I had the best summer ever.

No I didn’t go on an exciting trip.
No I didn’t get a pool.
No I didn’t get a puppy (Thank God!)
No my house isn’t finished.
But it was the best summer ever!
I worked out. I worked out A LOT! I selfishly worked out almost everyday this summer. I ate clean. I did fun things with my kids. I hardly drank any alcohol. I walked my dog. But mostly, I worked out.
The past 43 day (I took the first week of July as vacation and went to the cottage and DID NOT work out. ha!) I went to a ridiculous amount of classes. The number kind of surprised me. I went to 58 Inner Athlete classes in the past 43 days. It was amazing! I did find time to fit in some summer around all those classes!(Yes that is a picture of me kayaking with my dog- he is a weird dog.)

I was jokingly calling it The Summer of Sarah since 58 classes means 58 hours (give or take) with my trainer/friend Sarah. Good thing she likes me (I hope lol)- thats a lot of time together! But in reality, it was The Summer of Tracey. It was a huge summer of growth for me. Tonight was the last class of the summer session, also marking (for me) an entire year since I joined Inner Athletes last September. A huge year of change for me.

This summer I selfishly went to work out classes. I did lots of fun things with my kids but Inner Athlete classes came first. Some of the results of working out are very tangible:
-I’m in the best shape of my life. I can hold a plank for 45 sec then right after do 20 seconds of spiderman pushups. I can run 5K in less than 30 minutes. I can do 3 hour long classes in a day. It feels amazing to be in such great shape!
-In the right light I have muscle definition. So cool!
-I don’t hate my body in a bathing suit.
-Back to school shopping will be more enjoyable.

The best results are the ones you can’t really see.
-My kids are now best friends. I have left my kids alone for at least 58 hours this summer. I would leave little notes for them like- breakfast is in the oven (use potholders duh) and please empty dishwasher, walk dog and put laundry away. I would come home and I would find them cuddled together on the couch playing a game together on their iPods laughing like crazy with all their “jobs” completed! Amazing! My kids have had lots of sibling time alone without Mom where they’ve shared experiences without me hovering around. They made their own breakfast sometimes this summer and biked themselves to summer camp! They thought they were so cool!
-I put “me” first for the first time in a really long time. I still drove my kids to play dates and camps but NOT when there was a class! LOL! After 12 years, I put myself on the top of the priority list.
-I’m still happy and sane even thought we are entering month 11 of our renovation. I think I’d be in the looney bin living with dust, subfloor and a weed filled backyard with out my safe haven of the gym.

Tonight’s workout was a little emotional for me. This fall, I am going back to work full time for the first time in ten years. Honestly- I am shitting my pants! Nervous about the job, how its going to affect my family, how its going to affect my gym time! During the cool down, I was reflecting on how great this summer was- having the freedom to spend so much time on myself. I feel really grateful for this summer- for my hubby for being super supportive, for my kids for being so awesome and for Sarah for pushing me to be a better person. Its been a great summer.

Summer is NOT OVER YET! Tonights menu was classic summer- burgers! How do you clean up a burger? The actual burger patty is easy- use the best quality ingredients and make it homemade! The “dirtiest” part of our classic summer hamburger is the bun. Take a quick look at the ingredient list of any supermarket hamburger bun. There is a reason that bun has a shelf life of a few weeks! Lots of chemicals and fake stuff are working hard to keep that bun “fresh”. Instead of eating my hamburger on a lettuce leaf (really?!) I decided to make my own hamburger buns. As you know, I am not afraid to eat white flour. For me, my relationship with all food is about variety. I can eat white bread and white pizza dough because I also eat a variety of other flours. I regularly use coconut flour, whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour. Variety is the key. For these hamburger buns I chose spelt flour. Spelt flour can be found at Bulk Barn. It is part of the wheat family but isn’t wheat. Spelt has less calories than wheat and more protein. It is also easier to digest than wheat.

I found this recipe on Pinterest. Theses buns taste fantastic and are super easy to make since they don’t need a huge rise time. While these buns taste fantastic, I found that they would be great with a soup. I didn’t LOVE them as a hamburger bun. I think they would be great with jalapeño peppers added to the dough and served with a great pea soup . They were a little too heavy and dense for a hamburger. The recipe can be found at http://www.manuskitchen.com/2013/06/spelt-burger-buns.html?spref=pi
YOU WILL NEED:
2 SACHET DRY YEAST (2 TBSP)
7 CUPS SPELT FLOUR
2 1/4 CUPS WARM WATER
2/3 CUP VEGETABLE OIL
2 EGGS
1/2 CUP RAW SUGAR GRANULES
2 TSP SALT

1 EGG, BEATEN
SESAME SEEDS

After you have made the dough, form the dough into circles and let the buns rest for 10 minutes.

Bake as directed and then you will have these beautiful buns!

I topped my burger with avocado, tomato and red onions. Amazing!

Enjoy the little bit of summer we have left!

Choose happy 🙂