Stay Fit this Summer!

   

     Before I say anything else, I want everyone to be aware that the title of this post is "Ways to get FIT", and not "Ways to Get Skinny" or "Ways to Lose Weight". There's a huge difference between being fit and being skinny. You can be skinny and be REALLY unfit, and I want all of you to be aware of that. Being fit means that you can perform at your physical best, and does not completely rely on your body shape or size. That being in mind, let me tell you about some simple tricks that I use daily (or try to use daily) to stay fit.
Note: I am not a certified fitness instructor or a nutritionist of any sort, but these are all tips that I use personally and I don't recommend trying anything that does not seem comfortable for you.

1. Drink a LOT of Water
Especially during the summer months when it gets really hot, it's really important to drink water. Anywhere from 2-4 liters would be an adequate amount of water to be drinking. Personally, I really have to work on this one haha :)

2.  Follow Youtube Fitness Channels
If you don't have enough money to spend on a gym membership, you can always follow Youtubers who specialize in fitness videos. Some of my favorites are Blogilates and Tone It Up. Both these channels have some great workouts that really make you sweat and they also have recipes for healthier foods. Make sure to check them out!

3. Keep a Fitness Diary
Having someplace to log your workouts and eating habits can really help you achieve your goals faster. I personally have a binder where I keep pamphlets for workouts from my gym, printed workouts, and any other notes that I have made or tips that I have for myself to stay on track.

4. Get Enough Sleep 
It is actually very important to make sure you get enough rest each night, because it affects the way your body functions. If you are well rested, you'll be able to perform better when you workout and it helps to prevent bloating and plateauing.

5. Watch What You Eat 
It's pretty much true...you are what you eat! To stay fit and healthy, you have to cut out all the sugars and unnatural foods from your diet. Try to stick to eating greens and natural foods. Stay away from the sodas, donuts, and french fries...as hard as it may be! If you are consistent with doing this, you'll achieve the results you want in no time.

6. Workout with Friends
Personally, I hate working out alone. I'm not even quite sure why, but I just don't feel comfortable if someone isn't there with me. Instead, I workout with my friends. It's a lot more fun, and you have someone to keep you on your toes.

7. Metabolism Boosters
Make sure to eat plenty of metabolism boosters, like green tea and celery. There's plenty more out there, so you can do a quick google search to find a list. Metabolism boosters are usually low in calories and help you to digest food faster, so that you don't gain fat.

8. Make a Workout Playlist
The music really does keep you going, so it's a lot more fun to run on the treadmill when you are listening to some upbeat songs rather than just staring at the little screen that counts your calories and heart rate, you feel me? Haha, but trust me, the music really does help. And, if any of you use Spotify, they came out with a new update recently that makes the beat of the music change to how fast or slow you're running. Isn't that cool??

9. Set Short Term Goals
You already know your long term goal...staying fit. Now, make some short term goals to get there. For example, you can say "by the end of this week I want to be able to lift 20lb weights and do 50 reps..." I don't know, haha...but something like that. Make sure your goals are realistic, so that you have something to motivate you throughout the week or however long your deadline is.

10. Keep a Positive Attitude 
It's not going to come easily...you have to work really hard to achieve your fitness goals. It certainly won't happen over night! It may seem frustrating sometimes, but you have to have the willpower to tell yourself to keep going. If you can keep telling yourself that you can achieve your goals, YOU WILL :)

Week at a Glance #1

   

     This past week has been full of activity, and at some points not too much activity, and I guess I just wanted to reflect on it. Let's start out with last Monday...
     I had a guitar lesson after AGES and lets just say it went really well. I am already familiar with music so I progressed quickly, and it was really fun. Music is just one of those things that makes me happy, and for me it classifies as something "fun" to do. So anyways, that's pretty much all I remember that I did on Monday haha. I mean... it was a week ago, and there's only so much I can hold in my brain :)
     Tuesday was off to a pretty lazy start, and I don't quite remember what I did in the morning haha...wow I should really start writing all of this down! But in the afternoon I had a tennis lesson for two hours and can I just say that I DIED. It was around 5:00 in the evening, and the sun had no plans of calling it a day at that time. It didn't help that the coaches made us do a crazy amount of fitness training :( I was sore for days after that class.
     Wednesday I honestly have no idea what I did...I feel so bad now! I think I really am going to start writing down my daily activities now. Let's see if it will come back to me later on...*has an "AHA" moment 15 minutes later* So on Wednesday, I had a piano lesson. I am actually preparing to take a piano exam in the fall, so all I did in class was practice for that. Practicing scales, dynamics, tempos, and making sure you get everything else right when you're playing the song...the torture never ends! Haha just kidding...I never think of piano as torture...it's a lot of fun, trust me :) I just might upload my pieces for the exam later on too...
     Thursday was a pretty crazy day. In the morning, my mom, my sister, and I went to the eye doctor for our annual check-ups...and I'm getting contacts now (yay!) But anyways... my mom had another appointment scheduled one right after another, so I didn't have enough time to finish getting "training" for how to put the contacts in and taking them out, etc. So I have to go back this Thursday, and we'll see how it goes. So after we left there, my mom dashed to another appointment and I went home and watched Pretty Little Liars season 5 on Netflix (I know, I'm so behind!) After a couple hours of binge-watching TV, I decided to sit down with my guitar and look up songs online to play. I started playing "The Only Exception" by Paramore and "Good Life" by OneRepublic. Just some basic chord progressions...nothing too fancy. Also, if any of you have musical experience, can I just tell you that I think my capo is my new best friend :)
     Friday was pretty laid back and relaxed...I spent the entire morning making a father's day painting for my dad, and just randomly fooling around on the computer. Yeah...nothing else that was very interesting (or that I can remember).
     I think Saturday was my favorite day from this week. Nothing too exciting happened in the morning, but then I had another tennis lesson...and for 3 hours this time! It didn't help that the timing was right in the afternoon, when the sun is at its hottest. I am still so sore from that class and my feet hurt so badly afterwards :( But I have to say the class was a lot of fun. Too many sprints though  :/
When my dad came to pick me up, he surprised me with a Golden State Warriors t-shirt, and I was so excited because they are my favorite team ever :) Around 7:00, my best friend and I went to our gym, where we hogged up a huge dance studio for the two of us to practice a dance routine that we found on Youtube. Any of you heard of Matt Steffanina? Well, we were doing his routine to "Trap Queen" haha. It was actually a lot of fun.
     Yesterday was Fathers' Day, and after delivering presents and the usual protocol, we drove down to a fancy outlet mall and went shopping. Everyone literally went on a splurge...from my sister to my grandparents...we all just bought whatever we wanted. I shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, because they were a combined store in that particular mall. I might post a haul from there later.
     Recent TV/Movies that I watched:

• Pretty Little Liars
• Glee (haha I know, I know! but it's a great show)
• Mission Impossible I, II, & III
• Indiana Jones

     Let me explain quickly about the old movies...my dad gets all these movies when he goes to the library and so we just choose one to watch almost every night as like family time (but my mom and sister always go to sleep in the middle)

     So that was pretty much my week! And on a side note, in a previous post I said that I would post all my Polyvore creations to one specific post, but I think I'm just going to attach my recent posts to the most recent blog post. (how many times did I say the word "post" in that sentence???) So here's my newest sets:

                                                                                                                                                         

Chilly Cities and Ice Cream Trucks

     One perk of living in the not-so-stereotypical sunny weather and daily beach trips part of California is that the city is just a 45 minute drive away. My family drove to San Francisco on Saturday to just spend the day in the city. The weather, as usual, was cold beyond compare. Even standing in Union Square isn't enough to see the bridge; the fog is endless! Regardless of the freezing weather, we went into Ghirardelli to get sundaes, which are always to die for. If you ever find yourself in Union Square, make sure to get a sundae and buy some chocolate!
     On this trip, I really paid attention to the city, and I have to say that I'm very fortunate to be able to visit it so frequently. The houses, first and foremost, are so cute! Every house has a vintage and Victorian feel to it and it just feels so cozy :) Then, there's shopping. Downtown SFO has all the greatest shopping stores from Saks 5th to Prada to Express and everything else in between. There are mostly very high end stores, so don't plan on having much of a budget while shopping ;) Unfortunately, I didn't go shopping there, but we did drive through the shopping complex, which was very pleasant. The last thing that I really enjoyed about the city were the art galleries. While strolling through the streets, we passed by many art galleries which really caught my attention because of my love for art. There's not really much to say about it, but it really inspired me to start drawing and painting again. Even with the cold weather and unruly winds, it was really nice to just walk down the streets and take in some fresh air and just be somewhere other than the places you are used to, you know?

     I can easily say that Saturday was a day well spent. The next day was although less adventurous, a great memory. First, I woke up really late, and ended up missing a biking trip that me and my friend had planned. At around noon, I showed up at her house and we hung out for the rest of the day. First, we fooled around on Dubsmash (do any of you use that? I think I'm gonna make an account.) Then, when it got too hot in her room (I guess summer has finally rolled around, thank god) we went outside to play basketball. And of course, there's no way we can hang out outside without blasting our music loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Soon enough though, our music was put on pause when we heard...THE ICE CREAM TRUCK! By then, we literally ran around the entire complex chasing the truck only to end up catching it when it returned right in front of our house :) We all got ice cream and it felt like old times when we were all little in elementary school...ahh the memories! Anyways, it just felt kind of nostalgic and we ended up having a day that truly met all the "Summer Vacation" criteria.
     All in all, I had a great weekend. The best part, however, was waking up on a Monday and not going to school. Instead, I woke up and played the guitar all morning...talk about good times.

xoxo,
A n i k a
   
   

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Flashback to Summers Past--Cancun, Paris, & Switzerland

     So since we were already talking about summer plans in my last post, I wanted to share with you some of my past summer experiences. Well, technically I'm only talking about one past summer, but you get the point :)
     Last summer, my family was fortunate enough to make two separate vacation trips. One of which was to Cancun, Mexico. The other was to Paris, France and Switzerland. I had an absolute blast on these trips because traveling is always an amazing experience and it was just so fun to get to experience life from different parts of the world.
     First, I want to talk about my one week trip to Cancun. After flying down to Mexico, we stayed in a resort which had an all-you-can-eat buffet. Talk about good food! The resort was right on the beach, and we had a beautiful view of the crystal-clear ocean from our hotel room window. The beach was amazing and the water was very gentle. It was so fun to just wade in the ocean and bob up and down whenever the waves hit you. Well, enough about the ocean. The resort itself was amazing! As I already mentioned, I ate so much food on that trip, but it was all worth it because who can say no to all you can eat Mexican food?? In the kids section of the pool, we played in a mini water park with two jumbo slides and several mini ones. It was such a blast! Besides the water park, the resort had other pools which where overcrowded by college students who were there to party :)
     Later on in the trip, we took a tour bus down to Chichen Itza, which was the historic site of the Mayans. Unfortunately, it rained the day we went (talk about bad timing). Nevertheless, we enjoyed seeing the amazing pyramids and learning about the Mayan life before the Spanish came and took over.
     Finally, I remember we were at the airport about to return home, and we were waiting for our flight. My sister and I got really hungry, so my dad went to get us Domino's pizza. He returned with two slices and $20 less in his pocket. I mean are you serious...10 dollars for a slice of pizza?? But we ate it anyways and it was delicious (as pizza always is) and we had a wonderful flight back home.
     If you are planning to go to Cancun, my advice to you is:

1. bring a lot of sunscreen. It gets HOT!!
2. spend time on the amazing beaches
3. Cancun is a place that personally I think you'd enjoy with a group of friends...so invite your friends to tag along!

The resort we stayed at- Gran Caribe Real Cancun

     Alright...so now let's move on to... Paris. Personally, Paris was my favorite vacation spot ever, and I'd do ANYTHING to go back there. I don't even know why...but I just really enjoyed visiting that city. If you ever get a chance to go there, I highly suggest that you go. It's anyways probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it's something that you really wouldn't want to miss out on.
     We stayed in France for 4 days before moving on to Switzerland, so we didn't have too much time to spend. And the first day our plane landed late in the morning, and all of us ended up sleeping for the whole day since we were jet-lagged. So, we had three days to spend in France.
     In this short amount of time, we managed to visit the Eiffel Tower, see the Louvre museum, tour around the entire city of Paris, and see the palace of Versailles. I don't even know what to say...I loved Paris so much and I really wish I'd had more time to spend there.
     The Eiffel Tower was incredible. There were even military officers guarding it! Anyways, the elevator that we had to take to get to the top felt very rickety and old... but it worked just fine, thank goodness. It didn't help that it rained the whole time we were in Paris, and so getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower was a very cold experience. Anyways, the top of the tower had one heck of a view. You could see the entire city from there, and it was just a breathtaking experience.
     The Louvre museum, or Musee Louvre, left me speechless. I do appreciate the arts, and the paintings that I saw in that museum were extraordinary. First off, I got to see the real version of the Mona Lisa, which was incredible. I don't know why that painting is of such high regard though, because there are so many others in that museum that were probably (or at least in my opinion) better than the Mona Lisa. Nevertheless, if you are a fan of the arts or history, make sure to hit this museum. You won't regret it.
     We saw so many amazing things in Paris, and the architecture there was simply spectacular. It felt very rustic and sophisticated and the city was just a work of art in itself.
     Lastly, on our way out of the Paris, we stopped at Versailles, where we saw the grand palace. Grand it was! Even more than the actual building though, the gardens were amazing. They are still well maintained today, and the grounds were absolutely breathtaking. I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.
     Overall, I think you have got the message that Paris is my most favorite place in the world. I really enjoyed this trip so much, and I know that I am so lucky to ever experience going there.

     Now finally, we have arrived to the last part of my summer vacation. In Switzerland, we visited many different cities and towns. Geneva, Lauterbrunnen, Zurich, Lucerne, and Zermatt were all on our checklist to visit. Some of the bigger cities like Geneva, Zurich, and Lucerne resembled Paris, while the smaller towns like Zermatt and Lauterbrunnen were really cozy and had a homely feel. Did you know that Switzerland is the home to the tallest peak in Europe? You can see Germany and France from there too! 

     Switzerland has it all...areas of green fields as far as the eye can see, and huge bustling cities. Even better yet, they have a famous chocolate industry! Their chocolate is THE BEST chocolate you will ever eat. If you ever go there, eat the chocolate. Also, eat any dairy products you can find because they will be beyond compare. Don't forget about the macaroons either! Swiss delicacies are amazing, and they are a must if you choose to visit this country. We brought home a huge bag filled with chocolate and only chocolate...it's that amazing. :) 

   

Hope you all have a marvelous vacation and spend lots of time doing things that make you happy!

xoxo, 

A n i k a 

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