A Healthy England Trip and Book Launch!

These two weeks are exciting and going to be fun. Tom and I are traveling to England to visit Tom’s family and our friends! While I’m in England, Against the Grain hardcover and eBook will launch! Read on below to see how my weeks went.

Sunday, August 25th – Saturday, August 31st:

On Sunday and Monday, Tom and I prepared for our trip to England. This entire week, I worked a lot on a product that will be available in the near future.

On Tuesday, Tom and I flew to London Heathrow. We arrived Wednesday, English time, where we were picked up by Mum and Dad, who drove us to Leicester where Tom grew up. Katy, Gareth, and baby niece Hannah met us there and spent a few days with us. Our niece Hannah is only 2 months old, and it’s such a wonderful time to meet her! Tom and I enjoyed lots of cuddles and smiles with Hannah!

On Saturday, we were able to meet up with some of our friends from Sheffield, which was lovely! I lived in Sheffield for almost five years, and that’s where Tom and I met almost 6 years ago.

For workouts this week, I completed six workouts of my creation, incorporating a variety of weight lifting, Kettlebell training, rowing, HIIT cardio, walking, foam rolling, and stretching.

For my nutrition, I stuck with my version of gluten-free, dairy-free, and mostly sugar-free. It is definitely more of a challenge on vacation as there are more tempting desserts than normal. It felt good to stay strong, though.

I did a lot of writing, product creation, and work on my business even while on vacation.

Day 8-14 complete. It’s so wonderful to see family and friends in England!

Sunday, September 1st – Saturday, August 7th:

On Sunday, we had Tom’s Nanna, Aunt Ivonne, Uncle Steve, and cousins Adrian and Fran visit us. It was lovely to have the entire family (except Alex, who couldn’t make it) together.

On Monday, we played 18 holes of golf at Cosby golf course with Mum and Dad. It was a fun round of golf! In the evening, some of our best friends from Sheffield, Renaté and Paul, came to Leicester to see us. It was lovely to catch up!

On Tuesday, Mum, Dad, Tom, and I took a train to London! I love London and visited London many weekends when we lived in England. We went to the Knightsbridge area and browsed around Harrods and some of the shops nearby.

Then we went to Coventry Garden, where we walked around, looking at the action and shops before having dinner at a lovely restaurant there.

The four of us went to the theatre to see Matilda the Musical live on the West End! It was an excellent show, and we really enjoyed it. I can never see too many Broadway or West End plays and musicals!

On Wednesday, I got everything ready for the book launch. In the evening, Tom and I met up with friends in Leicester.

Thursday was the day I’ve been waiting for … the launch of my book Against the Grain, which I’ve co-authored! I received the Editor’s Choice Award for my contribution in the book! The hardcover is now available in our online store.

Against the Grain made 5 best-seller lists on Thursday, and I am now a best-selling author!!! I’m so excited!

On Friday, the eBook of Against the Grain became available!

Mum, Dad, Tom, and I drove to Katy and Gareth’s house in Bristol. We spent Friday and Saturday in Bristol visiting with Katy and Gareth and spending lots of time with baby Hannah! On Saturday, Aunt Ivonne, Uncle Steve, and cousins Alex, Adrian, and Fran visited. What a fun weekend!

For workouts this week, I completed six workouts of my creation incorporating a variety of weight lifting, Kettlebell training, rowing, HIIT cardio, walking, fit ball exercises, foam rolling, and stretching. Many of the workouts during this trip were less intense than normal as I was listening to my body. My body needed some TLC.

For my nutrition, I stuck with my version of gluten-free, dairy-free, and mostly sugar-free. This week was even more difficult to stick with my nutrition plan, as I really wanted to celebrate with a dessert. I know my body is better for resisting.

I did a lot of writing, product creation, and work on my book launch this week. So exciting!

Days 15-21 complete. I’m so happy to have Against the Grain out for the world to enjoy!

It was an extremely exciting trip! It was lots of fun to spend time with family, meet our niece, baby Hannah, and see our friends! I’m thrilled to share Against the Grain with the world!

Yay! I’ve completed my 2nd and 3rd weeks of the Event Preparation Experiment!

What I’m Doing for the Event Preparation Experiment

I will work out 6 days per week/do 6 workouts per week.

I will do a variety of weight training, Pilates, and cardio training.

I will be eating my version of gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free.

I will be mostly gluten-free but will include oats and Ezekial bread.

I will be mostly dairy-free but will include whey protein, yogurt/Greek yogurt, eggs, and goat cheese.

I will be sugar free except for the natural sugars or healthier versions of sugar in fruit/dried fruit, honey (also not vegan), or Agave Nectar.

Another thing I will be experimenting with is getting up at 5am every morning, including weekends. I tend to be a night owl and even though I have to start work often at 6am, I find it difficult to force myself to get to bed early enough to get adequate sleep. When I don’t work early in the morning, I tend to need 9 hours of sleep per night to feel my best.

Be sure to check out my original Event Preparation Experiment post for a list of all my posts and recipes!