ashleyd /

Monday Recharge

In case you missed it, this weekend was an absolute blast filled with great friends, a Derby themed housewarming party, plenty of homemade Southern comfort food, and lots of moving stress! You can read more about it and one of my favorite recipes right here!
After such an indulgent weekend I knew this week needed to include lots of exercise, sleep, and whole foods. Bo and decided that one way we’d achieve this goal would be to wake up and go to bed 30 minutes early each morning in May. This would ensure we’d be able to workout from 5:30-7am each morning. Extending a morning workout by 30 minutes allows me to pump some iron after sweating through a cardio session.
Luckily after curling up in bed at 10 last night, I woke up this morning craving a sweat fest and lots of whole foods!  This morning’s workout included a few of my favorites:
4 mile run in 38:10
10 mins on the stairclimber
Chest press, bicep curls, tricep dips, lat pull down
20 pushups
Lunges/Squats/Leg Press
Today I tried to focus on only putting whole foods in my body versus processed foods. It was definitely a challenge and opened my eyes up to how much I’ve started relying on bars as go to snacks. Today’s eats were as follows:
1/2 c oats, banana, cinnamon, and flax seeds (sorry for the Blackberry pic)

Late morning snack was 1/2 a grapefruit
Lunch was a delicious salad from Pax including romaine, egg whites, chicken, tomatoes, celery, red onion, and sprouts. I stuck with lemon juice, salt, and pepper instead of dressing.

Dinner was delicious grilled chicken with veggies Bo and I steamed/sauteed this morning in between showers and dashing out the door. We knew that if we had a dinner all ready to go when we got home we’d be more likely to eat our own food versus ordering. It worked perfectly!

When I got home from work and the Junior League meeting I was craving some yoga and stretching. I popped in the Core Fusion dvd and did thighs, arms, and stretching. It was a perfect 30 minute session that left me feeling stronger and relaxed! I forgot how much I love this great DVD. Any dvd that breaks the workouts up into convenient 10 minute segments wins me over!

The rest of the evening includes nothing except lounging on the couch with Gossip Girl!
xoxo

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ashleyd /

Succesful fire sale and organized chaos

Last night Bo and I posted three items on Craigslist in hopes of selling them before our big move on Friday. We were aprehensive since they were all big ticket items. But, our fire sale was very succesful and we were able to end the day with all the items sold! I was sad to part with a few of them but due to the new layout they just didn’t make sense. In addition, we were able to order a few great Pottery Barn pieces for our new apartment and take full advantage of our wedding registry discount! It’s almost hilarious to say, but one of the pieces is the SAME exact desk we sold today except in espresso versus white. I guess you know a piece of furniture is great when you sell it one day and buy it again the same day in order to make it work in your apartment. I bought the Pottery Barn Bedford desk upon college graduation with some of my gifts and it served as my first desk and the platform for many a conference call, strategy meeting, and hard work during my first two years with P&G.
 

These sales and the furious packing that took place today left our apartment looking like this:

Yes, it looks like a tornado blew through our apartment. Bo insists that this is organized chaos not just chaos. Today he spent most of the afternoon dismouning speakers, cables, pictures, moving our sold furniture (hence the tv on the window sill), and purged all our cabinets and closets of old clothes, trash, junk, etc. I have quite the donation bag to drop off tomorrow, that’s for sure!

During the day we kept things pretty simple and healthy as we had two main goals: eat as much of our food on hand as possible and spend most of our time focused on moving versus cooking. In addition, after a week of travel and stress we both were craving some healthy, clean food! Breakfast was on the skimpy side since we only had 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters and 4 eggs which had to be split between the two of us.

We headed downstairs around 1pm for a quick break. I’d written 25 thank you notes at this point and Bo had finally removed all the pictures and speakers. I can’t believe we have to basically do this all over again next weekend when we move in our new place. *sigh* I was craving a hearty salad and luckily they had a California Salad downstairs that was delicious. It featured some strawberries, mango, blueberries, mixed greens, tomatoes, and raspberry viniagrette. I added a boca burger for some extra protein and staying power. It was HUGE and therefore I left at least 1/4 of it in the bowl.

I headed downstairs for a quick workout later and was inspired by Naomi of One Fit Foodie. She featured a great HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout on Missy’s blog today during her guest post. I jotted it down and hit the treadmill for a 30 min session. Today’s workout went like this:
Minute Speed

0-2 4.0, 4 % incline (warm up)
2-3 6
3-4 6
4-5 6.5
5-6 7.0
6-7 7.5
7-8 8.0
8-9 6
9-10 6
10-11 6.5
11-12 7.0
12-13 7.5
13-14 8.0
14-15 6.0
15-16 6.0
16-17 6.5
17-18 7.0
18-19 7.5
19-20 8.0
20-21 8.5
21-30 6.0

Phew! This left me breathless but refreshed! I loved the speed intervals and my lungs are improving each day! I stayed on the treadmill for another 20 minutes at 4.0 speed and 6.0 incline while catching up on this month’s Self magazine. I spent the final 20 minutes doing some bosu ball ab exercises, squats, and arms. All in all this was a great, convenient, and quick workout. Immediately upon return, I made a chocolate covered strawberry shake! It was a new one for me but hit the spot and satiated my hunger.

5 strawberries chopped
6-7 cubes ice
1/2 c Almond Breeze
1/2 c water
1/2 packet Amazing Grass Chocolate
1/2 spoonful of protein powder
Dinner tonight was also quick and simple as we were both engrossed in the movie Singles. I’ve never seen it before but love the soundtrack and am enjoying the 90’s flashbacks. Our dinner really felt like our first summer meal. We enjoyed grilled pork chops which brined all afternoon, corn, roasted broccoli, and small salads. It had been ages since we’d grilled pork and I forgot how much I love the flavor especially when paired with barbecue spices! Bo did a great job tonight manning the grill pan.

Goodnight New York! I have four more thank you notes to write before curling up in bed! Have a great week!
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ashleyd /

A Pret Surprise and Workout Happy Hour

*Don’t forget to enter my Pearly Whites giveaway here!**
Yesterday our office was a ghost town due to multiple all day meetings taking place. This was the perfect environment for a productive Friday. In addition, yesterday’s cloudy skies made me happy that it was Friday intsead of Saturday. My ideal week is when it’s overcast Monday through Friday morning and then gorgeous Friday evening through Sunday evening. I know, that’s demanding a lot but a girl can dream can’t she.
Lauren suggested we try somewhere new for lunch since we both normally have a big salad every day. We’ve tried almost everywhere within a block or two of our office but I realized I’d never journeyed into Pret. She was craving one of their baguette sandwiches so we headed that way. The place was packed! I was immediately impressed with their salad and sandwich assortment. Pret is the perfect lunch spot for people who want quick combination options to go. For example, their sandwiches are all offered in full or half portions and they have both large and small salad options. I quickly chose the beautiful tuna nicoise salad as I was craving something a little different.
It was even more gorgeous when I opened it back at the office. My lovingly handmade salad was absolutely divine and the fresh cucumber and olive flavors blended with the egg and tuna perfectly. I loved that the lettuce base was arugula which provided a peppery flavor combination. This hearty salad packed a whopping 30 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and 310 calories. The lemon shallot dressing I chose to top the salad had a great rich flavor that highlighted the freshness of the salad. I only needed 1/4 of the container since the salad’s flavors and freshness stood wonderfully alone.
Unfortunately, my soup choice was not quite as delicious. I was intrigued by their miso soup and decided to try it instead of their chicken soup. However, my medium miso soup included ONE measley piece of tofu and maybe four pieces of kale. It was an utter failuer and left me immediately regretting my choice.
I only had three sips before pouring the rest down the drain. Luckily I had a bag of Baked Lays in my desk drawer that were able to jump in as a perfect backup.
Bo and I decided to meet at Equinox after work since we’d set the alarm clock for PM versus AM that morning. We thought it’d be fun to take their Body Conditioning class together before staying for half of a spin class to ensure we had a great Friday workout before our date night. We both rushed from work to make it in time for the class only to find a room packed to the gills! I forgot how much room step platforms and weight equipment takes up in a studio. I’ve become accustomed to group yoga classes which only have a mat and block as tools. I have mentioned on Twitter and the blog lately how much i’ve been missing Body Pump. Since I thought this would be very similar to Body Pump I fought the urge to leave and made myself a spot. The class was described as:
Informed by the latest findings in exercise science and functional exercises, instructors focus on strengthening and fine-tuning major muscle groups. This cutting-edge workout makes use of various equipment.

Carl was a hilarious instructor who kept the class interesting and the music flowing. His attitude was light hearted and he wanted to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves since after all it was a Friday night. The class was not Body Pump but it was cutting edge and focused the majority of the time on my “trouble areas” of arms and thighs. I enjoyed the class and will most likely make it a weekly addition. His spin class directly following was VERY intense filled with climbs and sprint intervals. At the thirty minute mark my thighs were screaming and I was more than elated to head out since Bo and I had to shower before our dinner reservations. Overall, we both LOVED working out together on a Friday night. It was a great way to start the evening, refresh our energy which is often drained after a long Friday, and feel relaxed and happy before going out!

Our surprise date night post will come later this afternoon, after our spur of the moment long run is completed. We just found out that the leasing office will be showing OUR apartment ALL day today since we’re the only apartment available with a May 1 lease that offers a balcony. Lovely. Glad we cleaned this morning. Hmmph! The bears ARE NOT HAPPY with this sudden change of plans. Oh well, long run here I come!


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