Curious what a back on track day looks like in pictures and words? Enjoy and welcome to a day in my world!
Morning Run (5:45-6:15am)
Good morning New York. While I don’t always love your slow tourists or the traffic, running up Lexington and seeing the lights on the Empire State Building illuminated over the city. There is nothing like friendly bodega men sweeping their sidewalks and giving cat calls at 6am.
Breakfast (8:15am)
Oats, protein powder and an apple heated in a microwave makes for quite the Fall breakfast, especially on a cooler than expected morning. Pair it with a side of chai tea and it’s like fall in a cubicle.
Lunch (1pm)
Oh hello lovely greens. I forgot how much this fiber and protein could fill me up and keep me energized all afternoon. I’ve upgraded my salads from romaine to spinach permanently. That in itself makes me feel better about my lunch time choices. This salad was so large that I didn’t even crave bread! I enjoyed an afternoon tangelo and a handful of almonds later in the afternoon since I knew I had an evening workout.
Workout (6-7pm)
Thanks to the lovely ladies at Uplift Studios, I spent an hour sweating and stretching with Dori, Missy, Marielle, and other local fitness bloggers. I returned to my first love, Fit & Flow, a class that combines 30 minutes of heart pounding and muscle quiver inducing exercises with 30 minutes of relaxing yoga flow. I’m a huge fan of Michelle, who led the “fit” portion of the class. She uses the timer method so you know exactly how much longer you have and how hard you should push your body. Some of the moves left me dripping and panting. All of us agreed that the first 30 minutes almost had us in tears at points!
Another fun aspect of Uplift Studios is the community aspect. Everything about the studio invites conversation and mingling: open bar, open layout, mirrors, open locker rooms, and friendly space. We enjoyed some healthy sips and bites while catching up and talking all things social media and workout related.
Oh yeah, they even offer phone chargers so you can recharge your phone while you recharge your body!
Dinner (8:30pm)
Dinner at 8:30pm means that it needs to be quick and easy in addition to being healthy. While this may not be beautiful, a Thomas Bagel Thin with some Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese served alongside egg white and veggie scramble is the perfect option!
Okay your turn! I need some salad inspiration once again. What’s your favorite topping these days and why? Ten points if it is something I can find on a salad bar or at one of my local “chopped salad” places.
I’m into salads with some fresh fruit – strawberries, raspberries, apples, etc. add a nice texture and sweetness. Favs are berries, walnuts, spinach and chicken. Love this dressing. http://www.briannassaladdressing.com/product/blush-wine-vinaigrette/
I love grapes in my salads as a different texture and sweet punch. Fresh fruit is the best! I’ll have to look into that dressing!
Nice, love that they had phone chargers!
Trust me Sana, I loved this last night!
I like to top my spinach with strawberries, feta, red onions and poppyseed dressing.
YUM! I wish I could get strawberries at my local salad place!
I have become obsessed with beetroot, goats cheese and walnuts on top of my salad at the moment. Also loving adding some quinoa, lentils and bulgar in for a nutty addition to any salad!
Charlie I love beets too!! So delicious!
So so jel of all the classes and gyms you have at your fingertips in NY – my gym offers sweaty, smelly muscle heads hogging the weights benches, pervy gym instructors, blocked drains and over subscribed classes! LOL!
Yeah it’s definitely nice Helen to have so many options. Sorry to hear all yours are muscle head filled!
I tried a new Combo this week which was amazing. Spinach, goat cheese, dried cranberries, apricots, walnuts, and sun dried tomatoes w/ a splash of raspberry vinagrette. So good! Fit and Flow sounds awesome. Wish I had that class in Philly.
That sounds delicious! I am going to try that today but I don’t think I can get apricots at my salad place. Sad!
I’ve permanently switched to spinach from romaine or (gasp!) iceberg. The salad is much healthier and it feels more decadent too!
Great job Chase! I feel 100% healthier eating the spinach salads and I feel they fill me more!
I love the bitter/sweet combination on my salad, I always add sliced fruit, strawberries, Peaches or a crisp apple… with bitter greens (you could a a little arugula or radicchio)… yummy I also love to add a few seeds, hard boiled egg or grated carrots and radish….
Hope these help.
I loooove jalapenos in my salads. They add a sweet and spicy element. So good!
Wow Jen-Jalepenos? Those sound spicy! I’m not a big spice person but I’m sure some people would love that!
Uplift looks really awesome! I’ll have to go check them out soon. Great food choices!
Great post, Ashley! I love the idea of getting back on track in September after a hectic summer. I agree with Jen, jalapenos are a great addition to any salad. Yum!
Great seeing you last night! That first half of the class really did have me practically in tears, it was TOUGH and it felt like we were working for a lot longer than 30 minutes.
Dori it was great seeing you too! I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought class was tough. I was drenched!
You guys were awesome! I had so much fun 🙂
Instead of bread or croutons or something, I like having roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes in a salad (along with fruit, dried fruit, nuts, and lots of veggies).
That class sounds so fun!
Sweet potatoes in a salad sound delicious Michelle! Yes, the class was awesome!
I’m a big fan of yours, too! I’m so glad you enjoyed the class last night.
Another big spinach fan here, and I love topping salads with quinoa, cranberries, goat cheese, avocado, eggs and walnuts. Any other veggies are good to throw on there too, but I think these things make the salad 🙂
Aww thanks Michelle! I wish my salad place had quinoa. Do you use dried cranberries? That sounds delicious!
Yep, organic dried cranberries from Trader Joe’s are a Staple over here. Benevenuto introduced me to the idea of quinoa as a salad topper, and now I make a batch at home all the time for this purpose!
I often order a veggie burger for lunch. As my side, sub in a side salad for the fries. Then, ditch the bun and crumble the burger over the salad. You avoid all the carbs, and it’s really filling. Plus, I love having a warm protein on my salad.
Also easy to replicate for an easy packed lunch if you have veggie burgers in the freezer!
Allie that is a great idea. I may have to try bringing veggie burgers to the office to top my salads. Yum!
I have two favorite salads that I rotate between (both 6 Weight Watchers points plus for the lunch servings I make for myself) –
Salad #1 = spinach, avocado, light feta, tomatoes, grilled chicken + Newman’s Own light balsamic.
Salad #2 = spinach, grilled chicken, goat cheese, walnuts, craisins, granny smith apple + Newman’s Own light balsamic.