Unplug

Good Morning!

How was your weekend? Mine was absolutely wonderful & relaxing. I don’t get a lot of empty weekends so this was exactly what I needed. Nick was out of town for bachelor trip and I stayed home the entire weekend doing a lot of nothing. I did workout, of course! I’m looking forward to a 30 minute evening walk later today to loosen my muscles and take a little break from my more hard-core workouts. I may make it an hour walk if the weather is nice and I’m enjoying myself. Tomorrow I’ll go to HIIT, so I want my body & muscles and to be well rested for that so I can give it my all.

Excited to see this little monkey on Friday!

When I left for the gym yesterday, my phone was close to being dead so I decided to leave it at home. Honestly, I’m so attached to my phone sometimes that I truly enjoy the peaceful moments when I choose to forget about it. I don’t unplug nearly enough! As I enjoyed this true alone time, it made me think how important it is to unplug. Do you find yourself checking your phone regularly throughout the day, even if you know it hasn’t vibrated or made a noise alerting a phone call or text message? I do this ALL.THE.TIME! My phone, the social networking, all of it can be such a huge distraction for me. I don’t leave my phone alone enough, but when I do, I appreciate the lack of stress it brings and the freedom I feel when I’m not attached to it.

Maybe unplugging means something entirely different to you! I encourage you to unplug regularly, it’s good for the soul – as I learned yesterday during my quiet workout and drive.

I’ve mentioned time & time again about the challenges that Nick and I do. They vary in time frame and activity. Right now I’m in the middle of a 21 day workout challenge where I workout for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day for 21 days. This will help me establish a habit of working out. I’ve currently completed 14/21. If I’m sore from my workouts, then my 30 minute workout becomes a walk (like today!) I have one week left of this challenge and then it’ll be time for a new one. I’m challenging myself to unplug for 1 hour every single day for a month. For me, unplugging will be silencing my phone and leaving it somewhere. I’d love to know if you’re interested in joining me on this month long challenge! Unplugging can mean something entirely different for you – whatever it is, unplug for one whole hour every day for an entire month and my hope is that you’ll find peace & relaxation during that time.

Switching gears…

I have a delicious & simple dip to share with y’all today! Now that I’m a vegetarian, it’s extremely important for me to bring something that I can enjoy to parties & office functions. Of course, I want others to enjoy it as well and I want it to be healthy! When we had a baby shower in our office, I signed up to bring a veggie tray, but I didn’t want to bring ranch dressing and veggies – 1. overdone and 2. not healthy!

I made this delicious ranch dip that was 2 ingredients & was a hit at the office!

Ingredients:

Your selection of veggies (I chose baby carrots, celery, cucumbers [home grown], and grape tomatoes
Plain Greek Yogurt
1 packet of Ranch dip

I know this is ridiculously easy… Slice up your veggies, arrange to your liking (I enjoy alternating my colors), Mix up 16 oz. of your greek yogurt + ranch dip.

It’s healthier than plain ranch dressing because you add in that protein rich yogurt. You’ll also surprise your co-workers or party-goers – The taste is different from your regular ranch. The greek yogurt adds an extra ounce of flavor! Everyone who tried it, loved it! By the end of the day, the entire bowl of dip was gone and there were a few veggies left over. People will thank you for bringing the veggie tray because everyone else probably brought the fattening stuff!