“I LOVE a good ab workout! Is that just me?? Probably.”

I’d always known that your abs were important to train. After all, Victoria’s Secret models don’t get their toned stomachs from the stairmaster alone. And who doesn’t want a nice flat tummy for the summer beach days?

But until I began my personal training studies, I had no idea how vital abdominal training is. Let’s go over the basics:

“I don’t eat these foods to lose weight or with any other aesthetic purpose in mind. I eat them because I truly love them now.”

It’s absolutely true that your tastebuds change as you get older. Perhaps you also become more mature and decide to give certain unappealing foods a good, honest try. But there are a number of foods I simply couldn’t stand as a kid that I now LOVE! And I don’t credit all of this to aging.

As I became more and more interested in nutrition, I began to seek out more information. We’re no longer limited to textbooks and sad all-print cookbooks. The places I got my inspiration for cooking and eating healthy were resources like YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and colorful magazines like Cooking Light and Eating Clean. Not only are these options in themselves awesome, when you get tired of flipping through magazines (can you ever though?) you can switch to watching “What I Eat in a Day” videos on YouTube and vice versa.

This swarm of healthy eating social media is actually extremely beneficial. Not long ago a huge societal concern was the massive amount of fast food advertising we were exposed to. As older generations began seeing the negative effects of obesity, they worried that a big cause was the unhealthy food media “brainwashing” us all into eating high-fat, supersized meals 24/7.

“This money vs. happiness thing is the biggest concept I’ve had to grasp since leaving school.”

The other night, I watched a movie called Overboard. It’s a silly little Rom-Com in which a billionaire playboy loses his memory and is tricked into becoming the provider for a poor family. Far-fetched, right? But stay with me.

In the end, the man has to choose between returning to his old life of riches or staying with the family he’s grown to love. While a bit extreme, it’s a good example that money doesn’t always equal happiness.

As I’m sure you know, we have to choose between money and happiness all the time. In my two years out in the “real” world I’ve had to make that choice a bunch of times. I chose between money vs. happiness when I decided between jobs, when I volunteered to work extra hours, and when I stayed at a job I didn’t love. If you reflect on your life choices, I’m sure you’ll see a lot of places where you chose between the two.

I’m writing this post to address the mental wellness aspect of money. While we may sometimes choose paychecks over day-to-day satisfaction OR budgeting over drinks with friends, we need to make sure we aren’t causing ourselves too much stress and frustration. After all, our lives are made up of our day-to-day experiences. If you’re miserable all the time in order to save up for that “one day” when you can have comfort and contentment, is it really worth it?