Author: Lauren

I'm Lauren and this is my life.

5 Ways I’m Making Winter Workouts Easier on Myself

Lauren3 Comments

Oh no, I just said the W word, but seriously, winter is coming.  

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been straight dreading the return to they gym — though I’ve actually already been three times already and it wasn’t even bad — so I thought really hard about how to go about this gym season thing in a way that I won’t hate.

#1 Build a better playlist

The “Girl Power” playlist I built this summer is great for office listening but turns out Adele isn’t exactly “pump me up!” music.  Sorry, Adele.

#2 Really try for only one morning workout a week

Truth be told, I’m a morning workout person — or just a morning person in general — so I can tolerate getting up in the dark and driving myself to the dreadmill once a week, but it starts to feel like actual torture if I do it more than once.

#3 Go to yoga WAY more

I always wonder what life would be like if I gave up running for the entire winter in lieu of yoga, then I remember running is free and yoga is not, but I think mixing it up is going to be key this winter.

#4 Build dinner plans around workouts

As in, it TOTALLY STRESSES ME OUT, when I get to the gym at 5:30 PM and have to wait for a treadmill to open up and all I’m thinking about is how this workout delay is cutting further and further into my dinner cooking time.  Need to coordinate leftovers night to go along with gym night.

#5 Stress less

I KNOW working out is good for you, but at the end of the day, stressing out about when to fit in a trip to the gym probably negates any positive effects it has on me.  New plan involves going when I can, hitting snooze when sleep feels more important and not overthinking whether or not I WANT to workout.

Are you a winter gym go-er?  Do you love it, hate it, land somewhere in between?

Weekend Things + Happy Halloween!

LaurenLeave a comment

Hi!  Happy Halloween!  Are you dressing up??  I think I’m way more into seeing what the Today Show crew dresses up as, than dressing up myself.  But I’m excited to hand out candy — giving out BIG handfuls this year! — light up the pumpkins we carved this weekend, watch the original Halloween and to have a holiday that makes Monday feel just a little bit less heinous 🙂

img_4473img_4486img_4472img_4478img_4479img_4482

Turns out I was a bad picture-taker this weekend so this is all I got, but that’s okay, right?  Friday after work, we picked up beer supplies then drove down Larimer to check out what’s new.  Verdict: A LOT.  Crazy excited about the development in that part of town.  We also went to our first Avs game of the season.  They totally lost but we still managed to have fun.  I introduced Joey to Death Becomes Her after the game because he’d never seen it.  Can you even believe it??

Saturday started with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Weathervane.  Ugh, I’m way too into the seasonal drinks that pop up at all the Denver coffee shops this time of year.  This one was just okay, though.  Onto beer brewing!  It’s an IPA and it’s going to be a HOPPY one.  That’s by far, the most hops we’ve ever purchased for a single beer.  Gonna dry hop for the first time!  Saturday night, we watched A Nightmare on Elm Street — neither of us had ever seen it! — carved pumpkins and ate dinner.  I was feeling irritable all day — it happens :/ — but nighttime Halloween activities had me feeling much happier.

Sunday, we had breakfast with my mama!  Walked over to Sunny’s because we hadn’t been there in forever and filled up on coffee, food and mom time.  I spent the afternoon making our lunches for the week and reading on the couch, so basically, the best!  When Joey got home, we roasted our pumpkin seeds and the recipe we used called for a TABLESPOON of salt per CUP of seeds.  They are SO SALTY and I’m so mad at myself for not knowing better.  Ended the night with a Cubs win, a Cowboys win and a loss for anyone who may have been trying to hide under the covers when that second one happened 😛

Happy Halloween!