Current faves: Life, food, books and weekly workouts

Greetings from the Eastern time zone! Yup! Dave, Brady and I arrived last night to Columbus, Ohio to visit our best friends, Grant and Bre, and their three little kiddos. We all used to live in Florida — never in the same city though — and then we each moved away around the same time. They were our partners for the greatest Vegas vacation ever, and Grant was Dave’s best man in our wedding. Overall, we totally love them, and it’s been far too long since we hung out.

Even though we have a lot on the trip agenda today, I didn’t want to miss a chance to pop in to share some of my latest favorites, as I always do on Fridays, so here we go …

Fun

Safeway Open adventure with Dave

Last weekend, Dave and I got a babysitter in the afternoon on Sunday so we could head up to Silverado Resort in Napa to attend the Safeway Open golf tournament. It was a really pretty day, and this was my first time going to a golf tournament. Dave’s a big golfer and fan of all things golf, so he was very happy to be up there. I, however, was there for the people watching and the nice weather.

My dress is from this brand. It’s not on the site anymore, but they have a lot of other cute ones.

We grabbed some beverages and food, walked around to the various pavilions and, of course, watched some golf. There were times when we had to wait to cross over sidewalks and many times when we had to keep quiet because golfers were getting ready to hit or put. I literally got to use my golf clap, and that made me very excited. We weren’t there for too long, because it ended up taking a little longer to get there than expected — and you know, when you’re paying a babysitter, every second away counts.

Nautical thank-you cards

Do you guys write thank-you cards for things? As my mom says … “It’s a lost art.” haahah perhaps so. Anyway, I did write thank-you notes this week for all of the things we received for Brady’s first birthday party. While I normally order my cards and stationery online, I went to Target and found these adorable whale thank-you cards, which matched the theme of the party so well. Had to share how cute they are! Blank inside, so you could totally use them for anything.

Food

Tasty Plant Works protein powder

Guys, I try a lot of protein powders and healthy food products and don’t often share them with you, unless I really like what I’ve tried. Well, a friend of mine is friends with the creator of Plant Works Nutrition, and she asked me to try out a couple of packets of the plant-based protein powder they create. It is TASTY! Both the chocolate and vanilla too.

I love the texture and consistency and taste, and the nutrient profile is on point with all of the essential amino acids, etc. that you really need when drinking protein for recovery. This company is super small and brand new, and you can only order the products on their site right now, but if you feel like supporting a new company with a quality non-whey protein powder, this one’s for you.

Seasonal Snickerdoodle Larabar

Good thing my food choices aren’t predictable, right? I found this seasonal Larabar at Target, and it may be my favorite flavor ever. Minimal ingredients, lots of deliciousness, reasonably priced and easy to take on the go. You know what’s in my purse for the next few weeks as my emergency snack.

Clean beauty

Spreading the word about safer skincare 

My friends! I want to thank you for your support as I try something new with this announcement, but MOSTLY I want to tell you that even if you’re not considering buying from Beautycounter, you should be starting to realize that only you are in charge of looking at the labels of the skin products you’re buying, because not everything you can buy and apply to your skin is good for you or safe for you. 

(In case you missed it, I told you earlier this week that I’ve become a consultant for Beautycounter — which is not just safer non-toxic make-up, but skincare, hair products, baby products, etc.) Ever since the post went live, it’s sparked some awesome conversations, and I LOVE it. Let me know if you have any questions about the company, brand or products. Just shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Fashion

I’m back on Poshmark

Do you guys like to buy or sell clothing or accessories on Poshmark? I did a ton of selling when I went through purging and nesting phase of pregnancy. Well, I knew I was in need of another purge, so started to go through my stuff and list more items recently. It’s so darn easy, and clearing out the closet feels G-O-O-D! I have some friends who’ve had a lot of luck buying baby clothes on Poshmark, but I haven’t tried that yet. Who else uses the app?

Self-love

Every. Body. Beautiful. book

I mean, women supporting women. Women building each other up. It’s important. I am so long overdue in telling you all about “Every. Body. Beautiful: If She’s Beautiful, Does That Mean You’re Not?” — a book written by a fellow SF gal and personal trainer, Natalie Carey. This book is so enjoyable, because it’s so real. And it makes you feel …. beautiful!

Natalie talks about her life, then turns what she has learned over the years into greater lessons for us all. She discusses her body issues, her time in college and feeling so insecure and looking for acceptance in the wrong places, becoming a competitive pole dancer, learning to find her worth and soooo much more. In these super real-world lessons, Natalie teaches her readers to take a good look at how they see themselves. She teaches us to love our bodies. To love ourselves. And to realize that you don’t have to be super skinny or small to be beautiful or worthy and what you eat doesn’t define you either.

The book is a quick read and definitely a good one for any of us ladies out there who may be too hard on ourselves or place too much importance on what we see in the mirror or “the perfect body” … and thinking of your body as an instrument, rather than an ornament. Amen to that! Congrats to Natalie on putting together this awesome book. It’s available on Amazon!

Fitness

Weekly workout recap

Switching topics like ….

Here’s a look at my workouts from last week …

• Monday: Practiced BODYPUMP for 30 minutes, 10:30 a.m.
• Tuesday: 30-minute CXWORX workout, 10 a.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 1-hour BODYPUMP, 9:30 a.m.
• Thursday: Taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 12 p.m.
• Friday: 30-minute full-body weights workout, 12 p.m.
• Saturday: 45-minute SoulCycle class, 10:45 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

Last week’s workouts were decent, with three sessions of weights, cardio, core and barre. I’m happy to be teaching a couple of classes, but I’m eager to create or find a plan to follow. Much like I mentioned in this review of Kelsey Wells’ PWR workout program and the Sweat app, having a plan is KEY. I tend to operate on the fly, and I think I need to change course to keep it interesting. Anyone else like a plan in the gym? One that gets progressively harder?

But I mean, classes are fun too (and look, I got some SoulCycle gear from my friends at my local studio) … the pants are actually made by Lululemon, and they are the softest.

Suggested reading

Best links from around the web

• Food and rice: Like why do people consider rice a bad food? Rice is tasty and so versatile, and it’s a carb, and we all need carbs. I used to do brown rice, but now mostly do organic white Jasmine rice. Here are the pros and cons of all the different types of rices.
• Back to basics fitness: This article is really interesting and is all about how we’re sort’ve going back to basics with gym equipment and workouts, and the treadmill is the hero.
• Sleep issues: I’ve written a lot about sleep on the blog, but this article has some supplement and other suggestions I’ve not tried. If you have trouble sleeping or staying asleep, check it out.
• Time management: This has a few good tips about time management in it. I think I’m a time optimist, according to the article. What are you?
• Fun: And to make you laugh.

A Lady Goes West Favorite archives

• Baby talk: It’s so cool to have these updates on the web … “Brady’s 1-year update.”
• Food: Who loves Trader Joe’s? … “A busy gal’s shopping list for healthy items from Trader Joe’s to save time.”
• Sleep: Because sleep is everything … “How to create a better sleep environment.”

And Brady wants to say hello too, just because …

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends! I’ll share some of the fun from Ohio on Instagram, until we meet back here again. 

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Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s the best thing that happened during your week?

When was the last time you went on a weekend trip? Where to?