Let’s Chat.

I’m back!

After a 2 week blogging hiatus, I wanted to break the silence. Grab a cup of coffee; this could be a bit lengthy!

The break was totally unintentional, but absolutely needed. As you may recall, I had friends in town a couple weeks ago and while they were here, I decided I just didn’t feel like breaking out the computer.

Cornerstone Napa Erin Brittany

Mt Tamalpais Tam Nathan Brittany Erin Don

Passing up on a few blog posts during their trip made me realize I was just going through the motions. Monday? Gotta get a weekend recap up. Tuesday? Link love. Wednesday? Pictures of food. There really wasn’t much behind it. And how many times can you look at a bowl of my oatmeal? I get it.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been working on figuring out a good balance with all of my jobs and as things continue be thrown up in the air, I just didn’t need the extra stress of needing to get a blog post up. Other aspects of my life were suffering; I was constantly exhausted from trying to juggle 3 different jobs, working some crazy hours, wracking my brain at different ways to get more personal training clients, cooking, cleaning, and somehow fitting in my workouts.

Thankfully, some changes have been made. Nathan is helping out with cooking and cleaning more [who knew all I needed to do was ask for help?!] and last week I gave my 2 weeks at Athleta. I’m swapping Athleta for another training gig, so while I’ll still be working at 3 different places, ideally, I’ll be cutting back on hours and make more dough. That would be lovely, yes? Good changes to start.

Roli Roti Pork Knuckle Roasted Fennel Potato Onion Carrots

A Nathan-style dinner.. chopped rotisserie pork knuckle with roasted veggies.

But as I’ve been going through the motions with blogging, it seems I’ve also been doing the same with my workouts. That’s not a good look for me. I told Nathan the other day that I’m a rare breedone that consistently works out and eats healthy [with the exception of when we have visitors..] and yet still continues to gain weight. It’s true. My friend told me I just look “a bit thicker.”

Let’s get really real here, shall we? I mean, we’re all friends.. Since moving to California, I’ve mostly ditched the scale. It was a good thing for me and I would occasionally break it out just to check in. Recently, I was feeling like my clothes were just fitting a little tighter and in general, I was uncomfortable. Well, when I say a couple extra lbs found their way back to me over the past 6 or so months, I actually mean 15. Ouch. That’s not a pretty number. So yes, thicker it is. And it sucks. But I’ve decided that the old saying rings trueyou really can’t continue to do something the same way and expect different results.

So now it’s time for me to get back on the wagon, really put the effort back into my workouts, and figure out how to find the balance that’s right for me. The blog with fall into its place in time, but right now I know I need to put most of my focus on finding balance in my jobs and at home.

Rose Garden Oakland California CA

Mountain View Cemetary Oakland San Francisco California CA

Thanks for sticking with me today; I’ve been looking for the words to write this post and it’s nice to finally hit “publish.”

No questions today, just thoughts.

Big Day Off & Paying Rent

Well what do you know, looks like it’s Monday again! I hope you all had a quiet, relaxing weekend. Or maybe it was wild and crazy.. whichever you prefer! I [and Nathan] made every attempt to make our weekend as relaxing as possible. Work has been running me ragged lately so when I have a full day off, I take full advantage.

Saturday, I slept in till about 7:30 [hey, no alarm is a wonderful thing, even at that hour!], had a leisurely breakfast on the couch in my jammies, and got myself together to go to the farmers’ market. We’ve been loving all of the fruit from the market; the strawberries and oranges, in particular, have been outrageous! We loaded up on produce and a special porcini salami from Boccalone, and headed home to pack up a picnic.

The weather has been perfect lately; practically 70 and sunny everyday. A couple miles of sunshine later, we reached the top of the hill and unpacked the goodies.

Mountain View Cemetary

Boccalone Salami Cabot Cheddar Cheese Strawberries La Farine Medjool Dates Charles Shaw Chardonnay Blue Diamond Almonds

There’s nothing a jar full of chardonnay can’t fix, am I right? 😉 That and a post-hike nap and Chinese food for dinner. It was the perfect Saturday.

Yesterday was back to work opening the gym. As I said, working 3 jobs has been running me into the ground. Multiple 10-12 hour days, sometimes between all 3 places, has been tough. I’ve been working on balancing the jobs with the rest of my life; figuring out how to find time to eat, cook, spend time with Nathan, and get in my own workouts has been a bit of a struggle at times. Sometimes I have the opportunity to cook dinner in the middle of the day to take to work with me in the evening. And sometimes by the time I get home to see Nathan, all I can do is brush my teeth and pass out.

As I attempt to figure out my workouts, I find that letting somethings go by the wayside are coming back to bite me in the butt. I totally burned myself out on cardio and almost stopped running all together. I’ve been trying to slowly get back into it, even just once a week. Rather than saying my run yesterday was frustrating, I’d like to call it humbling. After expressing my feelings to Nathan, he shared this quote with me.

Success isnt owned, its leased and rent is due everyday. JJ Watt

Of course, I would be naive to think I can stop running and pick right back up where I left off. But just as I’m learning to find balance in my life, I’m learning to re-balance my workouts and sometimes that just means taking more days like Saturday when I can. And sometimes weekends like this have to end in brinner because that’s just the darn best.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Brinner! Roasted sweet potatoes and brussels topped with an egg.
Sweet Potato Brussels Sprouts Eggs Heinz Ketchup
MondayLemon Moroccan chicken with za’atar roasted cauliflower
TuesdayCashew chicken
WednesdayThai basil turkey rice bowls
Thursday – Saturday – Friends in town!

Food for Thought

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
What kind of “paying rent” lessons have you learned lately?