Health-Fitness Tips,Tricks And How To Tutorials Which Will Help To Live Life Healthy-Wealthy And Enjoyable Forever.
The 101 on H2O: Why Drinking Water Is Essential
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20 healthy 4th of July recipe ideas
Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a good morning. I’m working on getting a barre video edited – it will be up in the am!- and catching up on chores before heading out to the pool with the crew. I can’t believe that it’s the last day of June already and that the 4th will be here this weekend. Last year, we had an amazing time in San Diego with friends and stayed at the cutest Airbnb.
July 4th is undoubtedly going to be on the weird side this year, but we’re still looking for ways to make it fun and festive. We’ll probably hit up the pool, grill for dinner, and do sparklers in the front yard.
For today’s post, I wanted to share some healthy and fun meal ideas for the weekend. If you have any staples you love or recipes you’re trying out, please leave them in the comments section below! I’m always looking for summer meal faves. 
Healthy 4th of July recipe ideas
Entrees:
The best pasta salad ever! Seriously, it’s SO good and one of the most popular recipes on the blog. To amp up the protein content, you could absolutely add grilled chicken or chickpeas.
Grilled chicken thighs. We’ve used Julie’s marinade recipe before and it’s amaaaazing.
Sides and salads:
Buffalo chicken dip and white Tuscan bean dip
Glowing grilled summer detox salad
Elote aka Mexican street corn
Desserts:
S’mores in a jar with vegan chocolate mousse
4th of July cookie cake. Going to make this one with the girls!
Vegan chocolate chip cookie icebox cake
Boozy beverages:
Sparkling watermelon jello shots
Watermelon mojitos. These sound soooooo refreshing.
So, tell me, friends: any plans for the upcoming weekend? Any fun ideas for the kiddos?
xo
Gina
The post 20 healthy 4th of July recipe ideas appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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How to train for a half marathon while strength training
Sharing the details on how to train for a half marathon and keep up a running routine while making time for strength training.
Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Since so many of my friends are taking advantage of outdoor workouts and planning fall physical or virtual races, I wanted to re-share this post about a somewhat tricky topic: training for a half marathon while strength training.
I think it’s SO important to complement your running with some type of strength training. It can help to strengthen and protect your muscles, particularly the ones surrounding your knee and hips, to help you run faster and more safely. It’s very common for runners to get injured during training because they push it too hard and don’t train efficiently. It’s very easy to overtrain, especially with the myriad of “training plans” that are out there.
When a good friend reached out about getting injured during her beginner’s half marathon plan, I took a look at it for probably 3 seconds before saying,
“That’s too much running.”
Of course, if you’re used to running and do it daily, it’s NBD to slowly increase mileage and keep running almost every day. If you’re an elite runner, of course you’re running a lot! If you’re a beginner or novice runner, it doesn’t make a lot of sense from going to “a few miles every few days” to “6 miles one day, speed intervals the next, 3 miles after that, and a 50-minute run the day after that.” It’s too much.
When you’re a beginning runner, you need to be strategic about how often you’re running (and the purpose of each run!) in addition to strength training or cross training to prevent injury and improve strength.
Please keep in mind that I’m NOT a running coach. I’m a certified personal trainer and weight loss specialist who has run a handful of half marathons. Some of them were great, some of them were roadkill. (Thankfully as time went on, I learned what worked for me and what would help me PR. In my case, it was only 2 strategic runs per week in addition to the classes I was teaching and my own strength workouts.) If you need a specific training plans for your needs, please reach out to a running coach near you, or hit up my friends Teri or Janae and see who they recommend!
I took the plan my friend sent me and tweaked it. I eliminated a couple of run days – instead of running 5-6 times a week, it’s 3-4 – and added in strength training workouts that I’ll post below.
Spoiler alert: she followed this plan exactly as written (a couple missed days because life) and ran a sub-2 hour half marathon! YESSSS!
(To download a full PDF version, click here.)
For the HIIT training, you’ll do 30 seconds of sprints and 30 seconds of rest for 15 minutes total. For your hill days, you’ll focus on adding resistance to really challenge your hamstring, core, and glutes.
In a time crunch? Eliminate the Monday 2 mile easy run or the bonus training on Tuesday.
Want to take a class? Add in spinning or another cardio class you love (dance, kickboxing, step) for cross training on Fridays, or try taking a barre workout on Tuesdays for your leg day. You can also skip upper body on Tuesday (only easy run) and do an Orangetheory workout on Tuesday. Please let me know if you need help shuffling things around! Instead of ADDING in more times and classes, see what you can swap for maximum effectiveness.
Strength training and half marathon plan:
These workouts use basic (but efficient) strength training moves. If you haven’t lifted weights regularly, I would make a personal training appointment to make sure your form is on point before venturing into strength training on your own. (The goal here is to keep you injury-free!) As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes.
Upper body workout:
Lower body workout:
Core workouts for runners:
Diastasis recti safe exercises
Hip strengtheners are in this post! I recommend adding these in on recovery days.
I hope this helps a little!
Are you training for any races this fall?
What fitness goals are you going after right now?
xoxo
Gina
The post How to train for a half marathon while strength training appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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Is An Alkaline Diet Really Healthier?
Of all the ways you can easily become confused by what foods are “healthy,” the most common is the cruelest. The diet industry loves to take a concept that you understand on a basic level, and then twist science to make it seem that certain foods are dangerous to your health.
The manipulation of fear pushes you towards more restrictive diets, “requires” you to waste money on tests that only heighten your fear (unnecessary), and this forces behavioral changes that are unnatural to your preferences and, oftentimes, just lead to more frustration and failure.
This is exactly what has happened with the “alkaline diet,” or any dietary suggestions that make you worry about the alkalinity or acidity of a food.
Before you shift your diet based on the pH levels of foods or spend extra money to have a more alkaline-based diet (yeah, we’re looking at you alkaline water), let’s clear the air on what’s happening in your body and what really matters for your health.
Acid Diet vs. Alkaline Diet
In order for all of this to make sense, here’s a quick refresher that explains why people are even concerned with the acidity or alkalinity of the foods you eat.
Your body has a pH level that establishes whether something is acid, neutral, or basic (AKA more alkaline heavy). Your pH balance runs on a 14 point scale, with 0-6.9 being acidic, 7 is neutral, and anything above a “7” is basic.
When your body is balanced, it’s able to use vitamins and minerals more effectively. And, there’s a growing belief that cancers thrive in an acidic environment.
Therefore, there’s an assumption that following an alkaline diet will reduce the acidic environment of your body and keep you safe.
Is an Acidic Diet Dangerous?
Fortunately, for your sake and the health of your body, eating more acidic foods does not pose the threats you’ll see across the internet.
People who recommend eating a more “alkaline diet” will suggest that acidic foods change the pH of your blood and increase your risk for disease.
This is simply not true and here’s why: Your blood pH is tightly regulated so it stays between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly alkaline (1 is acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is alkaline).
No food can lower or raise blood pH. (Let that sink in as the first sign that any acid/alkaline diet suggestions are scare tactics based on bad science.)
To be clear: food cannot change the pH of your blood.
There are many systems in place to prevent that from happening. If the pH of your blood changes, that means you’re in critical health danger. So, the belief that eating an acidic diet will change blood in a way that causes a life-threatening disease (like cancer) isn’t real.
Now, some people will confuse you by having you test your urine when you eat certain foods. If you do this, it’s likely that you’ll see pH changes. But, looking at your urine as an indicator of acid levels in your body is very misleading.
That’s because your stomach is very acidic due to the fact that it helps break down food. So, if you eat acidic food, once it passes through your stomach, naturally, you will excrete acid. This does not mean that your body is in any sort of danger or out of balance.
Furthermore, a blood pH below 7.35 is known as metabolic acidosis, while alkalosis refers to a blood pH above 7.45. Either case is cause for serious concern and requires immediate medical attention. It’s not like you’d eat meat, change your pH level, and have issues without knowing.
If the pH level of your blood changes, you will know and you’ll likely feel very sick.
That’s not to say that eating some acidic foods won’t have consequences, but it’s a bait-and-switch rationale. Added sugars and refined starches are problematic not because they are “acid-forming,” but because they are minimally nutritious, raise biomarkers for heart disease, and can wreak havoc on our blood sugar levels.
Is an Alkaline Diet Better?
While there’s no need to test or worry about the acidity or alkalinity of your urine, there are other reasons to eat a more alkaline diet — and all of those reasons have nothing to do with testing pH levels.
Many of the world’s healthiest foods just happen to be alkaline.
Alkaline foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Eating those foods is a good idea, in general, but that doesn’t mean you need to stay away from acidic foods (like meat and eggs), and there’s no evidence that the acidity of your diet will bring on disease.
And don’t just take our word for it. According to resources from the American Institute for Cancer Research: “Altering the cell environment of the human body to create a less-acidic, less-cancer-friendly environment is virtually impossible.”
If you’re thinking about buying alkaline water, please save your money. You can read all about why in this article from The New York Times.
But, if you want to eat more alkaline foods, do so without worrying about the pH and simply because they are good options that fit into your dietary preferences.
Have questions? Share them in the comments below.
And if you’re sick and tired of the diet industry misleading you, the hands-on support of our online coaching program may be right for you. Every client is assigned two coaches — one for nutrition and one for fitness. Find out more here.
The post Is An Alkaline Diet Really Healthier? appeared first on Born Fitness.
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WIAW
Hi friends! Hope you’re having a lovely morning. We’re just taking it easy here and looking forward to another tie dye blitz this afternoon. The girls have gotten so good at tie dye lately and have been dyeing pretty much any white article of clothing in the house.
For today’s post, I thought I’d share a WIAW-style post. To be honest, my eating hasn’t been very stellar since we’ve started this whole “stay at home” thing a few months ago. We’ve been cooking even more of our meals at home, which is a good thing, but I find that because I’m juggling so much more – it was even more intense when we were doing the distance learning thing – I’ll sometimes go for dips into the chocolate chip bag instead of real meals. When I feel stressed, I tend to feel pretty blah about food. I make the girls delicious and balanced meals, but when I need to put something together for myself, it just doesn’t sound as appealing.
I’m a believer in giving ourselves grace, especially during such an unprecedented time. In the future, I’m sure I’ll be back to my meal prepping and organized ways, but I’m just over here flying the seat of my pants most days. 
I probably should have taken pictures of the kids’ meals because they were a bit more exciting lol but here we are: a full day of eats.
8:30am: We all sleep until 8 (!) so I eat a few Enjoy Life protein balls while I start the coffee maker and make the girls their favorite fluffy pancakes with scrambled eggs and strawberries.
The Pilot is telecommuting today (wahoo!) so we sit on the patio and drink coffee together while the girls eat their breakfast inside.
(Decaf coffee with monk fruit, almond milk, and a scoop of Vital Proteins collagen)
10:00am: The downstairs is cleaned up, beds are made, and all of the animals are fed, so I head upstairs to catch a quick obé fitness Dance HIIT workout.
The girls are playing with their dolls and having fun together, so I get in a quick work blitz: I answer emails, respond to Beautycounter skincare surveys, respond to blog comments, and schedule four podcast interviews for the next month.
11:30am: I have official breakfast while I make the girls lunch. This is a smoothie with the girls’ leftover breakfast strawberries (I hate tossing fruit, so I just put their leftover breakfast fruit in the fridge until I make a smoothie at some point during the day), almond milk, chia sees, almond butter, frozen cauliflower rice (you can’t taste it but it gives it a great texture and nutrient boost), cocoa powder, maca, spinach, Truvani protein powder, and monk fruit.
For the girls’ lunch, they have avocado toast with a side of cotton candy grapes, hummus, and carrots
I also start the sourdough for the following day and let it rest.
12:30pm: We head to the pool and take our giant inflatable donut with us. We meet up with some friends and the girls all play in the water wearing mermaid tails, while my friend, the Pilot, and I chat in the tanning ledge area. I also practice a bit of swimming with P – she’s getting so good at swimming without her puddle jumper!
3:30pm: We’re at the pool for a few hours and since I haven’t officially had lunch yet, I’m getting pretty snacky and so are the girls. They split a cheeseburger with fries, while we all share chicken wings and jumbo shrimp cocktail. (The shrimp are the size of my hand and SO good.)
I originally planned to make a giant salad for lunch but when we get home from the pool, I know dinner will be pretty soon and don’t feel like chopping anything, so there ya go.
4:00-6:00pm: Another quick work blitz while the Pilot hangs out with the crew downstairs. I have a conference call, pre-write the meat of this blog post, answer emails (my inbox is a black hole of sadness), make a couple of quick workout graphics, schedule my coschedule content for the week, and brainstorm content for the following week.
6:00pm: Mexican food takeout from El Charro. I order the chicken tacos on corn tortillas with rice and beans.
and eat approximately 1400 chips with salsa.
We take a family walk, give the girls baths and do the nighttime routine, and they’re both crashed by 9pm.
9:00-10:30pm: I watch Tombstone with the Pilot while typing up the rest of this blog post and getting everything to go for the following day. Before bed, I sip on a golden milk latte and shape the sourdough loaves and pop them into the fridge.
We also go out to the balcony to take pictures of the fire. It’s moved east but has grown exponentially and isn’t even a quarter contained.
11:15pm: Lights out and ready to do it all over again.
What I liked about this day of eats: I really love the shrimp cocktail at the pool, so any day that includes that is a win. Also Taco Tuesday = another win. Even though I kind of skipped lunch in favor of snacks, I definitely would have hit my protein goal for the day. (I stopped tracking macros a while ago, but still try to make sure I have protein in every meal and snack.)
What I didn’t like about this day of eats: It was a bit lower on the veggies and nutrient front that I would have liked. I usually try to get in some type of fresh fruit and/or veggies with every meal, but lately, this hasn’t been happening as often. I’m just rolling with it and waiting until inspiration strikes again. Every week I say I’m going to make more of an effort, but some weeks have felt pretty blah, ya know? If you’re feeling the same way, please know you’re not alone.
What was the best thing you ate yesterday? Favorite place to get takeout right now?
xoxo
Gina
More:
More WIAW posts here, here, here and here.
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obé fitness review (my thoughts + are the workouts good?)
Sharing my full review of the obé fitness platform, my favorite instructors, pros, cons, and if the workouts are good.
Hey friends! Hope you’re having a good morning. It’s the usual routine over here – catching a virtual barre class and then hitting the pool with the babies later if it isn’t too smoky outside. The fire in Tucson is still horrible and the smoke has clouded the city for the past few days. I’m crossing my fingers that it can be contained soon!
For today’s post, I wanted to share my thoughts on the obé fitness platform now that I’ve had some time to try different workouts and instructors. I mentioned before that signed up for obé was kind of an accident. I did the free 7-day trial because I wanted to take more of Amanda Kloots’ workouts (I’ve loved her dance cardio for years) and when I called to cancel it, it was over the weekend and the office was closed. Since I paid for a month, I kept trying more classes, and called to cancel it and they gave me a sweet deal for the following month. So, here we are, and I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed some of the workouts I’ve found.
obé fitness review
What is obé fitness?
It’s an online fitness platform featuring 26-minute workouts in three different segments:
Sweat – cardio-focused workouts, like HIIT training, dance cardio, choreography, and bounce (a trampoline-based workout)
Define- strength classes with light or heavy weights, barre, and Pilates
Flow- yoga and stretch classes
They also offer longer 45-minute classes for each section.
Similar to Peloton, they have a live schedule, where you can tune in to take classes live, as well as many On Demand workouts.
What to expect:
The vibe for obé classes is fun and fresh. The instructor leads class, surrounded by pastel-colored walls and the set-up is fairly simple; you don’t see any flashing lights or distractions. You can choose a workout based on your goals (I highly recommend the dance cardio classes) and follow along from anywhere. The platform feels very “LA” with the emphasis on dance cardio, barre, and yoga. These are classes that I personally love, so I was excited to have more options to try (and also learn some new teaching moves!) while we’ve been at home.
The cost for obé fitness is $27 per month or $199 billed on an annual basis.
Pros:
– No need for crazy equipment or space. Many of the workouts can be done either with your own bodyweight or a set of light or heavy dumbbells. I like how attainable this is, especially for those who are working out at home right now.
– Short workout time! I feel like 26 minutes is workout sweet spot. You can get in an awesome workout without feeling like you’re making a huge time commitment, and if you’re feeling up to it, you have the option to take a longer 45-minute class.
– Fun instructors. There are a handful of instructors that I LOVE. Walter K., Peter, Michelle B., and Amanda Kloots (of course) are my very faves. They’re motivating without feeling drill seargent-y or too intense.
Cons:
– I can’t help but compare everything to Les Mills, but I feel like some of the instructors/classes are lacking experience and/or concrete planning. I’ve taken a couple of classes that didn’t feel like they were effective or well-planned to me, and also lacked proper form cues or engaging motivation besides, “Good job!” but that’s just me being extra picky. At the same time, I’ve taken classes that were awesome and felt extremely well-planned. It’s just a little more hit or miss than I would prefer.
– Sometimes the 26 minutes feels TOO short, but that’s a good thing. The Dance HIIT classes with Walter K. fly by!
Will I keep my subscription?
I’m still trying to decide. $27 feels a bit high for me, especially when Les Mills is only $14.99 and the quality and amount of workouts is much higher. I’ve also been paying for Peloton (which we love!), Sweat App, and a monthly On Demand subscription to Barre Body (<— where I used to teach in San Diego!). These fitness apps add up lol. I think it’s definitely worth checking out obé during the free trial to see if you like it!
So tell me, friends: what’s your favorite app or online resource for workouts?
xo
Gina
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Barre Arms and Core Workout (video)
This is a barre arms and core workout that you can do anywhere. All you need is a light pair of dumbbells, ranging from 2-5 lbs.
Hi friends! Hope you had a happy weekend and that that those of you who were celebrating Father’s Day enjoyed the holiday with those you love. We had backyard dinner and swimming at my dad’s house, stopped by my mom’s to say happy Father’s Day to my stepdad, called up Tom’s dad, and made a stop at the cemetery to tell my Tata how much we miss him.
We got brunch takeout from Commoner &. Co (SO good),
and spent the day with our favorite guy.
For this morning, I’m coming atcha with a new upper body and core workout. This workout uses some of my favorite barre-based exercises, and focuses on muscular endurance for the weights segment. I threw in some cardio blasts for good measure. It’s easy to related barre to the lower body and core benefits, but we can often forget that it can also help to strengthen and lean out the upper body muscles. Endurance exercises are so important to include in your routine. Not only do they help to change things up – we need to adjust the demands on our body to continue to achieve results – but also because it’s functional for life. What muscles are you using when you carry 18 bags of groceries from the car into the house and it takes you a few minutes because dogs and kids are trying to trip you? Endurance muscles.
Here’s a workout I put together using some of my favorite upper body arm exercises and a core blast at the end!
Barre Arms and Core Workout (video)
Remember that even though the weights are light, you can always switch them or ditch them. Feel free to use cans, water bottles, wine bottles, whatever you have on hand.
Here’s the full follow-along video:
Please let me know if you give this one and try and what you think!
If you’re looking for a longer workout, combine this one with the barre booty workout I posted a couple of weeks ago.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here if you’d like to be notified when I post new videos.
Have a wonderful day and I’ll see ya soon!
xo
Gina
More barre workouts:
Total body barre workout and video
10 barre workouts you can do at home
Barre Bootcamp 4-week workout plan + videos
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Friday Faves
Hi friends! Happy Friday to ya. I hope that you’ve had a good week. We’ve just been doing our thing over here. Lots of time at home and at the pool. I’m thankful to have a way to tire out the kiddos when we’ve been mostly inside. We’ve also been making tons of Perler bead creations (the girls are obsessed) and finding ways to stay buy.
To shake up my routine a bit, I took a Peloton yoga class and it was everything I needed.
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below!
Read, watch, listen:
This important podcast episode from my favorite podcast guy. Shaun dives deeply into his personal story, systemic racism and racial profiling, and action steps we can take.
What books have you read lately? A friend lent me We Were the Lucky Ones and after taking a break from historical fiction, I’m sucked into this one. It’s beautifully-written and I’ll probably finish it this weekend.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Since I finished Queer Eye (so sad when it was over), I’m back into Season 3 of Maisel. If you haven’t watched this one yet, I highly recommend it. It’s light, witty, and the costumes are insane.
Fashion + beauty:
Equilibria bath bombs!! My friends at Equilibria sent me some of their new products to try and I was so excited to check them out. The package contained their new bath bombs, roller duo (scented with lavender and peppermint) and mineral bath soak. I haven’t been taking baths at all lately – I took my first one since we moved back two years ago, and that was because I had that horrible pityriasis rosea rash situation – and the new bath bombs gave me a bit of motivation to block out some time for reading in the tub.
You guyyyyyys. This is one of my new favorite things. The rose scent is gorgeous and I felt so relaxed when I drifted off to bed. If you need a little boost of self care, check these out! (The code FITNESSISTA gets you 20% off at checkout, too.)
The Gal Meets Glam line is ending, which is sad to read, but everything on their site is on sale (final sale). I finally ordered this dress that I’d been lurking for at least a year.
Random purchase of the week = this amazing sweatshirt.
Beautycounter friends and family is going strong! Thank you so much to those of you who have already ordered! This is the perfect opportunity to try our products if you haven’t already, or stock up on some of your faves.
Check out the full site here. Also, email friends, check your newsletter for a fun little something I’m doing during the sale.
I shared some of my top picks in this post but here are some more if you’re looking for ideas!
Lipgloss– All of our lip products are incredible. The lipgloss isn’t sticky at all, includes natural vanilla bean, and adds the perfect amount of shine. The ingredients are safe so there’s no worries when the kiddos raid my makeup stash or ask me if they can use my lipgloss.
Cleansing balm– This is our go-to balm that works as a cleanser, a makeup remover, or an overnight mask. It’s moisturizing without being greasy, and I also use it on my heels in the winter when they’re super dry. When the kiddos have dry or irritated skin, I use a thin layer of cleansing balm. It’s pricey but a little goes a long way! I’ve had my jar for over a year now.
Countermatch adaptive body lotion– We have this lotion in all of our bathrooms by the sink. It adapts to the amount of moisture your skin needs, it’s lightweight, and fragrance-free.
Counter+ brightening facial oil– This citrus-scented facial oil quickly absorbs and penetrates skin to awaken and replenish. Lightweight and silky smooth, our proprietary blend of oils is designed to help hydrate and improve the appearance of skin radiance. Omega-rich marula oil provides intense hydration, while antioxidant vitamin C helps brighten and even skin tone.
Satin powder blush in nectar: This is exactly like the NARS orgasm blush I used to use, with way better ingredients. This product contains mica — this is a huge industry with major transparency issues. Beautycounter has done an incredible job of making sure their mica is responsibly-sourced with frequent on-the-ground audits. You can read more about their mission here and it’s one of the many reasons why I love this company so much.
If you need help with skincare recommendations, please let me know! You can also fill out my handy skincare survey here.
Fitness + good eats:
20-minute biceps and triceps arm workout.
Beginner half marathon tips and tricks.
I might be the last person on the White Claw train but I’m happy to be here. It’s like a slightly boozy LaCroix.
Try these collagen brownies if you haven’t already!
How exercise can shift your body clock.
Have a happy Friday, friends. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today and I’ll see ya soon.
xo
Gina
The post Friday Faves appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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things of lately + recent eats
Hi friends! I hope you’re enjoying the morning. Some exciting news news today: Beautycounter friends and family is here! Click here to get 15% off my favorite makeup and skincare + 30% off holiday sets. I’ll share some of my top picks in the bottom of this post.
What are you up to today? We’re doing the usual hangout and pool rotation over here. A new development: I’ve woken up early to work out the past two days in a row. I’m not a morning person AT ALL but since the Pilot had to leave super early to fly, I went to bed early, too. I can’t decide if I’m a fan yet or not. I’ve gotten pretty used to my late-night popsicle and Queer Eye routine.
Some adventures from lately:
It was madre’s birthday, so we went swimming at her house and brought a cake with us. 
Nadine’s bakery here in Tucson is RIDICULOUS for all of my local friends. We got a triple layer white cake with strawberry jam filling and vanilla buttercream. It was a lovely night to celebrate someone we love so much!
Sitting with my fave guy, watching the girls giggle and splash in the water is one of my fave spots:
When the Pilot got home from his recent trip, I wanted to surprise him with a fancier dinner than our usual rotations. I also figured that since we haven’t had people over in so long, I should probably practice more challenging cooking skills. Use it or lose it, right?
He loves braised short ribs, so I gave them a whirl, using this recipe.
You guys. They were SO GOOD.
I only have red meat maybe once every 3-6 months or so (I love a good steak and then I’m usually good on the meat front for a while), and this was amaaaaazing. The sauce made the entire house smell ridiculous, and I served the short ribs with mashed sweet potatoes, garlic and lemon asparagus, some fresh baguette Kyle dropped off,
and blueberry and peach crumble for dessert.
I had mine plain and the Pilot and the girls had theirs with French vanilla ice cream.
More recent eats:
One of my usual breakfasts! Egg with gluten-free avocado toast and toast with Kite Hill cream cheese + everything but the bagel seasoning
Greek dinner bowl, inspired by PaleOMG. Rice (cooked in instant pot), chicken thighs (cooked stovetop with oregano, salt, pepper, onion powder, and made a sauce scraping the bits up from the bottom of the pan with a little white wine, garlic, and butter), cucumber, Kalamata olives (we ran out or I would have added more!), hummus, romaine with Greek dressing, and topped with mint. I added tzakziki sauce to the girls’ and they went crazy for it.
And now since this post is already all over the place, here are the details for friends and family 15% off and 30% off holiday sets and last-chance items.
If you haven’t tried Beautycounter yet, now is the perfect time! Our gorgeous skincare and makeup products are formulated without harmful ingredients and endocrine disruptors (1800 and counting!) and they’re incredibly high-performing.
For so long, I paid a lot of attention to the foods I was eating and how I was working out, and neglected to pay attention to the ingredients of the products I was putting on my body. When I started to do more research, I was shocked that there hasn’t been cosmetics reform since 1938. What did people even use for cosmetics back then? I also realized that I was being exposed to hundreds of harmful chemicals and had no idea. Beautycounter has completely changed the industry by creating products that are safe for the entire family. I’m excited to partner with this brand and their mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone.
Some of my very favorite picks:
Color Intense lipstick – this lipstick lasts all day and isn’t drying like so many long-wearing lipsticks. My favorite color is Brunch, which is the perfect pinky nude
Skin Twin – this is our newest tinted moisturizer which is skincare and tinted SPF moisturizer all in one. It’s smooth, buildable coverage in SPF 20, and is available in 18 different shades. Need help finding your shade? Here ya go!
Overnight resurfacing peel – This leave-on AHA/BHA peel contains 15 botanical acids (9 resurfacing and 6 soothing acids) that gently break down the surface of your skin. It promotes cellular turnover for a smoother complexion, reduces the appearance of fine lines, minimizes the appearance of pores, evens skin tone and reduces the appearance of dark spots.
Charcoal mask – Ten minutes to a purified complexion: this nutrient-rich kaolin clay mask with activated charcoal purifies and balances, absorbing excess oil and drawing out impurities. Salicylic and lactic acids aid in a gentle exfoliation, giving skin a smooth, polished look with a minimized appearance of pores.
Countertime supreme cream – Featuring our plant-derived Retinatural Complex, this collection is designed to visibly firm, brighten, and plump the skin. To create Retinatural Complex, we took two of the most powerhouse plant-derived ingredients available and created a scientific breakthrough. Bakuchiol has been shown to provide skin-care results that are comparable to retinol—without harmful side effects such as skin irritation and increased sun sensitivity—and Swiss Alpine rose boosts the skin’s antioxidant defense. This night cream is super moisturizing and luxe.
Our new Vitamin C serum – like sunshine in a bottle, this serum instantly brightens skin and helps reduce the appearance of existing dark spots, while antioxidant-rich turmeric and camu camu extracts help protect against new ones. The formula also helps defend skin from the damaging effects of envi- ronmental stressors—revealing a more youthful-looking complexion. Apply in the morning after your regular serum and before your moisturizer.
I notice a huge difference when a use this on my skin! It feels brighter and the texture is smoother when I apply my makeup.
I hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll see ya soon. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today!
xo
Gina
The post things of lately + recent eats appeared first on The Fitnessista.
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