Friday Faves

Hi friends! How are ya? The weekend is finally here! Thanks to Daylight Savings, this felt like the longest week ever. It doesn’t help that the girls are going to sleep even later than usual. This is when I drink decaf all day and pretend it’s giving me energy haha. I think we’re going to drop P’s nap and see if it helps. Pray for meeeeeee.

What do you have going on this weekend? I’m looking forward to hanging out with the fam, possibly taking a little trip to Jacksonville for St. Patrick’s Day, and finally unpacking from Vegas. I’d love to hear what you’re up to!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. It’s always fun to share some of the things I’m lovin’ from the week, and hear what you’re enjoying, too. Please shout out your faves in the comments below if you’d like to join in!

March madness was going to be on this list…but my bracket should probably go in the trash can. Always happy and proud to be a Wildcat, but first round?! WHAT.

Wildcats

Next year, Cats. Next year. 

Floral maxi dress

Fashion + beauty:

This floral maxi from Revolve. I love the fix + the ruffled hem. It’s understated, so you can easily dress it up, or wear it with sandals.

Valentino gladiators

(Spring! When the gladiators come out to play. Please do excuse my dancer feet.)

The best part: it was on sale for $61. They only have a couple of sizes left, but I found some similar styles here and here. 

Floral maxi

Read, watch, listen:

How to handle a changing body image.

LOOOOOVE this version of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” from Fallout Boy.

The new “Nailed It” on Netflix. Liv picked it one afternoon and we all got a kick out of it. So many real-life emotions.

Speaking of real-life emotions, the trailer for Tully brought all the feels. Can’t wait to see it. 

21 reminders to get out of our own way.

Good eats:

Easy one-pan BBQ chicken.

Making these cookies this weekend

Daily Harvest has lattes now! I have the ginger and turmeric one in the freezer – each container has 3 pods – and will definitely report back once I give it a whirl.

8 easy marinades for chicken and tofu.

Trader Joe’s dinner hacks! This series is amazing.

The create-your-own salad from Mellow Mushroom. This one had jerk tempeh, romaine, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, cucumber + herb vinaigrette. Mom hack: when I’m going to be dining alone with the girls, I always call our order in advance. This way, our food is ready when we get there and I don’t have to spend precious good behavior time waiting for our food. (The girls are fantastic in restaurants, but definitely get ants in their pants after a little while.) This way, we can sit down and eat, and no one is hangry. 

Mellow Mushroom Salad

Fitness finds:

P.volve classes. I heard about these while listening to the Skinny Confidential podcast (<— highly recommend it), and was instantly intrigued since this workout is based on physical therapy exercises and the idea of pre-hab. You are strengthening weak muscles and training the body in a functional way to prevent injury. Yes yes yes.

Stephen pastarino

(Source)

The method was created by Stephen Pasterino, who’s well-known for getting Victoria’s Secret models into insane shape. He has an impressive fitness background, and I loved the fact that he focuses on how the body works and moves as a whole. (I will say there are some statements in the episode that made me roll my eyes, like encouraging the belief that traditional strength training can make women bulky. It can’t and won’t! Don’t be afraid.) I decided to give P.volve a whirl one afternoon and was pleasantly surprised.

The moves were unlike anything I’ve ever done before. There were zero squats or lunges, and many exercises involved holding a “P Stance” (the 8-year-old in me giggled a little each time) which is like a micro squat with a long spine, core tight, and booty back. I liked the focus on the glutes, which are notoriously weak, and outer hip muscles, which can help support the deep core and pelvic floor muscles. It’s funny because my legs and booty weren’t sore, but my traps and shoulders were killing me the next day! You hold your arms straight out, and apparently I’m not used to that. I will say that it’s not *exciting enough* for me to add to a regular part of my routine (I like to feel like I’m MOVING and sweating), but I’ll definitely do it here and there if I’m looking for something different. He offers a free 15-day trial if you want to check it out!

Any fitness faves this week? Anyone else with a busted bracket?

Hope you have a very happy Friday and I’ll see ya soon!

xoxo

Gina

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30 Comments

  1. Rhonda @ Change In Seconds on March 16, 2018 at 7:01 am

    I am definitely trying the marinades!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:32 pm

      they look so good!

  2. Cassie on March 16, 2018 at 7:37 am

    Good luck dropping the nap. I was pretty close to doing that too. My 2.5 yo was sleeping 730 pm to 630 or 7 am with a 1pm to 230 pm nap. Bedtime was getting dicey and she was sooo cranky when I woke her from her nap that I almost didn’t think it was wOrth it. Then (when she got sick) I changed naptime to 1230pm to 2pm and everything is smooth again (for a minute anyway). They’re always changing though. Haha.

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:32 pm

      right?! i feel like every week is different. i also feel like liv and p do a great job of alternating their challenges. one week we’re dealing with something with liv, and the next week it’s p
      happy friday!

  3. Amy on March 16, 2018 at 9:06 am

    We just dropped my little’s nap like a month or so ago – she was falling asleep at 9 or 10 (sometimes 11!!) every night. Bedtime has been wonderful – right to sleep every night. The evenings are still dicey 🙂 So just be forewarned that it is an adjustment (which I’m sure you know already), so give it time! She definitely has evenings when she’s totally fine (more so on weekends than weekdays…she’s in full time daycare, so I think they tire her out more than mummy and daddy do), but there are still plenty of dinnertimes when she’s crawling into my lap telling me she’s so tired. Good luck!!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:30 pm

      that makes me feel better. i’m lucky to get P to bed by 10 right now and it’s crushing my soul. (and she’s waking up at like 6:45! i’m like this can’t go on.) the only prob is that when i try to skip it, she falls asleep in the car and it’s impossible to wake her up

      • Amy on March 16, 2018 at 3:01 pm

        Yeah, we’ve had that happen too! If we’re out during the day I don’t mind too too much, but it’s rough when it happens on the way back from daycare at 5:30. We can generally wake her up, but then she’s a beast. But we just try to roll with it and keep her up…it is absolutely still a work in progress, but overall for her (and our nights!) it has been well worth it.

  4. Jessica on March 16, 2018 at 9:09 am

    Bracket is also busted, courtesy of Arizona! I had them in the Final Four 🙁

    Hoping to go on a super hot date with the husband to shop for living room furniture, while my mom gets some QT with our baby.

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:29 pm

      i had them going all the way! WAH
      well that sounds like a perfect weekend activity 🙂 happy friday!

  5. Tanya on March 16, 2018 at 9:33 am

    those cookies look AMAZING. adding those to my cooking plan asap!
    Can you explain how you order your food ahead of time at restaurants? That’s such a great idea, but I don’t quite understand how you pull that off, especially at a sit down restaurant.

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:29 pm

      i just call 20 minutes or so before we’ll be there and say, “hi! we’re coming in to eat tonight and i’ll have my two small daughters with me. i was just wondering if there’s any way i might be able to place our order over the phone?” they always say yes. i’ve never done it at a super fancy spot (let’s be real, if i’m alone with them we’re going somewhere casual) but it has never been a prob

      • Tanya on March 16, 2018 at 3:19 pm

        Wow! I never thought of that. So smart! I’m definitely going to use this! Thank you!!

  6. Amanda on March 16, 2018 at 10:42 am

    My fitness fav of the week will be this afternoon’s 4pm yoga class that the teacher calls “the best happy hour in town.” So true! It’s a great transition from week to weekend.

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:27 pm

      that sounds like the perfect way to spend a friday afternoon!

  7. Jocelyn on March 16, 2018 at 11:38 am

    I’m so glad you gave your opinions on P.Volve. I also listened to this podcast and found myself eye rolling quite a few times. He sounded kind of full of it a few times…my opinion of course! 🙂

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      i was so into everything he was saying (his background in PT and learning about movement) but then when it turned into “squats and lunges add leg bulk” i was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  8. Lindsey on March 16, 2018 at 11:41 am

    Hi Gina—

    I’m a long time reader and I’m trying to make time to add some fitness in my life. I have 3 month old twins, a two year old, and a really tight childcare schedule for my work that makes this feel really hard. I use to loveeeee body jam and other dance like classes (not a huge fan of Zumba but could try it again) do you have any recommendations for classes like that that are available on video to stream from my living room?

    Thank you!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      thank you so much for reading for so long! have you tried les mills on demand? if you like body jam, you can stream it from that 🙂

  9. Emily @ Pizza & Pull-Ups on March 16, 2018 at 11:41 am

    That dress is gorgeous on you!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:25 pm

      thank you so much!!

  10. Amy on March 16, 2018 at 11:59 am

    I love Fridays! —–>the wknd ahead:) Yesterday I came home from work and saw that my Spring FabFitFun box had arrived, OMG, it’s so fun to get a collection of goodies delivered all at once:) I haven’t been online shopping much lately so this is a treat.
    I wasn’t expecting to love it all and I do—-so that is exciting! Anyway, I am ready to do some Spring cleaning around the house and relax. We’re fixing corned beef tomorrow with cabbage + potatoes. Enjoying a beer too—no green in that though—ha. Have a great wknd!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:25 pm

      i still haven’t tried that box! glad to hear it’s a good one 🙂 i’m ready for spring cleaning, too!
      hope you have a happy weekend and st. patrick’s feast 🙂

      • Amy on March 16, 2018 at 2:55 pm

        Wow, it is good……..this time I received a lip palette and love it already–great colors, a really nice face lotion by Murad, a bottle of nail treatment that helps struggling nails, a delicate bracelet that has LOVE on it—perfect for layering on the wrist, a massage device that really works, a candle and a clutch purse great for warmer weather. I recommend trying it:)

  11. Ashley @ A Lady Goes West on March 16, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    Gina! Thanks for sharing my post about body image, friend … 🙂 You are the best! Also, I LOVE the dress, will always covet those sandals (your feet don’t look bad to me), and I love the TSC podcast and want to try that class! I’m SO into alternative workouts these days! Happy Friday!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:12 pm

      of course- happy to share the love! it’s an excellent and important post
      i think you would like it! it was kind of weird, but good 😉 hope you have a happy weekend!

  12. Melissa on March 16, 2018 at 12:52 pm

    How strange…you must have flipped that first pic, because the “Arizona” on everyone’s t-shirts is mirror-image. Unless that’s a new way to cheer the team? 🙂

    Also love that dress on you! Looks like spring!

    • Fitnessista on March 16, 2018 at 2:11 pm

      i think it might be because it was a selfie?
      thank you! hope you have a great weekend 🙂

  13. Jamie @ madrediem on March 16, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    Oh my gosh, I LOVE Nailed It – found it last weekend and watched a couple of episodes. I would kill to be on season 2 if they do another season because it is so ridiculous and hilarious.

  14. Tracy on March 16, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    I was also disappointed AZ lost! I had them going pretty far in my bracket. You should be an adopted Kansas Jayhawk for the rest of the tournament!! 😉

  15. Brianne on March 16, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    Seriously in mourning over that Wildcat loss last night! I’m definitely done with the Madness for the year!

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