My favorite sweet and healthy things from the week

Greetings from sunny San Diego! Dave and I arrived here yesterday afternoon, and we’ll be hanging out all weekend for his older sister’s wedding. We haven’t been down here to visit in more than a year, and we were both very much looking forward to a change of scenery. I love San Diego! I hope you all have some awesome weekend plans as well.

Because it’s the end of the week, let’s go ahead and chat about some light stuff — like all of the things I’ve been loving lately. Sit back, relax and enjoy, my friends!

My favorite nut butter from the week

A few weeks ago, a friend on Instagram suggested I check out the mixed nut butter from Trader Joe’s, and I’m glad that she did (perhaps she noticed my slight obsession with nut butter sprouted toast for breakfast every single day lately). While I won’t say that I like it as much as my beloved sunflower nut butter I posted about last month, I will say that I like it more than your average nut butter. The mixed nut butter contains almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and sea salt, and it tastes expensive. Like really expensive. But it’s not. It is only $5 for a jar here in the Bay Area.

The one thing you should know is that this nut butter is a little runny, even when stored in the fridge, but it’s manageable, and it tastes so good! This is a perfect nut butter to eat alone or on a banana or apple to truly appreciate the rich flavor profiles of all the nuts — and in my opinion, the cashews are the most pronounced from the mix. Yay Trader Joe’s! (For some of my favorite quick and healthy items, check out this busy gal’s shopping list for Trader Joe’s.)

My favorite moments from the week

I’ve held back so much health and personal information over the past couple of years on the blog that I wasn’t truly sure how or when to properly share, until I recently packaged it all up and put it into my ebook, “Fit and Fertile,” which debuted this week. I have never been so excited to receive emails, texts, messages and comments from some of the people who have already read the book. And no, these are not just all women who want to get pregnant. This ebook is about true health, healing your hormones (and believe it or not, a lot of us need help with that and don’t even know it) and working in the fitness industry, and that’s why I think nearly everyone can get something out of it.

I’m really happy that I’ve gotten this story and all of the things that I learned out there. And I will keep pressing on, because it’s so important to me to spread the word about fitness, fertility and even hormonal health. A few people asked me if I will share everything from the book on the blog, and the answer is no. I told a complete story in the book, from beginning to end and put it all out there with more personal details than nearly any of my good friends even know. While I do anticipate getting a bit more into hormones, hypothalamic amenorrhea and whatnot on the blog, I plan to keep much of the content in the ebook. If you’re on the fence about buying it — just do it! And THANK YOU to those of you who have already read it. If you have a testimonial from reading it, please send it to me, because I’m going to share those soon! Love you, guys! Be fit! Be fertile!

My favorite sweets from the week

You may have noticed that because my ebook launched on Monday, I didn’t have a chance to share with you much about our weekend. It included a lot of eating, a trip to the gym, some shopping and well — that’s about it — not a lot of glamorous activities around here lately, I will say, so you didn’t miss much. It also included a picnic (shown below) and some treats.

Speaking of treats: I’m eating very healthy most of the time, but I will admit that my treat consumption has increased slightly in the last few weeks. And I’ve got no problem with that at all.

On Saturday, Dave brought me home two cupcakes — both with cream cheese frosting — from our favorite local bakery Sweet Affair, which is also where we bought our adorable gender reveal cake. I usually go for a full slice of cake rather than a cupcake (more frosting that way), but these babies were good. Yay for sweets! And three cheers for cream cheese frosting, which is my absolute favorite.

My favorite picture of the week

Every single time I ask readers for feedback on my blog, I get at least a few requests for more pictures of Rudy. And well, I aim to please. Here’s a cute one of our little guy during our picnic on Sunday below. He is staying with friends this weekend while we’re away, and I hope I don’t wake up in the morning and cry because he isn’t beside me laying on my head. Pregnancy emotions are real, my friends …

My favorite links from the week 

A few things I bookmarked …

• There can never be too many articles explaining our protein needs. Did you know that some plant-based proteins are not complete proteins and need to be combined with other proteins to become complete? That and more in this article.
• A good one for my fellow pregnant gals — here are some of the foods you should and shouldn’t be including in your diet. Hint, hint: eggs, spinach and sweet potatoes are on the nice list! YAY!
• I’m pretty sure this is the third time I’ve posted something about this particular yoga move, but I can’t help myself, because it’s so darn good, and I need the reminder to do it more.
• Thanks for the love on this post from earlier in the week. Sometimes I wonder if I should be so open about life things, but then when I do it — you guys make me feel awesome and apparently a lot of you can totally relate!
• Adaptogens, or special herbs that come from nature, are ALL THE RAGE in the wellness community these days — consumed as teas, powders and tablets. While I have some on my shelves that I cannot take while pregnant, I’ve heard good things about the natural stress relief, natural energy enhancement and more benefits of these magic herbs. Check out Brittany’s overview of adaptogens for more details.

That’ll do it! See you soon, my friends! Check out my San Diego adventures over on Instagram! 🙂 

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Questions of the day

What’s one thing you learned this week? 

What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this weekend?