Albion Community Events + Fitness Fashion

I fell in love with Albion Fit in 2014, when I got a membership at Xtend Barre in Provo, and during one of my very first classes I had an instructor who wore their petal pants. I remember asking her where she got them and soon after making my first trip to the little Albion store, tucked away by the Kneaders at City Creek. I didn't end up getting those pretty pants though, instead I walked out with a new tank, one that I still wear today, so that'll tell you something about the quality of their products. I later ended up getting a sports bra and THE MOST FLATTERING swimsuit I have ever worn in my life. I always, without fail, get compliments on it when I wear it. It's black with little flamingos on it and it's out of stock right now, since it was from last summer's collection, but this one is a very similar cut.

Besides their quality materials and cute styles, there's another reason I adore Albion Fit, and that's because of... the community events! They have a sort of little tradition of hosting free community fitness classes on most Saturday mornings (and sometimes nights) throughout the summer. I love these because 1) it feels really cool to feel like a part of something and that feeling is definitely there at these events, 2) there's free healthy food afterwards, 3) It gives me a reason to wake up at 7am on Saturday mornings and 4) it's the reason I've tried so many fitness classes I would have otherwise probably never tried out. I try to make it to every single one, although sometimes if they fall on the same day, I might go to the free Athleta classes or the 9th and 9th Pilates summer events as well, though those are very rarely free. Regardless, you'll never find me at my local gym on Saturday mornings haha.

Alright, so last week, Albion held a class with the lovely Witney Carson from Dancing With The Stars, which was particularly exciting. As you know, I loooooove dancing. However, I'm not the most skilled at it (as in, I'm always 1 step behind everyone else, but I try!) I headed over the class and it was such a blast. Afterwards, they had delicious little açai bowls for us from The Protein Foundry (pictured above!), another local business. I'm definitely going to be hitting up their restaurant before I move to New York! And, the highlight of the morning was when I ended up winning a $50 gift card during the giveaway. I compiled some of my favorite things from Albion right now and I'm going to head over the store later this week to pick one out!

Clockwise from Top Left: Santiago Love Racer Top // Go Capri in Antigua Slate // Crop Swim Top in Izabal (looove this one as both a regular top and a swim top) // Go Capri in Antigua

Which one do you think I should pick?

Healthiness

On Sunday, after devouring several of the pink sugar cookies I made on Valentine's Day, I decided I need to turn my eating habits around. This isn't even a new development for me. I mean this happens all the time, and I always do really well for a couple weeks before giving up, except for that one summer I only ever ate healthy food and that year and a half I didn't drink soda. It's just hard to stick to these sorts of plans, you know. I feel like if I found one I really love, it wouldn't have to be hard, and I have found those before but they're always expensive. Like I could follow the Food Lovers Cleanse or try the Tone It Up meal plan, except I can't because I'm a poor college kid and neither of those are in my budget right now. So instead, I looked on pinterest and I settled on a diet I tried two years ago, which actually worked back then. It's called the Sacred Heart Diet, or the Eat Your Heart Out diet. 

The last time I did it, I lost eight pounds and my favorite thing about it was the fact that it sort of got me used to not eating junk food. I mean that was how I kicked off the summer I ate real, whole food all the time. Yesterday was actually my first day, fruit day, and it was a struggle, but I'm determined. Today is vegetable day, which is significantly easier, but still hard. You know what's funny is that my original idea for today's post had been to write about pasta. So it's a total turn-around. Anyway, I'll keep you updated.

Have a lovely Tuesday!  If you have any healthy recipes, I'd love to hear them!

picture credit goes to Glen Carrie