Five For Friday Birthday Style…

Happy Friday!  I’m stripping down & jumping right into this “Five for Friday“…there’s some exciting stuff going on!

1.  Today is my BIRTHDAY!  Yahoo!  I love Birthday’s!  Today & this weekend hold a ton of wine fun stuff & it’s going to be just fabulous!

2.  Today is also my 1st day waking-up to not working at my old job (and by “old”, I mean yesterday!).   Another Yahoo to that!  I’m not sure which is more exciting, this or the Big Number 32 I’m celebrating today!

3.  Susan asked me to guest post on her corner of internet real-estate today as she heads out of town.  Check out my random quips on travel memories at “Go, Susan, Go“.  Thanks to her for allowing me to poison her readers minds visit with her audience for a bit!

4.  In-between getting the eff out of Dodge spinning my wheels to wrap things up at work & training clients, I’ve had minimal free time this week. (Note: NOT complaining at all, just stating the facts!).   Somehow I’ve knocked out a few decent workouts.  This mess of a circuit will give you a good go of trying to kill you getting some bang for your buck. When in doubt…half-burpee about it…

5.   Did I mention today is my birthday & it’s going to be a nice long weekend of celebrating? Tonight is drinks & dinner with the ladies, Saturday is a BBQ at girlfriends, Sunday is dinner with the fam & Monday is dinner with Jon.  Phew!

So, there ya’ have it, short & sweet!  Happy Friday!  What’s on your radar for the long weekend?  Make it a great one!

I Think I’ll Check Out…Plus WIAW…

Good morning & Happy Wednesday to all!  This week is flying by at lightning speed & I cannot believe that by the end of tomorrow I’ll be saying a big fat “Sayonara” to my full-time job!  I’ve been running ragged since I gave my notice trying to get things squared away so they don’t drown can continue to smooth sail without me, logistically I am almost done with all I need to do for them, emotionally, I’ve been CHECKED the eff OUT for a bit!

Taking on more clients & classes to build up my base & experience means my schedule has changed some, I’m learning how tough it is to juggle 2 jobs & cannot wait until I have only one…the one I LOVE!  The one where I get to motivate others to be their healthiest selves!  I think I’m just looking forward to telling folks they should follow this cray cray’s advice —

The change in schedule has meant some super-early mornings which is throwing my feeding eating schedule to the wind.  It’s been a bit since I played along with the What I Ate Wednesday crew, so let’s take a look into Tuesday’s eats between personal training clients & work

Monday evening I did something really bat shit crazy wild & agreed to sub for a 5am Tuesday Functional Training Class.  Having that in my mind, I knew I needed to hit the hay super early. Thanks to rediculous storms (thoughts & prayers still go out to those in Oklahoma suffering), I managed to toss & turn all night while listening to the hail pound down & a 90-lb. Doberman whine.  Needless to say, 4:15am came way too early Tuesday morning!

4:15am — while fumbling around the kitchen trying to rub pillow marks off my face, I filled a Nalgene & a coffee to go with some coconut milk to take with me to the studio.

5am — This crew was rockin’!  Just seeing these ladies in action brightens my day —

6:30am — In between the 5am class & my 6 & 6:30am clients I managed to scarf part of a banana with some sunflower nut butter & cinnamon, it was just enough to keep me going until breakfast —

7:45am — After training for the morning I drug my sorry ass self to the gym for a round of “Sprint Your Heart Out” sprints on the treadmill.   Seeing others work hard motivates me as well & I knew if I didn’t get my workout in early, it wasn’t happening!

8:45am — BREAKFAST finally happened, thank sweet baby Jesus, I was famished!  Into the bowl went a banana, berries, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, scrambled egg whites & some more cinnamon along with a drop of maple extract.  Disgustingness Heaven in a bowl!

10:45am — after showering & working at home for a bit, I ventured out to the Apple store, which called for an apple as a snack.  Really I’m not that lame cool that I planned it, just snagged it while I was heading out the door

12:45pm — After getting home from the Apple store with a new toy in tow, this is my “Happy Early Birthday to Me/I Quit My Job & Need to Give Them Their Laptop Back” purchase —

I tossed everything I could find into this ridiculously large salad!  In the mix: romaine, field greens, shredded chicken, roasted vegetables, cottage cheese, vinegar, sriacha, olive tapenade & avocado…holy YUM!

2pm — After working throughout the afternoon on some work things along with a few workouts for clients & ended up breaking for a homemade iced coffee along with a Dove Promise —

4pm — En route to train evening clients I had part of a Green Protein Shake leftover from the massive quantity I made the other day…recycled pic alert!  In the BlendTec went kale, spinach, berries, banana, cinnamon & Vega Performance Protein Vanilla powder —

6:30pm — What do you do after you get home from training & are so dog tired you can’t see straight?  You pour a glass of wine…yes, yes you do!

And then you make stuffed peppers with some badass grass fed beef!  Mmmmmm…

And then you have another glass of wine & some chocolate & maybe some more chocolate…all in all, a YUM day!

So, now I’m off to tackle today, it’s going to be another busy one…can’t wait though! What’s the best thing you’ve eaten all week?  Spill it…

Motivation Monday…

Morning & Happy Monday!  What better way to kick-off the week than with a bottle of bubbly a post about MOTIVATION!  A couple of weeks back I was contacted by Michelle Pino, Spa Manager at Skana in Upstate, NY about something I thought readers might enjoy!  Thanks Michelle for reaching out.  Her email to me read —

“My name is Michelle and I work at a spa called Skana, in a small town in Upstate NY.  I’ve recently taken an interest in what inspires others to live a healthy lifestyle.  With my knowledge of health and wellness, people were always asking me what I do to stay healthy, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to share my knowledge with others. 

To me, the daily stresses and life’s challenges, make it so important to make health a priority and inspire us to treat our body right. That motivation morphed into habit once I knew how great taking care of myself felt!”

I couldn’t agree more with Michelle that many times people do inquire about the “secret” to a healthy lifestyle.  Well, sorry folks, there is no “secret” & no “magic pill” to swallow well, dammit!  Good hard work will get you where you need to be!  I’ll be the 1st to admit that “life” can often get in the way of our goals of leading a healthier life!  We get caught in the “churn & burn” & loose sight of what can help us achieve amazing things!  One thing that always keeps me positive is remembering that leading a healthy life truly is a PUZZLE.  No one area is going to do it all for us, we must focus on the bigger picture.  That can be a bit daunting at times so looking at smaller more manageable pieces of the puzzle often keeps me focussed. I’m a huge “quotes” person & thanks to Pinterest, I’ve been able to keep some of my favs quickly at hand.  The month of May is National Physical Fitness & Sports Month so I thought I’d focus on some favorite motivational quips when it comes to health, some pertaining to fitness.  This is what my motivational puzzle looks like —

Inspiration boards are meant to be YOUR personal motivator. Whatever your goal,  try creating your own inspiration board & keep it nearby.  A daily reminder will help you stay focused on your goals!  You can also see more by following me on Pinterest HERE.

Michelle also emailed me & included the following tips which you may find helpful —

Many times we look at motivational items such as these, read them & then set them aside!  Are you ready to take action RIGHT NOW to make your day healthier?  How about a quick 30-minute sweat session???  I had the chance to demo this workout for some folks the other day & everyone was dripping by the end!  Turn on some beats & get started —

That’s all for now folks!  Hope you enjoy your Monday.  What would be on YOUR inspiration board for leading your healthiest life?

Five For Friday 5/16/13…Tapped Out…

Weeeee, FRIDAY!  Here.We.Go!  Thanks goodness!  Y’all, it was iffy that I was going to make it to the end of this week —

Between work trying to murder me run me into the ground, training in the mornings & evenings & not sleeping well with so much on my mind, I’m tapped for the week.  Enough complaining though, I wouldn’t change the decision I made earlier in the week for the world, ONE week to go & then I’m peacin’ out!  In the meantime, I’m somewhat coehrernt enough to send a “Five For Friday” your way to wrap this week up!  Here ya’ go —

1.  The iced coffee stop on Wednesday has been reaping benefits all week long!  I’ve been reusing the cup to shove iced-coffee down my throat in the afternoons.  I have to admit a Sweet N’ Low snuck it’s way into the cup the other afternoon.  I’ll probably grow a 3rd eye & then emit radioactive embers from the fake-sugar, but it was well worth that sweet does of goodness it delivered!

2.  STL has really stepped up their game over the past few years to work on getting healthier, I love it!  Recently I got word of the “Get Outdoors Under the Gateway Arch“, a FREE event hosted by the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial at the Arch grounds on June 8.  They’ve got an awesome line-up of events for all ages & it looks like a total blast.  Will I see you there??  (click on either pic for more info!)

3.  Due to my impending doom resignation, work was kind enough to send me some flowers yesterday.  Thanks to the standard lack of communication, I ended up with two bouquets instead of one, sure, why not?!?  Flowers are flowers!

4.  Despite being dog dead tired, I’ve still managed to sneak in decent workouts this week.  This morning’s was no exception, compound moves combine a few exercises into one & give you a ton of bang for your buck.  Today’s looked like this —

5.  We have minimal plans this weekend aside from a brunch tomorrow, a few clients & some errands, yes, that’s a “minimal plans” weekend in my books, not traveling helps!  I’m really hoping for some relaxing time on the couch Sunday…wish me luck sign me up!

So, that’s about it…again, thank goodness this week is about over…

How’s your week been?  Do you live in a fairly healthy city?  Busy weekend ahead?  Ever tried compound exercise moves?  HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Say What?!?! Wednesday 5.15.13

…Hi everyone! How’s your week plugging along? Mine’s somewhat exciting, more on that in a minute! It’s been ages since I’ve done a “Say WHAT?!?! Wednesday” so figured I’d get one rolling! Buckle-up…

I gave my notice & quit my full-time job on Monday morning! Say WHAT?!?!

Ladies & gentleman, this has been a LONG time coming! One might call me stupid crazy for leaving a full-time job with decent pay for an unstable something I’ll have to build ffrom the ground up, you know what though — you can’t succeed unless you TRY. And I’m finally at the point where I’m ready to knock this out of the park & put my heart & soul into building an amazing client base & have a blast while doing so!

There are plenty of other details I’d love to go into yet will refrain from for the sake of professionalism. And that’s all I have to say on that decision! Warning: shameless plug coming your way: If you are in St. Louis or know anyone in the area, feel free to point them in my direction for personal training. The studio I’m working at was featured on our local talk show, Show Me St. Louis Monday. Just watching all of the fun we’re having while at “work” seals the deal & reaffirms I made the right decision. The link is here —

Phew, now that cat’s out of the bag! I had the best night of sleep Monday night that I’ve had in weeks & no doubt its from a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! Many of my co-workers were very supportive while some were not, I guess that’s par for the course.

Tuesday morning after training a client I joined the owner of the studio for a treadmill workout & a “meeting”. A “business meeting” on the treadmill — Say WHAT?!?! Sign.Me.Up! I taught her the “Sprint Your Heart Out” & by the end we had solved the worlds problems were both dripping & had some awesome new ideas

Somehow it’s already 90-plus degrees in mid-May…Say WHAT?!? We apparently bypassed the season I recall being Spring…thank you STL weather!

You know what the high-temps mean??? Say WHAT?!? Iced coffee! Toss some caramel syrup & coconut milk & you’ve got a tasty afternoon cocktail treat!

Eight is the number of things I crammed into my breakfast yesterday morning. Say WHAT?!?! I love eating out of near-empty nut butter jars more than this guy —

Check this nattiness goodness out; in the mix — banana/egg/pumpkin pancake scrambled, peanut butter remnants, berries, greek yogurt, cinnamon & maple extract. I didn’t want this to end…ever!

Last night I ended up training a client & then hoofing it to the Grand Opening of the St. Louis Athleta Store.  When I got there there was a line to get in & waiters passing out wine & hors d’oeuvre’s.  Say WHAT?!?! Wine & snacks at a store opening?  You betcha!  The store was packed & almost un-moveable, still was neat to visit & see the great outpouring of support from the STL community!

So, all in all, so far, it’s been a Say WHAT?!? kind of a week! I do find myself occasionally freaking out, I know it will all workout I’m super excited about the possibilities!

How’s your week going? What’s the last big change you made in your life? What are YOU waiting for?

Monday Unplugged…

Morning Friends!  Hope you had an excellent weekend & are off to a rockin’ start this morning!  After checking-in with you all Friday morning, I opted to UNPLUG from the blog world for the weekend, GASP!  Sometimes checking-in on blogs & social media can get overwhelming.

I had a ton of things to get done so declared a self-impossed intervention hiatus for Friday afternoon through this morning!  No checking WordPress or Bloglovin’…& surprise, the world didn’t end!  I did stay tuned into Instagram & Facebook, I’m not that crazy

You know what did happen though?  A lot of really AWESOME stuff over the weekend! Let’s take a look, shall we?

Friday afternoon we filmed a segment for a local St. Louis talk show at the studio. We’re going to be featured on “Show Me St. Louis” this afternoon.  We had an absolute blast filming & despite my arms almost falling off from endless amounts of push-ups on the Bosu, it was all fun & games!

Saturday morning started bright & early with some Stairmill Tabata’s & a dive into “The Zone” by Barry Sears.  A few of my clients are getting more into nutrition & I’m happy to oblige their requests for help along with expanding my knowledge base.

Next up was the main event Saturday, Jon’s graduation from Webster University.  It was an absolutely beautiful day & the ceremony was short & sweet.  We enjoyed brunch afterwards with the fam.  I’m so proud of him, he opted to not go to undergrad straight out of high-school & instead went for an associates degree at a trade-school.  A few years ago he decided to fulfill his dream of getting his Bachelor’s, working full-time & school is no joke!

After a nap & training a client Saturday afternoon, we opted for some dinner & then GATSBY!  The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorite reads & I was so excited to see the movie.  Coupled with some wine while watching, I couldn’t have asked for a better evening! The movie was a tad long & I knew it couldn’t do the book justice (I don’t think any movie will!). Still loved it!

Sunday brought a lazy morning around the house before meeting up with my Mom for Mother’s Day!  We started with a super-intense yoga class at Lululemon.  I thought since the class was at the store it might be a bit more “gentle”, NO DICE, this bad-boy was fast paced & full of flows!

Then we moseyed over to Starbuck’s for coffee, snacks & a chat.   I just love my Mom, I really do

The rest of Sunday was cleaning the house, working on some training plans for the week & running a few errands.  I snagged a newbie body butter from TJ’s…now I can smell like a pina colada the tropics all day long!

This morning was my first time back working out with my trainer in almost 2 weeks, she brought the tough one this morning.  Our workout looked like this —

Such an amazing way to start the week!  I leave you with one more thing before boogying to work for the day —

How was your weekend?  Ever feel the need to “un-plug” for a bit?  What was on your Mother’s Day agenda?

Five for Friday…5.10.13 Made it HOME!

Happy Friday! I made it out of the Big Easy alive & only scarcely smelling of urine & vomit none the worse for ware.  You can read ALL about some of the adventures here or here or here if your heart so desires.  I’m going to toss a “Five For Friday” your way to recap the last couple of days.

1.  When you hear the word “sexy”, do compression socks instantly come to mind?!?  If you answered YES then something’s wrong with you.  After breaking-down the show & finishing work on Wednesday evening, I hauled booty back to the hotel to shower, pour a glass of wine & relax in the bed catching up on a few emails.  ”Pro Compression…turning folks on for years!”  It was delightful to rest my mind & aching feet a tad.

2.  Another thing I caught up on was last weekend’s SNL with Zack Galifinakis…funny stuff! Even funnier, “the girl you wish you never started a conversation with“.  She get’s me every.single.time!  I was almost snort laughing wine from my nose watching this.  I may have also been slightly delirious from working 45 hours in 4 days.

3.  I came across this motivation the other day & LOVED IT!  So simple & so true —

4.  Naturally after relaxing with wine Wednesday evening (see #1 above), I decided I needed some more & ventured out to find that & food.   Luckily I didn’t have far to go as Ruth’s Chris was right across the street.  It called to me like the gates of heaven.  There were plenty of seats at the bar & settled in with an awesome glass of A by Acacia chardonnay & some crab stuffed mushrooms for dinner.  And then I went to bed at 8:30pm, yes, that’s just how exciting I am!

5.  I am so insanely glad to be home after almost 5 days away!  I managed a quick run yesterday morning before catching my early flight home & so happy to have made it home early in the day with enough time to try to get my life together!  It’s also amazing what sleeping in your own bed can do.  I’m off work today yet have a full day of training clients & helping out with some other things at the studio.  Putting that NASM certification to good use.  And I couldn’t be happier to be doing that on my day “off”!

And a quick bonus FIVE for you today, thought I’d link to the 5 blogs I check daily…these ladies all have some awesome stuff going on!

1. Go, Susan, Go – a former colleague & current partner-in-crime, this gal has some inspirational posts going on!
2.  Amanda at Running With Spoons — daily amazingness from someone who has overcome a lot & loves messy breakfast concoctions as much as I do!
3. The Run Within — Alex has it going on…daily gut-busting laugh inducing posts
4. Jen at Nutcase In Point — awesome workouts & menus along with the weekly #WinesdayWednesday feature I love to join!
5. Fat Chick 2 Fit Chick — another Jennifer that has some daily homeruns with posts about weight loss & an extra adorable daughter!

And…there you have it folks!  Happy Friday!  What’s going on exciting from the end of your week?  A favorite blog you check on a regular basis?

Heineken & Chobani for Breakfast…WIAW NoLa

Happy Mid-Week!  Ready for a Wednesday treat?

Well, I’ll be honest, not really a “treat” per say I just wanted to use the pic above.  Since I’m entering Day 3 down South, I figured I’d share some of the delish eats I’ve had here so you can get nice & jealous.  Along with the interesting sights of the past few days, there have been some quite good concoctions going on as well.  Going to link up with Jenn at Peas and Crayons for the WIAW par-tay to show them off —

I pulled my normal travel shenanigans & found a local grocery to stock up on fruit, Greek yogurt & Heineken for breakfast…just kidding, the Heineken was already in the mini-fridge. I’ve been dumping almond butter on the fruit & yogurt for morning meals in my room.       (ps. Sorry for the terrible pic, there is zero light in my room at all hours of the day).

And I’ve been running down the street to snag some PJ’s Coffee in the morning as well.  The Southern Pecan flavor was a WIN!

Lunches have been a variety of salads.  I stopped at Rouse’s Grocery for their salad bar the other day & created this monstrosity.  It took me an hour to eat as I was constantly needing to stop to talk to folks on the trade show floor.  Nothing says “Try my company” like lettuce leafs flying out of your mouth

Dinner Sunday night was essentially non-existant as we at a late lunch at Mother’s Restaurant & then had a reception in the evening.  Monday night we ventured out to Bourbon Street & ended up settling on the patio at The Embers overlooking the ridiculousness.  Yum for the house salad with roasted garlic balsamic & a massive crab cake!

Last night we took some clients to dinner at the Palace Cafe on Canal.  Did.Not.Dissapoint! What you see here clockwise are some wine (duh!), crabmeat cheeescake, bananas foster in progress & grilled swordfish panzanella.  Ah-mazing!  All of it!

Also pretty amazing were some of the murals on the restaurant walls, super neat!

After we walked home & I headed up to the room last night, I decided I need a little snack so I grabbed some face wash.  No, really, I thought this was mouthwash for some reason so proceeded to swish it around in my mouth for a few moments before realizing my mistake.  I’m an idiot.  Not my proudest moment!

So, I’m off to snag a morning workout before heading to the last day of the meeting!  Yahoo!

How’s your week?  Favorite New Orleans eats if you’ve ever been here?  Thoughts on using face-wash as mouthwash?  Just kidding kind of!

This Is What I’m Dealing With…Live from NoLa

Here we go, gearing up for day 2nd full-day here in the Big Easy!  Some interesting things occurred yesterday which I wanted to share with you.  Without further ado I bring you a version of “This Is What I’m Dealing With“…Live from New Orleans!

This is what I’m dealing with…the booth across from ours is a sperm bank based out of Seattle.  If I have to hear one more person joke “Are you getting many donations???” I’m going to punch them in the face cry.  They’re cleverly giving away light-up sperm pens…clearly I needed one!

And it was a darn good thing I snagged that sperm pen as my good pal Richard Simmons was quite grateful when I passed it his way a bit later.  This is what I’m dealing with…Richard Simmons in his sparkly tiger tee & un-pictured sequined sneakers & skin tight white leggings. You’re welcome!

What you also cannot see in this picture is that we’re standing right near the “feminine pleasure” booth.  This is what I’m dealing with…an exhibit hall of uncomfortable items like this.  I mean…what do you do when this booth is packed & people are watching “demos”?!? Cue.The.Awkward!

To cap off the day, we took a jaunt down Bourbon Street to grab a quick dinner.  When I say “We”, I mean my good friend pictured below & myself co-worker & me. This is what I’m dealing with…this guy hugging me super-tight.  (p.s.  If you’ve been reading awhile, you may recognize this gentle-lady person from last year!)

I would like to cap this post off by saying I have been stone-cold sober since arriving in New Orleans, I’m just the kind of lucky person who gets to experience things like this.  Joy!

So…what are some of the Things You’re Dealing With on this lovely Tuesday???

Big Easy MIMM Edition…

Happy Monday from the Big Easy!  I got here yesterday & am stickin’ around through Thursday for a work conference.  Since I’ll be busy earning beads on Bourbon Street I’m long on pics & short on time from the weekend, I’m going to link up with Healthy Diva Eats “Marvelous In My Monday” par-tay!

Enjoy the lack of me rambling abundance of pics from the weekend & some marvelousness that goes along with them!

Despite a super long day of meetings Friday, it was pretty marvelous I finally got to have lunch at Pastaria which I’ve been longing to try!  Hello “Birthday Cake” on nobody’s birthday

Marvelous was finally getting a chance to get the eff out of work  relax over wine, chips & salsa & dinner with Jon on Friday night.  We were both exhausted & ready to eat & crash!

Marvelous was the text I got late Friday asking me to sub for three fitness classes on Saturday morning.  I had originally planned to spin & jumped at the chance to get some more classwork under my belt.  It was chilly & rainy in STL, so we heated it up inside.  So.Much.FUN!

Marvelous were the 45-minutes of stairmill tabata’s I knocked-out after classes to get my own sweat on!  I was so fired up from training that my workout was phenomenal!  Love the rush from motivating others towards their fitness goals!

Saturday afternoon led into a marvelous Kentucky Derby Party benefitting the Haven House of St. Louis.

And clearly marvelous were ladies in hats!

Marvelous was going to sleep at 8:45pm on Saturday night.  Yes, you read that right!!!  We grabbed a quick dinner post-Derby party & after packing quickly & being balls to the wall go, go, go ALL week & weekend, an early bedtime fit for a 90-year old was in order!

Marvelous was this lady’s outfit at the airport.  Yes, I’ll probably go to Hell for taking this picture, I couldn’t pass up a picture of this marvelousness!

Marvelous was listening to my body & taking two rest days this week.  Given traveling is a workout in itself especially when you’re walking all over NoLa looking for office supplies.  The rest days were noting short of glorious.  And you know what?  My body maade up for it by being exceptionally hungry this week!  I kid you not, I’ve been FAMISHED. It’s funny how our bodies work to repair themselves.  This has pretty much been me all weekend!

Speaking of food, once we were finally done trekking around the city & setting-up our booth yesterday, we had a chance to grab a late lunch at Mother’s Restaurant.  Ummmm, how marvelous does this massive pile of grilled shrimp on this salad look?!?  It was amazing!

The Welcome Reception in the exhibit hall last night left me with plenty of time for browsing online.  I came across this quote & thought it was pretty marvelous —

Marvelous was getting my own personal gym this morning in the hotel!  Apparently the two wasted gentleman I ran into in the hallway didn’t want to join my for my “Spring Has Sprung” circuit.  Their loss

On that marvelous note, I leave you to start the day!  We’re exhibiting all damn day & then dinner with clients.  Phew!  What’s been absolutely marvelous for you the past few days?

ps.  I have a BONUS Marvelous something for you!  Athleta is opening in STL & if you’re in the area, you are invited to their opening reception!  Hope to see you there!

Disclaimer: Athleta reached out to me to announce the store opening on my blog, I was in no way compensated for the announcement.