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Fitness Friday 20

*original post

When the last day of the month falls on a Friday, it's time for a Fitness Friday! My monthly roundup of my workouts, food habits, and activewear picks. This January wasn't quite the typical "getting back to working out in the new year" type of month. But that's ok, and I'm planning to really jump back into it in February. I think did do well with food though, and if you missed Wednesday's post I reflected on tracking macros and how I have sustained healthy habits from working with a nutrition coach last year.

Workouts
Week of January 6th-12th
Ballet Fit Theory at Fit Atelier
Sweat Fusion (yoga sculpt) at Sweat Method

Week of January 13th-19th
Nothing! I was in Atlanta for a work trip all week. I had intentions of doing a few app workouts before we got started working for the day. But the only time to do them would have been very early in the morning, and I managed to catch a cold a few days in to the trip. So I prioritized sleeping instead.

Week of January 20th-26th
Barre at Flywheel Sports
StrengthSculpt (megaformer pilates) at SculptHouse

Week of January 27th-yesterday
Ballet Fit Theory at Fit Atelier
Cardio Dance at Bloc.
PT exercises on my own twice

This workout schedule was a little less than I was expecting it to be, although I knew I probably was not going to get much exercise while traveling. Starting this week, I am planning on doing some of the PT exercises I was doing for my hip injury recovery, or even just some stretching and rolling my muscles out on off days, instead of just resting. I am hoping bringing these exercises back in my routine will keep my recovered hip in good shape, and take better care of the other hip for injury prevention. I really hope to get a few more classes in my routine, but am also going to be very cautious and try not to overdo it. I think I have mentioned this before, but I have sort of come to a realization that working out 6-7 days a week like I was a year ago may no longer be the best idea for my hip issue. Although it does feel fine most days now, I know very quickly if I have pushed it a little bit too far. So I think this is a way to get some movement in most days, but not be worried about causing more damage.

Food
  1. I made this Tuscan chicken recipe for dinner this week, and I think that will be the first of many times! It was fairly quick to make and is almost dairy free, so it has a lighter feel than most Italian dishes. It also saves pretty well, I was able to get 3 dinners out of it.
  2. A recent breakfast favorite has been peanut butter toast topped with raspberries and Perfect Bar bites. They sell containers with bite size pieces of their protein bars and I love putting them on toast, in oatmeal, or just grabbing a few pieces as I'm heading out the door.
  3. On the snack front, I've recently become a fan of chocolate covered chickpeas and some simple salted pumpkin seeds. They're both great options to have in your bag as an on-the-go snack.

Activewear



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Wellness Wednesday: 1 Year of Macro Tracking


Ultracor leggings | K Deer tank c/o | Old lululemon jacket | Adidas sneakers

1 year ago today, I started tracking macros in attempt to get myself into some healthy habits. Through college and for a little bit after, I was known for having a pretty terrible diet. During the last few months of 2018, I tried to make some real effort in getting away from eating a lot of dairy and get more whole foods into my diet.  Which you can read all about in this post. If you followed along with this journey last year, that post led to connecting with nutrition coach Noor. Who has since become the manager of a Barry's studio!! Anyway, my big goal for 2019 was to break my addiction to sugar and learn how to properly fuel my workouts. I worked with Noor for 3 months and documented it along the way (see this first post, the middle post, and the wrap up post). The first post really breaks down the whole process. But to summarize: her method of coaching involved tracking macros, which you might already know tracks your intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. 

As a starting point, she had me track the food I was already eating to get an idea of where to go from there. We set my macro targets for high protein, high carb, and low fat. I would enter my food intake into the MyFitnessPal app and report them in a spreadsheet for a weekly checkin where she could give me feedback, I could ask questions, and she would modify my targets based on factors like my workout schedule or my progress from the last week. As I mentioned in my last post on the topic (which was back in April), it was a great method for me! So I thought I would share how I have kept up with it since then. Especially since my hip injury got in the way of workouts for a good chunk of the year (if you're new here, I tore the labrum in my left hip last March). But as I also mentioned in those posts several times, everyone is different and what worked for me might not also be right for you. Which is also why I don't share my macro target numbers, measurements, weight, etc. Although those numbers were all part of the process, this is not meant to be a guide to follow. I'm simply sharing the positive experience I was thankful to have.

It sort of can all be summed up with I still keep up with it, but in a relaxed way. When I was reporting my progress to my nutrition coach each week, I was always planning out everything I was going to eat, and it was a little intimidating. But as I mentioned at the end of my time with her last year, it was just the push I needed to reach several big goals. The main one being learning to stop eating sugar all the time. I was also aiming to get more into eating whole foods, properly fuel my workouts, build muscle, and maintain my weight. One of the most important things I learned was how much food I really needed to be eating each day. I stayed pretty strong with it until late May, when I realized I would be out of workouts for awhile with my injury. So I sort of modified my targets by lowering the protein intake, since I wasn't doing much of anything with a torn hip labrum besides PT exercises. I also sort of relaxed the fat target and allowed myself a little bit more, since my targets were a little limiting in that aspect. But the fats I was adding were healthy fats like more avocados and peanut butter, and protein bars with some higher fat content. Since the other 2 counts were modified, I kept carbs at the same number, somedays higher if protein was very low. 

Although after my marathon of travel in the fall, I no longer track on the weekends. And I didn't track much during the holidays at all while I was out of my routine. I would look at the numbers for those days thinking I wasn't making great choices, but was also thinking it was the weekend and that shouldn't count as much anyway. So I just stopped tracking them altogether since I was already discounting the macro numbers from those days. Basically, I keep up with it now on the weekdays to make sure I am getting enough of the right foods. Although I have not made it fully back to my pre-injury workout schedule, I have gone back to a higher protein count since I have been able to work out a few days a week again. There is so much more detail in my posts during the process (linking again: first postmiddle postwrap up post) but a year later, I am still SO happy I tried this process out and stand by all that I previously said about it being the right method for me. Overall, I feel so much better compared to when I wasn't eating right. I feel less tired, more focused, and stronger in workouts. My skin has also never looked better, and there is usually a correlation between eating badly and a breakout popping up. My hair and nails are noticeably healthier as well. I'm just so happy to share a year later that this nutrition plan has been sustainable, and helped me form habits that have brought some great positive changes into my life!


Thanks for reading!

Green Pom Pom Sweater










Photos by Deeana Kourtney Photography

Chicwish pom pom sweater c/o | Madewell denim | Sam Edelman booties | Kendra Scott earrings | Similar navy tote | Prada sunglasses

I've mentioned a few times recently that my workwear has really changed lately since I started my new job. This is a pretty good idea of how I dress for work now. So far it has been a lot of jeans with sweaters and some fun- but not a crazy statement-accessories. I have been loving this pom pom sweater from Chicwish lately. Although it looks to be chunky knit, it feels very light and has been great in this warm winter. I'll have to figure out a sort of workwear uniform again once we get to spring, but this works for now! Although I have a feeling it will be lots of t-shirt dresses and sneakers, but you know I'll be posting about it once we get there!



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Olive Green Plaid Skirt









Photos by Deeana Kourtney Photography

Olive green skirt c/o Chicwish | Super similar sweater | Pink trench c/o Chicwish | Similar bootsBaublebar for Target earrings c/o | Similar bag | Prada sunglasses

I've been into bold tones so far in 2020, but I'm bringing it back to some muted colors with this olive green and blush pink combo. I wore this look to explore an amazing new exhibit at the Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte, you have to go see it if you're local! I also would probably wear this outfit to work if I was still in a corporate office. I am back in Charlotte after 6 days in Atlanta for work, and it is going to be so nice to get back into my routine again. I had done so many quick trips spanning from before Christmas, so it will be very nice to stay put for awhile!



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Blue Windowpane Check Sweater









Photos by Deeana Kourtney Photography

Drop shoulder grid sweater c/o (use code "S1Caralina15" for 15% off!) | AG "Farrah" coated denim | OTK boots | Similar bag | Prada sunglasses

I've been all about the bold colors this winter, and I'm keeping it up with this cobalt sweater! I've paired it with some old favorites, these coated AG jeans that have just a slight leather-y look and some ever-versatile OTK boots. I also happened to still have a cobalt headband from high school that I brought back out for this outfit, and I love the little bit of extra color that it brings. Since we've been having a very warm January, I've been wearing a lot of looks like this one lately. No coat needed, all about the bold sweaters! P.S. I'm probably going to be a little absent on Instagram stories this week as I'm on a work trip!




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Red Coat









Photos by Deeana Kourtney Photography

Gal Meets Glam Collection "Emilia" coat (currently 60% off!) | Madewell jeans | Steve Madden OTK boots | Brahmin bag | Similar headband | Prada sunglasses

Say hello to the coat of my dreams! I'm obviously a big fan of Gal Meets Glam dresses (you might remember the black holiday dress, blue spring dress, windowpane check dress, or tweed dress I've already styled), and I was so excited when they launched a coat collection. I received the red Emilia coat for Christmas this year, and I might have worn it while it's still a little bit too warm on more than one occasion. We have been having a very warm January this year and I've almost been looking forward to the colder days, just so I can wear with this coat! I obviously love the shade of red, and think the ruffle cuff and bow pocket details are the perfect feminine touches. But if red isn't your color, it is also available in pink!




Thanks for reading!