Greetings from Atlanta and latest food and fitness favorites

Greetings from Atlanta! Today, my older brother gets married, and I’m so excited and happy about it! We’ve been here in Georgia since Wednesday for the festivities at the Chateau Elan, and it’s been busy, but I still wanted to pop in to say hello.

(This is a pic of us before last night’s rehearsal dinner. New dress and feeling fly.)

Our flight on Wednesday was super early, so we were up at 4 a.m., but luckily, Brady did great on the four-hour flight and even slept pretty good the first night in the hotel. I’ll share more about our trip soon, but today, it’s all about the fitness and food. Ready? Here we go …

Golden milk probiotic collagen tea

This is a favorite, favorite and has quickly become my new obsession. You already know that I put turmeric on all of my food, so why not start adding it to my beverages too, right?

Well, this particular beverage combination is actually inspired by a morning tonic concoction I learned about from the book “Super Woman Rx” by Dr. Taz, which I’m currently reading.

Dr. Taz says it’s a great to start your day with a turmeric tea tonic — (turmeric, particularly the curcumin it in, has a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties), and so I decided to add a few things from her tonic into my current tea routine to switch it up and make my own creation. 

Here’s my golden milk probiotic collagen tea recipe …

• 1 organic green tea bag
• a heavy splash of coconut milk
• a bag of stevia and a dribble of raw, local honey
• a tablespoon of ground turmeric
• a scoop of Vital Proteins vanilla collagen peptides with probiotics (one of my favorite Vital Proteins products, hands down)

I find this mixture incredibly delicious, and I look forward to it every single morning. If you’re in need of something flavorful and different, give this one a try. This one drink has caffeine, probiotics, antioxidants, a beauty boost, digestion support and a lot of anti-inflammatory benefits as well.

Warriors watch party

Over the weekend, Dave and I had a few friends over to watch a Warriors playoff game. We had some apps, made a few pizzas in the pizza oven and enjoyed being social. Unfortunately, the Warriors didn’t win that day (they won the next game and are moving on to round two of the NBA playoffs), but it was fun to test out our new outdoor TV set-up for a bit before it got too hot and everyone moved inside.

Brady wore a Warriors shirt and was passed around the party like a champ. Such a cutie!

Overnight muesli to take on-the-go

Truth be told, I ate all of these single-serve on-the-go muesli cups from Bob’s Red Mill at home, so I didn’t really need them to be portable, but they totally are. These muesli cups are a brand new product from my friends at Bob’s Red Mill (they sent them to me to try out) and are available online or at Whole Foods.

Basically, muesli means “mixture,” and it’s usually consisting of oats, nuts, seeds and milk.

With these cups, all you have to do is add water or milk, heat them up or let them sit in the fridge overnight. I chose the overnight option and added coconut milk and peanut butter for a filling and delicious breakfast. The cups come in three varieties, and the plain gluten-free one is my fave.

Starbucks protein snack box

Every time I get one of these protein boxes from Starbucks, I thoroughly enjoy it and am reminded that hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter, fruit, cheese and bread make for one fabulous mini-meal. 

When we were driving from the Atlanta airport to Chateau Elan on Wednesday (just over an hour drive) we were pretty hungry but didn’t want fast food, so Starbucks it was. I got a venti matcha latte (unsweetened, with coconut milk, then I add stevia, which Starbucks carries now — yay), and this protein box. These things are so satisfying, and I ate every bite, including an additional pack of almonds. I will be recreating this at home for sure. And why have I never thought of that before?

Weekly workout recap at 28 weeks postpartum 

Now on to fitness …

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

• Monday: 30-minute CXWORX workout at home, 4 p.m.
• Tuesday: 25-minute lower-body weights workout, 4 p.m.
• Wednesday: 1-hour walk, 10 a.m., 25-minute upper-body weights workout, 12 p.m.
• Thursday: Took 30-minute Les Mills GRIT Plyo class, 4:45 p.m.
• Friday: Taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 5 p.m.
• Saturday: Taught 1-hour Bootybarre class, 11 a.m.
• Sunday: Rest day

This past week of workouts was a bit of a departure for me, as I split up my resistance training with an upper- and lower-body day, and I went to a Les Mills GRIT high-intensity class. Although I’ve done GRIT a couple times at home in the past few weeks via Les Mills On Demand streaming service, this was the first time I’ve done a GRIT Plyo session (I prefer GRIT Strength), and done it in person — which, of course, is much harder than doing it at home, because I tend to take a few more breaks at home.

Nonetheless, it was HUMBLING to do a super-intense plyometrics-based session, because I haven’t been doing jumping or explosive moves in my workouts AT ALL. It was very tough, and I was out of breath and struggling, but I completed it. 

And this is what I looked like after …

Moral of the story? GRIT is a lot harder than Bootybarre, and most definitely not as fun.

Your body gets in shape based on the workouts that you do, and I’m in Bootybarre shape and able to teach and endure the isometric burn that comes along with barre workouts, but I’m not in the shape to be a super-star in a plyo workout these days. Oh well, that just gives me something to work toward!

Speaking of Bootybarre, Dave and Brady came with me to the gym the last time I taught, so Dave snapped this pic of me after teaching class and returning the equipment … 

Yes, that’s a big smile. 🙂 

Overview on this past week of workouts? Well, outside of realizing I’ve certainly lost a ton of cardio fitness abilities since my days of teaching two BODYATTACK classes in a day, I also realized that I want to start following a weight-training program — with progressions each week — as opposed to my one-off sessions I do now. Perhaps I will write a program for myself or find another one to follow. I’ll keep you posted along the way, because fitness is a journey, my friends, and we’re all on our own path.

Best reads from around the web

Just a few things I enjoyed reading …

• Exercise pain or fatigue: This is a great article from my friends at Les Mills about how to know if you are feeling pain or if you are just pushing to fatigue in your workout. It’s very important to know the difference, especially if you do high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
• Environmentally friendly products: Who doesn’t love a trip to Target? This article tells you a few sustainable and clean products to pick up next time you visit the store. I don’t have any of these things and want quite a few.
• Bathroom hygiene: Okay, this article is strangely eye-opening. Do you do all of these toothbrush hygiene rules? Eeek.

Favorite A Lady Goes West archives

More to peruse from around these parts …

• Books, books and books: There are so many great books out there, but these are the ones that have been the most influential for me recently … “Three health and wellness books that changed my life.”
• Superfoods: It seems like this word is thrown around a lot on labels lately. Find out … “Superfoods 101: Why to add superfoods to your life.”
• Fitness knowledge: Are you down with the lingo in the gym? … “Fitness and workout terms you should know.”

See you soon, friends! Head over to Instagram to see scenes from today’s wedding, and as always, thank YOU for stopping by the blog! 🙂

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Questions of the day

How was your week? 

What’s the hardest workout you’ve done lately?