Motivation Mondays: Stephanie from Life Shiny Side Up

For the last few weeks, I've been getting back on track with my "Motivation Mondays" feature and I have a great one to share with you ladies today!

Meet Stephanie from the blog LifeShinySideUp! She's sweet and funny. We had a mutual friend and started to chat via email and then one day while I was shopping at Lululemon I got to meet her awesome self in person!

Name, Age, Occupation
Stephanie, 27, Assistant Manager at lululemon Houston Galleria / blogger at my personal blog www.lifeshinysideup.com

You are a great example of someone who is living a healthy lifestyle---tell us more about your workout routine and what you do to stay in shape. 
Why thank you!  I don't think I can confidently say I have a work out routine.  Routines and myself don't work well together.  I pretty much live by the rule "sweat once a day".  Living in Houston, that can be done by stepping out my front door, obvi, but I try to make sure I do one active thing per day, whether it's an actual workout or riding my bike to get coffee or groceries with my man.  My absolute fave workouts right now are most any yoga (obviously...and I have a few favorite studios if anyone is interested!), Crossfit, Running (I am running the Houston Marathon on January 15th), Define Body & Mind, and Hardcore Pilates.

Has working at Lululemon motivated you even more to reach your fitness goals? 
Definitely.  I have coworkers who help me set goals personally, professionally, and for health and fitness, and they hold me to them.  I have big goals for my marathon and for crossfit, and I probably never would have thought about trying for them without my friends at work.  Anyone can go to goaltender.lululemon.com and learn how to set goals for yourself.  It's pretty rad.

Tell us about what you eat on a typical day. What are your favorite healthy dishes? 
I eat breakfast with the hottest man alive, who happens to be my husband, every morning.  Sometimes workouts will get in the way, but for the most part we eat together every morning, and if we don't I always ALWAYS eat breakfast at some point.  But, I think sitting down and spending time eating your meal can make a huge difference in terms of how much you eat, what you eat, etc.  We usually have some protein like eggs or bacon (buy the center cut bacon- it's actually quite good for you) and tons of fruit.  With coffee.  Of course.  Lunch is always always on the go for me these days, so I have to really plan and pack my lunch, or I would be eating out every day.  Not a fan of that.  I plan all of our dinners a week in advance.  I usually do it on a free day when I have time to really think about what would be best for us to eat- we love Pioneer Woman's meatballs (we use turkey), any Asian food that we make like this, lettuce wraps, chili...we love us some chili.  We also recently discovered spaghetti squash and have subbed it for pasta ever since.  It's the most miraculous vegetable on the planet.

Devin and I really really love to cook, so it makes it easy for us to "get involved" in what we are eating.  Luckily, we go to the grocery store and want to get the same things- it's never a fight about getting junk food, etc.  The one thing I struggle with is that because he is a very active cyclist and tries to stay lean but doesn't want to lose weight, I have to make enough food with enough calories to feed his metabolism, but something that isn't going to put weight on me.  Usually my solution is to bake.  I have willpower.  He will eat the plate of cookies before they cool off.

What do you like to indulge in? (Any sweets or salty foods that you eat in moderation?)  I hope you're sitting down and comfortable; this list could be long.  I have a serious serious problem with chips and salsa.  I crave it, and if it is in my house, I will eat it.  My mom and I make our own salsa, and I LOVE it.   Typically when I bake, I can have 1-2 and be done for the rest of that batch's life (see previous answer; it's not that long), but there are some things like rice krispy treats, no bake PB and chocolate oatmeal cookies, and Baked's Sunday Night Cake that I could eat the entire pan of.  But, one of the best parts of being active 5-6 times a week AND being 100% okay with the way I am, I will indulge when I want to indulge, but I do that knowing that it really is every now and then.  I like burgers.  I like to get a burger whenever I can.  I like to eat the WHOLE burger with sweet potato fries (shout out Cedar Creek, Lola's, and Ruggles Green).

What is your beauty routine like? Any favorite hair, makeup or skincare products you'd like to share? 
My coworkers would laugh at this question.  I go to work with a full face of make up (I think) and they say things like "I just think it's so great you don't have to wear makeup".  Yeah.  But really, I have a lot of freckles, and they show through anything.  I was also a tomboy growing up and never got into all of this sort of stuff, so I don't have much of a beauty routine.  I love John Freida products because they work on my fine hair.  I like Sebastian's Matte Putty (Shout out Jodi at Satori Heights Salon for makin' me love my hair every. single. time.) because it doesn't make my hair look greasy, and I have some dry shampoo that I like for days I'm in a hurry and don't have time to wash and do my hair.

Where do you like to shop for clothes? 
Francesca's, Nordstrom, J Crew, and my all time favorite- Target.
    

What are your absolute "must-haves" from Lululemon? 
I live in these clothes.  Literally.  I go home from work and put on different lululemon.  I travel and I pack 99% lululemon.  It's nuts.  But!  I do have some faves.  For running, especially in a super hot place i.e. the Bayou City, I have to have some speed shorts and a silverescent sleeveless tech with my favorite bra, the 50 rep.  The speed shorts are made of a super lightweight Swift wicking material that keeps me cool, dries fast, and the waistband, made of luxtreme is inherently wicking providing compression (to keep the shorts on!).  All of our run shorts and crops have tons of little pockets for gels, keys, ID, etc.  I have never EVER worn running shorts more comfortable than these.  And for anyone who crossfits, this short is a must-have with room in the leg to do a full squat.  The Silverescent fabric has silver woven in making the sleeveless tech anti-stink and x-static.  I love that it doesn't cling to me when I run, and it dries super fast, but mostly that I can throw it in the hamper, leave it for days, wash it and know it won't have that gross work out sweaty mcsweaterson stank.  The 50 rep bra is a higher-support bra with a powermesh panel in the back for breathability and support.  It also has a coolmax liner for the high sweat zones.  I also have a thing for our run crops, like the run: for your life.  This crop is also made from luxtreme, so I love feeling the compression on my muscles for the duration of my run, but not feeling like my legs cant breathe, since the fabric wicks my sweat.  They also have a circle mesh panel on the back of the knees for extra air flow.  Love those crops and I would totally wear them in the summer.  Believe it.  And, I dig our socks especially for long runs because they have arch support built in.

For yoga, Define, pilates, etc.  I am a Wunder Under junkie.  They are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  They are a tight-fitting crop made from Luon- a wicking fabric with a 4 way stretch, so it moves with me.  I love to pick these up when we have funky colors and patterns, which is pretty much always, and I can dress them up with boots and a tunic if I want to wear them out.  Up top, I love me some Cool Racerbacks, Circuit Tanks, and I throw on a Define jacket when it's cool inside.

And obviously, I cannot live with out one of these and my mat (called The Mat- it's non-slip, so when I go to hot yoga and make it rain, I don't need a towel).

Do you have a favorite motivational quote? 
"Today is my someday"

If you could travel to one place, all expenses paid, for 2 weeks---where would you choose to go and why? 
We sponsor 4 kiddos through Compassion International, and I would absolutely go visit all of them in their villages and meet them face to face. It's something I'm dying to do, but it's big time pricey and difficult to coordinate. Second place goes to Australia- it's on our list of places to go, we both love love LOVE the beach, and I want to feed a koala.  All good reasons, if I say so myself.

What accomplishment are you most proud of and why? 
Walking into my job that I hated for 4 years one Monday morning, finally having the guts to give my 2 weeks notice without a single idea for what I would do after my last day, and getting the most amazing job ever within 2 weeks.

Thanks for motivating us this Monday, Stephanie!  If you have questions for Stephanie, ask them in the comments below or head over to her blog.
xoxo,

Veronika.