A Common Theme

Well…it’s official: Spring break is over. I am back to the dreary, rainy, windy city of Chicago and missing the beautiful sunny Florida and my wonderful sister already! It was such a great break. We had so much fun lying on the beach soaking up some sun, eating amazing food and way too much ice cream, and catching up on much needed sister time. I don’t think Bailey and I have gotten much one-on-one sister time since she got married almost two years ago. It was great to hang out with her!

Before I get to the main point of this post, I wanted to fill you guys in on an awesome recipe that Bailey and I tried out one night. She had tried coconut  shrimp at her friend Nicole’s house and loved it so we decided to recreate the recipe. After a quick google search, we found a recipe and quickly set out to put together the delicious meal.

Ingredients included egg whites, corn starch + salt + cayenne pepper, and sweetened coconut.

We followed the instructions and dipped each shrimp in the cornstarch mixture first, followed by the egg whites, and finally the coconut.

all ready to be baked!

they came out brown and crispy and delicious!

We baked them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes and paired them with some green beans sauteed with garlic, salt and pepper.

the finished product!

so good

We alternated dipping the shrimpies in a sweet and sour sauce and our own spicy creation of dijon + soy sauce. It was a great contrast of flavors.

I wanna make this again asap! I’m wondering how coconut crusted tilapia would be…? I’ll let you know if I try it!!

Alright, now onto a more serious subject. As you guys know, I have been having some leg issues lately and took the whole week prior to my half marathon completely off of running. During the race, I experienced a bit of pain but was able to finish in the time I had hoped. However, since then, the pain in my leg has only gotten worse. I think that running on the hard concrete route of the race really took a toll and only made my injury worse.

I had a few major break downs last week when I realized that it would be a long time before I could run again. I’m not exactly sure what my injury is and I plan on going to a doctor this week, but I’m pretty sure that I will be taking a long break.

Lately I’ve noticed a common theme that has appeared on several of my favorite blogs. Janae’s post on Self Worth, Julie’s post on The Comparison Trap, and Courtney’s post on what to do When Life Hands you Lemons have all covered the same general topic that all girls struggle with: self-esteem. In a world filled with unbelievably high expectations for women these days, it is hard to be happy and content with exactly who we are.

I am constantly comparing myself to other girls…whether in my classes or on the cover of a magazine, I struggle so much with coveting things that other girls have. Why do I do this?? Why do women in general do this? Why can’t we see that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image and simply be happy with ourselves?

This struggle intensifies for me when I am injured and unable to run. My passion for running has given me an escape from stress or homesickness or whatever problems I am dealing with on a daily basis. It makes me feel strong and confident and secure. So when I can’t run…I feel week and insecure and unsure of myself.

Janae is currently injured as well and reading her blog lately has really helped me to keep an optimistic attitude about not being able to run. But it still remains a constant challenge. I just wanted to  let you guys know how much all of you have helped me with this struggle. Reading your blogs and receiving your comments on my blog, your encouragement for my training or your sweet comments on my race have given me a great deal of joy.

The healthy lifestyle blog world is such an awesome community of women who are strong and confident and happy with who they are and it has been such an inspiration for me. I am so glad that I have found this outlet and that I have found all of you who share this passion with me.

If you guys share this struggle, please go check out some of the blogs that I previously mentioned and the others in my blog roll and know that you are SO not alone. We all have issues with this, and I am so grateful that we can be in it together–striving to achieve confidence and happiness in our bodies, personalities, and lives. Thank you for being there for me! I hope you are having a great week so far!!

xoxo

 

About these ads

Posted by healthycollegegirl on March 22, 2011

http://healthycollegegirl.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/a-common-theme/