Staying Healthy as a Millennial

I have hit that point in my life where I can no longer gain and/or lose 5 pounds in a week.  My mom always said, “just wait until your older, that metabolism won’t be the same”.  Well at the ripe age of 23 (almost 24) I am starting to feel that. 

Now I will confess, I am not a great eater.  Chic-Fil-A is my favorite and I never pass on the waffle fries.  Prior to this year my love of all things fried didn’t really matter, I still kept off the weight and whenever I felt pudgy I ate healthy for a week and BAM! the weight was gone.  But as stress level at my job dropped (thanks to a new promotion), my weight has somehow gone up (we are talking about 5-10 pounds nothing extreme).  How on earth is that possible?!

What is crazy about my current situation is I haven’t felt more fit than I have this year.  In June I did my first 5k race.  Once I was knocking out 3 miles every workout I challenged myself with a 10k trail run in September.  That totally kicked my butt but I was motivated to keep going so before all of the Thanksgiving festivities began, I did an 8k.  I completed that 8k race 3 minutes faster than my goal time. If only Coach Sotomoyer could see me now!

I now have nothing to train for, so I have taken up aerobics classes in hopes that this will help me shed the pounds I am longing to get rid of. 

I am sitting here now contemplating what to make for dinner that won’t make me regret the work out I just completed.  And, of course, I don't have even one of the ingredients that Fitness magazine suggests in any of their dishes.

I think this blog may take a new turn, this isn’t just about surviving Corporate America as a millennial, it’s about dealing with the changes that come post college and before “adulthood”.  As a millennial, who sits at a desk all day and lives pay check to pay check, how do I afford to stay healthy?  I’ll keep you posted!

Whoever said being an adult was fun?

Over the last year I have been wanting a new car.  My senior year of high school I paid in cash for a used 1997 Nissan Pathfinder.  At the time this was my dream car (I really wanted a 4Runner but this was the next best thing).  Life was easy in 2005, all I did was write the guy a check he handed over the title and BAM! I was a car owner.  With help from the rents for insurance, I was lucky enough to have no monthly payment.  

Now, the Pathfinder is pushing 14 years old, and is going to need some work to continue to run.  I have been working full-time for over a year and have saved a boatload of money, I'm ready to buy a new car (maybe not brand new but new to me).   The problem is every option I want is either out of my price range or something about it does not make sense. 

I have been researching Ford Escape's incessantly.  So I finally test drove one yesterday that I thought would be a done deal, it was in my price range and had everything I wanted.  And what do you know, of course the tires are making the most ridiculously loud noise.  My dad finally chimes in and the sales guy's response was that he was "sure" a tire change would fix it.  Well there is no way to know that that is the going to cure to this noise and I don't want to sign my life away in hope that all will be well.  So no sale happening today. 

To make the decision to purchase a car even more complicated, the sales guy basically goes on to say I could be paying close to a 10% interest rate on financing.  I may have great credit, but I don't have a lot of history.  In the grand scheme of it all, you are basically punished for not abusing your credit card and paying it off on time every month. 

Now, I am back to the drawing board.  Looking at every option and trying to figure out how I can afford exactly what I want.  This is by far my largest purchase that I want to last a long time so I better be happy with it when the time comes to sign the contracts. 

Support Crews

It has been over a week since my dad completed the Louisville, KY Ironman in 12 hours and 48 minutes.  This quite possibly was one of the most inspirational events I have ever been apart of or ever will be apart of.  Walking away from it, I knew that I had learned so much about the human spirit but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was that I had taken away from this event (other than I really want to get into better shape!).  

It took a rough day at work for me to realize that the greatest lesson I learned through the IronMan is that everyone needs a support crew.  In athletics that support crew would consist of your friends and family maybe even fellow participants.  In the workplace your support crew should be your peers and your boss.  Without a support crew it is virtually impossible to achieve those big, ultimate goals. 

Now, I know my dad could have completed the IronMan whether we were there or not (he is insanely driven) but the fact that we were there throughout the race (and all of the 9 months of training) made it much more enjoyable and exciting for him to accomplish that ultimate goal of crossing the finish line.   And I think even he will tell you that seeing us during the marathon run gave him that slight extra boost to keep on going.  In the end, it was an emotional moment for him to finish because we had all invested time, reassurance and love into an event we weren't even participating in. Basically we were the ultimate support crew :-)

What I have also found is that a support crew is also necessary in the working world.  Millennials have been given the unfair stigma that we need extra attention, that someone has to constantly tell us "Great Job!".  I think millennials deserve the same encouragement anyone would receive.  As much as older generations think that we believe we are entitled to promotions, I think we are eager to enhance the company we are currently with (especially if we really like the company).   Without a support crew from management and peers it is safe to say there is no promotion coming, and sanity will quickly dwindle with the same position.  It is fairly simple to find a support crew from peers but I think the hardest part is to find a mentor within your workplace to support you and drive you in the direction you want to grow. 

The biggest thing to take away from this is to remember that everyone has a support crew whether your goal is big or small, its just making sure you know who they are.  Once we recognize who these people are its time to put them in the forefront, and look past the naysayers and those who are not going to strengthen you through your 140.6 mile goal. 

What's a Millennial??

Thank you Urbandicionary.com for this awesome definition of the millennial generation:

Born between 1982 and 1994 this generation is something special, cause Mom and Dad and their 5th grade teacher Mrs. Winotsky told them so. Plus they have a whole shelf of participation trophies sitting at home so it has to be true.

They believe themselves to be highly intelligent, the teachers and lecturers constantly gave them "A"'s in order to keep Mom and Dad from complaining to the Dean. Unfortunately, nobody explained to them the difference between and education and grade inflation so they tend to demonstrate poor spelling and even poorer grammar.

At work, millennials believe themselves to be overachievers who just aren't understood by their loser bosses. Even Mom said so when she showed up for the interview. They are the only generation in the universe to understand the concept of work life balance and to actually want to find a fulfilling career. All those Gen X losers just don't get it what with hoping to keep their jobs and pay the bills but they are just corporate drone so who cares what they think? They should be smart like Millennials and get Mom and Dad to pay for that stuff until they can work out what they want to do with their lives and then get rich doing it.

Frugal Millennials

This might be a crazy thought but.... I think the Millennial generation will be built on frugality.  

In the last two years, my friends (including myself) have reluctantly moved back in with our parents in hopes of saving money and finding a job (any job).   I, for one, had always said over my dead body I will move back home.  Well after my May 5th, 2009 graduation date, I packed up my apartment and headed to live with my new roomies, my mom and dad.   Luckily I ended up finding a good job, saving a ton of money so that I was completely ready to be independent when I moved out.  But there are still many that have to rely on their parents for support 1-2 years out of college.  

Many of us heard from our parents (the baby boomers) that we need to save, that we shouldn't make the same mistakes they did.  I can honestly say I for one am heeding this advice.  My credit card is for gas and gas alone and I am saving as much money as possible, while paying off all of my bills on time (don't get me wrong I still have a lot fun too!!).  And I'm not alone in this.  Most of the recent graduates I know, have had no problem moving home and living for free for a while.  This way they are prepared for whatever life throws at them in their early 20's. 

I've constantly heard Generation Y is the first generation that wants to change the world, that wants to help others and change lives.  This may be the greatest trait that we have.   And I think in the long run we have an excellent chance to do this considering the fact that we will all have vast savings to play on as well as support whatever cause is close to our heart. 

How not to hate your first job

Now I have never been one of those girls who says that "Cosmo is my bible" but this week I started reading the latest issue (with Britney Spears on the cover) and one particular article sparked my interest. How not to hate your first job jumped off the page and smacked me in the face. And it's not that I hate my job, because in all honesty it is a paycheck (and a pretty good one at that). The big thing is, it is not what I ever saw myself doing.

In second grade I saw Twister and decided I was going to be a tornado chaser, then in high school I took sports medicine and I wanted to be an Orthopedic surgeon (like Callie on Grey's Anatomy), then finally I found my calling toward the end of high school in newspaper class, I wanted to be a journalist. I loved every minute of it, finding stories that would make people listen and talking to interesting characters from every walk of life.

Back to present time, I am working in corporate America in sales support. And it truly is as unglamorous as it sounds. MTV News allowed me to live in NYC and meet celebs while publishing articles about them, now I just stalk PerezHilton.com every free moment I have.

The whole point of this is that the Cosmo article made me realize it is not your job that has to define you.

"Many of the happiest entry-level workers I've met also play bass in a band, act in an improv troupe, coach a team in an intramural basketball league, or volunteer at an animal shelter," author Lilit Marcus writes. "If you hate your job and don't want it to define you, get involved in fulfilling activities so that there are other things that do."

So that's what I am doing with this blog. If I want to write, I have to make it happen for myself. No one is going to walk up to me on the street and say, "Hey! I want you to write for my magazine."