Good morning my favorite peanut butter lovers!
(And good morning to you peanut butter haters as well. I like you too… but think you’re a little crazy.
)
I hope your day is off to a great start. Mine began as all Wednesdays seem to around here… at zee gym!
Ryan and I headed to the gym to knock out 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical before I headed into my usual BodyPump class. Today’s class was okay… I felt like the lunge track was easier than usual. I hate it when the BodyPump people incorporate squats into the lunge track. There is a squat track for that! Stick with the lunges. I hate ‘em, but they work… and if I’m there, I want to get the most out of my workout. Kick my boo-tay!
After the ‘Pump, I took Sadie on a 20-minute walk. The weather is surprisingly brisk in Central Florida this morning! I wore a hoodie and a fleece. What’s the deal!? I think the cooler temperatures are fleeting though because this weekend it’s supposed to be in the ‘80s.
Breakfast
Surprise, surprise! More overnight oats!
Have you noticed that I tend to fall deeply in love with certain meals and eat them over and over again until a new love-ah comes into town? First it was bagelwiches (actually, I kind of want one of those right now…) and now it’s overnight oats!
In today’s bowl:
- 1/2 c. old fashioned oatmeal
- 3/4 c. pumpkin
- 3/4 c. almond milk
- 2 tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 Stevia packet
- Pumpkin pie spice
Loved this combo!
I think Sadie did, too.
I don’t know why, but her expression in the above picture makes me laugh!
Life’s Handbook
And now, before heading into work this morning, I want to share an email I received yesterday with you that I thought was really neat.
Handbook to Life
Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts over things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. Be grateful for what you have been given.
18. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
21. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away (like algebra class) but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
22. Smile and laugh more.
23. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Society:
24. Call your family often.
25. Each day give something good to others.
26. Forgive.
27. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
28. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
31. Do the right thing!
32. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. God heals everything.
34. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. The best is yet to come.
37. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it.
38. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Question of the Morning
- Which one of the “lessons” above struck a cord with you?
My favorites were numbers 10, 11, 14, 20, 29 and 35. Well, let’s be honest. I kind of loved all of them.
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ohh what a lovely list!
I would say the ” call your family often” is most important to me
I don’t know what I would do without my family, we’ve been through a lot together!
agreed. family and friends make the world go ’round! 🙂
BTW Sadie is simply adorable! 🙂
What a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing it with us. I really liked some of these:
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.
32. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
38. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Lots of those lessons strike a cord with me.. calling my family is one I need to work on. It’s difficult because they live in 3 different countries, but it’s something I really need to do more often. Thanks for the reminder Julie!
Julie, before I even saw your list of “favorites” i knew which one struck a cord with me….
#11. Yikes. That hit home.
So often I am quick to think, “Wow, they have it all together, or wow, look at them.” But really, I don’t know what’s behind the smile. I want to stop thinking that everyone BUT me have it all together.
By the way, I want to make that last picture of Sadie my background. Haha…so cute!
Ugh. I totally agree about sneaking in squats in the lunge track. It drives me nuts!
Forgive definitely struck a cord with me. I’m really bad about holding grudges.
I love the whole list! I found myself thinking that I need to incorporate ALL of them into my life more often. I especially liked #4, #11 and #12! Sadie is too cute — she’s so expressive and always makes me laugh! 🙂
“Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. ” and “Don’t have negative thoughts over things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.”
These two are the biggest challenges for me. A work in progress but I believe that I have taken steps in the right direction.
P.S. Loved this post 🙂
This is a really great post, Julie! I also liked #35! 🙂 Sometimes you just gotta suck it up, put on a happy face, pull yourself together, and get out there, even when you’re not feeling 100%.
I love this list! It really does make you think about certain things and what is important in life. 🙂
Love the pictures of Sadie!! She is so cute!
Love the pictures of Sadie! She’s too cute 🙂
Wow I think every single one struck me as being important! I can’t pick even a few as my favorites! It’s so important to take time to be thankful for your life and everyone in it- I feel like the gist of the list is to enjoy, appreciate and be thankful for those things, and the rest will fall into place. 🙂 Thanks for sharing the list!!
I just had to come back and add that although I’m not big on mass emails, I immediately forwarded this list to my family and friends, and I’d really like to thank you for sharing! This was the perfect way to start out my day!
It reminds me of the Sunscreen Song by Baz Luhrman- I think it came out late 90s? You’ll have to check it out!
haha i remember that song!
Ooo this was good! I’d have to say that the 2 that stuck out to me the most were 13 and 34! Thanks for posting this!
I get stuck on certain foods too and then will eat them like twice a day and then get fascinated with a new thing and leave my old favorite in the dust for a couple of months. Right now it is homemade sweet potato fries that are on my radar! 🙂
I loved all of those lessons!!!! 😀
Great post! Thanks!
29 is very interesting! I like them all, though. Great read for the beginning of the day 🙂
all of them are great ~ #12 really hits home with me…i’m a worrier
and about #20 ~ so true! i am used to hearing “[insert name] stole my joy”…but that’s really not the case. you are totally in charge of your emotions…and how you react to something is your choice.
good post 🙂
I loved #14 – 14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. So true! I tend to take myself way too seriously and I need to just relax!
You are brave for holding that spoon of oats while taking a picture — I would have dumped it all over my lap!
Haha it was pretty thick! 🙂
“Live with the 3 E’s: Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.”
I love this one! It’s so simply – almost a mantra – and great advice. I wrote it down on a sticky note on my desk to remember later! =)
Fun that you two workout together! I love those adorable bowls–where did you get them??
They were actually my grandma’s!
Love this! I need to follow 7 more often, I really don’t read enough! I definitely believe in 21, and I totally follow 14 – I’m a big believer in keeping stress low and not taking any bad situation too seriously.
LOVE that list!! My fave one is ‘laugh and smile more’. Smiles and laughter make me happy!! 😀
I loved the whole list! I’m printing it out and putting it on my fridge 🙂
You are truly a wonderful person 🙂
Thanks for sharing this!! I honestly cannot choose a favorite. They are all great and really got me thinking. I’m definitely saving these! 🙂 And aren’t pumpkin overnight oats other-worldly? I am obsessed with them!
Great start to my morning! Thanks!
Looove the list!! Number 12 really rings true for me – live in the positive, present moment. Thanks for sharing — definitely going to print this one out and hang it somewhere that I can see everyday!
I love that little list, thanks for posting it! 🙂 And my Body Pump instructors always pick lunge tracks that have squats in them. Grrrrr.
I am IN LOVE with this handbook. What a great way to start my Wednesday!
Great post! #11 “Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.” is one that hit home for me. I am constantly comparing my life, love, happiness, and everything to others, but that is no way to live. Everyone has their own story, no two are alike. I need to stop worrying and comparing if something doesn’t go the same way it does for other people. I need to work on this a bit more, but I’m getting there =P
Agreed 100% about the squats during the lunge track!!
I LOVE #20 and #28 and #36.
You ARE in charge of your own happiness, and you need to do what you can to make yourself happy. Every single day. If you don’t, you’ll live to regret it.
#28… I always make it a goal to makes someone smile/laugh in every interaction I have. It makes me feel good to make others feel good. Hence, my blog.
#36 The best is ALWAYS yet to come.
LOVE this handbook! how clever… this one rly made me smile “16. Dream more while you are awake. ”
oh and i always get in food ruts too! hello oats every morning!
My BodyPump instructor has been doing that my past few classes too, squats during lunges! Without weight too, so…qu’est-ce que c’est le point?
I love your handbook to life 🙂
before you even wrote the “have you noticed line…” I was about to comment, “gee julie, you sure get into meal flings quite easily”
I’m so the same way.
I love a lot of the list! I intend to do so many of those things and let them slip. Today I’m going for a smiley walk and calling my dad.
I love that handbook to life! I will definitely take some of those rules to heart and try to live by them.
I love this one: “Don’t have negative thoughts over things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.”
I have been trying to ditch negative thinking and tune out the negative people in my life and I find it makes such a huge difference in how I handle situations! It can be really, really, really hard sometimes – especially when you’re dealt multiple blows in a short span of time, but it is always great advice.
I totally fail at #2! lol. Dinner is my favorite meal and usually is my most indulgent. I’m not a breakfast person at all…although I do have an okay breakfast. Lunch would probably be in the “begger” category, though =p
20 and 25 are my favorite…exactly what I needed to read this morning!
I also have serious food obsessions. I usually eat the same exact breakfast for months until I get sick of it and move on to the next haha! I thought I was weird…
My favorite was “Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about”
I struggle with this so badly!!! I am terrible at falling into that comparison trap and I am always convinced that someone has it better than me. One time I was with my best friend and I was enviously talking about a really hot girl we had just seen walk by and how I wished I had her body. My friend looked at me and said yes but would you trade your life to be her in that body? You have no idea what her life is like. She may look “perfect” to you on the outside but you have no idea what her life is like.
That has stuck with me ever since.
you have a smart friend!
I’ve been slightly obsessed with overnight oats since I started reading your blog a few weeks ago. Yummm!
Your blog is always fun to read and inspirational to boot!
Thanks for sharing Julie it was very inspiring. Keep up the good work that you are doing as you continue to inspire others.
What a great way to start my morning! Thanks for sharing! My favorite has to be #11…so true.
Julie!
Quick question…I am making smoothie bowls as well, and I was wanting to know if you have ever tried adding sugar-free fat-free pudding mix? This morning I did:
* 1 banana
* 1 scoop Beverly International Vanilla Creme’ protein
* Ice & water
* 1 T sugar-free fat-free banana cream pudding mix
(Put in the freezer for 10 min)
Do you try to avoid artificial sweeteners? I can’t make up my mind on these…when I did the Miss Illinois USA pageant last year, I was hooked on these sweeteners, so I am a little nervous to start using them again…thoughts? 😉
i’ve never tried that! it sounds really good. as far as artificial sweeteners are concerned, i do try to use them sparingly. i don’t mind using a packet of splenda here and there at all, but wouldn’t use splenda in large quantities. i’m the same way w/ diet soda. i’ll drink it on occasion, but more as a treat and definitely in moderation.
Love all of these!
I LOVE this post!! This really resonated with me this morning. Every point made me take a second and really think. Thanks for sharing!!
25. Each day give something good to others.
I love it.
What a great way to start my day! Loved this post! Oh and it’s okay that you eat oats everyday, I love seeing the combinations you come up with!
34 is my favorite! I need to remember that the next time I feel dragged down by a bad situation
Thanks for sharing this!
I love them all too! 12, 20, 24, and 29 really hit home though. Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
I’m totally with you on number 11. It’s easy to covet the “right now” but who knows what their journey was or what is behind closed doors…
I love them all! 3, 11, 13, 31, 34, 35, 38… they’re all so good… so much so that I posted them on my blog today (credited to you). Thank you for sharing this!!!! What a happy way to start the day.