Just Keep Running!

Hi friends! So as you have noticed I haven't blogged in awhile, due to some personal reasons, absent mindness, and also adjusting to my job that I recently went back to. However, I wanted to say that I am alive and well!

Some fun things I have been doing:

Trip to South Florida to see parents/ and some not so fun and sad events:

Amazing vegan restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale: Green Bar! I had the sweet potato burger

My best friend in the world, Allison came to visit me:

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, I was the evil queen from Snow White:

Lots of running! I am in week 3 of my marathon program for my race January 31! More to come in my following post about my training schedule I am following. I have gotten bored of my go to running courses near my home, so I found some trails and Disney resorts to run around...

And best of all.... my new Garmin Forerunner 220!!! My old watch died so I upgraded. I love it, you can set interval timers, it actually shows current pace per mile (my old watch didn't), elapsed time, distance, and allows you to make a training plan that the watch can help you to follow. Two thumbs up!

Thank you friends for being patient with me, here is a little mantra I have been following in tough times:

Keep running friends :)

I Believe in Myself, and My Dreams.

As I close out a year long chapter of my life working a "career, big girl" oriented job I write this post in celebration, and understanding many things about life and dreams I did not fully understand or appreciate before. I am very thankful for the struggles of the last year, the job unhappiness, and overall new perspective that I have gained and needed from it:

Always believe in yourself, and always follow your heart. Not affirmations that I always believed in or allowed myself to think. In more recent times, through different life experiences and some recent drastic changes to my heart and mind I fully embrace these things every single day.

A year ago, I left my dream job. Yes, my ultimate dream job. I had dreamed of working at Walt Disney World as early as I can remember, singing Disney princess songs in the shower to the distaste of my family every day, planned our annual January Disney vacation to a T along with color coded itineraries, went on a behind the scenes tour of Magic Kingdom for my 18^th birthday where I cried, and even attended the University of Central Florida specifically so I could work at Disney in college. I began at Disney in May 2012 as a hostess at Cinderella’s Royal table (loved it), and 9 months later on my 21^st birthday after multiple heart breaking auditions and being turned down, I was celebrating in Disney at the time, I got the call that I would be transferring to Entertainment. My heart sang that day in a way I never believed was possible. I had the greatest job in the world where I could first hand feel the love and joy from guests, make parents cry in utter happiness, and live my greatest dreams every single day. As I walked across the stage at UCF in May 2014 I had even decorated my cap with Disney pictures and rhinestones because I was finally a full time cast member after 9 more months of waiting.

However, things changed. I put a lot of pressure on myself to “grow up”, to be serious, to not have fun if it meant not sticking to the schedules I had made for myself. Freaking out that future jobs and people wouldn't take me seriously because of my job, I furiously searched for other jobs and upon interviewing at a recruiting firm, took it with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You have to do this Kelsey, you need to be serious now its time to grow up.” So although I knew it was not time, I went seasonal at Disney.

One year later today I feel like I have some great experience in what not to do in life. Don’t take jobs you know you may not enjoy simply for the titles and where they can get you. Hate sitting? Don’t take a desk/office job. I have gained a wealth of experience in two professional environments and am very thankful for both of them and what they can do for my future one day.

As of August 16^th, after only two weeks of waiting (rather than my previous torturous nine months), I will be a full time cast member again doing what I am passionate about.  I can really thank the last year for teaching me that you don’t have to grow up if you don’t want to. Life is far too short to do something you don’t enjoy for 40 hours a week just to bring home a paycheck. You should be happy and feel fulfilled in your passions every single day, not just on the weekends or your time off. You should feel HAPPY every single day, including at work. We have so little in this life time wise, why waste what we have? Read below for another inspirational article about following your passions
www.cosmopolitan.com

I came to these conclusions through running. Both go hand in hand, on runs I would pray to the universe in my darkest days of feeling lost that I would find the path created for me and that I would fulfill it. Only WEEKS after, I was handed back my beloved and precious job. I cannot feel more blessed in my life that I for one have the opportunity to have this job, and two that I am being given my second chance at it. I will do my best at it daily, on hard days remember the amazing happiness and love I feel from it, and be a positive ray of light to those that can no longer feel that what they do matters.

All in all, follow your dreams. When no one else believes in you, believe in yourself always. Conforming to society's labels of success will not bring you success in your heart. Your dreams will.

Keep running and BELIEVING friends :)

**Thank you mom & dad for always supporting me, no matter what <3

Finding Yourself Through Running

Sometimes life can feel a little hard. Its not all skipping through joyous runs, runners highs, and rainbows. This blog isn’t about finding something interesting to post day in and day out. Its about sharing my life, whats important to me, and my running lifestyle. And lately, life has been a little harder than usual.

A lot has changed in the last month, I moved apartments to a much quieter, less touristy area of Central Florida. Moving into an apartment alone is brand new for me, and I really enjoy it! Its great being able to get up and run at all hours and not worry about waking anyone else up. My space is always clean, organized, and peaceful. An important relationship in my life came to an end, I have a lot of dissatisfaction with my job and the career path I thought I always wanted, and that is causing a lot of unrest for me. I know that I put WAY too much pressure on myself, and I always have. I had my “Dream” fun job full time upon college graduation, and yet a month later I felt restless about not moving into my “Career” and without thinking through left, and have been bouncing around office jobs ever since, not happy. Moral of the story is to follow your heart not your head, and don’t rush through life.

How does this connect with running? To me, running is not my exercise. It is my meditation and my time for myself to be only with my thoughts. Here as I am pounding the pavement and huffing along I have my most intimate and real thoughts. There is no one, no technology, no media to distract my mind so that I be one with my thoughts, my real hopes and desires of life. I no longer feel tied down to anything, I am free.

Try a "naked" run. Take off your watch, leave your headphones at home. Try a new route, get lost on the path and in nature. You won't regret it :) You may just find yourself.

Keep running friends!

How to Live a More Conscientious Life

We live in a world over run with information, technology, pulling us in a million different directions of this "go go go" world. So how to make peace with it all?

I have been actively engaging in living a simpler and more conscientious life. Living more presently and being aware of my actions and how I am spending my time has brought me to feeling much happier, more complete with the things I have, and more directed with my life and my time. How does one do this?

1. Put DOWN the technology.

I cannot stress this enough. Sure, technology is great. It connects us with those we love, brings us information faster, and makes daily tasks simpler. However, it is disconnecting us from living presently and takes us out of our present minds. Social media to many portrays a "perfect" version of peoples lives. Its easy to stage a picture, pick a filter, and post it with a catchy phrase to make it seem like everything is going well. Many people feel depressed about what they have and are doing with their lives seeing these "picture perfect" things going on in each others lives and it is far too easy to compare yourselves with them and thus feel like you don't have or are not doing enough. The easy way to solve this is to be real and vulnerable about what you do post. Do not edit your life.

Also, take social media off of your phone. We waste too much time checking in on other people every chance we have. Take a short amount of your day to go on and limit yourself. Instead, you can choose to think about your own blessings and interact with others rather than stare into your phone or ipad.

2. Run with a purpose.

I like to run early in the mornings to begin my days with positive vibrations as I have said before. Dedicating your runs to thought help me to make them more than just physical activity. Running without music can help you to think inwardly rather than distract yourself with your favorite tunes. If you do enjoy listening to something as I do, I now choose to listen to meaningful podcasts. My favorite is the Rich Roll Podcast hosted by ultra-marathon legend, Rich Roll. He has overcome addiction, changed his life with exercise and plant based food, and is ultra inspiring. He interviews guests from all different backgrounds ranging from runners, yogis, nutritionists, and speaks about things that are raw and real like addiction, depression, spirituality, etc. They cause me to think very deeply and inwardly about myself and my relationships and have greatly inpacked my life. I urge everyone to give them a listen.

www.richroll.com/category/podcast/


3. Engage your brain not your eyes.

Many of us are accustomed to coming home after a long day, and binge watching our favorite shows and movies on Netflix. Instead, engage your brain. Change it up and watch a documentary or a Ted Talk, read a book, paint, do an adult coloring sheet! (Thanks mom.) All of these leave me much more relaxed and in a thoughtful state of mind. I feel better when my brain is engaged and thinking rather than turning to mush.


4. Slow down

Take time. Wake up a little earlier so you can have a relaxing morning. I spend a good 30-40 minutes for coffee and breakfast while I can catch up with my thoughts for the day ahead. Don't plan your days out, leave time for that afternoon bike ride, a coffee with a friend, life is about the little things and being peaceful beings. So slow it downnnn.

And after all, take time for that run. And run slow if ya want to!

Keep running friends :)

My Wellness Journey: The Early Years

My wellness journey has been a long and interesting path, this post might as well be put into a book; a feat I one day hope to accomplish to help inspire people to open their mind and their hearts to nutrition. This post will serve more so as an introduction to my overall way of thinking when it comes to nutrition and exercise, and I hope to share not just my knowledge on the subject but also my FEELINGS and the literature and people that inspire me to live the way I do. I think and live loudly.

 Summers spent in the great outdoors of North Carolina are my fondest memory

Horseback riding: I always talked the parents into it

I thank my childhood and the way I was raised to the person I have become today. I grew up in a small community in South Florida, and I was raised not eating red meat and with a solid mantra that movement and exercise was very important. My younger sister and I were always very active, taking yearly family trips to North Carolina where we played and hiked, playing outside everyday and learning to swim at the age of two, and we both began playing soccer early in elementary school. Luckily, growing up in Florida allowed me to be able to go outside all year round and wear shorts and bare feet almost everyday of the year. My youngest memories are from the kitchen table at our nightly family dinners and taking trips to the park around the corner to play.

I was a competitive figure skater for much of my later childhood/teenage years and was what you can call obsessed. I lived at my local ice arena (an odd sport you can say for a Floridian to take up.) I had some natural talent and progressed quickly once I began taking group lessons and soon got a coach who pushed me to train harder and to begin competing. Coming from a team sport based lifestyle, I learned to really thrive and enjoy relying on myself rather than a team to win and to grow. I incorporated cross training into my skating; doing conditioning off ice with my coach, group stroking classes to gain power and speed, and then he asked me to start doing 30 minute runs to build my endurance. I enjoyed these runs immensely, but saw them more as a tool for skating than as a sport itself. Little did I know that I would grow up to be a runner! I competed throughout High School and had to retire my Freshman year of college after winning my final competition; and it was great to go out with a bang. I do wish I still lived as close and had the time to skate, skating gave me so much in my life. It gave me the courage to try something new and the confidence to get out on the ice and give my all solo, it gave me a passion and a level of commitment and determination that I would carry with me through everything I do, a bond with my mother who continually traveled to competitions with me and supported all of my decisions, and a creative edge to make my programs and costumes to interpret the music and stories of my skating programs. I love figure skating and all that it gave me, and I miss it dearly!

The nutrition side of things was always inspired by my parents who taught us to eat healthily and very much plant based. We were extremely limited on sodas, processed foods, and desserts which formed my mindset I have today to live a vegan and plant based life while also allowing myself indulgences but in a limited fashion. I grew up eating no red meat as mentioned above, eating dairy/eggs/fish/turkey/chicken. At the ripe ole’ age of 12 I gave up my turkey and chicken after be-friending a chicken named Betsey at a friend’s home in North Carolina where we vacationed each year. Being raised to appreciate nature and animals not just as food but as living beings instilled in me a very sensitive and loving nature towards them. I am vegan today not for the health benefits (which are immense) but because I believe that animals have every right to life as humans and are not to be eaten as food. I like to say that I am vegan because I do not believe in any violence, nor cruelty.

After yo-yoing and not treating my body very well through some of High School and the beginning of college, I began researching more into nutrition and read the book Skinny Bitch which I can thank for changing my old mindset on nutrition and exercise. I cleaned up my life, threw away my packaged and processed meals I was living on in college housing and ventured into Whole Foods and began a running routine. Immediately I fell in love with whole food nutrition and running; like skating I only could rely on myself to push myself and to hit the pavement. And that was just the beginning of my random running kind of life ;)

Keep running friends~