It was 80 degrees here in Philadelphia yesterday. 80 DEGREES!!!! Last year when I visited at the beginning of March it was snowing and about 20, yuck. It felt SO good to walk outside with a short sleeve shirt - especially after a weekend spent in the perfect Florida weather! Before I headed to work around 12:30, I wanted to spend some time outside. I initially went out for a run and attempted a little trail running. After I ate dirt and almost sprained my ankle tripping on a rock, I thought it would be best that I head back out to the road. #WorldsNumberOneClutz I ran for about a mile to a little park with tennis courts near my apartment. I decided to get my heart rate up with a quick Tabata workout. Just a quick 20 minutes of sunshine and fresh air can make such a big difference in your day. If you're a nine to fiver, check out my 5 reasons you should get outside during the work day!

1. Burpees - remember that you always have the option to walk your feet out or add a push-up! 
2. Squat Jacks - When you jump your feet out into the squat, try to reach your opposite hand to your opposite foot to get in some extra torso rotation. 
3. 4-Way Shuffle - I love this drill! It's great for agility. Pick four points and shuffle sideways, forward and backward as fast as you can in the 20 seconds. 
4. Mountain Climbers - always make sure to keep your shoulders right over your wrists and core tight! 

Here's a little demo of the exercises: 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRPbMz87D7E[/embed]

CHEERS to it almost being the weekend! Have a great Thursday :) Also here's what I'm jamming out to lately if you're needing some new music...

XO - Rach

Do you enjoy working out outside?

Any fun weekend plans?

Love or hate the hot weather?

Happy Tuesday :) Since I've started at my new job, meal prep has been very important because I eat pretty much every meal but breakfast at work. However, I steer clear from eating the same thing every day or else I get bored and I crave things like Rita's (which is right across the street from the gym) or all the chocolate and french fries. Variety is the spice of life!! So in attempt to make my ground turkey and rice more exciting, I created an asian style stir fry that I served with Trader Joe's Jasmine rice, which is probably my favorite rice right now. So tasty and comforting. 

Healthy Asian Turkey Stir Fry

It's really the spices that make this dish! I used the simplest ingredients. Serve on top of a bed of steamy Jasmine rice and top your dish with some Sriracha, soy sauce, chopped cashews and green onions. 

[yumprint-recipe id='19'] XO - Rach

Do you meal prep?

What's your favorite way to make ground turkey? 

Any fun weekend plans?

Let me ask you this: when was the last time you did something that scared you? Maybe it was just last night getting that cockroach out of your apartment (ew, good for you, I'm still deathly afraid) or maybe it was a few months ago when you took on a new project at work that you were a little apprehensive about. No matter how big or small the feat, it is so important that we get outside of our comfort zones and tackle our fears.

Get ready to laugh. Friday was my day off and Michael took a half day, so he took me skiing at a mountain nearby. I've never been skiing before, but I was really excited and thought I would be able to pick up on it quickly. After all, I would say I'm in shape, I used to water ski all the time and I have pretty good balance. It couldn't possibly be that hard, right?

I get my skis on, and I freeze up (no pun intended). I'm like a drunk child trying to walk and failing miserably. You guys, it took me about 20 minutes just to get over to the lift...this whole skiing thing did NOT come naturally at all!!! I looked up at the slope above (a bunny slope, at that) and I was SCARED. Freaked the eff out. I don't do heights and I don't do rollercoasters, so the thought of gaining speed and cruising down the slope made my heart race. 

Fast forward, we get on the lift. We're halfway up and I just break down. Literally start crying out of no where. I just thought, "I can't do this." If you've ever seen the Kardashian episode where Kim breaks down before going zip lining, that was me. Quite accurately. (Fast forward to :11 please..)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqzU0-lW4M8[/embed]

If it wasn't for Michael there telling me what I always preach, "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO," I would have given up. So I'm crying and manage to hop of the ski lift and wipe out. Michael starts teaching me how to cruise down and I just keep falling. And crying. I cried like four times. This shit was HARD. I was about to give up, and Michael just looks at me and tells me to "have some damn faith in myself" and it just clicked - I NEEDED to do it. There was no turning back because it wasn't like I could just walk down. So I get up and just keep repeating in my head "you can do this, it's okay." So I did it. It took a long ass time, I probably fell about 25 times and I WISH I had video to see how much of an idiot I looked like. But I made it down the slope. And then I immediately ran up to the bar for a beer. PHEW!!  

So the moral of the story is: I desperately need some ski lessons FACE YOUR DAMN FEARS!! No matter how much something scares you, when you get to the other side and conquer that fear, it only makes you that much stronger. 

I hope you enjoyed this story. Have a wonderful week, everyone and break down those obstacles.

XO- Rach

When was the last time you overcame a big fear?

Is there a motto or saying that helps you get through tough times?