Five Friday Favorites featuring my New Fave Nut Butter

I'm back with my Friday Favorites because it's so fun to share things I'm loving lately.  I am so glad it's Friday. This week has been rough for me but thankfully it's gone by semi-quickly.  I'm looking forward to a nice weekend and only a 3-day work week next week followed by Thanksgiving-a.k.a. all the yummy food. 

Five Friday Favorites

1. Favorite Foodie Find: Trader Joe's Peanut Butter with Flax and Chia seeds

My boyfriend and both agree that this peanut butter I recently found at Trader Joe's rocks. It is crunchy and gets even more texture from the flax & chia seeds. I think the chia seeds help soak up some of the natural oils so even though it's natural and not loaded with crap, I don't have to stir it every time I open the jar. Definitely my new favorite stand-by peanut butter. 

How to Get Help with Thanksgiving from Whole Foods Markets

In case you were oblivious like I was, Thanksgiving is NEXT week. Yikes!  Fortunately, my mother is an excellent cook and is still hosting a small Thanksgiving at my parents' house this holiday. I always offer to help out but she's a pro and by the time I arrive she has everything planned out and in progress ahead of time.  

Cooking all that food and hosting is definitely a big job though. I always tell my boyfriend that one year if we don't have anywhere to go we are just going out to eat and let

 someone else do the cooking and dreaded cleaning.  Now I'm also putting down a dinner from Whole Foods as an option for that scenario.  

A friend from Whole Foods Harbor East in Baltimore invited me to come check out their Thanksgiving Edition of Tasty Tuesday.   From 5-7 PM they had had tastings set up around the store in every department showcasing their Thanksgiving offerings. I also wanted to mention that when I walked in I saw all the beautiful flowers and arrangements that would make the perfect last-minute host or hostess gift!

2014 Holiday Challenges-Elf 4 Health,Holiday Sweat,& #RWRunStreak

I'm still in shock that it is almost Thanksgiving and that the holiday season is right around the corner. I almost pulled out some Christmas decorations this weekend but thought it might have been too early. Looking at the calendar this morning, I think I was wrong!

With the holidays come lots of parties, travelling, and plenty of distractions. That's what makes it the perfect time to get some support & accountability to keep your healthy habits from falling to the wayside.  I've got 3 awesome holiday challenges to tell you about that you should join me in!

The first challenge is the Elf 4 Health 2014, a really fun, free challenge run by Lindsay of the Lean Green Bean and Elle of  According to Elle.  I've participated in this challenge the past two years and love that it includes daily tasks and challenges in the categories of not only fitness and food but you and others.  You are assigned an elf buddy every 2 weeks that you are supposed to email twice a week with inspiration, recipes, and tips to form a great little support system and get the chance to meet someone new. 

A Skoop of Supergreens {and my Aloha Smoothie recipe}

I'm always trying to get more greens & superfoods into my diet, especially after returning from my post-marathon vacation and as the holidays approach. I love green juices, but sadly don't have the money to buy them everyday nor the patience to deal with working and cleaning a juicer. 

That's why I was excited when Skoop contacted me about trying their A Game superfood formula.  I also loved their company's mission about providing real whole foods nutrition and how they give back to the community by providing one fresh serving of fruits and veggies to a student in school for every serving of Skoop sold through Mission Nutrition. 

I was surprised when an really nice package of Skoop goodies arrived at my door!

What's Skoop?
According to their website, Skoop is a line of powdered, whole-food sourced super nutrition. Their products are all plant based and made with 100% whole foods including fruits, veggies without any GMOs. They include over 5000 phytonutrients to help fight stress & inflammation while boosting metabolism and immune support. Talk about packing a punch. 

The Ingredients
I'm always reading about superfoods and supplements I should be taking but honestly it gets exhausting. I can't take 40 things that are good for me each morning, it just won't happen as I'm running out the door.  I love that A Game has 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, probiotics, fiber, antioxidants, greens, and herbs all in 1 scoop of powder! 

When You Don't Know What to Do Post-Marathon

Well it's been a month since the big marathon, and time has flown by. After taking a couple weeks off from activity, I've been trying to get into the swing of things-it's hard.  Last year I discussed how to avoid post-race blues and below are some post-marathon tips I've put together this season. I've mostly been good at the post-marathon transition. 

Post-Marathon Tips

I'm trying to figure out my race schedule for the winter and spring. I'm definitely including a couple of fun races like the annual Celtic Solstice Race in there before the New Year.  As far as fitness I've been relaxing, going on easy runs, and getting back to trying fun classes like Floyo and spin again.  

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

A couple weeks ago I cooked this chili up for dinner after work, and it turned out amazing! I had read a couple recipes that used pumpkin as chili base, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much thicker my chili came out. The pumpkin flavor isn't prominent, so don't worry this won't taste like a pumpkin pie. It's the perfect fall dinner plus was on the table in less than an hour!

I make this on the stovetop, but you could also set this up in your crockpot before you leave for work, cooking on low for 6 hours.   

FloYo at Beachfit Baltimore

This past summer I tried FloYo which is a combination of SUP (stand up paddleboarding) and yoga/pilates for the first time in Annapolis with Jessie Benson, the founder and all-around awesome Baltimore fit lady, so I was excited to try a preview of her FloYoFit class at Beachfit Baltimore last week.  

I have taken a couple of Surfset , spinning, PiYo classes and at Beachfit this past spring before I started marathon training and love the friendly new Harbor East boutique gym with it's small class sizes and motivating instructors.
  

FloYo is a full body workout that incorporates yoga poses and a vinyasa flow which included warrior poses, sun salutations, and core work.  

Since the weather is quickly getting colder in Maryland, Jessie decided to bring FloYo inside by using the surfset boards , which are small, portable surfboards on top of a bosu ball-like base. It definitely is a core workout no matter what you are doing because you need to try to keep the board stable plus keep yourself from shaking all over the place.  I definitely was feeling the burn in my abs for most of the class!

5 Friday Favorites: My Favorite Things About Halloween {via gifs!}

I didn't think I would post today, but I'm in the Halloween spirit so I'm linking up with the Friday Five hosted by Courtney, Cynthia, and Mar.  I got in a chilly 10K run this AM and even spotted a few dogs already in costume-SO cute. 

I'm really excited to dress up as Wonder Woman, my spirit animal tonight and to have a few pumpkin beers, some candy, and have fun!