Day 8: Modified Core and Combo work + Quinoa Chocolate

I like a lot of things that other people dread.  I love interviews, I love cleaning, and I love Mondays!  I like the start of a new week, and today was especially great because it's the start of January Challenge week 2!  I started the week off with an AMAZING class in SE with Vicki.  It was a really good class, great energy, and I felt really strong.  I did have a little lower back discomfort today, and so I modified a lot of the core work, and some of the combo work.  I felt really tired and sore in the most amazing way after class.  It was delicious.

I was on the go a lot today.  I ran errands this morning, went to class, ran more errands, worked a short front desk shift @ the Pearl studio, then picked up a few things from New Seasons.  I also sat down and did my meal planning today, but I am going to have to look it over again tomorrow before I go grocery shopping because I do still have some food I need to use up (or freeze) so it doesn't go bad.  Tonight I was going to make salad rolls and a cucumber salad, but I ended up eating some sauteed greens and eggs and chicken sausage, because the sausage needed to be eaten.  I will update the meal plan post tomorrow.

Also, I made a very exciting discovery!  I was at New Seasons and I was looking for an herbal tea with no caffeine that had a rich flavor.  I love my green tea but it doesn't replace a latte or black tea, and I'm not drinking black tea or coffee right now.  I found a really yummy Rooibos tea, and it's Pumpkin Spice flavored!  It has all whole food ingredients, spices, and no added sugar.  Rooibos is actually a bush from South Africa, and when dried, it can be steeped like tea.  On it's own Rooibos can be a little bland, but when mixed with spices or dried fruits, it's really good.  A plus is that Rooibos is rumored to be healing to people with allergies.  I have been having really bad allergies lately, so I'm hoping this helps.  The really nice barista at New Seasons steamed me some almond milk and let me brew my own tea after I had purchased the whole canister of it.  I added a little honey, and it was DELISH.  The key is the steamed almond milk, it gives it a really nice texture, similar to a latte.  We have an espresso machine we never use, so tomorrow I have it on my to-do list to clean it and bust it out for some almond milk steaming so I can make this yummy beverage at home.

Side note:  This tea is especially good when you're drinking it, snuggled up with a blanket, watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  #guiltypleasure

Here's what I ate today:

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie:  Canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie puree, buy just pure pumpkin with no sugar added), hazelnut milk, banana, almonds, dates, ice, and pumpkin pie spice.

Lunch:  Big plate of stir fried veggies with a some bay shrimp.  Yummy sauce with peanuts, soy, sesame oil, and garlic.

Dinner:  Sauteed purple cabbage and spinach, chicken apple sausage, poached eggs, mashed avocado (I ended up not eating the avocado, it wasn't quite ripe)

Snack:  Salad rolls with peanut sauce

Rooibos tea:  I had 2 cups of this today with almond milk and honey

For dessert tonight I tried a new  dark chocolate by Alter Eco.  It has toasted quinoa in it that gives it a crunchy texture.  It was divine.  The bar also has raw sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla beans in addition to fair trade dark chocolate.

Have a great night!