Put Some New Shoes On

Time to check in! Last week I asked you all if you’d commit to 30 minutes of fitness each day; did you get it in? My week looked a little something like this:

• Monday: 45 mins cardio + an old Best Body Bootcamp circuit
• Tuesday: 4 bursts of 10 – 15 min workouts throughout the day
• Wednesday: 30 mins cardio + an old Best Body Bootcamp circuit
• Thursday: 30 mins cardio + quick strength & bosu fun
  

  I need a new photographer.. 😉

• Friday: 30 mins cardio + TIU workout
• Saturday: 1 hour spin + 1 hour barre [<– at Truve.. it was awesome!]
• Sunday: 30 min walk through Tilden Botanical Garden
  

I’m making the same commitment this week and I hope you will too!

For my workouts this week, I broke out my new ASICS GEL-Fit Sana shoes. It’s funny; I’ve been putting these shoes on the mannequins at work for months now and would check the sizes to see if they’d fit me. When I got the opportunity to review the shoes from a FitFluential campaign, I was pretty excited. They’re super light and flexible; the shoe actually adapts and supports your foot with the inner lining  from the heel to the forefoot, while providing a barefoot-like sensation. I’ve never had a shoe like this before but I’m a fan.

Plus, they match my bosu perfectly! [No really.. I need a new photographer.]

I also love the versatility of these shoes. I wore them multiple times at the gym and then again when we went for our walk outside. I get the need for sport-specific shoes, but with limited apartment space, I’m a huge fan of multi-purpose! Plus [a big plus!], the GEL-Fit Sana shoes are just $80 and come in 6 different colors so you can choose if you want to go bold or keep it subtle.

Now on the commitment end of things, I’m also keeping up with my meal planning; personally I just feel better when I eat better and I’m sure you do too.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Flank steak lettuce-wrapped tacos with peppers, onion, corn, & avocado
Monday – One-pot paprika chicken thighs
Tuesday – Sweet, sticky garlic hoisin chicken with roasted broccoli
Wednesday – 30-minute healthy kickin’ cajun chicken and rice
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

So now that I have my workouts and meals planned out for the week, it’s time to get my new kicks on and get moving.

Food for Thought

Did you fit in your 30 minutes each day last week?
Which color GEL-Fit Sana shoes would you choose?

This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of ASICS.

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Link Love #65

Can you believe we’re already half way through December? I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and we were talking about our New Years plans; it’s really only 2 weeks away. Wow.. 2014 has been a pretty crazy year for us and I’m doing my best to wrap it up on a high note.

Health

How to eat the gold standard of 7-9 servings of fruits and veggies – Run to the Finish

How to eat the gold standard of 7-9 servings of fruits and veggies – Run to the Finish
5 Ways You Can Restore Balance to Your Busy Weekend – Family Sport Life
What Would Happen if You Focused on THIS and Not That? – Nia Shanks
Why Easy Sessions Make You a Better Athlete – Cotter Crunch
‘Detox’ Diets Are a Scam, According to Report – Food and Wine

Fitness

12 Days Of Christmas Kettlebell Workout – Lifting Revolution via Love, Life, Surf

12 Days Of Christmas Kettlebell Workout – Lifting Revolution via Love Life Surf
At-Home Broomstick Workout – Your Trainer Paige
5 Exercises For Improving Grip Strength – FitKnitChick via Eleven by Venus
Resistance band travel workout – Fitnessista
New Holiday Hunny HIIT Workout – Tone It Up

Food

Peanut Butter Snickerdoodle Tarts with Cinnamon Peanut Crust – Garnish with Lemon

Peanut Butter Snickerdoodle Tarts with Cinnamon Peanut Crust – Garnish with Lemon
Sweet Potato and Apple Latke Cake with Baked Eggs – The Healthy Maven
Triple Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake Cookies – Half Baked Harvest
Peanut Butter Oreo Chocolate Bark – Sally’s Baking Addiction
Sage Kale Pesto with Parmesan Roasted Acorn Squash – Food Faith Fitness

Food for Thought

What’s one of your favorite posts from the past week?
Do you have plans for New Years Eve?

Girls Weekend

This past weekend, starting Thursday night, has been different than any other weekend since we’ve moved to California. Thursday evening, I dropped Nathan at the airport; he was off to a long weekend in Vegas for a bachelor party and he’s coming home today. But since I had the weekend to myself, I decided to make the most of my time and get together with the girls a couple times. It all started with the bonfire and s’mores on Thursday.

Friday was pretty quiet on the home front. I had a long shift at work and decided to spend the night snuggled up on the sofa watching Pretty Little Liars. I just finished season 1 last week and season 2 is so much better! It definitely sucked me into the show even more. Saturday was a quick day at work followed up with a little baking and movies in the park.

These girls are great!

The night started with a free Talenti Caribbean Coconut Pop and champagne.. the perfect pair!

There was a lot more snacking and wine throughout the night, all while watching this fabulous movie.

It had been quite a few years since I’d seen Clueless but it was just as wonderful as I remembered. Ha! There were even parts that I definitely didn’t get the first couple times around. Reminds me of when I watched Grease again when I was a little bit older.. Greased Lightning? Yea…… listen to those words a little closer next time! Anywho, Saturday was a really fun night and I love that they have movies in the park like that. I’m hoping to make it to more over the summer!

Yesterday was super relaxing and surprisingly productive! I got off to a late start at the gym which meant my breakfast ended up not happening until 11:45.. whoops! I discovered a little vegan shop in Berkeley, Republic of V, in search of some black bean pasta. I got my pasta [black and soy bean] and there are so many different things that I’d love to try. This time I just stuck with what I knew.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning, laundering, and cooking. I’m working a lot this week, including my 5 am shift today [lovely!], so I took advantage of my extra time and whipped up a bunch of breakfast burritos for Nathan, roasted a spaghetti squash, and got my food packed up for work today. I also found a delicious new drink..

.. and had a really tasty dinner using my soy bean pasta, roasted brussels and broccoli, all mixed with cheesy avocado sauce. Delish!

Time for another crazy week ahead. Happy Monday, friends!

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Soy bean pasta, roasted brussels sprouts and broccoli, and cheesy avocado sauce
Monday – California Chicken, Veggie, Avocado, & [Cauliflower] Rice Bowls
Tuesday – Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burgers with Apricot-Pepper Chutney + Pistachio Feta Pesto
Wednesday – Sesame Carrot Noodles with Grilled Asparagus
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

Did you have any fun plans over the weekend?
What’s on your menu this week?

Foodie Friday: Southwestern Black Bean Salad

There are some nights where s’mores, wine, and popcorn are dinner. Last night was one of those nights and I have no complaints. I met up with the Tone It Up girls again for a bonfire night. The fire took a little while to get started, but in the meantime, the wine kept us quite happy. And once we got the fire roaring, the s’mores were flowing!

Confession: This wasn’t our fire. We stole someone else’s for the picture. #firefail

This was our real fire! Yay us!

YUMMMMM!

I’ve been seriously craving some s’mores recently with all of the posts about s’mores cookies, ice cream, etc. so this was way past due! And there may or may not have been a second.. with banana. If only I could say this cured the craving. I think now I just want more! But it’s all about balanace, right? So that’s why I have a super healthy salad post today. Chococolate, marshmallows, and black beans.. why not?

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

Make 8 side servings

Ingredients
– 1 can reduced sodium black beans; drained & rinsed
– 1 cup edamame
– 1 cup corn [I used Trader Joe’s Frozen Roasted Corn]
– 3 roma tomatoes; diced
– 1/2 lime; juiced
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
– Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and fold together until thoroughly mixed. Serve as a side, on a salad, as a dip, etc. and enjoy!

Nutritional Information
Per 1/2 cup serving

111 Calories  /  2g Fat  /  18g Carbs  /  5g Fiber  /  4g Sugar  /  6g Protein

I don’t know how strange it is, but it certainly is good!

Food for Thought

Have you had banana s’mores before?
What’s your favorite s’mores combo?

Five Things Friday {5/30}

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week. I’m glad it’s Friday [who isn’t?!]; we’re planning on heading to Prizefighter tonight after Nathan gets off of work. They’re known for their awesome cocktails.. how could we go wrong? I’ve also been in serious study mode recently. Talk about stress, I could use a cocktail!

1. Last week I got the No Rush Hoodie at work. It’s seriously the most comfortable item of clothing I own. Get one immediately. And if you’re in the bay area, come visit me 😉
   

   They should totally have me model for the website.

2. I’ve been making some pretty amazing salads this week [not to brag]. The peanut dressing is killer and paired with sweet potato is out of this world. I’m not exaggerating.
   
   
   I know there are tons of recipes for peanut sauce on the web, but I thought I’d share mine too!
   Peanut Sauce
   Makes 1 serving
   – 1 tbsp peanut butter
   – 1 tsp lite soy sauce [can sub coconut or liquid aminos]
   – 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
   – 1/2 tbsp sriracha
   – 1/2 tsp sesame oil
   – Water [add slowly till you reach desired consistency]Yesterday I mixed a can of tuna and a small steamed sweet potato into the dressing before topping my salad. I was so excited to have it for lunch again today. Except then I ate the leftovers. Ha!
3. Am I the only person that gets excited about finding new, fun almond milks?
   

   Delicious. Especially in my coffee!

4. Yesterday I woke up not especially excited to head to the gym. I had cardio and abs on the docket and the thought of running or hopping on the elliptical was just not for me. So I stayed back and went through the Tone It Up Ab Playlist + the new Bikini Abs routine. Holy cow, serious ab burn! It took about 35 minutes and my abs were on fire!
   
   
5. And since I keep talking about drinks, I figure I’ll end on one too. As part of a Sweat Pink campaign, I received Pure Lyft Energy Stir Sticks. They’re an energy product that has zero calories, zero taste, and contains as much caffeine as one tall coffee. It was perfect to add to my glass of water before I ran out the door for my 5 a.m. shift at work last week. Instead of chugging extra coffee, it was a great way to get a little extra pep in my step.
   

Welp, back to the books for me. Hope you have a great weekend!

Food for Thought

Any big plans for the weekend?

Favorite Workout Round Up

Have you entered my Bob’s Red Mill giveaway yet? Today is the last day!

Over the past few weeks since Best Body Bootcamp has finished up, I’ve really concentrated on figuring out what is right for my body in terms of food and workouts. I’ve experimented with more intense weeks of workouts and lighter weeks. I realized recently that stress has been tearing me down and the lighter workouts have been my friend [thank you, Lindsay]. That said, I’ve still been killing it at the gym, just at a more relaxed pace. Funny what happens when you actually listen to your body, huh?

Ironically enough, I’ve started incorporating more running into my workouts. It’s also made me realize I have some core work to do.. gotta get that strength!

In looking for inspiration, my ever-growing Pinterest board has been quite helpful. Turns out, I’ve pinned some pretty awesome workouts and I wanted to share some of my favorites that I’ve done with you.

Upper Body

Lower Body

Core

Combo

Full Body

These will all get your heart racing and muscles burning. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Food for Thought

Where do you look for workout inspiration?

Link Love #28

On Sunday I made some big plans and I can’t believe I forgot to mention them yesterday. I made reservations for our first anniversary getaway!

Nathan and I had been talking about a wine country getaway and when a deal popped up on Travelzoo for the same place we stayed back in 2012, we jumped. This place is an “Inn” as opposed to a hotel so it had a much more cozy feeling. Their food was fabulous—breakfast, happy hour, and dinner—and it also doesn’t hurt that they give you a bottle of wine in the room, winery tours, tastings, & pairings included, and a discount on dinner at their restaurant. Wine country won’t know what hit ’em! Only 8 weeks to go..

Health

5 Ways I Improved My Metabolism – Weed Em & Reap

5 Ways I Improved My Metabolism – Weed Em & Reap
Tips for preventing workout-related injuries – fitknitchick
Everything You Need to Know about Nutrition for Runners – Run Lady Like
All about Fats – which ones to eat and which ones to avoid – It’s Progression
When You Work (and Eat) From Home: 7 Healthy Tips – Babble

Fitness

Quick She ROCKS Workout – She Rocks Fitness

Quick She ROCKS Workout – She Rocks Fitness
12-Minute Kettlebell Blast Workout – Pumps & Iron
The Best Ab Workout Routine – Tone It Up
Back Attack – Slim Sanity
Quick Workouts: Thirty Minute Thursday – Cotter Crunch

Food

Sweet Thai Chili Salmon Quesadillas with Spicy Mango – Half Baked Harvest

Sweet Thai Chili Salmon Quesadillas with Spicy Mango – Half Baked Harvest
5 Ways To Transform Desserts To Healthy Sweet Treats Without Sacrificing Flavor + Taylor’s Mint Ice Cream Cups – Lifting Revolution
Japanese Ramen Eggs – Rasa Malaysia
Creamy Cheesy Avocado Pasta (GF, Vegan) – To Live & Diet in L.A.
One-Bowl Fudge Brownies (Gluten-Free and Vegan) – The Fit Cookie

And speaking of recipes, I have a new recipe for you tomorrow along with a giveaway that you don’t want to miss!

Food for Thought

What is one of your favorite posts from the past week?

Foodie Friday: Creamy Coconut Cashew Butter

My name is Brittany and I’m a nut butter addict.

And I have no shame. I’m never without a variety of nut butters in the house, but since getting my Vitamix, they’ve only gotten better. Polish off a jar? No problem, let’s just make something else! The best part of making your own nut butter is scraping the bottom of the blender. Am I right?! 😉

Of course I didn’t bring it back to the computer with me.. like I said, no shame.

A couple months ago I found Coconut Cashews from Trader Joe’s. I figure if I can make nut butter with raw or roasted nuts, why not try this?

Go buy these now!

The result was an extremely flavorful, creamy, wonderful nut butter that I loved. What I didn’t love, however, was the added ingredients. Of course that meant the minute I ran out, I had to make my own without the extras. It’s so easy, it’s silly.

Creamy Coconut Cashew Butter

Make twelve 2 tbsp servings

Ingredients
– 2 cups cashews; roasted
– 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
– 1 tsp salt

Directions
Place all ingredients in a high-power blender or food processor and blend away! You may need to stop and scrape the sides a few times, but give it a couple minutes to get creamy.

I didn’t need to add any additional oil because of the natural oils in the cashews and coconut. I store my fresh nut butters in the fridge and they last months. I also recommend that you leave it out at room temp for a few minutes before spreading, scooping, etc to soften up a bit.

Nutritional Information
Per 2 tbsp serving

157 Calories  /  14g Fat  /  7g Carbs  /  1g Sugar  /  2g Fiber  /  4g Protein

Don’t want to stop there? Use this coconut cashew butter in my Minty Irish Powerballs for a St. Patty’s Day-approved treat 😉

Food for Thought

What is your favorite kind of nut [or seed] butter?
Are you making anything green for St. Patricks Day?

Fitness Friday: Every Hour on the Hour

I mentioned the other day that I took an extra rest day this week because my legs were dying. That said, since I knew I’d be sitting on my butt all day in front of the computer, I wanted to do some arms and abs throughout the day so I decided that every hour I’d find a quick something to run through. I used to do this with my coworkers at my last job and it really makes the day fly by! Below are some of my favorites that I found. If it’s a circuit workout, I went through only once and kept everything under 5 minutes. And easy on my legs!

Sunkissed Abs – Tone It Up

Upper Body Superset Workout – Peanut Butter Fingers

Plank with Puma – Cait Plus Ate

Short & Sweet Shoulder Routine – Tone It Up

Inch Worms – Cotter Crunch

Biceps, Triceps, & Shoulders [sans cardio] – Peanut Butter Fingers

Itty Bitty Bikini – Tone It Up

Obviously I kept myself busy and it was a nice way to have breaks throughout the day. So get off your butt at work and get moving 🙂

Food for Thought

Do you do any exercises throughout the day to stay moving?
What is your favorite ab or arm workout?

Will Run for Beer

Have you entered my Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway yet?

Well this was another relaxing and fun weekend! Friday night I met up with Kara for a drink at Prizefighter. I hadn’t been yet but heard that they were known for their cocktails. Since it was rainy, I was feeling something nice and warming and opted for the Nuevo Viejo.

I could use some help on my cropping skills.

We met up with Nathan at Summer Summer for some delicious Thai food for dinner. And lucky for us, they had a good amount of options on the happy hour menu.. cheap date 😉

Saturday was pretty laid back. It’s been raining constantly since Thursday so that doesn’t really make for fun times outside. We went out again for dinner to get out of the house and revisited The Bureau 510. I got the Mother Nature sandwich that I was eying the first time and it was great.

Grilled tofu, avocado, alfalfa, onion, red pepper spread, butter lettuce, lavash whole grain

I also got an awesome package from Caitlin and immediately had to dig into my goodies!

She’s the best!

Greek yogurt mixed with TJ’s chocolate coconut milk ice cream, topped with a sunbutter GoMacro bar and a few PB M&Ms. Perfect night time treat!

Yesterday I braved the rain and met up with Melissa, another Tone It Up-per, for the Park Chalet Beer 5K. Being sick all week, I considered skipping out because running in the rain may not be the best idea, but I was feeling much better so I decided to give it a go and I’m so glad I did!

We met some friends along the way

I’m usually not one for enjoying the rain, but there was actually something nice about it. Maybe because I was actually treating this as the fun-run that it was so I was just taking it all in. But that definitely deserved a brewski [or 2] afterward!

Cheers to finishing the run!

Those beers really did me in and I was happy to get home and into warm, dry clothes. Nathan took the reigns on dinner and roasted a beautiful bird! I added some roasted asparagus and naan on the side and heated up some korma sauce. Indian in a snap 😉

He knows his way around a bird!

Weekly Meal Plan

Saturday – Went out
Sunday – Roast chicken, asparagus, & naan with korma sauce
Monday – Chipotle black bean burgers, roasted potatoes, & side salad
Tuesday – Healthier Cincinnati chili over zucchini noodles
Wednesday – Leftover roast chicken with panzanella salad
Thursday – Black rice salad bowl with chipotle orange chicken, cashews, & feta [a repeat from last week!]
Friday – Valentines Day! We always work together on dinner and dessert and we’re still discussing our options.

We also have a new addition to the kitchen.. now we just have to hang it!

I could use some help with my chalkboard handwriting!

But now we won’t have to check the blog for reminders on the menu 😉

Food for Thought

Have you ever done a race or fun run in the rain?
What’s on the menu at your house?