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A take on goal-setting and a workout to take on the road I’ve always struggled with goal-setting. And by that, I mean the term itself. It’s very jargon-y. I’m not doubting its importance and I know I do a lot of

And how to stretch it to feed a family Get ready for a lot of crockpot love coming your way. I adore crockpots. My days are long. Most days I’m gone around 7a and not home until after 6p, if not even later.

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. I’m going to NYC. About ehhh maybe four or five weeks ago I made a choice. To get out. The plane tickets happened first. The race registration happened next. After much comparing and contrasting, the adorable Airbnb happened

Suggestions and a crockpot recipe to save you from eating like an asshole The temperatures are rising, summer is on its way, and many of us are starting to panic about our winter bods turning into our summer bods and keeping

Stop standing in the middle of the grocery store pretending like you know what’s up. We see you. The lonely jar of salsa in the fridge and random bag of granola in your pantry are staring at you. This is embarrassing, Susan.

45 minutes tops and dinner is done. I know a guy. And this guy asked me about chicken recently. This guy has a lady friend he wants to impress and a weird schedule just like mine that he needs to work with,

Learning to listen I’m an active lady. But my weeks are odd. And I need to adapt and (god forbid) rest, as needed. The workouts I’m about to share with you are from a week where I did hit the gym

Fresh items, staple items, and everything in between   Sunday.   The day of rest. Maybe we're looking back on poor decisions from the night before. Maybe we're getting after it and preparing for the week ahead. Perhaps you're resting. Maybe brunching with the

What a difference a year makes   There was a time when I never thought I’d feel quite like I do right now. Let me rephrase that. There was a time when I never thought I’d feel quite as good as I feel right

Less recipes, more food And a broth bowl to show you how to build a meal from these components.   Yes, I will get to a Spartan Race recap. But tonight is about food. It's about thinking about food and cooking differently.   Less recipes

Simple. Clean. Summer food.   I love simple food. Especially when it’s summer and it’s toasty out.   No fuss, no stress. Nothing complicated. Simple ingredients imply minimal work. Naturally time saving because they just, natural. They just are. And when you take ingredients

With spicy roasted sweet potatoes   It’s Sunday. Is it Sunday? It’s the Sunday after the Fourth of July weekend and it’s the weekend that kept on going.   Now. For me, it was pretty much just another week. Well, at least another week

An ongoing apology   To the moments, memories, and people I’ve missed, forgotten, skipped, passed up on, and was “too busy for..”   This is for you.   I’ve been working on this post for a long time.   Consider it more a journal. Thoughts, reminders, and messages

What do I eat before and after a workout? I recently surveyed the social media world to get a sense of what people struggled with the most around living a healthy life. What area(s) do we find ourselves falling short?   Of course

Taking things low and slow It's chilly. Ha. It's chili.. No, but really it's cold. It’s Super Bowl Sunday. It's comfort food season. And I know that you know that those low and slow soups, stews, and chilis are where it’s at. Set it

Hello My sweet strawberry Valentine This. This right here is redemption. This is my redemption cake and I’ll tell you why. Since you clearly asked and need to know.   I love to cook. Cooking allows you to be creative. Add this, a

A diary entry   Raise your hand if you don’t know what you’re feeling, what’s going on, if you’re doing this right, if you even know what right is, whether to stay still or start something new, help a friend, yet stay

With Butternut Squash and Peas Please Let's cook it low and slow people! Because, guess what?? WE GOT TIME.   You all should know I have a lap full of Jerry right now. A cat full lap full. He's snoring. Which he tends

From his meowth to your ears   Normal. What is normal. Obviously how we are all living right now is far from normal. The hours in our days are not spent how they normally are. Our mornings maybe are later. Our evenings longer.

Your late winter, officially Springtime salad While we're all trying to use what we have in the pantry during these strange and trying times, allow me to share with you a salad I garnished with edible flowers and therefore am certain

How I stopped living for it Starting from the time I was about 22, and really once I hit the 24-25 age, I started planning workouts, classes, and activities for early Saturday and Sunday mornings. Why? I needed an excuse to

Stress Baking Anyone else stress baking? I am. Right here. I've made not one, not two, but three variations of banana bread/muffins/cake in the last week. The stress baking has been one of the results of a lot of panic purchasing. The panic

A Long Term Relationship

classic garlic hummus, extra garlic We're following the pantry recipe bandwagon and throwing together the easiest hummus you'll ever make. I mean we're talking maybe five ingredients. It's very forgiving and can easily be adjusted depending on what you have. All you

And a day of eats I had planned to post a lazy girl lentil recipe today. One made in the instant pot. Well. I did make lentils in my instant pot, however, Jerry's not thrilled with the end result. So we're

With extra sprinkles It's Friday. Fridays are for cookies. Or bars that taste like cookies. Or bars that taste like cookies but are made with almond butter, almond flour, and a couple scoops of vanilla protein powder. It's me, you guys. And I

Quarantine Meal Monday Pantry: A lot of canned tomatoes. Onions, garlic, potatoes of all kinds, and a whole mess of spices. Freezer: Frozen chicken breasts and thighs. Refrigerator: A jalapeno. Bone broth. Leftover herbs. Here's what went down on Sunday. I did a play

Acting from a place of fear There's a lot of fear in the world right now. A lot of "I'm not me right now" thoughts. And that's okay. Of course we aren't. I've learned the hard way to recognize when I'm not myself

In a peanut butter jar We're taking things easy today. A few ingredients or less easy. So easy that Jerry right now is passed out and snoring next to me. He snores. He's a one eyed cat and he snores. It's adorable. Sometimes

For Fridays I made an entire sheet pan of real, authentic, extra fudgy brownies last year using Ina Garten's recipe. Ina does not mess around or skimp on any ingredients. And we all know what Ina says goes. If you disagree

When it's not working out It's Monday. Again. Which means it's time to set a plan, start a fresh week, and capitalize on what we can as best as we can. I'm talking about movement. About making moving our bodies, breaking

Habits A few days from now will mark one month since the studio closed its doors and much of the world went into hiding for an indefinite amount of time. As the days go on and the weeks continue, I’m starting to

For Toast We've all been on the baking train lately. And by we I mean me. But the other day I was ready to experiment with something a bit different. With a savory quick bread, to be exact. One that reminded me

Hour by hour Minute by minute. I'm pretty solid at filling my day. Writing, cleaning, working out, cooking. I know that my routine, however small, helps keep structure to my day and keeps me sane. I've spent time lately thinking about and

Oven baked We have a bit of a situation here. A charging situation. My laptop charger is quite beat up because I can't have nice things and only charges my computer when I get it in juuust the right place. So this

Meal Prep edition How sick are you of cooking? That's a lot of you, I bet. Perhaps you're learning a thing or two about being in the kitchen. Whether that's how easy it is to put together a meal, or how

Control Well that's a loaded term. You want it. In many regards you can't have it. If having control is on one end of the spectrum, then having zero control, living in chaos, is on the other. How often are we leaning

Cereal. Made. With. Healthy, keto-friendly CEREAL. Listen, cereal might be one of the best creations on the planet. We all love it. And if you don't you're lying. Find me the person who disagrees with me and I'll be sure to slap

Meatless Monday Let me tell you a story. About that time my watch called me unproductive and I'm still mad at it. In case you didn't know, I'm a bit of a masochist who often indulges in awful self talk and feels the

Adapting and thriving in Chaos I have three rooms. Give or take. The living room area. For living. The kitchen. Which is about the size of your average walk in closet. Bedroom/bathroom. Duh. And the dining room area. Which has become part

Positive and negative boredom What's the difference between a successful athlete, businessperson, or the friend who lost those final few pounds, and the rest of us? They grew to accept and love boredom. Stay with me here. In Chapter 9 of Atomic Habits (highly

Write it down. I'm in a bad mood. And because I'm in one helluva crappy mood, I needed to do something, anything. So I threw some chicken into the crockpot to feel some sort of productive and now I'm sitting in the middle

Quarantine Edition My days of running from one gym to the next are behind me. But even when that was the case, I had a routine each day and kept to pretty consistent eating habits. Now, with quarantine, the problem is not

Constructing my plate It's May 11th and about 42 degrees outside. But in warmer news, I went to Cleveland last Thursday and saw my parents, brother, sister, brother in law, and JOE for the first time in weeks and weeks and weeks. One

Nostalgia Jerry wants to talk about those things that make us feel comfy cozy. And take a second to say blessed day I see sunshine FINALLY. Don't worry, it won't last. Cool Ohio. Comfort food, movies, books and music that remind us

And other things Okay I have to tell you something. I almost forgot to add the maple syrup to this recipe. We all eat batter, right? If you tell me you haven't licked the spoon after any cookie, brownie, or cake you've

Books + Responsibility I tend to dive deep into certain genres or topics when it comes to my reading and listening habits. Whether we are locked down or not, I will eat up books and podcasts ranging from the nerdiest clinical and

Fitness Friday Your fitness routine is messed up. My fitness routine is messed up. Even if you have all the equipment you could ever want the fact that we're living in a pandemic and being told to stay home for weeks on end

What I train for Ladies and gentlemen. The moment you have all been waiting for. May 26th, 2020 is here. It is opening week for the fitness community and as of today, gyms are officially reopening their doors. *the crowd goes wild* What a

Complacency Kills This world is angry. And I'm with them. I don't know all the stories. But I'm listening. What happened last week, and has happened for decades and longer, is despicable. And I'm disgusted. I know there is evil in the world. And

The Future In classic Emily fashion, allow me to tell you a story. A story about what I've been doing, what I've been planning, what I'm launching, and where I'm going. Oh and Jerry. Jerry's along for the ride. The last 8-9ish years have

Available now! After many weeks of work and countless hours spent pretending like I knew how the heck to actually put this thing on the inter webs for people to download and enjoy, it has arrived. And it's pink and pretty and

Monday Motivation It's day one of the first ever Unlocked Down 30 Day Challenge. To all of you out there who follow these posts, follow my stuff, and have even downloaded this ebook, I thank you from the bottom of my

Everyone's Doing It Hello world. I'm Emily and I've gone MIA here as I've continued to navigate this fun roller coaster we call life. In the last few weeks I have officially said goodbye to one job and focused my time and

Em's Peanut Butter Protein Bars I'm going to cut right to the chase here. And give the people what they want. My mom makes the world's best peanut butter bars. Simple, straightforward, to the point. Full of peanut butter, chocolate, cereal, and love. Therefore,

Unlocked Down Round 2 I woke up naturally by 5am this morning feeling perfectly rested and ready to go. For some that might seem odd. For me, I couldn't be happier. I live an odd life and a different lifestyle than most. I've made

In order to say Yes For those that are always "getting back on track." I was talking with a friend of mine about will power and self control. And how at the end of the day those thoughts of "I just can't

Happy Cheeseburger Day Apparently it's National Cheeseburger Day. Who knew, right? Who makes this stuff up? While I literally never partake in this kind of stuff, I couldn't NOT share this bowl. It's a staple around here and a recipe I share in

Not to be confused with my favorite shopping experience Whole food. Real food. One ingredient food. Confession. I've gone a tad astray with my diet. However. Allow me to clarify. As a self experimenter, I've done a lot of due diligence manipulating my diet to optimize

Yes that's a Dragon on top of Gringotts I'm almost done with Harry Potter. Again. The series I started (for perhaps the third or fourth time) during quarantine. The books and characters I'm 100% obsessed with and proud of it. And the one bit

Life Thoughts Maybe it's because I'm spending more time online and on social media like most of the world. Maybe it's because I'm drinking in all these unprecedented times and the never ending reality of being at home with my thoughts.

birthday On this day 31 years ago, my Momma bear was enjoying Troop Beverly Hills with my Aunt Elaine when, wait for it, she gets gut punched by this girl right here. Heyyooo. Hi world, I'm Em, let's play. I believe I

HIIC Let me introduce you to my new favorite meal prep mentality. Some context. What makes HIIT (high intensity interval training) style workouts so popular? They're short. They're dirty. And they're effective. For many people, the thought of a 60-90minute workout sounds terrible.

Same Me Different Place I joke that I never stop moving. I've always felt that for most of my life and most certainly all of my twenties (particularly ages 26-30), I felt like I was running. Never fully knowing what the