Hi, my friends! How are you? I have a BIG current favorites post for you today. So sit back, and get ready for it!

But first, let’s catch up. This week was a regular week in quarantine life for us, with work, workouts, Brady and a lot of time playing outside slathered in mineral sunscreen. This weekend, I’m going to an outdoor bootcamp workout, and of course, we’ll be celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday too. Okay, here we go …

Current faves

Food

Celebrating the start of summer with Hilary’s Eat Well

*This portion of the post is sponsored by Hilary’s Eat Well, but all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting this awesome brand that supports A Lady Goes West.

My friends! It’s almost the official start of summer, and I’m here for it, as well as for all the veggies!

As you know, I’m a veggie burger lover through and through and have been for years. However, here’s the deal: Not all veggie burgers are created equal. In fact, oftentimes, veggie burgers can be overly processed and full of fillers and junk ingredients. And they don’t always taste very good either. And I’ve tried them all.

But not Hilary’s Eat Well. I have been eating this brand of veggie burgers for years, and they are so delicious and healthy. In fact, they were the fist really tasty ones I ever found. Here’s a little bit about them …

• Found in the frozen section
• Plant-based
• Made without 12 of the top common food allergens (no soy, no nuts, no corn)
• Certified gluten free
• Vegan
• Non-GMO verified
• Full of veggies, grains, beans and whole-food ingredients you can pronounce

The founder of Hilary’s Eat Well, Hilary, suffered from food allergies and created her first product as a great-tasting solution. Today, Hilary’s Eat Well is a Certified B Corporation (which means they balance profit and purpose), and they have a line-up of more than 10 products. I’ve tried almost all of them and haven’t found any that I didn’t like.

They really do taste delicious, and they are super easy to make. You pop them in the oven or sauté them in the pan, but I prefer the oven option for extra crunch. Lots of flavor, a pleasing texture and full of good stuff.

These veggie burgers are a great option for lunch or dinner to get more beneficial nutrients into your day. And they are also a great addition to any safe socially-distanced summer barbecues you may be having, so you have a non-meat option on hand.

Here’s how I like to eat them …

I usually bake up two Hilary’s Eat Well frozen patties in the oven, then I pair them with an egg (or two), half of an avocado and some cauliflower rice. I season with sea salt, black pepper, turmeric and a little bit of salsa. And let me tell you: This is a filling, nutritious and colorfully delicious meal. You won’t be disappointed.

Here are my favorite flavors …

I like the Original World’s Best Veggie Burgers, the Organic Hemp & Greens Veggie Burgers and the Organic Root Veggie Burgers as my top choices, but everything is good. 

What to look for on the labels of veggie burgers …

It’s super important to read the labels of the food you are eating. I recommend checking the ingredients label above all else (yes, even before the calories and fat). When you are shopping for veggie burgers, the first few ingredients should be from whole-food sources, like millet (which is the main ingredient in many of Hilary’s Eat Well and is a grain) or beans or other. Be weary of soy protein, because that’s very processed and definitely avoid hydrolyzed vegetable protein or anything strange that you can’t identify or pronounce. 

How to incorporate veggie burgers into your days …

Do you want to add more veggies into your day? Why not swap out one meal of meat for veggie burgers? You can even crumble up a veggie burger onto a salad or eat it in a wrap for a warm sandwich situation. 

Where to find Hilary’s Eat Well …

You can find Hilary’s Eat Well products in the frozen section of Sprouts, Kroger, Whole Foods, Safeway, Natural Grocers and more. Find a store locator here.

Enter to win …

I’ll be posting a giveaway to Instagram today to win 10 free Hilary’s Eat Well products (10 coupons), so make sure you look out for that. 

Thanks to Hilary’s Eat Well, and happy start to the summer for you all!

Books

UPDATED Book review of Glennon Doyle’s “Untamed”

I wrote a short review of this book on Instagram, but have more information to share in this updated review.

So, I feel like most people have loved or hated this book, and I actually fall somewhere in the middle. 

Honestly, I didn’t know anything about Glennon Doyle until reading her book. And if I had listened to her speak before, I may have understood and appreciated her book a bit more from the outset. There’s a method to the madness, if you will.

That’s why, before you read her latest book, I highly recommend listening to Doyle speak on Brené Brown’s podcast here. (And even if you have no plans to read this book, it’s a great episode worth listening to.)

Here’s more:

Doyle has a couple other New York Times best-selling titles out, and she’s also an activist who started a really successful non-profit agency, Together Rising, which raises money for women and families in crisis. But somehow, I hadn’t heard her name until this book kept popping up in my feed — so I ordered it.

When I read the reviews, I thought “Untamed” was going to be a women’s empowerment book. I thought it would be all about how women, particularly moms, should stop saying sorry and putting everyone else’s needs before their own. And perhaps we did get that message, but it was told throughout Doyle’s life experiences and in a very fragmented way.

Without spoiling the story, Doyle is a recovered alcoholic, who also struggled with bulimia. And she became popular by sharing how she turned her life around, which included getting married and being the perfect mother to her three kids. However, she was never happy in that life — not happy at all. One day, she met a woman who sparked something inside her and decided to uproot her life and make a big move. She ended up getting a divorce, marrying the new woman and creating a non-traditional family, still keeping her ex-husband super close to co-parent their three children.

We hear a ton about this transition in Doyle’s life, as well as some stories from her youth, which have shaped her to be the person she is today. And oftentimes, she was just plain struggling. While I think the mini chapters in the book were super well-written, and the strange order of them was clever … I guess I kept waiting for a little bit more from the book.

(“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle.)

There were some helpful tips along the way about learning to live your truth. Doyle is big on these four keys to life to get there:

• Key 1: Feel it all. Feel ALL your feelings and don’t be shy about it. Pain is not tragic, pain is magic.
• Key 2: Be still and know. She’s all about your “Knowing” which is how you should make every decision. The answer is always inside you.
• Key 3: Dare to imagine. You can build a true and beautiful life, but you have to imagine it and then create it yourself.
• Key 4: Build and burn. Destruction is essential to construction. Sometimes you have to leave things behind to find something better.

I mean, I think we can all agree that those four keys are pretty spot on.

And here’s a quote that stuck out to me …

“I burned the memo that defined selflessness as the pinnacle of womanhood … Selfless women make for an efficient society, but not a beautiful, true or just one. When women lose themselves, the world loses its way.”

I won’t say much more about the book to spoil it for you. But I will conclude this by saying: I’m really glad I read it, and I did take away some inspiration. I would recommend it to any woman who feels like she needs a little push to do more of what she wants to do. Because that’s one point that Doyle made super clear throughout the story.

In the end, I feel like I enjoy a more structured writing style. But once I finished “Untamed,” I realized that the style it was presented — perhaps unorthodox — was exactly how it needed to be done to get the message across. So there you go!

Quick and sneaky giveaway: I’d love to send my copy of this book to one of you! Please leave a comment on this post, and I’ll choose a winner next week. 

Beauty

The Beautycounter Friends & Family sale is here!

This only happens twice a year!

Beautycounter’s Friends & Family sale is live on the site until Tuesday, June 23.

You can get 15 percent off most items on the site, and 30 percent off some items too. It’s a great time to stock up on makeup, facial moisturizers, cleansers, sunscreen and anything else you need. 

Head here to shop the sale!

Please send me an email or DM if you need help picking out what will work best for your skin.

Workouts

Weekly workouts 

Here are my workouts from last week …

• Monday: 30-minute Les Mills GRIT Strength via Les Mills On Demand, 5 p.m.
• Tuesday: 30-minute cycle, 11 a.m.
• Wednesday: 30-minute weights workout, 10 a.m., 30-minute cycle, 5 p.m.
• Thursday: 20-minute cycle, 20-minute core, 11 a.m.
• Friday: 45-minute weights circuit, 10:30 a.m.
• Saturday: 30-minute Pilates, 10 a.m., 15-minute cycle, 6 p.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This week, I picked up weights three times, did four cycling sessions, a short Pilates workout, and I took a rest day. It was a well-rounded week for fitness. I’m very much in a good routine with workouts now, but I do look forward to the day when I get do more of my workouts at a gym and in a group fitness setting. Until then, I’m hanging in there. I hope you are too!

Discounts 

A few A Lady Goes West recommended products …

• G2G protein bars. I love these tasty and clean protein bars. You can get 20 percent off your order on the G2G Bar site with the code ALADYGOESWEST. 
• Organifi superfood supplements. I’m all about the Organifi Complete Plant-Based protein powder, the RED powder and the GOLD powder. You can get 15 percent off your order on the Organifi site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• Daily Harvest frozen foods. I’ve loved every single thing I’ve tried from this healthy frozen food delivery service, including the smoothies, flatbreads, desserts and bowls. You can get $25 off your first order on the Daily Harvest site with the code ALADYGOESWEST.
• 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.
• Carbon38. The coolest activewear around. Get 15 percent off your first two orders of $100 or more using the code ASHLEYPITT.
• Four Sigmatic. These superfood coffees and teas are so good — I especially love the Cacao Chill. Get 15 percent off your order on the Four Sigmatic site using the code ALADYGOESWEST.

Best reads

A few things from around the web …

• Holding space. I love this article about how to “hold space” for others through better and deeper listening and more. Check it out here.
• Knowing yourself. This podcast episode is an interview with Peloton instructor, Ally Love, and she’s super inspiring. Ally talks about knowing yourself, choosing life and how she sees balance. Find the episode here.

And here’s the quote of the week from the Calm app, which I use to do my daily morning meditations …

A Lady Goes West favorite archives …

• Food. Because I know you guys LOVE to see food … “What I’ve been eating for lunch during quarantine.”

• Breakfast. I’ve been having this for breakfast all week … “Superfood pumpkin oatmeal breakfast bake.”

Thank you for being here, my friends. I’ll see you over on Instagram! xoxo

P.S. I can’t let this post end without saying that today is Juneteenth — the annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States — and any day that celebrates freedom is one we should all recognize, especially now.

Questions of the day

What did you learn this week?

What was your best workout of the week?

Have you read anything good lately?

What are you up to this weekend?