Fainting Goats and Talking Dogs

Have you seen this video of the fainting goats?

Insane! I love watching random animal videos on YouTube. My sister and I will spend inordinate amounts of time watching “talking” dog videos.

This one is my all-time favorite “talking” dog video:

“I want my mamaaaa!”

Sadie says this all the time… But she follows it up with “Now go get me some chicken strips, woman.” 😉

You may be thinking, “Okay, Julie… why are you posting videos about goats and talking dogs?”

Well, my lunch included goat cheese and that’s the direction my brain went. Quite the tangent, huh?

Let’s get back to my goat cheese-filled lunch, shall we?

Lunch

Lunch today was deeeelish.

I enjoyed a goat cheese and avocado bagelwich on a sweet wheat Alternative Bagel with fresh spinach.

Goat Cheeeeeeese

I am seriously in love with the Chavrie goat cheese I used on this bagelwich. It’s spreadable, creamy, mild and flippin’ delicious.

For some additional color and crunch, I also included a sliced red pepper and carrot sticks on the side.

The Whole Shebang

Eat Me!

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Calling All Animal Lovers

Feel free to post a link to your favorite animal videos below. Funny, cute, whatever! I love ’em all.

(Or if you don’t want to post an animal-loving link, feel free to tell me how much you love goat cheese. That entertains me, too. 😉 )

Recharging Your Workout Routine

I feel like I flew out the door this morning! I had a lot on my mind as I set out on my run due to an exciting voicemail I received this morning.

After listening to the message, I heard the voice of my friend Leah all elevated and excited saying that she and her boyfriend Matt had some “big news” to share! They’re in Europe so I had no way of calling her back (though I did leave a voicemail on her cell phone just in case 😉 ), but I felt 100 percent positive that the news was going to be that Matt proposed! I checked my email just in case and I was right!!! He proposed in a castle. Romantic, huh!?

I’m SO excited. Leah and Matt are such a fantastic couple. I can’t wait to talk to her and hear all about the proposal. I’m pretty much dying right now since I can’t call her! Ah!!!

Congratulations!!!!

YAYYYYY! 🙂

Morning Run

Another reason I flew out the door this morning was because I was anxious to try out my new running shoes.

"Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready to Ruuun"

Clearly Sadie was pretty excited about our run as well.

We tackled five (blister free!!!) miles.

Stats

(In case you are wondering, I don’t map out a perfect 5-mile route every time. I just stop my watch exactly at five miles and walk for about five minutes to cool down and get back to my apartment.)

I took the guy from Track Shack’s advice and laced up my shoes a little tighter before running. I think this really helped keep my feet secure in the shoes and prevented the formation of any blisters. Sch-weet!

Blister Free, Baby!

I followed up our run with 10 minutes of stretching on my fancy pink yoga mat. 🙂

Breakfast

Twenty minutes after a run my body goes into “give me food NOW” mode. Of course I always obey. 😀

Today’s breakfast was an egg, cheese and veggie bacon bagelwich.

I used MorningStar Farms vegggie bacon strips, which smelled exactly like bacon as they were cooking and turned out surprisingly crisp in the microwave.

MorningStar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips

I topped a toasted sweet wheat Alternative Bagel with a Laughing Cow light original Swiss cheese wedge, two egg whites and the veggie bacon and scarfed the bagelwich down in no time!

Egg, Cheese, Bacon, Bagel

Protein Packed

Breakfast Bagelwich

Perfect post-run fuel!

Recharging Your Workout Routine

As I was conquering the weekly long run of my half marathon training plan last Saturday I started breaking up the run into “sets” in my mind.

When strength training, we often do several sets of an exercise, and each time we finish a set it feels like a mini-accomplishment. By breaking up my eight-mile run into four sets of two miles in my mind, I felt like I was able to check a “set” off my running list every 18 minutes or so. That was a lot better than waiting more than an hour to feel like I accomplished something!

It was a totally mental thing, but for some reason this new way of thinking really recharged my run. It also got me thinking about other ways to rejuvenate my exercise routine. Since we all get into an exercise rut sometimes, I figured you might be interested in some of my tips for recharging your workout routine:

• Break up your workout: Rather than doing a lot of cardio one day and strength training on its own the next, combine the two workouts and make them last for two days.

• Change your location: Get out of the gym and go running, rollerblading or biking or take your dog on a hike. If the gym is your thing, visit a different gym for a week (most gyms offer free weekly passes to “potential members”) or visit one of your gym’s sister locations.

• Take a new group exercise class: Take a strength training class to learn new weightlifting exercises, or take a cardio class to get your heart rate up while the time flies by!

• Sign up for a race: Sometimes having a goal in mind can really recharge your workout. Sign up for a 5k or a triathlon and focus your workouts to ensure a strong finish on race day.

• Take a break: If the thought of exercising makes you feel exhausted and you can’t remember the last time you took more than a day off in a week, you may need a few days off to relax and let your body recuperate from your intense training and active lifestyle.

• Do a cardio hodgepodge workout: I’m a huge fan of breaking up my cardio workouts into 10 minute spurts on various cardio machines. Spend 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the step machine and 10 minutes on the treadmill and watch time fly by!

• Search for new workouts: Browse blogs or flip through fitness magazines for new workout recommendations. Some of my favorite workouts have come from other bloggers!

• Update your music: Change up the music on your iPod for instant motivation. A new playlist with upbeat music can really rejuvenate a workout!

Question of the Day

How do you recharge your workouts?

“My Dog Likes To Potty All The Time”

“My girl likes to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time…”

I had this song in my head on my morning run with Sadie, except I subbed out “girl” for “dog” and “party” for “potty.”

Sadie was a pee machine! I think we stopped at least five times during our 5.14 mile run. (Do you like how I now know the exact distance of my runs? Yay, Garmin!)

Breakfast

I think all of Sadie’s potty breaks made me feel extra thirsty, because I downed two glasses of water right we we got home.

After a lightning-fast shower, I was ready for breakfast!

I couldn’t wait to try the Naturally More peanut butter Janetha sent to me to try.

Naturally More Peanut Butter

After stirring it up, I spread it on a toasted sweet wheat Alternative Bagel.

Holy Deliciousness

PB Topped Bagel

You know I enjoyed a peanut butter finger (or two) in the process…

PBF!

On the side of my peanut butter bagel, I included a handful of roasted peanuts and a bag of Brothers-All-Natural Asian pear crisps.

Roasted Peanuts

Breakfast

Apparently I was in quite the nutty mood! Peanut butter + roasted peanuts = Fantastic breakfast.

Question of the Day

Do you eat food straight out of the container, or always make it a point to serve your food on a plate or in a bowl?

I really try to enjoy my meals on a plate or in a bowl, but a lot of my snacks (like nuts and peanut butter fingers) are enjoyed right outta the bowl, box or jar.

Last Pack

Tonight we used the last of the chicken. 

Three chicken dinners in three days! Phew. 

As a girl who gets really bored of chicken really easily, I was surprised to find myself excited to dig into tonight’s dinner. I think it had more to do with the veggies and the bagel also included in the meal than the actual chicken. 😉  

While Ryan grilled several chicken breasts outside, I was on veggie duty.

I chopped roasted yellow squash, onion and mushrooms before tossing them in a bit of olive oil and seasoned salt and roasting them at 415 degrees for about 18 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Roasted Veggies

The veggies went perfectly with my grilled chicken bagelwich, which included Ryan’s grilled chicken and an Alternative Bagel topped with spinach, dijon mustard and light Miracle whip. 

Grilled Chicken Bagelwich

Squash + Onion + Mushrooms

Dinner

Sometimes all you need to make a boring chicken sandwich a little more enticing is a toasty bagel and some roasted veggies on the side, I guess. 

I’m so happy tomorrow is Friday. I’m really looking forward to quite a few things this weekend and can’t wait for the fun to begin! 🙂 

I’m off to pack for an overnight trip tomorrow! G’night!

I’ve Gotta Go Back

Yesterday when Ryan and I were walking out to our car after buying our groceries, he stopped cold and said, “I’ve gotta go back. I forgot my peanut butter.”

Though I was anxious to get home and make dinner, I completely understood his need for pb.

What is something you need to buy every week at the grocery store?

I always purchase Greek yogurt and fresh veggies. They’re a must for me!

Breakfast

Peanut butter made its way into my breakfast this morning.

I topped a toasted sweet wheat Alternative Bagel with creamy peanut butter.

PB + Bagel

I ❤ Peanut Butter

Naturally I also had a peanut butter finger (or two).

Peanut Butter Fingers

Breakfast also included a bowl of fresh strawberries, which were on sale for $1.25/pint yesterday!

Sliced Strawberries

Any breakfast that includes peanut butter is a good one in my book. 😀

Workout

This morning Ryan woke up before me to get to the gym earlier and when he came back he said the weather outside seemed like perfect running weather.

Say no more!

I leashed Sadie up for a run and we covered just over five miles. She was as chipper as ever!

I love that the cold weather is finally behind us and I can run outside in the mornings again. I get so bored on a treadmill and really enjoy the peacefulness of a morning run outside.

I hope your Tuesday is off to a good start!