I Won’t Grow Up

This morning started off on the right foot with a five-mile run.

5 Mile Stats

I leashed Sadie up for our usual loop around the lake near our apartment and really enjoyed this run. I had a lot of things to think about which kept my mind busy and prevented me from thinking too much about the actual run itself. A full mind = A fast run!

Note: Save all your thinking for long runs. 😉

Breakfast

Though I really enjoyed our run, my breakfast was definitely the highlight of the morning thanks to the inclusion of two new ingredients in my breakfast smoothie.

Coo-Coo for Coconut

Since Ryan and I are heading south to the Keys around lunchtime today, I wanted to start my vacation a little early with a tropical smoothie. Coconut screams tropical, so I figured adding a little bit of coconut flava would immediately transplant me to a beach. 😉

My smoothie included:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 c. frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop strawberry protein powder (vanilla would also work)
• 1/2 c. light coconut milk
• 1/2 c. cold water
• 1 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 tsp. Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum

Blend baby, blend!

Island Pour

Spoonful of the Tropics

I filled my mega-huge “J” cup with the cold and creamy smoothie and slurped away.

J = Julie's Cup

I enjoyed this smoothie en route to the FedEx store because I had a package awaiting pickup.

In Transit Breakfast

Can you tell I hit several red lights and got bored on my way there??? 😉

Package Pickup

When I picked up my little package, I opened it immediately (as I do with all gifts…unless the sender is smart enough to write “don’t open until Christmas” or something to make me feel guilty for opening it early).

Check out the goods!

Chewy Vitamins

The kind people at Northwest Natural Products sent me two jars of gummy vitamins to sample after they read about how much I enjoyed their L’il Critters Gummy Bear vitamins. Apparently I need to grow up a bit and enjoy some “adult” vitamins. 🙂

Before taking gummy vitamins (I take a multi-vitamin and a calcium supplement every day), I would always forget to swallow a pill. Now that I’ve switched to gummy vitamins or chocolatey calcium supplements, I look forward to consuming something tasty and always remember.

Somethin’ to think about if you always forget to take  your vitamins! 😀

Since I had already taken my L’il Critters multi-vitamin before picking up this package, I decided to sample the VitaFusion calcium gummy.

Calcium Gummy

Two of these chews contain as much calcium as two 6-ounce glasses of milk, and as much vitamin D as 3 ounces of salmon. I’m a big proponent of added vitamin D to my calcium supplements because optimal levels of the  vitamin can aid in the prevention of breast and ovarian cancer. Gotta keep those ta-tas safe!

This gummy vitamin appealed to my candy-loving sweet tooth and tasted delicious. I think I could have eaten half the jar in one sitting, but since it’s a vitamin, I exercised some self control and only enjoyed two.

Question of the Morning

Do you take any vitamins or supplements every day?