festivities happening throughout the week that made up for it!

Christmas Eve Eve

My cousins, aunt, and uncle came over on Tuesday so that we could all spend some quality time together for a day. It was a joy to play with my little cousins, converse with my aunt and uncle, and celebrate the anticipation of Jesus on Christmas! And we ate lots because…’tis the season..?!

Mom and I prepared a buffet spread for the crowd that included curry chicken, green beans, salmon with dill honey mustard yogurt sauce, brown rice, and Singapore noodles from H-Mart. Everything was fabulous!

Lots of cookies have been consumed in the past few days, but I think these chocolate-dipped peanut butter pretzels from our lovely neighbors take first prize. Oof. Just look at that peanut butter to pretzel ratio.

Christmas Eve

Mom and I got up early to prepare breakfast for everyone, and my cousin Angela also helped make the banana pancakes and waffles with me!

That photo of the arranged Mickey Mouse pancakes/French toast muffins would be my plate, not my cousin’s. Because I knew I would be in Florida, so Disney, so yes.

The rest of the day involved more fellowship, food, relaxation, and some moves! I did Jen’s 1000 rep home workout before going to Christmas Mass in the evening.

No equipment, but all sweat! It was a fun, fast-paced, effective workout. However, I only quickly ate an apple after doing this and before going to Mass, so I was starrrrrrving for the 2.5 hours before we went to dinner. Christmas Mass was glorious though, and the hymns were beautiful distractions from my hunger.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was spent at a Brazilian/Italian restaurant called Gaucho Grill. Daliza’s family kindly gave us a gift card for the restaurant as a thank you for taking Daliza to Florida with us this summer (missing you here now, girl). The food was so delicious!

shared a crab cake for appetizer // Pop’s skirt steak // Ben’s meat-tastic paella // grilled asparagus and spinach for the table // Mom’s gargantuan chicken parm // my scallops with lentils // apple strudel a la mode to share for dessert

Came hungry, left pretty stuffed, but happy.

Christmas Day

Why did we decide to travel all day on Christmas you might ask? Well, Pop only had Christmas Day off of work this week, but we needed to get to Florida to prepare the house for our family friends who are coming today. Thus, my family decided to spend Christmas Eve together before mom, Ben and I left for our two-day road trip. As I said before, these were not ideal Christmas plans, but we still had lots of family time, so it’s all good!

Ben and I drove the whole way down because poor mom is battling a stubborn, nasty cold that is giving her cough attacks and puffy eyes, so driving for her wouldn’t be very safe.

Morning of travel calls for overnight oats! Bonus points for it being in an almost-empty peanut butter jar.

A road trip in the northeast also calls for a stop at Cinnabon. The three of us split this [big] baby sans frosting because none of us are too crazy about it— the cinnamon roll is sweet and delicious enough as is! (Sorry, Arman.)

Virginia is for lovers…me, myself, and I.

After 12+ hours of driving, we hunkered down in Savannah, Georgia for the night. There is no feeling quite like stretching out after being cooped up in a car all day.

Ben and I walked to and from Hardee’s (a fast food restaurant) near the hotel for a refreshing evening walk. We didn’t get anything— just walked in, took a whiff of the burgers and fries, and left.

Afterwards, I convinced Ben to join me in doing this 15 minute arms and abs workout. The chest-to-floor pushups really got us both on that one!

Too happy about hotel beds.

Friday

Also too happy about ~~free~~ included hotel breakfasts.

oatmeal with honey, dried fruit, pecans, and banana + eggs

Ben generously took the last 4 hour driving shift all the way to Orlando, where we stopped for lunch at Tako Cheena, a little Asian-Latin fusion restaurant. We all got some yummy Asian tacos!

tom yum chicken // “sweet stranger” tempeh and veggie // panko-crusted cod // tom yum shrimp // korean beef

And now we are finally settled into our Florida vacation house for the next 2.5 weeks! Moves were desperately needed after two days of mostly sitting, so Ben and I took a stroll around our neighborhood and then I did a quick impromptu workout in our backyard:

This workout plus Florida humidity=drenched in sweat and chugging water like no other. The double unders were really fun though! I’ve improved a lot since this video from the summer!

Dinner last night was a salad of spinach (that traveled all the way down the east coast with us in a cooler) plus balsamic vinaigrette and parmigiano reggiano + half a toasted banh mi sandwich we picked up earlier in the afternoon.

A couple hours later, I made a late night Publix run for some groceries, but this was the real reason I went:

Publix ice cream is the besttttttttt. I got the limited edition peach cobbler ice cream…naturally. When I got home from the store, I grabbed a clean spoon and scooped out the melted perimeter of the ice cream carton, because that is where ice cream is in its prime state of matter. And that was all I needed. That big melty spoonful made me content.

There you have it, friends— our not-so-typical Christmas. Then again, what is a “typical” Christmas for us anyway? We almost didn’t make it to Christmas last year.

Thank God for safe travels and of course, for sending His Son as a child to dwell on earth and die for our sins. Wishing you all a blessed weekend wherever you are and whatever you’re up to!

(I unfortunately think I might be coming down with something… It was inevitable considering Ben and my mom have been coughing up a storm for the past week!)

So tell me:

One fun holiday-related thing you did this week!

The best thing you ate this week.

Do you like to jump rope?

Is there a food you like to get on road trips?

Do you love that melty part of ice cream or nah?

Behind the Scenes #28: My Strange Addiction

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

With my headstand/handstand buddy, Amanda!

1) Another reason to love Thinking Out Loud: I don’t have to think of an intro. The DREADED INTRO.

2) I’ve been using a weekly planner to get back into the groove of physically writing down reminders, rather than typing them on my phone. There’s something about putting a pen to paper and making an actual checkmark that makes me feel so official and accomplished.

Bonus points if I’m using a retractable ballpoint pen.

3) I did 300 double unders on Tuesday, and heyyyyoooo that stuff is harder than it sounds. I also did it after some fun moves inside that involved pushups, triceps dips, and super lame toes to bar (those were also a struggle), so my arms were noodly. It was fun though! It was drizzling too, which added serenity to a rather difficult jump rope experience.

4) Shoulders are sore from said moves.

5) Along with jumping rope and swimming at the beach in the rain, I’ve added ultimate frisbee to the list.

6) I could stalk Kath’s old blog posts and Cait’s Instagram posts ALL DAY because of their delicious-looking food and clean photography. It’s “my strange addiction.”

7) I tried hemming one of my shirts for a whole hour the other day, and it looked like a 5-year-old did it. Actually, a 5-year-old could have probably done a better job. My mother laughed at it with me, and we decided to take out the thread completely and just let it hang without the thread, because anything would look better than my sewing job.

[source]

8) My friend gatherings with Jeannine, Je’lyn, and Veronica seem to always revolve around ice cream. I’m going to agree with Jeannine with her statement, “I’m not opposed to ice cream.” Just putting that out there, but I think y’all knew that.

9) Waterworks started flowing when my parents were talking about how my brother probably won’t be living at home for good ever again. We were just dancing to Pokemon songs in front of a video camera, like, YESTERDAY.

But this conversation was literally yesterday.

I couldn’t resist making the song reference.

10) Packing, collaging, babysitting, and Mass for the Assumption on the agenda today! Hope you all have a beautiful day.

So tell me:

What is one of your “strange addictions”?

Have you ever played outside in the rain?

Are you a manual or electronic planner kinda person?

Secrets of the Weekend

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Good morning!

It’s gettin’ hot up in here!!!….

…Because our AC isn’t working and it finally hit 80F in our area this weekend. I mean, I guess I’ve been wishing for heat since the black hole of winter seemed to take forever to leave us, but I’m not a fan. I just WANT a fan. (I’m over-exaggerating. It’s really not that bad at all— I get to sleep without a blanket and I don’t have to dry my hair!)

Besides that, my weekend was pretty darn marvelous!

Check out all the marvelousness of Monday over on Katie‘s blog!

For this weekend recap, I’m gonna tell you all the fun stuff that happened as usual, but I’m also going to let you in on a few secrets about each thing. Consider it a trip inside my noggin (remember when I was pondering calling my Thursday thoughts posts “Loggin’ the Noggin?“). That is, if you even want to go into that weird place that is my brain.

Friday

Dance company auditions for the 2014-2015 company were on Friday, and even though current company members do not have to re-audition (and senior company members are leaving for college), we all still attend and do the audition class to set an example for the potential incomers. I think it went well for everyone!

Secret about the audition: A lot of girls dancing together in a stuffy studio = STINKY. It was a little tough to breathe in there sometimes, not gonna lie.

In the evening, I went to go get ice cream with my friend Michael (my super cool prom date)! We had a nice time chatting about college and such. We also went to the grocery store next door so I could buy bananas, because I need more spotty bananas in my life.

Secret about this ice cream: It’s “almond cream” Italian ice, and I was kinda disappointed because I really wanted creamy gelato instead.

Secret about when I got home: I ate a spoonful of peanut butter.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, company had a quick and low-key dance rehearsal for a show coming up in June.

Secret about the rehearsal: I was practically falling asleep because those dance studios are like saunas.

When I got home, I ate lunch and made these “Carrot Spice Scones” from a box mix my mom bought from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $1.50.

Secret about this “scone”: The package falsely advertised these as scones, because they were WAY too fluffy to be scones. These were more like muffin tops, which isn’t a bad thing at all. 🙂

Mother’s Day Sunday

Breakfast in bed for my beloved mother! She is obsessed with all things coconut, so I was basically obliged to make her something coconutty. I decided on coconut-crusted cinnamon raisin French toast for the queen.

Secret behind this breakfast: I only made one thing on this plate— the French toast. My dad cooked the turkey sausage and my mom had cut that fruit a few days before. Heh.

I made some French toast for myself as well while we were at it. I topped mine with Greek yogurt, peanut butter, seared banana slices, and maple syrup. Glass o’ soy milk on the side.

So awesome.

Then, since I went to bed super late on Saturday night and woke up early to make breakfast, I took a super long nap on the couch. It was gloooorious and it got me energized for some outdoor moves. I was really in the mood to jump rope, so I completed Julie’s Jump Rope + Lower Body Workout with just bodyweight.

Secret about working out outside: Since I was using my phone as a timer, I left it out on the mat under the sun, which resulted in my iPhone getting a short fever.

I also practiced double unders (which I showed off on Instagram)! They’re my new favorite thing to do now (behind burpees of course).

Secret behind the double unders: I got lucky with this shot because this is probably the most I got in a row all day yesterday. I’m still happy I can do them though!

Hot weather means SMOOTHIES, so I had one of the green (and very nut-buttery) variety for lunch:

½ c. soy milk
half banana
handful of frozen strawberries
big handful of spinach
¼ c. oats
½ scoop vanilla protein powder
1 heaping tbsp. peanut butter
1 heaping tbsp. almond butter

With Greek yogurt on the side of course!

Secret behind this smoothie: This plus a ton of water and a bunch of crackers with hummus gave me a food baby.

After a few more hours of homework and procrastinating in the form of Instagram stalking, we headed out to dinner at a Korean/Japanese restaurant! Guess what. No Groupon this time. :-O