My Monday Glow Experience

Happy Monday, y'all! I feel like those are actually rare, but I'm committed to staying positive this year and want to do what I can to make that statement true. One of the ways I've made my Mondays a little brighter has been with the addition of some lessons learned from my Monday Glow challenge I mentioned on Twitter and Instagram last week. I want to give y'all the whole story today!

First off, some of you may be wondering what the heck I mean when I say Monday Glow. I was introduced to the concept by my friends Annie and Cat who blog over at Collective Passions. They've come up with this great eating plan to help you "reset" your body on Mondays to start the week out right. I've spoken before about how indulgent I can be over the weekends, which hasn't changed, and I love that this plan is designed to target those habits! I've never tried a healthy eating plan before and have failed to keep up with diets I've attempted in the past but the idea of a one-day plan seemed manageable to me. (Not to mention delicious after I was introduced to the recipes!) I decided to give it a go and was really happy that I did!

I think the best thing about this plan is how easy it was for me. I like eggs, veggies, protein bars, green juice, and smoothies- so why not put them all together for a strong start to my week?! These girls have laid out everything you need for success with this plan in their gorgeous eBook and have not missed a detail! They share every little step- down to how many days in advance you need to order your specialty items from Amazon. And don't worry- the recipes are totally approachable and don't require any special tools.

I've always considered myself a healthy eater, but I was surprised at how great I felt when I packed my day with superfoods. The title explains it all- I felt like you could see my glow by the end of the day! And believe me, that is not something I can typically brag about after a Monday! I learned some yummy recipes that I can't wait to try my own variations of and was introduced to some new smoothie boosters to help make my blends even more potent. All-in-all, this was a great boost for me and I will definitely be incorporating what I've learned into my everyday routine to help glow a little brighter every day!

Aside from the great food, this plan comes with 2 important components: a "glow journal" to help you be mindful and capture your feelings throughout your Monday Glow day and a private Facebook community for support! Obviously, given the fact that I'm a blogger, I love writing and found the journal to be a great way to keep myself mindful throughout the day. It's easy to get busy, especially on Mondays, and neglect how you're feeling! The community is so helpful to me because I love having people to keep me accountable in my healthy habits and to bounce health ideas off of!

Does this sound as interesting to you as it did to me? Read more about the why behind the plan and have an opportunity to purchase the eBook here. Also, Annie and Cat are graciously giving away a free copy to one lucky reader! Enter using the widget below and GOOD LUCK!

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Easy Sauteed Kale for One

Hey y'all! Happy first day of Fall! I can hardly believe that it's official! It definitely has been feeling more like fall this week, with the highs slipping down below 80. I'm wondering if we'll get one more bump of warmth, but it seems as though fall is here to stay! Hallelujah! I just wish we could hit pause and stay here, but I know that harsh winter weather is lurking in the not-so-distant future.

I'm a huge fan (as you can see through my previous recipe posts) of creating meals that don't result in an excessive amount of left overs. I don't like to waste food, but I also don't like to eat the same thing 4 nights in a row to avoid trashing my extra servings. It can be so difficult to shrink down some of the recipes that I want to try! I run into all sorts of problems. To name a few- small amounts required of expensive ingredients, difficult to decipher divisions of measurements, or rounding missteps that still leave me with too much food. Additionally, I like to eat healthy and that limits my current recipe list even further!

If you are in the same boat as me, I'm happy to share a quick and healthy side dish edited down for one person. This is my go-to choice for hot veggies these days. I'm a huge kale junkie and love to find new ways to enjoy this superfood! This recipe makes a generous portion, and reflects the measurements that I use to serve myself kale as a single side alongside or as a bed to a main dish. I love garlic, but if you wanted a more breath-friendly meal I'm sure you could rock this recipe without it. Check out my easy recipe for sauteed kale for one!

Easy Sauteed Kale for One

2-3 loosely packed cups of kale, stems removed and washed
1 clove of garlic, minced or finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil, separated
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook just until fragrant, 30 seconds-1 minute.
2. Add in to kale to the skillet in portions, I do it one cup at a time. As the leaves wilt, add additional 1 tablespoon of olive oil and remaining kale. Stir every so often to help all of the kale touch the pan. Cook until tender.
3. Once cooked, add in salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately alongside your favorite main dish!

Workin' On My Fitness + Playlist

Hi there! How's everyone doing this week? Mine's flying by- I always love the short weeks following a long weekend. Although it stinks to fit 5 days of work into 4, I'll find a way to survive. I promise. I've been trying to commit to work on my fitness over the past month, and am working hard to become more healthy. I feel as though I do make mindful and healthy choices in most aspects of my life, but I have the most room for improvement with my workouts. I am pretty inconsistent and easily fall off the bandwagon with my routine (when I have one!). This has been a consistent challenge for me over the past few years since I've entered the workforce full time.  I'm not a morning person and I know that I'm not able to hit the gym before work. I work a pretty sedentary job and am just exhausted most days when I get home. This makes it even more challenging to get back out of the door to go workout.

With that being said, I've been moving in the right direction thanks to a few changes. I try to hop into workout clothes as soon as I'm home from work. Even if I don't go to the gym immediately following my outfit change, I'm more likely to go if I'm already dressed for it. Also, I've been honing in on some great music to work out to. This really helps to distract me from my task at hand, and has allowed me to go further and for longer than I could before I paid more attention to my music.

Currently, my focus is on running. I've always HATED running as a workout. I did gymnastics and then competitive cheerleading up through my senior year of high school and running was used as a punishment in both of my trainings. To make things worse, I'm slow and have honestly never tried to enjoy running. But I am determined to change that. I don't have a date yet, but I'm working towards being able to comfortably run a 10k race. I've been making good progress so far but still have a ways to go- and I'd like to get faster while I'm at it!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite workout songs with you! I like to listen to pop music when I work out- I just need something upbeat and mood lifting! I don't care if it's from the 90s or if it's on this week's Top 40. As long as it's fun to listen to, it's good in my book! I hope y'all enjoy!

What do you do to stay fit? What goals do you have for your fitness? Do you have favorite songs to workout to? 

My "splash" into the juice world

As I mentioned previously, I picked up some cold pressed juices from Wegman's to try something different. Juicing and juice cleanses are extremely popular up here in Northern VA. I haven't committed to a full fledged cleanse {not sure if I will ever be able to do that}, but I have definitely enjoyed mixing them in with my daily diet. Feel free to pop over to my Instagram to see some of my different choices!

I've only experimented with a few different brands at this point- but I've been pleased overall with my choices. For me, these have been a great tasting and easy way to get more fruits and veggies during the day. Particularly during lunch! I find myself going to the same fast food places {yikes!} when I'm eating out. And while I'm not always eating off the dollar menu, I don't always get to eat the rainbow either!

Have you experimented with any cold-pressed juices yet? I wanted to share a little about my experience so far with y'all! The two brands I have tried are BluePrint and Suja. I drank a Carrot Lemon juice from BluePrint that I picked up at SafeWay. Kinda random, but I just had one of those days where I was running late and forgot to grab a previously purchased juice before I left home. The juice was very separated when I purchased it, but blended well when I shook it. The color was vibrant and smelled just like a fresh carrot when I opened it up! The juice was thin and fresh tasting with a crisp lemon after taste. {I mention the texture because I was worried about it being thick} I enjoyed it, but I wonder if it would be just as good- and cheaper- for me to buy a small bag of carrots to have with my meal.

The other juices I have enjoyed so far have been from Suja. I grabbed quite a few flavors to get started! As far as the green juices go, Green Delight was my favorite. This is probably more of a beginner juice as it is primarily sweet. For the colored/fruity juices, it's truly hard to pick. If I had to, Berry Goodness and Berry Nana have got to tie for first. Look at how pretty these are!!

I couldn't even get a photo before finishing this one! :)

 As you can see, these are brilliantly colored and gorgeous! Two of the juices that I got were a little on the earthy side for being a juice newbie. Maybe my first hint should've been that I don't particularly love beets, but the Sweet Beets was more beets and less sweets. I think I would've liked it more if it was sweetened a bit more. It smelled rich and flavorful. The Uber Greens bottle was also on the earthy side and the juice was very thin. Although I didn't fall in love with the Uber Greens, I did feel good after I drank it. Just knowing that it was so full of antioxidants and nutrients made it taste better for me. While I'm not totally opposed to trying them again, I feel like my favorites and the more fruity juices will be the ones I continue to incorporate into my routine. Here are just a few more pretties for your viewing pleasure. :)

Have you tried out any cold-pressed juices? What are your favorites? Have you done a cleanse? Please share your thoughts below in a comment!