Summer Tasting Party with Taste of Nature!

Disclosure: This #RealTastesGood post was sponsored by Taste of Nature through their partnership with Clever Girls Collective. While I was compensated by Clever Girls Collective, all opinions are my own.

Taste of Nature kindly sent me some samples so I could host my own summer tasting party! It was my static trapeze instructor's last day at TSNY-DC so it was a great way to celebrate our last class together!

So here's the facts about Taste of Nature:

• Taste of Nature believes #RealTastesGood and creates delicious, certified organic, gluten-free certified, non-GMO project verified snack bars with real nuts, fruits, and grains that you can see (and under 200 calories, too!). Nothing artificial, no fillers and no chemicals with names that are as hard to pronounce as they are to digest - what you see is what you get with these bars.
• Six delicious flavors in the U.S.: Brazilian Nut Festival, California Almond Valley, Quebec Cranberry Carnival, Canadian Maple Forest, Himalayan Goji Summit, and Persian Pomegrante Garden
• Cost per bar: $1.99
• To find the closest retail store that sells Taste of NAture snack bars, click here.

We had five different Taste of Nature flavors to sample, and there were many hungry staff and students eager to try them out:

 One of our instructors, Alex, loved tasting his upside down in the static trapeze!

Remi, another TSNY-DC instructor, sampled his in between his trapeze flyers!

 Our trampoline instructor, Rich, also happily tried his between classes!

Let's not forget the hungry students! All of the bars were gobbled up by the circus-loving students!

My static trapeze classmates, Anna and Hannah, also love their bars! 

I was definitely glad we had healthy treats before class! It was our last class with Andrew, and he worked us out HARD! 

Thanks to my amazing instructor, Andrew, I have improved so much this summer. I am so sad he is leaving, but happy he is moving on to exciting things in the future! We will all miss you Andrew!

Worn down after class: myself, Andrew, Anna

I do have to say.... I'm quite the picky eater, and I loved these bars! My absolute favorite was the Canadian Maple Forest. I would have to say the students and staff agreed because they were snatched up first. I love that the Taste of Nature bars are tasty, healthy, AND organic..... I'm now officially a fan! I found out that they carry them at my local Whole Foods in P Street and Georgetown so I'm going to have to grab a few more!

Thank you Taste of Nature for allowing me to share these bars with TSNY-DC. The staff and students all appreciated the opportunity to try a healthy treat!

If you would like to read more about Taste of Nature, be sure to to check out their website and all of their awesome social medial sites!

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Instagram

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Fit Bit - A Little Broken!

Sorry for my absence! Things have been rather chaotic around here lately. I took a long period off of work. I had so many leave days, I needed to take a long time off work so I wouldn't lose out on them.

I ended up taking a little over two weeks off...I'm not going to lie. It was amazing.

The first trip I made was home to Indiana. I went to the Indiana State Fair with my family. I literally ate myself sick of all the yummy fair food (that is TERRIBLE for you, yet so delicious). I had rounds of sweet corn on the cob, elephant ears, salted caramels, and salt water taffy....yum.

And then there were all of the farm animals. I think I dragged my family around to all of them because we don't have cows in DC. Cows, sheep, and pigs are not a common occurrence for me anymore. I now get excited to see farm animals that remind me of home!

I did meet an awesome llama named "Pongo." He really liked me...but I think he just liked my hair. He spent more time staring at my hair than my face...maybe he sees something in common with my lion's mane? 

(By the way, I checked...there were no llamas named, "Tina.")

My last week was a vacation to "nowhere" or also called a "stay-cation." I thought I was going to get sooo much rest, but I spend a lot of my vacation busy practicing golf and playing around.

I was really excited to try Spanish Web. I was supposed to try a rope class, but I switched with my friend Anna. I really loved this class....it is so graceful and pretty. There are two people in this act: a spinner and a flyer. While some get a little sea sick from the spinning, I was happy the spinning didn't bother me. I have another Spanish Web class next week and I'm super excited for round two!

A message painted on one of the Urban Evo walls...how great is this quote!?!

I also started going to a gym called Urban Evolution. They offer Parkour, UrbanFit (functional fitness classes similar to CrossFit), Free Running, Breakdancing, Gymnastics and Aerial Silks. The gym membership itself is a pretty good deal so I bought a membership to give it a try. I liked the Aerial Silks for overall conditioning, but I think I prefer Static Trapeze and Spanish Web at TSNY-DC. I did really love the Parkour classes....I feel like a little kid jumping around on a playground. My legs were nice and sore after a few classes so I definitely got a great lower body workout out of it. So far, the classes have been great and I think I might keep my membership!

This have been really busy at work....getting back to the grind. I had my last class with Andrew in Static Trapeze. He's moving on to bigger and better things so we will all miss what an asset he was! Since it was Andrew's last class, I came really early to ensure I was nice and stretched. I was stretching for over 20 minutes and was in my splits several times. So happy that I finally got down to my full splits (I am NOT flexible AT ALL so this has been a challenge), I went down in them one more time to show Andrew my progress. I heard a pop and felt a snap right away and knew that wasn't good. I had pain, but it wasn't intense pain so I did my class anyways (not a great idea and I don't recommend it). I guess I was more hurt than I thought, because I woke up in terrible pain. I thought it was my hamstring that pulled before class but ruled it out because I didn't have excruciating pain immediately. I went to medical yesterday morning and yes...it's a pulled hamstring. I got a day of bed rest, lots of drugs, and a follow up next week.  I don't think it is torn. I have been watching it, and I don't have the rigid bruising yet. My pain has already started to go down...which is good. My doctor said my pain would be constant if it ends up being torn.

 Blaah...what a way to end the week! I'm currently stuck in bed with nowhere to go! I'm going to take it easy and slow down on some of my more "extreme" activities like Parkour and Aerial. Until then...I'll be here...broken :(

Fit Bit - Rained Out

"Fitness Report" = Blogger Fail

I try to put all of my fit reviews as a priority over normal fitness posts since my blog's focus is on fitness apparel. From my viewpoint, there are enough nutrition and fitness bloggers out there who can give MUCH better advice than me so it makes sense to focus on athletic clothes. I tend to stick to reviews, style advice, and beauty articles for the "jock" at heart.

With that being said, I do buy a crap-ton of fitness clothes because I, too, am a true "jock" at heart. I don't buy tons of Lululemon, Lorna Jane, Athleta, and so forth because I lounge around all day. I buy fitness apparel because 95% of my hobbies away from work are athletic in nature.

I've tried keeping a weekly fitness report, but honestly, I have a hard time keeping up with it. With the reviews and everything else in my life, it usually gets the back seat to my other blog priorities.

I do get positive feedback and requests to provide my fitness workouts, and I apologize for not providing them as regularly as I would like. To get the momentum going, I decided to create a post series called, "Fit Bit," that provides a fitness-related post about anything I feel like talking about. This will hopefully encourage me to write more fitness-posts whenever I want without being confined to a scheduled "fitness report."

So what do I actually do fitness-wise?

Ok...I haven't completely laid this out on the table yet. I've had hints of my job here and there, but I'm an officer in the Marine Corps currently assigned at the Pentagon doing budget work. My crazy work hours change so much, it is difficult for me to write up a scheduled workout "routine," per se.  I regularly do weightlifting, golf, and trapeze. Those are my hobbies...as obscure as they all are together.

Golf is a new love that started last year. I got bit by the bug (hard) and have been training seriously in golf ever since. I'm currently training for the Marine golf team and ultimately want to qualify for the Maryland Open (a ProAm competition). I don't know if I will be able to qualify the Maryland Open this year, but I'm hoping to make the cutoff by at least next year. I don't care if I'm last place....I just want to get to that level to qualify for the tournament. It would be a great honor considering I just starting playing golf 14 months ago. Golf is a slow, progressing sport...it takes years to develop technique. While I am happy with the progress I have made, I am ecstatic to continue to develop my technique for years to come.

My most "peculiar" hobby would be my static trapeze lessons. I started taking flying trapeze lessons at TSNY-DC (what you see at the circus) and recently switched to static trapeze (where the trapeze bar doesn't move). I found static trapeze more physically challenging and appreciate the art of moving around the bar. I'm not doing it because I'm going to run off and join the circus or because I want to perform. I'm doing it because it is fun and gives me an outlet when my brain hurts so much from work...great for nights when I can't seem to find the "motivation" to lift weights. This gives me 2 days a week of something "fun" I can do that makes me feel like a kid again and helps me forget everything else lingering in the background.

In addition golf and trapeze, I also lift weights and do cardio. My lifting and cardio has varied because my ever-changing schedule at work. For awhile I was working on a 5-day body building program, but the workouts are hard to squeeze in during crazy work weeks. I'm making it a goal to have at least 3 weight lifting days and 3 cardio days a week.....and this is on top of my golf and trapeze lessons!

I used to practice Baron Baptiste yoga, but I haven't squeezed it in since I moved to Washington DC last year. Although I no longer practice, two of my golf fitness classes are geared towards flexibility so I still maintain basic stretching during the week.

It's hard to lay out a "routine" workout schedule, but if I did, my golf and trapeze schedule would be similar to this:

Monday - Golf drills in afternoon
Tuesday - Golf drills/9 hole in afternoon
Wednesday - Golf in afternoon
Thursday - Trapeze at 1830
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 0700 1 hour golf lesson, 0800 Golf Fitness Class, 0900 Golf Fitness Class, 1215 Static Trapeze
Sunday - 1000 Golf Fitness Class, 1100 Golf Fitness Class, 9-18 Holes in the afternoon/evening (or rent a practice hole)

This isn't even including my lifting or my cardio. I fit those in where I can so you can see how it is hard difficult it is to stay scheduled!

So in a nutshell, that's me...it's what I "do" regarding fitness. It kind of gives a little bit of an idea of what I work towards before I start my fitness-related mumblings. Alas, tonight's "Fit Bit":

Fit Bit - Rained Out

Well I was excited to rush off and play 9 holes of golf tonight, but of course, the thunderstorms came in strong and hard. I had to cancel my golf night. Boooo. :( It's ok though.....I've been utilizing my weekend for most of my "training" for my upcoming fall tournaments. Yesterday I did 2 hours of golf fitness-related classes followed by an hour and half of golf drills at the "Club Golf" training facility. Then I went to East Potomac that night and did another 2 hours at one of their practice holes. Over five hours of golf drills and related fitness is enough to take it a little easy tonight.

(This will be me in a few hours)

I'll probably just do an Insanity workout in my apartment. I've bulked muscle faster than when I was younger so I'm hoping that more "high intensity" cardio will start to rev my metabolism.

I also have my friend's copy of "Get Bent" that I'm super excited to try. It's a 60 min DVD on circus flexibility (also good for cheerleaders, dancers, etc). My trapeze friend has been using it and wow....her splits are amazing! My flexibility sucks so if I can get half of the flexibility she has worked towards I will be ecstatic!

No golf tonight, but insanity and circus flexibility. Wooh, what an exciting night! I sold my husband on doing Insanity with me, but I think it would be a tough sell on the circus splits! :) It's ok...I'll do that by myself...probably crying in pain like a baby with my ass 3 feet off the floor....but hey, we can't all look like a badass doing the splits:

Well that's my first "fit bit" for this week. Have a great night and be sure to check out tonight's Lululemon upload!

Foam Rolling - The Grid

I have a problem....for the last two weeks.....I have been addicted. No it's not Lululemon, Athleta, or YogaSmoga. My addiction has been over a 12 inch cylinder piece of foam.

That's right. I've been addicted to foam rolling. With my heavy lifting and constant strain on my shoulders from golf and trapeze, my muscles have been rigid and tight all the time. Although my husband has a few tricks up his sleeve from is chiropractic dad, my shoulders were still killing me.

Photo Credit: ClubGolf Performance Center Facebook Page

For the last month, I have been training under a new golf coach at ClubGolf, a golf performance center. My new coach has been very focused on my posture, core, and flexibility. I go to my hour lesson at 7:00 AM every Saturday and end up staying for 2 hours of golf conditioning classes ('X Flexibility' and 'Power & Speed') she teaches. Amazing....purely amazing.

I consider myself pretty fit, but I've found out my posture sucks, my core is weak, and my flexibility needs to improve. (This is in my own words, not hers.) She has been great at increasing my flexibility and developing my core and has also been adamant about using a foam roller after every session.

It's painful at times..... but also sheer bliss. I have grown attached to my cylinder piece of compressed foam. So much, that I have been using it after every workout. It has helped me recover from heavy leg days and also worked out all of the kinks and stress in my shoulders. It's love I was never aware of.

I ended up ordering my own torture device on Amazon. The Grid 13" foam roller is one of the best rollers on the market due to its three unique densities. It retails for $39.99, but I was able to snag the orange one on Amazon for $29.99. I guess no one wants an obnoxious orange one....but I have no loyalties to a specific color, so the the obnoxious color didn't bother me....if anything, it will help me find it quicker. :)

Thanks to Amazon Prime, my amazing roller will be here tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to using it on a daily basis. How do you recover from your workouts?

For additional reading:

Men's Health - What does foam rolling actually do?

Women's Health - 7 Awesome Ways to Use a Foam Roller

Huffington Post - 5 Foam Rolling Mistakes to Avoid

Weekly Workout Wear - 3/3-3/7

Ok...I'm going to try something new so bear with me....

It has been extremely difficult to keep up with my weekly fitness report on Sundays due to when and where I work. Since I work at a 5 sided building that prohibits photography, my workout wear reports rely on me re-trying on my clothes for photo at night in crappy lighting or on the weekend.

I always pack my clothes for the week. It helps me figure out what I need to bring and I can ensure I'm not wearing the same things over and over. As a test, I'm going to post my photos in advance on what I'm going to wear and then followup with what I actually did. This way, I don't have to nix the whole report if I don't have time at the end of the week to take photos.

So as a new approach, let me know what you think. I'll have actual outfit photos for some of the nightly and weekend activities (i.e. lifting, trapeze, golf), but this should be better than nothing!

MONDAY

Activity: Weight Lifting/Circuit (Golf lesson canceled due to snow)

Outfit: Bali breeze Breath Easy bra, beachscape CRB, Athleta white Shiva top, Athleta catalina green Chatarunga Capri, NB Minimus 

TUESDAY

Activity: 2 hours of Static Trapeze (ouch)

Outfit: Mod dot Energy bra, Nike red spandex shorts, Athleta black Chai Long tank, PS WUC, and brisk bloom Bangbuster

Note: This is the first time I'm wearing "booty" shorts to trapeze and only because my instructor asked me to for partner work. I have searched high in low in the stores to find a good pair and I couldn't find one. Finally out of desperation, I pulled out an old Nike pair from college....I was amazed how soft and well they fit. I guess it worked out in the long run.

WEDNESDAY

Activity: Weight Lifting/HITT

Outfit: Cadet Heathered/Space Dye Swiftly LS, rad plaid/flare Tracker shorts, reversible flare/beachscape Bangbuster headband, and NB Minumus.

THURSDAY

Activity: TBD....probably another lift day and some cardio

Outfit: Vintage pink Flow in Go tank, cadet blue Forme jacket, Glyder Mantra crops in acai berry space dye, and NB Minimus.

FRIDAY

Activity: HITT/run

Outfit: Zing pink All Sport bra, clear mint CRB, zing pink Forme jacket, PS Shake and Break, Brooks PureFlow running shoes

That's all I got for now....Workout Report to be posted on Sunday!

Weekly Workout Report - 13-19 January

It's kind of been a lazy week. Things have been really busy at work and then my husband got me sick. It was only a little bug, but enough to keep my exercise to a minimum. Lot's of golf...some trapeze...and not too much weightlifting...fail for me.

Monday - Golf Lesson

I had a golf lesson tonight. I ended up working on some drills at the range. 

I wore my light pink Nike polo, Lululemon Raspberry Forme jacket, Soot Light Bust a Move pants, and New Balance Minimus shoes.

Tuesday - Driving Range

I have two golf lessons this week, so I took another trip to the driving range to work on what I've learned. It was pretty warm, and I was in the stalls...so I kept it casual.

I wore my Athleta Spectrum sweatshirt, Lululemon Power Purple CRB, and black Right Round pants. I aslo wore my Sweaty Betty headbands...I really love these! 

Wednesday - Run/Lift

On Wednesday I did a 3 mile run followed by weightlifting at the gym.

5 rounds, for time:

• 15 push-ups
• 5 pull-ups
• 25 leg lifts
• 25 squats

I wore my Athleta Spectrum sweatshirt to and from the gym (love this). I also wore my Lululemon black hyperstripe Race Me tee, Athleta Chatarunga Capri in blueberry, and Brooks running shoes.

Thursday - Golf Lesson

I had another golf lesson this week to make up for our "polar vortex".

I was really excited to wear my Lululemon Zing Pink Forme. I also wore my new LookHuman "T-Rexs hates to lift" shirt, Pink Shell CRB, and Heathered Black Bliss Break sweats.


Friday - Trapeze

It's my 4th trapeze lesson and I really love it. I feel like a little kid and my core/back/shoulders feel it the next day. I don't know how long I'm going to keep the lessons up, but they've been a blast!

This past lesson I tried a "set split" and ended up catching it both times in the same class!

(You'll have to be on a computer to see the video)

I wore my Lululemon Pique Forme jacket, Spry V-Neck Swiftly, and Macro Micro Inspire crops.

Saturday - Off

Sunday - Golf/Lift

I ended up going to the golf course today and lifting. Trying to be 'prepared', I layer for golf with what I'm wearing to the gym.

For Time:

• 30 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings
• 25 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings
• 20 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings
• 15 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings
• 10 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings
• 5 Box Jumps, 10 Kettlebell Swings

I had on my Ellie crops and Lululemon Saloam stripe CRB for the gym. For golf, I also put on my Lululemon Pique Forme jacket, Deep Zinfandel Fluff Off vest, and black Right Round pants. I don't think the Right Round pants are the most flattering, but they are layered and they keep me warm.

So that's it for this week...it was a little lazy workout-wise!

My Zing Pink speeds haven't came in yet. They won't be here until Wednesday. I still get mad over the black lining. I wore my Brisk Bloom speeds around the house and I noticed they had NUDE lining....in Black and White shorts...I can see the practicality or logic of putting a black or white liner in those shorts, yet those had nude....so why do these neon pink ones have black???

Weekly Workout Report - 6-12 Jan 2014

So sorry for the delay! This was supposed to be posted last night, but I was bogged down. So here is my first "official" weekly workout report.....

Monday - Golf  Polar Vortex

I was supposed to have my golf lesson Monday night, but our wonderful -11 degree Polar Vortex canceled my lesson. Since my lessons are outdoors.....I wasn't complaining. 

I did trapeze the day before. I'm trying to be cautious with my lower back and keep the workouts to a minimum on days after trapeze.

Tuesday - Weightlifting

I do a golf-centered workout I found on a .edu sports conditioning website. After I did it the first time, I quickly found out it was a good, total-body workout. It's 2-3 rounds of a 10 weightlifting exercises:

2-3 Rounds:

• Push-up x 15-20
• Alternating Squat with Press x 15
• Lat Pull Downs (Wide Grip) x 15
• Oblique Crunches x 20
• Dumbbell Lunges x 10 (each leg)
• Barbell Upright Row x 15
• Reverse Fly x 15
• Dumbbell Curls x 15
• Back Extensions on Stability Ball x 20
• Barbell Reverse Wrist Curls x 15-20

30 sec rest between exercises, 3 min rest between rounds

I also ran a mile following the circuit at 70% 5k tempo pace and completed 200m of plyometric drills.

I wore my Lululemon Angel Blue 105f Singlet, Clarity Yellow Breath Easy Bra, Pique WUP, and New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes.

Wednesday - Cardio Circuit

I did a rowing circuit on Wednesday.

5 Rounds:

• 1,000M Row
• Lat Pull Downs x 10

I wore my Lululemon 105f Singlet in Lavender Dusk, Free to Be bra in Angel Wing Hyper Stripe, Grey Old Navy Crops, and New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes.

Thursday - High Intensity Tactical Training (HITT)

I did a USMC HITT workout with some of my peers at work. I have been doing these for a few weeks, and these workouts alone have helped me drop body fat and gain endurance. The workouts are well balanced and can be anything from weightlifting to TRX to shuttle runs. The only downer is they are time consuming...each one takes about 1.5 hrs to complete by the time we warm up to cool down.

I meant to post the actual workout, but I can't find it! If you check out the website, there are all kinds of workouts and programs to follow. There are three programs and 25 different workouts. They also have a great repository of video demonstrations for every exercise.

I wore my Luluelmon Spry Blue Forme, Clear Mint CRB, Grey Old Navy Crops, and New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes.

Friday - OFF

I didn't really mention it before, but I was actually in the hospital getting allergy shots all Friday. I found out last year that fire ants are potentially deadly to me, but there is a way to treat the allegry to avoid an anaphylactic reaction. I have been getting shots 1-2 a week to get immune to them, but its too much time away from work. They set me up in the ICU as a precaution during their "rush" program, and I got the pleasure of getting 6-7 months worth of shots in a span of 8 hours. Everything was fine...not even bad at all. I ended up getting released around 8:00pm Friday night, but I still took the night off just to be safe. I had some itchy swelling and a few bruises....I tried to crop out some of my bruising in my later photos so you guys didn't think I was some kind of heroin addict. :)

Saturday - Weightlifting

I did another circuit workout followed some cardio on Saturday.

4 Rounds:

• Push-up x 1/Press x 5 x 10 (25 lb plate)
• Complete push-up with plate, followed by 5 presses. Repeat 10 times
• Wallball x 20 (14 lb)
• 30" Box Jump x 20
• Knee Raise to Chest x 20

After that I followed it up with a 1,000M row at a sub 2:10/500m pace.

I dressed lazy for the mall, but essentially wore the same outfit to the gym, with the exception of my crops and shoes. I wore my Lululemon Nimbus Groovy Stripe CRB, Clarity Yellow Breath Easy Bra, and Kyodan (Marshall's brand) teal crops.

Sunday - Trapeze/Golf/Run

I had another Sunday-Funday yesterday. I had an early morning trapeze lesson from 0815-1000. I really like going to these early morning classes....it gets me up early and I'm out and about for the day.

After that, my husband and I went to Bethesda Row and at a ridiculously good Sunday brunch at Redwood.

When we got back from Bethesda, we did a hard 3 mile run from our apartment to Chinatown. He was booking it.....we did a hard 1.5 to Chinatown at a 6:45 mile pace. I was shocked...I thought maybe it was in the lower 7:00 range, but he has been using Map My Run and it has been pretty accurate so far. I used to be a much faster runner back in the day, but I have done too much golf and yoga....I'm just happy to run, so I usually don't have high expectations.

After the run, I ended up going to the golf range to work on some drills for my lesson tonight. I had quite a full day!

For trapeze, I wore my Athleta Spectrum Sweatshirt in Grey Heather, Athleta Chi Tank in Black, Lululemon Cocoa Pique WUP, Brisk Bloom Bang Buster Headband, and Old Navy Slip-on Shoes.

For the run, I wore my Athleta Stripe Elite Half Zip, Lululemon Parfait Pink Swiftly T-shirt, Lululemon Deep Zinfandel Inspire Crops, and Black Brooks Running Shoes. For the Driving Range, I keep my crops on but threw on my Lululemon Bliss Break Sweats in Heathered Black.

By the way...I REALLY love parfait pink with deep zinfandel! I really like the color combo I wore for Sunday's run!