What I Ate Wednesday #125: After Effects of Vegan

My Valentine’s Day dinner was the first time going back to meat and dairy after 2 weeks of eating completely vegan. To be honest, I haven’t looked back. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like my experience or could never fathom having a vegan meal again, but I just really enjoy pretty much all things meat and dairy. Egg whites in my oatmeal, crispy bits of roast chicken, a nice bowl of yogurt with bananas and cinnamon. YUM!

My experiences have adjusted the way I’ve been eating, however, and I’ve really been enjoying these changes. If you recall, Cyrus had me on a 70/15/15 diet focusing on 70% carbs coming from fruits and vegetables. I’ve been using MyFitnessPal to track my macros and am doing my best to try to hit that 70/15/15 breakdown but in reality have been getting closer to a 60/20/20 split; certainly not the end of the world! And aside from my oatmeal, I’ve been sticking with the fruits and veggies source of carbs.

[Breakfast]

I seriously missed my oatmeal with melty nut butters! The basic idea of this breakfast has remained the same but I’ve added some extra fruit on top. I will typically mash up 1/2 of a banana into the oats and now slice up the other half on top. Or I grab some frozen mango/papaya/pineapple frozen mix when I’m out of bananas.

[Lunch]

Lunch has definitely seen the biggest change. I’ve swapped my daily big ass salad for a bunch of roasted sweet potatoes and some source of protein on the side like quinoa beet burgers, tuna, or shredded chicken.

Cyrus mentioned that lunch is the time to really load up on carbs in order to fuel the rest of your day, A salad, while obviously healthy, is typically a lower carb option full of ingredients that will essentially fill space in your stomach but not provide the source of energy that your body needs. I’m in loveee with sweet potatoes so this has not posed any issue for me at all.

[Dinner]

Speaking of potatoes, we’ve basically been eating roasted russets every night with dinner. Nathan is certainly happy; variations on chicken and potatoes might be one of his favorite meals!

[Snacks]
Typical snacks throughout the day include bananas [sometimes up to 3 per day!], apples, and the occasional bar. I know bars aren’t always ideal and I definitely used to rely on them more than I do now. I didn’t want to have too much sugar, even the natural stuff, but since increasing my carbs, a banana is the perfect snack to take with me to work. And sometimes if I’m home, I’ll dip into a little nut butter too 😉

Any changes?
I was most curious to see if I’d notice any changes in my body, skin, weight, etc. by going vegan. In the first week, I lost 2 lbs and saw an increase in ab definition. I was also super crabby, low energy, having trouble getting through my workouts, and just generally exhausted by the end of the day. I wasn’t eating enough.

Cyrus explained to me that my RMR [Resting Metabolic Rate] is about 1600 calories per day and after adding in my workouts, active lifestyle, and simply the energy expended from my body digesting my food, I should be taking in about 3000 calories per day. I’m not sure I ever hit 3000 calories, but once I started eating more, the 2 lbs came back and the extra definition was lost. Was I bummed? A little. But at the same time, I actually had my energy back!

I plan on keeping up the increase in carbs, mostly because I love sweet potatoes and bananas. In terms of noticeable physical changes, I really don’t see a difference and I happen to be much happier not limiting myself in my diet. If I want a vegan meal, great! I’ll have one. If I want a huge cheesesteak [Nathan got one while I was eating vegan and said it was the best of his life], I’ll eat a huge cheesesteak! I just enjoy food and the experiences I have with Nathan trying new things entirely too much to give it up.

It was a great experiment and I’m glad I did it. I think it’s important for me to experience different diets, workouts, etc. to be able to speak to it if someone asks. I’m up for a challenge and I’d try another if the opportunity presents itself.

Food for Thought

What’s the most extreme change in diet you’ve tried before?

What I Ate Wednesday #123: Vegan. Week 2.

Sunday I had a really serious conversation with my nutritionist, Cyrus. As you may recall, he has me experimenting with a high-carb [70% carb, 15% fat, 15% protein], vegan diet for 14 days. At the start of week 2, I met with him and told him my main concern—I’m not eating the right foods for lunch to hold me over; especially when I’m out of the house all day at work. I just ended up being completely exhausted by late afternoon. I’m just not packing enough. His solution? Eat more. And eat starchy! Lose the greens at lunch; they’re just taking up valuable real estate in my stomach that I need for energizing carbs.

This past week, I’ve made a few adjustments to my meals, in particular, eating more. Lots more! Yesterday was the big test; I was working 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. with just two 1-hour breaks in between hitting all 3 jobs. I knew it was important to pack a lot and really take into account what Cyrus had to say. And let me tell you, I found a way to just. keep. eating.

[Breakfast]
I’ve tried a couple breakfasts from Cyrus’ plan but this one was my staple.

• 2 bananas
• 1/2 papaya
• 1 mango OR a bunch of blueberries
• 2 tbsp chia seeds + 2 tbsp hemp protein soaked 10+ mins in 1/2 cup almond milk

Adding in the protein powder definitely helped keep me full longer. And you’re welcome for snapping a picture pre-chia/protein mix.

[Morning Snack]

I went to barre after training my first client, but unfortunately could only stay for 30 minutes before heading onto my next job. That said, it was a killer 30 minutes! and I was famished. Chick peas. Because apparently that’s a normal snack? But clearly not enough to hold me over for too long.. Cashew Cookie Larabar to the rescue!

Larabars have been great because they’re just fruit and nuts. No extra sweeteners, grains, etc.

[Lunch]

Admittedly, I’m still getting used to such a high starchy carb load, but eating a ton of sweet potatoes? I can’t really complain.. Seriously. Just straight roasted sweet potatoes. Twas delicious.

[Afternoon Snack……sssss]

I had a hell of a time staying full. Must have been all of my running around! In between job 2 and 3, I snacked on an apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter. A couple hours later, my very last Gingerbread Larabar made an appearance. And finally, a blood orange. I told you, I was hungry!

[Dinner]

A long day required an easy dinner. Same as the night before—mushrooms and lentils with mustard dressing over mixed greens.

[Evening Snack]
I must’ve really worked up an appetite because even after all of that, my stomach was still growling before bed. I reached for a banana.. might as well end the day in a similar fashion to how it started!

Damn. That’s a lot of carbs! Haha they are quite tasty, though, so it’s hard to argue. Just a few days left to finish off my 2 week experiment!

Food for Thought

Which meal would be your favorite?
Have you ever considered or tried a high carb diet?

Booch Beer + Sledgehammer

Hi there, friends! Sorry to leave you high and dry last week. Seems like my crazy schedule from the past 2 weeks finally caught up to me and my brain just said “no more!” Luckily, I had a nice, relaxing weekend to recoop [before another crazy week.. such is life!] First things first, congrats to Brittney for winning my She’s Losing It! giveaway!

Our weekend mostly began on Friday; Nathan took the day off and I only had a 7 a.m. client. It was amazing to be done by 8 a.m., be able to hit the gym, run a few errands, and then just kick back. We had to make a Costco run and thought it would be a much better idea to do that on a Friday afternoon than Saturday. When we first moved out here, someone said to me “people in San Francisco have jobs, but no one ever works.” Man, did that ring true. Costco was still crazy! Luckily, we had gone out to lunch before and had a little liquid stress-relief.

Mine came in the form of 50/50 citrus ginger kombucha & Sierra Nevada Kellerweis. I’m not sure why I’ve never thought of mixing my own kombucha with beer at home but it’s definitely going to happen now! Easiest way to make beer healthy, right?

We had a few quiet nights including a little wine + movie night action.

I’ve been singing Sledgehammer since I got the bottle..

We watched Nightcrawler on Friday and Birdman on Saturday. I’d definitely recommend both.

Sunday was for work and meal prep. I’ve been having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to create a meal plan that can work for both of us. This vegan thing is totally throwing me through a loop, but I’m hoping this week goes a little smoother. That said, Nathan took some of it into his own hands and made a beautiful porchetta.

I’m making him save me some 😉 In the meantime, I have a few vegan options planned out for myself this week.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Roasted potato and asparagus lentil salad with tangy mustard-lemon dressing

Monday – Mushroom, lemon, & lentil salad
Tuesday – Plantain bean salad
Wednesday – Sweet potato & lentil salad
Thursday – Vegan cuban bowl
Friday – Lentils + roasted acorn squash & mushrooms
Saturday – Valentine’s Day!

Food for Thought

Did you do anything exciting over the weekend?

What I Ate Wednesday #122: The ‘V’ Word

A few days ago, I started a little experiment. I’m currently working with the nutritionist at Truve, Cyrus Khambatta, on testing a different kind of diet. So if I’m going to do it, why not go balls to the wall? We’re talking 2 weeks vegan. And not only that, but Cyrus is a big proponent of a 70/15/15 diet. Yup, 70% carbs. Fruit and veggie carbs, though, not grains. This is a really drastic change in my diet and I’m finding it very interesting to see the way my body is reacting to it. I’m only on day 4 right now, but I’m looking forward to doing a full update at the end. For now, this is how some of my meals and snacks have been looking.

[Breakfast]

2 bananas, 1 mango, 1/2 papaya, cinnamon, & 2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in cashew milk

2 bananas, 10 strawberries, 2 handfuls of raisins, and 2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in cashew milk

That’s a lot of fruit! Breakfast is, of course, my favorite meal of the day and while I’m missing my oats and melty peanut butter, these breakfasts have been delicious and surprisingly have held me over for 3-4.5 hours.

[Lunch]

Sweet potatoes baked with olives, sun dried tomatoes, and onion

Roasted kabocha squash and fennel

Anyone that tells me to eat a huge plate of sweet potatoes or kabocha is good in my book!

[Dinner]

Mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion

Mushrooms, snow peas, and tomato

Dinner has admittedly been my least favorite meal. It’s usually at this point that I feel like I’d like to sneak a couple bites of Nathan’s chicken. Or have some kind of sauce to make it all more exciting. I know typically if I were just doing vegan on my own, I could play with flavors a bit more but because I’m trying to really follow Cyrus’ plan, I’m sticking with his recipes.

[Snacks]

Perfect because it’s just dates, nuts, and spices!

Blissful Eats Instant Boost Chocolate Bites

Holy moly. Those Blissful Eats bites are some of my new favorite snacks! I was lucky enough to win some samples but I have a feeling I’ll definitely be buying more in the [very near] future!

Also unpictured snacks have been chia pudding, apples, olives, and leftover kabocha squash.

Overall Feelings
So far, I feel like I’ve had ups and downs of feeling super full [hellooo kabocha!] and feeling downright ravenous. I’ve also noticed my energy levels being a bit low over the past couple of days. I’m interested to see if that turns around and if my body adjusts. I’m also curious to see if there are any changes in my body, though 2 weeks isn’t too long to see those changes.

It’s definitely an interesting experience thus far and I’m looking forward to seeing how the next week and a half goes, as well as if it changes my diet in the future.

Food for Thought

Have you ever tried eating vegan?
What are your thoughts on the 70/15/15 macro breakdown?

Winter Vegetable & Quinoa Soup {Recipe ReDux}

I love cookbooks. Especially when they have wonderful pictures to go with the recipes. Although, I guess that’s why I love food blogs so much too, huh? Unfortunately, since my love affair with food blogs and Pinterest has grown, my cookbook collection has grown a bit of dust. This month’s Recipe Redux made me wipe off that dust and flip through so real pages.

It’s the end of the year and we’ll taking a moment to reflect: ReDux has been around for 42 months! (Can you believe some of you have ReDux-ed 42 recipes?) To celebrate, we’re playing a little party game this month: Grab your nearest cookbook and ReDux the recipe on page 42 or 142. We can’t wait to see the books you’re cooking from these days – and how you make that recipe healthier.

I found my way to this bad boy..

There are some really fun recipes in there, like cashew energy quinoa bites, that I will definitely be trying soon. In the meantime, I was quite pleased when I flipped to page 142.

Even in California, it’s been getting a little chilly lately so I couldn’t wait to make a nice, creamy soup. I had also just picked up a Butterkin Squash from Trader Joe’s that I wanted to break into. Side note: I was telling my mom it tastes like a combo of butternut squash and pumpkin.. and subsequently figured out the name, Butterkin. Genius! She and Nathan were both laughing at me. Anywho, into the pot it went!

Winter Vegetable & Quinoa Soup

Makes eleven 1-cup servings

Ingredients
– 1 medium Butterkin Squash; about 2-3 cups [Can use butternut squash or sugar pumpkin instead]
– 2 tbsp EVOO; divided
– 1 medium yellow onion; diced
– 1 large sweet potato; diced
– 1 medium golden beet; diced
– 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flake
– 3 – 4 cups chicken stock [Make it vegetarian/vegan by swapping out for vegetable stock!]
– 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
– 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
– 12 oz. beer; I used Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but a lesser hopped beer would be good too
– Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut your squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with 1 tbsp EVOO and place in the oven. Roast until you can easily scoop the flesh out; about 30 minutes.

Heat a large pot over medium heat and drizzle with the remaining tbsp EVOO. Add in the diced onion and cook 5-7 minutes until translucent. Sprinkle in the red pepper flake and cook another minute until it becomes fragrant. Add in the diced sweet potato, beet, and 3 cups of chicken stock. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potato and beet are tender.

At the point, the squash should be ready to come out of the oven and cool. After the squash has cooled for a couple of minutes, scoop the flesh out and add it to the pot in addition to the quinoa flakes and nutmeg. Using an immersion blender [a regular blender would work as well, in a few batches], blend until the soup is smooth and creamy. If needed, add the 4th cup of chicken stock, but remember you’re also adding beer at the end!

Add salt and pepper to taste and pour in the beer, stirring slowly to incorporate. Scoop out a big bowl and enjoy!

Nutritional Information

98 Calories / 3g Fat / 14g Carbs / 2g Fiber / 3g Sugar / 3g Protein

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Leftovers with winter veggie & quinoa soup
Monday – Roast turkey breast with roasted potatoes & carrots
Tuesday – Pomegranate sesame chicken with ginger rice
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Moroccan lemon & cardamom meatballs, naan, & side salad
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

Have you ever tried quinoa flakes?

Foodie Friday: Sesame Carrot Noodles with Beef, Broccoli, & Asparagus

Do you ever look quickly at a recipe and think it says one thing and when you go back and take another look, realize it’s actually something else? And then sometimes what you originally think turns out to be an even better idea.

Ok, let me break it down for you. When I was meal planning last week, I chose this sesame carrot noodles with grilled asparagus recipe. Any kind of Asian-style recipe is always a go in this house, so a sesame sauce on carrot noodles sounded like an awesome idea, right? I lie. It was actually soba noodles with a sesame carrot sauce. Still sounds awesome [and honestly, something that Nathan would go for over carrot noodles] but I was totally stuck on the carrot noodle idea. My version of this recipe was born.

Sesame Carrot Noodles with Beef, Broccoli, & Asparagus

Adapted from Clean Wellness
Serves 4

Ingredients

Carrot Dressing
– 1 cup carrots; chopped
– 1 tbsp fresh ginger; chopped
– 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
– 2 tbsp soy sauce [can sub tamari, liquid aminos, or coconut aminos to make gluten-free]
– 2 tbsp tahini
– 1 tbsp maple syrup
– 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
– 1/4 tsp chili flakes

Noodle Bowl
– 1 lbs asparagus
– 1 bunch broccoli
– 2-3 medium carrots; spiralized
– 2 oz. black bean noodles [can sub soba noodles]
– 1 lb london broil; sliced thinly
– 2 tbsp soy sauce
– 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
– 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
– 2 green onions; chopped
– Toasted sesame seeds [Optional for serving]

Directions
Combine all dressing ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and set aside.

Cook your noodles according to the directions, drain, and set aside.

While your noodles are cooking, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Toss the sliced beef with the soy sauce and sesame oil, then add to the hot pan. Quickly sear on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add 1/2 tbsp EVOO to the pan and toss the carrot noodles in. Cook them until soft, about 5-7 minutes, and add the broccoli. Saute for 2-3 minutes before adding the asparagus. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and add the black bean noodles into the pan.

Toss about 2/3 of the carrot dressing into the pan and mix the noodles together with the veggies. Once everything comes together, add in the beef and most of the rest of the dressing, saving about 1 tbsp per serving to drizzle on top. When the beef is warmed through, divide between 4 bowls, sprinkle with green onion and sesame seeds, and serve!

Nutritional Information
Per 1/4 recipe

390 Calories / 15g Fat / 22g Carbs / 6g Fiber / 10g Sugar / 34g Protein

The best part of this recipe is that it is equally as delicious without the added beef and because we’re using black bean pasta, it has a whopping 17g protein before adding any extra protein on top! I’m kind of in love with the black bean pasta; it really doesn’t have any distinct flavor so it’s perfect for adding any kind of delicious sauces. And it turns out it’s husband-approved too 😉

Food for Thought

Have you ever tried black bean pasta before?
Would you swap the beef for another protein?

Link Love #40

Guys. I need to tell you. The fruit in California is absolutely outrageous. It must be because the fruit is grown here and there’s not a week of transfer before it gets to me in Maryland anymore, but I’ve never had such flavorful strawberries, plums, blueberries.. seriously, everything! I’m not a peach gal and I’m eating peaches! Nathan’s not a plum gal guy and he’s eating plums. I never want it to end!

I’ve been pinning fruit recipes out the wazoo and have a couple to share today, but you should definitely check out my Pinterest boards for more!

Health

Are You Addicted to Adrenaline? – Cotter Crunch

Are You Addicted to Adrenaline? – Cotter Crunch
Get Rid of “Should” – Fine Fit Day
Healthy Eating: A Shared Responsibility – Kath Eats Real Food
Why You Should Throw Away Your Scale – fANNEtastic Food
Why Calories In vs Calories Out is Outdated – Mommy Run Fast

Fitness

30-Minute Kettlebell HIIT Workout with Finisher – Pumps & Iron

30-Minute Kettlebell HIIT Workout with Finisher – Pumps & Iron
I LIFT 20 minute leg workout purely training #64 – Purely Twins
Friday Happy Hour Workout Plan – Lifting Revolution
Sculpted Summer Arms Workout – Peanut Butter Runner
Sweat for Summer Interval Sprints – Fit2Flex

Food

Samoa Baked Doughnuts with 1-minute Maple Caramel – Edible Perspective

Samoa Baked Doughnuts with 1-minute Maple Caramel – Edible Perspective
Sweet and Savory Breakfast Polenta and Egg Stack – Clean Eating Veggie Girl
Raw Snickers Candy Bars – Peachy Palate
Crispy Peanut Tofu & Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry – Minimalist Baker
Chilled Avocado Sweet Corn Soup – Running to the Kitchen
S’mores + Peaches = S’meaches – The Kitchy Kitchen

Food for Thought

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

Link Love #39

It definitely feels like a little victory having made it through Monday.. anyone else feel the same? This week is going to be a little nuts for me, but the plan is just to keep on trucking. Besides, it’s June [when did that happen?!] and that means we’re headed home at the end of the month!

As always, last week featured some pretty fabulous posts and I had a hard time choosing my tops, but I think I got a good group of bloggers.

Health

Why You Don’t Want to Look Like a Model – Fitzala

Why You Don’t Want to Look Like a Model – Fitzala
#SuitYourself To Love Yourself – Lifting Revolution
Sports nutrition should we stop talking calories? – Run to the Finish
Body Transformation Starts With the Mind – The Change Blog
You’re Allowed to Love Your Body – Snack Therapy

Fitness

HIIT Scorcher – Fitnessista

HIIT Scorcher – Fitnessista
Race Week Triathlon Tips and Repeating our Chances – Cotter Crunch
Tabata Core Workout – Power Fitness
Easy Ways to Add Balance Training to Your Workouts – FitKnitChick
Fit Bit Friday 143: The 20-Minute Upper Body Blitz Workout – Eat Spin Run Repeat

Food

Flourless Almond Butter Samoa Bars (Paleo, Vegan) – Purely Twins

Flourless Almond Butter Samoa Bars (Paleo, Vegan) – Purely Twins
Sriracha Kale Caesar Salad – Running to the Kitchen
No-Churn Caramel Peanut Butter Cup Soft Pretzel Ice Cream Sammies with Hot Fudge – Half Baked Harvest
Spiralized Carrot and Cucumber Kale Salad with Peanut Sauce – Eating Bird Food
Summer Caprese Burger – The Fueled Athlete

Food for Thought

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

The Great Peanut Butter Cup Debate

Have you entered my LÄRABAR giveaway yet?

Another relaxing weekend is in the books. Friday night involved some serious curly fry consumption and it really hit the spot!

Except I took a picture after we were 75% through them..

We had dinner at Barney’s and since I’m not a burger gal, I went with the salmon burger. Unfortunately this might be one of the only places that I’ve come across a frozen patty since moving to California. That didn’t stop me from eating the whole thing, but it made the curly fries that much better!

Saturday was super slow. We started our day at the Oakland farmers’ market and took a nice long stroll around the city. We ended up at Ike’s for lunch; they’re known for their huge sandwiches and it was no joke. We both could only finish half of our sandwiches before heading to the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Room. Because as I said before, it’s not a weekend without beer!

Sunshine and beer. What more do we need?

Tastings are always the best when we want to try everything on tap! This might also have something to do with our demolishing of the sandwiches after we got home. And my nap. It was a good nap!

Yesterday was also pretty slow; we took a little run over to Farley’s for breakfast. Nathan is just starting to run so of course my thought for distance goals involves different places we can run to for breakfast. Always thinking about the food! Post-breakfast I went to the grocery store to stock up for the week and made a pretty exciting find.

PEANUT BUTTER CUP SHOWDOWN!

I’d heard about the Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups a few months ago but hadn’t seen them before. We already had some Reese’s at home so I figured we needed to do the taste test. The obvious differences are that the Reese’s comes in a wrapper and the Butterfinger is more squared off. I also noticed that the Butterfinger cup is a little thinner.

Team Reese’s or Team Butterfinger?

The results are in. I’m still 100% Reese’s and Nathan votes Butterfinger. Honestly, I feel like the Butterfinger cup was pretty darn similar to a regular Butterfinger bar. I wasn’t a fan of the crunch and much prefer the creamier texture of the Reese’s. Nathan’s always been a Butterfinger guy so that’s his excuse. I guess I’ll accept it. I also took a poll on Instagram 🙂

I washed my peanut butter cups down with my favorite vegan salad around—the wilted kale salad from Source. The salad comes with sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, avocado, & house dressing. I also added “cluck” on top to make it even more filling.

Holy cluck!

And we finished off the weekend with more caramelized onions. This time on a killer cauliflower crust pizza with pesto, balsamic onions, ground turkey, and smoked mozzarella. Holy. Cannoli. We win!

Best. Combo. Ever.

Weekly Meal Plan

There weren’t many sales this week and since we’ve been stocking up on leftovers, we’re going to be cashing in. If you’re looking for meal plan help, shoot me an email.

Monday – Vietnamese Chicken, Avocado + Lemongrass Spring Roll Salad With Hoisin Crackers
Tuesday – Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle-Cranberry Sauce & Brussels Sprouts with Quinoa & Cranberries
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Shish Tawook (Grilled Chicken Skewers) with Roasted Garlic Avocado Mayo, Garlic Parmesan Fries, & roasted asparagus
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers
Sunday – Leftovers

Food for Thought

Regular or curly fries?
Team Reese’s or Team Butterfinger?

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?