Author: Lauren @ ihadabiglunch

10 annoying things about growing up

1. You now have 800 different usernames and password combinations. Good luck keeping up with them.

That one’s for you, Dad 🙂

2. You gain a few pounds out of nowhere. You don’t look any different, but it’s like increasing age + life experience=weight. It would probably be a lot easier if we lived in a world that was more like this:

And a little less like this:

But I digress…

3. Coffee is no longer a way to look cool and studious. It is a drug. Without it, functioning is questionable and once you finally get it, it’s like a veil is lifted and the whole day starts to look up.

4. There is no need to read a book. Ever. It’s tough for me to sit down and read so I really appreciated that part of school when I was younger. Now there’s nothing stopping me from never touching a book for the rest of my life.

5. Serving sizes are getting increasingly smaller. I’m not getting any bigger but 3/4 a cup of cereal now seems like even more of a joke than it did a few years ago. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve wanted to pull a Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and put cereal in a mixing bowl. Now THAT’S a serving.

6. Your friends all start to live in different places and have different lives. So when you manage to come up with one night a week when you aren’t busy, how do you choose who to see, where to go, what to do? Oh, and the thought of making NEW friends? Ha!

7. Staying up past midnight, unless you’re watching Netflix, means that the next day you will be fully incapacitated. You go from dreaming of this every weekend in college:

To having only two priorities once you get off work:

8. You have very little hope for the next generation.

And just saying that makes you feel like you’re 82 instead of 22.

9. You start to search the hell out of Pinterest wedding ideas even though you haven’t even started paying off your student loans yet and can’t even commit to a movie selection on a Friday night.

10. Coupons matter.

Weekend Happenings: Illini edition!

I had a great time this weekend! So much so that the thought of whipping out the computer to blog just seemed irreverent 🙂

So here I am, another Monday is here, and the one thing getting me through it is reminiscing about my fun Saturday.

It all started bright and early with the official opening celebration of my local bootcamp!

I woke up earlier than normal because it was beautiful fall weather and I wanted to bike there.

Biking in Fall weather is amazing. It was sunny but crisp and I biked the three miles or so through town and to bootcamp.

It was my first partner workout! I was paired with a middle aged woman and she was just the sweetest! That’s what I love about Crossfit-like workouts…anyone with any skill level can work together and as long as you know your limits and how to modify the workout, it doesn’t matter. I love working with people and motivating them to kick their own butt! It was a fun class full of running and rowing. The ring rows were the toughest for me because my upper body strength is definitely lacking.

After I biked home I walked into the house to a great surprise: whole wheat french toast!

I grabbed two slices, drowned them in maple syrup, and served them alongside two eggs. If I don’t eat some protein with breakfast I’ll be hungry ten minutes later so eggs were definitely necessary. It was such a nice change-up from my normal breakfasts!

The plan for the day was to get to the Illini game at Soldier Field so I caught a train downtown and met up Zman at Navy Pier for a little pre-game date 🙂

We ate outside on the patio of Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was the perfect way to enjoy the beautiful weather.

If you’re even at Navy Pier I highly recommend Bubba Gump. It was fairly inexpensive and pretty delicious, but the highlight of the meal was our waiter. He asked us trivia about the movie Forrest Gump throughout our meal which made it a really lighthearted and interactive experience. I was so impressed because Zman knew EVERY answer! He’s a real movie buff, apparently. Who knew 🙂

We started out with a popcorn shrimp appetizer (mostly because Zman was ready to eat his arm if he didn’t get food asap). I was so happy because he usually refuses to touch any kind of seafood but today hunger overruled!

Zman is also a sucker for fruity drinks so when he saw the waiter walk by with some of the famous Bubba Gump cocktails he knew we had to try one.

I tried some and that thing is dangerous! So sweet that you wouldn’t even realize what you’re drinking 😉

For my entree I ordered a berry and shrimp salad, which came out beautifully.

It was so light and refreshing, the perfect balance after attacking that popcorn shrimp!

After our mini-date, we walked from Navy Pier to Soldier Field (another 3 miles!) and found our seats for the game.

The best thing about Soldier Field is that there isn’t a bad seat in the house. It’s a relatively small stadium, so even from the 400-level we could see every play.

It was a good game! We definitely have low expectations for our football team haha so the fact that we kept up and made it a good game was great for the fans. I didn’t even mind the loss because I ran into one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school, Frank! I love it when that happens.

Once the game was over we walked with masses the Museum of Science and Industry, where most people were drunkenly stumbling onto buses and into cabs. Luckily, Zman is a fan of walking so we decided another three mile walk would be better than waiting for that mess.

I love Chicago. Have I made that clear yet?

After getting back to the apartment and watching The League while we recuperated, we had some friends over and decided to go to Wrigleyville for a bit. Even though we didn’t spend a lot of time at the bars, it’s always good to get out to that area. The people watching, ESPECIALLY after midnight, is hilarious! No pictures from the bars but I obviously did document the most important part of the night:

No night out is complete without a 2am pizza run!

It was a blast of a day! It felt a little like we were back in college, which I’ll never say no to 😉

Question: what’s your favorite late-night food after you’ve gone out?

currently: friday the 13th

Just a few things that I’m loving this week! TGIF 🙂

Current Music:

Fall is the time of year I start to gravitate towards more indie/alternative music instead of the country tunes that take up 100% of my time throughout the summer. Autumn and indie just seem to go together beautifully

But there is always room for a guilty pleasure, bubblegum pop song obsession

Current Eats:

In breaking news, this cereal is heaven. Also, it only has 8 grams of sugar per serving? How is that even possible? That’s less than the twigs and branches cereal from Kashi that I usually eat. Actually I take that question back. Not gonna question it.

Current Shows

god I am LOVING DC-related shows. First “House of Cards” and now “Scandal”. I know I’m a few years late to the party (what else is new) but this show is great!

Current Read:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/11-life-hacks-for-the-emotionally-struggling-20-something/

“11 Life Hacks for the Emotionally Struggling 20-something”

“If you can’t enjoy what you have now, you are not in the right mindset to enjoy anything else”

It’s VERY hard to enjoy your day to day life when you feel like you aren’t moving in a certain direction. For me, I have always been used to moving forward–going to high school, making varsity basketball, taking the ACT, getting into college, picking a major, getting my degree. There’s always been something new to achieve, fairly easily too as long as I wanted it to happen.

Nowadays, life is more of a mystery. I have no idea where I’ll be one year from now. Many people my age have the same problem. But I’d be a fool to not enjoy what I have now because I feel like “less of a person” without a plan. I have parents who love me and give me a place to live, a boyfriend who would support me no matter what I chose to do or where I chose to go, and a genuine group of friends who I can always have a good time with. That’s enough for now. Even though I occasionally have to have an awkward minute-long conversation with people who ask “what are you doing with your life?”, that’s okay.

Current Style:

I just made some pre-Fall purchases that I couldn’t be happier with.

Fall fashion is the best.

Current Happenings

The U of I game this weekend!

My alum mater is playing football tomorrow at Soldier Field in Chicago! I’ll be heading downtown after getting a quick workout in so I can enjoy the first brisk day of fall tailgating and watching the game. I’m so excited!

In other news, happy Friday the 13th! Can you believe we’re basically halfway to October?!

Question: what are you loving currently?

Chicken and Goat Cheese with Quinoa (recipe)

Today I have a great recipe to share with you!

While I was in Washington D.C. my friends and I went out to eat every opportunity we had. Eventually our stomachs and wallets were dying for a homemade meal! Thanks to my good friend Mel, always the creative cook, we came up with a really easy and healthy dish to prepare for a family-style dinner on Saturday night.

Before I post this, I just have to say: I’m not the biggest fan of quinoa. To me, it needs A LOT of work to be enjoyable. Spices are imperative when creating a dish involving quinoa, because alone it doesn’t taste like much. Well this recipe opened my eyes to the beauty of goat cheese, and all that it can do for a recipe! I had never had goat cheese before! It added just the right amount of creaminess and decadence to this dish.

Without further ado, a new recipe for you to try!

Chicken and Goat Cheese Quinoa

Ingredients

3 grilled chicken breasts (precooked)
16 oz bag of quinoa
4 assorted bell peppers (we used yellow, orange, and green)
1 large yellow onion
1/2 of a 5oz. log of goat cheese–more or less depending on your preference
2 15oz. cans TJ’s Organic Great Northern Beans (or any other kind of white bean)
Cumin (start with 3 tbls. and add according to taste/preference)

Start by cooking the quinoa according to the instructions on the bag. Once it is cooked season it with a tablespoon of cumin and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Once the quinoa is cooking, chop your peppers and onions. You want these pieces to be bite-sized but not too small.

Sautee the chopped peppers and onions in olive oil until cooked, but still crispy. Season with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of the cumin.

Once the peppers and onions are cooked, add the chicken breasts (chopped). Finally, stir in the goat cheese! Mix only until the goat cheese is combined throughout. Add your third tablespoon of cumin, along with a few pinches of salt and pepper.

Now that everything is combined, it’s important to keep tasting until the amount of cumin is just right. It’s a very important flavor that really adds a lot to the dish, so make sure you use enough. You can always add more, but you can never take some back!

Serve with the quinoa and a simple side salad. I made one using my dijon mustard dressing and leafy greens.

I don’t know if it was the family atmosphere or the dish itself, but I enjoyed this meal more than I’ve enjoyed one in a long time. We ate this dinner, drank margaritas (not the best pairing haha), and talked about everything from music, politics, and current events for hours. I love being with people who appreciate food as much as I do. Food isn’t just about the action of eating, it’s about the community it creates and the art it can exhibit, if you just give your meals a little time and attention.

On a side note, ever since I stopped “dieting” and started eating mostly whole foods, I’ve noticed that I have a much deeper appreciation for food. When you eat things that are natural such as fruits, veggies, lean meats, and nuts there aren’t any restrictions! That was what always caused me to fail and be stressed out all the time with food in the past. There were so many opportunities “to fail”. When you view your diet as an opportunity to eat all the whole foods that you want, you start seeing all the wonderful things that you CAN eat, not all the things that are forbidden.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Question: do you know anyone who sees eating as a “nuisance”? A man on the radio the other day said that eating often “gets in the way” of his day and it annoys him. How is that possible?!

WIAW + urban dictionary

Have you ever looked something up on urbandictionary.com? It was one of those sites in high school that we all thought was soooo great because of its hilarious and often inappropriate definitions.

Today’s bootcamp consisted of mostly burpees. In total, we did about 10 minutes of them nonstop. (On a separate note, even lifting my coffee mug when I got home was difficult. Sore to the max).

If you aren’t familiar with the exercise, here’s how urbandictionary defines them:

Burpee: the most badass form of exercise on the market; targets every muscle and improves explosiveness. Common among inmates.
Ex: “I just did 100 burpees in 5 minutes excuse me while I projectile vomit”

Aaaaand just like that urbandictionary takes the words right out of my mouth.

So even though I feel like Betty Spaghetti typing away right now, I guess it’s time for What I Ate Wednesday! Here are my eats throughout the day yesterday.

Breakfast

Sadly a recycled picture

That workout this morning had my body BEGGING for protein, so that’s what I gave it.

Throughout the day I was hard at work on a new project, but in my down time I roasted two small sweet potatoes, topped them with truvia and cinnamon, and snacked away. This was so good! I usually roast them to make fries but I wanted something sweet and this was perfect.

Lunch

I had lunch later in the day once I got off work (I’m done now around 3:30). I threw together a black bean/veggie quesadilla and it hit the spot. I even had to run to the store to get salsa but that is the determination I have to fulfill a craving 🙂

Two whole wheat tortillas from La Tortilla Factory filled with 1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese, sauteed peppers and onions, and black beans. Bowl of salsa on the side, duh, since I am the condiment queen.

I ran to the grocery store with my Mom after she got off work to pick up a few things, and by the time we got home my whole family plopped down on the couch to watch Shark Tank. It’s one of the few shows my family all loves so it’s such a blast to watch together and comment either on how dumb or brilliant people’s ideas are. Plus this week is ABC’s “Shark Week” (haha copycats) so it’s on every night!

Dinner

Dinner was simple because we were all so engrossed in Shark Tank.

Sometimes only a PB&J will do 🙂 yum

After dinner I finished off the TJ’s chocolate covered raisins that I bought awhile back. They were great while they lasted! I wasn’t as big of a fan of the yogurt covered raisins or the sea salt caramel butterscotch caramels so I’m pawning them off to my friends and family haha. That chocolate covered toffee popcorn, however? Oh that didn’t last more than a few days. That stuff was crack

Around midnight I ate a bunch of fruit in bed watching Scandal. I guess I’m getting a little better at the whole “no snacking in bed thing”

considering I used to be quite the midnight cereal killer.

Another day of fun, colorful eats. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

pressing the reset button

I always feel pretty out of sorts health-wise whenever I come back from time spent on vacation. Since the past month I’ve been out of town every weekend, indulging and skipping workouts, I knew this Monday was a good time for me to press the reset button.

The whole day was a jumble since I got home from my flight at 9am (after the airline lost my bag and I had to fill out all that fun paperwork) and had to jump directly into work. My eats yesterday were healthy and wholesome, however, which I was especially proud of myself for considering when I’m tired, all I want is easy-cheesy carbs and sugar.

The highlight yesterday was dinner! All the stars aligned and I had every single ingredient for a Nicoise Salad!

For those of you who don’t know, a Nicoise salad is NOT your typical rabbit food. It has some serious staying power, thanks to tons of protein in its variety of ingredients! When I studied abroad in Paris this was one of my favorite things to order (when I wasn’t diving head first into a croque monsieur).

Here’s a quick recipe for those who don’t know the ingredients:

Nicoise Salad

Leafy greens
One small can of chunk light tuna, drained (4 oz or so)
1 hard boiled egg (chopped and sprinkled with salt and pepper)
Green beans (just a handful or so…steamed, roasted, whatever! but they should be served cold on the salad)
Chopped tomato
Dijon mustard dressing*

Dijon mustard dressing

Dijon mustard or something similar (this time I used the garlic mustard aioli from TJs)
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil

Whisk the mustard and vinegar together first until very well combined. Then add the olive oil and whisk together for a few minutes. Proportions are hard to say exactly for this, but I usually start with about 2 tbl of mustard, add in 1 tbls of vinegar, and then add olive oil to taste. You really have to try it for yourself. You really can’t mess this up as long as you whisk the vinegar and mustard first and then add the oil slowly afterwards.

This salad comes together so beautifully, and if you have all the ingredients on hand (which, let’s be honest, how often does that happen?) it is so easy to make. Even if you normally don’t have this stuff at home, make it a point to try this salad sometime. It’s delicious and stays with you for hours, thanks to the protein from the tuna and egg.

An hour later I had some dessert: healthy but still indulgent

Plain greek yogurt mixed with truvia, vanilla, unsweetened cocoa powder, and semisweet chocolate chips. Yum!

This morning I got down to business at bootcamp.

Tough workout! Especially because I decided to wear all black and we spent most of the time running. All in all, including the warmup run-through of this WOD and the core work at the end, this was only a 30 minute workout. However, I worked my butt off and my muscles feel like they’re still twitching! Crazy.

Feeling exhausted but strong and powerful at the same time–the BEST kind of workout.

I came home and took two L-glutamine supplements hoping that will help my soreness when I head back to bootcamp tomorrow. Breakfast before work was simple:

Kashi GoLean + flax seeds + banana + almond milk. Quick and easy, because I had a conference call for work to get on!

I’m feeling really motivated for a full week of healthy eating and challenging workouts! Maybe it’s the changing of the seasons but it always gives me that extra boost of motivation.

Question: when during the year are you most motivated to eat right and exercise? Is it only when bikini season is right around the corner?

Weekend happenings: Dallas edition

To say that this weekend was eventful would be an understatement. Zman’s grandma hasn’t been doing well so we flew to Dallas on Friday night to spend a few days with his family. While we did a lot of our usual Texas activities (hello, bbq), the weekend had somber undertones. That, combined with the Dallas Cowboys first home game of the season on Sunday night, and it was a pretty eventful weekend!

We were originally planning on being in Dallas to celebrate Zman’s brother’s engagement! So while we spent some time at the hospital, most of the weekend was spent with his brother and fiancee! It was so much fun.

Friday night we got to O’Hare airport early enough to grab a quick dinner before our flight. There are a million options at O’Hare but we settled on Goose Island Brewery.

Shenanigans ensued.

I got the grilled chicken sandwich with a side of fries. I loved this sandwich! It was on wheat bread and I could tell it wasn’t slathered in butter like most sandwiches are. It was actually a double-decker sandwich so I took the middle layer of bread out to cut back on the excess. Then I ate the fries and everything was even 🙂 All about the balance, people.

Of course since we were in Dallas one of the first thing Zman wanted to do was get Dickey’s Barbeque. Saturday afternoon was full of mac and cheese, brisket, bbq sauce, rolls, and waffle fries. It was a doozy. I knew I wasn’t going to be getting much of a workout in for the weekend, however, so I separately ordered a bbq grilled chicken sandwich and heated up some green beans that I found in their freezer. Sometimes you’ve just got to be that weird person who healthifies their meal! It was tough because their mac n cheese is to die for!

Later that night we went out for a celebratory dinner at Maggiano’s for the engagement!

This was the most upscale Maggiano’s I’ve ever been to. It looked like a casino! Minus a few hiccups thanks to a snarky waitress and a group of 15 that was hard to control (haha) it was a deeeelicious spread. Did you know that when you order a dish from Maggiano’s they give you another one to-go? What is this madness? I mean I’m all for free food, but why, America? I’m not a big fan of Italian food but when I do get it, I almost always get eggplant parmesean. It’s one of my all-time favorites

After dinner the rest of the group wanted to go out but Zman and I decided to head back to the house and watch a movie. Around midnight I wanted ice cream and stumbled upon some mint chocolate chip in the freezer. I saw a box of cake cones in the pantry as well and was excited because I love putting my ice cream in cones! Hysterically, the cones were “kid cones” and probably only held half a scoop of ice cream at the most. It was so funny–talk about portion control!

Sunday consisted of two things: hospital and football

Zman and his brother rocking our purses in the hospital:

The stereotype about Texas is true: they live and breath Cowboy football. Wherever we went (including the hospital) people were wearing their Romo jerseys and talking about football statistics. I’m a football person but let me tell you, there’s a difference between love and OBSESSION. Still trying to pull Zman from the dark side of obsession but I guess that’s one thing I have to accept 😉

It was a fun night watching the game at Zman’s house. His family created a makeshift theater in an empty room upstairs using a projector and a few LazyBoy chairs, so we made popcorn, ate candy, and cheered for the Cowboys (who won, by the way!)

This morning was horrible. We had an early flight at 6am so we were out the door by 4am. Normally I’m a early bird, but this excessive wake-up call made me extremely nauseous. I spent half the flight not speaking to Zman for fear of projectile vomiting and the other half making him be my personal pillow. Boyfriends are the best.

I spent the day working from home and then going to a shift at the restaurant, followed by an hour-long cardio session at the gym. It’s been a long day! Can’t wait for things to settle down tomorrow!

Question: Do you ever “healthify” foods when you’re with a big group of people even if it makes you stick out like a sore thumb?

bootcamp is no joke

Man. All my prior beliefs about what “makes” a workout are being shattered.

I woke up this morning and had a quick bowl of breakfast before heading over to bootcamp.

a delicious combination of Kashi go lean and honey nut cheerios. Sliced banana on top and almond milk. Pretty food 🙂

I was planning on running to bootcamp (it’s a little over 2 miles each way) but I ended up deciding to sleep in instead. Thank goodness I did that because I definitely go my running in during the WOD.

Sweeeeet lawd. Doing jump squats directly after running is not a treat. It ended up being 8 rounds, so a mile total, of 200m sprints. Phew!

Needless to say, my mindset of “a workout has to be an hour in order to count” is quickly being wiped away. This workout was only about 20 minutes, plus a 5 minute warmup, and I was wiped out. These crossfit workouts are mentally and physically challenging in no way I’ve ever experienced (except back in high school when my basketball team did plyometrics with the boys football team during the offseason).

The best part about today’s workout?

I finally got to use kettlebells! I’ve been hearing about how effective kettlebell workouts are for awhile now but I always just stare at them at the gym, too nervous to do it alone. Being in a group environment where everyone is learning as they go along makes it so much easier to try new things.

I came home and snacked on some super ripe honeydew melon before running out the door to meet up with some friends from college for lunch.

I am lucky in that I made a big group of girlfriends my freshman year of college and we’ve been close ever since. Now that we’re all graduated and moving in a million different directions, it’s nice when some of us can find a random afternoon to grab lunch or coffee, or to even just catch up over the phone.

Love these girls so much!

Four of us met up at Portillo’s for lunch (a Chicago favorite)

Chopped salad FTW!

This salad has everything. Little bits of pasta, blue cheese, chicken, and chopped up lettuce. It normally has bacon on it as well but I always ask to skip that. It’s a huge portion (which you know I lurv) and a treat every time I get it.

I just picked up Zman from a work retreat and we went to get his oil changed. I grabbed Starbucks while we waited for the car to be ready.

Grande coffee with pumpkin spice and topped with soy milk. (Did you know they put FOUR pumps of syrup in a grande?! It was delicious but man is that excessive. I’m going to try two next time. I hate drinking my calories and want to make an exception for pumpkin since it’s my favorite, but four pumps of syrup is a recipe for disaster and sugar cravings allll day).

Now Zman and I are packing for a quick trip to Dallas for the weekend. I told you I have a serious case of wanderlust, didn’t I? 😉

Have a GREAT weekend!

wait it’s thursday?

Stupid Labor Day. Even with my clever hump day joke yesterday my days are all kinds of messed up this week. I completely forgot to do WIAW yesterday! Obviously I can’t just skip out on documenting a day of eats, so here it is.

WIAW!

Breakfast

I already posted a picture of the awesome pumpkin oats I had yesterday, so here’s what I ate for breakfast on Tuesday.

Egg sandwich. Whole wheat english muffin, raspberry jam, and a veggie sausage patty all surrounding 2 eggs with spinach and parmesean cheese. BAM! This never gets old.

Lunch

For the firs time in awhile I was in the mood to take the time for salad prep. Last summer I was eating salads and smoothies every day. I’ll chalk it up to the weird less-than-summery weather but this year that summer food hasn’t been doing it for me. Yesterday, however, I brought back an old favorite.

Aaaaand now I remember why it’s a favorite. Base of romaine and leafy greens, topped with cooked red onions and peppers (chili powder, red pepper flakes, and salt/pepper seasoning), morningstar chikn patty, cowboy caviar corn and black bean salsa from TJs, and avocado. After this pic was taken I drizzled TJ’s cilantro salad dressing all over this baby. Oh boy.

I snacked on chocolate throughout the afternoon (stupid work stress)

Hey, the way I see it, it’s RAISINS and chocolate, so it’s healthy, right? 😉

Dinner

I have this habit of sneaking vegetables into my dishes. Some people think it’s weird, I just see it as a) bulking up my food so I actually get to eat MORE and b) a way to sneak in all those invaluable vitamins and nutrients that veggies provide. Win-win!

I cooked up some quinoa pasta (gluten-free), chopped up some broccoli tossed that with the pasta, and then cooked up a few pieces of TJ’s eggplant parm. Topped with marinara sauce and parmesean cheese. Veggie city.

A few hours later I was hungry again so I ended the night with a really really delicious “dessert”.

English muffin with pb and chocolate chips. So good, especially with a glass of almond milk. (and a few more handfuls of chocolate covered raisins 🙂 )

Crossfit update. WHOA am I sore! My shoulders and back are on fire today! I’m having a hard time figuring out how I’m going to workout today…maybe a simple elliptical workout after my shift at the restaurant tonight. I’m pumped for my next CF experience tomorrow!

Now I’m just sitting here deciding how long it’s going to be before I take part in this madness:

I think I just have to read the ingredient list to turn myself off of buying the pumpkin bagel with pumpkin cream cheese. Or maybe I’ll play dumb and just dive right in to the pumpkin goodness. Yum!

Question: What is your favorite Fall food?

guess what day it is?

It’s pump day! (as in, Pumpkin!)

Yeah, sure, it is hump day too. But more importantly, today I busted out the cans of pumpkin! Day of of cramming pumpkin into as many of my meals as possible has commenced!

(In case you haven’t seen the commercial I’m referencing, it’s too funny)

So happy hump day AND pump day!

Today was my first day of Crossfit! I woke up pretty nervous and did my usual “lay in bed and think of one million excuses for why i can skip bootcamp” deal before peeling myself out of bed and into the car for the quick drive to my workout.

Primal Fitness Bootcamp is located in the heart of my town so it’s a quick and easy drive there. It’s inside of a warehouse-like building, with giant doors open to the outside. I love workout spaces like this! Music pounding, equipment everywhere, teamwork, and intensity. It was so much fun!

The owners Chris and Barb were so welcoming. Even though I could tell people knew each other from a previous box, I was thrown right in the group setting and it was a blast!

After a warmup of jogging, sprints, high knees, skips, etc., we turned to the board and learned all about our WOD.

9/4 WOD

Pull-ups
Wall Balls
Butterfly Sit-ups
Burpees

4 rounds of each exercise

1 minute at each station, 1 minute rest between rounds.

It was intense to say the least. I’ve never had much upper body strength, so the pull-ups were definitely the hardest for me. Luckily there were plenty of modifications for every skill level so I used a band as assistance. It’s exciting because I know that if I keep working hard at it, I’ll eventually be able to do pull-ups on my own. I’ll officially feel like a badass the day that happens haha.

I came home from the workout and immediately pulled out a can of pumpkin. I whipped up a quick batch of pumpkin oats for breakfast.

1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup almond milk, pure pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, walnuts, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Autumn is in the air 🙂

Today and tonight are cooking days! I have some recipes to cook up and share with you, so keep an eye out for those in the next few days. Until then, have a great hump day!

Question: what’s one exercise you’ve always struggled with? Push-ups and pull-ups are impossible for me!

i had a big lunch

Because dreaming about food and fitness was no longer enough