Category: lifestyle

#Inspo

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I had a chance to hear Bobbi Brown speak, and wrote about it in this post here.

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See if you can Where’s Waldo my name on Bobbi’s insta

There was a question and answer portion at the end, and I was lucky enough to get to ask the incomparable Bobbi Brown a question.

When Bobbi started her talk, she talked about how she forged her brand an inspiration above what the trendy thing to do was around her (hilariously enough it was heavy contour and drag queen level makeup…sound familiar). Well my question picked up from that moment, how do you find inspiration and direction in your personal brand and style, without getting caught up in what’s trendy?

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Love You So Matcha

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I looooove matcha…I love it so much that I legit have to physically stop myself from posting photos of my morning matcha on a daily basis. No seriously…I legit post a matcha photo every other day on my Fitspo insta…

…and I will take a train from Harlem to Chinatown for a raved about matcha…I’m a match maven! (Seriously, that matcha emoji is everything to me)

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Workout Wednesday: Tovita aka How To Be Smart About Food

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So I consider myself to be a smart cookie. I mean, I graduated college with honors and I’m at an ivy for my MBA (p.s. if you are tired of hearing that…I’m not, so I will say it until they put me in the ground). And I’m athletic, I swam and rowed in college, I was a junior olympian in swimming, won countless horse shows…so I like to think I know health and wellness.

Then why was I so dumb about food?!?

Now when I say dumb I don’t mean like because Oreos are vegan I thought they were healthy. I mean allowing my food noise and my disordered eating to take over my life dumb. Nothing put more of a damper on family affairs than when you are on some insane diet, and your out of town relatives have to listen to you order so far off the menu, that you would have been better off bringing your own food. I’m the kind of nutrition nerd that was making her parents show at Whole Foods, when it was called Fresh Fields.

So a few months ago I realized I was letting my disordered eating take over. I was starting to obsess about my calorie counting app, toying with starting a new diet, and wondering if I could find the willpower to go keto. Now those things may work for other people, but I’m looking to go through more of a Khloe Kardashian lifestyle change, slowly but surely, and as a lifestyle change.

After a good bout of Facebook stalking, I came across the Tovita Nutrition instagram page. They had just coached the gorgeous new Miss California USA 2016, and I wanted in on that Tovita glow. I emailed the ladies, and worked with Molly for 8 weeks. The only person that knew about my nutritional fairy godmother was my mom.

What I gained during those 8 weeks never involved a diet, is was about learning to be intuitive and smart with my eating. Through Molly’s guidance I lost 12 pounds, but gained so much more. During my family vacation to Orlando I wasn’t a raging diet monster. If I wanted to indulge I did, and mindfully, and when I was over it, I moved on. It sounds simple, and it wasn’t. But having the accountability of knowing someone would check over my food journals, give me advice, and be supportive was helpful. I think the best compliment came when my cousin said, “I’m so glad we can all sit and enjoy a meal, and you’re not over there eating something depressing.” Full disclosure, this was while we were at a Mexican restaurant where I had all the veggies they could pile on a skillet with some chicken and salsa.

I’m hoping over the next few months, I can share with you dear reader all the tips and tricks I learned from Tovita, how I’m evolving in my lifestyle change…and the smaller jeans I get to rock right now.

So if you are looking to have a kick ass coach, or you just want a virtual buddy who will tell you that “no, more than a tablespoon of coconut oil is not healthy.” Check out the ladies of Tovita.

XOXO,

MacKenzie

Intention

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The day was January 1st and I shot out of bed, grabbed my laptop and notebook and started thinking about my resolutions and intentions for this new year.

The constant cord that kept coming up was that I was going to make myself and my goals a priority, but that I was also going to stop being so hard on myself. So rather than you dear reader(s) getting a ubiquitous New Years Day post, instead I took that time to rest. And then I kept resting, went to LA for an amazing career trek, came back to New York, rested some more, started a new internship…and now, on the eve before I get back into the swing of class, I’m ready to sit down and tell you what my intentions are this year.

P.s. I’m writing this from my desk at Harper’s Bazaar while eating lunch, so obviously mindfulness needs to go on my list.

  • Make better use out of my ClassPass membership. I’ve recently become a huge Khloe Kardashian fan after reading her book, and secretly watching the show over break. And she talked about exercise seriously helped her manage her anxiety. I’m trying to get in on those bennies and start managing my general stress and craziness with more workouts. That’s where ClassPass comes in. I really want to start exploring the city, testing my limits, and trying new things.
  • Fall further down the rabbit hole of my K Beauty obsession. Working at a fashion magazine and blogging have made me even more aware of how important a good foundation is, and I don’t mean makeup. If your skin isn’t the gorgeous canvas it needs to be, you will always feel blah. So it’s obvious that I love K Beauty, but I really want to start stacking up the empties, and learn more about everything…I’m actually about to Google rubber masking.
  • Start celebrating myself more. I learned a long time ago if you are waiting on other people to tell you that you’re amazing you will be waiting until Jesus comes. So I want to take a chunk out of my week, every week, to really celebrate myself and what I’ve done right rather than dwelling on what’s wrong.
  • Go on Me Dates. When I was an undergrad and living in Miami I used to take myself on dates every week. And I mean real dates, like dinners, movies, museums, botanical gardens, the whole nine, and sometimes I would even get really done up. For some reason I stopped a few years ago, and now that I’m in New York, its easy to feel disconnected from yourself with the hoards of people everywhere. With that said, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to my weekly dates, but I plan on making Me Dates a thing again.

Well those are the big ones…but there are some intentions I need to keep to myself…I can’t let strangers in on all the things I’m lacking.

If you’re wondering, I’ve had a good go so far of sticking to these intentions.

Now let me get back to work (which I will fill you all in on how I got my sweet new gig working as an assistant to The Editor in Chief of Harper’s Bazaar…job search tips yay!).

I hope those of you on the east coast like me are thawing out from Jonas, and for the rest of you lovies,

XOXO,

MacKenzie

 

What I Wore In A Week and How I Got A Life

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So I have legit taken two weeks off from blogging for a perfectly good reason…balance.

I have been trying to figure out how to get a handle on school, have a life, and write. I haven’t found the perfect balance of any of it, but I kind of took two weeks off from my blog to work on having a social life. It was amazing people, there’s a world outside of my library and apartment! Honestly, as this term is coming to a close I find myself feeling slightly emotional over how quickly this is all going. Like for real, I feel like before I know it I’ll be walking across the stage, wondering where the time went.

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This or That: Flywheel vs. Soulcycle

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Not since East Coast versus West Coast has there been such a debate, Flywheel or SoulCyle.

I used to be a spin instructor, so I’m super picky when it comes to where I take spin classes. Like no joke I lose patience really quickly when its a wordless, 4% incline, super basic type of spin class. Yes, I know all the spin instructors out there are probably yelling about contraindication spin…blah blah I know, and sorry not sorry, I don’t like those classes.

For every person in my class at CBS, I’m finally ready to answer what the difference is…from a philosophy stand point. Because rather than get in to price comparison, locations, instructors, and all that jazz, I figured I’d tell you about what makes the style different.

Soul is an interesting beast.  It is truly a cult that when you agree to drink the kool-aid, you are all in my friend. Its about the pack, the collective motivation of the group.  Your position in the room matters in relationship to the pack. I personally like to lead the pack from the front row. Its the kind of experience where you go, turn off your brain, and surrender to the energy of the room and the instructor.

Flywheel, on the other hand, is where I go when I want to plug in and compete against myself.  Flywheel isn’t about the pack, the music, the rhythm, or anyone else, it’s about you. Honestly, Fly is where I go when I want a slightly selfish experience, when I want to just focus on my ride. Your position in the room doesn’t matter, but if you are super competitive like me you take a spot and laser focus on the torq board (the leaderboard that runs during class showing you your position among the room). I have to forget trying to ride the beat of ever song, forget about catching the same cadence as my neighbor, its about how hard I push myself.

Both have their ups and downs, and I’ve ridden both. I have moments where I love spin and when I abhor it, but when I’m in the mood to spin I go for Soul or Fly. I honestly prefer Soul more because I worked so hard to get to the front of the pack, and I love any place that allows me to twerk on a spin bike. Thanks to some persistent classmates here at Columbia, I’ve started riding Flywheel. The extremely competitive person in me loves that I can see how I fair, and that I have actual stats to try and best for the next ride.

If you are ever walking around Manhattan and see a girl changing from a Soul top into a Fly one with a high bun, it’s probably me 🙂

XOXO,

MacKenzie

What To Write About When You Have Nothing To Say, or How To Set a Content Calendar

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Some times when I sit down to write I know exactly what I’m going to say…other times like now I don’t.

Between trying to keep my writing straight for the Bottom Line (CBS’s blog), my own blog, and my speech writing, my head is a jumble of words and source notes.

When I find myself in that kind of quandary I turn to my blogging calendar.  Yes, my blogging calendar.  I try to sit down at the start of the week (usually Sunday while I’m meal prepping), and figure out what the blog posts will be for the week.  Sometimes they’re really strong and interesting, or I have a great event coming up that I can talk about.  Other times, like now, it’s a boring post just updating you on how I keep my day straight.

A classmate of mine asked me once, what’s the hardest thing about blogging? My answer was simple, content.  Coming up with interesting pieces that readers want to learn more about, or a post they’ll connect with.  What I Wore In A Week comes from the fact that I post what I wear every day on Snapchat, mainly so I can get feedback from the more stylish members of my friend circle.  I learned long ago from my pageant coach, a camera is more helpful than a mirror.  I never thought anyone would enjoy or want to see how I put my clothes together, but surprise surprise they do.  The same goes for the healthy recipe remixes, I love cooking and eating, so I figured someone else out there does also. But coming up with a content schedule helps me figure out when I need photos, what I need to gather, and all the other stuff that goes along with it.

Also, with how hectic my schedule is I need a content calendar, or else I’m sitting on the second floor of Uris pulling a blog post out of thin air (which I may or may not be doing).

Really what this post is about, is thinking through the brand and content of your blog, giving yourself a schedule, and sticking to it.

XOXO,

MacKenzie

P.s. If there are any stories, topics, or ideas you have that you don’t see here feel free to leave a comment!