Hi friends!
Last night, Matt made us a fun dinner in honor of my birthday: cedar plank salmon! Using this method, salmon is cooked on a plank (soaked in water so it doesn’t catch fire) over indirect heat. It imparts a really nice smoky flavor and makes it nice and juicy, too!
He bought salmon from Whole Foods that was pre-marinated in a sriracha sauce (sounds similar to this Sriracha Maple Salmon), and added some lemons on top, too.
It came out awesome – very tender.
We had sweet potato wedges and roasted zucchini and squash on the side. Yum. 🙂
He made extra salmon so I could enjoy the leftovers for lunch – perfect. I threw one of the leftover fillets on top of a salad for lunch today.
Also on the salad: roasted beets, brown rice (don’t skimp on the carbs when you have a salad or else you’ll be hungry in 4 seconds), avocado, and balsamic vinaigrette. Really good!
As for fitness, I treated myself to a lunchtime yoga class yesterday at Epic Yoga in Dupont via ClassPass. It was a cool, rainy day and a warm flow felt amazing. The instructor (Emma, who’s great) had candles set around the room, too, which I loved. Made it so calming and cozy! Lunchtime yoga is the best – no shower required and it really helps with workday stress/anxiety.
Speaking of ClassPass – if you’ve been wanting to try it but aren’t ready to commit, here’s my affiliate link for a FREE 2 week trial. You just need to be in the U.S. (not NYC) and a new ClassPass user to use it – and you have to activate it by September 30, so act soon if you’re into it. 🙂
This morning’s workout adventure was a new-to-me spot, also via ClassPass! My friend Chelsea and I decided to try out a studio called Definitions in Georgetown. ClassPass told me that based on the classes I’ve been going to I’d like this one (love that new feature – they have a screen now with “you might also like…”), so we thought it would be fun to mix it up. It’s right across the street from our old friend CorePower Yoga in Georgetown, so it was easy to find! Here’s the sidewalk sign to look for if you go.
We hit up their 7 a.m. MRT (metabolic resistance training – basically HIIT/interval stuff, like a boot camp) class, and from the very start we were super impressed. When we walked into the building lobby, there was a staff member there waiting for us who had us sign a waiver and showed us where the studio was. Then once we were in, he passed us off to another really friendly guy who showed us around the gym (nice, and nice locker rooms too), where the free towels were (we’d want one, he said – uh oh), and then took us to the back room where the group class would be held. Color me impressed! It always sucks when you show up at a new studio and have no idea what’s going on and no one talks to you, so props to them for being so organized and welcoming. (They had no idea we were bloggers, either, so this wasn’t just something special they did to impress us.)
As for the workout itself, it was AWESOME – really tough but fun. The way the class worked was it was two rounds with three stations that you rotate through during each round. Each station also had two exercises you switched back and forth between (it was 45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest I believe) a few times, and the exercises changed for the second round of rotations. I loved this because all the variation kept us from getting bored. (Thanks to Chelsea for snagging the below action shot!)
We were doing everything from rowing to jumping to squat presses to arm strength with bands to lunges with weights – and even lifting and throwing around a heavy rope! Harder than it looks! We asked the instructor to take this picture of us with the rope after class was over. 🙂
I loved the instructor (a woman named DeShay), too – she was the perfect mix of motivating but supportive, and did a great job of making sure everyone knew what they were doing. Also, she played great music. Kris Kross’s “Jump” came on at one point and I was so happy. 😉
Bottom line: if you’re in the DC area and you like interval/HIIT workouts, check out Definitions. It’s up there among my favorites now, and I can’t wait to go back!
I will leave you with this note I loved from the wall at Definitions – so important to remember. <3
Have a great day, my friends!
