I saw this survey a couple weeks ago for the first time on Julia’s blog.  If you haven’t read her version, I would highly encourage you to go over there.  You will LOVE her answers.  Julia’s perspective on healthy living after recovery is always 100% encouragement to me.  

Well, I don’t want this survey to be selfish, but I thought it would be neat to see how God has changed my perspective on what it is to care for my body in a balanced, moderate, and non-obsessive way during the long road to recovery.  I would love for any of you to take the survey, post it on your blog, fill it out, or send it to me with your answers (if you feel comfortable), because I love getting to know more about the precious people who read the blog.   

Thus begins the ‘Happy, Healthy Emily Survey, inspired by Julia and Hayley.   There’s no one size fits all when it comes to health, and I want to share why I’m thankful for the ways in which God has balanced me out more and more when it comes to my health and caring for my body, soul, and spirit in order to serve Him.   

I also want to share a ‘Thanksgiving Verse of the Day’ to just count the MILLIONS of blessings that God has been so gracious to give my family and precious church community this year.  We really are SO overwhelmingly gifted with so many gifts, I can’t even count them all.  That’s why I’m going to share these ‘Thankful Tuesdays’ as long as I can, Lord willing!   

Thanksgiving Verses of the Day: Psalm 100:3-4, ‘Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!’   

1. What did you eat for breakfast?

Yogurt.  I love yogurt.  Any type of yogurt with nut butter, fruit, and more nuts is a really satisfying breakfast for me.  I also really love oatmeal with some sort of protein and fat to tide me over till lunch.  The topping possibilities for oatmeal are almost endless.  I’m almost always hungry in the morning, and I’ve never been able to understand when people tell me that they don’t mind skipping breakfast.  They normally have to pick my jaw up off the ground a bit.  

I like to call them my ‘yogurt messes’ because they look a bit messy.   

Pancakes are also of my favorite breakfasts (or dinners)  

2. How much water do you drink each day?

This one is a hard one for me, because I feel like, if I drink what they recommend per day, I probably (sorry: TMI) would have to be in the bathroom almost all day long.  Therefore I really work on drinking especially when I’m thirsty, drinking frequently, and not ignoring thirst.   I live in a pretty dry state, so I’m sure I could always drink more.   

Eating falling snow counts as ‘drinking water’, right?   

3. What is your current favorite workout?  

If it has the word ‘abs’ or ‘running’ in it, I’m all in, most of the time, unless I’m tired.    However, if I get to bike in bare feet, that does make it more fun.  (This picture is from this summer)  

4. How many calories do you eat each day?

Oh man, I eat a goodly amount for a girl of my size.  I’m only 5’3″ (barely), and I’m not skinny.  I really don’t mind sharing my weight with you all, because it’s just a number, but just in case that would not be helpful or triggering for some, I’m going to forego sharing that on here.  However, I can’t lie and say that I don’t count calories and eat completely intuitively.  If I was to estimate (not even depending on the amount of activity) I probably eat between 2000-2500 calories per day, sometimes more.  🙂   

5. What are your favorite healthy snacks?

I’m sorry that this is kind of a bad picture.  But, I had to share because I found these chips at Costco today.  Seriously, if you haven’t had sweet potato chips before I highly recommend a bag of them.  They have very simple ingredients, and they are SO yummy.  I’m thankful that God made the potato and the sweet potato.   

6. What do you usually eat for lunch?

Today, I ate an apple, sweet potato chips, and yogurt.  Very balanced, eh?  I normally put together a salad or leftovers of some sort.  Tomorrow you might find me eating some of the leftover kale and rice that we had tonight.  We also had chicken, but that’s all gone.   I also had this yummy Chinese pastry with bean paste in it.  I know it sounds weird, but it was really good.   

7. What is your favorite body part to train?

I’m part of the ‘Holiday Sweat’ challenge with the gals, and this week the focus is on the CORE!   Can you say, ‘Yippee!!!’   It’s my most favorite part to train of any part of the body.  Nope, I don’t have a six pack, but that does not lessen my love for doing a few ab-burning exercise.   

8. What is your least favorite body part to train?

I don’t know why, but I’ve never really enjoyed lunges that much.  They just aren’t my favorite.   I still do them, because sometimes life is about challenging yourself beyond your comfort zone.   O_O  

9. What are your “bad” food cravings?

I really don’t like to call foods ‘bad.’  Instead I have foods that my body usually doesn’t need much of, and I have foods that my body does need more of.  My favorite foods to eat in small quantities that usually satisfy me in smaller quantities definitely include fro-yo, icecream, and any sort of chocolate.  

10. Do you take vitamins or supplements?

No.  I’m not sure if I should, but so far, I don’t really take some.  I have taken Costco multi-vitamin gummies before.  

11. How often do you eat out?

When we go on trips, we eat out a lot, but since we live out in a rural area, we don’t go out to eat super often.  However, we did go to Sonic last night to get ice cream before dinner.   And I also had one of the best ‘crispy’ chocolate chip cookies at a restaurant in Des Moines recently.  

One of the best things about going out is the TREASURE of being with my family.  We get to sit together and remember to echo these beautiful words of Psalm 103:1-2, ‘Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,’  

12. Do you eat fast food?

You betcha.  🙂  If we need to stop and get food I have no problem with stopping for In N’ Out, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Wendy’s for a frosty with my mama, Sonic for ice cream, or ____ (fill in the blank.)  I used to struggle with this a lot, until I realized how much time I was wasting being worried (being anxious) instead of taking my worries and fears to the Lord and enjoying each experience as a gift from God, each moment as a treasure to be lived for Him on this earth.  

13. Who is your biggest supporter?  

I don’t think that I can answer just one person.  It’s my family.  My family, outside of my foundational relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, King, and Savior, have been the people who have pressed me to Christ, laughed with me, sharpened me, laid down their lives in countless ways for me.  I really can’t ever express how thankful I am to God for them.    Truly God has done great things.  Psalm 126:3 says, ‘The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.’   Being with my family does make me glad, despite the hard times we’ve had, because God has only grown us closer.  

14. Do you have a gym membership?

Yes, and no.  I love working out at home.  I just don’t like going much more than 5 or 10 minutes to go to the gym.  I do drive 25″ sometimes when I need to train or a triathlon, but I generally work out at home.  My favorite reason to go to the gym is to go meet a friend.   

15. How many hours of sleep do you get each night?

Well, if I go to sleep in about 30 minutes, I will hopefully get about 7-8 hours.  🙂  7-8 hours is optimal for me.   Any less than that makes me really sleepy, and I don’t usually need more than that.  

16. Do you have a cheat day?  

I’m not copycatting Julia, but an emphatic ‘No’ to this one, as I used to do a ‘cheat day.’  In fact it always caused me to want to eat SO MUCH I felt sick.  The principle of everything in moderation was really a challenge when I thought of one day as the day I could actually eat sugar.   I would over dose on everything, and food became, for me, even more of an idol than before. 

17. Do you drink alcohol?

My simple answer is no.  I occasionally drink it, but I really don’t like it. I’m not against drinking it. I just really don’t prefer the taste.   

18. Do you have a workout buddy?

Anybody who wants to workout with me.  Tonight it was my sweet mama.  We did a little weight-lifting workout from Ivanna.

19. What’s the best thing that has changed about your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle?

Balance. Balance. Balance.  I enjoy salads and cookies.  I’ve learned to enjoy couch days and active days.  I like weight lifting and running.  I like being quiet and talking with friends.  I like being out in God’s creation and laying in bed, praying and just being still.   

20. What is the last healthy thing you did?

Going to eat a midnight snack, because it’s not worth ‘priding yourself’ on your self-control to go to bed hungry.  It’s so much better to just eat, thank God for His provision, and go to bed knowing that every good gift is truly from above!  

Including amazing views like this view from the beach in Vancouver when we were there last month.   

Now, I want to learn about you.  

1.  What is your favorite ‘sweet or savory’ food (not bad food)?   

2.  Do you drink alcohol?   

3.  Do you like working out with a buddy?   

4.  Who is your biggest supporter?   Or do you have several of them?   

5.  How much sleep is optimal for you?