Snow, snow, snow!
February is going out with a bang, indeed.
I got stuck in the driveway yesterday and had to place some wood planks under the back tires to get out. Fun times!!!
Also broke our brand new shovel while shoveling!
Comfort food was in order this morning…
Choco-cado Pumpkin Speltmeal
I have been wanting to try spelt flakes as a hot cereal. I thought I would give it a whirl this morning not really knowing how they would turn out. The spelt didn’t cook as voluminous as oats, so I bulked it up with some pumpkin. Spelt is rich in Vitamin B3, vitamin B1, manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup spelt flakes
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- 1.5-2 cups water
- Pumpkin Pie spice, to taste
- Pinch sea salt
Toppings:
- Vegan graham crackers
- Cacao nibs
- coconut
- Pure maple Syrup
- Choco-cado pudding (amazing on this!)
The spelt tasted ‘wheatier’ than the oats and it was also chewier. Overall, I prefer the taste of oats, but with some toppings I could barely notice the difference.
Morning pot of Japanese Sencha..zing, zing.
How old do you feel?
Often, I still feel like a university student. One reason why Eric and I are waiting to have kids is because we both still feel so young ourselves. Many days I still feel like a kid myself!
However, this was not always the case. When I was working in my stressful research job while juggling my full-time Master’s degree and teaching position, I felt OLD, old, old. I was stressed out to the max, I started to get fine lines and wrinkles, and I felt like I was at least 10 years older than I really was. I pictured my life as unhappy and stressed out, working at the same job my whole life.
This all changed when I took my life into my own hands and decided to create happiness in my life. After leaving my job, I was even more stressed out, but the difference was that there was now hope. Before, I didn’t have hope because I accepted that I would always be unhappy in my career.
As the months went by in 2009, I started to get myself back. I started to feel energetic, happy, and back to my old self. I started to feel young! I also started drinking Green Monsters and shifted to a vegan diet. I ran my first race and several races after that. I set goals for myself and enjoyed trying to meet them.
I truly believe that to feel young and vibrant, we need to create happiness in our lives one way or another. It is not something that is done overnight; it often takes months, if not years, to get on the path that you desire.
As you may know, some of my favourite books are Dr. Oz’s YOU books. In his book, YOU: The Owner’s Manual, he has a Real Age test. I was curious last night, so I took the real age test online and this is what I got:
I’m almost legal in the US! ;)
I would say that I now feel about 21-23 yrs old most days. When I was stressed out with my previous job and academic career, I felt about 35-38! I’m NOT saying that is old, but what I mean is that I felt like I had much more responsibility than I should have had at such a young age. While I wouldn’t go BACK to my early twenties (I was much more unstable than I am now), I think it is fun to ‘feel’ younger, energy wise.
I took the test several years ago when I was 22 and my score was about 19, so I have brought my real age down by 3 more years since then.
The test asks questions about your health background, your diet, fitness level, family history, drinking habits, etc. It pinpoints areas where you struggle and gives suggestions on how to improve your health.
My questions to you today are:
1) How old are you?
2) How old do you FEEL?
There is a difference most of the time…
~~~
Updates:
Size Healthy around the Blog World:
- Katie: http://www.healthforthewholeself.com/2010/02/size-healthy-contest/
- Pauline: http://eatplaynlove.blogspot.com/2010/02/size-healthy-contest.html
It’s supposed to be a rest day for me, but I have to go shovel the drive-way! Boo urns.
PS- Super scary + nail-bitter ending to the game last night! Very excited for US vs Canada on Sunday afternoon!!!!
Enjoy your Saturday! :)
Ah breakfast looks great. I just finished kashi cereal, wish I’d have seen this post first!
Your food always looks so great. I have just started following your blog and am going to start trying some of your recipes soon!
i am 25 (2 months to 26!) and i feel 25 (2 months to 26!). it’s good to be in my late 20’s :)
Another excellent question! I agree with what you wrote in your post Angela. I am in my late forties and feel that your age is only a number. Life is what you make of it and how you live it. To all the younger people who read this post, remember that life moves very quickly and it is important to make the best of each and every day!
I am turning the big 4 0 in two weeks. I feel 28 though. It is about how you live your life and like you said, your stress levels.
I am 26 and sometimes in my head I still feel like a high schooler (in a good way)! I love my life as a 26-year-old but a piece of me will just always feel like my carefree 17-year-old self I think.
I am 27 and switch back and forth between feeling like I’m 18 and 40. Totally depends on the day/week and what’s going on in my life. However I look super young for my age, which I guess will be a good thing once I really am in my 40s! Right now, it’s a little embarrassing to be told I look like I’m 16!
Oh I love this girly. I agree that we have to create happiness.. life is what you make it!!
I am 21 but I feel probably 19? And apparently I look like a 16 year old, which everyone keeps telling me I’ll love when I get older but now… it sucks.
And Feb is indeed going out with a bang. We are supposed to get a huge snow on Tuesday…
I’m 27, and I still feel like I should be 20! I teach college kids, and I always feel like I should be sitting out there with my students, rather than teaching the class! :-)
uhh your breakfast looks PHENOMENAL. share please? :)
I am 21.5 years old… and the test said I was 28.5! WOW! Was not expecting that… the kicker there is stress. I have horrible anxiety with school, internship and working!
I have just took the test, my actual age is 29.3 and my real age came out as 27!! However, i feel no different than when i was 18 – oh to be a teenager again!
I’m 23 (and a half!) but I always feel younger. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I also look younger and people are often mistaking my age – a lot think I’m 18 or 19 tops. I can count the times I haven’t been carded at the bar/lcbo on one hand even though I’ve been legal for over 4 years! I do agree though that when I’m stressed I feel more run down and maybe closer to my actual age.
I sometimes feel my age, and sometimes feel 3 or 4 years younger. (I’m in my mid-twenties).. I think age is what you make of it, but don’t feel old until I realize that I’m thinking of 1998 being “not too long ago” ;-)
Ok I just took the test and my “real age” is…14.4!
haha that’s pretty much how I act too. I’m 20 ;)
Mine was just like yours :)
Mine too! I’m actually 22.7 but my real age is 15.1. It made me laugh.
I just took that test! .. I am 20 years old and it says my age is 14! Crazy! hahah
Oh jeez! I just did this real age thing. I am 22.5 and it says my real age is 23.8… I completely agree. I feel older than I am. I think this is largely due to stress. I’m in grad school now and I’m essentially a ball of stress (blogged about this last week interestingly enough). While I exercise and eat healthfully I am WAY too stressed. I seriously think it’s decreasing my quality of life, but I feel like it’s just going to happen for the next year and a half. I’m not sure if this is the right attitude to have but I’m not sure how to not be stressed when I have so much work to do!
Thanks for posting this!
I took the real age test, and it told me the exact same age as I actually am! (20.7) I’m going to be weird and say that most days, I actually feel slightly older than my age – not physically, but I don’t get up to the hijinks a lot of other people my age seem to. Just yesterday I had a coworker express surprise that I was only 20! Even though I look pretty young (especially compared to how OLD teenage girls seem to look these days!) I think how I behave ‘ages’ me. Does that makes sense? Haha! Good questions, like always! :)
I always feel the same way! My husband and I have been talking about having kids in the next year or so, but we both feel too young to have kids yet – I’m 27 and he’s 28! I definitely feel like I’m 23, and tell people that all the time.
I took the RealAge test, and the results were 22.5 – so I guess I feel my “real” age. ;)
Oh my. I just took it and my actual age is 34.8 but my real age came up 40.5 :( I believe it too. I am a SAHM to two little girls and I always put myself last. I can’t believe I have fallen into this so quickly. I just don’t take the time for myself anymore. It’s so important to take of yourself physically and mentally. Thanks for your blog. I love it.