Hey, friends! How are you? Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a great week! What’s in store for the weekend?

This weekend marks the official launch of the busy season of travel and visitors for us. After spending more than a year of mostly free weekends, we have visitors, trips and all sorts of activities filling up many of our weekends through August. And while I will be careful to protect my free time as I can, I’m more than ready for all the fun we have ahead. First up, my best friend from college and my matron of honor, Yolanda, is flying up from Florida to spend the weekend with us this weekend, and I can’t wait to have some girl time. I haven’t seen her in almost three years!

This past week was like all the rest, with work, virtual classes, a dentist visit, an audition and the usual. Now, let’s get into the faves …

Current faves

Fitness

Teaching at Life Time in Charlotte

It’s official. I’m returning to the group fitness stage on Monday mornings to teach a class at Life Time Charlotte, beginning next week. I was hired by Life Time a few weeks ago and have been going through training and preparations to audition to teach the Life Time signature format, Barbell Strength. I passed my audition this week and am now ready to take on my own class — yay! 

You may remember that I told you about Life Time when we first moved to Charlotte, because I had my eye on it as my new gym home. While I had never been there, nor did I know anyone there, I had a feeling it was the right place for me, and amazingly, it has all worked out.

(Wearing these sneakers.)

Life Time is one of the biggest and most well-respected health clubs in the fitness industry (it’s a big chain with locations across the nation), and they do things in such a high-quality way — it’s way more than a gym, but a real destination — and it’s the nicest gym I’ve ever taught. I’m super-pumped to be a part of the team, and I’m so excited that I was able to get my own class so quickly too.

So what will I be teaching? Barbell Strength to start, with maybe another format or two in the future.

Barbell Strength is a one-hour class, using a barbell and dumbbells, focusing on muscular strength and endurance, and moving to the beat music.

I know the first question I will receive is about whether this class is like Les Mills BODYPUMP. And the answer is, yes, it’s similar. However, I will have the freedom to source and select my own music, and create my own workouts, while staying within the suggested framework from Life Time. BODYPUMP is an amazing program, and it was the first thing I ever taught in group fitness, and I’ll always love it. But teaching Barbell Strength will be a new challenge for me, as I take on more of the work of programming and designing what I teach. And I would never be able to create my Barbell Strength workouts, if it wasn’t for all the training I had through Les Mills on how to feel and map the music.

I’ve been taking classes at Life Time for the last few weeks and have been so impressed with the workouts and programs they offer. It feels so good to try new things and challenge myself with creating my own barbell workouts too. I’ll report back after my first full-hour live class this Monday. It’s been more than 14 months since I taught in-person, so here we go!

Beauty

Join us for a Zoom party next Thursday

My Beautycounter friends and I are hosting another virtual Zoom party next Thursday, May 27th at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific, and we’d love to have you join us.

There will be giveaways and we’ll be answering all your burning questions about clean beauty, how to best use your products and some tips for common skin concerns. These parties are super informal and always fun. If you want to come, send me a DM or email, and I’ll share the link to join. 🙂 

Food

Organifi protein powder sale this weekend

I’ve been using the same protein powder for about two years, and it’s the best I’ve ever used — Organifi Complete Protein in Chocolate. It’s plant-based, tastes delicious mixed with nothing but water, and of course, is organic.

Organifi is having a special deal this weekend, and through May 24, my code, ALADYGOESWEST, will get you 20 percent off anything on the site, which is an increase from the usual 15 percent off. Not all protein powder is created equal, and that’s why I stick with Organifi. Find it here.

Life

A few other little things …

White nails. I got my nails done last week and went with white, and I’m loving it. I’m still going strong with my dip nails. And although I did make it work while doing them at home for a while last year when nail salons were closed in California, it’s so much better to get them done for me. They last way longer that way. And on average, my dip manicures from a salon last about three-and-a-half weeks.

(Wearing these leggings.)

Smoothie dates. Dave was gone for a few days last week, and Brady and I did a lot of hanging out. Well, truth be told, even when Dave is here, Brady and I do a lot of hanging out. Unless he’s at preschool three mornings a week or in the gym kid-care, he’s with me. We’re loving our smoothie dates. This time we picked up our smoothies, and brought them to the park in our neighborhood to hang out. Brady would take one sip of his smoothie, run to the playground and romp, then run back and have another sip. So cute.

New library books. I’m still working my way through my first round of library books I checked out a few weeks ago. But I took Brady to the library to exchange what we got for him and pick up a new pile. I don’t know why I had never really thought to check out books for him before, but it’s so worth it. We read maybe five or six books a day, so it’s a benefit to me and to me him to have fresh content. We picked up some good ones this time.

Workouts

Weekly workouts 

Here are last week’s workouts …

• Monday: 45-minute full-body weights class at Life Time, 10 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 45-minute Barre Burn on Motus, 3 p.m.
• Wednesday: 45 minutes of weights at home, 11 a.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute Barre Burn on Motus, 3 p.m.
• Friday: 1-hour barre class at Life Time, 10 a.m.
• Saturday: 45-minute full-body weights class at Life Time, 10 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This past week was very similar to the previous week, and it included a mixture of home and gym workouts, teaching and taking classes and a full day off. I’m a fan of this schedule, and it feels good on the bod too.

Discounts 

A Lady Goes West recommended favorite products

I only share what I use and love in my own life, and here are some of the brands I swear by. And when you use my discount codes and links, you support me, so thanks for that …

• Carbon38. I’m always wearing stuff from here, and it’s the coolest activewear around. Get 15 percent off your first two orders of $100 or more using the code ASHLEYPITT. 
• G2G protein bars. I love these tasty and minimal-ingredient protein bars. You can get 15 percent off your order on the G2G Bar site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Four Sigmatic. These superfood coffees and teas are so good — I especially love the Cacao Chill and Lion’s Mane Latte. Get 15 percent off your order with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Beautycounter. The best safe skincare and makeup. Send me a message, and I’ll share a 20 percent off code for your very first order.
• Les Mills On Demand streaming workouts. My favorite fitness brand. You can do a whole month of workouts during a free 30-day trial by using my special referral link here.

Best reads

A few things from around the web 

• Full-body vs. splits. Have you seen people on social media claiming that the only way to lift weights is with split-muscle group workouts? Or have you seen people saying the only way to get fit is with full-body workouts? This is a divisive topic in the fitness world, but it doesn’t have to be and shouldn’t be. As with most things in life, the superiority of a workout and of a workout-programming method truly depends on who is doing it and what their goals are. For me, I prefer full-body resistance workouts, but sometimes I split them up too. This is a simple article explaining what you need to know about both and how to fit each into your weekly workout life. The moral of the story: Lift weights, but how you do it depends on your individual needs and circumstances.
• Energy time management. This is an interesting way to assess where you want to spend your energy and how to translate that into where you spend your time. And that means, if you’re a care-taker, you may need to schedule in time to take care of yourself.

Here’s the quote of the week from the Calm app …

A Lady Goes West favorite archives 

• Habits. This book was on my must-read list for a long time, and I finally got through it. This post has a review and some useful information on creating good habits and breaking bad ones … “Tips on habits and a book review of ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear.”

• Fertility. Because I like to go back and share these posts from time to time, in case you find yourself in need of the information … “How I protect my fertility and hormones (life after recovering from hypothalamic amenorrhea part 2).”

Thank you for coming by the blog today. I appreciate you! Have a great weekend!

Questions of the day

How was your week?

What are you up to this weekend?

Do you have any travel planned for the summer?