FFF Featured Blogger (chosen from your comments): Eat Drink Breathe Sweat – Jess is a fellow Kick lover (and certified!). She also loves to run. I always love her posts because they truly show heart.

So, it’s time for me to be real again. Although, when am I ever not on this blog? I sometimes think I’m physically incapable of fudging the truth in the slightest. A good thing, I suppose. Or bad, if you’re sick of hearing me talk about the ramblings from my head and the randomness of my life.

I had another moody day today. Score for it having been almost three weeks since my last one though! That may earn a new pregnancy-hormone-moody-day related record.  I just felt in a funk all day long. I’ve already harped on the many ways I don’t feel fully like myself during pregnancy – change of tastes, missing fitness goals, less energy, more pain to complain about, blah blah blah. Those all bothered me today along with just a sense of not caring. About anything. I had thoughts like why do I even bother to blog because it doesn’t mean anything? / do I really have to get up out of bed and care for a needy two year old today? / what good will trying to accomplish anything today have?

Those thoughts bother me more than anything else in the world. If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know that I battled some depression and suicidal thoughts back in college. Depression and anxiety run in my family, so I never feel that I have completely broken free from this struggle. Fortunately, though, I can recognize those thought processes and stop them before they get too deep.

In the midst of today, I had an empowering moment. I had no desire to turn to food for comfort. My old coping mechanism always came in the form of a binge and stress/emotional eating. I still turn to other outlets to just get lost from my emotions for awhile, but they certainly aren’t near as detrimental. I now simply keep myself occupied. Today, I got in a workout, did laundry, washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, read kiddy books, read blogs, and anything else to keep my mind off the bombs flying in my head. Then, once I calmed down, I took a deep breath and sat down to reflect on the thoughts.

I honestly do not know what triggered today. I didn’t face a stressful situation. I didn’t feel run down or exhausted since I have done my fair share of sleep in the past 72 hours. I didn’t feel unloved or emotional about any one particular thing. I believe it was just one of those days. The moments where old demons try to find their way back into my heart and mind to discourage me and make me lose sight of the blessings and new life I have in my faith.

It sucked, but at the same time, it rocked. I don’t have to fear myself anymore. I hold more than enough power to overcome these moments, thanks to the strength of God in me showing me hope and mercy. I can hold on tight and find my way through unscathed. I don’t need to doubt my life or my worth because I can look around me and witness the many ways I do have value – to myself and others. (Hence, all the apparently random pictures.) So instead of hating on life and wishing I could be anywhere but here, I can enjoy the fact that I’m already at a better place. A beautiful place.

• What ways do you “get lost” when facing tough emotions? Or do you grab the bull by the horns so to speak?
• Don’t forget to ASK ME ANYTHING for a Q + A series I hope to begin in November. 🙂

FFF Featured Blogger (from your comments): Sarah’s Scrumptious Samplings – Sarah talks about body image, her life, and great recipes!

Hello all! I hope this Tuesday finds you well. I slept in until M woke up again this morning and feel great now. Still a tiny bit of a sore throat, but that is it. I tried to rest as much as possible yesterday to ensure I would feel good enough for spin today. I missed the gym! It felt amazing to get my spin on. I’m ready for the new music to come out, but that won’t be for another two weeks at our gym. 🙁

Have you all ever heard of something and immediately thought “that sounds like a blogger thing”? Last night, on the way home from tutoring, I heard an advertisement on the radio for Trader Joes seaweed snacks and immediately thought blogger. I could so see these becoming a big hit amongst the blog world, as they sound similar to kale chips but in seaweed form. Who knows? Maybe they already are a hit and I’m just out of the loop.

Do you ever notice sometimes how something becomes popular among blogs and then so many give it a try? I know I have fallen into that trap. Although its not really a trap. Many times things come out GREAT and I am forever thankful for finding out about it through blogs. Dinner last night shows a prime example. We had Gina’s Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili and I loved it!

I also have blogs to thank for my affection for green monsters, kale chips, meatless sloppy joes, various dessert treats I have made, parsnip fries, new squash varieties, yogurt in oats, and more. Also for not making me feel crazy for hating on cottage cheese and loving Greek yogurt. I have tried some things that do not agree with me though – quinoa or Amazing Grass products for example, both of whose textures greatly bothered me.

Now, I really hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and try things out. I question if it honestly sounds appealing to me before giving it a shot. I know I will never try things like maca powder, tempeh, or chia seeds because I am such a huge texture eater and the texture of all of those makes me gag a little to even think about. I also refuse to try things that aren’t easily accessible or too expensive for a sampling.

Plus, I know my taste buds can have a mind of their own, as demonstrated in this morning’s breakfast. The TJs commercial last night got me thinking about how I miss shopping there more. Then, I remembered some apple chicken sausages I had in the freezer. Not TJs variety but a similar sub in found in the “healthy” section of a local grocer. Publix I think? I knew I needed to incorporate them into breakfast.

When I woke up, the wheels started turning. A sweet diner breakfast! An apple “crepe” with an apple sausage! This is when my taste buds started getting a little nutty. First, I microwave “baked” an apple with cinnamon, while cooking up my “crepe”. For the record, that would be one egg lightly beaten and cooked in a skillet like a flat omelet. Nothing really “crepe”-y about it.

I wanted a nutbutter in the crepe with my “baked” apples. My taste buds wanted Nutella more specifically. What the heck?  So I spread a bit of Nutella on one half and added some of the apples to the other.

Then, rolled it up and topped it with the remaining apples and cinnamon, served with the apple sausage on the side.

It tasted good to me. Although not quite what it could have been. Something about Nutella and apples just doesn’t fit as nicely as Maple Almond Butter and apples. And I can’t complain that the crepe was too thick and eggy, because hello? It was just an egg! I would still make it again though! I like sweet eggs and anything that’s easy after all.

• What are some things you have tried that were inspired by reading blogs? Good and bad.
• Don’t forget to Ask Me Anything for a Q + A series I hope to do in November. I only have a few so far.