Music Picks of The Week

Check out these tunes for a great weekend!

"Break Free" - Ariana Grande Feat. Zedd

 This girl is deemed the Mariah Carey of the new generation. Every song of hers is perfect!

"Kingfisher" - PHOX

I knew to expect greatness from PHOX, but just listen and be ready to fall in love with their ~phoxy~ sound.

"Weekend" - PRIORY

A perfect song to get you super pumped about the weekend! #TGIF

"Leave The Night On"- Sam Hunt

Every now and then I find an awesome country song that just screams summer, and this is definitely one of them.

"Movie" - Mike Stud

Tell me this isn't going to be stuck in your head for days (because it totally will be)!

"Holding onto Heaven" - Foxes

I'm just slowly falling in love with every song of hers (P.S. Check out her amazing cover of "No Scrubs" at BBC Radio 1's G in the Park).

"My Sweet Summer" - Dirty Heads

I'm so going to blast this song all summer long!

I Would Do Anything For Love (A.K.A. My Issue With "Fitspiration" and "Thinspiration")

(via: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/1200x/e8/f4/9f/e8f49f717a3c5c493eba99d68482a38b.jpg)

                                        (Pinned via :http://thinspirationproana.com/proanatips/)

If you are an avid pinner, just as I am, then you may have stumbled upon a few pins marked as "Thinspiration" or "Fitspiration." These usually involve a super well toned body with quotes such as the ones above.

However, these are anything but healthy or inspirational images to help you get in shape, and may actually further you from your goals. It is well known that the secret to weight loss or getting a toned body is NOT avoiding food because that would just lead to craving and binge eating. Also these are very unrealistic images and, for all we know, they could be photoshopped. 

I'm not at all saying that these inspirational photos are completely useless, but I want to encourage a sense of awareness about why you are exercising in the first place. Whether you want to lose weight, build a stronger body, or just become more healthier, the most important part is that you love your body and you don't put it through strenuous changes to try to achieve an unattainable goal.

Instead of thinking about getting thinner, consider trying to really love your body the way it is, and then using that motivation to help you make better choices. By doing so, you will want to workout not to lose weight, but because it's really good for your body to stay active. Also you will start eating healthier because it's better for your body to eat natural foods rather than processed foods. So instead of looking up "Fitspiration" and "Thinspiration," look in the mirror and let your body motivate you to a healthier lifestyle.

[Note: If you are trying to lose weight, don't try to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week because just as you are trying to adapt to a new lifestyle, so is your body.]

My Music Picks of The Week: Fourth of July Edition

Check out these tunes for a perfect July 4th!

"National Anthem" - Lana Del Ray: Because "red, white, blue is in the sky, summer's in the air and baby, heaven's in your eyes" is the perfect Instagram photo caption.

"Kids in America (Cover)" - One Direction: My favorite X Factor performance ever! (Skip to: 1:53 for the actual performance)

"God Bless The U.S.A. (Cover)" - Beyonce: No words.

"American Girl" - Bonnie McKee: Yes! Yes! Yes!

"Party in the U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus: That's what today is!

Straight Off the Bookshelf

What books did I read this week? Scroll down to find out.

Astonish Me - Maggie Shipstead
Astonish Me is a fabulous novel about Joan, a ballerina, who had to quit ballet because she became pregnant with her son, but he ends up just as enthralled in the world of ballet as she was. This is a great, great story and it just keeps unraveling from the first page to the last.

Buy it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/astonish-me-maggie-shipstead/1116055916?ean=9780307962904

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories - B.J. Novak
If you aren't familiar with B.J. Novak, he was a writer, co-executive producer, and actor on the American version of The Office, as well as other things. With that said, I had very high expectations for this collection of short stories, and Novak found a way to exceed them all. Just the titles from the stories made me excited to read each individual story. I was laughing and gasping the whole time, and I thought it was a great read!

Buy it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-more-thing-b-j-novak/1116529883?ean=9780385351836

Heartbeat - Elizabeth Scott
Elizabeth Scott has such a way with with writing raw romance novels that make you feel deep emotions. Heatbeat is about Emma, a girl whose mother's dead body is being kept alive through hospital wires just long enough deliver the baby that's inside her, and all the grief that comes along with this situation. However, this grief brings her closer to one unexpected classmate, even though it furthers her away from everything and everyone else that was once important to her. Such a heartbreaking yet lovely story!

Buy it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heartbeat-elizabeth-scott/1114668458?ean=9780373210961

My Music Picks of the Week

Check out these tunes for a great weekend!

"Often" - The Weeknd: He released this song through Soundcloud (free download!!), and it's just as perfect as all of his other music.

"The Wild Life" - Vacationer: Great indie song with a little reggae twist.

"Life of the Party" - Shawn Mendes: Really great song (Sorry I thought it was a cover of The Weeknd's "Life of the Party," but it's totally not, my mistake).

"Let Go For Tonight" - Foxes: I knew to look forward to great music from Foxes, but this exceeded all expectations!

"Who Loves You" - Jersey Boys Movie Soundtrack: Besides the fact that I thought the whole CD is perfect, and the movie was cast perfectly, this song is the one that I go around singing the most. I apologize that it's just a clip of the song.

"Rag Doll" - Franki Valli & The Four Seasons: I honestly haven't stopped listening to Franki Valli tunes ever since seeing Jersey Boys. The original version of this song is at the end of the movie soundtrack and it's one of my faves.

"Thinking Out Loud" - Ed Sheeran: So I spent my whole week listening to Jersey Boys AND Ed Sheeran. This is by far my favorite off his new album.

My Music Picks of The Week

Check out these tunes for a great start to your weekend!

"Kiss Me Kiss Me" - 5 Seconds of Summer: I just keep falling in love with each and every one of their songs!

"Afire Love" - Ed Sheeran: This is such a sad and beautiful song about Ed's grandfather.

"End of the World" - Dirty Heads: I don't know how anyone wouldn't completely fall in love with this song just from its chorus.

"Can't Help Falling in Love With You (The Voice Cover)" - Christina Grimmie: This is the most beautiful cover of this song that I've ever heard.

"We Won't Go Home" - The Colourist: A perfect upbeat song to get you pumped for anything!

"Real Girls Eat Cake" - The Janoskians: I'm not sure if I actually like this song or just find it hilarious (in the best way of course), but I think it does have a good message that eating is something that everyone finds attractive.

"Me and My Broken Heart" - Rixton: This song sounds like an upbeat version of Rihanna's "Unfaithful," but I love it, and it's always stuck in my head.

Straight Off The Bookshelf

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
This extremely heartwarming novel is about a girl, Cath, who is obsessed with Simon Snow novels (which are basically the most non-cheesey versions of Twilight-meets-Harry Potter novels that you could ever read about). Cath's fanfiction stories are booming when she has to move to college, and she must face the challenge of whether or not she should move on in her life, like her twin sister has done. It's an awesome story-within-a-story because you get to read excerpts from Simon Snow and Cath's fan fiction in between every chapter!

Buy it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangirl-rainbow-rowell/1114258557?ean=9781250030955