A Lady Goes West

A healthy lifestyle blog by Ashley Pitt

A weekend “Day in the Life” recap + fitness

By 55 Comments

Happy Monday! I hope you had a fun weekend. Today, I’m going to do something a bit different. What you’re about to see is “A Day in the Life” post all about Saturday. Sometimes it’s fun to get a glimpse into the lives of others, so in the spirit of over-sharing, here’s a run-down of every little thing I did and when. Enjoy …

Saturday, February 21, 2015

6:35 a.m. I wake up feeling pretty rested. I reach for my phone, unplug it from the charger and begin scrolling through Instagram, Facebook and my emails. (Yes, I wake up before 7 a.m. without an alarm, even on the weekends.)

7:30 a.m. Dave finally wakes up. He is still groggy, but it doesn’t stop me from peppering him with questions and telling him riveting stories about what I did on Friday. I was already asleep when he got home the night before after working at a basketball game, so I had a lot to tell him.

7:45 a.m. We both get up. I make the bed. (I always make the bed first thing.)

7:50 a.m. I head downstairs, turn my teapot on the stove and get out a bowl and mug for breakfast.

7:55 a.m. I assemble a breakfast consisting of Greek yogurt, granola and a banana, with a mug of green tea on the side. (The granola is left over from an event I went to the week before, and boy it is good.)

8:00 a.m. I eat my breakfast at the kitchen table with my computer and read the local news on the San Francisco Chronicle website. Dave eats his breakfast on the couch watching TV.

8:15 a.m. I answer some blog-related emails, read a few blogs and do some social media posts.

8:30 a.m. I clean up my breakfast dishes.

8:45 a.m. Knowing that I had the day off of teaching group fitness, I write out a plan for my own workout. (I must say, I have really enjoyed having my Saturday mornings to myself after teaching in a regular slot for so long.)

9:00 a.m. I change into gym clothes, brush my hair and pack my gym bag.

9:45 a.m. I drive to the gym, which is only about five minutes from my house.

10:00 a.m. I drop my bag in the locker room, grab a towel and find a foam roller. While foam rolling, I look around the gym, trying to get my bearings. Having never used the weight-room floor at this location, I scope out the busy scene. After foam rolling, I do a dynamic warm-up, some mobility moves and then hit the weights. I complete a one-hour workout consisting of elevated reverse lunges, face-pulls, leg lifts in the Roman chair, squat thrusters, single-arm chest presses and core work on the stability ball, taking advantage of all the equipment available.

11:15 a.m. I finish up my workout, stretch, hit the locker room to grab my bag and leave the gym, excited to walk out to find a beautiful sunny day in the Bay.

11:20 a.m. As soon as I get in the car, I  drink a protein shake that I had waiting for me in a little cold bag.

Gym picturesTwo of my favorite contraptions at the gym. On the left, the Roman chair for core work. On the right, the back extension machine. And of course, a shot of the delicious protein drink I had after the gym.

11:30 a.m. I drive to a UPS store to mail back AT&T U-verse cable receivers that we were still holding onto from our last apartment. There is no parking at the first UPS store, so I drive to a different one with ample parking. All of this happens solely thanks to the GPS function of my car, because somehow I’m still learning my way around my new neighborhood three weeks into living here.

11:45 a.m. I successfully send off the receivers and head home. On the way home, I call two friends from Florida, and both calls go to their voicemails, unfortunately. I also call my Mom, who always answers, and we talk about all sorts of random things for a few minutes.

12:00 p.m. As I am arriving home, Dave is just finishing his run outside and is sweeping the garage. I chat with him, and we hear some voices outside the garage. We walk outside and are able to meet some new neighbors who just moved in and who seem very nice.

12:15 p.m. I head inside, put away my stuff, answer a few blog-related emails and take a shower.

12:30 p.m. I get dressed in a super-old maxi dress and sweater and get casually ready for an outing.

1:15 p.m. I make a thick smoothie for lunch, consisting of frozen mangoes, vanilla protein powder, almond milk and ice. Once again, I sit down at the kitchen table with my computer and eat the smoothie with a spoon while reading some news on The Huffington Post.

2:00 p.m. I pack some trail mix for the road, and Dave and I head out in the car on a shopping trip with big plans to conquer some errands. We go to Macy’s, Athleta and Crate & Barrel all in one lovely walking area of downtown Walnut Creek. I try on a bunch of terrible dresses at Macy’s and pick up a plain white athletic top at Athleta, during my first time shopping in that store. Dave buys a shirt at Macy’s. During our trip, we stop at Starbucks for a pick-me-up, and I convince Dave to order a flat white, telling him that it’s all the rage. He is not impressed with it, but drinks it anyway. Meanwhile, I order a standard green tea.

4:45 p.m. After shopping, we head back to our car and drive to Pier One for our last stop of the day, feeling somewhat disheartened by our previous attempts. Using a 20 percent-off coupon, there we buy a big glass mason jar container, which we will use to serve a drink in at our upcoming housewarming party. We head home.

ShoppingA look at the purchase we made in Pier One, some of the trail mix I brought for our snacking pleasure and a hot-beverage cheers on the street.

5:30 p.m. After we get home, I FaceTime with my Mom and do a full home-tour for her, including a walk-through of the garage and front door, the every level and every single staircase, cupboard and closet. Although she had seen plenty of pictures of our place, it was her first time seeing a video. She thoroughly enjoys it.

5:45 p.m. I sit down with a pen and paper to plan out the workout for a bootcamp I will be teaching the next day in a park. I decide it will include a lot of bodyweight strength moves as well as a section devoted to plyometrics. I estimate the times for each section making sure the class will run for one hour. 

6:15 p.m. I pour myself a glass of Chardonnay and sit on the couch with Dave. We pull out a notebook and begin writing down some things we need to buy for our party, since our day of shopping wasn’t super successful. 

7:00 p.m. I take my glass of wine, a bluetooth speaker and head upstairs to begin getting ready. (Nothing I love more than jamming to my favorite songs while primping.) I select Pandora’s “Carolina Beach Music” station for my listening pleasure and sing along as I go.

7:45 p.m. I finish my hair and make-up and go back downstairs.

8:00 p.m. Dave and I hop in an Uber and head to dinner in downtown, which takes less than five minutes.

8:15 p.m. We arrive at Va de Vi, a cool wine bar, and somehow snag a great spot at the busy bar. We order drinks and small plates one-by-one. I opt for a red wine flight, Dave opts for a Moscow Mule. We choose this place, not only because plenty of people recommended it, but also because my very sweet Mom sent us a gift card there as a housewarming present after doing some Googling of our area. She is wonderful.

Va de ViThe delicious small-plate dishes shown above include pork mole tacos, a selection of cheese and bread, ahi tuna with seaweed chips and curried cauliflower.

9:00 p.m. While eating, I feel a tap on my shoulder, turn around and see a familiar face. One of my fellow BODYPUMP instructors, with whom I attended a very grueling two-day Les Mills Advanced Instructor Module 2 weekend over a year ago, is also a server at the restaurant and noticed me. We chat for a bit.

9:30 p.m. Dave and I finish up our food and decide to walk to Yogurtland down the road for dessert, after seeing how small the desserts are at Va de Vi.

9:45 p.m. On the walk to Yogurtland we pass The Cheesecake Factory. Thus, we change our plans immediately and follow the urge to enter. After much debating, we buy a slice of Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake and take it to go. 

9:55 p.m. We hop in an Uber, cheesecake in hand and head home.

10:05 p.m. I change into my pajamas, put away my stuff and head downstairs to sit on the couch with Dave, incredibly giddy about my dessert. I eat my cheesecake while we watch TV.

10:45 p.m. With a happy belly full of sugar, I go upstairs, brush my teeth and hit the hay with a smile on my face, feeling pretty complete.

And my friends, that was every single thing I did on Saturday. Pretty exciting stuff, right?

I’d say that this was a fairly normal weekend day for me. It started with fitness and ended with sweets, just how I like it. 

After that lovely recap, we’ll keep it short to go over the rest of the weekend. On Sunday morning, I was up early to teach a fun bootcamp outside. Then Dave and I went shopping again. We bought some drinks and supplies for our party, some stuff for the house and then had salad and bison burgers from the grill for dinner. And that was pretty much it.

Now let’s change the subject a little …

Weekly workout recap

It’s Monday, so it’s time for fitness. Here’s a look at my recent workouts. 

Weekly Workouts from A Lady Goes West

Weekly Workouts

  • Monday – Practiced 35 minutes of BODYATTACK, did 30-minute CXWORX core workout at home
  • Tuesday – Taught one-hour BODYPUMP class, foam rolling
  • Wednesday – Taught one-hour BODYATTACK class
  • Thursday – Did 30-minute CXWORX core workout at home, took 45-minute cycle class
  • Friday –  Taught one-hour BODYATTACK class, took one-hour flow yoga class
  • Saturday –  Did one-hour of weightlifting at the gym, foam rolling
  • Sunday – Rest day

What was good about my week of workouts?

Variety! This past week had the most variety of any week of my workouts in quite some time, which is always a good thing. I did two different types of cardio (three sessions of BODYATTACK and one cycle class), did two core workouts (CXWORX), two resistance workouts (BODYPUMP and a weightlifting session) and a full-hour yoga class. The addition of the cycle class was a welcome change, because I hadn’t been on an indoor bike in forever. I had nearly forgotten how hard it is, even for just 45 minutes, if you really push yourself and use enough resistance on the bike. This past week also included a long weightlifting session at the gym using machines and heavy weights, which I completed alone. I really enjoyed spending time using machines and all the fun stuff on the weight-room floor, because it had been a while since I had done that. After all of that working out, I also fit in a full day of rest.

What could have been better about my week of workouts?

Unfortunately, I only lifted weights twice this past week, and I prefer to get in three. However, both resistance workouts were good ones. I’ve been saying that I need more weight training for the past couple of weeks, so I will absolutely commit to fitting in a third this week. Nonetheless, I did alright — six good days of work and one good day off.

Okay, my friends! That concludes my ramblings for today.

And by the way, thanks to all of you who entered the Actio926 giveaway. The winner is Jenny S., and she has been emailed. Stay tuned for another fun giveaway this week!

Questions of the day

What is one fun thing you did this weekend? What was your last workout?

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About Ashley

I'm a mom, writer and group fitness instructor, and A Lady Goes West is where I share fitness and wellness tips, as well as stories and learnings from my life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 
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Comments

  1. Amy says

    Looks like a productive Saturday! My last workout was incline walking on the treadmill plus an upper body/core HIIT workout. You look so pretty in that picture!!

    Reply

  4. Becky @ Olives n Wine says

    Sounds like you had a busy weekend! I’m definitely impressed that you make the bed every morning, including weekends. Last workout was BODYPUMP and I’m getting ready to head back for another round this morning 🙂
    Becky @ Olives n Wine recently posted…WeekendingMy Profile

    Reply

  6. Hilary says

    I am completely like you in I wake up before 7 on the weekends too! This weekend wasn’t full of activities we got so much snow it ended up being two movie nights, with some delicious Harvest Pizza though! For sure the highlight of my weekend 🙂
    Hilary recently posted…Marathon Training Week #6My Profile

    Reply

  14. Ashley says

    Your Saturday is so productive, yet fun! I loved reading about it, thanks so much for sharing!
    You definitely inspire me to make the most of each hour!

    The trail mix you made looks exactly like my favorite trail mix combo— gotta love goji berries!

    Hope you have a wonderful Monday!
    Ashley recently posted…Monday Musings: February Goals RevisitedMy Profile

    Reply

  15. Khushboo says

    ooh girl good call on Cheesecake Factory- you guys got my favorite flavor! The curious nature in me enjoyed reading about your Saturday- looks like you managed to lack loads in which is always wonderful! Cheers to an equally productive week

    Reply

  18. Chrissy @ Pink Polish and Running Shoes says

    Glad you had a great weekend Ashley! My last workout was a 2.5 mile run this morning and I’ll follow that up with some strength training tonight. I typically split my workouts since I like to make sure I get my cardio in and I’m mostly likely to follow through with that in the morning. I strength train at home.

    One fun thing I did this weekend was split dessert with my boyfriend at a yummy Italian restaurant near us!

    Reply

  21. Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says

    I love reading day in the life posts! I make my bed first thing too. It makes everything feel right for the start of the day. 🙂

    I think it’s awesome that you stay so close with your mom and she did a great job with the GC to Va de Vi! Brandon and I went there on our first trip out here to look for a place to live and we really enjoyed it.

    I hope you’re having a great week so far! 🙂
    Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health recently posted…Vegan Mediterranean Chickpea BurgersMy Profile

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Hi Amy! haha yes, well my husband didn’t think the Flat White was all that awesome, and I didn’t try it. I don’t really drink coffee, otherwise I would have been all over a “trendy” beverage like that hehehe. So glad you’re a Bay Area fan! Orinda is pretty too, and we are LOVING life in Walnut Creek after a few years of craziness in downtown SF. Have a great night! 🙂
      Ashley recently posted…Orange dream mango protein smoothie recipeMy Profile

      Reply

  26. Catherine | Something Catchy says

    I make my bed first thing in the morning too! It’s sometimes the only way I’ll get my day going. How fun is it that you can now say you’re going downstairs for breakfast? Thanks for sharing your whole day (it’s funny how entertaining it is to read what someone’s “ordinary” Saturday is to someone else). And, great choice passing on Yogurtland for Cheesecake Factory!
    Catherine | Something Catchy recently posted…Trend Report | Spotlight on SweatshirtsMy Profile

    Reply

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