About

Brief Overview

My name is Julie and I’m a 25-year-old writer/editor with a seriously huge interest in nutrition, healthy eating and leading an active, fun-filled life.

Well Hello, There!

I love creating healthy meals and experimenting with new foods and flavors. I try to live a healthy, balanced life but also enjoy my favorite indulgences (like a peanut butter finger or two… or five 😉 ).

Feel free to contact me at PBFingers@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Fitness

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago as a pretty active lil’ girl. Before high school I was active in basketball, dance, track and cross country (although I was terrible and would get so nervous before every meet in junior high). I also thoroughly enjoyed running around outside playing “neighborhood games” like ghost in the graveyard, flashlight tag and kick the can (these may be mid-western games, so if you’re not familiar, I would Google these games and play them immediately).

Once high school began, I became quite the water girl and was active on the swim team my freshman year. Once again, I wasn’t very good, so I switched to diving in the fall and water polo in the spring and fell in love. As a diver, I loved the challenge of learning new dives (although learning these dives often came with a lot of pain when I’d “smack” the water, which felt an awful lot like cement). With water polo, I enjoyed the camaraderie of the team and the endurance required to make it through an entire game without touching the bottom of the pool.

Fast forward to college and without practices or meets to keep me in shape, I wandered into the gym. I started off doing a lot of cardio and gradually incorporated weights into my routine. I became a gym addict and still continue this devotion by working out six days a week.

Phew!

My typical routine includes cardio Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and weights with light cardio Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sunday is my play day! I like to make Sunday an active rest day and enjoy activities like rollerblading or walking my dog.

Me and My Sister Before a 10K Race for the Cure Run

My cardio days typically involve running or a spinning class or the elliptical/ arc trainer if I want to give my body a bit of a break.

I never used to be able to run more than 20 minutes until I graduated college and decided to train for a half marathon. With no activities or clubs demanding my time anymore, I felt like I needed a new goal in my life. I followed Hal Higdon’s training regimen and completed the half marathon in December 2007. I completed my second half marathon in Chicago on August 1, at the tail end of my bachelorette party.

I am convinced that most people’s phobia with running is purely mental and anyone can run a marathon if they dedicate the time and effort. There are so many training programs out there for novice runners and they can transform even the most hard-core “non-runner” into a marathoner.

My Beat Up Shoes After Completing My First Half Marathon

Food

My best friends in high school dubbed me “the bottomless pit” for my ability to eat copious amounts of food all the time. I love food and I love preparing a good meal or baking a fresh batch of cookies.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Shrimp & Zucchini Barley Risotto

During high school and college I was much more into baking, but entering the “real world” forced me to explore cooking if I wanted to eat anything other than Lean Cuisines, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or oatmeal. I began to enjoy the whole cooking process – from finding the perfect recipe to shopping for fresh ingredients to actually preparing the meal and sitting down at the table to dig into my latest creation.

I subscribed to Cooking Light, bought recipe books and became a Google-recipe fanatic. My favorite foodie challenge is creating a healthy spin on traditionally unhealthy comfort meals.

Rutabaga Fries

With my new love for cooking came a new love for fresh vegetables. As a “bottomless pit” I realized I could eat a ton of vegetables and finally feel satisfied with a good full feeling rather than the icky overloaded belly feeling that comes along with many traditional family meals (think Thanksgiving-type full, although I embrace that feeling on that particular holiday :)).

Today I try to eat healthy most of the time, but I am trying to be very balanced in my approach and eat the sweets or baked goodies I crave when I want them. The all-or-nothing approach to healthy eating simply doesn’t work for someone who adores ice cream, sugary cereal, Cheez-its and, of course, massive amounts of peanut butter. Balance is the key for me!

So, what in the world are peanut butter fingers?

Quite possibly my favorite snack everrr… take your finger, dip it in the peanut butter jar & voila! Peanut butter fingers. So simple, yet so, so perfect. You may read about the history of the name behind my blog here.

So, So Tasty!