After my failed attempts with other protein powders a reader informed me that a local market – Mother’s Market and Kitchen has my fave brand! I looked it up and it turns out it’s super close to my house.
Warning: This place is a dangerous place for a food blogger who loves vegetarian restaurants. 
I have been to another Mother’s location in Huntington Beach a long time ago. They have a small restaurant attached to the grocery store with an amazing health foods menu. This location has that too.
Oh, and they have a juice bar. Yep, this is super dangerous for my wallet and potentially my marriage. I bet Ben wishes he got a pre-nup that stated something about me not being able to spend 50% of our money on pulverized beets.
I talked myself out of ordering something for dinner, but did walk away with a juice and a shot of wheatgrass. 
Caught red-handed! 
I got a blend of carrot, beet, parsley, ginger, cucumber and kale. They were not messing around with that ginger! My throat burned with every sip.
But it burns so good…
Something happened over the last few weeks where I have suddenly just wanted to be healthier. I know I’m a fairly healthy eater already, but I have a ton of new found inspiration and motivation to be better.
I want to be a better eater.
I want to be a better runner.
I want to be a better blogger.
I want to be a better wife.
(See Ben, this isn’t just going to kill our bank account and result in never seeing your wife since she’s always blogging or running.)
I just want to be better!
And I’m really motivated to make it happen. I have already started cutting back on my vices (like diet soda). And thanks to my new point and shoot, I hope to document all of my eats for the next 30 days so I can see where there is a need for improvement (right now a lot missed the camera and the blog).
I think it was a combination of a super crappy run, then a super amazing one that made me realize how I treat my body really affects how I feel. Also, how I train affects how I perform. It just came together for me at the right time and this is coming from a good place 🙂
I’m secretly setting some big goals for myself and I know that I need to be at my best to accomplish them! (Don’t worry, I’ll reveal soon enough.)
Before I went to the market I made a big salad for lunch. In the mix: spinach, tomatoes, onions, pickles, carrots and chickpeas in a hummustard sauce. 
I mixed this two babies in with the chickpeas,
stirred it up, nuked it and poured it over the salad veggies. 
I also cut a honeydew melon that mysteriously disappeared as I was chopping. It seemed like a big melon at first, but only a few pieces ended up in the tupperware. Weird huh.
When I got back from shopping I had the biggest craving for nut butter. If I don’t start my day with a good serving of healthy fats my body lets me know something is missing. 
Question: What do you want to be better at?
Do you have any suggestion on what you’d like to see on the blog to make it better?
Seriously, that ginger is still burning my throat…
Mother’s is like my home away from home. Especially their new store in Costa Mesa!
Self improvement is what keeps as alive!
I want to be a better person, more patient with people. I want to be a better friend and a better girlfriend. I’m working at it. 🙂
I recently have had the exact same goals. I’ve been so inspired to be “better” in the past few months. For me, it’s a re-commitment to the things that I LOVE: my husband, my blog, and my life. Not trying to put words in your mouth, but you probably are thinking in a similar way. Much blog luv to you as you strive to better your life!
Yeah that’s pretty much where I’m coming from too! All my passions are recharged 🙂
We all strive to be better I think, but maybe we should start striving to be happier. Trying to be better always leads me to feel dissappointed in myself. I’d be happier with those chickpeas in my belly fo’ sho!
“We all strive to be better I think, but maybe we should start striving to be happier.” <<< LOVE this! Thanks Melissa.
Monica, I hope you know your readers love you just the way you are but I know I’m not just speaking for myself when I saw that we will be here to support you with any changes or improvements you want to make. I’m considering a few small changes for myself so I know what it feels like to be standing on the edge and thinking about jumping, but not so sure you’re ready. Good luck and I can’t wait to hear what you have in mind for yourself and your health! 🙂
It’s not that I want to be better but I want to be more confident in my decisions that will make me do better at what I decide. I doubt myself too much on what I want to do. Should I go back to school? Continue filling out applications for marketing jobs I probably won’t get hired for? What do I want to do? I go in a circle!
PS: I love Mother’s! I go to HB every summer and just this past summer someone told me I should take the place out. SO I went to the one in HB… I went twice. LOL. Their prices on some items I buy out in Vegas were actually cheaper, so I stocked up. 😉 They have really nice produce though. Next time I want to try their cafe.
You can accomplish all your goals! I hope you share them soon <3
I love that you admit to your imperfections! You have such a fun blog! I always look forward to your posts!
For me personally, I want to get better at running and not emotionally eating!
I want to be better at consistently eating healthy foods. I do pretty well, but I could be better! And I totally want to invest in a juicer so I can make some yummy juices!
I want to be better at being happier and I also want to be a better runner. I am doing really well though, I have been running 9 minute miles which is AMAZING for me. But once I get over 3 miles it turns into 10-12 mins, but I’m making progress and I’m happy about it!
I would like to be better at…everything. Specifically: blogging (I tend to not update when I am sick), signing up for open water swims, and finding a job/passion. Also I would realllly like to be better at self acceptance.
Totally understandable to not update when you’re sick. Take some time off 🙂
I’d like to be better at healthy eating. Ever since my vacation, I’ve let things slip a bit. Oops!
I think it is awesome that you want to be better. I think it is a huge step to feel empowered to say “hey, I can do all these things better” instead of going through life hoping things will change or get better. It certainly is an empowering feeling. Rock on!
I’m the same way; I HAVE to have healthy fats (nut butters, avocado, etc.) with my meals or I won’t feel full/satisfied.
I’m excited to hear all of your new goals! Yay!
I want to be better at managing my time. Between work (45+ hours/week), marathon training, and blogging, it can be difficult to find time to do anything else. 🙁 Plus, I need to work on that whole 8 hours of sleep thing. 😉
There are SO many things I want to be better at. My list is very similar to yours…only I need to add “be a better mom” to the list. I’m so selfish sometimes and I need to remember that my daughter is only young once and I should enjoy her more.
I think your blog is perfect the way it is. Just be you. 🙂
I think it’s good to always strive to be the best we can be, just as long as we are not trying to be something that we are not. 🙂
Good for you! Just don’t be too perfectionistic about wanting to improve everything. But it’s good you have goals to get better at things!
Right now, I would like to get better at blogging, taking pictures, cooking, and running!
What kind of camera did you buy? Do you like it?
I have never in my life been a perfectionist and I don’t plan on starting now 🙂 My healthy balance definitely swings toward the chill side more than anything!
My camera is the Canon SD1300. It’s no SLR, but it’s small and decent in low light.