Bits & Bites #10

Hi guys! I'm here with another edition of "Bits & Bites"! Does anyone else feel like this week is flying? Work has been especially busy lately and I've been trying to make sure that my lunches are organized so that I'm not hitting up the Whole Foods hot/cold bar. Even though I make pretty healthy decisions when I buy lunch at Whole Foods... I know that I still make better decisions AND save money when I pack a lunch. 

Speaking of packing a lunch... I think it's a good time to share ideas from "Bits & BItes" because I've been noticing all of the delectable little treats in the supermarkets lately.  There's cider donuts, egg nog, chowders and creamy soups, pumpkin flavored friggin' everything (could care less about pumpkin - I know - it's basically un-american). Anyway, it can be hard to avoid this stuff this time of year because not only is it delicious but, it also has a seasonal/emotional connection that is tough to ignore. My advice? Stick to your guns, only dabble in what you love, and save it for the weekends.

Now, let's get into my eats as of late, shall we?

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Simple lunch... HB egg and baked sweet potato. This is very easy to food prep and is a great source of fuel for pre and post workouts. 

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Random dinner: Tortillas with hummus, swiss chard from my garden, other veggies, feta, and crushed red pepper. This one is vegetarian and so simple.

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Whole Foods Hot/Cold Bar Lunch: Lettuce, pulled chicken, quinoa, veggies, salsa, and a sprinkle of cheese. 

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This lunch has been a staple for the last couple of weeks because it's so simple and surprisingly filling. Two HB eggs, 1 honeycrisp apple and a generous tbs or so of almond butter.

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This dinner is becoming a staple, as well. My mom's quinoa and ground turkey stuffed peppers. So good, so healthy, and so filling.

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Dinner: Randomly put together Asian noodle bowl with ground turkey, rice noodles, arugula, and tomatoes. The seasoning staples I use for Asian noodle bowls are as follows: generous amount of rice vinegar, low sodium soy sauce, sriracha, garlic, sesame oil, and ginger if I have it.

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Lunch: My mom's butternut squash soup. Mmmmmmmmmm.

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Lunch: Two fried eggs over mixed greens with pecans, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and a drizzle of EVOO.

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Lunch: b.good's roasted butternut salad. It was really delish!

Lunch: Told ya this was a staple lately. I ran out of almond butter the other day so I ate skinny pop with it instead. 

Dinner: These are coming to the blog soon... buffalo chickpea roll-ups.

Dinner: General Tso's quinoa bowl. Similar here. SO GOOD and so much PROTEIN.

That's about all for now, my friends! I hope this helps to provide a few healthy ideas to add to your rotation. Have an awesome rest of your week! xo

Weekend Sunshine XLII

Hi friends and happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start! This weekend was pretty great because I actually got to stick around Boston. I made it to PWG on Saturday morning which felt like a HUGE TREAT. I haven't been to a Saturday morning class in 5 weeks due to all the travel lately. It was so nice to sleep in, work out, and run errands. Does that sound so lame? Anyway, here are the sunniest moments!

Rob made me a 3 course meal on Friday night which was awesome and amazing. Here is my personal appetizer platter. Think I had enough?

He made an Ina Garten (no, he doesn't know who she is) Greek Orzo Pasta with Shrimp. It was delicious!

After the gym, Rob and I headed to Assembly Row to hit up some Outlets. I needed a little J.Crew Factory in my life. This sweater at LOFT spoke to me but, I did not buy it although, I would love to feel like I have my dog Stella with me at all times. #BostonTerriersAreTheBest

That night, we did not celebrate Halloween, however, we did get dinner at Pastoral with Mark and Kristen. After that, we bar-hopped.

On Sunday, we had baby Julia's baptism. I didn't take any photos but, she was a little angel and loved church! We had a really nice time catching up with my Pop, cousins, and friends we haven't seen in a while.

That's all for now, my friends. I've recently signed up for snapchat so if you're a username... add me @funfitflavor!!!

Have a great week! xo

Yoga with Jenna Hill

A few weeks ago... I won one of the prizes in the Caught in Southie Instagram contest. Sidebar: If you live in Southie and you don't follow "Caught in Southie", you need to get on that... STAT.

Anyway, to my delight... I won a complimentary private Yoga session with Jenna Hill. Jenna teaches all over the city including at The Club by George Foreman and Charlestown Yoga. You can find her full schedule here. In addition to teaching in a class format and private settings; Jenna is one of the co-owners/founders of PopUpAsana. She and Kristin Khederian created this business as a way to make yoga more interesting, social and fun for their attendees. They have events all over the city and beyond and are currently working on the website but in the meantime, check out their facebook and instagram!

As soon as Jenna greeted me... I knew I liked her. She is warm, friendly, and extremely well-versed in yoga. She asked me a bunch of questions regarding my current state of health. She also asked me about past injuries, what I might want to work on, and if there are any exceptionally "tight or cranky" areas that I needed to work out. 

As I moved through my practice, Jenna focused on giving my hamstrings, feet, upper back, and lower back some attention. (Yes, I told her all of those things needed help haha).

Jenna gave me all kinds of new yoga moves that I have never done before... plus some old goodies that I've neglected to do as of late. Every little re-position, adjusted twist and turn made a HUGE difference in the poses and by the time savasana came around... I was feeling GREAT! Plus, see that sunset behind me? So pretty ( and relaxing!)

Jenna hill!

I enjoyed my practice with Jenna so much that it made me REALLY want to get back into Yoga. I put a lot of demands on my body between boxing, running and lifting so I could really use some yoga in my life to balance it all out.

Thank you so much for this session, Jenna - it was amazing!

If you are interested in getting in touch with Jenna.. see links below:
Facebook: Jenna Hill Yoga
Twitter: JennaMHill
Instagram: jenna_m_hill
Web: jennahillyoga.com
Email: jenna@jennahillyoga.com

Have a great Thursday! xo