First Post
Hallo from the Netherlands! I am so excited to start this food, fitness and fashion blog. I have learned a lot being away from school for so long and wanted to share my new knowledge and future adventures.
To start I want to talk about the effect location has on your happiness and motivation. While school isn't all rainbows (i.e. fuckboys, bad breakups, loss of friends and piles of homework), I am extremely happy and thankful for my decision in choosing Tulane. In high school there was a point I weighed over 180 pounds, I was depressed, and couldn't find a group of friends I fit well into. College changed all this. I slowly started loosing weight, found many groups of friends that made me happy and had a good balance over my work hard play hard lifestyle. Every day I grew in confidence. I became a completely new person from the depressed freshman who moved onto campus in August of 2015.
Going home this past summer was hard. I knew I would be away from my friends and real home for more than 6 months. I also didn't have many social opportunities waiting for me in Chicago as there is only one friend I still keep in contact with from High School. None the less I was motivated to work and save up money for my time abroad and also workout on a daily basis. I rotated between Core Power, Orange Theory, and Pure Barre online. I also started being more conscious of what I ate and made better decisions when ordering at restaurants. I used to get anxious about cooking but it quickly turned into curiosity. I experimented with basic chicken and shrimp dished from the Tasty videos I had saved on Facebook. For breakfast I mastered the art of avocado toast (although I am a sucker for Trader Joes cereal) and for lunch I made turkey sandwiches on an english muffin.
Abroad is really where my culinary talents grew. I am completely on my own, struggling to balance my social life, school responsibilities and travel. On top of all this I need to stick to a strict budget. Every night I am in Amsterdam I make sure to cook my own breakfasts and dinners. The most tragic thing about the Netherlands is there is no turkey, no oven and no freezer (in my dorm). None the less, I have managed to improve upon basic, simple, and healthy recipes and am really proud of all I have learned. In general living in Amsterdam has been amazing for my mental and physical health. I bike everywhere I go, cook most of my meals, and have found a great group of friends we like to call Amsterfam. Above is a picture of the beautiful Amsterdam canals. Whenever I get in a bad moods, a quick bike ride with these amazing views will always help to get me out of them. I couldn't image a better setting for me to spend my time abroad. Going abroad, and choosing Tulane are two great examples of how much of an impact your environment has on your health and wellness.