I’ve had quite a few things come to my attention that could easily define me as a healthy living blogger. It never ceases to amaze me how blogging has become such a key component of my life in the past 7 months. I love the community and the fulfillment it brings me. Who cares if it leads to a few quirks along the way?

Five Quirks that tell me I’m a Healthy Living Blogger

1 - My birthday wish list. I will be celebrating another year of life gone by a week from tomorrow (Aug 23). The other day Peter asked what I would like for my birthday. I told him nothing since not too long ago I received the mother of all material presents – my dSLR camera. Nevertheless, images of sugarplums fitness/blogging gear began running through my head.

A macro lens for the camera, Insanity DVDs, TurboFire DVDs, or a Garmin. You can call me crazy because 75% of my wish list revolves around items I can’t even use for around another 6 months.  I know I’m insane. After all, I know my birthday wish list item for next year even. A trip to the Healthy Living Summit 2011. If they have another one? I can be hopeful.

2 – Having a green monster…followed by birthday cake. I live my life by the belief everything works in moderation. Which is why I don’t have to feel guilty for eating a decent slice of birthday cake at a friend’s child’s 1st birthday party yesterday.

The Green Monster I had post Power class balances it out perfectly you know. Nutritious + indulgent. There’s always room for both in a healthy life. 

3 – I no longer feel odd taking pictures of my food. I’m not shy to bust out the big camera out in public restaurants. Who cares if the waiter gives me a confused look when he comes up to the table and I am playing America’s Next Top Model with my food. I need to get quality shots of my dinner. This girl has priorities!

4 - “I should blog about that” is a recurring thought in my head. I don’t think a day goes by where something catches my interest and my immediate thought process doesn’t include the blog. Open your eyes and you can find blogging material anywhere. It helps me to see things in a new light as well. I don’t really plan much out. God just gives it to me somehow. He knows I wouldn’t be creative enough on my own. 😉 We’ll call the below my “thinking face”. No, I don’t know what I was actually doing here.

5 – I don’t mind getting up early to check comments and visit blogs. I have grown so close to so many in the community that waking up 1.5 – 2 hours before M to get writing, email catch up, and blog reading done doesn’t phase me. I want time with my darling one during the day, but know I couldn’t give up my precious blogging time either. I think she appreciates it. Blogging did lead me to Green Monsters and she is very appreciative of those.

She’s also appreciative of the review I get to do. Like the most recent one for Sesame Street e-books.

Over the past month, we have had complimentary access to the Sesame Street E-Books page. The site provides interactive learning to children, revolving around the Sesame Street characters. You can pick books on various topics – colors, foods (!!!), shapes, life moments, and more. Some of the books even have a recorded voice for kids to follow along to or coloring pages available for printing. I found Makenzie really enjoyed the site because, as much as I try to limit it, she does like watching TV. She showed interest in the e-books from seeing things on a screen, but I felt comfortable because they provided valuable learning. I really believe it helped her with her colors too! Overall, I would highly recommend this site to mothers. For a free trial e-book click the widget on my sidebar. Thanks, Swetha for giving us this opportunity!

• What makes you a healthy living blogger?
• What would be on your birthday wish list?
• Be sure to check out the 30 Days of Self-Love challenge coming to my site in September! And don’t forget to let me know if you added my button or shared the challenge on your blog. 🙂

Breathe in. And…breathe out. A huge calming breath of pleasure to be home and back to regularly scheduled programming. I loved my weekend travels which included many delicious foods, a great city, and watching two friends tie the knot. If you haven’t checked out the recap, do so here. However, as wonderful as all those things were, it felt really nice to be home and back to normal.

I awoke this morning to get some work done on the computer and with the blog. It felt great. I like feeling productive. I also came to the decision to try a different blogging schedule and post around lunch time and then again at night. I want to see if I manage this schedule well, so as to not have my posts be too long. Both for me to write and you to read. Hey. I know I can get wordy. 😉

Back to my morning, though. After my productivity, I rewarded myself with a basic breakfast. A bowl of oats cooked with a mix of skim milk and water. And of course the obligatory peanut butter mixed in afterwards. I didn’t feel like much in the topping department, so I ate a banana on the side instead.

The perfect pre-workout fuel! Which is just what I needed to head to the best workout ever. Although honestly I think every workout after a longer than normal break feels like the best workout ever.

I headed to the gym for the 9:30 spin class. I’m really glad I went early! I completely forgot that school started back up in my area this week. Stay at home mommies who now have extra free time after sending their kids packing on the bus dominated the place. I went into spin and nabbed the second to last bike. All the way in the back corner. I hate that bike since it always feels hotter in the back.

I couldn’t complain though. I was at the gym. Doing one of my favorite workouts and getting a good sweat to rejuvenate me. Spinning = the perfect pregnancy workout as I wrote about in a recent article (CLICK CLICK!). The icing on the cake came after class. On the way out, I noticed they set out a display of Kashi Go Lean Crisp samples. You betcha I got my grubby paws on one.

And ate it immediately upon arriving home as my post workout fuel. This pregnant gal was hungry! For the record, this Toatsted Berry Crumble Kashi cereal tasted amazing. I added a handful of Quaker Oatmeal Squares for more volume, which combined perfectly.

I loved the crunch and flavor provided by the granola and berry crisps. Plus, it packs healthy grains and 9 grams of protein. For cereal, that ain’t half bad. What a great way to start the day!

• Do you prefer reading shorter, more to the point posts or one long post? I admit the shorter post was much easier to type.
• What is your favorite cereal combo? Do you like cereal for post workout food?