Favorite Workout Gear

I will admit that I've never stuck to this resolution before, but I've always said at the beginning of every year that I would start to take better care of my health. This is the first year that I've actually made some real progress on that. While the eating better portion still needs more work (I'm the type of girl who gets excited about what I'm gonna eat the next day), I've been pretty impressed with myself about the fitness portion. 

The main motivator is the fact that I am now paying a monthly fee to get access to a gym. Having some of your hard-earned paycheck automatically paid out to a gym definitely inspires you to go. It also helps that the gym I decided to go to is new and everything is in tip-top shape. (Another reason why I didn't join a gym sooner. If I'm going to be paying for something it better be worth my money!) 

I haven't been too experimental with my workouts so I don't have an expanse collection of workout gear, but I did have a decent selection to start off with. So far my current favorites are pictured above. I would have to say my favorite part are my shoes. I can't live without these. I bought these full price when they first came out (which I was debating about) but am so glad I did since I've definitely gotten my money's worth. On top of wearing these Nikes to workout, I also wear them at work on surgery days and just to run errands sometimes. They are so comfortable and they look pretty darn chic considering. They are the Nike Free Runs though I'm not 100% sure about the model since I was unable to find my exact design online with the model number next to it (I had always assumed it was the Free Runs 5.0?). But you can purchase the most recent version of them (Nike Free Runs 5.0+) in a variety of different colors. 

The first sports bra is from the Forever 21 activewear line. It was inexpensive and had gotten good reviews so I decided to give it a chance and order it online. The Low Impact Seamless Sports Bra comes in a whole bunch of colors as well. The second sports bra is from Cotton On, and is definitely my favorite due to its design. Unfortunately the Attack Yoga Crop bra is not available in this particular pattern online, but they usually have better selections in stores. These C9 Champion leggings, while not as fun, are functional. They're a cropped length and are made well considering the price. I also feel like they do a good job of holding everything in while I do cardio. I purchased these at Target, and you can find similar ones here.

Having a good set of workout gear definitely motivates me to get my butt to the gym. So far I've consistently been going twice a week, though I'm trying to go more often after my schedule lightens up. Even though my endurance still needs to be built up, even working out for 20 minutes vastly improves my energy levels. Although it's unrealistic for me to see any obvious changes in my body at that rate (plus my diet hasn't changed much), I already feel so much better. I've been noticing that I don't rely on caffeine as much as I used to. (Though I still enjoy it on days I don't need to. I'm a sucker for coffee and tea). 

One thing I am nervous, yet excited to start is this 21 day no-sugar challenge that got sent around in an e-mail from where I work. Basically you got to choose which challenge to do, but all of them involved reducing your sugar intake. I decided not to be a wimp and choose the one I for sure have an issue with: sugary drinks. It begins this upcoming Monday and involves going COLD TURKEY on all sugar-sweetened beverages. I will update to see how that goes since I can't live without my iced coffee/tea and boba normally.

My current favorite post-workout drink: Apple 'n Greens from Jamba Juice

I Heart Guts Love/Review

 

When I was googling some blogs to read that related to optometry and dental school I found one (that I can't remember now unfortunately) that featured a tooth keychain. I thought it was adorable, and luckily the blogger mentioned where she got it from. That's how I found out about I Heart Guts. I don't see how anyone who's in the health profession can't get excited about all the goodies they have on there. 

My first purchase there a few months ago was the white tooth keychain and two eyeball pins. The keychain is amazing, not gonna lie. I would probably buy one of each for myself if I was in that field. The back of the white one says, "Flossin' Aint Just For Gangstas." How cute is that? The eyeball pin is pretty self-explanatory. The card that it comes on does say, "Party Pupil In The House!" For $4 it is made pretty well. Ever since I've gotten it I've been wearing it on my name tag at work. I've had so many optometry students and coworkers comment on how much they like it. (They usually think it's a sticker before the optic nerve that sticks out gives it away). I bought the second one for my friend, who used to be a coworker but is now in optometry school. I thought it was a good congratulatory gift. 

I had posted a photo on Instagram with my first purchase through I Heart Guts with a caption saying how I wished they had more eyeball related items. They left a comment asking if I had seen their plushie. I had of course, but look at all the teeth related items they have! Okay, maybe not that much more but I would go crazy over an eyeball keychain.

I had always been planning to make at least one other purchase through them and thought when my good friend's birthday was coming up it would be the perfect excuse to do so. Again, since there's only a plushie left I decided to get her the eyeball one ($20). Now she had the matching set! She ended up loving it, but her dog ended up loving it even more. I wish I could post the video she posted on her IG. But basically shows her corgi playing roughly with the plushie. All I could comment with was, "I'm surprised there hasn't been a retinal detachment yet O_O." To be honest I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of it when I received it. It's a good size and made pretty well. I'm definitely going to order one for myself in the future. The other items I purchased was the gold tooth keychain, the teeth pin, and another white tooth keychain. I got the gold one for my supervisor at work who actually used to work at the dental school my boyfriend currently goes to. The back of this one says something different though: "Can You Handle The Tooth?" The teeth lapel pin is probably my favorite out of the bunch though. It's a small size which makes it really cute and not at all obnoxious. And unlike the eyeball lapel pin it's made out of a zinc alloy rather than plastic. My boyfriend currently has it on his school bag and its also gotten a lot of compliments.

My next order will probably include the tooth and eyeball plushies. And I'll have their website bookmarked so I can wait to see if they add more eyeball related goodies.

Desk decorating

 

I've been feeling pretty relieved lately now that I don't have to think about my OATs for a while. But pretty much soon after they told me that one of the surgery staff is going on vacation for two weeks in April. So now the pressure is back on for me to get fully trained in the majority of what she does on surgery days, and on top of that, on non-surgery days (meaning days when they're doing consults and pre-ops). That's one of the reasons they want me to come in on whatever extra days I can to do training (on top of my regular two days a week + whenever there's a surgery = 3x a week typically). This week is the only week since the beginning of the year that there hasn't been a surgery date. So because of that I decided to plan to go in on Friday to get some more training. I actually haven't met the other optometrist yet that does a lot of the consults (and some pre-ops/post-ops) since I'm only there on surgery days. (The chief optometrist is there, but teaching in another clinic, though she'll always drop by throughout the day). 

In the meantime, I've finally organized my desk up to my liking. I can now sit there without feeling anxious about how disorganized everything is and then just give up and start distracting myself on the computer (oops). I picked up a few inexpensive things at Home Goods (had a few good finds, but definitely had to do some digging). Although Target does have great pieces as well, they can be quite pricey for what it is. In general I've been liking the decor items from Nate Berkus' line, but if they're not on sale they can be pretty pricey for what it is. I try to walk at the end of the aisles first since they always leave their clearance items there. That's where I picked up the items pictured above. I was itching to get a desk calendar, but after re-organizing I noticed that it was going to be way too cluttered. (My very first choice was the Stendig calendar but of course by the time I looked into it they were all sold out. Maybe for 2015...). I picked up the 2014 Sugar Paper Calendar on sale for $4. It's a good size and doesn't clash with my desk. I also found these cute greeting cards by Mara-Mi the same way. Definitely have been helping not having to spend a ton to get my place to look nicer. Hopefully I can get photos up once I feel like it's up to my standards.