Find Your Kickstart
From the cover picture of the post, yes, coffee is the gasoline of life. But what else in our lives serves as that fuel- that boost of excitement and adrenaline, necessary for living out the long summer days? Luckily, that answer is not too hard to find. There are a multitude of things that pull us in so many directions. By choosing to follow the arrows that pop up in our day to day experiences we form connections like the neurons in our brains. We actually get motivated to power off our screens and do something out of the ordinary. I like to think that all of this happens through some sort of brain web where one idea is attached to another. This is that momentum I was talking about in my last post.
I'm thankful for the last two weeks. Life has had both rain and sunshine. And I mean that quite literally here in the mid west xD...I think the weather has a tendency to be a bit bipolar. But so do I. I went from being in a very sulky mood to finding this ground of purpose and stability- balance! Though there will be more challenges in the future, I know that life gives us so many opportunities and we just have to go all carpe diem! So, I love lists, and I'll just kind of bullet point the last fortnight of events.
CONVERSATION
Conversation is such a powerful tool. Humans are like books. We all have a story to tell. And the world is our library! (btw I got this metaphor from a Ted Talk, so no.. I did not come up with that lol!)
Being the introverted person I am, who would rather hide out in my hermit hole for days, instead of going out and "party hardying," I decided to put myself out there... oh boy... And though I really hate talking, as I am more of a thinker, and an observer of this world, I decided to start asking questions.
These questions led me to three new people and their stories. There arose some cosmic signal that was telling me to just: "Go for it."
TC Pilates
I work in sales which requires me to talk to people... and somehow, even though I am introverted, I some how manage to thrust myself out of my quiet shell. What sales has taught me is to learn how to ask the right questions and to listen to what the customer needs. But sometimes I just get bored of the product selling and I just want to know the customer's story. Why do they need that pair of Northface flash drive leggings or that pair of Oasics. Are they running a marathon? What made them decide to pursue that goal?
It was a Wednesday night, and traffic was slow. But I met Kathleen, an amazing person with such a caring personality. I quickly learned from the shape leggings and yoga tops she wanted to buy that she was an instructor for Reformer Pilates. (A wide variety of exercises, some that are done on a machine, to promote length, strength, flexibility, and balance) She told me she had been teaching pilates for ten years, and by the tone of her voice you could tell how passionate she was about Reformer Pilates. She was eager to give me a free class- and I took it!
I will admit when I walked into the studio I brought with me all this tension and insecurity I had been dealing with for the last couple of days. When I laid down on the machine she was so patient when I couldn't seem to follow simple instructions (lol... *smh*). I learned a lot about body awareness. I was very humbled because I thought I knew my body, but, turns out, there were a lot of things I had been doing wrong in my past workouts. And Kathleen gave me some good tips on how to improve my core exercises.
The thing I loved about Kathleen was that she was so genuine. Not only did she ask me how I felt about the overall class but how I was. She was someone I could trust and pour out my worries to. She could empathize with the things I had been struggling with and gave some great advice! I was so thankful to meet her and it was such a blessing to be taught by her. I am thrilled to start mat pilates when her new location opens up.
So to recap....
A slow day at work resulted in such a cool opportunity and meaningful experience.
My lesson learned here is to know that we are not alone in things. I have that tendency to want to do things for myself and just solve all the worlds problems on my own. But this is impossible to do. It is okay to accept help and to lean on others for support. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good and make you feel alive!
Coffee House Hopping
My second encounter was with a barista from Revocup. I personally love this small little location and the people there are always so nice to talk to. I struck up a conversation with the barista that was working there and... obvi, she was a coffee enthusiast! She has such a bright personality and we decided to hit up the coffee bars together on the following Monday.
After morning class we met at Pour Coffee. She ordered a pour over with citrus hints and a rainbow sprinkled cookie. I ordered an 8oz mocha. The interior was clean and vivacious and I would definitely say its a good study/ work atmosphere.
Courtney informed me about something I did not know. The simplest way to judge a coffee shop's coffee is by their pour over since it only has one factor to judge. It would be harder to judge a coffee shop by just its mocha because you have to take into consideration three factors- the milk, the espresso, and flavoring. So she got down to the "knitty griddy."
She rated the pour over at Pour Coffee 6/5 stars ******!!!! what?!!!! well... "there was no bitterness. It had the right amount of balance between grounds to water, the strength was there, and the flavors were just exploding!!" Yeah...that is coffee talk for ya.
Soon enough we found ourselves sitting by an open window at Third Space Coffee in Bonner Springs. She believes that the carmel latte tasted too much like a cappucino since it had more foam then a normal latte would. On my guatamalan pour over she gave the thumbs up since it had a good earthy flavor.
Bullet proof coffee when made well tastes like a smooth frothy cup of sunshine. This one is made with MCT oil and grass-fed butter.
Facts: mixing the grass-fed butter (otherwise known as brain octane oil) and MCT oil (medium-chain tryglycerides which have good fatty acids and are easier to digest) form a molecular structure that boosts your body's energy performance and mood for a longer period of time. I can definitely vouch for this fact after having tried it. For more information about this weird sounding drink which I swear is elixir for the brain (oh it improves cognitive function too) I linked an article for ya'!
https://www.yourinception.com/bulletproof-coffee/
1, 2, 3, GO!!!
Sweating profusely and my heart feels like its jumping out of its thoracic cavity.... I started running, guys!!! like actually I'm going to be a runner. I want to. And I signed up for my first 5k Marathon, the Kansas City Marathon which is happening October 27th. This is a topic I would love to eventually do another full post on. But again, what really kick started this idea was another conversation with a customer at work and the people I know who love to run as well.
I learned from this lady I talked to that you don't really need to plan out a specific guideline on how you are going to train or run for 3.1 miles straight (which to some people, I know this is their warm up.) You just got to start somewhere. From couch potato to runner, you can do it!! I won't necessarily get into the "why" of my decision to run this marathon just right now. I will save that for its own article. But here's what I've learned:
Well it seems I have come to a close. Thank you for sticking with me and reading to the end. I hope this inspires you to make good conversation, discover new things, and allow yourself to be pulled towards that which makes you happy :D!
-Sofia <3
CONVERSATION
Conversation is such a powerful tool. Humans are like books. We all have a story to tell. And the world is our library! (btw I got this metaphor from a Ted Talk, so no.. I did not come up with that lol!)
Being the introverted person I am, who would rather hide out in my hermit hole for days, instead of going out and "party hardying," I decided to put myself out there... oh boy... And though I really hate talking, as I am more of a thinker, and an observer of this world, I decided to start asking questions.
These questions led me to three new people and their stories. There arose some cosmic signal that was telling me to just: "Go for it."
TC Pilates
I work in sales which requires me to talk to people... and somehow, even though I am introverted, I some how manage to thrust myself out of my quiet shell. What sales has taught me is to learn how to ask the right questions and to listen to what the customer needs. But sometimes I just get bored of the product selling and I just want to know the customer's story. Why do they need that pair of Northface flash drive leggings or that pair of Oasics. Are they running a marathon? What made them decide to pursue that goal?
It was a Wednesday night, and traffic was slow. But I met Kathleen, an amazing person with such a caring personality. I quickly learned from the shape leggings and yoga tops she wanted to buy that she was an instructor for Reformer Pilates. (A wide variety of exercises, some that are done on a machine, to promote length, strength, flexibility, and balance) She told me she had been teaching pilates for ten years, and by the tone of her voice you could tell how passionate she was about Reformer Pilates. She was eager to give me a free class- and I took it!
I will admit when I walked into the studio I brought with me all this tension and insecurity I had been dealing with for the last couple of days. When I laid down on the machine she was so patient when I couldn't seem to follow simple instructions (lol... *smh*). I learned a lot about body awareness. I was very humbled because I thought I knew my body, but, turns out, there were a lot of things I had been doing wrong in my past workouts. And Kathleen gave me some good tips on how to improve my core exercises.
The thing I loved about Kathleen was that she was so genuine. Not only did she ask me how I felt about the overall class but how I was. She was someone I could trust and pour out my worries to. She could empathize with the things I had been struggling with and gave some great advice! I was so thankful to meet her and it was such a blessing to be taught by her. I am thrilled to start mat pilates when her new location opens up.
So to recap....
A slow day at work resulted in such a cool opportunity and meaningful experience.
My lesson learned here is to know that we are not alone in things. I have that tendency to want to do things for myself and just solve all the worlds problems on my own. But this is impossible to do. It is okay to accept help and to lean on others for support. Surround yourself with people who make you feel good and make you feel alive!
Coffee House Hopping
My second encounter was with a barista from Revocup. I personally love this small little location and the people there are always so nice to talk to. I struck up a conversation with the barista that was working there and... obvi, she was a coffee enthusiast! She has such a bright personality and we decided to hit up the coffee bars together on the following Monday.
After morning class we met at Pour Coffee. She ordered a pour over with citrus hints and a rainbow sprinkled cookie. I ordered an 8oz mocha. The interior was clean and vivacious and I would definitely say its a good study/ work atmosphere.
Courtney informed me about something I did not know. The simplest way to judge a coffee shop's coffee is by their pour over since it only has one factor to judge. It would be harder to judge a coffee shop by just its mocha because you have to take into consideration three factors- the milk, the espresso, and flavoring. So she got down to the "knitty griddy."
She rated the pour over at Pour Coffee 6/5 stars ******!!!! what?!!!! well... "there was no bitterness. It had the right amount of balance between grounds to water, the strength was there, and the flavors were just exploding!!" Yeah...that is coffee talk for ya.
Soon enough we found ourselves sitting by an open window at Third Space Coffee in Bonner Springs. She believes that the carmel latte tasted too much like a cappucino since it had more foam then a normal latte would. On my guatamalan pour over she gave the thumbs up since it had a good earthy flavor.
Overall our little coffee excursion was fantastic and I was so glad to learn new ways to gauge the nuances of coffee tasting. We still have a long list of places to try but we will let ya' know when we do ! ;)
And just a little add on- my Mom and I tried Pure Foods Cafe off Mission. It was like one of those vigorously healthy and overly priced restaurants you would find in L.A. But my mom and I decided to treat ourselves. I ventured out and tried the Bullet Proof Coffee. *side note* I know what my Dad would say: "you, and your foo foo coffees.." (Dad, you do not understand!!!!)
Facts: mixing the grass-fed butter (otherwise known as brain octane oil) and MCT oil (medium-chain tryglycerides which have good fatty acids and are easier to digest) form a molecular structure that boosts your body's energy performance and mood for a longer period of time. I can definitely vouch for this fact after having tried it. For more information about this weird sounding drink which I swear is elixir for the brain (oh it improves cognitive function too) I linked an article for ya'!
https://www.yourinception.com/bulletproof-coffee/
1, 2, 3, GO!!!
Sweating profusely and my heart feels like its jumping out of its thoracic cavity.... I started running, guys!!! like actually I'm going to be a runner. I want to. And I signed up for my first 5k Marathon, the Kansas City Marathon which is happening October 27th. This is a topic I would love to eventually do another full post on. But again, what really kick started this idea was another conversation with a customer at work and the people I know who love to run as well.
I learned from this lady I talked to that you don't really need to plan out a specific guideline on how you are going to train or run for 3.1 miles straight (which to some people, I know this is their warm up.) You just got to start somewhere. From couch potato to runner, you can do it!! I won't necessarily get into the "why" of my decision to run this marathon just right now. I will save that for its own article. But here's what I've learned:
- train by running long distances at slower paces
- train by running short distances in intervals of sprints and walks
- these will increase your endurance
- listen to your body, some days you will have more energy to run faster or slower
- do weight training on the side
- time yourself and compete only with yourself
- invest in good and practical running gear*
*Though you don't need all this fancy equipment to start training, you can acquire it along the way. I'm thinking about doing a reward system for myself, where if I run a minute faster or longer I can allow myself to splurge on some beneficial workout gear.
Just to start out I went ahead and bought some Nike Zoom Winflo 5's. It is hard to find shoes that fit my smaller sized feet (size fives..... ) and Nike seems to always be the most comfortable to me. I know a lot of people recommend Brookes or Oasics but I can't seem to stray away from the Nike brand. Plus these were really cute soooooo....
Next on my list is to purchase either some air pods, because I think eliminating the long earphone chords would make running easier, or some sweat free earphones so they don't slip out of your ears. Then maybe a nathan fanny pack to easily wrap around my waist and tuck my phone away so my hands are free to slice through the air as I run.
I recently downloaded the app Run Tracker so I can see how many miles I run. It also has a timer and maps out any trails that you were on. My first go at it, I ran 1.75 miles straight so we are more than halfway there. Still got some work to do but its time to hustle!
Finished off the night with a homemade berry protein smoothie and a quinoa, kale, chicken, salad bowl!
(frozen berries, handful of spinach, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop of protein powder, rice milk)
breaded chicken, quinoa, and kale
Well it seems I have come to a close. Thank you for sticking with me and reading to the end. I hope this inspires you to make good conversation, discover new things, and allow yourself to be pulled towards that which makes you happy :D!
-Sofia <3
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