Bringing Back Self-Care

Today's post is brought to the thoughts weighing heavily on my mind this week. I talked a little bit before about how 2017 is my hear of taking better care of myself. 

If I'm being honest with y'all last week had me feeling empty and unfulfilled. I kept telling my friends that I felt unfulfilled but I couldn't really grasp why. I was feeling uninspired with work and my social life and some of my food issues seemed to rear their ugly heads. 

I haven't mentioned this yet, but I experimented with Whole 30. I will dedicate a whole post to my thoughts on Whole 30, if y'all have any interest. But my point in bringing it up today is that I think it actually set me back in a lot of ways. It requires you to be super restrictive with your food choices. It also makes it impossible to eat out and/or drink. I felt like I couldn't join in with my friends on any social occasions. Charlotte is full of incredibly diverse and delicious restaurants, which I often frequent with my friends...but Whole 30 took that away from me. I was eating really clean, I was sleeping more than ever, and never eating out but I felt unhealthy socially. I am the poster child for an extrovert. I thrive off of meals with my friends full of laughing and trying new dishes. So I was unfulfilled in that regard. I hated turning down going to a bar with my friends to celebrate birthdays, football games, and long work days, solely because I didn't want to be around the temptation. Whole 30 just wasn't for me.

That was quite the tangent, but a necessary footnote to bringing back self-care. After my tough week, I knew I needed to craft a weekend to bring me back to life. The pieces fell into place. My Mom texted me during the week saying they had free tickets to the Biltmore. After a lot of back and forth we decided to go on Sunday and 2 of my friends could join us. Also,  my friends and I decided to try this new delicious brunch spot, Little Spoon, Saturday morning. I planned to preface our brunch with an Orange Theory class. Saturday afternoon, my roomie and I planned on seeing Fifty Shades Darker.   I was so excited to have a full weekend that still had some time for restful nights.

Saturday started with a 9:15 am Orange Theory class. Followed by a delicious brunch...the pictures don't even do the meal justice! Their menu is sectioned off to have "snacks" i.e. small bites of deliciousness followed by the appetizers. I have been dreaming about my coconut milk latte everyday since.

I was feeling so FULLfilled. Get it? Okay, that's annoying. But in all seriousness, I was incredibly full and it was a beautiful day. My roomie and I decided to take Gigi on a midday walk, one of my favorite types of self-care. I love getting outside while the sun is shining and I love spending time with my pup.

We then saw Fifty Shades Darker, which was a fantastic excuse to drink an electric blue slushie. Oops!

The next morning we were. up and 'em early to head to Asheville for the day.

My roomie came!

We did the auto tour...such nerds! haha

My girl, Maria, came too!

The wallpaper in this one was so beautiful.

I loved their "gym."

The house was so ornate in the best possible way. Every detail was incredibly intricate and unique from room to room. It is fascinating to think of all the blood, sweat, and tears went into building such a magnificent house. 

It was a relatively busy weekend but it was so rewarding. I felt myself come back to life. I am vowing to be intentional with my self-care. I carry around a small notebook that I picked up while in Belgium.

Pssst...if you ever want to hear about my Belgium trip click here and here.

I jot down what's on my mind, blog ideas, lists, etc. when they come to mind so I don't forget them. I'm hoping to jot down ideas for intentional self-care...some examples...

-Talking to my Grandma
-Buying a thoughtful gift for someone
-Reading a book
-Walking Gigi on a pretty day
-Reading my favorite blogs

How do you guys involve self-care into your everyday life? Thanks for listening to me babble.

xo

50 Shades of Workouts

Did that header grab your attention? Who was expecting something a little kinkier early this morning? Sorry to disappoint but that is NOT what this post is about. I wanted to talk a little about my style of workout and what I've found to work best for me. 

If there's one word to describe my style of workout it's "punitive." HA! Hence the title. And no, I'm not regressing back to the days of my self-destructive habits but more so I enjoy workouts that leave nothing behind. The satisfaction that I feel when I leave everything I have in the gym is what gets me out of bed in the morning. My workouts usually leave me shaking, sore, flushed, and dripping with sweat and I love it. Is it just me, or is it weird that I like to see sweat drip off my nose onto the floor when I do a push-up? I'm sure I lost some people with that one.

In my opinion, a crucial part to success in health and wellness is to find what makes you tick and running with that. I don't think I've nailed down all my "ticks" but one I'm sure of is that I thrive off of morning workouts and specifically workouts that involve cardio AND weight training. I always joke that I'm like a Lab and need to be run. All jokes aside, it's so true for me! I am very high energy and fast pace so setting the tone for my day with a workout that gets my heart pumping and pushes my muscles is imperative.

Back, around 9 months ago, my friend Sara (HI SARA!) introduced me to Orange Theory Fitness and  #thatsallshewrote. Orange Theory has been such a sense of solace for me. It clears my head, lessens my anxiety, pushes me, and makes me stronger. For those of you not familiar, Orange Theory is a 1 hour class that focuses half of class on cardio, mostly running, and half on strength training. I feel that because of Orange Theory, I'm truly in the best shape of my life. I can run a 5k, I can do a push-up , and I finally started seeing more tone in my body. I overall feel mentally and physically stronger.

Here I am after a killer Orange Theory workout...red face and pouring with sweat!

I am by no means a trainer but I wanted to share some of my favorite killer workouts. If you are someone who is very time poor, doing high reps of these workouts will really have you feeling that punitive workout in a short amount of time.

Burpees
Love to hate them but they are a total body workout with no weights required. For an added challenge add a pushup to your sequence. 

Jump squats
If you put your weight in your heels and keep your core strong it can be an exhausting movement in no time.

Plank Jacks
Basically, you put yourself in a plank position with your forearms flat on the ground then jump your feet out like a jumping jack.

Hand release push-ups
Everyone knows a general push-up but this one is a doozy! You do a push-up but lower your body all the way to the ground till you can "release your hands," hence the name. Then push yourself back up to complete the rep.

Hopefully those explanations make sense! What have you found works for you in your workouts?

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! This week has been a doozy for me. My heart wasn't in this week. I'm looking forward to having a restorative weekend! I am trying a yummy new brunch spot with my friends on Saturday morning. For those local to the Charlotte area it's Little Spoon in Selwyn. Then on Sunday I'm heading to Asheville to see the Biltmore with my parents and 2 of my friends. I think this weekend will be just what the doctor ordered. So that being said,  I'm linking up with Andrea, Narci, and Erika to share what I'm loving this week!

ONE

My coworker and I have started an afternoon tradition. Every afternoon around 2 or 3 we have tea time! We get excited about it everyday. It's a yummy, warm "treat" to get us through the afternoon slump. I've always loved tea...I remember drinking tea as a little girl. Granted, it was mostly sugar when I was little ha!

I sometimes after dinner have a cup of decaffeinated tea like Chamomile. It's like a hug in a mug! Okay, I hate myself for saying that.

Also, my mug doesn't hurt. Isn't it the cutest? I usually drink Twinings tea...either plain ole black tea or Darjeeling!

TWO

I never thought I would say this, but I've begun to enjoy podcasts. I love listening to one on my way to work or throwing headphones in while I take Gigi on a walk. Of course, the podcasts I enjoy are nutrition and fitness oriented. It really is my passion! Here are the ladies I've been listening to...

Cassy Joy @ Fed+Fed

Elizabeth @ Primal Potential

Juli @ Paleomg

Any suggestions of ones that I should listen to?

THREE

I pinned this yesterday. It was such a sense of encouragement for me. This week has left me feeling unfulfilled. But everyday is a new day.

I know it sounds cheesy, but words really can have an impact on your mindset. I talked about it here before my blogging hiatus. 

FOUR

If you missed it, since my blogging hiatus I've covered...

...what I've been up to and...

...what goals I've made for 2017! I would love to hear what goals you guys have for this year.

Alright, that's all folks! I will leave you with a cute picture of the pups...

Also, little Piper is getting spayed today so say a prayer for her!

Ok have a great weekend friends!!!

2017: The Year of Self-Care

Hi friends! First off, thank you SO much for everyone's kind words and encouragement about being back in the blogging world. I would be lying if I didn't mention how intimidating it has been to return. Everyone's kind words have really fueled me. I am so excited about working on this space moving forward! So that leads me to...it is currently February of 2017. Did you set New Year's Resolutions? If so, have you stuck with them? These aren't rhetorical...I want to hear what y'all have to say!

Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe that if you have goals you should set them right then and there. There's nothing magical about waiting till January 1st. But that being said, there is a feeling of a fresh start in the New Year...a new planner, a new batch of PTO ;), etc. I decided that in 2017 I really wanted to work on taking better care of myself.

If ya know me, you know that I like to talk out everythinggggg ad nauseum. So leading up to the start of the New Year I talked through it with friends, family, and coworkers to really pinpoint how I wanted to make self-care work with a few tangible items. 

I do want to add a side note here...I realize that in perspective to a whole lot of people, I take great care of myself. I have access to great medical care, I workout hard, I eat nutritious food, etc...I don't take that for granted. I also am single and don't have children right now. I realize this is the time in my life to set self-care habits. Ok, off my soapbox.

What really instigated this goal was that I was starting to feel the affects of not sleeping enough. Sleeping is incredibly crucial to our overall wellness. When I don't sleep enough I tend to eat more, eat worse, be less productive, and the list goes on and on. I knew that this was weighing on me so I knew that would be my first goal.

I also started to think more about taking better long-term care of my skin. I have been religious since middle school about taking my makeup off before bed and cleansing my face. I started incorporating moisturizer in there as I got older too. I would go through spurts of trying new products but I never made a habit out of it. So there came my second goal. A small aside here...doesn't my Mom have beautiful skin!? I hope it's genetic.

My last goal stemmed from my time pouring into what QUALITY of food I'm eating and how active I'm being. I really started developing food habits. I read every label. I hardly ever eat processed food. I am more mindful of the quality food I'm eating. More on that at a later date! I wanted to see how those changes manifested! So my last goal is getting a physical. I haven't had a physical since my senior year of high school!!!! EEK! I know that it's time for me to check in on my health.

So to wrap up...my overarching goal for 2017 is Self-Care. I plan on carrying this out by...

1. Getting more sleep

2. Taking care of my skin

3. Getting a physical

I plan on doing a post on goal 1 and 2 (Goal 3 is scheduled and that's all there is to say about that), which details what I'm doing to carry forward with those goals. But it's only February! I would love to hear your opinions on my goals. Anything that I should be keeping in mind? Anything I should add to my list?

I will keep checking back in on these goals as 2017 progresses. I am fully committed to these goals. I'm ready to hear what y'all are doing!

*Tap, Tap* Is anyone there?

Hey, it's me...Lauren...the Post Grad...remember me? It's been a hot minute and/or over 10 months since I've checked in with y'all. I have missed this blogging community quite a bit! It was nice to have more down time and not worry about posting as much but at the end of the day I missed my creative outlet.

I've thought a lot about how I want this blog to "look." Don't get me wrong, I don't mean the color scheme or the sidebars...I mean, how I want the energy of this blog to feel. After all, this space is a reflection of me and I want it to represent me well. Because I tend to stay pretty busy, I didn't have as much of a direction as I had hoped for this blog. My hope is to narrow that down as I rejoin the blogging world.

I am thinking I want to narrow it down to be more driven to my biggest passion: healthy living. I have worked a lot on exercise, dieting, trying new recipes, etc. over my lifetime and it has truly become a hobby. I would venture to say...my passion. And I want to share what I've learned through experiences and making mistakes. But what do y'all think? I want this to be a space that reflects me BUT interests you...ha! I would love to hear your feedback. This might be a trial and error period for me. It'll take a while for me to figure out what works and what flops. Thank you guys for riding the waves with me!

Okay, enough with the business stuff. What have I been up to? Well, a lot of it has to do with this face...

My beloved, Gigi girl. I get a lot of flack from friends and coworkers over my obsession with her and I don't. care. a. bit. She's the love of my life (thus far) and I'm so happy everyday that she's mine.

But in true Lauren style, I have stayed busy. Idle time doesn't suit me. I've been to 4 (YES 4) weddings since I last checked in.

My big, Meghan, from my sorority got married! Isn't her crop top dress amazing?

My sister's best friend got married! 

My girls and I flew to New Hampshire to see our friend, Jill, get married! It was such a fun wedding!

I've done a bit of traveling near by as well.

My Dad and I went to New York to visit my grandparents. They live in wine country!

Geeg and I spent several weekends up in the mountains. If looks could kill...looking at you, Gigi.

I did a quick trip to see my girl, Kelsey, in Greenville!

My college friends and I had a mini reunion in beautiful Bald Head Island. 

My family, my friend, Max, and I headed to see our Tigers play up in Boston! Go Tigers!

A new family member, Piper, joined Apartment 307! My roommate fell in love with Gigi so much that she needed her own. Two dogs is a lot of work but so fun.

I even got a promotion since I've last talked with y'all!

But what I'll look back on is the simple moments, dinners, movies, walks, talks, phone calls, etc that  I spent with my friends. Friendship fuels my soul.

I appreciate your patience with me and of course, for reading too. I'm so happy to be back. Please let me know your thoughts moving forward. Signing off xo

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