Life Lately

Happy Saturday everyone! I am so glad it is finally the weekend. I am currently icing my ankle as it has been randomly swollen all week. I had pain and tingling in it at the beginning of the week but worked out through the pain, then Thursday I noticed that it was seriously swollen! So I am icing and elevating and hoping it's nothing serious!

I thought I'd share my latest eats with you all and how life has been lately. In one word, life has been BUSY! I feel like every second of my week and weekends are accounted for. Thank God all my plans are fun with some lovely people, but I am actually looking forward to during the day today! Work has been keeping me busy too...always learning something new and slowly getting more and more comfortable! At least I have been able to keep up with my workouts and healthy eating through it all!

My latest pre-workout meals have been either toast with peanut butter, or some kind of baked good creation. This week, I used Nature's Own Honey Wheat bread to put my peanut butter on.

I also baked some banana oat bread (recipe already posted!) with some added flaxseed (about 2 tablespoons) and an extra banana. This bread came out amazing!

My workouts have been about 40-45 minutes long as I do not have much time in the AM before work! However, I am NOT an evening worker-outer, and will definitely blow off my workout the minute I get home from work. So I love getting my workout done in the morning because it fills me with a sense of accomplishment, as well as energy to sustain me throughout the day! I've been doing 30-40 minute bike workouts with some toning work at the end. Short and sweet!

Post workouts have been tricky. Some mornings, I have time to make a nice meal after my workout. This week, I made oatmeal with half a scoop of protein powder, flaxseed, almond milk, bananas, and nuts! Oh and of course, tons of cinnamon!

I also had some leftover beans in the fridge one morning and sautéed some kale and ate that with half an avocado. Seems more like a lunch, but it tasted great as breakfast too!

And some mornings, I just grab a quest bar and go. I love these bars because they are full of protein and fiber and really act well as a post-workout meal when I am short on time!

Lunches have been delicioussss this week. I packed tuna earlier on in the week, and had some trouble getting excited about it. Usually I love tuna, but I wasn't feeling it this week. I decided that I MUST pack foods I am excited to eat! Especially at work when that 30 minute lunch break is something I really look forward to! So, my mom and I made a Seven Bean soup recipe we got from our William's Sonoma soups cookbook. It's basically sautéing onions, garlic, bell peppers, and whatever veggies you have, adding however many types of beans you want, a can of diced or crushed tomatoes, and some broth. And viola! You've got a nice and healthy chili to take with you all week to work!

I also made a salad with tons of greens, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, black beans, and avocado. Let's just say I've been on a bean and avocado kick lately :) such a great combo!

Well, that's it for my update. I hope this post gives you some meal ideas for your busy week to come! Use this weekend for some serious meal planning and prepping to ensure healthy choices all week long! Enjoy the weekend everyone!