Top blog posts, readers stats and my food
Welcome to the last day of 2014! It’s Wednesday, which around here, means we talk about food. But before we get to that, I wanted to share some blogging insight into A Lady Goes West to wrap up the year. In case you missed it, yesterday I put together A look back at all the happenings of 2014, which covered all the highlights of my year since blogging, but today we’re getting into more details about the back-end of the site.
Shown above from top left to right: Me taking a selfie after teaching an early morning BODYPUMP class, my peer group of BODYATTACK instructors leaping in the air after finishing a hard day of advanced training, a look at my healthy grocery haul and Dave and me at the airport on one of our many cross-country trips.
Top 10 posts on A Lady Goes West in 2014
These are the most popular posts that have been clicked on throughout the year, and most of these have something in common.
- BODYPUMP 101 overview and tips for first timers
- CXWORX 101 overview and tips for first timers
- BODYATTACK 85 class review
- How to learn Les Mills choreography
- BODYPUMP 91 class review
- Frozen Greek yogurt bark experiment
- BODYPUMP 90 class review
- BODYATTACK 86 class review
- ClassPass launches in San Francisco
- A full day of eating in pictures
Well, there you go. It looks like Les Mills group fitness is my bread-and-butter for this first serious year of blogging. However, my About, Fitness and San Francisco pages were also highly visited.
And for some more details …
A Lady Goes West 2014 reader and site stats
- 249 blog posts
- Approximately 5 posts per week
- Readers located in 153 countries, with most based in the U.S., Canada and Australia
- Top blog referring sites: Facebook, Bloglovin’ and Twitter
It’s pretty cool to be able to access my stats and see where you’re all coming from and what you’re clicking on. It will definitely help me as I plan out what’s going to show up on A Lady Goes West in 2015. I can assure you, it won’t be all about group fitness though, because even though I love it, I have a whole lot more to talk about than that.
Now, let’s get to the regularly scheduled programming for this fine Wednesday …
Why “What I Ate Wednesday”?
I want to take a minute to explain the purpose of these weekly “What I Ate Wednesday” posts. “What I Ate Wednesday” is something that many bloggers participate in each week to share their eats with the world. While it may seem silly, I know I love to look at the foods that other people eat, both for inspiration and just out of curiosity, and I’d imagine many of you feel the same. I only post my full day of meals once every seven days, and most of the time it’s from the same day of the week, so the meals are fairly similar. However, I live a normal life outside of my healthy weekdays, which means my weekends usually have a lot more variety, especially when I’m out exploring all the great restaurants that San Francisco has to offer. A lot of times, I’ll talk about other things on Wednesdays along with the food, and that’s just to keep it interesting, but the main point of the day is always showcasing my food. I’ve enjoyed sharing “What I Ate Wednesday” posts and will keep them going for as long as you guys like reading them. Sound good?
Today’s recap is from Monday. It was my first official day back to fully healthy eating after a wonderful week away in Florida complete with daily indulgences like a lot of wine and super decadent desserts. That being said, I was actually pretty glad to be consuming some basic foods, because my body was craving them. Here’s how it looked …
Breakfast at 8 a.m.
I was very happy to wake up and dig into some vanilla protein overnight oats topped with a banana. As always, I enjoyed this bowl of goodness with some black tea sweetened with almond milk and stevia.
Lunch at noon
It had been far too long since I ate this colorful and simple lunch comprised of a massive baked sweet potato covered in cinnamon and two fried eggs.
Tea at 1 p.m.
A cold day in San Francisco calls for some decaffeinated green tea sweetened with almond milk and stevia.
Afternoon snack at 4 p.m.
Tasty bar alert! This was my first time trying this healthy nutrition bar by Zing. Dave gave me a bunch of fun bars like this as a stocking stuffer, and I think I enjoyed this one the most. Ten grams of protein and about 200 calories makes a good pre-workout snack for me.
Beverages during BODYATTACK class at 5:30 p.m.
During one hour of teaching a high-impact cardio class like BODYATTACK, I downed this bottle of water and this small bottle of coconut water. Yet, somehow I still ended the class dehydrated. That’s a lot of sweating going on, my friends.
Post-class protein at 6:30 p.m.
Sadly, I’m nearing the end of my big bag of vanilla-flavored Les Mills Good Protein powder. I froze this shake about an hour before leaving for class, pulled it out, stashed it in my bag and then drank it on the way home after it defrosted. Slushy protein shakes are the best.
Dinner at 8 p.m.
A heaping of spaghetti squash covered in Sockaroonie pasta sauce, with sauteed spinach and three store-bought frozen meatballs. I must say, this is my first time preparing squash that ended up so mushy. Not sure what I did there, but I definitely prefer it to be less wet.
Dinner was followed up by some almond milk. And that’s that! This day of eating had a lot of color, and for the first time in many days did not feature any dessert or wine. But champagne? Now I hope I have some of that in my future tonight.
Alright guys, maybe you have the day off of work or you have some freedom from your usual responsibilities today? Whatever it is that you’re doing, I hope you have fun. Here’s to ringing in a great 2015 …
More pictures of food
By the way “What I Ate Wednesday” is an official blog link-up party, hosted each week by Peas and Crayons. If you want to see more food recaps, check out some of my posts from the past here:
- A full day of eating in pictures
- Another full day of my eats and drinks
- Real food isn’t always pretty
- Do you have a balanced dining out strategy?
- What I ate and drank all day
- Three meals, two snacks and a shake
- Food trucks and rest-day eating
- Plenty of protein at every meal
- Colorful fuel for a day of training
- Long days of training require a lot of food
- Making do on “What I Ate Wednesday”
- Healthy foods for a rest day
- Who doesn’t like pictures of food?
- A look at a full day of eating in pictures
- Snapshots from a day of delicious meals
- Pictures of food, because you like them
- Food pictures and the juice cleanse that wasn’t
- A look at what I really eat in a day
- What I ate in the Sunshine State
- My weekend eats and a little narrative
- Stories about food and yesterday’s meals
- A day of eating and some commentary
- Do you want to know what I ate yesterday?
- Healthy challenges and foods from my day
- Eating, napping and eating again
- Filling up on healthy food before the holiday
- A perfect birthday at home and my eats
Questions of the day
Big plans tonight or for tomorrow? What’s the best thing you’ve eaten lately? What are post topics that you’d like to see more of on A Lady Goes West? Bloggers out there, what was your top post of the year about?
Hello and happy (almost) New Year! Today’s my birthday and I actually don’t have any plans. Quiet night at home with some movies. Is that lame? LOL. You’re really one of my favorite blogs to read so keep up the good work. On my site, my most popular post published in 2014 was all about French accents, titled “French accents sound cool in English unless you say one of these words.”
Hi Diane! hahha that’s an awesome post, I’ll need to go read that one. And oh my gosh — A VERY happy birthday going out to you today. Enjoy your relaxing evening. Here’s to a great 2015 for us both:)
Congrats on a great year of blogging! I am really glad I discovered your blog this year. I think you post a lot of fun variety so I always enjoy reading different topics. Our plans are not totally decided for tonight – either dinner and a movie or a local festival in Austin. We shall see! Have a wonderful NYE and cheers to a great 2015!
Yes, Lauren, I’m so glad we’ve connected. Hope you guys have a great time tonight, whatever you decide to do! 🙂 Don’t go get coffee right before the ball drops though. heeheh
Lol. I won’t – that could be dangerous! 🙂
Be careful! 🙂
That picture of everyone jumping is awesome. I’m so glad I stumbled across your blog this year! You have so much to be proud of & I look forward to reading more in the coming year. Happy NYE!
Thanks, Megan! I think we all would have jumped a lot higher if it wasn’t the END of the training day hehehe. Hope you have a wonderful NYE! 🙂
What a great way to wrap your year up Ashley. I bet San Francisco will be amazing tonight. One of these years my hubby and I will have to get a room and stay in the city. I am looking forward to making a better commitment to my blogging and watching it grow.
Happy New year to you and I am looking forward to us meeting in person 2015 🙂
Sending blog love from the wine country 🙂
Hi Lynda, Thank you! I would love for you to keep me in the loop of fitness and blogging events in wine country, because I would certainly make the trip. Have a lovely NYE! Here’s to a fabulous 2015!
I love looking at my blog stats! I remember when I had my first reader in Brazil 🙂 Also, I have heard so much about Body Pump and am interested in trying out a class. Can’t wait to read your Body Pump 101 post. Happy New Year!
Hi Sara! Yes, you must try some Les Mills classes. So glad we found each other this year. Have a great NYE! 🙂
Everything looks delicious! Happy last day of 2014!!
Thanks, Erin! I hope you have a wonderful NYE and New Year:) I look forward to following your adventures in 2015!
That Spaghetti squash dish looks so great! It makes me crave chicken sausage reallllll bad haha. I love your grocery loot picture in the beginning — there’s something so fun about getting your groceries all lined up and taking a pic haha I think it’s something only bloggers understand though 😉 Happy New Year!
Hi Lauren! hahaha thanks. Yes I think that is a blogger thing. I line up everything I get. Sometimes I don’t even use the thousands of pictures I take. 🙂 Hope you have a great NYE!
I’ve heard great things about body pump but have never tried it. Looks like a great workout! Congrats on your success with the blog this year!
Hi Janelle! Thanks so much for stopping by. Yes, you’ve got to try the Les Mills classes, especially BODYPUMP. I hope you have a wonderful NYE! 🙂
Happy 2015, Ashley! I love all of those Les Mills posts. I’m totally going to have to go back and read them. I’m thinking about getting my BODYCOMBAT cert next fall so I’ll need all of the tips I can get!
Hi Becky! BODYCOMBAT has it’s hardcore fan-base, that’s for sure. I have taken it about a dozen times, but I don’t sit in the BODYCOMBAT essence, so that’s a program I won’t ever teach. Learning to teach a new program would be a great new fitness goal for you once the little one is born. Hope you have an awesome NYE!
An awesome recap of your year of blogging! Looking forward to more in 2015 🙂
Happy New Year, Ashley and A Lady Goes West!
Thank you so much Catherine! So glad we’ve become friends! I need to come back to the Barre soon! 🙂 Happy NYE to you!!
Girl, your consistency never ceases to amaze me! Congrats on keeping up on the 5 blog posts per week! Looking forward to seeing what 2015 brings!
Thanks, Kelly! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Looks like you had an awesome year! Can’t wait to your blog grow in 2015!
Thank you!! I appreciate your support. Have a wonderful weekend:)
Oh geebuz watery spaghetti squash is like punishment. Worst ever.
You’ve had a great year and a good balance of posts! Looking forward to seeing what 2015 brings. Most popular post on my side was a paleo cookie dough for one recipe…I guess cavemen like cookie..dough.
Hi Arman! I’ve never made a single “paleo” recipe on purpose, but you know, maybe this is the year to try! Have a wonderful weekend:) Sorry for the delay in this response, don’t know how I missed this comment!
Congrats on a very successful year of blogging! I’ve really enjoyed reading the blog and getting to know you. Wishing you a very happy 2015!! xoxo
Hi Whitney! Same to you! Love following your adventures. Good luck with the elimination diet this month. I’ll be reading intently! Have a good weekend:)