I’d like to welcome Janetha from Meals & Moves for our 9th installment of Getting To Know You!  It’s so exciting to think about all the amazing bloggers we’ve had featured since the end of 2010 – and we’ve had A LOT of them! So many lives, stories, recipes, exercises and it just keeps getting better with Janetha here today!

And it just so happens that she posted 30 interesting facts about herself yesterday, so if you want to get to know Janetha up close and even more personally, check out her post!

And now for some Meals & Moves…

1. Tell us a bit about your blog?

Hi. I’m Janetha G.

I started my blog, meals & moves, in April of 2009.

I started it because I wanted to stay accountable in regards to eating healthy and regular exercise. I am really into writing and rambling, so I decided a blog would be the most entertaining way to stay accountable.  In the past, I just used a notebook to document my meals & moves for accountability, but I was bad at keeping up with the details.  Having a public blog became a great way for me to stay accountable and was entertaining enough for me to stay dedicated.

After awhile, my blog became more of a hobby rather than just a place for accountability.  I “met” lots of other like minded bloggers and blogging quickly became one of my favorite things. My blog has progressed from just a place for daily eating and exercise documentation to a place where I can spill my guts about anything and everything.  I honestly have the most broad spectrum of topics, it is impossible to pinpoint one or two things my blog is about.  That is why I have the subtitle, “And Everything In Between” under my blog title.  You will find lots of food, a few exercise routines and tons of photos of my dogs.

One of my favorite things to do is convert recipes into healthier versions or create completely new, healthy recipes to share with my readers.  Another feature I started on my blog is called “Flashback Friday”, where I show photos and experiences of something in my past—before the blog.  This is a fun way for my readers to take a glimpse into my life and see where I have come from.  This feature actually caught on like a wildfire and several other bloggers frequently participate in Flashback Friday. It is a lot of fun!

2. What would be your dream meal?

Two of my very favorite foods are cereal and ice cream.  I would be content eating boxes of cereal and cartons of ice cream for the rest of my life.  But, because I love all food, I would never limit myself to JUST cereal and ice cream!

I suppose my “dream meal” would start with an appetizer of authentic Greek hummus and fresh pita bread, followed by a big salad full of several different greens, lots of veggies and one of my favorite dressings-creamy pesto (on the side, I like to dip my fork.. I can’t stand soggy salad!)  The entrée would definitely include some sort of chicken and pasta… two of my go-to ingredients because they are so versatile.  There would also have to be mushrooms in the entrée because I can’t get enough of those.  Dessert would obviously be ice cream!  Vanilla bean is my favorite kind, preferably served with fresh, ripe peaches on top and then sprinkled with copious amounts of cinnamon.  This was the dessert served at my wedding, actually.

Geez, now I am hungry!

3.  What is your greatest pet peeve?

People chewing loudly.  Oh, just the thought of it makes my skin tingle.  The problem is, I get irritated by loud crunching even when it is unavoidable.  For example, when my husband is eating potato chips in the same room as me, I always have to leave the room.  My pet peeve is that bad.  I sometimes even irritate myself when I am crunching on carrot sticks!

4. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Have you ever seen the old sitcom, “Out of This World”?  The main character, Evie, had the superpower of freezing time.  Not only could she freeze time, but she could unfreeze whoever she wanted while time was frozen.  That would definitely be the superpower for me.  Think of all the extra time I could have to sleep, eat and exercise! I would get all of my work out of the way and still have time to relax.  Bonus.  Plus, traveling would be awesome. My vacations would last forever. I think this superpower would have come in handy last week while I was laying on the sunny beach in Mexico!

5. What are your favorite workout moves?

I alternate between cardio and weight training days.

For cardio, I usually run on the treadmill. I keep this exciting by making up new HIIT (high intensity interval training) routines. I never do long, endurance-geared cardio sessions. Always short, quick and intense sessions. Get in, get out, get on with life.. right? You can check out a few of my favorite routines here.

I LOVE strength training! Some of my favorite moves are the Bulgarian split squat, stiff legged deadlift to row and oblique twists on a decline bench.

6. If you could go back in time, what is something your current self would tell your former self?

I would tell my younger wild child to back off on the drugs, alcohol and unhealthy eats and think about my health. It took me awhile to get to where I am now, but I feel like had I started the journey earlier, it may have been a bit easier!

Also, I would tell my former self not to be so wrapped up in what other people think of me and to just be real. I used to think I had to make up stories to impress people.  It was hard to keep up with what I told people! Come to find out, in reality, I am cool enough as it is! Being myself and not worrying about what other people thought is a whole lot easier than putting up a front. It is hard to see that when we are young and naïve. Plus, as the saying goes, those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

7. If our reader’s could only read one of your blog posts, which one should they read and why? Please include the link.

Well, I am cheating and saying two. A post and a page. First, I think that if people are going to read one thing on my blog, they should start with the “About Janetha G.” page. Whenever I click on a new blog, I always check out the “About Me” page because it gives me an idea of the blogging tone and what to expect when reading the blog posts.

As far as posts go, I would say that one of my favorite posts is “My Fast Food Story”, which talks about the way I used to eat versus the way I eat now, including a healthy version of my old favorite fast food meal. I do this type of thing a lot on my blog, so I think this post is a good representation of the type of recipes you can expect. Although, there are lots of posts with no recipes and total, complete nonsense… those seem to be the most popular for some reason.