Well this was an easy week to say the least! Monday off and Tuesday was a SNOW DAY! Even though one of my Tuesday/Thursday classes was already canceled for the week, having Tuesday completely off as a snow day still gave me that little kid glee! It's weird having a "snow day" in college, but when the Feds shut down, so does everything in DC. You should have seen some of the southern and international kids on our class of 2018's Facebook group. They were freaking out about the impending "snowpocolypse". They needed to take a chill pill 😉 This week was pretty good though, but boring. When you have no more work to get done, the days can drag (which also means there are a tons of links to click this week!). But I'm happy for multiple reasons and you'll read why at the bottom of the post!
Monday: Balsamic Roasted Red Pepper Basil Hummus
Tuesday: A Passion For Power And Strength
Wednesday: Celiac Disease Is Not An Allergy
Blog Posts and Links I loved this week:
Life, Mind, Body, Spirit:
+ Temporary Discomfort. It's Worth It.
We have to go through discomfort to grow.
+ The Best Thing You Can Do For Yourself - And All The Women Around You
Yes! Keep going because you are already great!
+ Do The Things That Make Your Heart Race
You can do it! Crush the "I Can'ts" and fear!
+ #WYCWYC Is Not About Excuses
Sometimes doing nothing is just as good.
Emily really hit home with this one!
+ The Day A Stranger Changed My Perspective On Parenting
If you want an emotional read!
+ The Yogi's Secret To Thriving During Motherhood
Yoga and it's wonderful applications to life!
This was such a beautiful post!
Do you listen to the voices in your head, telling you to be/act a certain way?
+ How A Password Changed My Life
Powerful!
+ 11 Ways To Manage Stress And Feeling Overwhelmed
Great tips! Now we all need to implement them!
+ I Have It All, Just Not At All Once
We don't have to see it all the time, but we do.
+ How To Embrace Your Imperfections
5 great things to live by!
Fitness:
+ 8 Of The Best Exercises For Your Lower Abs
Love all these moves. It's important to strengthen the whole core!
+ DOMS: The Truth About Muscle Soreness & How To Recover Faster From Workouts
My top three things are hydrate, stretch, and compression!
Hatha, the physical branch, is the one most popular, but yoga can be more than just a physical practice.
+ Yoga Federation Of India Wants Yoga To Be Recognized As A Sport
Thoughts? Maybe, this is for me 😛
Every beautiful shape, age, and form!
+ Why Everyone Needs To Stop Saying Yoga Doesn't Count As A Workout
Amen, Kathryn Budig!
My favorite!
+ Why Owning It Is Critical To Aesthetic Goals
You've got to be confident and powerful!
+ 340-Pound Guy Doing Yoga Tells Us: You Have No Excuse
This guy is my new best friend!
Food:
+ Adults Should Not Be Drinking Milk
I've told you that one before 😉
+ Cherrios Will Now Really Be Gluten-Free
Who's excited!? I am, even though this is a total GMO company 😛
+ Food Babe Is A Raving Lunatic
She let the "celebrity" go to her head. I'm so happy when I find others who dislike her.
+ Don't Be Fooled By The Claims Of "Cleanse" Diets
Please....for the love of all things healthy and logical, stop!
+ This Is What A Cup Of Tea Looks Like In 22 Different Counties
Tea is amazing!
Health:
+ What This Food Allergy Mom Wants You To Know
And me too!
+ Letting Go Of Past Grievances
It's important to our health.
+ 8 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Believe This Atrocious Health Lie
Yes! Please stop!
+ The Hidden Ways Manipulated Science Harms Our Health, From Measles To Organics
It's a bit long, but I wish everyone would read and fully understand this! Preach!
+ Everything You Need To Know About 2015's Weirdest And Wackiest Health Trends
Will people ever stop with the fads? No.
Blogging, Social Media, Tech & Photography:
+ 6 Years Of Blogging: 6 Things I Would Have Done Differently
This woman will always inspire me.
+ How To Use Your Old Blog Posts To Gain New Readers
Must work on this!
+ How You Can Easily Clean & Organize Your Digital Files
I must do this too! So many photos!
+ Feeling Lost With Your Blog? Change Your Perspective
Forget what you've been told and change things up!
+ Positioning Your Blog To Charge Higher Prices
Don't sell yourself short!
Wow, this is comprehensive!
+ 30 Ways To Generate Buzz For Your Blog
Don't be scared to promote yourself!
+ How To Create Custom Function In Excel
Well this could be super helpful!
If you're able to read (which you obviously can...), read this now!
+ 4 Tips To Increase Pinterest Traffic
This is my March goal. To work on Pinterest!
+ 2 Years Later: My Advice For New Bloggers
I think she's covered it all!
+ How To Get Serious About Social Media
Time to step up your game and use it to its fullest potential!
Other:
+ 13 Ways To Make Your Own Perfume
O! I want to do some DIYing!
+ A Letter To My Children About Fifty Shades Of Grey
I never even really knew what it was about (plot wise) and still don't, but seems so terribly dumb.
+ 39 New Uses For The Humble Rubber Band
Because we all find them lying around!
+ Career 101: Resume And Cover Letter
This could be helpful!
+ 15 Things That Happen When You're Actually A Really Awkward Person
Hahahahaha! So true! #Awkward
+ The 25 Highest Paying Jobs With The Most Opening Right Now
And you need a lot of education...
+ Things That Didn't Take As Long As GW To Call A Snow Day
Bahahahaha! I was waiting all night!
+ How To Curl Your Hair With A Straightener
Girl is so talented! I still couldn't do it!
+ 5 Ways To A Better First Impression
Yes! I do judge big time on how someone first greets me.
Favorite Pins:
(Follow me on Pinterest – RebeccaGF666)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bars. Perfect snack any time of day!
Mini Cauliflower Pizzas. So fresh and full of veggies!
Chickpea Flour Thin Mints. Screw the Girl Scout Cookies!
Perfect Poached Fish. I have been dieing to make fish this way!
Purple Vegetable Rice Bowl. This is the perfect dinner! I have been eating a ton of rice lately!
Green Lentil Soup with Potatoes + A Lemony Mustard Cream. This looks absolutely incredible!
A few things I loved about my week or am grateful for:
+ If your my personal friend on Facebook, you saw when I posted that I am a finalist in this year's Blogger Of The Year Awards hosted by the Build Your Blog Conference. It's a big deal and I am so excited and honored! I really couldn't believe it! They announce the top winner of each the 5 categories on Saturday night during the ending gala at the conference being held in Salt Lake City, Utah (I'm in the Best newcomer category). Obviously I couldn't attend, but I am beyond words right now and really appreciate everyone's love and support for Strength and Sunshine!
+ Have you ever walked in DC after a snow storm? Wednesday when I went to my 8 o'clock class, the city was even more empty and quiet than usual. It was eerie, but so peaceful. Everything was so still. It was actually a beautiful moment to expereince!
So tell me:
+ Have you ever been to a blog conference? Well now I really wan to go to BYBC next year!
+ Is the cold killing you? Yes...these last couple of weeks have been terrible and such a shock to the system! It was 6o-some degrees a few weeks ago one day, now it's -374628347!
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Lu | Super Nummy Yo!
Welp! I'm super late, but better late than never - CONGRATS! And thanks for featuring my chocolate peanut butter energy bars. If you make them let me know how you like them 😛 I heard DC shut down again this past Monday, but I think Boston takes the cake for snow 😉
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, thank you and you are so welcome!
We shut down again today! It's a blizzard out there!
Ana Valentin
After a terrible week filled with tons of stress and exhaustion your Friday Finisher was a breath of fresh air and a cherry on the top of my relaxing Saturday! Much love and light!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
O, I'm so sorry you had a rough week...but I'm glad this could lighten the mood a bit! XOXOXOXO
Megan
Aren't government snowday shutdowns awesome? Best part about winter in DC! 🙂 Love all these link ups you do, they let me go to different sites I wouldn't have found before.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks Megan! Haha, o DC! And my one roommate was convinced it didn't snow in DC! Haha!
Makasha Dorsey
Sending "warm" wishes your way. I live in Florida but it has been unseasonably cold here. Can you believe in Central Florida we had weather in the 30s on Thursday? Anyway, my goal is to attend a blogger conference next year. I can't wait to hear what you decide.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I say we all just need SUMMER!
jen@jpabstfitness
Congrats on the nomination!
Sooo sick of the snow and cold, but it will make us appreciate spring a lot more 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you!
I'll skip spring to and just take summer, hahaha!
Linda @ Veganosity
Again, congratulations on being nominated. 🙂
Great links, as usual. I loved the one about embracing your imperfections. I think every woman needs to work on that.
Loved, loved, loved the 71 year old runner's body profile. She's my hero, and my inspiration.
I'm going to go one step further and say that human milk is the only milk babies and toddlers should be drinking.
By the time the Food Babe is finished, she won't eat anything. Doesn't she know that apple seeds, cherry pits, and peach and apricot pits contain cyanide?! 😉
Cleanses are dangerous, and so are diets. Just eat healthy whole foods people!
I actually love the idea of sober raves. It would be awesome if the drug culture that so many young people have embraced went in this direction.
Thanks for the great reads Rebecca!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Finalist (I already won an award) 😉 Haha!
I want to be one of those 100 year old yogis, runners, what ever! So amazing! What a wonderful life!
I 100% agree..no 1000000% agree with that one! It's biological fact, no one can dispute it!
I really dislike her, don't even get me started 😉
YES! Cleanses are so damn stupid. Our bodies "cleanse" themselves! Haha!
Right! My values are never to touch alcohol, drugs, etc. It's disgusting and dangerous.....just like milk and cleanses 😉
XOXOXOXOXO
Jessica @ kiwiyogirunner
I love the article on the six branches of yoga, thank you! I am all for doing it for a physical practice but It can be so much more than that too! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Not it can, it IS!
Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine
Congrats on the nomination! That's big news.
Once again, 15 tabs open across my browser.. thanks for all the great reads.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Not a nomination, a finalist 😉 Haha! Thank you Michelle! XOXO
Sandra Laflamme
As usual I am left feeling hungry after I read this. So many amazing recipes to check out. Curious about the chickpea thin mints,
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
They sounds super fantastic!
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
Congrats on being a finalist!!! That is so exciting. You deserve it for all the hard work you do for your blog!! Also, that cookie cake looks incredible! So does that purple vegetable rice bowl. And oh yes, the cold is killing me up here in Canada! Last Sunday we had our coldest day of the year at -35 to -40ºC, which is around -31 to -43ºF. My face and limbs wanted to fall off! I'm amazed that everything is still intact. Have a fabulous weekend and stay warm, friend!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you so much Genevieve! XOXOXO
That is a miracle nothing fell off! Omg! I would die....that is not even humanly possible to live in cold like that!
Stay super warm and toasty as well! No going outside for you!
Ariana
So many great links to read through! Thanks for sharing 😀 I am especially looking forward to reading about how to manage feelings of stress and overwhelm because this has been a crazy one! Haha
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks for checking them out! Haha, it is for all of us, right? 😉
Angela
I always love your links. How do you come across such interesting info? Do you browse all sorts of different sites?
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
You can see by where and who the links come from, haha!
Nichole
I miss snow days!!!! Lol lucky lucky girl for the Monday/Tuesday off! :)) thank you so much for the mention in today's post<3!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
And we're getting more snow tomorrow 😛
You're so welcome my friend! XOXO
Alanna
Congrats on the nomination!!! When I was visiting my sis in DC I couldn't believe how quiet it was compared to NYC - LOVED every second of it. Currently job searching there 🙂 Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
DC is such a "strange" city! It really is just a working city for the most part!
Ana Valentin
I loved that article on yoga being a workout! As someone who workouts 6 times a week doing a lot of pilates and HIIT (weights will be reintroduced next month) I use yoga for a detox. However I find that most of the time I really am still working my body, its just in a different way, less vigorous in terms of impact. But it's still effective! Get ready to do some flows once I'm off of work actually! Also I've been telling people for AGES about milk, I know 150% that I do not have the enzyme that helps digest lactose. Dairy is really a no go for me. I'm less picky when other people make me food since I'm vegetarian and they hardly know what to feed me with that. But on a day to day basis I must be possessed if you find me drinking milk that isn't an almond or soy variety and chomping down on some cheddar. Yuck! Have a great weekend!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It all depends on the style of yoga you do. Yoga isn't ONE thing, there are many versions. The practice I have is very vigorous, so it is a complete workout for me.
Being dairy-free is one of the easiest things, haha! It is such a one-to-one swap and tastes so much better!
rachel
Great links!! Thank you for sharing many new articles for me to check out! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, have fun reading!
Cassie
Once again I have a million tabs open after your Friday posts 🙂 Those blog resources are so great... and congrats on that nomination, so exciting!! Hope you have a lovely weekend and it starts to warm up on the East Coast!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, yay for tabs! And thank you!
It is insane and a record coldest day in DC in 119 years today! AH!
Tina Muir
You always have so many great links Rebecca, so many that I never know where to start! I love how personal and humble so many of them are. As for those peanut chocolate energy bars...neeeeeed!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
There is just so many great writers out there!
Haha, o I need them too 😉
Amanda - RunToThefinish
I feel so behind on my blog reading, you are helping me to catch up!!! I love the round up
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Great, thanks!
Farrah
Congrats again on being a finalist for the blogging award! <3 That's amazing!
Snow days definitely made my life more wonderful this week! I love the "I have it all, just not all at once!" <3 Thanks for sharing my piece on letting go! :]
I need to work on that old blog post one too! And the old photos! x_x You always find the most helpful links! :] If the internet cooperates with me this weekend, I'll definitely have lots of great reading to do!
Hope you have an amazing weekend!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you so much Farrah! XOXO
There were so many beautiful posts this week! AH!
This summer I am buckling down (since I can then) and revamping the old posts! Some are just terrible!
Elizabeth @ Enjoy Every Bite
So many great posts. Loved the one about strong being the new skinny - great perspective! Glad you enjoyed some snow days this week. My husband had a few as well 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Ugh, yes! That all just needs to stop!
I just wish snow days were in the warm weather 😉 Hahahaha!
Jazmine Tates
sounds like you had a great week. i miss though times ! enjoy your weekend
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks, you too Jazmine!
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit
Whooo!!!!!!! Congrats on the Blogger of the Year Award that is SO EXCITING!!!!! Wow! I'm rooting for you XOXO
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you so much Natalie! XOXO
Emily @My Healthyish Life
Thank you, thank you for sharing my post! And I just saw your post on FB... congrats on being a finalist! 🙂 xoxo
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I loved your post so much Emily! And thank you! XOXOXOXO
Michele @ paleorunningmomma
Congrats on being a finalist girl, that's awesome! I just skimmed the links but totally agree with you on the Food Babe, what she does really bothers me (and others doing the same thing) and it's frustrating that she has so many followers and thrives on being controversial. Going to start clicking now, thanks for the links and have a great weekend 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you! I'm so mad I can't be there to be recognized, haha! I could totally use a cross-country trip 😉
Ah! Yes! I really have my problems with her. She goes to the extremes because she KNOWS so many gullible people will hope on the train and follow her and help her "fake celebrity" in the health world.
Lisa @ RunWiki
So many great reads this week! First off, thank you SO much for including my post- so happy to know that you can relate... I feel like you and I are so alike 🙂 and I can not wait to pour a cuppa tea and go through your fabulous reading list, it is one of my favorite Friday rituals. Have a wonderful weekend.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, I think we are too 😉
So glad you enjoy them! XOXO Have a wonderful warm and happy weekend too Lisa!