Welcome back to Friday Fitness, Favorites, and Food! Really fast, if you haven’t entered the blogiversary giveaway yet, make sure to head there now!  

Hello friends, the summer mornings have been uncharacteristically cool here.  Nice to hang outside for a bit, although most mornings aren’t this slow.  Typically it’s a mad dash for KK’s swim lessons every day.  (Never mind our ghetto block of stairs that lead to the deck.  Who needs an actual gate when you can shove old baby toys there.  Super super classy looking, I know.  Don’t be jealous of my outdoor decor. We put it there when we first moved in to keep KK from crawling up, and then I kind of forgot about it until I saw this picture haha.  We are planning on dusting off that splash pad this weekend, though (under the sideways broken baby walker.) 

Moving along… I’ve got a lot of random things to share from the last few weeks, so let’s get to it! But first…

If you need some fun Fourth of July ideas, check out this post!

 

WTE? Meal Plan 

And meal plan subscribers, your meal plan is in your inbox! 

Now onto the fun stuff… 

Food

Four Peaks Brewery

I hadn’t been here in forever, but I went last weekend with a friend for a joint birthday celebration, and it did not disappoint!  

Sushi Kick 

I’ve also been on a sushi kick.  Either out from our favorite sushi spot or in the grocery store, really I’m not that picky.  

Thrive Market Box

These pretzels were a huge hit with KJ and me. We devoured almost the whole bag in one sitting together.  A big win from our latest Thrive Market box.  Not only are they whole grain, but they are also gluten-free, so that’s a win-win in our house!

Dairy Free Life

After going dairy-free because baby girl has green poop and reflux issues… there area few things I feel like I can’t live without.  One of them is this dairy-free butter I get at Whole Foods.  

Another is these oat milk lattes from Trader Joe’s.  I don’t drink them every day, but they keep me out of the Starbucks drive-thru when I’m headed out in the afternoon.  

Recent Meals

This premade meatloaf from ButcherBox didn’t disappoint!  

I tried the Hawaiian Chicken from Pinch of Yum. It was actually one of the meals I meal-prepped before baby came.  I couldn’t do the jalapeno ranch dressing, so I used Boar’s head chipotle mayo mixed with Sprout’s avocado oil ranch for the sauce.  It was delicious!

Another dinner this week was salmon burgers from Costco with chipotle mayo, rice, and air-fried green beans.  

The last couple of nights, I’ve been doing taco salads with ground beef from ButcherBox.  I used my chicken taco meat recipe, although next time, I would drain the tomatoes because it was a bit too much liquid.  Chicken is much drier, so it does well with the extra liquid. The beef didn’t need it.  I also accidentally added salsa-style tomatoes (didn’t look at the can close enough), so that added a ton of extra liquid it didn’t need. Super flavorful but has a bit of the wrong texture for salad meat.  I still enjoyed it, though!  Paired with green onion, cilantro, Forager sour cream, and Costco mini guac packs.  

And this meal for lunch at my MIL’s this week.  One can of tuna + 1/2 avocado + 1 tbsp mayo + mustard + relish.  That’s my go-to easy tuna salad, I ate half, and my MIL ate the other half.  I shared on Instagram that I tend toward bigger meals when postpartum.  I find I do better with weight loss if I eat 3 big meals a day and minimize snacking, versus small snacking being hungry all day.  That isn’t to say that 3 meals are better for weight loss than 6 small ones. Research shows this is highly individual.  But I find I do better if I’m not hungry all afternoon, trying to grab whatever I can.  If I get the chance to eat, I tend toward a bigger meal.  

Fitness

The first week of workouts is almost in the books!  So far, I’ve got one short walk and an upper and lower body workout, and it felt amazing.  I mean, I’m sore AF, but it felt amazing.  I’m doing the E&E app. I did week 6/7 lower body but skipped week 8/9 for the upper body. My back was feeling a little sore, and week 6/7 had a ton of bent-over upper body work like rows, tricep kickbacks, etc. I felt like being in that position for that long wouldn’t be great for my back, so I switched around.  Remember, whenever you follow guides not to be afraid to modify for what’s best for your body!

It’s interesting because, in the past, I went on walks every day with Nala.  But, right now, it feels impossible to get out of the house before it gets too hot to walk Nala.  When I just had one or two kids, I could do it, but now it’s impossible.  So I’m definitely getting less daily exercise in than I have in postpartum in the past.  My plan is to start incorporating family walks on the weekends and when KJ goes back to school in August, on his days off, so Tuesdays or Thursdays.  Right now, any walking I do takes place on the treadmill.  Just one of those “adjusting to three kids” things, I think haha.

Friday Favorites 

No Bake Oatmeal Cookie Bars – Red White and Blue Flag Cookies

31 Recipes to Make In July