What I Ate Wednesday: Cold Spring Edition

Hello lovelies! How was your big Fourth of July weekend? I hope it went wonderfully, and you got yourself a much-needed break with maybe some time outside with friends and family thrown in the mix.

I, myself, headed to Cold Spring, NY with my mom and her boyfriend for a little day trip. This was our first time there, and I chose it because it isn’t too far, and it’s one of the nicer Hudson towns. I also really just wanted to see fireworks in a new place and also do something new and exciting for my long weekend.

The town totally didn’t disappoint. We shopped around a bit, hiked (mostly just walked along trails), ate some great food, and enjoyed the firework display over the Hudson River. Definitely a 4th of July well spent!

Now, there is something I wanted to talk to you guys about before I launch into this What I Ate, since this is something that’s a relatively big part of my life, which is why what I’m about to say may be surprising to some who know me.

I haven’t exercised in three days.

And it should be noted that the week before last I took an entire week of workouts due to a minor back injury.

Sunday I did a light stretching routine, so I don’t really count that, though stretching is hugely important for overall fitness!

Monday I went to the mall so my only cardio was, well, shopping (the best kind if you ask me 😉 )

And Tuesday, the day I’m recapping, I went to Cold Spring bright and early, and no I was not about to skimp on sleep to pound out a morning workout. Because that wouldn’t be healthy for me.

I want this blog to inspire you to be healthy, yes, but in a balanced way.

It is perfectly okay to not work out for 3 days straight, or 4, or a week.

The way I see it, this is what my body needs right now.

It’s not good to be going full gusto doing crazy intense workouts every single day never letting yourself rest. Even if you feel fine, your body is slowly wearing out.

Some seasons of life my workouts take priority.

I get into a routine where my workout is as integral as brushing my teeth after I wake up.

But sometimes life gets in the way, and I think that’s great.

I will never say no to an adventure or hanging out with a dear friend in order to get my workout in. Trust me, I’ve been there, and it’s not worth it. Because at the end of the day, what’s that one day of an intense workout going to do except for cause you to miss out on making a super fun memory?

Now I’m in no way saying you should blow off your workout continuously in favor of more fun things.

I’m just saying, you know full well if you usually give it your all and if you deserve a break now and then. If you’re someone who regularly works out and then a few days pass when things just come up and working out takes the backseat, you are not a failure.

You’re human.

This was a long weekend, so I don’t feel bad for choosing relaxation and fun over exercising. My mat will always be there for me when I’m ready to return to it.

Tomorrow the weekend ends and I’ll be ready to come back to my workout routine with even more energy and passion.

As for today, please enjoy this exercise-free day of eats (Cold Spring edition).

Breakfast:

A recycled picture but I had my standard Greek yogurt bowl which includes a container of Fage 0% Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp chocolate sprouted quinoa granola, a teaspoon chia, a teaspoon hemp seeds, a sprinkle of cacao nibs, a big spoonful cacao powder, and half a banana sliced super small.

Plus a cup of French press coffee with some homemade cashew milk.

Love the milk but the coffee was a tad watery (my fault).

We arrived at Cold Spring just about an hour and a half after I had breakfast, so I was totally fine until about two hours into shopping, when my stomach decided to gently remind me that it needs food again. We packed some snacks with us, including the muffins I made a couple days ago, so after a quick muffin snack, I was feeling much better.

However, since at this point I was kind of ready for lunch, the muffin didn’t really cut it for very long, and so we all decided to stop at this cute smoothie/fruit pop place, and we all got ourselves some fruit pops. I got a chocolate banana one that tasted exactly like my chocolate banana smoothies and actually had chunks of frozen banana in it. No extra sugar, just frozen bananas and cacao. Refreshing and energizing, yum!

Oh yeah I also had to get myself a nitro cold brew. I don’t usually have coffee twice in one day, but eh, when on vacation!

The fruit pop held me over until about 6pm, by which point I was ready to eat my mom’s boyfriend (can’t eat my mom; she provides for me), so we had to stop for dinner. Yes, I whined until we did. No shame, girl’s gotta eat.

We stopped at this great seafood restaurant called Hudson House that’s been around since the 1800s (love historical restaurants!) overlooking the Hudson River.

They brought out this little tomato chickpea appetizer salad thing, so I picked on that while I waited for my meal.

For my main course, I ordered the cedar plank salmon with a side of asparagus au gratin. The salmon came with steamed green beans and carrots, which I hadn’t realized (wouldn’t have ordered the asparagus then). I also hadn’t realized that au gratin means smothered in fried cheese, but eh, it was pretty good so I didn’t complain.

Didn’t finish it all (it was A LOT of veggies, y’all), but I ate until I was comfortably full.

Then came a long period of doing a lot of nothing, waiting for the fireworks to start at 9:30. That dinner definitely held me over very well, and I wasn’t hungry at all until way after the fireworks (which were awesome by the way!).

In the car, I started feeling quite peckish, so I broke out a peach and my little baggie of edamame which had a little less than a serving in it, since I’d picked at that bag a couple days ago.

Did the trick.

I got home at 12am, and lo and behold, I was feeling downright ravenous. This always happens when I don’t have a proper lunch; I really should learn. So I had a big Honeycrisp apple with a blob of almond butter. BEST SNACK!

And I always finish my night off with a mug of decaf tea. Usually I add a splash of almond milk, but this week I’m using the cashew milk I made, and I’m a huge fan!