Happy Sunday.
Quick check in for you to share last week’s eats and workouts. I hope it gives you a little dose of inspiration to get your week started on a strong, healthy and balanced note. Before I dive into this, I just want to give you a reminder to listen to your body and what it needs this week from a nutrition and workout standpoint and be open and accepting if it’s a little different than what felt good last week. <3
Last Week’s Eats
Breakfast
Acai bowl. The base was a blend of acai, frozen blueberries, frozen banana, frozen strawberries, coconut milk, almond butter and half a scoop of Premier Protein Chocolate Milkshake protein powder. I topped the bowl with granola, almond butter, bananas and coconut flakes.
Mashed sweet potatoes with granola, coconut flakes and almond butter. This was made from the frozen sweet potato cubes from Trader Joe’s and the verdict on that is I much prefer a freshly baked sweet potato but I’m still excited to try them in smoothies.
My typical Friday chia pudding eaten at the gym. I’m only training clients on Friday mornings these days. I train 2-3 clients in a row and then head straight to the studio to teach. Chia pudding is the easiest thing for me to pack. I’m pretty burnt out on it but it’s good once a week.
Lunch
Salad with a power greens base and topped with leftover quinoa mix from the stuffed acorn squash you’ll see below, chick peas, radishes, pears and turkey.
Sourdough toast with mashed avocado, sauerkraut and scrambled egg with a side of fruit.
Another salad with power greens blend, radishes, pears, chick peas, dried cherries, and chopped toasted almonds.
Dinner
Stuffed acorn squash with a filling of quinoa, kale, cranberries, almonds and other yummy stuff. Honey ginger soy roasted brussels on the side. (<– recipe for that soon…SO GOOD!)
I had to scrap the pork chop recipe on last week’s meal plan because Whole Foods was out of pork chops of all types (what? how?). Luckily, we were sent home a couple of pounds of leftover smoked pork from the party we went to last Sunday so I made a smoked pork and white bean soup that was loaded with veggies. It turned out so well and was a great dinner served alongside some of my freshly baked, toasted and buttered sourdough. Let me know if y’all want the recipe for this soup. I made it up as I went but it turned out so well and would be great with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I think I’m going to make another batch tomorrow.
I repeated the sauteed cruciferous crunch and sausage dinner from a couple of weeks ago last Sunday night. I thought we’d eat at the party but we arrived a little too late to do so. I mixed some of the smoked shredded pork with the greens and cooked the spicy Italian chicken sausage with the greens.
Two thumbs up on the cod poached in five-spice broth with bok choy and udon from Epicurious. A reader gave me a head’s up that they had just tried this recipe and found it a little bland so I upped the spices quite a bit and added a few things.
Here’s the finished product. My takeaway on this is a) I love the meatiness and flakiness of cod so much and b) I need more udon noodle recipes in my repertoire! (Let me know if you have a good one.)
Leftover stuffed squash with steamed asparagus.
Etc.
Carrot cake mini cupcakes with hot tea for afternoon snack.
Buttered sourdough toast with fig preserves and hot tea. I had to eat this on the day I baked and sliced it. It was heavenly.
I get asked all the time if I snack and the answer is yes, yes and yes! This post gives you a good look at a complete day of eats for me that includes snacking.
Last Week’s Workouts
Monday:
Hot yoga
Tuesday
5 mile run at 9:11 pace
Wednesday
Gym…
Tabata intervals of the following. (20 seconds on 10 seconds off for 8 rounds. On the intervals with two exercises, I alternated between them each round.)
1) battle rope and kettlebell swings
2) jump lunges and gliding disk mountain climbers
3) push ups
4) sled push
5) burpees and bicycle crunches
3 rounds…
20 leg press (45# plate on each side)
10 push ups (5 strict, 5 with assistance)
3 rounds…
10 single arm dumbell rows, each arm (25#)
10 single arm dumbbell shoulder press, each arm (20#)
10 single leg deadlifts, each leg (holding 20# dumbbell)
2 rounds…
15 tricep cable pressdowns
15 bicep curls
Thursday
Hot yoga
Friday
3 mile run
Saturday
15 mile run (half marathon + extra)
Sunday
Hot yoga
Finally, I’ve had some requests lately to write another post on intuitive eating.
a) Is this a topic you’d like for me to go more in-depth on?
b) I would love to hear both your experiences and challenges with intuitive eating and exercise so I can address it in a meaningful way.
Jen, I love your posts on your recent eats and your workouts. I also never analyze your eating habits because I trust that you are a professional and you do what is right for you. Thank you for being you.
Yummy! All of this sounds so good! I low you’re not eating dairy as often anymore, but a twist on chia pudding could be to mix the chia seeds with pudding, let them soak overnight then add granola etc the next day. The yogurt makes it a bit thicker and not as jello-ish. Just a thought 🙂
In regard to intuitive eating, that is definitely something I’d like to hear your input on. I’ve always struggled with intuitive eating, as someone still recovering from an eating disorder. If I give myself too much “freedom,” I end up eating long past my body’s hunger cues. Yet if I’m too strict, I end up feeling too restricted, anxious and as if I’m not making any progress in reaching my own version of food freedom. I do feel strongly about intuitive eating, I think it is a great way for people to really be in check with their body’s wants and needs. I hope to get there someday.
I would LOVE it if you did an intuitive eating/exercise post. It’s hard for me to tune out all the noise in terms of all the MASSIVE amount of info, often conflicting, out there on what the ‘best’ nutrition and exercise regime is. The last few years have really been a struggle for me in terms of trusting what my body actually and wants and needs. I was pretty strict Paleo for about two years and was SO tired that I was convinced I was ‘doing it wrong’ because everyone else had so much energy and supposedly seemed invincible and super ripped. Nothing like social media to make you feel less than…SO yes! I’d love it if you did a post or series of posts on intuitive eating. I’ve been following you for about 4 years and you inspire me so much! You seem to have such a healthy relationship with eating and exercise that I’d like to emulate. I’m also a personal trainer, BodyPump instructor and aspiring blogger. I also ran my first half marathon, Denver Rock n’ Roll, in October and your post about meeting yourself where you’re at was so amazingly timely and helpful for me. Sorry for my verboseness 🙂
Love love love your posts. I never comment but one of first things I do after taking my son to bus..xoxo
Hi Natalie – THANK YOU so much for your comment and kind words. Made my day! 🙂
Eggs and avocado is one of my favorite combinations!!! So good! Hope you have a good week.
Thank you so much and you too!
Hi Jen! I would love a post on intuitive eating! I struggle with knowing what and how much to eat. I try to listen to my body but I would love more guidance and even a post on IIFYM (If it fits your macros). I have heard a lot about that!!
Hi Laura – I will plan another post very soon. RE: IIFYM…I don’t count or calculate anything. Doesn’t work for me but remember that’s just me.
This is off topic, and doesn’t’ address either of the questions you ask, but I enjoy your blog, and REALLY appreciate your reminders to listen to your body from both an eating and a working out standpoint. Thank you for the continued positive reinforcement and just recognizing that the same things will not (and should not) work for everyone, and also that the same things are not always going to feel good. These reminders are important, as we can so easily get sucked into only seeing a glimpse of what someone is or isn’t doing and thinking that it will work for us, and then being disappointed/frustrated. We are all so different, which is part of our beauty. Again, really enjoy your blog!
Hi Autumn – thank you so much. I think one of the greatest areas of growth for so many of us is self-discovery and learning to trust ourselves instead of following along with the crowd or what society says we “should do.” That said, I know that truly learning to find and listen to that inner guide is super challenging. I honestly credit my yoga practice for helping me so much on this front, both emotionally and with my physical body. Lots of love to you!
Love your posts and l love how laid back you are! One of my issues is that I beat myself up about getting workouts in and beat myself up over what I eat. I feel there are so many trainers out there who basically say you can never eat cupcakes again if you want abs but you eat cupcakes and look amazing and I wish I could have your attitude towards food and exercise. With that being said maybe you could speak more about your food and exercise philosophy. You are so positive and I love it!
Hey Amanda – thank you so much for your kind words. I am so in the camp of believing that all of the hard work we do isn’t worth it if we can’t treat ourselves here and there. It’s all about finding a balance that works for you but I know that can be so difficult to pinpoint and varies from person to person. I’ll definitely write another post and try to shed more light. xx
Hi Jen!! Would love for you to post your soup recipe, it looks wonderful!!
Will do!
I would LOVE the recipe for the soup!
Will post!
Same here, LOVE your blog. Easy to read and I’m able to apply so much of your teachings. The “eats” are a favorite.
Please share soup recipe!
Thank you Sabrina! I’m really happy to hear that. <3
I love these posts simply for inspiration, especially that soup! Would love the recipe as I am also trying to use up a little pork I have left in the freezer!
Thanks so much and I’m glad to hear that you enjoy these posts! 🙂
I would love a post on intuitive eating! I find I often eat out of boredom or because “it’s time”–if that makes sense! Also, your whole30 posts were really inspiring and I would love to know if that helped with your intuitive eating or if you would every do another one! If you decided to, I think it would be cool to have an online group similar to your running group for it!
Hello Jen! I would love to see your post on intuitive eating. I think the hardest obstacle I run into with intuitive eating is trusting that my path will get me somewhere vs. following another persons guidance. There are so many models of eating out there and at times each one reiterates that if you don’t follow their way, or, go outside the prescriptive program then nothing is possible. Underneath it all, I feel like there are so many messages sent out within the health community that we can’t trust our bodies and that we can’t trust what is right for ourselves. As someone who is trying to heal my relationship with myself, I find these other voices can come flaring up when I’m starting to move forward.
I love your posts and hearing all about puppies, they make me value what I have I in my life even more:).