Guest Poster #1

As many of you know, we are looking for a new Friday poster. For the next few Fridays, we will be "auditioning" potential posters...and we would love your input! Be sure to comment if you like someone in particular!! This week's guest is Alina, from Houston, Texas.


Hello! My name is Alina and I am excited to be this week’s guest blogger! A few things I would like to share with you about myself…I’m a very happy newly wed, a recently graduated physical therapist, a self-proclaimed domestic goddess, and chocolate cookie dough addict. I’m honored to be a guest on this blog because I am very passionate about healthy living and while I’m not perfect, I feel like my professional and personal experience has taught me some things that I’m happy to share!

I consider myself to be a healthy person, but I’m always making new goals and looking for new things to try. I think those are HUGE keys to healthy living. No one ever reaches “optimal health” – there are always ways to improve – but the kicker is your body requires continual maintenance. And if one thing doesn’t work for you, try something else, anything else really…

I’d like to share my recent experience. I was a runner – nothing crazy like a marathoner – but I enjoyed a 2-3 mile jog a couple times a week. It was my main form of exercise and stress relief. I say “was” because in June of last year I re-dislocated my knee cap. This has been a problem since I was 12, but this time was worse and instead of a few weeks for me to get back to running, it’s been 6 months and I still can’t run. In August, I also started a brand new, full time job at a hospital that is very physically demanding and by the time I get home I’m too tired that I wouldn’t be able to run even if I wanted too. And if that weren’t enough, in September, I got engaged and had the pressure of planning my dream wedding in 3 months! Not to mention get in shape for the wedding dress!

When the heck was I going to exercise for 30 min, 3 times a week? How would I find time to plan and cook decently healthy meals everyday? Good question. I didn’t. BUT strangely enough, I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in…ever.

I think what happened is that, due to those new circumstances, I couldn’t do things the way I was used to doing them. I had to think outside the box and maximize my resources.

I made a rule not to eat past 9pm.
I started going on walks, not runs…and I was walking everywhere.
I took 15 minutes in my lunch break at work to do strengthening exercises for my arms, legs, and core.
I ate smaller quick meals like an apple with peanut butter or pita chips with hummus.

These are just a few things that I found to be helpful and in the future I hope to elaborate more on some of these new “philosophies” of mine. But bottom line is I had to change my way of thinking, explore different options, and take advantage of what resources I had.

In my case, I was kind of forced to do things a little differently, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to have to think outside the box! I truly believe there is always something you can do to improve your health no matter how small it may seem. What new thing can you try this week?