It’s been a really good week. I recently stepped out of my role as general manager of the gym and into a position where I provide marketing, website, communications and social media support on a more part-time basis. This frees me up to spend more time teaching, training and writing while still allowing me to be involved in the growth and success of the gym in the areas that I can offer the most help and expertise. We recently announced that we are opening a third location in south Charlotte and as a result of this expansion roles were reorganized so that our management team can run efficiently and productively.

I feel like I just got a big breath of fresh air. I get to focus on all the things that I am passionate about and that excite me the most…marketing, social media, blogging, building and maintaining websites, teaching, coaching, training, writing…while managing my own time and schedule. I left my job in advertising so that I could do all of those things I just listed. I am thrilled and re-energized to get back to them. I learned so much during my 18 months serving as manager of Metro and I feel incredibly grateful for the experience and everything it taught me but I am relieved to step out of the day-to-day.

So thus the reason for the home office I showed you a couple of weeks ago! 🙂

I have a lot more I want to share around the career transitions but I need to think on it a bit more before I can put it into words. Stay tuned! I love sharing my career journey with you all. I get tons of questions about it. Actually, I was thinking about setting up a call or google hangout or something for those of you who want to talk about career transitions so that I can share how that worked for me and you can ask questions. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get that scheduled.

Okay, here’s what I’ve been up to the last few days. Food, workouts, life, etc.

I made the most delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal on Thursday for breakfast (after back to back clients at 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. so early!!!!). I sauteed apples in a small saucepan with cinnamon, brown sugar and coconut oil and then added oats, chia seeds, dried cranberries, a pinch of salt, coconut milk and water and let it do it’s thing on low for about 10 minutes. So good.

Breakfast this morning was a toast with nut butter and honey and a smoothie with mango, pineapple, greek yogurt, coconut milk, chia seeds and banana. One of my yoga friends makes her own nut butter and shared some. It’s an awesome blend of several different nuts and she adds a good bit of sea salt. So I love to add the honey for a salty and sweet combo.

I made this salad for lunch Wednesday and loved the combo. Spinach, pecans, smoked salmon, grape tomatoes, brie, avocado, salt, pepper and a drizzle of basil olive oil and 25 year aged balsamic.

I ate this salad while sitting in on a meeting about an upcoming food event that raises money for the Urban Ministry Center here in Charlotte. (Hopefully my new schedule will provide more time to pursue volunteer and civic opportunities). I had my weekly Metro Management meeting after this lunch and then taught BodyPump.

BodyPump kicked my butt something serious! That class always challenges me and my class got a killer workout in last night. I inadvertently put together several different releases that featured extra long and challenging squat, back and hamstrings and shoulder tracks. We did 32 push ups in the shoulders and I don’t even know how many clean and presses and rows in the back track. We were all feeling it! I was so ready for dinner when I got home and went straight to work preparing it. I had this chicken, shaved brussels and butternut idea in my head and it turned out better than I imagined.

This meal looks like it could have been time consuming but it wasn’t at all! The key to tasty food is seasoning. I preheated the oven to 400 and preheated a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. I seasoned the butternut squash with coconut oil, cinnamon and ground red pepper and spread it on a baking sheet to roast. I rubbed the chicken with mixed up basil seasoning, lemon pepper, salt and pepper. Be generous with the seasoning. You want a good crust when you sear. I stuck the squash in the oven to cook and seared the chicken on both sides in the cast iron skillet with some olive oil. I transferred the skillet to the oven with the squash to finish cooking.

While the chicken and squash were cooking, I prepared the brussels sprouts. Trader Joe’s sells pre-shredded brussels sprouts which is much less time consuming than doing it yourself. If you haven’t tried shredded brussels, you must! I sauteed baby portobello mushrooms and then added a clove of garlic and the brussels sprouts. I gave them a sprinkle of salt and some lemon pepper. I let them cook in the skillet on medium heat for about 5 minutes before adding half a cup of water and a squeeze of lemon juice and covering it to finish cooking over low heat. I stirred in some shredded gouda at the end for a cheesy, lemony mix. I loved it!

On the workout front, I’ve had two great yoga practices the last two days. Today I took my friend Kacy’s class. It ends with a 15 minute meditation during which I completely relaxed and drifted in and out of sleep. It was pretty awesome.

I’ll leave you with a look at the furry one who has been doing what she does best…looking super cute! 🙂

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend.