Back to My Roots

First off, I had an awesome work out today! I focused on arms, chest and back and I feel awesome. I was left feeling sore from my leg work out the other day and it was awesome, so I was excited to feel the burn in my upper body. I was never much for strength training, but I find myself looking forward to strength exercises now. I've spent so much time doing cardio and yoga that it's nice to try new things. Here's what I did:

- 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise unless otherwise stated.
- First set used 5lb weights, then upped to 10lb weights.

- 5 min. treadmill warm-up (3.5MPH @ 8.0 incline)
- Overhead press
- Chest press
- Alternating shoulder press
- Planks (Hold for 30 seconds 3 times)
- Lateral raise
- Front lat pulldown
- Dumbbell chest fly
- 10 min cardio cool-down (elliptical @ 6.5MPH)

I feel awesome! I have so much energy and I can tell my arms will be sore in the morn'. I'm a strength training newbie, but I'm enjoying dipping my toes into the weights pool.

In other news, after lunch yesterday I went to dinner at this place called Grass Root, a vegan and partially raw restaurant in Tampa. It came highly recommended and I was definitely excited to try a new raw place.


As usual, the place had a groovy vibe. The walls were covered in beautiful artwork, bold colors, and a relaxing little fountain. I started the meal with a wheatgrass shot. I've never done one before because I've heard mixed things, but I loved it! I find that I tend to enjoy drinking greens people prefer not to (e.g. kale over spinach) so I'm not surprised I dug the wheatgrass.


For my entree I went with raw sushi, which included a plethora of vegetables inside raw nori. The original dish included a lot of avocado, but after a heavy lunch I just wasn't feeling the avo, so they offered to make it with yellow pepper instead. Not only was it nice of them, but I loved the pepper! It added a nice fresh crunch.


The presentation was clean and beautiful and the wasabi was exquisite. Usually I can't even try a tiny drop without feeling like death, but this was lovely. I have no idea what they did to make it so palatable, but I must find out. They also used pickled ume plum instead of ginger, which I liked a lot. It was, hands down, the best sushi I've ever eaten.


Who says you can't have two desserts in one day? After my super healthy energy food, I wanted some dessert! Enter raw chocolate orange cheesecake. Enter foodgasms. It was light yet decadent at the same time, and I noticed they used a coconut oil shell!



I always leave a raw food meal feeling energized, light and amazing. There is no feeling like it, really, which is why I need to eat raw more often.

I loved Grass Roots. The owners were lovely; I got into a conversation with Spencer, one of the owners, about my blog and raw foods and he seemed excited about checking it out. It was just a pleasant experience all around and a perfect end to a lovely, full day.