Month: March 2017

Wednesday Workout: At-home 4 Round Bodyweight Circuit

Leave a comment

Hello! Did you catch my recap of our Jackson Hole trip yesterday? It was a fun one to recap! One thing I didn’t talk about in that post was working out- weird, right? Although I did not put on a pair of sneakers once, I did do one quickie at-home bodyweight circuit that I wanted to share with you. It’s by no means the hardest workout here on B2B, but it was a nice little afternoon pick-me up on the day we did not ski. As for the days we skiied, I felt as though that was all I needed, especially when combined with the amount of walking we did as well. Skiing didn’t necessarily feel HARD to me (my legs were not burning or tired), but I knew my body was still working a lot so I decided to take it easy.

Not “working out” (in the traditional sense) for this extended period was actually a really nice break from my traditional workout grind that I do week in and week out, and I found that I came back looking forward to getting back to my normal workouts. I missed lifting heavy things and sweating!

Regardless of whether you’re traveling, just looking for a little something, or are stuck inside (snow, rain, etc.), this might be the perfect workout for you!

I uploaded video’s to my Insta story throughout the workout so you can see what I did here (with the exception of triceps dips- that video didn’t upload, but I think those are common enough to not need a video):

As always, let me know if you try this- I love knowing that these workouts are actually valuable posts! haha 😉

Questions for you: Did you do an at-home workout yesterday during the storm or was shoveling your workout?

Ski/Snowboard Trip To Jackson Hole

9 Comments

Now that we are back and unpacked from our trip, I wanted to share some highlights and details with you in case you’re thinking of taking a ski/snowboard trip out west. I’ll preface this post by saying that I am by no means an avid skiier, but it’s something that I am trying to do more of since RM really loves snowboarding. That said, he was the one to plan the trip which was a nice treat! I hope you enjoy the recap!

Why Jackson Hole?

RM generally takes a snowboard trip out west every year and Jackson was a mountain that he had not been to yet. When he started asking around, everyone who had been to Jackson Hole had such great things to say so we decided to check it out. Two of my close friends from college lived out there after we graduated and taught skiing so they were a great resource for us to get our “must do/try/see” list together.

We decided to fly right into Jackson Hole which was a great decision because the views from the plane as we got into the area were literally the most beautiful thing. If you’ve never been, the airport is basically in the midst of the mountains so even when you get off the plane you’re looking at mountains all around. Plus, they serve mini mimosas to you!

Where To Stay

We chose to stay at the Sleeping Indian condo’s in Teton Village, but if we had known it was a 15 minute walk to get to the mountain base restaurants/bars/etc., we would have opted to stay elsewhere. The condo we rented had everything we needed, but was lacking in some of the things that would have been nice. For instance, we would’ve liked if it was a little more updated, if it had an easily accessible hot tub (rather than walking down the road to use a community one) and if it was in a more central location. While the walk wasn’t THAT far, at night when it was dark and cold and we were tired from skiing, it was the last thing we wanted to do! We ended up staying in a few nights because of it. If/when we go back, we will likely stay at the Snake River Lodge, Teton Mountain Lodge or another one of the more centralized hotels. Staying at the Four Seasons would be amazing, but that comes with a hefty price tag 😉 Staying in downtown Jackson is also an option, but that’s about a 15-20 minute drive to the mountain so if you plan on going for a ski/snowboard trip we would suggest staying in Teton Village.

What To Do

Ski! Snowboard! Snowmobile! Snowshoe! Cross-country Ski! Shop! and those are just the winter activities. Even if you aren’t a skiier/snowboarder, there are definitely plenty of things to do, but since we went with the purpose of going skiing/snowboarding, that’s primarily what we did.

Our first full day there was beautiful- low 40’s and so sunny- so we opted to not ski and head into downtown Jackson to do some touristy things. We shopped, took pics at the antler arches, had drinks and lunch at the Snake River Brewery and popped into the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar because it was a “must do”! RM was so glad we did because we ended up seeing Sanjay Gupta and his family there. If don’t know who this is, it means you don’t watch CNN enough 😉

 

 

We had other things we wanted to do, but since we were skiing for 3 days we just didn’t have enough time to get it all in.

As far as skiing, we were lucky that the first day we skiied was nice because we were able to soak in the most amazing views from the chair lifts/gondolas and throughout our trail runs. It started snowing at the end of our first day on the mountain and literally didn’t stop snowing the rest of the trip, which made for great skiing! We skiied the right side of the mountain the most- Apres Vous, Casper, Teton, etc. We did venture up to Bridger a few times, but between the wind and snow, the visibility was basically non-existent so it was not that fun for me. I loved the blue and double blue trails on the other parts of the mountain, though, but I will say that it is a pretty challenging mountain in terms of steepness so the blues and double blues were no joke! I feel like when I ski here back east it’s going to be such a letdown since the mountains aren’t as tall and there aren’t as many trails to choose from.

 

and just for fun… this video is of me trying to be “good”

 

and this is what reality is generally like…

I could watch that and still laugh a hundred times over!

Where To Eat/Apres Ski

This is probably my favorite thing to recap because there were so many great restaurants/bars for food and Apres Ski.

  • Mangy Moose– Obviously this is number one on the list! Everyone told us that we had to go there because they have the best apres ski and they were not wrong! It was always the most crowded and the drinks (get the margarita!!) and food were awesome- and reasonably priced. There was also a live band every day! If you go to JH, you MUST go to the Mangy Moose. It’s also worth noting that they have a little grocery store in the lower level where we were able to get some staples for our condo- including wine and beer!

  • Il Villaggio Osteria– This was in Hotel Terre and had amazing pizza! One night RM wasn’t hungry (too many apres ski nachos and wings…) and we ended up walking over there and sitting in the lobby bar and I had the meatballs and kale salad which were great. Another night RM was laid up because of a hurt foot (he’s fine now) so I walked and picked up pizza for us and we both raved how good it was. They also have other traditional Italian dishes that sounded amazing.
  • Spur Restaurant – This was in the Teton Mountain Lodge and was another hot spot for dining. We grabbed seats in the bar area and shared a delicious salad, mini tuna tartar tacos, steak and a droolworthy bread pudding. The staff was incredibly attentive and warm- I can’t say enough good things about this restaurant!

  • The Handle Bar– This was a restaurant in a prime location: direct base of the mountain connected to the Four Seasons. We had and Apres ski round of drinks there one day after skiing and were able to sit outside which was a nice March treat. We ended up having dinner there- an incredible burger!- on our last night. They’ve got a great bar inside, too!

  • Alpenhof– They had great apres ski deals, but we only had drinks there. They were supposedly a great apre ski spot, however, the few times we popped in to see if we wanted to stay, it was really quiet. It’s still in a great location so I would check it out if you are in the area!
  • Snake River Brewery– We popped in here during our day in town and ended up having lunch there, too, which was a fantastic idea since the food ended up being really delicious. And who am I kidding? The beer was also really good (and I’m not even a huge beer person!). We shared a salad and steak tacos and both agreed the tacos were the best we’ve had (for the steak varietal).

  • Million Dollar Cowboy Bar– We felt like we needed to pop into this bar since it’s a pretty famous landmark in Jackson. It was fun soaking in all of the details throughout the bar.

We had all intentions of making it back into town on our last night to check out the Silver Dollar Bar at The Wort hotel, but it was still snowing and we didn’t want to make the trek back to town so unfortunately we never made it back 😦

All in all, this was such an incredible trip and we would both highly suggest it to anyone who is looking for adventure in an absolutely beautiful place. I really hope we can make it back out here again!

 

 

Five on Friday {3.3.17}

6 Comments

Good morning and Happy Friday! As this post goes up, we will be in the air heading to Jackson Hole for a little ski/snowboard getaway vacation! If you’ve ever been, we’d love to hear your suggestions on must see/must do- leave them in the comments!

As always, it was a busy week leading up to this trip- between teaching, working out, working, blogging, packing, etc.- the beginning of the week flew by! Here are some of my favorite things to share as of late:

  • EverybodyFights FIDI– EBF FIDI is officially OPEN! It opened last Thursday and I had the pleasure of teaching on opening day since my normal class is on Thursdays anyway. The energy was amazing, the crowds were good and people were ready to fight! The location is much smaller than the Seaport, but it’s still got all the swagger that Seaport has so you’ll feel right at home! The class schedule and instructors are topnotch so you definitely need to get there and check it out! Catch me on Thursdays at 6:20pm for BAGSxBEATS- one of my favorite classes to teach! Between the playlist, the combos and energy in the room- you’ll be sweating, laughing and maybe even dancing- JOIN ME!
  • Eataly- Last weekend my mom took the train to Boston and my sister and I had a fun time doing the touristy thing with her. We started in Faneuil Hall and then went over to the Back Bay. We had lunch at Met (very good!) and then walked over to the Pru to experience Eataly. In short, it was absolutely amazing! RM and I had done a walk through, but didn’t have a chance to really experience it so I was excited to do that with my mom and sister. We enjoyed my favorite Aperol Spritz and then walked around to see what they had to offer. We all left with bags full of goodies! I want to go back during the week when it might not be as busy so I can really get a chance to enjoy everything about it. If you haven’t been yet- GO! you won’t be disappointed!

img_8360

  • Sweat, Shop, Snack Workout Event- On March 29th I am hosting a very exciting- and very fun- event at the New Balance Flagship store in Brighton! It will start with a kickboxing bootcamp at 6:30, with DJ Sprino as the LIVE DJ! After class, you’ll have a chance to shop with 20% off the store, enjoy drinks from Purity Organics, bars from Larabar and more! This is a great “girls night out” event, so grab a friend and sign up– you don’t want to miss it!

img_8416

  • The Wonder- by Emma Donoghue– This was the most recent book club book and I wanted to share it with you guys because I really loved it! It’s a story that takes place in Ireland and is about a girl who supposedly hasn’t eaten for months, yet is healthy. It causes quite the stir in the small town and then in bigger cities in Ireland so they bring in 2 nurses to ‘watch’ her to see if she truly isn’t eating. One of the nurses is from England and is convinced this girl is sneaking food, but it’s interesting to see how the story progresses because by the end, she’s fighting to save the young girl’s life.

img_8180

  • Must Read Article: The 1 Secret To Leading A Fulfilling Life– RM sent me this the other day and it really helped to put things into perspective. These days it seems like we are all too pre-occupied with being the best, having the most followers, rising through the ranks the quickest, being the “go to” person, etc. And while all of these things seemingly make you happy, this study tells us that those are just surface layer feelings and that the real thing for feeling happy and fulfilled in life is love. One of my favorite excerpts is:

“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

Not how much is in your 401(k). Not how many conferences you spoke at–or keynoted. Not how many blog posts you wrote or how many followers you had or how many tech companies you worked for or how much power you wielded there or how much you vested at each.

No, the biggest predictor of your happiness and fulfillment overall in life is, basically, love.

I’ll be the first to admit that I, unfortunately, get caught up in all the small things, the comparison trap, the need to be better and better, but at the end of the day, those aren’t the things that really matter the most- having love and being loved- whether romantically, by family or friends- is what gets to the root of true happiness. Just something to think about!

 And on that, I’m out! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Questions for you: Have you been to Eataly yet? Do you have any good books that you’ve read lately? I’m in 2 book clubs so I’m always looking for suggestions! 

How I Maximize Food Prep In Minimal Time

1 Comment

If you follow any health/food/fitness bloggers, I’m SURE you’ve seen endless meal or food prep posts, right? Salads, muffins, quinoa bakes, veggies, hard boiled eggs, etc. While it all looks and sounds amazing, I’d be lying if it didn’t seem overwhelming- and time consuming! How do these people have time to do all of this? How long does all of it take? Where do they find all the recipes?

We are all busy and have lots of different things on our calendars that may not allow us to spend as much time in the kitchen as we would like. Or, maybe you don’t want to spend a lot of the time in the kitchen even if your schedule does allow for it. So, my goal today is to show you that there are simple ways to maximize your food prep in minimal time. As much as I’d love to have 3-4 hours a week or weekend to dedicate to meal prep (I love cooking, baking and preparing for the week), it’s generally not possible these days.

  • Start small- Rather than comparing yourself to what you’re seeing others prepare and post about, focus on where you can start. Maybe that’s putting together yogurt bowls or hard boiling some eggs or maybe you pack up your veggies for your daily snack. All of these things are “meal prep” in my mind because they are things that make your life a little easier during the week!
  • Keep it simple- You don’t need to make lots of different recipes in order to do “meal prep”. What we find the easiest and most successful in our house is to just prep a ton of veggies: sweet potatoes, kale, broccoli, green beans, brussels sprouts, etc. From there, we can eat them throughout the week in different ways: for breakfast, on a salad, in a wrap, etc.
  • Versatility- As I’ve mentioned, try and prep items that have multiple uses or could be used for multiple meals. Example: hard boiled eggs- these can be taken for breakfast or added to a salad for lunch. Healthy muffins or no bake balls can be used for breakfast or a snack. Chicken can be used on a salad, in a wrap, in a quinoa bowl, etc.
  • Do it on the day that works for you- Just because others do meal prep on Sundays, it doesn’t mean you need to! If Mondays or Tuesdays work better, then do it then. When I worked from home on Mondays I would often do a “meal prep Monday”, but now that I work from home on Tuesdays and teach after work I try to get the meal prep done on Sundays.
  • Do what you can when you can/split it up- “Splitting” up my meal prep was something I discovered over the summer. Sunday’s were usually spent doing summer things like getting drinks, coming back from the Cape or going for long bike rides, which left little time for a big meal prep. I taught on Monday’s so I didn’t have a lot of time then, either. What did I do? Sunday nights I would peel, cut & prep the veggies I wanted to cook (sweet potatoes, broccoli, kale, etc.). On Monday’s while I was teaching, RM would cook the veggies (and usually grill some chicken). This worked out well because we were able to tag-team the meal prep and neither one of us had to spend hours in the kitchen.
  • Splurge on partially prepped items- If you shop at Whole Foods, I’m sure you’re familiar with their “chop” area, which is basically an area in the store where they’ve pre-chopped & packaged various veggies. Think: peppers and onions, brococli and cauliflower, spiralized sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini, etc. While these items are definitely more expensive than buying them un-prepped, they save you lots of time! Another cheaper option is buying frozen veggies. Making a stir-fry? Consider grabbing a bag of frozen veggies as that speeds up the meal prep/cooking by quite a bit! Bottom line, if you’re looking looking for a way to speed up your meal prep, this is a great option – and it’s still cheaper than ordering out!

img_8378

Although I could go on, I think I’ll stop here as this should provide you with a look into how you can make meal prep a little easier on you. I used to stress if I didn’t prep a bajillion different things on Sunday, so I am very happy that I’ve learned some of these ‘tricks’ over the years because not only does it take the stress out of meal prepping, it makes it more fun AND allows me to do other fun things – win, win!

Questions for you: Do you like to meal prep or do you prefer to cook each night or order out? Do you have any time-saving tips for meal prep?

Wednesday Workout: 5 Exercise Countdown Workout

Leave a comment

Hey there! How is your week going so far? Good, I hope! Today’s workout is another quickie workout that’s great to do if you’re short on time. I’ve shared other “Countdown” style workouts before, but if your’e not familiar with them, they work like this: you start with a certain number of reps that you complete for all of the exercises. On the second round, you drop the number of reps by 2. When you get down to the end, you add one final round with the number of reps you started with. It looks like this:

12-10-8-6-4-2-12

5-exercise-countdown-workout

You’ll notice that most of the exercises are combination moves (big bang for your buck!), so I’ve created some quickie Youtube videos to walk you through what the exercises look like. Do you think this is helpful? If so I’ll be sure to continue to do it!

I think that should do it- hopefully the videos helped!

As always, I like to hear from you! Did you try this? Do you want more workouts like this? Longer or shorter ones? Anything else you want to share/talk about?