An easier, tastier homemade keto pizza option

For the most part, my journey to eating better over the past several years has led me down the path of eating more whole foods and fewer processed ones. I’ve come to enjoy foods I never even considered eating or knew how to prepare before, like salmon, “egg roll in a bowl”. I’m also eating more veggies and less sugar. But, occasionally, on a Friday (or Monday, no judgement) night, you just have a craving for pizza.

How to vary your training to fit your goal or context

This week I’ve been battling an upper-respiratory virus that is sapping my energy. As a result, I’ve listened to my body and taken adequate time to rest and recover.

Yesterday was the first time I lifted weights in a week. During that week, I took a few rest days, did a few short mobility and cardio workouts, and two yoga flows, plus took short walks, to stay moderately active while I healed. On one of those walks, I heard an interesting suggestion on MindPump podcast episode 1044 about volume vs. …

Monthly Fitness Challenges — how training phyiscal muscles is teaching me to have a growth mindset

I’ve blogged a fair amount about my fitness routine here, particularly how in the last year I’ve been focused on lifting weights and getting stronger, as opposed to killing it with cardio and simply being driven by the scale or aesthetics like I often was in the past.

Freedom from Tracking and Permission to Rest when Sick (or Whenever)

As I write, I’m going on day 7 of an aggressive upper-respiratory virus that just won’t quit. It’s been rough to slow down and rest more than usual rather than push through my normal tough workouts.

Sometimes, in the past, when I’ve been sick with similar stuff (I have seasonal allergies that usual devolve into some kind of sinus infection or bronchitis once or twice a year), I’ve just pushed through with my daily exercise routine and addressed the infection with antibiotics.

Now, I’m trying to work on my resetting gut health, so I’m avoiding antibiotics as much as possible, working on healing more naturally, and tuning into my body and what it needs more. And what it needs this week is a lot of downtime and rest. …

Booty by Bret (BBB) & MAPS Anywhere by Mind Pump — get and stay fit anywhere in the world!

Travel: a great excuse to mix up your workouts!

Last month I traveled through Japan to see the Cherry Blossoms with my husband for 3 weeks, which provided a nice little disruption to my typical weekly workout routine.

For me, travel is never an excuse to neglect my health. In fact, because there are so many variables with my food and because traveling, even when it’s fun, can be inherently stressful, I always try to maintain some form of exercise routine when I’m away from home. It’s a good way to impose some routine on an otherwise rather unstructured period of time, which is often when we fall out of our good habits and lose progress. …

A guide for gaijin

This week, after 5 trips to Japan spread over 10 years, I finally experienced staying in a ryokan! A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn, usually with tatami mat floors and sliding doors, often with onsen communal bathing and special in-room dining each evening. When you check in to a ryokan, you are provided with yukata (a casual kimono-like robe and sash) and slippers to wear all over the resort, including to and from the onsen (hot springs) and any entertainment or extra meals or snacks.

How to Stay Fit and Active while Traveling Abroad

So you’re taking a trip to Japan? Congrats!! You are in for an incredible adventure to a place where literally anything that can be opposite of your experience in the western world will be.

Nearly every physical task you take on is likely to make you feel momentarily confused or stumped (feel like you should turn that faucet to the right? Nope, it’s left. Trying to pull that door open and find yourself struggling? Try pushing it instead, or sliding it sideways. Looking for the handle to flush the toilet? …

Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

It feels rather alien to type instead of write my reflections out long-hand with pen and paper, but, after much consideration, I think I’ve decided that occasional blogging has made the cut of a technology tool that I will occasionally enjoy adding back to my life.

30-Day Digital Declutter: An Overview

After reading Cal Newport’s new book, Digital Minimalism, I’ve embraced the challenge to practice a “Digital Declutter” for the past 30+ days. It’s been a not-always-easy attempt to re-connect with myself, without the distraction of most of the digital technologies that I’ve become enmeshed with and addicted to over the past several years.

“Technologies are great…but if you want to keep control of your time and attention,” you should “insist that they earn their keep before you make them a regular part of your life.” — Cal Newport, from a 2010 blog post “An Argument For Quitting…