Author: Anastasia Allison

03 Mar

Posted at 21:44h in Nutrition

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” — Hippocrates Let's face it - nobody wants to go on a business trip or a vacation and come home feeling like Moby Dick.  Staying healthy while traveling can be such a challenge!  When I was hired at my current organization, I was actually told (during my first interview), "You're going to gain 20lbs with this job."  I took that as a challenge - to prove them wrong that it IS possible to stay healthy and travel. ...

14 Feb

Posted at 03:53h in Nutrition

““My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.” ” — Orson Welles I have evolved a LOT in the past few years, and by that, I mean that basically I don't recognize the "old me" anymore ...

10 Feb

Posted at 20:40h in Fitness

When I first started travelling for work, I found myself very quickly sinking into some pretty crummy fitness/health habits.  Eating out.  Making excuses not to visit the gym.  Lying in the hotel bed.  I would come home from a week away and feel TERRIBLE.  Obviously, being at home and having a routine is so much easier, but I started to realize that the poor eating and lack of exercise that I experienced during a week of travelling was filtering into my normal routine as well,...

05 Feb

Posted at 20:33h in Personal Reflections

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” — Lao Tzu Yesterday, I was mindlessly perusing Instagram.  I hate when I do that, but I did it anyway, against my better judgement.  I was scrolling through a particularly delightful feed of "lifestyle" photographs, when I noticed that I was using the images to gauge the quality of my own life.  The woman in the...

19 Jan

Posted at 04:10h in Inspired Adventure

“Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame.” — W.B. Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire Even if you have never stepped one foot on a mountain, you are a mountain climber.  I love that a mountain is such an iconic representation of a life challenge that everybody, even if you’ve never gone for a hike, understands the metaphor.  I fell in love with...

14 Jan

Posted at 04:48h in My Adventures

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss Sometimes, when you only have two days off before a business trip, sleeping in a snow cave sounds like a really good idea.  It doesn't take much to convince me to go on an adventure - especially when it involves something new.  I had never built and/or slept in a snow cave in my life, but when my friend Brenda proposed the idea, I thought, "Sure,...

04 Jan

Posted at 03:47h in My Adventures

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” —...

01 Jan

Posted at 05:37h in My Adventures

“My favorite part was when Brenda went bat$hit and started screaming obscenities.”” — Aaron Allison Mt. Challenger lies in the Picket Range of the North Cascades.  Fred Beckey, author of the Cascade Alpine Guide writes, "“Because of the rugged terrain, the Picket Range has remained the wildest and most unexplored region in the North Cascades. It is not an area for the wilderness novice…the length of climbs, combined with steep mixed terrain and variable conditions, demands all around competence and fitness.” I have some history with Mt. Challenger...

26 Dec

Posted at 23:41h in Fitness

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” — Abraham Lincoln It's that time of year again - as we teeter on the brink of an entirely new set of 365 days, it's hard not to be full of hope.  Hope that we'll get better.  Lose weight.  Get in in shape.  Save money.  Eat Well.  Go to the gym.  And don't get me wrong - those are GOOD intentions.  Nobody who has a resolution does so with ill...