Latest favorite foods and good reads

Hi, friends! Happy Friday! Can you believe we start a new month this weekend? Are you going to pull any April Fool’s Day jokes? Not me! This past week was good over here in the A Lady Goes West world. I launched Les Mills BODYPUMP 101 on Thursday morning to my new class I just started teaching in Walnut Creek. It’s a super tough release, and it always feels good to have the first teaching of it under my belt, so I can perfect it the next few weeks before switching back to an older release. Yay BODYPUMP! 

This weekend, Dave and I are going to a little kid’s birthday party, my younger sister-in-law is visiting for a night, and we’re heading to Warriors game. Should be a good one! But let’s do the faves. Shall we?

My favorite eggs: Vital Farms

I couldn’t pass up the chance to share these eggs, because they are THAT good. You can get Vital Farms eggs at most grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Safeway and Sprouts here in the Bay Area. Now you may notice that they tend to cost a couple dollars more than the average brand, but there’s a reason for that: Vital Farms eggs come from certified-humane pasture-raised hens from family farms across the U.S. 

The best kind of eggs are pasture-raised, organic and feature additional omega-3s, rather than those that come from antibiotic-fed and caged-up chickens. And you can tell that you’re eating a high-quality egg, because the yolk will be a bright orange color (shown above!). Literally, I’ve never eaten eggs as tasty as these are. And I’ve been going through them like crazy — with a couple for lunch and sometimes more for dinner. Remember — a lot of times with food — you get what you pay for, and Vital Farms eggs are worth the cost. 

My favorite dinner addition: Lentil pasta

I’ve been on a bit of a pasta kick lately for dinner, and I’ve been sampling all sorts of alternative pastas. I tried some black bean pasta from Trader Joe’s, which was VERY black bean-y, but tasty, and I’ve also been loving lentil pasta. I picked up this box of Ancient Harvest at Sprouts, and it’s delish.

If you go into eating a lentil or bean pasta knowing that it’s going to taste a bit different, you’re good to go. I happen to like the lentil flavor and slightly chewier texture. Plus, there’s much more protein in these pastas than regular whole wheat or white pasta. I like to add some sautéed cauliflower rice into the mixture, as well as a meat (organic chicken or grass-fed beef) and organic marinara sauce for one delicious bowl of goodness for dinner. And by the way, I rarely post my dinner pictures, because I always eat after dark, and the pictures are horrendous under the kitchen light … so no pics of my pasta bowls available. Sorry!

My favorite picture: Driving Rudy

When Dave takes the BART (our subway in the Bay Area) to work instead of driving, a lot of times Rudy and I drop him off in the early morning to the station, so he doesn’t have to make the 15-minute walk in his work clothes. Rudy LOVES a good car ride, and sometimes he crawls into less-than-safe positions … 

The best part of the morning is telling Rudy that he’s about to go on a car ride, because he goes CRAY. Oh my gosh, I love having a dog. And you’ll be pleased to know that since taking this picture, Rudy visited the groomer and is looking much less scraggly. He’s fresh and clean for the weekend!

My favorite links from around the web

You guys know I’m an avid consumer of all things wellness on the Internet. I love reading Well and Good, Mindbodygreen, The Chalkboard Mag, NYTimes Health (I constantly run out of my free articles each month hehehe) and various blogs, and there’s a lot of junk out there worth avoiding. But there’s also some good stuff worthy of inspiring your mind. Here’s what I think are the best links from this week …

• I set a goal last month to be off of my phone more. In fact, I now put my phone on airplane mode around 9:30 p.m. each night and take if off airplane around 8 a.m. I haven’t missed a thing — and CERTAINLY haven’t missed mindless social media scrolling or checking emails before getting out of bed. If you need to change this habit too, I encourage you to give this a try — it’s liberating. Here’s somebody else’s account of shutting down and being better for it.
• Are you passing up the stairmill? Here’s why you shouldn’t skip this machine. I need to get on it too, because I never do, and it really is super effective and NOT easy.
• Do you know which nut is the healthiest? Here’s a list, and you may be surprised at the front-runner.
• Did you miss this one on fitness lingo? Check it out and there’s a giveaway in there too. (And congrats to Brandy H. for winning the RumbleRoller giveaway.)
• I also have a giveaway on Instagram ending today, so enter that one.
• Seriously, I love a good PB&J. And so does the NBA. This long article tells you why.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends! 

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Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s something you’ve discovered lately that you’re loving?