(I can’t help but think, “They see me rollin’.. they hatin’…”)

I was driving to Zumba and paused to let a pack of coyotes walk past. I snapped a quick shot from the side window and called the Pilot to let him know they were in the neighborhood so he could keep watch on the dogs. Even though they’re kind of scraggly, I think coyotes are beautiful, but definitely know to stay away and keep the pets away. A few years ago, some jumped my parents’ wall and attacked one of our family’s dogs (she is ok now, thank goodness). My little brother saw it happening and yelled for my dad, who ran outside to scare them away. Even though I’m technically a “dog person,” not much of a coyote fan.

Zumba was a lot of fun, and afterwards I took pics of the first Summer Shape Up workout.

Blooper shot:

I made a fail whale when planning SSU and realized that next Monday, when it was set to launch,  is also Memorial Day. Since many of us will be spending the day BBQing and enjoying with family/friends, so let’s plan on rolling out the new Shape Up the Monday after that: June 3rd. I have a lot of fun giveaways planned to go along with it (the first one is worth $3000!) so stay tuned for more details and how to sign up. I’ll have the intro post up Sunday June 2nd for those who like to plan ahead

Since we were out antiquing and playing at the farmer’s market, I didn’t prep as much for the week as I’d planned. I did make some new protein fudge, though.

I wasn’t kidding when I said I was newly obsessed with the protein fudge thing.

It’s such an easy, healthy snack, and I wanted to play around with how customizable it can be. The verdict: you can put pretty much whatever you want in there.

May I suggest some cream cheese and berries?

I made this batch before I did our grocery shop for the week, and found some organic frozen berries + some goat cream cheese. They worked out quite well together.

Here’s the recipe for this protein fudge version:

1. In a large bowl, combine the following:

-2 scoops vanilla or chocolate protein powder of choice (I used Sun Warrior and each scoop is 21g)

-1 scoop coconut flour (ground oat flour would work well, too)

-1 heaping tablespoon nut butter of choice (I used sunflower seed butter)

-1 tablespoon coconut oil

-1 T cream cheese of choice

-1 t xlyitol or sweetener of choice to taste

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-pinch of sea salt

-squeeze of lemon juice

-1 tablespoon of maple syrup or a little more to help the mixture come together. This is going to be dependent on how creamy your nut butter is.

2. Press into a storage container, and add your berry layer. For mine, I used 1/4 C thawed, frozen berries, pureed in the food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice. Place in the fridge to harden.

3. Cut into squares and enjoy!

(try out the mint version, too, if you’re looking for an easy, portable snack option)

This morning, I’d love to take Liv swimming. I don’t want her to be afraid of the water -from what I can tell, she loves it so far- and it seems like every little thing has been keeping us away from pool time. Too windy, too hot, I don’t feel like packing everything and driving out there, wah wah.

Today, we’re going for it.

Hope you have a happy Monday! See ya later today with a new playlist!

xoxo

Gina

A bright and early Friday morning Sabino Canyon hike:

(did about 4 miles)

and then after breakfast, Livi and I met up with friends to play at the Children’s Museum for the morning. It’s so cute to watch Livi crawl up the foam rainbow with no probs, when not too long ago, she would perch on it apprehensively. She’s got the rainforest room conquered

Home for naptime, chores for me,

(I do little bits of cleaning throughout the week, but Friday is my cleanstravaganza day. A random tip: I mop the floors with dish soap and water. It works extremely well, and smells crisp and clean without overpowering. I do a second round with water to rinse, and then dry by “ice skating” with towels under my feet — nice bonus leg workout)

When Liv woke up, I assembled lasagna with her on my back in the Ergo:

She really wants to see what’s going on in the kitchen, but is still a little too small for one of these things. I made the meat, spinach and sauce mixture while she was napping, and when she woke up, she watched me put the layers together.

No-boil pasta noodles, meat mixture (chicken sausage, spinach, garlic, marinara sauce, chopped fresh basil, oregano, splash of balsamic), ricotta mixture (with salt, pepper and a hint of nutmeg), sauce and goat cheese.

I baked everything for 45 minutes, and then let it cool before wrapping and placing it in the fridge for us to quickly heat and eat Friday night.

Saturday, I taught all day, and it was rough after being off for a week — I was out of breath after the World Beat warm up

Dinner was Mongolian BBQ,

(we need to switch it up more often!)

and the evening was spent chilling at home. The Pilot had late nights last week, so I feel like I haven’t seen him very much lately.

This week, I’m excited to use from produce from the market to make our dinners, in addition to our fresh herbs growing in abundance out back.

Bella is shocked that everything is still alive….

Me too, Bell, me too.

Here’s what’s on the tentative schedule this week:

Prep ahead:

Protein fudge (I’m officially obsessed)

Baked chicken

Smoothie packs

Protein pancakes for the week

Pancakes for Liv 

Lunches/dinners:

Curry chicken salad in romaine

Smoothies (Smoothie a Day challenge is still going strong, even though I’ve been slacking with posting my smoothies and juices)

Slow cooker chicken tacos

Asparagus Caesar Salad

Sweet potato pasta with grilled chicken and pesto

Kale, avocado and strawberry salad

Sunday: Teach Zumba

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: OFF

Wednesday: Teach Zumba, teach Barre

Thursday: Teach DJ Dance

Friday: OFF

Saturday: Teach Zumba + weights

What’s on the menu for you this week? Are you taking any new fitness classes or trying new recipes? Feel free to link away in the comment’s section!

See ya later with some pics from the day <3

xoxo

Gina

I Googled “best foods to feed ducks” and frozen peas were on the list. Turns out that turtles love them, too! As soon as we’d throw them in the water, we’d see the little turtle heads pop out and anxiously swim in our direction.

Noodle also decided this week that she likes to wear her sunnies.

-Yogaaaaaaa

I went to an expanding practice with a friend yesterday, and it always makes me feel like I have SO much work to do with my poses. When I go to a power class or hour-long practice, even though I hit my wall, I still think “Yeah! I’ve got this!” As soon as I go to an expanding class, I take my humble pie and sad, sore arms with me.

Getting to take extra yoga classes this week has been incredible. I’ve hardly done any cardio, and while I’m ready to get back to teaching (it starts again with World Beat tomorrow), the break was a nice refresher.

-This lip scrub. I know I’ve been a little LUSH intense lately, but I really love all of the products I’ve tried. This lip scrub gently exfoliates and has a fresh, minty taste. (Meg has a great recipe for lip scrub here if you’re looking to DIY!) If you have any cruelty-free brands you love sans parabens and harsh chemicals, please let me know! Some of my favorites are Juice Beauty, Korres and Tarte.

-The Bungalow

-Americanos

The iced versions feel like summer to me.. and the jolt isn’t too shabby, either

Speaking of coffee, check out my new mug:

-Protein fudge

I’m making a double batch next week. The last batch was not long for this world, and it was amazing.

-Veggies as noodles

There are times when you need a real, starchy noodle to soak up a certain sauce (like my Uncle’s famous bolognese), but for the most part, I find regular noodles to be pretty boring. I love summer veggies as noodles (zucchini will always hold my heart). If you’re looking for ways to experiment, check out this cheesy red pepper pasta — kelp noodles or spiralized veggies work well. There’s some basil in the backyard destined for pesto veggie pasta!

-Gipsy Kings on Pandora

And then there’s the moment in a crowded coffee shop, your Pandora station is still on “Elmo” and you haven’t plugged in your headphones yet. Oops.

What are you loving this week? Any fun plans this weekend??

First round of Summer Shape Up 2013 details will be up Monday! It starts on the 27th.

xoxo

Gina

There’s something endearing about being served a drink in a jar. It feels rustic and trendy, while uniquely showcasing the beverage inside.

(Lemon thyme spritzer from Cody’s in La Jolla)

Now a dessert in a jar… that’s a whole new level, friends.

When we celebrated Mother’s Day, madre, nana, Liv and I went to Ventana for our favorite Sunday brunch. While I tend to get the same things for the meal portion (jalapeño cornbread, grilled salmon, salad, eggs), I always like to switch it up for dessert. They usually have a fantastic trifle, chocolate mousse, fondue (Livi goes crazy for chocolate-covered strawberries), and little tarts, cookies and brûlées to choose from. Then, on Sunday, I saw something totally new: berry crumble in a jar. I definitely snatched up one of those bad boys.

Immediately, I knew that it would be an awesome dessert to make at home, especially when we have dinner company. The best part about the crumble is that there are TWO layers of crumbly goodness: one on top, and one as a lovely surprise in the middle. You can also make it in advance, so all you have to do the night of the party is bake then top with ice cream.

I decided to surprise the Pilot with a random Tuesday night dessert to go with our wine.

Hope you love it, too!

Mixed berry crumble in a jar

Makes 2 large servings (can easily be doubled.. tripled… if you have extra crumble mixture, freeze it and enjoy with ice cream, on a smoothie or with oatmeal)

Gluten-free and vegan options below

1/2 C old-fashioned oats (gluten-free friends, use gluten-free oats)

1/2 C almond meal

3 tablespoons brown sugar or Sucanat

2 tablespoons butter (or vegan butter substitute), cold and chopped into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of sea salt

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries

1 t sugar (can use a small amount Stevia or Xylitol instead)

juice of half a lemon + 1/2 t lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and spray two mason jars with nonstick spray. (I used the pint-sized jars, but if you use larger or small, adjust the recipe accordingly. This is one of those beautiful things where you don’t have to be super precisel; you can easily use ratios you prefer.)

2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almond meal, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt. Using a fork, smash in the butter until the butter is crumbled into the mixture. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the berries, sugar, lemon juice and zest.

4. Layer 1/4 of the berry mixture into each jar, top with 1/4 of the crumble mixture. Add the rest of the berry mixture to each jar and top with the remaining crumble.

(I can’t wait to try this with the Very Cherry Berry Blend from Trader Joe’s. We had frozen strawberries on hand, and they were rather lovely, but the pieces were large)

5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, until browned, bubbly and glorious.

6. Enjoy as is, or top with a scoop of ice cream

and sprig of fresh mint.

xoxo

Gina

I’ve been sucking with the whole water thing lately. Despite the fact that Liv is a water drinking machine, and constantly asking for “Agua! Agua!”, I still manage to forget. The kick in the pants was when I had my makeup done on Saturday for the wedding, and the makeup artist told me I was dehydrated. They usually ask if you have dry or oily skin, and I’ve always thought my skin was dry. From what she told me, it’s easy to be mistaken and think you’re skin is dry when you’re dehydrated. My skin is actually oily. Lucky me.

I’ve been on a mission to drink more water and even though I always have at least one bottle with us, I needed some extra motivation to drink enough by the end of the day.

I defaced a water bottle for the cause:

I make it a goal to get to the line by the indicated time; it’s working well so far.

As much as I’d love to carry around an enormous water bottle, it’s easier for me to tote around a smaller one + a reminder to fill it up frequently!

Do you drink enough water? Here’s a little reminder to fill up your bottle or glass ASAP, mmmm k?

And sadly, coffee does not count

I spent a little while this afternoon in a coffee shop, studying for my NASM exam. I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s been challenging for me to carve out study time with everything going on. Since I had the day off from teaching, and madre offered to still come watch Liv for a little while, it was a perfect opportunity to put my study pants on.

 The bummer news is that my Word document with EVERYTHING Summer Shape Up 2013-related is gone. I saved it while I was working and kept clicking the”save” icon, and now it’s like the file never existed. I’ve looked in finder, recent Word documents, spotlight, recycle bin, everywhere. Nada.

Instead of throwing my computer, I’m going to yoga.

Namaste <3

(Thar’ she blows!)

My fear had so much to do with the unknown paired with the fact that I’ve always been a little bit of a control freak. When I first started to read about birth (which was now about 3 years ago? Time flies) I remember being paralyzed by fear. The fear would sometimes keep me up at night, and who knows, maybe it was a sign that I wasn’t really ready.

There are a few books, movies and tools that helped me feel more confident and empowered regarding the birth experience, and now that I went through it, I’m not afraid anymore. Even while I was pregnant, each drive past the hospital would raise my heart rate a little. I couldn’t help but wonder how our birth story would go, and pray so hard that my baby would be ok. Now each time I drive past the hospital, I can’t help but silently thank the nurses and midwives who took such amazing care of us. We were very fortunate in so many ways -a needle didn’t touch me the entire time, and Liv didn’t leave our side- and it makes me hope that we can be in Tucson for our next baby. If not, I have a few things in my tool kit that first gave me confidence in myself to get through it, no matter what the journey would look like.

Some of my favorites:

-Your Best Birth in conjunction with The Business of Being Born. The book and movie, respectively, entered transformed my thoughts about birth. The thought of an epidural and C-section were worrisome for me (that dang needle phobia), and these two resources taught me some strategies to advocate for your personal best birth.

-Ina May’s Natural Guide to Childbirth. Ina May rocks my world — check out this new documentary:

When I first read this book, even though it seemed a little hippie dippy for me at the time, I was blown away by the concept that birth can be a freeing and beautiful experience. I always pictured childbirth in a sterile and cold hospital environment, and reading each birth story, which was total different than the one before it, demonstrated the natural beauty and rite of passage for women. It made gave me the confidence that birth is a natural thing, and medical interventions (while sometimes totally necessary) can be the exception, not necessarily the rule.

-The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth. This book was a little dry to read, but provided a lot of valuable info. I used it more as a skim and read kind of book, just looking up the sections that I was particularly intrigued by before bed most nights.

-Bradley Classes. I can’t praise our Bradley classes enough. We were so fortunate to have an incredible coach (who had 3 at-home Bradley births herself) who was so kind and knowledgeable. If you live in the Tucson area, check out Nancy Capo’s classes- she is seriously amazing. These classes helped Tom and myself to learn about each stage of the birth process, ways to avoid certain interventions, when to stand our ground and when to falter, and lots of practice leading up to the big day (including weekly massages… three cheers for that, eh?).

-Seeing a group of midwives for our care. My midwives at El Rio totally changed my views of birth and the medical field in general. Throughout my life, I’ve had very few medical professionals treat me with such patience and kindness, and each during each appointment, the midwife took so much time to answer my questions. I never felt rushed, and always left feeling excited instead of scard (ok, except that one time I had to have my membranes stripped. Holy hell.)

-My supportive husband. I don’t think I can sing his praises enough, but he’s one of my top reasons why our birth story went the way it did. At first, he wasn’t really into the natural childbirth thing -he couldn’t get why I wouldn’t just want to numb the pain away, despite my intense fear of needles- but even so, he put our Tuesday night birth classes on his schedule so he wouldn’t miss going to class with me. Through that, he was able to learn the reasons why natural childbirth was so important to me and became my biggest supporter and coach. You can read his thoughts on the birth story here, but by having that experience with him, I feel so much more confident about future birth experiences. Even if I’m in a situation where I’m not able to respond to ask necessary questions, he’ll be able to act on my behalf. I married a good one

Fellow mamas, what eased your fears about the birth experience? Any labor tips or tricks that helped you?

Friends sans kids, anyone relate to the alien thing?

Goods reads:

10 most disturbing movies for pregnant women

Apologies to the parents I judged 4 years ago

These are the lines of a story

Hiiii Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback on our new YouTube channel! Thank you to all of our new subscribers — I’m excited to see the channel grow and post more videos.

My legs are STILL sore from Saturday night’s dance party… guess it had been a while since I got low haha. The best part was that nerdy dancing was ok, and I appreciate that.

Everyone called me into the circle to dance and I could not tell you what I did. Pictures will tell, I guess Those prickly pear margaritas were very nice.

(All of my pics, ready to share with the fam and put into an album)

So far this week, Liv and I had just been hanging out with the pups – it’s been relaxing and wonderful.

Yesterday morning, we went to an eye doctor appointment (which could have been a disaster, but she was super patient and awesome), have been chilling outside playing soccer when the sun starts to go down,

and we had some delicious chicken for dinner.

I wanted to experiment with a quick and healthy version of chicken cordon bleu, and when I looked in the fridge, we had all of the ingredients ready to go. I cut slits down the sides of the chicken breasts, stuffed with rolled maple turkey, goat cheese, and topped with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. I baked them, along with some red potatoes, and served with salads. It was a super satisfying meal -the Pilot loved it, too- and it only took about 10 minutes to put everything together.

The Pilot did the bedtime routine with Oliv while I went to yoga hour, and during class, the instructor read an awesome quote.

The word of the day was “peace” and the fact that it’s something you have to seek out and make time for. It’s so easy to rush around, pack your plate full of to-dos and forget to enjoy stillness in your daily life. Creating time for peace is something that’s become one of my goals this past year, and while it’s definitely a work in progress, I can already notice a huge difference on the days I take time to just slooooowwwww down and enjoy.

Every time I practice yoga, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to teach. It’s something that I love so much, but selfishly, it’s something I want to have that’s just for me. When you teach a class format, a lot of construction and planning goes into the class, which gives a very different experience than just doing and enjoying. At the same time, I feel like by going through teacher training, it would depend my personal practice, even if I don’t have the intention of actually teaching. Maybe it can be a goal for the very distant future.

If you could teach any class, what would you choose? Is there something you love to do that you’d never want to teach? 

Hope you’re having a wonderful day <3

xoxo

Gina

I have some exciting news today: an all-new YouTube channel!

I’ve been wanting to do more dance cardio videos, and reached out to a friend of mine to see if she’d want to make some with me. Sasha has also danced her entire life and is one of my Zumba teaching partners in crime I was so excited when she said she’d make some Zumba and dance fitness YouTube videos showcasing our dance cardio choreography. Our channel is called Sage Dance Fitness and we would love if you’d subscribe. We’re planning on releasing a new video at least once a week, with all-new dances including pop, international, and some strength and barre workouts in there, too.

Our first video is a low-impact cumbia. It’s a great starting off video for Zumba beginners -my last video was a little cray cray- and one that you can easily jazz up after becoming familiar with the basic steps.

Hope you’re wearing your dancing pants today! Jammies count, too Please let us know what you think and as always, hope you enjoy!

xoxo

As comforting as it it’s been to get back into a routine, I always like to throw a little bit of change in there. For this week, I wanted to try something different from the usual amazeballs. I thought it would be fun to create a new flavor, and enjoy them in bar form, like a dessert-y fudge.

Welp, I finally found a use for that dang coconut flour.

It’s been sitting in the pantry, taunting me, begging to be thrown in the trash can for ruining anything it touches, it finally found its place in the world with these awesome protein fudge squares.

With a kick of peppermint and chocolate frosting, here’s another delicious and portable snack option:

1. In a large bowl, combine the following:

-2 scoops vanilla or chocolate protein powder of choice (I used Sun Warrior and each scoop is 21g)

-1 scoop coconut flour (ground oat flour would work well, too)

-2 tablespoons nut butter of choice (I used sunflower seed butter)

-1 tablespoon coconut oil

-1 t xlyitol or sweetener of choice to taste

-1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (I used 1, so these were just a touch of chocolate)

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1/2 -1 teaspoon peppermint extract

-pinch of sea salt

-1 tablespoon of maple syrup or a little more to help the mixture come together. This is going to be dependent on how creamy your nut butter is.

2. Press the mixture into a small storage container and place in the fridge to harden for 15 minutes or so.

3. Make your frosting by melting 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon almond milk in a glass bowl.

You can use a double boiler if you’re fancy like that, but I used the microwave for 20 seconds.

4. Top the fudge with the frosting and place back in the fridge to harden.

5. Cut into squares and enjoy!

For nutrition stats, click here.

Hope you love these! Let me know if you give them a try or create any new flavors! What protein-packed snack are you enjoying right now?

xoxo

Gina