Fueling My Body: What I Eat & How I Stay Active—A Collaboration with Lily C.

A while ago, my good friend Lily asked if I wanted to collaborate for a post centered around food and exercise. Since I've always been inspired by health, wellness, and nutrition, I thought it would be a wonderful idea! This post has taken us more than a week to make. Both Lily and I have spent a lot of time taking pictures of the things that we have eaten every day, diving a little bit into our lives, and compiling exercise and workout videos.

(Just a quick note, neither Lily and I are health experts or professionals. This post is simply a look at how we try to care for ourselves during busy days, and while I certainly hope it inspires you, it is not meant to be medical or health advice.)

I really hope you enjoy this post; and if you like this kind of content, I highly recommend you check out Lily's blog, in which she posts inspiring posts ranging from writing to recipes, from travel to movies, from seasonal photographs to philosophy and everything in between.

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lily's week: what i eat + my workouts

i absolutely adore “what i eat in a week” posts—mostly because i’m nosy and partly because they give me ideas when i’m staring into the fridge with zero inspiration. as someone who’s active and trying to stay consistent (training for track season-ish), figuring out meals that actually fuel me and keep me full has taken some trial and error.

training-wise, i’m keeping things steady: sprinting, lots of core work, and strength training. nothing flashy. slow and steady might not sound glamorous, but it works.

anyway, here’s a look at this past week. not every snack made it into the notes because… life. but this is a pretty accurate picture!

monday

meals – breakfast: none! | lunch-ish: made some sourdough discard granola. i use this recipe here. | dinner: was a bowl of german food (potatoes, chicken, homemade sourkraut, carrots, and this creamy, yummy gravy sauce to smother on top) | drinks: mrm nutrition electrolytes (blueberry açai) from natural grocers and a @steak shake protein shake + we spent the afternoon @circle coffee (I got the andes mint cappuccino).

workout - 40 min back & biceps (using 15 + 20 lbs) Epic 1 series w @Caroline Girvan

tuesday

meals – breakfast: none. | lunch-ish: lil @good culture cottage cheese, homemade granola, scoop of PB, & a banana. | dinner: a bowl of yumminess - white rice w fresh peas, buffalo sauce to drizzle on top, hot honey, and buffalo chicken. | drinks: mrm nutrition electrolytes (blueberry açai) from natural grocers, @steak shake protein shake, nespresso latte w peppermint! | snackies: homemade kombucha, ginger tea, & carrots w homemade ranch.

workout - 100m x6 going about 90% @SL track + 30 min total of legs using 15 lbs + 20 lbs (Epic 1 series w @Caroline Girvan) + 5 min core (gainsbybrains, youtube)

wednesday

meals – breakfast: none. | lunch-ish: lil @good culture cottage cheese, homemade granola, scoop of PB, & a banana (again!) | dinner: tuscan chicken soup w totelle noodles. | drinks: mrm nutrition electrolytes (blueberry açai) from natural grocers, @steak shake protein shake, nespresso latte w peppermint, Bloom pop. | snackies: two mini yoggie bowls (homemade granola + homemade yogurt).

workout - 10 min ab work + 4o min chest + tricep using 30 lbs + 15 lbs (Epic 1 series w @Caroline Girvan)

thursday

meals – breakfast: none. | lunch-ish: yoggie bowl (banana + yogurt + granola) | dinner: cauliflower, chicken, cheese melt in a cast-iron w fresh steamed broccoli. | drinks: nespresso latte w peppermint x2, tried some popwell sodas. | snackies: a mini oat choc chip cookie.

workout - 5 min ab work

friday

meals – breakfast: none. | linner (lunch + dinner): tried a new lunch spot in kc called the westside local. Shared an spiced brown sugar cappuccino + cocoa berry black tea from @trader joe's. | snackies: apple + beef tallow popcorn.

workout - 10 min ab work + rest day

this week was full of yummy eats & drinks & I loved it so much!

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Julie's Week: What I Eat + My Workouts

This week has been really busy, so I haven’t been eating as well as I usually do, but I wanted to be honest about it. Most weeks are busy for most of us, yet we all still have to choice to try our best to take care of our physical and mental health, through the food we eat, the mindsets we take on, the exercise we do, and the things we choose to spend our free time doing.

Sunday

For breakfast, I had leftovers from last night’s dinner and some rice porridge, as well as some fruit. I made myself some stir-fried chicken with herbs (see below), as well as some asparagus and rice (see below), for lunch, which took about 45 minutes. I ate the leftovers from lunch for dinner. 

Monday

I ate an orange, some oatmeal, and a hard boiled egg, and some warm milk for breakfast. For lunch, I had some beef + string beans + broccoli + rice, and I ate the same thing for dinner, as well as some tomatoes. I also drank some hot chocolate, which was delicious. <3

Tuesday

Tuesday for breakfast I didn’t get to catch much, just some milk and porridge + berries, and whatever was left from yesterday. For lunch and dinner, my dad made some delicious chicken noodle soup + herbs, and that managed to last until dinner! I took a picture of it (see below). Also, do you like my chess set? :D

Wednesday

Wednesday was really really busy, so I didn’t get much in for breakfast, just some quick eggs + toast. For lunch, I got cucumber avocado sushi (see below), pepperoni pizza (see below), and chocolate almond milk and orange juice from my school cafeteria. It costed all of my lunch money, but it got me through eight hours at school. To be very honest, the pizza was a bit gross. Sometimes we just gotta roll with it.

Thursday

For breakfast I ate some patties and red bean oatmeal. It wasn't really the most delicious combo, but it wasn't too bad. I just don't like everything mixed together. For lunch and dinner, my mom made some wontons and wonton soup, and that was awesome! 

Friday

I had scrambled eggs and some fruit for breakfast, and for lunch and dinner we were too busy to make anything, so we went out to eat at a restaurant and also had some take-out. It was really delicious. I didn’t get to take any aesthetic pictures, but here are some un-aesthetic pictures! 😆 Tofu Miyeok-guk, noodles + cabbage + red peppers + beef, and fried rice.

Besides the main meals, I've also eaten snacks. Most of the time it's fruit (I love oranges and bananas), crackers, dark chocolate, cheese, dried berries, nuts, smoothies, and MadeGood chocolate chip cookies, which are seriously really good and healthy!

Workouts

I love doing stretching and yoga, and one of my favorite person to follow along with is Mady Morrison (https://www.youtube.com/@madymorrison). After every workout I do, I complete this full body stretch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_tea8ZNk5A) that she made. It's so peaceful and calming. The music she includes is awesome, and I love the stretches so much. 

My favorite morning workout is this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epabz6dGapw), by Joanna Soh (https://www.youtube.com/@joannasohofficial). It’s only five minutes, but it does so much to energize my body and prepare me, mentally and physically, for the day ahead. It combines stretches and strength workouts for power and movement first thing in the morning.

If I want to do any intense workouts, I usually do a glute bridge challenge or ab challenge by Pamela Reif (https://www.youtube.com/@PamelaRf1) or an arm workout by Holly Dolke, but, to be very honest, I haven’t handled their tougher workouts for a while now. Some of their workouts really burn, and they’re really awesome if you’re looking for something challenging; they post a very diverse range of things. They have all sorts of videos working out different muscles, but my favorites are the ab, glute, and arm ones. 

Most of the time, when I’m looking for a gentler workout, I follow along to April Han (https://www.youtube.com/@AprilHanFit). She has some really wonderful and low-impact workouts, but it still gets your blood flowing. 

Finally, this isn’t quite a workout, but it fits really well into the health and wellness theme of this post. I love this guided imagery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35ch88kmlls) that I do whenever I finish a workout and cooldown, need to relax, calm my mind, or de-stress. A middle school health teacher originally shared it with me, and I’ve fallen in love with it ever since. <3

If you don't have time (or energy) for going to the gym or having a full body exercise routine every day, that's okay! Some days I find that I don't either. 😅 I just try to make sure I get my blood flowing in the morning; take lots of breaks; eat as healthy as I can; go outside, get some fresh air, and take a walk; and take the stairs instead of the elevator. 😆

And that’s all!

Thank you so much reaching out for this collaboration, Lily!

If you're interested in Lily's version of this post, check it out here: https://lilyjocolla.wixsite.com/my-site-1/post/what-i-eat-in-a-week-my-workouts. Finally, if you're looking to do a guest post, blog swap, or collaboration post like this one, don't hesitate to reach out to me at the.moonlight.wanderer7@gmail.com.

Have a blessed holiday season!!