A Week in the Life of a Lawyer and Part-Time Flywheel Instructor

Jessica Troiano is a Flywheel instructor, lawyer, and mom. Here’s a look inside her week. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

Welcome to Sweat Diaries, Be Well Philly’s look at the time, energy, and money people invest in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle in Philly. For each Sweat Diary, we ask one Philadelphian to spend a week tracking everything they eat, all the exercise they get, and the money they spend on both. Want to submit a Sweat Diary? Email ccunningham@phillymag.com with details.

Who I am: Jessica Troiano (@jessphillyfly), 45

What I do: Maybe I should rewrite that as what don’t I do? I’m a mom to the coolest 12-year old tween girl on the planet, and to our two Bernese Mountain dogs and four cats. I’m also a lawyer for a company based in Fairfax, VA so I work my full time gig from home. Since that is so flexible and I’m a bit antsy, I manage to find plenty of “extra” time to coach at Flywheel (anywhere from eight to 12 classes a week) as an indoor cycling instructor and I teach a yoga class once a week at Villanova.

What role healthy living plays in my life: It is everything to me. I was an athlete in high school and lost my fitness in college. I wasn’t very active, started smoking (I know! Blech!), and smoked cigarettes in place of healthy eating. I discovered I had what is called a reactive lung, which was not good for smoking. My doc told me if I didn’t quit smoking I’d have emphysema by the time I was 45. In law school, I began my journey back to health and I have never looked back. I quit smoking and starting exercising again. Fast forward to age 45, and I now teach two different types of fitness daily, train with my personal trainer Jim Ferris three times a week, and have run six half marathons.

Health memberships: None. I get my cardio in through teaching and I pay my trainer per session for each of our workouts ($125/hour).

Monday

Flywheel instructor Jessica Troiano uses meal prep to help keep her fueled throughout the week. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

5 a.m. —  Alarm. I have to get to my physical therapist (Primal Physical Therapy in Bryn Mawr) to have my left thigh and hip dry-needled.

5:18 a.m. — I get up after pressing snooze twice (my usual ritual), and head down with the dogs to feed them breakfast. I then make a latte (I tend to LIVE on caffeine).

6 a.m. — Dry needling appointment for a half hour (it actually doesn’t hurt!) with my PT, JJ Thomas ($85).

6:40 a.m. — I get home and get breakfast ready for Lola (my daughter). I’m not a big morning eater, so I make myself a S’well bottle of Xtend BCAAs in blue raspberry.

7:30 a.m. — Get my daughter out the door for school.

8 a.m. — Settle at my computer for an hour before I have to get to the Flywheel studio for my 9:30 class.

9 a.m. — Arrive at Flywheel and stay until after my class.

10:30 a.m. — I go to Whole Foods in Wynnewood to shop for a four to five days of food ($186.70) and to get an açaí berry smoothie with collagen protein added in ($8.79). I tend to go food shopping every few days so I don’t spoil food. It’s hard to shop for just a couple of people, particularly when one is 12 (insert eye roll emoji here) and also spends three nights a week at her father’s house. But I manage. Haha!

11:30 a.m. — Meal prep for dinner and next day and eat lunch. I make a turkey sandwich with chipotle lime mayo. THE BEST. Prep for butternut squash soup and a veggie and spinach frittata.

1 p.m. — More legal work and some playlisting (the mainstay of a Flywheel instructor’s life!). Snack on an opal apple with nut butter.

2:45 p.m. — I leave to pick up Lola from school.

3:30 p.m. — I return home for more work and to eat half of some salad bar items I purchased earlier over spinach and half of a packet of 7 Grain & Lentil Blend with homemade vinaigrette. I finish making the frittata and soup for later and the next few days.

5 p.m. — I send Lola off to ballet and quick change to teach my 60-minute Monday night class, which starts at 5:45 p.m..

7 p.m. — Return home from class, tired but happy! I love my Monday night crew. I make mini quiches from the freezer for Lola for dinner and I have leftover chicken and a few tortilla chips for dinner along with another S’well bottle of my BCAAs (they taste so good!).

8 p.m. — Time to shower and spend a little bit of time with the boyfriend while Lola finishes her homework and reads (and, who am I kidding, watches Riverdale on her laptop).

10 p.m. — I head down to Lola’s room to lie down with her until she falls asleep. Again, who am I kidding, I fall asleep before she does.

Daily total: $280.49

Tuesday

A matcha latte to start this Flywheel instructor’s day. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

2 a.m. — I wake up and wander up to my own bed for the rest of my sleep.

6:30 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I get up to get Lola ready for school. I go to the corner coffee shop, Green Engine, for a matcha latte and a plain toasted bagel with cream cheese for Lola for breakfast ($7.79).

7:30 a.m. — Leave to take Lola to school.

8:10 a.m. — Get a text from Lola that she left her binder at home so I run home to get it and bring it back to school (#MomLife).

9 a.m. — Sit at the computer and work.

10:30 a.m. — Make a bottle of water with my BCAAs and leave to go see my trainer for a one-hour training session. We do a warm up with some lunges, followed by a strength training workout with four complex sets, an AMRAP, and some bodyweight exercises ($125).

11:45 a.m. — Head home to eat a Kodiak Cakes flapjack cup and get some work done on the computer and some playlisting done on Spotify.

1 p.m. — Feed the dogs and then take them out on their separate two-mile and one-mile daily walks. It takes just over an hour, but they need it.

4:10 p.m. — Head to Flywheel to teach my 4:45 p.m. class.

5:45 p.m. — Leave Flywheel to go home and shower.

6:45 p.m. — Meet up at White Dog Café  in Haverford with my friend, Monica, for a glass of Champagne and a quick chat with our favorite bartender, Justin ($10).

8 p.m. — Head home to have a quick dinner before bed. Dinner is a turkey and avo sandwich on wheat bread with Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo) and a KeVita Tart Cherry Kombucha.

8:30 p.m. — Wash my face with my Clarisonic, throw on my collagen serum and moisturizer, brush my teeth, and I’m ready for bed.

8:45 p.m. — I hit the hay.

Daily total: $142.79

Wednesday

This Flywheel instructor is a big fan of homemade smoothies. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

4:45 a.m. — Alarm goes off. Time to get up, feed the dogs, make coffee, mix some BCAAs in my S’well bottle and head out for class.

5:25 a.m. — Leave for Flywheel and teach my 6 a.m. class. We have to arrive at the studio 30 minutes before class time and I’m lucky enough to live 0.4 miles from the studio in Bryn Mawr.

7 a.m. — Stop at Starbucks for a grande coconut milk latte, and drive home to meet Lola’s father at my house to take Lola to school ($4.72).

8:15 a.m. — Arrive back at home to let the dogs out and answer a few work emails before I have to leave to teach my 9:30 class at Flywheel.

9 a.m. — Arrive, teach, and chat after class with a few clients.

10:45 a.m. — Head home for some lawyer work and a late post-class breakfast of that veggie and spinach frittata I made.

12:30 p.m. — Feed the dogs and then take them out on their daily walks.

1:45 p.m. — Prep for a conference call on a multi-million-dollar contract I am negotiating, check the train schedule to see which train I need to catch to make it to the Center City studio for a 5:45 p.m. class I am subbing. I make a smoothie to drink during my call with half a banana, frozen blueberries, strawberries, coconut milk, Thrive Market Collagen Peptides, Supergrass protein, and açaí powder.

4 p.m. — Change and get ready to leave to catch the 4:23 train to Center City from Haverford. I use the time to listen to my playlist for my upcoming class. I also stop at Starbucks on the way to pick up a grande coconut milk latte ($4.91).

5 p.m. — Arrive at the Center City Flywheel studio to prep and teach class.

On this day, Flywheel instructor Jessica Troiano leads three classes. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

6:25 p.m. —  Starbucks for another coconut milk latte ($4.91) and then the train ride home.

6:55 p.m. — Finally home. I feed and let out the dogs, hop in the shower, and head to the kitchen for some butternut squash soup, a slice of wheat toast, and salad bar veggies from the day before over half of a packet of spelt, green lentils, and long grain brown rice with the vinaigrette I made earlier.

7:15 p.m. — I have two glasses of French sparkling wine (Champagne and sparkling wines are my weakness!).

8 p.m. — Wash my face and get in bed, because, frankly, I’m exhausted.

Daily total: $14.54

Thursday

Another delicious smoothie. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

6:45 a.m. — Alarm goes off and here we go again. I feed the dogs breakfast, make a cup of coffee with frothed milk, and wait for Lola to arrive to take her to school.

7:40 a.m. — Leave for school drop off.

8:30 a.m. — Take a class at Flywheel taught by my mentor, Abby Geartner (she rules, take her class!).

9:30 a.m. — Arrive home for a quick change of clothes, answer a few emails, then head out with a S’well bottle full of BCAAs for a workout with my trainer.

11 a.m. — Today’s workout involves swings, cleans, squats, squat/press, and bent over rows with 20-pound center mass bells in each hand. ($125)

12:30 p.m. — Arrive back home to eat a turkey/brie sandwich on wheat bread with that chipotle mayo again (I’m addicted to it!), with a side of what is left of the butternut squash soup. Answer emails and negotiate a few contracts for work. Playlist.

2 p.m. — Walk the dogs on an abbreviated set of walks today. Time is short!

2:45 p.m. — Make a smoothie with the banana, berries, açaí powder, protein, and collagen. Continue to work until around 4 creating a new playlist.

4:15 p.m. — Leave for Flywheel and teach the 4:45 p.m.

6 p.m. — Arrive home to make a snack for Lola of Organic Pacific Bone Broth Chicken Noodle Soup.

6:40 p.m. — Leave to take Lola to her piano lesson.

8:30 p.m. — Arrive back home to eat an apple with nut butter and a Kodiak Cakes flapjack protein cup.

9 p.m. — Hang with the boyfriend before I have to put Lola to bed, have a glass of sparkling wine.

10 p.m. — I lie down with Lola and we play our usual Reiki healing music to fall asleep. I check my alarm for the morning since I have a shared training appointment at 6 a.m. with another girl.

11 p.m. — I am asleep.

Daily total: $125

Friday

Grains and veggies for dinner. Photograph courtesy Jessica Troiano.

5:15 a.m. — Alarm goes off. Get up, feed the dogs, make coffee with frothed milk, make my BCAAs for my workout, and head out by 5:45 a.m.

6 a.m. — Workout with tag-team conditioning exercises, following by relay work done for time ($125).

7 a.m. — Head to Wawa for coffee and a small oatmeal for me and a bagel with cream cheese for Lola ($5.57).

7:40 a.m. — Take Lola to school.

8:15 a.m. — Return home to work and make a smoothie (same recipe).

10 a.m. — Usually Fridays are my day off, but today I am leading a charity ride for UDance, which works to unify the community while raising awareness for childhood cancer. I teach until 11:15 a.m. and then head home to work for the rest of the day. Lola is spending tonight at her dad’s so I have time to buckle down and work.

12:30 p.m. — I realize that I have no lunches left in the fridge, so I resort to eating a double helping of the frittata in the fridge with a cup of bullet proof coffee I make at home.

2 p.m. — Time for the dogs to take their walks.

5 p.m. — I clock out for the day with work, and make a quick snack of apple with nut butter. Still hungry and ready for dinner, I make the rest of each of the packages of my grains with vinaigrette, the remaining salad bar veggies and some avocado for extra sustenance, and I also heat up some millet and brown rice ramen with red miso soup from a packet of Lotus Foods I found in my pantry (dinner is served!). I have a glass of sparkling wine.

6 p.m. — I playlist for my upcoming weekend classes.

8 p.m. — I spend time with the boyfriend, hanging out with the dogs and watching some Jeopardy and CNN.

10:30 p.m. — Bedtime since I teach a 60-minute 7:15 a.m. class Saturday mornings! I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Daily total: $130.57

Weekly Totals

Money spent: $693.39

Classes taught: 8

Workouts done: 4

Cups of coffee: 8

Smoothies: 4

Kodiak Cakes cups: 2

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