Travel

Aug072014

How to Travel in a Car with Animals

As you know, we finally made it to Santa Monica, California! However, it was quite the journey to actually get here from Boulder, Colorado. We have two cats, a dog, and a snake! So basically we packed our car and trailer full of all of our things plus a zoo. It was much different from any road trip I’ve taken because of our animals. It was certainly stressful and worrisome, but we all made it safely. Here’s what to do with each kind of animal:

Dogs

Surprisingly, Noke did the best of all the animals. When she was younger, she would throw up in the car nearly every time she drove with us. After time and time again in the car, her nausea rears its ugly head much less. We were incredibly proud and happy with her over this trip. She kept her cool even with Nymeria howling and trying to poke her. Here are some specific tips for travelling with dogs:

Put your dog on a blanket or something that smells familiar to them
Don’t feed your dog before you drive or feed very little
Make sure your dog can see you while driving
Give your dog enough space to lie down and sleep
Take your dog out every time you get gas to pee and drink water
Make sure the car is cool

Cats

Now here is where the nightmare begun. Sajah is the more skiddish one out of Nymeria and him. I expected him to be wild-eyed and going nuts, but he was absolutely placid. It was probably because he was stressed to death, but he simply found a place to lay and stayed there. After awhile, he got a little less scared and opened up a bit. Now let’s come to the problem child…Nymeria. Oh, Nymeria. Nymeria is very spirited. And that spirit showed during the car ride. She was not about being in the car. She wanted out. She would yowl and cry and get up like a monkey on the bars of the crate and try to escape. She eventually started acting crazy and eating litter so we contained her in a carrier. She was really the only pet who made the trip stressful. Here are some specific tips for travelling with cats:

Keep your cats contained in a small crate or something similar
Keep a small litter tray in the corner of the crate
Make sure your cats can see you and hear you while driving
Put in a blanket or something comfy (and familiar) for them to lay on.
Give water breaks when you can
Make sure the car is cool

Snakes

Well, Dovah was the quietest one on the trip (ha-ha) and we didn’t hear much of a complaint from him. However, he stressed us out somewhat because Dovah’s habitat should be around 90 to 100 degrees F. There was no way to keep his lamp on while we drove so we wrapped his cage up and hoped for the best. He came out fine and is a bit stressed out. We are hoping he will relax as he no longer has to deal with the bumps and vibrations of driving any longer. Here are some specific tips for travelling with snakes:

Try to keep your snake’s area as warm as possible
Keep the cage in a low place in the car so that it has no chance of tipping or falling over
Try to drive as smoothly as possible so it doesn’t get rocked around too much

Driving with animals can be stressful, but there are ways to make it as smooth a trip as possible. Use the tips above to keep your animal family happy and safe. I’m hoping we won’t be doing one of these trips again, but if we do, we know what to do! As always, stay hungry and fit!

Aug042014

We Made It!

We apologize for our absence! We just did a big move–Colorado to California! Or more specifically…Boulder to Santa Monica! We had quite the trip. 25 hours of driving with two cats, a dog, and a snake! It was stressful, but we made it! Here’s a taste of our trip. Get ready and geared up for Hungry and Fit to come back rip-roaring!

Car and trailer in tow

Fuel

Busy car

Pretty scenery

Bad accidents

Cute Nymeria

Crazy Nymeria did not do well in the car

Noke did AWESOME

Traffic…

IN N OUT SIGN

Made it home for sushi!

Noke loves it here

Fit and her dad

Yummy eats in Santa Monica

Jul222014

Our Weekend in Pictures

Our weekend consisted mainly of garage sales..

Working on his farmer’s tan

Good food

Good friends

Some awesome Magic cards

Pedicures!

DUMPLINGS!

Cute dogs

Modeling for Craigslist

Yummy healthy smoothies

Jul022014

So Long, U.S. Men’s National Team

It was fun. It really was! But through poor playing and being outmatched, it’s finally time to go home. We made it out of the Group of Death, which is something to be proud of, but now we turn our tails before we get to Quarterfinals. I honestly didn’t believe we would get this far. We should all be proud of the team that they progressed to that point.

Image source

The American team is like no other. We are spontaneous, we are either there or we’re not. If we don’t score early, we’re in trouble. We’re either on or we’re off. There’s no medium, there’s no average for us. We play hard or show up late. There’s no half-way for the American team. And yesterday, they simply didn’t show up. For the most part, anyhow.

And for the “most part,” I mean Tim Howard was the absolute exception. What an inspiration. What a hero. This wall of a goalie saved the U.S. from suffering a more embarrassing defeat. He actually set a record. An American set a record in the World Cup! Tim Howard did the most saves in recorded World Cup history in one game. If you’re going to be proud of one player, it should be Tim Howard.

Image source

I can’t exactly figure out who I’m rooting for now. France, Germany, and Brazil run through my mind. I want to see some good games. We are excited for Friday, to see some high-quality futbol! I will restate how much I love the World Cup…all the countries together, leaving problems behind, and just playing a great sport. Cheers to all! As always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS PUPPY PIC

Jun262014

Hungry, Fit & Co are Moving!

The whole family is packing everything up again and moving to the West Coast! Los Angeles here we come. At first, we’re going to be staying in Santa Monica but our goal is to eventually move to Korea Town as soon as possible. We would love to stay in Santa Monica or another beach part of LA, but with Alana certainly going back to school, and Chris possibly going back to school, it’s just not going to be affordable!

The chances are Alana will be going to school part-time and maybe eventually full-time for nursing and Chris will start to take part-time classes working towards a Masters in Physiological Science. Therefore, Alana could be working part-time, full-time or just managing Hungry & Fit, while Chris probably works full-time. You, or we, never know until we’ve made the change and hopefully we have good like in finding a place to live and good jobs! All those things could change! A huge part of the excitement of moving is the adventure; we love adventures… like hobbits… well Bilbo, and Frodo. We will be sure to keep you all updated on what we choose to do.

We will be leaving Boulder August 1st and should get to Los Angeles August 2nd. It is two days of driving and we’ve done the trip before but not with all these animals in the car. We will have to take extra care and make sure to control the climate in the car. Again, it should be exciting and build character! Once we get there, we’ll figure out all the necessary evils such as where to live and how to pay the bills. Chris will probably try to be beach lifeguard, walk dogs, and do personal training… all things he has a lot of experience doing and enjoys. Alana will figure out a school and work schedule that is reasonable.

There is not a whole lot more to tell you other than this is the big announcement and we better get in high gear to start preparing for the move. Lots of items are being sold on Craigslist and we will be having a garage sale soon. Let us know if you are in the market for anything! We are really trying to be minimalists for this move and prevent Chris from hoarding and collecting things he never uses. He promised to change this time so we’ll see!

Hopefully, we get to see even more friends and family as a result of this move. We get to spend more time at the beach and although Chris will miss his whiter winters, we will hopefully be travelling to the East Coast more than when we were in Colorado. We like LAX a lot more than DIA. So if you’re living in LA and want to meet up at some point, let us know. We have friends there but building a new network is going to be a challenge. You make something out of yourself in one place and then decide to pick up and start from scratch again. I hope it all works out well for us! Thanks for all your support and look forward to an even better Hungry & Fit in LA!

Jun242014

The World CUPDATE!

Cute name, right?

So here we are over a week into the World Cup! Who else has been waiting four years for this moment? We most certainly have and we are also looking forward to the Women’s World Cup in Canada, which we will be attending. Come meet us in Vancouver as that is where we will be setting up base camp and watching games live in person.

Yesterday, four teams were sent home and four were sent to the round of 16. We were happy to see Brazil go through as the host country, but preferred Croatia advanced rather than Mexico. Mexico’s keeper has been one of the absolute stand-out players of the cup thus far. Spain, the defending champions and top team in the world, were sent home after some coaching decisions on older and tired players didn’t work out for the best. David Villa did end his WC career scoring a goal, which was great to see. We look forward to having him in New York. Netherlands asserted themselves once more as a dominant force and potentially the most impressive team thus far. Most people think they will win and it’s hard to argue with that. Chile is the other advancing team, who will face the hometown boys in the next round. That will be a good showdown.

In terms of teams that have not yet advanced or been eliminated… there are tons! We always pull for underdogs so African and Asian teams are our favorite. If Ghana and Cote d’ivoire make it to the final, we would be thrilled. Also, we are always rooting for the Koreans and Japanese, although both are as good as gone and the Koreans have been playing miserably and even worse have been very boring! The Japanese simply don’t have enough good players to take them through in their group. Furthermore, Hungry has always been a fan of France ever since he saw Zizou and Henry led them to glory over a decade ago. France in the final would give them the opportunity to make up for that horrendous showing in Germany in 2006. Also, of course, part of us wants the US to make it as far as they can. Unfortunately, in the Group of Death, an injured Cristiano Ronaldo and the Germans, who have one of the deepest benches in the history of the World Cup, will not let that happen easily.

Today, we get to see who advances out of Columbia, Cote d’ivoire, Japan, and Greece in Group C (we think Columbia and Cote d’ivoire will go through, but it could be easily not if Japan or Greece wins and Cote d’ivoire does not). We also get to see who of Group D gets to pass through. Unfortunately, England is at the bottom, which is just painful to see for us. Costa Rica leads Group D with Italy and Uruguay tied behind. Fit thinks Costa Rica and Italy are going to advance as Uruguay haven’t been doing great. But you never know–that’s what we love about the World Cup. It could be anyone’s game.

Love of the game runs in the family

All in all, we’re just some ex-futbol/soccer players that are willing to put on our boots and play anytime and anywhere. We aren’t reliving the glory days but we recognize how great of an event the World Cup is for the world. Countries come together that usually don’t have diplomatic relationships with the rest of the world and participate as equals. It is a beautiful game and an opportunity for cultures and traditions to be shared. We’re not asking you to watch the event, but try to acknowledge what it means to so many people around the world. Futbol is the most popular sport in the world, factually, and in America it is not even one of the three most popular sports. This doesn’t have to change, and I know that some players and countries give the sport a bad name by flopping and acting so often, but it is a great way for countries that don’t get along to pick each other up and respect one another. We’re all in! As always, stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: Who are you rooting for? Who do you want to host the World Cup in 2014?!

Jun052014

Our Vacation in Pictures (LA)

Sorry for the big lapse in posts! Here are our excuses…

Excited to see my parents!

Omusubi (Sunny Blue)

Freshest of fruits

LA Street Art

Family timez

In n Out

Hungry taking creepy pics of me sleeping on the beach

Bad bad sunburns

Post beach-ness

Ramen!

Promenade

PIE

Hungry got interviewed by a Japanese reporter of course…

Airport food…

May092014

The Importance of Safe Driving

It’s the new age. The age of technology always at your fingertips. The age of constant connection. The age of instant communication. The age of obsession of knowing what’s going on. Where we don’t want to leave our smart phone for five minutes because someone commented on our profile. The moments that you swore you felt it vibrate so you just have to check it. Did you ever hear of a guy driving a buggy and cart and writing a letter at the same time? I didn’t think so. Even though this technology is great, awesome, and a big boon to our society, it’s also causing a heavy amount of distraction on the road.

Always appreciate Hungry’s distraction-free and skilled driving

I’m a fairly careful driver. On the highways, I’m always hitting 55mph (yay for saving gas!) and I don’t get infected by road rage. I’ve heard enough about texting and driving crashes that I don’t even want to stray on that road (no pun intended 😉 ). And let’s emphasize on the word crash instead of accident. Crashes are caused by intoxication, speeding, or distracted driving. Even though you obviously don’t want to get into a crash, it’s not an accident if you’re distracted or being careless. That’s the hard truth.

In Colorado, we get all kinds of weather–in ONE day. It could be 30 and snowing when you wake up and be 65 and sunny during the day and then give you some rainfall at night! This makes for seriously precarious roads and conditions to drive in. Despite these very dangerous conditions, every single day on my way to work I will see bowed heads, eyes floating towards that little screen of light. It makes me sad and also scared! Even if I’m the most careful driver in the world, it won’t matter if the person behind me doesn’t see me stop and ram right into my bumper. That’s scary! I feel more and more anxious about getting crashed into because of the increase of smart phone usage of those around me. Several of my clients have been rear-ended by someone who was on their phone. It’s a shame and it needs change.

Weather makes it critical to focus on the road!

That’s why I’m reaching out to you alongside the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Auto Alliance to make a difference. Encourage your friends, your siblings, your children to Decide to Drive. It’s easy to slip and just check that one message, but that one message could lead to a crash. Take part of the Decide to Drive campaign (seriously, click on the link and learn more about it, it’s really cool!) and end unnecessary crashes, injuries, and deaths due to distracted driving. This program drives to encourage the conversation about this issue and speak up about the distracted driving you see. This is something we at Hungry and Fit are incredibly passionate about.

I’ll leave you with this scary statistic: “According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), of the nearly 33,000 roadway fatalities in 2012, there were 3,328 fatalities and approximately 421,000 injuries in distracted driving-related crashes.” Are you willing to step up and help end these unnecessary deaths? Join Hungry and I in the Decide to Drive campaign and help American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Auto Alliance make a difference in the lives of millions. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: Have you ever had a run-in with distracted driving? Comment below!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Apr232014

Our “Staycation” in Pictures

You may have noticed that we have lapsed in our posting the past week. This is because my parents came in for an Easter visit! It’s been tons of fun. We did loads of stuff and there are tons of pictures that I still need to steal from other family members. Here’s a short snippet. But no worries, we are back in the saddle here at Hungry and Fit!

Spring has sprung!

We went to Estes Park…mum is modeling…

Mum made tons of lovely breakfasts

Noke got to enjoy the sun as the whole family gardened

EASTER!!

Noke cuddling

Rainbow!!

Some darn good food…

Good view of Boulder

Mum made scones

Mum being ridiculous

Eldorado

Poor Noke

She gets revenge

Good Indian food

Good Korean food

Fit’s parents…miss them already

Feb202014

Top 5 Healthy Restaurants in Vegas

Guest post from Peter Wise

We all know how difficult it can be to stay healthy when you’re on holiday, surrounded by exotic cuisine and relying on fast food to keep you going. Just because Las Vegas is synonymous with long buffet lines of overweight Americans and hideous burger joints doesn’t mean you can’t find a sumptuous and healthy spread.

Spago – 3500 S. Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Wolfgang Puck’s “Seasonal American” restaurant was at the forefront of cuisine in Las Vegas, and has been a success since its opening in 1992. The Californian cuisine style menu boasts organic produce with daily changes to the offerings, depending on current organic produce. In terms of health food, the Spago has a vegetarian tasting menu and many seafood options for a healthier alternative to a high-class meal, easily located outside of the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

(http://www.bestofvegas.com/Restaurants/Canyon-Ranch-Cafe-Venetian-Las-Vegas-SpaClub/)

Canyon Ranch Cafe – 3355 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

Between 7am and 6pm daily, the cafe in the Canyon Ranch Spa serves a host of healthy foods at comparatively moderate prices, for the Strip. They have smoothies, healthy teas, organic produce and healthy alternatives to main meals like turkey meatloaf, although they do have some awfully tempting-looking Mexican food, wraps and burgers. It’s an excellent opportunity to get away from the neon lights and crowds for a little while.

Go Raw Cafe – 2381 East Windmill Lane #18, Las Vegas, NV 89123 or 2910 Lake East Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89117

If only vegetarian and vegan will do, try out one of the locations of Go Raw, either on the East of the city at the Smiths Shopping Centre, or out West at the Lakes Centre, where the cafe overlooks Lake Sahara. The salad bar looks incredible and they always have fresh and organic fruit; the main downside is that it’s a little further out of the Strip, so it might be an idea to visit an online casino on your phone while out there soaking up some sunlight and sipping tasty veggie juices and healthy smoothies.

(http://raw-radiance.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/go-raw-cafe-las-vegas.html)

Cypress Street Marketplace – Caesars Palace Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89109

A remarkable adaptation of a food court, casual dining takes place here underneath the cypress trees inside Caesars Palace, and is based on the theme of a “picnic in the park”. As you might expect there is a huge range of speciality food cuisines, all of which are value-oriented, but the most healthy options include the much loved Romaine Course which allows you to build your own vegetarian garden salad and Ah So, which sells healthy noodle soups, sushi and wok dishes.

(http://www.caesarspalace.com/restaurants/cypress-street-market-place.html#.UwNbQ4XKg7A)

B&B Ristorante – 3355 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109

An authentic experience, the B&B Ristorante is owned by the renowned celebrity chef Mario Batalio and imports its organic items from Italy – whether that’s a good or a bad thing is up to you. There are plenty of healthy meat and seafood dishes on the menu, as well as a few options for a salad if you treated yourself to a fast food burger earlier on.

It’s very rare nowadays to find a restaurant that doesn’t at least have a vegetarian option, which is always a handy fail-safe if you want to eat healthily. But the next time you’re in Las Vegas, try out one of these options for a guaranteed delicious experience that won’t send you to the gym out of guilt.