This past week, I have been on a green juice kick. If you live in Gainesville, Florida like I do, I have been getting my green juices made for me at Earth Origins Market on 13th. If you don’t live in Gainesville and you don’t have a market or store to make your juices for you, here is a great video with a simple recipe for a delicious green juice you can make at home with your own juicer!
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“Don’t Make Me Think” book review
I thought “Don’t Make Me Think” was an extremely insightful book that outlined the importance of knowing how people use web pages when it comes to creating our own websites. It came with a lot of helpful hints that have already given me ideas to clean up my own website and help people access my information with less effort and more clarity.
While reading this book, I noted a few different tips that could help not only my website, but other’s websites improve tremendously. One of the main things that I took from reading this book was that people like simple. There is a saying that I always try to live by – “keep it simple, stupid”, and this was constantly in the back of my head while I was reading parts of this book. People like things to be easy and accessible for them. We do not like to read the full pages, instead we like to scan and pick what we want to consume. Therefore, if almost no one will be reading the whole page or article, why should we write with excessive words? In the book, following the simplicity theme, one section talks about cutting half of the words off of each article or page, and then cut half of that off.
Another thing that I enjoyed about the book is that the author, Steve Krug, constantly gives examples of different ideas or books, then provides insight into how he would re-do it himself. Through this, I am able to learn first hand how to fix something that could use improvement.
A few other tips that I picked up when it comes to making a good website is understanding that people are very visual. As a web page designer, you should always make the links and things that you can click on as obvious as possible. This helps the website visitor easily access what they want without having to search and leave the site for another one that is more organized and simple. Each website should also have a home button, a search bar, drop down sections, an ID for the site, and utilities to help the user use everything that is available on the website. At the welcome of each site, there should be a synopsis of what the site is about and what it is trying to convey.
The most important thing that I took away from reading this book was that real life web users like simplicity. It is not always about the design or look. So much of what this book covers is “common sense”, but much of that is overlooked and forgotten because some people are too focused on showcasing fancy and distracting things on their websites. In reality, the more simple the site, the more enjoyable visiting the site will be.
I found his book humorous and I loved how Krug outlined the biggest points to help new web users create a simple and functional webpage. There were so many helpful tips provided, and I feel much more comfortable knowing what I can do with my website and how I can improve it.
Easy at-home dinner number 2
Tonights dinner takes less than 10 minutes to prepare – making it even more enjoyable to indulge.
This dinner tastes even better than it looks. With simple, cheap ingredients, this dinner is the way to go if you are on a budget and trying to eat healthy. Here are the steps to create this delicious meal –
- Heat up a pan with canola oil on the stove and sauté red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, and chopped up potatoes for 5-7 minutes
- Scramble three eggs into the vegetable mix until cooked
- Once the eggs are cooked, put all the food on your plate and add some cheese if desired
- ENJOY!
This is a great meal because it provides protein from the eggs and plenty of antioxidants and vitamins from the vegetables. It is a low calorie, healthy dinner that will satisfy all of your savory cravings. I hope you all enjoy!
Why your sleep schedule may be hurting you…
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of living a healthy lifestyle. In order for all of your hard work in the kitchen and in the gym to pay off, you must be getting an adequate amount of sleep each night. You should be aiming for at least 8 hours of sleep per night to perform at your best in the gym, in the classroom, or at your job. According to the University of Florida Sports Nutritionists, here are a few effects that lack of sleep can have on your body –
- inhibits weight gain and cravings for high-fat and high-carb snacks
- decreases the ability of your fast twitch muscles to react to things by 20%
- impairs the alertness and sharpness of your brain
- create memory loss
- shorter life-span
If just one of these reasons isn’t enough to convince you to get more sleep, then clearly living a healthy lifestyle is not a priority in your life. I most definitely see a difference in my training and overall mood when I am fully rested and recovered versus when I stay up late and wake up early for practice. Getting into a routine and taking care of your body is something that takes practice and time. Remember – it typically takes 21 days to create a new habit. Being optimistic and patient are key to changing your life.
Workout Number 1
A great recovery drink to have after a workout is this Muscle Milk Lean Muscle Protein Powder. You can have 1-2 scoops depending on your liking, and it is a great way to replenish torn muscle tissue after a hard workout. It will also help you lean out and gain more muscle mass while losing weight.
For the first workout I will be posting, it will be partly done on the treadmill and partly done jumping rope. This will keep your heart rate high and is a great aerobic workout to increase your stamina. You can change the MPH to your liking if you are just getting in shape or if they do not challenge you enough.
Treadmill:
3 min 6.5mph
2min 6.8mph
1min 7mph
2min 7.2mph
3min 7.4mph
1min 3.0mph
Jump rope
1 min on, 20 off
45 seconds on, 20 off
30 seconds on, 20 off
15 seconds on, 20 off
Repeat the whole treadmill and jumprope circuit twice.
After workout, make sure you are stretching thoroughly and eating within 30 minutes of finishing for optimal recovery.
Dinner Number 1
Spiced salmon; quinoa with corn, onions, and carrots; sauteed green beans; steamed carrots, red peppers, and broccoli; roasted sweet potatoes.
This is a great dinner to eat post workout. The salmon is filled with iron and protein. When it comes to meat and protein, the less legs the animal has, the healthier it is. The quinoa is a great healthy way to get some carbohydrates to help replace lost muscle tissue after working out. Vegetables are filled with fiber to keep you full and vitamins and minerals that do your body wonders while it is trying to recover. The more color on your plate, the better. Sweet potatoes are another healthy carbohydrate that is essential to help your body get back the energy it exerted while working out. This dinner is so simple to make and is a great way to get the necessary nutrients your body needs to perform at its optimal level.
Let me introduce myself…
Welcome! My name is Elizabeth Beisel and I am a 21-year-old senior at the University of Florida. I am majoring in Telecommunications and I am an aspiring news anchor or sports reporter. I am from Rhode Island, otherwise known as the Ocean State, so growing up I knew nothing but the water and the beach. I learned how to swim when I was just a few months old and because of my love for the water, I started swimming competitively when I was six years old. Fifteen years later, I am still swimming and loving it. I am on the swim team at the University of Florida and I have only two short months left of swimming collegiately and I want to make the most of it. These past four years have flown by and have helped me realize how fortunate I am to have competed for the best university in the nation.
Because I am down to my last few months as a collegiate swimmer (I will continue competing professionally when I am done at UF), I decided to make a blog about how to make the most out of your life by living a healthy lifestyle. I want to make the most out of my last few months here at UF, and I want you all to make the most of your life along with me. I will be posting workouts for any type of athlete – or non-athlete – and tips on how to fuel for whatever you will be taking on during that day. Luckily in Gainesville, there are a plethora of local organic restaurants and markets that make eating healthy and being creative easy.
I look forward to publishing my first workout and meal post for you all soon. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend and GO PATRIOTS!!!
My teammate Teresa Crippen and I competing at the 2012 US Olympic Trials
Conquering life the healthy way 