Weekly Meal Planning

Last week was the first week in a very long time that I have planned any meals and gone grocery shopping for anything. I loved it. I forgot how mice it is to have plenty of food in the house and be able to make whatever, whenever. It also meant that we ate out way less than most any other week in the past year and we spent far less on food. Honestly, I think it also saved us time in the end. We were not having to worry about who was going to go get lunch or what was for dinner and who would get it, we just ate what was on the menu and in the house.

There were, of course, a few things that did not get prepared, so those have been jumped to this week's list. There were also a few things that I loved- these balls being one of them. They were so good and ridiculously easy to make and kept my sweet tooth in check just fine! I did make a few changes to them and will have the recipe up soon!

As for other meals, here is what we will be eating this week!

Monday

• Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs and Fruit
• Tuesday: Spinach and Strawberry Smoothie
• Dinner: Creamy Tortellini Soup with Shrimp
• Snack: Kale Chips (I did not get to make them last week)

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
• Lunch: Caprese Salad (it was so yummy last week and easy to make!)
• Dinner: Blue Apron Meal
• Snack: Yogurt

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Fruit and Yogurt Parfait
• Lunch: Meal Replacement Shake
• Dinner: Caesar Salad with Shrimp
• Snack: Fruits and Vegetables

Thursday

• Breakfast: Meal Replacement Shake
• Lunch: Egg Sandwich
• Dinner: Kale and Salmon
• Snack: apples with almond butter

Friday

• Breakfast: Salmon Omelet
• Lunch: Eggplant Pizza
• Dinner: Big night out!
• Snack: Bar

Saturday

• Breakfast: Flaxseed Smoothie 
• Lunch: Meal Replacement Shake
• Dinner: Raw Kale Pesto over Linguine 
• Snack: Small Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

Sunday

• Breakfast: Meal Replacement Bar
• Lunch: Egg Sandwich
• Dinner: Blue Apron
• Snack: Bars

This Week in Workouts: Travels

Well, as you may know, I we finally arrived home late last week. What you may have also realized is that the Sunday post did not get out... This is mostly because I was just savoring being at home and being with our cats again. But now, it is back to work and back to slightly fewer cat cuddles.

The road home ended up being super fantastic and filled with more than one adventure. Everything started out at our good friends' wedding reception in Wisconsin. There will be much more on that as well since these friends also have an organic coffee farm in Colombia that is getting ready to start sales of their first roast. It was wonderful to see them and incredible to be with all our friends and family together again! Then, we were able to camp in the Smokey Mountains and climb a mountain. My goal (albeit silly) was also accomplished and I was able to eat Trail Mix on the Appalachian Trail. Epic. 

The mountain climb and trail hike did leave my muscles surprisingly achy... Especially the downhill run from a giant rattle snake- for real. Needless to say, the following two days were followed with relaxation and plenty of yoga. Turns out downward facing dog is the best thing ever for sore calf muscles.

Then, came two days at Disney World and a recuperative stay at the Swan and Dolphin where we had, possibly, the best view ever. I have always been partial to the Swan Hotel at Disney World, but after this stay, I may have been converted. We stayed at the Dolphin Hotel for my first time ever and had Hudgens, the  most incredible check-in assistant ever. He upgraded us to the nicest view I have ever had at a Disney resort where we opted to stay in and watch two fireworks displays from the comfort of our room. And yes, the picture above was taken from our wall-length window :)

The next morning the second part of my travel goal was completed and I jogged around the Swan and Dolphin Hotels along with a bit around the Yacht and Beach Club. Granted, my calf muscles were still the most sore things ever, so the run was only a mile long.

My legs were completely soothed by Friday with a welcome home hot yoga class to round out the week. This week's goals include at least two more hot yoga classes and a couple more short runs. Nothing too crazy, but some things that I have been missing incredibly!

Happy Monday, I hope your week is simply wonderful!

This Week in Workouts: Reunion

Happy August! Since we will be starting our camping adventure in a few short hours it just made sense to do Sunday's post today. Because of this, there will be no post on Sunday, but we will continue with regular blog posts all next week!

This week has been fantastic! It all started off with the last camp session and one that we have never done before- a camp reunion. We have had past campers, previous counselors, and camper parents participating camping this past week. People have come from all areas of the US, Colombia, Sweden, Australia, and Russia for this week at camp! Considering that a few of these people are also Olympians, marathoners, ultra-marathoners, and tri-athaletes, this week has not been a walk in the park on the fitness front. It has been so inspiring to have people 20+ years older than me kicking my butt in every fitness category. What a great reminder that age is but a number!

Sunday: I led the spine stretching and strengthening yoga flow for some of our camp attendees! It will be on the blog soon!

Monday: My favorite 3.75-mile run ever!

Tuesday: The Squat-tastic workout followed by this Lesley Fightmaster's yoga flow for runners.

Wednesday: An isometric ab workout you will see on the blog soon :) Seriously, this is the stealth kind of workout where you feel fine till two days later and suddenly unable to laugh due to core pain.

Thursday: One last run to my favorite bagel and coffee shop. It ends up being about 4.7-miles and at the end we met up with family and friends for some coffee, sweet rolls, bagels, and a few good byes!

Friday: Hitting the road!!

Weekly Workout Goal

Almost all of next week will be filled with camping followed by one day at Disney World! Because of this, I am keeping my workout goals pretty relaxed. Some of the things I would love to do are do some camp-style yoga, hike some of the Appalachian Trail, see a waterfall, and run some of those incredible Disney running paths. If this week turns into a massive s'mores and sleep fest, I am happy with that as well.

Happy weekend! I hope yours is filled with a bit of R&R as well :)

This Week in Workouts: Summer!

The Michigan weather has been wonderful this week and I have been able to take advantage of that with a few wonderful, albeit short, runs. Thankfully, that pesky plantar facialis has gotten itself cleared up and running is no longer a super big pain. Unfortunately though, not running for a week+ has made getting back in the groove a little more difficult. I ran through this and am now, pretty much, back up to the usual running distance and speed.

Good news! I have also been talking with a few of the runners we have at the Leadership Reunion (one of them being a Guinness Book of World Record holders for running) and have plenty of tips for marathoning and half-marathoning along with a great recommendation from marathon training that we will be talking all about in the future! For now though, let's get to those workouts...

Sunday: Sunday was quite busy here and ended up being a rest day with about 12,000+ steps added in.

Monday: That foot was still acting up so this was a fantastic yoga day centered around the bum. I ended up doing this Tara Stiles flow twice, one play-through for each side. This Tara Stiles Yoga Flow for Lean Legs was next.

Tuesday: My new favorite flow for runners by Lesley Fightmaster!

Wednesday: 2-mile slow run that felt quite nice!

Thursday: 3-mile trail run onto some of the camp's old horse riding trails. It was so fun to trail run through past areas the hubs knows so well! The picture above is also from that run :)

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: A 15-minute Squat-tastic Workout that will be on the blog later this week! Man, it is a doozy, but soooo good!

Weekly Workout Goal

We will be running more this week in general and this week will be my last time for a while to run during the Michigan Summer. For this reason, my big goal this week is to run at least three times and run 15-miles during the week!