Investments

I like the kind of questions that make me stop me in my tracks. The kind that get down under my skin and really make me think, forcing me to repeatedly revisit it.

April has been nothing short of a whirlwind, with two fantastic weeks of back to back visitors. First we had the honor of hosting Andrew's brother and wife, who then went on from here to Greece. Two days after I headed back to the airport to scoop up three of Andrew's high school/middle school/elementary school (IDK these guys have been friends forever) buddies, who we had a blast running around Israel with.

Andrew's friend count of visitors: 5

Kait: 0

(not including family)

Where ma' girls at?

Since the dust settled this past Monday and the boys went on to their next connections - including Andrew who had a work trip - the apartment has been eerily quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I made a point to hardly be in it at all, jumping from working in coffee shops to dog walking to visiting new babies to the gym, etc.

But it was the quietness and loneliness of this week that made me revisit the question that one of Andrew's friends asked me last week - What would I even be doing with my time in Israel if I didn't have an interest in fitness.

The question honestly left me without an answer, and my response at the time was to laugh and shrug, admitting that I had never even thought about that.

Think about it though. Think of the most prominent interest/passion that you have in your life, whatever you are most invested in and love, and then pretend you actually don't like it at all. Wipe it off the map. What do you think your fall back would be?

I'm still scrapping my brain. I would say my runner up is writing - but how do you make friends through writing? Attend slam poetry contests? Maybe a local writers workshop hosted in Hebrew?

Perhaps I would get heavily invested in dogs. I mean I already am - and genuinely, heavily miss being a dog mom every single day. I've always had in the back of my mind to volunteer at one of the local shelters - and have even looked up courses as to how you can become a dog trainer. Dogs are probably my second passion tied with writing.

I don't know why, but the question shook me and simultaneously made me step back and really appreciate what this passion has done for me - actually for both of us as a couple - in regards to the life that we have built here in TLV.

Outside of the fact that fitness-related activities take up a lot of my time and are slowly but surely intertwining with my career, it's also how we have made roughly half of our friendships in Tel Aviv. So to imagine removing that entire portion of my life actually makes me wince a little.

It's an odd thought to have, but I found it to be an equally productive brainstorming session. At any moment passions/loves/interests can quickly be extracted from our lives, and perhaps it's smart to know what you can fall back on when it comes to dedicating your time and energy.

Just felt the need to share, and let the general realm of health and fitness know that I'm appreciative of it. On that note - I'm off to swim. Have a great weekend!

Cheers - 

Kait

5.2

I'm happy to report that the violent cold/cough/sickening that haunted me for roughly 15 days has finally surpassed, and this week I've had the pleasure of being back to operating normally.  It's a little sad that it took a hell of a cold to remind me not to take my health for granted, but nevertheless this week I've been uber aware of way more pros, and way less cons.

Ready?  Five things Friday - 

1. Yesterday on a mid-day walk, I noticed a group of tourist snapping pictures of myself and the dog. I tried to act like I didn't notice and continued gazing off into the distance, as if in deep contemplation of life.  In reality I internally was laughing at the situation, hoping that when the tourists get back home they post the pictures and caption the one of me as:

'A local Israeli walking her native dog.'

LOL

2. Speaking of the dog - I've mentioned this before, but I'm unsure that Kai is ever going to get over the cat situation here.  Probably my favorite cat occurrence yet was also yesterday, when a cat women came out to feed the local strays near her apartment.  We just happened to be on that side of the street when literally 10+ cats began swarming the woman, meowing loudly.

Kai froze, as she usually does when she sees cats, as if it's the most alarming and fascinating situation she's ever seen.  Yet in this case, watching double digit cats shove their faces with food was simply too much.  She refused to move, or even cross the street with me; went full rigamortis to the point where the cat lady glared at me, as if we were plotting to hunt down one of the cats for our next meal. Maybe we were.

In the end, I had to pick up and carry my 50 lb dog around the cat buffet, and even after that it took her awhile to recover.

3. I will forever mix up cilantro and parsley at the grocery store.  They look the same, the labels are in Hebrew, and I'm still too lazy scared to ask the check-out lady which one is which.  Three times now I have purchase the wrong one, leaving our dinners herb-less.

Upon googling, I just discovered this great side by side comparison that still literally helps me in no way. 

4. Recently I've been doing some freelance editing/content writing for a local start-up.  The way I fell into it is absurd, but the point of me sharing is simply to note that I've discovered I really actually enjoy editing content. Like a lot. So, if anyone out there ever needs something edited - I'm your girl.  Unless it's like a 100 page document, then you're probably going to have to flash some green at me.

5. I was recently educated that this weekend is the Jewish New Year for trees - Tu Bishvat.  Because plants deserve New Years too. Supposedly you celebrate by feasting on fruit, planting trees, and drinking wine.  I can get on that train.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed five random things. Make your weekend great.

Cheers - 

Kait

Clean

I'm so tired.

Not just from hardly sleeping the past two nights due to a hacking cough that has sent both Andrew and the dog running to sleep on the couch (sorry guys) - but I'm so emotionally tired as well.

I'm tired of logging onto almost any form of social media and seeing hate being spewed everywhere. I'm tired of being bombarded with news stories and suggestions that we are all screwed, or one end of the 'spectrum' attacking the other. I'm tired of people choosing to consistently post negativity, instead of positivity.

I'm tired of being sick.  From a minor surgery earlier this month that majorly slowed me down, followed shortly by a cold that has now turned into a sinus, ear and eye infection, January has felt like a train plowed me over.  Health-wise, I'm not sure I've felt more defeated.

Lastly, I'm tired of being worried what other people think when they read my blog, see pictures I post, etc.  I shouldn't care, but I do.  I see all the mean comments out there on the world wide web, and I can't help but wonder.

So, here we are - February - my birthday month, the shortest month of the year.  And I'm wondering, maybe I can just start 2017 today? Because January sure didn't feel like a New Year.  It felt like being dragged through the mud behind a tractor.

A post caught my eye this morning, and it triggered a series of thoughts.  The blogger was explaining a Clean Slate Challenge she was participating in, and while most of her ideas are centered around health & fitness, it got me to thinking...

Clean Slate February has a nice ring to it.

So like Taylor Swift's song 'Clean' - that's my February theme.  My focus will be on all things positive - getting my health back into check, continuing to pursue passions and self-development, educating myself daily, healthy morning habits, pouring into healthy relationships  - all the while eliminating things that are dirtying my slate.

This includes a whole lot of negative thoughts, angry internal rants, poor self-talk, too much time on my phone, getting sucked into hyperbolized news articles, and worrying what others think about what I think. It's literally sucking the life out of me, and I'm over it.

So that's it.  This post may be complete crap because I don't write well when I'm tired - but man am I tired, and I just need to get this off my chest.  I would love if you chose to join me going into this short 28 day month - clean your slate, however you may need to.  I'll leave you with this, that was emailed to me earlier this week and is now my phone lock screen.  Whether you're a Bible reader or not, I think it's something we all need to strive towards.

Cheers - 

Kait

Sweat (part I)

I won't lie, I've been putting off this fitness post for... roughly two months now?  Funny too, since this blog originally started out as a running/health blog back in the day.

I've been putting it off because my general emotions towards fitness - running, crossfit, swimming, sometimes yoga, etc - have been super bumpy as of late.  And I think that's somewhat normal right? We all get really into certain things at certain times of life, get turned off by certain things, decide to try new things etc.  We get hurt, we get burnt out, whatever it is; relationships with fitness can fluctuate a ton (as all relationships can).

I love taking care of my body, and challenging it - this has always remained a constant.  But the months throughout this past summer had me in a weird spot.  A slump, if you will. A conversation I had right before the move actually had me saying, "Actually to be honest, I'm in the worst shape I've been in a LONG time right now."

Now let's pause and define: "Being in shape" means something different for every single person. Everyone has different expectations and visions for the words "I'm in shape" - and for me, it's not just about being able to fit into my pants.  I'm kind of strict with the standards I hold myself to (sometimes it's too much, I'll admit) and so what I mean by saying this is, my running mileage was VERY low, and super slow.  Normal activities were just a *little* harder than they should have been, and when we found ourselves running the stairs outside our new gym week two of arriving out here, it was WAY harder than how I ever remember running stairs in the past.

How equally convenient and awful that these stairs are next to our gym

I love fitness, I believe I always will.  I so enjoy pushing my lungs and my muscles and my mental willpower to its limits; I love the challenge of hard things. One of my favorite motivational quotes has always been, "Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing" and therefore, I hate the fact that this summer I found myself half-assing it through workouts and runs.

There are plenty of excuses I could rattle off - sure.  Injuries, dealing with a new puppy, preparing for an international move.  But the fact of the matter is, people do incredible things, every day, with much bigger things on their plates.

So there's no excuse.

Anyways - the point of this post - there should always be a point, right?  The point is, I'm finally re-grasping once again what's important to me in the health & fitness realm, and slowly crafting some goals.

Last year on Halloween, I was able to run a 10 mile race at a 7 min. pace. This year, current state, I'm really not sure I could hold that for 5 miles.  However, we have a 10k night run coming up here in a few weeks, so I guess that will be a good chance to see where I stand.  And then base running training off of that - as the Mr. and I both recently signed up for the Tel Aviv Half Marathon in February.

except we are doing 13.1

Eek.

Time to start upping that mileage.

Yet I would be remiss if I didn't talk crossfit; it's what allows me to run the distances I want to. If I've learned nothing the past two years when it comes to working out and my body, it's that healthy running doesn't happen with this 5'11'' frame unless I've got the muscles to keep it going strong. And man, am I believer in the importance of strength training (specifically crossfit style) - and how well it pairs with endurance races.

So of course, we became members of Crossfit Tel Aviv day 2 out here, and as motivation and comfort-levels increase (and I go more consistently) I am slowly seeing progress. Even if a workout of snatches and burpees over the bar knocked me on my butt last night - quite literally.

Wrapping up; back to those goals.  They're not quite 'Hang on the fridge' worthy yet, but they're in the making, and I'm excited about it.  I identify as a lot of things, but as far back as I can remember an athlete has always been one of them.  I lost that a little bit recently, but am pumped to feel it starting to come back.

So there you have it, way too long of a post babbling about things you might not necessarily care about.  But if you do, keep your eyes open, I'm hoping to starting talking sweat a little more consistently on here.  I'm huge on tackling new things, setting lofty goals, and talking about stuff that inspires us all to be a little bit more badass.

Cheers -

Kait

2015

Gosh, it's been awhile hasn't it? Like, three months. I do miss free writing, I will admit that. Especially when I have a slow quiet morning, with a coffee beside me, like today.

And delicious pancakes, those help too

Not that I haven't been writing - I have been a lot, on my crossfit blog. Here is the post on my 2015 goals if you're interested.... I feel good about them. I feel good about a lot of things I have going on in life right now actually - my job, volleyball, crossfit, running.... wedding planning.

Wedding planning... man oh man. I honestly kind of wish someone would have sat me down post-engagement and been like, "Hey, I know you're really excited and all, but I would highly consider running away and eloping."

I'm kidding... kind of. I'm PUMPED to get married in May and it's going to be awesome, do not get me wrong. But if you ever feel like giving yourself a couple ulcers, plan a large wedding in a state that's halfway across the country from you.

Kidding again, I don't have ulcers. If anything , the experience so far has helped Andrew and me to stop frequently and refocus on what's actually important - the marriage part. SO MUCH PLANNING goes into the two-day affair of getting married that we keep losing sight of the fact that we are actually committing our lives to each other, I'm stealing his last name, we are going to share a bed forever and ever and ever and everrrrrrrrr, etc.

You know what I'm saying. It's been a good experience. An eye-opening one. Just felt the need to share.

ANOTHER thing that I've been meaning to share are these guys:

The holidays and seeing family and delicious food/drinks are wonderful and all, but following both Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years, I've gotten back into Baltimore feeling like a sluggish balloon.

What was cool was, when I got back to my house post-Thanksgiving, I was greeted by a box full of these:

Awhile ago, Allison over at Garden of Flavor juices reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to try out their juices. And I was like 'Duh I love juices.'  I opted for a box full of their green juices (Mean Greens and Green Harmony) - and she sent enough for me to drink two per day for over a week. Plus some extras - like the one pictured up there, Goji Pineapple.

Ingredients in Goji Pineapple:

-Organic Pineapple

-Organic Apple

-Organic Goji Berry Juice

-Organic Ginger Root

-Organic Lemon

-Organic Mint

Now, I wasn't paid to write this, I'm just writing it because they were so kind to let me try the awesomeness that they've got going on, and because I'm a believer in cold-pressed juices. They also have some information on their website if you're into juice cleanses and what not.

Read more about Garden of Flavor here

For about eight days I included two green juices per day into my daily meal regimen - I would drink one for breakfast with an egg or two, and then normally have another late afternoon prior to heading to the gym. Honestly, by mid-December, I felt great. I'm always hesitant with juices these days because 1. a lot of them are loaded with sugar 2. a lot of them are LOADED with sugar - but these aren't. You get what the bottle says you get - plus they've got probiotics in them which make your stomach happy!

Their website lists where you can buy them, or you can also order online if you're interested. You better believe I've got it down in my wedding planner to order some more of those green juices in early May, just so that I can make sure my stomach and body is extra happy come the big day.

Anyways, that's my pitch on juices if you're interested. I'm hoping to be back later this month - I've got a volleyball tournament in Richmond next weekend, so maybe we can chat again afterwards. I hope all of your 2015's are off to a magical start. Go do something awesome today.

Cheers - 

Kait

April Strong Showers

It rained, all day yesterday. All. Day. It was quite the downer, and all I could think about was crawling into bed after work. Instead I crawled onto my bike and watched an episode of Suits, then got into my PJ’s shortly after.

This may be a bit more of a rant than confessions, a ranty Hump Day Confessions if you will.

I’ve come to hate the word skinny. 

I hate what it stands for actually, and that it is such a commonly used, positive descriptor.

That quote makes me want to punt a small animal.

Skinny girl brand, skinny taste, skinny this skinny that. 

I hate that girls are still striving to be “skinny.” And not even just girls, grown ass women.

Let me insert a disclaimer really quick. I’m not directly bashing 

anything, any website, any brand, anyone. 

The Skinnygirl line has some great tasting products out there, and I have tried some delicious recipes off of Skinny Taste and those kinds of websites. I have no beef with that.

It’s the word, and what it represents.

I personally, do not strive to be skinny. I’m over that. I’m SO over the mindset of 

“I’m a woman therefore I should be slender and thin and skinny and always need a man's help with heavy things.”

No.

As a woman, I strive to be strong. I don’t drag my ass out of bed at 5 AM and do kettlebell swings and push-ups before work to with the hopes of looking malnourished. I don't drag myself to hot yoga on a Friday night after work hoping I sweat off some weight before the weekend.

Confidence is sexy. Strength, in so many forms, is sexy. Desperately striving to conform to look like the airbrushed models and what society has consistently brainwashed women to think is the ‘norm’ – that just ain't sexy in my book. Nor is it healthy. So stop.

Healthy is beautiful. Strong is beautiful. (Most days) I take pride in honoring my body by what I put in it, and the amazing things I get to do with it. The joy that working towards handstand push-ups brings me is fantastic. The pride I have in being able to deadlift the prescribed weight in a crossfit workout last month is still hanging around. Strength workouts not only give me some shape to my 5'11'' frame, but they keep my muscles happy. 

When I moved into my house in Baltimore this past summer, I moved in alone. I moved my bed, my double mattress, my two dressers, by myself. And I'm damn proud of it.

Yes, this is another one of those love your body rants. But for the love people Girls, can we please stop with the idolizing skinny crap once and for all?  It's going to be the end of me.

My confession? I hate the word skinny.

Cheers to strong, and muscles, and fit.

Kait

Bria.

So last week Kait asked me to write a guest blog post for her. My immediate response was, "No, I have nothing to write about." Next thing I know she texts me the following:

So just because she's coming into town this weekend and I don't want her to be pouty with me, here it goes.

I am the younger, less fit, more rowdy version of Kait. Yes, I run. No, I do not have the same level of obsession. I ran my first half marathon back in April with a time of 1:56. Not to shabby considering it was smack dab in the middle of my senior year at the University of Illinois. 

Which consisted of a lot of this:

and these:

donut burgers....

Clearly offsetting a potentially healthy lifestyle with an extremely unhealthy one. 

Now, as a depressed recent grad living at home I don't run nearly as much as I should. This is because 

A) while not at work I spend the majority of my time commuting on the Metra and 

B) my only workout buddy in Crystal Lake is my mother who has brainwashed me into thinking nightly walks with her are an ample amount of exercise. I don't hate it one bit. 

Rewind to the fact that I spend the MAJORITY of my free time on the Metra everyday. I found myself depressed reading [keeping off the lbs post] and realizing that I was probably getting thicker by the minute due to sitting on my ass all day at work/Metra. 

THEN Kait quoted that some study say that sitting is now comparable to smoking? No thanks. So then I was like "hey! maybe I'll start small and try this healthy lifestyle thing again now that the college days have come and gone!!". Wait what? The Metra is too poor to have workout cars?! Weird. Okay, I will just stand instead of sit the hour long train ride and call it a success. 

So since June I have been that awkward girl who stands in between cars where people exit and enter the train. Better than nothing right? Until...

I was minding my own business the other day in my little nook when some 40-something man was like, "girl, no way you want to stand in this area, we call it the drunk cab." I ignored the stranger, as my mother always taught me to do, put on my headphones and blasted some Three Dog Night, naturally. 

Sooner rather than later I am sharing a Miller Light 6-pack with a nice 20-something, exchanging movie reviews with a 40-something chugging wine, and discussing property in Wicker Park with a 60-something drinking a Whiskey Coke. Did the drunk cab initiate me as one of their own? Maybe. It is a beautiful place on the 5:16 NW line, 3 entrances down from the front, where a fabulous daily drinking gathering takes place. Some of the crew has been riding the Metra over 30 YEARS - with wonderful stories to share.

 I [usually] still stand daily, but I feel as if something is now hindering it from being classified as a healthy lifestyle activity.

Whelp, I tried. 

Can't wait to pour lots of calories down Kait's throat this weekend!!

Cheers, 

Bria

Four Eyes

Can someone please tell me how I managed to get ulcers in not one, but both of my eyes?

It’s not only gross... but borderline comical. Because I can eat as healthy as I want, run as many miles as I please and take vitamins until I turn blue but when it comes to ulcers in my eyes, I’m at a loss.

Any of you who have been reading for a while have heard my fair share of complaints about my eye problems since moving to the Maryland area. It started off with what I thought was pink eye. Who knows what it really was. Followed by what I thought were severe allergies. Turns out it wasn’t.

Back before I had ulcers.

Next on the agenda: who has anxiety attacks and nearly passes out at the eye doctor? This girl, right here.

Turns out that eye doctors aren’t the most gentle when it comes to breaking the news that bacteria is eating holes in your eyes. Thank goodness for the nice receptionist lady who took me into an empty exam room to lay down, and have a lollipop. I really wish I was kidding.

Pretty sure I had butterscotch...

Events like this only encourage my hypochondriac-ness. There’s some music for my boyfriend’s ears right there.

So three prescriptions and a 10 day ban from contacts later, here we are. So pumped to put in some good solid miles wearing my sexy glasses..

However in the words of my emotionally-inept eye doctor: “At least you look cute in glasses.” If it wouldn’t have been for the shock of the news, I probably would have told him, as the British would put it, to bugger off.

Has anyone else ever had eye problems like this? I’d love some reassurance that I’m not an alien…

I suppose it could be worse.