Hey there! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend. We had a good one here in Philadelphia. I didn't take many photos because I really was just enjoying the long holiday weekend and time with Michael and his two cousins who came to visit from DC. However, here's a picture from the beautiful fireworks over the Art Museum in Philadelphia. The Roots and Ceelo performed and were so good, even though we were probably about a mile from the stage! This morning I woke up and made some oatmeal.Don't be fooled by this pic - I immediately threw it all into a plastic cup and took it to go so I could walk to work (just over 1.5 miles). Eating hot oatmeal while walking to work on a hot and humid summer morning is probably not the best idea. I don't have my blender up here yet, but as soon as I do I can't wait to make my smoothies I miss it so much!

After work, I head up to the City Fitness in Northern Liberties to get in a quick workout before teaching back to back TRX classes. Tuesdays are my busiest days - I leave the apartment at 8 and don't get home until about 8:30 but somehow it seems to go by SO quickly.

I'll leave you with one of the TRX classes that I taught! It's only 30 minutes, so it's perfect for a quick strength workout with short bursts of cardio. Efficiency!

TRX Golf rotations: 

      TRX sprinter start:

TRX Crunch:

TRX Hamstring Curl: 

Make sure to stretch out real good after!

Hope everyone has a great hump day. Also on repeat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2PsXT88UeU

- XO Rach

Good morning, Throwing it back a little bit with a PB&J combination!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk (or any milk)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1/3 cup raspberries
• 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter (I never measure - a hefty spoonful works for me!)
• 1 tablespoon raspberry preserves
• 1-2 tablespoons granola (not necessary - just for some extra crunch)

Directions:

• Bring milk and chia seeds to a boil
• Add in oats and cook on medium
• Once oats begin to absorb the liquid add in raspberry preserves and stir
• Cook about 5 minutes until all liquid is absorbed
• Add PB, raspberries and granola on top
• Stir it all up and bask in the deliciousness

Good morning! I've got my first recipe to add to the blog! Actually, it's more of a 'how to' than a recipe because it is pretty basic. However, it is one of my favorite breakfast recipes and only takes a few minutes.

This bowl of oats is nutty, creamy, fruity, warm, delicious, filling and all of the above. You'll need:

• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• 1 cup of water or milk of your choice (I like to use almond milk)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of blueberries
• 1 teaspoon of chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 heaping tablespoon of nut butter (obvs)

Start by bringing the liquid to a boil. Stir in oats and chia seeds right before the boiling point. I find that my oatmeal always comes out best when I add the half cup of oats right before the boiling point of the milk. For some reason it seems to take less time to cook or absorbs the liquid better.

Let the oats cook on high for about a minute. Turn heat to low and add blueberries and thinly sliced banana. Slicing it thin helps the banana cook down and almost melt into the oats. YUM. Let that cook for a few minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Add in the honey.

Serve right away with a big spoonful of nut butter. I usually use peanut butter but wanted to try something new with the sunflower seed butter. I don't know how I feel about it quite yet but it's starting to grow on me a little bit. Has anyone else tried it?

Now I'm off to my internship, work after that and hopefully I can squeeze in a workout later! Busy busy.

Have a great HUMP DAY.